In Theaters Now: Star Trek, Rudo y Cursi & Next Day Air

Star Trek
directed by J.J. Abrams
J.J. Abrams can do no wrong. Okay, “What About Brian” was very wrong, but movie-wise, with hits like Mission: Impossible III and Cloverfield (where he was a producer) under his belt, the guy’s golden. If any die-hard Trekkers (they don’t like to be called Trekkies) had any reservations about the fandom being tinkered with, all of that dissipated with the release of Star Trek‘s trailer, which had both Trekkers and movie fans positively geeking out. Reteaming with writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who have both written for his TV shows “Fringe” and “Alias,” and who also co-wrote MI3 together, Abrams gets major props for casting Zachary Quinto as Spock and getting Leonard Nimoy to appear as his older (and original) incarnation. But where’s the love for William Shatner? The original Captain Kirk (played in the movie by Chris Pine) had a very public YouTube rant over his dismay at not being asked to come back to reprise his beloved role. But with or without everyone’s favorite Priceline guy, Star Trek will have the theaters packed to make this movie… live long and prosper.

Rudo y Cursi
directed by Carlos Cuarón
Surely out to be the next Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mathew Lillard (only, more likable, talented, entertaining and with better longevity), Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal pair up again—in their third acting project together—to play Beto and Tato, feuding, soccer-playing half-brothers gunning for the same spot on a professional team. Carlos Cuarón won an Academy Award for writing Luna and Bernal’s first movie together, Y Tu Mama Tambien. Carlos’ first directorial effort has some major names behind it, like friends and oft collaborators Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro González Iñárritu and big brother Alfonso listed as producers. Could this be the more-highly-acclaimed-and-Academy-respected Mexican equivalent of the Apatow group? Let’s hope all this brotherly love/rivalry makes for good comedy.

Next Day Air
directed by Benny Boom
Donald Faison (“Scrubs”) plays a down-on-his-luck deliveryman with a mild to moderate weed obsession who finds himself in the midst of a drug deal gone wrong when he accidentally delivers a package containing 10 kilos of cocaine to the wrong apartment. Benny Boom, a legendary music video director in the hip-hop world, directs his first feature here, which has been fielding comparisons to Pineapple Express, another studio comedy about dope-clogged losers who get themselves mixed up in the drug world. Mos Def and Yasmin Deliz also star.