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December 22, 2017
The Todd Glass Show #328: Rory Scovel
For this special holiday episode, Todd is joined by one of our favorite guests Rory Scovel!
Like The Todd Glass Show on Facebook, follow @ToddGlass, Eric Ohlsen, John Brand Wagner, and Lyricist Joe on Twitter, buy his album Thin Pig and buy his book The Todd Glass Situation!
Kevin Conroy Trades in the Dark Knight to Voice Darth Vader
To kids of the ’90s Kevin Conroy is the definitive Batman, which is why earlier this year when he joined host Rob Paulsen on our Alpha series Talkin’ Toons, we asked the man who voiced the Caped Crusader on the Animated Series to partake in a reading of a scene from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. But that wasn’t the only iconic cinematic moment he’s recreated for us. This week, we asked Conroy back to the show and had him turn his Batarang for a lightsaber to read a scene as Darth Vader.
In this clip from Talkin’ Toons‘ latest episode, Rob read for Luke Skywalker and Conroy played the Sith Lord as the two gave voice to arguably the greatest movie revelation of all-time: when Vader told Luke the truth about his father.
No one would ever want to replace James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader, but damn if Kevin Conroy doesn’t have us at least considering what it would be like to have him in the role instead. There’s just something about his voice that works perfectly for morally ambiguous characters who love wearing black.
All episodes of Talkin’ Toons, along with lots of our other great shows, can be found at our interactive online Alpha community. If you’re not already a member, your first 30 days are free, so sign up now.
It’s the only place where instead of dying a hero, you live long enough to see yourself start voicing villains, and everyone loves you for it.
What other iconic pop culture character would you love to hear Kevin Conroy read? Give voice to your best suggestions in our comments section below.
Featured Image: Warner Bros. Studios, Lucasfilm
December 21, 2017
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is Indeed Great, Despite Not Being All That Good (Review)
We’d like to think we’re not so naïve as to expect that a movie like The Greatest Showman should by definition deliver on its titular promise. But tucked tightly in the boroughs of our brain that cause us to gasp at magic shows, play the lotto, and keep one eye on the night’s sky for any sign of UFOs, there’s the holdout that a film with such a title must have something great to show for itself.
It’s with no especial pleasure that I must admit: I don’t believe I’d call any one piece of The Greatest Showman great. Not the music, which, though considerably catchy at times, never insinuates claim to a lasting impression beyond the hour-and-a-half after viewing that “Never Enough” is guaranteed to be stuck in your head. Not the acting, which veers consistently cheeseball but too frequently without the proper self-effacing oomph. And not the story, which can’t seem to decide whom we should be celebrating and for what at any given point along the way.
Thus, we’re left with a film that claims greatness, but has nothing great to show for itself. And yet, mathematics be damned, I’m hesitant to submit to the fact that The Greatest Showman isn’t, in fact, great.
Not especially impressive, inventive, or well-put-together, no. But great? Perhaps greatness can exist on its own accord. Perhaps the audacity to begin your movie with a hushed singing of line, “Ladies and gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for,” commands a self-fulfilling prophecy. Perhaps we hadn’t been waiting for such a moment, but perhaps we ought’ve.
Once that idea is lodged firmly in the hamlets of our brain that cause us to attend Christmas tree lightings, play the Hamilton lotto, and never quite give up on the mission to permeate the cat’s icy veneer, it sticks, assigning the remaining 104 minutes to follow the picture’s remarkably convincing opening platitude with the very same suggestion of grandeur. We’re told that P.T. Barnum’s (Hugh Jackman) determination to compensate for humble beginnings by dragging his family across the minefield of show business is a daring venture, so maybe it is! We’re told that the collection of “curiosities” that make up Barnum’s circus have, through their new employ, founded the very sanctuary that they’ve all long craved, so maybe they have! We’re told that Zac Efron can do upwards of 30 shots of straight liquor in a single dance number, so maybe he can!
The Greatest Showman insists on plenty, and assumes we’ll buy in to whatever it’s selling—an apropos mentality considering its focal hero, though without the spiritual acumen to grapple with the ramifications of such a blind trust. Particularly at the tail end of 2017, there’s something disconcerting about being asked to accept that just because a powerful and exploitative showman says he and the things he’s up to are great—or to accept that just because a movie about a powerful and exploitative showman says he and it and everything in between are great—that they must be.
In this case, though, we have the luxury of just an hour and 45 minutes of our time at stake. If you can get through the lot without at least coming close, even if only once or twice, to thinking, “Maybe this is great!” then truth be told, I don’t want to live in your brain.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Images: 20th Century Fox
Michael Arbeiter is the East Coast Editor for Nerdist. Find Michael on Twitter @micarbeiter.
More of our reviews!
Read our super spoilery The Last Jedi review
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a different beast than its predecessor was
Phantom Thread is a twisted, ugly, beautiful love story
NINTENDO POWER Returns as an Official Nintendo Podcast
Five years ago, Nintendo’s official magazine, Nintendo Power, closed up shop after almost a quarter century in print. From 1988 to 2012, Nintendo Power offered gamers an unparalleled resource for games across the NES, SNES, GameBoy, Wii, and other Nintendo systems. Now, Nintendo Power is returning as a podcast, courtesy of Chris Slate, the former editor-in-chief of the magazine.
Via Polygon, the first episode of the Nintendo Power podcast was released this week, with Slate as the host. Slate currently works for Nintendo as the manager of corporate communications, but as he explains in the podcast, bringing back Nintendo Power in this form is his passion project. For the first episode, Slate was joined by the producer and director of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi.
Before speaking with Aonuma and Fujibayashi, Slate took a look back at Nintendo Switch’s first year alongside Nintendo Minute co-host Kit Ellis and Nintendo executive Damon Baker. Collectively, they shared their interesting perspective about Super Mario Odyssey as both lifelong gamers and Nintendo employees. They also spoke about Nintendo’s exhibition at this year’s E3 Expo.
On the podcast, Slate indicated that final format of the new Nintendo Power is still a work in progress, and it’s not clear how frequently the episodes will be released. While we miss the game guides and the printed magazine, it’s still gratifying to see Nintendo Power return in this new form.
Are you excited to see Nintendo Power make a comeback as a podcast? Now you’re playing with power in the comment section below!
Images: Nintendo
Kelly Marie Tran’s THE LAST JEDI Chemistry Audition with John Boyega is So Darn Charming
For many who’ve already made it to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi in theaters, the best part of the adventure was the side quest embarked upon by John Boyega‘s Finn and franchise newcomer Rose Tico, played by Kelly Marie Tran. Now that audiences have had a chance to enjoy Tran and Boyega’s delightful back-and-forth on the big screen, Lucasfilm has released a new video that features the first time that the two actors performed together. It took place during the auditions for Rose, as Tran was called in for a chemistry test with Boyega. And as you’ll soon see, their special connection was tough to ignore from the very beginning.
In the above scene, which appears to be loosely tied into what the pair endured in the movie (perhaps dating back to an earlier draft of the script), Finn and Rose argue about whether they can trust Benicio del Toro’s character DJ to act as their codebreaker. Tran’s feisty responses to Boyega’s arguments may have been what won her the role.
After that clip, the video cuts ahead one year to find Tran entrenched on the set of the film, and her chemistry with Boyega appears to extend off the screen as well. We have no idea what they were laughing about at the end of the clips, but they are pretty adorable together even in this context.
What do you think about Tran’s Last Jedi audition opposite Boyega? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Images: Lucasfilm
Comic Book Club: Daniel Kibblesmith, Gideon Kendall & Josh O’Neill
Check out the website at comicbookclublive.com to find out how to watch the show live! And follow the show on Twitter: @comicbooklive, @azalben, @jtsizzle, and @realpetelepage
THE LAST JEDI Shows Why It’s Okay for Our Heroes to Disappoint Us
Warning: The following contains major spoilers for The Last Jedi.
It’s hard to imagine there is a single Star Wars fan who was happy to learn what kind of man Luke Skywalker had become since we last saw him over three decades ago. Who went into The Last Jedi hoping the brave hero of the originally trilogy would turn out to be a failure who had turned his back on his friends, family, and the Force itself?
In fact, the “new Luke” is almost certainly the number one reason the movie currently has a lower audience score on Rotten Tomatoes than every single one of the prequels. Even The Force Awakens averted this degree of scorn after killing off Han Solo (Han ****ing Solo!). At least Han Solo was still the same person we knew and loved.
But to reject The Last Jedi‘s take on Luke Skywalker is to cheapen what it means to believe in heroes at all. If it was easy for Luke to stare down Darth Vader and the Emperor, it wouldn’t have meant anything. Anakin Skywalker failed at that task and became the galaxy’s greatest villain. Luke passed it and saved all alienkind. That’s why we loved him.
And yes, that’s why it hurt to see the broken man he had become. But people disappoint us all the time, and our heroes aren’t exempt from being human. Life is hard. Doing the right thing is hard. Overcoming our insecurities and failings is hard. If it was easy to be a hero everyone would be one, and we wouldn’t need any.
And the reason Luke turned his back on life itself is the most understandable reason of all: he didn’t just fail himself, he failed the people he cared about most. Luke failed for the same reasons the Jedi Council did all those years ago; his arrogance blinded him, even if just for a moment, and the results were catastrophic. But it wasn’t about failing the galaxy or the Jedi Order in Luke’s case. He had let down his sister, best friend, and the nephew who was just a boy he should have been protecting.
Who would feel like a hero after doing that? His concern for the whole galaxy caused him to raise his lightsaber to strike down a sleeping Ben Solo, but in that moment he realized there was no right thing to do when your options are either killing your nephew or letting a powerful danger loose on the universe. When he faced down his father, his choice was much simpler: do the right thing or not. It wasn’t easy, but it was clear.
None of this invalidates our disappointment at finding out who Luke had become. It would be weird not to be disappointed by old, sad, broken, hermit Luke. It also doesn’t mean all of the movie’s decisions about how to present him are above reproach. Luke could have been all of those things without also being such so difficult, glib, and cold when it came to Rey. But it’s okay for our heroes to disappoint us sometimes. It’s not just a more honest, challenging story, it’s also a reminder of what made them heroes in the first place. It’s hard to earn that kind of faith, and if it wasn’t we wouldn’t care about them at all.
But for as much as The Last Jedi shows it’s okay for them to let us down, it’s more powerful message is that it’s okay for them to come through for us too. Luke needed a new young hero to remind him of why we ever needed him at all, and why we need him now. And for every disappointment we felt with him on Ahch-To, it made his appearance on Crait that much more powerful.
Sure, our hero fell, but the best ones always get back up. And they don’t get any better than Luke Skywalker. Who could be disappointed in that?
What do you think about Luke’s story arc? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
Images: Lucasfilm
Bizarre States #169: Listener Stories and Happy Holidays!
On this Holiday episode, Bowser and Jess read listener stories!
Be sure to check out Bizarre States Los Angeles on Alpha!
Follow @JessicaChobot, @andrewbowser and @Bizarre_States on Twitter!
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Why Do Stormtroopers Even Wear Armor?
Think back to every Star Wars film you’ve seen. Have you ever witnessed a Stormtrooper take a direct hit from a blaster and not immediately crumple? The soldiers are covered head-to-toe in imposing armor that apparently doesn’t stop shots from the most common weapon in the galaxy, so why do they even wear armor in the first place? Compromise.
In my latest Because Science, I’m tackling a question that Star Wars fans have been asking since the franchise began. And I think the best way to answer it is to put yourself in the Emperor’s robes. Imagine that you have to outfit millions of soldiers in some kind of armor. What do you need that armor to be? Decent criteria would be light, effective, imposing (they are the bad guys after all), and cheap.
I think that if we consider the criteria as a whole, Stormtrooper armor, as ineffective as it appears in the movies, starts to make a lot of sense.
After you watch the new episode above, check out my last video on why death by lightsaber would be worse than you think, subscribe to this playlist to stay current with the show, buy a Because Science shirt, mug, hat, or collectible pin, and follow me on Twitter to give me a suggestion for the next episode or on Instagram where I’m now posting extra mini-episodes.
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More Star Wars Nerdery!
How would we build a real X-Wing?
Kylo Ren’s lightsaber makes total sense
What lightsaber color can tell us, scientifically
Sidekick with Matt Mira #11: Emmy Blotnick and The Gilmore Guys
Host Emmy Blotnick (@midnight, Comedy Central Roasts) hunkers down in the host chair on this episode of Sidekick with Matt Mira. Emmy and Matt roast an actual roast, and the duo are joined by the Gilmore Guys (Demi Adejuyigbe and Kevin T. Porter) to celebrate the Gilmore Girls revival with a Gilmore-style feast.
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