"Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" wins Golden Raspberry for Jar Jar Binks

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace got a lot of hate when it was released.  Admittedly, it had some huge shoes to fill after the earlier three movies, but I think it is one of the best movies out there.  A lot of movies, and I do mean a lot, don't even come close to matching it.  It did have its flaws, of course, such as introducing one of the most annoying characters of all time, Jar Jar Binks.  And it's better than any of the final three movies in the series.  

I don't think it deserved the criticism it received at the 20th Golden Raspberry Awards, held March 25, 2000. It was nominated for seven Razzie awards, but only took home one.  Ahmed Best won Worst Supporting Actor for his work as Jar Jar Binks.

Phantom Menace was nominated for Worst Picture, Sofia Coppola for Worst Supporting Actress, Jake Lloyd for Worst Supporting Actor for his performance as Anakin Skywalker, Worst Screen Couple for Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman, Worst Director for George Lucas (seriously?), and Worst Screenplay for Lucas (really?).  

However, Wild Wild West was the top winner (loser?) for the evening, taking home five awards from its nine nominations. Multi-Grammy award winner Stevie Wonder shared the Worst Original Song with co-writers Will Smith, and Kool Moe Dee.

"Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" wins two Saturn Awards 2000

Although nominated for 10 Saturn Awards, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace garnered only two of the trophies at the Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy's 26th annual ceremony June 6, 2000.  

The first chapter in the Star Wars saga took home the awards for Best Costumes for Trisha Biggar and Best Special Effects.  Liam Neeson was nominated for Best Actor for his performance as Qui-Gon Jinn.  Ewan McGregor was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Pernilla August was nominated for Best Supporting Actress as Shmi Skywalker.  Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman were both nominated for Best Young Actor/Actress.  George Lucas was nominated as Best Director.  The Phantom Menace received nominations for the Best Science Fiction Film and for Best Make-up.

Expedition One begins aboard ISS 2000

Expedition 1 crew (L-R): Sergei Krikalev, Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko

Expedition 1 mission patch

Expedition One, which began November 2, 2000, marked the beginning of a constant human presence aboard the International Space Station.  Crew members William Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev had blasted off just two days before aboard Soyuz TM-31 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.  

The first supply ship, the unmanned Russian spacecraft Progress M1-4 arrived at the station on November 18. 

On December 2, Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-97) arrived at the ISS, bringing more equipment for the station.  The crew conducted three EVAs prior to boarding the station. The Endeavour's crew returned to Earth December 11.

Expedition One's crew was given Christmas Day and New Year's Day off.

On February 9, 2001, Atlantis (STS-98) docked with the station bringing a crew of five for a temporary stay.  By this time, Expedition One had been on board for three months.  NASA had noticed a "three-month wall", a psychological barrier that causes depression in previous astronauts.  To combat this, NASA allowed more time for them to speak to their families and encouraged them to watch movies and listen to music they liked.

Discovery (STS-102) arrived at the ISS March 10, 2001, bringing a new crew for Expedition 2.  Expedition One returned to Earth on Discovery March 21, ending their four and a half months stay in space.

Soyuz TM-30 launched 2000

Soyuz TM-30 crew (L-R): Sergei Zalyotin, Aleksandr Kaleri

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-30, launched April 4, 2000, was the last mission to the Mir space station. Its crew consisted of Commander Sergei Zalyotin and Aleksandr Kaleri.  It was the first privately funded mission to a space station.  MirCorp sent the crew to reactivate, repair, and resupply the station.  They also boosted the station's orbit since it was nearing the end of its operational life.  Plans had been developed to restore the station with commercially-funded mission but they never materialized.

Zalyotin and Kaleri performed one EVA during the mission.  returned to Earth after almost 73 days on June 16.

Endeavour (STS-99) launched 2000

STS-99 crew

Front row (L-R): Mamoru Mohri, Thiele

Back row (L-R): Janice Voss, Kevin Kegel, Dominic Gorie, Janet Kavandi

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-99), launched February 11, 2000, was the last solo flight of the Endeavour, since the rest of her flights were devoted to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dominic Pudwill Gorie, Gerhard Thiele (ESA), Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, Mamoru Mohri (NASDA).

They returned to Earth February 22.

"Red Planet" released 2000

Red Planet, released November 10, 2000, starred Carrie-Anne Moss and Val Kilmer as part of a crew of a manned mission to Mars.  It was directed by Antony Hoffman and featured Terence Stamp and Benjamin Bratt.

The movie was not successful either critically nor commercially.  I enjoy the hell out of it. I watch it whenever it is on TV. 

"Pitch Black" released 2000

There are worse ways of spending two hours than watching Vin Diesel in his breakout role in the movie Pitch Black, released February 18, 2000.  The story follows a group of survivors who have crash landed on a desert planet with three suns.  They soon find out every 22 years, the planet undergoes a total eclipse, plunging it in complete darkeness for two months.  And a host of carnivours creatures come out in the night to feast on anything they can find.

Although it received mixed reviews from the critics, Pitch Black was a box office success and won two awards from the Australian Cinematographers Society.  It was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction movie.

Atlantis (STS-106) launched 2000

STS-106 crew

Front row (L-R): Scott Altman, Terrence Wilcutt

Back row (L-R): Borus Morukov, Richard Mastracchio, Edward Lu, Daniel Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko

STS-106 Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-106), launched September 8, 2000, carried seven astronauts to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Terrence Wilcutt, Pilot Scott Altman, Edward Lu, Richard Mastracchio, Daniel Burbank, Yuri Malenchenko and Borus Morukov.

Lu and Malenchenko conducted an EVA lasting 6 hours 14 minutes.

The crew returned to Earth September 20.

NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around Eros 2000

Launched February 17, 1996, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker) entered orbit around the asteroid Eros February 14, 2000.  It is the first time a spacecraft had achieved orbit around an asteroid.

A year later, on February 12, 2001, NEAR Shoemaker touched down on the surface of Eros. It transmitted data until February 28 when the last signals were received.  NASA tried to communicate with the spacecraft on December 10, 2002 but was unsuccessful.

"Godzilla 2000" released 2000

Godzilla 2000, released August 18, 2000 in the U.S., is the 23rd installment of Toho's Godzilla series, not counting the Matthew Broderick film, which doesn't really fit at all. 

In fact, it was the disappointment of the 1998 movie that prompted Toho to reboot the G-Man on their own, so they produced Godzilla 2000.  This isn't a favorite of mine and apparently it did not do much better than Broderick's version.  It ignored some of the continuity set in earlier Godzilla movies, since this one supposedly happens after the 1954 movie, as if the others never happened.

I like seeing Takehiro Murata in the lead role.  He's been in many Godzilla movies, some only as a cameo, so it was good to see him shine.

Endeavour (STS-97) launched 2000

Seated (L-R): Michael Bloomfield, Marc Garneau, Brent Jett

Standing (L-R): Carlos Noriega, Joseph Tanner

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour launched November 30, 2000, carried the first set of solar arrays to the International Space Station.  Her crew was Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Michael Bloomfield, Mission Specialist Joseph Tanner, Mission Specialist Marc Garneau (Canadian Space Agency) and Mission Specialist Carlos Noriega (first Peruvian in space, but this wasn't his first flight). 

On Flight Day 3, Endeavour linked to the ISS.  Joseph Tanner and Carlos Noriega moved through Endeavour's docking tunnel and opened the hatch to the ISS docking port to leave supplies and computer hardware on the "doorstep" of the ISS.

The next day, the crew of Expedition 1, Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, retrieved the items left for them.

Tanner and Noriega performed 3 EVAs to install the solar arrays on the ISS and installed a camera cable outside the Unity Module.

On Flight Day 8, Endeavour's crew met Expedition 1's crew in the ISS.  Up until now, they had kept one hatch closed between the shuttle and the station to maintain respective atmospheres.

Flight Day 9, the crews finished transferring supplies to the station and stuff to be brought back to Earth.  Endeavour landed December 11.




https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-97.html

Soyuz TM-31 launched 2000

Soyuz TM-31, launched October 31, 2000, was the first Soyuz spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.  Aboard were members of Expedition 1, the first long-duration crew for the ISS.

The crew was Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Krikalev and astronaut William Shepherd, who became commander of Expedition 1.

Soyuz TM-31 returned to Earth May 6, 2001.


The best that I could find is this computer animated video about the launch.  It is much better than the computer-generated voice of the other one.

Discovery, 100th Space Shuttle mission, launched 2000

Front row (L-R): Melroy, Duffy; 

Back row (L-R): Chiao, Lopez-Alegria, McArthur, Wisoff, Wakata

Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off October 11, 2000 on the 100th mission (STS-92) of the space shuttle program.  Seven astronauts docked with the International Space Station for seven days and performed 4 EVAs.

Discovery's crew consisted of Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pamela Melroy (remember her? She was the one who had Alan Parsons Project's Prime Time as her wake up call!), Mission Specialist 1 Koichi Wakata (remember him?  He would be the first Japanese commander of the ISS!), Mission Specialist 2 William McArthur, Mission Specialist 3 Peter Wisoff, Mission Specialist 4 Michael Lopez-Alegria (remember him? He's the first Spanish-born astronaut in space!), and Mission Specialist 5 Leroy Chiao (remember him?  He's the one who saw UFO lights during an EVA!).

Mannheim Steamroller releases "Fresh Aire 8" 2000

Mannheim Steamroller released Fresh Aire 8, the final album in their Fresh Aire series, August 22, 2000.  Chip Davis composed all the songs, which are based on the topic of infinity.

Here is the video for "Leonardo (The Infinite Thinker)":

"Godzilla vs Megaguirus" released 2000

Godzilla vs Megaguirus, released December 16, 2000, is one of my favorites.  New big monster, strong female lead, Godzilla kicking butt!

Also, they will never learn!  You can't keep Godzilla down!  Not even with black holes!

Anniversary of Godzilla 2000's USA release

Today marks the 14th anniversary of the USA release of Godzilla 2000, bringing relief to those of us still stinging from the insult of 1998's Matthew Broderick film.  According to IMDB.com, the 1998 version was to be the first of three movies from Tri-Star, but since it got such terrible reviews, Toho abandoned the idea and brought back the original Godzilla.

The discovery of a huge, unique rock under the sea grabs the interests of scientists from all over the world, wondering about its origin.  Until it begins to behave  strangely.  Exposure to the sun reveals it to be a flying saucer buried under the waves for millions of years.   Its intentions become clear as it begins taking over Tokyo by siphoning off its energy with invisible tendrils.  It's up to the G-Man to save Earth once again.

 Godzilla vs Orga

It was good to see Takehiro Murata in a lead role, when in some movies he's relegated to a walk-on part.