Bio
COMTE is the online handle of Christopher Paul Comte, a native of the great State… more »
TMI
- Elliott Bay or Amazon
- What piece of art would you steal?: "The Lion of Nimrud", because it's already been stolen, and it seems only proper to steal it from the Asshole who now has it.
- What song do you never want to hear again?: 3 Second Rule
- Where do you buy your WOW Gold?: Feh, I steal it from unwary hunters.
- If you found out you were going to have a pit-bull baby, would you have an abortion?: Yes
May 21
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
Sorry, the TOS episode in question is of course "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" - old brain work good so not.
May 21
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
Paul:
The Enterprise's appearance in Earth's atmosphere in "Return To Yesterday" was the result of a time-warp and not a normal operation of an aircraft carrier-sized vessel; in fact, Roddenberry made it very clear in the series' "writers bible" (portions of which appear in Stephen Whitfield's "The Making of 'Star Trek'") that the ship would not normally enter the atmosphere of a planet except under the most dire of emergencies. While this makes sense from a physics & engineering standpoint, it was also done as a matter of economics: in order to not have to spend the show's limited special effects budget on miniature shots of it landing and taking off from alien planets every week. This was the primary reason he made the transporter (and later shuttle craft) an integral part of the show, because these effects were much cheaper to film.
The Enterprise's appearance in Earth's atmosphere in "Return To Yesterday" was the result of a time-warp and not a normal operation of an aircraft carrier-sized vessel; in fact, Roddenberry made it very clear in the series' "writers bible" (portions of which appear in Stephen Whitfield's "The Making of 'Star Trek'") that the ship would not normally enter the atmosphere of a planet except under the most dire of emergencies. While this makes sense from a physics & engineering standpoint, it was also done as a matter of economics: in order to not have to spend the show's limited special effects budget on miniature shots of it landing and taking off from alien planets every week. This was the primary reason he made the transporter (and later shuttle craft) an integral part of the show, because these effects were much cheaper to film.
May 21
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
@40:
Every straight female I know seems to think so...
Every straight female I know seems to think so...
May 21
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
@37:
Realistically, there wouldn't have been many Hollywood actors of Indian descent around in the mid-1960's (George Chakiris is the only one that comes immediately to-mind), and so it was common practice at the time to cast Latino actors as both Native American and Indian characters. Remember, this was a period when decidedly Caucasian actors could still get away with appearing in "brown face" (e.g. Peter Sellers in "The Party").
Realistically, there wouldn't have been many Hollywood actors of Indian descent around in the mid-1960's (George Chakiris is the only one that comes immediately to-mind), and so it was common practice at the time to cast Latino actors as both Native American and Indian characters. Remember, this was a period when decidedly Caucasian actors could still get away with appearing in "brown face" (e.g. Peter Sellers in "The Party").
May 21
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
@36:
Well, ANY explanation would have been better than none, but why disguise the appearance of a 300 year old eugenically-enhanced superman who would have already been completely anonymous to all but a handful of historians? It's not like the average Earth citizen of the 23rd Century would have recognized him in the first place.
Aside from the obvious box-office draw of Cumberbatch, imagine if Abrams had cast someone like, say, Dalip Singh: 7 feet tall, 385 pounds, can bench-press 600 lbs - dude is a monster! Sure, he doesn't speak English very well, but a good ADR actor can fix that. Now THAT would have been a formidable alternate-reality Khan, not some plosive-punching pretty boy (who, admittedly, can act the socks off anyone else in the ST cast).
Well, ANY explanation would have been better than none, but why disguise the appearance of a 300 year old eugenically-enhanced superman who would have already been completely anonymous to all but a handful of historians? It's not like the average Earth citizen of the 23rd Century would have recognized him in the first place.
Aside from the obvious box-office draw of Cumberbatch, imagine if Abrams had cast someone like, say, Dalip Singh: 7 feet tall, 385 pounds, can bench-press 600 lbs - dude is a monster! Sure, he doesn't speak English very well, but a good ADR actor can fix that. Now THAT would have been a formidable alternate-reality Khan, not some plosive-punching pretty boy (who, admittedly, can act the socks off anyone else in the ST cast).
May 21
COMTE commented on Well Regulated Beaverton Militia Accidentally Fires Shot into Neighbor's Bedroom.
COMTE commented on Well Regulated Beaverton Militia Accidentally Fires Shot into Neighbor's Bedroom.
@14:
And don't ignore the superior heat-retention qualities of bullet-proof glass windows, either.
And don't ignore the superior heat-retention qualities of bullet-proof glass windows, either.
May 21
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
@18:
Majel Barrett wasn't married to Roddenberry at the time she was cast as Number One in the first TOS pilot; they were married in late 1969, after the end of the third season and the show had already been cancelled - for the second time - by NBC.
Majel Barrett wasn't married to Roddenberry at the time she was cast as Number One in the first TOS pilot; they were married in late 1969, after the end of the third season and the show had already been cancelled - for the second time - by NBC.
May 21
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
COMTE commented on Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness.
Well, I AM a Star Trek purist, have been literally since Day One, so...
The Enterprise in atmospheric flight didn't bother me too much, as this has been established several times (in addition to the TOS ep already cited, there was the Command Section re-entry in ST: Generations, as well as several planetary landings in Voyager), but most particularly in the 2009 reboot, where we see entire ships assembled on-the-ground, which then presumably must be launched into space. But, a ship constructed to handle the varying pressures of space, atmosphere AND under water? That's really pushing the physics, IMO.
As for the Klingon subplot, in TOS, tensions between the Federation & the Empire didn't seriously heat up until Kirk & Co. are well into their 5 year mission, so I could just as easily see Adm. Marcus using this as a convenient excuse for his jingoistic build-up of Starfleet's military functions. Again, mildly irritating, but not that big of a deal.
The super long-distance transporter issue was also established in the previous film, but like you say Paul, the device is used so indiscriminately, that it lacks any sort of logical internal consistency, which is just shitty writing, so far as I'm concerned.
But, Khan, where oh where to begin? How about this: even though it was established in the reboot that we're now in an alternate universe (caused by Nero's appearance and subsequent mucking with this universe's timeline), KHAN WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN AFFECTED, since he was put into cryo-sleep some 300 years before those events occurred. As much as I like Cumberbatch as an actor, he was simply the WRONG choice physically: Khan Noonian Singh is a Sihk, from Northern India, NOT a London-born Caucasian. Making the argument that "well, it's an alternate universe, why CAN'T he be from London?" would only make sense if one also argues that Kirk could be Black, Uhura could be a male, and Scotty could be of French descent! Seriously, if you're going to fuck with nationalities and use "alternate universe!" as your rationale, why not go all the way with it?
Sloppy, just plain sloppy...
More...
The Enterprise in atmospheric flight didn't bother me too much, as this has been established several times (in addition to the TOS ep already cited, there was the Command Section re-entry in ST: Generations, as well as several planetary landings in Voyager), but most particularly in the 2009 reboot, where we see entire ships assembled on-the-ground, which then presumably must be launched into space. But, a ship constructed to handle the varying pressures of space, atmosphere AND under water? That's really pushing the physics, IMO.
As for the Klingon subplot, in TOS, tensions between the Federation & the Empire didn't seriously heat up until Kirk & Co. are well into their 5 year mission, so I could just as easily see Adm. Marcus using this as a convenient excuse for his jingoistic build-up of Starfleet's military functions. Again, mildly irritating, but not that big of a deal.
The super long-distance transporter issue was also established in the previous film, but like you say Paul, the device is used so indiscriminately, that it lacks any sort of logical internal consistency, which is just shitty writing, so far as I'm concerned.
But, Khan, where oh where to begin? How about this: even though it was established in the reboot that we're now in an alternate universe (caused by Nero's appearance and subsequent mucking with this universe's timeline), KHAN WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN AFFECTED, since he was put into cryo-sleep some 300 years before those events occurred. As much as I like Cumberbatch as an actor, he was simply the WRONG choice physically: Khan Noonian Singh is a Sihk, from Northern India, NOT a London-born Caucasian. Making the argument that "well, it's an alternate universe, why CAN'T he be from London?" would only make sense if one also argues that Kirk could be Black, Uhura could be a male, and Scotty could be of French descent! Seriously, if you're going to fuck with nationalities and use "alternate universe!" as your rationale, why not go all the way with it?
Sloppy, just plain sloppy...
May 21
COMTE commented on Rightwing Anti-Gay French Activist Commits Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral.
COMTE commented on Rightwing Anti-Gay French Activist Commits Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral.
@14:
Which itself is lifting most of the salient details directly from an article posted by The Daily Mail.
So @10, perhaps you should do just a teensy bit of research the next time you the Pavlovian urge for knee-jerk criticism strikes you.
Dipshit.
Which itself is lifting most of the salient details directly from an article posted by The Daily Mail.
So @10, perhaps you should do just a teensy bit of research the next time you the Pavlovian urge for knee-jerk criticism strikes you.
Dipshit.
May 20
COMTE commented on Instant Karma Gonna Getchoo.
COMTE commented on Instant Karma Gonna Getchoo.
Dang, missed winning that Darwin Award by thiiiiiiiss much!
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