Author: Maurice Mitchell

Irvin Kershner, known as “Kersh” to his friends, was an amazing filmmaker. He’s best known for directing the second Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, but he also directed many other films, including Robocop 2. While I never had the opportunity to meet the man before his death on November 10, 2010, I recently got to talk with Noble Smith who had the rare privilege of meeting him personally. Since I’m an avid Star Wars fan, I couldn’t resist asking him to tell some of his stories for our blog. Find out the surprising…

The upcoming movie Life of Pi is a visual masterpiece and we’ve gotten some exclusive photos to share with you from the film. Above Image: Life of Pi (2012) Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel (Suraj Sharma) and tiger on lifeboat The film Life of Pi, is based on Yann Martel’s 2001 bestseller about a 16-year-old boy drifting at sea in a lifeboat alongside a tiger, zebra, hyena and orangutan. It’s a challenging novel to adapt since it is deeply psychological, allegorical and requires giving the feel of open waters. Academy Award winning director Ang Lee is up to the challenge. Check…

If you had to choose a cyborg bodyguard to save you from rampaging killbots or mutant gang uprisings, who would it be? Above Image: Robocop (1987) Peter Weller, Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) first appeared in the James Cameron film of the same name and the sequels. It was in Terminator 2: Judgement Day that he went from the role of killer to protector. He has human skin and muscle, but a powerful robot body and a strong desire to protect. His enemies have reduced him to a head and torso, and he just keeps…

What would Mark Hamill look like in the Star Wars sequel as an aged Jedi? An artist named “WormyTV” and Darth Temoc have the answer and it looks pretty sweet. We already know former Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill is willing to return for the Star Wars sequel, but would it be worth it? The dude’s in his 60s. I said “No way.” But, after looking at these posters, I changed my mind. I like the Ben Kenobi style look to Luke Skywalker. Make sure you visit WormyTV’s blog and Darth Temoc’s Deviant Art page for more great work. Via Geek…

The Death Star always looked pretty roomy inside. We don’t know how many pools the Emperor had installed, but there was definitely lots of space. So, how many houses could you squeeze into the Death Star? Check out the infographic below to find out. Normally, I only post once a day, but this one made me laugh pretty hard. Thanks to Nick for sending us the link! Source http://www.movoto.com/blog/infographic/death-star/ What do you think about the infographic? [Image Source: http://www.movoto.com] Please use the buttons below to tell your friends about this post. Click on the links to follow us for free…

The children’s book The Dark Knight Rises: I Am Bane is so ridiculous, it’s laugh out loud funny. It’s not easy to write a children’s book based on a movie like The Dark Knight Rises. Hundreds of guns, dozens of death and a general theme of pain, suffering and heartbreak. Along the way, someone decided kids would love it. So, they made a bunch of books for young readers. I first ran into The Dark Knight Rises: Batman versus Catwoman which is silly, but harmless fun. Then I read “I Am Bane” and discovered the most unintentionally hilarious book I’ve…

The Firefly 10th Anniversary Special “Browncoats Unite” is a gold mine of interesting behind-the-scenes facts and trivia. Above Image: Firefly panel “Browncoats Unite” Left to right: Sean Maher, Alan Tudyk, Jose Molina, Tim Minear, Adam Baldwin, Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau Joss Whedon’s Firefly premiered on Fox on September 20, 2002. The show averaged a measly 4.7 million viewers per episode and was 125th in Nielsen ratings. It was canceled after eleven of the fourteen produced episodes aired. But the show lived on. In fact, it became more popular after the show was canceled. Fans started throwing viewing parties of the…

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…