Daily Archives: June 29, 2024

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn
Directed by Nicholas Meyer
Written by Jack B. Sowards based on a TV series created by Gene Roddenberry
1982/US
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube rental

Spock: [closing monologue] Space: the final frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Ricardo Montalban’s villain is the best part of this science-fiction adventure.

James T. Kirk (William Shatner) has been promoted to Admiral of the Starfleet. He comes back to inspect his old stomping grounds on the starship Enterprise. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is now captain and all the characters in the TV series appear once more.

Two hundred years ago Kirk marooned his rival Khan (Montalban) on a dead planet without resources. Khan managed to survive with a small crew and is obsessed with revenge. He is also interested in a life-generating device known as Genesis which has been developed by Kirk’s former lover Carol on Regula 1. Most of the film is devoted to a cat and mouse chase between Kirk and Kahn. A cat and mouse chase with plenty of explosives.

I have a complicated relationship with Star Trek.  During my childhood my younger brother had series reruns on rotation 24/7.  This irritated the hell out of me particularly because we had assigned days for choosing what to watch and it seemed I was always home during my brothers’ turns and away during mine.

Anyway, this is a well-done film but nothing I would choose to watch again.  On the other hand, Montalban is a total kick in the pants.  I watched the director’s cut.  The special effects are old-school but effective.  Kirstie Alley made her feature-film debut here as a Vulcan trainee.

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip
Directed by Joe Layton
Written by Richard Pryor
1982/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube rental

Richard Pryor: One time, it looked like I had an appendage on my hand – was a pipe. Cause this pipe used to tell me when to go to bed. The pipe would say, “Time to get up. Time for some smoke, Rich. Come on now. We’re not going to do anything today. Fuck all of your appointments. Me and you just going to hang out in this room together.” And I’d get mad and frustrated. People didn’t understand me and the pipe would say, “Come in the room with me. I’ve got you covered. I know how you feel, Rich. I understand. Just light me up, hold me for a couple of days, and we’ll talk it over.”

This concert film has to capture one of the best standup comedy routines ever.

Richard Pryor’s material includes:  experience filming at a penitentiary; his trip to Africa; relationship advice; race relations;  an appearance by his character Mudbone with some folk wisdom; “Mafia nightclub”and finally his self-immolation while free-basing cocaine in 1980.

I saw this on original release. I loved it then and I still love it. It has not aged one bit. The topics may not sound hilarious but his descriptions certainly are. And unlike many such routines, it is all personal and relatable. Anybody who doesn’t enjoy profanity should definitely give this a miss. Highly recommended to all others.