The Kirkie

The Kirkie premieres

I was privileged to write the score for Jim Krieg‘s fantastic short film The Kirkie, a spoof of all things Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica. The film has been a hit at ComicCon, and what greater accolade can one aspire to?

The Kirkie, in the words of one reviewer, “revels in its geekiness.” It’s a story about three sci-fi devotees who, while on their way to a sci-fi convention, get sidetracked, improbably thrust into a dream world in which they reenact a fight scene clearly inspired by the very worst dramatic fight scenes from the old Star Trek TV show. Then the movie comes to a head when the lead character gives the evil alien “the kirkie,” a dramatic fight gesture that Captain Kirk often ended alien battles with.

Writing the score for a film like The Kirkie was an endless amount of fun, because by and large, the sonic genre is already quite defined: it’s the world of the epic John Williams Star Wars score crossed with the comically overdone scores of the Star Trek TV show (most scored by Alexander Courage, Fred Steiner, and a few others). To write effective parodies of such classic and well-known genres requires a bit of skill and a lot of humor to be able to use those styles but turn them around for comedic effect. During the writing of the score, Jim fed me a steady diet of Star Trek TV show box sets and similar to immerse me in that world. My favorite cue is the fight scene, with its dramatic over-angular writing that seem so dated by today’s standards but now, when viewed through the prism of the original TV show, give it a 60’s sci-fi character. Working on a film like The Kirkie is a little like watching Leslie Nielsen parody movies; everything is overdone, yet overdone with great care, love, and imagination, which perfectly summarizes genius writer and director Jim Krieg’s work on this film.

In addition to my big news today, some tremendous achievements to my composer colleagues in the other visual media categories:

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Quincy Jones, one of the most powerful forces in American popular music for more than half a century, died at 91. He produced Michael Jackson’s "Thriller," the best-selling album of all time, and was a prolific arranger and composer of film music. https://nyti.ms/3AuTahh

Gotta say, that new Mac mini looks amazing. It’s a pro machine. The only thing keeping me from the temptation of buying it is that the Mac Studio is due for a refresh soon, and of course, will leapfrog the Mini when it does.

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