Stardate 2008: Comic-Con Commences

That rumbling noise you hear coming from the west coast is the sound of millions of fanboys and girls descending upon the San Diego Convention Center for the 2008 Comic-Con. And, as the official schedule attests, there will be plenty of movie and television related events, as Hollywood has caught on to the marketing power of having all those fans in one place at one time (a very crowded place, too; Variety reports that Los Angeles and Las Vegas are trying to woe the con away from San Diego to larger pastures).

In addition to Star Trek (which will be handing out the nifty posters displayed above), notable films and TV shows that will have a presence at Comic-Con this year include Bitch Slap, Disney's Bolt, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Race, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, Friday the 13th, GI Joe, Hamlet 2, Land of the Lost, Lost, Max Payne, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Pineapple Express, Punisher: War Zone, Quarantine, Race to Witch Mountain, Red Sonja, Repo! The Genetic Opera, RocknRolla, The Spirit, Terminator Salvation, Twilight, Pixar's Up, Watchmen, The Wolfman, and Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, plus world premiere screenings of Lost Boys: The Tribe (the sequel to The Lost Boys that will be released on DVDJuly 29) and the one movie that couldn't be more fitting in this environment: Fanboys.

If last year is any indication, there will be a lot of news and such flying out of Southern California and onto the internets, so we'll try to post the relevant information here at Movie Dearest. Plus, our own Chris Carpenter (fresh off his Outfest assignment -- and didn't he do a great job with that, by the by?) will be braving the crowds of Klingons and Caped Crusaders on Friday. Expect a report from him this weekend; in the meantime, Entertainment Weekly has a pictorial preview of all the goings-on planned for this year's Comic-Con.

Vegas Trek to End

Star Trek: The Experience, the Federation themed attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton, will cease beaming guests aboard as of September 1.

It is curious that such a move would be made so close to the arrival of another Trek movie, but apparently the powers that be (namely: Hilton) feels that the space could be put to better (read: profitable) use. (Maybe they're Ferengis.)

At least all the Trekkies, Trekkers, et all that will be attending Creation Entertainment's Star Trek Convention in August will have a chance to stock up on Starfleet gear, Vulcan ears and Romulan Ale that will surely be at sell-out prices.

Cinematic Crush: Patrick Stewart

Crush object: Patrick Stewart, actor.

- He beamed into stardom as the down-to-earth starship captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, "making it so" for seven seasons on television and four theatrical features. Unjustly, he was never nominated for an Emmy for his performance, but he was named "Sexiest Man on Television" by TV Guide in 1992.

- He also led another team of fanboy favorites to the big screen as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men trilogy.

- Other film roles include the flamboyant Sterling in Jeffrey, plus roles in Excalibur, Dune, L.A. Story, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Conspiracy Theory, plus voices for such animated productions as The Prince of Egypt, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Chicken Little, among many others.

- Also on television, he made memorable guest appearances on The Simpsons, Frasier, American Dad! and Extras, and starred in such TV movies as I, Claudius; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Moby Dick; Mysterious Island and The Lion in Winter.

- But his first love is the theater, as evidenced by his Tony Award nominated Macbeth this past season. Other notable stage performances include his award-winning one-man version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol (he played just Scrooge in a 1999 TV movie adaptation) and such other Shakespearean works as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and Twelfth Night.

Countdown to AFI's 10 Top 10: Sci-Fi

"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not.

In either case the idea is quite staggering."

-- Arthur C. Clarke

Beam aboard as the Movie Dearest countdown to the American Film Institute's 2008 edition of their famed "100 Years" lists, AFI's 10 Top 10, continues with science fiction. Defined as a genre that "marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation", sci fi films can range from the optimistic to the bleak, and there have been plenty of both recognized by the AFI's lists in years past.

Topping out at six prior mentions apiece are two films that should provide a close race for the top spot on this top ten: Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey. And while the latter can be viewed either way, the former is certainly in the optimistic camp (unlike its not nominated sequel, The Empire Strikes Back), as is the next highest placer, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (five previous listings). However, next up is another Stanley Kubrick masterpiece, A Clockwork Orange (four previous listings), that is certainly of the downer variety.

Three more classics come in next with three prior mentions: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Frankenstein, the oldest movie among the fifty nominees (see the comments section below for the full list). Rounding out the strong possibilities from previous lists are Alien, Blade Runner, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Planet of the Apes (all with two apiece), Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Soylent Green and The War of the Worlds (all with one previous mention), plus the lone AFI Award winner, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Of the possible newcomers to the list, the one that I would most like to see in the top ten, Children of Men, is also the most recent of the nominees. Other contenders include such popular favorites as Back to the Future, Fantastic Voyage, Forbidden Planet, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Invisible Man, Minority Report, Robocop, Silent Running, The Time Machine and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, representing the entire Trek franchise.

Mark your calendars for June 17, the date the results will be revealed when AFI's 10 Top 10 airs on CBS.

Star Trek: The Sex Generation

Here's proof that there was a lot more going on aboard the Starship Enterprise then just beaming up and down and loading photon torpedoes:

• First up, a rather extensive video montage of the Federation's own major playah, Captain James Tiberius Kirk, mackin' on all those alien babes; seriously, did anyone else on the crew ever get laid when he was around?
• Or if that is too much for you, then Spock brings sexy back to Captain J.T. ... with a little J.T.
• And here's another one ... if you like it a little rough.
• And finally: ladies and gentlemen, the sensual song stylings of Mr. George Takei.

For more Star Trek "inspirational posters" like the one above, visit Echosphere.net.