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Live long and prosper
J.J. Abrams's (Mission Impossible III, Lost) reboot of the influential 1960s series, Star Trek takes place in an alternate history-- A directionless young Kirk (Chris Pine: Bottle Shock, Blind Dating) spends his time picking fights and getting into trouble until he's challenged to live up to his father's memory. As a Starfleet Cadet, Kirk befriends Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban: The Chronicles of Riddick, Pathfinder), develops a crush on Uhura (Zoe Saldana: The Terminal, Vantage Point), and makes an adversary of Spock (Zachary Quinto: Heroes). As the fledgling crew takes the Enterprise on a rescue mission, they find themselves in a life or death struggle with a vengeful Romulan (Eric Bana: Troy, Munich), and the future of Starfleet and planet Earth depends on the crew finding their way and becoming heroes. With Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Spaced), Anton Yelchin (House of D, Charlie Bartlett), and John Cho (Harold and Kumar, American Dreamz), on DVD and Blu-Ray. Now with Rifftrax!
Seattle Movies
Two local films are new this week: the documentary A Wink and a Smile, which follows ten women through Seattle's Academy of Burlesque, and Humpday, starring Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) and Joshua Leonard (20 Years After, Hatchet) as two friends who plan to make an art project where the two straight men have sex for The Stranger's DIY "Hump!" contest, but one of the guys is an adventurous free spirit and the other is a married "white picket fence" type, and neither of them is quite sure how to film a gay scene. Both films were acclaimed at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).
wide releases
Director Larry Charles (Religulous, Masked and Anonymous) bring the last remaining character of Sacha Baron Cohen's (Borat, Sweeney Todd) Da Ali G Show to the big screen in Bruno. The flamboyant fashionista travels to the United States in order to become super-famous, but never seems to get the 
fame he feels entitled to, possibly due to homophobia, or possibly due to "celebrity" behavior: sensationalism, TV grandstanding, and using adopted babies as fashion accessories.
Park Chan Wook's (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) Thirst is a dramatic twist on a vampire tale, where a priest (Song Kang Ho: Shiri, The Host), dying of a fatal disease, is saved by a blood transfusion that not only cured him, but also made him a vampire. Though he tries not to murder anyone, his new lifestyle leads him away from his previous lifestyle, and into the arms of an unhappy woman (Kim Ok Vin), but beginning to make exceptions in his morality leads the vampire to new, irrevocable choices.
Bill Milner (Son of Rambow) is a young boy who lives at the old folk's home run by his parents (Anne-Marie Duff: Notes on a Scandal, The Magdalene Sisters and David Morrissey: The Waterhorse, Basic Instinct 2) in Is Anybody There?, but being surrounded by death and dying has made him obsessed with the afterlife. The boy finds a new perspective when he befriends a retired magician (Michael Caine: Sleuth, Noises Off) who moves into the home.
Nick Cassavetes' (Alpha Dog, The Notebook) family drama My Sister's Keeper stars Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl) as a young girl brought into the world to provide a kidney for her sister (Sofia Vassilieva: Eloise at the Plaza), who is suffering from leukemia. As she struggles for control of her life and her body, the situation defines their family (including Cameron Diaz: There's Something About Mary, The Holiday, Jason Patric: In the Valley of Elah, Narc, and Alec Baldwin: Lymelife, Mercury Rising), and challenges their relationships.
Independent director Jim Jarmusch's (Night on Earth, Dead Man) newest film is The Limits of Control, staring Issach De Bankole (Casino Royale, Battle In Seattle) as a man of few words on a mission in Spain... though he speaks no Spanish. He follows a trail of clues that leads him from contact to contact, and 
across the spanish countryside, until he reaches his destination. With Tilda Swinton (Julia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), John Hurt (Hellboy, Heaven's Gate), Gael Garcia Bernal (The Crime of Padre Amaro, Rudo y Cursi), and Bill Murray (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Razor's Edge).
Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew, Hotel for Dogs) is a spoiled teen in Wild Child, but she finds herself sent to Natasha Richardson's (Nell, The White Countess) boarding school after one prank too many. Deprived of cell phones and designer clothes, she doesn't quite fit in with the popular girls (Georgia King: The Duchess, Little Dorrit and Kimberly Nixon: Cranford, Easy Virtue)... but after time, she might find her way and learn a little bit about life.
A young baseball player (Justin Timberlake: Alpha Dog, Black Snake Moan) heads out to retrieve his always-absent baseball star father (Jeff Bridges: Starman, The Big Lebowski) at the request of his hospitalized mother. As the two men head across the country, they both attempt to make good on their promises, and struggle with the crippling fear of commitment than has been passed along from father to son in The Open Road.
The story of Max, an artist, and Anna, a journalist, Oil on Water follows the couple as they drift from mad love to emotional withdrawal, and the kind of despair that haunts them as it seems their relationship cannot survive.
Henry Ian Cusick (Lost, Hitman) is Charles Darwin in Darwin's Darkest Hour, struggling with the publishing of his life's work, as his family is in turmoil. His wife (Frances O'Connor: Bedazzled, Windtalkers) remains his anchor as they struggle with their son's illness, and their crises of faith.
The two new documentaries this week are Food Beware, about the declining quality of the mass-produced food products and the ill effects suffered by consumers, and Intrepid Descent, about the wilderness skiers who tackle the notorious Tuckerman Ravine, on the tallest peak in New England.
The newest stand-up comedy DVD is Margaret Cho: Beautiful, a 2009 release of the comedienne's live comedy show.
New this week in Reckless Video's TV New Releases are seasons 2 and 3 of the surreal BBC comedy The Mighty Boosh, as well as the complete detective comedy Andy Barker P.I.. We also have the BBC miniseries Diary of Anne Frank, with Tamsin Greig (Black Books, Shaun of the Dead).
