Movie shorts by Scott Snyder

An avid moviegoer, who is by no means a Star Trek fanatic, said that he had seen Star Trek: Generations and was unimpressed. The story, he said, was flimsy, the character development half-baked, the focus on gimmickry rather than on story. But, he said, he understood why the Star Trek subculture, if you will, was so pleased with the film. "It's like family, I imagine," he said. "You don't criticize the little foibles of your family members. You're just happy to see them again."

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On a related note, there seems a certain irony in the casting of the mamby-pamby post-Kirk Enterprise captain in Star Trek: Generations. Alongside Star Fleet legends there stands the geeky sidekick from Ferris Buehler's Day Off, and one can't help wondering whether he will get hell from his dad when he brings the Enterprise home with a hole in the forward hull.

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I suspect that at some point I may tire of hip, cheaply-produced movies aimed at My Generation (whatever that is), but in the mean time, I look forward to seeing Clerks, the black-and-white (how trendily impoverished) debut of writer-director Kevin Smith. This movie holds the distinction of being the first to receive an X/NC-17 rating strictly on the basis of its language. Mr. Bowlder would be pleased.

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Be wary of giving boxes of chocolates to your friends for Christmas this year. They may think that you are making an allusion to Forrest Gump. Worse yet, they may think that you liked Forrest Gump.

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein also is come and gone; Mr. DeNiro's makeup job was insufficient to save it from the fate it deserved. I hope that I never have to see anyone rip Helena Bonham-Carter's heart from her rib cage again. The Boris Karloff version was a total subversion of everything the original Shelley story was meant to be - and then again it wasn't. It's a scary story, for heaven's sake - early pulp sci-fi. She just threw the Treatise on Responsibility aspect in there to win Percy's favor. At least, that's what I think. Go, Boris.

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The Lion King is back for the holidays. Take your youngest friends and relatives to go see it. You'll laugh, you'll cry - it's designed that way. Then take your youngest friends and relatives home again, and, so they aren't confused for life, explain to them that "the law of the jungle" is not a sufficient explanation for why small furry animals are just tickled to spend quality time in the company of their predators.

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The Little Rascals currently resides in the one-dollar movie theaters, where it is being shown to another twelve movie-goers. Most of the original twelve were family members. I wonder whether Long John Silver's made any money on the drink glass tie-ins.
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