1. TOSS-UP Which Star Trek auction sale is more impressive: Leonard Nimoy’s $3000 Spock ears, George Takei’s $4000 Sulu suit or William Shatner’s $44,000 Captain Kirk uniform?
Maurice: Spock’s ears for me. How old is that piece of rubber?
Money Migraine: Spock for me, too. The Kirk uniform is from the movie, not the TV show. The Sulu tunic I don’t even remember.
2. ComicBookNews says DC is moving forward on a Justice League movie, but has taken a bizarre turn. No script has been officially worked on, but the basic plot is outlined. Actors are quietly being tested for the roles. The big surprise is the team roster: Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. No Batman or Superman. This would eliminate the problem of recasting Batman from Christopher Nolan’s Christian Bale. It also gets around the threatened lawsuit by the family of the Superman creator Shuster. Is it a good idea though?
Maurice: I don’t know. It comes down to how badly we want this movie made and how much we’re willing to accept. Flash and Wonder Woman would be cool, but Martian Manhunter? It might even make the team stronger. Superman doesn’t need a back up team and it would raise the stakes nicely. Batman never struck me as a team player anyway.
Monkey Migraine: Waste of time. This would be like doing an Avengers movie without Iron Man and Captain America. If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all.
3. In a recent interview with Hero Complex Director Mtthew Vaughn says superhero films are dying and won’t be around much longer. “It’s been mined to death and in some cases the quality control is not what it’s supposed to be,” Vaughn said. “People are just going to get bored of it.”
Maurice: I disagree. There’s plenty of good action left in the superhero genre. They said the same thing about the Western and police genre years ago, but they keep finding an audience. As long as the studios put out quality material with dramatic scripts, solid acting and great special effects the genre will survive.
Monkey Migraine: I disagree too. CGI is making it possible to portray superheroes in all their glory. The superhero genre is just getting started, and a great movie like “batman begins” and “Iron Man” can change the game. Movies like “Scott Pilgrim vs the World” will redefine the meaning of a superhero movie as well.
4. Happy Anniversary: On this day in 1883 William Gray invented the pay telephone. Phones were hard to find back then. When his wife fell ill he was frustrated by the inability to make a phone call to the doctor without begging a local merchant to use his phone. The idea of a pay telephone was born out of this need. The payphone boxes were once so common that it was used as an changing room for Superman. Several time machines including Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure and Doctor Who also used the box. Pay phones will disappear in the next ten years.
