'Star Trek 2': How Will It Go Down?

Lately, there has been a lot of talk stirring about the upcoming Star Trek sequel. Most of it seems to be spawned by the recent string of interviews that have been given by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (due to promotionals for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which they have co-written.) While the plans are not even close to being set in stone, it seems that the creative team is at a crossroads about how to approach the film. As the duo comments in an interview with Sci-Fi:

"The debate is do you do a story where you go through some familiar things from the series, but now their outcome can be a little bit different, or do you just make it totally new? That's what we're kind of debating right now," Orci added. "We're kind of going through everything we know and love and making sure we don't leave any unexplored gems. And then also simultaneously trying to think of new things completely. So we'll see. The best idea wins, original or old."

By "original or old," it is being speculated that the ongoing debate revolves around the idea of the film's villain(s), which would define the direction. As the duo told Collider in another interview:

"The exploration sci-fi plot where the unknown and nature itself is somehow an adversary or the villain model. That’s an active discussion we’re having right now. In terms of thinking about more than one movie, we want the movie to be self-contained in a way, but we’re discussing the idea of having a couple of threads where if the second movie works, you could pick up into a cohesive whole”

In the spirit of the films being accessible, I would agree with the idea of the films being "self-contained." However, the concept of "the unknown and nature" being "the villain" has been done in some form or another with Star Trek: The Motion Picture with its long and drawn-out, "trippy" scenes and somewhat with the pseudo-religious themes explored in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. For the most part, those films seem to be regarded among the worst of the series due to lack of compelling conflicts and drawn-out, indulgent plot ideas. That is not to say that it would be fair to immediately assume that Orci and Kurtzman have something like that in mind, but those films should be kept in mind as examples of how ambitious ideas can be self-destructive.


Therein lies the quandary: Going with the familiar vs. taking chances with something new. The creative team certainly did take a chance with the first film, risking fanboy backlash to alter the Star Trek narrative into a form that was more accessible for mainstream audiences. Barring a few constructive inconsistencies, it succeeded for the most part in attaining that goal, and would not have been able to do so if they had taken the "safe" route and took the typical Trek approach. (See Star Trek: Insurrection.) However, one must wonder if there is a line between taking a new approach with the intention of shaking things up/reinventing ideas AND simply taking a new approach for the sake of trying to be original. On one level, the old adage "no risk, no reward" undoubtedly holds true. However, when the concept of "trying something new" itself becomes a formulaic action that is expected, then, paradoxically, you are NOT taking a risk by going with new concepts, you are unwittingly going with the norm.

Personally, (in an example of shameless self-promotion,) I still maintain that a film inspired by the original Star Trek episode, "Space Seed" would be the perfect choice for the sequel. Not only would it be an excuse to work in the most famous Star Trek villain of all time (Khan), but it would also be an opportunity to shift focus on the new Enterprise crew by bringing them together for a more personal battle with Khan and his genetically-enhanced minions. Such a battle, full of personal interactions would provide much more character-building opportunities than having them sit in their stations for the whole movie, staring at "anomalies," "black holes," and "giant jellyfish" for two hours.

However, as Orci and Kurtzman would go on to tell Sci-Fi:

"I think because the track base is broader and more rabid than I think any franchise in the history of time, we were pretty worried that we were going to get skewered, even though we felt like we were making choices that we felt were honoring the canon," Kurtzman says. "We really spend so much time thinking about both the fans and what Trek meant to us and what it means to stay true to canon."

Staying true to the canon and spirit of the Star Trek mythos is all well and good. However, there are so many elements that the Star Trek series offers (especially when it comes to the idea of exploring the unknown, etc.) They work well in the context of a television series, but frankly, make for a boring film. I think we're at a point where there has been enough trial and error to see what elements make good Star Trek movies, and what elements should be avoided. However, having seen the first film, I wouldn't say I'm too worried about the project, as we know it's in good hands.

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/696791/Star-Trek-2-How-Will-It-Go-Down.html#ixzz0JIYcc4PB&D"">
http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/696791/Star-Trek-2-How-Will-It-Go-Down.html#ixzz0JIYcc4PB&D

'Star Trek' Becomes Highest Grossing Franchise Film

It's just days away from losing its box office crown to the Disney/Pixar movie "Up," but "Star Trek" can finally celebrate one last milestone it has been fighting to reach: It undeniably is now the highest grossing film in the Trek franchise, even when adjusted for inflation.

"Star Trek" picked up another $570,000 Monday, according to Showbiz Data, bringing its total domestic haul to $240.8 million. That's just $100,000 behind "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which earned $82.3 million in 1979, which equates to about $240.9 million today. Although official numbers are not out yet for Tuesday, "Star Trek" easily made more than $100,000 to pass "The Motion Picture" and earn its franchise crown.

The movie from J.J. Abrams likely will end its run with just under $250 million domestically, totally blowing away the previous film in the franchise, "Star Trek: Nemesis" which earned just $43.1 million in 2002.

Based on a previous study by Airlock Alpha, that now shifts the inflation-adjusted list of films.

Top-Grossing Star Trek films
1. Star Trek (2009) -- $241.3 million (est)
2. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) -- $240.9 million
3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1987) -- $212.7 million
4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) -- $173.8 million
5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) -- $156.5 million
6. Star Trek: First Contact (1996) -- $125 million
7. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) -- $117 million
8. Star Trek Generations (1994) -- $108.6 million
9. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) -- $92.3 million
10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) -- $89.5 million
11. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) -- $51.3 million
Outside of "Star Trek: First Contact," Trek films took a definite slide beginning with "Final Frontier" despite the fact that its predecessor, "The Voyage Home" at the time was the biggest raw box office grosser in franchise history.
http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6469

'Potter,' 'Avatar' or 'Star Trek': What fanboy film might get a best picture nod?

"The Dark Knight" might not have beaten "Slumdog Millionaire" in last year's Oscar race, but it would've been interesting to see it given a chance. And "Iron Man" versus "Doubt?" Many would've chosen the Golden Avenger. Now we will get to see these types of matchups since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expanded the best picture field to 10.

Of course, even with the expansion, some movies will still never have a chance in this category ("Watchmen," probably way too polarizing), and aside from a couple of crowd- and critic-pleasers, many may not have the quality to compete. But as this news gently wafts over the awards world, we wonder how it can/will benefit the fanboy community.

vote herehttp://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/06/can-harry-potter-or-star-trek-contend-for-best-picture.html

AbleGamers Interviews Star Trek Online: Set Your Phasers to Fun

One of the most highly anticipated MMO releases is Star Trek Online. AbleGamers' Mark Barlet was given the opportunity to sit down with the executive producer of the upcoming title. Craig Zinkievich is a remarkable man and self-proclaimed Trekkie who commands an immense knowledge of the Star Trek universe.
AbleGamers: I am sure that there is a lot of pressure when working with an IP as rich as Star Trek, Where in the time line of the IP are we going to find ourselves?

Zinkievich: Our game is set in the year 2409, which is about 30 years after the events in Star Trek: Nemesis. The Trek Universe has changed since you last saw the TNG crew on screen - the Khitomer Accords have broken down and the Klingons and Federation are at war. Romulus has been destroyed, an event that connects to the alternate universe of this summer's hit movie. And an ancient enemy prepares to return, which is something that will affect everyone in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

AbleGamers: Are we going to see characters that we may know from the movies and TV shows?

Zinkievich: By 2409, many of the characters of the shows and movies will have retired or otherwise moved on. We are exploring ways to reference the characters you know and love, but in ways that make sense with the timeline.

AbleGamers: AbleGamers is a site that specializes in game news, as well as advocacy, for gamers with disabilities. In the US alone, there are 21 million people with a disability. Some evidence shows that 9% of gamers have some type of disability. Have you put any thought into how a person with disabilities would play this game?

Zinkievich: We have thought about accessibility issues. For example, all of our keybinds are re-mappable, a seemingly simple feature that allows for many different ways to allow people to get the main controls for the game in a place that works for them.

That being said, we are always looking for ways to make our game more accessible to all audiences. We would love to hear of examples in games that have successfully made them more accessible, as well as places where games have failed. Join our forums at www.startrekonline.com and sound off.

AbleGamers: Do you know if anyone on the development team is disabled?

Zinkievich: I am aware of several people at Cryptic Studios who are colorblind. Although there may be others who have disabilities, that tends to be personal information.

AbleGamers: 8% of men in the US are colorblind; do you think they will have a hard time playing Star Trek?

Zinkievich: I hope not. As I mentioned - there are several colorblind employees here at Cryptic. We bring them into the review of anything in the UI where we are using color as a major factor in the communication of information. That being said - good UI never has a single method of communication, so any place we use color it tends to be a secondary or tertiary marker.

AbleGamers: Game sound is an important factor, especially in a game with such well-known sound effects such as photon torpedoes, phasers, and a well-known opening title. Will I enjoy the game with no sound at all? Without sound, will I know what is going on? And are there visual cues as well as audio cues for an event or quest advancement?

Zinkievich: You will definitely know what is going on, and I really do think that you will be able to enjoy the game with no sound.

Good game audio can provide emotion or a sense of place and give extra cues to events that are happening. That being said, our policy is to make sure for any important game event there are multiple UI cues. Nothing is ever indicated only through audio. If there is voiceover, there is text. If there is a warning claxon, there is a visual UI cue as well.

AbleGamers: Now that we have had a chance to talk, do you think that there are a few things that you may want to revisit in the game?

Zinkievich: As the game matures, we at Cryptic want to make sure that we get as much feedback as possible about how accessible the game is to players of all sorts. We really do listen to the feedback and try to make the game as strong as it can be for our users. As we move towards Beta, we will make sure to seek out disabled players as well so that we get constructive feedback during development so we can make additions and changes.

How about a piece of information you haven't released yet for all of the Trekkies out there?

Right now, we are working on the Bajoran wormhole, which is incredibly fantastic. The cool thing is that the wormhole is not just "click here to go there." Players will get to explore the wormhole itself. In fact, it is the primary location for one of our Episodes!

AbleGamers: Thanks for taking the time to sit down and talk to us!

There are very few huge intellectual property ideas that are made into video games. It's important for the video game production company to get it right the first time. Take for example the disaster that was Star Wars Galaxies. It was a huge intellectual property that was destroyed because of a bad vision for what the game should become.

Ultimately, we can only wait and hope that developers and producers such as Zinkievich will protect the integrity while incorporating amazing gaming accessibility for disabled gamers.

... and after the main interview, I asked my signature pointless questions

AbleGamers: Now on a personal note, do you harbor some bitterness because you were always the last person on a list of names? I ask because I was always at the top, and once in 3rd grade a kid by the name of Sam Anderson joined, knocking my out of top spot. That changed me!

Zinkievich: Just the opposite! Although early in life I felt the sting of always being “last,” later in my academic career I realized that I could be 3 to 5 minutes late to class before they got to my name during roll call!
http://ablegamers.com/pc-gaming-news/591-startrekinterview.html

Star Trek slots coming to Seminole casino in Immokalee

NAPLES — Star Trek slots are set to “beam down” Thursday at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casinos in Hollywood and Tampa as well as Seminole Casinos in Coconut Creek, Hollywood, Immokalee and Brighton.

Star Trek Slots, a Florida exclusive, new machines will offer a fully immersive video-like experience that adjusts to players’ personal preferences and accomplishments. Players collect “medals” in bonus rounds to unlock new Star Trek episodes and save their accomplishments and progress and return to where they left off the next time they visit the casino, according to a prepared statement.

Players can learn how to play these interactive games by visiting TheSeminoleCasinos.com and SeminoleHardRock.com.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/jun/24/star-trek-slots-coming-seminole-casino-immokalee/

Oscars Expands Best Picture Category To 10

It just got a little easier to become an Oscar-nominated film, and that could be to the extreme benefit of "Star Trek."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is expanding its Oscars Best Picture category from four films to 10. While it's unlikely they would ever admit it, speculation is that the Academy is trying to reverse declining ratings and interest in the Oscars by providing a vehicle not only for critically-acclaimed films to be recognized, but blockbusters as well.

Nominating blockbusters along with the traditional Oscar fare could generate more interest in the awards program which for the last several years has had to fight with the MTV Movie Awards -- an awards system that tends to honor more popular films -- for viewers in key young adult demographics.

That means films like "Star Trek," "Up" and even the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" which would've had almost no chance of getting recognized by the Academy in major categories such as Best Picture suddenly have a shot.

But does expanding the category dilute the prestige that goes with becoming a film nominated for Best Picture?

In the early years of the Oscars, between five and 10 films were honored for Best Picture nods. In fact, in both 1934 and 1935, there were 12 nominees, according to the Academy.

"After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots when a wider field competed for the top award of the year," said Academy president Sid Ganis in a release. "The final outcome, of course, will be the same: one Best Picture winner. But the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009."

This will be an interesting experiment, and a good one if genre films can actually make the cut. Many felt that "The Dark Knight" should've been among the nominees in the 2008 film year, something even mentioned by Oscar host Hugh Jackman in his opening number earlier this year.

"Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going [to] allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," Ganis said. "I can't wait to see what that list of 10 looks like when the nominees are announced in February."


http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6470

Star Trek XI Blu-ray Details

The first details for the Blu-ray edition of the 2009 Star Trek movie have come out of Europe, complete with a release date and list of special features (including deleted scenes). Although Paramount Home Entertainment will not officially confirm any details, TrekMovie and the Digital Bits have confirmed with sources that the reports are (for the most part) accurate. Details below.



TrekMovie has previously reported that there will likely be three home video versions of the Star Trek movie: standard widescreen DVD, special edition DVD set, and special edition Blu-ray. The details out of Germany from Filme-Bluray.de and AreaDVD.de are for the Blu-ray, but could also apply to the special edition DVD set. Bear in mind that there can be variations between different regions, and also this is not an official release from Paramount, so this should not be considered final. However, except for some of the naming, sources indicate the below list is accurate.

Star Trek (2009 movie) Blu-ray Details

Technical

Picture: 2.35:1 (1080p)
Sound: German Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby True HD 5.1, English Audio Description, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: German, English and others

Extras:

Audio commentary (JJ Abrams, Bryan Burke, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci)
Featurettes:
Where no man has gone before:
The Shatner conundrum
The redshirt guy,
The green girl
Trekker alert!
Casting
A new vision ("Savage Pressure")
Starships:
Warp explained
Painting work
Accelerated bridge construction
The captain’s chair
Operating the buttons
Shuttle shuffle
Accelerated Narada construction
Aliens:
The alien paradox
The girl with the big eyes
Big pro Quinto
Klingons
Drakoulias anatomy 101
Planets:
Additional businesses
Confidentiality
Equipment and costumes: Klingon costumes
Sound
Music
Gene Roddenberry’s vision
Deleted scenes:
Spock’s birth
Klingons capture Narada
Young Kirk, Johnny and Uncle Frank
Amanda and Sarek argue after Spock’s fight
Interrogation and escape from prison
Sarek and Amanda
Bedroom and Kobayashi Maru (original version)
Kirk apologizes to the green girl
Sarek sees Spock Prime
Starfleet vessel simulator (probably BD only)
Star Trek gag reel
Trailers:
Teaser trailer
Theatrical trailer "The wait is over"
Theatrical trailer "Prepare for the beginning"
Theatrical trailer "Buckle up"
Star Trek: D-A-C demo (trailer) for XBOX 360
BD Live options
As for the release date, Amazon Germany has it listed for October 5th. Paramount Home Entertainment is not confirming any release dates or details. However, sources indicate that the date is likely accurate for Europe, but that the US date could be later, possibly late October or November.

Deleted Scenes show ‘origins’ got most of the cuts
As reported before, but now seen in more detail, the part of the Star Trek movie that was most affected by the editor’s blade was origin stories for Kirk and Spock plus Nero’s time with the Klingons. The deleted scenes listed above seem to be in the order that they would have appeared in the film, almost all of which would have been before the Narada’s attack on Vulcan. It seems that the brunt of the cutting was from Spock’s childhood/adolescence and Nero’s ‘lost years’ (which is also being turned into comic book series). In the TrekMovie review of the Star Trek movie, it was noted that that the origin story part of the film felt like it went by too fast, so these deleted scenes will be very welcome.


http://trekmovie.com/2009/06/24/details-on-star-trek-movie-blu-ray-features-and-deleted-scenes-2/

Karl Urban Star Trek star in Sydney for SupaNova Pop Culture Expo

HE HAS battled orcs in the Lord of the Rings films and shared the screen with Matt Damon, Vin Diesel and The Rock, but it is his latest role in the recent box office spectacular Star Trek that has won him a whole new legion of fans.

Karl Urban, who assumed the iconic role of Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the JJ Abrams-directed reboot, will be in Sydney this weekend as the main attraction at the SupaNova Pop Culture Expo starting on Saturday at Homebush.

"It's my way of saying thank you to the Australian fans who made Star Trek such a smash hit," said Urban, who used to live in Bondi.

Star Trek sequel talks


Landing the role in the big budget film was a dream come true for New Zealand-born Urban, a long-time Star Trek fan.

"I watched it as a kid so I felt very comfortable that I knew the characters and I knew the relationships," he said.

"The challenge for me was to try to define the essence of Bones, played so well by DeForest Kelley for 40 years, and funnel that through an interpretation of what a younger version of that character would be like."

Urban admits his recent roles in action films didn't make him the obvious pick to be Bones McCoy.

"For me, it was a process of meeting JJ (Abrams), who decided he would like to see me screen test for the character of McCoy," he said. "I literally did one take and he was laughing all the way through it. He said: 'Wow, that's it - that's Bones'. So I had a pretty good idea that I'd won the role right there and then."

The SupaNova Expo runs Saturday and Sunday at The Dome in Homebush with other guests including Twilight star Rachelle Lefevre and some of the original Battlestar Galactica cast members.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25684351-5006013,00.html

Orci and Kurtzman Say They Are Just Beginning to Break Story for Star Trek XII

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are being called the ‘boys of Summer’ for their involvement in this season’s Star Trek, The Proposal, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opens tomorrow. TrekMovie check in with the pair to talk bout their Transformers follow-up (and to get a little update on what’s next for Star Trek).



INTERVIEW: ROBERTO ORCI & ALEX KURTZMAN ON TRANSFORMERS (AND TREK TOO)

TrekMovie.com: You guys initially resisted doing a sequel for Transformers, what changed your mind?

Alex Kurtzman: We never want to do a movie just because the movie that came before it was successful. We only want to do a movie when we feel we have a story to tell and I think we invest so much of ourselves in the film making process, from the beginning to the end, that we have to love it on every level, in order to do that. We didn’t immediately see what the sequel idea was. We took some time to think about our favorite sequels, and why we love them. Some of the movies that came up were Empire Strikes Back, Superman II, Aliens, Terminator 2, Wrath of Khan of course, and when we started looking at the common denominators, all the movies stood on their own, apart from the first one. You didn’t have to see any of the first movies, to see how good the sequels were. And number two, there was some very intense emotional trial that the main character goes through in those movies, be it: Superman gives up his powers for love, Kirk losing Spock, "Luke, I am your father", Ripley being driven by motherhood in Aliens…until we had that key emotional idea that we felt we could hang the movie on, we didn’t want to do it. And when found it, we knew we would have the confidence to build on it.

TrekMovie.com: You threw out some names of a lot of big movies. There is a kind of a meme that second entries for genre and comic book movies are often the better movies, did you feel that pressure to one up yourselves?

Alex Kurtzman: Definitely. But you have to one up it in story, and not just in spectacle. We rely on Michael [Bay] for the spectacle. We know he will push the technology even further than the first and be a genius at that. But for us it was: what is the truly emotional trial we can put Sam through.


Bob and Alex wanted Transformers 2 to have an emotional key like other sequels

Roberto Orci: In additional to all of that was working with Ehren Kruger, who was so excited to come in and brought a fresh energy, that it got exciting again and got our creative juices flowing.

TrekMovie.com: How did working with a third writer work with your process?

Roberto Orci: We have done it before, we wrote Mission 3 with JJ [Abrams] and obviously with TV, you are always collaborating. We always use musical analogies and while it is usually me and Alex on guitar and drums, when we write with someone else it is guitar, drums and a keyboard, it doesn’t change what we are doing.

TrekMovie: What did Ehren bring to the sequel

Alex Kurtzman: Ehren is a fantastic writer on his own and has made ten movies. We knew that we would have to dig deeper into the Transformers mythology in this one and there would be an expectation, certainly from fans, that we would know more about the robots. And Ehren had been pouring through Transformers lore and had culled the right ideas and so we took the big emotional idea that we had and a lot of the plotting that Ehren had and found a way to marry them.

TrekMovie.com: Speaking about that mythology, the first film felt like it was about a war amongst alien robots playing out on Earth. This time there are links to ancient Egypt and more. Is there an attempt to make this more about us Earthlings, with the mythology tied to our history?

Roberto Orci: Yes. That was always part of the G1 (Transformers Generation 1) idea, that Transformers had crash-landed here in prehistoric time. We didn’t exactly stick to that, but there is a rich history of they’ve been here a long time and they are somehow wrapped up in our ancient history.

Alex Kurtzman: We are trying to stay true to the spirit of a story that delves into the idea of going beneath the surface of both the history of the Transformers and our own race. The thing Optimus Prime is always talking about is how similar our races are, and the idea is that there is a reason for that.


Transformers 2 ties the mythology to ancient Earth history

TrekMovie.com: For these movies, there seems to be a big amount of fan interest in what Transformers make it in and which ones don’t. How do you make that cut?

Alex Kurtzman: It is a mix actually. Our side of it is that we end up putting in Transformers that fit into the story. Certainly there some that we wanted in the first that we couldn’t put in, that we ended up getting in the second. The decision is about how we can do it organically. There is also a mandate from both Hasbro and the car companies to put certain robots in. What we say to them is ‘great, if we can find a way to do that in a way that makes sense, then let’s do it.’ And Michael certainly is very specific about the kind of cars he likes to put on screen and how he wants to use them.

TrekMovie.com: You guys are also creating a lot more of your own new Transformers for this one. Is it more fun for you to branch out and create your own characters instead of just using the original characters?

Roberto Orci: Not particularly.

Alex Kurtzman: I think weirdly we always find a way to love who ever we are writing about. Certainly, it was not hard to find ways to love Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. So we feel a lot of ownership over the direction of those characters already. So we don’t make a huge distinction between them and the new ones, but that said, Optimus has a voice that was distinct and pre-established that we did not want to veer away from.

Roberto Orci: Michael also pushed us to do new things. He feels he wants to surprise people.

TrekMovie.com: The Fallen is a character from the Transformer mythos. How does The Fallen play into this film?

Alex Kurtzman: I think we always saw The Fallen as a Lucifer story. He was an angel who fell and turned against the others, and that is how we reflected him in the movie.

TrekMovie.com: In the first film the human characters are much more in the forefront than they were in the 80s cartoons. But in this one you promised more robots. So are the human characters moving to the background? How do you keep the right mix to keep it a human story?

Roberto Orci: There is less human characters in this one, but those that are there are still important. Sam Witwicky and Mikaela are still the key part of it, but it is a more balanced thing because we don’t have as many human stories than we did in the first one because it was predicated on it being a mystery, with various people reacting to the secret of the Transformers. Now we know who they are from the beginning, so the robots are a bigger part of the story.

Alex Kurtzman: Even though they are robots in disguise, you can’t hide them from the audience, because they have seen it. It is still very much Sam Witwicky’s story and our reason for doing it has to do with that, but there is more to it.


Transformers 2, still Sam and Mikeala’s story

TrekMovie.com: Well getting to that, in the first film, I felt that only Bumblebee and Optimus Prime felt fleshed out as characters, for the robots. Is there an attempt in this one, as much as you can in a summer movie about giant robots, do robot character development?

Roberto Orci: Yes, as a function of there being more time with and we didn’t have to convince the studio that you can have scenes with Transformers without any humans in them.

TrekMovie.com: Looking back at the first film, there was a lot of broad humor, like the robot peeing lubricant. I note this time you guys have Rainn Wilson from The Office playing a part. Does this film have a more high-brow kind of humor in it?

Roberto Orci: It is the most sophisticated low-brow humor there is.

TrekMovie.com: The first Transformers had lots of little bits of continuity in it tied to Transformers history. Is there more or less of that in the second?

Roberto Orci: I think this one goes much deeper going back into Transformers continuity, again going back into how Transformers may have had minglings with human history before.

TrekMovie: How is your approach towards the source material with Transformers different than with Star Trek?

Roberto Orci: Well there had never been a live-action Transformers movie. So that simple fact meant more inventing had to go on to create the kind of movie the first one had to be, to create that paradigm. Whereas you have seen Kirk and Spock, including six movies. You’ve seen a lot of that stuff. You approach it differently because there is a more of a continuity reference guide for Star Trek. And yet, because of that you are more shackled by it, because everyone knows exactly what it is, and everyone knows what the canon is, whereas that was not as clearly defined or as reverentially held up in Transformers.


Revenge of the Fallen – goes deeper into Transformers lore

TrekMovie: You guys, especially you Bob, are very clued into the fan community with Trek and Transformers…

Roberto Orci: Alex is too, he gets daily reports, he just doesn’t like to read the negative stuff [laughs]

TrekMovie: Is there anything you can point to in Transformers 2 that is a result of that feedback?

Roberto Orci: Sure, specific suggestions from fans early on…”why can’t we have any scenes with Transformers, without humans in them?" Check. A lot of people felt that Optimus Prime didn’t show off a lot of his fighting, we cover that. Soundwave didn’t make it in to the first one, kids wouldn’t even know what a boombox is, but we found a way for the second movie. Some fans felt that Optimus Prime’s voice was too casual, we heard it loud and clear, so this time he is much more true to his eloquence. The list goes on and on.

TrekMovie: So in the end, what is the biggest difference between the first and second films?

Roberto Orci: Obviously the theme is different. The first one was about stepping into adulthood by getting your first car and how that leads to sexuality and freedom. This one is more about being away from home, with Sam going away to college, while the Transformers are away from their home, and what are the responsibilities as you leave your nest. Cosmetically, this one is bigger. I think it is more tightly plotted, just as a result of getting better at it and understanding the universe better, and it benefits from the lessons of the first movie, both from fan interactions, and our own interactions of seeing what we thought worked and what different.

TrekMovie: Switching back to Star Trek, can you give us an update on the Star Trek: Something Something sequel?

Roberto Orci: We are reading all the posts on TrekMovie–so many smart posts! Fans are truly being heard. We are purposefully taking a moment of Zen to just breathe, watch the old episodes again, and read some of the novels and fan fiction we never got to.

TrekMovie: What did you guys learn from writing the sequel to Transformers that can apply to the Star Trek sequel?

Roberto Orci: Nothing. They are totally different franchises with different rules.


Alex and Bob at the Transformers 2 premiere in Hollywood yesterday – taking a break to reflect before starting Star Trek sequel

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens wide tomorrow June 24th.



http://trekmovie.com/2009/06/23/exclusive-interview-roberto-orci-alex-kurtzman-talk-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-and-trek-too/

Star Trek' writers 'debating sequel plot'

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have been in discussion over the story for the Star Trek sequel, it has been reported.

The screenwriters, who previously admitted that they were scouring through novels based on the franchise, are now contemplating gathering ideas from the original series, Sci Fi Wire reports.

Orci said: "The debate is do you do a story where you go through some familiar things from the series, but now their outcome can be a little bit different, or do you just make it totally new?

"So we'll see. The best idea wins, original or old."

Kurtzman added: "We just had our first 10-minute conversation the other day. We don't have anything yet. I wish we had more to tell you. I think we're really, really pleased to find that, for the most part, the die-hard fans felt that they connected to the material the way they wanted to.

"So I think that enabled us to take a similar approach, which is to say you have to find a way to give everyone a little bit of something, because people will meet you in the middle."

The pair are also attached to pen the project Cowboys And Aliens, which they will work on before the sci-fi follow-up.

Star Trek grossed £70.9m worldwide in its opening weekend.
http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a161716/star-trek-writers-debating-sequel-plot.html

Fans of Star Trek / Mr. Spock / Leonard Nimoy ? ~ You need to attend Tulsa's 20th Trek Expo

An event in Tulsa not to be missed, the Tulsa Trek Expo. Are you a fan of Mr. Spock? Then don’t miss the Tulsa's Trek Expo. The Trek Expo convention celebrates it’s 20th anniversary this year. This event will have almost every major person from every Star Trek series - at one point or another - over the first 19 years (with the exception of Patrick Stewart). It will be three days of pure sci-fi fun.

This Trek Expo is bringing in the big guns, because on Saturday, Leonard Nimoy (Spock of the "Star Trek' original series and the only actor from the original T.V. series to appear in the new film, "Star Trek") will be there. Also, included are many other film and t.v. stars such as Avery Brooks, Marina Sirtis, John Delancie, Cirroc Lofton, Anthony Montogomery, (Lost babe) Mira Furlan, Luciana Carro, Phil Morris, Chase Masterson, Orli Shoshan, Denise Crosby, and Tony Todd just to name a few. Also included will be a special guest, an original NASA Astronaut yet to be announced, sponsored by the Boys Scouts of America.

This event should NOT be missed by Star Trek fans or just any fan of Sci-fi.
Tickets will be available at the door when Tulsa Trek Expo opens on Friday, June 26, 2009 at the UMAC. For Boy Scouts in uniform, there will be a special ticket pricing of only $7.00 .

Advance general admission tickets, autograph tickets and photo-op tickets will be on sale at Starbase 21 until the end of the day on Thursday, June 25, 2009.
http://www.examiner.com/x-13336-Tulsa-Budget-Events-Examiner~y2009m6d23-Fans-of-Star-Trek--Mr-Spock--attend-Tulsas-20th-Trek-Expo

STAR TREK : SEASON 2 : EPISODE 13-14 "Obsession" / "The Wolf In The Fold"

James T. Kirk is obsessed. How do we know he's obsessed? Well, he has a persistent and unflagging commitment to an idea that may not be entirely worthy of such a commitment. (It's an evil mist. Quick, to the de-humidifier!) McCoy and Spock are both helpful in mentioning the problems with this; McCoy, in fact uses the very word. As does Kirk. And hey, it's even the title of the episode, so if you ever experience a moment of confusion--is Kirk irritated? Nauseous? Infatuated?--simply check the episode guide on the appropriate season, and you'll find the answer staring you in the face: "Obsession." This one is for the cheap (non-jewelry rattling) seats.

It may not be the subtlest episode in the show's history, but "Obsession" does manage to give us a slightly more complex take on James T. than we're used to, as well as handing down some decent back story, a creepy threat, and a dollop of ambiguity. Actually, it's probably less than a dollop; while the first half of the ep flirts with presenting Kirk as something less than the perfect hero, by the end, it finds a way to largely excuse his actions, even the ones that got crewmen killed. He learns his lesson, and the Enterprise saves the universe one more time from a destruction it wasn't even aware it was in danger from. (You ever wonder if people back on Earth ever read over Starfleet logs and just freak the fuck out? "Um, hey, I don't mean to be a bother, but.. what the hell is a 'doomsday machine'? And it says here that some doctor went back in time and destroyed all life as we know it, but it's okay because a couple other guys followed him and fixed everything, but they had to kill some girl. Wait, I'm sorry--they had to let her die. Okay, is there any way we could stop these guys from leaving their ships?")

Another planet, another scientific survey--this time, Spock, Kirk, and a few red-shirts are investigating Argus X's tritanium deposits. (Side note: it's generally used either as a MacGuffin or background detail, but I love the references to Starfleet's insatiable quest for minerals. It makes good sense; one of the reasons we're going to have to leave this planet eventually is that we're just going to run out of natural resources, no matter how politely we use them. Star ships must take an incredible amount of material to construct and fuel, not to mention colonizing new worlds, so it's a nice nod to realism that the Enterprise, in addition to its other duties, is always on the hunt for good rocks.) A sweet odor fills the air, like honey, and Kirk, apparently knowing more than he initially lets on, sends the red-shirts to investigate. They're attacked and killed by a sparkling cloud, their bodies drained of red corpuscles... and Kirk isn't really surprised at all.

There's nothing quite like a good Ahab complex to fill an hour--it's a way to make a lead character do unlikable things for sympathetic reasons ("The line must be drawn here!"), and it gives a writer a clear through line to build an episode around. Plus, it's easy to relate to; most of us don't own whaling ships (sigh), but we can at least understand what it's like to be so drawn to a thing that it drives every other concern from your mind. Kirk's need to defeat the Fog isn't developed as smoothly as it might have been, and the obstacle that's placed in his path (yet another ship-to-ship rendezvous; thankfully, no administrators are involved) is more than a little contrived, but the drama inherent in the basic conflict still rings true. What happens when the man responsible for the Enterprise, and everyone aboard her, suddenly loses his perspective?

Apart from a few more red-shirts getting drained, not much. (Well, the vaccines they're supposed to deliver are supposedly perishable--a trope they've used before--so maybe we get a couple of old sick people dying, too.) It helps that Kirk's got a decent motivation for his, ahem, you know, what's the word--fixation. Eleven years ago, he spent his first duty after graduating from Starfleet aboard a ship named the USS Farragut. Its captain, a man named Garrovick, taught Kirk a lot, so Kirk was understandably dismayed when a gaseous cloud (just like the cloud we saw on Argus!) killed Garrovick and a bunch of others. Worse, Kirk had an opportunity to shoot the cloud with his phaser, hesitated, and now blames himself for the deaths. It's not going to happen again, no matter what, and Kirk doesn't care how many have to die to make sure the cloud dissipates. Permanently.

"Obsession" has its flaws. Having an ensign repeat Kirk's "mistake," leading to more deaths and Kirk's over-reaction, is an unimaginative but decent way to show how seriously Kirk's head is mucked up, but making that ensign another Garrovick--the son of the captain Kirk so revered, in fact--is really pointless. It's a mistake we've seen before; taking a reasonable conflict and then screwing it up by trying to heighten the stakes in an unreasonable way. We've never seen Garrovick before, we'll never see him again, so why try and make him more important than he needs to be?

There's also the way the second half tries to mitigate Kirk's actions by making the cloud into more and more of a threat. Initially, the oddness of the situation makes Jim's need to find a solution appear unhealthy; the Death Fog seems restricted to the planet, so sending more bodies down to get murdered is hard to justify. Plus, contrived or not, there's the fact that definite lives hang in the balance when it comes to the vaccines. Kirk actually says he's willing to let people die to get the job done, and that makes him come off as a dick. That's a good thing. James T. is generally shown in such a consistently perfect light that having him behave like a regular, mistake-prone human is a nice change of pace.

But then it compromises by having the honey cloud ('ware the farts of Pooh) not just the cloud responsible for the deaths on the Farragut, but other deaths as well, capable of interstellar travel at incredible speeds (Warp 8! It's a fog that can hit warp 8!), and, near the end of the episode, just getting ready to reproduce itself a thousand fold. (Are there other clouds like this in the universe? Is this one an industrial accident of some kind?) No matter how many people lose out on the vaccines, Kirk saved a lot more lives by sticking to his guns. Obsessions are less dramatically compelling when they're wholly justified; the biggest lesson that Kirk learns here is that, no, it wasn't his fault that most of the Farragut crew died. So not only is his current mistake mitigated (his biggest crime is being a dick to Ensign Garrovick), his decade old mistake is dropped as well. I bet if he reached into his pocket, the bastard would've pulled out a peanut butter cup.

Plus, the Fog (where are the leper pirates, I ask you? I demand leper pirates!) is never really adequately explained. That wouldn't be a problem normally--I don't mind mysterious threats that stay mysterious--but when Kirk starts making wild assumptions about the thing's life cycle in the final act, and those assumptions are proven correct, it makes you look more harshly at the way nothing we see makes much sense when its put together.

I did like how the cloud appeared behind the people looking for it on the planet both times. Sure, you take one look and think "Fog machine behind the fake rocks," but if you see past that, it's a spooky, understated visual. We also get another Spock and McCoy chat, which are always a treat, with the two of them ultimately teaming up to try and talk Kirk back from the precipice. Kirk's final answer to the problem--using Ensign Garrovick and himself to lure the creature to an anti-matter bomb--is suitably ridiculous and the tension is well played. One of my biggest problems with season 2 so far has been a certain weakness in the writing, mainly in the way that premises aren't paying off as solidly as they should. "Obsession" is a perfect example of this; it's got a strong idea, but it gets sloppy in the details.

"Wolf In The Fold" has its own strong idea; but what's so weird is the way that idea doesn't actually surface till the last ten minutes of the episode. The script by Robert Bloch has some of Bloch's trademarks (there's a clunky mystery, Jack the Ripper makes an appearance, and women are treated like a completely different species)(even more so than usual, I mean), but Bloch generally had a strong sense of story; this one is all over the place. In some ways, that makes it more interesting to watch than the fairly straight-line "Obsession," but interesting or not, it isn't very good.

Before the episode even gets going, we have shit happening, although we only hear about it in a few lines of dialogue between Kirk and McCoy. There was this explosion that gave Scotty a serious bump on the head, leading to a concussion; so he's been down in the dumps lately. Even worse, the explosion was caused by a woman (McCoy just throws that one out there, and nobody bothers to explain it. Was there a woman in Engineering who messed up? Did a jilted ex throw a grenade?), so Scotty is supposed to have issues with women in general because of it. Ah, the clean and insightful grasp of psychology that this series is so well known for.

Only, Scotty doesn't seem all that woman-hating. He leers as much as anybody when Kirk and McCoy take him to see a belly dancer on Argelius, the pleasure planet, and is utterly delighted when Kirk has the belly dancer drop by the table for a chat. He starts in about how awesome fog is, and the woman acts like she's really into it, which makes you wonder if maybe a little money didn't change hands when Kirk was talking to her earlier. Scotty and the rejected Bond girl go for a walk, Kirk and McCoy are all set to go get laid or something (it's hard to tell--they're excited to go to this place "where the women-" but they're so excited that they can't be bothered to complete a damn sentence, so maybe there's a cribbage tournament going on somewhere), when a woman screams in the (incredibly foggy) night. The belly dancer is dead, from multiple stab wounds, and Scotty is cowering nearby, knife in hand, with no memory of what just happened.

A set-up like that can hook you, but it has one big flaw: nobody is going to think that Scotty is the killer. The best way to handle that is to acknowledge it immediately and make the episode about clearing Scotty's name, and not about whether he could've gone all stabby. "Wolf" sort of does that, but we waste far too much time with Kirk and McCoy discussing Scotty's concussion and how that could've affected his actions. I really don't think a concussion could make you stab somebody multiple times, or kill two other people just because their nearby. Maybe if the whole "a woman caused the explosion" thread had exposed something much darker and nastier in Scotty's persona, there would've been doubt here, but as is, it's pretty pointless.

Scotty is handed over to the authorities, a weaselly dude named Hengist (John Fielder, aka, the voice of Piglet) and Jaris, the local prefect. (Apologies if I ever type "Jarvis." This episode would've been so much more awesome if Thor and the Hulk had a battle in the middle of it.) Argelius is a peaceful society, so everybody's real shocked about the murder; "The law of Argelius is love," which I gotta call bullshit on, because I don't think love would be much help in resolving four way intersections or property disputes. I also don't believe that a planet based on hedonism--a planet that happens to be an important port for the Federation--could be without completely violent crime. It would be sweet to believe that, left to their own devices, drunken horny idiots would never cause anyone any problems, but come on.

Things proceed as you would expect. Scotty has no memory, women keep dying around him, Kirk and McCoy get more and more worried while Hengist does the beauracrat thing and Jaris tries to be reasonable. Kirk argues that there's equipment on the Enterprise that could clear Scotty's name, but the whole thing has to be resolved under Argelian law; because of the planet's status in the Federation, some diplomacy is necessary, so they've got to play along. I'll buy that. But in waiting for the next shoe to drop, I got bored. The situation doesn't really change until Jaris's wife has a seance or whatever (it's like the Vulcan mind meld, only with incense), and she learns that there's an evil presence in the room named Beratis Kesla Redjac. Then she gets stabbed before she can give any real answers.

There's a hilarious scene afterwards with Kirk, McCoy, and Hengist chatting about the situation, while Jaris mourns over his wife in the background and everybody ignores him. Whatever you may say about Scotty's feelings towards women, at least he seems visibly upset by the situation. You half expect some big twist at the end that reveals the whole thing was a mind game to get Scotty to start feeling so bad about getting exploded on. But one of the few good things about "Wolf" is that the ending manages to outdo even that. It's like Bloch wrote the first couple acts, went out for some drinks, and came back six months later and finished the script without bothering to reread what he'd already got down.

Everybody winds up back on the Enterprise, so we can have another courtroom/interrogation scene in which we learn about the magic powers of computers to tell truths from lies. (There's also this thing called a psychic-tricorder. It's fun watching early sci-fi shows, because it all comes down to what Dr. Spaceman once said: "Science is whatever we want it to be.") There's more talking, a couple of red-herrings are introduced--the dead belly-dancer had an ex-fiance who got jealous, and a father, both of whom were around the night she was killed. I like the idea that on Argelius, jealousy is a horrible, horrible thing, but you could dump both these guys from the episode and not lose anything from the story.

All the questioning doesn't really solve the problem. Scotty is cleared, but there are still a bunch of dead women lying around. So Spock asks the computer about "Redjac," and that's when things get crazy. It turns out the killer is Jack the Ripper. Who is apparently this alien creature called a mellitus that can possess people and lives off of fear. It's been traveling the galaxy on a killing spree for centuries, and it landed on Argelius because everybody was so happy, and ripe for gutting. Scotty just had one of the crappiest cases of wrong place, wrong time in history.

It gets crazier. Kirk figures out that Hengist has a connection to the entity, and when Hengist tries to escape, Kirk punches him out. He was dead all along, possessed by the creature--which now climbs into the Enterprise computer.

See, that's what the episode should've focused on. With only ten minutes left, we finally had something to give a damn about. Sure, the Enterprise computer's been screwed with before, but hearing a disembodied voice screaming for your death is tres spooky; as is the vision of hell (or colored mist) we get in the computer display screens. Scotty's murder trial eats up two thirds of the episode and basically has nothing to do with anything. He doesn't help defeat the monster in the end, we never think for a minute that the charges will stick, and the solution to the mystery is so utterly out of left field that it could've had any other kind of build up and made about as much sense.

There are some clever bits that come out of dealing with a possessed ship. Kirk has the crew injected with a happy drug that makes everybody immune to fear, and Spock manages to drive the ghost out of the machine by setting the computer to calculate pi "to the last digit." That forces the thing back into Hengist (eventually), and Kirk and the others bring the poor dead sap to the transporter room where they beam him into space at the "widest possible dispersion." Which is bad-ass, definitely.

Too bad the rest of "Wolf" is such a slog. I like surprises, and I like it when a show tries to shake things up a bit, but this is not really a good example of either of those things. Too much time is wasted on a perfunctory and lazy premise, with a flurry of action at the end that serves mostly to irritate the viewer instead of reward them for their patience. Viewed intellectually, it's a fascinating example of what happens when a filmed script just hasn't had enough drafts (and there is something refreshing about the clunkiness here; most modern bad TV is just thuddingly mediocre, not actively insane), but as an actual episode, it's a drag.

Grades:
"Obsession": B
"Wolf In The Fold": C+
http://www.avclub.com/articles/obsession-the-wolf-in-the-fold,29649/

J.J. Abrams Says That He is Open to Old and New Adventures for Star Trek XII

The success of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek has fed speculation about a sequel: Will it include a return to classic Trek missions, albeit from the perspective of the new timeline? Speaking with SCI FI Wire on Wednesday night at the Saturn Awards, Abrams said that he is excited about that possibility but won't rule out new ideas either.

"The great thing is we're all open to anything," Abrams said. "I think the fun of where we are with Trek is that it can and should just be fully explored. So I think to limit ourselves to only new adventures would be a mistake."

Meanwhile, Abrams spoke a bit about the proposed fourth Mission: Impossible movie. Each Mission: Impossible film was a vehicle for a director to lend his own vision to the franchise: Brian De Palma, John Woo and Abrams directed very different films. The recent announcement that Abrams was returning to the series makes him the only director to do two of the films. His Mission Impossible III was the best-reviewed (though the lowest-grossing), but Abrams indicated he is not planning to direct the fourth.

"Well, there's no director attached to the movie yet," Abrams said. "We're just developing an idea, which I think is very cool, so we're just starting it out, but it's exciting. It's a fun idea, and it's always an honor to work with Tom [Cruise, who is also producing]. We would definitely produce the movie together, and details from there we're still figuring out."

Abrams also spoke about his Fox sci-fi TV series Fringe, which returns for a second season in the fall. Expect the show to address the shocking reveal in the season finale. (Spoilers ahead!) If there is an alternate world where New York's Twin Towers still stand in 2009, does that mean there was no Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in that world? Or did 9/11 just strike a different landmark?

"You have to watch to see how that plays out," Abrams said. "That was a big decision for the show, because it was obviously a potential sensitive kind of choice. But I feel like, given what our story is, given the world of Fringe, I think it will be very satisfying."
http://scifiwire.com/2009/06/jj-abrams-finally-speaks.php

Can Star Trek win next year's Oscar for best picture?

That certainly seems to be the reasoning behind the Academy's decision to double the number of nominees. In which case, why not treble it? Might there also be room for My Sister's Keeper?

Like the guitar hero out of Spinal Tap, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences believe that increased volume means increased quality. Where Nigel Tufnel dialled his amp to 11, the Oscars are cranking it up to 10 – doubling the number of best picture nominees for next year's ceremony. In official parlance, the 2009 Academy Awards just got twice as good.


Why the change? Could it be that, in this halcyon summer of Transformers and Terminator: Salvation, the Academy are already anticipating a vintage awards season next January; a 100% rise in all-round cinematic greatness? Who would have thought it? We are living in a golden age.

Or is there another reason behind yesterday's announcement? Might it be construed as a chase for higher ratings and an attempt to cater to a broader, more populist base? Earlier this year, the organisation faced widespread criticism (widespread on the internet, at least) for snubbing popular triumphs like The Dark Knight and WALL-E in favour of mid-budget, middlingly successful pictures such as Frost/Nixon, The Reader and Milk. And Academy president Sid Ganis seems to have taken this to heart. "There were more movies that I thought might have fit the nominations," he admitted on Wednesday. "I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words Dark Knight did not come up."

According to Ganis, this latest move is about "casting the net wide". In theory his new, open-door policy could benefit all kinds of films that traditionally fail to make the cut: documentaries and foreign-language dramas and art-house indie comedies. And if a few Star Treks and Drag Me to Hells slip in alongside then hey, so much the better. You might even call this a form of proportional representation. There are something like 6,000 voters in the Academy, and they can't all be fans of Milk and The Reader.

For all that, I'm unconvinced. Yesterday's announcement sounds like a bizarre form of affirmative action; an artificial attempt to "correct" a long-standing voter bias and provide a leg-up for the sort of films that surely don't need one. Except that, ultimately, this is not about helping The Dark Knight and its ilk. It is about finding a way in which The Dark Knight can help the Oscars.

Besides, there's something fundamentally silly about it. If you are going to have 10 best picture nominees, why stop there? Why not 20? Why not 100? That way we could get in Transformers and Race to Witch Mountain, Looking For Eric and In Search of Beethoven.

In the meantime, staring us in the face, is an altogether more sensible alternative. To misquote Spinal Tap's stoic interviewer, why not simply make the five nominees better and make five the top number and make that a little better?

Ah well. Next year's Oscars go up to 10.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/jun/25/oscars-star-trek-dark-knight

Trek Expo episode 20

These are the voyages of the men and women of Trek Expo. Its 20-year, and counting, mission: to explore a variety of sci-fi cultures, to seek out new special guests and new ways to celebrate with fellow enthusiasts, to boldly go where no Trek Expo has gone before.

"In the 20 years of its existence, Trek Expo has played host to more than 150 different television and motion picture actors," according to R.A. Jones, the longtime Trek Expos emcee. "More than 80,000 fans have attended one or more of the Expos. They have come not only from all over the United States but also from Canada and Great Britain, and from as far away as Australia."

Jones offered up the following timeline of the hugely popular Trek Expo, which is Friday-Sunday at the UMAC John Q. Hammons Arena.



TREK EXPO: A TIMELINE

1989: Starbase 21, a Tulsa comic book and science fiction collectibles store, launches Trek Expo.

The first year, at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds, featured, among others, George Takei, who played Sulu on "Star Trek," and John de Lancie, who played Q on "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

1990: "Due to various circumstances, the show took place in a large vacant storefront in the middle of the Alameda Shopping Center," Jones recalled.

1994: Expo moved to the Marriott Hotel.

1996: "As part of the celebration leading up to the 20th anniversary of the first 'Star Wars' film, the Expo hosted 'The Men Behind the Mask': David Prowse ("Darth Vader"), Kenny Baker ("R2D2"), Jeremy Bulloch ("Bobba Fett") and Peter Mayhew ("Chewbacca")."

1998: Expo moved to what is now the QuikTrip center, and featured William Shatner, Captain Kirk on "Star Trek."

"Efforts were underway to bring Shatner's co-star from the original series DeForest Kelley ("Bones") to the next Expo, but the veteran character actor sadly passed away before such plans could be finalized. He is the only member of the series' original cast not to be a guest at Trek Expo."

1999: "The final member of the Trek triumvirate, Leonard Nimoy ("Spock") made his first visit to Trek Expo.

2001: "James Doohan ("Scotty") came to the Expo. Jimmy was already suffering from poor health at that time, and Trek Expo was one of the last conventions he was able to attend before his passing in 2005.

"Also attending the Expo that year was TV's "Batman" Adam West and, from "Hercules," Kevin Sorbo.

"At one point, Kevin auctioned off a signed pair of his underwear for charity, with the winning bid coming in excess of $3,000.

"By this point, Trek Expo had become such a large and eagerly anticipated event that fans would literally camp out on the sidewalk in front of Starbase 21 for as long as three days in order to be among the first to purchase reserve seat tickets for the show."

2005: Expo moved to UMAC John Q. Hammons Arena.

"One fan decided he wanted to propose to his girlfriend from the Expo stage. Unfortunately, he was a little too nervous and stage-shy to do so himself, so the actual proposal — in front of an audience of hundreds — was made by Expo emceeJones. She accepted."

2006: Expo stage becomes marriage altar.

"The couple each wore Trek-themed clothing. One of our guest stars, who was gracious enough to actually be a member of the wedding party, was former Miss America and Barnaby Jones co-star Lee Meriwether."

1999 to present: "Trek Expo hosts the "Supper With the Stars," with all the proceeds from this mix-and-mingle event being donated to the Tulsa Boys' Home. To date, the event has raised over $35,000 for the home."

1989-present: "Every Expo has featured a charity auction. Various causes have benefited from this, with nearly $20,000 of the money raised going to award college scholarships to deserving area boys and girls."



TREK EXPO

What: Three days of stars from science fiction TV and films, including Leonard Nimoy, Avery Brooks, Marina Sirtis and more

When: Friday through Sunday at Union Multipurpose Activity Center (UMAC), 6836 S. Mingo Road

Tickets: tulsaworld.com/trekexpo and at Starbase 21, 8222 E. 103rd St.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/Scene/article.aspx?subjectid=272&articleid=20090625_272_D3_Volunt200555

Mormon movie review--Star Trek PG13

The new Star Trek movie is out, and 'Trekkies' of all ages are aching to see the newest one. The newest 'Star Trek' is a pre-quel. It goes back to the very beginning before James Tiberius Kirk was even born, and establishes a foundation for a change in time line. The audience is entertained by the appearances of all of the old crew in their younger years; Uhura, Sulu, Scottie, Doctor McCoy (Bones), Chekov, Spock and, of course, Captain Kirk.
A Clingon Captain blames Spock for the destruction of his home planet, and travels through a time warp in order to confront Spock and get his revenge. Leonard Nemoy makes a cameo appearance as a much older Spock, who helps the younger version of himself. Because the time line has been altered, The older Spock also helps to make sure that James T. Kirk does indeed become captain of the Enterprise.
Is it a family film? Here are the facts to help you decide. There are no bad words. It is not scary, however, there is some violence. There is a sex scene with young Kirk and his lover in their underwear, where there is intent, but no follow through due to an interruption. This scene and the violence are undoubtedly why the 13 was added to the PG rating.
It is fun to see the young Bones act just like the older one, and Scottie is quite a character. Chekov is also quite enjoyable, and in this version of Star Trek, there is some sort of a romance between Spock and Uhura. It is actually funny, just because Kirk is jealous. For lovers of the original Star Trek series, it is quite an enjoyable film. For younger viewers less familiar with the original series, some allusions may be lost. One Albuquerque audience actually gave the movie a standing ovation.

http://www.examiner.com/x-7754-Albuquerque-LDS-Church-Examiner~y2009m6d24-Mormon-movie-reviewStar-Trek-PG13

Star Trek Writers Talk Sequel(Video)

http://www.thecinemapost.com/2009/06/21/star-trek-writers-talk-sequel/

Everyone's a captain in multiplayer Star Trek Online

In the 25th-century timeline of the upcoming MMOG Star Trek Online, every player is a starship captain, either Federation or Klingon. The game, now in its fifth year of development, begins in 2409 (no, that's not the release date).
Players cannot choose to form a group on one starship, with each fulfilling a different role; you have to be the captain. To MMORPG gamers who enjoy group play this may be a weakness. In PvP starship encounters, your customized ship and trained crew will be pitted against those of other captains. As you level up you get bigger, more powerful ships. As captain, you can customize the physical appearance of your bridge officers, but their stats are predetermined; as you level, you can choose how to spend their points, however. Planetside face-to-face confrontations can feature away teams of grouped players who fight NPCs. Open PvP encounters will be confined to contested, remote sectors of space between captains, with consensual PvP and competitive PvE in the Neutral Zone. Ship and crew customization seem to be the major selling point as of now, especially a feature that allows players to create their own unique character races, sets of traits that will then be available for other players to use. Players can also choose between Human, Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon and a few other character races. Game visuals will include Starfleet Academy, Vulcan, Bajor, Qo'noS and, of course, deep space.
Star Trek Online, now being developed by Cryptic Studios, is posting weekly scenarios to be solved in online forums; Friday's offering was Kobayashi Maru Vol. 18 by Rekhan. These are interesting little problems, and the old-fashioned, purely verbal nature of the solution posts has a nice throwback feel if you like that kind of thing. You can post your own secnarios and see what people come up with.
A date for the Star Trek Online public beta has yet to be determined.
http://www.examiner.com/x-11230-Star-Trek-Examiner~y2009m6d21-Everyones-a-captain-in-multiplayer-Star-Trek-Online

Thus spake Spock

Today's technology won't allow Leonard Nimoy to totally escape from business concerns, even when he's on holiday on a ship cruising around Greek islands.

"Leonard is out at sea but fortunately has Internet (service)," said Gary Hasson, Nimoy's agent, in relaying his client's e-mail answers to a few questions in advance of his appearing on Saturday at the 20th anniversary of Tulsa's Trek Expo.

As the inimitable Mr. Spock and the only actor from the original TV series to appear in the blockbuster new film "Star Trek," Nimoy is the headliner for this year's event, which features actors from each of the "Trek" series.

Michael Smith: considering the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the new film, why do you think it has connected with new fans as well as satisfied the veteran fan base?

Leonard Nimoy: It’s a film that stands on its own as a terrific adventure with great heart at the center. You don’t have to be a fan to enjoy it, but it has elements that the fans recognize.

What is the key element to Star Trek’s storytelling that, if you retain that element, the world of Star Trek and its characters will always be relevant?

The essential ingredient is the team of professionals working together to solve problems. All of the team are highly trained and competent.

How did it feel to put the Spock outfit and ears on again?

This performance called for an older, more resolved Spock. It’s actually closer to my own personality than the performances of the past.

What’s your opinion of the characterization of Spock by Zachary Quinto, and what did you do to help him achieve it?

We spent a lot of time getting to know one another. He is a well-trained, intelligent and talented man. His performance interests me in that his was a Spock before the character that I portrayed in the series. Finding his way, I thought he brought a lot to the party.

I got the feeling from watching the film that it got many things just right in its portrayal of these well-known characters at a younger age. What was your reaction?

The script and direction were very successful in capturing the key character elements. I was quite moved to see the various performances.

You are coming to Tulsa for Trek Expo this month. in what manner have you come to appreciate the fan experience and their affection for Mr. Spock?

I’m always touched by the emotion I get from the fans. Their comments on how we have entertained them and brought something positive to their lives means a lot to me.

Maybe it’s countless, but how many times have you received the vulcan greeting from fans? What are among the more memorable such greetings you have received?

Truly countless. From people young and old, of all walks of life. Barack Obama gave it to me during a campaign stop.
Trek Expo

What: three days of stars from science fiction TV and films, including Leonard Nimoy, Avery Brooks, Marina Sirtis and more

When: Friday through June 28 at Union Multipurpose Activity Center (UMAC), 6836 S. Mingo Road

Tickets: tulsaworld.com/trekexpo and at Starbase 21, 8222 E. 103rd St.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/Scene/article.aspx?subjectid=268&articleid=20090621_283_D2_MattSa88584

Next Star Trek Could Feature Yeoman Rand

Were you sad the U.S.S. Enterprise was such a sausage-fest in the most recent Star Trek? Then there's good news: co-writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman tell io9 the next film could feature one of Trek's most iconic women.

Yeoman Janice Rand, with her imposing blonde beehive, only appeared in a handful of Trek episodes before disappearing (reportedly because star William Shatner wanted Kirk to have more the opportunity to mack on different women every week.) But since she has a fairly major role in "Charlie X" and "The Enemy Within," she's always stood out as one of the most significant female characters on the show, up there with Uhura and Nurse Chapel.

Talking to Orci and Kurtzman about Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, we asked them about strong female characters. The first movie featured Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen, the hacker who figures out what's going on with those alien robots before everyone else does. We were sad that Maggie doesn't turn up in the new movie, and Orci explained why:

We ended up going to a whole new set of characters, and Maggie's replacement starts to feel like it was organic given the theme of this new story. We always [want to have strong female characters]. Going back to movies like Aliens, Ripley was the original ass-kicker. And that goes back to Westerns, even. So we felt like we always like to have a strong woman at the center of the movie.

http://io9.com/5299914/next-star-trek-could-feature-yeoman-rand

Star Trek’ Writers Alex Kurtzman And Roberto Orci Consider The Sequel

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that pen has not yet been put to paper on a sequel to J.J. Abrams‘ “Star Trek.” For starters, the first one is still in theaters. There’s also the fact that writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have been busy promoting and prepping a few smaller projects. You know, stuff like “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

It was this week’s Michael Bay spectacle that landed Collider some face time with the writing duo. Kurtzman and Orci obviously aren’t revealing any of the specific ideas they have in mind but they did speak rather generally about what their plans are for the next entry in the rebooted franchise.

The course of the next movie is the current “active discussion,” with the writers considering whether to deal with “the exploration sci-fi plot where the unknown and nature itself is somehow an adversary or the villain model.” In other words, they’re working out whether the crew will explore “strange new worlds” because that’s their directive as members of Starfleet or because some intergalactic madman is trying to blow everything up all over again.

There aren’t any other significant revelations, though a few additional tidbits do surface. Abrams is not a lock to direct the next film, though I would be surprised if he opts out. The filmmaker has enjoyed a pretty steep upward trajectory thus far; while “Star Trek” earns him plenty of street cred in Hollywood, an out-the-park win — and a pretty guaranteed one as far as I’m concerned — with the sequel certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Paramount is certainly interested in seeing a “Star Trek” sequel beam itself in front of cameras as soon as possible. Kurtzman and Orci revealed that they expect to deliver a script by Christmas of this year, so a Spring/Summer 2011 release isn’t entirely out of the question. That’s nothing more than speculation of course; we’ll just have to wait and see. The writers were clear that they continue to listen to fan’s thoughts, so please share yours below.

What do you think of the exploration vs. villain discussion Kurtzman and Orci are currently considering for the sequel’s story? Do you think Paramount is right to get the sequel out as quickly as possible? Do you worry that a quick turnaround may hurt the film, or do you have faith in Kurtzman/Orci to do right by the story, regardless of timetables?
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/06/22/star-trek-writers-alex-kurtzman-and-roberto-orci-consider-the-sequel/

‘Star Trek’ : Why is it still a hit with the younger generation?

‘Star Trek’ is everywhere-right from magazines, TV, to the opinion pages of major newspapers-and has left many wondering how the 1960s phenomenon is still a hit with the younger generation.
And now, an expert at Arizona State University has explained why, 43 years after it first aired, does ‘Star Trek’ still hold us in such thrall.
Lawrence Krauss, director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University and the author of The Physics of Star Trek (1995), has said that a large part of the fascination with ‘Star Trek’ could be traced to our many
current crises, both fiscal and environmental.
He said that one of the biggest reasons of its continued existence is because it was based on a hopeful view of the future.
It looked forward for a future where the “infinite possibilities of existence”-as the character Q said in ‘The Next Generation’ series-could be exploited for the benefit of humankind and aliens alike, reports New Scientist
magazine.
A future where science and reason would prevail over superstition, religious fundamentalism and petty myopic rivalries, and where technology could be developed to address almost any challenge.


Although many aspects of this vision were and still are unrealistic, it still has obvious appeal in times of uncertainty. In times like these, the current generation faces problems that are truly global in nature- climate change,
dwindling oil and rising population, etc.
And there are hopeful signs that people are moving closer to a society based on reason, as in Star Trek. In his speeches, US President Barack Obama has spoken out explicitly about the urgent need to exploit science and technology to meet various environmental and energy challenges.
Star Trek, on its part, does not present a world free of conflict, emotion, jealousy, love or hatred, but instead it presents a world in which human emotions and reason can peacefully coexist.
Krauss claimed that while It remains to be seen whether science and reason can help guide humanity to a better and more peaceful future, but this belief is part of what keeps the Star Trek franchise going.
http://www.entertainmentandshowbiz.com/star-trek-why-is-it-still-a-hit-with-the-younger-generation-2009062217687

Reminder: Win a Star Trek Engineering Uniform T-shirt

We are extending this one until Friday, so don’t miss your chance. You have until this Friday June 26th to win this awesome Star Trek Engineering Uniform t-shirt. While over at our Robot site Botropolis, you can win a Pimp Bender T-Shirt.

As for the Trek shirts, we have a total of 3 in size L. So what do you have to do to win one? All you have to do is comment here. Follow the link. Don’t comment on this post. Since you guys are having trouble coming up with a funny poem/haiku, any comment will do. On Friday we will announce the winners.

enter herehttp://www.slipperybrick.com/2009/06/reminder-win-a-star-trek-engineering-uniform-t-shirt/

Review: Star Trek DAC

Browser games. That's where it's at.

There have been many happy work hours that should have been spent productively that instead slipped by unnoticed while you slaughtered 3-frame-animated zombies, or organised your tower defence, or conquered territory with dice-rolls. Great stuff. Their attraction is limited, but it's ok. They fill up an hour or so, then you get bored and go back to work feeling refreshed.

Star Trek DAC is a browser game given a reasonable amount of polish before being released on Arcade for 800 points worth of your money. Ask yourself if you'd have had quite so much fun on Tower Defence if you'd paid. Actually, that's a bad example – Tower Defence is still fun after an hour. Star Trek DAC isn't.


The basics of the gameplay are covered in the name. DAC stands for Deathmatch – Assault – Conquest, which are the three game modes. Two teams of up to six players each do battle online, picking either Romulan or Federation ships. That's the Star Trek bit. In fact, excepting a little bit of music, that's all of the Star Trek bit. No cast, no voices, no clips, nothing. Not even an appearance by Bill Shatner (he was probably too busy writing the novel where Kirk travels through time to rescue Spock Prime and set everything back on track – he did it to Generations, he can do it again). If you're a Trek fan or a fan of the reboot film on which this game is already based, you'll be feeling a little hard done by already.

Deathmatch is a first to 50 kills thing. Assault sees one team defend four points on the map against the other team, then you swap. Conquest, the more fun option, is a modified version of Assault. That's it. No options can be adjusted, but at least there are bots to add in to make up for missing players. Mind you, you can't adjust their settings either, except for how many there are.


Games of any mode are pretty dull affairs after the first hour of browser game fun. The first five minutes are spent feeling a bit like you're driving a cross between a dodgem and a broken shopping trolley. Backwards. All the while you're opponents have been given F-16 fighters and you die a lot and get frustrated. Suddenly, something clicks and you realise you mostly just need to sit there, watching the radar for approaching enemies, and then blast them. You die, or escape in your pod, respawn and start again. Occasionally you pick up a power-up that doesn't do anything. Someone wins. Yay...

Between this game and the Watchmen equivalent, we're seeing the arrival of an ugly baby. Film marketing folks are going to be releasing a lot of this kind of thing over the next few years. Get used to it. Ignore them. Who knows, eventually they may give up and go bother someone else. In the meantime, if you're a Trek fan, watch the trailer on YouTube. Don't pay good money for bad browser games.
http://xbox.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=18161

Star Trek’ Creator’s Production Company Announces New ‘Days Missing’ Comic Book Series

Gene Roddenberry, the man best known for laying the foundations of the “Star Trek” universe, left more behind when he died in 1991 than the landmark sci-fi franchise currently being remastered by J.J. Abrams. The company he founded, Gene Roddenberry Productions, also left its mark on television with series like “Earth: Final Conflict” and “Andromeda.”

Now, the inheritors of the fanboy-sacred Roddenberry name are moving into comics, launching a series titled “Days Missing” with Archaia.

“Building on the science fiction legacy of the Star Trek franchise, we are excited to make a unique contribution to the comic book landscape with this extraordinary series,” Roddenberry Productions executive Trevor Roth said in a press release. “We’ve assembled some of the best talent in the industry to deliver a great comic book that we hope will captivate fans.”

Arachaia’s creative team assigned to the first issue includes well-known names such as current “The Darkness” writer Phil Hester and artists Frazer Irving and Dale Keown.

The comic will follow a mysterious main character called the The Steward with the ability to remove full days from history that have held importance for mankind. As the sci-fi faithful know, anything involving time manipulation always results in chain reactions and unexpected consequences.

“All of us at Archaia are huge fans of Star Trek and to work with Roddenberry Productions to create a
comic like Days Missing is a huge honor,” Archaia Director of Development Stephen Christy added in the release.

A limited edition version of issue #1 will be available at San Diego Comic-Con, with the direct market 99-cent launch hitting stores in August.
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/06/23/star-trek-creators-production-company-announces-new-days-missing-comic-book-series/

Magnetic Blood Cleaning Procedure Could Save Lives, Star-Trek Style

Here's a medical innovation that's pretty amazing: It's a blood filter that could actually reduce deaths from sepsis in hospitals. The system works by removing dangerous bacteria not by using fine porous filtration, but instead the power of magnets.

The invention was created by Don Ingber at the Harvard Medical School and Children's hospital and it's designed to augment the effect of antibiotics in combating bacterial infections of the blood. These are the infections that apparently kill some 200,000 American citizens each year, so the potential benefits of the treatment could be pretty significant.
Ingber's technique eschews the traditional fine porous methods for filtering blood, and instead specifically targets the bacteria themselves. Microscopic plastic-coated beads of iron oxide are treated with antibodies that seek out the infecting cells, and attach to them--the beads would be injected into a patient, but in Ingber's experiments the blood was treated in vitro. Next the blood-bead mix is pushed through a dialysis-type machine, where an electromagnet simply attracts the iron beads, bacterial and all, while the cleaned-up blood cycles on and back into the patient.
The beauty of the invention is in its simplicity, and the fact that in tests it removed up to 80% of the pathogens, which is enough that the rest can be easily cleared up with traditional antibiotic remedies.
Ingber is confident his technique will perform well when he moves on to animal experimentation later this year, and that it can even be expanded to cover removing cancer cells from blood in a similar style. It's merely a question of coating the iron microbeads with the right chemicals so they bond to the unwanted target cells. One can even imagine a future where a patient is injected with a concoction of specially engineered filtration beads, each designed to tackle a particular problem--which is a plot trick I'm sure I've seen on Star Trek sometimes.
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/magnetic-blood-cleaning-trick-could-save-lives-star-trek-style

GoAnimate.com Adds New Star Trek Characters

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 5, 2009 -- GoAnimate.com, the online platform that enables everyone to create their own customizable animations, today announced that it has expanded its roster of official Star Trek characters to include several characters key to the Star Trek backstory, in honor of the new hit film. GoAnimate.com has collaborated with CBS Consumer Products to add five new classic characters to its already stellar Star Trek channel - Nurse Chapel, Gorn, Mara, and two Klingon crewmen. And to celebrate the addition of these new characters, in conjunction with honoring the theme of the new film, GoAnimate.com today announces its latest contest - "The Backstory".

Gorn vs. Kirk
Gorn vs. Kirk

Each contest submission must tell the backstory of either Nurse Chapel, Gorn, or Mara. How did they first come to interact with the members of the Enterprise? Why did Nurse Chapel choose to work aboard the Enterprise? What is Gorn's home planet like? Why did Mara choose to marry Kang?

The contest dates are 12:01 AM June 3, through 11:59 PM June 17. Any animations made before or after these dates are ineligible. Up until 11:59 AM June 23 users will have the opportunity to continue to share their and other users' animations. Winners will be announced Wednesday, June 24.

Rules:
1. Entries may feature the backstory of Nurse Chapel, Gorn, Mara, or a combination of the three. These three characters will be made available for the duration of the contest, after which point they will be made premium characters available for GoPoints.
2. Four Grand Prizes will be given for the best Nurse Chapel backstory, the best Gorn backstory, the best Mara backstory, and the best combination backstory.
i. The Four Grand Prizes will be selected by a panel of judges from the staffs of CBS and GoAnimate.
3. Four First Prizes will be given - one for each of the categories mentioned in (#2).
i. The Four First Prizes will be given to the Most Shared Animations (animations shared on outside networks).
4. Animations must be at least one minute long.
5. Animations without music and/or sound effects will not be considered.
6. Animations may feature characters from all licensed channels.
7. Entries must be tagged with "backstorycontest" in order to be eligible.


Prizes:
1. Four (4) Grand Prize Winners will receive copies of Star Trek UNO, Star Trek SceneIt, and a Blu-Ray Star Trek DVD
2. Four (4) First Prize Winners will receive a choice of Star Trek Scrabble OR All About Star Trek Trivia

"Audiences everywhere have had an overwhelming response to the new film, and even before the film hit theaters, we saw the Star Trek community embrace the ability to create their own Star Trek animations with GoAnimate's platform," said Liz Kalodner, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Consumer Products. "Thousands of Star Trek animations have been created since we first partnered with GoAnimate, and we are extremely excited to see fans embracing this new creative outlet. With the addition of these new characters, we want to empower fans to create stories in the vein of the new film - exploring the intriguing backstories behind these characters."

The New Faces, and their Backstories
The new Star Trek characters that are available immediately for all users, and which are eligible candidates for GoAnimate.com's "The Backstory" contest, are:


* Nurse Chapel - Nurse Chapel appeared in an episode during the first season of The Original Season (TOS) and soon after became a regular character. She served as head nurse under Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy on the USS Enterprise. In later films she appeared as a full-fledged doctor (and in the most recent film as a one-line off-screen cameo). She sought after a position in the Starfleet in the hopes to find her missing fiancé, Dr. Roger Korby. Despite her love for her fiancé Chapel also had an infatuation with Spock, and when she once admitted her feelings in the episode "The Naked Time" Spock confessed his inability to return her feelings.
* Gorn - The Gorn are a race of intelligent reptilian humanoids. The Gorn captain character became one of the most popular aliens on Star Trek, appearing only in one classic episode ("Arena") on TOS. A hissing, slow-moving but lethal beast, the Gorn captain was quite cunning and devious.
* Mara - Mara was the Klingon wife of Captain Kang and a science officer aboard his battle cruiser. As a product of 22nd century genetic engineering, Mara was descended from Klingons affected with the augment virus created in 2154. Mara was the first appearance of a Klingon female and, although never confirmed, it is very possible that Mara was the mother of Dax, son of Kang.
* Two Klingon crewmen - Klingons are a warrior race in the Star Trek universe. They are recurring villains in TOS, and have appeared in all five spinoff series and seven feature films. Intended to be antagonists for the crew of the Enterprise, the Klingons ended up a close ally of humanity and the United Federation of Planets in later television series.


To see the new characters, and to download images, please visit: http://press.GoAnimate.com.

"After seeing how enthusiastic the Star Trek community has been about the ability to create their own animated adventures, we immediately started thinking about what we could do next to give fans more of what they want," said Alvin Hung, Founder and CEO, GoAnimate. "Like millions of others, we loved the new Star Trek film, and were inspired to add the characters that play important roles in the backstory - and in true GoAnimate fashion - we decided to add a contest to reward the amazing creativity that we regularly see from our community. So get to work on those backstories - we can't wait to review them!"

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2499964.htm

Star Trek Motion Picture Trilogy DVD Review

Think of this three-picture assortment as one wonderful, extended plug for the new reboot of the whole Star Trek franchise, and as a handy way to get the best of the last movie iteration in one efficient package. That is, if you don’t already have a set, as I am sure that most die-hard Star Trek fans already do, and in multiple formats. The crew of the Enterprise, aging with various degrees of grace, hit their stride with The Wrath of Khan (OMG, they killed Spock!) and The Search for Spock (OMG, he’s not really dead!), and were then diverted to earth of the present-day on a mission to save the whales; that last having something to do with a gigantic metal space-turd roaming through the galaxy spreading chaos and destruction where-ere it went and looking to have a quiet word with whales. This last adventure contained one of the most inadvertently hilarious lines ever; Kirk explaining Spock’s odd behavior to late 20th century San Franciscans: “He did too much LDS in the 60ies.” Believe me, that one line brought down the house in places like Utah; the home of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

The “extra” features are added on to the end of each disc, and are an agreeable and moderately interesting assortment. They do seem to be more oriented towards new viewers, rather than the sort of long-time dedicated fan gently parodied in “Galaxy Quest”, that fan who has memorized the exact positioning of every rivet in the Enterprise universe.

This DVD release is now available through Amazon.com and other retail outlets.

http://www.bloggernews.net/121171

Former Make A Wish Kid and Star Trek Producers Team up to Fundraise For the Foundation

- When Michael Ferris turned 15, he got his first kidney transplant. When he turned 17, he got his first video camera from the Make A Wish Foundation. And at 23, he helped his first screenwriter sell their script to New Line Studios.

News Image

After a few years of helping aspiring screenwriters like Christopher Waild, who now writes for the CBS show "NCIS," he started a company called Script A Wish. The sole mission was to help filmmakers get their work directly into the hands of industry players that could make their dreams a reality.

While a portion of proceeds have been going to the Make A Wish Foundation, Michael decided it wasn't enough.

"While I aspire to help as many filmmakers as I can, I wanted to take an entire month and fundraise for the people who made my own dreams a reality," Ferris said.

Hot off the release of their hit movie Star Trek, Ferris called his friends at director J.J. Abram's production company, Bad Robot. They agreed to donate their time by doing "pitch calls" with amateur filmmakers and donating Star Trek items to be auctioned off by The Make A Wish Foundation.

"I jumped at the chance to help. It's a rare thing for unknown filmmakers to pitch movie ideas to us, so we hope this will help drum up more money to be donated to Make A Wish," said Bad Robot's Kevin Jarzynski.

Abrams said that he was inspired to help.
"My wife and I are very active with our charity work, so when I heard about what Michael was doing I immediately started signing posters," Abrams said. "We're looking forward to helping the Make A Wish Foundation."

Bard Dorros, a manager at a Hollywood powerhouse management firm, said that Script A Wish can be instrumental to a screenwriter's big break.
"The fastest way for an unknown to get their work read by someone like me, is through Ferris," Dorros said. "I trust his taste, so when Michael gives me a script, I know it's something I have to read."

For more information, visit www.scriptawish.com.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2508504.htm

Star Trek Was The Most Exciting 76 Seconds Of The Last Year - Official

Not content with being this year's most successful movie so far, Star Trek is seeking out new frontiers to be successful in. Like, for example, being named the best trailer of the year.

The plaudit came from the 10th annual Golden Trailer Awards, held last week in LA, which gave the trailer for JJ Abrams' franchise reboot not just the "Best In Show" award, but also the "Summer 2009 Blockbuster Award." Other winners at the ceremony included Wall-E (Best Animation/Family), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Best Video Game) and The Spirit, which won the "Golden Fleece Award," which is awarded to the best trailer(s) of the worst movie(s)." I guess it's good to know that the movie will be remembered for something...

http://io9.com/5282253/star-trek-was-the-most-exciting-76-seconds-of-the-last-year-+-official