From Here to Eternity (1953)

Rating: 80%
This is another film that I keep looking at the cover of and keep wanting to see it to know what it's about. Here's my review for From Here to Eternity.

Plot: set in 1941, Private Prewitt transfers from the Bugle Corps to a rifle unit at Company "G" at Schofield Barracks in Oahu. When captain Holmes hears his reputation as a middleweight boxer, he asks Prewitt to join their team but he refuses stating that he quit boxing. So Holmes tries to make things a living hell for Prewitt until he gives in. Meanwhile, First Sergeant Warden falls in love with Holmes' wife Karen on whom Holmes has been unfaithful to, and Prewitt falls for a woman named Lorene at a gentleman's club called the New Congress Club.

Okay this didn't completely blow me away, but I liked it. The stories were interesting, the characters were enjoyable and were well acted, - Frank Sinatra seems to stand out the most which I would agree with, from his last scene in the film for sure. The general concept of what happens during most of the movie may not have aged well since it's a little familiar, (like I personally can't help but think of Top Fun a little with some parts of this film)  but I think it works out. But personally I think my only real issue is that I don't think the stories completely balance out. I generally say that because I kind of wanted more of Warden and Karen's story. They were already a little interesting in the beginning what with how he's having an affair with her against her husband who's always cheating her, but then you have the beach scene and she talks about what happened during the earlier years of her marriage and I ended up liking her character more. From that I personally wanted more from their story and thought they could've done more. I mean they did eventually but I don't think it paid off as much as I hoped it would. But anyway, I also liked the fighting during the very end. They did a good with that one stunt especially of a guy getting show down by a plane I thought they did a rather impressive job on.

And that's my review for From Here to Eternity. The plot may be familiar and some of the stories aren't balanced out, but it still has great characters, very well acted, good action and is altogether an enjoyable film all around.

The Apartment (1960)

Rating: 50%
Well it's been a bit since I last reviewed a winner from the 60's so let's take another look at that decade with The Apartment.

Plot: Baxter is a lonely office drudge who at a national insurance cooperation. But as a way to get higher in the cooperate ranks, he allows some of the company managers to borrow his apartment for when they are picking up women. Eventually the personal director Sheldrake find out when he interviews Baxter for a promotion, and he give him the promotion along with tickets for The Music Man on the condition that he can use his apartment too. Baxter convinces a elevator operator named Fran whom he's had his eye on for a while to come to the show with him, but before she does, she meets an old fling of hers who turn out to be Sheldrake. Sheldrake tells her that he intends to divorce his wife for her and so they spend the night at Baxter's apartment. 

I'm afraid this is another one of those films that despite getting really good praise during it's time, it was just okay to me. The concept of the story I sort of liked with how specifically this office drudge is helping his superiors so he can go higher up the cooperate ladder in return. And the second half of the film was a little interesting with how they kept the story going. But may main problem is I didn't really care for the characters. It's not that they were horribly acted, but I couldn't help not really caring for them. Baxter especially I didn't find him really being more then a guy who is really just a "doormat" (as critic Mary Ann Johanson put it) and kind of creepy when it comes to how he has specifically been eying on Fran. He even openly admits some of how he's been doing that right in front of her and I'm left being a little curious what he was thinking and why she wasn't really weirded out about it. This film also got negative reviews for how it has themes of infidelity and adultery. To that I say that while I wasn't super disturbed at the fact that it did have that, it did seem a little surprising that they would have those themes in a movie from around the 60's I don't claim to be an expert as to when those kind of things were less of a big deal in film as time went on, it's messed up that they have it in this film from only 1960. To which I"m glad that based on those reviews, I'm glad I'm not the only person who feels that way. To be fair it's not like this film has any sex scenes or anything like that, but they still touch on those themes which I think is enough considering the time. 

And That's my review for The Apartment. It has an okay story, but it has characters like Baxter who are not very memorable or particularly interesting, and it has themes that are questionable considering the film's time. Altogether, The Apartment wasn't that great for me, so I wouldn't really recommend it. 

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Rating: 85%
Well I needed to get back to reviewing the more recent best picture winners at some point, so let's start off with the last best picture winner from the 80's: Driving Miss Daisy.

Plot: Daisy Werthan is a 72-year old widow in Alabama, Georgia who lives alone in her house under the exception of her African-American housemaid Idella. One day Daisy has trouble with her car and ends up wrecking it on accident and so her son, Boolie wants her to have a chauffeur for her own good but she stubbornly refuses. But then Boolie finds an African American man named Hoke who was a chauffeur for a judge, and hires him to drive for his mother. Daisy refuses to have Hoke drive her, but after she fells embarrassed whenever Hoke drives her around in her car when she goes on errands on foot, she agrees to let him drive her. 

This is a nice and sweet film. It has a very nice story, it is warm and well paced, it does a very good job at getting better and deeper as it goes on, and it's just a good film altogether. Notice how I didn't mention the acting in that sentence. That's because that can't just be summed up in a short part in the middle of that sentence because the acting is generally the heart of this film. I mean the stars themselves shouldn't have to go without saying; Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, I don't seem to have seem Tandy in a lot of other films, but Freeman and Aykroyd are well known to me. But even if Tandy isn't known to me, she's just as memorable in this film as Freeman and Aykroyd. All three of them - Tandy and Freeman especially played very charming characters. They were well acted, the chemistry was well shown, and it had some really well done makeup during the end of the movie. It doesn't surprise me a whole lot that this film won best makeup at the oscars too because they did it remarkably well and it really helped with telling the end of the story. Now this film does go into the racism from around that time, but I don't think they really shove it in your face. They picked the right moments to get into that and I think they did it in a way that worked. 

And that's my review for Driving Miss Daisy. It's a nice warm story that doesn't go too much into the racism at that time, (at least not for me) and otherwise is a nice time for watching some memorable performances from Tandy, Freeman and Akyroyd.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Rating: 90%
So this best picture winner is the film that came a year after the end of WWII and is also the film that actually beat It's A Wonderful Life for the best picture slot ( I know right?) So here's my review for The Best Years of Our Lives.

Plot: Three veterans named Fred, Homer and Al all return home in Boone City after the end of WWII. Fred is a decorated Air Force captain, Homer is a sailor who lost both of his hands when his carrier sunk, and Al is a platoon sergeant. All three of them have trouble getting back into civilization after the war. Fred has been given his old job as a soda jerk much to his wife's displeasure. Al has been given back his job as a bank loan officer because of his experience, but when he gives a fellow veteran a loan, his boss tell him not to make a habit of it. And Homer and his parents have trouble adapting to his disability and pushes his fiancee away to avoid being a burden for her despite her claims that she feels otherwise.

I actually ended up particularly enjoying this movie. It didn't start out too strong at first, but after a while I did come to really care about these characters and what they went through. It shows how rough it was for veterans during the aftermath of the war with trying to find jobs, seeing their families again, and just all around trying to get back into civilization. It's well acted, it's touching... it may leave out some characters that I kind of wanted to see more or and go on a couple of directions that I figured they were going to go, but I found those issues to be minor issues personally. Now as I said in the intro paragraph,    this was the film that defeated It's A Wonderful Life for best picture during this year. Now is this another issue where the winner had no right to defeat the loser? You better believe it. Don't get me wrong, I understand why the academy did it. It's a film that has all to do what's happened to our troops after only one year of being home from the biggest war at that time. So it makes sense to have this film pulls the strings for the academy and have a good portion of the audience to feel the same way with that decision. But there's no way around it, It's A Wonderful Life is better. It just had so much more power and heartstring-pulling that makes it VERY little wonder that it's much more popular and memorable then this film. (hmm...personal note: make sure to finally review It's A Wonderful Life this christmas even though I keep failing to do that every year.) But just because that one is so much grander as a film, that doesn't automatically mean The Best Years of our Lives is a bad movie. Because it's still has it's moments of being emotional through the experience of these characters. So while The Best Years of Our Lives has little to no right to win against a classic like It's A Wonderful Life, it's still a good enough movie to be a somewhat respectful opponent for It's A Wonderful Life to lost to.

And that's my review for The Best Years of Our Lives. It's well acted, it's touching, it goes very deep (but not completely deep) into what veterans and their families go through after WWII and while shouldn't have won, it's still enjoyable and it makes sense why it won best picture during its year.

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Rating: 80%
Best picture winner film + Gregory Peck = yay!

Plot: Philip Green is a widowed journalist who has just moved to New York with his son and mother. During the beginning of his stay, he meets a magazine publisher who want Philip - a gentile - to write an article about Antisemitism. Philip has trouble trying to find a way to approach the topic, but then he comes with the idea of claiming to everyone that he is Jewish under the identity of Phil Greenberg and writes about his first-hand experience. Meanwhile he falls in love with the publisher's niece, Kathy and begins dating her.

Okay maybe it's cheating to give this film a positive review mostly because of Gregory Peck...but can you really blame me? It's still Gregory Peck who in some ways is still being a very caring father and otherwise a man who wants to fight for those who are not being treated as equals in a manner somewhat similar to his performance as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird...though EASILY not as heroic or film historically memorable. Despite the big differences there is to both performances, he still comes out that way to me and also is on a subject that is a little new to me when it comes to film. I can't say I've seen a lot of movies that have to do with Antisemitism here in America - not too long after WWII on top of that. So while a story on racism as a whole wasn't new, the particular kind of racism and how they where explaining it was a little new for me as a story. Looking back though, I would say that while they do talk about it a lot, they don't necessarily show it a lot aside from two or three particular scenes. And while I wouldn't completely find it an issue, I can see where some people would be going when they would say that this film is preachy. But does that make this film bad? No. Because it still has a fairly different story, good performances for other actors besides Pack such as Dorothy McGuire and is just enjoyable all around. 

And that's my review for Gentleman's Agreement, It may fall a little short in really showing the subject rather then just talking about it and it could appear as peachy for some people, but otherwise it has a good story that was new enough for me, and good performances from the majority of the cast...but mostly Gregory Peck. 

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Rating: 75%
Okay it looks like some people are not going to be entirely happy with my rating for this particular movie, but I got to be honest with how I felt, so here's my review for The Lost Weekend.

Plot: Don Birnam is an alcoholic who has spend the past six years living with his brother Wick due to his addiction. Wick along with Don's girlfriend Helen have been trying to get Don to break his addiction and get him to try to stop but to no avail. Wick begins to give up on trying to help his brother, but Helen is refuses to give up.

Now I wouldn't exactly say that this didn't deserve to win best picture during its time. But I just can't help but find the whole thing to be a cliche on a whole. I mean don't get me wrong, it's discussing a very serious and dark problem that countless people suffer from in any day and age, not just back in 1945. And there's nothing wrong with that. Also they do display it very well with how desperate Don gets when he wants a drink and how hard it is to fight it, making it little wonder that he won Best Actor for his performance. Heck, the last quarter or so of the film was pretty suspenseful, especially with the rat and the bat moment. While that scene didn't scare me to death or anything, I will admit that it was really creepy and I'd hate to be like Don and see something like that whether I'm drunk or not. Even though the bat was totally fake when it was flying around, they made up for it with the ending with the rat squeals, the blood, and how Don was screaming in fear. That scene just really stood out for me. So with that said, it does show the terrible things that alcoholics go through, and it ends with a line Don says that was a really good way to give the audience the all around message. But when it comes to a story, I guess I just didn't find it all that original. I mean it's not terrible or anything, but under a couple exceptions like the rat and the bat moment, it wasn't all that new to me with how he's always dying for a drink and he has a woman in his life who refuses to give up. That kind of stopped me from liking this film the way everyone else seems to have. It's not that I hated it - I mean I'm giving it a positive rating and all - but it was still an issue for me with the movie as a whole.

And that's my review for The Lost Weekend. As a story it may not be that thrilling for me personally, but it still is well acted, has some really good suspenseful moments, and it does go into a problem that many people in 1945, and today and...well ANY time and age go through that makes this film worth watching.   

Hamlet (1948)

Rating: 70%
The next best picture winner is Hamlet. Nuff said.

Plot:Well I'm pretty sure just about all of you who are reading this review know the actual story. But for those of you know don't, Hamlet is a prince in Denmark who has just lost his father. His mother marries his uncle and become king of Denmark. But then Hamlet comes across the ghost of his father who claims that he was actually murdered by his uncle so he can become king, so the ghost tells Hamlet to avenge him. Troubled by this news, Hamlet thinks about whether or not what the ghost said is true and that he should kill his uncle to avenge his father's death.

Honestly to me, this was just Hamlet. I'm not saying that it's bad or anything, but it wasn't something you'd already know if you know the story almost scene by scene. But I'm in no way saying that this movie is bad. It does give out some very good performances. They do a fairly good job in actually express how they are feeling with whatever is actually happening. I guess I didn't really expect that from this film because my brother had told me that he wasn't all that entertained when he saw this film a couple years ago or so. And I will also add that I ended up particularly enjoying the last half an hour or so of the film. The sword fighting was actually really well done, the last scene with Ophelia really showed how she goes mad, and I liked the symbolism with the last moment they had with Claudius. I thought it was a really nice touch. So with all of that said, it was better then I thought it would be. But that doesn't mean I was completely entertained. It was still Hamlet, a story that just about everyone knows. It gave us the story almost completely the way it was written - they completely left out the characters Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, which I was personally surprised about the last two and found that to be another down - so while it did things better then I thought they would, it wasn't much for me personally.

And that's basically my review for Hamlet. It's not a huge thing for me personally since I'm not a die hard fan of the play or anything, but it does have good performances, really enjoyable last half hour, and despite cutting some characters out, it otherwise give you Hamlet plain and simple making it a fairly enjoyable film to see.

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Rating: 65%
Alright next on the best picture winners from the 50's, we have Around The World in 80 Days...nuff said.

Plot: 1872, an English gentleman Phileas Fogg claims that he can go around the world in 80 days. So he makes a bet of 20,000 pounds with the fellow members of the Reform Club. So with the help of his new valet Passepartout, Fogg starts to travel either by balloon, ship or train to try to go around the world in that amount of time before he loses everything due to the wager.

So...yeah this is another film among the best picture winners that falls into the "nice" category. But let's start with what's good about it.It's pretty loyal to the book. I mean I haven't completely read the book myself, but I have heard most of the beginning and end and maybe some parts of the middle here and there from a book on CD in my dad's car from when we went on a trip into the mountains one time. But I'm pretty sure that's enough for me to know the very basic main points of the all around story, and it seems they did all of that pretty well. This film does a decent job at really exploring all these different parts of the world. And finally Passepartout did a really good job as the comedy relief for the whole film. But then you have what's bad about this film: firstly, I feel they may have given Passepartout a little too much attention. I mean he makes the film entertaining, but I think that gave us little to go with for Fogg or some of the other characters. Maybe that's how it is with the whole story in general. I don't really know for sure since I didn't read the entire book, but maybe that's a general issue for not giving us a whole lot with any of the other main characters. Secondly this film was much too long. There were some scenes that needed to be cut down, because I don't think it really needed to be 3 hours and a couple of minutes long. Finally I can't help but not like how they ended the movie. I"m not spoiling anything, but how they used the last minute or so seemed way to abrupt and stupid to really make sense as a way to end the movie.

And that's my review for Around the World in 80 Days. It's a light-hearted film that tells the story well as far as I know from listening to some of it from the book on CD, it can be pretty amusing to see so much of the world from just this film, and you get a fairly entertaining performance from Passepartout. But otherwise it's doesn't give us a whole lot on the main characters aside from Passepartout, it's way too long and it finishes in a way that I personally found to be dumb. It's a decent flick to give us the story of Around the World in 80 Days, but it's not much after that.

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Rating: 55%
Alright so let's move on with best picture winners with one that I remember my brother talking about how bad it apparently was. Here's my 425th review: The Greatest Show on Earth.

Plot: Brad is the general manager of the world's largest railroad circus, who comes through a bunch of troubles as he tries to make a large profit from the circus. Firstly his girlfriend, Holly gets out of the center ring when the management hires a world class trapeze named Sebastian who takes a liking to Holly along with many other woman. Secondly, one of the midway concessionaires, Henry is suspected of running crooked games of chance under the employment of a mysterious gangster. And finally, Buttons the Clown appears to be hiding from someone unbeknownst to Brad.  

To me, this has the melodrama of Broadway Musical, and the unnecessary length to The Great Ziegfeld   and...that's almost it. Most of the time the film is either throwing in all this melodrama between Brad, Holly, Sebastian and some other woman whose name I...am not sure if they even gave her one. But otherwise they're just showing us a circus with pretty much everything you'd see in a circus...except for the Disney mascots that they threw in about halfway in. And that's kind of the majority of just about anything that happens in this film. I mean too the film's credit, it does give the story a kind of decent turn turing around the last half hour. But also to a tiny bit of the film's credit but really to it's failure, the best part of this film is the fact that this film has James Stewart, whose character is a missed opportunity.  And I say that for several reasons: 1) He's James Stewart 2) he's a clown with a mysterious past, 3) he's James Stewart 4) he's practically everyone's best friend in the circus 5) he's James Stewart 6) he's funny as a clown 7)...did I mention that he's James Stewart?...aw who cares, I mean IT'S FREAKING JAMES STEWART!!!!!! Buttons the Clown was a very interesting character and the fact that he was played by a star like James Stewart just makes him better, and the fact that they hardly went really into him until around the end is just...fail! But it's not without it's good moments. Sometimes just watching the circus can be really fun with looking at all the tricks with the trapeze and elephants, and Buttons and the other clowns where fairly funny. And again, the turn that they took during the last half hour or so was actually a good way to give the film a climax and resolution...at least for what it's worth.

And that's basically my review for The Greatest Show on Earth. It'll have some points as far goes as just watching a circus and having an okay climax, but otherwise it's way too long, has some melodrama that you just don't really care about from the main characters, and has a missed opportunity with James Stewart as Buttons the Clown. I'm sure it was good during its time, but it just doesn't hold out today. 

Gigi (1958)

Rating: 75%
Alright so here's the next best picture to review: Gigi.

Plot: Gigi is a young girl who lives with her mother and grandmother in turn-of-the-20th-century Paris. She is learning to be a courtesan from her Great Aunt Alicia while her grandmother spend time with a wealthy young man named Gaston who has grown to be bored with his life. After Gaston recently publicly humiliates his mistress, he decides to go on a vacation by the sea and Gigi convinces him to take her and her grandmother with him, and they have a great time. Because of this, Alicia wants to work more into Gigi's education to try to make Gigi as a prize to Gaston, much to the former two's unawareness.

While I wouldn't say this film holds up after all these years, I still ended up enjoying it for the most part. It's well acted, the story was not spectacular but it was still good, and the music was...alright. When I say alright, I mean that while you might like most of the music, most of the songs turn out to be very plain and not very groundbreaking as far as music goes - especially coming from the guy that did My Fair Lady. But at the same time I ended up liking the songs anyway at least when it came to the subject matter behind them. When I say that, I mean that some of them are about things I feel that we don't usually hear when listening to a musical such as songs like The Parisians and I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore. Yet at the same time I have issues with some of them like how Gaston's Soliloquy seems a little too similar to I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face from My Fair Lady, (to which I feel the fact that this was done by Frederick Loewe who has done the music for both of them explains it.) But I think the worst is the very first song Thank Heaven For Little Girls. When I brought up to my brother that I had just seen this film, the first thing he said was "wasn't that song just creepy?" Why would he say that? Because it's sung by Uncle Honoré who is an old guy. And and old guy singing about little girls...that does sound pretty darn creepy. But other then that, the characters where acceptable, the story was confusing at some point but was still enjoyable for the most part, ultimately it's not one of the best film musicals or musicals in general, but you can still enjoy it for the most part.

And that's my review for Gigi. It's not a great musical with it's songs that have somewhat unique subjects but doesn't change much in terms of tune, or characters and story that you would find particularly great or memorable. But it still turn out to be a simple musical with a simple story you'd expect from a musical that in a way makes it a decent time to watch.

My Top 15 Songs from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

WARNING: The following list was made a couple of months after the end of season 3. So this was made before Equestria Girls and season 4, both of which have some songs that would've been added on this list if it was made around then. So if you're asking why some songs from either from the movie or the latest season aren't here, that's why.

So as very few of you know, I actually am what people call a Brony. Which means I'm a guy (straight guy at that) who likes the TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Yes I know that sounds weird but it's something that is starting to become more popular. Even though it's originally made for pretty much little girls (as you'd think it's audience would be), the show actually turned out to have some very lovable characters, enjoyable stories and some themes that have ultimately made the show much more lovable for young adults and older (mostly guys but there's a lot of girls into this as well) which has since started this big fandom all over this show. Now today there's one fairly good thing about the show that I want to talk about; and that is their songs. Whether light and girly or not quite girly at all, MLP:FIM has come up with some very fun, very enjoyable and sometimes catchy-above-all-else songs that make the show such a joy for a lot of people like me to watch. In fact, some are so good that some Bronies or Pegasisters (women who like MLP) like me, might rewatch certain episodes once in a while just to eventually get to the songs and rewind and listen to them again and again until they're all good and then finish the episode. So today I'm declaring what are my top 15 songs from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.


15) At The Gala

Now I know I'm going to have a lot of bronies and pegasisters disagree with me with choosing this song into the list, but honestly, I admit that I like it. During most of the song, it has a very nice melody, it's sung well with a chorus no doubt, it's the only song where all of the Mane Six (the name for all six of the main characters) get their own personal verse in one big song. But when I talk to some people about this song they often respond with hating it. My brother especially finds the tune really grating just on how happy the tune is and so has found it to be the worst song he ever heard because of it. I can kind of see where he's going, but I still personally enjoy it. But there is one problem I did have with this song for a while during the first couple of months being a brony. Around the second half of it, we get the verse for Rainbow Dash which I found to be really out of place with the rest of the song. The first half is all nice with this whimsical, enchanting melody. But then we get to Rainbow Dash's verse where the pacing is faster and the melody and instrumental music are completely different and therefore totally derailed where the song was going. Granted, after a while the verse became fun to listen to anyway and even before that they did managed to slowly and yet surely get back to the right melody and pacing that the song originally was in during Pinkie Pie and Twilight's verses, but... during the those first couple of months of being a brony, Rainbow Dash's verse just felt so off. But I digress. Despite whatever issues the song my have, it was still the shows first big musical number that paid off in my book to at least make it to the bottom of this list.

14) Raise This Barn

 Dang nabbit with this song. It's just one of those songs that just will never leave your mind. Or at least the general chorus for sure will never leave. During this song, the Apple family are rebuilding their barn (after it gets destroyed for the 4th or 5th time in the whole series. Seriously, what's up with that?), and so Applejack rounds up the whole family with her first and currently only song of her own. On one hand this song hardly has the best lyrics that they have come up with. When you think about it, the lyrics seem to make the whole song is actually meant for 4 year olds, which is actually saying a lot. Because most of these songs in this show - at least in my opinion - don't always act like they're meant specifically for their target audience. Most of the time these songs are treated almost just as seriously as any song in general, which is part of why they have become loved by people around my age as well as little kids because they make them so that we can all enjoy them. But sadly this is not entirely the case with the lyrics in this song. They made the song appear more for kids then they usually do in the show and that has resulted in a few people really disliking it. And I would completely dislike it too...if it wasn't for the music that came with the lyrics. Because on the other hand, just...holy crap is it catchy. The pacing, the energy with a basic hoedown and square dancing feel too it is just...*singing* Raise this barn, raise this barn, 1, 2, 3, 4, together we can raise thi- The Audience: SHUT UP!!!!!! H.A.K.: Okay! Okay! Jezz! Anyway, dislike the lyrics but enjoy everything else, Raise This Barn is way too catchy to not be on this list.

13) The Ballad of the Crystal Empire

This one is easily my favorite out of the 2-part season 3 premiere. In this song, the Mane Six are starting up a crystal fair for the Crystal Empire to lift up the hearts of its citizens after it disappeared for a thousand years. So throughout this song, each character talks a little bit about the history and culture of the Crystal Empire. Now this is an enjoyable song because it has a very smooth yet somewhat exciting melody and it tells you a lot about what there is to know about the Crystal Empire. But it has one problem that a couple of other songs further into this list have: it's too short. As enjoyable as this song is, we are left wanting a bit more then what they gave to us. We wanted to know a little more about the Crystal Empire, and hear the chorus at least two more times (at least I personally do because I personally find that to be the catchiest part of the song.) it doesn't have to be 4-5 minutes or something, just a little bit longer that gives us a little bit more to know about the empire. But whether you want it longer or think it's fine the way it is, it's a fun song that helped us explore a then new part of the world of Equestria.

12) A True, True Friend

Now the Season 3 finale sadly ended the season in a very bittersweet note that left a lot of Bronies and Pegasisters either excited or really concerned about what the makers of the show will do next when Season 4 starts in November. The episode was super rushed, it had some big stories that really should've gotten at least two episodes instead of just one, and on top of that they stuffed several musical numbers into this only 22 minute episode that for the most part were very short and tragically needed to be way longer in one case. Ultimately, there's only two songs that really seemed to have any really devoted development to their fullest. One is called What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me and then there's this song: A True, True Friend. So what is there to say about it? My basic way of explaining it is that in a grand scale, it's basically At the Gala structure wise but better for the most part. I know some people seem to think of it more similar to The Smile Song, and I can understand that with the ending to it, but for me, I think more of At The Gala. Because like At The Gala, it's big, it has a good melody, it eventually includes a choir to sing the end of the song, and it's probably the closest any other song has gone to have all the Mane Six each have their own verse (Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack have their own verse while Twilight and Fluttershy share one and Pinkie Pie doesn't have one at all). Heck, just like "At The Gala", there's a moment halfway through where the music changes like Rainbow Dash's verse from that song only in this one, it's done by Rarity and it actually works really well. In fact it's it's more epic then derailing because Rarity's accompanied by drums that have really deep rhythm that makes the moment feel really exciting. Otherwise, it's light and happy and gets bigger and bigger as it goes on - heck, you may even want to join the ponies when they all shout "PINKIE!" during the very end. It's the biggest and probably the most developed song in all of season 3 and is fun to listen to.

11) B. B. B. F. F.

Of all the 2 part episodes from the show, A Canterolt Wedding is the best. It was big, dramatic had some action here and there (cartoon action but still action) and it had some very lovable songs to top it all. And this song is the first one to do just that. Twilight Sparkle has just learned that her older brother Shining Armor is getting married and this troubles her because she found out through an invitation instead of her brother, so she sings to the rest of the Mane Six and Spike on how she and Shining Armor use to do everything together when she was a filly and that he's her B.B.B.F.F. (Big Brother Best Friend Forever) And for the most part, they give us a very sweet yet simple song about it. This is a song that I use to/sometimes still feel it was too short, but as I have thought about it, it's more just because it's catchy and I almost always want to hear it again and again whenever I hear this song if not anything else. Because I'm not really sure how in the world you can make this longer. I mean the subject is pretty straight forward, it's just that the music is still pretty catchy that I want to rewind and play it again and again only a little more often then I would with other songs that I feel are shorter then they should be. But I digress, it's a sweet simple song that may be short but is well told and heck, personally I can't help but really like the last few notes that Twilight sung during the very end.

10) Babs Seed

This is probably the second best song from Season 3. In this episode, the Cutie Mark Crusaders (a group of side characters named Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who try to find their special talents in order to get their cutie marks on their flanks), get a visit from Apple Bloom's cousin Babs Seed who eventually bullies them along side their school bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Rather then tell Applejack about this, they try to avoid Babs Seed until she goes home which is where this song comes in with the Crusaders singing how Babs Seed is a 'bad seed'  while Babs continues to bully them. I think best description I've heard for this film comes from A.T.D.I.'s blog: catchy and memorable. Just like with Raise This Barn, Babs Seed is a song that will never, ever leave your mind. On top of being catchy, it's just plain fun, energetic, it plays for a reasonable amount of time, and heck, in terms of animation it includes a plain ADORABLE moment of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo drinking milkshakes with these huge, precious eyes! Not to mention that halfway through the song it reveals that in the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there actually is such a thing as movie theaters in Equestria. It's just one of those things that you would have little to no idea they would have something like that as canon in the series. Go figure. Anyway, it's catchy and memorable yet in some way adorable and kind of educational for the fandom, Babs Seed deserves to be ranked number 10 on this this.


9) Find a Pet

So in this episode, Rainbow Dash decides to have a pet just like the rest of the Mane Six. So much to Fluttershy's great delight and excitement to this news, she takes Rainbow Dash to her home where she introduces her to all kind of animals to choose from. This was a hard song to rank in the right place. Because originally, it wasn't going to be on this list at all. I know this is likely a very big shock to most of Bronies and Pegasisters that are reading this list since this song is widely known to be among the very best songs in My Little Pony and was even nominated for "Outstanding Original Song" in a Children/Animation show in the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards. But as surprising as I know this is to hear, I couldn't get into this song for the longest time. How in the wide, wide world of Equestria is that possible? Eh... I guess I just didn't find it as catchy as all the other songs. It's not that I hated it or anything, it just took a long time for it to have any real spark for me the way a lot of the other songs do. But as I'm sure some of you are glad to know, it did eventually give a spark which ultimately leading me to enjoying it along with everypony else. (get it? everypony?) So what is it about this song that I eventually started enjoying while everyone probably loved it instantly? Well for one thing it has the most dedication to Fluttershy besides So Many Wonders in terms song and is currently the only song where Rainbow Dash sings in full length. In fact I would like to see Rainbow Dash have a song all to herself at some point in season 4. I have no idea what that would be like, but I think that would be a nice way to cover some new ground for the show...also Princess Luna and Discord each getting their own big and fully developed songs would be fantastic. Anyway, this song is fairly catchy with the orchestra playing a melody that does start of very simple and light but gets bigger as it goes on. On top of that the music plays a big part in really displaying the emotions that the characters are feeling throughout the process of Rainbow Dash finding a pet just for her. Fluttershy would sing to most of the very light music that display her excitement and optimism while Rainbow Dash would either sing to some lower octave played music or maybe would just talk instead of sing when something Fluttershy suggest is hardly the kind of pet Rainbow Dash has in mind. I know songs in general are suppose to display the emotions that these characters feel, but Find A Pet manages to hit the nail particularly well as it guides us to eventually bring us to the middle of the episode where we find out what Rainbow Dash does next. So I may not quite be as super into this particular song even after how long it took to actually get into it, but it's still a very well made song that really displays the emotions to what is happening in the scene that making it worthy enough to be #9 on the list.


8) The Flim Flam Brothers

Now here's another song that's oh-so-holy-crap catchy. When the Apple family fail to make enough apple cider for everypony in Ponyville, the traveling sales pony brothers Flim and Flam come in and sing about their cider making invention, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. This song is made very similar to "You've got Trouble" from Music Man where in both cases the salesman/ponies are talking in a super fast pace, they're wearing strew boater hats, and eventually get the members of the town they're presenting to, to sing their song along with them showing how they're falling for their scheme. (Don't believe me somehow? Look it up on Friendship is Magic Wiki) Even if you aren't falling for their scheme like the ponies in Ponyville, you most likely will want to sing the chorus every time it comes up anyway. Because it's fun, it's energetic, it may take a complete miracle to memorize some parts of the verses with how really ridiculously fast Film and Flam will talk/sing, but it pays off with eventually going back to the chorus and like the other catchy songs in this list, it just will never, ever, ever leave your mind. It's almost four minutes long which is surprising to know that it's only only longer then Find a Pet by only about 9 seconds. Because its a kind of song that's feels a whole lot longer then it really truly is.What else is there to say except *singing* You've got oppertunity in this fair great community, he's Flim he's Flam they're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers! Traveling salesponies nonpareil! YEAH!


7) Art of the Dress

Now as much as I kind of want to like Rarity, I have to side with Bronies like my brother who view her to be more greedy then really being the sweet and generous pony that the show tries to make us think of her as. But as sad as they've failed for people like me to actually like her, she does to her credit give us two very enjoyable songs. The first one is Art of the Dress where she decides to design dresses for her and the rest of the Mane Six for the Grand Galloping Gala and on top of that, have a fashion show to show all the outfits to all of Ponyville. Interestingly, this song actually takes a direct homage/"borrowing" to Stephen Sondheim's song Putting It Together from the musical Sunday in the Park with George - in fact, At the Gala is meant as a sound-alike for Sondheim's Ever After from the musical Into the Woods. How about that. But regardless of that being said, I enjoy Art of the Dress. And that's including the reprise that plays a little later on in the episode which putting them together makes Art of the Dress currently the longest song in the series. The instrumental music is enchanting with Rarity singing about how she's putting together each pony's dress. Even during the reprise she sings about how she follows the rule that "the client's always right" despite her displeasure in changing her dresses with ones that are specifically made at there rest of the Mane Six's request - which is were we get the famous line from Rainbow Dash; "It needs to be about 20 % cooler." The only issue I have with the lyrics is how halfway through both versions of the song she'll sing "Dressmaking's easy" and then sing about what she's working on which...feels out of place to me. Like it just comes out of the blue before Rarity gets back to explaining what she's doing. I feel they should actually go with something like "Dressmaking's easy, but ___ is hard/a challenge" or something like that and use that last part as a way to carry on to what she's explain through song. But once again, I digress and settle with just how much I enjoy this song and in both versions, the song gets bigger and bigger and finishes with the music going faster and building up as Rarity finishes with singing "And that's the Art of the Dress."  

6) This Day Aria

This is the second song that's played in A Canterlot Wedding and is easily the most developed in the part 2 season finale and one of the most memorable in the series. Twilight finds out that the mare that Shining Armor is marrying; Princess Candace, is actually someone disguised as Candace. Twilight eventually finds the real Candace and so tries to stop the wedding before Shining Armor marries the fake Candace. In the process we are actually given a villain song of all things in this show and a darn good one at that. And if I don't feel that way, you can sure as frick bet that there are people who love villains like my brother who do. The song is a duel between the real and the fake candace where the real one's displaying her fear of being too late to stop the wedding while the fake one displays her sinister excitement for how she has actually dreamed this moment for years. The real Candace's parts are good but it's the parts with the fake one were the song is epic. The suspense played from the singing and music is fantastic. The lyrics are not only good but at some points are kinda of surprising to be played in a show that's meant for 4 year olds. An example that stands out the most to me is where the fake Candace finishes one of her parts with "No I do not love the groom, in my heart there is no room. But I still want him to be all mine!" Maybe I'm just taking it the wrong way, but that kind of sound rather deep for a kids show the way she says it. And even then, it's deep just for fake Candace as a villain because she pulls it off really well with the music in the way makes it really clear to your head: "Egad, this mysterious character is evil." and that's kind of something to especially say as you wonder who it really is when you watch the finale for the first time. What else is there to say? It's big, it's suspenseful, it can be really deep and if you don't care for the show but love villains, you probably should at least check this song out.

5) Winter wrap-up

This one seems to be one of the most common songs to be the favorite song for a lot of Bronies and Pegasisters. And while it's not at the very top, it definitely has to at least be #5 on this list. Basically it's almost time for spring in the land of Equestria, and while normally unicorns turn winter into spring with their magic in othere places of the world (or at least in Canterlot), Ponyville has a tradition where all the ponies - earth pony, unicorn and pegasus alike - divide into teams where they have these jobs of actually turning winter into spring for Ponyville all by themselves. Pegasus clear out the snowy clouds and guide the southern birds back to their homes, Futtershy and some other ponies wake up animals that have been hibernating, Applejack starts planting crops, and so on and so forth. And during all of this, Twilight - being new to Ponyville at the time - is trying to figure out which team she belongs in. This is the first fully developed song in the show and boy is it memorable. The lyrics are well written, the melody is great, and just the all around tune for some people can be way too good to not end up being hummed once in a while even when you're not watching the episode. It's fun, it gives us more about Ponyville and it's culture, it may be the first out of a good few fully developed songs from the show, but that doesn't change what an impact it makes.

4) I've Got to Find a Way

Of all the songs from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that are unreasonably way too short, this one does the second best job...at irritating me for how short it is. But that doesn't completely stop it from being good. At this point in the show, Twilight has found out that she unintentionally casts an unfinished spell that causes all the other Mane Six have their cutie marks - and therefore their identities - mixed up. What's more there is no known counter-spell, leaving Twilight heartbroken and crying in her bedroom and blaming herself for the depression that this mix up has caused on all of her friends. And that leads us to this song: I've Got to Find a Way - or as I personally prefer to call it, just plain Why. How come? Because...well it fits more as a title. 'I've Got to Find a Way' is just most of the first few lyrics while 'Why' is used the most throughout the song and just gets you deep inside every time it is. This is the best song of Season 3 and is by far the most emotional in the series. The moment the piano starts to play to begin the song, goosebumps begin to form, and it does not stop from there. Throughout this song, the animation really fits the emotion with the use of shadow, making all of Ponyville almost deserted - and despite what a terribly missed oppertunity they had with this particular part, it even has Pinkie Pie as Pinkamina! (What that is for those of you who don't know the show...you'll just have to see for yourself. Trust me, it's REALLY worth finding out from watching the show on your own.) But holy crap is it short! It's only a minute and 5 seconds! Heck, in my point of view, the song practically screams that it wants to go way further then this as it plays! Actually I have recently found that that one of the music writers for the show Daniel Ingram said through a tweet that there is an actual full version of this song. I don't know when it's going to be released, but boy oh boy does it better to blow me away or at least be very reasonably satisfactory compared to this! But even if it isn't, I've Got to Find a Way/Why is deep, emotional, and completely deserves to be among the top 5 of this list.

3) Becoming Popular

This was also nominated for "Outstanding Original Song" in a Children/Animation show in the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards alongside Find A Pet. But it's very easily my favorite out of the two. Here Rarity begins to ignore her plans for a dress for Twilight's birthday party during her visit in Canterlot in order to mingle with the Canterlot high society and therefore become the talk of the entire city. The motivation...is a perfect example as to why my brother and I along with a lot of other Bronies view her more as greedy then anything else. But to me, what she does for a purpose, she makes up in giving us her second solo song that has become so enjoyable. It doesn't completely matter how girly it is. It's fun, it's energetic, it's one of those catchy songs that...*sigh* everyone all together ; The Audience and H.A.K. : will never, ever, ever, EVER leave your mind!!! H.A.K.: In fact, so far I'd say this song is the catchiest song that the show has made yet...at least for me. But even if it really isn't the catchiest, it's till a very addicting song to enjoy whether you adore Rarity, dislike some certain aspects about her or just hate her guts.

2) Love is in Bloom

This is the third and final song from A Canterlot Wedding. At this point, everything with the fake Candace and then some has worked out and Shining Armor and the real Candace are finally married. And so this leaves us with a big celebration that bring us with the song to finish it off the finale, Love is in Bloom. This song is almost a perfect way to finish the finale. It's big, it's happy, and it could've been the best way ever to give a finale like Canterlot Wedding a great ending if it isn't for one itty-bitty, teeny-tiny detail. Can anypony guess what that is? The Audience: It's too short? H.A.K. NO BLOODY FRICK, IT'S TOO MOTHER FREAKING SHORT!!!!! This irritates me the most for how short it is. I mean holy crap does it drive me nuts. I mean B.B.B.F.F. was sweet and simple while This Day Aria was epic and suspenseful, therefore it's only perfectly logical that after such a big climax that followed the second song, the finale one would be bigger, longer and just finish this two part episode and the whole season with such a bang. And for the most part they did which is why it's number 2 on the list... but they finish that bang way too quickly. Don't believe that just because this song has an official duration of 1 minute and 50 seconds means that's how long all of the actual singing and stuff is. It really is just 20 seconds of a really good beginning followed by 32 ish seconds of just one verse and then playing the chorus and then dialogue for the remaining less then a minute even as it's starting to end. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any dialogue during this, what with it containing stuff like Shining Armor and Twilight's good-byes and all, but when you have more of that in the song rather then the actual singing and stuff that is the real meat on the bone if you will... then you have a problem. Oh and don't try to argue with me in pointing out about the extended version of this song. That doesn't really mean anything to me. Because the extended version is really just the same thing only that the dialogue is replaces with a second verse before just finishing the song. So on a grand scale, the extended version is just verse one, chorus, verse 2 and then almost abruptly finishing the song while singing the chorus again. I'll listen to it once in a while, but that's barely giving me anything. I mean maybe I could be wrong. Maybe instead of being freaking fantastic, a truly longer and more developed Love is in Bloom would be just totally stupid. I can't tell for sure because we are given so little of the real deal. In fact it's lack of proper structure like that, that makes me nervous about how the extended version of I've Got to Find a Way/Why is going to turn out. Love is in Bloom is a very good way to finish A Canterlot Wedding and season 2 in general, but it's the lack of further development that to me sadly keeps it from being excellent and taking the #1 slot.









And the #1 song from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is....











1) The Smile Song

I'm sure there's quite a few Bronies and Pegasisters who are surprised that I went this this song out of so many, but...well The Smile Song is the one that I view is number 1 out of all of them. This song reflects the character Pinkie Pie who is by far the most creative, thought of, three-dimensional character in the whole show. She can be random, optimistic, silly, and even dangerously insecure at some certain points in the show, but altogether is the friendliest, talkative and jolliest characters in all of Equestria. And thus we are given this song as a tribute to how much Pinkie Pie loves to be everybody's friend and to make each and every one of them smile. I guess what really works with this song is that you can't help but feel happy. Because it's so cheery and joyful and it goes really deep into who Pinkie Pie really is. She has all these downs as well as ups that can be clearly seen throughout the entire show, but when it comes down to it, she's this very loved pony who just wants to fill all of Equestria with all this happiness. And they display is so very, very well with the instrumental music, the lyrics, and it's done with such a great structure where it gets bigger and bigger with the verses and the chorus and gives us a bridge that starts of sad as Pinkie admits that there are rough times in life but then shows her optimism by saying that she'll be there to cheer these ponies up and after one last verse and chorus, we get this huge outro to finish it all up. In terms of length and structure, it's everything songs like Why and Love is in Bloom should've been, and in terms of emotion it makes you feel happy the way all the other songs can't. And that's why The Smile Song is, and possibly always will be (depending on how season 4 and afterwords turns out) my number song from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.



Honorable mentions: Evil Enchantress (Fluttershy version), The Perfect Stallion, Welcome Song, What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me and Celestia's Ballad.    

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Rating: 85%
Okay so a little before I took my little break for school and other stuff, I kind of heard about this movie. One of my friends was reviewing it so I became a little curious and decided to just borrow it from the library and watch it having little to no idea what it really is or what it really was about. So as a result, here is my review for Ruby Sparks.

Plot: Calvin is a young novelist who struggles to think of a new story to write after the success of his early novel. One night he has a dream of a girl that he meets which inspires him to write a story about her and naming her Ruby Sparks. He begins to get truly into writing it, but one day he finds Ruby in his house as an actual person, and that his further writing affects her to change.

So what did I think about this film? It actually turned out to be really nice. The story was actually very well written, I was able to attach to the characters really well, they were all well acted, and the film really took its time with just about everything that happens. It was also clever, it had its amusing moments, it had its sad moments, sometimes it was very sweet and romantic, sometimes it was deep, and sometimes it just let itself be what it really is and not try to be anything more then that. Did it have some downs? Sure. I mean it had some cliches that maybe weren't huge but at least noticeable, and there would sometimes be something about the character or their past (mostly with Calvin) that I wish I would get to know more about. But even then, most of these issues turned out to be very minor comparing to everything else with the film.

And that's my review for Ruby Sparks. If you've never heard of it up till now and barely know a thing about it aside from what I have already said, you should check it out. I for one am glad that I used my lack of knowledge about it to my advantage to just simply enjoy a plain good well made movie and I'm sure that you can too.

All About Eve (1950)

Rating: 90%
Alright so now that I"m back for more reviews for you guys, it's time I carry on with reviewing all these best picture winners. And we're starting that with the latest one that I've seen: All About Eve.

Plot: After Broadway star Margo Channing finishes another successful performance, she and her friends come across a fan named Eve Harrington who tells them about how she has lived a difficult life and how she has been following their theatrical tour. Eventually they like her so much that Margo hires her as her assistant. But unbeknownst to Margo and her friends, Eve uses this to her advantage to eventually become Margo's understudy. Eventually this leads to her beginning to climb higher into the theatrical world and manipulating everyone to get what she wants.

I was intrigued at how this film went after the first 45 minutes or so. If not really because of the comedy or anything like that, then definitely the drama and how much some of the characters change. I think the best examples that stand out for me are Margo and Eve. Both actresses who played these characters pulled them off really well making it little wonder that they were both nominated for Best Leading Actress. I mean Margo gave a very clear idea of being an actress who is beginning to and then  but how Eve changes as we got to know her more throughout the film is just unexpected and is done very well. On another note with acting, we get George Sanders again who not only might have a little more screen time then he did in Rebecca, but also won Supporting Actor for his role. And who can blame him? I mean what he gives us later on in the film without giving anything away just somehow brought a lot more into it. Plus you still have to enjoy him even if you only like watching him just to hear his voice knowing that he's Sher Kahn in The Jungle Book. Now there have been critics and academics who have talked about how there seems to be some thematic content that seemed to have shown antagonism that existed between Broadway and Hollywood at the time. And yeah, later on in the film it shows. Rebecca Flint Marx noted in her review that the script basically went into a lot of theater types like the aging, egomaniacal grand dame and the outwardly docile, inwardly scheming ingenue to the powerful critic who reeks of malignant charm. (AllMovie.com. Retrieved 8 August 2009) And I think that's the thing that stands out the most from what I got out of the whole story of All About Eve as a whole. It showed us some of the things that people like Margo or Eve and some other characters go through in the life of show business. And I thought that was interesting that they went into that theme as the story progressed. Maybe there's more about that along with other things that you might notice if you watch the film yourself but if you do, you might find those things to be just as interesting.

And that's my review for All About Eve. It gave well done characters, had memorable performances, and had a theme that brought you to it more and more, making All About Eve an enjoyable film to watch among the best picture winners.

Star Trek (2009)

Rating: 80%
Hi everyone. Sorry that it's been a while since my last review, but I've been busy with school and a bunch of other stuff. But I'm back with some new reviews for you guys so let's begin with one I've been neglecting to do before Into Darkness hits the theaters and that's of coarse the reboot. So here at last is my review for Star Trek.

Plot: Shortly before the birth of James Kirk, a giant ship of Romulans appear out of a giant "lightning storm" in space attacking the U.S.S. Kelvin resulting in his father sacrificing himself and the ship to save him and his mother along with the rest of the crew. Years later, Kirk is in Starfleet Academy with McCoy when the same ship begin to attack Vulcan. So it's up to them and Spock aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise for the first time, to find out what the Romulans want and stop them.

Okay so the thing about this movie is that it's the first Star Trek ANYTHING that I ever saw. So it's basically because of this film that I eventually went through the original series and Next Generation and all the other films. When I first saw this movie I thought it was awesome and a really good way to introduce me to the entire franchise. Watching it again it's still good but it has its issues. Some people dislike how this film makes it look like everything that's ever happened in Star Trek at this point never happened, and I kind of feel like that has actually happened considering how I've gotten into the series over the past couple of years, particularly with Next Generation. Another issue people will have is how they have changed some certain aspects with the characters. Because while some changes are interesting ways to go at a different direction with the characters, some of the things that happen could a big issue for some of the fans. I mean my dad - while not really a big fan of Star Trek - thought that what they did different between Spock and Uhura was not okay. And while I was fine with it when I first saw this film, I will admit that watching it again after getting so far into the franchise, it is a little weird. Finally you have the most well known issue with this film that has since become to be known as the main problem with J. J. Abrams as a director: lens flares. This was something I also didn't really notice the first time I saw this film, but after a couple of years...yeah. I mean it's not like the did it in ALL of the shots but he did use a lot of flares - two or three ish shots were so bad that I could barely really see a thing. So while some people aren't optimistic, I hope that Abrams does less of that for Into Darkness. But let's talk about what's good. Firstly, there's the characters. For the most part, the cast brought back these characters fairly well. Chris Pine was pretty much Kirk, Simon Pegg was a very energetic and amusing Scotty, Zoe Saldana I liked as Uhura because her version I thought made us interested in her more as a person then I thought they ever really did in the original quite frankly, and Zachary Quinto... was just okay as Spock. But the performance I liked the best from watching this again was Karl Uban as Dr. "Bones" McCoy. The moment he appeared in this film I liked what he was doing. His expressions, some of his body movement, and most of all his voice just left me to quickly think "yep. This was a really good casting choice. This guy is carrying on the role of Bones really well."  Secondly. despite what issues some fans might have, this film has a really good story. Because as a reboot, the story made this film both nostalgic for the loyal fans and at the same time be a great way to introduce the Star Trek universe for people who never seen it or really got into it. And I"m saying this because I've kind of been both crowds of people. I mean I already said that this film eventually got me into the franchise, but watching it again after all of the other stuff I've seen, it had a way of making it exciting for me to see some of the things from the original series again. I mean I'm not saying I've gotten so deep into Star Trek that I would in any way consider myself a Trekkie (the name for people who are devout Star Trek fans for anyone who doesn't know), but there were moments like when they first show the Enterprise that somehow made it a little exciting for me to see those things again. Oh, and the last good things are the action and just plain Leonard Nimoy.

And that's my review for Star Trek. Some of the changes may be an issue for some fans and the whole lens flare thing goes without saying again. But otherwise it had a very good cast, a well thought of story, and it performed almost perfectly in being both very nostalgic for the loyal fans and at the same time bring people who aren't familiar with Star Trek, get introduce to its universe.