Galaxy Quest Tagged Articles at Cinematical

In spite of the some rather negative early reviews, I plan on plunking down my cash to see Land of the Lost this weekend. It's a silly move, but I can't help myself; I blame my addiction to Danny McBride. Plus, I wasn't around for the original series, so it's not like Ferrell can mess up any childhood memories. But it did get me thinking; sci-fi and comedy are two genres that usually work pretty well together, right? So what does any movie geek do in this situation? That's right, we make a list. So now I present in no particular order, my top ten sci-fi comedies:

1. Hellboy
So technically, maybe not a pure sci-fi flick (it has gadgets...does that count?). But you definitely can't argue with funny; and it made for a nice departure for those of us tired of seeing our heroes 'brood' all the time.

2. Innerspace
Most people I know hate this movie; and to be fair, it hasn't aged well. The F/X are a little creaky, and Meg Ryan is downright annoying, but when I saw this film as a kid it was the height of hilarity -- score one for nostalgia.

3. Idiocracy
How could you not love Mike Judge's vision of a dystopic future where the #1 rated TV show is Ow! My Balls!

4. Ghostbusters
When it comes to sci-fi comedy, Ghostbusters is the granddaddy. To this day I consider it one of the funniest films ever made; and thanks to Bill Murray, I grew up to be the smart-a** that my family and friends know and love.

5. Sleeper
Woody Allen and sci-fi probably aren't two things that most people think would work well together. But Allen transplanted his nebbish New Yorker into the future, and still managed to make jokes about sex and health food stores.

After the jump; the final five...

Those who know and love the film will no doubt mention its innate "watchability," but newcomers to the great comedy Galaxy Quest may find themselves most intrigued by the bizarre cast. Is that Tony Shalhoub and Sam Rockwell stealing every scene that isn't nailed down? And what's Sigourney Weaver doing in a broad comedy? And wasn't that Justin Long ... and there's Missi Pyle ... and Rainn Wilson! And how is the film so funny if Tim Allen is the lead? When did Alan Rickman become so funny? And (my favorite) who is that guy playing the babbly alien leader Mathesar? He's hilarious!

But the cast is not the reason that DreamWorks is re-releasing Galaxy Quest on DVD this week. Nope, it's because Dean Parisot's widely-adored Galaxy Quest is an obvious but very affectionate Star Trek satire, and what with the new Trek making all sort of waves this month, the Galaxy Quest re-release seemed like a pretty obvious idea. Clearly I believe that this fine farce deserves a spot on your DVD shelf, but is the new version actually worth the "double dip," or should you just stick with your current version?

This week, it feels like Star Trek is everywhere. I've read more about old characters and new characters and new actors playing old characters, whether the new movie counts as even-numbered or odd-numbered, and various other lists and updates and theories.

But Trek references have been all over the place for a very long time, with parodies perpetrated by everyone from Carol Burnett to Miss Piggy to Beavis and Butthead. The Internet has a wealth of home-grown mash-ups and spoofs and fan fiction. I like the bunnies doing Wrath of Khan in 30 seconds, myself, but I just saw Khan for the first time last month so I'm enjoying all the jokes related to that movie more than usual.

Here's a list of seven of the most memorable Star Trek spoofs and parodies from film and TV over the years. I've even included a few video clips. I'm sure there are more out there that I don't know about, so feel free to share them in the comments.

Yesterday, movie theaters everywhere were greeted with the ultimate sight in rockin' sexiness -- Rainn Wilson. Yes folks, The Rocker opened yesterday, and now you can see Robert "Fish" Fishman get kicked out of hard-core band Vesuvius, lose all hope, and then find a new future with his nephew's high school rock band twenty years later.

But before the days of rockers, or fastidiousness on The Office, or even pent-up sexual attraction on Six Feet Under, Rainn Wilson was a space man. Above you can see him as Lahnk, in a deleted scene from Galaxy Quest. As a member of the reactor staff, he has a question for the fish-out-of-water Fred (Tony Shalhoub), and wants a little advisement. Oh yeah, and the guy who introduces him -- Enrico Colantoni.

Whoever would've thought that the Spock-esque dude would hop onto Almost Famous, star in a hit television show, and then get a romance with Kelly Bundy?!

I have a special rule when it comes to Tim Allen: unless it's a sequel to Galaxy Quest, I will not see any movie starring the former Home Improvement star. I know I'm not alone in having such a rule. Nobody I know likes Allen or the majority of his movies (Quest is the exception for most, it seems). But a lot of people apparently love his work and so Disney will continue to employ his comedic "talent". Obviously, he was partially the draw for this year's shockingly huge Wild Hogs, which was big enough to get Disney going on a sequel.

The latest picture the studio has attached Allen to is called Yosemite Three, which was greenlit based on a pitch from writers Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert (The Wayne Brady Show). The idea has Allen and two others playing AWOL corporate employees who hide out in a bar while their co-workers head off on a mandated hike through Yosemite National Park. These lazy guys are eventually reported missing by the hikers and become the subjects of a popular news story. Whether or not the trio has access to a television and knows about their status is not reported. In case you want further confirmation that this movie will suck, though, it is being produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, who together gave us the remake The Shaggy Dog.

Carnes and Gilbert are a hot duo in Hollywood right now, despite the fact that they haven't yet had success on the big screen. Of course, this is only because none of the movies they've written have been released. The first will be Mr. Woodcock, which we told you about in October), arriving in the fall. Then there is the "Untitled Man vs. Nature" film that used to be called Furry Vengeance, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Piven. They've also got two projects that are not yet in production: Stalker, A Love Story, which will star Owen Wilson, and The Worst Man. I nominate Allen to be the titular star of the latter.

I continue to expect absolutely nothing from Tim Allen's upcoming Zoom, because -- let's be honest -- dude hasn't made a good movie in quite a while now. It's at the point where I basically write off anything the man appears in. In my mind, he is a member of this wacky, family comedy power-trio of suck, alongside George Lopez and Bernie Mac. I've often thought if we could get all three of them together in one film, it would probably represent so many different signs of the apocalypse that it'd force God's hand and bring about the return of His Son.

However, in promoting Zoom, Allen invoked a film which gave me brief pause. According to Allen, Zoom will contain a lot of the same humor we saw in Galaxy Quest. Yes, good readers, even Tim Allen remembers the last time he was funny, and is hoping to recapture some of that magic in his new film. Do I expect it to work? Not really, but I sure hope it does. The more interesting news to come from this bit of Allen PR is the suggestion of a Quest sequel. According to Allen, such a sequel has been proposed, and presented to Dreamworks for their approval. Nothing is known beyond that, however. Allen said "it's all studio stuff," and he tries to stay far away from studio stuff. Dare we hope?