We dive into some of the great late-night, had-a-few-beers “what if” questions of sci-fi. And we run down the week in geek, including a Star Trek porn update (including casting specifics), failed Trek series pitched by cast members, new Tron 3 news, Top Gun (the movie)'s return to theaters this month, a new Pixar “Disney princess” movie (and a great discussion about towers and juvenile imprisonment), and a quick take on recent V.
WOOOOOOOOOT! D/Ling now
EDIT - Trek P-rn SFW Box art for those wanna see
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/davidj0207/StarTrekTNGAXXXParody.jpg
heheheheh Box art
So who’s the chick supposed to be in black in front of Data? Trinity?
~Shooter Out
either Leah Brahms or Sela…or Six…
Thank the gods there is no Whoopi look alike on that poster!
“You were in a 4g inverted dive with a MiG28?”
Thanks for mentioning that Top Gun’s going to be in the theater. I need to catch that. Yeah, and how could anyone forget Meg Ryan.
“Goose, ya big stud! Take me to bed or lose me forever.”
Tangled was a great movie. I will point out that it was not technically a Pixar movie. It was a Walt Disney Studios CGI movie. I’m sure it benefited from previous work done by Pixar, but they are a different studio. I actually liked this movie more than some Pixar films, but I’m a romantic at heart and this movie hits so many perfect notes. The animation is stunning, the characters are delightful and the movie is just a joy to watch. Maximus (the horse) is awesome. Rapunzel is just beautiful. The hair CGI is amazing and mesmerizing. The story is touching and while very familiar, it is wonderfully told. I can’t recommend this movie enough.
You guys talked about Tangled without mentioning that the guy is voiced by Zach Levi (Chuck)?
What If’s:
The Grid (Flynn) or The Matrix (Neo)?
[spoiler]Well, both of them sacrifice themselves in the end, so if you have to play that part I don’t think I’d want either. If forced to choose, I’d take the Flynn route so that my death has more meaning. Neo died so that people could be free, but Flynn died so that a new life form would not be wiped out. That’s like the ultimate. If I didn’t have to die…[/spoiler]
I suppose I would choose the Grid. I originally thought I’d go with the Matrix so that I could have Neo’s superpowers and martial arts in a system that might as well be our real world. In the end, I pick The Grid because you are physically transported to that world. With the Matrix, eventually your body will die. You can live several human lifetimes in the Grid. While you can’t leave, there’s no reason why friends or family couldn’t take the laser down to the system to visit you. This would be in a post-Legacy stable and free system of course.
The potential of the ISOs returning and watching this brand new life form develop is too much of an amazing thing to pass up. I would explore MMO’s from the inside or develop my own and invite my friends to play. Oh, and I would so find one of those pure energy streams and drink from it because I’ve wanted to know what that was like since I saw Tron in the theater when I was 10. As for appearance, there’s no reason you couldn’t make certain sections of the Grid look like the real world, especially if you set up an area to get ISOs familiar with our world before taking the laser out.
Mal, Kirk, or Han?
Based specifically on world setting, I’d choose Star Trek. In any of the settings, I could die. While the Reavers do seem a horrible way to go, Star Wars has Saarlacs and Torture Droids and Star Trek has whimsical godlike beings that could do all manner of horror to you. Day to day life, though, seems like Star Trek would have the best comforts. I’m not sure what I’d do on the Enterprise, but I’d probably eventually transfer back to Earth and become an expert on cultural history of the late 20th century. Even having to serve, I’d still choose Trek. It’s just too nice of a world. If you’d actually said Picard, then there would not even be a smidgen of doubt … 'cause Holodecks!
Now, if I could choose a world in which Inara falls in love with me, then I’d choose Firefly hands down. I’m not even talking about companion benefits, just that pixie beautiful face and giant brown eyes. Everytime I see her, I’m just dazed by her beauty. In every other choice, it’s Trek. No doubt.
Rebel or Bounty Hunter?
Rebel. Almost all the bounty hunters are sleeze-bags no matter how cool their equipment. Even if I were to be an honest one, the community is one that I’d not want to be a part of. You either are a criminal or you are hunting criminals. The rebels may be the down-trodden and you could even end up stuck on Hoth or shot by Stormtroopers, but at least you’re fighting the good fight and have the Jedi on your side.
Edit:
Dancing for Jabba?
I didn’t know either of the first choices, but I’ve at least heard Intergalactic so I would choose that one. I’d much rather do the Time Warp. I’m most likely going to get fed to the Rancor regardless, so I might as well go out doing a dance I have fond memories of.
Bartertown or Biker Gang?
I’m going to die either way. In Bartertown, I’d be in a shitty job until someone got mad at me and then get dragged into Thunderdome. I wouldn’t last long enough for Max to rescue me. So screw that. I pick Lord Humongous’ biker gang. I don’t even try to get rescued, I just enjoy my time as a post apocalyptic barbarian until some kid cuts my hand off with a razor boomerang. Then, I replace my hand with a gas-powered circular saw and spend my days menacing the frontier towns. I also get my jollies by taunting Humongous’s right hand man by saying “C’mon Bennett, throw away the chickenshit gun.” He eventually gets fed up and causes me to crash and get run over by the rest of the gang and set on fire by the gas in my own saw-hand.
Autobot or Decepticon?
Autobot … 'cause screw Starscream, screw Megatron and screw the rest of the Decepticons. For Prime! For Cybertron! I’d be a monster truck that turns into a robot that acts like a WWE wrestler. I eventually get murdered by Soundwave, cause he’s the only cool Decepticon.
I disagree, Val Kilmer really hasn’t aged. He’s just swelled.
Re: Orion Slave Women. Sean you can’t even see green. They’re Grey Orion Slave Women. Why not go with the better option: Blue Twi’lek slave women? Eh? Eh?
Sean is right, if you are 11, Saucer Separation is the coolest thing ever.
For the Record: Tangled is not a Pixar production. It is Disney though, and one might argue that since Disney owns Pixar, aren’t all Disney CG films pixar films? Not really. Tangled is a production of Disney Animation Studios, and I get the impression that Pixar functions as an encapsulated unit within Disney.
As StarSaber mentioned, Zachary Levi (of Chuck fame) provides the voice of Flynn.
I liked Tangled quite a bit. It definitely had the feeling of a classic Disney Princess movie, without overwhelmingly feeling like Rapunzel was the Damsel in Distress. Apparently, the movie’s title was changed last-minute from Rapunzel to Tangled because the producers felt the movie was a story about Flynn and Rapunzel, not just her.
It’s a good classic Disney fairytale, and I recommend it to anyone.
Re: Marina Sirtis
From ‘The Finest Crew in the Fleet’ by Adam Shrager
'During filming in the sixth season, Sirtis had the ubiquitous line, “Captain, he’s hiding something.” On one occasion, Stewart looked at her and blurted, “We know that, you stupid cow! You waste of space!”. Then the strong fearless captain ran and hid behind Michael Dorn. Sirtis could only look up at Stewart and exclaim, “Well, excuse me, Your Majesty! I don’t write the lines, I just say them!”.
Re: VISOR - I think everyone did that with the Alice bands.
Poker: Worst people to invite:
Geordi - He can see your body temperature and see that you’re lying
Data - He has no tell so can easily bluff
Troi - Can sense when you’re lying
From the book:
'On the script for “All Good Things…” and particularly regarding the fnal scene around the poker table, Sirtis finally expressed a concern that she had hid for years. In a newspaper interview, Sirtis said that she never understood how the writers allowed her character to play poker. "HOw stupid can the be? It’s like, I’ll wait untial a really good hand came up and say ‘No, Geordi, honey, I can’t tell if you’re bluffing’ - Marina Sirtis
Heck, he could mark the cards in some way no one else could see but he could because of his VISOR.
We were ravin’ up Tangled on the Twitter machines this morning…
http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23gwc%20tangled
Tangled is excellent. Its commericals made it look like a Dreamworks sort of mess, and I think they did it a real disservice. I avoided it, and now I’m kicking myself for missing it on the big screen, in 3-D.
The Tangled trailers, also, have a lot of misleading footage that’s not in the actual movie.
The songs are great; some are very contemporary, and some are more traditional showtunes. My little Cylons are way into the movie, and the music really grows on you with subsequent listens, too.
That said, the movie’s first ten minutes are kind of sketchy. But give it a chance.
Disney Studios have turned out some dogsh*t like Chicken Little, but now that Disney and Pixar are working closely together, the quality’s on the rise.
Kirk, Mal or Han?
I have to say Han.
Financially, Han wins. There’s no money in Trek, and how many times did the Firefly crew ask about getting paid in one season? Way too many for me. Even though Solo had some debts, (or one huge one) he was flush enough at times to win a spaceship in a card game. You can’t get there being poor.
Girls?
Kirk humped everything that moved, so you’re not getting any chicks. Seriously, how many other people in Kirk’s crew got hooked up?
Mal can’t even hook himself up with someone who won’t stab him (and everyone else) in the back. Having an onboard ‘companion’ when you’re piss broke all the time is just a kick in your already blue testicles.
Solo’s the type of guy who drops you off at Chora’s Den and says “I’m gonna take care of something, go get yourself laid, kid” That works, because Solo can pay you.
From a safety perspective, I think Han is also the way to go. He’s loyal to his own, just like the other two but the Firefly universe is just too crappy for proper survival and unless you’re in Kirk’s command staff your last Spacebook post may very well be “beaming down to the planet with Cpt Kirk”
Mal looks for trouble waaaay too much. Maybe it’s the right thing to do on some level, but I also think it’s partially due to a lack of forethought and a poor network of contacts and available resources. Han can make better plans because he has better options.
Cool factor?
Han again. Kirk’s military, regardless of how much of a maverick he tries to be. He goes where the Federation tells him. Mal scrapes by ferrying cattle and stealing med supplies in a ship that can’t get out of it’s own way. The Falcon is a freakin hot rod. Fastest ship going, and we’re not just talking about your local bulk cruisers mind you, I’m talking big Corellian ships now.
Since I’m pretty mechanically inclined, I have a feeling I’d end up in some sort of maintenance position. “Hey Cpt Solo, how big a nitrous bottle do you want?”
I can check out pod races while he’s dealing with the Hutt, do death sticks with some hot Twi’lek chick and maybe joyride a speeder bike.
What are my recreation options in the Trek or Firefly universes? With Mal I guess I’d do a lot of running. I hate running so much I might just let the Reavers have me.
Kirk’s universe is so lame that stupid Parcheesy Squares game doesn’t even exist yet. No holodeck, either.
Plus, I want a lightsaber.
Have you seen the design concept for the new Interceptor?
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/fords-new-mad-max-car-20110330-1cffm.html
Gaf
Matrix or Tron? I’d choose Tron…tho a photo finish. As Rev Sean mentioned, you can create a bunch of differnt things in Tron. Matrix…no matter what…the landscape is the 1990’s. Don’t get me wrong, flyiong around and fighting is teh OSSIM, but creation is a lot of fun as well. And, well…
…yeeeaaahhhh
Which Captain? Mal, Kirk or Solo. I’d say Kirk…better shot of survivng in Starfleet. And Kirk would do his best to keep you alive. (not always succeed - but he’d try). I like Mal, but it would be bad. And Solo, he is kind of a target. And my luck, I’d get shot. Unless I could be a Jedi - then hmm, yeah I might still end up Trek.
In Star Wars - Rebel fighter or Bounty Hunter. I’d have to say Rebel. I know Id get killed…but hte Empire is “the Man”. Screw the Man (that’s what she said). Wait…Seans Stripper and Bounty Hunting Service?? hmmm (sean, PM me…I have some marketing ideas) 
Captured by Jabba and put in a bikini - what song do I dance for my freedom (Intergalactic, git busy Child)? Intergalatic, period. in a metal bikini. (I may need therapy after, still…)
In Mad max universe - either Thunderdome or Roaming motorcycle folks (attract attention Mad Max). Had me at Shapely Thighs.
Which Transformer? Gonna have to go with Autobot - only because Decepticons could stab each other in the back.
I think you should throw Worf into this category as well on the basis of the Wookie rule. He will rip your arms off should he loose. (except maybe Data)
It appeared that Chuck had some reservations about a William Shatner Trek series. He also held his tongue about the William Shatner novels. This made my fluffy bunny ears perk up. I’m curious. Is it the ghost-writing thing?
Anyway, in the Frakes interview regarding his desire to start a new Star Trek series and being rejected. He mentions two things:
- Bryan Singer wanted to start a series.
- William Shatner wanted to start a series.
I had a problem with both those comments. First of all, it wasn’t Bryan Singer it was Bryan Fuller. Bryan Singer had a guest spot in Nemesis, he had a cameo as a tactical officer on the bridge. Bryan Fuller wrote for Deep Space Nine and Voyager. He was the creator of the following series Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies. He was a consulting producer and writer for the series Heroes as well. In 2008, Bryan Fuller did express a desire to start a new Star Trek series and it was rejected.
On the Shatner front, I never heard any info about Bill wanting to start a Star Trek series. Granted, I might be wrong but I don’t think that ever happened. We all know about him wanting to be in the new film but I don’t know of anything involving a new series.
And specifically, he was a writer for the well-received first season. He also wrote or consulted on an episode or two in late Season 3 which are generally noted as the moment when it looked like Heroes might get good again. He then left and the show promptly fell apart again. Bascially, anything I liked about Heroes seemed to involve Fuller.