Kirstie Alley, R.I.P.

Above, Kirstie Alley as Lt. Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Photo by Paramount Pictures.

Just before going to bed, I read that actress Kirstie Alley had passed away yesterday at age 71 of cancer. This was quite a surprise as I followed her on Twitter and enjoyed reading her posts. She was definitely independent-minded and didn't follow the Hollywood party line. As an article in ET Canada indicates, the cancer was only recently discovered.

Above, a Kirstie Alley tweet from September 2020.

She is best known for being on Cheers, but since I rarely watched that show, I mostly remember her debut in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) as Vulcan Lt. Saavik.

From ET Canada:

Actress Kirstie Alley, 71, died battling cancer, according to a statement by her children, True and Lillie Parker.

Alley, who made her film debut in the 1982 film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, was surrounded by her family when she passed away. The family shared a statement on social media, which read, “We are sad to inform you that our incredible, fierce and loving mother has passed away after a battle with cancer, only recently discovered.”

She will be missed.

To read more, go here.

William Shatner At L.A. Comic Con December 4

An email came in from the Los Angeles Comic Con announcing that William Shatner will be a special guest:

William Shatner is Coming to L.A. Comic Con

William Shatner, best known for his iconic role as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek, will be appearing on Sunday, December 4th for autographs, photo ops and a Main Stage panel with Legion M, the world's first fan-owned entertainment company. Pre-purchase William Shatner's autographs and photo ops today!

GET TICKETS TODAY

I couldn't pass up adding this to commemorate Shatner's suborbital trip into space aboard Blue Origin:

From Wikipedia:

L.A. Comic Con is a three-day multi-genre convention held annually in downtown Los Angeles, California. L.A. Comic Con is one of the largest independent conventions in the United States and encompasses several categories, including comic, horror, sci-fi, anime, gaming, and pop culture, with a particular focus on the local Los Angeles community.

The convention was founded as Comikaze Expo in 2011 by Regina Carpinelli and her two younger brothers, fans of geek culture from Temecula, California.

Revisiting "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"

The other night (Tuesday night, to be exact), I went over to the local CD Trader Store (they sell new and used DVDs, CDs and vinyl) to pick up some movies.

I was in the mood to re-visit the Star Trek movies featuring the original cast of the 1960s television show.

It was just my luck that they had a set of all of the movies, beginning with Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and ending with Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (1991). It is pictured at left.

After I got home, I sat down to watch the movie over some chocolate chip ice cream.

The movie, directed by Robert Wise, hasn't aged very well, to say the least. Frankly, it was a colossal bore when it came out in 1979 and it remains a colossal bore today. The special effects were a disappointment, despite having John Dykstra and Douglas Trumbull on board. Granted, the special effects were before digital imaging. Matte lines and other flaws were very apparent.

Above, the refitted and rebuilt Enterprise in space dock.

At least the next entry in the movie series, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) had a much better story and much better special effects.

It was interesting to see a much younger and thinner William Shatner.