Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1760

Woman Who Only Saw 2 MCU Movies Tries to Name Every INFINITY WAR Character

There were so many amazing moments in Avengers: Infinity War it’s hard to name a favorite. Was it when Chris showed up with Troot and a raccoon at the home of Chad Something so they could fight alongside Cyclops and Captain America‘s friend? Or were we blown away by the battle on Titan, where Snail Girl, Cyborg, and the Magician teamed up with the Republican Chris? Or did it come after the movie, when we saw this hilarious attempt to name all of the movie’s characters by someone who had barely seen any films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Twitter user Gabrielle Regan-Waters shared the results of her wife Brenda‘s wonderful endeavor to name every character in Marvel‘s super-loaded superhero movie, despite having only seen the first Captain America movie and Thor: The Dark World.

Asked my wife, who's only seen two films in the MCU (Captain America 1 and Thor 2), to name #InfinityWar characters. It went about as well as we expected. pic.twitter.com/ICK8n8geFC

— Gabrielle Regan-Waters (@gabregan) May 7, 2018

Now some might look at this list and say, “She only got four right.” Those people are wrong, because with the exception of passing on Drax (Thanos help us, what would she have come up with for him?), this list is perfect. Especially because “War Maiden” should actually be Okoye’s name, and that should actually be her family.

And while we love Wong, “a regular guy who gets caught in the crossfire” might have been an even more interesting role in the film. Not to mention, would anyone have a problem if Paul Rudd just played himself in the MCU? I really hope we get to see Wong and Dr. Watson in Avengers 4. I wonder if he’ll help Sherlock Holmes–no, the other one.

Which one of these is your favorite? Name yours in the comments below.

Featured Image: Marvel

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Scientists Trained a Spider to Jump on Command!

What’s an engineer to do when they’re developing micro-robots and need some insight on mechanical movement? The first answer that comes to mind probably isn’t “Hope that some arachnid-studying scientists capture a trained jumping spider on film as it deliberately leaps from platform to platform and document the results in an exhaustive report.” But here we are.

Initially, the scientists conducting this study at the University of Manchester couldn’t find the right spider. Enter Kim, the Regal Jumping Spider who learned in a matter of weeks how to propel herself from a takeoff platform onto a landing platform. According to The Telegraph, the scientists weren’t interested in “predatory” jumps, so they didn’t use food as motivation. What they wanted, and got, were jumps prompted by the power of suggestion (in other words, moving her from ledge to ledge until she understood what she was supposed to do).

Kim has since passed away, but her contribution to science will not be forgotten.

Jumping spiders—oh, by the way, there are over 5,900 varieties of jumping spider—have the ability to leap up to six times their body length. And now, thanks to this research, we know that they’re quick learners. Sure, the movements weren’t predatory, but couldn’t those leaps turn predatory if prodigious jumpers like Kim changed their minds? I’m not saying it will happen, but for now, I leave you with these immortal words from Ian Malcolm: “Your [spider-loving] scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

Anyway, sleep tight, and don’t let… well, you know where I’m going with this.

Which tricks are you planning on teaching a spider today? Let us know in the comments!

Images: University of Manchester

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Coleco Turns ROBOTECH and RAINBOW BRITE Into Mini Arcade Games

While Robotech and Rainbow Brite were created in the ’80s, neither franchise received its own arcade title during that era. But now, Coleco is turning the clock back thirty years to give Robotech and Rainbow Brite the throwback style video games they deserve as the latest releases in the Coleco Evolved Mini Arcade line. Coleco put the two games up on Kickstarter earlier in May and the project is already closing in on its $30,000 funding goal.



The mini arcade games are based upon Coleco’s classic titles, and the latest additions maintain the outer appearance of those games. However, the interior of the machines have received a significant upgrade. Instead of using a “calculator screen” and four C batteries, the new generation of mini arcade games feature a full color LCD display screen and a rechargeable battery.

As explained in the video above, Rainbow Brite: Journey to Rainbow Land is a RPG; while Robotech: The Macross Saga is a side-scrolling arcade shooter that lets the players choose between Fighter, Guardian, and Battloid Modes.

The Kickstarter campaign is currently running an early bird special for both titles. A pledge in the amount of $45 will let backers pick which game they want, while an $85 pledge will give players both of them. Once those packages are claimed, the pledge prices will go up to $55 and $105, respectively. There are also options at higher tiers for collectors’ editions of both games.

You can find more info on the Kickstarter campaign page, which will be active until June 7.

What do you think about the new Robotech and Rainbow Brite games? Insert coin to continue and leave a comment below!

Images: Coleco

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Should WESTWORLD’s Sylvester and Felix Worry About Job Security?

Everyone needs allies when they start a revolution, but if it’s a robot uprising, it’s also helpful to have two hapless lab technicians you can manipulate into giving you advanced capabilities, like Maeve did with Felix and Sylvester in Westworld‘s first season. And while the pair made a surprise appearance on the most recent episode looking alive and well…ish, that doesn’t mean they’re out of danger yet. We don’t mean their personal safety though, we’re talking about whether or not they are in serious trouble with Delos’s H.R. Department.

We asked Leonardo Nam and Ptolemy Slocum at the show’s season two premiere whether they thought Felix and Sylvester should be worried about their job security, since they violated just about every protocol in the Westworld handbook. Turns out they have bigger concerns than their next paycheck.

While we would have guessed things are only going to get far more brutal for Sylvester this year (even worse than having to hold an unpinned grenade with your chin), Nam’s revealing response that Felix might have helped Maeve because he loves her could have even bigger ramifications the rest of the season.

As for keeping their jobs even though they helped the park’s hosts gain sentience, we don’t think they’ll be fired, since there probably won’t be an H.R. Department left to fire them when all the humans are dead.

They might finally catch a break! Or a bullet in their head. Either/or.

Where do you think Felix and Sylvester’s story will go from here? Host your best ideas in the comments below.

Featured Image: HBO

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New SOLO Clip Explains How to Properly Pronounce “Han”

All great relationships have to start somewhere, and in the newest Solo clip we get to see the first time our favorite space smuggler met the coolest man in the galaxy far, far away, Lando Calrissian. But somehow this fateful first encounter is even more monumental than that. In fact, it might just be the single most important Star Wars scene of all time, because it finally puts to rest once and for all the correct way to say “Han.”

In the scene Alden Ehrenreich‘s Han walks in on a game of Sabacc, which he intentionally mispronounces to make himself sound like a sucker eager to lose his money. He then introduces himself to Donald Glover‘s Lando, who invites him to join the game. It’s a fun scene, obviously historically important to the Star Wars universe, not just because these two will one day help bring down the Empire, but because it definitely ends any debate over how to pronounce our favorite scruffy nerf herder’s name

See! It doesn’t sound like “hand,” it sounds like someone laughing and adding an “n” to the end.

“Han” with the same vowel sound as “barn.” Or if you prefer another sci-fi franchise, it rhymes with this name:

Just like that. Well, maybe not just like that.

The important thing is: we never have to debate this again, and we can focus on something even more important: whether or not it’s the Millennium “Fall-cuhn” or the Millennium “Fahl-kin.”

What’s the most important thing you take away from this scene? Tell us in the comments below.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm

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Legendary Lawrence of Arabia editor Anne V. Coates has passed away !
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LAWRENCE OF ARABIA Editor Anne V. Coates Has Passed Away, Age 92

There are countless film directors out there, and some of them become household names, famous for their canon of work and perhaps their persona. Scorsese, Spielberg, Tarantino, Hitchcock; names that sometimes outshine the film itself. Rare, though, are the names of film editors on the collective tips of the public tongues, even though they are often just as big a reason–if not a bigger one–than the director for a film’s success and legacy. A name we all should remember is that of Anne V. Coates, the absolute legend of cinema whose career as an editor spanned 63 years and 54 films. The Hollywood Reporter has shared news of Coates’ passing, at the age of 92.

As with the careers of most film editors, Coates’ filmography was full of movies both classic and forgettable, but when you start counting the truly amazing films on which she worked, you can see a talent that truly deserved her five Academy Award nominations and one win. That win? Oh, it just happened to be for Lawrence of Arabia, only one of the five best movies ever made, possibly even the very best. The editing in particular of that sweeping epic is what they teach people on day one of film classes the world over, with most people pointing to one specific and astounding cut.

Famously, that cut, from Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence blowing out a match to the harsh desert with the blistering sun rising, was achieved simply because Coates and director David Lean didn’t have access to the technology to do a crossfade where they were. In most movies of the era, Lawrence blowing out the match would have faded out while the rising sun faded in, but when they were assembling the footage, they didn’t have that available. After watching it with the hard cut on the action of blowing out the match, Coates and Lean agreed no crossfade would ever be as effective as that hard cut. Cuts like that are specifically called “match cuts” because they match actions or theme, but a burning match cutting to a rising sun is maybe the most perfect match cut in history.

Coates’ other four Oscar nominations were for the historical drama Becket in 1964, David Lynch’s haunting The Elephant Man in 1980, the action-thriller In the Line of Fire in 1993, and Steven Soderbergh’s crime romance Out of Sight in 1998. Coates also received an honorary Oscar in 2017 for her long and storied career.

I encourage everyone to check out Coates’ IMDb page, and you’ll see just how diverse the career of one of the most legendary editors of all time was. A lot of amazing movies, but also some weird ones like What About Bob?, Masters of the Universe, Congo, Striptease and her final credit, 50 Shades of Grey. Lawrence of Arabia and 50 Shades of Grey. Now that’s a career.

Image: Columbia Pictures

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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DRAGON BALL Fighters Face Off in This Stop-Motion Commercial

Dragon Ball Z is still one of the most popular cartoons around. From new movies to an awesome video game series, Goku and friends aren’t going away any time soon. Fans clamor to see any kind of new content, even if it’s a stop motion video created to help promote G Fuel energy products.

Reported by SoraNews24, the video from YouTuber counter656 starts with action figure versions of Krillin and Trunks about ready to fight Androids 17 and 18 when Goku arrives and enjoys the sample of the G Fuel. He automatically turns Super Saiyan like something out of Popeye (let’s be honest, though: lemonade tastes way better than spinach).

Suddenly, Vegeta arrives and the two go into one of the classic Dragon Ball battles. Everything’s included, like the superfast punching and the standing with every muscle strained why they yell as loud as they can before jumping into the fight. Really, the only thing missing is the two weeks worth of episodes where they stand around talking before they begin the fight. Counter656 either knew exactly what fans wanted to see, or they edited this three-minute video down from six hours. Either way, the animation of the stop-motion short looks great, and if the next iteration of Dragon Ball is done in this style, we wouldn’t shy away from it.

You can check out more videos from counter656 on their YouTube channel.

What do you think? Is going Super Saiyan a benefit or a side effect of using G Fuel? Let us know in the comments.

Image: Counter656

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Stephen King and Joe Hill’s IN THE TALL GRASS Heading to Netflix

The Stephen King train just keeps on chugging, with more and more of the horror maestro’s works heading for feature-length adaptations following the runaway success of It (and not at all the miserable performance of The Dark Tower, which we should all just forget about). Netflix has made another grab at King’s sprawling canon, following adaptations of Gerald’s Game and 1922, by securing a deal for In the Tall Grass, a novella written by King and his son, fellow bestselling horror author Joe Hill. This news comes from Deadline, who also says actor James Marsden is in talks to star.

The film will be written and directed by Vincenzo Natali, best known for the sci-fi sleepers Cube and Splice, as well as directing episodes of prestige television like Lost in Space, Westworld, and six episodes of Hannibal. Originally published in two parts in consecutive issues of Esquire magazine in 2012, the novella concerns two college-age siblings on a cross-country journey who hear a small boy crying for help in a cornfield in Kansas. After entering the vast field, they learn that there may in fact be no way out. It only gets weirder from there.

King’s stories have been turned into movies pretty much since he first started publishing them, but there’s been a marked upswing in adaptations following the success of Andy Muschietti’s It, which grossed more than $700 million worldwide. There are no fewer than eight feature films in various stages of development based on his work, not to mention an entire series, Castle Rock, which is set in his fictional universe. As for Hill, yet another adaptation of his groundbreaking graphic novel series Locke & Key is in the works, and dear heavens do we want that to be finally happen.

No word on when In the Tall Grass is expected, but we’re waiting with cautious bated breath.

Images: Stephen King

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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Would It Be Better If Comcast Bought Fox Instead of Disney?

You know that proposed mega-merger between Fox and Disney? Well Comcast might have something to say about it. On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed which giant conglomerate we’d prefer buy the other giant conglomerate, along with Bill and Ted 3, and the latest on the Nintendo Switch‘s online service.

Joining host Jessica Chobot today was editor Kyle Anderson, producer Derek Johnson, and video editor Adam Murray, and they began with reports that Comcast has made a 60 billion dollar cash bid for Fox, which would trump Disney’s $52 billion stock offer. Would we prefer Comcast ends up merging with Fox rather than the Mouse? What would this mean for Marvel going forward?



Today we also learned Bill and Ted 3 will finally happen with Bill and Ted Face the Music, which will find them as middle-aged men who never actually wrote the song that saved the universe. Huh. Are we excited about this premise?

Finally, we’re finally getting details about prices for Nintendo Switch’s online service, with the most practical package being $20 a year. But is this a good value? Are we bummed their Virtual Console won’t be coming to the Switch? Is this a better way to enjoy the games anyway?

Nerdist News Talks Back airs live Monday through Thursday at 1PM PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels, then we wrap up the week with our hour-long Nerdist News What the Fridays at 1PM PT, only at Alpha. Tune in every day, because no matter who buys Fox, whether it’s Virgin, Amazon, Tesla, or The Vatican, we’ll be here to talk about it with you.

We still want to hear what you thought about today’s show, so talk back to us in the comments below.

Images: Comcast, Disney, Orion Pictures

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Nintendo Switch Gets Save Backups, But Not Virtual Console

Online play has been a huge part of gaming for years now, and although Nintendo does so many things superlatively, they’ve never thrived when it comes to gaming online. Now, though, the company has announced the appropriately named Nintendo Switch Online service, and it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

For $19.99 a year (or $7.99 for three months, $3.99 for a single month, or a $34.99 family plan that covers eight Nintendo accounts), subscribers will gain access to several features. Most obviously, it features online play, so players will be able to compete with users from around the world in games like Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, Mario Tennis Aces, and Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido. It includes save data cloud backup, so you don’t have to worry as much if you happen to break or lose your console. And then there’s the Nintendo Switch Online App, which promises to “enhance the online experience for compatible games through voice chat and other features,” according to press materials.

#NintendoSwitch Online launches this September with Save Data Cloud backup and 20 classic NES games, with more to come, that have newly added online play!

View pricing and info here: https://t.co/ZPh215YNeT pic.twitter.com/CrDx3Iaaaf

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 8, 2018

Another interesting feature is Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online, which allows subscribers to play NES games on their Switch online. The initial lineup of 20 games will include Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, The Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros., Soccer, Super Mario Bros., Tennis, and ten others that will be announced later.

You’re right to wonder what NES – Nintendo Switch Online means for Virtual Console, and it looks like the Switch definitely isn’t getting it, at least not in the foreseeable future. A Nintendo spokesperson told Kotaku while there “are currently no plans” to use “the Virtual Console banner,” this new service has the advantage of incorporating new features that Virtual Console couldn’t provide:

“There are currently no plans to bring classic games together under the Virtual Console banner as has been done on other Nintendo systems. […] There are a variety of ways in which classic games from Nintendo and other publishers are made available on Nintendo Switch, such as through Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online, Nintendo eShop or as packaged collections. [NES] – Nintendo Switch Online will provide a fun new way to experience classic NES games that will be different from the Virtual Console service, thanks to enhancements such as added online play, voice chat via the Nintendo Switch Online app and the various play modes of Nintendo Switch.”

What do you think of these new announcements? What other games should be included in NES – Nintendo Switch Online at launch? Sound off down in the comments!

Featured Image: Nintendo

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