Since I first began The Film Frontier in 1997, my small corner of our universe has gone through many changes. What started out back then as a simple set of static pages cataloging quotes about making the Star Trek movies has now grown into something more difficult to define.

In order to have a place to send people who want to know what this site is all about, I thought I would take this opportunity to write an introduction of sorts to the current incarnation of The Film Frontier. I’m not even entirely sure I can explain, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

With only a few scattered remains of those old static pages still waiting to be cleaned up, The Film Frontier today is mostly a blog featuring personal commentary, reviews, and news about pop culture/entertainment. At first, I focused this blog on science fiction & fantasy, but I have since expanded it to include pretty much any subject that moves me to write.

This violates all sorts of rules of good content, since I should maintain a clear focus so that readers will know what to expect and keep returning for more. For that, I am sorry. I am too lazy to maintain separate blogs for separate topics. You will just have to muddle through. If you insist on narrowing your focus, you can use the “Labels” list in the column to the right. You’ll miss part of the fun that way, though.

Though I’m actually an eternal eight-year-old who bought into that whole “I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us kid” thing, my driver’s license claims that I am now 34. That seems quite impossible, especially when you consider my favorite blog topics.

Star Trek
As a child of the late 1970s and early 1980s, I grew up watching re-runs of the original Star Trek series and new Trek adventures in the Harve Bennett films. After I saw 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in the movie theater, I started to become a more obsessive fan – reading as much as I could about the show and movies. My heart still pounds with excitement at Star Trek IV‘s reveal of the Enterprise-A, the most beautiful version of the famous vessel and one of my favorite moments in the movie series.

I enjoyed parts of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine but, for me, Star Trek will always be about Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the Enterprise. It’s great finally to have them back to the forefront, where they deserved to be all along.

Superman
Though I follow the comic books from time-to-time, I am primarily a Superman fan through the five Warner Brothers movies and the Lois & Clark television series. Yeah, I know, I catch some flack for the Lois & Clark thing, but, hey, I like what I like. There has not been a ton of Superman news of interest to me lately, but I have no doubt that, much like classic Star Trek, Superman will eventually return to prominence.

Star Wars
I pretty much lived and breathed Star Wars when I was growing up. I would’ve probably given anything to become Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. While I favor the original trilogy, I’m somewhat rare among old-school fans in that I actually enjoy the prequel trilogy as well. The current Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon series? Not so much.

Elvis Presley
Okay, so maybe Elvis sticks out next to Star Trek, Superman, and Star Wars, but I eventually decided to start covering him and his music here anyway. Sure, he was a real person rather than a fictional character, but he still has legendary status.

One of my earliest memories is the day Elvis died in 1977. I regret that I’ll never get to see him perform live in concert. My Mom and older brother are both big fans, so his music was always there while I was growing up. He’s my favorite singer, has provided much of the soundtrack to my life, and, best of all, his music is still here.

One of the connections that can be drawn among these four key topics of interest on The Film Frontier is that all of them are pop culture cornerstones with huge fanbases. Unfortunately, many of the most vocal in those fanbases often are oddly negative, feel entitled to control the franchise in question, and have lost all of the fun of being a fan somewhere along the way. For the most part, I try to keep The Film Frontier as a positive alternative to the kinds of “fan” rants you may find elsewhere. If I ever consistently start spewing venom about these subjects, I’ll know it’s time to walk away.

Other Stuff
Since I work during the day and attend university classes at night, I am constantly running out of time. However, I also try to cover some of my other favorites when I can – stuff like The Twilight Zone, Get Smart, the Peanuts gang, Voltron, and Mystery Science Theater 3000, to name a few.

At the end of the day, the main connection between these seemingly random things is that I love and enjoy all of them. I hope you find something to enjoy here on The Film Frontier, too.