Star Trek Humour

Earlier this week I read a pretty funny Star Trek joke.  I don't know how long it's been around, but it was the first time I'd heard it.  It was in an article in Car & Driver or Motortrend, can't remember which.  It went something like this:

"[...] as sure as Captain Kirk has three ears, the left ear, the right ear, and the final front ear."

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Sweet nostalgia. The X-Files is one of my top three all-time favourite television shows (up until Mulder left, at least), right up there with Stargate SG-1 (up until O'Neill left, at least) and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Anywhoo, when The X-Files series ended after nine seasons there was talk about making a 2nd movie. As time went on I thought it would never happen. Years later, though, and hurrah! The X-Files: I Want to Believe is here! Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, with Chris Carter directing.

I Want to Believe is exactly what you'd expect from X-Files: intelligent dialogue, adult humour, with a healthy dose of suspense, horror and spookiness. There was one scene where I gave a short burst of laughter, but that was atypical. It's hard for me to describe. It wasn't Get Smart humour. It was what you'd expect from X-Files, wry and often subtle.

The atmosphere and suspense was suitably spooky at times, and the gross out factor was there -- but most of the jump-out-of-your-seat bits were off-screen.

Special effects: I can't think of a single part where they used computer graphics.

The movie doesn't involve the show's engrossing and convoluted mythology; it's a hunt for a suspect with the aid of an is-he-or-isn't-he psyhic. Supposedly this makes the movie more accessible to people not familiar with the t.v. show, but I'm not sure how effective that will be. I hope it does well at the box office, but Sunday night on opening weekend I Want to Believe was relegated to a smaller theater, and only 15 or so people showed up.

Personally, I wouldn't want kids to see this. I'd give this a PG-16. The subject matter and some of the visuals might not be appropriate for younger folks.

SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW:

• The movie takes place a few years after the show ended -- they don't specify exactly (I wish they did). Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are living together when they are asked to help find a missing FBI agent.
• It's been what, six years since the series ended? They've aged. At least they didn't try to hide it with gobs of cosmetics.
• In the hospital meeting where Scully was late -- I really wish she said that performing the risky treatment was up to the parents and the primary physician. But no mention of parents at all. Just her. Scully. Doctor supremo. The parents didn't show up until later, and it seemed a very long time until they did.
• There are several in-jokes. In one, Mulder is trying to use his mobile one-handed, and in his contact list there's "Gillian". :o)
• One of the funniest jokes of this movie wasn't even spoken. Mulder and Scully are at FBI HQ. At a door, pan left, portrait of President George W. Bush... cue first few notes of X-Files Theme. Pan right, portrait of J. Edgar Hoover. Mulder and Scully look at one another and share a silent commentary. :o)
• Walter Skinner shows up near the end of the movie. Brief, but I'm glad he was there. Too bad they couldn't fit in The Lone Gunmen.
• Oh, yeah. Skinner? If someone is freezing in the snow, perhaps you should bring them indoors.
• There are a few times where they allude to stuff from the series. Not required info for the movie, but just added background.
• Lest I forget: Duchovny, get some sun. You're way too pasty.
• Stay until the end of the credits if you want to see the wave -- in more ways than one. :o)

I think you'd still enjoy the movie if you're unfamiliar with The X-Files series, but perhaps wouldn't rate it as well as I do.

Anywhoo, I give The X-Files: I Want to Believe, 4 out of 5 stars.

Star Trek: TNG -- Chain of Command

Here's another Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, one of many, I liked. Add it to the list.

The TNG episode is Chain of Command (a two-parter). Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is captured and tortured by the Cardassians.

A few key moments stick out for me. The first, I liked Captain Jellico (played by Ronny Cox). Jellico did things differently, but he was competent and knew what he was doing. He got no respect. For shame, Riker!

The second needs a little background. Picard's torturer tries to break Picard by making Picard say there are five lights, when in reality there are only four. This goes on for days (weeks?) and finally Picard is at his limit, exhausted and in pain. Mr. Torture asks Picard again how many lights he sees and this time Picard is silent... will he or won't he? Suffocating tension. Just as Picard is going to speak, another Cardassian barges in the room, demanding Picard's release (as part of a peace/cease-fire agreement arranged by Jellico). Picard turns to Mr. Torturer and hoarsly shouts, "There are... FOUR... lights!". Powerful.

The third and last scene made me sit up and say, "Wow." Picard is back in command of Enterprise, talking privately to Counselor Troi about his ordeal. He reminds Troi of the whole "how many lights" thing, and Troi responds, to paraphrase, "But, you didn't break, you said there were four lights."

Picard: "Yes, but standing there... I actually saw... five lights." Fade-to-black. Wow. Wow again. Despite not being a movie, this one is being tagged as a "Movie Moment".

Star Trek: The Next Generation

I think of myself as a fairly big Star Trek fan -- but mostly Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watched Deep Space 9, Voyager, and Enterprise for a while, but none of them caught my attention like TNG did, and I never stuck with them to their end. I've seen the movies and episodes of the original Star Trek, but again, it didn't hold my attention.

TNG ran for 7 years, and there are many great episodes that I can remember even after all this time. Off the top of my head, what I liked about TNG was how it showed humanity's potential if everyone could just work together, it explored issues like racism, the limits of love, torture, free-will, the rationale for the Prime Directive and lots, lots more.

In no particular order, here are some, but not all, of my favourite episodes:

1. Tapestry: Q sends Jean-Luc Picard back in time to his academy years, leading up to the time Picard was stabbed in the heart. Picard uses the opportunity to change something he'd regretted doing, only to discover that altering one thing in the past affected everything afterwards, altering the entire course of his life. Unraveling one thread unraveled the entire tapestry.
2. The Inner Light: Picard is hit by an alien probe, resulting in Picard living an entire lifetime believing he is someone else, living on an alien planet with a family, and that his previous life was the imaginings of a fevered dream. Turns out it was all in Picard's mind, and only 20 minutes had passed in reality. The probe was a dying civilization's way to not be forgotten.
3. The Measure of a Man: Data is put on trial to determine whether he can be ordered to go back to Starfleet for experimental testing, or if he possesses free will and/or sentience and hence can refuse. I thought the issues raised were interesting.
4. Q Who?: This episode introduced the Borg - one of the greatest sci-fi villains. Picard tells Q that the Federation is ready to face whatever is out there. Oops. Q sends the Enterprise to the far cosmos where they meet the Borg - a biological/machine hybrid-hive mind that "assimilate" everything they come in contact with. Anywhoo, Picard admits to Q that he was wrong, and Q sends them back home. But the Borg now know of the existence of the Federation....
5. The Best of Both Worlds I and II: A couple of the all-time top TNG episodes, the 3rd season finale and 4th season premiere, respectively. The Borg finally arrive in Federation space. These episodes introduce one of the most memorable TNG lines,

   "Resistance is futile" -- Locutus of Borg. :o)

6. Family: Following Best of Both Worlds II, this episode was pretty darned good, too. Picard deals with the trauma of being assimilated by the Borg.
7. The Drumhead: Another awesome episode. It's about an explosion, a spy, and the witch hunt that follows. At the end, Picard talks to Worf about the subtle, continual danger of people who spread fear and suspicion in the name of righteousness, and that we have to be continually vigilant against that threat. The path of limited freedom, I think Picard said. A particularly apt lesson in the current times.