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Quentin Tarantino Already Directed a STAR TREK Movie Based on This Bonkers Fan Theory

Quentin Tarantino says he wants to direct a Star Trek movie, but to that we ask, “Don’t you mean a second one?” Because on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we offer you the best, most insane Star Trek/Inglorious Basterds fan theory you’ll ever hear, as well as breaking down the latest from the world of comics, and how it’s possible books still get banned in 2017.

Joining host Jessica Chobot on today’s show was Nerdist News writer Aliza Pearl, managing editor Alicia Lutes, and, in a truly memorable NNTB debut, producer Ben McShane, who gave us a completely bonkers Tarantino/Trek theory. But before getting to that, they started with the latest comics happenings in honor of National Comic Book Day, including how Marvel Legacy will see many of its heroes return to their origins, but how that includes Deadpool going back to being a villain. Is that smart considering his box office success?

(MAJOR SPOILER ALERT AFTER THIS JUMP!)

It also means we’re getting the original Wolverine back, the old one who’s been dead while X-23 and Old Man Logan have been running around. How many Wolverines are too many? Is it “three” many? Would we be better off with new stories about the old Fantastic Four? Or is Marvel leaving them out of this Legacy event to mess with a franchise they don’t own the big screen rights to? Speaking of movie rights, the Nerdist Four wrapped up their comic book talk with reports that the Channing Tatum-led Gambit movie could have an Ocean’s Eleven feel. Is that a hand we want to see dealt?

From there they boldly moved on to Star Trek, covering their thoughts on Discovery, and the report Quentin Tarantino wants to direct a Star Trek film, something he told us about on the Nerdist Podcast in 2015.

That’s when it happened; that’s when our minds were blown. Because Ben offered up his “so-crazy-it-has-to-be-true” theory that Tarantino already directed a Star Trek movie. “Huh?” you say? Well it’s simple….ish. Ben says Inglorious Basterds is merely a part of the original series’ classic episode “City on the Edge of Forever,” when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy went back in time to fix the timeline.

Holy. Crap.

WHAT A DEBUT FOR BEN! We don’t care if this is factually true or not, from now on we’re treating it like canon.

After recovering from that bombshell, the gang finished up by talking about Banned Books Week, because that’s still a thing. Somehow. So what are our favorite banned books? What about our favorite banned comic books? You already know a few of them, because we’ve read 1984 and To Kill a Mockingbird on Alpha Book Club, as well as Palomar (with Sex Criminals’ writer Matt Faction!) on its sister show Alpha Comic Book Club.

But get involved with the next two books on our reading list, because we’re finishing up Volume Two of Fatale on Tuesday’s Alpha Comic Book Club (at 6 pm PST at Project Alpha), and on Wednesday (same bat-time, same bat-place) Alpha Book Club is asking for your help picking a murder mystery for October.

And get in on the conversation every weekday, when Nerdist News Talks Back airs live at 1:00 p.m. PST on our YouTube and Alpha channels.

Because you never know when you’re going to be present for the birth of one the best Star Trek/Quentin Tarantino/Inglorious Basterds theories the world has ever know, especially since it might be the only one.

What do you think of today’s topics? What about Ben’s crazy theory? Talk back to us in the comments below.

Featured Image: Universal Pictures, NBC

Logan Image: Fox

More Nerd News for Your Eyes!

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Apparently THE PRINCESS BRIDE Actually Saved a Life

This week marks the 30th anniversary of The Princess Bride, the romantic fantasy film that pulled off quite the Hollywood miracle—by anyone’s standards. The movie was far from a flop, but it wasn’t a hit when it hit theaters. Instead, it took years for fans to discover the film and realize just how fantastic it really was. Now, The Princess Bride is rightfully regarded as one of the all-time greats, and it may have even saved a life along the way.

While speaking to Variety, The Princess Bride director Rob Reiner shared the story of a time that he and his producing partner, Andrew Scheinman, were approached by a woman who credited their movie for helping her survive an avalanche with her friends. According to Reiner, the woman overheard his conversation with a producer for Fletch and approached them with her tale after their mutual friend left the table.

According to the young woman, she was an extreme skier who was trapped in an avalanche alongside several other skiers. To keep their spirits up, the woman recited lines from The Princess Bride. “‘When we were freezing, I did the entire movie to keep everybody occupied and to keep everybody up, happy and listening,'” recalled Reiner. “I am not exaggerating — then she said ‘You know, because Fletch just wouldn’t do.’ That was the best line I ever got. ‘The Princess Bride saved my life.'”

Reiner insisted that “This is the honest to God truth,” as he was told it. Either way, that’s a great story, which sounds like it could be an interesting film on its own.

What do you think about Reiner’s recollection of the film’s unexpected life saving status? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Want More Princess Bride content? As You Wish…

Here’s a review of Carey Elwes’ book, As You Wish.
The mash-up of Game of Thrones and Princess Bride you never knew you needed is here.
Here’s why we’re dying for a Miracle Max and Valerie spin-off.

Images: 20th Century Fox

This All-Strings Cover of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO Music is Sonic Perfection

Certain movies would be nothing without their music. Ennio Morricone‘s rock guitar and harmonica makes Sergio Leone’s westerns pop; Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor make David Fincher movies industrial and troubling; John Williams makes every movie better. The music is so good, it can elicit emotions when just listening in isolation. This phenomenon holds especially true with composer Joe Hisaishi whose lush and touching scores for Hayao Miyazaki’s films add a richness to the gorgeous visuals. Now, an entire cover album of Ghibli music by the Vitamin String Quartet is on the way, including this track (via Slate) from My Neighbor Totoro.

Perhaps Hisaishi’s most recognizable composition, and the one most associated with Ghibli, “The Path of the Wind” from Miyazaki’s 1988 classic was a fully orchestral love letter to growing up while trying to hold on to youth. None of this is lost in Vitamin String Quartet’s version, even without the tympani drums and woodwinds. Within the first 30 seconds, I was already starting to well up, which is the sign of a great piece of music. Man, how I would love to live in a Hayao Miyazaki movie.

If you feel that same way, the entire 12-track album will be available on December 1, 2017, and will feature eight pieces of original film score (from Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and others) as well as string covers of the pop and folk songs used in various Ghibli movies, such as the ubiquitous “Take Me Home, Country Roads” from Whisper of the Heart and “Fine on the Outside” from When Marnie Was There.

The album will run you a very reasonable $11.99 and will be available for download on Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify.

What’s your favorite piece of Studio Ghibli music? How much sobbing does it make you do? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Studio Ghibli

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He’s the writer of Studio Ghibli retrospectives Miyazaki Masterclass, Takahata Textbook, and Ghibli Bits. Follow him on Twitter!

Explore more of the Studio Ghibli world!

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SPIELBERG Documentary Trailer Explores the Director’s Unparalleled Career

Over the past 40 years, Steven Spielberg has built up a legendary career filled with more blockbuster hits and critically acclaimed features than we could easily rattle off here. But how many people know the story behind Spielberg’s rise in Hollywood? Who remembers when Jaws was predicted to be an epic box office failure, or that Spielberg couldn’t even get into film school? If you’re rusty on your Spielberg trivia, a new HBO documentary is taking a deeper look at the famed director (and with the full cooperation of Spielberg himself).

Susan Lacy directed and produced Spielberg, a feature-length exploration of Spielberg’s long career in Hollywood, beginning with his early days in television and stretching all the way up to his current status as one of the most successful directors of all time. HBO’s first trailer for Spielberg features the title subject explaining how he comes up with great ideas under pressure, and recollecting on the first time that he felt like an insider.

Several cinematic luminaries also participated in the documentary to share their thoughts on Spielberg, including Martin Scorsese, Liam Neeson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Richard Dreyfuss, George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, and more. Along the way, Spielberg manages to articulate how and way his style has evolved over the years. In particular, Spielberg singles out Schindler’s List as a transformative experience both personally and as a director.

Spielberg will premiere on Saturday, October 7 on HBO.

What did you think about the first trailer for Spielberg? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: HBO/Universal Pictures

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IT Director Reveals How He Kept the Young Cast Scared of Pennywise

The feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s It may have been dethroned from the top of the box office, but it’s already become one of the most successful horror movies ever, earning more than $400 million worldwide. That’s a pretty impressive feat considering that the film hasn’t even been out a month yet. What’s equally impressive is that Bill Skarsgård managed to make Pennywise the Clown his own even in the shadow of Tim Curry‘s unforgettable portrayal in the 1990 It TV miniseries. Skarsgård’s appearance and performance were naturally creepy, but It director Andy Muschetti still wanted to ensure that he captured the genuinely fearful reactions of the film’s young cast. In a newly released video featurette, the It creative team talks about how they limited the cast’s contact with Skarsgård’s evil dancing clown between takes, in part to keep the kids from getting too used to seeing Pennywise.

We spotted this video via io9, and it’s one of the most revealing behind-the-scenes videos from the film that we’ve seen so far. For example, the young actors who portrayed the Losers’ Club spoke about the scene that featured their first exposure to Skarsgård in costume as Pennywise, and how the increasingly monstrous appearance of the evil clown kept the kids off-guard. As io9 noted, Skarsgård’s 6’4″ height may have also helped him seem so intimidating both on and off screen.

King seemed to be particularly pleased by Skarsgård’s performance, noting that “he did us all proud.” In response, Skarsgård shared that “having Stephen King’s seal of approval is amazing. I do hope that fans will feel the same way”

What did you think about the new It video feature? Scare up your thoughts in the comment section below!

What else is happening in the world of Stephen King?

What would it look like if It were a horror anime?
Finn Wolfhard couldn’t stop dropping F-bombs when he returned to Stranger Things
Twitter is shipping Pennywise and the Babadook, and we are here for it!

What would Pennywise show the Losers Club cast in real life?

Images: Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema

Revisit DAY OF THE DEAD and DARKMAN with These Rad Vinyl Re-Releases

Tis the season to be spooky! What better way to celebrate Nerdoween than to revisit some of our favorite horror movie music! Luckily for us Waxwork Records have announced the release of not one but two classic spooky soundtracks for our aural pleasure. Sam Raimi’s Darkman and George Romero’s (RIP) Day of the Dead are both stone cold cult classics with superior scores to match and these beautiful vinyl remasters are the rereleases these OST’s deserve!

Darkman is Sam Raimi’s infamous dark take on the superhero genre. Created after the Evil Dead director was unable to get his hands on the rights for Batman and The Shadow. Scored by 1990’s Danny Elfman–arguably a man at the peak of talents–Darkman’s OST is a dark carnival of fun for any horror fan. Waxwork Records has re-mastered the full Darkman score on 180 gram “Fire” vinyl (Fluorescent Orange and Red Swirl vinyl), housed in a classic gatefold jacket with satin coating, all new artwork by one of our fave comics artists Francesco Francavilla, and a 12”x12” art print.

Romero’s Day of the Dead the third in the directors seminal Dead series and sees the last fragments of a broken society try to survive now that the world is overrun by ghoulish zombies. John Harrison’s synth heavy score is the perfect accompaniment, and this re-issue is a 2013 remaster by Harrison from the original master tapes and signed off on by Romero himself. This double LP is 180 gram “Blood Smear” vinyl, housed in an old style tip-on gatefold jacket and liner notes from Romero!

We love both of these spooky seasonal soundtracks! Will you be picking either of these cool cuts up? Let us know in the comments!

Need More Spooky stuff?…

Check out these creepy bleeding hand candles!
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Images: Waxwork Records

Could Deadpool’s New Comic Book Status Change the Films?

Marvel Legacy is officially beginning later this week, but Deadpool is still dealing with a few profound changes from Secret Empire. And unlike Captain America, Marvel’s Merc with a Mouth isn’t going to be able to easily win back his friends and allies. In the lead up to that event, Deadpool blindly followed orders from Hydra Cap and killed one of his closest allies, shortly before he murdered another one of his friends. Now, it looks like Deadpool’s darker turn is taking hold in his newly revamped series The Despicable Deadpool, and today’s Nerdist News is examining what it could mean for the Deadpool movies as well.

There are potential spoilers ahead if you’re not up to date on Deadpool, and there is a pretty huge spoiler out of Marvel Legacy #1 that comes up during the video. So consider yourselves warned!

Join host and Hydra hunter, Jessica Chobot, as she gives us the rundown on why Deadpool has gone bad. The short version is that Deadpool killed the beloved Phil Coulson in a way that seems to ensure that he won’t be saying “Tahiti is a magical place.” Other Marvel heroes have taken that personally, and Maria Hill even collapsed a building on Deadpool as a gesture of revenge, even though she couldn’t finish him off. Let’s just say that Deadpool was feeling a little murderous towards both Good Cap and Hydra Cap by the time he got free. To make matters worse, Deadpool is now being blackmailed by Stryfe to kill Cable, one of his few real friends in the Marvel universe.

The real question now is whether the Deadpool movies will follow Wade Wilson’s regression into villainy. Ryan Reynolds really has the character’s antihero personality down, but could he pull off the same trick with Deadpool’s more despicable side? We doubt that Deadpool 2 would go in that direction, but there’s a definite possibility that the X-Force movie could make Deadpool work as a villain. Think about it: Deadpool was actually introduced as one of the first bad guys for the X-Force team, right at the time that they graduated from the New Mutants. It wouldn’t be too out-of-character for Deadpool to accept a contract to take out Cable, especially if their live-action incarnations don’t share the same close relationship that they have in the Marvel Universe.

How do you think the Deadpool movies will handle his despicable turn in the comics? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR MORE SUPERHERO News!

Second wave DC Comics Bombshells Funko POPs coming soon!
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NASA Dedicates Building to HIDDEN FIGURES Hero, Katherine Johnson

Hidden Figures was a film that told the true story of the female African-American mathematicians (so skilled in their field they were known as “human computers”) who held irreplaceable roles at NASA in the ’60s, making vital contributions to the US space program.

The film was not only a hit at the box office, but it also inspired millions of little girls–little girls of color, most importantly–that their aspirations in STEM were not only worth chasing, but are vital to the field. Hidden Figures taught us the name of these amazing women–Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson– and now NASA is honoring one of them with her very own research building.

On September 22, the NASA’s 37,000-square-foot, 23 million-dollar, state-of-the-art research facility in Hampton, Virginia was officially christened the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. As The Root reports, the facility’s ribbon-cutting ceremony featured Johnson and the important STEM club, Black Girls Code, and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. You can watch some of the ceremony here:

While it’s amazing to see NASA honor one of the women of color who was key to the foundation of our space program, Johnson was a bit shocked to hear the news saying, “You want my honest answer? I think they’re crazy.” While Johnson may not have initially seen the point in giving a state-of-the-art research center her name, the author of the Hidden Figures book and keynote speaker to the ribbon-cutting, Margot Lee Shetterly, made sure to highlight Johnson’s trail-blazing contributions to the scientific field. “Telling your story has been an honor,”  Shetterly explained. “Your work changed our history and your history has changed our future.”

Feature Image: 20th Century Fox

Image credit: David C. Bowman/NASA

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Visit Froopyland with Our RICK AND MORTY T-Shirt Giveaway

Tonight’s penultimate episode of Rick and Morty season 3 finally gave us some long overdue moments between Rick Sanchez and his daughter, Beth Smith. We’ve been expecting that reckoning for some time. The real shock of “The ABC’s of Beth” is that Rick built an entirely artificial world for Beth when she was a child, and we’ve never even heard about it until now. But like many of Rick’s creations, Froopyland had a few unforeseen dangers. This week’s Rick and Morty T-shirt gruesomely illustrates that, as an important piece of Rick is taken to its final destination.

There’s only one episode left in Rick and Morty season three, but our weekly T-shirt contest will keep going until the very end! Throughout the third season, we’ve teamed up with Spencers to give away 10 t-shirts that capture the spirit of each individual episode. To win this week’s shirt, you must retrieve Rick’s arm from Froopyland without getting eaten yourself! Or you could just get the shirt for free! All you have to do to enter our weekly giveaway is to click here and tweet. You must be following Nerdist on Twitter and based in the U.S. to win.

Previously this season, we’ve given away shirts based on Morty’s Mind Benders, Morty Pride 2017, Toxic Rick and Morty, Spiritual Leader Rick,  the Vindicators logo, Pickle Rick, and Mad Morty. Fortunately, you don’t have to suppress your memories of these awesome T-shirts. You can still buy all of them from Spencers. They also have an extensive collection of Rick and Morty merchandise, which you can find here.

What do you think about the latest Rick and Morty t-shirt? Let us know in the comment section below.

Want more Rick and Morty?

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Images: Adult Swim, Spencers

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Has Its Phasers Firmly Set to “Fun” (Review)

As the first Star Trek television show in more than a decade and the first major new series entry following the venerable sci-fi franchise’s 50th anniversary, Star Trek Discovery is under an incredible amount of pressure. For the creative team behind the production, which has weathered the departure of a showrunner and production delays, it needs to both boldly go where no Star Trek series has gone before and simultaneously feel like the familiar spacefaring adventure that has enthralled viewers for half a century.

For CBS, it needs to beam up scores of subscribers to its CBS All Access service, the subscription streaming service where all 15 episodes in the series will exclusively air following the network debut of the two-part season premiere. Most all of, for the fans, Star Trek Discovery needs to adhere to a deceptively simple Prime Directive: “Please be good.” After seeing the first two episodes at the show’s Los Angeles premiere, I am pleased to report that it largely succeeds in its mission, offering an ambitious and auspicious start to what feels like a welcome return to form for Star Trek.

Set ten years before the events of The Original Series (or 90 years after Star Trek: Enterprise, the 2005 series that preceded it), Star Trek: Discovery is set against the backdrop of a brewing conflict between the warlike Klingon Empire and the pragmatic United Federation of Planets. This time around, though, a starship captain is not our main character; rather, we experience much of the events of Discovery through the eyes of First Officer Michael Burnham (The Walking Dead‘s Sonequa Martin-Green), a headstrong, highly skilled human Starfleet officer who was raised by Mr. Spock’s father, Sarek (James Frain), after her parents perished in a Klingon terrorist attack. Raised in a culture not her own, Michael is the first human to graduate from the Vulcan Learning Center and Vulcan Science Academy. As a result, she is a bit of an odd duck, finding herself in a constant inner battle to maintain balance between her logical and emotional impulses.

We first meet Michael as she trudges around a dusty desert planet on an away mission alongside Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), the captain of the USS Shenzhou, the starship on which she has served for seven years. We get to see a nice bit of bonding between these two and a real sense of the mentor-mentee relationship that exists between them as Philippa tells Michael that she is ready to command her own ship. It is also the last time things will ever be so simple for the duo, as well as for the crew of the Shenzhou.

What follows is a series of increasingly tense and, in some cases, unfortunate events that puts Michael at odds with the rest of her crew, and finds the Federation encountering the Klingon Empire for the first time in nearly a century. This isn’t a random occurrence though; the Klingons are rallying behind a charismatic firebrand named T’Kuvma (Chris Obi), a populist leader who whips his followers into a frenzy, using religious imagery and stoking fears based on racial supremacy. It feels uncomfortably timely given the sociopolitical climate in America right now, and will provide the perfect antithesis for Gene Roddenberry and Discovery‘s dream of a utopian future in which all races and species come together as one for the betterment of all.

While Sonequa Martin-Green carries does much of the heavy lifting, she is not alone. The supporting cast is incredibly charming and immediately places the viewer in the comfortably familiar milieu of Star Trek. Michelle Yeoh’s Captain Philippa Georgiou is ferociously likable, a born leader with a powerful moral compass who makes you wish for a mentor figure like her in your own life. The show’s biggest standout, apart from Martin-Green, is Doug Jones’ Saru, the ship’s science officer, who will be its resident “Spock” figure. Saru is a member of the Kelpien species, a race that has evolved to be able to “sense death,” an ability that unfortunately will come in all too handy. A risk-averse worrywart with an exceptionally dry sense of humor, Saru serves as a perfect foil for Michael, who as we learn is a woman of action. Michael and Saru constantly being at loggerheads with one another will likely be a fixture of the series going forward and plays out to particularly dramatic effect in the series premiere.

Not everything in Star Trek: Discovery is quite so effective, though. Harrison Ford once famously said, “George, you can type this s**t, but you can’t say it” to George Lucas about his Star Wars script, which was rife with space fantasy jargon and fantastical terms that don’t quite roll off the tongue. This quote feels particularly salient in regards to Star Trek: Discovery, which sometimes suffers from having its characters speak in terms that oscillate between too pretentiously poetic and too obtusely steeped in lore. It isn’t a persistent problem, and most of the cast acquits themselves admirably, but there were moments where you could feel the actors struggling to get through some of the lines they’d been tasked with delivering.

As a prequel series, Star Trek: Discovery has its work cut out for it. We know where the series must eventually arrive, but how will they get there? Based on the premiere, it seems that the path to peace is going to be long, bloody, and full of unexpected twists and turns. The first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery are largely successful and wholly compelling, laying the groundwork for the war ahead, introducing us to the fanatical Klingon threat and presenting us with characters that face genuine moral quandaries. It doesn’t pack quite the same punch as something like Battlestar Galactica‘s momentous 2004 premiere episode “33”, which remains my high-water mark for any sci-fi series premiere, but it manages to walk a delicate tightrope.

With Discovery, they have created a new series that both pays homage to the half-century of Star Trek history that preceded it and one that feels thoroughly modern in its storytelling. Whether the show will continue its initial momentum of its explosive series premiere–and if audiences will even tune in to see it behind a paywall–remains to be seen. As it stands now though, Star Trek: Discovery lured me in with compelling performances, clever yet familiar world-building, and enough surprises that I’m eager to find out where it will boldly go from here.

Rating: 4 out of 5 burritos

Star Trek Discovery airs Sundays on CBS All Access.

Image: CBS

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The Nerdist Podcast’s own Matt Mira is hosting the Star Trek: Discovery after show!
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What every movie and TV space battle gets wrong

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).