Are you ready to return to where no one has gone before? You better be- because this week, I plop my ass down into the Captain's Chair and review J.J. Abram's 2009 take on the " Star Trek " franchise! Starting his career in Starfleet, James Tiberius Kirk is a brash cadet.  When a mysterious ship that was last seen the day he was born appears and destroys Vulcan, Kirk must bring his crew together to face this threat... and become the captain he's destined to be ... When Jay first told me that J.J. Abrams was "rebooting" the Star Trek franchise, I wasn't sure about it. Then we saw it on the big screen. This movie is a big screen movie. The story is action packed- but with enough slow personal character scenes that it's not overwhelming.  It caught the action, adventure, humor, an drama of the original series, while also giving it a shot of adrenaline. Many fans were upset when it was announced, because they felt that the studio was telling them t...

Amazon's new series The Boys is the perfect antidote for those who are tired of all these superhero movies and TV shows. It plays within the rules of the genre, while turning the tropes on their collective heads. And it's about as un-politically correct as you can get, which makes it even better. It should come as no surprise The Boys is based on a comic-book series of the same name, and was created Garth Ennis, the evil mastermind behind Preacher and some of the best runs on Judge Dredd and The Punisher. The man likes to push things as far as he can, good taste be damned, and I applaud him for that.

The fact the 2012 big-screen Judge Dredd reboot, appropriately enough called Dredd, didn't take off is a damn shame. Damn. Shame. It remains one of the best comic-book movies ever made, and a damn fine sci-fi/action flick. Damn. Fine. Fortunately, the film has developed a cult following. This is largely due, I would assume, to Karl Urban's spot on portrayal of Judge Dredd. And all the cool action.

That's right, I made it to the theatre twice in one weekend. That hasn't happened since before my son was born. But the wife and I were lucky enough to snag a sitter and go see the new Trek, because we're fans and all. Star Trek Beyond is the third in the rebooted spin-off universe, and although well received by critics and fans, it isn't exactly tearing up the box office. Why, you may ask? I know I do, especially after seeing it.

Recently, Jay spoke to all of you about the recent "Star Trek Beyond" trailer.  He shared his thoughts as a "casual fan", which inspired me to share my thoughts as a more "hardcore fan". Because I am one.  I've got pretty much all the novels, all the movies, I've almost have all the episodes (including the animated series), prop replicas, Enterprise models, figures, bobble heads, a Spock cookie jar (I'm actually hoping to get a set of Star Trek cookie cutters for Christmas).

The trailer for the latest instalment in Paramount's bazillion dollar Star Trek franchise hit the Internet today to much fanfare, both positive and negative. The positive camp found it a fun look at what could be a decent summer blockbuster. The negative said it doesn't seem anything like the vision Gene Roddenberry brought to life with the 1960s TV series and subsequent feature films.

Stolen Jason: I want to point out right off the bat that, unlike Shawn, I am not a Nicolas Cage hater. I've liked his work in The Rock, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, Bringing Out the Dead and a number of mid-to-late 90s films. But the man's star has fallen hard. Stolen is proof of that. Maybe it's because he's flat broke and has to take every film that comes his way, but Cage phones it in here. He can be a fun and quirky actor, but he's just going through the motions in Stolen. He's boring, just like the movie. There's technically nothing wrong with Stolen. It's well made and, essentially well written. But the action is nothing better than a TV movie, save for one great car-jump trick inside a parking garage. Otherwise it's boring foot and car chases, plus a lame fistfight or two. Yawn. Been there, done that. It didn't take long for Cage to fall from award winner to Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Stolen is just the latest entr...

From unwatched action star to unwatched action movie, tonight's foray into Basement Cinema is an entire exercise in films no way gave a shit about. Please listen, though. First up it's a Nicolas Cage movie called Stolen. Does anyone give a shit about Cage anymore? He's been an Oscar winner and starred in a string of awesome action movies including The Rock and . . .  The Rock. But he was in hits like Con Air and Gone in 60 Seconds too. Now he's broke and signing on to projects just for the paycheck. Is that all Stolen really means to him and Jason and Shawn? Stick with us! Then we segue into the Judge Dredd reboot Dredd, which no one bothered to watch this past summer despite it getting great reviews and word of mouth from those who saw it. Sure, the plot sounds like The Raid: Redemption and Karl Urban isn't a draw, but there's no Rob Schneider in sight. That counts for something . . . right? Plus the Basement Boys -- those lovers of the female form --...

Who's psyched for some Dredd 3D? All of you? Good. You can stay. Shawn and I are pretty convinced the upcoming adaptation of the popular British comic book character is gonna own. And advance buzz out of the festival circuit -- most recently TIFF 2012 -- is almost overwhelmingly positive. So here's hoping the film lives up to the hype once it hits on Sept. 21. Below is a featurette that shows a bunch of new images and has Dredd himself, Karl Urban, and the character's creator, John Wagner, talking up the hero. Urban is perfectly cast, in my opinion. In case you don't know what director Pete Travis's film is all about, here's the rundown: In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.  Here's the featurette. I am the law!

There's less than a month to go before Dredd 3D hits theatres and I gotta admit, I'm psyched for this one! Why, you ask? It's an R-rated Judge Dredd movie written by the man who penned 28 Days Later and Sunshine -- Alex Garland. And it stars Karl Urban, who deserves to be a movie star more than most movie stars. Sure, there have been complaints about the casting (Rob Schneider was in the Stallone version), size of the helmet (get a life) and that the plot resembles The Raid (this was written first). I say stop your bitching and get ready to enjoy what looks to be a violent B-movie blast. And early reviews promise the same. The TV spot below shows a lot of what we've seen before, only with added Dredd dialogue that just oozes cool. I'm ready for this movie and have marked Sept. 21 on my calendar. Bring it!

I think the mad minds behind the upcoming Dredd (I refuse to call it Dredd 3D) came up with the drug SLO-MO strictly so they could show cool violence in the third dimension. And you know what? After watching the below red-band clip from Lionsgate, I'm OK with that . . . CGI blood and all. Some of our British friends, including Jon Cross over at the glorious After Movie Diner, aren't sold on the new Dredd. I am, strictly because I've liked what I've seen so far -- this red-band clip included -- and nothing can be worse than Stallone's mid-90s Judge Dredd movie. Plus this version was written by Alex Garland, who penned 28 Days Later and Sunshine, two of my favourite Danny Boyle movies. And guess what? Dredd was written and went into production before The Raid, which many have compared the film's plot too. As for said storyline: In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop (Judge Dredd bit...

That's Judge Dredd to you, comic fanboys! And this looks like it's a huge departure from the overblown, yet still entertaining in a bad sort of way, Stallone vehicle from the mid-90s. For one, this is going to be hard-R. Two, It doesn't look like Dredd's taking his helmet off, which is true to the British 2000AD source material. And there's no Rob Schneider to be found anywhere, praise Jebus. Based on the below trailer, this is a simple story of cops versus drug dealers, only set in the future. That's all I need, thank you! In a violent city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop, Dredd, teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO. Dredd hits theatres Sept. 21, and will cost you three extra dollars to watch. Despite that, I am keen to see this one.

A frustratingly simple-minded film that raises a bunch of interesting ideas and then discards them in favour of unoriginal bone-crunching violence. We've seen a lot of this before -- the dark, futuristic city, barren wasteland, and creepy monsters -- and none of it is used effectively here. Attempts are made to elevate Priest into new territory, but director Scott Stewart and writer Cory Goodman were intent on making more of the same. The only interesting aspects are Karl Urban's over-the-top villain and Lily Collins's cleavage. Otherwise, pretty boring stuff. A Bad from me on this.