Comic-Con: Chris Pine phones in*

At a panel for the animated movie "Quantum Quest," the new Captain Kirk, Chris Pine, called co-director Dr. Harry Kloor, who promptly put his cellphone up to the microphone -- so that Pine could address the crowd and promote the movie. 

Pine went over points including his desire to be a voiceover actor ("Cause they always looked like they were having the most fun."), the funny faces he made while in the voiceover booth, and his newfound respect and interest in science because of his participation in the movie ("If I had had a movie like this when I was younger, I may have been more into it.")

The panel included Robert Picardo of "Star Trek Voyager" and Doug Jones of many things ("Hellboy"). The movie itself is a star-studded event that includes the voices of William Shatner (when Kirks collide!), Jason Alexander, Samuel L. Jackson, Hayden Christensen, Amanda Peet, James Earl Jones, and astronaut Neil Armstrong. The notoriously reclusive Armstorng even sent along a video supporting both the movie and advancements in scienctific education.

-- Jevon Phillips

*UPDATED: This post has been changed to correct the name of the film from "Quantum Effect" to "Quantum Quest." Our apologies to Mr. Kloor, but we appreciate him commenting on our post.

Essay: L.A. Times film critic looks for heroic heart of 2009

Betsy Sharkey is one of the two film critics at the Los Angeles Times. After surveying the great glut of fanboy fare this year, she got to thinking about the nature of the modern film hero and the inner workings of their characters as well as their appeal. Here's an excerpt, or you can read the entire piece right here.  

This summer's heroes may go boldly, but in every case, someone has gone many times before: three earlier "X-Men" and "Terminators"; one earlier Michael Bay "Transformers," a 1984 animated film and the pervasive TV series; and countless iterations of "Star Trek" on every size screen known to modern man.

It hasn't been easy to be the fresh prince this year.

Yet on they came in their own distinctive ways. For "Terminator's" Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, martyrdom drips like sweat from their brows. Others swagger with a cocky smile and an endearing arrogance, as Chris Pine does in director J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek." There is the tortured struggle with a darker animal nature, as is Hugh Jackman's fate in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," or, like Shia LaBeouf's Sam [in "Transformers"] there is the boy David facing off whatever Goliath happens to be tearing up the town.

Most of us have long since gotten past the notion that superheroes and the comic books and graphic novels they're so often rooted in are merely kids' stuff, having intellectualized their political and social undercurrents to death in recent years. But it's always interesting to look at our current boys of summer to see who we're looking to save us these days, why certain actors carry the mantle so vividly and why others struggle.

Consider Bale. One of the most intensely interesting actors around, he must have seemed the perfect match for the gritty, deconstructed post-apocalyptic future director McG and screenwriters John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris envisioned for "Terminator Salvation." But he isn't. The interior force field that works so well for him underneath the "Dark Knight's" mask is exactly what is working against him in "Salvation," a rebel-with-a-cause story that has Bale's John Connor leading an underground resistance.

Unfortunately for John Connor, to say nothing of the resistance, a leader of men Bale is not, or at least that's not a role he's been able to get his head around. His very essence seems to be solitary, which is why he was far better as Batman with that no-friends-are-required existence than as Connor, the man destined to save the human race from the "Terminator's" relentless killing machines, embodied by Arnold Schwarzenegger before he went political on us.

Bale's appeal is the icy certainty of survival that you feel deep in your bones any time you see him. That steel is at the center of his pilot in Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn." You believed he could survive the impossibly harsh, torturous Laotian prison and an escape into an even more unforgiving jungle. Though others start the journey with him, he walks out of the jungle alone.

But cold never draws men close, and that is why it is Sam Worthington's man/machine hybrid Marcus who emerges as the one you want to follow in "Salvation." The accidental hero, charisma hanging easy on his broad shoulders like an old coat, Worthington claims every scene he is in. His is an empathy you can feel -- he did good not because it is right, which is Bale's motivation, but because he cares.

One of Worthington's strengths is that ability to make his vulnerability accessible, that sense of a shared humanity easy for the rest of us to embrace. Cut from the same action/fantasy cloth, his next films -- "Avatar" and "Clash of the Titans" -- feel filled with promise.

READ THE REST

-- Betsy Sharkey

Illustration by Jacob Thomas / For The Times; text by Geoff Boucher

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'Star Trek' star Chris Pine takes the stage in L.A.

When I interviewed Chris Pine a few months back at a Greek restaurant in L.A. we were there to talk about his movie "Star Trek" but he was just as interested in discussing my brief but memorable time as a campaign-trail reporter during the the 2000 presidential race. The reason was Pine was then in deep preparation for a starring role in the stage production "Farragut North." Now the show is underway and here's an excerpt from the review by Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty. -- Geoff Boucher

“Farragut North,” Beau Willimon’s engaging drama about the dirty tricks and brutal backstabbing of those conducting the spin war for aspiring presidents, attempts to reignite our tapped-out passion for political one-upmanship. The play, which is having its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse, may not be able to compete with the loony stranger-than-fiction cast of recent election battles or offer us any stop-the-presses scoops about our Swift Boat campaign culture, but it does capture the frenzied scheming and counter-scheming of would-be Washington kingmakers.

Better yet, the production has a rising superstar on board who could give Barack Obama a run for his charismatic money. Chris Pine, the paparazzi’s current object of affection after his breakout role as Capt. James T. Kirk in the new “Star Trek” film, stars as Stephen Bellamy, a 25-year-old press secretary for a Democratic presidential candidate who remains an invisible presence throughout. Imagine Karl Rove as a fit, chicly dressed media strategist for the other side and you have some idea of the nature of this latest boy genius.

A morality tale about an attractively malign central character, “Farragut North” is as much about what drives Stephen’s merciless pursuit of victory as it is about the way political machinations have eclipsed what’s really at stake in our elections. As a character study of a “crackberry” generation mover-and-shaker, who lives a life of wall-to-wall work (with scheduled barroom binges and hotel room dalliances), the play has a fresh accuracy that suggests the playwright, who worked for both Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York and Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, was taking juicy notes on the campaign trail.

But the drama doesn’t concentrate its energies as satisfyingly as it might. Willimon tries (and mostly succeeds) in staying one step ahead of the audience with his foxy plot.

READ THE REST

-- Charles McNulty

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CREDITS: Top photo of Chris Pine and Chris Noth by Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times
Chris Pine portrait by Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times.

Chris Pine takes command of the Enterprise: 'My name is not William Shatner'

Sunday was the big Summer Sneaks issue of the Calendar section in the Los Angeles Times and I had an article on Chris Pine taking over the captain's chair on "Star Trek." Here is a longer version of that story -- it was trimmed for publication for space issues, so think of this as the director's cut.

Wearing a trucker hat, battered blue jeans and an air of breezy confidence, Chris Pine walked through the Paramount Pictures studio lot like he owned the place but felt no particular need to show anyone the deed in his pocket.

It’s precisely that mix of fighter-pilot cockiness and surfer-dude Zen that you would expect from an actor who, as the leading man in “Star Trek,” has taken on the biggest challenge of any popcorn-movie star this summer: How to play James T. Kirk without imitating the role’s originator, William Shatner?

“That’s it right there, that’s the challenge,” Pine said on that November afternoon after a screening of early footage from the film, which opens on Friday, May 8. “If I can do that, then we’re good.”

The L.A. native has apparently done just that, at least according to early reviews and a uniformly positive industry buzz that seems to frame “Star Trek” as this year’s “Iron Man,” a sleek summer movie with intense action, wit and surprising buoyancy considering all the heavy equipment taking flight.

The film, written by the “Transformers” tandem of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, begins on the day Kirk is born — the same day his father dies just 12 minutes into his first command as a starship captain. It follows Kirk through his daredevil youth and his Starfleet academy career as a rakish Romeo with a need for speed and no love of regulations. Then its off into space where he and the rest of the crew must tangle with a rogue Romulan named Nero who, like pretty much every “Trek” villain through the years, is out for vengeance.

Paramount, expecting big things, has already announced a sequel for 2011. Still, there are no sure bets in Hollywood, and though the crew of the USS Enterprise may live in the future, they might seem like the ancient past to young moviegoers. The last film under the Starfleet banner was 2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis,” which set the franchise on stunned: It grossed just $43 million in the U.S. and its eventual worldwide total barely covered its $60-million budget.

This “Trek,” though, is not your grandfather’s starship. Director J.J. Abrams (“Mission: Impossible III” and television’s “Lost’) grew up as a “Star Wars” fan and decided that Gene Roddenberry’s venerable space-frontier epic could use a bit of the George Lucas mojo (yes, that sound you hear are Trekkers gagging on their Romulan ale). This new version “Trek” has intense dogfights, a sprinkling of exotic aliens, major dollops of humor and even a bit of an icy tribute to “The Empire Strikes Back.”

Zachary Quinto of NBC’s “Heroes” is in as Spock (and, thanks to some time travel, Leonard Nimoy also appears as the Vulcan in his advanced years) and the cast includes Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Winona Ryder and, startlingly, a cameo by Tyler Perry.

But “Trek” will fly or fail based on the man in the captain’s seat, 28-year-old Pine. “He is our star,” Abrams said, “and it was an intense challenge to take on a role that was so defined for so long by Shatner.”

On a recent afternoon, Pine sat down for lunch amid the hectic swirl of La Petit Greek on Larchmont Boulevard. He wasn’t asked for any autographs, but that may be happening quite a bit in the days to come. He is the son of Robert Pine, an actor with 4 1/2 decades of film and television work whom many people might remember as Sgt. Joseph Getraer on “CHiPs.” He said his father passed on some sage advice about the walk between the dressing room and the camera.

Seven things I love about the new 'Star Trek'

The "Star Trek" film franchise, after 10 films, is about to hit maximum warp for the first time.

Yes, the new one is the best of them all, which (in my opinion) is actually faint praise. The movies have each been flawed, really, and while I do adore "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," this new film, pound for pound, is far superior. That's all the more impressive when you consider the fact that this all-new crew ensemble can't take emotional shortcuts with the audience.     

I saw the new film last Friday and it's fun, smart, sexy, sleek and action-packed. J.J. Abrams took plenty of lessons from the most recent trilogy of "Star Wars" films and their portrayal of alien cultures, space travel and frenetic battle scenes. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, meanwhile, have written a script that is infused with Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of unity, exploration and technological possibility. It seems to me this movie is this year's "Iron Man," the fully satisfying summer movie that feels fresh and buoyant despite all the heavy machinery taking flight on screen.

So here are seven things I loved (although there were plenty more) about "Star Trek," which opens on May 8. NOTE: There are no MAJOR spoilers in here but I do talk about the setup and flavor of some scenes, some vague (but important) plot points and some of the fun, small moments, so if you prefer to walk into the theater cold, stop reading now! Otherwise, keep reading and prepare for warp-speed because, of course, this ship has no seat belts:

Captain Kirk meets his father ... sort of

   

It's a funny old universe, isn't it? Take this Priceline commercial from a while back. That's William Shatner at the wheel, of course, but what about the guy in the back? Well, that's Robert Pine, who you may remember as the sergeant on "CHiPs" and from a zillion other roles through the years. Robert Pine's son is ... Chris Pine. Yes, that's right, the new Captain Kirk. Here's a little story Chris told me over lunch at a Greek restaurant a few weeks ago:  

"William Shatner and I have never met. I wrote him a letter in the beginning, when I first got the role, and we were going to go out to lunch, which never happened. And we need to get together sooner than later. Absolutely. And I'm looking forward to it. Here's a funny thing: My father, strangely and oddly enough, about two weeks after I got the part, he had a Priceline commercial. The first thing he said when he met him was he walked into the makeup trailer put his hand out and said, 'Hello son.' Of course Shatner had no idea what he was talking about. But he appreciated it after it was explained to him. In the commercial Shatner plays a chauffeur and my dad is the rich guy in the back. It's just so weird for me, you know? What are the chances of that?"

-- Geoff Boucher

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Weight loss comics, David Fincher and 'Star Trek' in Everyday Hero headlines

The final days of 2008 are ticking down, but the news never stops. Here's a busy Monday morning edition of Everyday Hero, a roundup of handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe.

SO IS IT LIKE MATTER-EATER LAD? In the category of reader's digest, we bring you "The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude," which may be the first "memoir-as-self-help-book-as-graphic-novel," presenting a true challenge to the shelfing system over at Barnes & Noble. The book is the handiwork of Carol Lay, the cartoonist behind the weekly strip WayLay, and she talked recently to Michael C. Lorah about living large: "'I was obese when I was 19, reaching 206 pounds before my mom sent me to a doctor who put me on diet pills. I shed 40 pounds pretty quickly, but then I was addicted to speed for a few years. Over the next 28 years or so I yoyo-ed between 140 and 160, but I was often at the larger size. And I was unhappy. Not because I was fat; I was fat because I was unhappy, but the two states feed on each other. One day I looked at a photo of myself and made a decision to change. At the same time I started taking a good look at myself so I could root out the underlying causes of my self-defeating behavior. This part was necessary for me to finally make a whole-body change. I needed to understand where I’d been in order to see what wasn’t working for me any longer. This is what I put in the book that makes it different. I tell my story, a personal journey –- sometimes funny, sometimes kind of sad, but always honest –- as it relates to changing this aspect of my life. And the graphic aspect of this book really makes it stand out. The information is accessible, immediate and entertaining. The color is gorgeous –- I’m very happy with how it turned out.'" [Newsarama]

TALKING "TORSO": Filmmaker David Fincher was talking to MTV about "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (a film, by the way, that now has a grim footnote after a shooting in Philly) and the topic turned to "Ness," his planned (and retitled) adaptation of "Torso," a true-crime tale that sits on my "favorite graphic novels" shelf. The director of "Fight Club" and "Zodiac" said nothing to dissuade rumors that Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are likely cast members and he talked a bit about the allure of the Eliot Ness story: "'[Ness is] kind of the self-righteous, American do-gooder,' Fincher told MTV. 'He was an interesting and extremely flawed guy who had a lot of problems. He did a lot of destructive things in the name of cleaning up the streets.' Fincher said it was the 'flawed' heroism of Eliot Ness that attracted him to the story in 'Torso,' which was initially published in 1998 by Image Comics. The graphic novel chronicles Ness’ experiences after rising to fame as the leader of Chicago’s Prohibition-era law enforcers 'The Untouchables,' and his decision to leave Chicago for a position as Cleveland’s Safety Director — only to have an investigation of the notorious 'Torso Murderer' complicate his life and career. 'Not to take anything away from [Ness] — he wasn’t an evil guy at all — but at one point in his career he burned to the ground a shanty town in Cleveland,” said Fincher. 'This was three or four years after the Untouchables. He was just like 27 when The Untouchables happened. He was really young.' 'He sort of fashioned himself as a J. Edgar Hoover,' added Fincher. 'The bureau’s image of Ness and how he stole some of their limelight is in there.'" [MTV]

FACES TO WATCH 2009: This past Sunday's Los Angeles Times Calendar section had a feature on "Faces to Watch for 2009" in film, music and the Web, and I wrote two of the entries; one is Chris Pine, who I am officially predicting will do great things as the new Capt. James T. Kirk (a forecast based entirely on the 30 minutes' worth of footage I've seen from the J.J. Abrams revival of "Star Trek"), and the other is Malin Akerman from "Watchmen," who pretty much makes me dizzy when she does that whole curvy crimefighting thing. Also check what my colleague John Horn wrote about Sam Worthington, who poised for a huge 2009 with "Terminator Salvation" and will also star in the upcoming "Avatar," and a longer (and great) article that Hero Complex contributor Denise Martin wrote about Tahmoh Penikett, who is going from "Battlestar Galactica" to "Dollhouse." [Los Angeles Times]...ALSO: Speaking of "Star Trek" and "Watchmen," previews for those films finished atop Cinematical's list of the seven best trailers for 2008.

SHATNER TALKS ... AND TALKS ... AND TALKS: Writer Nancy Franklin has a fun appraisal of the new talk show hosted by William Shatner, although she doesn't mention how thrilling it would be if Chris Pine were to be announced as one of the upcoming guests. Here's what Franklin did write: "William Shatner is, forty years after the end of the original 'Star Trek,' a ham that has got only more delicious with time. As much of him as there is out there — Priceline ads, the ABC series 'Boston Legal' (which just finished its run last week), the public squawking about whether or not he was invited to George Takei’s wedding or how he felt about being left out of the new 'Star Trek' movie — is there ever enough? I think not. His half-hour interview show, 'Shatner’s Raw Nerve,' on the BIO channel (an offshoot of A&E), could bring on Shatner fatigue, though, thanks to a guest list that is rigorously uncompelling, daring you not to yawn. Some of his guests this season are Tim Allen, Valerie Bertinelli, Kelsey Grammer, Judge Judy, Jenna Jameson, and Jimmy Kimmel. But, as it happens, Shatner’s intense weirdness makes things compelling. In the first two episodes, he elicits some thoughtful comments from Allen on death and on screwing up his life, and he attempts to have a worthwhile exchange with Bertinelli on the subject of sin. Unsurprisingly, beneath Shatner’s persona of an egotist glorying in and making fun of his own egotism — and please, Bill, don’t ever change — is a very engaging oddball." [The New Yorker]...ALSO: To see some footage from "William Shatner's Raw Nerve" go to bottom of this post. Also you can read my odd interview with Shatner at a Starbucks on Ventura Boulevard right here.

KEANU STIFF, WRITER SURPRISED: The remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" hit theaters way back on Dec. 12, so it was a bit odd to see it as the subject of an Editorial Notebook piece in today's New York Times opinions section. More surprising, though, is that its author, Brent Staples, is unaware that actor Keanu Reeves is actually a mannequin. Staples compares the new film to the original and found that the new "Stood Still" left him unmoved: "The minimalist — and altogether cool — effects in the 1951 film leave lots of room for the performers. Michael Rennie is aces as Klaatu, the brainy, handsome and thoroughly polite alien who threatens to eliminate every creature on the planet — kittens, puppies and cute little babies included — if earthlings become a danger to the galaxy. Watching the movie as a middle-aged man, I saw what I lacked eyes to see as a 12-year-old. There is no shred of sentimentality in Rennie’s performance. He is a congenial exterminating angel, dropping round for tea to tell of horrors to come. Rennie’s Klaatu is God-fearing, emotionally sophisticated, superior to but indistinguishable from the earthlings among whom he walks. That’s an open-minded characterization at the start of a decade dominated by red-baiting and fear of outlanders in general. Keanu Reeves’s Klaatu is numbingly monotonic. He is emotionally underdeveloped, and suffers from a robotic flatness of affect. Instead, the scriptwriters gave him powers that are predictably demonstrated through pricey special effects that do not sustain dramatic momentum. With all this digital sleight of hand, the performers are reduced to the equivalent of bystanders at a fireworks show." [New York Times]

TAPE EJECT: It's not really a fanboy story (although it does mention Superman), but I had a big front-page story in the L.A. Times this past week on the final pop-culture death of the VHS tape and if you're curious you can find it right here.

ON THIS DATE: Today is the 32nd birthday of Danny McBride, who blew it up real good in "Tropic Thunder" and will be running from dinosaurs this summer in the remake of the Krofft Bros classic "Land of the Lost." Today is also the 36th birthday of Jude Law, whose filography includes a surprising number of sci-fi films with "Artificial Intelligence:AI," "eXistenZ," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and "Gattaca." Next, Law will be starring as Dr. Watson opposite title-role star Robert Downey Jr. in Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes," so to celebrate let's try to keep everything elementary today.