We’ve seen some amusing and educational “Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know” videos from CineFix for movies such as Terminator, Fight Club, and Home Alone.

So when we saw that they were offering up some fun facts on one of the greatest movies ever made, Robert Zemeckis‘s 1985 time travel classic Back to the Future in celebration of the movie’s 30th anniversary this year, we of course had to share it.

Some of these fun facts are pretty well known, such as Eric Stoltz originally playing Marty McFly, but there’s plenty of bits many of you likely had no idea about. I know I had never heard of a few of them. Click on over to the other side to watch the video and find out how many Back to the Future fun facts are new to you.

This might not exactly a breaking news story automatically worthy of your attention, but it’s Back to the Future-related and we here at Geeks of Doom don’t need any more excuse than that.

io9 has published an extensive collection of candid production photos from the Back to the Future trilogy culled from various sources and fans of the Robert Zemeckis-directed movies. If you scroll down to the end of the article you’ll notice a trio of stills from the early days of filming on the original, back when Eric Stoltz was the first actor cast as Marty McFly.

You can check out those pics – along with a few I included just for fun – here below.

For those of you who aren’t aware — yes, before Michael J. Fox became the iconic Marty McFly in Back to the Future, the role belonged to Pulp Fiction and Caprica star Eric Stoltz.

Fox was wanted for the role all along, but with previous commitments to Family Ties, he simply was unable to take the job. Because of this, Stoltz was cast and even took part in five weeks of shooting. Ultimately, director Robert Zemeckis realized that while Stoltz was doing a great job, he wasn’t delivering the subtle humor that was so crucial for the Marty character, and the decision was made to go back and re-shoot all of the scenes with a new actor. Thankfully for us, they were able to work out a way to score Michael J. Fox after all.

Many geeks have known all of this stuff for years now, and we’ve even seen plenty of images of Stoltz as Marty, but we’ve never actually seen him in action…until now! For the 25th anniversary celebration and the release of the Back To The Future Trilogy Blu-ray Edition, a small clip from one of the special features talks a little about this monumental decision in cinematic history, while giving us a peek at footage of the actor in character.

Be sure to hit 88 and jump over to the other side to check out Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly now!

I remember the first time I saw Back To The Future. When the movie was first broadcast on television on a Friday night in November 1989, the release of its long-awaited sequel Back To The Future Part II was about a week or so away and the premiere airing on NBC was also structured to be a first look at the sequel. Many of the details of that Friday I have forgotten in the more-than-two decades since, but I do remember having cut myself bad while playing with my friends after school and my mom had to patch up my wounds fast because we had been planning to watch Back To The Future and didn’t want to miss a minute of it, not even the commercials. By the time the end credits rolled and the 11 o’clock local news began, my family and I had become fans of Robert Zemeckis’ time-tripping comic fantasy, so when the sequel was released that Thanksgiving we made sure to catch it on opening night. Then when we got home from that movie, we fired up the ol’ VCR and popped in the standard-setting blockbuster of 1989, Batman. Two great movies in one day, that was truly a Thanksgiving to remember.

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the theatrical release of the original and still best Back To The Future, and in the quarter-century since, the movie has become a modern-day classic film whose memorable characters, quotable dialogue, and bravura performances have elevated it to the status of a cultural touchstone. Magazine articles are still written about it, films (Hot Tub Time Machine is an incredibly funny riff on Zemeckis‘ movie) and television shows (Family Guy has mined Back To The Future for a few good jokes and even devoted an entire episode to spoofing the movie) pay tribute to the film’s enduring influence, and even former president Ronald Reagan quoted the movie in one of the many movie-quoting speeches he gave during his time in the Oval Office.

Because the pilot for Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica was released as a movie in what seems like a long, long time ago (Read: DVD Review: ‘Caprica’), it didn’t even feel like the show began last week. In case you missed it, the show did indeed start last week, and if you haven’t yet done so, you should find the pilot episode and watch it immediately.

Now that the pilot for this new adventure from BSG masterminds Ronald D. Moore and David Eick is done and over, that can only mean one thing: a wealth of brand new treasures in the creationism of Cylons as we know them! That’s right, tonight begins the first of the all-new episodes that we’ll see during the show’s maiden season voyage. It will take over from the epic ending point of the movie, and continue us on as Daniel Graystone digs deeper into his dark and revolutionary discovery and his daughter Zoe gets used to her new existence.

Click over to read the series’ synopsis and to check out a cool trailer for the post-pilot episodes of Caprica that we’re about to see, complete with appearances by Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s James Marsters and universally-popular funnyman, Patton Oswalt.

Yesterday we found out that comedian Patton Oswalt had joined the cast of the Battlestar Galactica prequel series, Caprica. Now comes word that another well-known name to the geek community will be joining the cast as well.

MTV News is reporting that Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star James Marsters has officially joined the cast of the show, which is set to begin it’s first season (after the prequel movie, of course) in January of 2010. Marsters will play a character named Barnabus Greeley, a terrorist who’s having troubles distinguishing whether what he does is right, or horribly wrong.

Patton Oswalt is hitting on all cylinders lately, starting as a hilarious stand-up comedian who also appeared in multiple movie and TV comedies. He then went on to voice the culinarily inclined rodent Remy the rat in Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille before showing off his dramatic chops in the upcoming Big Fan. Now, it’s being reported that Oswalt will add the science fiction genre to his resume, as the actor has joined the cast of Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica prequel series, Caprica.

Though this will be a whole new genre for Oswalt, his character will still be more fitted to his roots. The actor will play Baxter Sarno, who is a humorous talk show host on the planet Caprica. At some point in the show, Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Amanda Graystone (Paula Malcomson) will appear on Baxter Sarno’s show — likely to talk about their daughter and the remarkable breakthrough that Graystone has had. No word on exactly how extensive the role will be, but we do know that it will be more than just one episode, which means we’ll probably see Mr. Oswalt on a lot of TVs and billboards in the background.

Caprica
Directed by Jeffrey Reiner
Starring Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Alessandra Toreson, Paula Malcomson, Polly Walker, Sina Najafi, Magda Apanowicz
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: April 21, 2009

“Find those things in life that make you cry.
That make you feel.
Because they’re what make you human.”

What is it to follow one of the greatest shows ever created? That is the task given to Caprica, and it is not an easy one. The show, which is set to air its first season in 2010, is a prequel/spin-off of the now-completed Ronald D. Moore and David Eick brilliance that was Battlestar Galactica. But to ease the waiting period just a little itty bit, the first episode — in the form of a two-hour-ish long movie — has been released on DVD, and I have the ultimate geek honor of reviewing it.

Caprica takes place 58 years before the BSG storyline picks up. It’s much simpler, much more similar to our own time, aside from some sweet technologies (computerized tennis courts with robo-refs? Let’s get on that one, scientists!). The story follows two men, Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales), who meet in the wake of severe tragedy involving their families. Daniel, being a super-genius who is working on artificial robot life forms for the military to use, discovers that his daughter Zoe (Alessandra Toreson) was actually a genius herself before the tragedy, and she developed an amazing replication program. Daniel, thinking that he’s found a way to bring back his and Joseph’s family, presents the idea to him. Joseph is appalled by the idea at first, but the offer is too tempting to refuse, so he finds himself in a battle with himself trying to decide what is right, and where the line is drawn. Ultimately, Daniel Graystone’s work lays the blueprint for Cybernetic Lifeform Nodes, or as we know them: Cylons.