Star Trek Voyager 42

There is no image, but the entire episode The Haunting of Deck Twelve is built around an entity in section 42 of Deck 12.

from the transcript:

MEZOTI: This has something to do with deck twelve, doesn't it?
NEELIX: Well, what makes you say that?
ICHEB: Deck twelve section forty two is off limits to everyone but senior officers with a level six security clearance.
MEZOTI: That's because it's haunted, isn't it?

*******

As some of you may recall, The Husband spent about 5 years not living here full-time and was only here a day or so a week. My practice during those years was to do my blog visiting in the mornings over coffee. Now he's here for morning coffee, and my schedule is in need of reconfiguring. I'm sure I'll get there... Maybe I could do blogland after he leaves for work, but usually by then I've started laundry and other housework and just haven't made it to my laptop. I'd do it during lunch, but he's home for lunch. I'm not making it to my laptop for days on end. When do y'all do your computer activities, anyway?

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is a 2005 Finnish dark parody film, a wonderful parody of the Star Trek and Babylon 5 franchises.

Den of Geek says,

Altogether, this movie is fun, light entertainment that will amaze you even more when you see just how it was made. If a bunch of university students can do this on a limited budget over several years, just imagine what they could have done with a million pounds or more? It's a triumph of ingenuity, dogged determination and imagination.

Moria praises it and calls it "an extraordinary example of the fan film."

Star Trek Continues

You have to get used to other actors you've never seen before playing the old-style original Kirk/Spock/Bones/Scotty/Uhuru cast, but once that's done: Golden. Marina Sirtis, who is Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation, voices the computer. Scotty is played by the son of James Doohan, who played the part in the original.

Here's the vignette that leads us from the last episode of the original series to this continuation:

Here's the first episode, which is a direct sequel to The Original Series episode Who Mourns for Adonais? starring the same man who played Adonis in the original:

That episode has a Wikipedia entry here. I'm loving this.

The second episode, which guest stars Lou Ferrigno, is here:

More are expected.

Slate has a positive review. io9 has given it some positive attention.

Redshirts

John Scalzi has become one of my go-to authors for enjoyable reading. The Husband bought me Redshirts for Christmas, and it was great fun. Being a Star Trek fan from way back (which was a bit hard with my mother making sure I could never watch Kirk and Company on TV because she disapproved of science fiction), I loved the connection with that series. I would think it would help you appreciate the fun more if you're familiar with the Star Trek meme the red shirt:

but it's certainly not necessary. There's plenty here to consider if you are of a more philosophical bent.

The book won the 2013 Hugo Award for best novel. You can read the first 5 chapters here.

from the back of the book:

THEY WERE EXPENDABLE...

UNTIL THEY STARTED COMPARING NOTES

Ensign Andrew Dahl had just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better...until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy belowdecks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is...and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

The review at The British Science Fiction Association closes with this: "Once again John Scalzi has written a novel that surprises and entertains but that also sticks with you long after you’ve finished reading it. Well recommended in my humble opinion." Wired calls it "a brilliantly funny book with an unexpected amount of emotional heft". io9 says, "It's one part Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, one part "Below Decks," and one part geeky nitpicking about the bad science in science fiction television. With a dash of Cabin in the Woods." SFReviews.net concludes,

SF might not be the genre you think of when it comes to "you'll laugh, you'll cry" entertainment. But if we must have stories like that, I'm happy to have John Scalzi be the guy writing them. Just as long as he remembers to throw in a few ice sharks and Borgovian Land Worms.

SF Signal gives it 4 out of 5 stars and says the book "accomplishes exactly what it was intended to do: entertain the science fiction fan. In that respect, the book wildly succeeds". Kirkus Reviews does not like it at all and says, "It's all vaguely amusing in a sophomoric sort of way, which is fine if you're an easily diverted sophomore with a couple of hours to kill." SFSite.com says, "Not only does Redshirts work as a novel, but Scalzi is able to make the characters come alive." Forbes closes its review with this:

You don’t have to be a hardcore sci-fi fan to enjoy Redshirts, though there are plenty of Easter Eggs for those who are. And the beauty of the book is that it works on multiple levels. If you’re looking for a breezy, fun read for the beach, this is your book. If you want to go down a level and read it as a surreal meditation on character and genre like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, this is your book. If you’re looking for a deeper interplay about the intersections between story and our lives, well, this is your book, too. Suffice to say, I highly recommend it.

The Omen (1976)

Yesterday afternoon The Younger Son, The Husband and I watched The Omen, the original 1976 film starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner (Babylon 5, Star Trek 5 and 6, Star Trek: TNG, Bob Cratchit in the George C. Scott Christmas Carol), Patrick Troughton (the 2nd Doctor) and Leo McKern (an old favorite of mine, especially from Help!, The Prisoner tv series, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, X the Unknown, and, of course, as Rumpole). I had never seen it before and was struck by how solidly it seemed to be in the predestination camp. There's no possession/exorcism plan here. In this film some people are born to be damned.

trailer:

Did Roger Ebert actually watch the movie? He claims the Leo McKern character dies in a tornado. He gives it 2 1/2 starts. Moria gives it 3 stars. 1000 Misspent Hours says, "This is a very well-made movie, filled with effective performances and packing a few exceptionally powerful scare scenes." DVD Talk says, "It's a classy film with a great cast, some unforgettable visuals and set pieces, and one of the most chilling scores of the last fifty years." Rotten Tomatoes gives it 82%.

Live Like a Vulcan

When I watched the original Star Trek series as a child, it was Spock I was attracted to, so when I saw the title of this post at io9 I perked up. They offer 10 ways to live like a Vulcan. I'll put the bare bones here, but they explain it all at their site:

Wish other people long life and prosperity.
Make your greeting into a blessing.
Celebrate diversity.
Become a vegetarian.
Put the needs of the many ahead of the few (or the one).
Practice stoicism.
Learn to meditate.
Practice touch telepathy.
Go to extremes for love.
Send your children into the wilderness.

I think it's interesting that the emphasis on logic and reason and exclusion of emotion are not there, and I saw that as the hallmark of a Vulcan. It seems a bit of a touchy-feely list for a Vulcan.

The picture at the top of the post comes from Wikipedia.

A Tribble of Your Very Own

Tor.com has easy illustrated instructions for making your little playmate, but they exclude that prolific procreative ability.

I'm hesitant to make one, because my bookshelves are already crowded with little items that go with the books and I don't have DVD shelving yet. They are cute, though.

HT: SciFi Squad

The picture at the top of the post is from Wikipedia.

Happy Birthday, Shatner and Kirk

William Shatner and James Kirk share a birthday! I think Shatner should get 2 cakes today.



The pictures are from Wikipedia.

Today's Star Date

According to this web site (via Kinda Unique), today is Star Date -312856.5310121764. Of course, Star Dates were iffy at best as far as continuity goes, so I'm not sure about assigning them to periods in the past.

There are other calculators. TrekGuide gives a Star Date of 63610.3 for today. Memory Alpha has an explanation of Star Dates, and they link to the Trek Guide calculator.

I've just resigned myself to living with the Georgian calendar. And not having a flying car. And never taking the shuttle to the Moon Base or living in the Mars Colony. This is getting depressing...

Your Star Trek Personality

Wolf Gnards offers the question, "Who is the best Star Trek captain?" and then evaluates your personality based on your choice. I choose Kirk:

Captain James T. Kirk – The Go-Getter

Kirk fans are a bit of a contradiction, they like to live life and they like to live it hard, but in the most out-of-date, predictable ways possible. Chauvinist? Yeah. Drunks? Probably. Pudgy? Almost always. The one thing about Kirk fans that you have to admire is they are not quitters, they are not afraid to fall and they are not afraid to get back up again. And don't get into an argument about who the best Star Trek captain is with them because they will not give an inch. They would rather cheat, lie, and go down in flames than give up.

Why give an inch when Kirk so obviously is the best! People just need help getting past their misconceptions and misunderstandings, but, through persistence, they will see The Truth.

HT: The Zeray Gazette

William Shatner Sings Again

Why do I love this so much? I think the first bit is especially priceless:



HT: SFSignal

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension came out in 1984, and The Husband swears I saw it back in the '80s. I have no recollection of it at all. Even now, having watched it (again?), it's like I've never seen it before. Now, having watched it (again?), it doesn't surprise me that it didn't stick with me through the years. Peter Weller (Robocop, ST: Enterprise) stars with John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, Robert Ito (Star Trek connection), Ronald Lacey (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Clancy Brown (Kurgan in Highlander), Vincent Schiavelli (Star Trek connection) and Dan Hedaya. We watched the theatrical release. It had plenty of special features, including 14! deleted scenes, but we skipped them.

trailer:


The New York Times likes it, closing by calling it "pure, nutty fun." Time Magazine says it's "the very oddest good movie in many a full moon." The Variety review is here. 1000 Misspent Hours says it eventually achieved status as a cult film but that

its initial release was such a cataclysmic failure that it drove the Sherwood production company out of business, instantly scuttling the sequel proudly forecast in the closing credits and creating a thicket of ownership quandaries dense enough to send the VHS tape swiftly out of print and to delay the DVD release for years.

Moria opens with this:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension is an object lesson in how to create an instant cult film. Buckaroo Banzai fulfills all the requirements of a cult film – it is exceedingly eccentric, it was a commercial failure at the box-office, it instantly received a fan clique – all without it ever being a particularly good film.

2/18/2010: Great Old Movies calls it "a tedious and woeful, career-killing failure virtually devoid of entertainment value" and "virtually unwatchable".

Star Trek Generations

Yeah, well, I'm not sure I can say much good about a film that throws away Captain Kirk on such a death as this. Star Trek Generations brings back James Doohan and Walter Koenig for bit parts at the beginning and Captain Kirk, recently retired. The ST:TNG crew is what we see most of in this installment. The computer is voiced by Majel Barrett. Malcolm MacDowell is the villain, and Guinan is introduced and appears in both time frames. I never did like the next generation characters as much. I don't like Picard's early teary angst-y breakdown with Troi soon after the intro of TNG crew, Data's difficulty dealing with emotional baggage, Picard's perpetual need for someone else to come to his aid... I like this movie least of all, and I don't think it's just because they kill off Kirk and give us Picard instead.

trailer:


Moria gives it 2 stars but likes Shatner:

The one person who makes the best of things is that renowned limelight grabber William Shatner. Star Trek: Generations’s big drawcard was the little kept secret of William Shatner’s guest appearance and Captain Kirk’s death. And William Shatner rises to the occasion, mugging and smirking his way through a grand old airing of the Captain Kirk role, in fact out-acting all others in the show, including the much more subdued Patrick Stewart.

The New York Times says that though Stewart is a better actor than Shatner, "he and the "Next Generation" cast don't have quite as much personality as the original show's old standbys." Variety's review is here. Roger Ebert gives it 2 stars, but he gets part of the plot wrong:

The movie opens during a maiden run for the Enterprise B; plans call for it to take a little dash around the solar system with some reporters on board. But then a call for help is received, and there's polite jockeying for position between the newly appointed Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the just-retired Capt. Kirk (William Shatner).

though the jockeying with Shatner takes place over 70 years before Picard commands the Enterprise and the captain in question is John Harriman. Picard first meets Shatner in the Nexus.

The Undiscovered Country

The Undiscovered Country, the last real Star Trek movie, is 6th in the series. It brings back the Original Series cast one last time. Christopher Plummer plays Shakespeare-quoting Klingon villain Chang. Iman is also a villain. Brock Peters, who plays Benjamin Sisko's father in ST:Deep Space Nine, is Admiral Cartwright. Rene Auberjonois, Odo in Deep Space Nine, is Colonel West here. Mark Lenard comes back, Janice Rand is a Commander on Captain Sulu's ship and we're introduced to Worf's grandfather, played by Michael Dorn. David Warner, who is a Terran in the previous ST movie, plays a Klingon whose goal is to forge a peace with the Federation that will save his people. We like him in the George C. Scott Christmas Carol. He is also in a ST:TNG episode as one of the many who have held Picard captive through the years, and is in Grail, a Babylon 5 episode.

trailer:


Moria likes this one. Variety says it "delivers enough of what Trek auds hunger for to justify the trek to the local multiplex." The New York Times has good things to say, including this:

In this kind of anything-goes atmosphere, creative ferment is whatever one makes of it, and the "Star Trek VI" principals have done their best to make it fun. That's no small achievement after 25 years.

The Final Frontier

The Final Frontier is the 5th in the series and the only one to be directed by William Shatner. We call it "What Does God Need with a Space Ship?" Critics don't generally like this one, but we've always gotten a kick out of it. The Original Series cast comes back. Spock gets a half brother. David Warner plays the Federation representative to Nimbus 3. We like him in the George C. Scott Christmas Carol. He is also in a ST:TNG episode as one of the many who have held Picard captive through the years, and he comes back as yet another character in the next Star Trek film. He is in Grail, a Babylon 5 episode.

trailer:


Moria gives it 1 lousy star and calls it the worst of the lot. The New York Times has a negative review but says a good word about Shatner's direction:

Scene for scene, Mr. Shatner's direction is smooth and sharply focused. He has a sure feel for keeping ''Star Trek'' just this side of camp, and for the slightly tacky, artificial look that lets us know this is all a game. But he pays dearly for abandoning the Enterprise's mission: ''to boldly go where no man has gone before.''

The Voyage Home

The Voyage Home -or Save the Whales, as we call it around here- is the 4th in the Star Trek film series. There are lots of reasons I don't much care for this one, but it's one of The Daughter's favorites. I don't like time travel stories and don't usually like the ST stories that go back in time. I make jokes about the number of writers involved ("too many cooks"?). One of my favorite scenes is the one in the hospital where McCoy interacts with patients and doctors. The Original Series cast is here. Mark Lenard is Sarek and Jane Wyatt is Spock's mother. Robin Curtis makes an early appearance as Saavik. Leonard Rosenman does the music.

trailer:


The New York Times and Variety like it. Moria does not. Roger Ebert says,

This is easily the most absurd of the "Star Trek" stories - and yet, oddly enough, it is also the best, the funniest and the most enjoyable in simple human terms. I'm relieved that nothing like restraint or common sense stood in their way.

The Search for Spock

The Search for Spock is the 3rd Star Trek film in the ongoing series, and the last we'll watch tonight. What can I say. I'm not getting any younger. Don't ask me what the kids' excuse is. This is the last one to come out before I had kids and the last one I saw in a theater for years. It stars the Original Series cast, is directed by Leonard Nimoy and has music by James Horner. Dame Judith Anderson plays a Vulcan high priestess. She was 87 at the time. They didn't bring Kirstie Alley back as Saavik. Mark Lenard is Sarek. Christopher Lloyd and John Larroquette play Klingons. Grace Lee Whitney has a cameo.

trailer:


The New York Times has a positive review. Moria doesn't, calling it "a disappointment". Roger Ebert calls it "good but not great" and "a sort of compromise between the first two." Time Magazine calls it "perhaps the first space opera to deserve that term in its grandest sense." Variety says it's "an emotionally satisfying science fiction adventure."

The Wrath of Khan

Second of the Star Trek movies, the entire rest of the family likes The Wrath of Khan (1982) better than the first film. I have that special sentimental attachment to the first one and won't join them in their preference, but this movie is a good one. It is The Younger Son's favorite Star Trek film. The Original Series cast stars. Ricardo Montalban reprises his role as Khan, and a fine villain he makes. This was Kirstie Alley's first film. Paul Winfield also plays a character in one of the Next Generation tv episodes. James Horner did the music.

trailer:


Moria gives it 4 stars and says it " is a fan favourite because it spends more time on the characters than any of the other films." Roger Ebert says,

Although I liked the special effects in the first movie, they were probably not the point; fans of the TV series wanted to see their favorite characters again, and TREK II understood that desire and acted on it.

The New York Times calls it "a sequel that's worth its salt. ... It's everything the first one should have been and wasn't." Variety calls it "a very satisfying space adventure, closer in spirit and format to the popular TV series than to its big-budget predecessor." Time Magazine closes its review with this:

One leaves the film neither hugely thrilled nor greatly awed, but with a pleasant sense of having caught up with old friends and found them to be just fine, pretty much the way one hoped they would turn out in later life.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

I still remember how it felt to see Star Trek on the big screen for the first time. We had all waited so long, and to see the Enterprise up there was wonderful. It's still my favorite of the movies, even though The Husband points out that all they did was remake Nomad and The Kids roll their eyes at the interminable approach of the shuttle craft ("Can't we just fast forward through the parts where nothing happens"? "But then there'd be nothing to watch." Ha, ha). For me, it was love from the beginning, and I'd still rather see Kirk as captain with the rest of the real crew than see any of the other weak substitutes they've offered through the years. I'm still hopelessly in love with The Original Series. Sigh. I just can't help myself. That doesn't mean I don't have a sense of humor when somebody suggests that V'ger should be the poster child for a True Love Waits campaign or when one of them makes snarky comments about the Kirk/Spock relationship. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is directed by Robert Wise, produced by Gene Roddenberry, and stars William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei. The new characters include Stephen Collins and Persis Khambatta. Majel Barret, Grace Lee Whitney and Mark Lenard have small roles. Jerry Goldsmith composed the music.

trailer:


Moria has a mixed review, saying, "while it isn’t great Star Trek, Star Trek – The Motion Picture isn’t too bad a science-fiction film at all." Roger Ebert gives it 3 stars and says, "Two things occurred to me as I watched "Star Trek": The producers have succeeded at great expense in creating a toy for the eyes. This movie is fun to watch." Variety likes it. The New York Times says it's mostly about special effects and letting the fans have the characters back. Time Magazine doesn't like it.

It Came From Outer Space

It Came From Outer Space is a 1953 science fiction film that was released in 3D. It stars Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, who has a ST: TOS connection, and Russell Johnson (from Gilligan's Island and Attack of the Crab Monsters). Herman Stein gets credit for the music. The theremin is featured prominently, which definitely adds to the fun. Jack Arnold directs in one of his earliest films. Ray Bradbury wrote the original screen treatment.

part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the events that I'm about to describe are going to sound incredible to most people, but I know they happened. I saw them happen. They happened to me. One night not very long ago, my fiancee and I saw a meteor-like object flash through the sky and fall to earth in the Arizona desert. I was the first one to go into the smoking pit where it landed, the only one to realize that this meteor was a space ship I looked into it. I alone knew that the beings it carried -formless, terryifying beings from outer space- planned to conquer the world, so fiendishly, by entering into the bodies and minds of captured human beings."

1000 Misspent Hours says, "It Came from Outer Space stands out from the 50’s alien-invasion-movie crowd in so many ways that it’s difficult to keep track of them all." Moria says, "It Came from Outer Space is a crucial gatefold film in many regards." The New York Times calls it "mildly diverting, not stupendous" but adds that the film "is fair evidence that three-dimensional photography can be occasionally effective without resorting to violent optical tricks and gimmicks." Variety gives it a good review. It gets a score of 81% from RottenTomatoes.com.