Short Takes

The first Trekkies -- a hilariously unblinking journey into the weird world of Star Trek fanaticism -- still soars high among the zaniest of its ilk. Documentarian Roger Nygard and "Next Gen" babe Denise Crosby don't disappoint as they boldly go back to the wacky well for a WORLDWIDE gander: a Klingon Santa in Germany, a "Beam me up!" apartment in England, a Trek-ified Catholic mass in Italy, a quiche-slathered soiree in France, busty bikini babes in Brazil (who Roger recalls fondly during his commentary with Ms. Crosby), an estrogen-laden "Enterprise" screening in Australia and, in the oddball travelogue's most poignant moment, the very first fan convention in post-war Serbia. But leave it to this costumed philosopher to best sum up the global phenom: "When reality stops being so lame, we'll stop doing this!" Stateside, there's gotta-see-it-to-believe-it jam sessions by Trek tribute bands and choice reunions with the original's most colorful characters. King of that pack is uber-geek and Sylvester the Cat sound-alike Gabriel Koerner who's since married himself a reformed goth gal, works as a Hollywood pixel jockey and crafted the sequel's deliciously kitschy CG title sequence. CineSchlockers will be pleased to see the disc's crammed with nearly an HOUR of snipped footage every bit as out-of-this-world as what made the final cut. Especially those bizarro tales from the poor folks at Star Trek HQ who answer the phones and open the mail! (2004, 93 mins, Fullframe, DD 5.1/2.0, Commentary, Deleted scenes, Two fan films, Trailers.)