Star Trek Beyond's machine finally peeps—for charity!

I was just saying on Facebook & the Twits how this has been the quietest Star Trek
movie
launch ever, especially of the Social Media age.

Perhaps it was just to get beyond a no-show amid the noise of San Diego Comic-Con (for STB, anyway)... because this popped up today.

Good on you, Paramount/Bad Robot, and entire cast. (Looks like the bridge made it to Vancouver, anyway. Maybe with a little less plexi, hmmm?)

And Make a Wish, always one of Gene's and Majel's fave causes, is in the mix, too:

 

And yes... stay tuned: with a few weeks to breathe, here, I WILL attack my own backlog of recent and new vids to post before Vegas Khaaann. Really.

That third "Disruptions" teaser for INTO DARKNESS

So, I'm headed to a STID screening tonight ... eight days prior to the formal May 16 opening, with more screening to follow... and with considerably less angst that I did four years ago with ST09.

You TREKLAND readers know I've barely touched on Into Darkness so far—my reason being you can get drowned in that everywhere else and I'll stick to the unique takes on "everything else" I want to bring you instead.

In fact, I'm almost regretting finally seeing the damn thing after all the wait... it's going to cut off my "virgin" perspective on all the passing speculation, and also the untainted questioning of marketing goals and ambitions.

In that vein, then yeah—let's talk about that little trailer, the "Third Disruptions Teaser." (see it below) The one that caused such a brouhahah last week among Klingon fans online for its glimpse of a "non-canon" departure in Klingon look.... Really? You're upset about this? Isn't that just Chang's family? Bear in mind, too, that just as not all surviving Romulans have a tattoo—only Nero's miners-turned-henchmen—not all Klingons look lke this, nor have "glowy eyes." Do we know what they're on? Or what they might be wearing? Well, we'll find out soon enough—and have another 30 years to fix it, if we need to. But I doubt it.

No, what got my attention in that third "Disruptions" teaser was a single word—and I bet it flew right past you, saying a ton without saying it out loud: the re-drawing of Trek's troika. Listen here (below) as Uhura is described as the ship's "soul" —to cap off, on the other two "Disruptions,"  Kirk being the "heart" and Spock being the "mind." Right there, ladies and gentlemen, far more than any Klingon makeup tweaks, you have confirmed the major affect of a 21st century feature producer's take on Gene's classic sandbox: Kirk/Spock/McCoy is now Kirk/Spock/Uhura.

Or... maybe that's just marketing by a bunch of after-market editors with access to Cumberbatch's "promo extras" contract. Maybe it's a bow to perhaps endless focus groups who want a female lead in their flicks in general, and McCoy's place truly is still the third seat in the Trek triumvirate (as some early-bird reviewers have said.) And not to say that Trek shouldn't have strong female leads, obviously;  there was a lot to beef up with Nyota "And how often do I get shore leave?" Uhura that poor Nichelle would have gladly loved to take on in her "sub-second banana" days of pre-ensemble 60s TV formats. The TOS movies made up a little of that ground for her, but not much.

But it sure looks like modern movie format sensibilities have taken over "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." In any case, even for marketing's sake for English-language consumers, it's as interesting a perceived plot for success as that pedal-to-the-metal global hoopla tour to again try to crack open a Trek worldwide audience beyond the known UK, Australian and German outposts.  Karl Urban's McCoy is one of the quiet gems of the JJVerse, and neither one has really gotten much overt love in any of the posters, trailers, and press clambakes so far that I can see.

Then again, that's just about the way it always was with De and his McCoy.

We'll soon see.

So bring on The Darkness... and maybe I'll see you at the Khan.

STV: The Enterprise is coming up Roses!

Happy new year! Did you see the latest incarnation of your favorite starship on Monday, flying down the Rose Parade?

Thanks to Paramount's centennial float in the parade with 50+ million TV viewers, much of planet Sol III got to see once again the Big E in all its JJ-verse incarnation glory, atop a bevy of other studio icons.

It's a tradition that all Rose Parade floats are parked nearby for another full day after the parade so that locals and tourists alike can give them another once-over in a carnival-like atmosphere. In 17 years I'd never gone over to see, so what better time than now?

Kudos to Paramount's team for the design choices: between Bumblebee from Transformers, the Greased Lightning car from Grease, the iconic old Bronson Gate, and even the Hollywood sign, much less the Enterprise), this parked float a day later was even hotter than most for posed pics and camera hounds of all ages. Even though Paramount didn't win a formal prize trophy, I heard more than one passer-by mutter, "Oh—this was my favorite!" And then patinetly waitd for a spot to get their picture snapped.

So here's a little more sights, sounds and info for you guys living a tad too far from Pasadena to make the drive:



Thanks also to the kind mom who snapped my pic for posterity and sent me the best chat of the day my way, courtesy her son.  Her 3-three-year old was already thrilled to see the 20-foot Bumblebee:
HIM: "I have all the Bumblebee toys."
ME: "Cool. See the Enterprise? I have all the *Enterprise* toys."
HIM: (Eyeballs me a second) I want to come to YOUR house."

Note that this was not the first Enterprise to grace the Rose Parade: in 1992, Paramount had a giant solo 1701 all by itself (via crane) and honor Star Trek's 25th anniversary season—and only a couple months after Gene's death, too.

STV: Live from Vegas—It's Dehner time!

Before I FINALLY get the full batch of pics and video  up from Vegas Trek '11...let me just say:

I am proud to have been Mary "@Televixen" Czerwinski's first video endorser in her clever and hearltfelt drive to get the character of Dr. Dehner into the next JJ movie—she of the ill-fated and very reluctant godhood alongside Gary Mitchell in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." All of this, of course, to get a chance to be able to PLAY her!

If you've seen Mary at cons or heard her on DVDGeeks, or caught her in one of her acting or modeling gigs, you'll know this blonde ain't no bimbette. Thus it's no surprise that Mary has a great blog with some thoughftul posts and musings about Dehner at her campaign site, aptly named makemedehner.com.

But why go one and on about it here? When we can have Dr. Dehner tell you herself...fresh from Vegas (with Ariel "@trexmatetrix" Roy as the Intendent, too!):