Hooker Streetwalks to Silver Screen

Dark Horizons reports today that a T.J. Hooker film is in the works and will focus on the relationship between Hooker and his father.

Note to William Shatner: Bill, if they offer you a role, cameo or otherwise, just take it and don't argue — not about salary, not about story, not about the size of the role, nothing.

And don't be difficult on set, either. Just go in and have fun! Play nicely with everyone. Listen to the director. And don't try to undercut anyone else's role.

We all remember you as the original T.J. Hooker, and we'd love to see you up on the silver screen again. Just do it!

Cancel Khan

The Web's abuzz with predictions/hopes that the next Star Trek movie by J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman will feature the TOS villain "Khan Noonian Singh," who was originally played by the late Ricardo Montalban (R.I.P.). Here's what I wrote on TrekMovie:

"For the love of God, Montresor," NO ... NEW ... KHAN.

"Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman, lend me your eyes and brains:

"You re-created a beloved franchise in an all-new timeline with many all-new character back stories.

"You created a "new" Enterprise.

"You made the bold move of destroying the planet Vulcan, which has been central to Star Trek from the beginning.

"You've established a "new" Star Trek, refining the "look and feel" of the original, while keeping its heart intact.

"Please ... don't forsake your creativity by falling back on an OLD villain from the original Star Trek. That story has been told and ended. If you go back and "retell" that story, then, as far as I'm concerned, you forfeit the tremendous risk you took in "rebooting" the franchise.

"We want to get to know these new Enterprise crew members, watch them interact, see them develop. If you throw in Khan, then you remove the focus on the crew. You take your eye off the ball. You replace the heart of Star Trek with a Jarvis artificial.

"Don't sabotage the work you've accomplished. Boldly take your franchise where the original never went before."

The State of Shatner

I posted the following two comments on TrekMovie.com, in response to an excerpt from director Nicholas Meyer's forthcoming book, The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood.

"I love William Shatner. His Capt. Kirk was my boyhood hero, and still, to this day, his TOS and movie performances resonate with me deeply.

"I’ll never know firsthand what he’s like to work with, but when so many of his ST fellows have lodged the same complaints about his behavior on set, and when he, in turn, has repeatedly professed his innocence and ignorance of where such reactions could possibly have come from, well … it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something’s rotten in the state of Shatner.

"I enjoyed the above excerpt from Nick Meyer’s book, even as I sat here shaking my head in disbelief at the number of takes it took to get Shatner to deliver 'Here it comes' as memorably and perfectly as he finally did. It’s hard to read and accept the sorry truth about an actor who has brought so much to my life through his performances.

"Nevertheless, I look forward to Meyer’s account. Through his work and his commentaries, it’s clear that he’s an excellent judge of character and knows exactly how to extract brilliant performances from the actors in his charge."

[...]

"It’s not about the number of times it took Shatner to deliver the performance he finally did. I was commenting on Meyer’s assertion that it was only when Shatner became 'bored' with repeating the scene over and over that he dropped his 'attitude' and 'became Kirk.'

"'Sorry truth' speaks to my reluctance to accept that Shatner, the man I idolized for his performances as Kirk, wasn’t himself an idol. He was difficult to work with. He wasn’t perfect. He was human. We all are. I was just saying that it’s hard for me to reconcile the 'two Shatners.'"

Action Figure Collectors: A Primer

We action figure collectors are a strange lot. We all have our idiosyncrasies when it comes to purchasing. Some fans stake out stores and grab all new figures as soon as they hit the shelves — and to hell with any other fans because "they didn't get there fast enough." Some collectors "hide" the new figures behind other toys, planning to come back later when they have the cash. Other fans walk in, grab one of each new figure and leave.

Then you have collectors like me, who also want to purchase one of each new figure, but they don't just "grab 'n go." No … these are the "scrutinizers." If there are five copies of a new Luke Skywalker figure, then the scrutinizers will study each one carefully, looking for bad paint jobs, bad poses, damaged card backs, misshapen bubbles … you name it. These fans want "perfect" figures to add to their collections.

I, for example, don't like unsightly paint splotches or flecks of dust/paint on my figures. These are my biggest pet peeves. If there's just one dot of white paint on a figure's black pants, then I won't buy it. If a figure's soft-goods cloak has a fleck of dust or paint on it, or if the cloak is noticeably "tattered" or has an elongated thread, then I put it back. My figures must be pristine, because when I take them out of storage for my viewing pleasure, there mustn't be anything amiss to distract my eyes from beholding my perfect, tangible piece of the Star Wars universe.

And you thought you'd heard it all before, right?

You know what's funny, though? Nine times out of 10, if I were to find just one of those new Luke Skywalkers in the store, he'd be perfect, flawless. I wouldn't have to wait to find more and go through that whole "scrutinizing" routine.

Review: Star Trek: Countdown #4 — Spock

General Worf's fleet appears to comprise K'Vort-class ships. These larger Birds-of-Prey are likelier to challenge the mammoth Narada than the smaller B'rel-class. Of course, since both sizes are virtually identical, and because scale is impossible to determine in these animated panels, the fleet may comprise both classes.

When the Klingon armada begins its attack, the Narada engages its cloaking shields — and is still able to fire its weapons. Normally, in the Star Trek universe, cloaked vessels can't do that. However, General Worf immediately declares, "They must have stolen that trick from us!" He's referring to General Chang's prototype Bird-of-Prey from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, because it, too, could fire weapons while cloaked. However, all the technical schematics for this "trick" must have been lost when the Starships Enterprise-A and Excelsior destroyed that Bird-of-Prey. Awfully convenient, wouldn't you say?

Nero demands that Worf shuttle over to the Narada and surrender in person. Why not use the transporter? Well, because it wouldn't serve the plot, which is for other Klingons to board the Narada with Worf and attempt to take the ship. Surely, Nero would have considered this course of action from Worf, but as he asserted to Ayel in the last chapter, Nero believes his miners are ready to be soldiers and deal with what's to come.

Anyhow, Worf's shuttle looks like a Toron-class shuttlepod, which the Klingon smuggler Koral used in TNG's "Gambit, Part II."

During the Klingons' raid on the Narada, one of the Romulans can be seen fighting with a dagger like Shinzon's from Star Trek Nemesis.

On Vulcan, Geordi encrypts the Jellyfish's controls with a voice activation lock that will respond only to "Spock." This includes Ambassador Spock (Prime) and young Spock in the Star Trek movie, when he commandeers the Jellyfish from the Narada's hold.

During her shooting match with the Narada, the Enterprise suffers damage from Levels 1 through 26. This is another clue in our Star Trek: Countdown quest to find out "which" Enterprise this is. In Star Trek Nemesis, the Enterprise-E had at least 29 decks, so she's still in the running.

And the final panel of this four-part prequel to the Star Trek movie reveals … none other than "U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E." Yay … what a happy ending. Now I can finally move on and reveal my scintillating observations from the Star Trek movie itself. Y'all c'mon back now, y'hear?

Potts Is Pretty/Perfect in "Primeval"

If you aren't watching the U.K. series Primeval on Sci Fi Channel Friday nights, then you're missing out on an eyeful of this beautiful boy, actor Andrew-Lee Potts, who plays "Connor Temple." He's a whiz kid, funny, quirky ... I can't take my eyes off of him. And, of course, his distinctive British accent has my ears ringing contentedly. Singing and ringing. It's hypnotic, I'm telling you.

Anyhow, I'm also enjoying Primeval because it's about how ruptures in time called "anomalies" have been opening seemingly randomly in the U.K., allowing a variety of dinosaurs to walk through and cause all kinds of trouble. Connor is part of the small research team assigned to study and contain the problem.

Pattinson Shucks Shirt for Sexy Sunlight Sequence

Oh, happy day! Here's one of the first photos of Robert Pattinson as Edward Anthony Masen Cullen in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. He's beautifully bare-chested for the Palazzo dei Priori sequence in Volterra, Italy, where he intends to expose himself as a vampire to the humans gathered there for a festival. Irretrievably despondent because he believes his beloved Bella Swan is dead, Edward plans to step into the sunlight, and when the people see his glittering skin, he will have broken one of the cardinal laws of vampires and be executed by the Volturi, who rule that realm.

You may have noticed that the photograph is rather "spotty." Well, it's not because the photographer didn't clean his lens, and it's not because Rob Pattinson is profusely freckled. Those "dots" were intentionally placed on Rob so that the VFX team can add in the "glittering" effects during post-production. Pretty interesting stuff!

Still waiting for a topless Taylor Lautner pic ... but Rob is more than enough to hold us over until that happens.

You rock, Rob! I love you, Edward!