SciFi Diner Podcast

Welcome to the SciFi Diner where we serve up spicy conversations off the latest menu of SciFi Movies & Television Shows.

SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 64 – The Yorker’s Top Ten Science Fiction Movies of All Time; Is There Anything good on TV This Summer?

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On the menu tonight: What do you want on the menu?

Tonight on menu, we serve up The Yorker’s Top Ten Scifi Movies of all time…do we agree? What SciFi can you look forward to this summer, some Star Wars Trivia, The Heroes Mini-Series, Batman, Crow, and Spider-man news, psychologists deem Darth Vader mentally ill,, George Lucas releases yet another version of Star Wars (well at least the Cantina scene), Stra Wars had it in for AT&T, Miles brings you This Week in Star Trek with Nimoy Fringe and Steve Jobs news, and  Scott and Miles give you their top five movies to watch while running on the treadmill  in the SciFi Five in Five.

Trivia:

This Week’s Trivia: Which of Vader’s hand’s did Luke sever with his lightsaber?

The Prize: Four Smart Pop Books: In The Hunt (Essays on Supernatural with Forward by Keith R. A. DeCandido), Finding Serenity (Edited by Jane Espenson who wrote Shindig and was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Writer), The Man From Krypton, and Thoughts about Anita Blake’s, Vampire Hunter Series.

You will until July 1st answer this question. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner.

 

Podcast Promos:

Geek Cred Promo

Signal Podcast

The Main Course:

TV News:

‘Heroes’ might come back as a miniseries. Here are the details:

Heroes finished its run in February, but, like any good dead superhero, it might come back, only in a slightly different form. TV Guide reports that Heroes creator Tim Kring is talking to NBC about doing a wrap-up miniseries that would take place a year after the events in the show’s final episode.

“Should the axed series return with a wrap-up miniseries–that’s creator Tim Kring’s hope, and he says he’s meeting with NBC this month to discuss it — the plot will skip ahead a year or so to see the effect of Claire’s revelation.

‘There will be a huge cultural and social change in the world,” says Kring. “Some [of our characters] will be hiding, some struggling, some basking in the glory.’

Claire, who desperately wanted a normal life, will become a reluctant spokesperson for the abnormals. Sylar (Zachary Quinto) will again struggle with his dark side. And Adrian Pasdar will likely return, though not as Nathan, who died.”

Kring said the entire cast is willing to return for the project, though TV Guide could not get NBC to comment on how realistic the idea is.
What do you think?  Let sleeping dogs lie?

Movie News:


Rumor Has It! Jamie Bell Is The New Spider-Man

Just a couple of weeks ago, we brought you a story that Columbia Pictures had narrowed down its list of Peter Parker hopefuls to five actors, one of which was British actor Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, The Adventures of Tintin), who has now reportedly been chosen to become the next webslinger.

If true, Bell will have beaten out the likes of Alden Ehrenreich, Frank Dillane, Andrew Garfield and Josh Hutcherson. Bleeding Cool states that they have received “repeated reports” over a 24 hour period that Bell had indeed been chosen to play Peter Parker.

Neither the studio, nor reps for Bell have confirmed his casting in Marc Webb’s reboot, but we’ll let you know the minute something crawls our way (get it?).

Untitled Spider-Man Reboot, directed by Marc Webb is slated to hit theaters on July 3rd, 2012.

Reboot Of The Crow Moving Forward

Back in November we brought you some details on writer-director Stephen Norrington’s (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) reboot of The Crow and in February, we had an exclusive interview with the creator of The Crow (James O’Barr) and got his thoughts on the proposed remake. Now, we have word that the reboot is moving forward.

The Crow reboot producer Edward Pressman (The Crow: Wicked Prayer) told MTV that Stephen Norrington has finished the script and they are moving forward with casting.

“[We’ve got an offer out] to a major actor and things are moving ahead very aggressively, with the aim of doing the film this year”

Pressman also indicated that the setting for the film will be different than the original Alex Proyas directed film, with Norrington’s reboot set to take place in the Southwest and Detroit (or something like that?).
Pressman said,

“The setting is the southwest – the Mexico/Arizona area – and an urban [setting], Detroit or Pittsburgh or something like that,” he described. “There are two locations that the film is set. Its initial platform is in the southwest and then it moves to the big city in the north, middle or eastern America, and then back.”
[The Shakedown]

Much like the creator of The Crow, and much like the look on Brandon Lee’s face in the picture above… I am not amused by the prospects of this reboot.

Nolan: No Joker In ‘Batman 3,’ ‘Man Of Steel’ To Stay Close To Character’s Core

The director of Empire magazine replied a straight ‘NO’ to the question of bringing back the Joker. He said that he finds himself uncomfortable talking about the Joker.
Nolan has given Empire magazine some information that fans have been waiting to hear about.
“It was the first time I’ve been able to conceive of how you’d address Superman in a modern context. I thought it was a really exciting idea,” he said. “What you have to remember about Batman and Superman is that what makes them the best superhero characters there are, the most beloved after all this time, is the essence of who they were when they were created, when they were first developed. You can’t move too far away from that.”

Also, Nolan makes it sound as if the third Batman film will be the last (that he has intentions of only making a trilogy of films). He stated in that interview, “Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story.

Psychologists determine Darth Vader was mentally ill

Psychologists determine Darth Vader was mentally ill

French psychologists recently spent some time analyzing Darth Vader (we’re not sure why) and determined that the Sith Lord was mentally ill, according to LiveScience. Specifically, they say he probably has a borderline personality, described by Wikipedia as “a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person (generally over the age of eighteen years, although it is also found in adolescents), characterized by depth and variability of moods.”

The psychologists are going to publish their findings in the journal Psychiatry Research, but LiveScience has a preview:

Skywalker hit six out of the nine borderline personality disorder criteria as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). He only needed to meet five criteria to qualify as suffering from the disorder.

For instance, the future Darth Vader showed both impulsivity and anger management issues as an overexcited, lovelorn Jedi. He went back and forth between idealizing and devaluing Jedi mentors, such as a humorless young Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Abandonment issues also surfaced. Skywalker had a permanent fear of losing his wife, Padme Amidala, and he went so far as to betray his Jedi mentors and companions to try to prevent her death.

Two displays of dissociative episodes took place when Skywalker tried to distance himself from stressful events. The first episode took place after he slaughtered a local tribe of Tuskens responsible for his mother’s death. A second episode occurred following his murderous rampage among young Jedi trainees, as he voiced paranoid thoughts about Obi-Wan Kenobi and his wife.

Lastly, any “Star Wars” fan would recognize Skywalker’s identity issues and uncertainty about who he was. His fateful turn to the dark side and change of name to Darth Vader could represent the ultimate sign of such identity disturbance, the researchers said.

For some reason the study neglected to mention the other signs of Vader’s poor mental health, such as torturing people, destroying entire planets, choking his co-workers to death and cutting off his son’s hand. Among other things.

George Lucas releases new, horrific version of cantina scene

George Lucas releases new, horrific version of cantina scene

Will George Lucas EVER stop reshooting that cantina scene? First he tried to make us believe, with his edits to Star Wars, that Greedo shot first. (Sorry, George—we ain’t buying it.)

And now THIS?

We’ve watched and rewatched that Mos Eisley scene so many times we occasionally forget we weren’t actually there, but one thing we’re sure of is that David Beckham and Snoop Dogg weren’t there either!

Well, now they are, thanks to a commercial for Adidas Originals that Lucasfilm pulled together tied in with the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Check it out.

Original Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Phone Promos

The TWIST :

“Retiring?” Leonard Nimoy May Return In Fringe Season 3

Leonard Nimoy’s retirement may be short lived if the rumors we’re hearing are true. According to a few sites around the net, William Bell may be returning to the Fox hit “Fringe” in it’s 3rd season. In a video entitled “Fringe: The Next Chapter” the cast talk about the season 2 cliffhanger and what may be in-store for season 3.

In the interview Leonard jokingly had this to say about William Bell’s “death”.
“Do I think he’s really dead? Do I think William Bell is really dead? This is science fiction. I have died in science fiction many times and somehow magically or scientifically come back.”

Leonard continued, “Given that he has disintegrated, what happens in the future remains to be seen.”
Check out the video below.

 

Steve Jobs Admits That He “Grew Up Watching Star Trek”

During the unveiling of the new Apple iPhone, Steve Jobs revealed his inner Trek Fan.  At the WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) 2010 in San Francisco, the Apple CEO debuted the brand new iPhone 4 to the world listing a cadre of new features for the handheld device.

The new iPhone boasts a much higher resolution screen, faster processor, new form factor, two cameras, and video conferencing in it’s list of features.  When showing off the new “Face Time” video conferencing app, Jobs revealed, “I grew up with The Jetsons and Star Trek, just dreaming about video calling. Now it’s real”

Available in 16gb ($199) & 32gb ($299) models, the new device will be available June 24th and for pre-order next week.

Main Dish:

Top 10: Sci-fi films – according to The Yorker

Top 10: Sci-fi films

Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park
Wednesday, 2nd June 2010

Ah, science fiction films. Quelle horreur. What kind of nerdy social pariah, you may ask, would be an open fan of them – let alone pay enough attention to compile some kind of ranked list? Surely these are the folk who will live in their parents’ houses well into their 30s(although, given the current unemployment statistics, that will now include just about everyone), are notoriously badly dressed and have dubious standards of personal hygiene. And they probably dress up as Chewbacca in their spare time. Of course, we need these people to program our computers, design our websites (like The Yorker), invent new gadgets to generally improve our lives, and make us look more attractive by comparison. But apart from all that, what are they good for? Well, apparently some of the greatest movies of cinematic history have been written, directed, and financed by nerds. I know – I was shocked too…

10. Alien (1979)

The director Ridley Scott’s first big film, in which Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) battles the now iconic aliens which burst out of people’s chests and just won’t die. So much so, that they returned for three sequels and two prequels, where they proceeded to do what Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t and take down the Predator. Don’t watch it alone.

9. Sunshine (2007)

In the year 2057, the Sun will decide to expire earlier than intended. In a last-ditch bid for survival, humanity sends a team of scientists to reignite the dying star with a nuclear weapon onboard the spaceship Icarus (not a great name considering its mission). Past Mercury, they receive a transmission from another ship, and things begin to go horribly, horribly wrong.

8. Terminator 1 & 2 (1984 & 1991)

Discerning readers will see this is actually two films. Well spotted! Unfortunately, there are no prizes here at The Yorker. The reason for this duopoly is that good old Arnie (sorry, Governor Arnie) just can’t be contained into one film. As the hard-talking robot from the future, he first attempts to murder people, then reforms to become the good guy. Or something.

7. Back to the Future (1985)

Marty Mcfly (the always loveable Michael J. Fox) is a down and out loser, with no prospects and a horrible family. However, after a phone call from his scientist friend Doc, he finds himself travelling through time in a converted station-wagon, significantly improving his life in the process.

6. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Astronaut Taylor (Charlton Heston) gets caught in a time warp (although he doesn’t know it), and is sent into the future, where the earth is ruled by damn dirty apes. Of course, the costumes may look cheesy now, but back in the ‘60s it was all cutting edge. Probably.

5. Jurassic Park (1993)

Steven Spielberg’s adaption of Michael Crichton’s novel was, quite frankly, amazing. Innovatively designed CGI dinosaurs burst out of their enclosures and endanger their handlers, including Jeff Goldblum. The film which taught us to never underestimate velociraptors’ ability to operate door handles.

4. The Man from Earth (2007)

What if, by biological freakery, a caveman from 14,000 years ago had never died, but had instead witnessed all of human social evolution since before recorded history began? That’s exactly the question which Professor John Oldman asks his colleagues at his farewell party. However, it may be more than just a hypothetical question…

3. The Matrix (1999)

Monumental effects and stunts abound as Neo (Keanu Reeves) fights for his life in the artificial reality of the matrix. Probably one of the coolest films ever made, it did spark an annoying trend for wearing trench-coats and sunglasses indoors. What sequels?

2. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

I know what you’re thinking, but this is the exception to the general crappiness of Trek. Not many films manage to be thrilling, uplifting, and use the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Melville, Dickens and C.S. Forester as touchstones. This film, however, does it all with ease.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, in which two astronauts and one increasingly homicidal computer travel to the further reaches of the solar system, on a mission that will change humanity’s destiny forever.

 

The Sci Fi 5 at 5.

Best movies to watch while running on the treadmill.

1. Star Trek 11
2. The Matrix
3. Terminator Salvation
4. Wolverine
5. Mission Impossible III

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