Star Trek History

Spotlight on Nicole de Boer

One of my favorite actresses is Nicole de Boer, who just recently celebrated her birthday on December 20th. Believe it or not this extremely young looking woman just turned 39. Anyway to most sci-fans she is known for 3 distinct roles. First was the indie film Cube (1997) which was a critical hit. Next she would assume the role of Ezri Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Her character inherited the previous memories of the alien symbiont host Dax from departing actress Terry Farrell. Nicole came aboard for what would be the DSN's final season. Then she got the role of Sarah Bracknell Bannerman on the hit show The Dead Zone, which ran for 5 years.

Her personal bio states she was born in Toronto, Canada and has been married to John Kastner since 1999.

They have one child together. She stands 5'5".

de Boer has appeared in a number of made-for-television movies, including Fox's "The Counterfeit Contessa," ABC's "J.F.K.: Reckless Youth," USA Networks' "Kissing Place" and The Disney Channel's "My Date With the President's Daughter." Her films for Canadian television include starring roles in "Heart of Courage," "E.N.G." and "Baby It's You."

In addition to "Cube," deBoer has starred in a number of other independent feature films, including "Jungleground," Prom Night IV" and New Line's "National Lampoon's Senior Trip." A busy stage actress in addition to her television and film work, deBoer has starred in numerous Canadian regional theater productions, among them "Little Women," "Our Town," "Anne of Green Gables," "The Wizard of Oz," "Little Foxes" and "The Father."
Nicole is one of my favorites and she is an excellent actress. Check out her movies and shows if you've never seen her in anything before now. You won't regret it.

Old school heroics in DC's new World Finest

The Toyman has crafted the ultimate killing machine to protect himself from the Kryptonian menace, and Oracle has sent Supergirl and Batgirl to stop it. But when Supergirl faces off against the Kryptonite Man while the new Batgirl takes on Catwoman, they both find themselves in over their heads.Written by Sterling Gates and art by Phil Noto, this looks to be like a throwback to the yesteryear of comics. Issue #3 in a 4 issue series hit stores yesterday. I'm on my way to pick up a copy because this sounds like a fun comic to read. Plus you get to enjoy the glorious artwork of Phil Noto.

The Book Of Eli trailer

This looks so much like Old Man Logan, a comic Marvel did last year about Wolverine in a future world torn apart. Denzel looks bad ass in this too. And Gary Oldman is the villain. Sweet! Can't wait to see it.

A Supernatural Twist

 
Supernatural Pictures

This is a follow-up to the excellent blog Tracy wrote a month ago about the terrific series Supernatural on the blog What We're Watching On TV. She pretty much summed up the basic plot of the show as it deals with Sam and Dean Winchester, brothers who hunt demons, vampires, werewolves, etc. It's a family business, since their recently departed dad was a hunter too. Now me being a huge fan of Buffy and Angel, you would have thought this would be my kind of show. But when Supernatural first premiered on the then WB channel, I passed it by. I casually started watching it during the second season and was hooked. Now I believe it's one of the best shows on TV. Sam (played by Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) have been on a 4 1/2 year run taking on all kinds of twisted demons and witches and what have you. And they do it in style, cruising the countryside in a 67 black Impala and rocking to all the rock classics. Matter of fact, the unofficial theme song of the series is the classic song Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas. Anyway, Supernatural has also been leading toward a over-reaching arc that is now paying off in season 5. The boys inadvertently freed Lucifer from his prison, and now the devil walks the Earth, looking to possess Sam's body. This season was gonna be dark and gritty but for the most part, it has been very humorous and light. They recently did a spoof on other TV shows namely Grey's Anatomy and CSI. You have to see this one if you wanna have a good time. They also crossed paths with a man witch who turned Dean into an 80 year old man. Hilarious right? Not what fans were expecting this year. Well things turned quickly a week ago, when the boys finally got up and close with Lucifer. They boys have this mystical gun called the colt, which can pretty much kill anything. So they head to Missouri to have a showdown with the devil. They bring along a mother and daughter hunter team for backup. Things get bloody real fast. I won't spoil the ending for anyone that hasn't seen it, but it was one hell of an episode. There were real emotions and consequences happening and Lucifer was in town specifically to raise the Angel of Death. Now the show is on break until January so now would be a good time to catch up on the series. Because let me tell you that things are about to get deadly. Supernatural is one of my favorite shows now and I enjoy tuning in every week and also watching past episodes on DVD. Ackles and Padalecki have great chemistry as Dean and Sam, two brothers who have pretty much seen and done it all. Each has died and been brought back at least once. They ran into every type of monsters you could possibly think of and now they're dealing with the Big Bad himself, Satan. I don't know how things are gonna play out, since supposedly this is the last season, but it's gonna make for interesting viewing.

Top 25 Scream Queens

I just saw where Fangoria had compiled a top 50 Influential Scream Queens list which I thought was very cool. So I came up with my own list of the 25 women who were the best in the field of horror films. I do agree with the original person for Fangoria's list, that a woman brings more to a horror film than a man. She has to survive on her own, usually has no weapon or military training, and must go through sheer hell to come out a survivor. In most horror movies, the woman is chased, beaten, stabbed, shot, pretty much put through a decathlon of events in order to make it to see another day. So these 25 women I chose are the ones I thought fit that bill and then some. Of course I probably could have gone on and named 25 or even 50 more women but I decided to cap it at 25. I would love to hear from others on their choices. But I hope you enjoy my list. Here goes:

25. Elsa Lanchester - Unforgettable role as the Monster's Bride in 1935's Bride Of Frankenstein. Hers is an iconic image that no film lover can ever forget. She would take part in other horror films including The Spiral Staircase and Willard.

24. Ingrid Pitt - Best known for playing seductive female vampires in Hammer Films during the early 70's. The films included Countess Dracula and The Vampire Lovers. She also starred in other horror classics such as The Wicker Man and The House That Dripped Blood.

23. Sarah Michelle Gellar - You knew I had to have my girl on the list. Of course her most important role as been the slayer on TV's Buffy, but she has made several horror flicks including I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, The Grudge, and The Return.

22. Marilyn Burns - Didn't do too many horror films but she made one bonafide horror classic-the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

21. Mary Elizabeth Winstead - young new actress who has made an impact with several horror films including Final Destination 3, The Ring 2, Black Christmas, and Death-Proof.

20. Kate Beckinsale - started out in very British dramas but has detoured into horror and sci-fi of late with The Underworld series, Van Helsing, Vacancy, and her new thriller Whiteout.

19. Barbara Crampton - the go to gal during the 80's with Re-Animator, Chopping Mall, Puppet Master and From Beyond.

18. Veronica Cartwright - started young with Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and then grew into adult roles such as the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, and The Witches of Eastwicke.

17. Cassandra Peterson - Better know as her alter ego Elvira, Mistress of the dark. Funny, sexy, and can be deadly if need be.

16. Drew Barrymore - may have been cute in E.T., but cut her teeth early on with Cat's Eye, Firestarter, and Poison Ivy. Also notable in Scream.

15. Amy Steele - With so many Friday the 13th movies being made, it was hard to choose one actress from the series. But Ms. Steele did a hell of a job in Part 2 as she survived her encounter with Jason..barely. She also did the semi spoof April Fool's Day which did have her running and screaming from a new killer.

14. Sissy Spacek - most identified with Carrie, the telekinetic teen who went off at her high school prom. Did she ever....

13. Jennifer Jason Leigh - Several standout roles include Single White Female, The Hitcher, and Buried Alive. Let's not forget her pairing with the other scream queen Kathy Bates for Dolores Claiborne.

12. Linda Blair - went through hell for The Exorcist. That alone is enough to put her on this list.

11. Jessica Biel - Started off nice and sweet for the TV show Seventh Heaven but earned her horror stripes for the gory Texas Chainsaw Massacre update and Blade 3.

10. Heather Langenkamp - Forever remembered as Nancy, the teen who faced down Freddy Krueger in the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

9. Kathy Bates - One of two scream queens on the list with an Oscar on her mantle thanks to her psycho turn as Annie Wilkes in Misery. Also starred in Dolores Claiborne with fellow scream vet Jennifer Jason Leigh.

8. Dee Wallace - usually portrayed the mom who battle against all kinds of demons and monsters in such films like The Howling, Cujo, The Hills Have Eyes, Critters, and The Frighteners.

7. Jodie Foster - here is the other scream queen with not one but two Oscars sitting on her shelf. Starring roles in Silence of the Lambs, The Accused, Panic Room, and Flight Plan put Jodie on this list without a doubt.

6. Naomi Watts - Acted for a while but never really hit her stride until she tried horror films which included The Ring 1 & 2, the updated King Kong, Funny Games, and Mulholland Drive.

5. Janet Leigh - history making role of Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The shower scene became legendary.

4. Neve Campbell - survived the Scream movie series. Also was in the witch tale called The Craft. She was once noted as the heir apparent to Jamie Lee Curtis. Big shoes to follow.

3. Sigourney Weaver - as Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley, she battle space monsters in the Alien film series 4 times. Also entered The Village and played in Death and The Maiden. And let's not forget she turned into a dog in Ghostbusters.

2. Adrienne Barbeau - came this close to being my number 1 pick but runner-up is good too for this horror veteran of such films as The Fog, Swamp Thing, Creepshow, and Escape From New York. She did horror very well...being once married to John Carpenter probably didn't hurt either.

1. Jamie Lee Curtis - without a doubt the number 1 queen of horror. First and foremost she battled Michael Meyers in the original Halloween. Then she had a streak of horror flicks from the late 70's through the early 80's including the sequel to Halloween, Prom Night, Terror Train, Road Games, and The Fog. Came back to the Halloween franchise for H20 and picked up right where she left off. Of course Jamie had success in other types of film like Trading Places and A Fish Called Wanda, but to most fans she will be remembered for her classic turns in horror flicks.

Honorable mentions are legendary Fay Wray (who I've only seen in the original King Kong), Kathleen Quinlan, Milla Jovovich, Adrienne King, Winona Ryder, and lots more.

Buckle up for high speed fun and adventure in STAR TREK

Saw it opening night on IMAX and it was freakin' AWESOME! Suffice to say Star Trek is the best movie I have seen in awhile. And the audience I saw it was cheering and screaming and laughing the entire movie.

Just saw it for a second time and it was even better hence the higher rating. Trek is one of my top 5 favorites now.

Just recently bought the new DVD and Trek still rocks.......

Alright here is my review of this new classic: Star Trek is the most fun I've had at the movies in a long time. This reboot of the classic series is a wonder to behold and it does not disappoint. And what's cool about this film is that is very accessible to non-Trek fans but at the same time will please Trekkies everywhere. This is the perfect summertime movie that delivers everything the previews promised and then some. Detailing the beginning journey for the intrepid crew of the starship Enterprise, this film explains a lot of history about the characters we have come to know and love for over 40 years, but with a few welcome tweaks. How James Kirk was born on his father's ship amid a raging space battle. And his rebellious upbringing against authority before enlisting in Starfleet. And Spock's childhood is explored as he is constantly harassed by fellow classmates for being half human. Flash forward a few years the duo will meet aboard the Enterprise, which is led by Captain Pike. Along the way we are introduced to the stunning Uhura (played by Zoe Zaldana), Sulu (John Cho) who uses a frigggin' collapsible samurai sword in a battle with some bad guys, Chekov, and the irascible Leonard McCoy (played by Karl Urban). We learned how McCoy gets the nickname Bones and how he despises his ex-wife. Urban kills the part. We don't meet Scotty (Simon Pegg) until halfway into the movie but when he comes aboard it is a very funny scene. As for the two leads Chris Pine is very good as Kirk, and he doesn't play him as William Shatner did. He makes Kirk cocky and horny but also very smart. Of course he is quick to fight too. And Pine just makes Kirk so likable that you can't help but root for the guy to win. But its Zachary Quinto who delivers the most as Spock. He brings a new level of intensity to the part that makes Spock seem dare I say it bad ass. As for the villian which I must regrettably say is the weak link in the movie. As the Romulan Nero, Eric Bana is somewhat wasted. Still this new update rocks with eye popping SFX, cool battle scenes, humor, drama, sexual innuendo, conflict, and a strong return by the original Spock, Mr. Nimoy thanks to a nifty time travel plot. There may be some die hard Treks fans that will take offense to some of the liberties taken by director J.J. Abrams, but I am not one of them. I think he did a helluva job and hope he comes back for the sequel. Trust me Star Trek is solid entertainment. I would not steer anybody wrong about this one. One of my favorite films now. And I don't think any other film coming out this summer or the year for that matter is gonna touch it. Oh, one more thing, when the Enterprise goes to warp speed..........it's sent shivers down my spine...like OH YEAH!! 10/10

New Blog

While my other blog deals solely with classic films and actors, I needed another blog where I could talk about my love of sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic books and stuff of that nature. The title is called Hero Worship. And my love of all things sci-fi and fantasy, especially Star Trek, makes that an appropriate title. Well, I had to call my blog something and I didn't want to go with some generic title like The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Page. Anyway. I hope to run into several fans and like minded people on here.

Kate Mulgrew Pictures