CaptainKirk Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If you've already seen Star Trek (and don't worry, this really isn't a spoiler), then you remember the part where young Kirk steals his stepdad's car, throws on the Beastie Boys' Sabotage and races down a few dirt roads before launching the car off a cliff. When the song came on, I immediately thought to myself: "Really? He's listening to Beastie Boys that far into the future?" But then I waved it off, thinking The Boys were probably their version of old time, classic rock and roll. And heck, it's an awesome song -- I'd hope folks will still be listening to it hundreds of years from now.

Anyway, according to a post over on Topless Robot, director J.J. Abrams may have used the song not out of complete randomness, but as a nod to the original Kirk, William Shatner. See, Shatner always had a problem pronouncing the word sabotage, and, while on set for Trek, would insist on saying it his way: "sabo-taj." Could this be why Abrams used the song? If so, I think that's pretty awesome. Check out the video below of Shatner trying to pronounce sabotage, and some dude actually attempting to correct him (as if The Shat doesn't know what he's saying) -- it's pretty hilarious. Good on you Abrams ... this little nod to the original Trek is wayyy random; I hope it's true.



[via Ryan Rotten's Twitter]

Few genre properties bring out someone's inner geek – much less in actual fans of the show itself - more easily than Star Trek. Whether you love it or loathe it, everyone seems to have an opinion or a perspective, and almost everyone has an emotional entry point for the long-running series: a parent's welcoming knee or cold shoulder, the dingy carpet of a rec room or the negligent boyfriend next to you, a shelf full of spinoff novels or their indecipherable prose, an unwieldy stack of VHS tapes or the interminable hours suffering through commercials. It seems that no one could possibly be unfamiliar with Trek, no matter how they tried; but it was the unenviable task of writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to digest some 40 years of characters, stories and mythologies, and tell a story that behaved as if no one but them had ever seen all that material.

The result of their labor is Star Trek, a spectacular opus, space opera, mythmaking science fiction story that condenses the sum total of its source of inspiration and reintroduces the series' mythology to viewers both old and new. Cinematical sat down with the duo at the recent Los Angeles press day for the film to discuss the process of reviving and reinventing the franchise for a completely new generation of moviegoers, much less potential Trek fans. In addition to indulging this critic's own passion for Kirk and company, Orci and Kurtzman talked about their ongoing creative collaboration with director-producer J.J. Abrams, discussed their own directorial ambitions, and dished a few details about their forthcoming follow-up to 2007's Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen.

I think this is the quietest week in the land of the nerdy since I started here at Cinematical. No major casting news from Marvel, no new graphic novels optioned, no reboots announced. It was a pretty crazy summer when it came to superheroes -- maybe everyone is just really tired. Nevertheless, let's look at what has come across the wire, shall we? It's a very verbal day -- Alan Moore still hates Hollywood, William Shatner is still annoyed at JJ Abrams, and M. Night Shyamalan is all wistful. There's plenty to discuss here!

• Geoff Boucher interviewed Alan Moore over on HeroComplex and finds him as intractable as ever when it comes to the upcoming Watchmen movie. He believes it sounds like "more regurgitated worms" as Hollywood is wont to produce. (Not just of his work, mind you, but of films in general.) He even hinted that its recent legal woes (which he finds "wonderfully ironic") might, in fact, originate from his corner of the world. "Perhaps it's been cursed from afar, from England. And I can tell you that I will also be spitting venom all over it for months to come." I'm not surprised, but I do wish he could concede that there are good films just as there are bad comic books. Can we send him something by Darren Aronofsky? Perhaps a gift set of The Fountain and its graphic novel companion?
  

It's time for a paltry Star Trek update -- I think a new tidbit surfaces about once a month. A scan through Cinematical's archives reveals the last one was on August 15th, so we're right on schedule.

This time, J.J. Abrams finally breaks his silence to SciFi Scanner about the original (and to many, the only) Captain Kirk. William Shatner has been pretty vocal about not being asked for so much as a cameo, particularly since Leonard Nimoy got one. Rumors tell us that just about all the surviving cast members might be popping up, too.

Well, it sounds as though Shatner has only himself to blame. According to Abrams, "It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn't quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn't want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It's funny -- a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that."

Now, given the intense secrecy surrounding the film, we may all walk into the theater and find Shatner beaming back at us. Oh, the head shaking and bemusement that would ensue! But I think the rift is pretty real on this one.

By now, anyone who follows movie news on an even semi-regular basis knows about the lack of William Shatner in the next Star Trek movie. The original Captain Kirk has been all kinds of vocal about this fact, which recently led him to a spot on Cinematical's Lame in 2007 list. Now, even though production is well underway, Sci Fi Wire says that there's still a chance. It seems that Roberto Orci, the co-writer of the latest installment, says that the first Kirk could still get a spot in the film, but that it's less of a possibility. Considering the fact that it didn't sound like much of a possibility to begin with, aren't we talking about almost none from almost none?

Although Orci says that they're still trying to find a way, they've struggled with the Trek sticklers and how to deal with Kirk's death in Star Trek VII. Now things are further complicated by the writers' strike -- they can't make script changes until the whole thing is settled. To me, it seems like they're just trying to appease Shatner as much as possible, although I don't see why. The way everyone is talking, you'd think that they're trying to figure out how to write a vampire into an historic war drama or something.

If they want to have Shatner at least pop up, without being able to write it into the script, they could always have Kirk look in a mirror, or some reflective surface and see Shatner, and what Kirk will become. Back when they could still mess around with the script, it wouldn't have been hard for Spock to muse about what his life would be like had Kirk not died, or the Vulcan seeing the different crew members morphing into his once-friends. Or heck, even a daydream where he talks with an imagined Kirk about whatever his role is in the film. But the "possibility" will probably just sit there until the production is finished, and when the Enterprise zooms onto the big screen once again, it will be without Shat.

I'm still holding out for the surprise announcement that William Shatner will indeed appear in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. In the meantime, though, I expect to hear another complaint from the original Captain Kirk after reading this juicy bit of goodness: George Takei has a cameo in the upcoming movie*, which will be a prequel-ish reboot of the TV and movie franchise. According to a Starburst magazine interview with the actor, Takei will feature in a flash-forward scene that will also showcase original Spock, Leonard Nimoy. From the sound of it, he will be returning to his iconic role as an older version of Sulu. Best guess is that Takei and Nimoy will be sitting in futuristic rocking chairs reminiscing about their beginnings at the Starfleet Academy, and this scene will be the prologue to the rest of the movie. Playing the younger versions of Sulu and Spock throughout the rest of the film are John Cho and Zachary Quinto, respectively.

Well, if Shatner doesn't put up more of a fuss, the fans should. After all, as long as we're getting two of the surviving original cast members, why can't we get the rest? Sure, it would be a sad scene, considering DeForest Kelley (Bones) and James Doohan (Scotty) aren't around to be a part of such a reunion, but the Trekkies would certainly appreciate seeing Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru), Walter Koenig and of course Shatner together again. Am I right? They could all have a few laughs while yelling at the kids to get off their damn lawns. And we could all feel better about having to accept all new actors as these beloved characters. So, who is going to start the online petition? Oh wait, that's already been done.

*UPDATE: Apparently this is just another rumor, one that has been debunked. According to TrekMovie.com, Takei will not have a cameo in the new Star Trek.

Let's see now, we've got a Spock, a Uhura and a Chekov. We still need a Kirk, a Scott, a McCoy ("Bones") and a Sulu. I feel like I'm collecting trading cards, but really I'm just anxiously awaiting more Star Trek news. The new sorta-prequel (aka Star Trek XI) is set to begin filming soon, so it's about time J.J. Abrams finds the rest of his cast. Or, if he's already found his stars, it's about time Paramount announced them. At least the rumors and unconfirmed choices continue to float around the net. In fact, this morning we have two fairly reliable sources reporting new names to place in the Kirk and Scott slots.

The investigative team over at IESB got word that Mike Vogel (Poseidon) is the front-runner to fill William Shatner's shoes in the role of James T. Kirk. The site attempted to confirm the rumor with both Paramount and Vogel's agents, but obviously neither would comment. But IESB did get a hint of nervousness from the latter, Gersh Agency, which was curious about where this news had come from. The way IESB's Robert Sanchez relays the encounter, it does sound like a slight, accidental confirmation. But we'll see. Vogel (who makes me think of Superbad's Fogel) is also co-starring in the Abrams-produced monster movie coming in January -- you know, Cloverfield, 1-18-08 or whatever it will be titled -- so at least we know the actor has an in with the director.

Movie memorabilia is an incredible after-market for popular films. Sites exist all over the internet offering to sell you pieces of your favorite film in exchange for large (sometimes mind-blowingly large) sums of your hard-earned cash. Additionally, fancy auction houses will feature big old-fashioned auctions of the non-internet variety* where you can go and enjoy the excitement of raising a little wooden paddle in the air before trading your piles of cash for a James Bond moonbuggy or Charlie Chaplin's cane.

Christie's auction house in New York is just such a place, and they recently held a Star Trek event featuring over 1000 pieces of Trek related swag from all incarnations of the franchise (read a more detailed report here). After a full three days of waving wooden paddles and cutting huge checks, geeks from across the globe went home more than $7 million poorer, but clutching onto such fabulous pieces of movie history as Dr. McCoy's spacesuit from "The Tholian Web" episode ($144,000), a model Klingon ship from The Search for Spock ($307,000), and and Enterprise-D model from TNG ($576,000). Seriously, who on earth has over half a million bucks to spend on a toy spaceship? We may never know, because the winner of that one (a private American bidder) is undisclosed. The total take on the auction was more than twice what had been anticipated.

If you could have bid on and bought any piece of Star Trek history, what would it be?

*You know ... what they did in the pre-Ebay days.

The rumor mongering regarding the next Star Trek has been fast and furious for quite some time now. Back in June, word surfaced that Matt Damon was being considered for the role of a young Captain Kirk -- the part originated by William Shatner -- piggybacking on the popular rumor suggesting the new flick feature a young Kirk and Spock in Starfleet Academy. At a press junket in New York, IESB flagged Damon down and questioned him about the summer rumor. Damon denied everything, saying he'd heard nothing about the part. His publicist jumped in to explain what had happened: According to the publicist, director Abrams had mentioned Damon's name during a Q&A as a response to a generic "what actors would you like the chance to work with some day" sort of question, and the rumor grew from there. To drive the point home, the publicist noted that not only has Damon heard nothing, Paramount has heard nothing, the publicist has heard nothing, and Endeavor (Damon's agency) has heard nothing. This covers the field rather well, so I suppose we can officially take Damon's name out of the rumor mill, at least for now.

Tales of a return to their roots for William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy may be highly exaggerated, according to Shatner himself. Despite numerous reports of Shatner and Nimoy heavily hinting the possibility during Chicago's recent Star Trek convention, Shatner now looks to be disavowing all knowledge of a reunion. What follows is the text of a post made by William Shatner on the WilliamShatner.com message boards this Thursday:

"There are lots of underground rumblings about STAR TREK. Some of it is burbling, some of it is barely noticeable. I know nothing except that where there's rumblings, there's gas and in this case, the gas is coming from JJ Abrams and none of it seems to be directed in my direction. If any gas comes my way, I will post it immediately and you all will know. Until then, hold your breath--because this gas is odiferous.
My Best, Bill"

That would certainly seem to be a very good indication of events since it came straight from the horse's mouth, as they say. So what really is the truth when it comes to J.J. Abrams and his efforts to bring Captain Kirk back into the Star Trek fold? Abrams seems convinced it will happen, and although Shatner reportedly alluded strongly to it himself, he is now denying any current plans. Stay tuned to Cinematical for further events as this complicated relationship unfolds.