Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1922
October 26, 2017
What Can We Learn From JUSTICE LEAGUE’s Soundtrack?
One of the biggest changes that Joss Whedon made to the Justice League movie was replacing composer Junkie XL with Danny Elfman. Considering Elfman scored the two Tim Burton Batman movies, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Hulk, and contributed music to Avengers: Age of Ultron, he’s almost overqualified to tackle another superhero story. Elfman’s first track from the Justice League soundtrack is out, and unsurprisingly, it is really good. More intriguingly, the rest of the soundtrack listings appear to lay out the major beats of the film. Today’s Nerdist News is boom tubing in to tell you what it means for the Justice League.
Naturally, there are potential spoilers ahead! But before you retreat to a more tactical position, you can listen to Elfman’s “Hero’s Theme” from Justice League right now.
Join host and the Music Meister of the DCEU, Jessica Chobot, as she runs down the Justice League track listings for clues. The first thing we noticed is that each of the heroes, including Superman, appears to have their own signature theme. The track order also implies that Batman and Wonder Woman will first recruit Cyborg before meeting up with Aquaman, and then enlisting the Flash.
Now, here’s where the bigger spoilers start to come in. The ninth track, “The Amazon Mother Box,” confirms that at least one of the Mother Boxes is being held on Themyscira. And the eighth track, “The Story of Steppenwolf” suggests that we’ll get an origin for the film’s main villain early in the story. Intriguingly, “Bruce and Diana” share the nineteenth track, ahead of the film’s final battle. In both the comics and in the animated series Justice League Unlimited, the idea of a Batman and Wonder Woman romance was previously explored. Will their live-action counterparts go in the same direction?
Two tracks near the end of the soundtrack may also give away some of the film’s last surprises. “Anti-hero’s Theme” could be the piece of music that accompanies Superman when he’s gone to the dark side, so to speak. It’s long been rumored that Superman will initially be evil after his resurrection, and Elfman has hinted at a musical moment where the Man of Steel’s loyalties are up for grabs. Elfman is even going to use John Williams’ classic Superman theme in that sequence, so we’re already looking forward to that.
Finally, the track “A New Hope” may be more than just a Star Wars reference. That could be where Superman firmly embraces his heroic side again…or perhaps there is a more cosmic significance to that title. After all, the Green Lantern references have been building up lately, and the film’s tagline was “unite the seven.” It’s long past time to introduce the Green Lantern of the DCEU, and this may be where it happens.
What do you think about the clues contained within Justice League‘s soundtrack? Strike a few notes in the comment section below!
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Lovecraftian Moth is Equipped with Four Massive Pheromone-Spewing Tentacles
Natural selection has no qualms about churning out creatures that look like they were pulled straight from the drippy side of a dark and twisted imagination. Giant woodlice with empty eyes roam deep-sea floors searching for feasts of fresh flesh. The blob-like Bryozoan moves and grows thanks to some kind of bizarre hive mind developed amongst its constituent members. And the bigfin squid is simply an H.P. Lovecraft monster come to life. (Really, it is.)
Now we can add to the list of incredibly creepy crawlies the Creatonotos gangis, or the insect that looks like a brain-infecting alien parasite.
The thing you’re looking at right now, as you simultaneously praying it doesn’t exist in your area, is actually a harmless moth. Footage and pictures of it are quite rare though, so when Indonesian Facebook user Gandik posted the above video of one to his timeline, it immediately went viral. In the clip, we get a roughly half-minute glance at a male specimen of the Creatonotos gangis species. How do we know it’s male, you ask? Because those four relatively gigantic appendages sprung from its body like some Doctor Octopus arms are coremata, or pheromone emitters that only the males have.
Arctiine Moth
(Creatonotos gangis) pic.twitter.com/nyjbdaiuAl
— World of Wildlife (@WofWildlife) October 20, 2017
The coremata, or “hair-pencils,” are appendages which, in the case of the male Creatonotos gangis, are hidden away underneath its abdomen. They’re inflated and used to spew pheromones when a female is detected in the vicinity, and they do so, in part, by undulating so the scent is thrown into the air. In the clip, it seems like the specimen recorded is doing just that. (If you start to feel the need to gag, here’s a trick: think about anything but “hair-pencils.”)

The Creatonotos gangis with its hair-pencils retracted. Image: Wikimedia / Goldentakin
Now getting back to that whole, where do these things live again? question, you’re basically looking at a huge swathe of Southeast Asia, as well as parts of Australia. But let’s be honest, if you’re living in Australia, this harmless moth is the least of your concerns. Unless you dare to stare as its hair-pencils undulate, in which case it may take control of your mind.
What do you think about this horrifying moth? Are you really wishing you’d never heard the term “hair-pencil” now? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!
Images: Facebook / Gandik
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STRANGER THINGS’ Teens Review ’80s Pop Culture Fads
For the foreseeable future, the cast of Stranger Things will have to spend a few months every year living in the ’80s. In this case, the price of success involves immersing themselves in a decade that was over long before they were born. Recently, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery, and Dacre Montgomery were brought together by Teen Vogue to share their thoughts about some of the ’80s’ signature items.
The trio were united in their praise of acid washed denim jackets, a walkman, futuristic sunglasses, bucket hats and the Atari 2600. But only Dyer immediately recognized that classic video game console. They had absolutely no idea what to make of the leg warmers and fishnet gloves. Let’s just say that arms and legs were not where their minds went while they handled those objects.
Teen Vogue also included a Cabbage Patch Kid for the cast to examine, which was met with immediate distaste. And it’s hard to argue with their take on it. Those creepy little things make Chucky seem huggable by comparison. Only Keery was brave enough to put on a wig of permed hair, and potentially starring in a new wave of internet memes. “I feel like I’m in Whitesnake,” Keery says. As far as we’re concerned, he scored bonus points just by even knowing that Whitesnake exists.
The second season of Stranger Things will premiere this Friday, October 27.
What did you think about this video? Share your favorite ’80s reference in the comment section below!
Images: Teen Vogue
Catch Up On Every Episode Of Stranger Things!
Ep 1: The biggest danger to the kids in Stranger Things is the 1980s
Ep 2: How Stranger Things pits kids against adults
Ep 3:The full significance of Barb’s death
Ep 4: How the government in Stranger Things is awful at cover-ups
Ep 5: How D&D and physics made Stranger Things even better
Ep 6: How Dustin saved the day in season one
Ep 7: What Stranger Things looked like to the people of Hawkins
Ep 8: Where all the characters are at the end of season one
A Broadway-style Theater Is Coming to Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is about to get a little bigger.
On Saturday October 28, Disney will break ground on one of its newest attractions: a Broadway-style theater. The as-yet unnamed theater will be located near the Main Street, U.S.A. section of the Magic Kingdom, in an area currently used as a backstage parking lot for cast members, opening up a new area to park visitors.
In keeping with Main Street, U.S.A.’s design scheme, which was inspired by Walt Disney‘s hometown of Marceline, Missouri, the new theater takes inspiration from the historic Willis Wood Theatre. That theater stood in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1902 until it burned down in 1917, overlapping the six years when Walt himself lived in the city (1911–1917).
While there’s no official word on what will show at the theater, the Hyperion Theater at Disneyland‘s California Adventure might give us a clue. Opened in 2001, the Hyperion Theater currently shows “Frozen: Live at the Hyperion,” a shortened live action version of Disney’s Frozen that is performed three times a day. The Hyperion’s longest-showing feature, though, was “Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular,” which played from 2003 to January 2016.
If the Florida theater follows the same model, it could also be home to a live action version of one of Disney’s hit animated musicals. While Frozen would certainly pack the seats, Disney could opt for something to help distinguish the Orlando theater from its Anaheim cousin. Given its current popularity (and the popularity of Lin-Manuel Miranda), Moana would be an obvious choice.
Disney could also do something more dramatic, and use the theater to show some of the company’s Broadway hits, such as The Lion King or Mary Poppins, making Walt Disney World a permanent home for Broadway theater in the Sunshine State.
What would you like to see play at the new Walt Disney World theater? Let us know in the comments!
Images: Disney
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Anthony Rapp Talks Making STAR TREK History with First LGBT Relationship and F-Bomb
We are only a few episodes into the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, but we’re quickly getting to know all of the show’s main characters. While the first few installments treated us to a team of people who could have been described as grumpy at best and sociopathic at worst, we’re at last getting to see everyone’s softer side is. That includes Science Officer Paul Stamets, played by former Rent star Anthony Rapp. We got the chance to chat with Rapp about the big developments with his character, and his feelings about all things Star Trek overall.
After being introduced in episode three as a less than friendly fixture of the series, the academically inclined Stamets has begun to warm up to series lead Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). “Part of what’s happening in these last few episodes is the idea of Stamets being able to get back to science,” Rapp said, referencing the popular social media phraseology “I’m gonna science my way out of this.” He said, “Lately, we’ve been using science for the sake of making things better, as opposed to using science for making something warlike. So that is returning the character of Stamets to his reason for being, so this all brings out some brighter colors in him … The fact that there is this scientific collaboration between Stamets and the other characters is incredibly invigorating and meaningful to him.”
Unlike most previous Star Trek series, the characters on Discovery haven’t exactly been bosom buddies from the get-go. We see this in Stamets’, shall we say, “salty” interactions with his fellow crewmates thus far—particularly, with his commanding officer Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs), and the conscripted mutineer Michael Burnham. “I think that Lorca has to earn Stamets’ respect, and that may come from some indication that Lorca has some noble purpose for Stamets’ science beyond just winning the war,” Rapp said. “As for Burnham, she demonstrated to him in the previous episode that she has really good scientific skills. She’s earned a place of respect and collaboration.”
As for if and when the Discovery crew would become more familial, Rapp says we need to be patient. “One of the things that I love about it, though, is that we’ll have to earn it,” he said. “We don’t start out that way. Any longtime Star Trek watcher can agree that so often every relationship starts out as fixed, and everyone is set in their dynamics and and doesn’t change much over the course of the series run, with the exception of Deep Space Nine, and on this show we’ll grow and change with each other.”
As you may be able to tell from that last remark, Rapp is a lifelong Trekker himself, and a proper geek on the whole. “I was a fan of The Original Series and movies, but it was always alongside my other geeky things that I have always had great affection for,” he said. “But I always just loved it, along with Star Wars, and comic books, and Lord of the Rings, and Narnia as a kid, and then as an adult Harry Potter, these things really speak to me.”
Even among all these great properties, Star Trek had a special place in the actor’s heart. “What always spoke to me especially in Star Trek’s case, I’ve always been drawn to the idea of exploration and using science to solve problems,” Rapp said. “I missed a lot of the shows in the ’90s, because I was always working then and barely watched any television. But since joining the show, I did a deep-dive, and watched a ton of The Original Series and The Next Generation, and I’ve just started on the second season of Deep Space Nine. I feel like from what I’ve seen, our show has the most in common with The Original Series and Deep Space Nine.”
Rapp’s character is significant in Trek canon for a very specific reason, as he’s the first openly LGBT crew member on any of the five live-action Star Trek series. As an out LGBT actor himself, Rapp is very aware of the responsibility of playing such a significant role. “One of my very best friends is a huge, longstanding Trek fan, and he’s gay, and he’s told me how long it’s been since Trek fandom has been wanting this, and asking for it,” Rapp said. “We don’t take the responsibility lightly.”
By “we,” Rapp is referring to himself and the actor Wilson Cruz, who plays his life partner, Dr. Culber, on Discovery. Another out LGBT actor, Cruz’s working relationship with Rapp actually dates all the way back to their time together on the Broadway stage in Rent. “I’ve known him for 20 years, he played Angel in Rent when I was still in it, so we actually did the show together for a bit,” Rapp said. “I’ve been incredibly proud of all the activism work he’s continued to do over the years. So it’s this really cool coincidence that he’s getting to play Dr. Culber. I just feel really fortunate that I get to share this experience with someone that I know, and that we have a good friendship and bond already.”
Aside from the rather important role of being Trek’s first out LGBT main character, Rapp also made a bit of Trek history recently of another kind: the first ever F-bomb in Star Trek canon, which he dropped in a scene in episode five, alongside the character of cadet Tilly (Mary Wiseman). “It was really fun, because it felt really true,” he said of the moment. “We were aware of it. We were very aware that, ‘Yeah, this is the first one.’ If you’re going to drop the F-bomb on Star Trek, make sure you drop it during a scientific breakthrough! It’s a word that’s been around since the time of Shakespeare, so why wouldn’t it be around in a couple hundred years time?”
Nearly halfway through season one, Discovery has had one of the best first seasons of any of the modern era Star Trek shows so far, and Rapp realizes the days when fans could wait a year or two for a show to “get good” are long over. “We don’t get many shots at this, in this day and age of the so-called ‘Golden Age of Television,'” he said. “You have to have something to say right away, or it won’t matter. And since we luckily have the resources at our disposal, and we have an incredibly passionate group of writers, and we can really go for it. And we have a deep and abiding love and respect for what’s come before, and a deep desire to really push it forward and make something new and relevant for today.”
Star Trek: Discovery is available on the CBS All Access streaming app, and new episodes drop every Sunday night.
What do you think of the evolution of Anthony Rapp’s character on Discovery so far? Be sure to let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.
Images: CBS All Access
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New MARVEL’S RUNAWAYS Trailer Showcases Powers, Parents (and OLD LACE!!)
Ever since Hulu announced they were picking up Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s Runaways, we’ve been waiting with baited breath for any glimpse of our teen tearaways, their powers, and their parents. After a very atmospheric teaser was released earlier this month focusing on the kids and their school life, we now have our first full trailer and it’s freakin’ full of rad reveals!
For fans of the comic, this trailer is full of moments which are just utterly astounding to see on the screen. Whereas the last teaser was establishing a very different teen drama style tone, this one jumps straight into the action, almost acting as a primer for the first act of the book itself.
If you’ve yet to read Marvel‘s Runaways—first of all go and read it, what are you doing?—it revolves around a group of teenage friends who discover their parents are supervillains during a ritual sacrifice. The trailer showcases all of the things that makes Runaways so unique and beloved, from the iconic moment where the kids witness the sacrifice to the moment they start discovering their own hidden powers.
This trailer also hints at something a little different from the book, which is how the parents will likely play a much larger role than they do in the source material. From the casting of The Pride—the group of evil parents—we guessed that they might have a more significant part. But the clips in this trailer seem to confirm that as we get moments with each pair of parents that hint at larger ongoing stories.
For us the most exhilarating part of this trailer is undoubtedly seeing the kids’ relationships and powers in play for the first time. We get a glimpse of fan fave couple Gert and Chase gripping each other in fear. We see Chase and Karolina in awe of Karolina’s newly discovered powers; Nico and Alex rekindling their old closeness. Then things switch up and we see Molly as she powers up, Chase holding the fistigons, Karolina’s true alien nature, and even Old Lace herself… something we never thought we’d see on screen!
There are a few especially interesting things to take away here too. In the comics Molly’s a mutant, but it’s unlikely they’ll use that word in the show. So does that mean they’ll call her an Inhuman? After their new flagship series flopped, probably not, but we can’t wait to see how they explain it! We see Victor with a fistigon before Chase, so we now know that he’s still a weapons designer and Chase will likely steal the weaponized gauntlets from his dad just like in the book. And now we get to Old Lace, the beautiful Deinonychus who shares a telepathic connection to Gert, and probably the part of the show that fans were most nervous about seeing come to life. But from what we can see of the dinosaur in this trailer, she looks like she might be brought to life with… PRACTICAL PUPPETRY! If that’s the case, then Old Lace could be the ace up the Runaways sleeve.
Are you excited for Marvel’s Runaways? Can’t wait to get a glimpse of Old Lace? Just want to finally see some teen Marvel superheroes on screen? Let us know in the comments!
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Images: Hulu, Marvel
October 25, 2017
Love, Alexi #87: Henry Jaglom
Filmmaker Henry Jaglom joins Alexi to talk movie making, love, relationships, Harvey Weinstein, and so much more!
Follow @alexiwasser on instagram & twitter, send emails for Alexi to read on air: DearLoveAlexi@gmail.com!
Watch the Scary First Scene From IT and Be Terrified Again
Stephen King‘s It is still haunting the top 10 films at the box office nearly two months after its release. At this rate, it’s going to take the ritual of Chud to banish Pennywise from theaters. Director Andy Muschietti and the rest of the creative team made a suburb horror film with a talented cast that may stand the test of time. The opening scene from It is now online, and it’s given us a chance to fully appreciate the way that it sets the stage for the horror to come.
The video does skip ahead past the introduction of Bill to focus on Georgie’s emergence from their house during a rainstorm. Benjamin Wallfisch’s score also lulls the audience into a false sense of security by giving the music a sense of wonder and hope. There’s not even a hint of terror until Pennywise’s eyes appear from within the storm drain.
Muschietti wisely avoided the full reveal of Pennywise in this scene, as the close ups of his face were more than enough to convey his true nature. Bill Skarsgård captured Pennywise’s sense of menace so completely that it was very believable when he managed to scare Georgie with just a subtle change of expression. Jackson Robert Scott also deserves credit for his very strong turn as Georgie in this scene. But given Pennywise’s absolutely unsettling appearance, it’s easy to understand why Scott looked genuinely scared.
What did you think about this look back at It‘s opening scene? Scare up some thoughts in the comment section below!
Images: New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. Pictures
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HELLO NEIGHBOR’s Halloween Trailer is Downright Terrifying
It feels like we’ve been talking about the stealth horror game Hello Neighbor—made by tinyBuildGAMES—for roughly 65 years, but it’s only ever been in Alpha testing. Even still, the game where your mustachioed neighbor who definitely looks like a circus strongman is up to something nefarious and you have to break-and-enter to see what it is, has captured the hearts, minds, and puckered rectums of tense players everywhere. The game is now in Beta testing and to commemorate that, plus your ability to pre-order the game on Steam, a Halloween trailer has been released, and it’s super weird.
People have already become obsessed with the complicated lore of Hello Neighbor and have whole sites devoted to figuring out what your neighbor is up to from clues in production material and within the game itself. He’s sold his soul to the devil, it seems like, and his home becomes and ever-unfolding, nigh-Lovecraftian nightmare full of moving dress forms, basements upon basements, and a neighbor who can inexplicably grow to the size of Gamera.
Though there’s not a ton of new information to be gleaned from the Halloween teaser–aside from the fact that your neighbor has a super cool roller coaster attached to his dang house!–we do get a gem at the end of the video showing the neighbor strutting it out to “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. Maybe he’s not so monstrous after all. Also, evidently there’s a single frame at the very, very end that this YouTuber pointed out tying Hello Neighbor to another popular indie survival horror game, Bendy and the Ink Machine. So many layers to this game!
Hello Neighbor is officially available on Windows, macOS, and Xbox One on December 8, 2017. Are you girding yourself properly? Let us know in the comments below!
Image: tinyBuildGAMES
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Nerdist Podcast: Duffer Brothers
Matt and Ross Duffer (Stranger Things) talk to Chris about how marketing for season 1 has changed for season 2, not knowing if Stranger Things would be a hit and the making of Wayward Pines. They also talk about CG versus models, coming up with the individual characters and what to expect for season 2 on Stranger Things!
Image: Kevin Winter / Getty
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