Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1758

Keep Your Phone Charging With This LEGO Minifig Life Hack

A LEGO-adjacent life hack emerged on Twitter this week after a professor of microbiology figured out the true value of minifigs.

Just discovered that LEGO hands are the perfect size for making sure your phone charger doesn’t fall off your desk pic.twitter.com/EMMoQkdpb1

— Rebecca Shapiro (@ShapiroRebecca) May 8, 2018

When Shapiro’s ingenious observation went viral, LEGO enthusiasts the world over shared photos of their own cord-carrying buddies. As it turns out, all sorts of minifigs, from the unsung hero of The LEGO Movie to the god of thunder, are willing to lend a helping hand.

pic.twitter.com/tTTjQbKQWA

— Benny the Spaceman (@LEGOBenny) May 9, 2018

pic.twitter.com/m4HOh33vEE

— The Dualers (@TheDualers) May 9, 2018

After seeing all this, I knew I had to get in on the fun. But I soon realized the minifigs I had on hand—Batman and the Joker, both from the Dark Knight trilogy Tumbler set—didn’t possess the strength of the minifig in Shapiro’s tweet.

I was about to dismiss the life hack as ineffectual. Then I noticed what Shapiro had that I didn’t: a base strong enough to anchor both the minifig and the charging cable. Neither the Caped Crusader nor the Clown Prince of Crime came with such a base to support them. (Batman, by the way, does not look psyched about joining forces with the Joker to help power my MacBook, but then, Batman’s never looked psyched about anything in his life.)

Anyway, that’s when I brought in the big guns.

As it turns out, WALL•E has the strength to carry cords (including heavy ones!), and he looks cute doing it.

In conclusion, you can never have too many LEGO sets lying around, because you can and will find a way to use one piece or another someday.

Which minifig do you trust with your cords? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Christy Admiraal

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This STAR WARS Bookend Uses the Force to Organize Your Shelves

Star Wars fans know the Force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together. Now if you had that kind of power, what would you use it for? As an ancient Jedi master, Yoda would surely use it to keep his books in order. Have you seen his hut on Dagobah? It needs all the help it can get.

This whimsical metal bookend from Hallmark shows Yoda using the Force to creatively hold up his collection of books. Perhaps it’s to organize the sacred Jedi texts, or maybe his cookbooks so he can make more rootleaf stew for visitors. Whatever is stored here will be enjoyed with the addition of Master Yoda’s powerful push.

Hallmark also has all your upcoming holidays covered, with dads and grads picture frames perfect for June celebrations. Their Star Wars Learned Much Picture Frame is hilarious for recently graduating padawan. (Just don’t let Anakin get a look at it.)

A Father’s Day “I am your father” picture frame is an excellent gift for your own dad and it just might be just the thing to convince Darth Vader that there’s light within him after all. Sadly, the Solo family won’t be needing one of these.

With Hallmark producing so much fantastic Star Wars merchandise, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the December celebrations. My Star Wars tree is ready and waiting for new holiday decorations!

Hallmark has even more fun Star Wars products available in stores and online at hallmark.com.

Will you be using Yoda to organize your messy bookshelves? Do, or do not; there is no try. Let us know in the comments and tag @nerdist and @justjenn on Twitter to show us your organized (or messy) Star Wars collection!

Images: Hallmark

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THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN Animated Trailer Updates the Classic Story

In 2007, DC Entertainment released the first of their animated movies, Superman: Doomsday. It retold the story of the Death of Superman arc from the comics, but without any of the other heroes from the DC Universe. While it was a good start to their animated films, it didn’t have the same weight as the original print version. 11 years later, DC is recreating the comic feel with the release of The Death of Superman, the first of a two-part story updating the battle between Doomsday and the Man of Steel. Here is a look at the trailer from IGN’s YouTube page:

This movie looks more faithful to its comic inspiration, but there are a few differences between the two. Whereas the comic version had Doomsday fighting Justice League International, the movie has him fighting the modern-day League, from the current animated universe which began with Justice League: War. It adds more drama to the story when Superman is the only one left after Doomsday has taken down the greatest roster of heroes DC has to offer (Don’t get us wrong. We LOVE Booster Gold, but, c’mon).

Another big change is the character of Lex Luthor. In the comics, Lex had died and come back as a clone of himself disguised as his long-lost son (because comics). It looks like we are getting the regular old bald and evil Lex we love to hate.

Featuring the voices of Jerry O’Connell, Rosario Dawson, Rainn, Wilson, and Rebecca Romijn, The Death of Superman will be released on Blu-ray and digital this summer, with part two, Reign of the Supermen, coming out in early 2019.

So what do you think? Are you excited to get a more accurate version of this story? What do you hope to see? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments below.

Images: DC Entertainment

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Fan Mashes Up Josh Brolin’s Thanos and Cable for Amazing Sculpture

We think it’s safe to go ahead and call it — Summer 2018 is the summer of Josh Brolin. Not only has he ascended to the ranks of one of the best cinematic villains of all time with his portrayal of the Mad Titan Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but he’s also starring as yet another Marvel icon, the futuristic cyborg anti-hero known as Cable in the upcoming Deadpool 2. And if early reactions are to be believed, he kicks ass in that role as well. Brolin has become perhaps the first actor to successfully inhabit two major iconic characters from the Marvel Universe.



In tribute to Brolin’s two Marvelous performances this summer, we’ve learned, via Geeks Are Sexy, about a sculptor named Steven Richter, who had decided to combine both the Thanos and Cable characters in his latest bust. While the jury is still out on who this character resembles more, Thanos or Cable, it’s nevertheless a mighty impressive work of art. In the video up above, you can see a timelapse of the sculpting process for his ultimate Marvel mash up character…who also kind of looks like a really weird pirate?? We’re just sayin.’

If you check out Richter’s YouTube channel, you can see several more of his amazing busts, including movie accurate pieces showcasing the Hulk, Chewbacca, and a non Cable-ized Thanos with his Infinity Gauntlet. He even has a Breaking Bad/Walter White head sculpture that is eerily accurate to actor Bryan Cranston. Although maybe our favorite thing he’s made is the Ghostbusters proton pack wall clock. Because who doesn’t want one of those??

What do you think of this amazing artistic tribute to Josh Brolin? Be sure to let us know what you think down below in the comments.

Images: Steven Richter

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Nerdist News: WTFriday #4: Breaking Down The Star Wars Universe Post-Episode 9!

We’re checking out the future of the Star Wars universe post-episode 9! What’s next for the galaxy far far away after JJ Abrams is done with the Skywalker saga? We’re breaking it all down! Plus, FOX cancelled a ton of fan favorites – Did your show make it past the chopping block? Find out today! Then first reactions to Solo: A Star Wars Story. Should you put yourself in carbonite and wait for home release or pull out your sleeping bags so you can wait in line. And finally – in honor of it being Mother’s day, we thought we would attempt to stump out panel with some pop culture mothers trivia.

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Where Does ANT-MAN AND THE WASP Fit Into the MCU Timeline? (Exclusive)

***SPOILER WARNING*** The following features major-big spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, we encourage you to do so first and then come back and watch this. OR, just be okay with getting spoiled.

The one prevailing thought we had following the after-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War was how much we wanted to see Captain Marvel and Avengers 4, like, immediately! We gotta know how this shakes out! But, before that, we have Ant-Man and the Wasp this summer. Is it possible that movie will be way more connected to the events of Infinity War than we thoughts?

While at the red carpet for Solo: A Star Wars Story, we caught up with actor David Dastmalchian, who plays Kurt, a member of Scott Lang’s heist crew, in Ant-Man and is returning for the sequel. In his description of why he’s excited for fans to see where the movie goes, he made statements that sound to us like Ant-Man and the Wasp takes place both before and after Thanos’ fateful finger snap that concluded Infinity War.

That makes sense; it obviously doesn’t look much like Ant-Man and Wasp would be having fun heisty times if half the universe was blinked out of existence in a haze of brown Post-It notes. But that’s not all! Dastmalchian also definitely seemed to suggest the Quantum Realm–which was introduced in the first Ant-Man as the infinite loop of dimensions that happens when Scott shrinks too far–may be the reason that neither Ant-Man nor Wasp (nor possibly the other crew members) were affected by Thanos’ coup de gras.

Dastmalchian also told us that they just filmed a reshoot for the movie that he describes as “trippy.” So it definitely seems possible the new scenes have something to do with the Quantum Realm, AND that they play in to how Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym, and the rest of the people in Ant-Man’s life escape the fate of Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and 5/6 of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

We’ll have to wait until July 6 to find out for sure. But what do you think? Could Ant-Man’s Quantum Realm be the key to surviving a Thanos-sized universe culling? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Marvel

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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Hound Tall #44: UFOs

UFOS! Are they real? Have they visited us? Are we alone in the universe? By the end of this podcast you may believe! The truth is in here. Ufologist Ryan Sprague makes a case that UFOs have been here many times. Joining us are comic guests: Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Gordon and Aisling Bea.

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Part 1 of the return of the incredible Tom Martin!

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Shane Black and THE PREDATOR Are Hiding Something Big

I’m holding a Predator head. It’s as big as you’d imagine, like a gray watermelon grew tusks and dozens of floppy dreadlocks. But it’s heavier than you’d guess. Denser. It has the weight of a movie icon, and I don’t envy the actors who have to wear it for more than a few minutes at a time. Except, of course I do because they get to be the Predator.

The room is overwhelmed with the smell of latex. I only have a moment to imagine I’ve ripped it off the shoulders of a near-invincible alien and given a primal victory scream before I have to hand it back and return to the Vancouver warehouse-turned-movie studio where Shane Black is siccing CGI Predator Dogs after Jacob Tremblay on the set of The Predator.

It’s day 34 of a 66-day shoot for “Ollie” (the working title they’re using and also the name of the director’s dog), and Black is surprised to be in such a good mood. The challenge he’s facing–to walk the balance beam of delivering a classic property for old fans while changing it enough to find new ones–is, by now, par for the course for a lot of directors, and so far filming has gone incredibly smooth. Like Christopher Nolan with Batman Begins, Black is reinventing an old franchise, and he isn’t content to play within the confines of the old sandbox. He and the cast refer to The Predator as a thriller, a Western, an espionage mystery, a sci-fi comedy, and a Shane Black movie that happens to star the Predator throughout the set visit, which Nerdist attended with other outlets.

“If you bought a comic book that just said ‘Genre Shit’ and started reading it, it could well be this movie,” Black says. In other words, if you’re expecting a verbatim recitation of the original Predator, you’re going to be disappointed.

In fact the reboot is meant to be an inversion of the 1987 action flick. Instead of greasy, elite soldiers led by Arnold Schwarzenegger facing the universe’s most skilled hunter, it’s a disorganized band of rusty veterans struggling with a variety of physical and mental health problems. Boyd Holbrook plays special ops leader Quinn McKenna, who loses his squad in an initial attack and accidentally inherits “The Loonies” (played to varying degrees of eccentricity by Trevante Rhodes, Alfie Allen, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, and newcomer Augusto Aguilera) when the government silences him to keep a lid on the alien encounter.

“I guess it was a reaction against perfection, and the Predator going up against a perfect specimen all the time,” Black says. “And that being solely based on physical appearance and muscles and I thought, ‘Well, maybe there’s a version in which misfits play more of a role and maybe there’s even a sense that The Predator himself is even an outcast.'”

Tremblay, who Black says is “like squeezing Peter O’Toole into a little body,” plays Rory McKenna, Quinn’s young son who accidentally draws the aliens by playing with their advanced tech on Halloween. Watching Tremblay act confirms the conveyor belt of praise the kid gets. One moment he’s goofing off with the camera operator, chasing him in a circle while blocking the shot; the next he’s launched a full-on Spielberg face with the flip of an internal switch. His eyes go white. Breathing intensifies. The camera swings around him to see a big empty space where CGI artists will fill in the threat.

It all plays out on an indoor, green-screen-enveloped baseball diamond. Everything will be added with computers except the grass, the fence, and the bleachers. Sporting a mustard hoodie, red flannel button-up, and the extraterrestrial power glove seen in the trailer, Rory flees for his life across the field, first running from future CGI nothingness and, later, from the Predator’s hunting Dread Dogs represented by silver orbs on sticks that add a punk rock Phantasm flare to the scene.

And, yes, the chase is at a park in the suburbs, which is a big deal if you’ve paid attention to the single major rumor floating around this project since 2016. But the movie spends very little time in the suburbs, and Black seems particularly bothered by the rumor, which has survived multiple denials. It’s easy to understand why. On one hand, sending an ’80s adversary to a surviving artifact of ’80s life feels like a snug fit. It also feels safe. Just the thing for a reboot of a classic character.

On the other hand, it diminishes the potential for the film. A potential which Black is clearly, deeply proud of based on the time he spent during the set visit shaking his head and promising the sleepy neighborhood war zone was only a small portion of a much larger adventure. “[People online] said, well, ‘It’s set in the suburbs,'” Black says with a laugh. “Hmm…no. I mean, there are scenes that are set in suburban streets, but the idea that it’s some Mahjong club fighting an alien isn’t how it’s gonna happen.”

His dismissal of the rumor fit with the chorus we’d heard all day hinting at big surprises tucked into a science fiction Dirty Dozen dealing with mental health and extraterrestrial evolution. The cast wouldn’t divulge details beyond the battles between humans and aliens. It seemed like there was something huge they all wanted to talk about but couldn’t.

For example, Olivia Munn plays Dr. Casey Bracket, an evolutionary biologist helping the CIA, which has been tracking these alien incursions for over 30 years. When asked if we’ll get to see the Predators evolve or learn more of their biological history, she says, “That’s a very good question,” adds a wink, and leaves it at that. The trailer hints as much, showing Bracket explain that the Predators are “attempting hybridization” and evolving by taking the best traits from the DNA of their prey. Resistance might be futile.

So maybe Black and the cast are being cagey to protect elements they simply think are cool and not some fundamental twist–things they think will be more fun to discover in the theater than in trailers or in a set visit report. But, for whatever reason, my gut keeps going back to the fact that there will be multiple Predators and Black’s characterization of the alien hunter as a bit of “an outcast” like The Loonies. It feels very much like he’s hiding something big.

Images: Fox
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ZOOTOPIA Has a Sad Keanu Easter Egg

Easter eggs are buried in Disney films. Sometimes they’re references to other Disney movies, like when Flynn Rider and Rapunzel from Tangled showed up to the Arendelle party in Frozen or like when Lady and the Tramp appeared in the streets in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. But sometimes the Easter eggs are a nod to the non-fictional world, and Zootopia has a reference to a photo that sparked a hilarious meme: Sad Keanu (which started with a photo of Keanu enjoying a sandwich by himself on a bench and looking like the weight of the world is on his shoulders).

In ‘Zootopia’ (2016) there’s a brief shot of a conspiracy wall and one of pictures is of a Sad Keanu wolf. from r/MovieDetails

Zootopia’s been out since 2016, so this isn’t news, but it is new to me thanks to redditor Hdalby33. You can spot a photo of a sad-looking wolf sitting on a bench on the conspiracy board the police department is using in their attempt to figure out who’s responsible for multiple predators going missing. The wolf is posed just like Keanu Reeves’ Sad Keanu; he has a cup by his feet, a snack in his hand.  The board is only on screen briefly, but I really need to look for this next time I watch the movie.

What’s the best pun name you can come up with for a Keanu Reeves animal? What’s your favorite Easter egg in a Disney movie?

Featured Image: Disney

Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist. Follow her on Twitter and keep up with her Disney food adventures on Instagram.

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