Harvey Korman and others, R.I.P.

"Now, go do that voodoo that you do so well!"

Thursday evening, the news broke that the great multi-talented comedic actor Harvey Korman passed away at the age of 81.

We used to watch "The Carol Burnett Show" and the spin-off "Mama's Family" all the time when I was a kid, and he'll probably (and justifiably so) be remembered for his work on those shows. We shouldn't forget about his guest appearances on so many other TV shows, including "The Muppet Show" and "The Star Wars Holiday Special", and his movies with Tim Conway.

I'll remember him most for his brilliant turn as villain Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles.

We've lost too many talented people from the entertainment industry in the past week or so: director/actor/producer Sydney Pollack; actor/director Joseph Pevney; the friendly half of Rowan and Martin, Dick Martin; composer Earle Hagen; and the composer of eight of the most famous notes in entertainment history, Alexander Courage.

Trek Remastered -- "Whom Gods Destroy" and "The Mark of Gideon"

I missed last week's episode, "Whom Gods Destroy", so this is a double-shot preview. I'll get a chance to catch it on Saturday night's rerun.

"Whom Gods Destroy", as mentioned in this review, is a real departure for the series. It's almost like an episode of Batman, especially with Batgirl herself, Yvonne Craig, as an Orion slave girl.

"The Mark of Gideon" is the episode where Captain Kirk is held aboard an empty replica of the Enterprise on an overpopulated planet. I suppose they had no money and had to reuse the ship sets for that week's episode.

Trek Remastered -- "A Private Little War"

This week's episode is Trek's commentary on the ongoing Vietnam War, "A Private Little War". The Federation and the Klingon Empire arm opposing sides of a primitive culture in this mid-Second Season ep. But the important thing to remember about this one is... the Mugato!

Gnome Stew is ready

For several years you could count on an insightful daily gaming post from Martin or a guest blogger over at Treasure Tables. It was a shame when TT went on hiatus, but understandable. I've tried to update Kaijuville twice a week and you can see how often that happens. The TT archives, forums and wiki are still active.

Martin and some other TT regulars have just started Gnome Stew, a multi-author blog dedicated to game masters and GMing. They are all very knowledgeable, experienced, and good at writing about those topics. Take a look!

Julie Ege, R.I.P.

Julie Ege, who starred in Hammer's Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, passed away on April 29th.

Ege was born in Høyland, Sandnes; where she was a Miss Norway and Miss Universe contestant (and later a Penthouse Pet). In 1967, she moved to England as an au pair to improve her English.

She made her film debut in a low budget Norwegian film The Sky and the Ocean, appeared in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service (as Helen, the Scandinavian girl) and later starred in Hammer Film Productions' The Creatures the World Forgot and the Hammer/Shaw Brothers co-production The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. She also appeared in the 'Gluttony' segment of the movie The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins, Jack Cardiff's The Freakmaker and Freddie Francis' Craze with Jack Palance.

Julie Ege was married and divorced twice, lived in Oslo where she worked as a nurse until her death from breast cancer and is survived by two daughters.

Wikipedia entry

Filmography and photo page (update) (some NSFW)

Times Online obit

Hammer and Beyond Blog obit (photo NSFW)

Trek Remastered -- "Court Martial"

Rights, sir – human rights! The Bible. The Code of Hammurabi. And of Justinian. The Magna Carta. The Constitution of the United States. The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies. The Statutes of Alpha III. Gentlemen, these documents all speak of rights!

Kirk is ordered to face a court martial at Starbase 11 when the circumstances surrounding a crewman's death are thrown into doubt. Kirk's lawyer Samuel T. Cogley must call on the assistance of the Enterprise crew in order to clear Kirk's name.

...

One of my favorite episodes is on this weekend. This is from the first season, and it gives us a lot of Trek backstory. It's the first time in the series that the Enterprise visits a starbase. And it's just a great hour of dramatic television.

Cogley is played by noted character actor Elisha Cook, Jr., who was so memorable in movies like The Maltese Falcon, Shane, The Killing, and House on Haunted Hill.

A preview image from the Remastered ep is at this page.

And I repeat, I speak of rights. A machine has none. A man must. My client has the right to face his accuser, and if you do not grant him that right, you have brought us down to the level of the machine. Indeed, you have elevated that machine above us. I ask that my motion be granted, and more than that, gentlemen, in the name of humanity, fading in the shadow of the machine, I demand it. I demand it!

Trek Remastered -- "Assignment: Earth"

This weekend's episode is "Assignment: Earth", where the crew travels to 1968 and encounters a being named Gary Seven. Is he friend or foe?

The last episode of the Second Season is notable for several reasons, chiefly because it was intended to be the pilot for a new series.

Women of Hammer Horror Films

Speaking of Hammer horror films, someone recently posted a photo gallery of actresses seen in Hammer films (via BoingBoing).

Thanks to Edige for pointing this out to me.

Hazel Court, R.I.P.

I wanted to post this last week but time got away from me:

Hazel Court, an English beauty who co-starred with the likes of Boris Karloff and Vincent Price in "The Raven" and other popular horror movies of the 1950s and '60s, has died. She was 82.

Court died Tuesday at her home near Lake Tahoe from a heart attack, her daughter, Sally Walsh of Los Angeles, said Wednesday.

Roger Corman directed Hazel Court in five movies, turning Ms. Court into one of the classic "scream queens" of that era. She co-starred with the likes of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson.

Read more at IHT, The Telegraph or The Times. Luckily for us, she finished her autobiography which is on sale now.

A note about the NFL Draft

And a humorous article:

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/09/07/the-most-wonderful-day-of-the-year/

Trek Remastered -- "Mudd's Women"

The introduction of con-man Harcourt Fenton Mudd and his "cargo" is this week's episode, "Mudd's Women".

Here's a look at the schedule for the next few weeks:

"Assignment: Earth" (weekend of May 3rd)
"Court Martial" (weekend of May 10th)
"A Private Little War" (weekend of May 17th)
"Whom Gods Destroy" (weekend of May 24th)
"The Mark of Gideon" (weekend of May 31st)

Trek Remastered -- schedule change

According to Trekmovie.com, "Mudd's Women" -- the episode scheduled for this week -- will be shown next week. A repeat of "The Conscience of the King" will air in its place. I didn't write about that one when it first aired last September so I will do so this time.

Next week's episode was supposed to be "The Cage", the original pilot with Jeffery Hunter as Captain Pike. It hasn't been added back into this season's schedule, but maybe it will be in with the proposed 2008/2009 schedule .

Here's hoping that they do offer another season... the Remastered DVD sets are slowly being released (although that's another story), but there's just something fun and nostalgic about watching Trek in syndication again.

Trek Remastered -- "Obsession"

Captain Kirk is determined to hunt down a vampiric cloud creature in this week's Remastered episode, "Obsession".

Trek Remastered -- "The Enterprise Incident"

In this week's Remastered episode, "The Enterprise Incident", Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise into Romulan space unexpectedly, the ship is captured, and Kirk and Spock are held captive aboard their flagship. All according to plan -- they're on a secret mission!

As a kid I often wondered why the Romulans would be using Klingon-designed ships. Fans speculated that there was a Klingon-Romulan alliance, but the truth is more mundane. The Klingon ship model was expensive and the producers wanted to get as much use out of it as possible. The freedom of CG effects has now allowed for a Warbird to make an appearance and bird-of-prey markings on the undersides of the Klingon-designed battle cruisers.

The teaser photos are sweet! I'm looking forward to see what else they enhance in this terrific espionage-themed episode.

Upcoming Hammer DVD News

As you may know, we're big Hammer Film fans here in Kaijuville. Most of the popular titles have already been released on DVD, some still in print and some not.

Sony, like Warner and Universal, is releasing a box of Hammer movies. This time it's a 2-disc set they're calling Icons of Adventure, including 4 historical adventure films originally released by Columbia Pictures. The titles are Stranglers of Bombay (1960), directed by Terence Fisher, Terror of the Tongs (1961), Pirates of Blood River (1962), and Devil Ship Pirates (1964). Christopher Lee stars in the last three. They may have aired on local TV at some point, but I've never seen any of these. Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster provides three audio commentaries and there should be some other extras. It's due on June 10th.

Fox is also releasing The Nanny starring Bette Davis next week. That's another one I haven't seen but I'm more excited about the adventure films.

I'll update the Hammer DVD list accordingly.

Trek Remastered -- "Elaan of Troyius"

The Enterprise transports Elaan, Dohlman of Elas, to an arranged marriage on Troyius in this week's episode, "Elaan of Troyius". It's a good story with some interesting conflicts that are unusual for the Original Series.

There's a short battle sequence with a Klingon warship -- the model's first appearance in the series -- which might be the highlight of any new digital effects.

Lights out for energy efficiency -- Earth Hour tonight

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

See the offical Earth Hour page and Google's Earth Hour page.

Trek Remastered -- "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"

This week's episode is "Is There in Truth No Beauty", a story involving an alien ambassdor from a species so physically different from humans, the sight of him causes insanity. It's one of the best Third Season shows and (although I didn't get it as a kid) a premise straight out of Lovecraft.

I'm not sure what to expect from the new CG effects. Certainly new galactic barrier shots, maybe a hint at what the Medusan ambassador really looks like?

Update: review, screenshots and video.

Trek Remastered -- "That Which Survives"

"I am for Kirk!"

The episode of the week is "That Which Survives", where a beautiful computer projection defends a dead planet.

I'm not sure if there will be any surprises from CBS Digital in this one. Maybe a new planetscape establishing shot, or updated effects in the matter/antimatter access tunnel when Scotty crawls in there.

Trek Remastered -- "By Any Other Name"

This week's episode is the one where aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy take human form, hijack the Enterprise, and reduce most of the crew into dehydrated Styrofoam-like crystals. Lots of good character bits, especially Scotty drinking one of the aliens under the table.

The highlight has to be the new planet digital matte shown above. That's going to look amazing in HD!

Preview images and original shots here.