Category Entertainment

Dec 10 2016

The Greatest Star Trek Hallmark Ornaments

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When it comes to ornaments, Star Wars may be the big thing given the abundance of Hallmark ornaments that are all over the stores now. However, Star Trek fans know all too well that their beloved franchise started the Hallmark ornament craze back in 1991 with the release of the original Enterprise ornament.

Over the years, Hallmark has made some truly beautiful Keepsake ornaments about Star Trek and that tradition continues. While the amount of ornaments available may pale when compared to Star Wars, there is solid demand for Star Trek Hallmark ornaments and it looks like it be with us for a long time.

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What makes these Star Trek ornaments so beloved are Hallmark’s attention to detail. Each ornament is a painstakingly accurate rendition of the ship or character. They can be displayed all year long on your desk or wherever, they don’t just belong on a Christmas tree, though they’re often the highlights of a decorated one. Fans also can look forward to the featured lights or sounds that many of the ornaments have. One advantage the Star Trek ship ornaments have over the Star Wars ship ornaments is that they light up. For some reason few of the Star Wars ship ornaments have this feature, they mostly just make noise or have dialogue.

enterprise-dThis light up feature has been with the ornaments from the very beginning and hopefully will remain with future ornaments. But one problem with the older ornaments (and this applies to the earlier Star Wars ship ornaments) is that they had to be screwed into the light socket of a Christmas tree light. There is a limit to how many ships you can do that with and it’s a real pain to yank out a light bulb, stick in the ornament plug then replace the bulb at the end of the Holiday season. Also the lights have changed over the years necessitating having to use adapters.

The newer ornaments instead come with batteries but now the ships won’t stay lit continuously. But it’s a good solution and Hallmark should give serious thought to re-issuing the older ornaments like the Romulan warbird or the Enterprise-E with this feature.

As long as there are the fans and the creators at Hallmark can come up with new ideas each year, the Star Trek ornaments will be a mainstay in any fan’s Holiday wish list.  And yes, they make wonderful gifts for Star Trek fans. Listed below are the ten best Star Trek ship ornaments and the ten best character/diorama ornaments.

Characters/Dioramas

TIE: 10. Arena (2013)/Amok Time (2010): Both ornaments feature Star Trek’s memorable battle music, perfect for the Holidays.

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9. Lt. Commander Worf (1999): The mighty Klingon is ready to fight in this striking pos and it’s one of the best sculpted character ornaments.

8. Star Trek Legends #1 Captain James T. Kirk (2010): What list would be complete without a solo ornament of Star Trek’s greatest captain?

7. To Boldly Go (2016): Good luck finding this one! Perfect diorama of to-boldly-goKirk, Spock and McCoy to celebrate Star Trek’s 50th anniversary.

6. The Needs of the Many (2015): From the final moments of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock’s farewell to Kirk evoked the sad passing of Leonard Nimoy.

5.  Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2007): This diorama ornament lets you relive the confrontation via viewscreen between the Enterprise and the Reliant.

4. Locutus of Borg (2005): What makes this ornament stand out are the bright lights of Locutus’ station, which goes well in a Christmas tree.

3. Transporter Chamber (2006): No one can stop pressing the button on this ornament to hear the sights and sounds of the transporter in action.

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2. City on the Edge of Forever (2004): The first Star Trek diorama ornament is still one of the best looking ones as Kirk and Spock dive through the Guardian of Forever.

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1. The Trouble with the Tribbles (2008): True story; yours truly inspired this ornament. Years ago I used to leave comments on the forum Trekbbs.com. Some of the threads were about a wish list for ornaments and I left a reply that Hallmark should recreate the iconic funny moment in “The Trouble With The Tribbles” where Kirk is flooded with hundreds of tribbles. Lo and behold, a couple of years later this ornament comes out and on another thread on the site about ornaments, I commented that someone at Hallmark must be reading the forum. To my surprise someone replied to my comment stating that he or she was a sculptor at Hallmark and usually perused the forum for ornament ideas. You’re welcome. I’ll take one of those rare convention ornaments as a reward, please.

Ships

10. U.S.S. Enterprise “pilot version” (2016): Another re-issue of the Enterprise is highlighted by its shiny gold covering to commemorate Star Trek’s 50th anniversary.

TIE 9. U.S.S. Enterprise-C (2015)/Klingon Battle Cruiser (2009): This Enterprise is the most underrated ship ornament, while the Klingon ship looks quite imposing hanging from a tree branch.

8. Romulan Warbird (1995): Its large size and greenish tones/lights make this one of the best looking Star Trek ornaments.

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7. Klingon Bird of Prey (1994): This ornament surprisingly blends in well in Christmas trees thanks to its colorful detailing and lights.

TIE 6. U.S.S. Enterprise (2006)/ Delta Flyer (2002): For those who couldn’t get the original Enterprise, and the Delta Flyer is the best of the obscure ship ornaments.

ds95. Deep Space Nine (2001): This larger than normal ornament allows you to hook on mini-ornaments of Star Trek ships to its pylons.

4. U.S.S. Enterprise-D (1992): Don’t bother with the 2012 unlit version, get this one instead, it looks awesome lit up.

3. U.S.S. Defiant (1997): A personal favorite recreation of one of the best looking and hardiest Star Trek ships.

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2. U.S.S. Enterprise-A (2005): The first ornament to require batteries to operate and a lovingly detailed replica of the best movie ship.

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1. U.S.S. Enterprise (1991): The one that started it all is still the best and most prized Star Trek ornament. Trying to find one at a reasonable price online or in a convention is a feat unto itself but it’s worth it because it’s the Holy Grail of Star Trek ornaments.  The other ornaments that followed may be more detailed and more refined than this Enterprise ornament but this one holds a special charm in its elegance and function. A definite must-have for any collector.

José Soto

 

Dec 3 2016

Here It Is, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2 The Second Official Trailer

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For a while we were all in a dry spell of trailers. Usually by this time of the year, we would’ve been exposed to cool trailers for upcoming films. But sadly the only thing we’ve had of late was a trailer for the reboot of The Mummy. “Yawn”

Thankfully, that all changed when this scrumptious trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 dropped a few minutes ago and not a moment too soon! It may be labeled as a teaser trailer, but don’t let that fool you, we had one already back in October. That one was an actual teaser that didn’t reveal anything about the plot, just a few quick glimpses of our favorite space heroes (sorry Luke and Kirk).

Actually this trailer follows the same format. Only this time instead of Star-Lord/Peter Quill and Drax, the featured characters are the scene stealers Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Rather, that is Baby Groot and the adorable little seedling upstages the caustic Rocket with his squeaky voice. Of course, he only utters “I am Groot” but it’s all in the delivery! Not only is Baby Groot so cuddly but he’s a little badass! Look at the way he chases after the bad guy, it’s the stuff of a Looney Tunes cartoon!

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This time, more action and thrills are shown, including giant space monsters and spaceship battles. Plus, we get our first look at Mantis and she looks awesomely seductive and alien! Guessing from this trailer, we’ll probably get a couple more character-centric trailers. Gamora is next, along with Yondu and Nebula. Maybe they’ll mix it up and feature Star-Lord again as he meets his father, who happens to be Ego the Living Planet as played by the great Kurt Russell. Anyhow, this trailer just whets our collective appetites for next summer and it’s clear that Marvel Studios has another winner in its hands with Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. So, hey Marvel, how about giving us a look at Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok? Don’t worry, those are sure to drop soon as are trailers for hotly anticipated movies for 2017.

But for now, kick back and enjoy the Rocket and Baby Groot antics in the latest trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. It’s very funny and we could all use a good laugh in light of recent events in the real world.

Waldermann Rivera

Nov 22 2016

Take A Timeless Journey With The Latest Time Travel TV Show

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It seems like time travel TV shows are the rage lately. The latest one, Timeless, airs on NBC and it actually stands out from the pack. When looking at its premise, Timeless seems fairly formulaic in its premise: a trio travel through time to protect history from a villain out to change it. It’s what goes on each week on Legends of Tomorrow and many Doctor Who episodes. Yet, somehow Timeless manages to be refreshingly engaging, inventive and fun to watch.

Lincoln killed by FlynnThe credit for this largely goes to the scripts. The screenwriters took a tired premise and just ran with it. They actually address some of the challenges of time traveling and the preparation needed for it. For instance, before heading out on a mission the time traveling trio have to go to be properly attired and carry the right kind of currency. Then surprisingly, the show actually allows history to be changed and left altered at the episode’s end! In one episode, John Wilkes Booth never assassinated President Lincoln, instead that deed was done by the show’s antagonist Garcia Flynn (Gorin Visnjic) and it’s part of history now. In another episode the Hindenburg landed safely in New Jersey only to be destroyed later on.

timeless

Then there is the fact that two of the time travelers, Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) and Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), are disadvantaged in their temporal journeys by who they are. Rufus is African-American and winds up in less enlightened periods where he is liable to be treated as property, while Lucy, being a woman, is also looked down upon in the past despite her depth of knowledge. These characters are also imperfect with their own faults. While being a brilliant scientist and engineer, Rufus doesn’t have practical know-how in surviving, first aid and has to rely on the third member of the group, Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) a Delta Force soldier. The three don’t quite get along with each other let alone have a shared trust. And that is for good reason. Each of them have their own agenda.

Wyatt more than anything wants to find a way to use time travel to save his wife but is prevented from doing this. Adding to his bitterness is that Lucy’s sister was erased from existence after they came back from a time mission and now Lucy openly is operating to undo this damage. As for Rufus, he doesn’t find any joy in time traveling and would rather be behind a keyboard. But he is forced into the missions to spy on the other two by a mysterious and secretive group with their own agenda, which includes stopping Flynn.

This running conspiracy is a major flaw in Timeless. As imaginative and exciting as Timeless is, team timelessthe conspiracy arc is often trite and gets in the way. But lately it is adding to the show’s mythology and character motives. But the best development about this conspiracy is that it is making us viewers question whether or not Garcia Flynn is truly evil. He is on a quest to change American history in order to erase the existence of the group’s unseen, but nefarious leader, Rittenhouse. Flynn is doing this to avenge the death of his family at Rittenhouse’s hands. Adding to this unease is that Flynn carries a journal written in the future by Lucy and hints that she will ally with him down the road. So we can all hope that this Rittenhouse conspiracy will lead to something worthwhile.

timeless-travelers

Now adding to the enjoyment of Timeless is that the show isn’t afraid to do some real time traveling. In each episode the travelers go to distinctly different eras. From 1940s Germany to 1750s North America, the episodes reveal interesting tidbits about those time periods, and thankfully the production values are up to par when it comes to presenting these time periods. But most of all, Timeless is always entertaining and often leaves you hanging during the commercial breaks. It has room to grow, but hopefully as its title hints, Timeless will have time to fully live up to its potential.

José Soto

Nov 17 2016

Exploring The Ending Of Arrival

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WARNING: This article will contain huge spoilers about the alien contact film Arrival. Anyone who hasn’t seen it yet should skip what lies ahead….

What set Arrival apart from other sci-fi films about the First Contact scenario had to do with it’s ending, which upended the meaning of much of the film. Throughout Arrival, there were numerous flashbacks regarding the linguist Louise Banks and her young daughter Hannah. We witness Hannah being born, living her young life and dying from a disease. This was done to set up Louise as a tragic figure, but we learn late into the film that these sequences are actually flashforwards. We were actually seeing what happened to Louise Banks after the aliens (heptapods) left Earth.

So why were we seeing these glimpses into the future?

It all goes back to her attempts to communicate with the heptapods. The only way human and alien were able to communicate was through written language. The aliens’ language, which consists of a series of circular inkblots, was quite complex and to understand it, one had to think non-linear. This is because the heptapods do not perceive time as cause and effect like we do…they can see into the past and future. It’s why they came to Earth in the first place. As they reveal to Louise, they arrived to establish relations with us because the heptapods will need humanity’s help 3,000 years in the future. They had the foresight to see that they would need our help and we needed a jumpstart. Hence, their gift to us in the form of their language.

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With the language, a person will be able to perceive time in a non-linear way. This will have a profound effect on how we carry on our lives if we are able to accurately perceive the future. But is this possible?

In the film, it’s mentioned that in order to understand a language, the wiring of one’s brain, so to speak, has to be radically altered. Imagine if that happened when deciphering a language from a completely non-human species. But for humanity to completely understand the heptapods’ language, our minds would have to evolve. So how was Louise able to perceive time differently?

The answer is that she was altered by the heptapod, Costello, when she was brought into the aliens’ ship. It’s established in Arrival that the aliens inhabit an environment that isn’t Earthlike and do not even breath our air. Whenever human and alien communicated there was a glass barrier separating the two environments. However, when the situation turned dire in the final act as the Chinese military was about to attack the heptapods, Louise was brought into the aliens’ environment without an environmental suit. She couldn’t have survived in the inhospitable environment and the only way she could have existed was if they altered her physiology during the transit to their ship. Minutes after she meets Costello face to face she is able to fully see into the future and understands their written language without the aid of computer programs.

That is the true tragedy in Arrival’s ending. While Louise is able to prevent a war thanks to taking advantage of being able to perceive time differently, now she has the terrible foreknowledge of her doomed daughter. She is fully aware that she will give birth to daughter that will die at a young age. This brings up the question of predestination and fate. During Arrival’s ending, she could have made the choice to not let Hannah be born to spare her the suffering.

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Instead, she gives in to fate and allows herself to love her colleague Ian Donnelly, the mysterious never-seen father of Hannah in the flashforwards. Thus, she sets forth her predestiny and Hannah’s, as well. Why do this? Why not use her ability to find a way to cure Hannah? Perhaps, she was afraid of the Butterfly Effect unraveling the initial contact with the heptapods that could have doomed humanity. It is strongly hinted in the film, that this was why Louise and Ian broke up. This just adds more to the tragic element. Louise knows the pain that awaits her, yet she makes the personal sacrifice for the sake of preserving the future and humanity and in doing so, Louise Banks becomes an even more heroic figure in Arrival.

Lewis T. Grove

Nov 13 2016

Arrival Brings Non-Linear Food For Thought

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Arrival is the new sci-fi First Contact movie directed by visionary director Denis Villeneuve and stars Amy Adams as Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist recruited by Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) of the U.S. military to help communicate with newly arrived aliens. These aliens arrived on Earth in twelve giant spaceships that have taken up spots around the world and no one is able to communicate with them. What is at stake are rising tensions and paranoia due to the aliens’ arrival. As world powers grow more and more trigger happy, it’s up to Banks to find a way to break through the insurmountable language barrier between the two races before it’s too late.

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In film, the First Contact scenario isn’t anything new and Arrival echoes aspects of past sci-fi films in this subgenre like Contact, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Arrival also borrows elements from films such as Signs and Interstellar in regards to the worldwide reaction to alien arrival and head-spinning scientific concepts. What sets Arrival apart from other films in the subgenre is its mature tone and exploration of the hurdles humanity would face in this scenario.

These beings that have come to Earth are genuinely alien. Without spoiling their appearance, what can be stated is that they aren’t the standard humanoids with bumpy foreheads. In fact, their appearance belies the fact that they came from an environment totally unlike Earth’s and that was quite refreshing to see. Also welcome, was that the focus of the film was not on alien invasion with evil E.T.s and heroics from the military. Rather the fundamental dilemma, the driving force of the film is how can we communicate with beings from a completely foreign environment without any relatable frame of reference. It is bad enough that we have trouble communicating with each other so how can this be done in a First Contact situation without leading to war?

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Instead of going for pyrotechnics, Villeneuve sticks with this concept and the result is a slow burn of a film that delivers so much food for thought, especially in the final act. It’s a thought-provoking and wondrous journey thanks to Villeneuve’s careful direction and the cinematography. Every frame is carefully and beautifully staged to tell a story in a visual sense that quietly engages the viewer, while telling a personal story about Banks. Adams gives one of her best performances as her character feels the enormity of her task since she sees all around her the consequences of her failure to properly translate the aliens’ language.

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Without giving anything away, the last third of Arrival ramps up the tension while bringing forth high-brow concepts of non-linear time and how we perceive time in general. It should be pointed out in reference to the film’s tagline of why they are here, although this question is on the mind of many characters, the answer isn’t dwelled upon. Instead, the emotional climax of the film is on Banks herself and her own personal story, which has relevance to humanity’s plight in trying to establish a dialogue with the aliens.

For some, Arrival may be too slow moving, but it has a satisfying payoff for the patient viewer who does not go into the film expecting pyrotechnics or shoot-em-ups. This film is more serious and weighty without being pretentious. There is much to recommend about Arrival, from the performances from Adams, Whitaker and Jeremy Renner as Ian Donnelly, a physicist helping Banks, to Villeneuve’s strong directing and the visual look of the film. But the script by Eric Heisserer, which is adapted from the award-winning short story by Ted Chiang called “Story of Your Life”, is to be commended as well for taking audiences into unfamiliar territory and in examining how a First Contact situation between us and extra-terrestrial might actually play out.

Lewis T. Grove