'Star Trek 3' could Reunite William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy

Captain Kirk and Doctor Spock haven't been on screen together in more than twenty years, not since 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Leonard Nimoy's Spock has found his way into the recent Star Trek reboots, having an integral role in the first one and a cameo in Star Trek into Darkness, but William Shatner has yet to bring Kirk into this new continuity, although that could be changing for Star Trek 3.

According to Badass Digest, Kirk has been written into the newly-completed Star Trek 3 script by Roberto Orci, Patrick McKay, and J.D. Payne. The scene would reunite Kirk and Spock, and probably cause ripples in the timestream or something.  How they plan to work Kirk into the story is unclear, but it's worth noting that Shatner has meant to have a small role in the 2009 film before it was dropped at the last moment.

Star Trek 3 doesn't open until 2016 so this is a long ways off and things could change, but the reunion of Star Trek's two most iconic characters would be a cool way to celebrate the franchise's 50th anniversary.

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Review: 'To Be Takei', Starring George Takei and Brad Altman

When thinking back on the original Star Trek series, mentions of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are easy to come by. What's not as prevalent is the name of Lieutenant Sulu, then portrayed by George Takei. In a typecast Hollywood world, Takei (pronounced "Ta-kay") was a breath of fresh air because he played an Asian who wasn't a walking stereotype on a show that was . To Be Takei obviously gives us a lot of George Takei, his life and career, which proves to be an entertaining and informative watch.   

A favorite on The Howard Stern Show, what many people may not know about George

Takei is that, at 77 years old, he's as charming as ever, genuine, positive, and very, very honest. The honesty seems to ooze from him in waves and as he talks about his life--his past, present, and how he's changed through experience--you can tell immediately that he's not some self-absorbed person who thinks the world revolves around him. The film covers, in a non-linear fashion, growing up in his family, his time spent at the awful Japanese-American interment camps during World War II, his career, and his social justice work. 

"Obviously I like attention," Takei states. But hey, what working actor doesn't? It's all a part of being in the business, and as we go along Takei's journey, it's obvious that this attention fuels him in his responsibilities as an advocate for people's rights, justice, and gay marriage. The film offers us more than just George Takei, the actor. It shows us his many sides, from attending comic con and being around his fans, to his appearances and speeches at many events around the country, and his relationship with husband Brad Altman. 

The film is charming and thoroughly enjoyable. Even if you're not a big fan of Takei's work or you didn't know much about him before, sitting through this film isn't hard. He's been through some pretty horrible things and life-changing experiences, but the positive energy and outlook on life makes him so endearing. His sense of humor and commentary will make you crack a smile over the course of the film. 

To Be Takei is as natural as Takei is in front of the camera and during public speeches. It's vibrant, interesting, and enjoyable. There are fun pokes at William Shatner, who appears in the film, along with Leonard Nimoy, John Cho, and a myriad of others. The deep and clipped way he speaks doesn't hurt either, as his booming and strong voice is what makes people listen when he's talking about something important. At best, you'll be entertained by Takei's life story, commentary, and humor. At worst, you'll learn about a man who's lived a diverse and interesting life. in the end, just remember that "it's ok to be Takei".

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Leonard Nimoy to voice Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon

You might be surprised to learn that Leonard Nimoy has something of a past with the Transformers. Back in 1986, ol' Spock was the screeching voice of Galvatron in Transformers: The Movie. Now instead of voicing the leader of the Decepticons, Nimoy will be lending his pipes to Sentinel Prime, the aged Transformer highlighted in the trailers for Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

In the comic book Transformer mythos, Sentinel Prime serves as Optimus Prime's predecessor, who dies in battle but not before handing over the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.  In Michael Bay's movies his origin seems a bit less clear. We know he's a fearsome Autobot warrior thought lost long ago. 

I'm looking for any reason to think positive, and this is definitely one. It's good to know that Nimoy's "retirement" doesn't extend to his incredible voice work. 

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Top Shelf at the Box Office

Ok, as has been proven pretty consistently week in and week out, I don't know shit about predicting box office. That's why I'm not an analyst, but given their less than stellar track record for these things I'm in pretty good company. But anyway, I went out of my way to say that I thought Star Trek would under perform at the box office, and it looks like my prediction was way off in the Outer Rim someplace. I was right about Next Day Air, though!

1. Star Trek- $72.5M/$76.5M

Star Trek warped past all other competitors this week, bringing him 72.5M this weekend plus $4M at the Thursday previews. The opening is the highest grossing of the Star Trek franchise, besting my favorite ST flick, First Contact which only opened at $30M. Considering that the receipts actually grew from Friday to Sunday, that implies that ST could have significant staying power. In fact, I'll go on to state that I think it will manage to hold off Tom Hanks and Ron Howard's strangely promoted Angels and Demons this week in a big budget showdown. Star Trek has the benefit of a limited IMAX run of two weeks, which should force people to continue to see it for atleast that period of time.

2. X-men Origins: Wolverine-$27M/$130M

Wolverine is the best he is at what he does, and what he did this week was drop about 70%. That's due in no small part to Star Trek's blazing start, which was still less than Wolvie's opening by a healthy margin, but also due to poor word of mouth. With the news that nearly 4 million people also downloaded the film illegally nearly a month before it's release, it must also factor in that maybe the majority of "new" viewers have already seen the movie and that it will falter from here on out. This second week tally is the lowest for all of the X-men films, even that stinker of a third film.

3. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past- $10.4M/$30.2M

The Shirtless Wonder proved that he's got more staying power than one would think, only losing about 30% of last week's gross. The film didn't do itself any favors with the timing of it's release, nor the odd marketing campaign that made it seem like dead folks were hounding the main character, which ain't the case.

4. Obsessed- $6.6M/$56.2M

Yesterday my grandma told me that she and my grandpa desperately want to go see "that Obsession movie", which I'm assuming they meant Obsessed. Only goes to prove my point that trashy, racially tinged B-movies featuring hot broads knows no generational bounds.

5. 17 Again- $4.41M/$54.2M

6. Next Day Air- $4M

I'm not sure what studios were expecting from a dark buddy comedy about two murderous, drug dealing criminals but I'm pretty sure it was more than they actually got. Then again there are practically no bankable faces here, and maybe this is exactly what they were expecting. It was a decent film, at any rate.

7. The Soloist- $3.6M/$23.5M

This just keep chuggin' along, hoping it hangs around late enough that it might be remembered come Razzie season. I mean Oscar season! Slip of the finger!

8. Monsters vs. Aliens- $3.38M/$187M

9. Earth- $2.49M/$26.1M

10. Hannah Montana: The Movie- $2.41M/$74.1M

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Review: Star Trek

Much like the vaunted Enterprise, navigating the murky seas of deep space, I will attempt to navigate this review completely spoiler free...

No small task. Let me be honest here. I'm not the biggest Star Trek fan in the known universe. I'm of the rival Star Wars faction, not accustomed to all these Starfleet regulations and such. But what I am most assuredly, is a fan of science fiction. I was worried most of all that J.J. Abrams reboot/retelling/rewhatever of the Trek franchise would be little more than porn for the already converted, leaving those of us who are just looking for a fun space romp out in the frozen wastes like a Tauntaun.

I needn't have worried.

It's been over a week since I first caught Abrams' latest. I waited because I wanted to see if the feeling of euphoria evoked from the experience would abate even a little. It hasn't. What Abrams has created here is the freshest, exhilerating piece of space fantasy I've seen in years. You might mistake that for hyperbole, but I assure you it's not. I'm on record here on this site saying that I think these types of movies have been making a big comeback lately, what with Danny Boyle's Sunshine and Serenity topping the list. But they didn't have the sheer amount of baggage that this movie has to contend with. Not only did Star Trek have to appeal to the old schoolers, but also appeal to the guys like me lookin' to get a foot in the holodeck, so to speak. And boy, does it ever.

Without spoiling too much, I can say that Star Trek revolves around the formation of the original crew that we know and love. Cast in the familiar Starfleet uniforms are a young, good looking cast of recognizable faces. Zachary Quinto(Heroes) amiably takes over the role of Spock. Chris Pine(Smokin' Aces) was the biggest question mark for me. My concern being that he would try to emulate Shatner's unique cadence and mannerism. Fortunately, that never becomes an issue. Everyone puts their own unique spin on these characters, making them both new and familiar at the same time. Everyone melts into their roles seamlessly. Well, except for Anton Yelchin as Chekhov, who I thought was straining to hold on to his Russian accent. Not enough to bother me, though.

As for the story itself, it's probably a bit more convoluted than is necessary, but that's okay. Eric Bana as Nero is the type of villain that I absolutley love. He's got a real reason to seek vengeance against Starfleet, and the technology and firepower to see it through. He's obviously evil, but his point of view has merit considering what's been done to him. Honestly I didn't even recognize Bana, and he seems more into this part than he has since Munich in '05.

Not all is sweet smelling roses, however. I gotta take issue with one little(read: HUGE) problem. Tyler Perry. No, I'm not about to go off on a rant about why his movies suck ass and keep down an entire people during a Star Trek review. So why do I bring him up? He's in the movie. Yes. THAT Tyler Perry. Cross-dressing Tyler Perry. And what's worse, we get no warning. I expect that if Tyler Perry is going to stick his raisinette-lookin' dome in the middle of a movie he's got no business being in that we should get fair warning. Stamp that shit in big letters during the opening credits so I can clench my teeth in preparation. To top it all off he's in here twice! We're practically bookended by that bamma! Aaargh!

Whatever. I can deal with that only because of how great this film is. To quote my friend Margot(who got me in to the screening in the first place, Thanks Again!!) "J.J. hit the ball out of the park." It's funny, action-packed, gripping, and any other buzz word you can throw at it. I might just be ready to trade in my lightsaber for a phaser.....

Nah, not quite.

9/10

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