Let’s boldly go to the movies

Should I be jealous of Uhura kissing Spock? After all, he is my first love and I’ve known him since he was speaking Persian to the good old James Tiberius Kirk and they were called Pishtaazaane Fazaa…

spock uhura michele roohani

I have grown up like millions of Iranians with Star Trek—my cousin, Anousheh Ansari, was inspired by them (she even made the vulcan salute before going to space!)

I still have his picture in my bedroom to prove my unchanging love for Spock:

mood board michele roohani spock

I went to see the movie yesterday and I liked it a lot—I am a hopeless Trekkie and all the holes in the plot didn’t bother me a bit. I was relieved to see the first Enterprise where the shield wasn’t leaking energy every few minutes; maybe as Roger Ebert suggested, they did get new batteries…

spock uhura music michele roohani

On a more serious note, I saw a couple of great movies this week: Il Divo, an Italian film about Gulio Andreotti—I loved it in spite of my ignorance about the politicians involved (and the Mafia),

il divo andreotti michele roohani

Somebody called the new Star Trek movie operatic—they have to see Il Divo to see how a governement can be operatic! That clown Berlusconi is not helping the Byzantine image of Italian politics…

gulio andreotti michele roohani

Another very interesting film I saw was Examined Life; I only knew a couple of the Philosophers but it didn’t diminish the pleasure of watching some intelligent thoughts on screen:

examined life michele roohani

It reminded me of Saul Bellow’s funny quote: Socrates said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ My revision is, ‘But the examined life makes you wish you were dead.’

The next film was Goodbye Solo, by the hottest young director—according to Ebert—Ramin Bahrani:

goodbye solo ramin bahrani michele roohani

not bad for a young Persian dude

You can watch him with Charlie Rose here.

ramin bahrani Matthew Monteith michele roohani

A good movie to me is the one that stays in your mind for a little more than the two hours that you are spending in the theatre and these films will stay with me for a while like my last year’s favorite, Starting out in the evening or Michael Apted‘s unforgettable Up Series about the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old,  up to now (the next episode will be in 2012).

7 and up apted michele roohani

Imagine seeing the same people grow old in front of your eyes every seven years—it took 42 years to make it—now that’s a documentary!

I do watch entertaining films like the Batman series/Iron Man/Duplicity but from time to time it is refreshing to watch something that makes you stop and think.

Last but not least, today is Mother’s Day in America so please don’t forget to love your mother.

mother’s day calligrapahy micheleroohani rose

Visit my best movie post here; these films are really worth watching again.

3 thoughts on “Let’s boldly go to the movies

  1. In the name of James Tiberius Kirk, Spock & Enterprise, and while Beethoven’s string quartet 131 (gross fugue) is playing in the background, I wish you, and yours, a well deserved recognition, not just for today, but for many light traveling horizons.

    Your jealousy of Spock being kissed would depend on whether you can allow your first love’s logic convince your feelings…….and there is a second chance. Chance to examine life on the other hand…to read a good book, truly listen to any music which awakens one’s soul, sharing between friends, and…make me ponder….. as “Examined Life”, “Into great silence” and “Soloist” from under LA’s tunnels have. Gomorrah and IL Divo showed another face of life…Thanks for your many sharings.

  2. I had a chance to meet the real ” UHURA” . Beautiful movie, it reminds me of so many nice memories from my childhood. The real Uhura looks much better than the new one. I enjoyed each minute of it. Lots of memories….

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