Sunday, May 05, 2013

Into Darkness

"Darkness is coming" ~ John Harrison.
Update: I enjoyed one of only 300 early screenings in the USA, only one in Maine, on May 15th. It is an incredible film that is not as dark as the promotional material would have you expect. Still, this movie, along with Iron Man 3, certainly start off another "dark" summer of motion pictures, a growing trend.

Near the beginning, there is an explosion in a big city. Sound familiar?
Star Trek Into Darkness really gets going with a terrorist attack in London.
Movie openings, film legacies, and violent incidents have gone hand in hand, of late.

Dark Knight opened July 23, 2008, in Belguim; Heath Ledger died January 22, 2009, in New York City; nursery attack (3 killed, 12 injured) occurred on January 23, 2009, allegedly by the Dendermonde Joker in Belguim.


Captain America opened July 22, 2011 in USA; Anders Behring Breivik on July 22, 2011, set off a car bomb in Oslo, shown above (killed 8, injured 209) and attacked youth camp on Utøya island, Norway (killed 69, injured 110).

Dark Knight Rises opened midnight July 20, 2012; James Holmes allegedly targeted Dark Knight Rises while dressed as Bane with Joker underneath (allegedly killed 12, allegedly injured 58), July 20, 2012, Aurora, Colorado, to Newtown, Connecticut, where on December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza killed his mother, then went to the Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 children and 6 adult staff (total 27).

What have the major studios learned from these recent events? Don't open a blockbuster movie in 2013 on July 20, 21, 22, and 23.  This year, on the closest Fridays, you will note that Red 2 is due to open on July 19, and The Wolverine on July 26. These are not movies in the same darker mold as Man of Steel (June 14), The Lone Ranger (July 5), and Star Trek Into Darkness (May 17) this year.

Star Trek Into Darkness opens in Britain on May 9, 2013, and in the United States on May 17, 2013, the 12th film in the Star Trek franchise that was created about 50 years ago by Gene Roddenberry and led to six TV series.

May 9th is a date called Victory Day throughout most countries in the old Soviet Union, for victory over Nazi Germany was achieved by the Soviet Union on that date. Parades and other celebrations are sometimes still held. Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov and 23 other people were killed in a bombing in the capital Grozny, during a World War II memorial victory parade in 2004. In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb exploded during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130, in 2002.

And Star Trek Into Darkness, relatively speaking, opens with a boom....

Let us hope the only darkness is on the screen this time.

But let's not forget....

Boston Marathon Bombing - Three killed, 299 injured
Boston (above and below)
London (below)
 Star Trek Into Darkness opens midnight the evening May 16th, in some US locations.



 Darkness can be evil personified.

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5 comments:

  1. Enki3:24 PM

    Thor: The Dark World, is scheduled for release in November. I mentioned in an earlier comment that the line," I thought you said it was a subtle aurora!" was spoken near the beginning of the first Thor film.

    We seem to be stuck on a treadmill of eternal darkness and bloodshed, which pop culture reflects and possibly reinforces. It is time to get off.

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  2. Loren Coleman4:02 PM

    The passage from Thor is:

    Darcy Lewis: Jane, I think you wanna see this.
    [Jane looks at the sky to see an amazing ray of light shining through the dark clouds]
    Jane Foster: What is that?
    [going onto the roof of their vehicle to get a clearer look]
    Jane Foster: God!
    Erik Selvig: I thought you said it was a subtle aurora!
    [to Darcy]
    Jane Foster: Go!
    [Darcy suddenly starts the car and speeds towards the light]

    My emphasis.

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  3. Brizdaz (Darren)6:57 PM

    With a title like
    "Star Trek Into Darkness"
    I wouldn't want to be a star in this film .-)

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  4. Anonymous1:05 PM

    The villian in the movie is actually part of the Star Trek 'Federation.' The attack then is by definition an 'inside job.'

    Also note the black trenchcoat the villian has on in the poster for the movie. Harking back to Columbine and other mass shooting incidents where the perps wore black trenchcoats.

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  5. purrlgurrl8:50 PM

    How far Star Trek has come since its birth as "hippies in space" television with a general theme of peace and understanding (except for the Romulans, of course).

    That's why the franchise remains so successful and relevant. It has been kept morphing to always reflect the current zeitgeist. It's now almost a mirror opposite to the 60s' unfounded optimism about universal brotherhood that birthed it.

    Terrorism in the US has been a fact of life for 20 years (the first WTC bombing was in 1993) and has been part and parcel of much film and TV since then, most notably in the highly successful 24 (which is now in planning as a big screen blockbuster).

    I wonder more if 24 will be the film that brings along with it major real world impacts? I truly hope not.

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