In 2009, director J.J. Abrams breathed new life in to “Star Trek,” a reboot of a film series which, after the disastrous Next Generation movie “Star Trek: Nemesis” seven years earlier, had become a stale and bloated parody of itself. It’s always easier to try new things when you are re-inventing an origin story, so Abrams’ “Star Trek” gave Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) a snotty modern makeover and added way more action than “Trek” movies usually get.

The voyages of the Starship Enterprise were successfully relaunched and a familiar crew (including Zachary Quinto‘s Spock) was installed on the ship. The question before Abrams and his loyal band of writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof then became: Do we boldly go where no man has gone before?

From a plot standpoint, the answer is a resounding no, but that doesn’t mean that “Star Trek Into Darkness” is a boring retread of past storylines. It’s a tremendously energetic, thrilling mash-up of past storylines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeLp2qr2iCg

Yes, there are the same winks and nods to iconic “Star Trek” moments that Abrams’ first outing at the helm of this ship had, and, yes, there are plenty of flashy lens flares and jokey one-liners from Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban). But Abrams has grown into a confident cinematic storyteller, capable of setting high stakes, staging impossible situations, and having his characters get out of them, one after another, with a combination of exciting action and just enough of their intellect.

If anything, “Star Trek Into Darkness” is Abrams doing his version of an Indiana Jones movie. An acolyte of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg (and who has recently landed the most thankless job in all of Hollywood: taking over Disney’s first “Star Wars” movie), Abrams knows how to wrench pure entertainment from serial-like action, while keeping a healthy dash of humor front and center. He also has composer Michael Giacchino doing an effective job of making John Williams cry.

Impressive CGI art direction, a truly menacing villain (the great Benedict Cumberbatch), and a keen sense of pacing make “Star Trek Into Darkness” an easy movie to get swept up in. Abrams is counting on that, because he is treading familiar waters plot-wise. Because it still revolves around the fundamental difference in philosophy of Kirk and Spock, however, “Star Trek Into Darkness” feels like a “Star Trek” movie. It’s almost as if Abrams and company knew this would probably be their last outing in the series, so they threw in everything they could think of. It makes for one hell of a ride, and I wouldn’t want to be the guy that has to follow it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdz1pFe0pGI&feature=youtu.be

Since 1995, Darrell Brogdon has been hosting The Retro Cocktail Hour, a weekly two-hour (you read that right) radio show produced by Kansas Public Radio right here in Lawrence. Every Saturday night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., listeners can delve into the strange world of space-age, ’50s and ’60s, swingin’ bachelor pad music on their old-fashioned radio sets or new-fangled streaming Internet computers.

With Brogdon’s film series “Cinema A Go-Go,” retro fans can travel further into the kitschy past with a double feature of epic low-budget proportions. Friday, May 17, at Liberty Hall, the schlock jumps out of the speakers and onto the screen with 1953’s “Cat Women of the Moon” and “Teenagers from Outer Space” from 1959.

“Cat Women” is the ultimate male space-age fantasy, complete with cardboard meteor showers, giant spiders and “everlastingly beautiful women” who have been living without men for centuries. “Teenagers,” on the other hand, preys on the generational gap, featuring a teenage terror “ten thousand times more terrifying than your maddest nightmares.” No, it’s not young people that their parents just don’t understand anymore discovering the Beats and rock n’ roll — it’s teenagers who shoot adults with rayguns, turning them into instant skeletons through the magic of bottom-of-the-barrel jump-cut effects! Extra bonus: Giant lobsters called Gargons!

This coming Tuesday, May 21, the Replay Lounge celebrates what will hopefully continue to be “outdoor appropriate” weather with the Bike-In Theater. People are encouraged not to meet at the water tower, but instead to ride on up to the Replay’s outdoor patio and see a retro movie of another kind — one that has become a bona fide cult classic.

Grab a cheap can of PBR and enjoy Richard Linklater’s funny and wistful “Dazed and Confused,” where Texas teenagers from the ’70s grapple with life and stuff, showing at 9 p.m. out back. And if you didn’t get enough of your required dose of Foghat and Kiss during the movie, DJ Modrey Hepburn will be spinning vintage vinyl afterward. I’m not sure whether her set will be ’70s themed or not, though, because Hepburn usually specializes in ’50s rock n’ roll and the British Invasion … and I’m pretty sure threatening her with Ben Affleck’s freshman paddle is a not good idea.

Also this week, Liberty Hall is opening “Mud,” a movie I’m very excited to see, given that it is director Jeff Nichols‘ follow-up to “Take Shelter,” one of the best movies of 2011.