Penny Thoughts ‘13—Nature Calls (2012) *

R, 79 min.

Director/Writer: Todd Rohal

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Johnny Knoxville, Maura Tierney, Rob Riggle, Patrice O’Neil, Darrell Hammond, Kelly Coffield Park, Eddie Rouse, Jill de Jong, Robert Longstreet, Nilaja Sun, Thiecoura Cissoko, Regan Mizrahi, Joshua Ormond, Joseph Paul Kennedy, Santana Pruitt, Adam Dorfmann, Eric Ruffin

Let’s get this out of the way right away so I can move on to what I’d really like to comment about. This movie is bad. It’s about two brothers who don’t get along. One followed their father’s passion for scouts; the other is a con man in the guise of a legitimate entrepreneur. The scout troop is looking sad with more adults involved than children. When the con man brother steals the last remaining scouts from a planned camping trip, the scout brother essentially kidnaps the children to camp out in a state park with out any permissions. Comedy does not necessarily ensue. The main problem is a plethora of ideas without any actual jokes. Writer director Todd Rohal confuses absurd, ridiculous and inappropriate behavior with comedy.

Now, let’s talk about the Boy Scouts. I was a Scout as a kid. It was rewarding and provided some bonding moments with my father, but it wasn’t something I ever really had the desire to pursue. I did the whole Cub Scouts thing; but when it came to graduating to the actual Boy Scouts, other interests pulled me away. None of this really affects my opinion on the recent decision of the Boy Scouts to lift their ban on homosexual members. When I was a scout, it wasn’t something that entered the realm of my thoughts. Perhaps it is the same for Scouts today.

However, as a socially minded adult, I find this move by this organization to be absolutely meaningless. Lifting the ban on the children but not the adult leaders is essentially an empty gesture to improve their public image. If you don’t allow for gay leaders, then the gay members still have no connection to their elder role models.

The Scouts are supposed to be a guiding organization for young minds. Their purpose is to provide an outlet in which young minds can be molded into something more, something greater than they can be without the role models of the elders who lead them. If there is still a ban on gay men being Scout Masters and holding leadership positions in the organization, then where are the members who may have issues or questions regarding their sexuality and its place in the world going to turn for guidance? The whole purpose of the organization is undermined by its very own policy still banning homosexual leadership. Why would a gay teen want to be a member of the Boy Scouts, if nothing they are taught pertains to their own personal growth and enlightenment?

The scouting age is that time period when any kid has the most to question about their sexuality. While the focus of the Scouts is not in this area of life, being surrounded by those with whom you feel connected is a major part of making an organization like the Scouts work. By upholding the ban on gay leaders, the Scouts perpetuate the atmosphere of fear that has inspired such bans to begin with. The Scouts have accomplished nothing with their new policy.

WARNING! The trailer below is the restricted red band trailer, reflecting the inappropriate and offensive nature of the film.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Stand By Me (1986) ****

R, 89 min.

Director: Rob Reiner

Writers: Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans, Stephen King (novella “The Body”)

Starring: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Southerland, Casey Siemaszko, Gary Riley, Bradley Gregg, Jason Oliver, Marshall Bell, Frances Lee McCain, John Cusack, Richard Dreyfuss

“Now he said, ‘Sic‘em, boy!’ But what I heard was, ‘Chopper! Sic balls!’”

I’ve had a lot drawing me to this movie lately. I’ve been watching an older Wil Wheaton on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. There’s a new movie out in theaters, which I desperately want to see titled “Mud”; it is drawing some comparison to this 80s classic. Summer is upon us, although this is really a late summer movie. And, the line “Chopper! Sic Balls!” has been stuck in my head for some unknown reason.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Grimm, season 2 (2012-2013) ***½

TV-14, 22 44-min. episodes

Creators: Stephen Carpenter, David Greenwalt, Jim Kouf

Directors: Norberto Barba, Terrence O’Hara, David Solomon, David Straiton, Stephen DePaul, Rob Bailey, Darnell Martin, Eric Laneuville, Holly Dale, Peter Werner, Omar Madha, Karen Gaviola, Michael W. Watkins, Charles Haid, David Grossman, Tawnia McKiernan

Writers: Stephen Carpenter, David Greenwalt, Jim Kouf, Richard Hatem, David Simkins, Dan E. Fesman, Spiro Skentzos, Akela Cooper, Alan DiFiore, William Bigelow, Sean Calder, Thomas Ian Griffith, Mary Page Keller

Starring: David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Reggie Lee, Bree Turner

Guest starring: Jessica Tuck, James Frain, Brian Tee, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Mike Dopud, Mark Pellegrino, John Pyper-Ferguson, Maddie Hasson, Steven Sukul, Sharon Sachs, Kevin Shinick, Danny Bruno, Robert Blanche, Jonathan Scarfe, Kristina Anapau, Jaime Ray Newman, Alice Evans, Josh Stewart, Claire Coffee, Jade Pettyjohn, Mary Page Keller, Logan Miller, Kate del Castillo, Angela Alvarado, Michael Grant Terry, Michael Maize, Jason Gedrick, Lisa Vidal, Jamie McShane, Christian Lagadec, Callard Harris, Lili Mirojnick, Eric Martin Reid, Kieren Hutchinson, Jenny Wade, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Eric Lange, Camille Chen, Chris Murray, Brian T. Finney, Bertila Damas, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Gill Gayle, Peter Anthony Jacobs, Eric Tiede, Erin Way, David Bodin, Nora Zehetner, Brian Gant, Keith Cox

As is often the case with second seasons, NBC’s supernatural police procedural “Grimm” has grown more confident in its style and mythology. The mythology, which skirted along the first season episodes, has almost taken the pole position in its second season, with many more episodes dealing with the mythology and long storylines running through many consecutive episodes. For the most part this has only enriched the series, which has a very intricate set up involving an unseen world of humanoids with special powers and a policeman that has access to this world.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Hangover (2009) ***½

R, 100 min.

Director: Todd Phillips

Writers: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Sasha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Rachael Harris, Mike Tyson, Mike Epps, Jernard Burks, Rob Riggle, Cleo King, Bryan Callen

“What do tigers dream of

when they take their little tiger snooze?

Do they dream of mauling zebras,

or Halle Berry in her Catwoman suit?

Don't you worry your pretty striped head,

we're gonna get you back to Tyson

and your cozy tiger bed.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Guilt Trip (2012) ***

PG-13, 95 min.

Director: Anne Fletcher

Writer: Dan Fogelman

Starring: Seth Rogen, Barbara Streisand, Kathy Najimy, Miriam Margolyes, Rose Abdoo, Casey Wilson, Dale Dickey, Yvonne Strahovski, Colin Hanks, Brett Cullen, Nora Dunn, Adam Scott, Ari Graynor

“The Guilt Trip” is harmless, observational, humorous fun. It isn’t great by any stretch of the word. There’s no mystery about what will happen and how it will all turn out. It’s a road trip movie, so there are really only two characters that matter; all the others are just scenery that travel into view and out of it again. So we’re left with a mother and son played by Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen. Two actors from two very different generations, and they’re appeal together comes from that contrast. They make a good mother and son.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 2 (1988-1989) ***

TV-PG, 22, 45-min. episodes

Creator: Gene Roddenberry

Directors: Rob Bowman, Winrich Kolbe, Robert Becker, Larry Shaw, Les Landau, Paul Lynch, Robert Sheerer, Joseph L. Scanlan, Cliff Bole, Robert Iscove

Writers: Gene Roddenberry, Jaron Summers, Jon Povill, Maurice Hurley, Jack B. Sowards, Brian Alan Lane, Burton Armus, Les Menchen, Lance Dickson, David Landsberg, Jacqueline Zambrano, Tracy Tormé, Richard Manning, Hans Beimler, John Mason, Mike Gray, Wanda M. Haight, Gregory Amos, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Scott Rubenstein, Leonard Mlodinow, Steve Gerber, Beth Woods, Kurt Michael Bensmiller, David Assael, Robert L. McCullough, Hannah Louise Shearer, Thomas H. Calder, David Kemper

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Diana Muldaur

Guest starring: Majel Barrett, Whoopi Goldberg, Colm Meaney, Seymour Cassel, R.J. Williams, Earl Boen, Daniel Davis, Alan Shearmen, Billy Campbell, Douglas Rowe, Albert Stratton, Rosalind Ingledew, Kiernan Mulroney, Joe Piscopo, Teri Hatcher, Marnie Mosiman, Thomas Oglesby, Leo Damian, Howie Seago, W. Morgan Sheppard, Suzie Plakson, Barbara Alyn Woods, Patricia Smith, J. Patrick McNamara, John Putch, Christopher Collins, Brian Thompson, Amanda McBroom, Clyde Kusatu, Brian Brophy, Paddi Edwards, Jamie Hubbard, Peter Neptune, Mädchen Amick, Cindy Sorensen, Thalmus Rasulala, Carolyn Seymour, Dana Sparks, Noble Willingham, Sam Anderson, Jill Jacobson, Leo Garcia, Mitchell Ryan, Nikki Cox, John de Lancie, Lycia Naff, Christopher Collins, Leslie Morris, Daniel Benzali, Barrie Ingham, Jon de Vries, Brenna Odell, Robert Costanzo, Carel Struycken, Mick Fleetwood, Lance Le Gault, Roy Brocksmith, Armin Shimerman, David L. Lander, Leslie Neale, Glenn Morshower

The second season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” finds a much more relaxed Enterprise. The actors are more relaxed. Their characters are more relaxed. You can almost feel how the film crew is more relaxed. Director Rob Bowman handles most of the directing duties for the more important episodes of the season, and its clear he’s really hitting his stride as a television director. Bowman would go on to become the go to director for the television series “The X-Files” and even some feature films.

Star Trek Into Darkness / **** (PG-13)

James T. Kirk: Chris Pine

Spock: Zachary Quinto

Nyota Uhura: Zoë Saldana

Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy: Karl Urban

Scotty: Simon Pegg

Hikaru Sulu: John Cho

Pavel Chekov: Anton Yelchin

Khan: Benedict Cumberbatch

Dr. Carol Marcus: Alice Eve

Admiral Pike: Bruce Greenwood

Admiral Marcus: Peter Weller

Paramount Pictures presents a film directed by J.J. Abrams. Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof. Based on the television series created by Gene Roddenberry. Running time: 132 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence).

When fighting against the oppressive force of evil, we run the risk of becoming that which we fight. This is the basic lesson at the heart of “Star Trek Into Darkness”, the latest in the Star Trek franchise. It also provides the full science fiction function that some felt was missing from 2009’s “Star Trek”, which was also responsible for wiping the slate clean from all that came before it. In this second film of a franchise that has already had a second film, we learn that the slate might not be as clean as it might’ve appeared from the last picture.