Monday, February 18, 2013

That Band From Trek

We love Star Trek.  We love music.

If we were to front a kick-ass band what kind of Star Trek-inspired name could we use?  Here are some ideas:


The Band On The Edge Of Forever (classic rock n roll)

Merciful And Quick (lounge lizard music)

Schmitter and the Incinerators (punk)

The Landing Party (country/western)

Assault Vampires (rap rock)

Vina's Keepers (country)

Are You Archons? (New Wave)

The Van Gelders (folk)

Fizzbin On Tuesday (pop)

King Kodos (classic heavy metal)

Arne Darvin (like Nine Inch Nails weird younger brother)

Lazarus A (pop; we'd tour overseas as Lazarus B)

Khan Noonien Sings (a Neil Sedaka cover band)

Yang and The Comms (NPR-approved songs only)

The Harry Mudd Experience (like ELO, but not)

Horta & The Devils (southern rock)

Feeders of Vaal (3 chords is all)

Thrill Thralls (industrial rock)

Nomad and The Sterilizers (alt rock)

The Quatloos (a Bugaloos cover band)

M'Benga M'Benga (world music)

The M5s (electronic, like Daft Punk)

The Multitronic Units (an acoustic-only folk group, despite the name)

Janice Lester and The Intruders (like the Go Go's, but very unstable)

The Baand of Troyius (Euro-trash)

Doc Severin and the Herberts (plays whatever reaches the audience)

and our favorite,

Bela Oxmyx and The Mobsters (world's greatest bar band)




Saturday, February 9, 2013

The Powers Of Number Four or I Am Matthew Star

So I'm sitting there watching the film I Am Number Four, a 2011 release about an alien kid with special powers and his guardian hiding out on earth from the evil forces from their home planet who are determined to wipe them out...hey, OMG, this is just a rehash of The Powers Of Matthew Star!

Check it, Matthew Star was a 1982 scif TV show about an alien kid with special powers and his guardian...heck, since this was the 80s, the opening credits of every episode TOLD THE WHOLE STORY.  Here they are, courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Quadris, twelve light years across the galaxy from Earth. It was home for us until an intergalactic armada conquered it. I fought by the royal family's side, but in vain. Even their remarkable powers weren't enough. The crown prince and I escaped to the nearest planet on which we could survive and further his powers in order to some day return to free his people.

"Here on Earth, the prince is known as Matthew Star. He's a typical American teenager. He has friends; people who love him. And me, his guardian. I'm the only one who knows how special he is. Life for us is a series of joys and dangers. Enemy assassins constantly come to destroy us. Alone, we must survive."

That's pretty much the plot of Number Four, minus the planet Quadris (giggle), and the fact that in this story there is more than one kid with the "power cosmic," as Stan Lee would put it.

Number Four annoyed me almost immediately in that the high school kids looked like they were in their 20s, which they mostly were (how very The CW of them).  Its funny how Hollywood is never able to find 16 or 17 year old actors to play 16 or 17 year old characters; it's always people in their mid-20s.

This movie just about put me to sleep right away.  Alex Pettyfer as the put upon Numero Quatro hardly registered as a screen presence (his pecs notwithstanding), Justified's Timothy Olyphant was miscast as Henri the guardian, aka the Louis Gossett Jr role on Matthew Star.  Much better was Teresa Palmer as Number Six who appears in the latter part of the film.  She's pretty, looks like she could be in high school, and had a fun kick-butt character, kind of like a well-adjusted Hit Girl.

The alien Mogadishu or Mogadorians or whatever looked stupid, with their tattooed bald heads, black eyes,  goofy teeth and Matrix trenchcoats - they resemble a Filmation cartoon's animated villain brought to live action life.

I Am Number Four is based on a Young Adult series of novels, but the juvenile tone of the move, the negative response from the critics and shallow box office would indicate that this is not the first film of the hoped-for franchise.

Maybe they could just reboot The Powers of Matthew Star for the big screen.  Or not.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Stuart Freeborn - Makeup Legend Passes

Ain't It Cool News is reporting that legendary genre make up master Stuart Freeborn has passed away.  He was 98 years old.

Mr. Freeborn worked on Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey (his Dawn of Man hominid costumes still hold up today), Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie and, perhaps most notably, on George Lucas' original Star Wars Trilogy.

For Star Wars, Mr. Freeborn created the Chewbacca costume and crafted the Yoda puppet performed by Frank Oz which was first seen in The Empire Strikes Back.  When you look at a photo of Mr. Freeborn and Yoda, you can see how he put a good deal of himself into the diminutive Jedi Master's final form (and not just the visage of initial inspiration Albert Einstein).

Stuart Freeborn was a very quiet, gentle person, but one whose incredible imagination and skill helped to electrify our movie-going experiences.

Our condolences to Mr. Freeborn's family and friends.