Leonard Nimoy - Scifi Icon

The miracle is this: the more we share the more we have.

-Leonard Nimoy

Most people don't realize this, but 'Star Trek' was not at all popular when it originally premiered in 1966. In fact, it was quickly cancelled after just three seasons. Thankfully, 'Star Trek' developed a cult following and the rest is history. Despite its campiness, 'Star Trek' has brought us wondrous tales of beyond the stars and has inspired countless copycats. But perhaps one of 'Star Trek's biggest gifts was Leonard Nimoy.

Best known for his role as Spock in the original series and films, Nimoy set the stage as 'Star Trek's stoic and logical Vulcan. There's something to be said about being first. The people who go first set the tone for future generations. Everyone who comes after Nimoy has taken inspiration from him. Yes, Kirk (William Shatner) was the star of the show, but Spock was and has always been 'Star Trek's beating heart. Nimoy's nuanced acting and glint in his eye made 'Star Trek' the franchise it would eventually become.

Nimoy was also an accomplished director, directing 'Star Trek: The Search for Spock,' 'Star Trek: The Voyage Home,' and of all things...'Three Men and a Baby.' However, what I will remember most about Nimoy is his appearances at fan conventions. And let me tell after nearly 50 years of 'Star Trek,' Nimoy has attended a lot of conventions. If you watch 'Galaxy Quest,' you can imagine what Nimoy and the rest of the 'Star Trek' cast has gone through.

Yet what always amazed me about Nimoy is that despite the number of fan conventions he attended or after decades of being accosted and harangued for autographs by trekkies and trekkers, Nimoy was still kind and gracious to his fans.  I cannot say the same for other actors at science fiction conventions--who will remain nameless. Nimoy was a class act and a fan favorite. So to that end, may God rest his soul and godspeed to Leonard Nimoy, scifi icon. [March 26, 1931 - February 27, 2015]

Happy Valentine's Day Scifi Fans!

May your Valentine's Day be merry, bright, and full of people who love you (friends, family, and significant others). Best wishes and enjoy the pretty pictures.

Via Ego Trip

31 Things I Love About Jaws (That No One Talks About)

Mondo Poster Art by Cesar Moreno

I need to find inspiration where I can, so I've been inspired by both Alex with So It Begins, and Sati with Cinematic Corner to come up with a the "top things I love about a film that no one talks about." I chose 'Jaws' because I've seen the film a million times and I still love it. It's one of those films that is so well known that most people can quote a few lines from it, Lines like--"you're going to need a bigger boat" or Quint's incredible monologue about the USS Indianapolis. Amazingly so many scenes in 'Jaws' iconic, because 'Jaws' is nearly a flawless film.This post will not cover any of those famous scenes. Instead this post will focus on some of the more subtle things about 'Jaws' that I love and I hope you will love too.

Best and Worst Television of 2014

This post is a continuation of my best and worst of 2014. This month I'm focused on the best and worst of television. I qualify this as a best and worst list of the television shows that I've seen. I've heard really good things about 'True Detective,' 'Manhattan,' 'Silicon Valley,' 'Fargo,' 'Shameless,' and 'The Affair,' but haven't seen them yet. So I can't speak to any of these shows. Noticeably absent from my list is 'Orange is the New Black,' since I have only seen about one half of the first season. You can see my favorite films of 2014 here.

Best and Worst Movies of 2014

I usually do three separate list every year, but this year I'm consolidating it into one list. One list takes long enough. I've also included a few non-scifi films in my best and worst list this year. Please feel free to add some of your own or disagree with me! First lets start with the meat of the best and worst list...the best movies of the year (in my humble opinion). The films have a scifi or fantasy focus, but there are a few non-scifi/fantasy films on the list this too. If you scroll further down you'll get to the fluff.  Let's start with the best of the best.

Voyage to the Stars Blogathon

Thanks to John over at Hitchcock's World for sponsoring this out of this world blogathon. I hope John doesn't mind, but the only way I can make a space mission work is to scrap the idea of interstellar travel in lieu of interplanetary travel. The only way interstellar travel would be feasible would be if it were a long term, slow moving space voyage--something similar to the new SyFy show, 'Ascension' (or how 'Ascension' was supposed to be), in which a spaceship with its own ecosystem carries generations of people for tens of thousands of years. Then perhaps after 160,000 years or so, we would arrive somewhere fun. Who knows? Thus, the mission I would embark on would be a mission to terraform and colonize Mars. The team I have recruited is listed below. You can see more about the rules and my reasoning behind this decision at the end of this post. 

Merry Christmas...And Don't Blink

Merry Christmas! I'm super happy to be done with final exams. I'm taking graduate classes and I just can't believe how busy I've been. Between grad classes, my little one, my husband, my job, and my other extracurricular activities, I haven't had much time to devote to this blog, but I am still working on my big end of the year "best and worst list." Please be patient with me!

'Nightcrawler' Review - Heavy Spoilage

With a healthy serving of 'To Live and Die in L.A.,' a smidge of 'Network,' and a dash of 'Drive,' 'Nightcrawler,' draws you into the perverse underbelly of sensationalized news coverage. It's a brave effort and a brilliant critique of the American "news" culture, by first time director (and Rene Russo's husband), Dan Gilroy. If you've ever watched American news (both national and local), 'Nightcrawler' strikes a nerve. 'Nightcrawler' touches on the psychopathy of the 24-hour news cycle and...then some. It certainly doesn't hurt to have to great leads like Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo. Gyllenhaal does a good job channeling Christian Bale's Patrick Batemen from 'American Psycho,' while Russo channels Faye Dunaway's Diana Christenson from 'Network.' 

'Interstellar' Review + Heavy Spoilers

There are so few directors in Hollywood who are as ambitious as Christopher Nolan. And make no mistake, 'Insterstellar' is an ambitious film. It's also a beautifully flawed film and a pale shade of the film it's attempting to emulate, '2001: A Space Odyssey." The film begins sometime in the mid or late 21st century, perhaps 50 or 100 years from now. The world of 'Interstellar' is set in what looks like the American dust bowl of the 1930's. (I read somewhere that Nolan used actual footage from the Ken Burns documentary, 'The Dust Bowl.') 'Interstellar's world is in climate collapse and the earth's soil can no longer support it's population. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is a widowed farmer with two young children and an aging father-in-law Donald (John Lithgow). He's also an accomplished pilot and an engineer.

Happy Halloween | American Horror Story Review + Spoilers

The visage is unrelenting. I am its slave. 

Edward Mordrake [to Ethel Darling] in American Horror Story

Happy Halloween scifi fans. 'American Horror Story: Freakshow' just wrapped up Halloween with a funky two-part episode, Edward Mordrake Part 1 and 2. Thankfully 'American Horror Story' always gets talented guest stars. This week's guest star was Wes Bentley ('American Beauty' and 'Interstellar'). And if the original 'Hunger Games' film didn't convince you that Bentley could rock wacky facial hair, then 'American Horror Story' will give you no doubt. Bentley plays a ghoulishly handsome, semi-corporeal ghost, Edward Mordrake, who has been summoned to haunt the 1952 freak show of Jupiter, Florida. But Edward isn't there to just haunt, he also serves as clever segue into character development. Edward compels several of the performers (who haven't received much screen time) to tell their individual tales of woe. It's a convenient plot twist, but it works.