By Scott Essman


Star Trek is nothing if not a franchise—the most popular genre franchise in American pop cultural history. The original TV series ran from 1966 to 1969, encompassing 80 episodes and revolutionizing science fiction with its cult status on syndicated TV in the 1970s. Demand was so great for more Star Trek, it led to a series of 10 films and four additional spin-off TV series. But a strange thing happened to Star Trek in the new millennium. The coolest sci-fi franchise suddenly became uncool. In the era of The Matrix, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, Star Trek seemed tired and old.

Enter J.J. Abrams, the creator of TV’s Felicity, Lost and Alias, and director of the third Mission: Impossible film. He was handed the Star Trek reins for a new self-titled film in the form of a prequel to the original series. With Abrams’ requisite amplitude and new imagining of the franchise, it seemed Star Trek was re-energized for a new generation. Youth and enthusiasm were injected into cast and crew, and Abrams’ high-octane style was the perfect antidote to the doldrums of an entity now over 40 years old.

To some, Abrams might have at first been an odd choice, but such fears will be quelled on the May 8, 2009 release date of the film; Star Trek is very impressive on every cinematic level.  In fact, one must go back to the ten-year-old original Matrix film to find a combination of action, suspense, and likeable characters that mixes to knock it out of the park in a genre film.

Clearly, Abrams is both humbled and excited at the possibilities with his new take on the franchise. “As someone who was not a big Star Trek fan to begin with, “Abrams said, “I was approached to produce the movie, not to direct it. All I knew was that doing a story about Kirk and Spock was most interesting. It was clear that there was so much that had not been explored.”

 

By Scott Essman

Watchmen starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian and Carla Gugino as Silk Spectre I

Director Zack Snyder provided visual dynamite in 300, though somewhat less so in Dawn of the Dead, so it is with uncertain expectations that followers of genre awaited Watchmen, the most eagerly anticipated fantasy movie of 2009 until James Cameron finally unveils Avatar.  All of the main characters and special makeup effects were realized by Drac Studios, whose co-creative director Greg Cannom just won a makeup Oscar for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, so cineastes also expected fireworks from this film’s visuals. 

The celebrated graphic novel of Watchmen first came out in 1986, the same year as Dark Knight, and we know how that film turned out; it is currently the second highest domestic box-office grosser of all time behind Cameron’s Titanic.  Back then, DC Comics writer Alan Moore was asked to bring characters from the defunct Charlton comics company into a new DC fold.  Moore wrote a multi-chapter epic starring those characters, but it wasn't accepted because it would mean killing most of them off. Still, Dick Giordano, the main DC editor, liked the story so much that he commissioned Moore to go ahead and do it, just not with the Charlton characters. So Moore wrote the Watchmen, in which at least three of the central characters are modeled after Charlton heroes, but of course Moore's version of these heroes was much more complicated and darker than anyone at Charlton ever imagined.

By Scott Essman

At the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard on March 8, friends and fans alike were finally able to say goodbye to their surrogate father in the worlds of classic science-fiction, fantasy and horror: Forrest J. Ackerman, who passed away late last year at 92.

Ackerman was honored as the spiritual pioneer of all things in the genre by notable writers, filmmakers, and craftspeople in the touching afternoon event.  Longtime friend and writer Bill Warren gave the most emotional homage in which he cited Ackerman as one of the first fans to take science-fiction seriously, especially with his publication, Famous Monsters of Filmland, but also with his habitual collecting of movie props and artifacts and his championing of all things genre.

 

Director John Landis, who often featured Ackerman in cameo roles in his films, gave a heartfelt written tribute to the man many called Uncle Forry, sometimes referred to as Dr. Acula.  Filmmaker Paul Davids showed a clip from his Saturn Award-winning documentary, The Sci-Fi Boys, in which an aging and ailing Forry visits the grave of his friend, filmmaker George Pal and eerily forecasts that though he almost died recently, he hopes to make it to 100.  Director Joe Dante gave a detailed analysis of Famous Monsters and its early impact - he too gave Ackerman cameo appearances.  Another director, Guillermo del Toro, flew in from his New Zealand production of The Hobbit to regale the audience with his own detached youth in Mexico where he would scavenge to find sci-fi memorabilia and films, with Famous Monsters having a life-changing impact.

By Scott Essman

It's all there in ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL to draw the closest parallels to the most infamous rock act in movies, Spinal Tap: the heavy metal dreams; infighting by the two founding members who started the band in their teens; the crushing fall off of the musical map; the shot at redemption with a new tour; the mishaps at gigs, including missed dates, scant and indifferent audiences; there is even a shot of an amplifier going to 11.

But the big difference between the plight of Anvil and Spinal Tap is that at the outset of this new documentary, created by former fan and band roadie Sacha Gervasi (screenwriter for Steven Spielberg's THE TERMINAL), we are immediately introduced to the harsh realities of a band who are 25 years past their failed shot at the brass ring: drummer Robb Reiner is working construction and singer/guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow is delivering children's meals around icy Toronto.