The Sci-Fi Cast

Last year, Cloverfield opened in theaters amid a strong online viral campaign. Like it or hate it (I loved it), the movie was enough of a hit to spawn a sequel.

There’s a video making the rounds this week that some are saying is part of the sequel’s promo. We’re unsure. It looks faked (the “blips” in the video seem like an add-on effect) and the monster basically appears at 0:30. Finally, the street sign reading “Cloverfield” is isn’t exactly subtle.

Still, it’s a fun little clip. What’s your take? Viral clip or fan art?

It was the cameo to end all cameos. That clever JJ Abrams put R2-D2 in Star Trek, though he wouldn’t say where. Instead, the studio announced a contest on Facebook. At long last, a winner has been identified and R2’s cameo revealed. If you want to know where R2 is in Star Trek, click below. Screenshot included. If not, just move along. There’s nothing to see here.

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There’s a great interview with Duncan Jones up at Star Wars.com right now. Duncan directed the forthcoming movie “Moon” which looks absolutely fantastic. In the interview, Duncan discusses the movie, robots and the inspiration he drew from Star Wars as a kid:

“…All I knew was that it was the most exciting place in existence, and hopefully one day the Millennium Falcon would pull up outside the house and Chewie would come and get me to go on an adventure with the rest of the gang.”

We’ve all been there, Duncan. Moon should be just the type of smart sci-fi movie that’s been absent from theatres lately. The whole interview is worth reading. Check it out.

Who needs styrene plastic, CGI or even LEGOs when you have paper, a printer and some rubber cement? With a little love and a whole lot of practice, now you can have some of the most memorable ships from the Star Wars saga come to life on your desktop. Thanks to some clever calculations, visitors to Creative Closeup can download free paper patterns for just about everything. Our favorites include the Millennium Falcon seen above, TIE Fighters, AT-ATs, X-Wings and many more. We won’t deny how cool it would be to have one of these masterful paper models on our office desk, we just don’t think our Jedi skills or our patience is strong enough to make the effort.

[hat tip to Andreas for this post]

I love zombie stories.

The first zombie movie I saw was the great Night of the Living Dead. The scene of the little girl the basement who kills and them devours her own mother is among the scariest I’ve seen. 28 Days Later and its sequel, 28 Weeks Later are two contemporary zombie movies I enjoyed. The notion of rage as an infections disease is compelling, and the opening scene of our hero wandering a deserted London is downright chilling.

As for books, I’m currently enjoying Robert Kirkman’s The Waking Dead series, a serialized graphic novel that Kirkman hopes will never end:

“…there is something I hate about each and every zombie move I’ve ever seen. There’s something about ALL of them that I just absolutely cannot stand. The end … I want a zombie move that never ends.”

This demonstrates what I love most about zombies. They’re so flexible. Shawn of the Dead played them for comedy, I Am Legend turned them into intelligent vampires,* and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is just what you’re thinking: Brain-hungry, undead monsters in Jane Austin’s world.

Zombieland, the new film from Ruben Fleischer, ads its own twist. Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are two uninfected men who’ve figured out how to get by in a zombie-riddled world. They team up with Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin to kick ass and find … ready? … the last Twinkie in the world.

If the trailer is to be believed, this should be a funny, bloody shoot-em-up. I can’t wait! Click below to watch the trailer (no glimpse of Bill Murray yet, who plays a zombie).

*Or tried. That movie actually sucked.

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Anyone who’s listened to our weekly games of “Truth or Sci-Fi” (see eps 30 & 31) knows that network executives will put almost anything on the tube, regardless of quality. So it escapes us why The SciFi Channel insists on producing made for TV drek like Sharks in Venice when there are perfectly good properties just waiting to be re-imagined for the small screen.

According to the efforts of science fiction illustrator Doug Drexler, Buckaroo Banzai would seem to be just such a property. Over at his awesome blog, Drex Files, Doug gives readers a small glimpse into some of what a new Buckaroo Banzai TV series might look like. Production designer Mike Okuda (of Star Trek the Next Generation fame) approached Doug and several other talented artists to ask if they would volunteer their time to illustrate key elements of the Buckaroo universe. This artwork would then be used by Buckaroo’s original director, W.D. Richter, to pitch the idea of Banzai’s return to network executives.

Some of the artwork created includes a detailed schematic of ‘Banzai West‘, a sprawling underground complex from which Team Banzai heads their west coast operations, and concept sketches for new diabolical gear used by Emilio Lizardo. You know these guys are serious Buckaroo addicts since they donated so much of their time and talent to get Buckaroo going again. Speaking as one of Team Banzai’s biggest fans, I really hope someone at the SciFi Channel does something right for a change and green lights this project. The world could use Buckaroo Banzai again, especially now.

The great Galaxy Quest is one our favorite sci-fi parodies. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s about the cast of a Star Trek-type show who are at the end of its run and enduring the convention circuit. Meanwhile, a group of real aliens misinterpret clips of the show and request the crew’s help in a real-life space battle. It’s wonderfully acted and written with plenty of delights for old-school fans of the genre like us.

Plus, Missi Pyle is wicked cute.

Earlier this week, the Deluxe Edition was re-released on DVD with a slew of new goodies including:

1. Historical Documents: The Story of GALAXY QUEST Actors and filmmakers discuss how GALAXY QUEST came together, why it still works today and what they think of the film 10 years later.  Includes new interviews with Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Justin Long, Missi Pyle, Enrico Colantoni and respected Star Trek feature film writer and director Nicholas Meyer.
2. Never Give Up, Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA Protector This featurette celebrates one of the most talented and diverse casts of fake sci-fi actors of all time.
3. By Grabthar’s Hammer, What Amazing Effects Explores the special effects, visual effects and creature effects created by ILM and famed effects artist Stan Winston.
4. Alien School – Creating the Thermian Race The story of how actor Enrico Colantoni developed the voice and manner of an alien race.

Plus, Sigourney Weaver raps. You don’t want to miss that. Galaxy Quest: Deluxe Edition is around $11US on Amazon.

[Via Big Dumb Object]

For more on Galaxy Quest and other underrated sci-fi movies, check out our episode #22.5.

Teenage James Tiberius Kirk was a hellraiser. Fatherless and wreckless, he had a habit of joyriding his uncle’s antique Corvette while blasting equally ancient music. Specifically, “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys. I felt that the music fit the scene perfectly, but others did not. Perhaps if they knew why it was chosen.

There’s an infamous clip of Shatner doing voice over work in which he pronounces the word “sabo-TAAGE” and, when corrected, states that he’s never pronounced it “sabotage.” You can listen after the break.

Abrams insists that the song’s selection was pure coincidence, but I’m not buying it. As an Easter Egg, it’s just too delicious to attribute to chance.

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It’s the cameo to end all cameos — R2D2 is in JJ Abrams’s Star Trek.

Here’s the deal: R2 does in fact make an appearance in Star Trek. Paramount is running a contest to see who can find him. The prize is a prop from the movie. There’s a Facebook page set up with all the details.

Where could he be? Gizmodo has two guesses. The first puts him aboard the Enterprise via the astormech droid bay (see above). The second is less clear and places him in a hangar with Kirk and McCoy. Of course, this isn’t the first sci-fi cameo by a long shot. Aliens of E.T’s species appeared in The Phantom Menace for example.

Aside from cameos, a number of very famous faces appeared somewhere in Star Trek history. Some of the more surprising are:

1. Mick Fleetwood played an Antedean dignitary in the episode “Manhunt” from Star Trek: The Next Generation’s 2nd season.
2. Steven Hawking played a holographic version of himself during the first scene of the TNG episode “Descent.”
3. King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, real-world ruler of the Hashermite Kingdom of Jordan, played a science officer in the Voyager episode “Investigations.”
4. Bryan Singer, director of The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil and the first two X-Men movies, played a tactical officer in Star Trek: Nemesis.
5. Most recently, Rachel Nichols played Gaila in JJ’s Star Trek. Hubba, hubba.