Finally at the frontier

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This article was published 17/07/2016 (3602 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Movies

BIG RELEASE FRIDAY: Star Trek Beyond

BIG PICTURE: After two reboot films in which the crew barely made it out of Earth’s orbit, Beyond could easily be a spa day on Pluto. But Capt. Kirk (Chris Pine) & Co. finally go “where no one has gone before” in their third cinematic voyage: uncharted space. A few standard Trek plot lines ensue: a rescue mission gone wrong, “millions of lives” at stake and yet another Enterprise crashing or blowing up. (At this point, Starfleet must have a hangar of backup ships just waiting to be christened the next Enterprise). Instead of a vengeful villain named Khan, this film offers a vengeful super-alien villain named Krall (Idris Elba). As he warns Kirk, “This is where the frontier pushes back.” It’s also where the final frontier gets Fast & Furious. Justin Lin, a man largely famous for directing Vin Diesel and exploding cars, directs this franchise outing. On the plus side, it’s co-written by Simon Pegg (who knew Scotty had time to be an engineer and a screenwriter?). Fingers crossed Lin stayed true to the source material. If it’s all action and no intellect, he might as well have cast Vin Diesel as Spock. The Vulcan’s new lines such as, “We all find hope in the impossible,” would have been eloquent grunts.

FORECAST: This film will lead to renewed rumours Elba will play James Bond… in his Krall makeup. Imagine an intergalactic spy with a licence to kill (with William Shatner as the new M). Star Trek Beyond will be a fitting tribute to the late actor Anton Yelchin, who returns as Chekov.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Ice Age: Collision Course and Lights Out. There’s nothing like a heartwarming movie about a bunch of cute, talking animals about to go extinct. Am I right? Meanwhile, Lights Out — about a bogeyman figure haunting young children — gets an F for originality. I can’t wait for the sequels Sleep Tight and Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite.

TV

BIG EVENTS: BoJack Horseman (Friday, Netflix, 2:01 a.m.)

BIG PICTURE: It’s partially a testament to lazy summer TV scheduling that the “big event” this week is the season première of a largely unknown, very adult cartoon about a talking horse actor. In Season 3, BoJack is on the cusp of Hollywood superstardom — making him question why he’s so unhappy and still a jackass (or at least a close relation). Will Arnett impeccably voices BoJack; it makes me hope the actor gets cast as Silver in the next reboot of the Lone Ranger. (Amy Sedaris, Aaron Paul and Alison Brie ably bring BoJack’s animated co-stars to life).

FORECAST: No horsing around, BoJack may be the best animated adult comedy in today’s crowded field.

HONOURABLE MENTION: Bones (Thursday, Fox, 7 p.m.). Season 11 of this formulaic procedural closes its books. (I know, I’m surprised it’s still on the air, too.) More importantly, Bones’ title gives me an idea. Star Trek is back, sci-fi characters such as Han Solo are getting origin stories and CBS has announced a new Trek show to launch in January. Isn’t it about time for a spinoff project about the Starfleet medical school exploits of a surly, young Dr. Leonard (Bones) McCoy? It would be like Grey’s Anatomy in space, but with McGrumpy instead of McDreamy.

Music

BIG RELEASE FRIDAY: Look Park (Look Park)

BIG PICTURE: Sure, the band name and album name are painfully uninspiring. But they’re not a random pairing of verb and noun; they’re an actual park in Northampton, Mass. This is a new solo project from Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne. The musical edition of Look Park is home to psychedelic rock, a rhythm section, harmonies, keyboards, reverb and plenty of mellotron. Most importantly, it’s easier to dive into than Fountain of Wayne.

FORECAST: Collingwood’s solo path is on solid ground. Meanwhile, the album could inspire Drake to include even more Canadian references in his next output. With his Toronto album tribute, Views From the 6, behind him, I expect a five-song EP tribute to the Great Lakes — mainly as a poor excuse for the hip-hop star’s label to film a parade of champagne and bikini-filled yacht videos.

(DIS)HONOURABLE MENTION: The Ghostbusters soundtrack. Sure, it came out earlier this month. But if you want true horror, listen to Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott’s atrocious cover of Ray Parker Jr.’s 1984 title track to the original film. Even if you’re “not afraid of no ghost,” the 21st-century rendition of this iconic song will make you scream. (I recommend you buy earplugs and play the new single on loop in your backyard to scare animals away from your garden.)

Twitter: @chrislackner79