WILLIAM SHATNER & LEONARD NIMOY IN STAR TREK
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THE GLORIOUS CORNER
Story By: G. H. HARDING
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| William Shatner |
STAR TREK BOYS RE-UNITED --- Leonard Nimoy has made cameos in 2009's Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, and now there is a better-than-average chance that he and William Shatner will be reunited in Roberto Orci's Star Trek 3.
When Star Trek was rebooted by J.J. Abrams in 2009 they brought back Nimoy to have a pivotal cameo. Nimoy wasn't the only original cast member to be offered a cameo, as William Shatner was originally included but they nixed that idea before filming. According to Badass Digest, it sounds like the original James T. Kirk will finally be included in the rebooted universe.
We’ve learned that the script for Star Trek 3 includes a scene that re teams Shatner and Nimoy onscreen as Kirk and Spock for the first time in canon since 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It would be a pretty huge moment for fans of the franchise, and likely the last time we'll ever see Shatner as James T. Kirk in official continuity.
But, we wondered whether this just to appease the fans who haven't quite embraced the new Trek-universe? Probably, but Digest says the role is plot-driven. Thus, it has a good shot of retaining the script after it has gone through a polish or two. Here’s the rumored preliminary script outline:
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Sounds intriguing … stay tuned!
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| Robert Funaro |
ALL ABOUT ALFO --- Sopranos-actor Robert Funaro has joined forces with playwright Vincent Amelio for a new project called, How Alfo Learned to Love Women, which has played several performances at The National Opera-America Center and will resume on Thursday, October 9.
Here’s a synopsis of the plot: Alfo Idello has an addiction to women. But he must get married to inherit the family's Italian bakery and continue the tradition of his grandfather, the founder of the Idello Bakery.
In the afterlife, Grandpa is stuck in traffic on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. What happens when a Traffic-Cop-Angel tells Grandpa he can get into heaven if he goes back to earth and teaches his grandson how to love a woman? Can Grandpa's ideas about romance and commitment help Alfo give up the sugar?
Funaro, who was simply astonishing in his role as Eugene Pontecvorvo in HBO’s Sopranos showed immediately what a stylish and tasteful actor he was in that role and here has found a real gem of a play.
In his subsequent roles in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster (with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe) and David Chase’s Not Fade Away, he just added to his impressive resume with more standout work.
Here, he has fashioned a terrific cast for this cleverly-written play (Armen Garo, Christian Thom, Danielle Guldin, Kelli K. Barnett, Gordon Silva) and has lovingly and beautifully-directed this presentation, where some of the actors even speak from the floor before arriving on stage.
He’s even chosen the music which fits perfectly for each scene (we loved hearing B. B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone.")
We caught their last performance before their-hiatus and absolutely loved it; definitely coming from Woody Allen-land with scintillating dialogue and a universal theme almost everyone can relate to, we felt it clicked immediately.Gordon Silva as the father was terrific; channeling the best of Jackie Gleason; and, Armen Garo just off the charts.
Amelio has constructed a tight, funny, slice of life essay that is terrifically appealing … and, fun. His first play, Rookie Lifeguard, garnered terrific praise and this one's even more.
Funaro, who is appearing in the forthcoming Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger HBO series for next year (along with Garo) has done a superb here; totally accessible, creative and fun.
One of the best plays I've seen this year. Well done! Visit HERE for more info.
SIRIUS FACES THE MUSIC --- A California federal judge has delivered a legal earthquake in the music industry by declaring Flo & Eddie of The Turtles the victors in a lawsuit against Sirius/XM over the public performance of pre-1972 sound recordings. The plaintiffs are seeking $100 million in damages, but the money is hardly the only consequence of a ruling on Monday that could eventually disrupt the operations of the satellite radio giant as well as other services like Pandora.
The lawsuit was filed in August 2013 and dealt with music created before sound recordings began falling under federal copyright protection. Flo & Eddie aimed to punish Sirius/XM for not seeking authorization nor paying royalties on hit songs like "Happy Together," "It Ain't Me Babe" and "She'd Rather Be With Me," while the sat caster warned that interpreting state laws to cover public performance "would radically overturn decades of settled practice."
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, who previously acknowledged that the case could have far-reaching effects, has elected to grant summary judgment to the plaintiffs on the issue of whether Sirius/XM violates public performance rights.
In reaching the conclusion, the judge examines a California law that was enacted in 1982 and meant to address pre-1972 recordings. The statute was silent on whether exclusive ownership of pre-1972 sound recordings carries within it the exclusive right to publicly perform the recording. As such, the judge had to determine whether California's law was inclusive or exclusive — and the judge's reading of the law is that other than the exception for cover songs, there's nothing exclusive about it.
Gutierrez writes that he infers that the legislature did not intend to further limit ownership rights, otherwise it would have indicated that intent explicitly.
Sirius/XM failed to persuade the judge that California's law was ambiguous in the wake of the passage of new federal copyright law and also struck out in its contention that decades of television and radio broadcasters, restaurant and bar owners, web site operators and others exploiting pre-72 music supported its interpretation of the law.
The plaintiffs, represented by Harvey Geller and Henry Gradstein at Gradstein & Marzano, pointed to two prior cases including one ruling that dealt with a website that sold 25 cent songs from The Beatles, for the proposition that precedent supported their cause.
"Although the breadth and specificity of cases acknowledging that exclusive ownership of a sound recording includes the right to publicly perform the recording are slight, Defendant has not directed the Court to a single case cutting against the right to public performance, even implicitly or in dicta," writes the judge.
Gutierrez won't go so far to grant the plaintiffs a summary judgment win on the issue of whether Sirius/XM violated reproduction rights by copying recordings on servers and through on-demand offerings. He writes that the plaintiffs still need to show more evidence on this.
But overall, this is a whopping ruling with consequences almost impossible to overstate. In the short term, the ruling will likely be appealed as the plaintiffs eye a trial that will determine the awarding of damages. In the long term, it could compel Sirius/XM, Pandora and many in the tech industry to strongly lobby Congress for new copyright laws that cover pre-1972 recordings. The ruling also will — or should — be read closely by other businesses including terrestrial radio operators and bars that publicly perform older music.
Sirius/XM is facing another lawsuit from the RIAA in California as well as more lawsuits from Flo & Eddie in other states. Pandora is also facing a lawsuit by record labels in New York. And the ruling potentially opens the floodgates to more litigation on the issue of pre-1972 music.
Many of these so-called sat casters and new music platforms have for years, played pretty fast and loose. Older groups don't usually record new music and even if they do, it rarely gets aired … as the few remaining stations that do play classic rock, just play the hits, so can you really blame them for their legal maneuvers?
Appeals, lawyer and court costs will factor into whatever happens and the process will be years in the making. Believe me .. it'll get even messier.
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| Micky Dolenz And Joyce DeWitt |
HOT TICKETS: Monkee-Micky Dolenz opens tonight in Mike Reiss’ play Comedy Is Hard
with Joyce DeWitt. We're going to see it Friday and can't wait. Visit Here for tickets: The Ivoryton Playhouse.
CLOSING NOTES --- We watched Monday’s night premiere of Fox’s Gotham and really loved it; although the transition of comic books characters to the small-screen is somehow becoming somewhat too formulaic (Supergirl will be here soon; and,The Flash starts in October). Benjamin McKenzie is standout as a young Commissioner Jim Gordon. Donal Logue, as mobbed-up cop Harvey Bullock is terrific as well …
CBS’ NCIS, with stalwart Mark Harmon returned last night (for their 12th season) and started with a bang that didn't stop throughout the episode. You've got to give Harmon credit, for a show that’s been on this long, it’s stronger than ever (with upwards of 20 million viewers each week) and last night’s show ranks among their best-ever episodes ...
Dolenz-DeWitt Photo Courtesy Of: Ivoryton Playhouse
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