Author: Nigel G. Mitchell
We love Doctor Who here at the Geek Twins, as well as trivia, so wanted to take the chance to combine the two. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about the Galaxy’s most famous doctor. 1. Doctor Who’s Title Was An Accident – According to Sydney Newman, one of the show’s creators, the name of the show came from a question. He was discussing the concept with another producer, who suggested that the show’s main character be called “a doctor.” Newman asked, “Doctor who?” The name stuck. 2. Doctor Who was Educational – Doctor Who was originally supposed…
D is for Dalek, part of the A-Z blogging challenge. The Daleks were created by Doctor Who writer Terry Nation for the second episode of Doctor Who. They were incredibly popular and single-handedly catapulted the show into British pop culture. Here are 10 things that may surprise you about these cybernetic monsters. 1. The Daleks Are Pepper Shakers – In the original script, Nation specifically described the Daleks as not having legs. The designers spent a lot of time trying to figure out how they would move until one of them used a pepper shaker (or “pepperpot” in the UK)…
Of course, Emmanuel Leutze’s painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” is better in the original Klingon. Brought to you by Judge Fang. Click to enlarge. What do you think of the painting? [Image Source: deviantart]
The X-Prize Foundation announced a new prize to create a real-life version of Star Trek’s famous medical tricorder. The implications of this are monumental, but require some explanation if you’re not familiar with the X-Prize. X-Prize is a non-profit organization that regularly offers prizes to any group that can met a goal it sets. Sounds simple and also boring, but in its short lifetime, the X-Prize has produced some astounding results. Previous prizes led to the first privately developed spacecraft, a revolutionary method of cleaning oil spills, and a car that gets over 100 miles to the gallon. Here are…
Today we have a guest rant from Collider. In an article about David Fincher, Steve Weintraub delivers a perfect explanation why Star Wars fans are so upset over the changes made in the Blu-ray release of the movies. […] Let me address why everyone is mad at George Lucas: he constantly tweaks his beloved movies, but he never made the original versions available after making the alterations. The fact is, I wouldn’t care if Lucas had Greedo shooting first, or Luke screaming when he’s falling at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, or even if he made more drastic…
Welcome back to our continuing series of profiles of men and women that geeks love. This week, we’re profiling the guy who put Doctor Who in glasses: David Tennant. David Tennant (real name David John McDonald) was born in West Lothian, Scotland. Ever since he was three years old, he wanted to be Doctor Who. His acting career started when he was sixteen, and thrived with roles on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and television in dramas such as Blackpool and Casanova. In 2005, his dream came true as he took on the role of the Doctor. He starred…
Every time I watch Spider-Man 2, this scene where Dr. Octavius is demonstrating his fusion reaction bothers me. Here’s how it should have gone… And just for fun, here’s another one. What do you think?
What happens when you combine Disney Princesses and Sucker Punch? Disney Punch. [Via YouTube via The Mary Sue] [Image Source: Mindtrickmedia]
Last month, we profiled Debra Fowlkes, who turned her birthday party into her own private Star Wars convention. She also mentioned her costuming for the 501st Legion, which we felt deserved its own separate post. Here’s the second interview on her transformation into Aurra Sing, induction into the 501st, and costuming for her kids. Q: How and why did you join the 501st? A: I saw the Rose Bowl Parade back in 2007, and George Lucas was the Grand Marshal. Hundreds of 501st (Storm Troopers) members were also marching in the parade. That was how I heard about them. A…
I don’t think we’ve made it a secret here that we’re not big on the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, but we admit that it’s not all bad. There are some great moments that even the biggest Lucas-haters can’t deny. Here are seven of the most undeniably awesome moments in the prequels. 1. Darth Maul (The Phantom Menace) – Is there anyone out there that can argue against Darth Maul? Then you’re in the minority. He single-handedly transformed the way we saw lightsaber-fighting with his flips, kicks, and dual-blade twirls. His final battle with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn never gets old.…
I think we can all agree that Star Wars fans are obsessed with the image of Han Solo frozen in carbonite from Return of the Jedi. And I’m okay with that. That’s why I freaked out when I saw what (I think) is the perfect tribute to it. It’s a Han Solo in Carbonite Silicon Tray that makes ice cubes in the shape of Han Solo frozen in carbonite. Or you can make some Jell-O or chocolate in carbonite. I can only imagine the awesomeness of a Star Wars party with these babies. Only problem is that these had to…
Our explanation: In his quest to rescue the princess, Super Mario is finally crushed by a giant mushroom near a lava flow. Bowser gathers Mario’s shattered body and rebuilds him into a ruthless cyborg. Super Mario is transformed into DARTH MARIO. Is the Force with Darth Mario? Related: Muppet + Stormtroopers = Muppet Troopers Iron Man + The Punisher = Iron Punisher Batman + Darth Vader = The Darth Knight [Image Source: obviouswinner]
If you were a gamer in the nineties, then you probably played the classic LucasArts adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. That’s why these screenshots of a fictional adventure game based on the LOST TV show brings back memories. Click the images below to enlarge. Would you play the 90-era LOST game? Did this bring back memories of Monkey Island and Full Throttle? [Image Source: Tumblr via Penneydesign]
Bob Anderson, the choreographer and stuntman who played Darth Vader in the lightsaber dueling scenes of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi has passed away. He was 86. Anderson learned fencing in the British Royal Marines during World War II. After the war, he became a fencing champion and competed for Britain in the world championships in 1950 and 1952. In 1952, Bob Anderson’s movie career began when he was asked to leave his Olympic fencing competition to help Errol Flynn on the set of his latest movie, The Master of Ballantrae. Flynn was so impressed by…
For me, Admiral Ackbar jokes never get old. But every now and then, someone takes them to a whole new level. Like this… [Via Steamtron via reddit]
I think we all thought the same thing when we watched Star Wars…those robes sure are snazzy. Where can I get one of those? Well, much like most things in life, the answer is “on the Internet.” When the Jedi take a shower, they wear these bath robes, designed to look like the Jedi robes of the movies. Check them out at Amazon. What other Jedi gear would you wear? [Via Amazon]
Born on June 9,1963, John Christopher Depp II first gained celebrity status as a teen heartthrob on the cop show 21 Jump Street (1987). However, Depp broke out of that mold and into the geek scene with Edward Scissorhands (1990). That began a long history in geek-friendly movies such as The Astronaut’s Wife (1999), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean series (2003-2011). He won the Golden Globes award for Best Actor for Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and from the Screen…
As we mentioned last week in our Sci-fi Feuds post, David Prowse played the on-screen “body” of Darth Vader, and always resented having his voice replaced by James Earl Jones. For those of you wondering why George Lucas replaced Prowse’s voice with Jones’, we present the following video. It’s from the documentary Empire of Dreams, and shows clips from the original movie where Prowse spoke his lines on set, before it was dubbed. As you’ll hear, Prowse has what’s known as a West Country British accent. The crew reportedly nicknamed him “Darth Farmer” because of it. [Via YouTube] How do…
This week, we’re featuring the Queen of Geek, Felicia Day. Felicia Day (born June 28, 1979 in Huntsville, Alabama) was first noticed on the geek scene when she played a potential slayer named Vi on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. From there, she played the love interest Penny on the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. However, Day’s biggest success has been as the creator, writer, and star of her original web series The Guild. The Guild is about a dysfunctional group of gamers, loosely based on her own life as a gamer. She recently has appeared in a new webseries, Dragon Age: Redemption.…
How often have you watched an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and thought, “Man, I love the sound of that engine.” Me, neither. But someone nicknamed crisknife007 did, and he extracted a sample to turn it into a video that plays the Enterprise’s ambient engine noise for a full twenty-four hours. After listening to it, I have to agree it’s kind of soothing. I bet Picard and Worf slept like babies with that in the background. The video is embedded below, but I doubt you’ll want to listen to the whole 24 hours here. [YouTube via TrekWeb]
The recent YouTube war between William Shatner and Carrie Fisher isn’t the first time that celebrities have fought. Let’s take a look back at some of the most famous feuds between science fiction stars. 1. Harlan Ellison vs. Star Trek – It started with Ellison’s script for “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Even though the episode is widely believed to be the greatest episode of the original series, Ellison was furious that Roddenberry and his writing staff dared to change his script. He demanded that they change the writing credit to his pseudonym Cordwainer Bird, but Roddenberry refused.…
You’ve seen Transformers in 2-D. You’ve seen Transformers in 3-D. Now see Transformers in a whole new dimension…1-D. [Via YouTube]
It seems like they’re willing to turn anything into a children’s cartoon. Rambo, Robocop…all R-rated, extremely violent movies that were adapted into kid’s cartoons. So it doesn’t take too much to imagine what it would be like if they turned Watchmen into a Saturday morning cartoon. It would go something…like this… [YouTube via The Mary Sue]
In an interview, Nichelle Nichols dropped a surprise on Star Trek fans: she first read for the role of Spock. Nichols recalls the day she was interviewed for this new television series called “Star Trek.” “They gave me a three-page script to read from that had three characters named Bones, Kirk and somebody called Spock, and they asked me if I would read for the role of Spock. When I looked at this great text, I said to myself, ‘I’ll take any one of these roles,’ but I found the Spock character to be very interesting, and I asked them…
Good news, everyone! Someone finally took two of my favorite sci-fi properties and mashed them together – Star Wars and Futurama. The results are surprisingly awesome. So much so, I had a hard time cropping the image for the thumbnail – I didn’t want to cut anything out. Even so, you’ll still want to check out the full version below. Please vote for us for “Best Sci-Fi” blog award! It only takes a minute and we really appreciate it. Click Here! Voting ends December 18th! Also, vote for Alex J Cavanaugh for Best Blog Post, CineMarvellous for Best Design, Hollywood…
The new trailer for GI Joe: Retaliation is online, courtesy of Machinima. Check it out. What do you think of the trailer? [Machinima via YouTube] Related: 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About GI JOE’s Creation DVD Review – GI JOE: The Rise of Cobra GI JOE Will Bomb: Reason #24
Ah, Internet. I love you. Once upon a time, a comic book company or a movie studio would do something blatantly sexist, and women would just roll their eyes or grit their teeth or write angry letters that would be ignored. But the new trend of someone re-drawing men in sexist poses is so much more effective. And funnier. Case in point, the portrayal of Black Widow’s butt on the Avengers movie poster led a young scamp named Kevin Bolk to re-draw all the Avengers showing their butts. Here’s the original poster: And here’s the parody: Please vote for us…
UD Replicas has created a motorcycle outfit that is an amazing replica of the black and white Imperial Stormtrooper armor. Believe it or not, these are all genuine form-molded cowhide leather, street legal. Pair it up with these Stormtrooper motorcycle helmets, and you’re ready to ride. This is perfect for that Vader’s Angels biker gang I was planning. [From UD Replicas via Force.net] Please vote for us for “Best Sci-Fi” blog award! It only takes a minute and we really appreciate it. Click Here! Voting ends December 18th! Also, vote for Alex J Cavanaugh for Best Blog Post, CineMarvellous for…
In August 1966, Star Trek had a problem. The producers Bob Justman and John Black wanted to open the show with a brief 15-second narration from William Shatner. For over a week, they exchanged memos with Gene Roddenberry on the proposed narration. The memos have been released, and show alternate wording of the opening monologue. One version, proposed by John Black, was: “Space…the final frontier…endless…silent…waiting. This is the story of the United Space Ship Enterprise…its mission…a five year patrol of the galaxy where no man has gone before…a STAR TREK. Another version, proposed by Bob Justman, was: “This is the…
What if the battle against the Predator had taken place on the forest moon of Endor? Now you can find out in this mash-up of Predator and Return of the Jedi. [Via YouTube]