It’s hard to believe that it has been exactly one year since I embarked on this nerdy venture! I didn’t think it would go beyond my friends and family but the blog now has fans all over the world. I’m more than a bit flabbergasted by the whole thing. Hopefully it continues to grow because I’m having way too much fun to stop now!
In honor of Hot Nerd Girl’s one year anniversary, I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the all star blogs from the past year.
MOST POPULAR
The 10 Hottest Babes of Sci-Fi post I wrote back on December 7, 2010 has consistently been the top rated post. This doesn’t surprise me one bit. Hot chicks are pretty much universally loved by all and I’m convinced that the world would be a much more peaceful place if it was run by beautiful women. Unless men started fighting over them….then maybe not so much. Ok, maybe scrap that whole theory. The point is, hot girls with geek cred rule.
MOST SEARCHED ON GOOGLE
The Facepalm Progression was little more than a quick joke meant only for the facebook page when I first introduced it this past February. My Mom didn’t get it so I added the very well-known Picard “facepalm” and “double facepalm” pictures and put the full progression on the blog. It got some chuckles and then one day it exploded in Google land and is now the top source of internet traffic to the blog. Whudda thunk??
MOST POPULAR MOVIE REVIEW
There are a few different ways I could have gauged this but ultimately I went with the one that got the most attention when I posted it in May. It got quite a few comments both on facebook and on the blog and was shared on several other websites. It also happened to be my favorite movie of the year thus far and the one I probably geeked out about the most. It was, of course, my favorite horny dude, Thor. Ye Gods I heart him so much.
BIGGEST SHOCKER
My birthday last February 2nd was full of win! I got all kinds of Star Trek-related goodies but one in particular came as a complete and total shock. One of my earliest posts was written on September 8, 2010 and recounted the time I met Manu Intiraymi at a Star Trek Convention in San Francisco in 2002. Well, Manu found that blog. On my birthday. Seriously. Best. Birthday. Present. Ever. We corresponded via email and agreed I’d get a follow up interview which I have yet to take him up on (gotta get on that!)
PHOTO SHOOTS
The photo shoots are always a hit. I’ve done a lot of mini shoots for various posts with the outtakes ending up on facebook. The three big shoots were Halloween (TOS uniform), Slave Leia, and Lucky 13 (aka Superman undies). I tallied up the votes for the next photo shoot and Xena was the clear winner. I’ve received all the donations for the costume but my move to San Diego put the shoot on hold for a bit. Once I’m (finally!) all settled in, I’ll get that all set up so look for those pictures in the next couple of months!
I’m officially based out of San Diego now and Saturday morning I started the daunting task of unpacking everything I own. Which is a lot of crap. Ugh. But it’s awesome crap that I’m not willing to throw or give away so whatever. Thanks to my OCD and my constant pursuit of organizational perfection, it took me two days just to unpack the kitchen. As my friend Kate puts it, “I wish someone would give me a friggin’ chill pill.” After all that hard work I decided that I needed a reward (and a break) so I stumbled over to the movie theatre for some primate prequel goodness.
I try to be good but y’all know I give stuff away sometimes so here is my customary SPOILER ALERT!
I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The previews looked pretty good, if a little obviously CGI, and the music sounded fantastic…but hey, it’s the trailer, it’s all the best parts, right?
Well, let me tell you, it was actually super good. Like, amazingly good. Like, at least 10x better than I thought it was going to be. As a Navy family, we were stationed in Marin County when I was a kid and I went back to attend college in San Francisco. The movie takes place in and around the Bay Area and it definitely made me nostalgic for the fog and the giant redwoods. Hiking and hunting for Ewoks in Muir Woods has always been one of my favorite pastimes so I was thrilled to see so much of them in the movie.
But first things first. Freida Pinto is seriously the most gorgeous woman ever. It’s a little ridiculous how hot she is. And she has one of those faces that scream “kindness” so she’s totally believable as a vet at the San Francisco Zoo. Oh, and did I mention that she’s beautiful?
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on to James Franco as Will Rodman, a genetic engineer who has formulated the cure for Alzheimer’s. Not because he wants to help humanity per se, although that’s certainly a positive side effect, but because his Father (John Lithgow) has the disease and he’s a total daddy’s boy. After his presentation to the board goes bust and the human trials get canceled, Will goes so far as to smuggle some of the drug, ALZ-112, out of the lab in order to experiment on his own Dad. It works brilliantly at first but it’s virus-based and eventually the antibodies grow strong enough to negate the benefits of the treatment. Bummer. Back to the drawing board. About 2 movie days later (or the equivalent of 10 years in the real world) Will comes up with ALZ-113, a new virus that must be inhaled instead of injected….seriously…never a good sign when something is airborne. I don’t want to give away what happens next for those who haven’t seen it but let’s just say that I’m very happy that zombies weren’t the result. I was worried for a while there.
Poor Andy Serkis. The guy has been typecast as the king of non-human CGI critters (Gollum, King Kong, etc). Half the time as an ape! But really, it’s because he’s brilliant. And he is. I just wish he’d get thrown some more roles that didn’t involve him wearing a leotard with a bunch of blinking lights attached to it. He brings amazing life to the chimpanzee Caesar. I don’t know if the special effects peeps can measure (or follow or whatever) what his eyes do but I’m thinking that they can. Caesar’s eyes were much too expressive to be completely manufactured. The CGI, by the by, was way better than the trailer made it out to be. In the very first scene of the movie I actually had a hard time figuring out if the chimps looking around were real or fake. With a name like Caesar there’s got to be some kind of sequel to the prequel. That name comes with a dramatic downfall attached to it thankyouverymuch.
The “bad guys” of the movie are another father-son duo, John Landon (the ageless Brian Cox…seriously, he looks the same as he did 20 years ago, I swear) and his son Dodge (Draco Malf…I mean…Tom Felton). Together they run the San Bruno Primate “Sanctuary”. Now, not to go all PETA on y’all but it WAS hard to watch the apes (CGI or no) getting mistreated and experimented on. Unlike some people, I don’t believe the
people behind the movie had any kind of political or animal rights agenda but I can see how it could be misconstrued that way. You’d have to be pretty heartless to not feel something when an animal is in pain. Humans on the other hand, well, whatever, who cares. I’ve been desensitized to violence against people since I was a kid.
With a nephew this cute I had to get him in here somehow
So it wasn’t as hard to witness Dodge’s fate as it was to witness Buck’s, the big silverback gorilla. One thing Draco…I mean Dodge….does get is the iconic line from the original Planet of the Apes. I’ll give you a hint, it involves the adjectives “stinking” and “dirty.” I was also anxious to see the launch of Icarus and the loss of the three astronauts on board. Speaking of which, Charlton Heston isn’t completely absent, a clip from The Agony and the Ecstasy shows briefly on the break room television inside SBPS. Need a new drinking game? Every time you find a primate (or human) with a name paying homage to someone from the 1968 film, take a shot or chug a beer. You’ll be buzzed in no time. I spotted several but I’m not going to tell you what they are so that you can have fun finding them yourselves.
As y’all know (I may have mentioned it once or thrice) I’m in the process of moving to San Diego and my life is in limbo while I finish up my work in Los Angeles. Therefore, my BNF (Best Nerd Friend) Hayden and his lovely girlfriend, fellow HNG Melanie, were kind enough to go see Cowboys & Aliens this weekend and write not one but TWO reviews of it as guest bloggers. H&M…I heart you.
Enjoy!
Aliens. Why’d it have to be Aliens?
Hayden Gilbert:
Let me start by saying there is no way I will be able to fill the shoes – or brazier – of the now legendary Hot Nerd Girl (although my fellow co-guest blogger Melanie definitely has a better shot in both departments). However, while I don’t consider myself hot (in my own eyes), nor a girl (hopefully in anyone’s eyes), I can certifiably attest to being a nerd.
I can also say without hesitation that I’m quite an avid western lover and a huge fan of anything involving visitors from another world (the cast of Jersey Shore being the exception). Taking all that into account, I would have been first in line to see any movie with the title “Cowboys & Aliens” trailer unseen.
As my very attractive co-blogger mentions as well, everything about this movie has a simple theme to it. From the title itself to the premise of good ol’ fashion gunslingers taking on technologically superior creatures, Cowboys & Aliens succeeds in that it doesn’t try to be more than what it is: A good old fashion shootout at the O.K. Corral with 10 foot tall slimy monsters that make the aliens from the Predator movies look like runway models. Hell, what’s not to like about aliens who also lasso their victims! Great stuff I tells ya.
[youtube:http://youtu.be/UdmupNxobP0]
While the acting overall was not quite award caliber, I actually liked the lack of over-the-top dramatics when it dealt with the reactions of humans to their unknown invaders. Think about it, people during this time didn’t have clue one about space people or flying saucers as this takes place during a time when horses were the main source of transport and showing ankle was considered scantily clad.
Hot girl with a six shooter? Yes please.
Speaking of, seeing Olivia Wilde completely wrapped up in a piece of wallpaper during the whole movie was a waste of her, uh, talents. The nude scene of her would have made up for it had they actually showed anything of value. Did I mention I was a male nerd?
As can be imagined, Harrison Ford stole the show in this one. Be it a quick line or a familiar facial reaction, your attention is always drawn to his screen presence. Daniel Craig served his purpose of bad ass alien annihilator (say that 10 times fast after 10 shots of whiskey), albeit his character wasn’t given any major Shakespearean dialogue to work with. I also enjoyed the 2 – maybe more? – nods given to Indian Jones in the flick. Can you spot them? (Hint: It’s 007 that summons the spirit of Indy twice)
Overall, C&A was a fun and unique ride on the combination of two classic genres. Add a pinch of 007 and a dash of Indy with a kick-ass final scene that would make any western-lover happy and you have a flick that is almost sure to satisfy. Just remember to check your 6-shooter and expectations at the door.
(P.S. For those Nerdboys like myself that need an additional fixen of Western Sci-Fi, be sure to check out Brisco Country Jr on DVD… best show ‘cancelled-too-soon’ ever! Has Bruce Campbell ever done anything bad?)
Melanie Critser:
Brace yourself. There are cowboys AND aliens in this movie! And a cast of hot men and women that only get hotter when plastered in dirt. Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig together at last…with Craig getting more ass shots in one movie than JLo has gotten in her entire career. And don’t worry, men, Olivia Wilde doesn’t disappoint—especially as she emerges from fire…naked. But this movie isn’t all fun and games—oh wait, yeah it is!
Cowboys & Aliens is everything the title promises. The story is simple. Our planet has an element the aliens want. They are here to scout out the planet and give the “mother-ship” the thumbs up to “come on down.” It’s all up to the Cowboys and Indians to stop them…seriously, was anyone expecting an Oscar nominee? It makes no apologies for its campiness! There were moments that had heart and moments that almost made me cheer.
What? No speedo's in the Old West?
I wasn’t crazy about the aliens themselves, but I suppose that was the point. They had creepy little extra hands that unfold out of their bellies, all slimy and shaky–yuck! Also, where was the steamy love scene? I felt a bit cheated in this area. I can’t imagine what possessed them to leave that out—in the words of Flight of the Conchords, conditions were perfect for “Business Time.” To no avail…
Daniel Craig was sporting his 007 seriousness, just substitute a clean shave and tux for dried blood and cowboy gear. The bad-ass side of Daniel Craig hits the spot, no one wants to watch him skipping through a flower field—bring on the guns!
Harrison Ford’s role was the most intriguing. Is he a bad guy? Is he a good guy? Regardless, he can still deliver those hilarious one liners. And you may struggle with whether he’s The Good or The Bad..but he’s never The Ugly. He clearly hasn’t lost his charm on screen and he’s giving Sean Connery a run for his money in the “Better with Age” department.
Overall, I don’t expect this movie to be on any top 10 (or 100) lists, but I truly enjoyed it. Perhaps my expectations were right where they needed to be–I jumped in my seat and laughed at the cheesiness. It was just the boost my summer needed!
You can read Hayden’s online dating advice (it worked for him!) at Examiner.com. Melanie doesn’t have a blog so you’ll just have to hope she guest writes for HNG again. Like what they wrote? Let them know in the comments!