Work is heating up so posting will be on the back burner for now. I suppose it doesn't really matter, since it's been on the back burner for a while. In any case, I've done a small update to the gallery with a few stills from the season premiere of Atlantis, titled "No Man's Land". It's been a couple of months since we worked on these shots, and I think they turned out well, so it's nice to finally be able to show some of them.
Open with a black frame, and immediately cut to a dense, star and nebula filled image. A quiet, soft, familiar melody begins to build as the camera starts slowly flying through space, showing us various non-specific celestial objects. We recognize the melody now, as the first notes of the original series title theme. A voice begins to speak, let's say, for argument's sake, that it's Matt Damon, our new captain.
"Space, the final frontier..."
You know the rest.
This weekend Paramount unveiled the teaser poster for the next Star Trek film, supposedly due out in 2008. First of all, it's a great poster. The classic, old-style Starfleet logo rendered in a fabric pattern meant to evoke the charm and texture of the original series. Already it's obvious that the project at the very least has the right idea. Most producers or art directors would have looked at Star Trek's history and subject matter and tried to create a logo with the cleanest, most polished machined metal look they could conjure. During the teaser trailer, this monolithic comm badge would swing out into frame from behind camera, illuminated by bright multi-directional lights that cause the smooth, cold surface to shimmer, until finally the massive logo slams against an invisible surface at the centre of frame with a mighty metallic clang, while the words "Star Trek" are beamed into view in front of it, "summer 2008" fading in at the bottom.
An absolute disaster, in only 30 seconds.
Thankfully we aren't going to be getting that. I don't know what we're going to be getting, but as long as it's not that, hope remains. J.J. Abrams is on board to direct, a rising star director/producer responsible for directing this year's "Mission Impossible III" and producing the hit series "Lost". He seems like a fairly talented guy, and according to him, he owns every single Star Trek DVD that's been released to date, and has actually watched every episode of both the original series and "The Next Generation". That's a good start in my book. The latest rumours about casting have Matt Damon playing a younger James T. Kirk, which would be a nice draw for mainstream audiences, assuming they can sign him.
I want to see an updated Trek. At the same time, I don't want to see this Star Trek film fall into the current sci-fi fad of dark, brooding characters in depressing, hopeless situations. I'm sick of that crap already. I want Star Trek to make me pissed off about being born in the 20th century, not glad that I'm alive now before the destruction of Humanity has already happened, and everyone's living in dirty, cold space ships munching on scraps of moldy bread and rotting vegetables, all while lunging at each other's throats due to stress and desperation. I want to see a future that's worth trying to build. I want to believe that we can solve at least some of our problems, that we can work together despite differences. I can watch "24" or CNN if I want to see stories about desperate people, genocides, and devastating emotional trauma. We don't need more of it in science fiction.
A Star Trek reboot needs to be original again. The shape of the classic Enterprise is iconic, so keep it, but update the details and internal technology to reflect our ever changing future. Consult real scientists as much as possible, not only for dialogue but for stories and plot points that involve science. Use things that are, at the very least, theoretically possible, and always use the correct names and numbers for them. Speaking of science, how about some stories that revolve around it? Listening to the opening theme from TNG still gives me the goose bumps. Those first few electronic flute notes suggest so much wonder and possibility in the Universe, you can't tell me "all of the stories have been done". I'll tell you some stories that have been done: the love triangle, the estranged father and son, the misunderstood alien. Stay away from the cliches, reference current, cutting edge sci-fi literature. Do something new and exciting!
If Abrams is going to insist on a prequel or reboot, let's see some more creative designs. I want to see colours in the clothing, and texture, you know, like we have now. I want to see gold foil on the ships, vents, spinning turbine intakes, radar dishes. I want to see smooth, white NASA-type paint jobs. At the same time, up the technology level. Transporters don't wow people anymore, neither do shields, phasers or any of that stuff. Consult some futurists and theorize about the kind of technology we're actually going to have in the 23rd century. Get creative!
All of that stuff is probably too much to hope for in one film. Still, I can hope. Directors and producers almost always promise new and exciting things that "we've never seen before", but rarely do they deliver. A lot of people out there still love Star Trek, it's just that for the last decade or more, no one's been making any of it.
Ah yes, the famously pathetic "Town Hall" meetings. Let's watch.
That's political discourse in America, the "freest" country in the world? Hand picked audiences and pre-selected, screened questions? Ridiculous. Call me when you stop worshiping your President like some sort of Pharaoh, a God made temporarily mortal so he can grace us with his divine presence.
Step 1: Watch the 14-minute promo video for "Freedom to Fascism".
Step 2: Read "Why Gold Prices, Oil Prices, Inflation & Interest Rates will Sky Rocket!"
We can almost count down to this coming struggle. Surely, our great democratic and economic leaders will reason that all they have to do is repeat the 1980-1983 recession through cranking interest rates ever higher, showing immense courage as they watch the economy fall apart as a result. But this time around the strong money medicine is going to be harder to sell than 25 years ago - and is also not going to work because of Peak Oil and the end of cheap energy. Back in the 1980s it was still possible for Saudi Arabia's anxious-to-please rulers to hike their oil output by 25% in a pumping frenzy that more than covered depletion losses elsewhere. Today Saudi Arabia cannot hike its oil production by even 10% - in fact its likely at flat out peak right now. Oil prices will be hard to swat back down to 'reasonable' levels, and will bounce back any time the economy starts growing. So unless our monetarist rulers decree and organize a permanent, that is really permanent economic recession their crawling desire for 'strong money' will not be assuaged.
Step 3: Read "When Gold Flies to the Moon"
A primary driver of this current bull has been the willingness of western central banks to sell their gold into the market to depress its price, only to watch with chagrin as the Russians, South Africans, Asians, and Arabs buy it hand over fist. Americans have seen their jobs exported to China and India. Now, our real wealth is following those jobs, in the form of our gold.
...
But for those who claim that gold is real money, that silver is real money, that honest money is the only way to build a truly strong and enduring economy, this is not the way to invest. This is not the way to prepare for an uncertain future. We are dealing with bankers and thieves here, with crooked politicians who would sell their souls down the river for re-election. We are up against collectivists who would tax us to oblivion to further their socialist agenda.
The true Patriot always fights with strong weapons. Time is running out. Buy some physical, and never give it away for paper.
If you like Superman, go see this movie. If you don't like Superman, tread carefully. I think that's the basic problem with all Superman projects; they're limited to the existing Superman fan base. For a society that seems to crave either comedies or dark and serious stories, that spells bad news for Superman as a character. Like Star Trek, Superman is meant to be bright and optimistic, which is probably why I'm a fan of both franchises. Although some people are dissapointed thus far, "Superman Returns" has by no means been a box office failure, but I don't think a Superman film will ever be as big as the original back in 1978, and will probably never be as huge as "Spiderman" or "X-Men" until our culture becomes a little more positive. Still, there is always a huge amount of potential in the Superman character, not only in terms of a visual spectacle on film, but also as a symbol of our better qualities.
"Superman Returns" is a good movie, and I enjoyed it immensely. I've been a couple of times now, and I definitely got more out of the film the second time around. It's not perfect, however. It's too long, probably by about 15 minutes, and the ending seems to drag a bit, although I think time and repeated viewings may temper this effect as we come to accept and believe the characters a bit more. I thought the ending of "Return of the King" was ridiculous, but now, after absorbing and reflecting on the story for a few years, it doesn't seem long enough. Lex Luthor and his scheme still seems too petty to me, though his eventual assault on Superman carries the fantastic amount of emotional weight that was missing from the first film. The beginning is also a bit strange, with uneven pacing. It actually feels like there are big parts missing, which might explain a little more about why Superman decided to leave Earth and search for Krypton. The flashback sequence which shows a young Clark Kent exploring his powers on the farm is fun to watch, but isn't really required for the story.
Those things being said, this film has a lot going for it. Brandon Routh absolutely owns Superman now. I can't imagine finding a better replacement for Christopher Reeve. I hope more films are made, because Routh is going to become a perfect Superman after another 6 or 7 years of maturity and experience. The rest of the cast, especially Kevin Spacey, are solid, even the too-young Kate Bosworth. Visual effects are fantastic and almost flawless, and hearing snippets of John Williams original themes in John Ottman's score gives the music just enough legitimacy without coming across as a copy-and-paste job.
I'd stick "Superman Returns" up with "Spiderman" and "Batman Begins" as one of my favourite superhero films to date. The stage has been perfectly set for what I hope will be a couple of future Superman films which will expand the franchise beyond the usual Lex Luthor land-grab schemes. Nice job Bryan Singer!