Practically speaking, there's a reason why most aliens on "Star Trek" are humanoid. Not only are they humanoid, but they all share very similar specific features: two legs, two arms, two eyes, one mouth, teeth, and/or hair. Many aliens look identical to humans apart from ridges on their foreheads or elaborate skin markings. This is because all the aliens on "Star Trek" are played by human actors. Very occasionally, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) might encounter a Melkot or a Tholian who were achieved through puppetry or photographic effects, but for the most part, aliens were played by Earth's boring ol' Homo sapiens actors.
By the time the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Chase" aired on April 26, 1993, Trekkies had been watching the franchise long enough to ask why — from an in-canon perspective — all aliens looked like humans. "The Chase" came up with a cute (if not wholly satisfying...
By the time the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Chase" aired on April 26, 1993, Trekkies had been watching the franchise long enough to ask why — from an in-canon perspective — all aliens looked like humans. "The Chase" came up with a cute (if not wholly satisfying...
- 5/19/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Chicago – John Frankenheimer’s “Seconds” with Rock Hudson was considered an unusual choice for The Criterion Collection when it was announced earlier this year. Never before available on Blu-ray and discontinued on DVD, the 4K restoration on this edition is the real draw, especially given that the film’s strength lies in its stunning visual compositions. With its canted angles and fish bowl aesthetic, Frankenheimer enhances what is actually a relatively weak script.
“Seconds” is a film that I want to adore given my love for the filmmaker’s other works (especially “The Manchurian Candidate,” another ode to ’60s paranoia) and how I love well-written “Twilight Zone”-esque tales, but repeat viewing of this release reveals the film to be thematically thinner than it should be. There are some great ideas here about personality, success, and apathy but they’re not explored and the final twist is one that modern...
“Seconds” is a film that I want to adore given my love for the filmmaker’s other works (especially “The Manchurian Candidate,” another ode to ’60s paranoia) and how I love well-written “Twilight Zone”-esque tales, but repeat viewing of this release reveals the film to be thematically thinner than it should be. There are some great ideas here about personality, success, and apathy but they’re not explored and the final twist is one that modern...
- 8/20/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Selected for the Main Comp at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966, John Frankenheimer’s Seconds is a grim, nightmarish thriller that embodies many distinctive aspects of 1960s American cinema. Largely forgotten – one could argue for good reason – by all but the most devoted Frankenheimer fans, the film combines classic noir stylistics with the era’s emerging tremors of social revolution. Folded into the mix are elements of Sci-Fi and speculative fiction, creating a “what if” story filled with metaphors, meditations and mind-games.
The snappy plot begins with some odd occurrences in the quietly desperate life of Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph), a 50-ish, dry as toast bank manager who commutes into the city every day from his tidy colonial in leafy Scarsdale. Recently, the unnerved Hamilton has been receiving phone calls from an old college buddy long thought to be dead. This voice from the past entices Hamilton with vague promises...
The snappy plot begins with some odd occurrences in the quietly desperate life of Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph), a 50-ish, dry as toast bank manager who commutes into the city every day from his tidy colonial in leafy Scarsdale. Recently, the unnerved Hamilton has been receiving phone calls from an old college buddy long thought to be dead. This voice from the past entices Hamilton with vague promises...
- 8/13/2013
- by David Anderson
- IONCINEMA.com
After watching John Frankenheimer's Seconds (1966) for the first time with this Criterion Blu-ray, I couldn't help but think of several previous Criterion Blu-ray titles that came to mind. Films such as Alexander Mackendrick's Sweet Smell of Success, Roman Polanski's Repulsion and Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly. You could even through in the feel of a Samuel Fuller film and even a little of Ingmar Bergman's Persona. For anyone that knows these films, that's pretty high praise and while Seconds may be better than a couple and below the others, the mere fact this film put me in the mood and mindset to even consider the comparisons is enough for me to say you really ought to give this one a look. Based on the novel by David Ely, I can't remember if Seconds ever gives us a definitive date in which it's set, but suffice...
- 8/12/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Seconds (The Criterion Collection)
The Earrings Of Madame De... (The Criterion Collection)
Scary Seconds And Jewel-laden Irony
By Raymond Benson
Among the new releases this month from The Criterion Collection, that Cadillac of Blu-Ray/DVD labels, are two oldies-but-goodies—and very different ones—that will impress both the average film lover and the hardcore art house enthusiast. For me, the most anticipated title was Seconds, the 1966 paranoia-science fiction-mystery-thriller directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Rock Hudson in a cast-against-type role. There’s no question that the picture was ahead of its time. The circumstances sound familiar—it was a very intelligent, well-made, strikingly photographed genre movie that audiences found too strange or unpleasant, and it flopped... but later, because it really was good, it became a cult classic.
Seconds is a shocking film today; in 1966, it was radical. It was considered an “adults-only” movie, even though its release was prior...
The Earrings Of Madame De... (The Criterion Collection)
Scary Seconds And Jewel-laden Irony
By Raymond Benson
Among the new releases this month from The Criterion Collection, that Cadillac of Blu-Ray/DVD labels, are two oldies-but-goodies—and very different ones—that will impress both the average film lover and the hardcore art house enthusiast. For me, the most anticipated title was Seconds, the 1966 paranoia-science fiction-mystery-thriller directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Rock Hudson in a cast-against-type role. There’s no question that the picture was ahead of its time. The circumstances sound familiar—it was a very intelligent, well-made, strikingly photographed genre movie that audiences found too strange or unpleasant, and it flopped... but later, because it really was good, it became a cult classic.
Seconds is a shocking film today; in 1966, it was radical. It was considered an “adults-only” movie, even though its release was prior...
- 8/8/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 13, 2013
Price: DVD $29.99, Blu-ray $39.99
Studio: Criterion
Rock Hudson gets more than he bargained for when he embarks on a new life in Seconds.
Rock Hudson (All That Heaven Allows) star in Seconds, a sinister, science-fiction-inflected thriller from the fractured 1960s directed by John Frankenheimer (Grand Prix).
The 1966 film concerns a middle-aged businessman dissatisfied with his suburban existence, who elects to undergo a strange and elaborate procedure that will grant him a new life. Starting over in America, however, is not as easy as it sounds, even if the new you looks like, well, Rock Hudson.
This paranoiac movie filled with canted camera angles (courtesy of cinematographer James Wong Howe of Sweet Smell of Success), fragmented editing, and layered sound design is a remarkably risk-taking Hollywood film that ranks high on the list of its director’s major achievements.
The DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film...
Price: DVD $29.99, Blu-ray $39.99
Studio: Criterion
Rock Hudson gets more than he bargained for when he embarks on a new life in Seconds.
Rock Hudson (All That Heaven Allows) star in Seconds, a sinister, science-fiction-inflected thriller from the fractured 1960s directed by John Frankenheimer (Grand Prix).
The 1966 film concerns a middle-aged businessman dissatisfied with his suburban existence, who elects to undergo a strange and elaborate procedure that will grant him a new life. Starting over in America, however, is not as easy as it sounds, even if the new you looks like, well, Rock Hudson.
This paranoiac movie filled with canted camera angles (courtesy of cinematographer James Wong Howe of Sweet Smell of Success), fragmented editing, and layered sound design is a remarkably risk-taking Hollywood film that ranks high on the list of its director’s major achievements.
The DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film...
- 6/4/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Seconds
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Written by David Ely and Lewis John Carlino
1966, USA
Not for weak sisters! May not even be for strong stomachs!
John Frankenheimer’s ultimately terrifying Twilight Zone-like, futuristic thriller Seconds, received mixed reviews, and was critically panned at the Cannes Film Festival. But what do they know? Seconds is a chilling character study and a distressing examination of happiness, loneliness, consumerism, and the American dream. This paranoid take on the legend of Faust remains widely unseen. Thankfully repeated showings on late night television helped the film find a much deserved cult following.
A New York businessman Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) is recruited by the services of an secret organization which provides unhappily married middle-aged businessmen with new lives. Arthur is told that with some highly evolved plastic surgery, physical reconditioning and a promise of a new career, he can become a young man again and begin a new life.
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Written by David Ely and Lewis John Carlino
1966, USA
Not for weak sisters! May not even be for strong stomachs!
John Frankenheimer’s ultimately terrifying Twilight Zone-like, futuristic thriller Seconds, received mixed reviews, and was critically panned at the Cannes Film Festival. But what do they know? Seconds is a chilling character study and a distressing examination of happiness, loneliness, consumerism, and the American dream. This paranoid take on the legend of Faust remains widely unseen. Thankfully repeated showings on late night television helped the film find a much deserved cult following.
A New York businessman Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) is recruited by the services of an secret organization which provides unhappily married middle-aged businessmen with new lives. Arthur is told that with some highly evolved plastic surgery, physical reconditioning and a promise of a new career, he can become a young man again and begin a new life.
- 10/11/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Applauding with the Outfest audience at the Harmony Gold Theater last Wednesday night after a sneak peek of NBC's upcoming TV show Smash, I felt as if I'd just seen something new. Los Angeles Times TV critic Mary McNamara succinctly described Smash as Glee meets A Chorus Line.
Yes, it's that and Glee's predecessor Fame. But it's also a lively meditation on creativity, on transforming inspiration into action and something real. Perhaps most importantly, using theater as a framework, Smash explores the good, bad, and ugly of living lives totally focused on the possibility of fulfilling a big dream. Smash aptly premiers on Monday, Feb. 6, after NBC's hit show The Voice, as if answering the question: what happens to those contestant winners and runners-up after the reality show ends?
In the case of American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee, she landed in this Shakespearian-tinged, reality-based tale about the making of...
Yes, it's that and Glee's predecessor Fame. But it's also a lively meditation on creativity, on transforming inspiration into action and something real. Perhaps most importantly, using theater as a framework, Smash explores the good, bad, and ugly of living lives totally focused on the possibility of fulfilling a big dream. Smash aptly premiers on Monday, Feb. 6, after NBC's hit show The Voice, as if answering the question: what happens to those contestant winners and runners-up after the reality show ends?
In the case of American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee, she landed in this Shakespearian-tinged, reality-based tale about the making of...
- 1/17/2012
- by Karen Ocamb
- Aol TV.
Rock Hudson Rock Hudson: Dark And Handsome Stranger Documentary The synopsis below of Andrew Davies and Andre Shafer's Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger is from the Berlin Film Festival website: Rock Hudson was a dream of a man; the epitome of masculinity: tall, slim and muscular, with a deep, mellifluous voice. His glossy black hair, sparkling eyes, high cheek bones and sensuous lips made Rock Hudson one of the sexiest film stars that Hollywood has ever produced. Twenty-five years ago, shortly before his sixtieth birthday, Rock Hudson died of Aids-related illnesses. He was the first Hollywood celebrity to succumb to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. But who was Rock Hudson really? This documentary sheds light on a famous actor star who performed a clandestine balancing act between his private and public lives; between the heterosexual world of an extremely manly looking screen idol and a darker side of forbidden...
- 6/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Film and TV director made famous by his 'Gidget' surf movies
Despite a long and varied career, in which he made several excellent films noirs, westerns, thrillers and war dramas, and a fair number of superior television movies, it was the wry fate of the film and television director Paul Wendkos, who has died of a lung infection aged 87, that his death was announced widely with the words "Gidget director dies".
The popular teen surf movies – Gidget (1959), Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) – directed by Wendkos, are interesting documents of pre-hippy conservative California youth culture. Gidget, a contraction of girl and midget, is the nickname of a 16-year-old adolescent (played in succession by Sandra Dee, Deborah Walley and Cindy Carol) trying to cope with the problems of growing up, mainly defined by her relationship with her boyfriend, Moondoggie (James Darren).
According to the Variety review of...
Despite a long and varied career, in which he made several excellent films noirs, westerns, thrillers and war dramas, and a fair number of superior television movies, it was the wry fate of the film and television director Paul Wendkos, who has died of a lung infection aged 87, that his death was announced widely with the words "Gidget director dies".
The popular teen surf movies – Gidget (1959), Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) – directed by Wendkos, are interesting documents of pre-hippy conservative California youth culture. Gidget, a contraction of girl and midget, is the nickname of a 16-year-old adolescent (played in succession by Sandra Dee, Deborah Walley and Cindy Carol) trying to cope with the problems of growing up, mainly defined by her relationship with her boyfriend, Moondoggie (James Darren).
According to the Variety review of...
- 12/1/2009
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
While Sean Penn’s recent Best Actor Oscar win for Milk helped bring Harvey Milk’s message to a wide audience — both from the increased visibility of the film and from Penn’s moving acceptance speech — the occasion marked another instance of a Hollywood tradition: a gay character played by a heterosexual actor.
Penn, like Tom Hanks (Philadelphia [1993]) and William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman [1985]) before him, was praised for his “bravery” for taking on the role and even — eek! — kissing another man.
Gay actors, on the other hand, get no such credit for playing gay roles; let’s not forget the year that Rupert Everett’s hilarious supporting turn in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) was ignored by the Academy, with the implication that queer thespians need merely show up to play queer characters, with no actual acting involved. (To add insult to injury, that same year saw...
Penn, like Tom Hanks (Philadelphia [1993]) and William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman [1985]) before him, was praised for his “bravery” for taking on the role and even — eek! — kissing another man.
Gay actors, on the other hand, get no such credit for playing gay roles; let’s not forget the year that Rupert Everett’s hilarious supporting turn in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) was ignored by the Academy, with the implication that queer thespians need merely show up to play queer characters, with no actual acting involved. (To add insult to injury, that same year saw...
- 4/8/2009
- by dennis
- The Backlot
A Tinseltown family unravels in writer-director Bruce Wagner's feature debut, based on his well-regarded novel. Audiences are invited to share the pain of a father diagnosed with a terminal disease, a grown-up niece unlucky in love, and a wayward son in a shameful business. Unfortunately, "I'm Losing You" goes seriously astray in its downhill plunge.
Playing exclusively at Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood and in New York, the Strand release of a Killer Films and Lions Gate Films production may show a little life on the art house circuit on its way to moderate success as a video rental.
Successful TV producer Perry Krohn (Frank Langella) has made millions off his "Star Trek"-like empire, but the doctor informs him he's got only months to live. At his birthday party, he keeps the dire news a secret from his successful single niece Rachel (Rosanna Arquette), whom he adopted as an infant, and sometime actor son Bertie (Andrew McCarthy).
Delaying the familial scenes of shared grief, Wagner profiles the cousins and their depressing lives. Bertie has so far refused to let his dad help his acting career and instead "sells short" the life insurance policies of AIDS patients, including one of Perry's loyal collaborators (Buck Henry). An appraiser at a tony auction house, Rachel pursues younger men and wonders about her past when she encounters someone who knew her parents, tragically killed in a car wreck ... or were they?
Perry's wife of many years, Diantha, (Salome Jens) has overlooked his unfaithfulness, and he rewards her by embarking on one last affair with the British star (Amanda Donohoe) of his TV show. Similarly attracted to smart, experienced women, Bertie attends an upbeat party of company town "H.I.V.I.P.'S" and meets wary Aubrey (Elizabeth Perkins). Of course he hides from her his reason for being there.
Piling on the melodrama, Bertie's ex-wife Lidia (Gina Gershon) is a druggie with a scary temper, and she proves to be irresponsible with their daughter. Things on this front get much worse, and the kind of overwhelming tragedy that would change everything happens too swiftly and inconsequentially in Wagner's progressively more unbelievable scenario, which includes a critical morgue scene that doesn't have the emotional wallop intended.
Laraine Newman appears briefly as the casting person who welcomes Bertie to Perry's on-screen family, while Rachel discovers the shocking truth about her parents and the role played by her uncle in events kept secret for decades. It all comes down hard on the Krohn tribe, but the viewer is doubly cursed with blase characters and routine filmmaking to go with the unnecessarily lurid and forgettably dreary material.
I'M LOSING YOU
Strand Releasing
Killer Films and Lions Gate Films
Writer-director: Bruce Wagner
Producers: Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
Executive producers: David Cronenberg, Michael Paseornek
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Production designer: Richard Sherman
Editor: Janice Hampton
Costumes: Theadora Van Runkle
Music: Daniel Catan
Casting: Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Barden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Bertie: Andrew McCarthy
Rachel: Rosanna Arquette
Perry: Frank Langella
Diantha: Salome Jens
Philip: Buck Henry
Aubrey: Elizabeth Perkins
Lidia: Gina Gershon
Mona Deware: Amanda Donohoe
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Playing exclusively at Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood and in New York, the Strand release of a Killer Films and Lions Gate Films production may show a little life on the art house circuit on its way to moderate success as a video rental.
Successful TV producer Perry Krohn (Frank Langella) has made millions off his "Star Trek"-like empire, but the doctor informs him he's got only months to live. At his birthday party, he keeps the dire news a secret from his successful single niece Rachel (Rosanna Arquette), whom he adopted as an infant, and sometime actor son Bertie (Andrew McCarthy).
Delaying the familial scenes of shared grief, Wagner profiles the cousins and their depressing lives. Bertie has so far refused to let his dad help his acting career and instead "sells short" the life insurance policies of AIDS patients, including one of Perry's loyal collaborators (Buck Henry). An appraiser at a tony auction house, Rachel pursues younger men and wonders about her past when she encounters someone who knew her parents, tragically killed in a car wreck ... or were they?
Perry's wife of many years, Diantha, (Salome Jens) has overlooked his unfaithfulness, and he rewards her by embarking on one last affair with the British star (Amanda Donohoe) of his TV show. Similarly attracted to smart, experienced women, Bertie attends an upbeat party of company town "H.I.V.I.P.'S" and meets wary Aubrey (Elizabeth Perkins). Of course he hides from her his reason for being there.
Piling on the melodrama, Bertie's ex-wife Lidia (Gina Gershon) is a druggie with a scary temper, and she proves to be irresponsible with their daughter. Things on this front get much worse, and the kind of overwhelming tragedy that would change everything happens too swiftly and inconsequentially in Wagner's progressively more unbelievable scenario, which includes a critical morgue scene that doesn't have the emotional wallop intended.
Laraine Newman appears briefly as the casting person who welcomes Bertie to Perry's on-screen family, while Rachel discovers the shocking truth about her parents and the role played by her uncle in events kept secret for decades. It all comes down hard on the Krohn tribe, but the viewer is doubly cursed with blase characters and routine filmmaking to go with the unnecessarily lurid and forgettably dreary material.
I'M LOSING YOU
Strand Releasing
Killer Films and Lions Gate Films
Writer-director: Bruce Wagner
Producers: Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
Executive producers: David Cronenberg, Michael Paseornek
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Production designer: Richard Sherman
Editor: Janice Hampton
Costumes: Theadora Van Runkle
Music: Daniel Catan
Casting: Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Barden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Bertie: Andrew McCarthy
Rachel: Rosanna Arquette
Perry: Frank Langella
Diantha: Salome Jens
Philip: Buck Henry
Aubrey: Elizabeth Perkins
Lidia: Gina Gershon
Mona Deware: Amanda Donohoe
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 7/19/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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