Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1718
June 30, 2018
This Adorable 8-Year-Old Japanese Drummer Totally Nails a Led Zeppelin Cover
Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham is widely considered to be one of the best drummers of all time, and one of his most famously impressive displays is on “Good Times Bad Times,” from the band’s first album. “Everyone was laying bets that Bonzo was using two bass drums, but he only had one,” bandmate Jimmy Page once said about his work on the song. The point is that he’s a hard person to emulate, but there’s an 8-year-old Japanese girl who handles herself just fine (via SoraNews24).
Yoyoka Soma is a couple years away from being a decade old, and yet she totally holds her own in this video of her covering the aforementioned Led Zep tune. She’s actually a very experienced musician, more so than her age indicates: She’s in a band with her parents, she had her third album come out in May, and she’s performed live nearly a hundred times. So in case you wanted to feel inadequate today, you’re welcome.
She writes about her musical background in the video description on Vimeo, and she says she wants to be a DIY artist, and the best drummer in the world:
“When I was a just small baby, my parents had a home studio and there were various kinds of instruments. My parents were performing music activities as amateur singer-songwriters and they cradled me with their music. When I listened to their songs and guitar performances, I was eager to join them and couldn’t stop beating out a rhythm. That was why I started playing the drums. The drum was the first instrument in which I felt an interest in my life. […]
As a drummer, I enjoy being groove, tones and try to support vocalists carefully. My dream is to be the best drummer in the world. In addition, I want to be an artist who can do anything: playing all instruments, recording music, mixing the sound and designing the CD album jackets. As I am aiming at overseas activities, I am studying English conversation. I want to become friends with people all over the world through my musical activities!”
This kid’s pretty good, right? What other songs would you like to see her cover? Let us know what you think down in the comments!
Featured image: Kaneaiyoyokaかねあいよよか //YouTube
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Artist Uses Paper Cutouts to Make Magical Disneyland Photo Illusions
Disney fans are some of the most devoted fans anywhere. And when your fandom revolves around something that isn’t just movies and television shows, but also theme parks, toys, and a million other things, it’s easy to see how it can inspire so much creativity. Now we’ve learned, thanks to Laughing Squid, about one hardcore Disney fan — who actually also works for the company — who has combined his love of classic Disney films with the theme parks in series of clever images using paper cutouts.
Keith Lapinig, who is an Interactive Design Manager at Disney, travels to the different Disney theme parks around the world as a part of his job. While he’s there, he also indulges his inner Disney fanboy by using hand held black paper cutouts, and juxtaposing them with correlating locations within the parks. So while at Disneyland, he has a cut out of Maleficent in her dragon form looming over Sleeping Beauty Castle. On Matterhorn mountain, he has the demonic Chernabog emerging from the peak, just as he did in Fantasia. And he even has Belle from Beauty and the Beast reading aloud to her animal friends by the fountain in Disney’s California Adventure.
This Waluigi Mini-Documentary Has All You Need to Know About the Evil Doppel
Shortly before E3 2018, gamers were offered an official first look at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; which has almost every major Nintendo character and special guest stars as controllable fighters. Everyone, that is, except Waluigi, the unloved rival of Mario‘s younger brother, Luigi. Fans humorously protested Waluigi’s exclusion from the game, which is actually in character for Waluigi. According to a recently released episode of Did You Know Gaming?, Nintendo defines Waluigi’s most notable trait as “self pity.” And that was just one of the revelations about this unexpected video game icon.
The video goes through Waluigi’s history, dating back to his first appearance in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. There wouldn’t have been a Waluigi if Wario hadn’t been invented a few years earlier. But since Wario needed a partner for doubles, Waluigi was created to fill that role. And while the easy assumption is that Wario and Waluigi are brothers, Nintendo has backed away from that claim and made their connection more ambiguous.
As noted in the video, Waluigi is one of the few Mario-related characters to never star in his own game. The episode also states that legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto vetoed the concept of Waluigi and Wario having evil girlfriend counterparts of Daisy and Peach, who probably would have been called Wadaisy or Wapeach. Instead, they must creep alone through their miserable existence. They may be bad guys, but Waluigi and Wario are so over-the-top evil that they’re really fun. That’s why they’ve developed a fan following of their own.
What do you think about Waluigi’s new mini documentary? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: Nintendo
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Why We Don’t Need a Wasp Origin Movie to Believe She’s a Hero
Evangeline Lilly faces a rare challenge in the MCU. After playing Hope van Dyne in the first movie, she now has to make us believe she’s the Wasp without any of the safety nets superheroes usually get. She doesn’t get thirty minutes in a cave developing weapons tech and learning valuable lessons about empathy. She doesn’t get a first act all to herself like Scott Lang does to morph from thieving deadbeat dad to super-suited, thieving, half-deadbeat dad. She doesn’t get to dive on a grenade to earn secret serum. Or gamma radiation or ghastly spider bites or God status.
Lilly must make us believe in Hope without the transmutation and the training montage.
Compared to the Iron Mans and Captain Americas of the Marvel world, Wasp’s origin on screen was quick as a finger snap. It was a coda at the end of Ant-Man in which her father finally, finally, finally gave her a super suit to bust heads with, and she said what we were all thinking: “It’s about damn time.” It was the release valve on the movie’s frustrating core element (a stodgy genius looking everywhere but right in front of him for someone to take over his shrinking legacy), but it was also an emotional microscope into Hope’s guiding motivation.
“Hope is generally not okay inside,” Lilly tells me on an Ant-Man and the Wasp set visit Nerdist attended with other outlets. “But what I think is exciting about playing the Wasp is there is this incredible…satisfaction…in Hope. Something that she has been waiting for her whole life, which is essentially affirmation from her father, has come. It came in the form of this suit, so now that she’s wearing it and she’s exercising those muscles that she wanted to exercise her whole life, she’s in a really different place emotionally when we start the film.”
She lets out a deep sigh between incredible and satisfaction that mirrors the feeling of watching that scene at the end of Ant-Man. It’ll have to do, because it’s as good as an origin story that the Wasp is going to get.
Fortunately, Ant-Man and the Wasp is primed to explore her historical pain by returning to its origination. Three years after Lilly willed Michelle Pfeiffer into being her superhero mom (“Having Michelle Pfeiffer as my mom was kinda one of my geek fantasies…”), the band is getting back together to rescue Hope’s mother Janet from the Quantum Realm. They look to make right a tragic, heroic accident that shattered Hope and created Hank’s profound fatherly protectionism…which further shattered Hope.
“It’s two years after you last saw Hope van Dyne,” Lilly says. “A lot has happened in two years, and a lot that you, unfortunately, don’t get to see that I personally would love to see. Instead of seeing her evolved into a superhero, I think that the leap we take with the audience is we all believed by the end of Ant-Man she’s ready to be a superhero.”
She’s right. Her intelligent, knockout performance in the first film makes it easy to believe she belongs in the suit.
Without a true origin story, Hope was also left without a mentor to show her how to be a hero. No wise voice reshaping her philosophical outlook. No Avenger explaining the technological gewgaws that form her abilities. No guiding hand to teach her that great power and great responsibility are a package deal. In fact, she was Scott Lang’s mentor when it came to fighting.
In a sense, she’ll have to do the whole hero thing in reverse, by putting on the suit in order to search for that mentor, which may be her father or, more likely, will be her mother. If it’s Scott Lang, the whole world’s in big trouble.
There’s also one more glaring challenge facing Lilly in the Marvelsphere. A unique one. She’s the first female superhero to have top billing in a movie. She’s sharing it, but that’s her character’s name right there in the title. Not as the token member of an ensemble, but as one half of an equal partnership.
Way, way back in an interview for the DVD/Blu-ray release of Iron Man 2, Marvel chief Kevin Feige announced that they’d had conversations with Scarlett Johansson about a standalone Black Widow moviee that would have to come after The Avengers (remember that classic?). He has nodded toward the possibility every year (mostly because he keeps getting asked about it), again restating in 2016 that they were creatively committed to giving the superhero spy her own film. They’ve hired a writer and everything, but it’s unlikely we’ll see it before 2021.
Through Avengers: Infinity War, that’s 19 movies, Marvel has exactly zero movies focused on a female superhero. Until they break that streak with Captain Marvel in 2019, presumably with an origin story and everything, Wasp is the closest thing they’ve got, and Lilly has worked hard to stand out from the -Man crowd.
“I do mitts ’cause I love them, and she needs to be able to punch and not look like she can’t punch. Not look like Scott Lang when he punches,” Lilly says with a laugh. “I’m also finding the personality for the stunt people. So we work together in front of a mirror, and we’ll try different things together. They might do a fight move that looks exactly the way you would actually want to injure someone, and I’ll say, ‘Okay, but wouldn’t it be pretty if throw some flare into there that gives it the flavor of the comic books?’ I don’t know if any of you’ve spent some time looking at Wasp images, but she is very, very graceful in the comic books. She’s very feminine. She’s not, you know…”
This is when Evangeline Lilly thrusts her fists as far as she can from her face in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish mascot stance.
“…She’s got pointed toes and long limbs, and she’s very elegant. Marvel are very good at modernizing their superheroes, but I always think you want a taste of the original 1960s character you first fell in love with. So we’re really trying to do that with the fight style.”
With that signature method of bashing bad guys and some suit enhancements Ant-Man didn’t get (no complaining, please), Wasp is poised for greatness despite being initially shortchanged in the origin story department. (To put it more bluntly: in the standalone movie department.) Lilly and the Wasp have to grab superhero status on the go.
It’s a shame that she and the character are in that position, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to shine that Lilly is grabbing with both bloody-knuckled hands. Even without the lengthy backstory, is there anyone who will doubt her when she puts on the suit for the first time? Lands her first uppercut? Drops some wry one-liners? Boldly states the underlying principles of her heroism?
The Wasp faces a rare challenge in the MCU, but it also means she gets to define her own origin, to be her own mentor, and to craft her own style. It’s about damn time.
Images: Disney Marvel
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Two Full-Size LEGO Cars Launch Misadventures on Florida Roads
LEGO custom builders are continually outdoing themselves with recreations from films, television shows, comics, and video games, but we haven’t yet reached a point where working LEGO vehicles are commonplace. That’s why one of Jimmy Donaldson’s latest videos for his MrBeast YouTube channel is capturing so much attention. In the video below, Donaldson and his team take two LEGO cars out for a ride on Florida’s streets and sidewalks before their journey reaches its inevitable end.
Despite Donaldson’s claims that the cars built only out of LEGO, they look more like go-karts that were given a LEGO makeover. Obviously, the wheels, the steering wheel, and the engine itself are not made of LEGO. Still, the gimmick was more than enough to turn heads, and Donaldson showed off some of his comedic flair when he told bystanders the box for his LEGO car said “Ages Nine and Up.”
The second LEGO automobile appeared to have trouble functioning throughout the video, while the lead car didn’t appear to have any major issues. These vehicles clearly weren’t built for safety, but it does look like they would be a lot of fun to drive. Amazingly, at least one cop car failed to notice the two LEGO vehicles driving down the other side of the road. However, that luck didn’t last and Donaldson was finally forced to pull over and “retire” his cars from the road.
What do you think about this video? Do you want a LEGO car of your own? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: MrBeast
LEGO-palooza:
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Planters Brings Back Its Classic Cheez Balls for a Limited Run
You know something is truly tasty when you’re willing to repeatedly cut your hand on an aluminum can to eat it, which is why for years orange-dust lovers everywhere were willing to risk personal injury to chow down on Planters Cheez Balls, the only cheesy puff food endorsed by a sentient peanut wearing a monocle. Sadly, though, the classic snack was discontinued in 2006. Loyal fans have never given up the fight to see it return to grocery shelves, and now Planters is finally read to give them what they want, because they are bringing the snack back this summer for a limited time.
Just in time for summer BBQs, Planters is bringing back Cheez Balls starting on July 1st for a limited run. The company says this is partly in response to fans who were so eager to eat them again they started a petition demanding their return. But they aren’t coming back by themselves, because they will also be joined by another orange-tinged snack the company made popular in the ’90s: Cheez Curls, the preferred snack for people who love airy, cheese-flavored goodness, but aren’t fans of things that are round.
You craved, I listened. #CheezBalls are back July 1 at select stores and online! Get ‘em while they’re… cheezy. https://t.co/mk5iY4lr03 – Mr.
Hot Toys’ WASP Figure Stands Ready to Fly ANT-MAN out of Trouble
Though other companies have been slow to follow, Hot Toys has been giving us picture-perfect female superhero figures for years now, so nobody should ever have doubted they ‘d make a great Wasp. Today, we finally got our first good look at Hope van Dyne, and she’s as Dyne-amic as we’d, er, hope.
About time we had a woman stick the heroic landing pose, right? And unlike Deadpool, she can probably spare her knees by using the wings to lessen the impact. In a particularly cool touch, Wasp’s helmet contains LED lights so you can see her eyes inside. It’d be cool to see a comic-based Catwoman with that feature.
The wings are removable from her backpack, an dcome in both standby and flying mode, plus she comes with two headsculpts, multiple hands, and a backdrop that’s designed to make it look like she just enlarged herself from bug-size.
There’s so much to like about this figure that we’re tempted to call it the audacity of Hope. But we’re not the kind to make such dad jokes, obviously. Because her dad is no joke. A jerk sometimes, yes. But he leaves the funny stuff to his suited successor.
Other companies will make smaller figures, too, so you can have multiple scales of Wasp for the full effect. Those of you who collect, say, different sizes of Batman can’t get away with that “all in the same continuity” excuse!
Are you feeling the buzz of this new flying heroine? Been stung by the Hot Toys collecting bug yet? Let us know in comments.
Images: Hot Toys
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Check out Sideshow’s new Rogue premium statue.
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X-MEN’s Rogue Gets a Sideshow Premium Statue (Exclusive)
Rogue may have the ability to suck a superhero’s powers dry, but in three-dimensional form, she also has the power to suck all our attention towards the great work the artists at Sideshow Collectibles have done. Here’s your exclusive first look at their brand new maquette of Anna Marie in action.
Like many of Sideshow’s recent Premium Format figures, she has also inspired a fine art print by Ian MacDonald, based on the pose the collectible figure is in. This also gives you a sense of what the figure might look like from another angle, and reveals she’s battling some kind of robotic buzz-saw arm.
In a behind-the-scenes video that focuses on the first two X-Men characters in this premium line–Wolverine and Magneto, because of course–Sideshow’s designers reveal that they’re particularly inspired by ’90s comic and cartoon designs, which became iconic in pop-culture. But what they also make clear is that literal adaptations of drawings into large 3-D pieces leaves a lot of room for added detail, which they provide in spades (and capes).
Rogue’s jacket will be tailored fabric. You’ll see in the video the degree to which tailoring played a part in Magneto’s cape.
And how about that shadow at the end? Looks like they’re teasing a whole lot of “coming next.”
RSVP for more info on the maquette as it’s revealed at http://sideshow.com/rogue. For more on the print, RSVP at http://sideshow.com/rogueprint. The full maquette will be unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con.
Are you excited, sugah? Let us know in comments.
Images: Sideshow
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Evangeline Lilly Wants to Make an All-Female AVENGERS Movie
After the harrowing events of Avengers: Infinity War, there are more than a couple of openings on the roster of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The Snapture may have turned many of our favorite heroes–and countless others–to dust, but Ant-Man and the Wasp shows us that not all hope is lost–especially not Hope Van Dyne. The daughter of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, Hope has superheroism in her blood, and in Ant-Man and the Wasp, she proves that she has the skills to pay the bills. It left us wondering if, much like Janet Van Dyne in the comic books, Hope could go on to assume a leadership position within the Avengers, helping Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against all manner of threats as we head into Phase IV and beyond. To find out, we sent our ace reporter Markeia McCarty to sit down with the stars of Ant-Man and the Wasp and ask what they thought about the Wasp’s leadership prospects.
While Paul Rudd, Hannah John-Kamen, Michael Douglas, and director Peyton Reed were all quick to sing Hope’s praises, Evangeline Lilly took things a step further. Rather than assuming leadership for herself, Lilly would like to see the Wasp working alongside Captain Marvel as Carol Danvers’ “strategic righthand woman.” Furthermore, Lilly wants to gather the best and brightest female heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and make an Avengers movie focusing on them. Considering the overwhelmingly positive response to Thor: Ragnarok‘s Tessa Thompson wanting to make a Lady Liberators movie, an all-female Avengers/A-Force movies would be a bold but incredibly welcome addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And you know that no one on that set would be complaining about how uncomfortable their costumes are…
Ant-Man and the Wasp opens on July 6, 2018. Read our spoiler-free review!
Images: Disney/Marvel Studios
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June 29, 2018
Jim Carrey May Play Doctor Robotnik in SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Movie
Last year, Deadpool director Tim Miller was tasked with bringing Sega’s video game icon, Sonic the Hedgehog, to the big screen. Now, veteran actor and comedian Jim Carrey may be lined up to portray Sonic’s ultimate nemesis.
According to Deadline, Carrey is in final negotiations to play Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog. While Sonic and other characters will be depicted with CGI, Carrey’s Robotnik will be one of the film’s live-action characters. Doctor Ivo Robotnik was introduced as Sonic’s primary villain in the very first game back in 1991, although he’s been more commonly called Eggman or Doctor Eggman. Regardless of his name, his long term goal has almost always revolved around the creation of a technological empire, and sometimes transforming animals and other creatures into his robotic servants. In the movie, Sonic will once again oppose Robotnik/Eggman’s dreams of world domination.
Carrey is no stranger to over the top characters, and he’s played villainous roles before, including the Riddler in Batman Forever and Count Olaf in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter have previously signed on for leading roles in Sonic the Hedgehog, while Miller is attached as a producer. Jeff Fowler is directing the movie from a script by Pat Casey & Josh Miller. It’s expected to begin filming later this year.
Sonic the Hedgehog is scheduled to race into theaters on November 15, 2019.
What do you think about Jim Carrey’s potential villainous turn in Sonic the Hedgehog? And should he be called Doctor Robotnik or Doctor Eggman? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Paramount Pictures/Sega
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