Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1711
July 8, 2018
Josh Brolin Responds to That Pro-Thanos Subreddit
Last week, we reported that Thanos fandom on Reddit was taking on a unique life of its own, as a popular subreddit called Thanos Did Nothing Wrong was gaining momentum…and in the spirit of Thanos, planning to purge half its users at random.
Today, Josh Brolin gave the concept not only his implied blessing, but also the essential hand-gesture a real Mad Titan would use to kick such a virtual massacre off. Courtesy of Avengers: Infinity War directors the Russo brothers, click on the Tweet below to see it…
— Russo Brothers (@Russo_Brothers) July 8, 2018
As a special bonus, you get a glimpse of Brolin’s shirtless superhero physique, unencumbered by Cable cybernetic prosthetics or purple motion-capture. Why no costume? Hey, sometimes when you make a snap decision, there’s no time to change. Now, if the Russo brothers would like to officially pop in to a subreddit to tell us the name of the next Avengers movie, that’d be just peachy with us. Like, unless it’s called Avengers: Captain Marvel Is Really a Skrull Even Though We Just Introduced Her, how spoilery can it be? Besides, isn’t it entirely likely that Tom Holland will just totally blurt it out at some random appearance? Get ahead of that.
Just joshing. As are the Russos, literally. But it’s always cool to see the stars get involved with the fandom in fun ways that aren’t just about anger over plot points.
What do you think of Brolin’s interaction with Thanos fandom? Is “Thanos fandom” something to encourage, given that he’s a genocidal bad guy? Let us know in comments–we promise not to delete half of them arbitrarily.
Image: Marvel Studios
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A QUIET PLACE’s Millicent Simmonds on the Movie’s Soundscape
Warning: This post contains spoilers for A Quiet Place, so if you don’t want to hear them you better cover your ears (and your eyes).
A Quiet Place caused an uproar at the box office thanks to its unique use of sound–as also silence–to build a terrifying world where alien monsters hunt down humans when they make noise. Since it’s one of our favorite films of the year, we wanted to know what it took to defeat those seemingly unstoppable creatures. So what better way to ask the film’s unlikely young hero what it was like to bring her own personal experiences to a horror movie that made a splash by staying silent…than by visiting one of the world’s quietest places with her?
In this special edition of Nerdist News our Kyle Hill traveled to Orfield Labs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, literally one of the quietest places anywhere on Earth, to talk to Millicent Simmonds, the movie’s breakout star who played the Abbott’s daughter Regan. Simmonds, who is deaf, told us what it was like to work on a film that used sound in such an unusual way, how her own problems communicating when she was younger helped shape her performance, and how she felt when she learned Regan would be the key to stopping the monsters the cast not-so-affectionately called the “Angels of Death.”
We realize the irony of this statement, but we’re not going to stop talking about A Quiet Place anytime soon. But of course while Simmonds was happy to speak to us about the movie, when it came to chatting about the sequel she clammed right up.
Guess we’ll have to wait to hear what the next movie will look–and sound–like.
What did you think of the film? What other movies also use sound in a unique way? Don’t stay quiet: we want to hear from you in the comments below.
Featured Image: Paramount
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ANT-MAN AND THE WASP Join the Avengers in Latest Marvel Legends Line (Toy Review)
There were a whole lot of characters in Avengers: Infinity War to make toys of. A whole lot. And once you consider that every Marvel Legends wave throws in a few comic-based figures as well to keep costs down, you don’t have a ton of slots for all the figures you need.
So one Infinity War wave wasn’t enough. Even two aren’t, as there are still store-exclusive multipacks coming to help you collect Vision, Scarlet Witch, Bucky, Falcon, and Doctor Strange. But the second wave adds two other highly important characters from summer’s big Marvel Movie: Ant-Man, and the Wasp.
Packaged in character-specific poses, these two come fully equipped. Both feature helmeted and unhelmeted heads, while Wasp includes an extra set of slap/chop hands, and two backpacks: wings-in and wings-out.
One of the fun aspects to Ant-Man and Wasp figures is that, like the Micronauts of yore, the characters are supposed to be toy-sized, so you can easily place them in real-world adventures.
The only flaw is that Ant-Man’s eyeholes aren’t see-through like Wasp’s are. That probably saves the sculptors some time, but it makes the Wasp figure much nicer. It also does allow you to pose Scott Lang holding his helmet, whereas Hope would look creepy doing so since there’s clearly a head in hers.
Meanwhile, from Infinity War, we get the mighty Thor, who’s been seen in plastic a lot lately due to having had a recent movie of his own. This one sports the classic costume with short hair and his new Stormbreaker, but the digital face-printing gets some great detail–check out the scar across his eye, and the difference in pupils between his real and fake one.
Oddly, he does not have a cut-waist joint as most Marvel Legends do–just a mid-torso ball joint like Star Wars black series. Maybe this is a test to see if nobody minds for future releases?
Next is Black Widow. Now, normally a Marvel Legends wave will pack the major female figure in with some massive Build-A-Figure torso piece, which has the unintended consequence of making the figure look not worth the price unless you’re collecting the BAF, which is why my Toys R Us right before it closed was still full of Misty Knight and White Tiger figures that came with a Rhino torso.
Not so with Black Widow. Yes, she comes with the BAF torso, but she’s also loaded with gear, including two batons that can combine, two clips that she can holster, and alternate hands. Fewer figures in this wave, plus reused comic-based figures, have allowed for much nicer bonuses all around. Not to mention the best Scarlett Johansson likeness Hasbro has ever done.
Now, if you’re saying to yourself, “shame it’s for the worst Black Widow costume ever,” then I have good news for you. Pop the figure’s head off, ease that green vest over the ball-joint, and…
…classic Widow costume underneath! Even the movie didn’t show that.
The two comic-based characters in this line have previously appeared in Comic-Con exclusive boxed sets, so they saved some tooling costs there. Black Knight, who heavily reuses the body of the last Green Goblin figure, comes with three heads, one of which is close enough for horseshoes to the Monty Python Black Knight. He’d better watch out for flesh wounds.
Also in the wave is Thor’s foe Malekith, who looks like a cosplayer competing on a reality show and forced to come up with something using only the supplies on hand. Yes, this still makes him look 100% better than the Christopher Eccleston movie version.
Cull Obsidian is the build-a-figure, and he is the biggest one in quite some time. Even He-Man would look puny in comparison.
This brings the Children of Thanos to three (if you count Thanos himself); here’s hoping the remaining two come next year.
The battle is starting to shape up nicely. (Please give us a Marvel Legends Shuri, Hasbro; the budget one is decent but she’s clearly not face-printed.)
This is the best Legends wave since Black Panther, making up for a slightly disappointing first Infinity War wave (only one shield for Cap, no extra appendages for Spidey, totally unrelated comics characters) with five solid movie figures (counting the build-a-figure) and only two obligatory comics characters, who are reasonably fun. Ant-Man and Wasp are both packed two per case, and you may want to pick up two each, to display both helmeted and not.
I guess a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser accessory was probably too costly to license as an accessory.
Images: Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson is Nerdist’s weekend editor and reigning figure finder. Talk toys with him on social media, or leave a comment down below.
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GoPro Roller Coaster Video Is Barf-Inducing Twist on Reality
When you think of mighty little GoPro cameras, you probably think of the way the (literal) heroes withstand lava baths, radiation baths, and even crocodile-mouth baths. But did you know that GoPro cameras can also shoot footage that’ll make you feel like you’re in an alternate dimension? Yes, it’s true, and this footage of a Magic Mountain roller coaster ride shot by a GoPro is a testament to that fact.
The brain-bending video was posted to YouTube by Jeb Corliss, who, according to his YouTube video history, is quite possibly one of the most badass people currently alive. Seriously, this guy — and his girlfriend(?) — has a library of videos of him wingsuit flying, B.A.S.E. jumping, riding insane roller coasters, and of course, swimming with a bunch of very deadly looking sharks.
But even though the risk taking in all of those videos is way more intense than this particular coaster video, this little clip is still special because there’s a good chance it’ll make you want to hurl and maybe even think twice about entering VR worlds where this kind of stuff could happen regularly. (Not everything in future VR worlds is going to be as cool as Ready Player One, right?)
If you’re wondering why your own GoPro footage has never looked this bizarre and bend-nificent, that may be because this particular footage was stabilized and stitched together. So there’s the secret to making twisted, bizarro dreams come true if you’re wondering.
What are your thoughts on this crazily warped footage? How long do you think you could live in this kind of funhouse mirror reality? Let us know in the comments!
Images: YouTube / Jeb Corliss
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July 7, 2018
Statistically, The Golden State Warriors Are Better Than SPACE JAM’s Monstars
If you follow the NBA at all, you know that the Golden State Warriors have been absolutely dominant over the past few seasons: They’ve made the Finals ever year since 2015, and have won three out of the past four championships. The team has basically constructed the perfect roster for the fast-paced and long-range-shooting tendencies of modern basketball: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are all all-star players capable of hitting three-point shots at a productive rate and making defenders have to guard them the second they start even sniffing at the basket.
To further decrease the parity between the Warriors and the rest of the league, the team recently signed DeMarcus Cousins, a talented, multiple-time-all-star big man you is a horse near the basket and has an improving long-range game. Even though his torn Achilles is a significant and real concern for the Warriors that could prevent Cousins from being as effective as he’s historically been, the Internet couldn’t help but observe how the rich got richer with the signing, especially since the $5.3 million dollars he signed for is well below what was thought to be his market value. With this even more super “super team,” the question had to be asked: How would they stack up against the Monstars from Space Jam?
One Reddit user did some quick math to compare the Warriors’ top five players and the five players whose talent the Monstars stole, and determined that the Warriors are actually the more accomplished bunch. While the total All-NBA Team appearances from the players on each team are equal, the Warriors top the Monstars in league MVPs (three vs. one), all-star appearances (25 vs. 24), Defensive Player of the Year awards (1 vs. 0), and All-Defensive Team appearances (4 vs. 3). The post also notes that the Warriors are also similarly comparable to the 2008 USA Men’s Basketball Olympic team, because yeah, they’re just that good.
What do you think of the even further improved Warriors? Will Cousins have a big impact, or will his injury hold him back? Would you like to see them actually square off against the Monstars? Let us know what you think in comments!
Featured image: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Wonder Woman, Boba Fett and More Adorn These Pop-Culture Motorcycle Helmets
Comic-Con is just a few weeks away, and by now everyone is planning for their pilgrimage to the annual pop-culture mecca. Some come by plane, train, or automobile. Those of us too extreme to take one of those three will hop on a trusty motorcycle and speeds their way to San Diego. Geeksresexy.net is reporting that AirGraffix is here to help folks with a hankering for two-wheeled modes of transportation, thanks to their custom comic book and pop culture helmets.
These fantastic looking helmets can up both your street cred AND your geek cred. AirGraffix doesn’t have an issue with the type of hero you may like. They’re prepared if you love Marvel heroes like Spider-Man.
If DC is more your style, Wonder Woman is here to show off AND protect your head.
Now, these helmets are not exactly on the cheap side, running between 500-700 each, depending on the design. We’re okay with that, as long as they put as much effort into motorcycle safety as they obviously do with motorcycle aesthetic. Now we just need to find the matching motorcycle pants and jacket to complete what can be an awesome ensemble.
You can check out more cool helmets in the gallery below and on AirGraffix’ site here.
So what do you think? Which of these helmets would wear screaming down the highway (at the proper speed limit of course)? Are there any custom ones you’d request? Let us know on Facebook or sound off in the comments below.
Images: AirGraffix
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ANT-MAN AND THE WASP Director Breaks Down Evangeline Lilly’s First Action Scene
In the first Ant-Man movie, Evangeline Lilly‘s Hope van Dyne didn’t get a chance to suit up as the Wasp. But in the newly released Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hope finally gets to establish herself as one of the MCU’s top heroines. Director Peyton Reed was recently featured in the latest episode of Vanity Fair‘s “Notes on a Scene” web series, and he took the opportunity to go over Lilly’s first major action sequence in the film, as the new Wasp shows off a few tricks that even her comic book counterpart can’t pull off yet.
One of the previously mentioned new abilities is the addition of growth and shrink disks on Wasp’s gloves. That lets Hope weaponize a salt shaker early in the scene as she stops one of Sonny Burch’s goons from fleeing with a piece of black market technology that she badly needs to save her mother. As explained by Reed, the scene was accomplished by a mixture of practical photography and CGI enhancements. In at least one case, Reed noted that CGI was used to move the arm of a man who threw a knife at Wasp in order to set up the subsequent knife throws.
Reed took the opportunity to explain why the MCU’s Wasp has her wings built into the suit, as opposed to the biological wings that the Wasp has in the comics. This was also the first scene in the movie that really dealt with the mechanics of Hope’s new wings and Reed demonstrated how they made her into an even more effective fighter.
What did you think about this video breakdown of the Wasp’s first big action scene? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: Marvel Studios/Vanity Fair
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Watch Fireflies Glow Inside of Frogs ‘Cause Nature Is Lit
Everybody remember the time Fry ate Emperor Bont the Viscous and his belly glowed with his dinner? Or that time the Cyclophage ate Bender and his neck started glowing because of that high-energy bomb in his throat (inside Bender)? It actually turns out there’s a pretty good real-life correlate for that kind of cartoonish scenario, and it occurs when frogs eat fireflies.
Thank you nature. Also, why does Futurama love to have people glow after they’ve eaten things?
The clip above, which comes via Geekologie, was posted to YouTube by RM Videos, and unfortunately there’s not much information available regarding where the clip was shot, or why exactly frogs eat fireflies. Seriously, we scoured the Internet trying to find some weird and specific biological reason frogs would do this, and couldn’t find squat. They’re probably just, y’know, eating them.
Why, here’s another video of frogs eating fireflies now posted by YouTube channel Kids Toys Fun and Games. It’s not quite as insane ’cause you don’t see the frog’s veins light up with its glowing belly treasure, but still, how often do you get to see frogs with little living bioluminescent lamp prey (get it?!) in their stomachs? Almost never, probably.
What are your thoughts on these frogs and their bellies full of still-living fireflies? Have you ever seen anything like this before, or is this a completely new nature fact that you’re going to bust out with the next time you’re hanging out talking amphibians? Let us know in the comments, people! And don’t drink any emperors, dang it!
Images: YouTube / RM Videos
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Did Maisie Williams and Lena Headey Spoil GAME OF THRONES’ Ending?
We know that after seven years on the most famous show in the world, Game of Thrones‘ cast members know how to stop leaking spoilers. However two original cast members have forced us to ask a seemingly unthinkable question: did Maisie Williams and Lena Headey just give away how the series will end? We’ll forego a Trial by Combat and look at the actual evidence to answer this very serious accusation.
Williams shared a very interesting photo on her Instagram account announcing she had filmed her final scene for the show. We can read a million possibilities into what bloody shoes mean for Arya, but there are only a couple of ways we can read her first hashtag.
A post shared by Maisie Williams (@maisie_williams) on Jul 7, 2018 at 4:53am PDT
“Last woman standing.” Seven bloody hells, Maisie! Are you the last woman on the show to finish shooting, or do you mean Arya is the only lady of Westeros still alive at the series’ end? (Or much, much worse, the last one to die?) That photo and hashtag alone would be enough to send us into a theorizing frenzy, but as Twitter user The Extraordinary Xilla noted, Lena Headey took this inflammatory post and threw a whole bunch of wildfire on it. Look at the comment she left.
Did Maisie Williams and Lena Headey just spoil the ending of #GameOfThrones? This could mean a bunch of things!!!! Last woman standing + Queen? pic.twitter.com/5KOKz0Je6W
— The Extraordinary Xilla (@BlogXilla) July 7, 2018
“QUEEN.” Like, Arya becomes queen of Westeros? (Maybe alongside Gendry?) This….this is not funny. Waiting a whole extra year for the final season is already hard enough without this added stress.
Now before we take this as sure-fire proof, Headey has done this before. She once shared an image hinting at the arrival of a certain Lady with a heart of stone who never showed up.
A post shared by Lena Headey (@iamlenaheadey) on Apr 21, 2014 at 4:12pm PDT
HAHAHA HILARIOUS, LENA. I predicted that character coming back for four straight years…
Of course, not every post of hers has proven to be a joke, since she did foreshadow a major death from the book would also happen on the show.
A post shared by Lena Headey (@iamlenaheadey) on Apr 3, 2014 at 7:44am PDT
Also not funny.
So what does it all mean for how the series might end? The odds lean towards “nothing.” They are far too smart to give away a major spoiler like this so obviously, and yet we can’t totally dismiss that they know we know that. So this could be a double fake out, and that’s exactly what we would expect from Cersei Lannister and someone trained by the Faceless Men.
So did Maisie Williams and Lena Headey just spoil how the show will end? All the evidence says….MAYBE.
Okay, Trial by Combat it is.
What do you think? Is this a spoiler, or just them having some fun? Tell us in the comments below what you make of this.
Featured Image: HBO
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Netflix Lines up an INGRESS Anime Series
For almost five years, Niantic has invited mobile gamers to enter the augmented reality world of Ingress, and take sides as two factions vie for control of humanity’s future. Now, Ingress is getting an anime adaptation that will further expand the world and its mythology while paving the way for a sequel game.
Via Variety, Ingress: The Animation is coming to Netflix this fall, with Neon Genesis: Impacts director Yuhei Sakuragi set to oversee the series, and Neon Genesis Evangelion art director Takeshi Honda lined up for character designs. Ingress will follow two new characters named Sarah and Makoto after they are affected by the “exotic matter” that lies at the heart of the game. Sarah is given the ability to perceive “certain aspects of time and space,” while Makoto has a form of psychometry that lets him see the history of almost any object once he has touched it.
Within the game, the exotic matter originated with the Shapers, an enigmatic alien race. The Enlightened faction believes that using the exotic matter to enhance its followers will lead to a new age of human evolution. The Resistance is intent on protecting humanity from the Shapers’ influence and preserving their freedom. Sarah and Makoto’s story will play out against the backdrop of that conflict while they attempt to evade Jack, a new antagonist who has his own agenda.
Ingress: The Animation will feature an original story that will also introduce fans to Ingress Prime, the upcoming sequel that will establish a parallel Ingress universe with a enhanced gameplay experience. Both the anime series and Ingress Prime are expected to debut in October.
Are you excited about Ingress: The Animation? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: Niantic/Netflix
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