Star Trek: The Motion Picture

I have a huge amount of fondness for ST:TMP. I know lots of people dislike it or dismiss it, but I am not one of them. Obviously I am aware that it was very slow, and perhaps ponderous, but I like it nevertheless.

I think there are a few reasons for this:

1) I was so delighted at the time to see the characters I loved appearing on the big screen.

2) Apart from the pace, I think there was a lot to like. The movie looked great. The visual and sound effects were great. The score was great.The development of the Spock character was great.

3) When I was on my way to an interview for my second job (back in 1981) I stopped off in the Brown Thomas shop (then called Switzer's) and they were playing the movie on a LaserDisc player. I was early for my interview so I stayed for a while and watched some of the movie. When I left and headed off the the interview I was feeling great. No wonder I got that job!

One of the people who doesn't seem to have great things to say about that movie is Leonard Nimoy. Here is what he had to say:

I think he [Robert Wise] and Gene Roddenberry were looking for a [2001: A] Space Odyssey kind of thing, like [Stanley] Kubrick had done. A cold, cool “we’re out here in space and it’s kind of quiet and things move very slowly.” [laughs] There was a lot of that and a lot of cerebral stuff. There wasn’t enough drama. It just wasn’t a Star Trek movie really. It had the Star Trek people, but it didn’t use us as Star Trek characters very well.

And here is the video where he said this (starts at  5:39)

Leonard Nimoy Interviews (1966, 1967)

The following video shows two interview which Leonard Nimoy did during the filming of Season One and just before the start of filming of Season Two.

I had never seen them before and they are quite interesting. He even speaks of his singing career!

Nimoy and Quinto Together (Great Ad)

Here's a fantastic advert featuring Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto.

The punchline (and there is no need for a punch!) is excellent.

New Spock's Tribute to Old (Real) Spock

Zachary Quinto appeared on Conan and had some really nice things to say about Leonard Nimoy.

He spoke very nicely about him.

You can see it here:

Live Long and Prosper, Spock

Star Trek (the original series) was one of my favourite TV shows of all time.

And Mr Spock was my favourite TV character of all time.

The first episode of Start Trek was "The Man Trap" and was broadcast in October 1969. I remember watching it on Irish television. I'm not sure if it was broadcast in October or if there was a delay. If there wasn't, then I was 7.5 years old. I remember seeing ads for it in advance and looking forward to it. And I remember that episode scared the heck out of me (but didn't stop me from watching subsequent episodes!)

As I watched the show, I wanted to BE Mr Spock.

As I look back on it now, it is clear that he was like a superhero for that time: he was stronger and smarter than the humans around him. And he had the Vulcan nerve pinch, and the Vulcan mind meld".

But the thing which impressed me most was his ability to control his mind, and to control his emotions. How I wanted to be able to do that!

I was particularly impressed by an episode called "Operation: Annihilate!" where Spock was able to resist the control of a parasite which was causing him extreme pain to force him to do what it wanted. And then (to cap it all) Spock was blinded and then had his sight restored because he had a special Vulcan extra eyelid.

So the coolest thing for me would have been to have been able to exert that kind of self control. I didn't manage to achieve that, of course, although I did manage to master the Vulcan salute and the single raised eyebrow!

Here are some photos of Mr Spock and Mr Nimoy, mostly from the original series. Inevitably Captain Kirk appears in a few of them as well. Interestingly, the one with him holding the model of the Enterprise seems to be related to the picture I included in my posting on ASCII Art some time ago.

Leonard Nimoy Passes Away

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Leonard Nimoy today.

Famously he wrote a book called "I am not Spock" (which I have) but for me he always will be Spock.

Star Trek (the original series) was one of my 2 favourite TV shows of all time. And Spock was my favourite TV character of all time.

I mentioned Spock once before in this blog, in relation to "ASCII Art".

By coincidence I watched an episode of the TV show during the week. I watched the second pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before"). I did not watch it because it is one of my favourite episodes (it is not) but because the DVD has a text commentary by Mike and Denise Okuda and I was interested to see what information was included in it.

I also started watching the first movie ("The Motion Picture") during the week. I know other people didn't but I really liked that movie. I guess I was so glad at the time to see my beloved characters coming back to life.

And, of course, the second movie has the fabulous scenes relation to Spock's death. All so very well done. Spock famously says to Kirk: "I have been, and always shall be, your friend".

As well as being a great actor, he was apparently a very nice man.

He has been, and always shall be, my hero.

Here is his last tweet, which finishes with the acronym for "Live Long and Prosper":

Irish Bands

I mentioned recently that U2 are better than ever.

And I mentioned previously that Westside are a brilliant Irish band.

And I mentioned that I love The Script.

Well now I have a few more bands to add to the roll of honour. All of the links below are to performances on "The Late Late Show".

The first is The Coronas. Here is a link to them performing "Just Like That".

And here are Kodaline performing "High Hopes" live and acoustic:

And I couldn't finish this post without a link to Hozier performing "Take me to Church"live and acoustic.

An amazing  time for Irish music indeed.

The Gleesons in "The Walworth Farce"

I went to see Brendan, Domhnall and Brian Gleeson (along with Leona Allen) in "The Walworth Farce" last week.

The play was weird but excellent and the three boys were just brilliant.

It was amazing to see a father and his two sons playing a father and his two sons. And when those three people were Gleesons...!

And the play was beautifully structured, with all three of them getting their moments to shine.

It was a chance too good to be missed. Who knows if anything like that will happen again.

Here is a picture of the three boys obviously have a good time in rehearsals:

Airplane!

At dinner this evening I was reminded of, and quoted, a line from the 1980 movie "Airplane!". It was just the "What's our vector, Victor" line (but it got a laugh anyway).

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that none of my kids (ages 16, 12, and 10) have ever seen Airplane!

Oh the joy they have in store!

The AFI have rated it #10 in their list of the "100 Funniest American Movies Of All Time".

For the sheer number of jokes, it would deserve a higher rating!

When I went to see the movie in the cinema, I went with a friend (and workmate) who had already seen it. He spent the whole movie either saying the lines along with (or just before) the cast, or telling me that there was a great one coming up! And I still managed to enjoy it.

Later, when 3 of us who worked together had all seen it, we spent our time quoting lines to each other! Happy memories.

Here is a clip which includes the "vector, Victor" line:

Ken Takakura Passes Away

I mentioned previously how much I like the 1974 move "The Yakuza".

I meant to blog previously to mark the passing of one of the starts of that movie, Ken Takakura, who passed away last November, aged 84. RIP.

Apparently he was known affectionately as the Japan's "Clint Eastwood" and "Ken-san".

His passing means that the director and all of the lead actors have left us, with the single exception of Keiko Kishi, who played Eiko.

My (late) New Year's resolution, therefore, is to watch his second last movie which was called "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles", was made in 2005, and was directed by the great Yimou Zhang.

Here is a fairly recent photo of the great actor: