Star Trek Into Darkness opened to a four-day domestic weekend of some $80 million. This is a staggering amount of money, yet the movie was characterized as underperforming. Into Darkness did record business overseas (for Star Trek), but its emphasis in fast-moving action after months of hype-through-secrecy left core Trekkies mumbling the Vulcan proverb, “Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.”

In college I took a film theory class during which I asked the professor if it was true that movies today (circa 1996) had too many close-ups, because directors were familiar with television and music videos. The professor responded with one of the guiding principles of my life: “That may be true, but I try not to beat up on historical change.”

The next CD from Kritzerland brings together the surviving score tracks from three previously unreleased Franz Waxman scores for Paramount films: the Ceylon-set romantic drama ELEPHANT WALK, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch; the high-seas adventure BOTANY BAY, starring Alan Ladd and James Mason; and Billy Wilder's WWII comedy-drama STALAG 17, which earned William Holden the Best Actor Oscar.

Intrada plans to release two CDs next week.

On June 15, the Golden State Pops Orchestra will present a concert of "Music from the Star Wars Universe," including classic John Williams pieces such as "The Asteroid Field," "The Forest Battle" and "Luke and Leia" as well as music from Joel McNeely's Shadows of the Empire concept album and cues from Star Wars video game scores.

The 1972 holiday hit The Poseidon Adventure, following 1970 Best Picture nominee Airport, managed to launch the '70s trend of all-star disaster films, and for years the entertainment news featured stories about a proposed sequel, one of which would have had the capsized ships survivors trapped in a train inside the world's longest train tunnel. The end result, BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, was released in 1979 and directed by original Poseidon producer Irwin Allen himself, featured several interested parties, including salvage expert Michael Caine, Sally Field and villainous Telly Savalas, converging on the ship on the morning after the disaster, only to be trapped inside with previously undiscovered survivors. The eclectic supporting cast included Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, Shirley Jones, Shirley Knight, Slim Pickens, Angela Cartwright, Mark Harmon, Veronica Hamel and Karl Malden, and though the film was nowhere near the classic the original has proved to be, it benefited from a full-bodied score by three-time Oscar nominee Jerry Fielding, which is featured in its entirety on the Intrada CD, plus alternates of several cues.

Their other new release is a remastered version of Maurice Jarre's electronic score (previously released on LP and CD by Sonic Atmospheres) for the 1984 sci-fi thriller DREAMSCAPE, directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Eddie Albert and Christopher Plummer.

The latest release from Kritzerland is a two-disc set featuring remastered versions of three Michael Small scores previously released on CD by Intrada -- the 1987 romantic thriller BLACK WIDOW, directed by Bob Rafelson; Peter Hyams' 1983 conspiracy thriller THE STAR CHAMBER, with a terrific score in the Parallax View vein; and Walter Hill's stylish 1978 action thriller THE DRIVER, sort of a 70s version of Drive (but better), starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani.