Cutting Brains

Two very nice things happened today.

I finally saw Star Trek first of all. Very very awesome it is too. Without a doubt the best sci-fi I've seen in ages (and I'm including the most recent season of BSG in that too), and one of the best films in general I've seen for ages. Everything seemed nigh-on perfect.

Possibly the best 15 opening minutes of any film ever to kick us off. The casting was superb, all the way through. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Zachary Quinto, and he didn't disappoint as Spock. Although he probably could have done with a bit more brain cutting.

(That's a Heroes reference, in case you don't know. And yes, before you ask, I am more than a tad pissed off that Sylar's essentially been killed off and Hiro looks like he's heading that way too. Wayta wipe out the best two characters in the show, guys...)

Simon Pegg surprised me. I mean, I love to guy, don't get me wrong, but I never thought he'd be able to pull of Scotty. And he did. Very very successfully. Chris Pine did Kirk very nicely too. Ultimately the film lived or died by the connection Kirk and Spock shared, which they thankfully got spot on.

So overall, great film. Do see it if you've not already. One of those films that's always going to be best on the big screen rather than at home. Even, probably, on Blu Ray with 7.1 surround sound.

Number 2: Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown.

I'm an unashamed fan of Green Day thanks to American Idiot, which I rank as one of my favourite albums. Certainly my most played. 21st Century Breakdown follows a pretty similar structure: it's a rock opera, although I'm stuggling to fully get the plot at the moment. Having said that, I never even realised AI was a concept album at first, so I'm a bit slow with that kind of thing...

The new album's a little more chilled out than some of their previous stuff. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of heavy repeated riffs and shouty lyrics, but a lot of the songs start off sounding a bit like Queen, actually. No worse off for it though: if you're going to emulate a band, you might as well copy the best!

That's about all I have to say tonight really. Take care, and see Star Trek :D