Sep 07 |
According to Variety, Mel Harris, the exec who was an innovator in firstrun syndication and the homevideo biz during his 25-year run in the top ranks at Paramount and Sony Pictures Entertainment, died of cancer Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 65. Harris was known as a champion of new technologies and new markets in a biz that has often been slow to embrace change. He helped modernize the firstrun syndie biz by harnessing satellite distribution to deliver "Entertainment Tonight" to affiliates on a timely basis, and he spearheaded the studio's 1987 revival of Star Trek in the form of The Next Generation, a high-end syndie production.
Sep 06 | TNG star Patrick Stewart will appear at a Stephen Fry/Joanna Lumley-hosted star-studded tribute to the James Bond creator. The Story Of James Bond - A Tribute To Ian Fleming will be held at the London Palladium Theatre on October 5, 2008 to mark the final event in the Ian Fleming Centenary year. The evening will also star Roger Moore, Jeremy Irons, Judi Dench, Joely Richardson, Toby Stephens, David Suchet and Harriet Walter. A 60-piece orchestra will accompany the performers and there will be a sneak preview clip of the new Bond film Quantum Of Solace starring Daniel Craig. The evening is being held in aid of the British Heart Foundation. For tickets, which begin at £25, call 0844 4124657 or Buy Tickets Here
Sep 04 | Star Trek's George Takei will narrate The Lord of the Rings in an appearance with the Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra on April 4, 2009 at 8 p.m.Tickets, priced at $10, $20, $34, $46 and $57, go on sale Monday, Sept. 8. (The ticket price includes free parking). Half price tickets for youths ages 4 - 17 are available and a group sales discount of 25 percent on the purchase of 10 or more tickets.The performance will take place at the 2,600-seat Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. The orchestra, under the direction of Kevin Rhodes, will also play music from science fiction and fantasy films that Saturday evening.
For the box office, call (413) 733-2291 or online at
www.springfieldsymphony.org/ Thanks to Ray Kelly for the tip.
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ENTERPRISE's "Countdown." Rate the episode on a scale of 1 to 10:
By BWilliams / 12:35, 26 July 2004 / Reviews - Books
Synopsis: Caught in a world on the brink of self-destruction, Captain Picard - a man still waging his own personal battle for redemption in the eyes of his commanding officers - must somehow find a way to resolve this catastrophic event and save his crew, even as the implications of his actions may ultimately doom an entire race...
Review: With A TIME TO HATE, the sixth book in the nine-book NEXT GENERATION series leading up to NEMESIS, writer Robert Greenberger picks up the story threads and keeps running smoothly to the finish line with a tale that is both moving and life-changing for the main characters of the series.
Greenberger doesn’t waste any time in re-establishing the main thrust of the novel: the Bader and Dorset races, once mortal enemies, have settled upon the planet Delta Sigma IV and established a peaceful co-existence among each other, eventually becoming a member of the Federation. A series of murders, however, puts the two races at odds against each other, and it’s up to Starfleet to clean up the mess. And who better to clean up the mess than the Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise? According to Starfleet Command, it’s not how well the job gets handled, it’s how badly the end results are going to look on paper. So much so, that in order to come up with solution to the planetary crisis, Beverly Crusher must suggest a cure that may prove as harmful as the violence they’re trying to stem.
Greenberger could not have had a novel with a more apt title. Both of the titles, A TIME TO LOVE and A TIME TO HATE, represent central themes that play out in the larger tapestry of the STAR TREK saga. In this latter volume, the feeling of hatred is on the forefront not only in the increasing violence between the Bader and Dorset races, but also in the growing hatred once again felt between Will Riker and his father Kyle. The lack of a strong father-son relationship between the Rikers sets them at odds once again, as Will Riker must do what he can to bring his father to justice for his crimes against the Bader and Dorset races. Throughout LOVE, Greenberger painted a beautiful, idyllic picture of the perfect family life with the protocol officer Seer and his family and children, placing Will Riker in the midst of such serenity. He juxtaposes the idealism of Seer’s family with Will’s own desire for such a family with Deanna and the repeated lack of such a family with his own absentee father Kyle. But Greenberger also throws an interesting twist in the latter quarter of HATE that not only resolves Will and Kyle’s relationship, but also spurs major progressions in Will’s growing relationship with Deanna and the events that will lead him to the captain’s chair in NEMESIS.
But A TIME TO HATE is not just about the Bader and Dorset races, and it’s not just about Riker’s relationships either. It’s also about family, community, and belonging. Greenberger also paints a series of wonderful portraits of the lower crewmen, all of whom are caught up in the main planetary conflict and all of whom come to the forefront as significant characters in their own right. We sympathize with engineering crewman Anh Hoang, who had lost her family in the Dominion War and, while working hard and proving herself on the Enterprise, wrestles with her own self-doubts and fears in coming out of her protective shell. We relate well with the “little” (or “Little”?) security officer Van Zandt, who would gladly lay down his life for his comrades. Christine Vale’s character continues to grow and flourish, as her character and background continues to be developed with wonderful strokes. Security crewman Studdard comes forth just like his AMERICAN IDOL namesake, big, protective, cheerful, and always smiling. Clearly, Greenberger has an excellent grasp of his characters and values them as important, whether telling larger scale action stories or smaller, intimate day-to-day tales.
Whereas LOVE tended to be a little shorter than it seemed, HATE comes off much stronger and doesn’t seem as rushed in the novel's 280-plus pages. Greenberger has his share of twists and turns to present in HATE, with one particularly dark twist at the very end of the novel that could indicate that this story may be in fact far from over. It’s these little twists that energize any STAR TREK story and get you thinking once again about the parallels to contemporary times.
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