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.

Here it is (stop reading if you don’t want to know. This is your last warning):

During the Drill Machine sequence, as the Enterprise comes out of its barrel roll amidst the destruction of the other Federation ships above Vulcan, we cut to an interior, over-the-shoulder shot of Kirk on the Enterprise bridge, looking through the front viewscreen. In space, R2-D2 is floating in the debris from about the top middle of the screen to the bottom right.

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.

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.

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.

In case you’re not hip enough to know what all the cool kids are into these days, we’ll give you a tip – vinyl collector toys. Spurred by modern collectable companies like Kidrobot and Strangekiss Art Toys, vinyl pieces are all the rage with the generation z set. The wonderful figure you see above comes from blubbel and is just one in a long line of toys we’d love to own. Be sure to also check out their Watchmen Dunnys as well as their cool Pulp Fiction Munnys. I think it’s safe to say we want them all.

A good question with a great answer. Read the full article here.

I haven’t been this excited to see a movie in a long time.

Many years ago, I went into a movie theater with my father to see 2001: A Space Odyssey, and left utterly baffled by what I had seen; baffled and amazed. To young Dave, 2001 didn’t make a bit of sense but also grabbed my attention like nothing else.

Today, love it. In a recent episode of The Sci-Fi Cast it received a beating, and friend-of-the-show Louie Mantia also gave it a poor review earlier this week. With that in mind, I want to share why I love my favorite movie.

First things first: By definition, it’s impossible for one’s opinion to be right or wrong. I know there are legions of people who dislike 2001. The point of this post is not to persuade. If you hate this movie, by all means, hate it! I’ll not condemn you for doing so.

When I first saw 2001, as I said, I left the theater baffled.

What the hell was that?

It didn’t make any sense.

I have no idea what just happened.

Even today, I lack a solid interpretation of what 2001 is about. Of course, that was by design. In a 1968 interview with Playboy magazine, Kubrick stated:

“You’re free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film — and such speculation is one indication that it has succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level — but I don’t want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear he’s missed the point.”

That was the tipping point for me. I didn’t understand the story, but was so enthralled by the rest of the movie that I felt compelled to try and understand it. Or, more to the point, discover if there even was a story.

After reading the book by Arthur C. Clarke and repeated viewings of the film, I’ve come to the following understanding of the story.

THE STORY

The film begins at dawn, somewhere in prehistoric Africa. However, the story begins before that. A race of aliens travel an incomprehensible distance to plant two monoliths: One on Earth, and one on the moon.

The first is planted next to a small tribe of pre-historic humanoids (we’ll call them “apes”) while they sleep. When they awake at dawn, they freak.

This is one of my favorite scenes. It’s easy to dismiss it as a bunch of monkeys going nuts over the sight of a black box. But think about it — this is the first time any of them have ever seen anything so “perfect.” It’s got 90˚ angles. It’s completely black and its surface is perfectly smooth. What’s ordinary to us was utterly foreign to the apes; something they’ve literally never seen before.

Why is it there? Many people think that the monolith itself somehow prompts the apes, or shows them what they need to make the next great leap in their evolution … the use of tools. But I think its function is different.

The monolith offers a challenge to their thinking. In trying to understand this completely alien object, the apes must dramatically alter their thinking and assumptions about everything in their environment. One of the apes, whom the book calls “Moonwatcher,” is idly fiddling with some bones as he has probably done countless times before. However, he’s doing it with a fresh perspective, and notices that one bone can have an effect on another. Specifically, one bone can break another. He’s made human kind’s first tool.

It doesn’t take long for Moonwatcher to try and use his new tool as a weapon. Typically, Moonwatcher and his tribe would go to the watering hole for a drink, and occasionally come across a neighboring tribe, there for the same purpose. This meetup would result in some shouting back and forth but that was about it.

However, Moonwatcher brings his bone with him and uses it to kill a member of the rival tribe. Two things happen: The members of the rival tribe are dumbfounded — nothing like this has ever happened before — and more importantly, Moonwatcher stands erect on his hind legs. Another first.

At this point, humankind has made a quantum leap in its development, thinking and understanding of the world. No longer hunter/gatherers, defenseless against the attacks of predators, they have reached the end of that point in their evolution.

Then, in the most dramatic jump cut in the history of film, Moonwatcher tosses humankind’s first weapon into the air, only to have it turn into his latest: An orbital gun platform hovering above the Earth. His tools have evolved with him, and in fact, are quite “human” in their own way.

Humankind has mastered its terrestrial life. In fact, he has begun to venture into space.

That’s where things are different.

In space, he must eat “baby food.” Without gravity, he must learn to walk again (remember the trouble the flight attendant has while walking across the ship; Kubrick lets us see her struggle intentionally) and become “potty trained” all over again, as Dr. Floyd struggles to figure out the Zero G toilet. Kubrick is telling us that, in a way, humankind is still in its infancy.

Additionally, humans lose control of their tools in space. A pen escapes Dr. Heywood R. Floyd’s pocket and floats aimlessly during flight.

While surveying the moon, a team uncovers the second monolith. Their reaction is much different than that of their ancestors. There’s none of the fear, the wonder. They stand around for a bit. Take pictures.

This one was programmed to send a signal to its creators when exposed to sunlight. Of course, that would only happen when human explorers reached the point of being able to excavate such a large object on the moon.

They discover that the signal traveled to Jupiter, and send a team of astronauts to investigate 18 months later. The team boards the Discovery and travels through space along with HAL 9000, the ultimate tool. In fact, HAL is the central nervous system of that ship, and the humans are merely the maintenance crew. They needn’t be there at all, in fact.

But remember, man loses control of his tools in space.

HAL makes a mistake, and the humans decide to turn him off. The battle of man vs. tool has begun, and the humans win. By deactivating HAL, man has evolved beyond the need for tools.

Again, they’ve reached an endpoint in their evolution. The next step, as before, will be unfathomable.

The alien forces that challenged prehistoric man to reach beyond himself, and invited contemporary man to a meetup beside Jupiter, are waiting for Dave.

This is where many people understandably throw their hands in the air and walk away from 2001. If you thought Act I and II were weird, than Act III is just plain ridiculous. But here’s how I understand it.

In the book, Dave travels an incomprehensible distance across unknown dimensions to where the aliens originate. Kubrick presents this journey with the crazy colors and tunnel. Suddenly, we see Dave in a Victorian hotel room.

WTF.

In the book, we learn that the aliens set up the “hotel room” (don’t take it literally) to make Dave feel at home. However, the information they used to construct the room (radio waves or whatever) took a very long time to travel from Earth to them. In fact, by the time Dave himself arrived, the aliens were using data from the Victorian period. Hence the look of the room.

Clarke also describes boxes of nondescript, tasteless, blue food that isn’t much to eat but keeps Dave alive.

So how long does Dave spend in the hotel room? That doesn’t really matter, nor can the question be answered. There’s really no time in space. That is to say, there’s no chronology that can be measured without a reference point. In New York City it might be 12:00 noon, but on the surface of Jupiter … or wherever ever Dave is … that doesn’t matter.

Still, Kubrick shows the passage of time. Dave looks up to see “Old Dave.” Are there really two Daves in the room? No. Kubrick is showing us that Dave has spent time in the room.

While eating, Dave knocks his glass into the floor and it breaks. The glass has shattered (the body) but the wine (the spirit) remains.

Humankind no longer needs its body, and makes the next quantum leap in evolution. The Starchild is born.

WHAT I LOVE

Many people complain, “This movie is slow.” They’re right. In 2001, spaceships don’t zoom across the stars at breakneck speeds, banking and roaring as they go. Instead, Kubrick’s spaceships do what spaceships actually do: They travel in a perfectly straight line in a laborious manner. It’s understandable why a generation of moviegoers bred on flashy films like “The Fast And The Furious” have trouble with sitting through a slow scene. But they’re slow for a reason.

As I said in the podcast, each shot is composed as if it were a gorgeous photograph. They’re just gorgeous.

There’s no CGI in this movie (almost … save Dave’s journey beyond the infinite). It’s all hand made. These are real sets and real human beings. All SFX Scenes from the Movie are cut together in full length and in chronological order. There are no green screen Clone Troopers here!

Plus, 2001 has tremendous science images. From HAL’s status panels to the guesses at tech that we have today (like webcams), it still holds up after more than 30 years.

More than anything, what I love about 2001 is the challenge. It sparks discussion and thought. What I’ve described above is my own interpretation. Yours might be completely different, and I’d love to hear it.

This is a movie I like to watch on a quiet day when I can sit on the couch, draw the curtains, focus my attention and travel beyond the infinite.