Tag: star trek

All This Science I Don’t Understand: William Shatner

William ShatnerI enjoy William Shatner’s half-hour talk show on the Biography Channel, Raw Nerve. The show features an intimate conversation with various guests, and I like that Shatner asks each guest to bring an object from home that has some special meaning. William Shatner is not a trained inteviewer, but he is William Shatner and he brings his Shatnerness to each show. Although he interviews a wide variety of guests, a few shows have featured Star Trek alum, and one show revealed Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov on the original series, to be quite thoughtful about his career. It was also interesting to see Shatner struggle with how he has treated other cast members disrespectfully in the past.

William Shatner, who turned 80 last Tuesday, has a personality that has aged well. He makes a good career of mocking his image as a younger man who was full of himself. One of the best things one can do in maturity is to laugh at one’s younger self.

Time Magazine recently did a fun feature of The Top 10 Unforgettable William Shatner Moments, only a few of which involve any scenes from Star Trek. One of my favorite moments is from the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards, where William Shatner’s performs Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” What is better than one William Shatner? Three William Shatners! The video starts off amazing and just gets better, so make sure you hang around for the second and third William Shatners to appear. Unfortunately, there is no evil Shatner with a goatee but there is a lot of cigarette smoking.

While his performance of “Rocket Man” above is great because it is funny, Shatner’s cover of Pulp’s “Common People” with Joe Jackson is just a great version of of a great song. I have it on my iPod by choice.

“It was fun.” — James T. Kirk, in Star Trek: Generations.

  • What Tarantino’s “Star Trek” Might Look Like
  • The Strange Coincidence With the Ending of “Wrath of Khan”
  • 7 Things About “Star Trek: Into Darkness” (Short Review)
  • “First” Interracial Kiss on TV
  • Two Spocks and an Audi
  • Rocket Man, Burning Out His Fuse Up Here Alone

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    Missed Movies: The Man From Earth

    If you enjoy intelligent science-fiction movies, you might want to check out The Man From Earth (2007) on DVD/Blu Ray.   I did not hear of the movie when it came out in 2007, so I’m guessing a lot of other people missed it too.  All you probably need to know is that Jerome Bixby, whose writings were used for episodes in the original The Twilight Zone and Star Trek series, is the screenwriter for The Man from Earth.  If you liked The Twilight Zone, you’ll most likely enjoy this thought-provoking movie that in many ways plays like an extended version of one of those shows.

    Man from EarthThe movie begins with friends visiting a college professor (played by David Lee Smith) at his home in the country as he plans to move out-of-town.   As they sit in his home among the last boxes, they begin to inquire more into his background and why he is leaving.  It is not too much of a spoiler to tell you that he reveals that he has lived for centuries and has to move on before people realize he does not age.  The friends — who are experts in areas  such as biology, anthropology, psychology, and religion — question his claims.  What follows is a fascinating meditation on life, morality, and time.  Is he playing a joke, telling the truth, or is he mentally ill?

    The movie is not perfect, so I suggest you go into it with modest expectations.  And if you prefer your sci-fi with high-octane action and special effects, you might want to skip this movie that has no special effects and limited action.  But if you like thought-provoking movies, you’ll probably enjoy watching this one on a rainy autumn day.  If it sounds interesting, I suggest you rent it immediately without learning more or even watching the trailer, which doesn’t capture the movie very well.  You can’t make conversation look fun in a minute.  If you want to see the trailer, though, it is here.  If you subscribe to Netflix, the movie is available for instant streaming.

    One final tidbit:  Bixby thought up the idea for The Man From Earth in the 1960’s when he was doing his television work, and he completed the story on his death bed in 1998.  The story was circulated through the Internet and gained enough attention that it was eventually made into a movie.  I need to go call the Internet and thank them.

    Jerome Bixby’s The Man from Earth on Amazon

    Missed Movies is our series on very good movies that many people did not see when first released.

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  • Nicolas Cage Shines In Modest But Surprising “Pig” (Short Review)
  • What Tarantino’s “Star Trek” Might Look Like
  • Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt Travel Space in “Passengers”

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