CelebWatch: Stardate 08.07.08

This week, the Watch brings tons of happenings for Patrick Stewart, including reviews of Hamlet. We also have reviews of Chris Pine in Bottle Shock, Eric Bana talking cars, a new movie for Simon Pegg, Adam Nimoy talking about his dad, Jolene Blalock talking about Starship Troopers, plus Whoopi back on Broadway, and more!

How fared thee, Hamlet?
So how exactly is the David Tennant/{Patrick Stewart Hamlet doing with critics? Judging from reviews, the biggest criticism were the cuts which director Gregory Doran made to the play. The majority of critics agree that Tennant’s portrayal of Hamlet was good or okay, but not great, unlike Stewart’s performance, which was described as “acting of the highest order” by the Telegraph. Least impressed with the production was The Daily Mail, which felt Tennant was “upstaged by a deliciously subtle turn from Patrick Stewart.” For a more thorough review round-up, check out The Guardian and WhatsOnStage.

Stewart: Dear lord, please don’t let Doctor Who upstage me

Stewart talks ‘Hamlet’ and returning to the RSC
Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) is currently starring as both Claudius and the Ghost in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet (opposite Doctor Who‘s David Tennant, who plays the title role). In an interview with WhatsOnStage, Stewart discussed what drew him to these dual roles and why working with the RSC is so special to him

…my ambition, from the day I left drama school was to work for the Royal Shakespeare Company … It took nearly three years before I could get myself an audition. I was finally auditioned one Sunday night in November … they invited me to come for the season. It was thrilling for me. I had finally arrived in the place I always wanted to be. So we jump forward 40 years and I’ve spent 17 years living in Los Angeles largely doing film and television, whilst all that time knowing that there’s only one place I really wanted to be which is where we are now. So when I returned to England four or five years ago my main objective was to get back into this company if they would have me.

Stewart also discussed his work with David Warner (who co-starred with Stewart in the TNG two-parter “Chain of Command”) on an earlier production of Hamlet:

I enjoyed being on stage with David Warner who was my hero. I was only 25, and I think that David was a year younger. In every way his Hamlet spoke to me … For me there will be a part of (David Warner) that will be forever Hamlet … Looking back I feel really proud to be even modestly connected to that production.

Over at The Birmingham Post, Stewart further discusses making the transition from film and TV back to the stage. Explaining the moment he came to the realization that Hollywood was no longer the place for him, Stewart says:

I’d got married to an American, lived in LA, everything looked as though it was set for me to continue there, but then the time came when I
realized I was not going to have a brilliant career in Hollywood – and Star Trek, although it had been a
marvelous experience, was a bit of a handicap. Directors had said Patrick’s good, but he’s got this albatross round his neck. … I was turning my back on Hollywood. Although I had done quite a lot of work on stage on Broadway and in Washington DC, what I wanted to do was get back to the RSC.

Stewart gets ‘More Brain Training’
While we’re on the topic of Patrick Stewart, the actor is again receiving brain training in the form of a commercial for the game Brain Age 2 aka More Brain Training. For those who don’t remember, Stewart was a supporter and spokesman for the first Brain Age, and now he’s continuing to keep his brain sharp with a follow-up. Check out the commercial below.

Abrams & Orci answer one Trek question
Friend-of-TrekMovie and UGO editor Jordan Hoffman wanted to see if Trek ’09 director/producer J.J. Abrams and co-writer/exec producer Roberto Orci really knew their Trek, so he asked them both the ultimate Trek question: what do you do if the matter/antimatter containment field is disrupted? See which of them (if either) got the answer right at the UGO MovieBlog (or just watch the video below, your choice).

CLICKY

Pine’s Bottle Shock reviews
Chris Pine (aka JJ Abrams new James T. Kirk) co-stars in the independent wine-themed movie Bottle Shock, which opens Friday in the US. The film reviews are just coming in and it is a mixed bag, currently garnering a 49% on the Rotten Tomatoes meter. However, Pine’s performance itself is getting some good marks. The USA Today calls Pine "excellent," and Newsday notes that he and his co-stars Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman form a "winning cast." and, while the Milwaukee Journal takes the Trek connection too far in their review titled "To Boldly Go Where No Wine Has Gone Before."

Pine (R) in Bottle Shock, Hey Kirk, get a haircut

Pegg’s a ‘Bastard’ + US Spaced Tour vis
Trek’s new Scotty, Simon Pegg, is in talks to join the cast of Quentin Tarantino’s next movie, Inglorious Bastards. According to Variety, Pegg is up for the part of a British lieutenant. The film, set during World War II, involves a group of US soldiers facing death by firing squad who are given a chance to redeem themselves by heading into the perilous no-man’s lands of Nazi-occupied France on a suicide mission for the Allies. The movie is tentatively set for release sometime next year. In other Pegg happenings, there’s a whole slew of videos up on Viddler of Simon Pegg (the new Scotty) and his pals touring the US to promote the DVD release of Spaced. Included are their stops at New York and the San Diego Comic Con. You can check them all out here.

Bana directs automobile-ography
Trek’s newest villain, Eric Bana (Nero), will make his directorial debut when his film Love the Beast is released next year. Starring Bana as himself, the film details his 25-year-long love affair with… a car. Specifically, a 1974 Ford Falcon Coupe. We’re not making this up, folks — this is real news. See? Anyway, Bana had this to say about his, um… pet project.

It has been both fun and incredibly exhausting at the same time and has enabled me to combine two of the things that I love – cars and filmmaking. It started out as a simple project, but events along the way conspired to turn it into something I could never have envisioned.

Bana with his baby, a ’74 Ford Falcon

Nimoy’s son talks about dad
Adam Nimoy, the son of original Spock actor Leonard Nimoy and a Trek alum in his own right (he directed two episodes of TNG), talked with the LA Times about his new book, an “anti-memoir” called My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life. In the book, Nimoy naturally discusses his famous father, relating what it was like growing up with Spock. One passage, as described by the Times, reads thusly:

[Adam Nimoy] describes in the book how, for years, he would “take my old man out of the closet in my mind and give him a good thrashing for all the hateful things he has said and done through the years.” It has taken decades, he writes, to stop blaming and resenting his father, mostly working on his own. “I’ve never had much luck arguing with him. Have you ever argued with a Pop Culture Icon? Have you ever argued with a guy who can cause a frenzy among thousands at a convention hall simply by performing a Vulcan hand salute?”

Blalock talks Marauder
In a new interview with Starlog Magazine, Jolene Blalock (T’Pol) discusses her new film, the recently released direct-to-DVD Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. She praises the film’s writer/director Ed Neumeier, how her movie compares to the first two, and how she feels about the final product and the franchise as a whole.

My 13-year-old nephew loved STARSHIP TROOPERS, and I was a fan, too. I believe this one will join the ranks of cult classics that we all enjoy in the SF genre. I’m extremely proud to have it as a notch on my bedpost.

Jolene in ‘Marauder’: kicking ass and looking hot while doing it.

Whoopi joins Xanadu
Former TNG guest and current The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan) has joined the cast of the hit Broadway musical Xanadu for a special six-week engagement. as reported by Broadway World, Goldberg joined the play on June 29th and will remain with the show until September 7th. This is her first time on the Broadway stage since she wrapped up her solo act Whoopi back in 2005 (not counting a one-night children’s benefit performance later that year). Goldberg had this to say regarding her return to Broadway:

What better way to stick my toe back on to the Broadway stage than to join the amazing cast of “Xanadu”. It’s such a fun show and is definitely my sensibility, as written by the divine Douglas Carter Beane. For me, it’s going to be unbelievable

Woodard in Slater series
It appears that Alfre Woodard (Lily in Star Trek: First Contact) has snuck into the cast for NBC’s upcoming TV series My Own Worst Enemy, which stars Star Trek VI cameo-maker Christian Slater. Her name is included in a report from The Futon Critic and she’s also been listed on IMDb. Did anyone else hear about this? Or is this one of those things they tried to sneak in under the radar? In any case, My Own Worst Enemy premieres October 13th at 10pm on NBC.

Koenig goes to Ipswich
Walter Koenig (Chekov) went to First Church in Ipswich, Massachusetts last weekend to help record an audio version of his science fiction book, Buck Alice and the Actor-Robot, as reported by Wicked Local (catchy name, ain’t it?). J.T. Turner, a local actor also working on the project, was psyched about working with Koenig.

Walter was happy to have a quiet spot to do our recording, and was delighted to be staying in Ipswich. This was my first time meeting Walter, but I was a big fan of the original ‘Star Trek,’ and the movies as well. OK, not the first movie, but the rest.

DS9 guest receives posthumous Walk of Fame star
Brian Keith, who played Mulibok in the DS9 episode “Progress,” received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 11 years after he committed suicide at the age of 75. Keith’s star was added to the Walk of Fame on June 26th, as reported by Jennifer Larsen, and is the 2,365th star placed on the walk. Among those attending the ceremony of the star’s installation was Keith’s Hardcastle & McCormick co-star (and Star Trek: Insurrection actor) Daniel Hugh Kelly (Sojef), who also gave a five-minute speech on Keith “as a friend and Marine.” Another Insurrection alum, special effects coordinator Terry Frazee, was also at the ceremony.

The Trek Continues: Trek Birthdays
We just talked about Adam Nimoy (TNG director and son of Leonard Nimoy); it turns out he’ll be turning 52 on August 8th. Also celebrating their birthdays in the coming week are three actors from the upcoming Star Trek film: Eric Bana (Nero) turns 40 on Aug. 9; Chris Hemsworth (George Kirk, Sr.) turns 25 on Aug. 11; and Bruce Greenwood (Capt. Christopher Pike) turns 52 on Aug. 12. Other Trek luminaries celebrating birthdays this week include: actor Jim Beaver (Adm. Leonard, ENT: “Broken Bow”), 58; writer/producer Brannon Braga (TNG/VOY/ENT), 43; actress Laurel Goodwin (Yeoman Colt, “The Cage”), 66; composer James Horner (Star Trek II & III), 55; actor Daniel Hugh Jelly (Sojef, Insurrection), 56; actress Amadna McBroom (Capt. Phillipa Louvois, TNG: “The Measure of a Man”), 62 stuntman Lin Oeding (ENT, Trek ’09), 31; and stuntwoman Lynn Salvatori (TNG, DS9, VOY, Generations), 54. To these and everyone not listed here, TrekMovie.com wishes you all a very happy birthday!

In Memoriam: Jud Taylor
Emmy-nominated, DGA Award-winning director Jud Taylor, 76, died in New York City on August 6th following a long illness, according to Variety. Taylor directed five episodes from the third season of TOS (“The Paradise Syndrome,” “Wink of an Eye,” “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” “The Mark of Gideon,” and “The Cloud Minders.” Beginning his career as an actor (Attack, The Great Escape), Taylor has directed more than 40 TV movies, numerous TV shows, and served terms as Vice President and as President of the Directors Guild of America. For more information on Taylor, see Memory Alpha and IMDb.

Jud Taylor