Screen Time

Digging all the “Star Trek XI” news and Web leaks as much as I am? DVRing old episodes of “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine” every week? Wondering what Winona Ryder would look like as a Vulcan? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you my friend are probably a die-hard “Star Trek” fan, and I got some good news for you …

The classic “Star Trek” episode “The Menagerie” will be shown in more than 300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada today and Thursday, November 15, including Cinemark Harlingen. Tonight’s Harlingen screening starts at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday will see two screenings, one at 7:30 p.m. and one at 10:30 p.m.

As most Trekkies or Trekkers know, “The Menagerie” is the episode when Spock and Captain Kirk meet up with former Enterprise captain Christopher Pike. This week’s screenings will feature a digitally remastered version of the two-part episode in High Definition and Cinema Surround Sound. The screening will promote next week’s HD-DVD release of the series.

Get more info on these special screenings here.

Yahoo! Movies has posted 11 amazing-looking clips from Robert Zemeckis‘ upcoming animated “Beowulf,” including this one featuring ol’ Beowulf battling some intense sea creatures.

I wasn’t too interested in this flick when I saw the first few “Beowulf” teasers and trailers that popped up online a few months ago, but now I’m sold. The detail work on the characters’ faces and the bold colors and imaginative designs of the monsters look great. I can’t wait to see them on the big screen, and I’m sure Zemeckis’ effects team will be buying some tuxes for Oscar night come March. (Too bad we don’t have any IMax 3D theaters nearby.)

Some early reviews are hinting that the “Beowulf” writing team of author/graphic novelist Neil Gaiman and screenwriter Roger Avary (Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” collaborator) might take home a few awards for solving the original text’s structural problems.

So, “Beowulf” reportedly delivers cool and artful “performance capture” visuals and a good story? I was expecting “The Polar Express” with swords and bare abs. This one looks like fun.

“Beowulf” opens Friday, Nov. 16
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Photo courtesy Paramount Pictures