EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN
There are few things that get remade, revamped, remodeled or resurrected in such a way that actually makes me happy to see/visit it again. The newest take on the Star Trek franchise has made me a happy camper for sure. I blame this on several things actually...

SEVERAL THINGS
Director J.J. Abrams, popular television maestro of Alias, Felicity, Lost, and Fringe uses his talents to guide us on this Trek. P.S. - Abrams has commented that he was not a Star Trek fan prior to directing the film.

Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have woven together a smart, witty, self-referencing, action story that does its best to please both old and new fans. Orci and Kurtzman have both collaborated with Abrams on previous projects. I assume the writers were fans or did a lot of homework. I have been a mild mannered Star Trek fan throughout the years. I know enough to keep up when talking to uber geeks. I repeatedly found myself impressed with the dialogue.

The Professional (known as Leon in its European version) is the tale of a quiet, simple man who kills for a living. Once his drug dealing neighbors are executed by a gang of crooked cops, Leon takes their surviving daughter under his wing and begins teaching her the ropes of his business.

Writer-Director Luc Besson (The 5th Element) revisits the world of professional assassins that put him on the international map with his earlier tale, Le Femme Nikita. With The Professional, he gives a new and fresh take on the genre by exploring a strange and beautiful relationship between a hired gun and a little girl seeking revenge. The script is tight and well paced, while Besson’s direction is perhaps the best in his long career. The action direction is amazingly well done, most especially in the blaze of glory final act.

Heat is a self-proclaimed “Los Angeles crime saga” about a master crew of thieves and the dedicated police officers who try to keep them in check.

Based on a real criminal and inspired by his own TV movie, L.A. Takedown, Michael Mann directs one of the all-time great cop and robber films with Heat. He takes a highly established genre and digs in deeper—finding the truth and parallels between those who enforce the law and those who break it. Heat explores the sacrifices both sides have to make in order to do the job—mainly causing dysfunction at home. You can see years of preproduction that goes into Mann’s vision—building from earlier works as director of Thief (1981) and producer of TV’s Miami Vice.

In Heat, Michael Mann stages one of cinema’s most impressive set pieces—an all out war in the streets of downtown Los Angeles following a bank heist. The action sequence is one of the most exciting and exhilarating that you will find in any movie.

Lord of War is a morality tale about a gunrunner’s rise and fall in a world bent on violence and greed.

Andrew Niccol (Gattaga) wrote and directed this darkly comic story of an international arms dealer. His screenplay is interesting, satirical, and well-paced. The film’s direction is stylish, quick, and greatly entertaining. Niccol has a sharp eye for details and finds the humor underlying the business of death -- or at least the irony of the lifestyle.

Zach Staenberg’s production design and Amir Mokri’s cinematography combine to make for a film that successfully captures a wide range of locales. Everything from the polish of wealthy America to cold Mother Russia to the bleak desert landscapes of Sierra Leone is well dressed and beautifully photographed.

Nicolas Cage plays “Yuri Orlov” in one my favorite of his many films. He is European by birth, brought up in Little Odessa, and striving for the American Dream. Yuri starts as a small time weapons dealer in New York who takes a journey across the globe as he moves to the top of the food chain, supplying munitions to further wars in all regions of the world. Along the way, he loses himself among dictators and villains, facing a crisis of conscience as an Interpol agent tries to bring him down.

True Romance is the story of a young down-on-their-luck couple who comes across a suitcase full of cocaine and makes their way across America to sell it in Hollywood. As they do so a colorful group of cops and criminals hunt them down.

Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill) wrote the film with un-credited voiceover by his Pulp Fiction co-author, Roger Avery (Killing Zoe). As with all of Tarantino’s scripts, the story is filled with unique characters, explosive action, and very memorable dialogue.

Tony Scott (Spy Game) directs this cross-country-crime-romance with such flavor and style that there are beautiful moments throughout. The film has a kinetic energy that is infectius and undeniably entertaining. From the first moments of young love blossoming on streets of Detroit, all the way to the blaze of glory Mexican standoff at a Beverly Hills hotel, Scott directs with a confident vision that never lets up on its momentum.