TV review - "Noon Wine" (1967) ***1/2

 This brought Sam Peckinpah back after the double whammy of Major Dundee and Cincinatti Kid.  The plot hasJason Robards and Olivia de Havilland running a farm - a mystery man turns up to work for them. He does a good job. Then its revealed the man has a history of mental instability. A visitor says this, causes trouble, and Robards kills him .

Interesting parallels to Straw Dogs - a simpleton innocently accused.

Plenty of story. Unexpected developments that are logical - the bounty hunter after the guy is slimy but Roberts still overreacts killing him, the simpleton is killed by the posse, Robards is full of guilt. Ben Johnson is a local sheriff.

Movie review - "Star Trek" (2009) **** (rewatching)

 Really fun. Starts with a bang and keeps it up. High drama.

I maybe had some reservations at wiping out a planet to give stakes for Spock - I mean, the whole planet? Felt heavy. Winona Ryder is only in two scenes really but it's nice to see her in a hit. Ben Cross is fun.

It's spectacularly well cast. Beautifully so. Chris Pine and Zachery Quinto have the biggest shoes to fill but Karl Urban is fun and Simon Pegg and... everyone really. Eric Bana is fine as the villain. Leonard Nimoy steals the show. I didn't really follow the time travel stuff but I'm sure it holds.

Movie review - ""Star Trek: Nemesis" (2001) ** (warning spoilers)

 This gets off to a flying start and I was excited to see it but then slows down and becomes sluggish. Next Gen films really only focused on Picard and Data and that's the case here.  The film kills off Data but it doesn't really matter since he's got a clone. Young Tom Hardy is on hand as the evil Picard clone a young version which had potential but it's not developed. Hardy gets too much screen time where he chats rather than doing anything cool. The regulars don't seem into it.

Movie review - "Star Trek Insurrection" (1998) **1/2

 The only one with much to do in these is Picard and Data - the other characters don't pop, or maybe it's different in the series. This feels like an episode of a TV series but it's well done, I liked Picard's romance, the fountain of youth always works. F Murray Abram does decent villainy.

Movie review - "Beach Party" (1963) ***1/2 (re-watching)

 Kind of taken for granted but all the stuff is there -  the bright tone, the meta nature (Dorothy Malone telling Bob Cummings "AIP will buy the film rights", Vincent Price's cameo), the various subplots (Cummings studying kids, Frankie and Annette making each other jealous, bikers as a threat), colourful characters (Lembeck and his bikers, Morey Amsterdam's cafe owner, Jody McCrea's dumb friend, Eva Six's blonde bombshell, Dorothy Malone's sexy older woman, Cummings' anthropologist, Candy Johnson's dancing, John Ashleyh's more cynical friend). 

The tunes are very good - "Beach Party Tonight", "Don't Stop Now", "Surfin".

There is variety in the female roles - Funicello is a good girl, but there's also a man hungry Rhoda (who can't understand why Annette doesn't want to have sex with Frankie), the shimmying Candy Johnson,

The musical numbers are done with tremendous verve.

Cummings was 53 (32 years older than Annette) but still looked good at the time - that would change within a year or so eg The Carpetbaggers.

Analysing John Ashley's role in this film - it's clear he's a kind of alpha in the group, suggesting Frankie dump Annette and also being the one not Frankie who entices Cummings on to a surf board (maybe this was to protect Frankie? Or Avalon may not have been available.)

The action screeches to a halt when Annette sings her ballad 'Treat Her Nicely'. But I liked how she was so protective of Cummings. (Also there's a moment where her character seems willing to sleep with Cummings, which is interesting. As is the implication that Frankie has slept with Eva). Because Funicello's character wants to be married an acts old she kind of matches with youthful (ish)Cummings.

Dorothy Malone doesn't have much to do but I liked her and she's sweet shimmying along to 'Tell It to the Moon'.

Movie review - "Lucky Me" (1954) **

 Bob Cummings appeared in a few musicals, usually playing light comedic leading man duties and not being involved in any singing or dancing. He plays a songwriter here so he has to warble a tune or two. -well, he's dubbed, not very well. Still he handles light comedy stuff as adept as always. Doris Day is the lead and she's very winning.

It's a dim story. It feels like one of those scripts that they kept putting writers on to work on it and never did much good since the central concept was weak. Doris and her mates (including Phil Silvers) are struggling performers, Cummings is a top composer. There's a scene where he pretends to be a mechanic to woo her - people were always faking their identity to romance Doris Day but it's not funny here.

Martha Hyer is the fake love interest.

Movie review - "Star Trek First Contact" (1996) ***1/2

 Solid entry which involves going back in time to find the Inventor of the Thing (James Cromwell) and his friend (Alfred Woodard). The Borgs are strong villains and Alice Krige is fun.

It's entirely smart and respectible. I miss the lunatic fun of William Shatner and the originals, I admit.