I stayed home from work sick today, and was just lounging in bed and resting when I got a text from my dad — and fellow “Star Trek” fan — to let me know that actor Leonard Nimoy had passed away today. I had heard that Nimoy was ill, but that doesn’t really make the announcement easier to take. Nimoy played Mr. Spock, arguably the most iconic of the “Star Trek” characters, in numerous TV episodes and films, and it’s a loss that will certainly be mourned by the community of science fiction fans.
I haven’t always been a “Star Trek” fan. “Star Wars” was my first love, and when I was younger, for whatever reason, “Star Trek” didn’t really click for me. I went to see J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot film with some friends who were Trek fans, and the film took all of five minutes to win me over, and when I went back to watch other Trek episodes and films, I fell in love with them too. I admire Nimoy’s willingness to appear in that reboot film. It was a risk, of course; nobody knew if Abrams would successfully reboot or ruin “Star Trek,” but Nimoy had enough confidence — or faith? — to appear in the film as the older version of Spock. Even though the reboot film made the gutsy move of altering the classic Trek timeline, having Nimoy there made it seem legitimate. He was, in a way, passing the torch to a new generation of actors, as well as saluting long-time fans of the series.
Nimoy was great as Spock — a character who valued logic above emotion, and yet was willing to sacrifice everything for his friends. Kirk and Spock are the ultimate odd couple, two beings who “logically” shouldn’t be friends but realize they can’t function without each other. Admit it, Trek fans — we all teared up when Spock sacrificed himself to save Kirk and the Enterprise at the end of “The Wrath of Khan.” In Nimoy’s hands, Spock was both alien and accessible; he was different enough to fascinate us, but still “human” enough to be relatable.
Although the character will live on in the continued Trek films, thanks to a strong performance from Zachary Quinto (whom Nimoy praised), there will always be a special place in the hearts of Trek fans for Nimoy as the original “Mr. Spock.” He helped launch a sci-fi show that in turn helped to launch a genre.
Thanks for being a part of “Star Trek,” Mr. Nimoy — live long and prosper.
Marvel Studios is — at least for now — the undisputed victor when it comes to superhero films. “The Avengers” remains the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time (and one of the all-time highest grossing movies, period), and even their “B-list” heroes have become major stars and major money-makers. At this point, they can even make a blockbuster out of a walking tree and a talking, gun-toting raccoon.
I am sad to see 
There are good movies, OK movies and bad movies. And then there are movies so terrible, they transcend to a whole new level of bad. However, at some point a movie can be so awful, the acting so cringe-inducing, and the dialogue so cheesy the movie actually crosses into “so bad it’s hilariously entertaining” terriority.
BBC’s sci-fi adventure “Doctor Who” is my absolute favorite TV show, and so of course I nearly had a heart attack the other day when I heard a rumor that Netflix would be pulling the show. I don’t have cable, so Netflix pretty much is my sole source for “Doctor Who,” unless I want to purchase all the seasons on DVD. The news could have been even worse, with some reports that Netflix and the BBC were parting ways altogether.
Every January, I like to put together a list of my most anticipated films for that upcoming year. It’s fun to peek ahead, and it’s also fun to look back at that list at the end of the year, and see how many of my “most anticipated” actually ended up on my “best of the year” list.
“Mockingjay — Part 1″ was a financial success, but didn’t rise to quite the same heights as its tense, masterfully-crafted predecessor, “Catching Fire.” “Part 1″ felt more like a prelude to “Part 2,” coming out this November — and hopefully it will be a stronger film.
“Jurassic Park” continues to be one of my favorite Steven Spielberg films. From the dinosaur special effects, which still hold up pretty well even today, to that soaring, iconic theme from John Williams, it’s a fun, crowd-pleasing classic. I was really skeptical about the reboot … until I saw the preview, and though I tried to resist at first, I finally had to admit that yes, the preview stirred those same feelings of excitement I had gotten while watching the first movie.
The last Bond film, “Skyfall,” was an elegant, stylish spy thriller, and director Sam Mendes is back for the next installment in the Bond franchise. Daniel Craig has earned himself a place near the top of the “best Bonds,” and this could be his last outing. Fans hope the film’s title is a reference to the secret terrorist organization that has shown up in past Bond films.
2012’s “The Avengers” is going to be a tough act to follow — a fact director Joss Whedon seems to be well aware of. He appears to be taking the Marvel sequel in a darker direction, having the team of dysfunctional superheroes create their own worst enemy: an artificially intelligent robot called “Ultron” with a frighteningly warped sense of justice.
Most likely no one is surprised this movie ended up at the top of my “most anticipated” list. 
If you’d told me at the beginning of the year that a sci-fi movie about a talking, trigger-happy raccoon and a walking tree would wind up being the highest grossing movie of the year, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. However, not only did Marvel’s long-shot “Guardians of the Galaxy” turn out to be a surprise summer blockbuster, it became the highest grossing movie of the year, even beating out the well-received “Captain America” sequel.
The reboot/prequel “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was a surprise hit in 2012, and its sequel, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is even better. Humankind is now living on a post-apocalyptic Earth, while apes grow more intelligent and begin forming their own society. The always-great Andy Serkis has a riveting motion-capture performance as ape leader Caesar, and I liked how the movie portrayed both sides of the conflict without choosing a side.
I still believe “The Hobbit” would have been better as a two-parter than stretched into a trilogy, but Peter Jackson certainly goes for broke in the final chapter of the saga based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” prequel. Elves, Dwarves and Humans are forced to put their differences aside to fight together to defeat an Orc army, and Dwarven king Thorin Oakenshield must overcome his greed for the treasure inside the Lonely Mountain. The film kicks off with a tense set-piece involving the dragon Smaug’s attack on a village, and ends with Bilbo returning home to his beloved Shire, setting the stage for the events of the “Lord of the Rings.”
Technically, these are TV shows, not movies. However, I couldn’t resist including them in this list, due to the great characters, intriguing plot lines and close-to-cinematic quality. These two CW superhero dramas, both based on DC Comics characters, are some of my favorite currently running shows on TV. “Arrow” returned for a third season this fall, and Stephen Amell continues to turn in a strong performance as the conflicted vigilante Oliver Queen. Grant Gustin joined the fun this fall in a new spin-off, “The Flash.” More light-hearted than “Arrow” but still with plenty of suspense and interwoven mystery, “The Flash” has been a lot of fun so far.
“Interstellar” is a big, ambitious, flawed and beautiful piece of science fiction, from director Christopher Nolan. Faced with an Earth that is dying, a brave team of astronauts venture into deep space to find another planet that is capable of supporting life. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, who continues his surprising career renaissance. With echoes of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the more recent “Gravity,” “Interstellar” is gorgeously shot and thought-provoking. A few of the themes are perhaps communicated with too heavy a hand, but it’s still a must-see for sci-fi and Nolan fans.
This movie didn’t seem to receive a lot of attention when it was released — which is a shame, because it’s a clever, fast-paced sci-fi thriller. A sort of mash-up of the concepts of “Saving Private Ryan” and “Groundhog Day,” Tom Cruise plays a PR officer in the military who turns down a risky assignment. His reward is being demoted to the rank of private and sent into battle. It’s not a spoiler to reveal Cruise’s character dies — because he ends up coming back … again and again and again. The key to the mystery will also be the key to saving the earth from a race of invading aliens. Cruise uses the film to subtly poke fun at his own action hero persona, and Emily Blunt is great as the steely soldier who helps him.
I didn’t expect to like this movie, or even that it would end up on my “best of the year” list. However, it’s far more than just another film in the “teen romance” genre. The movie stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as two teenagers with cancer who fall in love despite the realization their story isn’t likely to have a happy ending. It’s a movie about learning to appreciate the small moments and recognizing the truth in the phrase “it’s better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.” I’m not ashamed to say this movie made me cry in the theater, and then again when I rented it at home. It’s a beautiful, mature love story.
My favorite of the X-Men films is still the prequel “First Class,” but “Days of Future Past” is a fun, stylish “Avengers” style round-up of X-Men, including past and future versions of the main characters. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back in time to alter history, thereby saving mutants from destruction. The highlight of the film for me was seeing both the younger and older versions of sometimes friends/sometimes enemies Magneto (Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen) and Professor X (James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart). The movie also contains the best — and most fun — prison break scene I’ve ever seen in a movie: lighting-fast Quicksilver’s trippy rescue of Magneto from a holding cell in the Pentagon, set to “Time in a Bottle.”
Yes, everything really is awesome about “The LEGO Movie.” No one expected this to be a blockbuster, but it turned out to be one of the most clever and creative movies of the year. Far more than just a shameless advertisement for LEGO products, the film is delightfully quirky, with original humor and a big sense of imagination. It’s also surprisingly moving, with a message that you don’t have to be super smart or extraordinary in order to be special. An all-star voice cast and fun cameos (hello, LEGO “Millenium Falcon”!) are other highlights.
Proving to be a huge early year hit and one of the best in the line-up of Marvel’s “Avengers” tie-in films, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” succeeds as both a superhero action film and a taut political thriller. Chris Evans gives his best performance yet as the loyal but conflicted Steve Rogers/Captain America, struggling to adapt to life in the modern era and uncovering a secret that destroys the organization S.H.I.E.L.D. Rogers also had plenty of fun, flirty chemistry with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, adding an unexpected will-they-or-won’t-they element to the Marvel-verse.
I thought long and hard about which film should end up at No. 1, and it was a tough choice. Technically, I think “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” was a better film, but as a movie-going experience, I enjoyed “Guardians of the Galaxy” just a little bit more. It’s been a long time since I had as much fun at the movies as I did when I watched “Guardians of the Galaxy.” It’s a quirky, irreverent space opera with a cast of colorful characters, led by a star-making performance from Chris Pratt. With a funky ’70s soundtrack and plenty of laughs, the film also had just the right amount of action and heart. I’ve watched it numerous times already, but I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. It’s the year’s unlikeliest hit, but one that’s well deserved.
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