Author: Maurice Mitchell

Gil Gerard and Erin Gray in vintage “Buck Rogers” television poster In case you missed it…Did Nolan change Bane’s voice in The Dark Knight Rises? What’s Herman Munster’s favorite cereal? Which Doctor Who star will be attacking Thor? When did Batman visit a hospital? Who’s directing a new Masters of the Universe movie? Find out the answers for these questions, get your motivational geek quote, geeky trivia and more in this week’s best geek bits.Motivational Geek Quote “Perhaps today is a good day to die! Ramming speed!” – Lt. Worf (Star Trek: First Contact) News We got another Liebster Award! This…

Can you believe it’s that time already? The trailer for the new season of Doctor Who (series 7) is online! From the looks of things it’s going to be amazing. It promises Daleks, Weeping Angels, River Song and dinosaurs on spaceships. Here’s the BBC’s official series summary: The new season will see the last days of the Ponds, with Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill making their final rollercoaster voyage with The Doctor (Matt Smith). Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) have been at the Doctor’s side for more than two seasons but what will he do after their heartbreaking…

Updated with new winner All month we’ve been posting about our latest contest: A $50 gift certificate for the amazing website Redbubble.com. We tried something different by using Twitter. In fact, this month was the first time we’d ever really used Twitter. We got a lot of new followers and we hope you’ve enjoyed our tweets and stick around. Thanks. You guys are awesome. Now the moment that you’ve been waiting for. The randomly selected winner of our Redbubble.com contest is Arun Chicku myramaines! Congratulations myramaines! You’ll be contacted by twitter to get your email address so we can send…

Every great actor has one great role in a bad movie. Tom Hardy is a big actor now, but in 2002 he starred in the Star Trek flop called Star Trek: Nemesis. Ten years later, Hardy plays the vicious terrorist Bane in the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises (2012). What a change. The movie cast Hardy as a Romulan clone of Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) called “Praetor Shinzon.” He builds a warship and leads a team of alien Reman in an uprising against their masters. Huffington Post calls it “a critical and commercial flop.” While the movie Nemesis is…

Bruce Wayne spent thousands of dollars on his Batman batsuit, but you can have one for less. On Instructables.com, nbennie02 shared his designs for a Batman Costume based on The Dark Knight Rises). While it’s not the most movie accurate suit you’ve ever seen, it’s definitely one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get the Batman look you’re going for. It uses common, easy-to-find parts like foam flooring, craft foam and a tablecloth. The whole thing costs about $50 unless you get fancy. While you may not think it’s impressive now, watch a video of him attending the midnight…

Tom Hardy (Bane) showing his back-breaking move on a hapless crew member. Why is Batman driving a Lamborghini? Will Herman Munster be a cannibal? How much does the Batmobile cost? Which episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is ’embarrassing?’ Where are they filming the Japanese movie Wolverine?Trivia Question (Answer at the end of the post) An avid movie buff, Christopher Nolan put the cast and crew of The Dark Knight in a four-day boot camp of eight films whose tone he wanted to emulate. What were they? Last Week’s Bonus Trivia Answers Easy: Name three cast members that appeared…

Christopher Nolan’s film The Dark Knight Rises is analyzed a thousand ways and there have been hundreds of interviews by the cast and crew. But there are still things to learn. The recent book The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy has a ton of fascinating facts seen nowhere else on the Internet. Here are 15 of the most interesting ones. Update: Added number four. 🙂 1. Osama Bin Laden Almost Interrupted The Filming The scenes with the prison pit were filmed in Jaipur Rajasthan, India near the Pakistan border. The shoot was already challenging based on bureaucracy, permits…

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is coming back. The longest running science-fiction comedy show ever is the BBC show Red Dwarf. At 61 episodes and nine seasons on television between 1988 and 1999 and on the Internet site Dave in 2009 and 2012 it has a huge cult following. After a long hiatus it’s back! The show is irreverent, character driven and hilarious. The series is about a massive mining vessel called Red Dawrf in the late 22nd century. A radiation leak kills everyone on the ship except for a low-ranking technician Dave Lister (Chris Barrie) who is in…

The studio decided to make a Superman film that goes “dark to the extent that the characters allow it.” Two new Man of Steel trailers are out. Are they too dark? Superman appeared for the first time in Action Comics in 1938. More than 70 years later, a new Superman film by director Zack-Snyder opens in 2013 starring Henry Cavill. I think they’re great and show a young, bearded Clark Kent taking on one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: A lobster fisherman. Plus, there’s a great shot of (presumably) young Clark pretending to fly with a cape.…

Vintage pic of Steven Spielberg and E.T. How can you draw a Batman cartoon on everything you own? Which famous monster held Dracula prisoner? Which hero will come back to life in Captain America 2? News Just starting off with some sad news. A nutball shot 71 people were shot in a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado. 12 were killed, and 59 were injured. Why anyone would want to commit such a senseless crime is beyond me. The incident has cast a huge shadow across the opening of the most anticipated movie of the year. Our…

This week’s Thursday poll is Batman related. Director Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have said they’re not coming back for a fourth Batman film. The movies are a huge success, so another Batman is inevitable. To many Christian Bale is Batman. But, like James Bond, they could do a reboot or just recast the main character. So who should it be? Who would you cringe at the thought of? Here are some of my ideas. GOOD Michael Fassbender James Caveziel Jake Gyllenhaal Channing Tatum Cillian Murphy Hugh Jackman Mark Ruffalo BAD Eddie Murphy Mark Wahlberg Gallagher Arnold Schwarzenegger Scott Baio…

Christian Charles Philip Bale was born 30 January 1974 in the Welsh town of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. His first starring role was in the 1986 TV movie Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. Bale’s big break came in 1987 when he starred in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun as Jamie “Jim” Graham. This role earned him critical praise and the first ever “Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor” award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. His first geek role was in the action film about a world destroyed by dragons called Reign of Fire (2002). In that same…

The Dark Knight Rises is one of the biggest movies of the year. If you’re headed to the movie theater this weekend, why not go in style? Show your support for the film by dressing Batman style! No. Don’t buy that Batman kid’s mask from the dollar store. Wear a cool t-shirt! Our contest sponsor is RedBubble.com, so I thought I’d share some of the awesome stuff they have available based on the latest Batman film. 1. Gotham City Police Dept. by SamHumer Here’s a subtle, but awesome shirt design. The police are under siege in Gotham City, but you…

Why did Ernest Borgnine not want to be in Escape From New York? Which Doctor may come back for the 50th anniversary? Can a baby learn the ways of the force? Which character has become an icon even though they’ve only appeared on TV once? What are the common story beats of Star Wars? Motivational Geek Quote “Time not important.. only life important” – Mondoshawan The Fith Element (1997) Thanks to @darthcleavage for the quote Trivia Question (Answer at the end of the post) Batman is big news this week. Although Tom Cruise has never played Batman, how is he…

Ten years ago, on September 20, 2002 a cult phenomenon began. Is it time for a TV movie? Writer and director Joss Whedon created the American space western television series Firefly. Set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, it follows the adventures of the mercenary crew of Serenity, a “Firefly-class” spaceship. Whedon described the show as “nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things.” It starred Nathan Fillion (Malcolm Reynolds), Summer Glau (River Tam), Morena Baccarin (Inara Serra), Adam Baldwin (Jayne Cobb), Jewel Staite (Kaylee Frye). Science…

Update: Embedded video Director Christopher Nolan never had plans to make one of the most successful series of movies ever in 2005. “I wanted to put everything into making one great film, I didn’t want to hold anything back.” he said. He did make a great film and his second Batman film set the bar even higher. There are only less than ten days left till the release of Nolan’s final Batman film and the new trailer is the best one yet. The plot of The Dark Knight Rises has been a closely guarded secret, but the new trailer ties all…

Update: The video has been flagged as SPAM on Vimeo. Added Download link. YouTube banned my video compilation of Bane’s quotes for the Batman sequel The Dark Knight Rises. When it was uploaded to YouTube, I immediately got a notice it was blocked worldwide. A warning also popped up that our account would be banned if we tried it again. Why? Because it included clips from The Dark Knight Rises 6 minute IMAX prologue. At first I said, “skip it.” But then I remembered I worked pretty hard on it and people may want to watch it. So I uploaded…

Tobey MacGuire (Peter Parker) Spider-Man Watch the entire Spider-Man trilogy in six minutes instead of six hours. If you’re looking to catch up on the Spider-Man films based on the Marvel comic books, but don’t want to spend more than six minutes, check this out. Dutch film student Kees Van Dijkhuizen Jr. does an expert job editing clips from all three movies together into a kind of super-trailer. “The superhero genre wouldn’t be what it is today were it not for Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.” Dijkhuizen said, “The trilogy brought the hero to the screen…

What would a Batman golf cart look like? What’s it like to set up an IMAX theater? When did Andy Griffith meet the Bionic Woman? Who has a Tetris bathroom? By the way, I hit the wrong button when I was writing this yesterday, so it published before it was finished. Thanks to Pat and Alex for being the first commenter! Trivia Question (Answer at the end of the post): The reboot The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) came out this week, so here’s some Spider-Man movie trivia. In the U.S. the first theatrical movie based on Spider-Man was released in 2002…

Star Wars action figures have been around since 1978 and some are worth over $6000. But most of the collectors just stick them in a display box. David Eger found a far better use for them by recreating famous photos and movie posters. He’s famous for his 365 Days of Clones, especially my Cloned Photos mini-series, and his attention to detail is striking.These posters are from his series “52 Weeks of Star Wars.” From gangsters to prostitutes, these are my favorite movie posters recreated using Star Wars toys…I mean “action figures.” Grease 11 a takeoff of 300 The Imperialist Network…

Everyone knows corny old jokes, but can you make it new? This week I thought we’d try something a little different from our usual poll (last week’s poll was great BTW). I’m calling it “Old Jokes Retold.” Think of the oldest corniest joke you’ve ever heard. Now think of how to change it and make it new. Here’s an example: Original: A horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Why the long face?” Retold: An alien xenomorph walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Why the long face?” Original: Why did the chicken cross the road?…

On the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD there is an easter egg that unlocks a video of Yoda doing a hip hop video to “Don’t Say Nuthin” by The Roots. It’s a non-canonical musical performance by Yoda and a group of clone troopers from the 41st Elite Corps (in phase II armor) in the Jedi Temple. Interestingly, the video was made in secret by the animators after one took a hip hop dance class. “I was lucky enough to attend a hip hop class offered through ILM and taught by Jackie Burns,” Michel d’Annoville recalls. “She…

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED Become a twitter follower and get a chance to win a $50 gift card to RedBubble.com! What’s The Prize? One (1) $50 Red Bubble Gift Card. My brother and I are excited about our latest contest. The awesome RedBubble.com is a community for artists to produce unique products from cards to t-shirts, stickers, framed prints, calendars, canvases, posters and other high quality products. They’ve kindly donated a $50 gift code to give away to our readers. Aren’t they cool? How Do You Win? Last month’s contest was fun, but this month we’re going to keep…

Here are ten links to things you may have missed this week. Trivia Question (Answer at the end of the post) What was the original 17 word long working title of Star Wars? Last week’s bonus trivia question winner! What is the name of the lizard that Obi-Wan rides on Utapau? “Boga! And Tony’s answer for last week is awesome.” – Alex J Cavanaugh 1. Star Trek Vulcanology has an interview with actor Tim Russ who played Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager. In part of the interview he said he’d play Tuvok if the timeline is correct and says how…

Update: Based on feedback from readers I’ve updated the infographic to include explanations of the stages. I also fixed some missing elements like the cow in the alternate version of Alien3. Also, I just wanted to explain why I didn’t include Aliens vs. Predator in the infographic. The 1979 science-fiction horror film Alien, by Ridley Scott, stands as one of the greatest horror films ever made. It made over $104 million and spawned a franchise that led to five films that have a total U.S. gross of $358,219,252. They topped our recent poll of alien monster movies and have become iconic. Known as the…

Updated with comments Star Trek has been off television since 2005, but the movie’s popularity is making people think about a new television show. Bryan Fuller is working on one called Star Trek: Federation, but that’s years away. Recently Michael Dorn, who played the Klingon Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation, said he’d like a television show based on his continuing adventures. He’s not the first though. George Takei, Sulu from Star Trek: The Original Series, has lobbied for a show about his exploits as a starship captain for decades. But, there have been plenty of characters over the years that deserved…

You don’t know the power of these 10 free wallpapers for your computer or laptop desktop. When it comes to Star Wars you can never have too much customization. There’s nothing like a good desktop wallpaper to make you feel like you’re one with the force. Darth Vader, played by David Prowse in the original films and Hayden Christensen in the prequels, is one of the most popular villains of all time. There are literally millions of great Star Wars desktop wallpapers, and we brought you ten of the best ones last time. The most common screen resolution is 1024×768,…

When I was a kid I made Wolverine claws using paper towel tubes, rubber bands and metal coat hangers. They actually popped out and were kinda cool. They were also kinda dangerous. I cut myself pretty good with those. But I was just a dumb kid. Surely professional actors with teams of costume designers, make up people and stunt coordinators don’t get hurt do they? Yes, they do and sometimes in shocking ways. Here are 13 examples of actors being pinched, punched, busted and broken by their costumes. 1. Batman Almost Passed Out Christian Bale has played Batman on the…

Which character actor, nicknamed “The Cat Man,” died this week? What did the very first Spider-Man fan film look like? Is Robin in The Dark Knight Rises? What happened to Eddie Murphy’s movie career? Trivia Question Motivational Geek Quote Links Trivia Answer Here’s this week’s links you don’t want to miss. These posts are taking a long time to do. Longer than they should, but it’s hard to pare down the hundreds oflinks. 1. Trivia Question (Answers at the end of the post) The NBA finals were this week and, if you’re a basketball fan, this trivia question is for…

Congratulations to the three randomly chosen winners of the “Audiobook Pop!” app giveaway! Casey H. Robby R. Sarah L. We’ll be sending you your unlock codes for the app soon. It’s a great app and I know you’ll have many days or months enjoying all the great audiobooks available. Thanks to everyone who promoted the contest and the blog. You can still buy “Audiobook Pop!” for $1.99 on the iTunes store. Well worth the money I think. Apple Store links Audiobook Pop! – Sci-Fi http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-sci-fi/id524304270?ls=1&mt=8 Audiobooks Pop! – For Your Kids http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-for-your-kids-free/id410097004?mt=8 Audiobooks Pop! – For Your Kids Free http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-for-your-kids-free/id410097004?mt=8 On a…