Author: Nigel G Mitchell

So a new trailer came out for The Phantom Menace 3D that portrays it as what some would call “kid-friendly,” but would better be described as “annoying.” I think we could use a little honesty… What did you think of the trailers? [Via Youtube]

Jar Jar Binks. He makes everything better, doesn’t he? Yeah. So Next Movie gives us eight famous movie posters for biopics with Jar Jar Binks. [Via NextMovie] What other movies could be improved with Jar Jar Binks?

A few weeks ago, Reddit held an AMA (Ask Me Anything: where any user can post any question) with a “booth babe” or promotional model who calls herself RoninMoro. I thought it was pretty interesting and tied into our on-going fascination with costumers, so here are some highlights. The caveat here is that she’s not your typical “booth babe.” She’s actually a member of The D20 Girls Project, which brings together women who enjoy gaming in their personal life to do gaming events. Some editing (indicated by brackets) has been done to keep it SFW. Q: What is a booth…

Back in 2010, we reported on Tony Alleyne, a man in the UK who remodeled his 500-foot apartment (or “flat” as they say across the pond…pip-pip, cheerio) to mimic the look and feel of the USS Voyager from Star Trek: Voyager. To say it was incredible is an understatement. Among other things, Alleyne put in a voice-activated lighting system, a command console, aand a transporter room. It took ten years, cost over $150,000, put him into bankruptcy, and gained worldwide attention. You can take a virtual tour at his website…and enjoy it while it lasts, because it’s all coming down.…

The war over whether Star Wars or Star Trek is the better franchise still rages on. This time it’s drawn in Liam Neeson and Patrick Stewart. They were on The Graham Norton Show, and Norton took the opportunity to compare their action figures. The results are thought-provoking and hilarious. Although, I think Stewart’s point is valid. They could have found a better Picard action figure. I did a search and found this pretty cool 20th Anniversary Captain Picard in Chair Action Figure Set. But it doesn’t shoot phasers. Touché, Star Wars. Which franchise do you think has better action figures?…

Artist Danny Haas has created some very cool prints of superheroines and their alter egos. Not only are they art deco and stylish, but they also capture how iconic some female heroes are in the comics. While male superheroes like Batman and Superman are easily recognized, these ladies have their own look as well, both in costume and their personal life. Only complaint is that I wish he hadn’t gone so overboard with the distressed look. Check out the pics below… Can you identify all the heroines and their alter egos? [Via Artofdanny via Herochan]

A new book called “The Making of Tron: How Tron Changed Visual Effects and Disney Forever” goes in-depth into the production of the original TRON. There’s a great article in Jim Hill Media with some excerpts. While there’s a lot of great stuff in that article, I couldn’t help noticing how often problems with butts kept coming up. Two quotes stood out. Bruce Boxleitner says: “There were no pants. (The male costumes for TRON were) about as close to being naked as you could be. It hid nothing. Thank God we were only thirty or thirty-one years-old and in good…

A German schoolteacher who calls herself sillysparrowness built a full-sized TARDIS model. Not only is it a dead ringer, but she even made it collapsible and transportable, so she can disassemble and reassemble it in other parts of the house within minutes. But besides the actual project, the best part about the video isn’t just the fact that she’s building a TARDIS, but the self-deprecating humor, the multiple characters she plays herself, and the overall endearingly nerdy style. [WARNING: Contains profanity…I think. Kind of hard to tell with the accent, but I’m pretty sure the F-bomb is dropped a couple…

In The Muppets, one of my favorite characters was ’80’s Robot. It looks like his grandfather was in this short film, recently unearthed by AT&T’s Bell Labs. Apparently, the clip was created by Jim Henson’s studios for an executive seminar that had a theme of the uneasy relationship between man and machine. In the hilarious video, Computer H-14 explains how machines don’t require mankind, while proving otherwise. Do robots need mankind or does mankind need robots? [Via CNET News]

AT-AT Walker, Texas Ranger. One joke, three interpretations. Which version did you like best? [Via GeekCartel and Styerd]

Are Doctor Who and the The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in the same universe? Maybe not, but let’s pretend it is. Based on the animation from the original mini-series, this clip imagines how the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy would have described the Daleks from Doctor Who. Not only are the animation and description extremely faithful to the books, but the creator even went back and re-dubbed it with a Peter Jones sound-a-like. YouTubers, we need more of these. A lot more. [Via YouTube]

Does this really need an introduction? I think not. See the full image below… Is the Force with Betty White? [Via Imgur]

The following theory makes perfect sense to me… This make sense to you? [Image Source: Imgur]

So the next level has been achieved – a six-foot tall Imperial stormtrooper cake was served at a sci-fi convention. It’s made of yellow vanilla cake, Rice Krispie treats, vanilla Italian meringue butter cream, and marshmallow fondant. It took the bakery ten people, two weeks, one hundred and forty pounds of sugar, two hundred and eight eggs, and fifty-five pounds of marshmallows. It fed 600 people. And you can have one for only $9,000. You can see how it was put together at Oak Leaf’s Imgur site. Click the images below to enlarge. What do you think of the stormtrooper…

If you’ve been enjoying the Voyage Trekkers webseries as much as we have, then you probably feel the same desire for more of the VT universe. Specifically, what does their spaceship look like? Well, that’s up to you. That’s because right now, Voyage Trekkers is having a campaign to raise money so they can build a working starship bridge* to shoot episodes on. For only $20, not only can you help build the set, but you can get a DVD of season one. That’s right, no more hunching over your keyboard, squinting at your monitor to watch the funny. You…

What if someone took Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and mashed it with The Matrix? Whoa. What did you think of the trailer? [Via YouTube] [Image Source: theflickcast

A cartoon show isn’t supposed to make you cry. I can honestly say that in twenty years, I’ve never seen a The Simpsons episode that made me cry. That’s why Futurama has taken so many of its fans by surprise by throwing some surprisingly emotional moments over its short run. Here are the five most touching moments on the show…so far. WARNING: This list will spoil these episodes for you if you haven’t seen them. Also, if you have seen them, this list alone might make you cry. 5. The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings – Desperate to get…

This Entertainment Tonight feature from 1982 is about a mostly forgotten classic, The Empire Strikes Back: The Radio Drama. The radio play aired in 1983 on National Public Radio, and featured many of the original cast, including Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and Anthony Daniels. When Hamill talks about doing voice work, I couldn’t help thinking this might have been the birth of his celebrated voiceover career. Much like Marcia’s role in The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, Harrison Ford’s role was re-cast. Perry King played Han Solo. You can listen to ten minutes of the original performance and watch photos…

Just got a press release about a cool project involving everyone’s favorite FBI agent: Dana Scully! These are same guys that brought you the Legendary Chloe Sullivan Project, so they do great work. Legendary Women, Inc has launched a brand new website, LegendaryWomen.org, focused on empowering portrayals of women in the media and charitable giving. Legendary Women hopes to counteract the media’s problematic portrayal of women by focusing on fictional and real life women who serve as positive representations. The site will feature content addressing negative stereotypes, fostering a conversation about representation. Legendary Women believes that the way to improve…

Syfy has become notorious for airing Z-level sci-fi movies, but achieved a new low by announcing a new movie called Jersey Shore Shark Attack. The movie sounds bad enough with its Jaws-ripoff story of shark attacks in New Jersey, but it achieves craptastic levels by featuring cast members from the reality show/train wreck, Jersey Shore. The idea of combining cheesy sci-fi horror movies with reality shows opens a whole new genre. Here are seven reality shows that could be mashed up with horror movies. 1. Alien Idol Desperate to reverse their falling ratings, the FOX Network moves the popular singing…

Darth Vader’s head is on a church. This is not a joke. If you look carefully on the Washington National Cathedral, you can see a sculpture of the head of Darth Vader. The story behind it is that in the 1980’s, National Geographic held a contest for kids to select a “grotesque” for the cathedral under construction. Third place winner Christopher Rader won for his drawing of Darth Vader. And so, it began. Oh, those wacky kids. [Wikipedia via reddit] What other Star Wars characters should be on a church? [Image Source: National Geographic]

Plot: A cocky pilot named Hal Jordan finds himself thrust into a hero when a dying alien gives him a ring that brings his thoughts to life. Donning the uniform of the galactic law enforcement organization, the Green Lantern Corps, Jordan must battle his own insecurities, as well as a monstrous alien force descending on Earth. I decided to review Green Lantern in two ways: as a movie reviewer and as a geek. The reviewer in me saw the film as an interesting, but ultimately flawed attempt to bring the classic superhero to the screen. The geek in me was…

With the end of the space shuttle program also came a long tradition of Star Trek moments aboard the shuttle. Many in the space program have openly stated how Star Trek inspired them to pursue space travel as a career. In memory of this, we hereby present the five biggest Star Trek moments. 1. Space Shuttle Enterprise (1976) – From the very beginning of the space program, Star Trek was there. It began when the first prototype of the space shuttle was commissioned. The shuttle was originally going to be called the Constitution, but a massive write-in campaign to President…

For those of you who had a little trouble understanding Bane in the Dark Knight Rises trailer, you’re not alone. Considering some people complained about Batman’s voice in The Dark Knight, this means we could be facing a new battle: not Batman versus Bane, but Batman’s voice versus Bane’s voice. Which would go something like this… Could you understand the voices in The Dark Knight Rises? [Image Source: The Mary Sue]

You all can stop making Dr. Who cakes now. It’s been done to perfection. Behold the world’s greatest TARDIS cake. It has realistic molding and coloration. It’s a duplicate right down to the signage. It has working lights. It has windows you can look through to see the detailed interior that (thanks to creative use of mirrors and optical illusions) appears larger than its exterior. And it’s entirely edible (except for the wiring and mirrors, of course). Check out how it was created at Do It Myself. [IDoItMyself Via Between the Pages]

Last year, I wrote about a Star Wars poster that (to me) illustrates everything that went wrong with the series. In the process, I was surprised to find myself arguing about something I thought was a given; that Luke Skywalker is the hero of Star Wars. Some people argued that Anakin Skywalker is the hero. Let’s set the record straight. The argument on Anakin’s side is that he is the focus and main character in the prequels. They tell the story of young Anakin, a Jedi who falls to the Dark Side. That carries the narrative arc through the original…

Today’s squabbling over superhero movies is nothing new. Back before they had the Internet, the squabbling took place in the letter pages of sci-fi magazines. Proof is presented here today, from Comics Scene Magazine #6 in 1989, shortly before the release of Batman. Some choice excerpts: “Putting Michael Keaton in this role will be a deadly mistake, I fear; he doesn’t have the physical height or build for the part, his face is simply too round and boyish-looking to be accepted as the face of the cowled Batman, a being meant to inspire fear in criminals, not laughter. I feel…

In August, NPR released the results of their poll to pick the top 100 sci-fi and fantasy books. SF Signal created an epic infographic to help you pick from the selections. If that’s not enough for you, SF Signal made an interactive version available. They also made a high-res version suitable for printing (25MB file). Based on this list, which book will you read? [Image Source: SF Signal]

This picture, taken backstage at the 2011 Scream Awards, is so awesome and so bizarre at the same time that we couldn’t even come up with a comment. So it’s up to you. Come up with a caption for this image….click to enlarge What evil deeds could Darth Vader and Peewee Herman conjure up? Or would Peewee Herman turn Darth Vader to the Light Side? Let us know in the comments. [Image Source: I Heart Chaos]

Doctor Who is a great show with a great problem. As a time-traveling alien, the Doctor finds himself in a limitless variety of situations. The problem is how he can possibly handle all of them, given the technological and cultural differences in different time periods. It’s one thing for the Doctor to be in ancient Rome, dealing with Roman soldiers and aqueducts. Quite another when he’s in London in 1999, where he has to deal with computers and the CIA. As a result, the show has equipped the Doctor with a wide variety of gadgets based on alien technology. Three…