Time is a luxury I did not have for writing this movie review

Marooned on the far rim of Fairfax Circle last Saturday by a trailer hitch installation, I made my way on foot to the (relatively speaking) nearest movie theater* to watch Star Trek: Into Darkness. I have some things to say, but since they involve spoilers we'll hold off until after the jump.

Executive Summary: An excellent cast are made to say and do things with which I disagree in a film I would really like to love but can only really like.

Click here to proceed. Did I mention there are spoilers galore?

A Moment Of Silence, Please

This has been a sad week.

Today, Neil Armstrong passed away.

SFGate Article

A pioneer that will be truly missed

But also, William Windom passed on Monday. His best remembered performance, at least among fandom



Also on Monday we lost Phyllis Diller, a pioneer in comedy, and Tony Scott, a brilliant filmmaker.

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May the Force Be With Us

The frequent commenter, contributor and gamer known to some as Bombardier felt a disturbance:

The Star Wars universe has lost a legend today. Artist and visionary Ralph McQuarrie has died at age 82. There is no doubt in my mind that the universe would be incomplete without the scale and grandeur penciled by McQuarrie. Indeed many of the iconic shots from the movies are his.

On a related note, it seems that the depiction of Chewbacca is yet another of Lucas' pilferings. There is no evidence who found the depiction and took it, only that it was used as source; right down to the crossbow. Read and see the genesis of the Wookiee in more stunning McQuarrie artwork.

Speaking of pilfering, check this out:

A blog post to some... AN OBITUARY TO OTHERS!!!

Scottish actor Nicol Williamson has died. He is best known to people of my age and cultural ignorance for his "dibs on the scenery and pass the salt" role as Merlin in John Boorman's Excalibur, a film not noted for its subtlety.



From the linked obituary it sounds as though Williamson was the Klaus Kinski of British theater, and apparently neither he nor ex-lover Helen Mirren, cast as Morgana, were thrilled to be in the same production again, having endured each other through a disastrous run of The Scottish Play.

Rest in the arms of the dragon.

PS - Behold the inspiration for the post title:

There and Back Again, in a Contractually Minimal Way

The prolific correspondent whose nom de blog continues to escape me, but in other circles has been known as the Mad Bombardier, has sent me a very interesting piece about an early animated version of The Hobbit, predating the Rankin-Bass version by ten years or so and especially instructive in its cautionary tale about contracts. (Side digression, 'cause this is one of those posts: Gollum was voiced by Brother Theodore, whom I remember from his bizarre appearances on Letterman in the 1980s.)

At any rate, I had much the same reaction as Krusty's to the replacement cartoon for "Itchy and Scratchy":



Recalibrate by watching this:



Many thanks to MB for sending that along. I'd offer him a spot on the masthead but that would probably dry up his output.

Just One (Sadly, Last) Thing

Great actor and occasional Hamilton student Peter Falk has died. Loved him in Columbo ("Just one more thing..."), The In-Laws ("Serpentine! Serpentine!"), and The Princess Bride ("You're a very smart boy. Shut up.").

RIP.

Really could have saved some time

Would that YouTube was around in 1994 for its time- and money-saving benefits:

Fire up the Spare Time Generator, This is Important

If you are unfamiliar with Red Letter Media, take some vacation time to check out the long-form scathing reviews of Next Generation-era Trek movies and, above all, the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Even though he's only done Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, by the time you finish watching he'll be done with Revenge of the Sith.

Ammunition?

It's daunting to follow an inspiring post like JWT's with nothing more than a link or two, but I saw this post on Cocktail Party Physics recently and have been meaning to bring it to the attention of the throng because, after all, reading about drinking is second only to actually drinking. It makes me wish I liked martinis.

The post particularly captured my interest by leading off with a reference to The Thin Man, perhaps the finest film in the alcoholic private detective genre. Coincidentally, those unfamilar with the movie could catch it tonight in a booze-soaked double-feature at the Black Cat. Mid-week booze-soakings, unfortunately, have become a thing of the past for most of us.