Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1865
December 27, 2017
How THE LAST JEDI’s Gross Milking Scene Came to Be
When you’re the only human on an island in the middle of an ocean, you have to learn to take care of yourself. In The Last Jedi, we see Luke Skywalker do so by using the natural resources on Ahch-To. He catches fish, he probably roasts porgs (I’m just being realistic), and he squeezes green milk from the thala-siren. The vivid scene isn’t gross to anyone who’s been on a dairy farm, but it caught Rey and some fans off guard. We asked creature shop head Neal Scanlan about bringing the scene to life, and he told us it’s all practical…and involved a helicopter.
“At the very beginning of the film, Rian [Johnson] said to me that he wanted to take animatronics and practical effects and put them there on a real location—he didn’t want to do certain things in the studio,” Scanlan explained. “We went to that location, we photographed that location, and we created a digital map of it so that later back at Pinewood we could recreate the rocks. When we sculpted the thala-siren—she’s a full-sized animatronic puppet and she’s about 18 feet tall—she was sculpted to fit into the rocks so that she actually looked like she was sitting in that environment.”
They created the entire puppet at Pinewood from foam latex. The thala-siren has a mechanism on the inside so her head could tilt forward “like a submarine hatch.” Scanlan said that allowed two puppeteers to get inside the creature—one in the front and one above him. “One would operate the shoulders and the flippers at the top and the other person would operate the belly and the milking mechanism or the udder mechanism at the bottom,” he said.
Getting the large puppet to Ireland was no small task. They had to transport it to location by helicopter. “It’s the only creature I’ve ever flown by helicopter,” Scanlan laughed. Once there, they got the puppeteers inside and staged two other smaller thala-sirens in the background. “We had two puppeteers on the outside, one did the head from a rocky position at the top—he had the head on a rod—and there were two other puppeteers at the bottom that did the bottom flippers,” Scanlan said. “There were the only three other people on the set, and then Mark [Hamill] and Daisy [Ridley] came and acted out the scene. And when Mark, as you know, wanted delivery of the milk from the udder, then the puppeteer on the inside duly obliged.”
Did the milking scene squick you out to the point you had to look away like Rey? Share your reaction to the thala siren in the comments.
Images: Lucasfilm/Disney, DK Publishing
Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. She likes Star Wars a little. Follow her on Twitter.
Read more about The Last Jedi!
Kelly Marie Tran’s The Last Jedi audition.
How porg sounds were made.
How The Last Jedi fails to hold Poe Dameron accountable.
Mark Hamill Pays Tribute to Carrie Fisher on the Anniversary of Her Death
Today marks one year since Carrie Fisher died and we had to say goodbye to our Princess and General. While we still got one final great performance from her in The Last Jedi, it also reminded us of how much we’ll miss her all the more. But as Luke Skywalker told his sister in the movie, no one’s ever really gone, not when we keep them in our hearts, which seems to be what Mark Hamill himself has done with a simple and beautiful tribute to his late friend.
Hamill remembered his co-star with a post to his Twitter and Instagram accounts featuring three photos. Two of them feature him and Carrie together, one from their time filming the original Star Wars trilogy, and a new one of them from The Last Jedi. But our favorite might be the painting of Carrie as the Virgin Mary holding her dog Gary and giving everyone the finger one last time. It captures everything we loved about her.
No one's ever really gone…#AlwaysWithUs #CarrieOnForever pic.twitter.com/zsfuKHRSub
— @HamillHimself (@HamillHimself) December 27, 2017
For as excited as we were for the movie, all of the buildup to The Last Jedi was bittersweet knowing Carrie Fisher wasn’t there to be a part of it. But Carrie’s final turn as General Leia gave us one last chance to experience the power of the actor and her iconic character. As the Skywalker siblings reminded us, Carrie Fisher isn’t here, but she’s not really gone.
What is your favorite memory of her? Share it with us in the comments below and help us remember her today.
Featured Image: Lucasfilm
The Best New Anime of Winter 2018
The weather outside is frightful but the new crop of winter anime is oh-so-delightful. So instead of braving the elements or turning into a human popsicle or watching Chopped reruns for the 90 billionth time this winter, why not treat yourself to a heaping helping of new anime? On today’s episode of The Dan Cave, I’m going to help you separate the wheat from the sick zebras as we run down the best new anime you need to see this winter.
Kokkoku
What would you do if your nephew and your brother were kidnapped, and you only had 30 minutes to pay the ransom? Would you call the cops? Would you make a ton of Venmo requests to everyone on your contact list? In Juri Yukawa’s case, she grabs a knife and decides to take on the kidnappers by herself…until her grandfather uses a mysterious family heirloom to stop time in its tracks. With everything frozen in place except for Juri and her grandfather, they’re able to rescue their loved ones, but they quickly realize they aren’t the only ones with this power. Basically, it’s a lot like Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s excellent comic Sex Criminals but with a name that won’t get your computer flagged by IT or local police when you look it up at work! So thanks for that, Japan.
Fate/Extra: Last Encore
Who among us hasn’t woken up somewhere they didn’t recognize, filled with regret, disoriented, confused, and possibly naked? That’s right—not a single one of us! And in the case of Hakuno Kishinami in Fate/extra: Last Encore, he wakes up in a strange virtual world with little more than a mysterious companion who is basically just Fate’s mainstay Saber in a red dress. To make matters worse, he has to fight in a war to seize control of the Holy Grail. If I had a nickel for every time that happened to me, I would live forever because I already have a Holy Grail and one is all you need. Unfortunately for Hakuno, he might not be so lucky as more than 100 other Masters are going to do their damnedest to turn him into a fine red mist.
Beatless
When ultra-powerful AI surpasses human intelligence, a new breed of being is born: “beings that mankind is yet to fully comprehend made from materials far too advanced for human technology.” When a 17-year-old boy named Arato Endo has a chance encounter with one of these beings name Lacia, he must ask himself some important questions: Why were they created? What do they want? Are we human or are we dancer? Honestly, this sounds like it’s gonna be a weird little sci-fi love story between a teenager and a USB-nager. And you know what? I’m on board. That’s right, I’m super into ‘bot stuff. Considering Saudi Arabia already has a terrifying robot citizen of its own, maybe this anime isn’t too far off from reality.
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
While the name might make you think this is a lighthearted story about a struggling ramen shop owner’s quest to make the perfect bowl of noodles, you would be wrong. It’s about straight-up MURDER. In the Japanese city of Fukuoka, there is a sprawling criminal underworld. But something even more sinister lurks beneath the surface. According to an urban legend, there is a “killer or killers” stalking the streets, an assassin who murders other hitmen and assassins. And as private detective Sanji Banba soon discovers, there’s more than meets the eye: namely a conspiracy that could turn the criminal underworld on its head.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
As I’ve learned from the comment section of previous videos, a lot of you really hate Sword Art Online. Like really hate it. But I refuse to believe you’re not fans of the “if you die in the game, you die in real life” trope, and neither does Japan, because they keeping make these stories. Death March is the story of 29-year-old programmer Suzuki Ichirou, who finds himself transported into a fantasy RPG where he is reborn as a 15-year-old named Satou. Thanks to a mysterious but powerful in-game ability, he winds up becoming a high-leveled adventurer after murdering a whole bunch of lizard men. While he wants to live a quiet life as an NPC and live out his days in peace, fate has other plans for him. Namely the return of a Demon King. I can’t tell you how many plans I’ve had derailed by the return of a demon king. I’ve had to reschedule brunches, missed happy hours, seen the best men and women of my generation drowned in their own blood. Just some major inconveniences.
Overlord II
And if you’re really desperate for an anime about an MMORPG gone awry that you know and love, Overlord is returning for a second season as Ainz Ooal Gown and the Floor Guardian gang encounter new faces, get in bloody battles, and deliver epic fantasy action. The original 2015 anime series followed the adventures of Momonga, a high level player who refused to log out of his favorite virtual reality MMORPG when it was shut down only to find he was still in the game, and now the NPCs had begun developing minds of their own. So with a group of loyal servants, he set out to become the Overlord of the game world and figure out exactly what went down.
Citrus
While it’s going to be hard to tell a better coming of age story than Lady Bird, Citrus looks like the perfect series for someone looking for a high school story full of drama, romance, and humor mined from deeply uncomfortable situations. When Yuzu Aihara’s mom remarries, she has to transfer to an ultra-conservative all-girls school where she struggles to fit in. To make matters worse, she keeps fighting with the stand-offish student council president Mei…who just so happens to be her new stepsister. But attraction is a weird thing and soon these two unlikely ladies find themselves falling in love with one another. So basically if you wanted the queer version of Marmalade Boy—and admit it, you probably do—this sounds like it’ll be right up your alley.
Junji Ito Collection
Japan’s greatest living writer of horror comics is getting his own anime series with Junji Ito Collection. The man behind creeptacular stories like Uzumaki, Gyo, and The Enigma of Amigara Fault will have stories from his Fragments of Horror book and his 11-volume horror manga collection adapted into what is looking like a creepy anthology series. There’s no word yet on which stories will make the cut but considering that Ito has dreamt up everything from murderous land-sharks to people burying themselves alive in a mountain, we’re in for a series of horrifying treats no matter what.
And those are the best new anime series you need to watch this winter. Which are you most excited to see? Let me know in the comments below and give me a yandere thumbs up while you’re there.
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Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).
STAR WAS Has a Massive Villain Problem
For all of its mythic storytelling, visually splendorous space battles, and rich space fantasy world-building, Star Wars has one massive problem: its villains. While they look incredibly badass and usually have an air of genuine menace about them, they fold like a house of cards when push comes to shove. The Last Jedi showed us that it’s okay for our heroes to disappoint us, but the same cannot be said for its villains. While this problem isn’t endemic to every Star Wars villain—Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, and Emperor Palpatine, for example, have satisfyingly crafted narrative arcs—it is unfortunately the case that so many otherwise awesome-looking villains in the galaxy far, far away wind up being deeply disappointing.
Let’s start with the O.G. lame-o: Boba Fett. How do you mess up a bounty hunter with a jetpack, a rocket launcher (depending on which action figure prototype you have), and a flame thrower? By having him be so bad at his job that he gets dunked on by a blind guy and knocked into a Sarlacc Pit where he basically becomes Schrodinger’s Fett. This armored dingus excelled at looking cool, and little else. He’s so genuinely bad at what he does that we had to make a separate video about it.
Or how about Boba Fett’s spiritual successor, Captain Phasma? SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t seen The Last Jedi, but the First Order’s resident chrome-armored ass-kicker once again gets trounced by a lowly sanitation engineer-turned-stormtrooper, with an assist from the galaxy’s most powerful ball droid. (Seriously, BB-8 is basically droidus ex machina.) You’d think that after being shoved into a trash chute in The Force Awakens, she would get a modicum of revenge in The Last Jedi. But no, Phasma is dropped to a fiery death, thus thoroughly and completing wasting Gwendoline Christie so that Finn can have a victorious, smiling moment where he’s proud to be “rebel scum.”
But the ignominy doesn’t stop at people with cool armor; it extends to what are supposed to be the most sinister villains in all the galaxy far, far away: the Sith. Darth Maul’s arc in The Phantom Menace is basically one-and-a-half lightsaber battles before unceremoniously getting chopped in half and dropped to his supposed death. Sure, he got robotic spider legs later on in The Clone Wars TV series, but the movies set up an incredibly cool character, only to cut him down in his prime with little-to-no narrative payoff.
And speaking of little-to-no narrative payoff, Supreme Leader Snoke! After spending months obsessing over whether he was a tallboi or a smolboi, Snoke turned out to be just a sneering, arrogant doofus with a skin condition. He demonstrated incredibly robust Force powers, bridging minds across the universe and reaching out through a hologram to turn General Hux into his personal rag doll, only to get cut in half by his moody young apprentice. While it may have been a pivotal moment for Kylo Ren, it still feels like Snoke was given short shrift and far too much time was spent building up his mystique to get done dirty like that.
With Episode IX around the corner, the new Star Wars trilogy has to start whittling down its expansive cast of characters, but there are more effective ways to do it than abruptly pulling the rug out from beneath characters it spends an entire film building up.
Make your villains more wily and less Wile E. Coyote, and it will go a long way towards serving the grand tapestry you’re weaving across nine movies. No one will complain about a movie that has too many excellent villains, but they will complain about one in which the baddies are genuinely bad at what they do.
What do you think? Does Star Wars have a villain problem or are you fine with such gross incompetence when it comes to bein evil? Let the Sith hit the fan in the comments below.
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).
Hasbro’s MICRONAUTS Are Getting an Animated Series
Although the Micronauts toy line dates back over four decades, it’s never been adapted as a film or a TV series. However, Hasbro has grand ambitions to create its own cinematic universe, and a live-action Micronauts movie was recently scheduled for 2020. But first, it looks like the Micronauts will get their very own cartoon ahead of their big screen debut.
Via Newsarama, Hasbro has revealed details about the Micronauts animated series that will begin production next year. According to Hasbro, the 26-episode first season will follow the titular group of alien space explorers and heroes as they arrive on Earth and discover that they are minuscule on this planet—basically, the size of their own action figures. The Micronauts will team up with a teenager named Cameron Ruck as they take on their nemesis, Baron Karza, as well as otherworldly threats that may have escaped notice by the rest of humanity. The series is expected to premiere in 2019, but a network isn’t currently attached to the project.
Hasbro also released a few images of concept art from the Micronauts TV series, which feature the heroes on Earth as they take their battle to someone’s lawn, while using a few Earth toys of their own. But since the show hasn’t officially kicked off production, it may be several months before a trailer debuts.
The Micronauts toyline was light on character details, but the concept was fleshed out as a Marvel comic book series by Bill Mantlo and artist Michael Golden in 1979. More recently, the Micronauts comic was relaunched at IDW as part its shared universe of Hasbro properties. It’s unclear if the new TV series will also be connected to Hasbro’s other properties, or if it will simply stand on its own to reintroduce the Micronauts to a new generation.
Are you eager to see the Micronauts come to television? Shrink down to the comment section and share your thoughts below!
Images: IDW/Hasbro Studios
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Bandcamping: The 25 Best Underground Albums Of 2017
Just like in 2016, I spent 2017 digging through the figurative crates of Bandcamp to find the best music that’s not getting the media coverage it deserves. Also like last year, I found a bunch of really great stuff that has changed how I saw this year in music (or at the very least, it changed my iTunes library). I’m constantly surprised at how this process has led to me finding some of my favorite albums of the year, obscure or otherwise, but this is the second year in a row this has happened, so maybe I should just get with it.
As 2017 comes to a close, I’ve gone back over these releases once again and compiled them into a top 25 list, so without further ado, these are the best albums that appeared on Bandcamping this year.
25. Look, See, Sun by Heron Hunt
Genre: indie folk
If you like: The Head And The Heart, Fleet Foxes, The Shins
24. מיכל נאמן by מיכל נאמן
Genre: folk, alternative rock, Israeli rock
If you like: The Shins, Paul Simon, Novos Baianos
23. n i g h t s k y by Sigh Kicks
Genre: electronic, indie rock, chillwave
If you like: Toro y Moi, Minus The Bear
22. I Owe You For This by Beasthead
Genre: indie rock, ambient, alternative
If you like: Radiohead, Bon Iver
21. First Lady by OtherFace
Genre: indie rock, psychedelic rock, soul
If you like: Tame Impala, Leon Bridges, Radiohead
20. M A N G O L A N E by Mango Lane
Genre: indie pop, pop
If you like: Hot Chip, CHVRCHES, Chromeo
19. Fraction by Holy Machine
Genre: indie rock, new wave, post-punk
If you like: synthwave, Interpol, U2
18. Twins by James Wyatt Crosby
Genre: indie rock, alternative rock
If you like: Wilco, Band Of Horses, Beck
17. Modern Pressure by Daniel Romano
Genre: Americana, rock
If you like: The Beatles, My Morning Jacket, Wilco
16. Folder by Lød
Genre: indie rock, post-punk, krautrock
If you like: Neu!, Television, early U2
15. Play Till You Win by Cassandra Jenkins
Genre: indie pop, Americana
If you like: St. Vincent, Wilco
14. 404 by Ryan Cadwallader
Genre: jazz, instrumental hip-hop, ambient
If you like: BADBADNOTGOOD
13. Shelter by Charm Days
Genre: electronic
If you like: Bonobo, Four Tet, Arms And Sleepers
12. Both Sides of the Ceiling by Duncan Fellows
Genre: indie rock
If you like: Grizzly Bear, Real Estate, Manchester Orchestra
11. Business Of Dreams by Business Of Dreams
Genre: indie rock, indie pop, electronic
If you like: DIIV, M83, New Order
10. 2 by Saagara
Genre: jazz, world music, alternative
If you like: Four Tet, Sun Ra, Dan Deacon
Wacław Zimpel’s Indian orchestra Saagara combines Eastern rhythms and instrumentation with Western versions of the same, and this bridging of the cultural gap is a bona fide success. Opening track “Daydream” is an intense crescendo that doesn’t let up, and the rest of the album is similarly engaging in a way that doesn’t compromise the sounds of any of the cultures it draws from.
9. The Family Plots by The Family Plots
The Family Plots by The Family Plots
Genre: indie rock, indie folk
If you like: Owen, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens
Virginia’s own The Family Plots hearken back to the mid-2000s or so, when indie folk was ubiquitous but also in an adventurous phase. On the group’s self-titled album, they’re both organic and atmospheric, and while you can tell the group took some experimental leaps, this is some very easy listening.
8. BADLANDS by El Palomino
Genre: R&B, soul, indie rock
If you like: Wild Beasts, Miguel, Frank Ocean
El Palomino (real name Justin Fleming) refers to his debut solo effort as “a dreamy, down-tempo exploration into the northern answer to southern rock,” and while this very well may be Vancouver’s answer to southern rock, it’s certainly not in the same language. “Ulysses” is a Frank Ocean-like bit of experimental R&B, and the rest of the album is similarly adventurous and not one to sleep on.
7. Refrain by Lofty Stills
Genre: indie rock, dream pop, alt country
If you like: Local Natives, Sufjan Stevens
Lofty Stills (real name Luke Culbertson) makes what could be described as dream alt-country, which makes more sense than it seems because the pedal steel guitar is so dreamy. The Seattle-based project pairs this instrumentation with Culbertson’s airy falsetto for a pure effect.
6. Big Blue by Gold Star
Genre: indie rock, alternative rock, Americana
If you like: Ryan Adams, Wilco, Hootie and the Blowfish
There was a simple wonder to ’90s rock that Gold Star pulls it off in a way that modernizes the approach. Because of this neo-throwback sound, there’s an instant comfort about songs like “Big Blue.” This album isn’t a thinker, which also means there’s no learning curve, so you can just listen and enjoy. Imagine that.
5. Singles, Vol. 2 by Bachelor
Genre: electropop, new wave, indie pop
If you like: Depeche Mode, OMD, Joy Division
On its surface, Bachelor sounds like an ode to new wave, but there’s a lot more to it than that. There are tons of throwback synths, yes, but the songs were totally written with the modern listener in mind. The instrumentation is great, and the hooks are catchy as hell; I haven’t found a chorus I enjoy singing along to more than that of album closer “Reykjavík (I Just Thought That You Should Know…).”
4. Shock Out of Season by Friendship
Shock Out of Season by Friendship
Genre: indie rock
If you like: Phosphorescent
Album highlight “Skip To The Good Part” is fueled by emotion in a way that’s hard to explain. singer Dan Wriggins’ voice cracks in the hook, it’s not a flaw, but an endearing detail. It works perfectly for the yearning hook “But please don’t call it a night.” Again, it’s tough to quantify or elaborate on, but the track was a special musical moment this year.
3. Still, I Try by Fire is Motion
Still, I Try by Fire is Motion
Genre: indie rock
If you like: Broken Social Scene, Manchester Orchestra, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
Album opener “Yesterday’s Coffee” starts out confident, but the song builds and calms down and builds and calms down and throws you all over the place. The indie rock is anthemic, the melodies are ripped from arena pop, and even though there are only five tracks here, this isn’t just a great sign of what’s to come, but an achievement in its own right.
2. Cash For Smiles by Mandala
Genre: indie rock, rock
If you like: Sleater-Kinney, Hop Along, Car Seat Headrest
“David Brown” is maybe the best album-opening track I’ve heard this year. The track sets the tone, and gets a message across: The guitar is here, baby. Morgan Fasanelli’s vocals are capable and assured, absolutely, but the guitar work on this song and “Washed Up” is genius in the way that it’s allowed to take center stage. The last minute of the album opener is just an absolutely ripping guitar solo, and it’s one of 2017’s most refreshing 60 seconds of music.
1. Jenna by Jesse & the Revelator
Jenna by Jesse & the Revelator
Genre: folk, acoustic
If you like: Neil Young, early My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne
On paper, this album shouldn’t be as good as it is, because it just seems so simple. The production value is pretty modest for the most part, the instrumentation is pretty sparse, and yet, Jenna feels phenomenally huge and real. It’s a concept album about the murder of a 12-year-old girl, and as macabre as that sounds, I can assure you that this is one of the albums with the most heart that came out in the past 12 months.
—
It’s worth noting that this year-end list marks the end of Bandcamping on Nerdist. The Bandcamping archives will live on and remain accessible, of course, and Nerdist will continue to bring you interesting and exciting music stories, like the Star Wars theme song played on calculators, a bizarre musical instrument created by Benjamin Franklin, and all the pop culture holiday songs you need this December.
So, thanks to all of you for reading, and thanks to all the artists we’ve featured in this space for the music. If working on Bandcamping over the course of the past two years has taught me anything, it’s reinforced the fact that great music can come from anywhere, so keep your ears open and you’ll probably end up hearing some pretty wild stuff that wasn’t on your radar.
Featured image: John Ward/Flickr
Bruce Lee Podcast #78: Motivation When You’re Stuck
Share your #AAHAs, #BruceLeeMoments, and #TakeAction progress with us at hello@brucelee.com.
To read our full show notes for this episode go to BruceLee.com/Podcast
For all things Bruce Lee, check out BruceLee.com, follow @BruceLee on Twitter and subscribe on Apple Podcasts!
THE LAST JEDI’s Kelly Marie Tran Got a “Laura Fern” for Christmas
The best present we could have asked for this holiday season was a new Star Wars movie, but that doesn’t mean we’re not still jealous we didn’t get to unwrap the great gift Kelly Marie Tran received. The actor’s friends gave her something quite befitting one of our favorite newcomers in The Last Jedi: her very own “Laura Fern.”
Tran shared a short video on her Instagram account of the small silver Christmas tree decked out with photos of Admiral Holdo herself, Laura Dern. She said her friends were inspired by the “Wreath Witherspoon” made famous by Mindy Kaling on The Mindy Project.
Love, Alexi #93: Jon Daly
Actor, comedian Jon Daly (Kroll Show, Comedy Bang Bang, I’m Dying Up Here) joins Alexi & they talk acne, cum gutters, playing Bill Murray in David Wain’s upcoming movie A Futile & Stupid Gesture, what it would be like if Alexi and Jon were to date (spoiler alert: a disgusting trainwreck!) and so much more!
Follow @alexiwasser on instagram & twitter, send emails for Alexi to read on air: DearLoveAlexi@gmail.com!
Cash Withdrawal #40: Sock Pockets
Cash talks to comedian Steve Mazan
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