Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: A Word From the Ministry for Learning People Things

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  • Craig Ranapia,

    OK, fuck *all* y'all (:)), because TOS is clearly the best series by a long, long way,

    Blasphemer! Perhaps I'm just a nasty ol' bugger, but I'll always be a Deep Space Nine fan -- which knocked the clichés of Trek a good hard shake (space station, considerable tension between the crew, moral ambiguity, and a brutal war with narrowly averted genocide to end the feast), while still honouring the fundamental optimism of Rodenberry's origninal vision. And any opportunity to see Michael Dorn glower and Avery Brooks exuding whatever gravitas Morgan Freeman isn't using at that moment should be grabbed with both hands. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Wake me up when they cast Pegg as Hamlet.

    I don't believe they're finished with David Tennant yet.

    Simon Pegg as Scotty! Worth seeing just for that.

    Looks appropriately awful though. Hullo bad 1960s Star Trek uniforms :)

    Yeah, what Danielle said. And Chris Pine has obviously been studying Shatner's body language (okay, lean my head to the left arm, and yes my knees are further apart than my shoulders). I'm looking forward to it, and will only be disappointed if it's just a little bit lame. I'm secretly hoping for 'hugely awful'.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And just to commit the ultimate Trek heresy, I didn't think __Enterprise__ was that bad (and on the whole, more consistent than the first three seasons of The Next Generation) -- including the rather nifty retcon of how the Klingons lost their grooves. American television being what it is, of course, they cancelled the damn show just as it was hitting its stride.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Rowe,

    As part of Shakespearean lit, we were treated to a screening of the highly regarded Russian version of Hamlet

    Back in 2000 I went to the Globe in Southwark to see a Brazilian street theatre troup do Romeo & Juliet. It was one of the highlights of my time in London to be honest. All the dialogue was in Portuguese, the set consisted of an old Volvo Stationwagon and the fight scenes were performed on stilts.

    Very powerful, to me at least.

    The fun continued after the show, with a South African guy asking his partner why all those people were standing in the yard watching the play...

    Lake Roxburgh, Central Ot… • Since Nov 2006 • 574 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Rowe,

    Zoe Saldana wonders who thought a mini-skirt and go-go boots were practical for a starship

    Aah, but in the early days of space travel, who's to say they weren't? I never once saw Nichelle Nicoles with a ladder in her tights suggesting some sort of low-grav advantages may apply up there.

    Lake Roxburgh, Central Ot… • Since Nov 2006 • 574 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Aah, but in the early days of space travel, who's to say they weren't? I never once saw Nichelle Nicoles with a ladder in her tights suggesting some sort of low-grav advantages may apply up there.

    Star Trek conveniently ignored the absence or variations in gravity inherent in space travel. Everyone had their feet firmly on the ground throughout.

    Maybe they were super-strong space tights.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    The original miniskirt uniforms, if you look closely, also had built-in matching underwear - a bit like rompers. No random shots of vulva allowed!

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Evan Yates,

    I'm late to this thread as I've been away in the mountains.

    I've been reading through and have loved the sound of the high-literature references as they all went whizzing way over my head...

    However one part of a post did strike a chord that I can help with.

    @Rachel Prosser

    We had watched some show about young guys cycling (don't remember what it was called, but it definitely wasn't dark).

    This was undoubtedly the coming-of-age story Breaking Away, directed by Peter Yates (no relation, dammit!)

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    The original miniskirt uniforms, if you look closely, also had built-in matching underwear - a bit like rompers. No random shots of vulva allowed!

    Indeed. Also, startling mental image there, thanks.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Evan Yates,

    Star Trek conveniently ignored the absence or variations in gravity inherent in space travel. Everyone had their feet firmly on the ground throughout.

    Ignored...NOT!

    I give you the Artificial Gravity Generator (retconned admittedly)

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    I'm late to this thread as I've been away in the mountains.

    We're sick of your excuses.

    And just to commit the ultimate Trek heresy, I didn't think Enterprise was that bad

    The ultimate Star Trek heresy was that awful song at the beginning. But yeah, it seemed okay otherwise, from what little I saw of it. I heard the last (3rd?) series was getting better.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    I still can't get my head around the idea that Judi Dench was the original West End Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

    I did not know that.

    But Dench is my pick to star if they ever make a biopic about Elton John. They're looking more and more alike. And if she can pull the Sally Bowles thing off Elton should be a breeze.

    Some friends and I once devised a scale of scenery-chewingness - it went some like:
    1 Jeremy Irons in D&D = 10 Nick Nolte in Hulk = 100 John Travolta in Battlefield Earth

    Where did Alan Rickman as the Sherriff of Nottingham go on that scale?

    Because he was the only good thing I remember about that Robin Hood film. Whatsisface...genunine brain fade here and I'm not going to google the bloke...was insipid as Robin Hood.

    Should have been Mel Gibson.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    Star Trek conveniently ignored the absence or variations in gravity inherent in space travel.

    Ye cannae ignore the laws of physics!

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Because he was the only good thing I remember about that Robin Hood film. Whatsisface...genunine brain fade here and I'm not going to google the bloke...was insipid as Robin Hood.

    Marge: "But our happiness was about to unravel, just like Kevin Costner's career, because of the postman."

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    Artificial gravity? Bah. The first and last episode of Enterprise I watched involved a plot point based around the difficulty of hauling a landing craft off an unstable asteroid. While asteroids may well be unstable, they're also notable for having very little in the way of gravity and tend not to be blessed with the artificial sort either.

    I'm not sure whether I'm channelling Professor Frink or the Comic Book Guy there, but still.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    I still can't get my head around the idea that Judi Dench was the original West End Sally Bowles in Cabaret

    Someone loaned me an old video of a (poorly) filmed MacBeth with SIr Ian McKEllern and Dame Judi Dench as Lady Mac.

    To be honest, it wasx high tedium, but I could see that it would have been gripping if we'd been in the theatre itself.

    Anyway, as MacBeth made his first entrance our daughter (who'd have been 12 at the oldest) exclaimed with glee "Gandalf"! And then followed up with a delighted whoop "M"!

    And I gave mental thanks to "popular culture" and all her glory.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Going back to earlier mention of the comic book, and soon to be movie, WATCHMEN, here's a discussion about the adaptation by a couple of geeks who saw 30 minutes of preview footage.

    Watchmen dialogues

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Ye cannae ignore the laws of physics!

    As Ron Moore as observed more than once, when it comes to telling the story pretty much every law -- natural and otherwise -- will be thrown under the bus to make a story work. But I will draw the line at a Frenchman with an English accent who drinks over-hot Earl Grey. That's just ridikulous! :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Since we're talking about Simon Pegg, comic book geekiness and all the rest of it...

    Any 'Spaced' fans lurking?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Josh Addison,

    Any 'Spaced' fans lurking?

    My 3-disc Special Edition boxed set says "Yes".

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Who would have thought genuine post-scarcity societies would be... well, quite so dull? :)

    Yep, the Culture is only really intersting when it's at war.

    I thoght 'Excession' was the last half-interesting book Banks wrote, and it was only half-interesting. Hints of possible civil war within the Culture that I had hoped he would develop, but never really seemed to go anywhere.

    'Excession' was published in 1996. The last interesting 'mainstream' book he wrote was 'Complicity'. Everything since then (that I've bothered reading) has been pretty dull.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    My 3-disc Special Edition boxed set says "Yes".

    Ahhhhhhh. Snap.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Any 'Spaced' fans lurking?

    Not only funny, but terrifyingly accurate.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Ignored...NOT!

    I give you the Artificial Gravity Generator (retconned admittedly)

    Oh sorry. Magic-box-which-gives-gravity-to-whole-ship then. With tights-don't-ladder-on-our-ship module attached.

    No doubt the box took up the whole bottom of the ship, otherwise anyone on the outside of the ship would be pulled towards the middle, where the box was.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Holy Shit!

    I had been ignoring this thread cause I thought I'd be in for all kinds of Code of Conduct/Conflict of Interest problems, and lo and behold it's a comic and sci-fi geek love-in.

    My kind of folk!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

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