Author: Maurice Mitchell

A new Star Wars movie is coming, but everyone’s asking, “Who should direct?” Who do you think could do it justice? Above Image: Vintage photo of George Lucas behind the camera directing Star Wars (1977) The original Star Wars films were directed by George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand and Dave Filoni. Can anyone do as good or better? Here are the top directors rumored for the job. Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) “According to the source, Trevorrow’s film garnered him fans at Lucasfilm, one being George Lucas, the founder and chief executive of Lucasfilm before selling the company to The…

The long-awaited Avengers movie has certainly lived up to the hype that surrounded the film for months prior to its release. Above Image: Stan Lee on an Avengers themed Harley-Davidson at the red carpet world premiere of Marvel’s The Avengers In fact, according to Moviefone.com, the movie enjoyed a record-breaking opening weekend, easily raking in $200 million and crushing the previous record holder, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. But the cash doesn’t stop there. It comes as no surprise The Avengers is also experiencing a great deal of commercial success with action figures and children’s costumes, but some…

Nathan Fillion called “that Joss Whedon show” “good sci-fi” along with Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica on Castle. Above Image: Castle episode “The Final Frontier” – Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) Sam Beckett (Stana Katic) Fillion, who starred as Captain “Mal” Reynolds on the short-lived Joss Whedon show Firefly, hasn’t forgotten his Browncoat roots (Firefly fans call themselves “Browncoats” after the Resistance fighters on the show). Even though the show only lasted 14 episodes 10 years ago, he still manages to sneak a reference in his latest show Castle every now and then. Yesterday, the mystery show had a science-fiction themed episode, called “The Final…

The first known brewers were Egyptians and alcohol is common to all cultures. Unfortunately, not everyone can handle alcohol. I have a story about tequila and my honeymoon my wife likes to tell. Since alcohol is universal it’s not surprising that the science fiction universe is full of drunkards. From lightweights to mean drunks, here are the worst drunks in the known universe. 11. You’re a Mean Drunk Superman What Happened? In Superman III (1983), Superman (Christopher Reeve) gets exposed to synthetic black Kryptonite and turns evil. After some general mischief and bad flirting, he ends up in a bar…

Welcome to “Geek Bits,” where we share the geekiest bits of the Internet for you. What movie director is making a new sci-fi TV series? What’s the best vehicle for a superhero to ride? What if the 11th Doctor were made of frosting? Which director is donating billions to charity? Top Image: The Mario Avengers by http://thejayphenrix.deviantart.com NEWS ‘Evolve’ Coming To TV A perfect storm of great talent is coming to TV. Alex Proyas (Dark City) is set to direct his first TV project, produced by Jaime Paglia, (Syfy’s Eureka) called Evolve. It’s based on the “Toxic City” trilogy of…

Two massive pieces of news hit the Internet this week. First, Disney bought Lucasfilm for a measly $4.05 billion. Above Image: George Lucas poses with Disney characters dressed as Star Wars characters I say measly because the Star Wars movies alone have profited $4.4 billion in ticket sales. That doesn’t even count the toys and merchandising. Not to mention the millions in advertising dollars from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars. So, $4 billion is a bargain. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, said in a statement, “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see…

There are a number of actors who gave incredible performances, but you may have never seen their face. Actors like David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the Star Wars films, Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2 and Bolaji Badejo who played the “xenomorph” in Alien. Above Image: Kevin Peter Hall on set as the Predator One actor that was prolific in the 80’s and 90s, is the late Kevin Peter Hall. At 7′ 4″ tall, he is one of the most imposing character actors ever. In 1987 he got the role of the alien in Predator (1987) and changed the…

This is a note that I’m taking a blog hiatus. An Internet break really. I’ll be greatly reducing my Internet time for the foreseeable future and won’t be blogging or visiting blogs regularly. My brother will keep running Geek Twins, so keep checking back for his great posts. Thanks for visiting and see you soon! – Maurice Mitchell

I normally only post once a day, but had to share this. Last night, on the Conan O’Brian Show, J.J. Abrams shared an exclusive clip from his new film Star Trek Into Darkness. Unfortunately, the studio only let him show three frames. Not much. “It’s got to be really short,” Abrams said studio Paramount told him. “It can’t be longer than three frames.” He described it as “This is a scene where Spock…for reasons that you’ll have to see the film to understand, is in a volcano in this crazy suit.” Watch the video below. The clip is at the 1:51…

What would Captain Picard sound like as a four-year-old? What killed the Munsters reboot? Why do kids still love Star Wars? All that, and more, in today’s “Geek Bits.” Above Image: Captain America (Chris Evans) Quotes Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) From Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. [Source: Unknown] Michigan Batman Arrested For Second Time Mark Williams has been arrested for the second time dressed as Michigan Batman. Here’s the report : Troopers were responding to the scene of a personal injury accident in which the driver had left the scene. “When we arrived, (Williams) was at the scene in his…

This Thursday’s poll let’s you choose between the two greatest smugglers in science fiction. Above Image: Firefly Captain Mal (Nathan-Fillion) Star Wars Han Solo (Harrison Ford) The history of pirates and smugglers have a long tradition in science-fiction. They are a noble, but dangerous, profession in times of dictatorships. Two smugglers stand above the rest. Let’s say you have a cargo of medical supplies you need smuggled to Kessel. Or, you need to get a shipment of bootleg movies to Jaynestown. Who would you rather call? Would it be the pirate rogue Captain Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from Star Wars…

The song ‘Gangnam Style’ holds the Guinness World Record for the most ‘liked’ video in YouTube history. Gangnam Style has been “liked” over 2,141,758 times since it was uploaded three months ago. Above Image: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): Eric Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones So, it’s safe to say, it’s a pretty popular video. The song is everywhere. South Korean rapper PSY (real name Park Jae-Sang) has a signature style of dancing. It’s kind of like he’s riding an invisible horse. I noticed there’s someone else that rides an invisible horse. It’s the cast of…

Way back in 1993, Steven Spielberg made the classic Jurassic Park. For more than 20 years, the franchise has been trying to live up to that. Frankly, Jurassic Park II was weak. The third was slightly better, since it took more from the books by author Michael Crichton. It’s been almost ten years since Jurassic Park III (2002). Back then, director Steven Spielberg said that he planned to produce Jurassic Park IV and director Joe Johnston would direct. So, where’s our stinkin’ movie already? It turns out, the problem is the script. Producer Kathleen Kennedy recently told Coming Soon the problem.…

The Pond’s have said their final goodbye on the Doctor Who fall season seven finale. Last week, RadioTimes asked Doctor Who’s Matt Smith what his five favorite Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) moments were. I liked the list so much I decided to show them here along with my favorite moments. 1. “Fish fingers and custard” The Doctor is hungry after his regeneration, but doesn’t know what he wants to eat. 2. “Amy entering the Tardis for the first time” This is a deleted scene from Amy’s first time in the TARDIS. 3. “Amy in Amy’s Choice – because Karen was…

Revolution has a huge premiere, but will the numbers hold up? Can Doctor Who fans say goodbye to the Pond’s? What’s the greatest television reboot of them all? How does Nathan Fillian want Firefly to come back on TV? Above Image: Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff made honorary member of Star Wars 501st Legion (Via ow.ly) Revolution Opens Big, But Will It Last? Blastr reports that NBC’s Revolutions had a huge premiere of 11 million viewers. My brother already wrote a great review that covers most of what I feel about the show. The show might last, but I doubt it.…

“Captain Kirk was the man of action right down to the very end. They had him off punching out the bad guy…and meantime they had Captain Picard as the intellectual trying to dismantle the missile by doing it through the computer screen…That was Kirk versus Picard, right there in a nutshell.” Dan Cray of the Los Angeles Times, on Star Trek: Generations Above Image: Star Trek: The Next Generation Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) There’s a vigorous debate about which Star Trek captain is better Kirk or Picard. But Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D (NCC-1701-D) was the starship…

“Always two there are. The master and the apprentice,” said Yoda. Above Image: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) attacks Savage Opress (Clancy Brown). A new clip from Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 5 premiere episode, “Revival” has been released by Lucasfilm. Here we see that “the rule of two” exists even between brothers Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) and Savage Opress (Clancy Brown). Here’s the official spoilery summary: “Darth Mail and Savage Oppress continue to wreak havoc in the galaxy. As part of Maul’s wicked master plan, the Sith brothers recruit a cutthroat band of pirates. Obi-Wan…

Marvel’s The Avengers is the must successful comic book movie ever. It’s raked in over a billion dollars at the box office. It’s been watched by millions and now that The Avengers is on Blu-Ray it will be watched billions of times. But that doesn’t mean you know the whole story. “Hold onto your butts.” Here are the most surprising, shocking, and bewildering facts about the making of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” 13. Nick Fury Was the Biggest Security Leak The Avengers script was under tight security with the code name “Group Hug.” Unfortunately, the script was stolen and leaked online. Ironically, the…

The idea of an alien invasion of black cubes is a good one, but a weak ending almost killed it for me. Image Above: Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) contemplate the black cubes. Doctor Who (2012) series 7, episode 4 “The Power of Three” Official Synopsis: “The Doctor (Matt Smith) and the Pond’s (Karen Gillian, Arthur Darvill) puzzle an unlikely invasion of Earth, as millions of sinister black cubes arrive overnight, almost like presents falling from the sky. But what are they, what’s inside them and most importantly, who sent them? With the…

Star Trek: Voyager characters should be in the new Star Trek movie. It just makes sense. We should try and get them in. Image Above: Star Trek: Voyager cast. Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Security Chief Tuvok), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Robert Beltran (First Officer Chakotay), Kate Mulgrew (Capt. Kathryn Janeway), Robert Duncan McNeill (Lt. Tom Paris), Roxann Dawson (Chief Engineer B’Elanna Torres) Star Trek: Voyager was a controversial show. On the one hand it’s the first show to have a female captain. On the other hand, “Threshold” is the…

Sigourney Weaver The most important actress in science fiction is Sigourney Weaver. But that’s not why we love her. We love her perfect mix of beauty, grace, toughness and humor. Sigourney Weaver (born Sandra Alexandra Weaver on October 8, 1949) is the daughter of TV producer Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. and British actress Elizabeth Inglis. Because of her father’s love for Roman history, she was almost named Flavia. I’m not sure she’d be as famous as Flavia Weaver. A tall girl (at 13 she was already 5′ 10″) Weaver was constantly laughing at and picked on in school. She gained…

Next time you send a “tweet” know that it may have an affect on your favorite TV shows. Fans have always had an impact on TV shows. Above Image: Bo Trimble and John Trimble David Gerrold with William Shatner on the set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) Back in the 60’s Bo and John Trimble (known collectively as Bjo Trimble) organized a massive “Save Star Trek” letter-writing campaign to keep Star Trek from being canceled in it’s second season. They also got the first of NASA’s space shuttles named Enterprise. That’s fan power. The Wall Street Journal is…

Star Wars was originally adapted from a 1958 Japanese film called The Hidden Fortress directed by Akira Kurosawa and has lots of Japanese imagery like Darth Vader’s samurai helmet. So, it fits perfectly into the Japanese animation style known as Manga. io9 stumbled onto one of the most amazing Star Wars Manga films I’ve ever seen. I say stumbled onto because you can’t even find it without a link. The reason is that it’s still a work in progress by a fan not a professional. YouTube creator OtaKing77077 explains in the description. The latest secret unfinished test stuff for /m/en…

Did you miss the Star Trek Google Doodle? Which famous person did fans drive off Twitter? What’s wrong with the town called Mercy? Will there be an even longer cut of The Dark Knight Rises? Image above: The Dark Knight Rises “Bane Kitty” Star Trek Google Doodle Last week Google displayed a new doodle as a tribute to the anniversary of Star Trek. If you were using Google Chrome or Firefox it was interactive. In case you missed it here’s a video of scenes. This is my all-time favorite Google Doodle. (Via /Film) Doctor Who “Town Called Mercy” Clip Fans…

Would you ride the Star Trek Enterprise or the Star Wars Millenium Falcon? Would you rather live on Endor or Quo’nos, the Klingon homeworld? Would you be BFFs with Spock or Han Solo? Image: Star Trek Enterprise vs. Star Wars Star Destroyer. The debate between which is better – Star Trek or Star Wars – will never be settled. But the question of which is a better world to live in can be settled right now. The line must be drawn here! This far! No further! It’s phaser guns versus light sabers. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a…

As kids we all dreamed we were superheroes. We tied capes to our necks. Jumped off beds to fly and pretended to have super-strength. I pretended to be Batman with my “utility belt” of flashlights and keys. Now an artist has managed to capture that magical feeling in 25 amazing silhouettes. Andy Fairhurst created posts of Iron Man, Batman, Joker, The Flash, Superman, The Punisher, and more. They perfectly capture the dream of children pretending to be superheroes. But these guys get a little closer to they’re dream than we ever did. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.…

German Expressionism, the film movement of the 1920s had a huge impact on comic books. Superman’s home town was named after the movie Metropolis (1927). Batman villain “The Joker” was inspired by The Man Who Laughs (1921). No movie exemplifies the influence of German Expressionism on modern comic book movies than director Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). What is German Expressionism? The German Expressionist movement influenced architecture, painting and film of the 1920s and 30s. Psychological states were given surrealistic shape and structure. Extreme contrast of light and dark, the use of reflective surfaces and abstract optical tricks…

Star Trek (2009) Enterprise The Star Trek (2009) sequel will be called Star Trek Into Darkness. TrekMovie reported the exclusive news on Friday: “TrekMovie has confirmed with multiple sources that ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ has been selected as the title for the 2013 sequel to J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie. This is a title that comes out of a long process of discussion amongst the creative team. As reported earlier, Paramount tested a number of titles for the film over the summer, including at least one title that did not include ‘Star Trek.’ Also noted in our earlier article, the…

What if Star Wars and X-Men Combined? Could the Hunger Games movie been more like Mad Max? Was the first episode of Doctor Who worth watching? How many Avengers will be in the SHIELD TV series Which Star Trek: The Next Generation actor is working on their own Star Trek movie? Image of the week by Rey Arzeno via Comic Book Movie I’m simplifying the “Geek Bits” to make it more accessible. If you want trivia or the motivational geek quote of the week let me know in the comments. I’m bringing back a feature I had when it was…

Marvel Cinematic Universe Limited Edition Collector’s Set Blu-ray Denied! The Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 High-Def Blu-Ray drops on December 4 and the MSRP is a staggering $120. It has the extended version of “Measure of a Man” which I didn’t even know existed. The first one Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season One Blu-ray is pretty awesome and this one should be even better. The Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled 10-Disc Limited Edition Six-Movie Collector’s Set Blu-ray is listed at $139. It comes in Nick Fury’s briefcase and has a glowing Tesseract. UPDATE:…