Posts filed under 'Geekery'
November 5th, 2009
Following up on that Princess Leia photo I posted this morning, here’s a link to some “extremely rare” STAR WARS photos. Normally that would be typical Internet hyperbole, but in this case, I’d say the term is appropriate. I mean, I’ve been a STAR WARS geek for more than 30 years, and I’ve never seen most of these pics. Here, for example, is one with the gang out of costume…
In case you’re wondering, that’s (from left, back row) Han Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, (middle row) Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and (front row) R2D2. No word on where C-3PO was.
November 5th, 2009
I saw this photo over at Boing Boing and thought it was too geekily great not to share. From the filming of RETURN OF THE JEDI (which places it sometime in 1982, I’m guessing), here’s Carrie Fisher in Princess Leia slave girl garb and her stunt double catching some rays in Tunisia (standing in for the planet Tatooine).
September 23rd, 2009
Here’s a story from the TIMES ONLINE about Adrian Bennett, a guy who’s such a big fan of the MAD MAX movies that he built his very own Interceptor, just like Max drives.
Bennett tells the times: “From the opening credits of the first film to the closing credits of MAD MAX 2 (what THE ROAD WARRIOR was titled in the rest of the world), my jaw was on the floor, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I was totally hooked.”
Notice, by the way, that he even has his own blue heeler cattle dog, just like Max does in the sequel. What’s more, he’d done the right thing and named it “Dog” — just like Max.
And here, just to remind you why someone would go to all the trouble to build an Interceptor, is the trailer for THE ROAD WARRIOR — still one of the greatest action movies ever made.
September 17th, 2009
Via Cinematical.com, here’s a movie geek-friendly T-Shirt from the fine folks at Dutch Southern that collects a whole lot of fake products and companies from the world of movies…
At first glance I see Red Apple Cigarettes (PULP FICTION), Dapper Dan Pomade (O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU), Initech (OFFICE SPACE), CRS (THE GAME), Kobayashi Porcelain (THE USUAL SUSPECTS), Hudsucker Industries (THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, duh), the Gypsy Cab Co. (THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS), Elsinore Beer (STRANGE BREW), Nakatomi (DIE HARD), Chico’s Bail Bonds (THE BAD NEWS BEARS), Paper Street Soap (FIGHT CLUB), S-Mart (ARMY OF DARKNESS), Lacuna Inc (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND), Tyrell Corp (BLADE RUNNER), Yoyodyne Propulson (BUCKAROO BANZAI) and Cyberdyne (TERMINATOR 2).
On the more obscure end, I’m glad to see someone thought to include Winkies (MULHOLLAND DR.), The Very Big Corporation of America (MONTY PYTHON’S MEANING OF LIFE), Spectacular Optical (VIDEODROME) and, possibly the most obscure one on the shirt, Death Records from Brian DePalma’s wonderfully oddball musical, PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. Still looking for “Food” or “Drink” from REPO MAN, though.
I know there are a few more — what have I missed?
Oh, and if you want your own shirt, order it here.
September 17th, 2009
Here’s a great time waster: Stills, an offshoot of the Not Coming to a Theater Near You site, posts a shot from a movie each day, including information on the year, the director and the DVD company (in case you want to watch the whole thing).
But here’s where the fun comes in: A small inset picture shows the previous day’s still with no information attached. See if you can guess the movie, then click on it to see if you’re right. As a bonus, you’ll then see the still from the day before, meaning you can keep this cycle going until you’ve wasted a whole day of what was supposed to be work.
July 15th, 2009
Snopes.com looks at an intriguing urban legend about a very un-intriguing movie: SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT PART 3.
According to Hollywood lore, the movie was originally shot with Jackie Gleason playing both his Sheriff Buford T. Justice character and the Bandit role. (Burt Reynolds and Sally Fields had bailed on this third movie in the series, though Gleason and Jerry Reed stuck around.)
From the book HICK FLICKS, as quoted at Snopes…
An urban legend persists (propagated by Leonard Maltin, among others) that SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT 3 was originally filmed as SMOKEY IS THE BANDIT, with Gleason playing both title roles. After a disastrous test screening, Jerry Reed took over the role of the Bandit in reshoots, or so the story goes. In reality, it’s hard to believe this idea ever got past the pitch meeting, and not so much as a production still (let along a full-length bootleg copy) of the supposed original version of this film has ever surfaced.
Snopes, however, points to newspaper articles of the time indicating that this was originally an all-Gleason film. They also bring up a third theory, that the film was originally made with the roles of Buford and Bandit combined into one part…
That is, this time around, Sheriff Justice, not the Bandit, was to be the one who took an outrageous bet from Big and Little Enos involving a law-breaking, cross-country run, thereby making Gleason both Smokey, the lawman, and Bandit, the lawman’s nemesis — Smokey IS the Bandit.
Personally, I found the effort to piece together the real story behind SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT PART 3 fascinating in a film geek way. A lot more fascinating than the movie itself.
Read the whole Snopes article here.
May 8th, 2009
With J.J. Abram’s reboot of STAR TREK opening this weekend in theaters (maybe you’ve heard something about it?), I thought I’d share one of my favorite TREK movie moments — the final battle from what might be my favorite STAR TREK movie, THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.
Yes, yes, WRATH OF KHAN is great — but I think this one is a bit better. Christopher Plummer has a great time hamming it up as the Shakespeare-quoting Klingon, Christian Slater makes a cameo appearance, Kurtwood Smith (ROBOCOP, THAT ‘70S SHOW) has a supporting role …. and the ending is one Kirk’s great last-minute saves. Just watch Shatner relish saying — and not yelling — the word “Fire.”
For more great STAR TREK movie moments, check out this list over at Cinematical.
May 6th, 2009
STAR TREK has been getting rave reviews, but one group is apparently not happy with it…
In all seriousness, I heard a report on NPR this morning that said almost the same thing.
May 6th, 2009
From the fine folks at Maxim.com, here’s a list of “How Geeks Are Ruining Movies”
I couldn’t agree more with this one, and even the specific example they cite:
OBESSION WITH MINUTIAE
You know what? When we originally went to see STAR WARS and watched in awe the first time Darth Vader stepped onscreen, we thought, “What a badass!” Know what we didn’t think? “Hm, I wonder what his childhood was like?” Thanks to geek culture, every backstory, tangential storyline, or tiny piece of character trivia has to be explored ad nauseum.
When I saw STAR WARS in the theater and saw Darth Vader for the first time, I thought the same thing. Seeing three bad movies about what a whiner he was when he was younger is something I’ve worked hard to forget.
