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Rick Moranis’ 5 Most Memorable Movie Roles

If any performer has a 100% approval rating it’s Rick Moranis, who turned 65 this week. And while he walked away from his highly successful career at an early age to be a stay-at-home dad, he still gave us a number of beloved, iconic performances. So to celebrate one of our favorite actors, who always had us rooting–and laughing with–some of cinema’s biggest nerds and unlikeliest heroes, here are his five most memorable movie roles.

Honorable Mention

Barney Coopersmith – My Blue Heaven



This should probably be in the top five, but unfortunately it has kind of been lost to time a little bit. It’s never on TV, and since it’s not for kids, new generations aren’t often introduced to it like some of his most famous films. It’s still a great straight man performance though, and it makes Steve Martin’s more over-the-top part funnier.

Barney Rubble – The Flintstones

This is a kids’ movie, but not one that was a big hit with audiences, plus this is only our second favorite Moranis’ “Barney.” And while he’s charming and lovable, the movie isn’t our favorite he’s been in.

5) Danny O’Shea – Little Giants

Little Giants remains one of the funniest pure kids sports movies ever made, and its emotional heart is Moranis’s Danny O’Shea, the overshadowed little brother of a former Heisman Trophy winner and the unfair coach of the town’s Pop Warner football team. Moranis was the perfect choice as the man who steps up to lead the town’s overlooked kids to victory against the more athletic kids. Moranis’s Danny is sincere, vulnerable, and brave, and that’s why you are going to be way more emotional than you’re prepared for re-watching him give this halftime speech.



4) Wayne Szalinski – Honey I Shrunk the Kids

Rick Moranis played a lot of nerds, and his smartest version was the brilliant Wayne Szalinski in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids franchise, which led to three movies (yes, there was a third, but we can pretend it didn’t happen). These sci-fi fantasy films were huge with kids, and no one is more associated with them than Moranis, who was the perfect choice to play the sweet but careless scientist. Who else could literally shrink their children without you getting mad at them?



3) Lord Dark Helmet – Spaceballs

Casting Rick Moranis to play his Darth Vader-esque character in his Star Wars parody was a truly inspired choice by Mel Brooks. Getting to play a bad guy for a change, Lord Dark Helmet stands as the funniest movie role of Moranis’s career. His naturally geeky persona made his oversized, overcompensating helmet that much funnier, and seeing his bespectacled real face every time he was frustrated, angry, or confused is an amazing recurring joke. He’s absolutely hysterical in every scene he’s in.



2) Louis Tully – Ghostbusters

Not only are the two Ghostbusters movies arguably the most popular of his career, the super geeky Louis Tully is one of the funniest characters in them. Everyone remembers him in the first film as the smitten neighbor in love with Dana, who then became the Keymaster, who then was turned into a dog beast, but his attempts at being a Ghostbuster in the second are maybe even more absurd. It’s impossible for any human to be any funnier than he is in this scene.



1) Seymour Krelborn – Little Shop of Horrors

A true cult classic that feels like it would be impossible to get made today (try pitching this musical in one sentence without sounding like a crazy person), this is everything you’d want from a Rick Moranis performance. He’s nerdy, smart, lovable, feeds people to a killer talking alien plant, defeats the bad guy, gets the girl, saves the world (maybe), and oh yeah, he sings.

We hope some day he returns to acting full time, because the world needs more Rick Moranis. And we definitely need more of Rick Moranis singing.

But what do you think? What other role should have made our list? What should be in the top spot? Share your favorite Rick Moranis part in our comments below.

Featured Image: Columbia/Warner Bros./MGM

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Astronauts Are Reading Children’s Books in Space to Encourage a Love of STEM

If you’re a parent of a certain age, you probably remember the joy of watching the hosts of Reading Rainbow or Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood reading to you as a child. There was something soothing about listening to a story and using your imagination to follow along. Sometimes the story would even come to life as the show edited together narration with images from the book. Now a whole new generation can experience the thrill of story time. Only today’s kids are being read to…from space.



As reported by the Huffington Post, Story Time From Space is a project spearheaded by the Global Space Education Foundation (GSEF) in partnership with the International Space Station (ISS). The project was co-founded by Patricia Tribe (former director of education at the Space Center Houston) and astronaut Alvin Drew to engage children in STEM.

Once a story has been approved–it can be no longer than 15 minutes and must be scientifically accurate–the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) partners with NASA to get the books loaded onto payloads headed for the ISS. Once the books arrive, astronauts volunteer their time, recording themselves reading to the camera. The recordings are then edited and then uploaded to the Story Time From Space website, and you can watch a few of them on YouTube.

The GSEF sometimes requests a specific astronaut for particular books. For example, in the above video, Kate Rubins reads the tale of Rosie Revere, Engineer, as the initiative considered it crucial that the story of a female engineer be read by a woman.

Of course, you don’t have to be a child to enjoy Story Time From Space. Everyone is welcome to follow along, to hear a tale of family-friendly STEM discovery and take a look around the International Space Station as it hurtles through the endless dark outside our small blue marble.

Images: Story Time From Space

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THE 100 Cast Spill The Secrets of Season 5’s Massive Time Jump

The dystopian landscape of The 100 has changed considerably with the showrunners constantly taking risks and blurring genres. As we move towards the fifth season of the hit CW series, which sees the story leap six years into the future, we sneaked into the Vancouver set of the show and chatted to the cast in the vast remains of an old church. The stars of the show were eager to tell us about how their characters have changed in the face of the massive time-jump, and what that means for the show going forward.

For Bob Morley, who plays the group’s reluctant leader Bellamy, it’s been a learning experience for the hot headed youngster who’s finally had to grow up. “That six years in space changed a lot. The group up there–we’re calling them Spacekru–they’re like this new family unit up there, and he’s had to take Clarke’s advice of using his head and his heart to become more of a well-rounded leader. Raven is like his second-in-charge. Everyone runs things together. They always make decisions together. It’s a nice community up there and it’s definitely calmed him down from fighting and killing people every other week. After the six years off, maybe he’s gotten a bit soft. I’m sure he’ll get back to it,” Morley laughed.

Morley’s co-lead Eliza Taylor–who plays Clarke–was clearly exhilarated about the variety that the time-jump has introduced. “There’s a lot of changes. Obviously, it’s probably no secret that we’ll be reunited with both the people underground and the people in space. Yeah, a lot has happened. A lot of people have changed quite dramatically, which I’m excited to be able to talk about at some point happily,” Taylor gushed, “It’s surprising because I’m like, how many ways can we end the world and then save it again? Our writers just come up with the most brilliant ideas. This one is probably my favorite just because we get to play with the idea of being six years into the future. We’ve all gotten to really reinvent our characters.”

The entire cast were enthusiastic about the new setting, but for Jared Joseph it was a chance to take control of Nathan who he’s played for over four years. “It was kind of cool to kind of have the free reign to decide your look, I guess, and your approach to people you haven’t seen in awhile and all of that stuff, like reconnecting with certain characters. I’ve been given a lot of freedom to say, ‘This is how I feel about them. Does that work?’ That part really excited me. I got to change some relationships up on my own merit, and they would tell me if I was wrong or not,” Joseph shared.

Fan favorite Maria Avgeropoulos’ Octavia ended season four heading underground, and has for the past six years of the show’s timeline become the leader of the new subterranean world. “After the time jump, Octavia has changed quite a bit. You’re gonna see her years later and she takes a very creative way to help all the clans get along. There’s a lot of old resentments among all the clans and old resentments don’t die. So she has to come up with a very Octavia way to maintain order among the groups and you’ll see exactly how that is in Season Five. This season gets a lot darker than last season, for sure,” Avgeropoulos teased.

Octavia isn’t alone in the bunker, though–she’s joined by Adina Porter’s Indra. The fantastic actress was quick to share her insight into the most exciting thing this season has to offer. “I think it’s really interesting to see any kind of human being when they’re pushed to the brink. So you get to see all these different personalities and how they react and try to survive when they’re pushed beyond the limits that they thought they could withstand,” Porter espoused.

Are you excited for the new season of The 100? Just can’t wait to see Bellarke back together again? Intrigued by the promise of a darker season of The 100? Let us know below!

Images: The CW

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These LAST JEDI Prints Will Make You the Envy of the Galaxy

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is. It doesn’t matter how long until the next film opens. Star Wars fever doesn’t have a season. It can hit anyone at any time without warning. Take Bottleneck Gallery for example. It has been almost four months to the day since the release of The Last Jedi, and they’ve come out with four new prints to let everyone know getting excited about this movie is not out of style. Artist Dan Mumford originally created these pieces as lithographs given out at certain screenings during the movies run. They have now become full prints which you can display proudly in your home.

“It is Time for the Jedi to End” depicts Luke watching over Rey’s lightsaber training on Ahch-To.

“Something to Fight For” immortalizes the long-awaited battle between former Stormtrooper and now Resistance hero Finn vs. his former Captain Phasma. While we wish the fight lastest a lot longer, it was still an emotional one.

Much like when a few small X-Wings and the like went up against the might of the Death Star, “The Spark that will Light the Fire” shows the Resistance in their run-down fighters going up against an entire battalion of First Order Walkers. While C-3PO would gladly tell you the odds of winning the battle, the Resistance already had a pretty good idea and went anyway.

Knowing the eventual betrayal by Kylo Ren makes “Darkness Rises and Light to Meet It” all the more ominous. It would give the same feeling if there was a print of Obi-Wan and Anakin meeting for the first time.

All of these prints run for $50 apiece or $175 for the entire set. Variant editions of each print (which you can check out down below) are also on sale for $55 each or $200 for the set. They can be purchased on Bottleneck Gallery’s website here.

So what do you think? Which of these prints is your favorite? What other scenes from the film would you like to see? Let me know on Twitter @donnielederer or sound off in the comments below.

Images: Dan Mumford

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Japan’s Highest Bridge Measures Its Size Relative to Godzilla

Only the fictional citizens of cinematic Japan have to constantly worry about Godzilla rising from the sea and destroying their cities, but that doesn’t mean our favorite big screen monster can’t be used to size up some very real places. And what better way to appreciate just how tall one of the highest bridges in Japan really is than by measuring it up to the most famous giant creature of them all.

Reddit user notneededjunk noticed that the Kokonoe “Yume” Grand Suspension Bridge in Japan’s Kusu District in Ōita provides a helpful scale to show visitors just how high it soars above the ground. Because while it is massive on its own, standing 173 meters (nearly 570 feet tall) and 390 meters long (almost 1300 feet), it’s total elevation stands at 777 meters (over 2,500 feet), which means Godzilla, who comes in at 100 meters (around 330 feet) could safely walk underneath its bottom portion at the bridge’s midpoint.

Japan’s highest bridge’s height is compared to Godzilla from r/mildlyinteresting

Now that‘s a scale. The rest of the chart includes:

Ōsaka Castle – 36 meters
Arc de Triomphe – 49 meters
Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome. 84 meters
Statue of Liberty – 93 meters
The Pyramids – 146 meters

That means this isn’t just the highest pedestrian bridge in Japan, it might be the safest to visit. Because even though we know Godzilla isn’t real, and that Kaiju aren’t coming out of the Pacific and attacking Tokyo, all we’re saying is this a smart design just in case.

Because maybe these giant monsters don’t want to destroy everything, maybe they simply can’t avoid them.

Images: Toho/ Japan National Tourism Organization

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Did Sebastian Stan Just Spoil Surprise INFINITY WAR Cameos?

Marvel has done an amazing job keeping Infinity War‘s biggest secrets, except when it comes to its loose-lipped cast. On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed the latest potential spoiler, this time courtesy of Sebastian Stan, along with the final trailers for both Deadpool 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Joining host Jessica Chobot today was editor Amy Ratcliffe, as well as producers Derek Johnson and Jesse Gill. They kicked things off with the final trailer for Deadpool 2, which features lots of laughs, violence, and fourth-wall breaking references. But does the humor work? And what do we make of Josh Brolin saying Cable’s story will cover four movies?



In other superhero news, Sebastian Stan decided he wasn’t going to let Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo be the only Avengers to give away secrets from Infinity War…

Spoiler warning!

…In an interview he talked about what it was like filming the giant battle in Wakanda and looking around and seeing everyone there, including Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Oh Sebastian. But is any of it a surprise? Which leads to a discussion about what would actually surprise us in the movie.

Finally, this week we also got the last trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and it’s pretty nuts. What did we think of it? It might hit that it’s so bad it’s awesome level.

Remember Nerdist News Talks Back airs live Monday through Thursday at 1PM PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels, and we wrap things up with our hour-long Nerdist News What the Fridays at 1PM PT, only at Alpha. (except for tomorrow, April 19, when you can catch What the Fridays live on YouTube). Make sure you tune in every day, because with the way the Infinity War cast keeps giving away info about the movie we won’t have to wait to see it to discuss it.

What did you think of today’s show? Talk back to us in the comments below.

Images: Marvel, Universal Pictures

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The Latest MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Directors Are the Nee Brothers

Masters of the Universe, based on the ’80s toy line and He-Man cartoon, is one of those projects that has had a lot of directors attached over the years. Jon M. Chu, Jeff Wadlow, McG, and David Goyer have all been named at one point or another, but now it seems that the Goyer-penned version will be moving forward…just not with him directing. Instead, per a report in Variety (and independently verified by Nerdist’s sources), helming duties will go to the team of Aaron and Adam Nee.

Who? Well, Adam is an actor often seen on Drunk History, and Aaron is a former animator for documentary shows like Nova and American Experience. Together, they directed the live-action feature Band of Robbers, which was about modern-day, grown-up versions of Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and their supporting cast (minus the inconvenient Jim) pulling a heist. It wasn’t bad, and featured a cannily cast Melissa Benoist as Becky Thatcher. So on the plus side, they have some experience reinventing beloved childhood icons. On the uphill side, nothing about it necessarily suggested epic fantasy, but Aaron’s animation background should prove useful there.



One of the difficulties in getting a Masters of the Universe movie made is that Cannon films grifted Mattel so badly over the 1987 movie (pretending they’d go halfsies on the budget, then reneging and holding up production once they had Mattel’s half) that the toy giant want to make sure it gets done absolutely right this time. It can be daunting for a director walking in to cede a certain level of control to an action figure company in charge. For us He-fans, however, each new announcement brings new hope that we’re ever closer to the Eternian goal.

Does this choice have the power? Direct your comments down below!

Image: Mike Young Productions

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Why DEADPOOL 2’s “Peter” is More Important Than You Think

You can’t seem to go more than a few feet before running into a Peter in the Marvel universe. The Guardians of the Galaxy have Peter Quill/Star-Lord, the X-Men and Deadpool have Pyotr “Peter” Rasputin/Colossus, and of course, there’s Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man. So when Rob Delaney‘s Peter showed up for X-Force auditions in the new Deadpool 2 trailer, it caught everyone’s attention. Today’s Nerdist News investigates whether this Peter is a familiar face from X-Men history.

Join host and the winner of our Deadpool dead pool, Jessica Chobot, as she throws the spotlight on Peter. There is something inherently charming about Peter’s enthusiasm for Deadpool’s new X-Force even if he doesn’t appear to have any powers at first glance. Of course, Deadpool immediately signed him up–every superhero team needs a red shirt. But we’re sticking with our original theory: Rob Delaney is playing Pete Wisdom.

Pete Wisdom might be pretty obscure if you didn’t read Warren Ellis’ Excalibur run two decades ago. As you can see in the above picture, this Peter has the ability to shoot extremely hot plasma blades from his fingers. And you know Deadpool would spend hours making fun of that power if they ever met in the comics. He’s also one of the three Marvel Peters (four, if you count the Ultimate Universe) to date Kitty Pryde. Plus, Pete Wisdom was actually a member of a X-Force team. But that’s not the only reason we think he’s in the movie.

Apparently, Pete’s had an official Twitter account since last month, under the name “Peter W.” He also happens to be one of only two accounts followed by the official Deadpool twitter handle. The other is Hello Kitty. So, Pryde and Wisdom are back together again, in a weird deep dive joke. That is definitely a very Deadpool thing to do.

What do you think about our “Peter” theory? Take one for the team in the comment section below!

Images: 20th Century Fox/Marvel

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Chris Evans Shares Fight Training Videos From THE WINTER SOLDIER

When you watch a big action movie, you can intellectually know the fight scenes you’re watching take an inordinately long time to make look perfect, but in the moment you get caught up in the spectacle of it all. Nowhere is this effect on display more than in the Marvel movies, films that pound-for-pound have more action than you can shake a considerably large stick at. Chris Evans–you know, Captain America himself–has taken the lion’s share of the physical action in the franchise, and he’s done it for what’ll be six movies once Avengers: Infinity War opens.

To celebrate, Evans took to Twitter to share out videos of him practicing fight choreography for some of the best fights in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which still stands as his crowning achievement. The videos really show off how much of a dance it is to learn the moves in the right rhythm so as to not, you know, hurt the person you’re working with. Or yourself.

The first video has moves from the fight between Cap and the Winter Soldier which features some fancy knife work.

In honor of Infinity War coming out next week, here are a few videos I found from 2013 while prepping for The Winter Soldier. pic.twitter.com/TFur0vZs3M

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) April 19, 2018

The other three are from the movie’s crowning achievement, the close-quarters brawl in the S.H.I.E.L.D. elevator between Cap and ALL THE BAD GUYS EVER. The first video shows Evans working on the moves solo.

Elevator…. pic.twitter.com/f3qi6OBgG6

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) April 19, 2018

The second has what the bedlam of the brawl’s beginning, complete with Cap being grabbed around the throat by super large dudes.

pic.twitter.com/T9GTfTPfIo

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) April 19, 2018

And finally a really cool look at the part of the fight where Cap’s arm is magnetized to the wall.

pic.twitter.com/XUxOj4mDLn

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) April 19, 2018

The Winter Soldier had by far the best fights per-capita of any of the Captain America films, and we’re really hoping we get some more greatness with Cap’s appearance in Infinity War.

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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PRINCE’S Original Recording of “Nothing Compares 2 U” Finally Released

It’s been nearly two years since Prince left us, and it’s fair to say the world remains a far lesser place without the Purple One. The one consolation to Prince no longer being with us is the sheer amount of unheard music he left behind, enough that one person who went through Prince’s vault’s suggested a new Prince song could be released once a month for the next century. Now, the Prince estate, via Pitchfork, have uncovered and released a true gem — the only known studio recording of one his most famous songs, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” You can check out the specially made music video, compiled from old rehearsal footage of Prince and the Revolution, down below.



“Nothing Compares 2 U” was first released by the Prince-formed band The Family on their 1985 self-titled album, but it never charted. Prince, knowing the song’s potential for greatness, lent the song to singer Sinéad O’Connor in 1990, and it became a worldwide smash hit. This was but one of many songs Prince lent to other singers or specifically wrote just for them that became global hits. Later, Prince would perform the song live many times and released a live version on his first greatest hits compilation back in 1993. After his death, his friend and fellow ’80s icon Madonna sang it in honor of him.

This newly released demo, however, is the only known studio recording of the classic song with Prince actually singing lead. It was recorded by Susan Rogers in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and features backing vocals by regular Prince collaborators Susannah Melvoin and Paul “St. Paul” Peterson. This was done in the summer of 1984, during the height of Purple Rain mania, so chances are Prince was mulling over including it on the Revolution’s next studio album, Around the World in a Day, but decided against it. This newly-discovered original version will soon be released as two 7″ vinyl singles—in picture disc and black vinyl formats.

What do you think of this amazing rendition of this classic Prince track? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.

Images: Warner Brothers

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