http://www.blogtalkradio.com/grenache/2012/05/18/clobberin-time-2011-thursday-night-avengers-50th

For starters, Shatner and his wife Elizabeth made a quick visit to the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday to donate a bronze sculpture, created by noted Kentucky artist Douwe Blumberg, of a samurai warrior riding a horse. “A sculpture is almost forever,” Shatner said during a press conference at the museum, which is presenting a 3,800-square-foot “Samurai” exhibition. “It will last far longer than any of us. I am very proud to donate this.”

Next, on May 24, Shatner will guest star on the season premiere of Rookie Blue, a Canadian cop drama now in its third season on ABC. The former T.J. Hooker star will play Henry McLeod, a drunk driver who causes a multi-car accident and then lets his grudge against police officers get the better of him.

The very next day, May 25, Shatner will appear as a guest presenter on the BBC One topical news-quiz program I Got News For You, joining fellow guest panelists Andy Hamilton and Charlie Brooker. “English sense of humor is different from American sense of humor,” Shatner said in a statement released by BBC One. “Luckily, I’m Canadian.”

Later this summer, Shatner will reunite with EPIX, which aired his documentary The Captains, for William Shatner’s Get a Life! Based on Shatner’s infamous book of the same name, Get a Life, according to EPIX, “examines the mystery, longevity and the cultural phenomena of Star Trek and its long-obsessed fans known as Trekkers,” ultimately delivering “a fun and touching side of the fanfare surrounding Star Trek.” In the process, Shatner “further embraces his role as Captain James T. Kirk and his own impact.” William Shatner’s Get a Life! will premiere in July.

And, coming full circle – for now, at least – Shatner will be back with more Shatner’s World. While he’s not yet updated his official site or the Shatner’s World site with a full slate of venues and dates, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center just announced that Shatner will perform his one-man hit there on Sunday, February 10, 2013. In perhaps the understatement of the year, David Rodriguez, NJPAC’s vice president and executive producer said, “A program that has Yo-Yo Ma, George Clinton and William Shatner truly has something for everyone."

(startrek.com)

Last week, after ‘The Avengers’ had only been in theaters domestically for one weekend, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a sequel for the moneymaking Marvel mash-up movie was in development. However, no word on who would be helming the film accompanied the news. We can only hope that Joss Whedon comes back at this point, and if he does, he’s looking to bring more ladies to the party.

The ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Firefly’, and ‘Dollhouse’ creator is no stranger to strong, sexy, and sassy female characters, and he’s looking to bring more of his trademark character style to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a roundtable interview with Entertainment Weekly that included the director and his super team in its entirety, Whedon had this to say about female-led action flicks:

“Studios will tell you: A woman cannot headline an action movie. After ‘The Hunger Games’ they might stop telling you that a little bit. Whatever you think of the movie, it’s done a great service. And after The Avengers, I think it’s changing.”

As Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson, points out in the interview, the first time you see her character, she’s getting punched in the face. Then she proceeds to take down a group of thugs single-handedly. Things like this are exactly why Marvel Studios needs to keep Joss Whedon around to helm ‘Avengers 2’. Just like he changed the public perception of superhero movies, he can change the perception of women in action movies as well.

So what needs to happen before Whedon gets his way with more lady Avengers? Well, firstly, they need to sign him on to direct officially. Then, Marvel would need to introduce more of their female heroes in ‘Iron Man 3’, ‘Thor 2’, ‘Captain America 2’, and the rest of Marvel Studios’ phase two slate of movies. Sure, the world has already seen The Invisible Girl, the ladies of the X-Men, Elektra, and a few more, but all those are at different studios and off limits to the world of ‘The Avengers’ for now.

Now, this is the part where we ask for audience participation. EW weighed in and said that Scarlet Witch, Moondragon, Hellcat, and Mantis might make good additions to the team. In previous articles, I said that the Wasp, She-Hulk, and Miss Marvel could easily be inserted into the MCU. But what do you think? Which of Marvel’s femme fatales would you like to see on the big screen in the next few years? Maybe Agent Sharon Carter, a frequent collaborator of Captain America’s? Or Rescue, the armored alter ego of Pepper Potts? Or Hawkeye’s wife, Mockingbird? Let’s hear your suggestions in the comments!

(sciencefiction.com)

Last week, Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ slammed into theaters, bringing in the largest domestic opening of any movie ever, trumping even the final ‘Harry Potter’ movie. It was also the fastest movie to hit $200,000.

Now in its second week, ‘The Avengers’ is breaking more records. With a domestic haul of $103.1 million at the box office, ‘Avengers’ now hold the record for highest-grossing second week in film history. The title was previously held by James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, which brought in $75.6 million in its second week. Probably even more impressive than the record breaking is that ‘The Avengers’ just broke $1 billion this past weekend as well. Yes… That’s billion with a “b”! Maybe now Marvel and Disney can take some of that cash and buy back their other characters (Spider-Man, Punisher, Fantastic Four) and put them under their Marvel movie banner. Well… one can hope.

Coming in second place at the box office this week was Tim Burton’s ‘Dark Shadows’, a movie reimagining of the classic soap opera melodrama. Critical reviews for ‘Dark Shadow’s have been pretty much unfavorable, so I expect this one is going to sink pretty quickly, especially with another genre film (‘Men in Black 3’) hitting in just a few weeks. It’s kind of sad actually since I was hoping against hope that Tim Burton would return to his goth form with this one. Oh well… we’ve still got ‘Frankenweenie’ to look forward to.

Rounding out the top five at the box office were: ‘Think Like a Man’ ($6.3 million), ‘The Hunger Games’ ($4.3 million), and ‘The Lucky One’ ($4 million).

(sciencefiction.com)

(In Case Your Mom is a Geek)

It’s the morning of Mother’s Day and you’re not entirely sure what you should make. You look through your pantry and the refrigerator, trying to find the right breakfast food and your eyes land on the pancake mix, perfect!

If you were looking to give your mom a great gift for Mother’s Day, why shouldn’t it be these awesome ‘Star Wars’ pancakes? Perfect for any geeky son, daughter or even mom.

The awesome folk over at Saipancakes make it their duty to have their pancakes be as creative and fun to eat as possible. Who wouldn’t want to gobble up a pancake that’s shaped like your favorite animal or your lower intestine? Okay, scratch the last one, but you have to admit that a lot of their batter-filled creations are pretty impressive.

So they decided to go a little bit on the nerdy side and make their own collection of ‘Star Wars’ themed pancakes. Surely it takes some time to make these creations, but it would totally be worth it in the end. You can show Jabba the Hut who’s boss by drowning him in syrup or give R2D2 some love by happily eating him up.

Mothers go through so much.  Childbirth, crying kids, cupcakes, birthday parties, runny noses, sad days and happy days.  But most handle it with love and tenderness.  I know my mother did. Being a black kid that had a propensity for daydreaming and a love for the unbelievable, I have to say, I had an awesome mom.   And growing up, she certainly added to my geekiness by taking me to movies like Login’s Run, Close Encounters and Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster.

But few mothers go through what these Mothers of Sci-Fi go through.  Cosmic kids, ghost attacks, transmutations, protecting the future of mankind.  They’ve dealt with some pretty heavy situations.  Here is TrekkieKIm's list of a few Sci-Fi Mom's.  I'm hoping everyone adds to this because there are a LOT more!

Sarah Conner – Sarah is the number one best mom.  Chased by not one but 2 Terminators she protected herself and then her son. And she wasn’t some babying mom that sheltered her kid.  Oh no, she taught him everything he needed to know to survive and best Skynet in the future.

Sue Storm – Loving wife, caring mom and a damn powerful superhero.  Mrs. Storm has had it tougher then 99% of all the other superheroes.  Balancing her motherly duties while battling world threatening villains Sue has a one of the best moms ever.

Lt. Sharon ‘Athena” Agothon – Who says a synthetic human can’t be a real mom?  Not Sharon Agothon, Athena if your nasty.  This number Eight model of the Cylons had a mission to ‘get busy’ with a human.  But Sharon had something special in her circuits to fall in love with daddy and have a beautiful human-cylon baby Hera.  And when anybody came between her and her baby not even a fleet of starships, nor her troubled twin could stop her from getting her kid back.

Diane Freeling – I know it’s not Sci-Fi but I thought she deserved to be in the list.  This joint smoking soccer mom was doing a fine job taking care of her family, until an evil Poltergeist started haunting her them.  Now she doesn’t get any points for treating things as ‘cool’ with letting her daughter magically slide across the kitchen floor.  I would have been outta there!  But she made up for it when little Carol Anne got taken into purgatory.  Talk about your Amber Alert.  And with just a rope tied to her waist and a shaky husband holding the other end, she brought her little angel back from the edge of the ‘light’.

Amanda Greyson – Even with a cranky Vulcan husband who’s romanticism is that of a Sea Salmon, and a son with a chip on his little Vulcan shoulder, Spock’s human mother has always been there for her family.  Ready with encouraging and sometimes stern wisdom for her son, Amanda shows the love that’s needed for an officer of Star Fleet.  A moment of silence for her passing at the hands of J.J. Abrams and friends.

I’m sure you have many more suggestions.  These are just some of the Mothers I thought of.  Come on and tell me who you would put in the list?

Limited tickets now available for theatrical experience and Q & A with Rod Roddenberry

SAN DIEGO; May 7, 2012 — Roddenberry Entertainment, the successor of the science fiction pioneer that brought television and film audiences Star Trek, announced today that it will be bringing its Saturn Award-nominated film, Trek Nation, to San Diego’s Birch North Park Theatre on July 12 at 7 p.m. This is an opportunity for an exclusive group of sci-fi fans to experience the first showing of the film in this type of environment. Kicking off ComicCon weekend, the 90-minute film will be followed by an intimate question and answer session with Trek Nation Executive Producer Rod Roddenberry.

There is no cost for the event, but only a limited number of tickets are available to those who RSVP through the Trek Nation website, www.treknationmovie.com, beginning May 8 at 9 a.m. PST. Confirmation of each RSVP will guarantee entrance into the theater for the movie showing and Q & A session. Klingons, Borgs and Vulcans are all welcome as, in true Star Trek fashion, fans are encouraged to don their favorite costume or Federation-inspired outfit to express their allegiance during the event.

Through exclusive footage and interviews with devoted fans, including George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, Seth MacFarlane and many notable Star Trek alumni, Trek Nation chronicles a son’s journey to discover his father and the creation that helped define modern-day science fiction.

“By exploring my father through a variety of untapped touchstones, we are able to introduce the world to a Gene Roddenberry it’s never met before.  Through this process of humanization, Trek Nation reminds us that none of us are perfect but that within our imperfections lays the potential for greatness,” said Executive Producer Rod Roddenberry.

Since its debut, Rod Roddenberry’s tribute to his father, Gene Roddenberry, has been met with rave reviews, including a nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for a 2012 Saturn Award.

“The Roddenberry and Star Trek names have an almost unparalleled level of cultural significance,” noted Birch North Park Theatre Executive Director Joe Altbaum. “And with our theater’s history, it’s fitting that we’re tasked with creating the level of experience that’s expected by Roddenberry’s passionate fans by bringing the film to the big screen. We’re honored.”

While Trek Nation won't be officially released on DVD until the fall, it will be available for advance purchase exclusively at the Roddenberry ComicCon booth and on-site at the Birch North Park Theatre at the July 12^th event. Rod Roddenberry will be available to sign purchased DVDs after the Q&A session during a meet-and-greet at West Coast Tavern.

For more information visit www.TrekNationmovie.com or www.Roddenberry.com.

About Roddenberry Entertainment

Roddenberry Entertainment is a science-fiction leader with a tradition of revolutionary entertainment. Originally founded in 1967 by Gene Roddenberry, the company has since led a steady stable of science-fiction successes including Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda and, most notably, Star Trek. Roddenberry Entertainment has continued to bring the Roddenberry philosophy to a new generation and has evolved its groundbreaking science fiction into an innovative, multimedia portfolio of graphic novels, comics, television and film projects, while continuing its unique tradition in quality merchandising. With insightful explorations of humanity, Roddenberry Entertainment has set itself apart by creating smart and provocative science fiction that challenges its audiences to think, question and explore the world, as well as those beyond. For more information on Roddenberry Entertainment please visit www.Roddenberry.com. Roddenberry Entertainment can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

If you’re a fan of the sci-fi genre then the name Joss Whedon needs no explanation but now that ‘The Avengers’ has  topped box office records, Whedon has become a household name. Some may worry that being this mainstream may suppress the creatively that is Whedon’s trademark but in an open letter to his fans, Whedon continues to be his “Whedonesque” self as well as thank them for their continued support.

The letter was posted on Whedon’s official fan page, aptly called Whedonesque. In it he talks about the journey that has taken him to this point, his hopes for his dream project to finally be realized (the reboot of ‘Air Bud’ – that was a joke for all new Whedon fans), as well as provide a comical faux Q&A. Below is just a portion of the letter:

Dear Friends,

Well, it’s been quite a weekend. Someday, long from now, I will even have an emotional reaction to it, like a person would. I can’t wait! But before I become blinded by this “emotion” experience, there’s a few things I’d like to say. Well, type.

People have told me that this matters, that my life is about to change. I am sure that is true. And change is good — change is exciting. I think — not to jinx it — that I may finally be recognized at Comiccon. Imagine! Also, with my percentage of “the Avengers” gross, I can afford to buy… [gets call from agent. Weeps manfully. Resumes typing.] …a fine meal. But REALLY fine, with truffles and s#!+. And I can get a studio to finance my dream project, the reboot of “Air Bud” that we all feel is so long overdue. (He could play Jai Alai! Think of the emotional ramifications of JAI ALAI!!!!)

What doesn’t change is anything that matters. What doesn’t change is that I’ve had the smartest, most loyal, most passionate, most articulate group of — I’m not even gonna say fans. I’m going with “peeps” — that any cult oddity such as my bad self could have dreamt of. When almost no one was watching, when people probably should have STOPPED watching, I’ve had three constants: my family and friends, my collaborators (often the same), and y’all. A lot of stories have come out about my “dark years”, and how I’m “unrecognized”… I love these stories, because they make me seem super-important, but I have never felt the darkness (and I’m ALL about my darkness) that they described. Because I have so much. I have people, in my life, on this site, in places I’ve yet to discover, that always made me feel the truth of success: an artist and an audience communicating. Communicating to the point of collaborating. I’ve thought, “maybe I’m over; maybe I’ve said my piece”. But never with fear. Never with rancor. Because of y’all. Because you knew me when.

If you think topping a box office record compares with someone telling you your work helped them through a rough time, you’re probably new here. (For the record, and despite my inhuman distance from the joy-joy of it: topping a box office record is super-dope. I’m an alien, not a robot.) So this is me, saying thank you. All of you. You’ve taken as much guff for loving my work as I have for over-writing it, and you deserve, in this our time of streaming into the main, to crow. To glow. To crow and go “I told you so”, to those Joe Blows not in the know. (LAST time I hire Dr. Seuss to punch my posts up. Yeesh!) Point being, you deserve some honor, AND you deserves some FAQs answered…

It’s quite admirable that the man behind ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Angel’, ‘Firefly’, ‘Serenity’, ‘Dollhouse’, and ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing- Along Blog’ is still very humble enough to acknowledge the importance of his fans and appreciates the loyalty that follows him. That’s what makes him such a great director/writer/creator and why he needs to helm the recently comfirmed ‘Avengers 2.’

If you’re a fan, make sure you head over to Whedonesque and read the letter in full. For all you longtime Whedon fans, has this alleviated your fears of him going mainstream?

(via sciencefiction.com)

Could we be getting ready for a new journey through the Stargate?

According to the latest rumors, yes.

Gateworld reports an effort is underway to revive the Stargate universe.  What isn’t certain is what type of medium could be used to bring the universe back to fans.

The source is somewhat sketchy, an independent producer named Darren Thomas with game developer Ordino Studios, but according to him MGM is planning to bring the franchise off of life support, likely as a videogame of some kind.

Here’s the announcement recap, via the official Stargate SG-1 Facebook page:

Wow, what a day! Tonight the Stargate Convention in Vancouver, is buzzing with excitement about an earlier announcement made by independent producer, Darren Thomas. Fans were treated to previously unreleased news about MGM’s collaboration on a new SG-1 App designed for smart phones and tablets. The scoop from Thomas is that MGM is reviving SG-1 albeit in a new format — music to the ears of many fans around the world. Thomas didn’t want to divulge more, but he did say that “plans are underway and I wish I could tell you more. The good news is that we will be unveiling something big at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego.” [Set for mid-July]. But in the meantime stay tuned for more information right here on the SG-1 official MGM page.

So are you happy about the news that Stargate could come back? Or were you hoping that somehow it’d be a revival of SGU?

You can now place yourself in the scene that might have given you nightmares as a child! (Or was that just me?) At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, (Spoilers! Ha!) Han Solo is encased in carbonite to be shipped off to Jabba the Hutt. Now, Disney theme parks are offering you the chance to see what you’d look like in the famous alloy by creating a personalized toy. But will you have to live with seeing your head on Han Solo’s body to do it? Hit the jump for pictures and more info. 

“Coming this year to Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios you’ll have the opportunity to relive the famous carbon freezing scene from The Empire Strikes Back with the ‘Carbon-Freeze Me’ experience,” StarWars.com writes. “This new experience was created especially for Disney Parks, and is part of our ‘D-Tech Me’ line that uses technology to take personalization to a whole new level.”

So, just how complicated is it to get this done and will you actually be frozen in carbonite?

“Using state-of-the-art imaging technology, this experience casts your likeness as a three-dimensional, eight-inch figurine. At the ‘Carbon Freezing Chamber’ (located adjacent toThe American Idol Experience), several cameras will capture multiple angles of your face,” they write. “The images are then reconstructed in a computer for processing, and, in approximately four weeks, the completed figurine is shipped directly to your house.”

What you get will look something like this, only with your face.

But here’s where we stop and wonder…since they are only scanning your face, are you stuck with Han Solo’s body no matter your gender, size, or shape? Unfortunately, since no further information is given, we’re assuming that’s the case. They say guests must be at least three years old to participate but don’t say anything about giving that individual a 3-year-old body. I think that’s quite bizarre.

Fans who decide to go for the carbonite treatment will also get this neato light-up bracelet. The figurine will set you back $99.95 and you can order additional figurines of yourself for $74.95 each.

“The experience will officially open on Friday May 18 with the launch of Star Wars Weekends 2012. Reservations are required and can be made starting Monday, May 7 by calling 407-WDW-TECH (407-939-8324).”

(via Disney) (via themarysue.com)

It comes but once a year.... enjoy it!!!!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/grenache/2012/05/04/clobberin-time-2012-thursday-night-legion-of-super-heroes

TV Guide reports that Netflix has approached CBS about reviving Jericho, the four-year-dead post-apocalyptic series that was already canceled once and subsequently revived for a final season due to a rather creative outpouring of fan support. It involved a lot of peanuts. Fans of the show will recall that the revived final season summed up the story, for the most part, so a revival would be a little odd, though when dealing with fiction, pretty much anything is possible. Fans of the show will also be thrilled to know that TV Guide reports CBS is actually considering it.

For those unaware, when the show initially got canceled, avid fans essentially bombarded CBS with many shipments of peanuts, as one of the last lines in the last episode before the revival involved the main character saying “nuts.” Some of you may remember that Arrested Development is also getting a mini-revival on Netflix, and that show ended even longer ago than Jericho, so Netflix probably isn’t ill-equipped to handle a revival.

Of course, there would be many hurdles in the way of a revival, including getting enough of the old cast and production crew back together, many of which have moved on to other projects. As we’ve seen with shows like Firefly, Friday Night Lights, and the old HBO Sports Night rumors, it’s not exactly easy getting a live action show put back on the air, even if it has only been dead for a short while.

Jericho was a pretty entertaining show, but the post-revival season was visibly hampered by the budget of a show that got canceled and then revived for a few episodes. Though still decent, the second season was much different than the first, as the cast rarely left the titular town, and action sequences were few and far between. A Netflix revival, if not given a proper budget, could end up like the post-revival season — good, but apparently not good enough to survive for a third season. It’d be great to get the show back, however, even if the series ended with satisfying plot resolution.

(geekosystem.com)

Damn, these are hot. What do you do when you can’t find a pair of shorts that look like your favorite astrometric droid from ‘Star Wars’? You make them yourself foo! “Productive Slacker” did just that and painted herself a pair of R2-D2 shorts. Hopefully the paint doesn’t run off on her skin when it gets hot. I don’t care how much you love Star Wars and Artoo. Nobody wants a blue coochie. Sorry ladies. These bad boys are custom and currently not for sale. On that note, somebody get HerUniverse on the phone and get these mini-pantalones made!

Hit the jump and check it out!

Behold the Batstache, and weep tears of joy.

After months of speculation, it’s finally been confirmed the role Bendedict Cumberbatch will play in the upcoming Star Trek sequel.

If you don’t want to know, stop reading this story now.

TrekMovie has confirmed that Cumberbatch is stepping into the shoes of Ricardo Montalban and will play Khan Noonian Singh in the next installment.

TrekMovie reports that this installment won’t follow the same storyline as “Space Seed,” the original Trek episode that introduced Khan to the Trek universe.   It’s also being reported that the creative team behind the new film have had Khan in mind as an adversary since the last movie was in production.   Reports indicate that a scene showing Khan’s sleeper ship, the Botany Bay, was planned for a post-credits tease but then dropped.

Here’s a report from TrekMovie with more details:

While big news, this is actually not a huge surprise. Trek‘s new filmmakers have often cited the Christopher Nolan’s Batman series as their model, with the second film The Dark Knight successfully brining back the Joker and Khan is the closest to Trek gets to Batman’s Joker. And again the team kind of already let the cat out of the bag on this one when they recorded the DVD commentary back in 2009 and said they had considered a post-credits sceene showing the Botany Bay, Khan’s sleeper ship. Then of course there is Abrams widely reported casting process which began with Benecio del Toro and went through a number other prominent Latino (like Montalban) actors before he ended up picking Cumberbatch, after what has been said to be a very powerful audition.