Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1756

This Teeth Nail Art Is Total Nightmare Fuel

Savor the person you were before you clicked on this article because you will not be the same when you finish reading it. Rest in Peace to your previous self. This is a trend that looks like it came straight from a horror film and, thanks to BoredPanda, we get to suffer through it together. It’s called Teeth-Nails and it looks exactly how it sounds. This biting nail art looks like it’s about to be in the next Insidious film; it’s a design only a dentist could love.

Teeth nails- YAY OR NAY ? #nailsunnytutorial Video by @edo_movs

A post shared by Nail Sunny (@nail_sunny) on May 8, 2018 at 9:07am PDT

Nail Sunny, a Russian nail-art chain, is known for coming up with freaky acrylic nails, but this has crossed the line. They posted a video of their abomination on Instagram asking their followers “yay or nay?” The consensus has been a resounding nope, so my faith in humanity has been restored.

This teeth-nail trend looks like it’s about to be introduced by the Crypt Keeper in Tales from the Crypt. And as mentioned, this isn’t the first strange nail art by Nail Sunny. Check out these nose-nails:

Beard nails to impress your men

Guillermo Del Toro Bringing Horror Anthology Series to Netflix

Fresh off the heels of his Best Director Oscar win, Guillermo del Toro will put his horror roots to the test with the new Netflix anthology series 10 After Midnight.

Keep your eyes peeled for “Guillermo del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight,” a gorgeous and horrific anthology series coming soon to Netflix. @RealGDT will handpick every story as well as write and direct selected episodes!!! pic.twitter.com/L926m11mbI

— See What's Next (@seewhatsnext) May 14, 2018

Details are still sparse, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, 10 After Midnight will be an individual episodic horror series, similar in that way to The Twilight Zone. Del Toro will personally curate each episode, which will consist of stories both “sophisticated and horrific,” and is also set to write and direct a few entries of his own. As for the other writers and directors, he will handpick top-tier creators for the roles.

This will technically be Del Toro’s second collaboration with Netflix; he also co-created the animated series Trollhunters for the streaming service. For 10 After Midnight, he will re-team with his Shape of Water producer J. Miles Dale, who will serve as an executive producer along with Gary Ungar.

Fans of del Toro will know this isn’t the director’s first foray into horror TV. He created the FX series The Strain, which wrapped up last year after running for four seasons. Though he’s perhaps best-known for magical realism films like The Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro has also gone full-tilt horror in the past, with Cronos, Mimic, The Devil’s Backbone, Blade II, and, most recently, Crimson Peak.

We don’t have a release date or an episode count for 10 After Midnight just yet, but it will hopefully arrive sometime in the next year or so.

What kind of stories do you hope to see in the anthology series? Let us know in the comments!

Featured Image: Fox Searchlight

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Margot Kidder, The Definitive Lois Lane, Dies at 69

Actress Margot Kidder, who famously portrayed Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane in 1978’s Superman: The Movie and its three sequels, passed away this past Sunday at her home in Montana. Although the 69-year-old actress was best known for portraying the Man of Steel’s colleague and love interest, she also was beloved for starring in perhaps the first slasher film ever, 1974’s Black Christmas, and later the horror sensation, The Amityville Horror, in 1979.

Apart from her big genre roles, the Canadian-born Kidder starred in dozens of films in the ’70s and ’80s including Sisters, and opposite A-list leading men including Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper and Richard Pryor in Some Kind of Hero. Along with many other alumni from different Superman projects, Kidder also made a guest appearance on Smallville in 2004. She was also a guest star on shows like Brothers & Sisters, and The L Word in the 2000s. Kidder was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and in her later years became a public advocate for people struggling with this condition. She also became a political activist in the last several years.

But for an entire generation, Margot Kidder is the Lois Lane. She embodied the ’70s career woman who put up with no guff from anyone, yet turned lovesick whenever Christopher Reeve’s Superman appeared. And we couldn’t blame her, because who wouldn’t turn to mush at the site of Reeve as Superman? She played that mix of brilliant reporter and tough cookie with a soft spot for the ultimate hero perfectly, and it’s why Margot Kidder beat out dozens of other famous actresses who tried out for the role.

Upon news of her passing, thousands of fans, as well as friends and colleagues of Kidder, took to social media to post their remembrances of the beloved actress-turned-activist.

#MargotKidder was equally responsible for making us believe a man could fly. RIP

WESTWORLD: What (or Who) Is Bernard Holding?

William, my boy! Spoilers abound for  Westworld season 2, episode 4!

“The Riddle of the Sphinx” was a dense episode. Elsie (Shannon Woodward) is alive! She and Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) journeyed into a secret lab! Where Bernard had previously gone ham on a bunch of scientists with self-neck-snapping drones!

Oh, and it’s where William (Jimmi Simpson and Ed Harris) periodically checked in on a series of James Delos Personality Bots (Peter Mullan) that went haywire after a couple of weeks in captivity. Mullan, who was the “fascist pig” near the end of Children of Men, strutted his crazy stuff in this episode, and it was a murderous delight.

So now we’re looking at a theme park that was Walt Disneying its corporate owner by uploading his brain data into a replica host body. In other words, human/host hybrids.

It also turns out that tiger huntress Grace (Katja Herbers) is William/The Man in Black’s sharp, capable daughter. It’s a fun revelation, but the most interesting thing is how that family connection might relate to every other revelation in the episode. The Delos hybrid. William’s backward-looking maze. Ford’s posthumous power.

And the control unit. That funky blackish brown marble Bernard pocketed before murdering all the scientists when he was under Ford’s command. “He had me print a control unit for someone else,” Bernard said. “Another human.”

Who’s the other human? We’re headed deep into speculation territory, but the way I figure it, it’s got to be one of four people because, let’s face it, there just aren’t many humans in Westworld.

Here’s who the control unit might be for, from least to most likely.

Arnold

There are sentimental reasons that could propel Ford to create a hybrid copy of his former partner. The same reasons he created a host version. Since the human host project has never worked, it makes sense that Ford would go for the next best option, while creating an Arnold control unit for a future when the hybridization process proved stable.

It would also be poetic. Building essentially a version of Bernard with complete free will by bringing Arnold’s consciousness back to life. Could Bernard replace his malfunctioning control unit with Arnold’s human brain data?

Probably. But Arnold is also the least likely option because 1) Ford isn’t around anymore to need that kind of emotional closure and 2) it wouldn’t serve the current story whatsoever to bring Arnold back. It could save Bernard in an intriguing way, but so could a lot of other things.

Logan

We saw Logan (Ben Barnes) full of splendor at his father’s retirement party, and William casually confirmed to the nth iteration of James Delosbot that Logan had ODed years prior.

But why would Ford create a copy of the wayward son of his corporate owner?

For William, and for the game he is playing as The Man in Black. Presumably there’s a point to The Man in Black’s maze beyond mere survival. Using Lawrence’s daughter (Izabella Alvarez), Ford told The Man in Black that if he was looking forward, he was looking in the wrong direction, which means the game is meant to teach him something about the past. Or, at least, to remind him of it. What if Ford wanted to bring the past to life as a grand finale for The Man in Black? To bring a slice of humanity back to a psycho who left the real world behind long ago?

Logan is the first person I’ll mention that connects the Delos hybrid and Bernard’s control unit to The Man in Black’s high-stakes game, but there’s another Delos family member with a far stronger connection to William, which is why Logan is less likely to be the answer here.

Ford

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they tossed that DNA ball into the machine and it spit out a copy of Ford, whose body we last saw rotting in a tuxedo. The Westworld co-founder digitally bringing himself back from the grave would be an expected twist. From a story standpoint, it would be fine. Just fine. Not mind-blowing. It squares the circle a little too cleanly. It feels more like something a TV show would do, not something a mad scientist would dream up.

But having Anthony Hopkins back? In a form that would potentially go crazy in two weeks? Yes, please. At least it would be fun.

Still, there’s someone who would potentially have a far great impact by returning.

William’s Wife Juliet

This is the most likely person Ford made a control unit for, and it would be the most satisfying. I’m basing that off a few things.

The show used a stock photo featuring model Claire Unabia as the artifact that jars Peter Abernathy’s memory, revealing later that it’s a pic of William’s wife Juliet. Then they cast Unabia to appear in the show in season 2 as Juliet.
So far she’s only appeared at her father’s retirement party.
But “The Riddle of the Sphinx” confirmed that she had committed suicide some time after her father’s death.
Had William simply spoken that information it would be one thing, but we were also treated to flashback images of the event, creating a stronger emotional bond between us and Juliet, and hinting at its long-term effect on her fragile husband.

So we were introduced to her in season 1, met her in the flesh this season, and saw the tragic end of her life in the same episode that we learned Grace was William’s daughter, that he needs to look to the past to successfully complete the maze, and that Ford commanded Bernard to make a control unit for a person other than James Delos.

Plus, why cast an actress just to mean-mug Dolores for a few seconds?

If we see more flashbacks of Juliet and William’s relationship in the back half of the season, it might confirm my hunch: that Ford intended for a hybrid copy of William’s wife to greet him at the end of the maze, either for triumph or for torture.

Stray Thoughts:

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What did Bernard say to launch the drone suicide attack? It sounded like “history muscle” which seems like a contender for a Bad Lip Reading video. Whatever it is, it’s a powerful phrase.
Was the hostage situation in Las Mudas genuinely part of Ford’s game? If Teddy hadn’t let Craddock go, none of it would have happened, so it seems like a maaaaaajor coincidence.

Images: HBO

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Which Minor MCU Characters Should Survive INFINITY WAR, and Why

If you saw Infinity War (and you almost certainly did), you’re probably still reeling over Thanos’ fateful finger snap. And why wouldn’t you be? It’s likely that or more of your favorite inhabitants of the MCU got vaporized. And, given that, you have to wonder about the fate of everyone else. Who among The Other Guys—the celebrity cameos, the comic relief, and the bit players who appeared onscreen, made an impact, and slipped away, never to be seen again—is still alive in the post-snap universe?

Here’s our take on who Thanos may have spared and who didn’t make the cut. This is purely speculation and extremely unscientific, but I have my reasons for believing what I do, and I’ll try to justify them herein.

(Before you ask why a certain S.H.I.E.L.D. tech isn’t listed, Joe Russo revealed in an Uproxx interview that Galaga Guy is a confirmed casualty. Thanks, Joe!)

JUSTIN HAMMER & CHRISTINE EVERHART: ELIMINATED

Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) is the highlight of an otherwise so-so movie. Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb) is a journalist with a (reasonable) vendetta against Tony that carries over from Iron Man and Iron Man 2 into a sort of smear campaign against all Avengers. They’re both a lot of fun in their own ways, but they’re far from indispensable, and they’re certainly not immune to vaporization. Oh, and Pepper Potts made it, but Pepper Potts is not an Other Guy.

SECURITY GUARD: SPARED

If there is any justice in the post-Infinity War world, then the late Harry Dean Stanton’s unassuming security guard is somewhere safe, happy, and rubble-free. I’m betting on justice, just this once.

BENNIE POLLACK & CLAIRE WISE: ELIMINATED

As you may recall, Bennie (Jesse Bradford) and Claire (Lizzy Caplan) co-starred as bank robbers equipped with Chitauri technology in “Item 47,” the Marvel One-Shot accompanying The Avengers. (Both of them were invited to join S.H.I.E.L.D. by the end of the short, which, sure.) Bennie and Claire were brighter than they looked, but that has no bearing here.

GARY: SPARED

Anyone fannish enough about Tony Stark to get a tattoo of his face is inextricably connected to Tony Stark, who was spared. Therefore, so was Gary (Adam Pally), the cameraman who let Tony use his van in Iron Man 3. (Also, it’s what Adam Pally wants.)

THE MANDARIN: ELIMINATED

Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things.

MOORE: SPARED

Between the two of them, Joe and Anthony Russo directed over 30 episodes of Community, in which Danny Pudi played Abed Nadir. Way back in 2014, the Russos explained that Pudi’s minute-long turn as Moore was a nod to Abed’s love of cameos (via Empire). Given that history, Moore should’ve been spared for the sake of future cameos. Plus, I’ve been an Abed stan for years. Let me have this one.

AARON THE APPLE STORE EMPLOYEE: ELIMINATED

Speaking of The Winter Soldier, remember when Steve and Natasha posed as mallrats to use a laptop at the Apple Store? And remember how Natasha did the deed while Steve had a stiff conversation with an overly enthusiastic employee (D.C. Pierson)? And remember how the employee paid more attention to Steve’s glasses than Steve’s striking resemblance to Captain America? Yeah, Aaron is a goner.

HELEN CHO: SPARED

Forget what I said about intelligence having no bearing on a person’s fate. Geneticist Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) is one of the highlights of Age of Ultron, and her rapport with the original Avengers lineup seems worth preserving.

AARON DAVIS: SPARED

Donald Glover must remain ubiquitous in all universes; the other guy named Aaron didn’t make it so this one should because, you know, 50/50; and in addition to popping up in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Glover played Troy Barnes on Community. This particular Aaron’s survival is inarguable.

COACH WILSON: SPARED

Eventually, Peter’s gym teacher (Hannibal Buress) will have to answer for calling Cap a war criminal, and we’’ll be there to see it.

TRUCK DRIVER/CHESS-PLAYING CURMUDGEON/BEAUTY PAGEANT JUDGE/SMITHSONIAN SECURITY GUARD/BARTENDER, ETC.: SPARED

Stan Lee transcends space and time to appear in every possible superhero movie. Stan Lee drives trucks, plays chess, tends bar, judges beauty pageants, and fails his employers at the Smithsonian. Stan Lee, within the confines of the MCU, is immortal. Thanos spared Stan Lee, and you’d be foolish to think otherwise.

What did we get right? What did we get wrong? Is there any way of knowing? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Marvel Studios

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BROOKLYN NINE-NINE Opening Credits in LEGO Celebrate the Show’s Revival

This month has been unexpectedly tense for fans of Andy Samberg‘s cop sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Last week, Fox canceled the series after five seasons and the future looked bleak for the Nine-Nine. TT Games Global Community Manager Bear Parker assumed that the show was a goner, and he quickly recreated Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s opening sequence in LEGO style animation as a tribute. However, by the time Parker was finished, NBC came riding to the rescue and renewed Brooklyn Nine-Nine for a 13-episode sixth season. Now, the LEGO Brooklyn Nine-Nine video is a celebration of the show’s return.



TT Games is the developer behind many of the official LEGO video games, and Parker has previously released several of his own LEGO recreations on his YouTube channel. Parker also offered up some insight on his latest video while talking to fans on twitter.

For those wondering, I rebuilt the entire set/station in @legoworlds – right down to the floor tiles. The briefing room, Holt’s office, the balcony…it’s all there

SNL’s Mash-up of THE HANDMAID’S TALE With SEX AND THE CITY Is Doubly Disturbing

Granted, The Handmaid’s Tale is a disturbing story. It paints a picture of a dystopian future, where women of Gilead are treated and named like property, and used as literal baby-makers and not much else. But you know upfront that it’s disturbing; everything is grim, and people are miserable. How much more horrifying would it be if it were played as a joke the participants aren’t in on?

That’s the premise of Handmaids in the City, Saturday Night Live‘s fake promo for a new Hulu show spinning off the success of their most notable hit and combining it with a hit show of yesteryear that had pretty much the opposite take on sexual liberation, Sex and the City.

The obvious joke: what if, within the confines of Gilead’s brutal rules, these Handmaids nonetheless behaved as much like the Sex and the City ladies as is feasibly possible for them (not much)? So they laugh and reminisce about terrible, terrible things as if it were casual banter. But you can also imagine this being a popular program within the world of The Handmaid’s Tale itself, with gullible viewers convincing themselves that yes, these sex slaves are just like us, but happier with a lot less!

One might also argue that it’s a critique of Sex and the City‘s materialism being somehow mentally enslaving in a whole different way, but we’re not sure it’s going quite that deep. It is, however, positing that real life feels so dark sometimes that even a show as brutal as The Handmaid’s Tale can feel like escapism.

While this is a spoof, would you watch an actual Handmaid’s Tale spinoff? Let us know in comments.

Image: NBC

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DRAG TOTS Brings Queens From RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE to Animation as Babies

You know your franchise has reached peak pop-culture importance when it gets a cartoon “baby” version of itself (see: Muppet Babies, Flintstones Kids, Care Bears Babies, etc.) Well, now one of the most culturally important franchises of the current moment is getting its own junior version soon, as the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race get pint-sized in the upcoming animated series Drag Tots! World of Wonder, the producers of Drag Race, will air the series exclusively on their new streaming service, WOW Presents Plus.  You can check out the first trailer below:



The trailer gives Drag Race fans their first look at what happens when their favorite queens Bianca Del Rio (as Dina Saur), Adore Delano (as Roxy Moron), Latrice Royale (as Lady Liber T), Valentina (as Arugula), Detox (as Donatella Mewhattodoo) and RuPaul (as Corny the Unicorn) are transformed into adorable Drag Tots. Other Drag Race favorites from seasons past are expected to appear on the show as well.

According to the official description for the series, “Baby drag queens attend grammar school in this new animated series for kids and grown-ups of all ages!  Meet Dina Saur, a colorful drag tot whose aesthetic is inspired by dinosaurs; Roxy Moron, innocent, lovable and totally gullible; Arugala, a Puerto Rican provocateur with a taste for trouble;  and Lady Liber ‘T,’ an African American queen with a talent for putting haters in their place! With guidance from school mascot Corny the Unicorn, each episode features a different dragtastic adventure. From a visit to a wig farm to a journey to an alternate drag universe, school has never been so fierce!”

This weekend was the perfect weekend to drop the trailer for Drag Tots, as several of the alumni queens are attending RuPaul’s Drag Con in Los Angeles, and Drag Tots the show already has its place among the Drag Con programming this weekend. In fact, drag fans can take photos with the Drag Tots, as life sized versions are on site at the convention center.

Omg you guys! The Drag Tots are here at #DragCon LA! The show is coming to WOW Presents Plus on June 28th! Get your picture taken with them! Tickets here: https://t.co/Ze3sjT90De pic.twitter.com/DFXOemGmGC

— RuPaul’s DragCon (@RuPaulsDragCon) May 12, 2018

Will you be watching Drag Tots this summer? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.

Images: World of Wonder

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Does AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Have a Secret Survivor?

Warning: This edition of Nerdist News contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, so if you still haven’t seen it go right now and then come back here to learn which character might have done the impossible.

Thanos might have snapped half of the MCU out of existence in Infinity War, but one character might have found a way to escape entirely vanishing into dust, and he did it without even trying. His survival chances, however, could come down to whether or not a Pirate Angel and a Sweet Rabbit realize Thor is holding the key to his future–literally.

Groot might not have ended up suffering the same fate as most of the Guardians of the Galaxy who turned to dust when the Mad Titan gathered all the Infinity Stones, and it all has to do with the god of thunder’s amazing new axe Stormbreaker. It was Groot who stepped up and sacrificed a re-growable limb to create a handle for it, and in doing so he might have also left a living piece of himself behind. In this edition of Nerdist News Jessica Chobot explains why a detail from the toy version of Thor’s new weapon might mean there’s a chance for a third Groot to grow up and take the place of his felled ancestors.

You might think we are grasping on to some thin branches here, but considering how sad Groot’s final scene really was, we all could use a reason to find hope. And from what we know about growing a new Baby Groot, this is as good as we can feel after Infinity War‘s ending. Especially because when teenage Groot returns with (definitely getting sequels) Black Panther and Spider-Man, we could have two Groots!

We can’t wait to hear what their conversation will sound like.

What do you think? Could a new Groot grow from that leaf? Tell us why in the comments below.

Featured Image: Marvel

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Kevin Feige Has “Plans” for Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan

With Black Panther indisputably proving that diversity in superhero movies can lead to a near-literal ton of money, it’s perhaps not surprising to hear that more comic-book characters of color are coming to the big screen. And while we would certainly have expected breakout Marvel comics favorite Kamala Khan would be in consideration, it’s nice to have it actually confirmed that there are plans for the new Ms. Marvel. Assuming that’s what “definitely sort of in the works” means.

In an interview with the BBC, Marvel’s Kevin Feige strongly implies that Captain Marvel may sow the seeds for Ms. Marvel, whose comic-book origin includes being inspired and mentored by Carol Danvers (played in the movie by Brie Larson).

Marvel is planning to do Miss Marvel after Captain Marvel y’all

Muslims. Prepare to finally be represented. pic.twitter.com/SKFofLDmBt

— R O D Y IW SPOILERS (@StaarksHeart) May 12, 2018

A gum-chewing, Muslim-American teen of Pakistani heritage from New Jersey, the current Ms. Marvel debuted in 2013 and has quickly become a fan favorite, inspiring action figures and LEGO sets, and sporting a culturally significant costume that isn’t the usual skin-tight, cleavage-baring spandex. A Muslim superhero movie could be a savvy move for international markets, too, what with Saudi Arabia recently opening its first-ever multiplex, and making a big push to encourage new business.

The big question is whether Feige’s plans include a solo movie or not. It would certainly be easy enough to drop a Netflix series set in New Jersey, and keep her shape-shifting powers to a minimum. Alternately, she could be like the Wasp, and co-headline a Captain Marvel sequel. Whichever path is chosen, we certainly don’t want to “Ms.” out on it.

What would you like to see Ms. Khan do in live action? Comment below with your thoughts.

Image: Marvel Comics

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