Prime Time Geek

 

 PTG Episode 20 Hour 1: Maximum Warp-Star Trek Lives Again [60:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (46)

Hour 1 of Prime Time Geek Episode 20 is brought to you by this sound clip from the all-new, all-awesome Star Trek film from director J.J. Abrams, featuring Jim Kirk’s (Chris Pine) first meeting with a slightly unnerved Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban) as they sit together aboard the shuttle that will whisk them off to Starfleet Academy. One of the best things about the new Trek film that in my opinion cannot be hailed enough is the performance of actor Karl Urban, who simply vanishes into the role of “Bones” McCoy and makes him real in a way that I can only imagine the late DeForest Kelley would have enjoying viewing. I’ve sung the praises of Urban before–despite career lowlights like Pathfinder and Doom, the man’s done solid, engaging work in Hollywood, including supporting turns in The Bourne Supremacy and Chronicles of Riddick. His characters, however secondary they might be to the leads in a film, are always interesting, and that’s something I believe is wholly attributable to the actor himself. But Star Trek should be a breakout performance for him–watch out for more leading roles for Urban as the Hollywood starmaking machine sits up and takes notice of who everyone talks about when they walk of seeing Trek.

In addition to my full review of Star Trek, Hour 1 of PTG this week features reviews of DC Comics‘ Power Girl #1, by writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and illustrated by Amanda Conner (click HERE to listen to PTG’s interview with Palmiotti and Conner about Power Girl and her new series!), and The Flash: Rebirth #2 by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, both of which are definitely worth your while to pick up if you haven’t yet. We wrap up the hour by reviewing the penultimate episode of Smallville for this 8th season, “Injustice”, which is definitely worth watching if only to have a great example of less-than-stellar scripting, direction, and acting. For those of us more discriminating Smallville fans who fondly remember when this show was compelling and when we could wholeheartedly recommend the show to others as “good, fun” television, this point in the series is an all-time low, and if you’re like me at all, the only thing to look forward to about this week’s finale, “Doomsday”, airing on Thursday, May 14th, is that it is, in fact, the end of the season and we’ll be spared anymore inane silliness for the summer.

At this point, especially if you disagree with me and you think this season of Smallville has been great, you may be thinking, “Well, if you think it’s so lame, then why the hell do you keep watching?” It was put best in a forgotten Blake Edwards film from the late ’80s called Skin Deep, starring the late John Ritter. Ritter’s character, Zack, is a writer who, in the face of writer’s block he can’t overcome, has ruined his marriage by drowning himself in booze and extramarital affairs. At one point early in the film, after getting verbally jabbed for his now-lackluster wit by his agent, Zack asks, “If you think my stuff is crap, then why do you keep representing me?”

The agent’s response was (and here’s the point, folks), “That’s like asking a heroine addict why he keeps shooting up. It’s because he keeps hoping for the euphoria of that first high, even though he knows deep down inside that it will never happen.” And there’s your answer to why I keep watching Smallville. Hope springs eternal, and I, like Clark, never give up hope that things can get better.