Trekkies everywhere are mourning the loss of the Star Trek Experience, the only live Star Trek attraction in the world. Today marks the end of its ten-year run at the Hilton in Las Vegas.
Over the weekend, thousands of Trekkies beamed into Las Vegas for a final encounter with the Borg and to drown their sorrows in strong Klingon drinks served at Quark’s Bar and Restaurant.
It doesn’t help that there’s as strong online rumor that the exhibit will become a theater for pop star Michael Jackson. Ouch, that’s harsh. Couldn’t they have just made Michael part of the attraction? Oh well.
Someone put together a touching tribute on YouTube:
Operations Manager Chad Boutte left a final transmission from the Enterprise bridge:
“Hailing frequencies open. We’d like to thank all the fans and friends of Star Trek, whose constant and amazing support we’ve enjoyed throughout our tenure at the Las Vegas Hilton. As we boldly go into the futures that await, know that we take your love of Star Trek: The Experience with us. We share the memories of time spent in the most unique place in the Galaxy, and we carry those memories into our futures with us.
Live long, and prosper. Hailing frequencies closed.”
Perhaps all is not lost, Star Trek fans. All of the props will be returned to Paramount, and with a new Trek movie debuting next summer, it’s likely the franchise will reboot into a future with many more Experiences to come.
Well, we’ve reached the end of our Star Wars blog fest. In honor of today’s theatrical premiere of The Clone Wars, I’d like to finish up here with another type of animated Star Wars film…the parody.
I’d never heard of Robot Chicken before yesterday, because I don’t have cable television. But I’m glad I ran across this hilarious little morsel on the internet.
Cartoon Network’s popular Adult Swim series, Robot Chicken, created this 2007 Star Wars parody using stop motion animated toys & puppets. Funny man, Seth Green, directed the 22 minute episode which was nominated for an Emmy. It’s available for purchase on Amazon.com, but you can check out some clips right here:
If this merely wet your appetite for Star Wars parodies, you’ll be happy to know that there’s another Robot Chicken Star Wars episode in the works!
Many members of the voice cast from the first special, including original Star Wars actors Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams will lend their voices to the sequel.
This time around, the focus of the show will explore the stories of the bounty hunters. Robot Chicken Star Wars, Episode II, will premier on the Cartoon Network November 16th.
We’re continuing with our Star Wars theme this week. I thought it would be fun to show some Youtube clips of great costumes and creativity.
Star Wars (Sweded): A Cardboard Hope
We’ve talked about Sweding before. This video was made for the popular BeKindReWind’s sweding competition, and it’s very well done.
Next we have a fine procession of costumers at the 2008 Motor City Con in Novi, MI. Darth Vader looks terrific, but what really impresses me is the costume of General Grievous.
Star Wars: Attack of the Lightsaber Clone
And finally, the good people of Backyard FX, the masters of DIY filmmaking, put together a funny lightsaber video along with a tutorial for making your own weapon. Great stuff!
You know, George Lucas invented the lightsaber over 30 years ago. It’s rather hard to believe that our top scientists haven’t been able to make one for real. What’s up with that?
Disney knows a good thing when they see it. So they came up with their own line of Disney / Muppets Star Wars action figures.
The Disney action figures will be sold individually for $9.95, and include Mickey Mouse as Anakin, Minnie Mouse as Amidala, Goofy as Jar Jar, Donald Duck as Darth Maul, and Stitch as Yoda, available for sale inside Disney Theme Park gift shops.
Muppets Star Wars figures will be packaged separately or in a boxed set. Characters include Kermit as Luke Skywalker, Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Beaker as C3PO, Fozzie as Chewbacca, Rizzo as Yoda, and Gonzo as Darth Vader. These figures are also for sale sale inside Disney Theme Park gift shops.
Just when you thought you were done collecting action figures…
Are you ready for more Star Wars? With the new animated Clone Wars hitting theaters this Friday, the Star Wars fans are out in full Force. I thought it would be fun to show some fantastic costumes from Comic-Con.
So many great costumes! It’s fun to see the traditional Star Wars characters as well as the creative variations such as the pink Darth Vader and Legos characters. And of course, no Star Wars photo gallery is complete without Leia in her metal bikini….
What is it about vampires that captivate the imagination? Is it the concept of immortality or maybe the thought of being loved by a broodingly handsome lord of the night?
Whatever the fascination, Stephenie Meyer seems to have tapped into it in her Twilight book series which has turned into somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. Twilight fan sites have shot up all over the internet and the books have sold more than 7.5 million copies.
The Twilight series follows the relationship of average teenager Bella Swan and the vampire who loves her, Edward Cullen. While the seemingly improbable relationship is the stuff of young girls’ fantasies, the book manages to capture the real-life angst and passion of the teenage years. But surprisingly, it’s not just teenagers that are reading it. Take it from me, a forty-something fan living in the “Twilight Zone.”
While Twilight’s vampires don’t wear costumes, fans of the book series do. In fact, hordes of them turned up in costume for the national book release parties, Friday night (August 1) to welcome the fourth installment in the series, Breaking Dawn. Barnes and Noble stores hosted “proms” while Borders book stores hosted “A Night with a Bite.” Borders reported selling over 250,000 copies in the first 24 hours following the book’s release.
It’s sad to see the series end, but I’m looking forward to some closure (I’m on page 79 of Breaking Dawn right now). I’m also looking forward to the to the movie version of Twilight, to be released in December. I think I’ve watched the trailer about twenty or thirty times already. Looks like a piece of entertainment you can really sink your teeth into!
We’ve been blogging quite a bit about Dr. Horrible, the supervillain musical that’s taken the Internet by storm.
Today, we’ll take a closer look at making a Dr. Horrible costume.
Lab Coat
Dr. Horrible wears a white lab coat. You can find a basic lab coat at any costume shop, but if you want to be picky you’ll need a coat that buttons on the side, not down in front. Look for the “Howie” style coat.
Here are some places that sell this type of lab coat:
EDIT: Word on the street is that these goggles actually are green in color. Apparently, the manufacturer picture is wrong and they are NOT silver as shown.
White Gloves
Dr. Horrible wears a pair of white work gloves. Some people have found that fencing gloves work, too. You can try these stores:
Do you like superheroes and supervillains? Are you a fan of musicals? Then wait no longer.
Head on over to www.drhorrible.com to view Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!
It’s the story of a low-rent supervillain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.
This musical will be free to watch for one week only. After July 20th, 2008, the video will only be available for purchase on iTunes. A DVD packed full of fun extras will be released sometime in the near future.
For an additional back story of Capt. Hammer, be sure to check out his “Be Like Me!” Capt. Hammer online comic published by Dark Horse Comics.
Someone at Domino’s Pizza is thinking outside the box - pizza box, that is. To promote the upcoming “Dark Knight” movie, Domino’s is offering a free Batman costume made of cardboard!
Each pizza box will have a part of the costume, and you’ll have to order several pizzas to complete the outfit.
That’s a pretty creative idea, I bet kids will love it.
Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, is about to debut his newest creation: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. It’s a musical web series that will appear online in just a few weeks.
Starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day, the story is about the evil Dr. Horrible and his nemesis, Captain Hammer.
It looks totally funny! Check out the teaser trailer:
Well, either you love them, or you’ve never heard of them.
The self-proclaimed “fourth best band” from New Zealand, Flight of the Conchords are a musical comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Their music is simply awesome, and they are extremely funny as well. So good, in fact, that last year HBO gave them their own show.
Here’s a fun promotional video released by Marvel Studios to get fans excited for their numerous superhero movies.
Iron Man was a sensational hit, and the Incredible Hulk opens this coming weekend. Marvel is paving the way for an Avengers movie, which will include all of their heroes teaming up together. I can barely wait, I’m so excited.
This video shows Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Hulk teaming up to fight some giant robots. Heh, Spider-Man seems to take a backseat to the other heroes, probably because he doesn’t have a movie coming out this summer.
Still, it’s great to see the wise-cracking webslinger in action along with Hulk and Iron Man.
Does anyone remember The Greatest American Hero? It was on TV in the early 1980’s. Man, I LOVED, LOVED that show as a kid. I wanted my own suit in the worst way. Thankfully, now that the show is on DVD, I get to watch it all over again. There’s also rumors flying that a GAH movie will be made!
I want to talk a bit about the show, the spinoff pilot that never got picked up, and then take a look at some great fan-made costumes.
Prince Caspian opens in theaters tomorrow, and all around the world, Narnia fans are rejoicing. The story is fantastic, the cinematography is breathtaking and the costumes are out of this world.
Direct from the set, this is Mike’s screenworn Dragonfly stunt costume. This hero stunt costume includes a green and black w/ black dragonfly on front and attached mask spandex zip up the back dragonfly superhero shirt, green and black w/ hard shoes inside spandex dragonfly superhero pants and a green and black w/ velcro belt that attaches to shirt w/ black buckle. Includes the original wardrobe tag.
This movie is a silly spoof on superheroes. It was released in theaters last March, and the DVD comes out this July, 2008.
Here’s the official movie trailer, if you haven’t seen it already:
MovieWeb is giving away an official costume from A&E’s upcoming miniseries, The Andromeda Strain.
The costume is an actual Wildfire Lab costume from Daniel Dae Kim’s Dr. Tsi Chou character in the mini-series!
The outfit consists of one pair of pants, two jackets, two t-shirts and one pair of shoes.
Click Here for complete contest information. One lucky winner will be randomly selected.
The Andromeda Strain premieres on A&E for a 2-night special event on May 26-27. The DVD will be released on June 3rd.
An entire town is killed by a mysterious virus brought to earth by a returning satellite. A search through the town reveals two survivors: a baby and an old man. Why the virus spared them could provide the key for immunizing the populace. A crack team of scientists isolates themselves with the survivors in an underground laboratory, and now they only have a few days to find a cure before the world is destroyed.
For more information on this miniseries, visit the Official Website.
With the new “The Incredible Hulk” movie coming out next month, I thought it would be fun to take a look at our giant green friend throughout the years.
“The Incredible Hulk” TV Show (1978)
Before CGI animation existed, the Hulk was played by *gasp* a live person. Bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno painted his skin green and played a pretty good Hulk.
The show ran for several years and was cancelled in its fifth season in 1982. Six years later, three “made for TV” movies were produced with Lou Ferringo reprising his role as the Hulk.
This is probably the best fan-made costume I’ve ever seen! Custom molded and painted, this looks EXACTLY like the Iron Man suit in the movie. You can read more about the creation of this costume on the Replica Prop Forum.
All the armor parts are fanmade out of glassfiber with strong and sharp details, then carefully painted in rich red and gold colour. The midsection armor and neckseal is made from flexible plastic, painted in rich red colours. The gloves are made of foam rubber. The helmet comes with see through eye lenses. The lenses reflect light and does not allow anyone to see your eyes.
SIZE RANGE:
The armor is made to fit a person approx. size 6 -6.4 foot tall with from 32 - 38 inch waistline. Ideal size: 6.2 tall, 35 inch waistline, approx. 220 lbs.
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