“Star Trek: The Animated Series” Trivia

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I’m a fan of the original Star Trek series that ran on NBC from September 8, 1966, to June 3, 1969.  79 episodes aired before it was cancelled.  Dedicated fans of Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and the rest of the crew made Star Trek so popular in syndication that Star Trek: The Animated Series was created in 1973.  The animated series ran for 22 episodes over two seasons.   

The fine folks at MeTV have posted 12 Fascinating Facts about Star Trek: The Animated Series.  Before you click over for the full story, here are my thoughts on three of my favorite facts…

Leonard Nimoy demanded that Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were cast.  (The budget for Star Trek: The  Animated Series, like most cartoon series of this era wasn’t huge. There wasn’t enough in the budget to bring back Walter Koenig who played Chekov.  Some members of the cast had to provide the voices for multiple characters.  Hats off to Leonard Nimoy for taking a stand to keep Nichols and Takei on board. – Craig)

It was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy award. (This is surprising since most folks would figure that the original series would have won at least one Emmy along the way. – Craig)

Filmation originally wanted the series to be about adolescent Starfleet cadets. (I’m really glad that this idea didn’t win out.  Star Trek: The Animated Series provided more proof that the original series was still popular with fans and helped pave the way for the big budget Star Trek feature films with the original cast returning. – Craig)

“Drive All Night” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Drive All Night  potential to be a fun ride.  Finally we get an art poster!  The trailer has a real 80s vibe and the synopsis is has me looking forward to seeing the movie.

NEO-NOIR FEATURE ‘DRIVE ALL NIGHT’ TO DEBUT AT 2021 CINEQUEST! DRIVE ALL NIGHT, a new feature film starring Yutaka Takeuchi (Marvel’s ‘The Defenders’) will make its World Premiere in competition at the Cinequest Film Festival, running March 20-30, 2021. Voted Best Film Festival by readers of USA Today, Cinequest draws an audience of over 110,000 to its annual event celebrating innovation, discovery and creativity in the heart of Silicon Valley. “Cinequest is always searching for films that stretch the boundaries of storytelling, and visions from artists who are looking to reinvent genres. ‘Drive All Night’ is a spectacular example of a story we have never seen before. It took us by surprise, took us on a ride, and it swept us up in one of the most unpredictable journeys,” said Michael Rabehl, Programming Director at Cinequest.

‘Drive All Night’ follows Dave (Yutaka Takeuchi), a reclusive swing-shift taxi driver, whose night takes an unexpected turn after he picks up a mysterious passenger, Cara (Lexy Hammonds), a young woman hiding a dark secret. As she makes him drive through the city on a series of bizarre excursions, things get increasingly more surreal the further into the night they go. Sarah Dumont (‘Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse,’ ‘The Royals’) plays Morgan, a sympathetic waitress who works at a diner that Dave often frequents, while Johnny Gilligan plays Lenny, an obsessive hitman guided by strange visions, who pursues our protagonists through the night.

‘Drive All Night’ is the debut film from award-winning writer-director Peter Hsieh. While Hsieh is most known for his staged plays that have been produced and workshopped at theaters across the country, including Nylon Fusion, Hollywood Fringe, San Jose Rep’s Emerging Artist Lab (SJREAL), T. Schreiber Studio, and the Asian American Theatre Company, ‘Drive All Night’ marks his first foray into feature filmmaking. “I wanted to develop a complex and layered narrative that became increasingly more dream-like and surreal as the story developed. My goal is to take the audience down the rabbit hole on a fever dream trip through wonderland and hopefully have them come out the other side both baffled and entertained,” said Hsieh.

Muhammad Ali: Kinshasa 1974 – “The Rumble in the Jungle”

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Muhammad Ali: Kinshasa 1974 is a new graphic novel that combines the famous Abbas photographs with a story by writer JD Morvan and artist Rafael Ortiz that gives context to the pictures.  Abbas was in Kinshasa, Zaire to photograph the political unrest at the same time the famed Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman took place.  As things worked out Abbas was able to chronicle events leading up to an including the fight.

Muhammad Ali: Kinshasa 1974 is an interesting idea and looks like a well done book.  If you’d like to see more than the cover above and preview page below, click over to an interview with JD Morvan which provides more insight and preview pages.  If you’d like to order Muhammad Ali: Kinshasa 1974, it is available now.  (I will get a small percentage of each sale made using the link.)

RIP: Joan Weldon

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Joan Weldon’s family announced yesterday that the singer and actress, died on February 11, 2021, at the age of 90.  No cause of death was given.

Weldon was best known for her co-starring role in the sci-fi, horror classic Them!  Weldon’s career began her singing in the San Francisco Grand Opera Company. She later sang in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera and on Broadway,  Weldon’s acting career began in 1953.  She appeared in eleven films and made eleven guest appearances on television shows including roles on Cheyenne, Perry Mason, Have Gun Will Travel and Maverick.

After her acting career, Weldon returned to her first love, singing. She appeared in many road show productions including The Music Man and Oklahoma.  Joan Weldon retired in 1980.

I had no idea that Joan Weldon was a singer.  I knew her best from her role in Them!  I thought she was excellent.  I appreciate that she came off as smart (if not smarter) than the men in the movie and she wasn’t there to be saved.  Weldon’s career in movies and television was relatively short, but what an impact she made.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and fans.

Cast Your Vote for the Best Action Movie Posters of 2020!

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IMPAwards is now running their annual contest to determine the Best Action Movie Posters of 2020.  If you click over to their site, you’ll see all the posters in the running and you can pick your top five.  Once you submit your vote you can see the top vote getting posters (at that point).  Not a single one of my picks made the top ten.  At least so far.  Maybe your votes will help,

“The Funny Face” Trailer is Here!

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The Funny Face trailer is here!  I’m interested in seeing more.  Did you notice that Victor Garber, Dan Hedaya and Rhea Perlman were in the cast?

Release Date: 03/30/2021

Directed by: Tim Sutton

Cast: Cosmo Jarvis, Jonny Lee Miller, Dela Meskienyar, Victor Garber, Jeremy Bobb, Dan Hedaya, Rhea Perlman

Synopsis: Two young outcasts-turned-avengers meet in a late night bodega and form a bond that takes them on an ethereal, romantic, and ultimately doomed journey of revenge through a maze-like Brooklyn in the midst of great change.

“The Tunnel” Trailer is Here! 

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The Tunnel trailer is here!  Shades of Sly Stallone’s Daylight.

A tank truck crashes in a tunnel in the ice-cold Norwegian mountains, brutally trapping families, teenagers and tourists on their way home for Christmas. A blizzard is raging outside and the first responders struggle to get to the scene of the accident. The wrecked tanker catches fire and the tunnel is filled with deadly smoke. Will the help get there in time?

“Without Remorse” starring Michael B. Jordan – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Wow!  Wow!  Wow!  Finally a movie I cannot wait to see.  Check out the poster above and trailer below for Without Remorse starring Michael B. Jordan and Guy Pearce based on character created by Tom Clancy.  I know what I’ll be watching on April 30th.

In a war-torn region of Syria, an elite team of Navy SEALs led by Sr. Chief John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan) rescues a CIA operative taken hostage by ex-Russian military forces. Three months later, in apparent retaliation for his role in the mission, Kelly’s pregnant wife Pam (Lauren London) is murdered in the U.S. by a squad of masked Russian assassins. Despite being shot multiple times himself, Kelly manages to kill all but one of the attackers before being rushed to the hospital.

Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Kelly’s friend and former SEAL team member Lt. Commander Karen Greer (Jodie Turner-Smith) meets with CIA agent Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell) and Secretary of Defense Thomas Clay (Guy Pearce) to discuss their response options. Leaked news of Russia’s unprecedented attack on American soil has caused the already-strained relations between the two nations to sour further. If something isn’t done soon the result could be a full-scale war.

Healed from his injuries, a rogue Kelly tracks down the corrupt Russian diplomat who issued the passports to his wife’s murderers, and forces him at gunpoint to give up the name of the surviving assassin. Sent to prison for the crime, Kelly bargains his way out by revealing the escaped operative is one Victor Rykov (Brett Gelman), an ex-Special Forces officer currently hiding in Murmansk, Russia.

With Secretary Clay’s reluctant approval, Kelly joins Greer and Ritter on a top-secret mission to capture Rykov and bring him back to the U.S. to face justice. But en route to Murmansk, their plane is shot down by the Russian Air Force and plummets into the Bering Sea. Using their SEAL skills to survive the crash, they eventually make their way to Rykov’s location, only to discover that the murder of Kelly’s family was part of a vast international conspiracy orchestrated by powerful political figures. Torn between personal honor and loyalty to his country, and with the fate of nations hanging in the balance, Kelly has no choice but to expose the truth, no matter the cost. The explosive origin story of action hero John Clark, one of the most popular characters in author Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan universe, Without Remorse is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Stefano Sollima (Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Gomorrah, ZeroZeroZero).

What Were the Best Horror Posters of 2020? Cast Your Vote!!

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IMPAwards is running their annual contest to let fans determine the Best Horror Movie Posters of 2020.  If you click over to their site, you’ll see all the posters in the running and you can pick your top five.  Once you submit your vote you can see the top vote getting posters (at that point).  I only had one of my picks make the top five… but maybe that will change once you vote.  

“The 7th Day” Starring Guy Pearce – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I’m a Guy Pearce and Keith David fan so I am looking forward to The 7th Day.  The fact that Keith didn’t make the poster doesn’t bode well for him living to the end of the film.  As to the poster it is okay.  I did like the trailer.  If I watch The 7th Day, I know that I’ll be doing it without my wife.  She hates exorcism movies.

A renowned exorcist who teams up with a rookie priest for his first day of training. As they plunge deeper into hell on earth, the lines between good and evil blur, and their own demons emerge.

Starring: Guy Pearce, Keith David, Stephen Lang
Directed by: Justin P. Lange

THE CHAOS KIND by Barry Eisler is Coming!

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Barry Eisler has a new book coming out on September 21st.  If you’re a fan, you’ll be happy to hear that The Chaos Kind features many of Eisler’s most popular characters…

The assassins of Barry Eisler’s #1 bestseller The Killer Collective are back—and this time, it’s chaos.

Assistant US Attorney Alondra Diaz hates traffickers. And she’s determined to put one of America’s most powerful financiers, Andrew Schrader, in prison forever for his crimes against children.

But Schrader has videos implicating some of the most powerful members of the US national security state. To eliminate Diaz, the powers that be bring in a contractor: Marvin Manus, an implacable assassin whose skills have been forged in intelligence, the military, and the hardest prisons.

Enter former Marine sniper Dox and black-ops veteran Daniel Larison with an unusual assignment: not to kill Diaz, but to keep her alive.

A lot of players are determined to acquire the videos and the blackmail power they represent. But with Seattle sex-crimes detective Livia Lone, “natural causes” killer John Rain, and Mossad honey-trap specialist Delilah, the good guys might just have a chance.

They’re not going to play by anyone else’s rules. They’re not going to play by any rules at all. They want a different kind of fight. The chaos kind.

I’m looking forward to this one!  The Chaos Kind is available for pre-order now.

Meet Robin Recht and His Conan!

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The Conan drawing above was created by Robin Recht.  Recht’s art is new to me and after seeing the drawing above I searched for more information on and art by Recht.

Robin Recht is a French artist.  He studied in Paris, and has created artwork for comics and role-playing games.  From what I’ve gathered most of his comic work is published overseas.  I would definitely love to see English translations of his comic work.  

Sources: I Can’t Stop Thinking About Comics and 2dGalleries: Robin Recht.