Author: Nigel G Mitchell
As I’ve said before, periodic tables can represent many things. But I never expected to see this. Artist Mike Baboon has created the Periodic Table of Muppets. Here’s how it breaks down according to Baboon: Each square represents a different character and indicates the primary Muppeteer(s) for that character, as well as the year and production in which the character made its debut. Borders align with hair/hat colour, background aligns with skin/fur colour, and colour of the abbreviated name represents nose colour (for characters with noses that is). Click below to enlarge: What do you think of the table? Is…
Superman’s Fortress of Solitude is a staple in comic book lore, and the crystalline structure introduced in the original Superman movie has become the standard look for it. So that’s why you may be thinking the photos below are from one of his movies. No, these photos aren’t from Man of Steel or even Superman Returns. They’re from the Cueva de los Cristales in Mexico, which literally means “Cave of Crystals.” And that’s a good name for it, because this amazing cave has gypsum crystals as long as thirty-six feet (eleven meters). Scientists believe the crystals formed in unique conditions…
It’s time again for “would you rather,” the game where we ask the hard questions. This week: would you rather kill Batman or Superman’s parents? The Scenario: Lex Luthor and the Joker team up to change history, causing Bruce Wayne and Kal-El’s parents to survive to modern-day. The Waynes avoided getting mugged, and Jor-El got smart and built a spaceship big enough to take him and his whole family off Krypton. Without these crucial moments, an alternate reality now exists where Bruce Wayne never became Batman and Kal-El never became Superman. As a result, evil has reigned unchecked. You have…
Movie posters play an important role in the marketing of any movie. Often, a movie poster can drive a person to see a movie they might not otherwise see. Maybe that’s why movie posters often exaggerate or even change the content of their movies, and sci-fi is no exception. Here are seven awesome scenes in sci-fi movie posters that never happened in the actual movie. 7. Forbidden Planet – Forbidden Planet is a classic sci-fi movie based loosely on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and first featured the popular robot named Robbie. The poster shows Robbie the Robot carrying a woman across…
It’s time for another edition of “Would you rather…” where you have to make the tough choices. Here’s the scenario: You’re the only survivor of a spaceship that’s crashed on an alien planet. While running through the jungle, you hear terrifying noises and sounds that drive you to a huge stone temple. Inside the temple, you find yourself in an open chamber when an alien Xenomorph lands in front of you. As you turn to run, an alien Predator materializes behind you. You’re trapped. You have no weapons, no hope of rescue. You’re going to die, so you decide to…
The new sci-fi epic After Earth has been considered a failure, both financially and critically. The way the movie has been received has reminded some in Hollywood of another maligned Scientology-connected scifi movie, Battlefield Earth. Here are six reasons the two movies are similar, and are enduring a similar fate. 1. Both Movies are Sci-fi and Have “Earth” in the Title – Okay, that was a gimmie. 2. Both Movies Are Vanity Projects By A-list Stars – After Earth was created based on an idea from Will Smith, was produced by Will Smith, co-stars Will Smith, and stars his son…
Gillette “How Does He Shave” Kevin Smith How does Superman shave? Three celebrities answer. Gillette has created a fairly clever campaign, having Bill Nye (the Science Guy), Kevin Smith (director and uber-geek), Mayim Bialik (Big Bang Theory), and Jamie and Adam (Mythbusters) present their theories on this mystery. Earlier today my brother posted MAN OF STEEL’S Four Best (and Four Worst) Cross Promotional Partnerships. I felt this one campaign deserved it’s own spotlight. Kevin Smith’s Kryptonian Spaceship Theory Adam and Jamie’s Hadron Collider Theory Mayim Bialik’s Enzymatic Follicle Theory Bill Nye’s Grinding Theory [Via How Does He Shave via geekexchange.com] NOTE:…
To prepare for his now iconic role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger famously lived alone in a London hotel for a month. In that time, he kept a notebook that served as a diary and scrapbook. For a documentary Too Young to Die, Heath’s father Kim Ledger went through the book and talked us through it. Here’s the first video released from the documentary: Oddly enough, Kim speaks English, but it’s unintelligible because it’s obscured by a French voice-over. So we need a translation of French so we can understand his English. Everybody got that? Good.…
As someone who grew up on giant monster movies like Godzilla and giant monster-fighters like Ultraman, I’m pretty pumped about the upcoming robot vs. monster movie, Pacific Rim. Here, in the new featurette, we see director Guillermo Del Toro explain how he built a full-sized interior for the giant robot head that could shake the actors around like an amusement park. Here’s hoping the audience gets an even better ride when the movie is released. What do you think of the feature? Are you looking forward to the movie? [Via Comingsoon.net] Please use the buttons below to tell your friends about…
It wouldn’t be a computer hacking scene in the movies or TV if the hacker wasn’t furiously typing lines of code in a command-line interface. Swordfish and The Matrix: Revolution are two examples of fast-type movie hacking. That’s why Hacker Typer is awesome. No matter what you type, it will show realistic-looking lines of programming language flooding across your screen. Spend some time pounding away on your keyboard while yelling “I’ve accessed the mainframe” and “I’m almost in,” and impress your family, friends, and co-workers with your mad l33t skills. Click Here to Visit Hacker Typer What do you think…
Where’s the connection between psychic powers and nosebleeds? We’re not sure, but it seems collectively that we’ve decided that using your brain too much will make your nose bleed. It’s a good visual shorthand that something isn’t right with someone’s head. Yet in real life, lots of people suffer nosebleeds without psychic overload, and others suffer serious brain trauma with no nosebleeds at all. That’s why it’s kind of silly. Here are seven of the most ridiculous nosebleeds in movies and TV. 7. Chronicle – In this scifi found footage movie, three high-schoolers gain telekinetic abilities from an unknown object,…
You may have heard of TED Talks, the online videos of research and culture held at global conferences around the world. TED is mostly inspirational and designed to educate and change the world. But the evil community is also working to give talks that will harm and conquer the world. It’s time for ZOD Talks, brought to you by the Nerdist on BBC America. What did you think of ZOD Talks? [Image: YouTube]
In honor of the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, Nick Bosworth at Joblo.com created an epic montage of all the Star Trek movies. It includes clips from all the movies from The Motion Picture to Into Darkness. Here’s the description: As “Star Trek Into Darkness” opens today, I wanted to unleash my inner-Trekkie for everyone to enjoy in the form of an ultimate tribute to all the films of Gene Roddenberry’s epic sci-fi franchise. “Star Trek” remains iconic in so many ways from the technology, ideas, adventure, legendary characters and so much more. Enjoy this special tribute in honor…
On May 21, 1980, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back premeired. Widely considered by fans to be the best film of the entire series, we decided to honor the release with some special photos. Vanity Fair released some never-before-seen photos taken on the set during the filming of The Empire Strikes Back. Here are seven of the most illuminating. Filming the iconic scroll Directing the Wampa Filming the AT-AT Walkers Getting ready for the dinner scene Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhem clowning around Filming the “I am your father” scene A casual moment on the set Which was your favorite…
Pretty soon, we’ll be hearing Darth Vader say, “No, I am your azhé’é’.” That’s because Star Wars has been translated into the Navajo language. Manuelito Wheeler, director of the Navajo Nation Museum, worked with a team of five Navajo speakers to create a Navajo translation of Star Wars IV: A New Hope. When he reached out to Lucasfilm with it, they agreed to release a version of the movie dubbed into the Navajo language. It’s not only a big event for scifi, but for movies in general. Most movies featuring Native American languages are shown at film festivals. Relatively few…
There have been a lot of superhero movies in the last few decades – some successful, some not. The actors themselves don’t always get a payday, but they often make a lot of money for their studios. This all brings up the question, “Who Is The Most Successful Superhero Actor?” MTV’s Splash Page crunched the numbers and came up with this list of the most financially successful (for the studios) movie actors of all time. The criteria they used included: Actor has to have appeared in more than one film playing the same character Actor must have headlined at least…
ABC’s Avengers spin-off Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has already been confirmed for a full season, and the network got all the geeks salivating with a teaser video. It has lots of black suit-wearing buttkicking, a super-powered villain (possibly Luke Cage), and Coulson’s car. But of course, the most exciting part is that we get to see the beloved Agent Coulson back in action. Here’s the official description of the show: Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D.…
Periodic tables are a good way of conveying information. Like, you know, the elements. But they also can be a fun way of showing other elements. This one by etckt shows different characters from the original trilogy, all organized by affiliation to the Rebellion and Empire. Here’s what the creators said about creating the table: With the release of our May the 4th Be With You illustration and in preparation for this year’s Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we wanted to create something special to commemorate our love for Star Wars. In the same series as our Elements…
As we all get ready to see the new Star Trek Into Darkness movie next week, Screenjunkies has added to their honest trailer series with one for the original Star Trek from 2009. Thankfully, this is more of a gentle ribbing than a savage teardown. Although they, as usual, make some good points. Like why didn’t the Romulans try to stop the destruction of Romulus in the first place instead of waiting around for 25 years to grab Spock? And how exactly did Scotty end up a Starfleet engineer, anyway? And of course, lens flares… What did you think of…
Superman versus Thor: who would win that epic battle? That’s the question answered in the latest video in the Super Power Beatdown. Based on a viewer poll, this video depicts a fight between the Last Son of Krypton and the God of Thunder. Check it out. What do you think of the video? Who do you think should win? What other match-ups would you like to see? [Image Source: Via YouTube]
Now if you’re like me, friends, you don’t just want to play with Star Trek action figures. You want to actually be a crew member on the Enterprise, amirite? But you can’t be a crew member on the Enterprise, can you? No, that’s crazy talk! But you can do the next best thing. 3D Systems, in conjunction with Paramount, has created a service where you can actually put your face on a Star Trek figurine. All you need to do is go to the Cubify website, and upload two photographs. Then you can select from a variety of pre-made poses-…
With the acquisition of the Star Wars license by Disney, some fans worried that Disney might make the franchise more kid-friendly. Well, this fan video by Sam K. Hale entitled Star Wars, Episode VII: Return of the Junior Jedi shows that might not be a bad thing. Witness the epic battle between the light and dark sides of the Force, as acted out by kids on a schoolyard. [Via Geeks Are Sexy via The Mary Sue] What did you think of the video?
Happy Free Comic Book Day! What is Free Comic Book Day? As the name implies, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. Free Comic Book Day is held the first Saturday in May each year. Here’s the rundown of free comics being offered today: BONGO FREE-FOR-ALL DARK HORSE: STAR WARS / CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT / AVATAR INFINITY ITS AN UGLY DOLL COMIC & OTHER STUFF KABOOM SUMMER BLAST SESAME STREET & STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE SPONGEBOB COMICS…
As we all get ready to see Iron Man 3, Screenjunkies has been kind enough to make an honest trailer for Iron Man 2. I thought it made a nice companion to my article, 12 Things That Didn’t Make Sense in Iron Man 2. They even make some of the same points. I mean, what was the point of Black Widow besides bewbs? And how did Whiplash survive getting hit by that car? And could anyone really have figured out the theme park was a new element? And really, the part where…anyway, watch on… WARNING: This trailer may change the…
Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch or Yeti) is a well-known figure in pop culture and mythology. We started the A-Z challenge with an article on the 5 Greatest Bigfoot in Pop Culture, so it seemed only fitting that we come to an end on the topic as well. After our original article, we were contacted by James Duncan, a Senior Editor for Direct2TV who loves to write topics on Cryptozoology such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, and other mythical creatures. He asked the provocative question: Bigfoot versus werewolf? Here’s his answer: Have you ever thought about who would win in an…
Science fiction is traditionally the realm of outer space, but a lot of scifi movies have plunged into the other unknown frontier: the ocean. Here are five of the most significant scifi movies focused on the water. 1. Abyss – Written and directed by James Cameron, this 1989 science fiction film is about an oil platform crew hired to recover a lost ship. When they become trapped on the ocean floor, they encounter a new and mysterious alien species. 2. Waterworld – This 1995 post-apocalyptic scifi movie is set in the distant future where the sea level has risen to…
U is for Uniforms, which lots of scifi movies and TV shows have their characters wear. Here are seven of the coolest ones out there. 1. Jedi Knights (Star Wars) 2. Starfleet (Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan) 3. Programs (Tron) 4. Peacekeepers (Farscape) 5. Earth Alliance (Babylon 5) 6. Colonial Fleet (Battlestar Galactica) 7. Krypton (Superman) Which uniform is your favorite? Is there a uniform you like that’s not listed here? Let us know in the comments. Click here U is for Uniform and Unleash The Fanboy – http://unleashthefanboy.com Unleash the Fanboy is a blog and podcast that aims…
Even though Doctor Who is technically a children’s show, it’s had plenty of truly terrifying moments that rival any horror movie. Here are six of the scariest villains from the show. 6. The Master The Master is the Doctor’s ideological opposite – another renegade Time Lord who uses his TARDIS and other Time Lord technology to corrupt and control, rather than to help and heal. 5. Jamie There’s something extra creepy about an evil child, and this innocent child in the eternal gas mask is one of the creepiest ever. One touch from this little boy won’t just kill you,…
R is for Retro, the golden age of science fiction, a world of rocket ships, square-jawed heroes, bug-eyed Martians, and damsels in distress. I love pulp fiction, which is why I was so amazed by the Pulp-O-Mizer. It’s an online gadget that lets you create your own customized pulp scifi magazine cover. You can set the background, title, subtitle, pretty much everything. Here’s one some we made just for us: UPDATE: Okay, I made a few more… And I could have made a thousand more. The best part is you can save your creations as an image, a Facebook update,…
P is for Product placement, a fact of life in modern movie making. Movies are expensive to produce, and every little bit that can be shaved off will be taken advantage of. That’s why sticking a product prominently into a movie can add much needed revenue, and is used frequently. Sometimes the products are featured in such a subtle way that you don’t even notice them. Other times, it’s so obvious that it makes your eyes roll. Here are seven of the worst examples in sci-fi movies. 7. Converse Chuck Taylor Sneakers (I, Robot) – Loosely based on the scifi…