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Nerd Alert!
August 2, 2007
To Boldly Flip Flop Like No One Has Flip Flopped Before Re: J.J. Abrams' Star Trek project, let me quote myself from February 28th of this year: "I hate it. I fucking hate it." And so forth. When Zachary Quinto from Heroes was cast last week to play Spock, I believe I said to Alex and others: "Zachary Quinto is the new Brandon Routh; a lookalike mannequin who isn't as good as the original." With its release date set for December 25, 2008, I've gone so far as referred to the new Star Trek as "my Christmas goose." I've been hating on this new prequel Star Trek pretty much since the beginning. To quote Mayor Quimby, "I am flip flopping!" A series of enlightening interviews with Leonard Nimoy (here, here and here) have appeased my concerns (read: tempered my hate). Let me tell you something about Leonard (I call him Leonard because I don't know him): he's a very intelligent man. Very intelligent, thoughtful, with a keen sense of storytelling and characters, and possessed of a strong instinct for quality. And most importantly, Leonard Nimoy understands Star Trek. He always did. (I'm talking about the original series here.) Leonard says J.J. Abrams and his writers get it. He believes in the project so much that he's coming out of retirement to play Spock. Interesting how Nimoy will come out of retirement for J.J. Abrams and Star Trek and Sean Connery didn't do the same for Senor Spielbergo and Indiana Jones. So all right, I'm taking Leonard at his word. There ain't a 70+ year old actor I've never met that I trust more about Star Trek than Leonard Nimoy. If he says J.J. is on the right track, then he's on the right track. If Leonard says Sylar is gonna be a worthy Spock, then who am I to argue with the real Spock? (I just really, really don't think so.) I'm not a believer in this new Star Trek. I have to be convinced. I'll be there Christmas Day 2008, either to receive my nerdy Christmas present or to eat my nerdy Christmas goose. Until then, I'll give J.J. Abrams the benefit of the doubt. February 28, 2007
Star Trek XI set for Christmas 2008 Call me a closed-minded, inflexible nerd if you must but now that this thing has an official release date, I might as well say what's been on my mind for months: I hate it. I hate everything about this project. I hate that's it's yet another prequel. I hate that it's young Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. I hate that other actors will be trying to play those roles. I hate the rumors of big movie stars being plugged into those roles. I hate Matt Damon as Kirk. I hate Adrien Brody as Spock. I hate Gary Sinise as McCoy. I hate Beyonce as Uhura (okay, I made that one up, but I would damn sure hate it.) Nothing about this project sounds like a good idea. If they wanted to reimagine Star Trek, fine. If the wanted to create a completely new continunity about a completely new Kirk, Spock, and McCoy like Battlestar Galactica did, fine. I've got less of a problem with that. A brand new Star Trek set suitably far in the future from Star Trek: Nemesis, where the onus is on telling new kinds of stories and using Trek as a vehicle to shed light on our times and explore the human condition, fine. That would be terrific. But this, yet another prequel set in the existing continuity, a story about young Kirk that probably doesn't need to be told, with other actors trying to fill Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley's shoes... I hate it. I fucking hate it. What about this sounds like a great idea? You want a return of the optimism of Gene Roddenberry's original vision? Take that vision and move forward with it, don't step back and retrace his steps with new shoes. Of course, I'll be there Christmas 2008 regardless. April 24, 2006
Boldly Go Backwards J.J. Abrams is directing, co-writing, and producing the next Star Trek feature film for 2008, a prequel to The Original Series, essentially Harve Bennett's "Starfleet Academy" idea from 20 years ago starring young Kirk and Spock. J.J. Abrams + Star Trek. Fanboy flipout time? You'd think so, wouldn't you? I'm ambivalent about this. I feel it's too soon for Star Trek to return, even 2 years from now. And a Kirk and Spock prequel? I'm not crazy about the thought of young, studly WB-looking guys portraying young Jim Kirk and young Spock. Hell, I'd rather see Shatner and Nimoy pretend they're 25 than watch other actors portray those characters. This idea of the prequel, filling in all the blank years of Star Trek's history underscores the reason why Star Trek needs to remain on hiatus: No One Has Any New Ideas For Star Trek. There is no vision for boldly going where no [one] has gone before. I sure don't need a young Kirk and Spock movie, which, if it had to be made at all, probably should have been made 20 years ago when Harve Bennett had the idea. This prequel smells like a cash grab towards an ever-eroding fanbase. Having said that, here's your new Star Trek cast: I also suggest as a plot: Young Kirk and Young Spock take on Young Khan. That would totally fuck up continuity. Then as a cliffhanger: the arrival of the Young Borg. |
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