I'd even say Let It Go was Broadway style. Could totally see that whole sequence killing it as a stage show. Though part of that, again, was Menzel tearing it up more than the song itself being particularly great.

I disagree with Fix Three. Given more to work with Idina Menzel can do great stuff, as we know from Wicked. Your Fix Two basically turns Elsa into Elphaba anyway, and Let It Go is essentially the same character beat as Defying Gravity. In fact I'm guessing that's at least part of the reason they cast her.

Otherwise, love it. I think you get to the heart of the problem -- overall the whole thing is really underdeveloped. Lots of great stuff here, but it all feels really vomit-drafty. Especially agree with discarding the trolls, because really wtf.

Olaf has to stay though.

One good turn -

If you're referring to Khan, he's an identical antagonist to Nero. He's come to get revenge on the Federation for what they did to his family.

If you mean Peter Weller -- what was his thing? He wanted to start a war with the Klingons or something? I can't even remember.

Here's the thing. Let's agree for the sake of argument that the two J.J. Trek movies are on about a par when it comes to their general quality, just at face value. INTO DARKNESS starts taking penalties beyond that, in comparison to 2009:

-Derivative. Like it or hate it, TREK 2009 had the brass balls to throw some hard curves, destroying Vulcan etc, and open up the whole universe to explore, as well as an opportunity to reinvent the characters. It was a signal that we might get some real reimagining going on. STID then did a bloodless rehash of the first sequel from the last franchise, with a few lazy reversals. It was also simultaneously derivative of TREK 2009, with most of its moments relying more on hearkening back to the fun bits of that film than creating new moments to enjoy.

-Badly plotted/paced. TREK 2009 had fridge logic all over the place, but it always had a sense of forward momentum to get you through it. STID opens strong enough, but then throws the film into reverse and GHOSTBUSTERS 2s the franchise by taking away everything Kirk gained in the previous film, only to throw the film back into forward gear and give it all back to him immediately, then zig-zag back and forth between all these different half-cocked plotlines.

-Loss of character. The plots are so busy and confused that the film loses track of the primary character stories which made TREK 2009 compelling and drove things forward. People point out that Spock's death in WRATH OF KHAN was earned by decades of fan affection for the characters. This movie not only didn't have that to draw upon, it didn't bother to use its OWN running time to build to that moment. The opening sequence of TREK 2009, with the death of the Kelvin, had more heart and character development than all of STID.

So you start with both on an even footing, and then you make adjustments for the fact that INTO DARKNESS couldn't even do the same thing as well as its predecessor did, and it quickly dips below the shitty threshold even for those of us willing to give the films a big floater for popcorn fluff.

I probably would have hated it. GRAVITY's strength, IMO, is its simplicity. The fact that it isn't complicated isn't the same as not being good.

Does she watch romantic comedies?

As we discuss during the ep, I think seeing this as a metaphor for depression is too narrow -- it's a story about overcoming tragedy. Depression can be part of that but depression can also hit for no reason at all. If anything it's about overcoming grief.

Career Oscar Nominations: 15
Career Oscar Wins: 3

I dunno how odds making works but the odds aren't good.

The Oscars are masturbation.

And masturbation is fun.

As an anti-shitty patron activist, I'm gonna go on record as saying I find this excessive.

Nah bro, you gotta get on board the Crom train for that ride.

And if you ask them why the flesh and blood is clearly still crackers and wine, they'll tell you that's the mystery of it. They turn the fact that nothing happens into confirmation that something happened and they just don't understand it which makes it even more miraculous. That is...amazing.

It's pretty well agreed that the quickest way to become a non-believer in the Bible is to read it. Outside the handful of pretty passages priests and pastors cycle through in sermons and Sunday schools, the book is so clearly demented it would almost be funny if so many otherwise-sensible people didn't take it so seriously.

Well duh. THAT one I'd watch.