Videoclip of the Week

I offer the following video without commentary... because I have no idea what to say about it:

The Captains

The highest compliment I can pay to this film is that, while watching it, I wished it would never end.

Here's the gist: The Captains is a documentary written, directed, and produced by William Shatner, chronicling his quest to meet and get to know every other main Star Trek captain, including Patrick Stewart from Next Generation, Avery Brooks from Deep Space Nine, Kate Mulgrew from Voyager, Scott Bacula from Enterprise, and even Chris Pine who played the young James T. Kirk in those new Star Trek movies the young people seem to enjoy. Now, if any of that sounds the least bit appealing or fun, watch this movie because you'll find it glorious. But if any of that sounds awful, give it a major pass, and while you're add it probably give 99% of this blog a pass too. Why are you here?

As a "documentary," this film earns the title in the strictest, most literal possible way, since it's not so much a documentary as it is five different conversations intercut with one another, as well as footage of Shatner at a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. In fact, the footage of Shatner walking around the convention floor and hamming it up with unsuspecting fans is probably the most fun stuff in the entire movie. The montage of him telling all the female actors that they were "the most beautiful woman to ever work in Star Trek" had me rolling on the floor.

But the rest of the film is pretty great too, at least... if you're a Star Trek fan, since it's just two hours or Shatner talking to other Star Trek captains. As the film began, I kind of got the impression it was just going to be a two hour film where Shatner throws his ego around -- and it was to some extent! -- but he revealed himself to be an astoundingly good interviewer. His questions were always interesting, but often profound and thoughtful as well, and even though this was certainly his film, his greatest strength was in knowing when to let his subject just talk. I seriously could've watched 7 seasons of just William Shatner conversing with Patrick Stewart, since both men are that interesting, that charming, that intelligent, and had amazing chemistry.

I also really loved all the bits with Scott Bakula, who seems like the nicest, most happy, and well rounded of the bunch. I actually wanted him to talk more about Quantum Leap, but that's neither here nor there, since he seemed like a really cool guy, and probably the one I'd most want to meet for a beer in real life. The moment where they both meet on camera appeared to be the moment where they both met for real... and if not, they are astoundingly brilliant actors since the moment felt so genuine and the mutual respect and admiration they had for one another was infectious.

Kate Mulgrew is still a lovely woman with a commanding presence, but I'd be lying if I said I was either a fan of her or of Voyager. But it was still an interesting conversation, and after Patrick Stewart, Shatner seemed to have the best chemistry with her, even though she admitted that before she took on the role as Captain Janeway she hadn't heard of William Shatner. They talked a lot about the theater and in trying to raise a family while forging an acting career. Interesting topics to be sure, but not ones I really cared about. But then again, I have no real affection for Voyager so the site of her doesn't fill me with awe as the other captains do.

Chris Pine is ridiculously handsome, which was accentuated by the fact that he was the only person on screen through the entire film that wasn't about 60 years old. He was also pretty funny and likable and smart, which is good because while his segments were entertaining, they didn't quite reach the levels of the segments with the other actors. Then again, he's a kid who just entered the world of Star Trek, which is something Shatner doesn't seem to find interesting, since most of the questions he poses to the other actors were about growing older, gaining perspective on life and their careers, and even what happens to us when we die. He didn't ask Chris Pine any of these questions, or, if he did, they ended up on the cutting room floor because his answers weren't interesting. However, I was impressed with Chris Pine and came away with more respect for him than I had before, since he really does seem very smart and very thoughtful about his chose career. I wish him well, even though I hate his two Star Trek movies.

And then there's Avery Brooks, who is my pick for the greatest actor to ever sit in the Captain's chair, which is an opinion that has gotten me a lot of flack, but almost always from people who never actually watched Deep Space Nine in its entirety and saw just what he did with that character over his seven year run. Anyway... Avery Brooks is a crazy person. He was completely incoherent, rambling, and insane. I literally didn't understand a single thing that came out of his mouth during this entire film. Sometimes he didn't even answer Shatner's questions with words, but with music, since his interview was filmed sitting in front of a piano. I seriously can't express in words just how weird this interview was, and it just has to be seen to be understood... but even then you won't understand it. It was incredibly entertaining, though, and even though he's a nut, he still seems like a kind soul. But the acting William Shatner did pretending to understand what Avery Brooks was saying is among the finest in his entire career, and he should get some kind of honorary Oscar or something.

If I have any complaint at all about the film, it's that the conversations weren't so much about Star Trek as they were acting and even life in general. That's fine, since the conversations were fun and interesting and enthralling, but I'm a Trekkie so I want every conversation at all times to be about Star Trek. Honestly, I don't really care about Scott Bakula's (or anybody's for that matter) theories on what happens after we die. I'd much rather hear his thoughts on, say, what he considers the main strengths and failings of his Star Trek series. And since the film also has brief clips of other Trek actors giving their opinions of their respective captains, I think there was a bit of a missed opportunity by not talking to more actors who played various captains during the run of every series and film. I think it would've been cool to see Shatner talk to, say, Ronnie Cox about his appearance as Captain Jelico, Picar's replacement during the two-parter Chain of Command, or even George Takei on how he approached the role of Captain during Star Trek VI.

But other than those small nitpicks, this is a really fun movie that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. It's funny, insightful, thought provoking, and even profoundly moving. There is one scene where William Shatner meets a trekkie who was some kind of paraplegic confined to a wheelchair who could only move his eyes and I'd be lying if I said that moment didn't make me cry. If you're a Star Trek fan, it's a must see, and since it's on Netflix Instant there's no reason not to go watch it right now. You'll be glad you did.

Jean Luc Picard's Sexy Flute Solo

This is the best thing I've ever done:

Happy Birthday, Leonard Nimoy!

Of course it is illogical to commemorate a date that is only significant for marking the anniversary of one's birth, perhaps the single moment of one's life for which he or she cannot accept any credit at all, but since we here at the blog are human, we are going to indulge ourselves by wishing a happy and healthy birthday to a great actor, artist, and humanitarian. Today is Leonard Nimoy's birthday, and we hope it is just the 81st of many more to come, as he continues to live even longer and prospers even further.

Celebrate his birthday by enjoying this scene, featuring one of the all time great moments ever caught on film:

The Best News Ever

Star Trek in (almost) all its glory has finally come to Netflix instant streaming. Sometime this week, Netflix and Paramount released almost every episode of every series of Star Trek for instant viewing to Netflix subscribers. This is awesome, not only for fans like me who can now rewatch our favorite episodes whenever we want, but also for new comers who will finally be able to appreciate the finest science fiction in television history.

The only omissions are Deep Space Nine and the Animated Series, along with all of the films except the recent reboot. I can understand why the movies aren't available to stream, since that's probably some different deal Netflix would have to reach with Paramount, but where is DS9, one of the greatest of all Trek shows? And while I'm not going to lose any sleep over missing the Animated Series, it would still be nice to watch all of those episodes again, since they were good fun. Hopefully these episodes will be forthcoming soon, but until then, we can all enjoy TOS, Next Gen, Voyager, and Enterprise

What are you waiting for?

Happy Birthday, George Takei!

The Blessed are the Geeks Blog would like to wish a happy and healthy birthday to one of our all time favorite actors George Takei. Takei is probably best know for his role as Hikaru Sulu on the original Star Trek TV series and films, but he has been in hundreds of other productions and devoted much of his life to humanitarian efforts fighting for equal rights for everybody. He played a hero on TV and in the movies, but he is also one in real life. There aren't many people about whom you can say that and have it still feel like an understatement.

Happy birthday, George!

Happy Birthday, William Shatner!

Oh, captain my captain.

The Blessed are the Geeks Blog would like to wish a happy and healthy birthday to William Shatner, an actor who needs no introduction. He's just the coolest actor ever, and he just turned 80. Good on ya!

Star Trek: The Next Generation Retrospective Retrospective

Well, that's done, and every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation received at least a brief review and rating. Just for fun, I'm going to look at the scores I gave to each episode and season and rank things over all. And, of course, remember that there is nothing scientific about any of this, and my basic three tiered rating system (based on Skip it, Watch it, or Buy it) doesn't allow for a lot of nuance.

Out of 177 episodes reviewed, the breakdowns are as follows:

Buy it: 63 episodes (35%)

Watch it: 66 episodes (37%)

Skip it: 48 episodes (27%)

This gives an overall score of 129 episodes (72%) that fall somewhere in the range of good to great. That's a score any long-running series can take pride in.

And then I gave each rating a score, with Skip it getting zero, Watch it getting 1 point, and Buy it getting 2 points. I thought about weighing the Buy it score with three points, but decided that I'd keep things somewhat simple. Here are the seasons ranked from lowest to highest in terms of their overall score:

Season Two: 18 points

Season One: 21 points (tied)

Season Seven: 21 points (tied)

Season Five: 27 points

Season Six: 33 points

Season Four: 34 points

Season Three: 38 points


And all of this proves... nothing.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Seven Retrospective

1. Descent: Part II
The season opening falls apart almost immediately. The interesting premise set up in the previous season's cliff-hanger just wasn't played out well at all. This is just a jumbled mess.
Skip it

2. Liaisons
An alien race sends different liaisons to the Enterprise in order to learn about different human (and nonhuman) emotions. Fun, clever episode, especially in the scenes where the one guy keeps trying to piss off Worf.
Watch it

3. Interface
Another episode where Geordie pines for a woman he can never be with. This time, it's his mother. Weird!
Skip it

4./5. Gambit: Parts I & II
This season's action story. I'm not so sure that the story had to be stretched across two parts, but both are pretty darn entertaining and fun. 
Watch it

6. Phantasms
Data's dream program begins to give him nightmares. Meh.
Skip it

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Six Retrospective

1. Time's Arrow: Part II
The crew reunite in 19th century California, team up with Sam Clemens, meet Guinan for the first time, and stop the aliens from preying on the dying miners. This is good stuff, I don't care what anybody says. Oddly enough, after his experiences on the Enterprise, Mark Twain never writes an episode of Star Trek.
Buy it

2. Realm of Fear
Lt Barclay is back, and this time he's paranoid about the transporter and thinks he's developed some psychosis. Barclay is always fun, but this one is pretty lame.
Skip it

3. Man of the People
Troi falls in love with another loser. This time around, she hooks up with some guy who leaches off her energy and turns her into a bitter, decrepit old woman. This isn't bad for a Troi episode, but it's not that great.
Watch it

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Five Retrospective

1. Redemption: Part II
This is the rare Next Generation season opener where the conclusion is way better than the cliff-hanger that preceded it. This was an ok two-parter that worked mostly for the little moments than for the over-all story. My favorite part of this episode is for the scenes where Data takes his first command during the battle against the Romulans and saves the day at the end. Other than that, meh.
Watch it

2. Darmok
Picard and crew have to learn to communicate with an alien race that uses metaphor as their language. This is a very difficult episode to explain, but it's one of the all time best science fiction stories I've ever seen, Star Trek or otherwise. Love it.
Buy it

3. Ensign Ro
Michelle Forbes joins the cast as the rebellious Ensign Ro. Forbes is a beautiful, talented actress, but this character never worked for me. She was worked in to add more edge and friction to the otherwise happy and friendly cast, but it just always seemed forced, and her anger and intensity was more annoying than anything else. But... Forbes usually made the character work because she really was a great actress. This episode was also notable for being the first appearance of the Bajorians, and the story laid the groundwork for the entire premise of Deep Space Nine
Watch it

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Four Retrospective

The changes from season three to season three aren't as dramatic as those from the first to the second or the second to the third. Basically, the show found its voice in season three, so season four was just a continuation of the same. This season was a little more uneven than the third, but it's still a great season with some classic episodes.

Let's take a look:

1. The Best of Both Worlds: Part 2
While not as epic as the previous season-ending cliffhanger, this was still a satisfying conclusion that tied up the story as well as anybody could've hoped. Not much to say about this one, other than that it was a good second half to the story.
Buy it

2. Family
Star Trek slows things down a little and lets the characters do some family bonding. After getting kidnapped by the Borg and forced to join their collective, Picard takes some time off from being a Starship captain and stays with his brother's family at their vineyard in France. This is the kind of story where the promos probably said something like, "on a very special episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation..." And it really is, since I don't think there's really anything science fiction about it, other than that it takes place in the future. This is just a quiet, emotional story where the characters (as well as the audience) are allowed to take a break from the excitement and turmoil of the previous episode before continuing on with the rest of the season. This isn't one I rewatch too often, but it is very good.
Watch it

3. Brothers
This episode features the return of Data's "brother" Lore, whom we haven't seen since season one. This episode centers around the reunion of Data, Lore, and their creator, Noonien Soong, all of whom were played by actor Brent Spiner. I like Lore and I always enjoy watching Brent Spiner play multiple characters, so this is a favorite of mine, but it's only worth watching if you're a fan of the show's mythology. There is very little here to entice first time viewers.
Watch it

4. Suddenly Human
The Enterprise finds some aliens who have raised a human kid as one of their own. This is an ok episode that is notable for featuring a cool performance by genre star Sherman Howard. Other than that, it's kind of weak.
Skip it

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Three Retrospective

All things being equal, this is where Star Trek: The Next Generation went from being ok to actually good, and perhaps even great. What started as a pretty ok attempt to spin-off a Strek Trek series from the Original Series took a few missteps in the first couple of seasons, but it slowly found its own identity and point of view as a great series in its own right with the third season.

This season brought us new and improved costumes and the return of Doctor Beverly Crusher. It also gave us one of the best overall seasons of the entire series.

Let's take a look:

1. Evolution
I don't love how they opened up the season with a Wesley episode, but at least it's one of the better ones. It's basically a story about how Wesley is smart, and deals with how his mother relates to him and how he fits in on the ship. Or something. It's a fine episode, but every Wesley episode should end with him getting punched.
Watch it

2. The Ensigns of Command
Data is tasked with convincing a human colony to abandon the planet on which they settled because it is about to be wiped out be the aliens in whose space it belongs. This is a great episode with a clever story and a wonderful performance by Brent Spiner.
Buy it

3. The Survivors
The Enterprise visits a planet that has been completely decimated by aliens, except for one house that is perfectly intact. This is a good, clever episode. I don't have much to say about this one, but it's very well done.
Watch it

4. Who Watches the Watchers?
This is one of the best episodes in the entire history of Star Trek. The enterprise is studying a planet full of aliens. When they accidentally make their presence known, they are worshiped as gods. This is a great story that was wonderfully executed by the writers, actors, and director.
Buy it

5. The Bonding
A young boy's mother dies during an away mission, and the crew deals with the emotional aftermath. Oh, and they also get attacked by some aliens. This is a very thoughtful, well done episode, but it's also a little dry, if only because it has too much of this kid and not enough of the crew. 
Watch it

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Two Retrospective

The second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation saw the additions of Pulaski as the new chief medical officer, Whoopie Goldberg as the bartender Guinan, and Commander Riker's beard. We also got another bunch of episodes that were mostly hit or miss.

Let's take a look at Star Trek: The Next Generation season two:

1. The Child
Troi gets knocked up through not quite immaculate conception. Some alien spirit flies into her body and impregnates her so it can learn what it is like to be a human. Or some such nonense. It should've just rented Sleepless in Seattle.
Skip it

2. Where Silence Has Lease
The Enterprise gets trapped by some alien who wants to hold them prisoner forever while he conducts experiments on them. This episode is a frightful bore, although it has its moments maybe. Interesting tidbit: The main alien Nagillum was written for actor Richard Mulligan, whose last name is Nagillum spelled backwards. The character was eventually played by Earl Boen, whom most people probably remember best as the psychiatrist from the first three Terminator movies.
Skip it

3. Elementary, Dear Data
I love this episode, even though it's completely ridiculous. Data and Geordie play on the Holodeck as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, when Geordie gets annoyed because Data knows everything and always wins in the first few minutes. Pulaski tells the computer to create a villain that is capable of defeating Data at a game of wits, so it brings to life a self-aware version of Professor Moriarty who takes over the ship.

Seriously, Holodeck? That's what you're going to do? Remind me to never ask the Holodeck to give me a challenging chess opponent, or they might create somebody who'll pull a gun and shoot me in the face if I start to win. But still... this is a very fun episode with a great performance by Daniel Davis as the best version of Moriarty ever.
Buy it

4. The Outrageous Okona
Another ridiculous episode that is still a lot of fun. Billy Campbell plays the titular character, who's a devil may care pilot who flies around the galaxy having sex with lots of hot chicks. That's all he seems to do in this episode anyway. I love this character and I'm still waiting for them to make a series called Star Trek: Okona's Red Shoe Diaries.

The B plot has to do with Data's attempts to gain a sense of humor. He goes on the Holodeck and enlists the help of... Joe Piscopo. Clearly the Holodeck computer has a sense of humor, because there's no other way to explain why it presented Joe Piscopo as the greatest comic mind of the 20th century. Still, his scene was kinda funny.
Watch it

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Retrospective

I'm about to bite off a lot more than I'll probably be able to chew here, but I'm going to attempt to review ever episode from the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. These reviews are going to be very brief, I hope, offering just a small commentary on each one. As far as scores go, I'm going to rate each episode one of three different ratings: Skip it, Watch it, or Buy it, with skip being the worst and buy being the best.

Anyway... let's see how this works out, shall we?

1. Encounter at Farpoint
This was a good pilot episode for what would turn out to be a brilliant TV series. The characters were introduced well, the tone of the series was set, and the story itself was clever and worked as good sci-fi. This was also the first appearance of the show's main antagonist Q, who went on to appearance at least once per season.

When this pilot first aired, I'll admit I found it to be lackluster, if only because it was so much more dramatic and series in tone than the original series, but it has aged incredibly well, not only because it's just a good story, but because the final episode of the series book-ended this pilot so perfectly... but we'll get to that someday. 

Interesting tidbit: This episode featured a cameo by DeForest Kelley (McCoy from the Original Series), setting the standard of having an appearance by a character from the previous series in each new Star Trek show.
Buy it

2. The Naked Now
The crew gets infected by some kind of space virus that causes them to act as though they're drunk. That's the whole story. This episode was based on the Original Series episode The Naked Time. That episode was fantastic, this episode was just silly. It's fun to watch (especially the scene where Data and Yar have sex), but it's pretty dumb and pretty pointless. How did Data get infected by a virus anyway?
Watch it

3. Code of Honor
A Space African kidnaps Tasha Yar in order to add her to his harem. This episode is terrible. Awful story, bad script, terrible acting. One of the worst episodes in the entire series.
Skip it

4. The Last Outpost
The first appearance of the Ferengi, who were originally intended to be the main villains of the series. Needless to say, things didn't turn out as planned. The Ferengi turned out to be a joke, so they immediately became comic interest instead of any kind of major threat. All in all, however, this wasn't a bad episode. 
Watch it

Video Clip of the Week: An Important Message from George Takei

Captain's Log: Jellico

The Star Trek Next Generation two-parter Chain of Command is a fan favorite for many reasons. Many fans love it for the amazing acting performance by Patrick Stewart. Some fans love it for the deep story and exciting set pieces. Everybody loves it for giving trekkies one of the most quoted lines in the entire series: "There... are... four... lights!!!" Me, I love it for Ronny Cox's portrayal of Captain Edward Jellico. I don't care what anybody says, Jellico is awesome. After years and years spent being forgotten, the character finally gets to star in his own comic book one-shot.

Star Trek Captain's Log: Jellico is something of a prequel to the game Chain of Command, where Picard is sent on a secret mission to infiltrate the Cardassians while Jellico takes over command. The story here takes place on the Cairo and details a showdown between him and a Cardassian ship, and ends with him getting the information that sets in motion the plot of Chain of Command. However, if you've never seen that episode (or even if you just don't have it memorized like I do), don't worry since this is a very good stand alone issue. Even if you don't know who Jellico is (and, to be sure, nobody knows who any of these other characters are), it's still a darn good story that holds up on its own.

Writer Keith R.A. DeCandido knows Star Trek. He captures the feel of the Next Generation perfectly, and he completely nails Jellico's personality, which is something I was nervous about going into it. Jellico should be an asshole, of course, but he also should shown to be an effective captain who gets things done. Don't believe what Riker said about Jellico. He was being a whiny little bitch in Chain of Command. Jellico is the man. DeCandido did a great job of balancing all aspects of this character's complicated personality. Also, he's just a wonderful writer who seems perfectly suited for this kind of technical, military writing. There was some Trek jargon here and there, but none of it was used as a deus ex machina to solve plot problems. This story was fully thoughtout and brilliantly told from start to finish.

I wasn't a huge fan of the art style, however. I'm not sure what tools artist J.K. Woodward was using, but the end result looks a little bit like water colors. The man (or woman?) is obviously very talented, but I'm not really a fan of painted comic books, and these paints looked a little too flat and the colors were too muted. In the close ups, the details and likenesses of the characters were extraordinary, but for the medium and long shots, they just looked like stick figures. Some of the space battles, however, looked fantastic. So I didn't love the artistic design of the book, but I got used to it as the story went along, and it was never so off-putting that I found it to be a deal breaker.

This stand-alone, one shot comic book issue about captain Edward Jellico was one of the best Star Trek comics I've read in a long time, and that is saying a lot because IDW's current line of Trek books have (almost) all been fantastic. Maybe it's because DeCandido is such a wonderful storyteller, or maybe it's because Jellico is such an interesting yet underused character, but I can definitely recommend this issue for anybody who loves Star Trek, whether you remember Jellico or not. I liked it.

Happy Birthday, Chris Pine!

Blessed Are the Geeks wants to wish a very happy birthday to Star Trek actor and all around nice guy Chris Pine. We didn't love his Star Trek movie so much here at BATG HQ, but we did think he was very good in it, and we also liked him in Just My Luck and the Princess Diaries 2. We hope he continues on to bigger and better things and that his career lives long and prospers.

Make it Sir!

That's Sir Captain to you. Nothing could ever be cooler than being captain of the Starship Enterprise, but I'd imagine that being Knighted is a decent second. Read all about it here.

Jean Simmons 1929-2010

No, not the guy from KISS. That's Gene Simmons. This is Jean Simmons, the lovely, radiant, and incredibly talented star of such classic films as Guys and Dolls, Spartacus, and Hamlet. But, of course, Blessed Are the Geeks loves her best for her role as Admiral Satie in the classic episode of Next Generation The Drumhead.