Star Trek Movie Stars On SNL To Address Trekkers

 

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NBC's Saturday Night Live staff does it again with this hilarious segment featuring Star Trek's Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine (Spock and Kirk respectively) making an appearance on SNL's "Weekend Edition" to address the concerns of Trekkers who were upset that the J.J. Abrams-directed blockbuster didn't follow "Star Trek history."

(Ha. Which includes me. Well, I was only mildly concerned, and not so much so that I didn't enjoy the movie. It was excellent!)

At any rate, Pine starts opens with an apology of sorts and Quinto follows up by explaining how they did incorporate some well known Trek lore like the "Vulcan PonFar" ritual. Then Pine stumbles on his words while trying to explain the technology of the "Transporter" and just as all seems lost for the two new megastars, Leonard Nimoy walks in to an ovation and saves the day, expaining "Any Trekker who doesn't like the movie is..." something I can't print here but they can say on live television.

What's so funny are the two "Trekkers" in costume in the audience making "We're watching you" faces at the stars during the segment.

All of this fun causes me to wonder if we will see a "Star Trek Blooper Video" with outtakes from the film, much as we enjoyed the Star Trek Blooper Real of the past with some funny errors caught on tape as the cast of the television show was at work.

Stay tuned!

Hollywood Suprised At "Star Trek" Boxoffice

Meanwhile, Nikke Finke, who's "Deadline Hollywood" blog is the best source for inside information on Hollywood, revealed that not only did Star Trek surprise Hollywood, earning 76.5 million for the weekend, but the audience was 60 percent male, 40 percent female, which surprised me as I expected a 70 percent / 30 percent split based on the demographics for Star Trek videos on YouTube.

Finke writes:

To put that in perspective, a domestic weekend total under $50M would have meant the pic didn't attract a new and younger audience and relied instead on the franchise's older but loyal fanbase of Trekkies. It was risky for Paramount to market the movie as "not your father's Star Trek". But the critical reviews for JJ Abrams' reboot are 96% positive.

Star Trek Movie Review With Bill and Lars

 

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Today, I saw Star Trek with my longtime friends Bill Boyd and Lars Frykman at matinee showing at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, thus following through on a plan we formed almost a month ago and I wrote about a few days ago. It was a cool reunion as I'd not seen Lars for just over 30 years and Bill and I get together for lunch maybe twice a year. Regardless of how little you see of each other, there's something about the friends you had when you were a teenager, especially when they last as long as ours has. Star Trek was always a rallying point for us, so today's meetup was a perfect way for the originators of the Bret Harte Star Trek Club to reconnect.

We're all fans of the original series, and consider ourselves experts on it. What we liked about J.J. Abrams version was the attention to detail in referencing certain episodes and music themes.

The scene where Kirk and Spock (Nimoy) enter the outpost on Delta Vega has music that recalls entering the hatchery of the Horta in "The Devil in The Dark" or the discovery of the real "Balok" in "The Corbomite Manuever". And as in the series Captain Pike was alive and bound to a wheel chair before being disfigured in a reactor accident. To kill him would have not been according to Star Trek history.

In fact, that's where we were confused in the loss of Spock's mother. She didn't pass on in the series, so her death here was not understood by us. Also the Enterprise was constructed in Hunter's Point Naval Shipyards in San Francisco, not Riverside, Iowa as in the movie.

The matter of the shipyards leads us to the Enterprise. What a terrific job Industrial Light and Magic did in making the ship look real, especially the daylight scene where Kirk reports for duty. That's the first time we see the giant vessel as if it were really in drydock on Earth. An excellent achievement.

Bill made the observation that because we're from an older generation this movie didn't have enough dialog. I agree but I don't say the movie wasn't well done. Still we're concerned that a society that wants stimulus over substance can be easily duped in a number of ways and this problem is something I will explore more of.

But even with that issue of style, Star Trek was a good, tight, entertaining film. Did it live up to our Trekker seal of approval?

Yes!

Star Trek Formed My Longtime Friendships

 

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Today the long awaited Star Trek movie is out and like any nerdy Trekker, I'm excited. I got our tickets 10 days ago and didn't have to stand in line, contrary to what you might think. But the real story here is that on Saturday, May 9th, I'm going to see Star Trek with my long time friends Bill Boyd and Lars Frykman.

This is an Oakland Trekker story in brief.

Bill, Lars, and I met in Oakland in 1976 when we were 14 years old at what was then called Bret Harte Junior High School, now Bret Harte Middle School. I was new to Oakland, having moved with my mom to the city from Chicago as my mom was in search of better schools for me. How times have changed!

The Bret Harte Star Trek Club

I was a big Star Trek fan and wanted to start a club at Bret Harte. I had no clue how to do this, so my friends said "You should talk to Bill Boyd or Lars Frykman!" So I was introduced to Bill, who at 14 had the deepest voice I've ever heard in my life, and has the same voice today! Then there was Lars, who's just unique and uses terms like "GROK" the meaning of which I've forgotten.

At any rate, Bill and Lars are white; I'm black. But in Star Trek, as Doctor McCoy once said, "People are different. You get used to those things." We formed a diverse set of people, all interested in science and led by Craig Pryor who famously worked through all of the problem sets in our calculus book before the end of the semester. But whom I bested in a massive debate on American versus foreign cars - I took American and won!

But we were and to this day are great friends. At Bret Harte in 1976 we made the most money of any club at our carnival taking in $104.76. We did it with a game Craig came up with where you throw a set of "Tribbles" (from the Star Trek episode "Trouble With The Tribbles") our moms made from fur and stuffing at a ping pong ball suspended from the air from a vacuum cleaner.

You laugh.

But Star Trek was the show that brought all of us together and caused us to work conventions in Oakland and have parties and get girlfriends. And it was because Star Trek continues to show a positive view of the future and how we relate to each other.

I can't wait for Bill, Lars, and Craig to see this and I can't wait to see Star Trek, even if the movie messes up the San Francisco Skyline.

New Star Trek Movie Messes-Up San Francisco's Skyline

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Also read about SF Giants Opening Day: The Party Economy At SFGate.com

I'm looking forward to the new Star Trek movie and the great story and special effects, but I'm not looking forward to how the movie treats San Francisco. It messes up the San Francisco Skyline, making it look like Hong Kong.

If you take a good look at the trailers for the movie, they show how San Francisco will look 300 years from today in the J.J. Abrams version of the Star Trek Universe.

The scene that I focus on in the video above shows what I argue -- but one other disgrees with -- is the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge. They claim it's the Golden Gate Bridge side, but that's not the point. The point is, the buildings are hundreds of times larger than the structures of today. Question: would San Francisco culture allow such skyscrapers to be created? My answer, and the SFist agrees, is no.

This has caused a fire storm of controversy, and even on my YouTube channel Zennie62, nasty comments, with some calling me names like "douche" and even some racial slurs, sadly. I've removed and banned about 30 accounts to date because of that. We can agree to disagree, but the flaming I will not tolerate.

Period.

Plus, it masks the main point: futurists tend to ignore culture over technology when looking forward and Star Trek is a great example. Now other Trekkers have explained that a nuclear war gave way to a new San Francisco Bay Area, but that doesn't mean people would not want to protect the Bay and our beauty. I just can't see that happening. San Franciscans have fought the "Manhattanization" of the city for years, why should they stop after a nuclear war?

The reality is San Francisco would fight to maintain it's human scale, even in the 23rd Century.

STAR TREK MOVIE TO FINISH NEXT WEEK - AN OFFICIAL MESSAGE FROM JJ ABRAMS

This is from the Star Trek Movie Page on Facebook : 

AN OFFICIAL MESSAGE FROM JJ ABRAMS

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Yesterday at 3:51pm

Dear All Those Who Checked Out the Trek Trailer on Facebook:

THANK YOU!

We're just making final tweaks to the movie -- we should be totally locked next week. Then we're going to flash-freeze it so it's totally fresh for you in May. I can't wait for you to see the movie. The cast is awesome. The action and effects pushed the stunt team and ILM beyond their limits. I'm so grateful to this cast and crew -- and to all of you for your interest and patience. We'll continue to update this page with new info and exclusives, so check back when you think of it. In the meantime, have a happy, healthy, fun holiday!

From the last days of the sound mix,

JJ

J.J. Abrams Star Trek: More On The May 9th 2008 Movie

I just happened upon this account of a Star Trek Movie press event attended by Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times.  J.J. Abrams was the host, and four clips from the upcoming blockbuster were shown.  This is the "meat" of what Itzkoff reported (spoilers):  

1. The young James T. Kirk (played by Chris Pine) is drinking forlornly at a bar in 23rd century Iowa (where they still serve Budweiser). Without much success, he flirts with a young Starfleet recruit named Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and picks a fight with four Starfleet grunts who clobber him. Kirk’s bravado impresses another Starfleet officer, Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), who knew Kirk’s late father, and goads Kirk into joining the Starfleet Academy. “Your father was the captain of a starship for 12 minutes,” Pike tells him. “He saved 800 lives, including your mother’s. Including yours. I dare you to do better.”

2. A medical officer named McCoy (Karl Urban) helps smuggle Kirk aboard the starship Enterprise by injecting him with a vaccine that induces the symptoms of a mysterious disease. While his hands and tongue swell up, Kirk races around the ship, trying to convince the crew they’re about to enter a trap set by the nefarious Romulans. We get our first glimpse of the young Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto of television’s “Heroes,” in a mop-top haircut and pointy ears), as well as Spock’s human mother (Winona Ryder) and the Romulan bad guy Nero (Eric Bana, in heavy-duty prosthetic makeup).

3. The Enterprise jettisons Kirk on a remote ice planet, where he meets the aged, future incarnation of Spock (ladies and gentlemen, Mister Leonard Nimoy!) as well as a young Starfleet engineer named Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg). With Old Spock’s help, Scotty completes a mathematical formula that permits living beings to be teleported onto vessels moving at warp speed. (Of course.) As Kirk and Scotty prepare to beam back onto the Enterprise, Kirk wonders if time-traveling and peeking into the future is cheating; Old Spock tells him it’s “a trick I learned from an old friend.”

4. In a lengthy action sequence, Kirk, Sulu (John Cho) and a third, red-shirted Starfleet recruit (don’t get too attached to him) parachute from the upper atmosphere of the planet Vulcan onto a giant drill that is burrowing a hole to the center of the planet. Kirk and Sulu disable the drill, but not before it drops a charge into the planet’s core. Back on the Enterprise, Spock realizes that the charge, when detonated, will create a black hole where his home world used to be – and he now has mere minutes to evacuate the planet’s entire population.

The second trailer was introduced last week.  Here's my review of the movie thus far, based on what I saw:

Star Trek Trailer Reveals Hit Star Trek Movie For J.J. Abrams

 Well four days ago I had this music in a dream then in my head I could not figure out how it got there. It was sci-fi like and could either be in a horror movie or a sci-fi flim. Then I saw the second Star Trek trailer, and it was that music.

I kid you not.

The second Star Trek trailer reveals a movie that will be a sure-fire hit. J.J. Abrams, who directed the movie and co-produced it, and his staff aimed for a mix of realism and Star Trek and hit it right on the money.

I do hope we can see William Shatner in it, but I understand why he made this difficult -- he'll be sorry. But I hope he's in it with Leonard Nimoy.


Zennie On CNN  

WALL•E Trailer Includes Homage To Star Trek Original TV Series

If you watch this trailer for the upcoming -- as of this writing -- Pixar movie called "Wall-E" to the end, you will see our hero shooting himself through space using a fire hydrant and humming a tune. That tune is from Star Trek, The Original Series, second season eipsodes, and was featured in "The Doomsday Machine" as well as "The Ultimate Computer.

It goes DA-DA-DA-DAA DA-DA-DA-DE-DA, or something like that.

So there's a trivial bit of information you can wow your friends with.

Here's a video of re-mixed scenes from "The Ultimate Computer" where the music plays at 2:20 and various points, even though the clip jumps so much it's hard to get the full tune, but you can pick it up if you listen:

1-18-08 - Monster Movie Not Godzilla: J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield

In this video taken at the San Diego Comic-Con, J.J. Abrams, the producer of the upcoming " Cloverfield " movie does say that the movie is not a Godzilla remake. He explains that he was in Japan with his son and in buying toys considered that America really doens't have its own terrible giant monster, with the exception of King Kong.

This movie's going to change that.

He also gives some updates -- real good updates -- about Star Trek XI

William Shatner Not Written In New Star Trek Movie Script - Terrible

I just read that William Shatner, who played Star Trek's Captain Kirk for so many decades in television and movies, will not be in the new Star Trek Movie (Star Trek XI) helmed by J.J Abrams. Shatner says he got the news from Leonard Nimoy, who read the script and informed him that he has a part, but Bill does not. He's mentioned in the script, but there's no part.

That's weird to me. There's no way they can make a Star Trek movie with Spock and not Kirk. Here's the video from Shatnervision :

Shatner Talks New Star Trek XI Movie Details From An Inside Source

Instead Of PriceLine, Well, Don't Use PriceLine

PriceLine. You know. It's the online hotel and travel website best known for being represented by William Shatner of Star Trek. But I've had a bad experience with PriceLine and because of it I can just tell you I consider it to be a fraud, period.

It's better to use a firm like Hotel Reservations.com, which promises Cheap Hotelsbut without the bait-and switch that Priceline gives you. In a matter of time, maybe Shat will switch to Hotel Reservations.com.

Why not?

Don't you think it's better than going to PriceLine and signing up for a hotel you're supposed to get, only to have another one?

Geez!

Well that's what happened to me. I'll never forget it and it explains all of those websites that label PriceLine as a fraud. Watch out there!

Think I'm kidding?

Look at this:

Today I had some real fun and wrote formal complaints against priceline at

- The Federal Trade Commission(FTC)
- The FBI Internet Fraud Complaints Center (FICC)
- The National Fraud Center
- National Internet Fraud Watch (NFIC).
- The Better Business Bureau of Conneticut
- First National Bank of Omaha

So what happend? I just experienced fraud on the internet.

My frist mistake was that I decided to try something new by purchasing a hotel stay through priceline (confirmation number 63260917). However, I was also charged a $15 additional 'travel insurance' fee even when I did not requested it. I contacted priceline and was only verbally abused by a person who called himself agent 7399. After spending almost one hour on the phone (mostly on hold and in a maze of recorded messages), they refused to refund anything and was extremely abusive. The first 'agent' also refused to transfer me to a manager and stated that only a colleague was available. This person was equally rude and did not let me finish a single sentence and 'told me off' in no uncertain terms...

It quickly became clear that this was pure intimidation and fraud and the 45+ minutes on hold was clearly designed to discourage any requests for refunds.

Instead, agent #7399 claimed that I had selected to buy the travel insurance. I asked him how he could make such a claim, when I called him within 20 minutes after receiving an email confirmation about the overcharges. He simply told me that they had good systems and I should 'trust him'.

In short, I was taken subjected to a $15 theft and was being yelled at for simply protesting.

I am not an investor activist yet, but I will become one if needed...

William Shatner On Kirk's Death In Star Trek: Generations - Video

I just found a site called " Bring Back Kirk.com " which calls for Paramount to bring Star Trek's Captain Kirk back from the dead, where he was left after Star Trek: Generations. As part of this effort, they have this video where Shatner's talking about his objection to the plan to have Kirk killed. It's an insight into the kind of thinking that Shatner says Paramount had in making their decision.

Shatner Responds: The Death Of Captain Kirk