Author: Maurice Mitchell

I’m renaming “Friends Friday” to “Geek Bits” and expanding the coverage to include more blogs with a focus on sci-fi. Also, I’m adding trivia, pictures and more! Let me know if you like the new format. Trivia: What was Roddenbery’s original name for Star Trek: The Original Series’ starship? (Answer at the end) Links Anglophenia: Doctor Who’s First Sarah Jane Smith Revealed When the BBC auditioned actresses for the role of Sarah Jane Smith in 1973, they didn’t offer the part to Elisabeth Sladen straight away. Instead they went for another actress, even getting as far as rehearsing scenes between…

I wrote before about how I hate the new Superman costume, but I’ve noticed some have objected to the viewpoint. Some like it. So, I decided to play “Angel’s advocate” and examine the costume through the eyes of someone that likes it. It wasn’t easy, but here goes.There are some new on-set images of the Superman costume for Man of Steel (2013) online and I’m going to do a quick analysis to show the changes. I can summarize it by saying it’s awesome! It looks like a fresh new take on the old costume. It’s a pretty drastic shift from…

How many times have you seen an amazing movie trailer and been horribly disappointed when you left the theater? We’ve all been there. You watch a trailer that blows you away and say, “Have you seen the trailer? It’s going to be amazing!” Then you watch the film and curse yourself for being tricked. Thankfully, we’ll always have the trailers to remind us how good the movie could have been. Here are the top ten films that made a really bad film look awesome. Watchmen? Batman & Robin? Battlefield Earth? Where would you rank them? 10. Star Trek V: The…

If you love Batman and Angry Birds, say hello to our little friends: Angry Bat-Birds. There are eleven characters in the poster. Some are obvious like Batman. Can you name the ten others? Illustrated by Daniel Halyburton and Jennifer Herd. Via Bleeding Cool Can you name the angry bat-birds?

Last month, on my other blog Film Sketchr, I interviewed concept artist Peter Rubin about his work. One topic he mentioned was the Superman reboot Man of Steel (2013). I was impressed that he designed the Superman chest emblem since it’s pretty much the only thing I like about the new costume. Last week Comic Book Resources, as well as other blogs picked out some points I missed. Here now are a few key points he revealed. Here’s his quote: Well, Man of Steel comes out in 2013. I’ve left some fingerprints on that. I spent nine months working with Alex…

Every Friday I like to share some blog posts from some of our friends you might be interested in. When does the A-Z blogging challenge start? What is Enceladus? Which movie taught us to watch out for dinosaurs? First, a quick story. I work in the I.T. industry and I was all set for a nice long vacation when my boss asked me to help do some cable rewiring during the break. My first reaction was, “Sucks to be you!” and bounce out of there. He subtly reminded me that I had no time off left for the year. So, I…

When most people think of science-fiction they think of rayguns and spaceships, but sci-fi has it’s share of culture. My wife insists no one will be reading this, but I’m an opera fan and if only one other reader appreciates it then its worth it. Plus, is there anything more bizarre than aliens singing opera? 1. Klingon Opera Makes Great Bar Music A huge fan of Klingon opera, Worf requests to hear “Aktuh and Maylota” from a bar singer. This is enough to drive a Ferrengi to cry about the dreadful noise. 2. The Fifth Element Opera Gets Funky On…

We all know Han Solo and Princess Leia are the most mismatched couple in the universe. Did you know they’re the worst too? This parody video by OneMinuteGalactica cuts clips of Star Wars to a 1950s instructional video. Who do you think is the worst couple in the universe?

Apollo 18 is terribly unscary considering its supposed to be a horror movie. But, if long shots of nothing, with occasional moments of surprise, are your kind of movie then welcome to paradise. The film is now on DVD, but I saw out in the theater. My wife and I went to see it and as we drove to the theater I mentioned I was surprised she wanted to go since she doesn’t like scary movies. She asked, “Is this movie scary?” I said, “Yeah, its a horror movie.” She nervously asked if she would be scared and I thought…

With all the different releases of Star Wars here are some good reasons that we should have a screening of the original and uncut version of the 1977 Star Wars film. The uproar over the recent changes to the Blu-Ray release of Star Wars proves one thing: Everyone loves the real thing. Just like the 1980s new Coke debacle, it’s not always better to mess with a good thing. While some love the changes (I have to admit some make sense) there is a small group of us who long for the nostalgia of watching the film as it was. All…

Happy trails 2011! Here are the 35 things we’ll remember most about you. 1. Filming of the Dark Knight Rises When a picture of the Batmobile being delivered to the set on a flatbed truck makes front page news, you know you’ve got your marketing is working. Read More: http://thegeektwins.com/2011/08/unimpressive-first-looks-dark-knight 2. Fisher and Shatner Argue About Star Wars vs. Star Trek Geeks have been debating about which is better for decades, but William Shatner and Carrie Fisher took to YouTube to settle it once and for all. It turned into an ugly war of words insulting each others bodies, or lack…

This week’s Friends Friday Saturday has Batman, Doctor Who and Superman. So, go check out our friend’s blogs! Ann Wilkes has nice review of Earthbound – a post-apocalyptic tale. Load up your Kindles! SQT has some new Images From “The Dark Knight Rises” This movie looks better and better the more I see of it! Alex J. Cavanaugh has a list of January Movies! Frankly, this is going to be a slow month for movies. The Grey could be good though. Superheroes-R-Us has a good description of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trailer , “The shot of the White House…

I was working on a couple of blog posts and my blogging client “ScribeFire” blew up. I don’t know where they are or if they were saved. So, this means I have to postpone this week’s “link love” and 2011 send off till tomorrow since i have to rewrite them. Sorry…

If you’re in the Phoenix area on January 7th you’ve got to check out the screening of the hilarious web-series Voyage Trekkers. Here’s a press release we got. SPECIAL ‘VOYAGE TREKKERS’ SCREENING ON JANUARY 7TH PHOENIX, AZ – DECEMBER 21, 2011 – Squishy Studios and Inside Creative Minds Media announce a special screening of their acclaimed local comedy web series Voyage Trekkers to raise money for a second season of the show. The event takes place on Saturday, January 7th at FilmBar in Phoenix with two showings at 8PM and 9PM. Admission is $7. According to writer and director Nathan…

This infographic shows the history of actors who have played Batman in movies or television from Adam West to Christian Bale. Bob Kane’s comic book hero Batman was first introduced in Detective Comics #27 back in 1939. With Christian Bale retiring from playing Batman next year he follows a long line of actors who have put on the cape and cowl. There are probably some we missed, but these are the most significant. Also, I’m not including voice actors even though Kevin Conroy was amazing. Who played Bruce Wayne first? Who played him the longest? Who’s your favorite Batman actor?

SyFy channel’s hilarious trend of creating a movie based on a title and casting washed up has-beens continues with Arachnoquake.The film, to air on the channel in 2012, has Tracey Gold fighting giant albino spiders that are released by a series of earthquakes in New Orleans. Do they even have earthquakes in New Orleans? Tracey Gold is best known for playing, Carol Seavers on the eighties TV series Growing Pains. The best part is it also stars Edward Furlong! He played the whiny John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Its a two-for-one! I found a description of one scene… At a…

Battlestar Galactica was cool in a lot of ways, but one of the best things was its realistic portrayal of technology. This image says it all.

Here’s this week’s Friends Friday link love! Alex J. Cavanaugh has a hilarious Sharktopus: A Play-by-Play. Arlee Bird has a review on Tossing It Out called My Wife Fell Asleep and I Wish I Had. Whatever you think of the movie Transformers 3 I can’t think of a more succinct review. Back at the Man-Cave there’s a funny video showing what would happen if the schlocky Silent Night Deadly Night were an 8-bit video game?

This poll is part of our end-of-year countdown.Once upon a time, in 1927, Philo Farnsworth made the world’s first working television system. Since then, television has exploded to over 70 channels. There are literally hundreds of shows beginning and ending every year. It’s hard to keep track of all the shows on the air, but is there one show that ended you had a special place in your heart for? Of all the shows that fit the genre of science-fiction ended in 2011, which is the one you were sorriest to see go? If you liked htis poll, why not…

If you’ve seen the new Dark Knight trailer you know it’s awesome, but did you know you missed something? Things like Wayne walking with a cane and a Frank Miller reference. Also, an explanation of what those guys are chanting. Read on to see five things you probably missed along with some hi-res screencaps. Official Synopsis: Every hero has a journey. Every journey has an end. Christopher Nolan returns to complete the epic Gotham trilogy that launched with Batman Begins and reached the stratosphere with the billion-dollar blockbuster The Dark Knight. Inception’s Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levett join the cast regulars…

2011 was a good year for movies, but which was the best? Help us find out by voting in our top movie of 2011 poll. We’ll tally up the top votes for our end of the year countdown Which was the best movie?

Normally, I only post once a day, but this just blew me away. Someone got a cell phone video of the second Dark Knight Rises (2012) trailer and it’s pretty…interesting. I grabbed some screen caps and did a transcript of the trailer. Synopsis: Every hero has a journey. Every journey has an end. Christopher Nolan returns to complete the epic Gotham trilogy that launched with Batman Begins and reached the stratosphere with the billion-dollar blockbuster The Dark Knight. Batman is now hunted by the law led by his friend Commisioner Gordon for taking the blame of Harvey Dent’s murders and…

The theme of an evil twin is pretty common. Pretty much every sci-fi and superhero movie has done it, but some have done it with style. Considering the title of our blog is “The Geek Twins”, it’s surprising that we’ve never featured a post on twins, so we now present the top 14 deliciously evil twins of science-fiction. From mustaches, to goatees to cowboy hats, these are the evil twins we love to hate. I rated them by evilness and facial hair. 1. Mirror Universe Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series Evil scale: 3 Facial hair: Yes In one…

Ah, the things people do to pets. Someone managed to get a cat to sit long enough to turn him into a Tron. I can’t imagine what they bribed him with to get him to wear those glow sticks. Please stop dressing up your pets people! But, if you do, make sure you post it to the Internet. What do you think he’s saying? Next week we’ll post the best caption. What do you think the caption for this photo should be? What is the cat saying or thinking? Please vote for us for “Best Sci-Fi” blog award! It only…

If you’re wondering about the argument with Shatner and Fisher, this infographic breaks down the war of words. Star Trek’s William Shatner and Star Wars’ Carrie Fisher rant about which is better: Star Trek or Star Wars? We covered Carrie Fisher’s response to Shatner saying Star Trek is better and Shatner’s response to her. Now that George Takei has entered the increasingly personal argument between the two feuding stars about which is better, we can take a moment to step back and reflect on what its been all about. Also, looking at the YouTube stats may settle the battle once and…

Should my son watch the Star Wars films in theatrical (Star Wars, The Empire Strike Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) or numerical order (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strike Back and Return of the Jedi)? I know what Lucas would want, but which would be best? I’ll let you decide. When I first held my son in my arms I thought about what I would want to share with him. Among other things I had a simple dream: The magical moment when he…

With Brad Pitt announcing his retirement from acting in three years I thought we’d look back at Brad Pitt’s nine geekiest moments of movies and television. 1. The Ultimate Superhero In the film Metro Man, a super-villain accidentally achieves his dream: He gets rid of his nemesis Metro Man, and becomes ruler of the world. As the voice of the world’s greatest superhero Pitt delivered a stellar performance. Franky, he already sounds like a superhero, so its a perfect fit. 2. The Reverse Aging Guy In the drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), about a man who ages backwards Brad Pitt…

Here are a collection of links you should read from our friends. These are not all the good ones, but the ones I thought were most worth sharing. I don’t know how, but Nubular from Cinemarvelous has an early review of The Adventures of Tintin [3D] (2011). It doesn’t come out for two weeks! Check it out if you want an early peek. I said it’s a “maybe”, but he convinced me to change my rating. While you’re there vote for him in the Movie 411 awards! Are you going to watch Tintin? Alex has a guest post by a…

From her provocative performances to her recent charity work Angelina Jolie has quickly become the standard in beauty and class. Read on to find out more about Hollywood’s reformed “wild child” and see some hot pictures of her. The only daughter of actor Jon Voight, she got her big break in the 1995 film Hackers. Proving she’s not just famous for her daddy, she has an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Her most commercially successful films are Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the sorta-spy movie Mr & Mrs. Smith. Jolie is noted for…

Coming in 2012, a theme park in New Jersey will feature life-size dinosaurs. Here are ten dinos I hope are there. Called Field Station: Dinosaurs, this A 24-acre park in Secaucus, New Jersey will have 30 life-size, animatronic dinosaurs walking around. Set against the breathtaking natural backdrop of the New Jersey Meadowlands and nestled at the base of a 150 million year old rock formation, the Field Station is an oasis of natural wonder just nine minutes from New York City. Over thirty life-sized, realistic dinosaurs (including the ninety foot long Argentinasaurus, the largest animatronic dinosaur ever made) come to…