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I saw Pirates of the Caribbean and Seabiscuit on consecutive days last weekend. It took some doing to get the family to the latter, because they were pulling for Johnny English or Bruce Almighty, both of which have been around for awhile and we still haven't made it to them. But I've seen more of this year's comedies than dramas, and I'd been told that Pirates, though lightweight in the story department, blew most of the out-and-out comedies off the screen.

In fact I had been warned that Pirates was fluff with plot holes that you could stick your arm through more easily than you could stick it through the skeletal bodies of the cursed buccaneers. And I suppose the warnings were true, but ask me if I cared while I was watching Johnny Depp swash and buckle and chew scenery until it fell down on Orlando Bloom's gorgeous head. The sense of fun was incredible -- not just the energy of the actors, but the costumes, the hair, the hats, the sets, the lighting. It was pure unadulterated pleasure, much more so than Finding Nemo which in my estimation is about to eclipse The Lion King as the most overrated Disney movie of all time.

I hadn't read Seabiscuit, though I love horse stories nearly as much as I love baseball stories, so everything in the film was a surprise to me other than the endings of major races, and I was biting my nails anyway. Structurally the film reminded me very much of The Natural: underdog with devastating injury, kindly mumbo-jumbo talking trainer, good-guy manager who really deserves a win, villain who's way overweight-overdressed-obsessed with his wealth and position, reporter as catalyst, women all saints or whores, period setting, Randy Newman soundtrack swelling at appropriate moments, glorification of the American spirit. Not that I am complaining. My son, whom I thought might be too young for Seabiscuit, wants to see it again.

Today I got my Entertainment Weekly fall movie preview issue. And yeah, more Matrix...but let's be real, there's only one movie I really care about seeing between now and the end of December, and it's the sequel to the movie that's coming out on DVD a week from Tuesday (though I'm biting my nails waiting for the extended edition of same, as I need my missing Boromir scenes!) So I guess I'm not going to make it to any more Serious Movies for awhile, but I don't think I care. Don't look for me next week; I'll be watching The Two Towers.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Speaking of Pirates of the Caribbean...what did you think of the film?

-Does Enterprise have absolutely no respect for its fans?

-And did the Great Northeast Power Outage of 2003 keep you from your favorite bulletin board?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

These were some of the major news items in August 2001:

• Mulgrew To Be First Lady Of Ohio?
  Tim Hagan announced his candidacy in the race to become Governor of Ohio. Had the Ohio Democrat won the election, Kate Mulgrew might have gotten a second dream job as First Lady of Ohio, as she always described playing Captain Janeway as the role of a lifetime.

• Jeffrey Combs To Appear In 'Enterprise'
  Jeffrey Combs announced to his official fan club that he would add another alien to a resume that already included playing Weyoun and Brunt on Deep Space Nine, as he had been cast to play an Andorian on Enterprise:

  "They were a race introduced in The Original Series, but not utilized very much. They're blue with white hair and antennae and an edge. They despise Vulcans."

• Majel Roddenberry Eagerly Awaiting Series V
  Though she stated she was not involved with the series herself, Majel Barrett Roddenberry said that she was looking forward to Enterprise. "I have an idea what they're up to, and I'm looking forward to seeing the show," she said.

More news can be found in the archives.

Poll Results

Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:

Which Xindi species sounds the best? It's all Xindi to me! 38.9% - (332 Votes) Xind-Aquatics 18.1% - (155 Votes) Xindi-Insectoids 17.9% - (153 Votes) Xindi-Sloths 14.7% - (126 Votes) Xindi-Reptilians 6.9% - (59 Votes) Xindi-Humanoids 3.1% - (27 Votes) Total Votes: 852

Please vote in our new poll about how you'd like to see the women of Star Trek outfitted.

Today's Television Listings

Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, UPN will rerun Enterprise's "The Breach". Here is a synopsis of the episode:

Enterprise is asked to evacuate a group of Denobulan geologists from a world that has been taken over by a militant faction, and since they are located deep underground, the effort requires some treacherous spelunking by the rescue team. Meanwhile Phlox faces a dilemma when another evacuee, an Antaran afflicted with a fatal dose of radiation, refuses to be treated by a Denobulan because of very old bad blood between the two races

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