BlackGeekdom Science-Fiction from a Different Perspective

Just wanted to share something I found.   Starwars.com has a new sound board.  You can hear audio clips from the films or create your own mix.

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If  your familiar with the terms “Kiss my Converse” or “Now, when I say, “Who’s da mastah?” you say, “Sho’nuff!” means you have  watched “The Last Dragon”  at least once.     If you don’t here the plot  a black teenage martial arts student named Leroy Green (often referred to as “Bruce Leroy”, although he never actually calls himself that). With dreams of becoming a great martial artist like his idol Bruce Lee, Leroy goes on a quest to achieve the highest level of martial arts accomplishment, known as “The Final Level”. Martial artists who reach the “Final Level” possess “The Glow”. As its name suggests it is a mystical energy that can be tapped into by a martial arts master. When a fighter’s hands glow, he is one of the best in the world and when his entire body glows, he is the greatest fighter alive. On his journey to becoming the “Last Dragon” and wielding the power of “The Glow,” Leroy must confront villains such as a crooked arcade mogul Eddie Arkadian (Murney) and the evil Sho’nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, from whom he must also protect his younger brother Richie (Leo O’Brien) and his love interest, TV music video host Laura Charles (Vanity)

So what happened to the star after the film.   Well here’s a update from his website.    

Taimak has appeared in over a dozens plays, including Roadhouse in 2004 at the Barrow Street Theater in New York City, playing the notable role of Dalton in this zanny comedy rendition of Patrick Swayzes 80’s cult classic film. *Taimak is happy to announce he will be teaming up again with the highly inventive Roadhouse director Timothy Haskell and well known playwright Eric Sanders for an original stageplay to open this December in New York City, he will be posting all the information in his monthly newsletter. He also appeared in Cheaters in 2006, playing the role of Craig during the play’s highly successful national tour. You may also remember him as Janet Jackson’s boyfriend in her video “Let’s Wait A’While.”

Taimak has also worked with Madonna as her martial arts coordinator on her Madonna’s Drowned World Tour, and with the rock group Bush on their “Chemical Between Us” video. He has guest starred on several television shows, including Ally McBeal, A Different World, and Third Watch. Currently Taimak has developed a wellness program for young people and is bringing it to communities all over the states. Also Sony Pictures has taken on producing a remake of The Last Dragon. Samuel L. Jackson signed on to play “Shonuff” in the new updated version, look out for Taimak to be in the film aswell. 2009 is promised to be a exciting year 

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It’s taken me a few days to get my thoughts together.  Actually, I enjoyed the movie so much that I didn’t think it would be fair to write a review so soon after seeing the movie.  So, I waited until now since I have had time to digest everything and for the initial shock to wear off.  Let me start by saying it was difficult to not get hopes up for this movie. Star Trek wasn’t completely original (time travel, Khan-like revenge), but it did it in such a refreshing way.  Let me get to it.

Casting was perfect.  Chris Pine didn’t try to imitate Shatner’s Kirk, in fact, he made the role his own.  Zachary Quinto shed his Sylar skin, and became Spock.  The best casting, however, was Karl Urban as McCoy, and Simon Pegg as Scotty.  Karl Urban had the mannerisms and the vocal inflection down.  It went beyond an imitation. Simon Pegg brought his quirkiness and comedic timing to a character that always seemed to bring humor the crew.  Any movie with Bruce Greenwood (Capt. Christopher Pike) is automatically 10 times better.  He brought a gravitas and authority to his role as the no nonsense Captain/Academic .Without going on about everyone, everyone performed their roles well.  Oh, Eric Bana’s measured performance as the snarky villainous Nero was scary. 

The effects were great.  ILM who provided the effects didn’t any models in the space scenes.  If I didn’t know that, I wouldn’t have been able to tell.  The only problem that I had was J.J. Abrams overuse of flare.  I know he was going for a style, but after so many, it wasn’t special. 

Star Trek, to me, is the best Sci-Fi movie since the Matrix, and the best action movie since Transformers.  I expect there will be more.  And I can’t wait.

Posted under Movies, Reviews

Great start for Trek it opens with 72.5 million for the weekend (76.5 million if you count Thursday) .   It fell short of my prediction of 90 million,  I guess I was a victim to fanboy hype.     It also got a boost from the Imax showings.   The weekend BO was pretty close to industry expectations meaning it was a successful weekend.  

If your still puzzled by what happened take a look below  at other Trek films and the opening weekend BO adjusted for inflation.   In comparison to the other films its a hit.   

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Posted under Movies

Source:  Trekmovie.com

Here’s a few excerpts:

TrekMovie: What are some of your favorite movies?

Saldana: Blade Runner. I grew up in a sci-fi environment and am a huge sci-fi fanatic so Ripley [Alien] and Sarah Connor [Terminator] are some of my favorite characters of all time. I am driven toward women who are very strong and commanding and kick alien ass and all that stuff, and also kiss aliens. I would say Blade Runner, and The Hunger, which is one of Tony Scott’s first films. I saw it when I was very young, I think I saw it when I was nine or ten, I fell completely in love with the movie. It felt completely dark and hopeless because these people were eternally condemned and unable to love. And Blade Runner, I knew watching Blade Runner, and Dune, that I wasn’t old enough to understand the concept. But the fact that I was to grow older and be able to one day look at it and go ‘I get this now’ was so exciting to me at the age of five. 

*** slight spoiler below the break  ***

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We all know that the opening weekend will make or break a movie.  That being said I think Wolverine will earn about 90 million this weekend.   I think the leaked version will have a impact on the overall number, but not as much as people think.  I have seen polls where 60% of the those who downloaded it still plan on going to the theater to see it.  This means they are either liars or enjoyed it enough to see it again.   Also, the word on the street is that Wolverine is outselling Ironman 3 to 1 in advanced ticket sales.    I guess we will know Monday if I was or not.

=.

Posted under Movies

Source:  Black Voices

Here’s a few excerpts:

What was your reaction when you heard that a work print of ‘Wolverine’ had been released on the Web?

Will.i.Am: My first thoughts were that authorities need to move really fast to bring resolution to this madness. In my industry, piracy has crippled and destroyed it. It was a billion-dollar business at one point in time. That’s not the case anymore. There are no more record stores. Four years ago, we had tons of Virgin Mega Stores and Sam Goody stores. Those stores are gone now. Think of all the jobs, from interns to product managers, engineers, studio managers and many more, that are gone because of the piracy in the music industry. Now, it’s affecting the movie business, and the next one to be leaked will probably be something bigger. Our arts that the world loves and celebrates and enjoys are part of the American culture. We need to preserve the art and allow it to strive and continue to be a business. Certain countries are known for their exports, like Columbia is known for their coffee beans. I’m pretty sure their government goes a long way to protect that image. We’re known for our arts, so someone needs to protect what we deliver to the rest of the world

Did you do anything to get into character?

Will.i.Am: Yeah. I put on that outfit. I didn’t have to get all machismo like other dudes. Although it would have been fun to do that, it wouldn’t have been effective. For me, it was more research and bringing in the right emotion to show that bond. What’s cool about my character is that he can be best friends with the baddest of the baddest. He’s humble, but he’s not the sort of dude you want to mess with. He’s approachable and likable.

Posted under Movies

Source:  CBR

Comicbookresources has a interview with Common about his role in Terminator: Salvation (opening May 21st),  the Justice League movie,  and building a niche as a genre actor.

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Just thought I would list a couple of the DVDs being released today.    The Star Trek Blu-ray is interesting to me because I wonder how many people have bought these episodes onVHS, then on DVD and now on Blu-Ray.    I missed the release of Caprica last week on DVD.   I wonder if the DVD first strategy works out better financially for the Sci-fi channel.   Im starting to think it does because they  have already done it a couple of times with the Stargate DVD’s    

Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 1 [Blu-ray]

X-Men, Volume 1 (Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection)

Marvel X-Men Volume 2 (2-Disc)

Caprica

Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 4

Posted under Movies, Television

Nothing to speak of this week other than Dragonball dropped like a rock to # 11 but that was to be expected, its total so far is $7,934,562.    Good new is that its less than 10 days before Wolverine: Origins.    In case your wondering Watchmen is at $106,848,750 after 17 weeks.    

Posted under Movies