there's a starman

Pop culture titan William Shatner captains Comicpalooza along with star-studded cast

Starman Shatner gets top billing at this year's Comicpalooza.

Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for ReedPop

In one of the most famous sketches in the history of Saturday Night Live, host William Shatner plays himself where — at a Star Trek convention — he screams “get a life!” at the collected assortment of sci-fi minutiae spouting (and all male) dorks.

“It’s just a TV show!” he flusters, before pointing out one audience member: “You — you must be almost 30. Have you ever kissed a girl?” The dejected look on the Spock-eared Jon Lovitz, sadly, answers that question.

How things have changed since 1986. Today, muscled comic book superheroes, swashbuckling space rangers, and sexy, tormented monsters not only drive seemingly all of modern pop culture, but the fanbase net is cast much, much wider.

In Houston, that’s nowhere more obvious that during the annual Comicpalooza weekend. And Captain James Tiberius Kirk himself— the 92-year-old Shatner — has set his beaming coordinates for Houston as this year’s headlining star, May 26-28 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

One of the largest shows of its kind in the country and billed as "Texas' largest pop culture festival" Comicpalooza — which began in 2008 as a tiny event in the lobby of a movie theater — counted nearly 50,000 attendees last year.

Celebrity signings and meet-and-greets, live podcasts, an Artist’s Alley, interactive demonstrations and shows, live gaming, panel discussions, and cosplay (Iots of incredible cosplay) are big attractions. Of course, most of the real estate is given to vendors selling everything from 1930’s Marvel Comics to original Kenner Star Wars figures (be on lookout for that Double Telescoping Luke Skywalker!) to today’s hottest Funko Pops.

Recently, the show even introduced Fandom Court. That’s where two litigants on opposite sides of an issue stand at podiums and argue their case, which is decided before an actual judge. One such War of Words had two Harry Potter fans quibbling about the topic “Voldemort: Genuinely Evil or Victim of Circumstance?”

Organizers will continue to roll out guests over the next few weeks, but also announced as guests with Shatner were TV’s dreamy and bloodsucking brothers Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries), actor Lou Diamond Phillips, voice actor Christopher Judge, and anime voice over talents Paul Castro Jr., Luci Christian, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Amber Lee Connors, and Jason Douglas. Visiting celeb Karl Urban is sure to draw crowds for his work in Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Thor: Ragnarok, and more.

Comic book guests (the OG genre of fandom) include Steven McNiven, Yanick Paquette, and Frank Cho, along with literature scribes Terry Brooks, Stephen Graham Jones, and Mary Robinette Kowal. They join already-announced guests including Stephen Amell and Rick Gonzalez (Arrow) and Anthony Star (The Boys).

But just like Shock Rocker Alice Cooper in 2022, and the cast of The Mandalorian in 2021 (COVID killed Comicpalooza in 2020, but it came back just like Jason Voorhees), the biggest crowds and lines will likely be for Shatner. Himself the subject of the recent documentary You Can Call Me Bill and whose latest book was Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder.

Sure, most of the questions and interest will be about Star Trek. But don’t forget T.J. Hooker, The Twilight Zone, Miss Congeniality, and the sung/spoken records. (Not even Elton John can touch Shatner’s tuxedoed and cigarette-smoking cool in the video for “Rocket Man.”) The man even makes commercials for the law firm of Smith & Hassler interesting. (His Priceline commercials were gems, too.)

Our hero even pulled a real Captain Kirk, in a boldly-go-where-no men have gone before (well, maybe a few), gravity-free journey on Jeff Bezos’ truly spacey Blue Origin rocket flight.

Given Shatner's headlining appearance and the star-studded cast, it's safe to say this year's Comicpalooza will be a real blast.

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Comicpalooza runs May 26-28 at the George R. Brown Convention Center (1001 Avenida de las Americas). For tickets, VIP information, full schedules, and more, visit www.comicpalooza.com

Movie Review

Chris Pratt fights for his innocence in popcorn thriller Mercy

Photo courtesy Amazon Content Services

Chris Pratt in Mercy.

It seems like every other movie set in modern times being released these days includes either a reference to or a plot revolving around artificial intelligence. In the real world, the benefits of the technology compete with its downsides, but when it comes to movies A.I. is almost always seen as a threat, including in the new film Mercy.

The audience is thrown headlong into the slightly futuristic story involving LAPD Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), who finds himself strapped in a chair in a sparse room, being told that he is on trial for killing his wife. Turns out he’s in a court dubbed “Mercy,” which is overseen by an AI judge named Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson). By the rules of the court, Raven has 90 minutes to provide reasonable doubt of his guilt, or he will be executed on the spot.

Raven is in a multi-pronged quandary: Not only does he believe he’s innocent despite a trove of evidence pointing to his guilt, but he’s also the poster boy for the law enforcement side of the equation, having arrested the first man who went to Mercy. Anger and disbelief for Raven turn into acceptance, which then turns into him tapping into his detective skills, scrutinizing every shred of evidence the court provides him in a desperate attempt to save his own life.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Marco van Belle, the film is a relatively propulsive thriller despite having a so-so story and even worse acting. The film is told in real time (with a few fudges here and there), so the concept alone of a man trying to prove his innocence in a short amount of time provides good intrigue. Bekmambetov’s use of digital elements as Raven scrolls through files or calls potentially exculpatory witnesses like his partner, Jaq Diallo (Kali Reis), keeps the film visually interesting.

On the other hand, the swift viewing of videos and documents by Raven, not to mention the high degree of cooperation by Judge Maddox, opens up more than a few plot holes. The filmmakers try to explain away a few leaps in logic by having Raven falling off the sobriety wagon the night before, but they can only use that excuse for so long. They also have the AI judge experience technical glitches along the way, errors that seem to point toward a wider conspiracy until they’re completely forgotten.

More than anything, it’s difficult to get over the wooden acting of Pratt and the misuse of other usually reliable actors. Pratt has no real presence, especially when he’s confined to a chair, so any emotion he tries to conjure up comes off as contrived. Ferguson is done no favors by a role that shows only her upper body and has her alternating between robotic and oddly sympathetic. Reis earned an Emmy nomination for True Detective: Night Country, but has little to do here, a fate that also takes out Chris Sullivan as Raven’s AA sponsor.

If you’re okay with turning off your brain for a little while, Mercy can be an enjoyable watch. But if you find yourself scrutinizing why characters make the odd decisions they do, or the wishy-washy way the film approaches AI in general, then you’re likely to find the whole thing lacking.

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Mercy is now playing in theaters.