Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1856

TRAP ADVENTURE 2 Is a Hilariously Difficult SUPER MARIO BROS. Clone

Super Mario Maker for the Wii U gave fans the chance to embrace their inner game designer while allowing them to share their creations with other fans. Naturally, some players created the hardest levels imaginable, but they couldn’t be shared until the creators proved that their levels could be beaten. The mobile game Trap Adventure 2 (or TrapAdventure 2) had no limitations on its difficulty, and its designer, Hiroyoshi Oshiba, apparently has a wicked sense of humor. The game is currently blowing up online because of its insanely high difficulty and its darkly funny moments.

Via Kotaku, the reason for Trap Adventure 2‘s sudden popularity is a video that was posted on Twitter a few days ago that illustrates just how cruel and hilarious the game can be. Trap Adventure 2 may look like a Super Mario Bros. clone, but it uses that familiarity against the players. Every tactic that would have worked in Mario’s adventure becomes a death trap in this game, as the stage turns against the player at nearly every opportunity.

あまりにも神ゲー… pic.twitter.com/DnRv5KG6UB

— 中段見てからしゃがむの余裕マン (@P_MEN876) January 22, 2018

After seeing this video, it’s reasonable to question whether the game is beatable at all. It turns out that it can be conquered, although it requires quite a bit of skill and practice to get past challenging aspects. The following video from YouTube user unnilunium demonstrates how it can be done.



If you’re up for a challenge and you’re not prone to throwing your phone in fits of anger, then you can find Trap Adventure 2 as a free download on iOS.

Will you try your hand at Trap Adventure 2? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Image: Hiroyoshi Oshiba

Don’t pause, read more about games!

Overwatch‘s D.Va got a cat-themed skin.
Toss back some Final Fantasy whisky.
God of War for PS4 gets a new trailer.

They Just Invented Ice Cream That You Can Light on Fire

Even when it isn’t a very hot day, anyone who wants to enjoy a scoop of ice cream only has a short time to finish it before it melts away. But what if the days of melting ice cream could become a thing of the past? Such an unthinkable future may have finally arrived, as ice cream makers in Japan have not only found a way to greatly slow down the melting process, but have in fact come up with an ice cream that is so resistant to heat that it can actually be lit on fire!

Via Food and Wine, scientists working for the Japanese company Kanazawa Ice have developed a soft serve ice cream that can hold its form and temperature for a few hours even in a very hot room. According to Kanazawa’s press release, this feat was accomplished by adding a natural ingredient that prevents the separation of moisture and oil within the ice cream. It’s such a recent breakthrough that the new soft serve ice cream first went on sale in Japan earlier this month.

【大阪アメ村店】 . お待たせしました . 金座和アイス新メニュー 溶けないソフトクリーム

THE LAST JEDI Novelization to Include Han Solo’s Funeral

The Last Jedi hit theaters in December, but the publishing program accompanying the latest Star Wars film isn’t over. The novelization of the movie by author Jason Fry is coming in March, and as with any such adaptation, it will include material that couldn’t fit in the film. Books present the opportunity to spend more time lingering on important moments and getting inside characters’ heads. Episode VIII writer and director Rian Johnson gave input on the book, and he and Fry stopped by The Star Wars Show to discuss some of the deleted scenes that will be part of the novelization. One of those scenes? A funeral for Han Solo.

I’m not emotionally ready.

You can hear Johnson’s and Fry’s comments on the novelization beginning at about 3:13 in the below video.

The sad Solo scene will be featured in the book, as well as one with Rose and Paige Tico together, ones exploring more of Canto Bight, and just going deeper in general.

And because someone will ask about canon: the novelizations of the films from Del Rey are canon unless they contradict something shown on screen. So, if the film shows a scene happening a certain way and the book describes it differently, the film takes precedence over the book.

Are you planning to read The Last Jedi novelization when it’s out on March 6? What else do you hope to see? Tell us in the comments.

Images: Lucasfilm

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. She likes Star Wars a little. Follow her on Twitter.

Read more about Star Wars books!

Enjoy an excerpt from Star Wars: Canto Bight.
New Star Wars novel will bring together Thrawn and Vader.
40 things we learned in From a Certain Point of View.

Win Disney-themed Couples Clothing from Unique Vintage

Always wanted to be your favorite Disney character? Well now you can with this brand new selection of curated outfits from Unique Vintage. The Happiest Collection on Earth: Couples Edition is focused on Disneybounding, which if you’ve yet to come across it means that you pay homage to your favorite character by creating a look that takes influence from an iconic outfit of theirs. Think of it like casual cosplay! If this sounds like it’s up your alley but you’ve no idea where to start, don’t worry as Unique Vintage has you covered!

The rad inclusive range includes outfits for couples of all shapes and sizes that reference your favorite characters from Peter Pan to Cruella de Vil. From full costumes for you and your significant other to cutesy matching shirts, you’ll be sure to find something to suit you and the Disney lover in your life. We’re particularly fond of the Genie outfit which somehow translates her iconic glamor into a cute everyday look. Another highlight is the Tinkerbell and Peter Pan ensembles which will sprinkle a little fairy dust on any of your more mundane days.

If you’ve been searching for a way to inject a little bit of your fandom into your wardrobe then this collection is for you, with so many chill choices and wily ways to declare for Disney without having to wear a pair of mouse ears to work (not that there’s anything wrong with that). You can check out some more sneak peaks at the Happiest Collection on Earth: Couples Edition in our gallery below! And for your chance to win some rad clothing, click here to share this article on Twitter, and you will be automatically entered to win.

Also, did you hear? Fangirling is back! And we’re fangirling about this new Disney Bounding Line. So make sure you enter to win some of these excellent Disney garments so you can tune in with style.

Images: Unique Vintage

 

The Creepy Song from BLACK MIRROR’s “Black Museum” Will Haunt Your Dreams

You might have noticed some interesting music choices in “Black Museum,” the final episode of Black Mirror‘s most recent season. And no, we’re not talking about their repeated use of Irma Thomas’s “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is.”

In the episode, a young woman named Nish (Letitia Wright) stops off at a charging station to power up her vehicle and wanders into the nearby Black Museum. Here, slimy proprietor Rolo Haynes (Douglas Hodge) boasts a collection of ill-fated tech devices, many of which he was directly involved in bringing to market. The episode is split into several stories, culminating—as most Black Mirror episodes do—in one last twist.

The episode features an incredible original score from Cristobal Tapia de Veer, whose other credits include The Girl with All the Gifts (2016), and BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.

 “Familiarity” has a demented carnival vibe that kicks into gear after about 10 seconds of ominous whirring. Ethereal voices offer breathy beats while the sound of a warping tape lends a sense of apprehension. It’s perfect for an episode where our nemesis is a charlatan showman—the ringmaster of his very own horrifying, dystopian freak show. You can hear this theme multiple times, particularly over the scene where a father who has agreed to host his comatose’s wife consciousness in his own mind begins to realize just exactly what they’ve done.

Tapia de Veer said that though he’s a fan of the show, he was not influenced by other episodes “because Colm’s [McCarthy, director] ‘Black Museum’ was its own thing. It is very Black Mirror, but the style felt new to me, so I worked on it as if it were a stand-alone film.”

You can check out the entire score on Tapia de Veer’s BandCamp.

Image: Netflix

9 Essential Anime Movies That Aren’t Made by Studio Ghibli

Everyone knows that Studio Ghibli is basically the Disney of anime—universally beloved by viewers of all ages, with exquisitely crafted tales of love, loss, and personal growth… plus the tendency to do some terrible things to young characters’ parents—but there is so much more to the weird, wild world of anime than Studio Ghibli. So on today’s episode of The Dan Cave, we’re going to run down some of the greatest non-Studio Ghibli anime movies you need to see before you hen-die.

Perfect Blue

Image: Madhouse

I’ve included this Satoshi Kon masterpiece on my lists of best horror anime previously, but it’s also one of the best anime movies period. It’s the story of a pop star named Mima who gives up her career in music to pursue an acting career. Not all of her fans take kindly to this change, and one in particular begins stalking Mima. The psychological thriller takes a turn for the seriously creepy when people on set start getting brutally murdered. To make matters worse, Mima thinks that she might be responsible, and the lines between fiction and reality blur in an alarming way. Kind of like what happens to me when I wake up the night after ordering a large pepperoni pizza…and it’s all gone.

A Silent Voice

Image: Kyoto Animation

We’ve all done things in our past that we regret, but how many of us take meaningful action to make amends for past transgressions? Such is the core theme of A Silent Voice, in which third-year high school student Shouya Ishida is haunted by the horrible things he did in his youth. He’s force to confront them when he’s reunited with Shouko Nishimiya, a deaf girl who he mercilessly bullied in elementary school. What follows is a genuinely heartwarming story of a young man coming into his own and seeking to right the wrongs for which he was responsible, as well as the long-lasting effects of bullying from both perspectives. Quite frankly, this is the kind of film the world needs to see right about now.

Barefoot Gen

Image: Discotek Media

While many of you have likely seen the simultaneously heartwarming and soul-crushing Grave of the Fireflies from Studio Ghibli, far fewer have seen the brutal, unflinching Barefoot Gen. The film shows the horrific realities of World War II and the bombing of Hiroshima from the perspective of a child, chronicling his first-hand experience of the devastation. Barefoot Gen does a tremendous job of depicting the bleak conditions faced by many Japanese citizens during wartime Japan, and the truly haunting aftermath of an atomic bomb obliterating, mutilating, and otherwise maiming tens of thousands of innocent people. Keep a box of tissues nearby and let yourself have the ugliest cry in ages but don’t you dare look away because this is an important piece of history that must not be allowed to repeat itself.

Paprika

Image: Madhouse

The final film of Satoshi Kon makes Inception look like Babytown Frolics (all the while beating Christopher Nolan to the punch by a solid four years). Paprika tells the story of a near-future world where scientists have developed a revolutionary new therapy technique called “dream therapy.” By using a small device, doctors can see their patients’ dreams, and even alter their subconscious from within. One doctor—adopting the dream-persona of Paprika, a literal manic pixie dream girl—begins using the dream machine illegally to help patients outside the facility…which is all well and good until the machine is stolen and reality and dreams begin to merge in terrifying ways. What follows is a mind-bending headtrip of a movie that should induce a Pavlovian response in anyone who enjoyed Persona 5, Inception, or their freshmen year psychology course.

Your Name

Image: Funimation

One of the best movies of last year (or 2016 if you’re being pedantic), Your Name is a beautifully told, bittersweet sci-fi love story about two high schoolers—Mitsuha, a girl living in rural Japan, and Taki, a boy living in Tokyo—who wake up one morning to find they’ve switched bodies despite never having met. This phenomenon repeats itself at random intervals, and over the course of their on-again-off-again Freaky Friday situation, they learn to communicate, help each other improve their lives, and even begin to fall for one another. What follows, though, no one will see coming and is something I dare not spoil here because after having four tiny wines on an international flight, this movie destroyed me in the best way possible.

The Boy and the Beast

Image: Funimation

An orphaned boy doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of society. He runs away from his home only to find himself caught up in a fantastical world full of monsters, mystery, and mayhem. There he must learn an important lesson about himself and grow up in the process. It’s a tale as old as time and one executed beautifully by Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy and the Beast, which is at its core, a story about two outsiders—an orphan named Ren and a loudmouthed surly warrior-beast named Kumatetsu—who are trying to carve out an identity for themselves in a world where they feel they do not quite fit in. You know, kind of like how I feel whenever someone brings up the fact that they “looooove jogging.”

5 Centimeters Per Second

Image: Discotek Media

Few people pull off romantic comedies about how people’s relationships change across great distances and over long periods of time like Makoto Shinkai. For anyone who has a long lost love or someone for whom they have carried a torch for years and years despite not living in the same place, 5 Centimeters Per Second is a film for you. It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but the saga of Takaki and Akari’s friendship and romance from elementary school to adulthood will likely ring true for you in one way or another. So instead of scrolling through your ex’s Instagram posts at 3AM and accidentally liking one from four years ago like a real creepazoid, just watch this instead and move on with you life.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Image: Madhouse

What would you do if you discovered you had the power to travel through time? Would you visit the far-flung future and see if we ever get flying cars? Would you murder baby Hitler? Or would you use it to fix minor mistakes and to your own selfish benefit? If you chose option #3, you might be Makoto Konno, the star of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Except Makoto, like the heroines of most time travel stories, discovers her actions have ripple effects and can lead to terrible consequences for others around her. What follows is Makoto using a limited number of leaps through time to try and fix what she managed to break before time itself is irreparably broken.

Tokyo Godfathers

Even though Christmas has come and gone, it’s never too early or too late to watch another Satoshi Kon classic, Tokyo Godfathers. This beautiful, touching, and impossibly charming movie tells the story of three homeless people—an alcoholic man named Gin, a trans woman and former drag queen named Hana, and a teenage runaway girl named Miyuki—who discover a newborn baby who has been abandoned in the garbage on Christmas Eve. With a train station locker key as their only clue, this unlikely trio sets out to find the baby girl’s parents. Like all Satoshi Kon movies, this is replete with memorable characters, dynamic visuals, and a real sense of humanity, but Tokyo Godfathers shines a light on a part of Japan that often goes unseen and ignored: the downtrodden and disenfranchised. And in that, Kon show us, there can be true beauty.

Those are some of the best non-Ghibli anime movies you need to watch before you die. You might be asking “What about classics like Akira or Ghost in the Shell?” Obviously you should watch those too. Come on. You’re a smart cookie. Put two and two together. But tell me — what are your favorite non-Ghibli anime movies? Let me know in the comments below.

Want to watch The Dan Cave before anyone else? Join Alpha and get early access.

Don’t miss a single episode of The Dan Cave! Subscribe to this playlist.

Tired of getting kicked out of restaurants for being topless? Buy a The Dan Cave t-shirt!

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).

A STAR WARS Sarlacc Pillow to Cuddle for Over a Thousand Years

Thirty-five years ago, Return of the Jedi took Star Wars fans to the Great Pit of Carkoon, where Jabba the Hutt attempted to execute Luke Skywalker and Han Solo by dropping them into the belly of the sarlacc. Even in 1983, this monstrous hole in the desert was enough to give anyone a teeth phobia. Plus, the sarlacc ate Boba Fett, and we’ve never forgiven it for that. But now, some enterprising fan has created a sarlacc pit themed pillow…for very young children. Because if you’re gonna traumatize someone you love, you might as well start early.

Via Laughing Squid, the Pit of Carkoon Play Mat Floor Pillow Lounger was created and sold by the Bed Hog Shop. According to the description, it’s intended for toddlers and newborns, presumably before they’ve had a chance to realize that they’re sleeping on the mouth of a grotesque monster.

Nope. Not disturbing at all. This looks like a pre-Special Edition sarlacc, so the extra beak is gone and the tentacles are absent. But there are so many teeth. Too many teeth.

If you were hoping to pick this up for your child, you’re out of luck for now. The Bed Hog Shop is sold out of this item, but it has a few additional Star Wars inspired pieces that may catch your eye. And none of the other designs look like nightmare fuel.

What do you think about the sarlacc pit pillow? Unleash your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Lucasfilm, The Bed Hog Shop

More Star Wars stories!

14 porg-tastic recipes.
Kelly Marie Tran got a “Laura Fern” for Christmas.
The cantina song played on a barrel organ.

Jemaine Clement Says FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS Will Return This Year

Okay everyone, band meeting! Fans of Flight of the Conchords? “Present.” And the band itself? Well, amazingly, it looks like at some point in 2018 the answer to that question will be “present!” Because according to Jemaine Clement, the band is “going to film a little something this year.”

Clement, who along with Bret McKenzie makes up “New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk comedy duo,” told Entertainment Tonight‘s Leanne Aguilera they will “shoot an hour thing” in 2018 when he was asked if they would reboot their HBO series.

Now this is obviously huge news for fans, but it is very little to go on, especially because he apparently wouldn’t even hint at whether or not HBO would be involved in this hour special. But it would be hard to imagine them doing it for any other network–not just because that’s where their show had its incredible-but-brief two season run in 2008 and 2009, but because it’s also where their first big American exposure came from, in their 2005 “One Night Special.” (Seriously, if you’ve never seen it, it’s one of the best comedy specials ever filmed.)

Despite the two having massive success on their own since they ended the show (McKenzie won an Oscar for The Muppets movie and Clement has had numerous starring roles in big budget projects, including on Legion), they have toured together since then. They will be heading out for a UK tour this March, which is expected to include new material.



So what could this “hour thing” be? We’d love another comedy special like their “One Night Stand,” which would feature their newest songs. But we’d also freak out if it was a follow-up episode of the show, which would give their TV characters a chance to return to America after they were sent back to New Zealand in the series finale. That would also allow Murray, Mel, and Dave into our lives for an hour.

But we don’t care what it is, so long as it means they get to be “present” in our lives again.

What would you like to see the band do? Tell us in the comments below.

Featured Image: HBO

Laugh with more stories about Jemaine Clement!

Flight of the Conchords scores a Super Bowl ad.
Jemaine Clement writes about his hero, David Bowie.
Lin-Manuel Miranda on Clement’s song in Moana.

BLACK MIRROR’s Season 4 Episodes As Pulp Comic Book Covers

Last month, the fourth season of the twisted anthology series Black Mirror debuted on Netflix and gave us more than enough to dwell on for the foreseeable future. Charlie Brooker and his collaborators seem to have an innate ability to get under our collective skin while dropping us into dark reflections of our world. Now, Brazilian artist Butcher Billy is taking that a step further by reimagining all six episodes as old school comic book covers under the banner “Tales of the Unexpected Black Mirrors.”

Via Laughing Squid, Butcher Billy has posted his latest Black Mirror covers in his Behance gallery, and they are absolutely brilliant. They not only capture the flavor of the pre-Comics Code comic book covers, they also manage to distill the episodes into a single powerful image. There isn’t a Black Mirror comic book series, but he certainly makes us wish that there was.

The first cover has a particularly chilling moment from “USS Callister,” in which Nanette Cole was briefly stripped of her facial features when she refuses to go along with Robert Daly’s game.

Butcher Billy’s “Arkangel” cover makes its angelic symbol into an imposing figure, which is fitting for an episode about the new technology used by parents to watch over and control their children.

“Crocodile” captures a very dark moment by enshrouding its leading character, Mia, completely in shadow with an innocent child.

Butcher Billy also goes for the minimalist approach with “Hang the DJ,” which simply focuses on the intertwined hands of Frank and Amy during their limited time together.

“Metal Head” has a cover that seems to invoke classic animators Max Fleischer and Tex Avery as Bella attempts to survive a pack of robot dogs.

Finally, “Black Museum” leaves us with a striking image of a stuffed monkey that has very good reasons to cry. Trust us, it’s pretty bleak!

You can find more of Butcher Billy’s artwork and prints for sale at his RedBubble shop.

What did you think about these Black Mirror comic book covers? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Butcher Billy

Get weird with more Black Mirror!

All of Black Mirror‘s season four easter eggs.
Karl Pilkington predicted an episode of Black Mirror.
Ross Geller did that, too.

Itty Bitty HELLBOY Gets a Pancake Lovin’ Bust

Mike Mignola‘s Hellboy isn’t just the world’s greatest paranormal investigator, he’s also a well-known connoisseur of pancakes. Naturally, his younger counterpart, Itty Bitty Hellboy, is also a big fan of flapjacks, and later this year, he’s getting his own minibust to celebrate his passion for pancakes.

Skelton Crew Studios has unveiled its Itty Bitty Hellboy minibust, which is based upon the work of Art Baltazar and Franco, who published an Itty Bitty Hellboy comic with Dark Horse Comics. It looks like the young Hellboy is actually standing on his plate while enjoying his beloved breakfast dish. The size of the bust is 3.75 inches.

It should be noted that Hellboy’s appetite for pancakes is not only canon, it also helped save him from his darker origins. In Mignola’s short story “Pancakes,” the demons in Hell cried out in anguish when Hellboy took his first bite of a pancake, because they knew that it meant he would be forever lost to them.

Skelton Crew Studios is currently taking pre-orders for the Itty Bitty Hellboy bust, while offering a deal to entice early bird customers. The standard price for the bust is $84, but anyone who orders before January 31 gets it for $72 and also receives a signed print by Baltazar featuring the artwork that inspired the bust.

The Itty Bitty Hellboy minibust is expected to ship in the third quarter of this year.

What do you think about this bust? Order some breakfast and share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Skelton Crew Studios/Dark Horse Comics

Read more about Hellboy!

7 questions about Mike Mignola’s Hellboy.
Injustice 2 gives Hellboy a different kind of ending.
Hellboy stars in a new Injustice 2 trailer.