As the Star Trek franchise is about to get a much-needed re-boot later this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the series and the role its played in my life. Being born during the run of The Original Series, I represent what I suppose could be called the “second generation” of Trekkies (there was no stigma associated with that term 30 years ago.) I got acquainted with Star Trek through endless re-runs on syndicated TV in the 1970s, The Animated Series on Saturday mornings, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Once I was hooked, love of Trek stayed with me for a solid 25 years — as I have previously discussed. There have been many changes during all that time, from movie to movie, series to series, and cast to cast. I’ve weathered nearly all of them, but I find myself wondering if I am ready to fall in love again.

Part of this has to do with the “origin” concept of J.J. Abrams‘ new film. I’ve never felt that an origin story for The Original Series crew has ever been particularly necessary. I can look at the first scene where William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appear together in “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” and that holds up as well as their last scene together in The Undiscovered Country, twenty five years later. That’s an amazing thing to my mind, and a testament to the writing skills of Samuel Peeples and the production skills of Gene Roddenberry. Since Star Trek appeared nearly fully formed right at the beginning, why mess with that? [...]

The Day the Earth Stood Still
3-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese
Fox Home Entertainment
Release date: April 7, 2009

Of all the science fiction films made in the 1950s, I have three favorites: Them!, Forbidden Planet, and The Day The Earth Stood Still. Each was seminal in its way, showing the movie-going public more of what the genre was capable. Forbidden Planet had astounding special effects, an all-electronic score, and a plot taken from Shakespeare. Them! carried both an ecological message and provided genuine suspense. The Day The Earth Stood Still was a brave message film, dealing with anti-Communist paranoia and questions of nuclear disarmament. Without these films, there would have been no Star Trek, no Star Wars, no Alien.

I therefore viewed the 2008 re-make of The Day The Earth Stood Still with some… hesitation. True, the film has a fine cast in Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, and Kathy Bates. With all the problems that have moved to the forefront of our minds in the last 10 years (terrorism, global warming, and warrant-less wire tapping), there is also a lot fertile ground for an update. Yet, this is Hollywood we’re talking about. The summer tent pole movie is much more about effects than plot and commentary. I think that Hollywood can blend both types of elements very effectively (see: The Dark Knight), but those movies are rare… just like the original version of The Day The Earth Stood Still was a rare film in its day [...]

Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead
Paperback
Written by Jonathan Maberry
Citadel Press
Release date: September 1, 2008

It’s a good time to be a zombie, or at least a lover of all things zombie-related. Max Brooks recently had two best sellers about the undead hordes, The Zombie Survival Guide (a sort of “worst case scenario” book for dealing with the ghoulish undead) and World War Z (an oral history of the coming war against the zombie hordes.) Call To Duty: World At War had a special game play mode after the credits rolled, where suddenly you have to fight your way through hordes of carnivorous Nazi undead in order to extend your miserable life. Zombies from the Third Reich also appear in Dead Snow, a selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in which a group of Scandinavian kids who accidentally awaken Wehrmacht and SS zombie hordes in the Nordic snow. We will even soon be treated to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a classic Regency zombie romance re-write of a Jane Austen classic by Seth Grahame-Smith.

To all this zombie gold, we must add Zombie CSU – The Forensics of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry. Taking something of an opposite tack from Max Brooks’ work, Maberry starts by asking “What would a real zombie outbreak look like?” and then goes to find answers from real pathologists and criminologists who are interested in the subject. Along the way, he provides frequent little detours into zombie-related subjects like the roots of the modern zombie phenomenon, lists of key zombie films, differences between zombie film genres, the zombie in art and illustration, and quotes from fellow zombie-philes in the arts and sciences [...]

Ever wonder what it might be like to have a Star Trek phaser of your very own? I have. Ever since I saw Kirk and Spock fire at a rock, a Horta, or a crazed crewman, I’ve been intrigued with the possibilities of coherent light. This led to early perusal of The Way Things Work: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Technology for the explanation of how lasers worked and time spent pouring over ads in Edmund Scientific catalogs for real lasers. Eventually, I got to do some experiments with lasers in my college physics classes, but I was still not completely satisfied.

Though the Executive Series Fusion has the size, dull matte finish, and heft of a high quality laser pointer, it means serious business. Meant for the optics enthusiast, it is bright — insanely bright. You can see the beam in darkened rooms. You can also damage objects. You can make holes in dark-colored balloons and dark trash bags and cut black electrical tape. The Wicked Lasers web site even says it will light wood or paper matches [...]

Earlier this week, Geeks of Doom reported that about the first full look at the USS Enterprise from JJ Abrams‘ upcoming movie Star Trek.

Few images are so immediately identified with the heart and soul of the Star Trek franchise. Few images have also changed so little over the intervening years; there was one major design for Star Trek: TOS (which changed slightly over the course of the series) and another design introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1978 that lasted almost unchanged until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 1991.

Mr. Abrams is delivering the first major change in Enterprise design in 30 years, and the first not approved by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry himself. He had to know that anything he and his creative team changed in the profile of the USS Enterprise would be controversial. This is why we are seeing it now, not when the movie comes out — so the Star Trek fan base can talk all this through and figure out if we really like it [...]

Iron Man was a great movie. With an unusual amount of humor and sarcastic wit, the movie took on the usually tough assignment of telling the superhero origin myth and as a result became a summer favorite with audiences. It also was a financial powerhouse, earning nearly $320 million in U.S. domestic receipts by the end of September.

With such success, a sequel is inevitable. Hollywood being Hollywood, someone will always suggest a way to “improve” a monster hit. Take the much-publicized decision to replace Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle in the sequel. While I do not think that Mr. Howard was the strongest link in the first movie, that opinion has much more to do with the fact that the character of James “Rhodey” Rhodes was a minor, supporting character in this version of the origin myth, and not any reflection on Mr. Howard’s acting chops. Yet, I’m sure that someone in Hollywood felt that Mr. Cheadle will add something more to Rhodey either being Iron Man or War Machine in the next film. People say “don’t mess with a winning formula,” but they’ve never heard that rule in Hollywood (or never listened, if they did.)

So, it is in the spirit of messing with a winning formula that I offer some further boneheaded casting changes and the rational behind them that could be proposed by some mid-level Hollywood creative type hoping to make a mark on Tinsel Town …

I first encountered Jesus Hates Zombies nearly a year ago, when I was asked to review the original Jesus Hates Zombies… and Sasquatch for the final chapter of The Great Zombie Roundup. Looking back at what I wrote then, I see that I struggled with the concept. I thought that the story idea had merit, and that some of the dialog showed great ironic edge (Jesus: “Ever ask yourself ‘how the hell did I get here?’”). With benefit of hindsight, I see that it was too brief of a story to know if Jesus Hates Zombies could fulfill its potential…

Given the time in development and the abundance of top-notch screenwriting talent, it is surprising that the screenplay of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is a bit of a mess. The movie left me asking questions about how or why certain things happened. After 18 years and several screen writers, shouldn’t all these questions be answered? Here’s a look at the top five unanswered questions from the film.

This 4-disc DVD contains all 24 episodes of the third season of the popular 1970’s Jim Henson television variety program, The Muppet Show.

The United States is a nation of tinkerers. We build, we modify, and we extend. We like to make devices do things that they are not designed to do, just to know that we’ve done it. This spirit was alive and well over the weekend at the San Mateo County Expo at the Maker Faire Bay Area. The Maker Faire was an absolute blast. I heartily recommend it to geeks of all kinds.

This four-episode collection featuring Jon Pertwee as The Doctor makes it an interesting point in the history of the series, with its introduction of the Sarah Jane character.

Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley star in this action fantasy film, which links of the Fall of the Roman Empire with the roots of Arthurian legend.

The “look” of headphones has changed radically over the last 30 years, but the actual mechanics of turning an electrical signal into sound in your ear has remained largely unchanged… until now.

The fourth season of the NBC drama is a mix of guilty pleasure, attractive cast members, outrageous guest performances, and over-the-top plot lines.

The Highlander franchise has a long and checkered history with creative output that has often been more bad than good. This production record will not be improved by the latest made-for-TV movie in the franchise, Highlander: The Source. The production disappoints. There is only the semblance of a plot. Characters are poorly drawn. Lack of subtlety and a real back story leaves the ending feeling empty.

After over 30 years, Dragon Magazine will print no more.

During this episode of The History Channel series The Universe we learn about the biology of stars — how they are born, live, and die.

To what degree will J.J. Abrams make Star Trek his own? Consider what the following producer/directors might do with the Star Trek franchise, given the chance.

Ratatouille is a (very) good film, not a great film. There is a lot to enjoy about it. It is both very pleasing to the eye and careful to create characters with substance and depth. I hope that the general public will be amazed, enthralled, and entertained with it comes out on June 29th. I did not leave the theater after Ratatouille with the same sense of magic that I felt after seeing The Incredibles, but it came close.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End is a good (but not great) popcorn crunching piece of entertainment that represents why more is not always better when it comes to Hollywood movies.