Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday Odds & Ends: Sci-fi hotties, tauntaun sleeping bags and deadly Smurf fighting action

+ It's Friday, why not start out on a completely shallow note? Entertainment Weekly has their gallery of the Sci-Fi Hotties of '09, both gentlemen and ladies. Although how Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson can be on that list and not, well, almost any other male to ever appear in a sci-fi show, kind of boggles my mind. Kudos for including "Fringe"'s Joshua Jackson though...

+ Dreams really can come true...maybe. You might recall this past April when ThinkGeek posted an April Fool's Day item about a Tauntaun sleeping bag. The response was overwhelming and now it looks like they might actual produce one. Someday soon your kids can have one whether they want it or not!

+ Special thanks to David Manly for sending me these tips on Twitter yesterday -- Mortal Kombat 3 is rumored to start filming soon AND production is moving forward on a live-action Smurfs movie with a director just announced. Yes, I said live-action, which led David and I to agree that they should actually combine these two movies. I would totally pay money to see Smurfs fighting. Is that weird?

+ If you're anywhere near Orlando, Florida this weekend, don't forget it's Nerdapalooza time.

+ Now this is a movie I actually want to see: a horror comedy called "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" which revolves around two guys who look like the stereotypical homicidal maniacs from every horror movie you've ever seen but are totally nice guys and can't understand why everyone's freaked out by them. Best of all, it stars Alan Tudyk of "Firefly" and "Dollhouse" fame and Tyler Labine from "Reaper" who will always be known to me as "that frog-licker guy" from the 'Quagmire' episode of "The X-Files"...not that I still remember individual X-Files episode names. Ahem, shall we move on?

+ The British sci-fi series "Being Human" about three flatmates who also happen to be a vampire, werewolf and ghost, will begin airing on BBC America on July 25. Has anyone seen this show yet? Is it any good?

+ And finally, last night a Seattle radio show called Too Beautiful to Live had a really fun and entertaining conversation about the How To Meet and Woo a Nerdy Girl blog post. It was a blast listening to people who were not me discuss this thing and I think they did a really great job with it. You can check out the archived show here.

16 comments:

Amy said...

While the premise of Being Human sounds a little ridiculous, I thought the show was really well done and I loved it. Not to mention the fact that Russell Tovey plays George (the werewolf) and is absolutely brilliant...I may have a slight Russell Tovey bias though from his roles in The History Boys and Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned. Regardless, I'd definitely say Being Human is worth watching.

crone51 said...

I will watch anything in which Alan Tudyk appears.

But right now I am watching Bridget Jones on TV just to watch James Callis twitch.

eve_again said...

Being Human was great. I am constantly amazed by British television writers and their knack for making every second of such a short season worth watching. It really makes me wish America would jump on the short season bandwagon - I would rather have another 13-episode season of Dollhouse, for example, (even though this season was more like 6 episodes because FOX has no idea how to gain viewers on Friday nights and thought "Oh, hey, I know! Let's tell the same story over and over - that won't make us lose the few diehard fans who will watch anything anyway" - where was I?

Oh yeah, so Being Human was pretty great and I am excited to see that a second season for it is in the works. Now I'm just trying to fill my summer with re-watching Doctor Who and discovering shows like Castle - apparently the best series I haven't been watching.

P.S. - at 5 foot 2 I can totally fit into the tauntaun sleeping bag even if all we do get is the child size. And it will be miiiiiiiiiiiiine! :)

Alexis said...

Being Human is fabulous. Between that, Who, and Torchwood, the British know what they're doing when it comes to sci-fi and writing for television. And Russell Tovey is just amazing.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the shout out!! I know I'm a worthy blogger/Twitter-er when I get thanked on a blog. lol

I had NO idea about Alan Tudyk in that movie, it seems like it would be great! He'll always be Wash to me, though.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar," I loved that so much, I got a T-shirt with it.

FYI, tauntaun sleeping bag .. that is a MUST buy for anyone worth their nerdy salt

Liz said...

I'm so relieved to hear that Being Human is good. Some of the people posting on that Sci-Fi Wire message board were pretty down on it, so I wasn't sure. It looks like a great premise to me and I like Russell Tovey as well.

Crone, doesn't seeing James Callis in that movie just crack you up? I keep picturing him as Baltar and it sends me into giggles.

Eve_Again, I'm so glad you found Castle. My husband and I really enjoy that show and the writing gets better as it goes along. Besides the awesomeness of Nathan, the two sidekick detectives are hilarious too. Pretty good show all around.

Kaylia Metcalfe said...

I had heard about the Smurf movie.. was told it was going to be mainly CGI... not sure how I feel about this.

Oh wait, I feel ill. Right. Moving on.

The Sci-Fi hotties is greatly lacking! I demand a recount!

Emily said...

I think it's SO awesome that my town picked up on your nerdy girl post. Go Seattle.

Love Alan Tudyk! And of course I adore with unclean feelings Nathan Fillion. I'm actually attending a "Can't Stop the Serenity" Event next weekend here in Seattle. I started watching Castle just because he was in it and am THRILLED that it's so good.

Anonymous said...

Just listened to the first half+ of the radio show based on the nerdy girl post. So, so sad that no one there - not even the supposed nerdy girls can identify David Tennant, let alone Dr. Who. I mean, when you have to spell Tardis and follow it up with "I have no idea what this is...", should you really be commenting on nerd issues?

Nice that you got the pick though.

Cara King said...

Liz, if you think the EW list is annoying with the Rock in there once, lucky you didn't see their first version -- it had the Rock in it twice, due to a glitch! (And they gushed about Jack Harkness's English accent...sigh...)

Liz said...

Anonymous, yeah, I was kind of banging my head on the table when the TARDIS bit came up. :)

Cara, I missed that bit about John Barrowman and the English accent. That's just sad...

Sara Jo said...

I second what Anonymous said. When the guy was "describing" the picture of David Tennant and the "nerd" girls didn't pipe up with, "Duh, that's Dr Who!" I would have made them turn in their Nerd Cards and sent them back to the sorority house.

They did seem to be pretty current on several geeky/nerdy things, but by no means would I think they were "nerd girls" or knew enough about "nerd girls" who could speak on our behalf.

Also, OMG I NEED A TAUNTAUN SLEEPING BAG!!!!! I am going to link to it on Facebook tonight with the comment, "If you love me, you will buy me this."

Kate said...

I've seen the first episode of Being Human ... and it's fantastic. Wonderfully written and shot. I am also cursing that my cable provider does not give me BBC America.

rmiriam12 said...

Add my "yes" vote to the Being Human recommendation. It was really well done and I too adore Russel Tovey.

Also of note: it was written/created by Toby Whithouse who wrote the fabulous "School Reunion" episode of Doctor Who in S2 and "Greeks Bearing Gifts" ep of Torchwood.

Definitely a must see.

Anna said...

I think it's awesome that your blog is getting this kind of attention, but OMG they don't know who David Tennant is? And they don't want to watch Dr. Horrible?? What kind of nerd/geek girls are these?

winterone said...

I love how you always have X-Files references. As a fellow X-Phile, it always makes my day. ^-^