In the third and final installment of my Star Trek movie-themed articles, we’ll explore that bugaboo of 21st century Hollywood as it applies to Star Trek: the reboot.
J.J. Abram’s Star Trek was as welcome and anticipated as when the original series was revived with Star Trek the Motion Picture. Star Trek is the Michael Myers of science fiction: no matter how many times you think it’s been killed, it refuses to stay dead. Once again it rises like a phoenix in a rebooted form.
Continue reading To Boldly Reboot One of the Most Beloved Franchises in History
This is a continuation of my article “To Boldy Film What No Man Has Filmed Before,” which covered the first six Star Trek movies starring the original cast. Those films ended an era that will never return, but Star Trek itself lives on with a new generation and a new crew that has become as beloved as the original.
Once upon a time a little TV show came and went within three seasons, and that was the end of that. It was on its death bed after two seasons, but the passionate fandom put it on life support for one more season. Life support it was, as it gasped through the whole third season with mostly inferior episodes. A cartoon version came and went, and Star Trek sunk into the same oblivion as other long-ago popular science fiction series like Flash Gordon.
Way back in 1953—one year before I was born (oh my that’s a long time ago!)—this handsome young pair of fellows met in a school in Queens, New York. Paul Simon noticed Art Garfunkel when he sang in a talent show—in fourth grade. They got together and discovered they could make beautiful music together, so they joined and formed a duo called…Tom & Jerry.
His name is Aaron Johnston. A month ago I was blissfully ignorant of his existence. Then I decided to read the Ender’s Game prequels. These were cowritten by Orson Scott Card and this guy. I was curious because I’d read all the Ender’s Game books up to Children of the Mind and Ender’s Shadow, and because I was curious how much of a collaboration it was or if it was mostly Johnston with Card adding his towering name to it for marketing purposes.
Let’s face it, most regular people aren’t that into classical music. My condolences to them. They don’t know what they’re missing. There’s a reason that classical music is classic and stood the test of time.
It’s one of life’s dilemmas to decide whether it’s better to read the book before seeing the movie or vice versa. Long ago I settled that question to my satisfaction.
There’s a mosaic that archaeologists unearthed in the ancient city of Sepphoris in Israel. Colloquially it’s called “the Mona Lisa of Sepphoris.”