The 94th Annual Academy Award Nominations

The full list of Academy Award nominations for 2021.

Best Picture

Belfast

CODA

Don't Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Best Directing

Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)

Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)

Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … Boom!)

Will Smith (King Richard)

Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)

Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)

Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)

Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)

Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)

Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)

J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

Actress in a Supporting Role

Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Judi Dench (Belfast)

Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)

Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

CODA (Sian Heder)

Drive My Car (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe)

Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve)

The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)

The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)

Don't Look Up (Adam McKay and David Sirota)

Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)

King Richard (Zach Baylin)

The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)

Animated Feature Film

Encanto

Flee

Luca

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Raya and the Last Dragon

Animated Short Film

Affairs of the Art

Bestia

Boxballet

Robin Robin

The Windshield Wiper

Costume Design

Cruella (Jenny Beavan)

Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)

Dune (Jacqueline West)

Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)

West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)

Live Action Short Film

Ala Kachuu - Take and Run

The Dress

The Long Goodbye

On My Mind

Please Hold

Music (Original Score)

Don't Look Up (Nicholas Britell)

Dune (Hans Zimmer)

Encanto (Germaine Franco)

Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)

The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)

Sound

Belfast

Dune

No Time to Die

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Cinematography

Dune (Greig Fraser)

Nightmare Alley (Dan Lausten)

The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)

West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)

Documentary Feature

Ascension

Attica

Flee

Summer of Soul

Writing With Fire

Documentary Short Subject

Audible

Lead Me Home

The Queen of Basketball

Three Songs for Benazir

When We Were Bullies

Film Editing

Don't Look Up (Hank Corwin)

Dune (Joe Walker)

King Richard (Pamela Martin)

The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)

Tick, Tick... Boom! (Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum)

International Feature Film

Drive My Car (Japan)

Flee (Denmark)

The Hand of God (Italy)

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)

The Worst Person in the World (Norway)

Makeup and Hairstyling

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

House of Gucci

Coming 2 America

Cruella

Dune

Music (Original Song)

Be Alive -- Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Darius Scott (King Richard)

Dos Oruguitas -- Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)

Down to Joy -- Van Morrison (Belfast)

No Time to Die -- Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (No Time to Die)

Somehow You Do -- Diane Warren (Four Good Days)

Production Design

Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos and Patrice Vermette)

Nightmare Alley (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau)

The Power of the Dog (Grant Major and Amber Richards)

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Stefan Dechant and Nancy Haigh)

West Side Story (Rena DeAngelo and Adam Stockhausen)

Visual Effects

Dune

Free Guy

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

No Time to Die

Spider-Man: No Way Home

2021 Golden Globe Nominations

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

BELFAST

CODA

DUNE

KING RICHARD

THE POWER OF THE DOG

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

CYRANO

DON’T LOOK UP

LICORICE PIZZA

TICK, TICK…BOOM!

WEST SIDE STORY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

JESSICA CHASTAIN, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

OLIVIA COLMAN, THE LOST DAUGHTER

NICOLE KIDMAN, BEING THE RICARDOS

LADY GAGA, HOUSE OF GUCCI

KRISTEN STEWART, SPENCER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

MAHERSHALA ALI, SWAN SONG

JAVIER BARDEM, BEING THE RICARDOS

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, THE POWER OF THE DOG

WILL SMITH, KING RICHARD

DENZEL WASHINGTON, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

MARION COTILLARD, ANNETTE

ALANA HAIM, LICORICE PIZZA

JENNIFER LAWRENCE, DON’T LOOK UP

EMMA STONE, CRUELLA

RACHEL ZEGLER, WEST SIDE STORY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

LEONARDO DICAPRIO, DON’T LOOK UP

PETER DINKLAGE, CYRANO

ANDREW GARFIELD, TICK, TICK…BOOM!

COOPER HOFFMAN, LICORICE PIZZA

ANTHONY RAMOS, IN THE HEIGHTS

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED

ENCANTO

FLEE

LUCA

MY SUNNY MAAD

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

BEST MOTION PICTURE – NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE (FORMERLY FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COMPARTMENT NO. 6 (FINLAND / RUSSIA / GERMANY)

DRIVE MY CAR (JAPAN)

THE HAND OF GOD (ITALY)

A HERO (FRANCE / IRAN)

PARALLEL MOTHERS (SPAIN)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

CAITRIONA BALFE, BELFAST

ARIANA DEBOSE, WEST SIDE STORY

KIRSTEN DUNST, THE POWER OF THE DOG

AUNJANUE ELLIS, KING RICHARD

RUTH NEGGA, PASSING

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

BEN AFFLECK, THE TENDER BAR

JAMIE DORNAN, BELFAST

CIARÁN HINDS, BELFAST

TROY KOTSUR, CODA

KODI SMIT-MCPHEE, THE POWER OF THE DOG

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

KENNETH BRANAGH, BELFAST

JANE CAMPION, THE POWER OF THE DOG

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, THE LOST DAUGHTER

STEVEN SPIELBERG, WEST SIDE STORY

DENIS VILLENEUVE, DUNE

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON, LICORICE PIZZA

KENNETH BRANAGH, BELFAST

JANE CAMPION, THE POWER OF THE DOG

ADAM MCKAY, DON’T LOOK UP

AARON SORKIN, BEING THE RICARDOS

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, THE FRENCH DISPATCH

GERMAINE FRANCO, ENCANTO

JONNY GREENWOOD, THE POWER OF THE DOG

ALBERTO IGLESIAS, PARALLEL MOTHERS

HANS ZIMMER, DUNE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“BE ALIVE” — KING RICHARD

Music by: Dixson, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter; Lyrics by: Dixson, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

“DOS ORUGUITAS” — ENCANTO

Music by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

“DOWN TO JOY” — BELFAST

Music by Van Morrison; Lyrics by Van Morrison

“HERE I AM (SINGING MY WAY HOME)” — RESPECT

Music by Carole King, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Hartman; Lyrics by Carole King, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Hartman

“NO TIME TO DIE” — NO TIME TO DIE

Music by Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell; Lyrics by Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

LUPIN

THE MORNING SHOW

POSE

SQUID GAME

SUCCESSION

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

UZO ADUBA, IN TREATMENT

JENNIFER ANISTON, THE MORNING SHOW

CHRISTINE BARANSKI, THE GOOD FIGHT

ELISABETH MOSS, THE HANDMAID’S TALE

MICHAELA JAÉ RODRIGUEZ, POSE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

BRIAN COX, SUCCESSION

LEE JUNG-JAE, SQUID GAME

BILLY PORTER, POSE

JEREMY STRONG, SUCCESSION

OMAR SY, LUPIN

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

THE GREAT

HACKS

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

RESERVATION DOGS

TED LASSO

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

HANNAH EINBINDER, HACKS

ELLE FANNING, THE GREAT

ISSA RAE, INSECURE

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, BLACK-ISH

JEAN SMART, HACKS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

ANTHONY ANDERSON, BLACK-ISH

NICHOLAS HOULT, THE GREAT

STEVE MARTIN, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

MARTIN SHORT, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

JASON SUDEIKIS, TED LASSO

BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

DOPESICK

IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY

MAID

MARE OF EASTTOWN

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

JESSICA CHASTAIN, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE

CYNTHIA ERIVO, GENIUS: ARETHA

ELIZABETH OLSEN, WANDAVISION

MARGARET QUALLEY, MAID

KATE WINSLET, MARE OF EASTTOWN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

PAUL BETTANY, WANDAVISION

OSCAR ISAAC, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE

MICHAEL KEATON, DOPESICK

EWAN MCGREGOR, HALSTON

TAHAR RAHIM, THE SERPENT

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION

JENNIFER COOLIDGE, THE WHITE LOTUS

KAITLYN DEVER, DOPESICK

ANDIE MACDOWELL, MAID

SARAH SNOOK, SUCCESSION

HANNAH WADDINGHAM, TED LASSO

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION

BILLY CRUDUP, THE MORNING SHOW

KIERAN CULKIN, SUCCESSION

MARK DUPLASS, THE MORNING SHOW

BRETT GOLDSTEIN, TED LASSO

O YEONG-SU, SQUID GAME

Zoolander 2 - DVD Review

ZOOLANDER 2 (PG-13) Starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Kyle Mooney, Justin Theroux, Cyrus Arnold, Milla Jovovich, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nathan Lee Graham, Jon Daly, Sting, Billy Zane, Fred Armisen, Christine Taylor and Justin Beiber.
Written by Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller, Nick Stoller & John Hamburg.
Directed by Ben Stiller.

★½

Zoolander 2 is kinda like Dumb & Dumber To. It's a sequel that would have been better about ten years ago, but now the groans of their stupidity outweight the laughs.

In fact, the laughs that are found in here come from everyone else but Ben Stiller's central male-model idiot. There are dozens of cameos in here, to an overcompensating degree. The movie starts off by explaining how Zoolander's wife died, he lost parental rights to his son, and now he lives as a hermit crab in a remote cabin.

Derek Zoolander is called back into action by a new fashion show in Rome, but there also happens to be a series of beautiful musicians who are getting killed, and so Derek and Hansel are enlisted by a fashion interpol agent (Penelope Cruz) to help solve the mystery.

The movie picks up once Mugatu (Will Ferrell) shows up, but we're an hour into a 95-minute film at that point.

Hollywood may think we want sequels to movies over a decade old, but we really don't.

Side note: Product placement is increasingly obnoxious in Ben Stiller films. It damaged his otherwise fine Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and it's too obvious here.

Doctor Strange - Movie Review

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg and Benjamin Bratt.
Written by Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill.
Directed by Scott Derrickson.

★★★

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is like the most expensive binge-worthy series. Iron Man was just the first two episodes. And in a way, it's like the reverse Orange Is the New Black. Instead of meeting everyone and then getting their backstory, every other episode is an origin story, and we know they'll mingle with other cast members later. Like after the credits.

This time around we meet Dr. Steven Strange, a brilliant, arrogant surgeon whose hands get screwed up in an auto accident. He seeks every possible method of surgical healing, but in a moment of desperation, he goes East to pursue more mystical methods. There he meets the Ancient One (a Tibetan monk in the comics, but to make the movie more palatable for China, he's been changed to a Celtic one). Tilda Swinton plays the Ancient One, and she elevates every scene she's in.

It's one of the funnier entries in the MCU, and it would have to be since it's full of magic and bending reality and interdimensional travel. The visuals are great. Very reminiscent of Inception, but it feels like it's its own thing.

I also enjoyed his sentient cape. Reminded me of the magic carpet from Aladdin.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Movie Review

Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Evangeline Lilly, James Nesbitt, Aidan Turner, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Ken Stott, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Jed Brophy and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Directed by Peter Jackson.

★★★

Caught this at the discount theater.

This trilogy, even though it has the same budget and running time, feels like Lord of the Rings Lite. And it is. The Hobbit was a one-volume kids book, and now it's been blown up into an eight-hour three-movie event. And while the sets are as daunting, the battles as decapitating, and the special-effects as all-consuming, it's still just an excuse to hang out in Middle Earth for another round. Fine by me.

When we last left Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin and twelve other dwarves we can't tell apart (I wish I'd reviewed this slideshow before going in) had flown on giant eagles to a safe spot away from the orc army but still a few days' journey away from the Lonely Mountain. The orc army catches up rather quickly, so they have to make haste and go through a haunted forest. Now Gandalf gets some news, so he says he has to leave them for a time, but he'll meet them at the Mountain.

Why the dwarves couldn't just stick with Gandalf? It apparently would take the same amount of time. No matter. They make their way through the wood and encounter giant spiders, and the adventure continues from there.  Now somewhere in there the dwarves come across two Elves - Legolas (Orlando Bloom, coming full circle) and an actual female named Tauriel (Lost's Evangeline Lilly), and there's actually some flirting between her and the cutest dwarf Kili (i.e. the one with the least amount of makeup).

The third act was my favorite part, when we finally meet Smaug the dragon (voiced with delicious villainy by Benedict Cumberbatch). (Hey, I just realized the dragon and the hobbit were Sherlock and Dr. Watson talking.)

It ends about as abruptly as a 2-hour 40-minute movie can, so I imagine the third one will be about as long, fleshed out nicely. And I will see that on the big screen too. I like hanging out in Middle Earth.

August: Osage County - Movie Review

Starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.
Directed by John Wells.

★★★

You can tell this comedy/drama came from a stage play, and while some of its scenes are expanded out, most of it takes place inside the house, the deep house where three sisters grew up under a kind but alcoholic father Bev Weston (Sam Shepard) and a monstrous pill-popping mother Violet (Meryl Streep).

When Daddy goes missing, the three daughters - Barbara, Ivy, Karen - come home to offer support and dread the fights they know will happen.  Barbara (Julia Roberts) comes with her husband (Ewan McGregor) and teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin), though they are separated due to his recent infidelity.  Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) is the middle child who's never found anyone but plans to announce her new beau soon. Karen (Juliette Lewis) is the flighty youngest who's had numerous boyfriends/fiances but thinks she's found the right one (Dermot Mulroney), even though for him, she'd be Wife #4.

Violet's sister (Margo Martindale) comes with her husband (Chris Cooper) and son (Benedict Cumberbatch) as well, and meanwhile there's a Cheyenne housekeeper (Misty Upham) Bev hired right before he disappeared. Got our cast of characters straight?

Once everyone makes their way in and assemble, there's about a half-hour scene at the dinner table that's filled with verbal jousting and prodding, and years of resentment start to boil to the surface. Violet is an Oxycontin Joan Crawford, and she snipes sometimes just to see what the reaction will be.

There were times Streep was a little too hammy for me, but more often there are scenes where she just commands the screen, and yet she's a generous co-star. Every actor gets to have their moment, and most impressive to me was Julia Roberts. This is my favorite performance of hers to date. You can see all the anger and resentment from her childhood manifest in the vein popping on her forehead, and when she unleashes, there is genuine pain lashing out.

Another standout for me was Nicholson. She's mainly known for her TV work (Ally McBeal, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Boardwalk Empire) and here she's the wallflower/good-girl who's had enough of everyone taking her for granted. I would have been happy if she was a Best Supporting Actress nominee next to Roberts. (She'll also be on Sundance Channel's upcoming Red Road series with Jason Momoa.)

Maybe in the play Ivy was the oldest sister. There's a line in there where Barbara says Ivy is almost 50, and Nicholson's clearly younger than Roberts, so it pulled me out a bit. If they'd just changed the line to "over 40" it would've still been funny and I wouldn't be dedicating a pragraph to it.

Chris Cooper gets a great monologue in there. Cumberbatch shows off what a chameleon actor he can be. Martindale, Mulroney, Breslin, Lewis were all good. McGregor didn't quite work for me. He's just never been able to nail down an American accent and it's distracting.

12 Years A Slave - Movie Review

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Paul Dano, Alfre Woodard, Adepero Oduye, Garret Dillahunt, Michael K. Williams, Bryan Batt, Taran Killam, Scoot McNairy and Quvenzhane Wallis.
Directed by Steve McQueen.

★★★★

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender

Probably the best movie on slavery since Roots. But very difficult to watch.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity, Salt) stars in the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man living in 1841 New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South.  Solomon is an educated man, well off from what we can tell as a violinist for hire.  He is our window to the experience, and it's a shrewd way to let us in.  Solomon is not a slave, nor is anyone in the audience, and so it makes easier to relate to the horrors thrust upon him, as opposed to someone who just grew up with it as their lot in life.

I've read some articles recently on trauma and PSTD, both what it does to children and to adults, but then there's the entire spectrum of damage done by slavery.  What does it do to generations beaten and imprisoned their entire life, family routinely removed from them, dehumanized daily.  What does it do to generations to raise them believing these humans over here aren't really humans so you can torture them and degrade them all you like.

Some of us descend from psychopaths who were okay with treating other people worse than animals.  Some of us descend from those other people who lived their entire lives at the mercy of those psychopaths.  How can a nation heal from such origins?

There's a scene where Solomon, on his way to the store, runs into some white men about to hang two black men.  And it's all treated so casually by everyone else in the scene.  The white men are just doing what's done, the black men know they can't do anything to resist, and Solomon has to walk away in despair as he hears the death throes of the slaves behind him.

Director Steve McQueen has an unflinching eye in the brutality.  There's another scene where Solomon is strung by his neck and his toes can barely touch the muddy ground.  We keep hoping the scene will cut away to something else, but it stays on him, and we hear him choking, and in the background, we see the other slaves ignore and go about their day. This is just the way life is.

Solomon spends most of his 12 years under a mentally unstable alcoholic named Epps (Michael Fassbender).  Epps has a mantra that "a man can do whatever he likes with his property." Epps' wife (Sarah Paulson), in ways, is as evil as he is, for when she gets upset, she wants to see some slaves beaten.  Slavery in all its brutality could only happen if there were women in on it.

I view it similar to Passion of the Christ, in that it's very violent, but it also leaves you with a lingering sense of the scope of suffering.  I was impressed with the pacing of it, and the way each event led to the next.  This is sure to get award nominations for Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor (Fassbender) and Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o, as slave-girl Patsey who unfortunately is liked by Epps).

One other note: there's a scene when a supervisor played by Paul Dano starts singing "Run N----r Run" to the slaves. It shows off his own deranged joy at keeping slaves in their place, but it also seems relevant to the headlines of today with Richie Incognito and others are still using the word. Let's just say I agree with Isiah Thomas's take on it.

Star Trek Into Darkness - Movie Review

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bruce Greenwood, Alice Eve and Peter Weller.
Directed by JJ Abrams.

★★★

This is a movie that is determined to have fun.  It plays with old Trek tropes (maybe a little too much this time around) while blazing a trail for the new.

It starts out with characters on the run.  Maybe if this had been an episode of the TV show it would have started with Kirk and McCoy landing on the planet, observing the sentient beings there. But we're in a movie, so let's skip to the action.  Kirk and McCoy banter as they run, until they get to a cliff where they don't even slow down; they just jump 60 feet and fortunately don't hit any rocks when they land in its ocean.

Turns out Kirk violated the Prime Directive while there.  (You remember the Prime Directive. That plot device that was violated every third episode.)  He gets demoted, and Admiral Pike gets the Enterprise back.  This can't end well for Pike, no matter what timeline we're in.  Hopefully this time he won't wind up as a quadriplegic who can only communicate with a "Yes/No" light, as he did on the series.  (Spoiler: he doesn't.)

Benedict Cumberbatch, an actor blessed with a name out of the Douglas Adams universe, plays the far-less-adventurously-nomenclatured "John Harrison", a domestic terrorist who is apparently plotting to start an intergalactic war.  Cumberbatch has a deep, symphonious voice, one where every syllable carries weight.

I caught the 3D version, and it was fine.  There were some set pieces where it worked well, but usually I forgot it was in 3D.  Which can be a compliment too.

My main criticism would be those "this is my JJ Abrams signature" lens flares on the bridge of the Enterprise.  I really hope he doesn't fill Star Wars Episode VII up with those.  Meanwhile I also hope they find a good director for Star Trek: Bring on the Klingons.