Guardians of the Galaxy is the summer blockbuster I’ve been waiting for for longer than I can remember.

The usual adjectives of effusive praise are appropriate: funny, clever, touching, and, of course, fun. While Marvel Studios has certainly found the formula for successful films, they’ve been progressively more and more serious and, worse, self-important. Guardians has the good sense to mock itself and its concept, which is likely due in large part to its star, Parks & Recreation‘s Chris Pratt, and writer/director James Gunn (Slither), and perhaps almost as large a part being that it’s relatively free of the Marvel Universe around which every other film it’s made snugly revolves. I doubt we’d see even Tony Stark using a space-rat as a make-believe microphone, especially in the first two minutes.

So Gunn and Pratt bring a delightfully refreshing sense of self deprecation to their film, Pratt playing the somewhat well-known Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, intergalactic swashbuckler. The promotional writeups describe him as a mix of Han Solo and Marty McFly, but I think Indiana Jones may be more appropriate, since they’re both adept at getting into and out of particularly sticky situations.

This time Star-Lord has snatched an orb of potentially unimaginable power, which puts him in the sights of nearly everyone across the galaxy, from assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to planetary ravager Ronan (Lee Pace) to Yondu (Michael Rooker), Star-Lord’s kind-of adopted father, to genetically modified raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and his Ent-ian-ish pal Groot (Vin Diesel). After a three-way battle on the universal capital planet, the four are imprisoned and…blah, blah, blah. They team up, everyone tries to kill them, and so on.

In 1977, at the age of 8, I sat in a theater and experienced the awe and wonder that was Star Wars. At the time, no one had any idea what kind of cultural significance it would have or what it would mean for cinema in general and science-fiction films in particular. Though there have been many books, essays and college theses that have attempted to quantify and examine those impacts over the years, at age 8 I didn’t really care about such things.

If I’m being completely honest I should admit that I still don’t, I just remember sitting in the darkened theater being completely pulled into a new and completely realized new universe of awe and wonder and being completely captivated and immeasurably entertained by it. Thanks to James Gunn and Guardians of the Galaxy, that feeling has returned 37 years later.

Today Nerdist Industries kicked off it’s Doctor Who-eekend with an episode of All-Star Celebrity Bowling featuring Team Nerdist vs. Team Doctor Who. It is the best showdown of geekiness in all of Time and Space. There are fezzes. There are TARDIS bowling balls. There’s Wil Wheaton! This is the episode whose preview brought down the house at San Diego Comic-Con. See for yourself it is lives up to its hype.

The rest of Doctor Who-eekend includes the series premiere of Dork Fork with Alton Brown where he’ll be cooking up Time and Space themed dishes. Later on Saturday, the Nerdist Channel will feature Chris Hardwick’s Q&A with Smith, Gillan, and Executive Producer Carole Skinner from the New York Doctor Who premiere. The Who-eekend concludes with cosplay coverage from Gallifrey One on Just Cos.

Of course you need no more prompts from us to watch the season premiere this Saturday, we have beat that info well into your head. Stay peeled to The Flickcast for any more slivers of Doctor Who info in the coming weeks while part one of the new season gets underway.

Also watch the full episode of All-Star Celebrity Bowling after the jump.

Doctor Who is almost back, and what better way to get you jazzed for the next batch of new episodes than with some rather impressive  promotional artwork. These theatrical one-sheet inspired banners highlight each of the first five new episodes of the upcoming season.

There is some pretty major stuff happening in this first set of shows which will be ushering in some change. What that change will be is common knowledge, but on the precipice of the new season we wont spoil it here, especially as these posters do a good job of alluding to what will happen without overtly telling you.

One thing that is really interesting is how Steven Moffat has approached this new season. He has said in the past that he was trying to make each episode stand a little more on its own like a little movie. This was the same creative directive that Bruce Timm used in the early seasons of Batman: The Animated Series and look how well that turned out.

The focus on making these episodes more like self-contained mini-movies within a larger, interconnected world might be one of the better moves Moffat has made. Every episode we have seen clips from looks stunning, and if these episodes can deliver on their promise we are all in for a little over a month of pure television awesomeness.

Take a look at all the new banners after the jump.

Love it our hate it, it would seem Doctor Who is here to stay. Having been a staple of British Television for many , many years, the series is now firmly entrenched in the U.S. with fans from all across the country.

Those fans are, of course, waiting patiently for the new season to begin on BBC America and to get them ready, there’s a brand new trailer just released today. But first, some scoop on the upcoming season, directly from the BBC:

The new season will see the last days of the Ponds, with Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill making their final rollercoaster voyage with The Doctor (Matt Smith). Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) have been at the Doctor’s side for more than two seasons but what will he do after their heartbreaking departure?

New guest stars so far confirmed to star will include David Bradley, Rupert Graves and Mark Williams. Season 7 will then see a dramatic turn of events when The Doctor meets a new friend – the recently-announced new companion, played by Jenna-Louse Coleman. Prepare yourselves for thrills, adventures and dramatic surprises as the show builds towards its enormous, climactic 50th anniversary year.

If you’re a big fan of the BBC show Doctor Who and live in, or are willing to travel to Utah, this story is especially for you. According to the BBC, the upcoming Season 6 of its flagship sci-fi drama will open with a two part episode set and partially filmed in the U.S.

The opener, written by the show’s head writer and showrunner Steven Moffat, will be co-produced by BBC America, with key scenes being filmed in Utah in November. The story is set in the late ‘60s and finds the Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) on a secret mission “that takes them on an adventure from the desert in Utah – right to the Oval Office.”

Also joining the show for the opener will be Alex Kingston, who reprises her role as River Song. “The Doctor has visited every weird and wonderful planet you can imagine, so he was bound get round to America eventually,” Moffat said. “And of course every Doctor Who fan will be jumping up and down and saying he’s been in America before. But not for real, not on location – and not with a story like this one! Oh, you wait!”

Okay Mr. Moffat, we’ll wait. But it won’t be easy. We don’t like waiting.

What do you guys think about Doctor Who filming in the US and Torchwood moving to the US permanently?

For those who are catching up on Doctor Who through BBC America, this season has been quite an interesting one so far for the newest Doctor. He’s liberated a space whale, nabbed an escaped prisoner of an inter-dimensional prison, and he’s met up with his newest companion, Amy Pond.

This weekend marks a trademark for new showrunner Steven Moffat, as he brings back two of his prized characters from previous seasons: River Song and the Weeping Angels. This two-parter is said to answer plenty of questions we Whovians have had about both characters, which will be a great relief.

Coming up after this story, The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy (Karen Gillan) travel back to historic Venice, Italy, and encounter some impossible creatures.

Check out a clip from “Vampires of Venice” after the jump, and be sure to keep up with The Doctor and all of his adventures on BBC America.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by comics historian and host of Crazy Sexy Geeks Series Alan Kistler to talk about all manner of new and exciting topics. Among those discussed include reactions and commentary on Kick-Ass, the new incarnation of Doctor Who featuring Matt Smith, Joss Whedon’s direction and vision for The Avengers, the postponment of the next James Bond film, great comics of the past, present and future and a whole lot more.

The three also made some great picks this week including Alan’s pick of The Losers movie and more, Matt’s pick of Martin Campbell’s Cast a Deadly Spell and Chris’ pick of the new comic S.H.I.E.L.D.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

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Yes, that’s right kids. The new Doctor Who with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan premieres tomorrow. We’ve brought you some previews, interviews, and such for the show already and now we’ve got one video to get to you ready for all the Doctor goodness coming your way.

This video shows what happens when you get a bunch of Doctor Who fans together in one place, in this case the Village East Cinema in Manhattan, and give them a look at the new show. As you probably can guess, the fans really enjoyed the news show. But don’t take our word for it, instead check out the preview after the jump.

Doctor Who hits the airwaves tomorrow April 17 at 9/8C, only on BBC America.

The more I see previews for the new Doctor Who, the more I’m interested in this new version of the show. Sure, Matt Smith has yet to prove himself a worthy successor to great Doctors of the past, but he does seem to have something going for him. Plus, what I’ve seen of his feisty sidekick Amy Pond (played by Karen Gilllan), she seems very capable, cute and, well, feisty — which doesn’t hurt one bit.

So, to help you get more interested in the show too, we’ve been bringing you all sorts of information about it for the last couple months. Today is no exception as we’ve got two more videos, one interview and one featuring footage from the premiere episode, to share with you.

In the first one, the cast and production team discuss the Doctor’s particular attachment to humans and why he seems to love Planet Earth in a special way. In the other video, the Doctor meets his new sidekick, Amy Pond, for the first time and discovers she looks very nice in a police uniform and also can swing a mean cricket bat.

Doctor Who premiers this Saturday at 9/8C on BBC America. Before that, check out the two videos after the jump.