Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1873
December 17, 2017
Breaking Down Everything from STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
The Last Jedi is finally in theaters and all we want to do is discuss everything about it with everyone we know forever, so we did just that on Friday’s Nerdist News Talks Back. We broke down the whole movie in a SPOILER-FILLED chat about what and who we loved, what fell flat, and where we think the story is going in Episode IX.
This is your final warning! Do not read or watch unless you have seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi or want to be spoiled!
Joining host Jessica Chobot today for a super-spoilery chat (seriously, you’ve been warned) were Nerdist editors Dan Casey, Rachel Heine, and Alicia Lutes, along with senior producer Jesse Gill. What was their one-word reaction? Where does it rank among our favorite Star Wars movies? What’s the new correct viewing order for the franchise? How much did we enjoy John Williams’ score? And what surprised us the most?
As for what really happened between Luke and Kylo, was it a satisfying revelation? Did it make us sympathize with Ben Solo? What about Kylo’s bond with Rey? What did we think of their connection? And what scene affected us emotionally the most?
What about the other main villain, the late, not-so-great Snoke. What was the point of the character? With him gone is the connection between Rey and Kylo gone too? Is Episode IX better off with Kylo as the big bad?
What did we think of the return of Yoda? Did we like that scene? Which new character did we like the most: Rose, Holdo, or Benicio Del Toro’s DJ? Couldn’t they have utilized Captain Phasma more than they did porgs? What if they had cut back on the Canto Bight subplot? And was there anyone–or anything–else we wanted to see more of? Were porgs one of those things, or did they end up being overrated?
Where do the First Order and Resistance stand now going into the final film? What was our favorite moment? What did we like the least? Where does the big lightsaber duel rank? Which characters need to become a couple? Who gave the best performance? And what do we expect from the last film in the trilogy?
Nerdist News Talks Back airs live on our YouTube and Alpha channels every weekday 1:00 p.m. PT, that way you can join in on the conversation too. But this is our last show of 2017 because we’re going on hiatus until the new year. A big huge grateful thanks to all of you who tuned in and had fun talking about the biggest pop culture stories of the day with us. The show wouldn’t be fun without you.
So make sure to join us when we return in January, especially because we’ll still want to talk about The Last Jedi.
Talk back to us one more time this year by telling us in the comments below what you thought about the movie!
Images: Lucasfilm
December 16, 2017
Luke Skywalker Can’t Stop Singing About Tosche Station
This weekend, Luke Skywalker‘s story continues in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which offers some answers about what he’s been up to for the last three decades. Luke has been on quite a heroic journey since his time on Tatooine, although he’s definitely made some mistakes along the way. But the galaxy would have been a very different place if Luke had run off to Tosche Station for a few hours with his friends instead of getting drawn into the adventure of a lifetime. Now, the Gregory Brothers are giving Luke’s story the Songify treatment. And within this song, every time that Luke encounters adversity, he keeps revisiting his whiniest line from the original trilogy. Power converters not included.
Not only does this touch upon the major milestones of Luke’s story in A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, it also follows him through his extremely brief cameo in The Force Awakens and offers a preview of his arc in The Last Jedi. One of the amusing touches of this edit is that Luke’s “Tosche Station” line is paired with looks of annoyance from the other characters, which only makes it funnier. Even the supposedly older and wiser Luke can’t let his Tosche obsession go, much to the bewilderment of Rey, the young woman who went through a lot of trouble to find him.
What did you think about the Star Wars “Tosche Station” song? Share your musically inclined thoughts in the comment section below!
Images: Lucasfilm
More STAR WARS? Definitely!
Stephen Colbert introduced “Rey’s parents.”
Read our super spoilery review of The Last Jedi.
Try your hand at making porg cupcakes!
A BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT Clip Puts Poison Ivy in Danger
Early next year, Batman is entering the steampunk Victorian era of Gotham by Gaslight, a new animated feature film that is based upon the classic Elseworlds one-shot by writer Brian Augustyn and artist Mike Mignola. In the original story, Bruce Wayne and his Dark Knight alter ego were forced to contend with the arrival of the infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper.
For Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, several familiar faces from the Batman mythos are also entering the story, including Poison Ivy. In this world, Pamela Isley isn’t a supervillain, she’s simply Pamela, “The Plant Lady.” And in the first preview scene from the film, a powerless Pamela finds herself face-to-face with the Ripper himself.
Unfortunately for Pamela, it doesn’t seem likely that she’ll survive her run-in with the Ripper. But this may explain why the Selina Kyle of this world is so hellbent on bringing the Ripper to justice herself. Selina may not be Catwoman in this timeline, but she has been friends with Pamela in other incarnations. If Pamela is killed by the Ripper, Selina would probably take that personally.
As for Batman, his connection to the Ripper may destroy his reputation as Bruce Wayne and doom his career as a hero before he can fully establish himself as Gotham’s protector. The police of this era are less likely to light a Bat-signal for a vigilante, and the previous trailer hinted that Bruce may be considered a suspect in the Ripper killings.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight will be released digitally on January 23, 2018, with a DVD and Blu-ray release to follow on February 6, 2018.
What did you think about the first look at Batman: Gotham by Gaslight? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Warner Bros. Animation
Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma More Batman!
Why Batman Returns is a Christmas classic.
Should Jon Hamm play Batman?
Or is ninja anime Batman the best Batman?
THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE Does Extreme Stunts in an Oddly Hilarious Video
It’s hard to imagine anyone less suited for the extreme treatment than Thomas the Tank Engine, the breakout character of The Railway Series books and the star of his own beloved children’s TV series. But almost everyone hits a point in their life where they develop a rebellious streak, and after 71 years, it’s time for Thomas to show off what he can really do. A new YouTube video features Thomas the Tank Engine pulling off some jumps and tricks that he has no business even attempting. And yet we can’t stop watching it!
This video was created and posted by 5MadMovieMakers, and it gets most of its humor out of the fact that these toys and tracks really weren’t designed for any of the stunts pulled off in the video. But now we think that Thomas & Friends could be in the next Vin Diesel franchise once he finally makes the final Fast & Furious movies.
It’s seriously a trip to see Thomas pull off a loop or breakthrough a wall, although this is one Tank Engine who clearly wasn’t built to be fast. Thomas’ frenemy James the Red Engine also makes an appearance as he races Thomas at very slow speeds. And yet the video manages to end on a fairly friendly note, as the two rivals come to rest in the same station.
5MadMovieMakers has previously put together several toy track videos on their YouTube channel, but now that we’ve seen what they can do with Thomas the Tank Engine, we want to see these stunts pushed even further in the future.
What did you think about Thomas’ stunt video? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comment section below!
Images: 5MadMovieMakers
Let Us Train You Some More!
The greatest movie train sequences.
Watch a drone do tricks around a moving train.
And, uh, that Trainspotting sequel was pretty good.
Mark Hamill Addresses Your Bonkers THE LAST JEDI Fan Theories
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is officially out in theaters, which means that many fans have already witnessed the resolution of the film’s biggest mysteries. But that doesn’t mean the stars are done having fun with the most outlandish fan theories. On the eve of The Last Jedi‘s release, Mark Hamill was featured in an installment of Rolling Stone‘s Fan Theory Exploded, where he tackled the possibilities with good humor and an uncanny ability to change the subject when things got a little too close to the truth.
Hamill appeared to love the suggestion that Rey’s Jedi training would mirror a montage sequence in Rocky II. Old Man Skywalker also weighed in on the desire of some fans to see a Finn and Poe romance. But first, he shared his thoughts on Leia’s ability to use the Force and why she didn’t become a Jedi. Hamill also says that he didn’t read “the fan fiction,” but we’re not sure if he means the Expanded Universe, the post-Disney continuity, or actual fan fiction. We hope he at least knows who Mara Jade is!
Perhaps the most amusing thing about this video is that—SPOILER ALERT—at least two of the fan theories are completely correct. It’s interesting to watch Hamill deflect on those topics as he manages to avoid confirming them without lying about their inclusion. That’s almost a minor Force power in of itself.
What did you think about Hamill’s new Star Wars video? Let us know in the comment section below!
More Star Wars? Of Course!
John Boyega and Oscar Isaac read fans’ thirst tweets.
Read our super spoilery review of The Last Jedi.
Try your hand at making porg cupcakes!
Images: Rolling Stone/Lucasfilm
Macaulay Culkin Used HOME ALONE Tactics to Win a Pro-Wrestling Match
Sometimes a person’s career path can take awhile to flesh out. You have to take some time and “find yourself.” Other times, it’s set in stone at an early age. For Macaulay Culkin, that age was 8, when he starred in Home Alone and Home Alone 2. Hindsight being 20/20, it should have been obvious to us all he would find his calling years later as…a professional wrestler.
Pro Wrestling Sheet was there this past Thursday when Bar Wrestling out of Los Angeles held their “Christmas Special” event, which had a 6-person match featuring The World’s Cutest Tag Team, Joey Ryan and Candace LaRae. Culkin was in their corner and used some of his Home Alone expertise to help his friends. After using ping pong balls to make two of their opponents almost flip end over end, Culkin himself got in the ring to confront Swoggle (formerly Hornswoggle of the WWE). With the help of Ryan and LaRae, Culkin took down Swoggle with the classic “paint can on a string” trap. Following with a Superfly splash off the top rope, the WCTT got the victory. Sources say that
Sources say Macaulay was there to shoot for his upcoming YouTube channel, and it looked like he had an absolute blast doing it. While it wasn’t exactly the most technical match ever created, it sure was entertaining. That’s what pro-wrestling is about. If you can suspend your disbelief for a few hours, you’ll always find something fun amazing to get behind.
You can check out more videos from Pro Wrestling Sheet on their YouTube Channel here.
So what do you think? Who would be Kevin McCallister’s dream opponent at Wrestlemania? Let me know on Twitter @donnielederer or trip on a very intricately made trap in the comments below.
Images: Pro Wrestling Sheet/20th Century Fox
Grapple With These Other Rasslin’ Stories!
The 7 best wrestling moments of 2017.
Wrestling has been pretty good at deliberate self-parody lately.
The link between nerddom and wrestling fandom.
Stephen Colbert and Adam Driver “Spoil” the Identity of Rey’s Parents
Ok, first off. Not really. Take it easy, internet. Stephen Colbert is the original fan of Star Wars so he wouldn’t go an actually spoil anything but–with the excitement surrounding Star Wars: The Last Jedi—who can blame him for having a little fun on the mystery of Rey’s parentage.
Well, there you have it. Rey’s parents are Diane and Gerald, who seem to hail from the icy Hoth-like territory known as the Midwestern United States. It turns out they abandoned our beloved Rey on Jakku in order to make room for a sewing room for Diane. Thankfully, we know Rey’s better off having already had better adventures and ended up with a considerably better accent than her dern-tootin’ baby-abandonin’ parents, dontchaknow!
And the Star Wars fun didn’t end with the cold open for the show since Adam Driver appeared as a guest later in the episode and offered yet another answer about Rey’s origins.
Well, there you have it. Rey’s parents are actually just Stephen Colbert… somehow. Asked and answered. No need for any follow-up questions or explanations. Really, it’s in the new film. Trust us.
We know it’s a lot to process and it’s already been a whirlwind week of Colbert bringing Star Wars revelations to light. Mark Hamill also dropped by The Late Show to debut a “missing” Cantina scene from the original film that we hope, beyond anything in the galaxy, gets included in future cuts of Episode IV.
What do you think of this news on Rey’s parents? How unreasonably angry are the comments from people who didn’t read this article? Let’s discuss in the comments below!
Image: Star Wars | Disney
Here Are Some Links; Go Read About a Star War!
The Star Wars Holiday Special finally gets explained.
Figrin D’an’s real lyrics aren’t just “doot doot doot de do-do-doot?”
Hear The Last Jedi‘s score.
This STAR WARS / STAR TREK Mash-Up is A Nerd Dream Come True
It has long been the great debate among nerd culture: which is the better space-faring franchise, Star Trek or Star Wars? Well, personally I think this is actually a silly debate (just like “Marvel vs DC”), because guess what everyone? You get to like both equally if you want to, or just one, or neither. This isn’t sports, and neither property is going to be duking it out in a stadium any time soon.
But while characters from the 23rd Century and that galaxy far, far away won’t be fighting one another in any forseeable future, it is fun to imagine what it would be like if the two universes ever collided on the big screen. And now, thanks to ComicBook.com, we’ve learned of YouTube user CaptainJZH, who has created the ultimate mash-up trailer which imagines a movie where Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise team up with the Rebel Alliance when the Empire sends the Death Star to Earth.
The “Trek Wars” trailer mostly uses footage from A New Hope and Return of the Jedi for the Star Wars portions, and many different films from the original William Shatner/Leonard Nimoy movie series for the Star Trek portions (although there is a brief glimpse of the Star Trek: The Next Generation film First Contact in there).
Right now, it seems unlikely that such a mash-up would ever take place in real life, but at the rate that beloved geek properties have been joining the Disney family lately, I think I’ve learned to never say never.
Having said that, a Star Wars/Star Trek comic book mash-up limited series is totally conceivable, and would probably be a huge hit. So Marvel Comics and IDW, make that dream come true for all of us fans! And let this cool fan trailer serve as your inspiration.
What do you think of this cosmic mash-up? Be sure to let us know your feelings down below in the comments.
Need More Space War Treks?
Ronald D. Moore is writing a new space opera for Apple!
Check out the Star Trek Discovery soundtrack exclusively, here!
And finally, Patrick Stewart said he’d be Picard again for Tarantino.
Images: Lucasfilm / Paramount Pictures
These “Loko” Pies are Literal Works of Nerdy Art
Those things in the picture above are what we normally recognize as pies. Foil tin, pastry on top and below, and some kind of edible filling stuffed inside. You’re gonna eat the thing anyway, and when you’re hungry, that’s what counts.
Or so we thought. Not that it doesn’t still count, mind you, but if your dinner/dessert can give you a few minutes of “How did they do THAT?” eye-joy first, isn’t that an amazing bonus?
Like this:
A post shared by Lauren Ko (@lokokitchen) on Nov 9, 2017 at 6:57pm PST
Major bonus points for bad puns, always, because you can take your average everyday pie, but we’re running in circles of joy now because this pie is squared, y’all. Lauren Ko, a.k.a. Loko Kitchen, has a whole Instagram dedicated to showing off her works of edible art, and yes, they are art. Here’s proof:
A post shared by Lauren Ko (@lokokitchen) on Oct 12, 2017 at 6:57pm PDT
And here’s a Canadian Death Star. Fully armed and operational, eh?
A post shared by Lauren Ko (@lokokitchen) on Oct 3, 2017 at 6:58pm PDT
We found Lauren’s pie pics via Bored Panda, and now we want somebody to hurry up and invent Wonka-vision so they can come through the screen and into our greedy hands. But if half the pleasure is in looking at these delectables before eating them, well…head to her Instagram for a 50% fix.
Is your crusty hearted warmed and filled by the possibilities? Let’s slice it all up in comments below.
Featured Image: Flickr/Chilanga Cement
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD STORIES!
Oh, nothing, just a spaghetti burrito
Nicolas Cage always seemed pretty tasty.
If you’re not a pie person, have some Disney cake.
December 15, 2017
Oscar Isaac May Voice Gomez in THE ADDAMS FAMILY
This week, Oscar Isaac‘s Poe Dameron had a much bigger role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as he tried to protect the galaxy from the First Order and keep the Resistance intact. But now there’s talk that Isaac may settle down as the head of a creepy and kooky family of misfits: The Addams Family.
A.K.A., the role he was born to play?
According to Tracking Board, Isaac is in negotiations to voice Gomez Addams in the upcoming Addams Family animated movie. Considering that Gomez acts like a debonair Latin lover, Isaac seems like an ideal choice to follow in the footsteps of John Astin’s original portrayal of the character from the first Addams Family TV series. We also think that Isaac would be a worthy successor to the late Raul Julia, who played Gomez in the two theatrically released live-action movies.
Cartoonist Charles Addams created The Addams Family in a popular series of comic strips for The New Yorker that celebrated the Addams’ gleeful embrace of their own eccentricities. However, Gomez didn’t have a name or even a defined persona until Astin was invited to help shape his character on the show. Julia took those elements even further in the films and he made Gomez into a larger than life figure while maintaining his devotion to his wife and children. If Isaac does get the part, we’re very eager to see what he does with it.
Sausage Party co-director Conrad Vernon is helming The Addams Family animated movie, which has a script by Corpse Bride and Monster House screenwriter Pamela Pettle. A release date has not yet been announced.
What do you think about the potential casting of Isaac as Gomez Addams? Let us know in the comment section below!
Need More Oscar Isaac News? Of Course You Do:
Watch him respond to thirst tweets with John Boyega.
And check out the trailer for his next film, Annihilation.
Finally, here he is talking about wild fan theories with our own Amy Ratcliffe.
Images: Lucasfilm/MGM
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