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Stephen Dorff Joins Mahershala Ali in TRUE DETECTIVE Season 3

Since the very nascence of HBO’s True Detective, the eclectic series has stirred the most excitement with its starring cast. Across seasons one and two, True Detective benefited from the familiar talents of reliable power-hitters like Woody Harrelson and Colin Farrell, all the while tampering in the reinvention of one-note stars like Matthew McConaughey (which it pulled off to great success) and Vince Vaughn (which… less so). When Mahershala Ali was cast as the lead of season three, it was a sign that True Detective might be kicking off a different M.O. And now that Ali has found his costar in none other than Stephen Dorff (via Entertainment Weekly), we can rest assured that this new batch of episodes will feel unlike anything the series has given us thus far.

Crossing Jordan and Treme vet Ali has been at the top of everyone’s watch lists since his magnificent turns in last year’s Best Picture winner Moonlight and Marvel series Luke Cage, affording him a relevance and notability distinct from that of his True Detective company. Dorff is a different story, however.

Though not exactly a household name, Dorff has had his foot in every of Hollywood’s most pronounced corners: superheroics (Blade), mainstream comedy (Zoolander), the indie scene (Somewhere), camp (Cecil B. Demented), and even horror, per this year’s Leatherface reboot. A dutiful performer on all fronts, Dorff comes to True Detective, a series committed to turning out interesting performances, with a promise of nothing less. Not quite this season’s Harrelson or Farrell, nor its McConaughey or Vaughn, Dorff is perhaps the perfect new asset to True Detective: someone we’ve seen be great, but someone whose greatness we know we haven’t seen the whole of yet.

Image: New Line Cinema

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Meet an Artist Who Creates Paintings with Excel

The digital age has transformed our understanding of art and the people who create it. Thanks to programs like Photoshop, an artist doesn’t necessarily need a pencil or a brush to create stunning works of art. The computer and its apps and programs are tools used by artists to express themselves. However, Tatsuo Horiuchi might fall into a category of his own. He uses Microsoft Excel as a medium to make art that’s more lovely than you might expect. As you can see in the video below, Horiuchi is very talented; he found a way to make a simple spreadsheet program into his artistic tool of choice.



Horiuchi was profiled by the YouTube channel, Great Big Story, and they show off a few of his creations in the video. According to Horiuchi, the origin of his artistic endeavors is that he wanted to take up painting after he retired, but he was far too cheap to buy art supplies or even a specialized program for artwork. He turned to Excel because it was already installed on his computer, which meant that it was free.

Horiuchi taught himself how to work within its limitations while making digital paintings of Japanese landscapes. There’s a simple quality to his creations, and yet there is undeniable beauty as well. If you want to add his art to your home, Horiuchi sells his digital paintings as limited edition prints; you can see and purchase those prints here.

What do you think about this video? Leave comment for us below. Bonus points if you manage to do it with Excel!

Image: Great Big Story

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Sad, Bizarre Snowmen Exploded with Big Gas-Bag Bombs

A wintry trend centered around finding new and exciting ways to annihilate unsuspecting snowmen may now be developing. In 2016, for example, Finnish farmers used “killer drones” to decapitate a series of snowmen in a video that oddly feels like it should be rated NSFW. And now YouTube channel Beyond the press has given us another reason to mourn for the balled, snowy peoples of the world, with its video of exploding snowmen with homemade explosives.



The video, which comes via Laughing Squid, shows Lauri Vuohensilta and Anni Vuohensilta, the Finnish couple behind Beyond the press and the Hydraulic Press Channel, rolling up a couple of extremely bizarre snowmen–who have happy facial expressions in the saddest ways possible–and then exploding them with 100-liter trash bags full of oxy-acetylene gas, which is usually used for high-temperature welding and cutting. And even though the resulting explosions aren’t Die Hard-level, they’re still certainly powerful enough to blow Frosty to smithereens.

The reason for multiple explosions was due to the fact that during the first snowman explosion, the slow-mo cameras weren’t turned on, which meant that a second attempt was necessary. And all we can say about the second snowman is… we’re glad the Vuohensiltas were kind enough to put it out of its misery.

The exploding snowmen also provided another opportunity for the little adventurous GoPro to prove its worth as a masochistic recording box, as it was placed right next to the exploding trash bag. Although that’s still somehow less impressive than when it survived extreme levels of radiation or molten lava flows.

What do you think about this method of exploding snowmen? How would you like to see them destroyed in the future? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Beyond the press

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HARRY POTTER Makes Kids More Understanding of Others, Study Says

Reading J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter novels as a youngster might have made you jealous about never getting your letter to Hogwarts, but there’s a good chance they also made you more tolerant of disenfranchised groups, because according to the results of one study reading about the Boy Who Lived Made kids more understanding and empathetic of marginalized members of society.

A study originally published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology–that we recently came across at Mental Floss–tested three age groups of young people to see “whether extended contact through reading the popular best-selling books of Harry Potter improves attitudes toward stigmatized groups.”

We considered participants across an extended life span, ranging from childhood to young adulthood. The first study is an experimental intervention realized among Italian elementary school children. The second and third studies are cross-sectional, conducted with high school students in Italy and university undergraduates in the United Kingdom, respectively. In order to provide a stringent test for our hypotheses, we focused on three deeply stigmatized out-groups: immigrants (Study 1), homosexuals (Study 2), refugees (Study 3).

The elementary students filled out a questionnaire about their thoughts on immigrants before reading passages from the books, which included group discussions focusing on sections dealing with prejudice.

“Results revealed that a structured intervention based on reading passages related to prejudice and conducted among Italian elementary school children improved attitudes toward immigrants (compared with a control condition where children read passages unrelated to prejudice) for children who identified more with the main positive character.”

The second study with the high school students focused on their feelings towards homosexuals, and it saw similar results “associated with improved attitudes toward a stigmatized group.” That was also true with the undergraduates who were measured for their feelings about refugees, although there was one notable difference compared with the first two results. In the other studies identifying with Harry himself led to more understanding from the participants, whereas the university students didn’t seem to have that personal connection to the character, possibly because they were older than Harry was in the books. The growth in their improved feelings came from “those less identified with Voldemort.”

These days being a better person because you don’t identify with evil is still something worth celebrating. As are the novels, which we just so happen to be doing this month at Alpha B0ok Club, where we are reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Tune in this Wednesday at Project Alpha at 6:00 P.M. PST, we’re covering the first four chapters.

Not only is it going to be a blast, it sounds like it will make you a more understanding person.

Do you think reading Harry Potter as a kid made you a better person today? Tell us why in the comments below.

Images: Warner Bros. Pictures

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Marvel Reveals THANOS’ True Name

He is Marvel Comics #1 cosmic threat, give or take a Galactus or two. And this year, after six years of teasing in various films, Thanos will finally make his move against the Earth in Avengers: Infinity War. But who is the so-called “Mad Titan” really? It makes sense that since he’s obsessed with Death (the literal embodiment of death, not just the concept) he calls himself Thanos, since it evokes the words Thanatology, the study of death. But the purple guy wasn’t born with a mad crush on Death, so what was the name on his birth certificate?

It turns out, as revealed in , that in last week’s issue of  the Thanos ongoing series, issue #14, creators Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Antonio Fabela and Clayton Cowles delve deep into the history and backstory of Marvel’s “Big Bad,” including his birth on the planet Titan, his many battles with the likes of the Avengers and the X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. When referring to Thanos’ youth, the issue tells us that the big purple lug had a different name at birth, when his Mama decided to simply call him ….George.

Ok, ok, I’m kidding. His true name isn’t George, even though I wish it was something as normal and basic as that. Turns out, after meeting a version of himself from a million years in the future, older Thanos tries to have a moment with his younger self, and reminds him that his mother Sui-San had, before she died, named her little purple baby Dione.

Yes, give or take an extra N, the biggest villain in the galaxy shares a name with the singer of “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?” and Alicia Silverstone’s best friend from the movie Clueless. Not bad company, really. You can see the panel where the reveal is made above.

Will Thanos utter his true name in the movies, and will it have an impact on future comics and movies? Who’s to say? If the MCU does end up calling him something like George or Larry, though, that would violate continuity in a pretty big way. Just keep it in mind, Kevin Feige! Don’t mess with our boy Dione.

What do you think of the Thanos reveal? Let us know down below in the comments.

Images: Marvel Comics / Marvel Studios

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Ice Rubik’s Cube Gives a Whole New Meaning to ‘Brain Freeze’

Everybody knows that boredom and cold don’t mix. If you’re stationed at a creepy Antarctic research station, for example, you can’t just stand around waiting for the Thing to… do its thing. You need to keep your mind occupied, and diverted from the bitter chill around you as well as possible alien attacks. In other words, you need a Rubik’s Cube made almost entirely of ice. An ice cube, if you will.



The Rubik’s Cube made of ice (“real ice” too, none of that dry ice stuff), is the creation of YouTuber and “twisty puzzle” aficionado Tony Fisher. Fisher has been making twisty puzzles, which essentially seem to be variations on the Rubik’s Cube, since 1980. Over the course of his career, he’s been responsible for numerous whacky and geometrically intricate versions of the cube, including the world’s tiniest Rubik’s Cube, which fits on the tip of one’s finger.

This ice cube takes the twisty puzzle game to the next level however, by using a material that will literally melt in your hands if you don’t solve the puzzle fast enough. Unless, of course, you are actually stationed in the Antarctic, or Hoth for that matter, and are able to puzzle solve in freezing temperatures. Or if you’re just insanely fast like these folks.

Below is a short video detailing how Fisher made the ice cube. And don’t be fooled by the footage at the beginning of the clip above. This cube was not somehow organically grown in a watery petri dish; that’s just footage of the cube melting played in reverse.



What do you think about this Rubik’s Cube made of ice? Is there something deeply satisfying about blocks of ice sliding across one and other as they ache and crack with cold? Or are you fine sticking with the good ol’ non-melting version of the already difficult puzzle game? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Tony Fisher

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The Identity of Rey’s Parents is Still Open for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX

Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Last Jedi !

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is another huge hit for the franchise, but it hasn’t passed by without sparking some massive debates among fans. In particular, there seems to be a lot of disappointment that the mysteries of Rey didn’t “go the way you think.” Instead of confirming that Rey is the daughter of Luke Skywalker or Kylo Ren‘s secret sister, the movie told us that Rey’s parents were no one of any significance…or so we thought. Today’s Nerdist News is casting some doubt on that revelation and what it may mean for Star Wars: Episode IX.

Join host and the galaxy’s top Porg wrangler, Jessica Chobot, as she examines some recent remarks by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. During an interview with The Huffington Post, Johnson said “Anything’s still open, and I’m not writing the next film. J.J. Abrams and Chris [Terrio] are doing it. I was very thankful there was no slip of paper that was handed to me that said Rey’s parents are so and so.” However, in previous interviews, Johnson was adamant that Kylo Ren wasn’t lying to Rey when he told her that her parents were junkers who sold her and abandoned her.

How could Episode IX walk back that revelation if Kylo was telling the truth? Well, this franchise has always played with the idea of the truth, “from a certain point of view.” We can safely assume that Johnson decided that Rey’s parents would be nobodies because it served as one of the more shocking moments in The Last Jedi. Abrams could decide that it would make for a stronger conclusion if Rey’s parents do have ties to major characters…while still being junkers who didn’t raise her.

Do you want Episode IX to give Rey a more distinct Star Wars lineage or should her origin remain intact? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Lucasfilm

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Karl Pilkington Strangely Predicts an Episode of BLACK MIRROR

Warning: mild spoilers follow for season four of Black Mirror.

Even though part of a recent episode of Black Mirror was based on a short story written by magician Penn Jillette, we feel the folks behind the Netflix series may owe a thank you to comedian Karl Pilkington. “Black Museum” is the sixth episode of season four of the sci-fi and horror anthology series, Black Mirror. The episode consists of a few stories (it’s an anthology in an anthology) showcasing proto-versions of futuristic tech we’ve seen in other episodes with some downright awful revelations of what can be done with them. They all, in some way, revolve around the transferring of consciousness. One story tells the tale of a coma victim’s mind being uploaded into the mind of her husband while the other, the one based on Gillette’s “The Pain Addict,” deals with a doctor being able to feel what a patient is going through.

And Pilkington shared the seeds of those ideas in 2007 and 2008.

Pilkington spelled out the two concepts on the HBO comedy series The Ricky Gervais Show. The show animated the hijinks of the podcast and radio program of the same name and gave audiences a deeper look inside the mind of co-host Pilkington. His ideas were often, if not always, ridiculed for being incredibly dumb by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. They should apologize if they gave Pilkington a hard time about these concepts. You can see the idea for the coma victim cut together with Black Mirror in the above video by YouTuber Matt.

It makes us wonder what other ideas we could mine from Pilkington’s unique way of thinking and turn into hit TV show plots. If you need us, we’ll be working on writing the next sci-fi horror story about the “Pilko Pump Pant!” They’re inflatable pants, but what happens when the pants start inflating you!?



Is Black Mirror just a look inside the mind of Pilkington? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Image: Netflix

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Duncan Jones Honors His Dad By Announcing the DAVID BOWIE BOOK CLUB

Most of us are so consumed by binge-watching the latest Netflix shows or posting what we are about to eat to our social media accounts that we’re lucky if we finish one or two books a year–except for those of us who watch Alpha Book Club of course. Someone who wasn’t like the rest of us in this regard (and many others) was the late, great David Bowie, who was a voracious reader throughout his entire life.

Bowie was such a huge reader that last year, a list of Bowie’s 100 favorite books, ranging from classics to historical biographies to comics, was released. Now we’ve learned, via Consequence of Sound, that in admiration for the rock icon’s favorite books, his son, director Duncan Jones, has launched the “David Bowie Book Club.”

My dad was a beast of a reader. One of his true loves was Peter Ackroyd’s sojourns into the history of Britain & its cities. I’ve been feeling a building sense of duty to go on the same literary marathon in tribute to dad. Time allowing…#Read-ItBig’nsTheBrain

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) December 27, 2017

Jones took to Twitter to make the announcement, which you can read above, and proclaimed that his father was “a beast of a reader.” It seems starting this book club means he can pay homage to his father in a way he can share with Bowie’s many fans.

Alright gang! Anyone who wants to join along, we are reading Peter Ackroyd’s “Hawksmoor,” as an amuse cerveau before we get into the heavy stuff. You have until Feb 1.

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) December 27, 2017

The book club will stick to Bowie’s 100 favorite books from the previously mentioned list, and the first book to be discussed will be the 1985 novel Hawksmoor by Peter Aykroyd, an author who Jones says was one of his father’s “true loves.” If you want to follow along with the book club, the deadline to finish the 288 page novel is February 1, so you better get to your local library or hit up your local bookseller or Amazon soon. Stay tuned to Jones’ Twitter feed for the discussions.

Are you excited to follow in the literary steps of the Thin White Duke? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Image: RCA Records

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See an Intro Reel for Disney’s Unmade HAUNTED MANSION Animated TV Series

If you have found your way out of the Haunted Mansion in a mortal state, you probably got right back in line to take the risk of getting trapped again. The Disney Parks attraction makes living with 999 happy haunts look incredibly appealing. They have endless ballroom dancing, a fortune teller, and a graveyard party–all packed with intriguing characters and backstory. And a Haunted Mansion animated series by Kubo and the Two Strings writer Shannon Tindle would have spent time with them.

Via Cartoon Brew, Tindle shared his intro reel for the unmade series. I’m all about this art style and tone from the familiar opening notes. Watch:

I want to see this. So. Bad.

Disney didn’t move forward with this take though. Tindle told Nerdist, “I’d written three drafts total, one for an ongoing series and two for a limited series (both featuring the same main characters). We’d begun early visual development work and were starting to put a schedule together. Disney was always very excited and supportive, but it’s a big company with lots of divisions and I believe they had other plans for the property. I have nothing but gratitude for the freedom I was given to explore such a wonderful property.”

Tindle was planning to take inspiration from all the backstories created by Imagineering, and as mentioned above, was going to focus on the various characters over the course of the series. “There are lots of incredible characters in the Haunted Mansion and I wanted to take a stab at including several: the Hitchhiking Ghosts, the Hatbox Ghost, the Bride, etc. However, I was most excited by two original characters I created for the series and how they would interact with and be changed by the Haunted Mansion,” he explained.

I like the idea of participating in the story alongside new characters. It would give fans a way to enrich their Haunted Mansion experience; the possibilities are well-suited to a TV series. What do you think about the look of this potential Haunted Mansion series? What would you like to see in a TV show based on the attraction? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: Shannon Tindle, Disney TV Animation News

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

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