Although the special effects are now somewhat dated, the “Star Trek” original series has always occupied a special place in my geeky heart. What the show may have lacked in budget, it more than made up for with great characters and good storytelling. Captain Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Dr. McCoy, Scotty and the rest of the original Enterprise crew have become some of science fiction’s most beloved characters. Though we never got to see the end of their five-year mission, they’ve never completely faded from pop culture.
However, back in early 2009, the “Star Trek” franchise as a whole wasn’t faring too well. The most recent film “Star Trek: Nemesis” wasn’t a huge hit, and the most recent TV show “Star Trek: Enterprise” was canceled in 2005 due to low ratings. The franchise was in need of a shot of adrenalin — and it received a major one, thanks to J.J. Abrams’ explosive and exciting 2009 reboot, titled simply “Star Trek.” Continue reading
“Big man in a suit of armor — take that off, what are you?”
Before 2008, many people weren’t familiar with the Marvel comic book superhero Iron Man. DC Comics characters Superman and Batman had long been the two most famous superheroes, and no one was expecting a movie based on Tony Stark — a snarky narcissist in a metal suit — to be a mega-hit.
At first glance, Jack Harper doesn’t seem very different from other average, everyday Americans. Each morning, he wakes up, travels to work, comes home, eats dinner, goes to bed, and then wakes up and does it all over again.
As a self-professed film addict and lover of all things fantasy and science fiction, summer tends to be my favorite time of the year at the box office. 
This is when Hollywood tends to roll out the best of its big-budget films, and this summer, we have quite a selection: from superheroes, to giant fighting robots to the return of the USS Enterprise. Although the reception to the 2013 films released so far has been a bit lukewarm, quite a few hotly-anticipated films will come out in the next few months. Here are some of the most buzzed-about movies this summer: 
I’ll never forget the first time I watched “Jurassic Park.” It’s an intense, harrowing experience — and one that continues to make me jump, no matter how many times I’ve watched it since then. From the moment the characters first land on the ill-fated island where dinosaurs have been brought back to life, to the end where the survivors barely manage to escape with their lives, director Steven Spielberg doesn’t give viewers much of a chance to stop and catch their breath. If the T. rex isn’t terrorizing the characters and trying to rip apart their SUV, then the vicious velociraptors are on the prowl, and by the time you realize you’re being tracked, it’s already too late.
All film fans have their guilty pleasures: movies we know fall short of cinematic greatness, but for whatever reason, we still love them anyway. Maybe it’s the over-the-top alien invasion movie “Independence Day” with its endless explosions, or maybe it’s “Armageddon,” featuring Bruce Willis and Co.’s quest to destroy a giant asteroid headed for Earth. For me, one of my favorite film guilty pleasures is 2009′s “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.”
It’s been more than 70 years since Hollywood first took us on a journey down the yellow brick road into the magical land of Oz. In the 1939 musical classic “The Wizard of Oz,” a girl named Dorothy dons a pair of sparkling red slippers and sets off on a quest to end the reign of a wicked witch and find her way back home to Kansas.
For 30 years, Wreck-It Ralph has played the villain inside an arcade video game. Each time a child puts a quarter into the machine, he starts smashing a high-rise apartment building. As the residents begin to panic, out pops “Fix-It Felix” with his magic hammer to repair the damage Wreck-It Ralph has done. At the end of the game, Ralph is banished, while Felix is showered with praise and given a bright, shiny medal.
By Ashley Bergner
