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How to Watch Every Treehouse of Horror SIMPSONS Episode

The Treehouse of Horror episodes of The Simpsons have been a staple in the Halloween season for nearly 30 years and have become one of the show’s best avenues to do some quality parody work. Each year, the episodes feature scary stories that live outside the already flexible canon of the show allowing the citizens of Springfield to embody other characters in pop culture. That is why we’re so excited for the FXX marathon featuring the decades’ worth of episodes leading up to the brand new episode.

The six nights leading up to Halloween will feature mini-marathons of episodes grouped together with common themes. We’ll see evenings filled with episodes involving Kang and Kodos, classic horror monsters, elements of body horror (odd that a cartoon has enough of those to make that sort of grouping), movie parodies, and ones set at Springfield Elementary School.

Then, on Halloween, FXX will be running a 13 hour marathon of every single Treehouse of Horror in existence from the very first from the second season of the show all the way up to Treehouse of Horror XXVI.

So, should you find yourself without plans or stuck on candy duty for the evening, your Halloween night can still be filled with a few decades worth of scary Simpson-y goodness.

Planning to watch the marathon? What’s your favorite ToH parody? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: Fox

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LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Returns to Theaters with the Original (Darker) Ending

Halloween is coming up fast, and this year it’s going to be a time for music and blood sucking plants from outer space. Fathom Events is bringing Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut back to theaters for two nights only, and it’s going to include the original ending that was just a little bit too grim for the ’80s.

Years before they went on to create beautiful Disney music together, Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman adapted Roger Corman’s The Little Shop of Horrors as an off-Broadway musical. Director Frank Oz brought the musical incarnation to the big screen in 1986 with Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, and Vincent Gardenia in the leading roles with Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II.

Moranis played Seymour Krelborn, a hapless florist shop employee who discovers a venus fly trap that can speak (and sing!), but the plant/Audrey II demands blood in order to grow. The film originally had a much darker conclusion that was rejected by test audiences. While speaking with Yahoo! Movies, Oz noted that the original ending “may still be too dark for people” and “may not be as satisfying emotionally,” though it’s still his preferred way to close out the story.

Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut will play in theaters on Sunday, October 29, and Tuesday, October 31. For showtimes and theaters, check out Fathom Events’ official page.

Are you excited to see the restored ending of Little Shop of Horrors on the big screen? You don’t want to be a dentist, so leave a comment below!

Images: Warner Bros. Pictures

Vampire Madness Erupts in Trailer for I HAD A BLOODY GOOD TIME AT HOUSE HARKER

While most people like to think of Abraham Van Helsing and his ilk as the ones who slew Count Dracula after decades hunting him and his vampire offspring (I know I like that, especially when played by Peter Cushing), in Bram Stoker’s novel, it wasn’t Van Helsing who plunged the stake into the Prince of Darkness, but Jonathan Harker, the book’s first character, who slashes the vampire’s throat.

This rewriting of fake history is at the center of Machinima’s movie for Amazon: I Had a Bloody Good Time at House Harker.

Despite the hilariously unruly title, the film — featured in our Pickstarter column over two years ago! — is hitting Amazon Prime, and with it, the above trailer, letting you know you’re in for a bloody and silly time. After Jonathan Harker helped kill Dracula, all the world’s vampires lost their leader, which means they lose their power.

But Harker’s descendants want to be hailed as the family of vampire hunters they deserve to be. Surely hiring an actor to play a vampire is a good way to do that (and drilling bite holes into dead bodies?!?!). When the fake vampire ends up being a real creature of the night, however, the Harkers have to put their money where their fangless mouths are.

I Had a Bloody Good Time at House Harker is available now on Amazon Prime, and will make for good ol’ Halloweentime viewing.

Image: Machinima/Amazon

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and the host of the horror documentary series One Good Scare. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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Hear Michael Sheen Narrate Philip Pullman’s THE BOOK OF DUST: LA BELLE SAUVAGE

Fans of Philip Pullman‘s award-winning fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials probably felt like they had wandered into some wonderful parallel universe when it was announced that the author would be returning with a new companion trilogy to the series called The Book of Dust. But if readers were already eager to cozy up with the first book, La Belle Sauvage, they’re probably now going to be looking for an excuse to take a long drive very soon so they can listen to the audiobook too. Because it is being narrated by actor Michael Sheen, and it sounds perfect.

Penguin Random House Audio tapped Sheen, a self-professed fan of His Dark Materials, to read the new novel that will bring back Lyra Belacqua, daemons, alethiometers, and the Magisterium. And if there were any questions as to why they chose Sheen, this clip of him narrating an excerpt from the novel should answer them for you. Because Michael Sheen was clearly put on this planet to both be a great actor and to read books to us.

With a voice like that they could probably have Michael Sheen read anything and we’d buy it. He’d make a recipe book for gruel sound appetizing. Fortunately though this is for a slightly more interesting story.

But The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage doesn’t hit stores until October 19. Hey, wait a second…that’s today! Huzzah! And you can order the audiobook here.

And if you didn’t already feel lucky enough about all of this, just think of the parallel universes out there where instead of Michael Sheen narrating, they got someone like Bobcat Goldthwait or Fran Drescher instead.

Talk about dark materials.

What other favorite books of yours would you like to hear Michael Sheen read? Tell us which novel would be a fantasy come true for you in the comments below.

Images: Penguin Random House Audio

Early THOR: RAGNAROK Reviews Praise Marvel’s Funniest Movie Yet

The first Thor: Ragnarok reviews hit the internet today, and the early consensus? Marvel has a big winner on its hands. Because as of this writing, the movie has a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s amazing for any film, but it totally blows the first two Thor films out of the water. The original from 2011 is at 77%, and 2013’s Dark World has an underwhelming 66%. But what exactly do critics like about the new movie so much? And what qualms do they have with it? (Because it can’t be perfect, right?)

To answer those questions we rounded up some of the best write-ups from around the web, and they paint a picture of a hilarious movie that might actually have been too amusing at times. So we’re bringing them all to you in today’s episode of Nerdist News.

We’re kicking things off with our very own Kyle Anderson, who thinks the funniest movie in the MCU finally gave Chris Hemsworth a Thor movie worthy of his talents:

“Visually, the movie definitely stuns, with more of those Jack Kirby-inspired cityscapes and spaceships, and this is aided greatly by a prog-rock synth score by the great Mark Mothersbaugh. I could definitely spend a lot more time NOT on Earth in these Marvel movies and be completely fine with it, which we’ll certainly get more of in Avengers: Infinity War, if reports are to be believed.”

Sheri Linden at The Hollywood Reporter thought the film’s focus on not taking itself too seriously really separated it from Dark World:

“With Taika Waititi at the helm, the clash-of-worlds CGI extravaganza blasts free of the previous installment’s leaden Dark World. Giant fire monsters in stygian underworlds notwithstanding, even the story’s central bad guys are silly fun, hammed to the hilt by Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum.”

The Guardian‘s Steve Rose says its an “entertaining but frankly inconsequential Marvel” movie:

“It’s what you’d call a ‘romp’ – and one whose lurid 1980s-retro stylings bring it closer to the Guardians of the Galaxy end of the spectrum, though its spiritual forebears would also include Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon, He-Man, and the Masters of the Universe, and possibly Red Dwarf. Comic-book movies have spent a long time striving to be taken as serious, grownup entertainment but Thor: Ragnarok is almost an admission that you can’t play this material straight.”

Brock Wilbur at Polygon thinks the movie has has raised the bar for the MCU:

“There are bad-ass women, monsters, hilarious jokes, and an appreciated space-punk soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh. Not to mention that Doctor Strange is better here than in his own origin adventure movie. Ragnarok sets the new standard by which the entire MCU will have to adhere to, including the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. Rangarok is an intense space opera that genuinely cares about every character having a journey and doesn’t waste a second of screen time on anything artificial.

This could be the funniest superhero movie ever made, according to Gizmodo‘s Germain Lussier, but all that humor overshadows everything else:

“There’s only one problem with the film being so funny and such a spectacle, though: The laughter and grandeur overshadows almost everything else. Ragnarok is missing the emotional core that has elevated many other Marvel films. The jokes and set pieces come at you so often that there’s barely a moment for you to feel anything else. Luckily—and unlike so many other films that try the same thing—Thor: Ragnarok is so good it manages to work anyway.”

Chris Nashawaty at Entertainment Weekly says this is a great comedy more than a superhero movie, one that suffers from an uninspiring plot:

“What neither Hemsworth nor his director can overcome, though, is Ragnarok’s meandering and narcoleptic story. It’s the sort of rote, paint-by-numbers slog (occasionally broken up by numbing, pro forma smashy-smashy smackdowns) that makes so many Marvel movies feel like Xeroxes of other Marvel movies.”

The Verge‘s Bryan Bishop thinks director Taika Waititi has managed to capture what a Marvel movie can really be:

“Thor: Ragnarok is (Waititi’s) first Hollywood feature, but what he’s done with Ragnarok doesn’t just boil down to adding new characters or throwing in extra comedy. Instead, it’s an enthusiastic, hilarious reboot of the idea of what a Marvel movie can actually be, resulting in an effervescent, delightfully self-aware ride that was the most fun I’d had in a superhero movie in years.”

Alonso Duralde at The Wrap thought two of the biggest names to join in the fun might have stolen the film with their performances:

“Both Blanchett and Goldblum take full advantage of their Special Guest Villain status to go gloriously over the top. Goldblum’s trademark brand of stammering deadpan fits perfectly into this scenario, while Blanchett walks away with the movie.”

But as much fun as as the movie was, IGN‘s Jim Vejvoda wrote it missed the real story it should have been telling:

“Who, after all these years and films, is Thor exactly? And what really mattered to him here in this film? Asgard’s very existence being at stake never seems to emotionally register with him as much as it should. He doesn’t have any real arc to speak of here in Ragnarok; there are opportunities to explore some depth between Thor and Hela that the movie deflects in favor of moving on to the next set-piece or gag.”

If the biggest problem with Thor: Ragnarok is that it’s too much fun, we’re not worried about it doing well when it hits theaters on November 2nd.

What are you most looking forward to with the movie? Are you more excited for it after reading the reviews? Enter the arena of our comments section below to share your thoughts.

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Images: Marvel

7 DC Heroes Perfect for TV’s TITANS Series

It was recently announced that actor Ryan Potter was cast as Beast Boy in the upcoming Titans television series, rounding out the principal main cast. The starting team line-up of the show, which is coming in 2018 to DC Comics’ upcoming streaming service, will be Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Hawk and Dove.

However, over the years the Teen Titans have had a pretty large cast of characters, and we hear that initial line-up of heroes is just the beginning, as more Titans from the comics are set to join over the course of the series. Here’s other members of the team we think deserve a chance at live-action glory, along with we think they are essential member of the team.

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl

We’ve written before how almost all DC Comics media has largely ignored the character of Donna Troy, aka Wonder Girl. We think this new Titans show is the perfect opportunity to rectify this situation, and finally shine a spotlight on Wonder Woman’s adopted kid sister.

Donna has always been a crucial component of the Titans, because with her two best friends on the team, she creates a perfect balance in the character spectrum between the hyper emotional Starfire and the emotionally suppressed Raven. She also opens the door to stories involving Greek mythology, which could be very cool indeed.

Victor Stone/Cyborg

Cyborg was introduced in the pages of the New Teen Titans, and although he’s now a member of the Justice League in both the comics and the upcoming movie, he still has strong Titans connections (just ask any kid who watches Teen Titans Go!) If there can be separate two versions of major characters like the Flash and Superman for TV and movies, then why not Cyborg? He’s the Titan’s lead tech character, and also his friendship with Beast Boy is one of the core emotional touchstones of the comics.

Wally West/Kid Flash

Although the Titans series will supposedly be set on its own unique Earth and not the one shared by most of the DC CW shows, there is no reason why characters from the so-called Arrowverse couldn’t show up. After all, Supergirl is on the CW as well, and is on her own Earth, and she still crosses over with Flash and Arrow all the time.

And right now, Wally West/Kid Flash as a character is a bit superfluous as on The Flash. Central City really doesn’t need two speedsters, and actor Kieynan Londsdale doesn’t need to be playing a sidekick anymore. But Kid Flash is an important Titan, and moving shows would finally get the character out of Barry’s shadow. I say he crosses dimensions and joins up with the Titans ASAP.

Conner Kent/Superboy

In the comics, the Conner Kent/Kon-El iteration of Superboy is currently MIA, although there have been strong hints lately that he is coming back. The fan favorite hero, who is a young clone of Superman, with some Lex Luthor DNA mixed in, was a cornerstone of the Geoff Johns run on Teen Titans, and one his favorite characters. The character also has a large fanbase due to his animated appearances in the Young Justice animated series. Could we see him pop up in the Titans show? We certainly have our fingers crossed.

Tim Drake/Robin

Current rumors suggest that the new Titans series will chronicle former Robin Dick Grayson’s transition into the superhero Nightwing. But if Grayson was once Robin, who took over the role when he gave it up? How about Tim Drake, who in the comics was Robin #3. He has a long history with the Titans, and is the best friend and confidante of Superboy. I think most fans would love to see that friendship brought to live-action. Tim Drake is very likely to get ignored in the movie DC Universe, so we say give him a place to shine on TV.

Karen Beecher/Bumblebee

Originally introduced in a largely forgotten run of the Teen Titans from the ’70s, Karen Beecher was a tech genius who made herself a flying suit very similar to Marvel’s Wasp. She spent several decades basically in obscurity, until DC, realizing the character had potential (and also realizing they needed more ethnic diversity) brought her back in a new and improved version. Bumblebee is now a part of the comics Titans series and the DC Superhero Girls line. With her newfound popularity, DC should consider bringing her into the live-action series too.

Lilith Clay/Omen

Another character who was originally introduced in the ’70s run of the Teen Titans comic, Lilith Clay was a mysterious red head who has vaguely psychic powers, and didn’t feel the need to have a superhero codename or costume. She later became a recurring character in the New Teen Titans, eventually taking the name Omen. She is kind of redundant on a team that already has the supernaturally powered Raven on it, but for those times when Raven is not available, Lilith is a good substitute.

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Which members of the Titans from the comics or the animated series would you like to see in live-action? Be sure to share you thoughts with us down below in the comments.

Images: DC Comics

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Funko’s New 8-Bit Horror Pops Include the Xenomorph, Freddy Krueger, and More

Readers, please allow me a moment to address Funko directly: Why must you tempt me with awesome new figures when I’m already dealing with a longstanding Pop! addiction and growing Dorbz fixation? Now I have to toss 8-bit versions of my favorite horror characters into the mix? I’m running out of money, running low on shelf space, and my family and friends are more than a little concerned.

Funko announced these 8-bit Pop! beauties in a recent blog post and our low-res pixels are absolutely shaking in terror. Even though Funko makes the point that these aren’t the final images of the figures, the 8-bit style gives us a good idea of what we’ll be getting in the box. These Xenomorph, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees Pops are due out in January of 2018 along with some variants that have some pretty neat details.

The blood-spattered Xenomorph is cool enough but we’re kind of enamored at the effort to make the Freddy and Jason alternates in their old-school NES game color schemes. You can see Freddy’s orange color palette here and Jason’s rather hypothermic (probably from all that time in Crystal Lake) look here.

In the same blog post, Funko announced they’re adding some Ninja Turtles 8-bit Pops! to the mix as well. Though they’re not classically thought of as horror icons, where else would you lump in sewer-dwelling mutants with an affinity for weapons?

What other characters would you like to see in 8-bit form? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Images: Funko

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Does THOR: RAGNAROK Really Live Up to the Hype?

The first reviews for Thor: Ragnarok are in, and they are glowing like the Bifrost Bridge. On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed (spoiler-free!) if we think it lives up to the hype, along with breaking down new trailers for Netflix’s Punisher series, Star Wars Battlefront II, and Amazon’s Jean-Claude Van Johnson satire.

Helping host Jessica Chobot form her own “Revengers” team today were editors Dan Casey and Kyle Anderson, as well as Director of Development Brendon Schulze, all of whom have seen Thor: Ragnarok already. What grade do we give it? Where does it rank among the three Thor films? And if this is a sign of things to come from the MCU, are we happy with the tone and style? (Make sure you also check out Kyle’s full review.)

We also got that new Punisher trailer that was dropped from New York Comic Con after the unspeakable tragedy in Las Vegas. But with the sad prevalence of gun violence in this country, was there ever going to be a good time for this show? And with Marvel’s Netflix series all being so dark and gritty, are they headed towards DCEU territory?

Star Wars Battlefront II also had a new trailer drop today, but did we already pre-order the game? Did we like the first one, flaws and all? Are these games a good way to add to Star Wars canon the way the comics and novels do? What other franchise deserves a Battlefront-style game?

Finally, Amazon shared the trailer for their satirical comedy series Jean-Claude Van Johnson, which stars JCVD playing a fictional-real version of himself as a spy What do we think? Do we like the tone? (I can tell you I loved the pilot). What other ’80s action stars do we hope get cameos on it?

Remember, you can get in on the conversation with us every weekday when Nerdist News Talks Back airs live at 1:00 p.m. PST on our YouTube and Alpha channels. And don’t forget to vote in today’s Monster Madness poll!

Today's #MonsterMadness match-up is between two gargantuan creatures. Who would win in a fight: Cthulhu or Balrog?

— Nerdist (@nerdist) October 19, 2017

We’re going to be talking a lot more about Thor: Ragnarok in the coming weeks, and we have a feeling you’ll want to discuss it too.

You can still talk back to us about today’s topics though, by sharing your thoughts in the comments below.

Need More Talks Back?

We have some thoughts on the Detective Pikachu actors.
And on the Black Panther trailer.
Plus, we had the creators of American Vandal on to talk about their show!

Featured Image: Marvel

Kids Can Become Certified Ninjas in Japan

As kids, loads of us used to pretend to be  ninjas with our friends. That desire to be a highly skilled fighter with amazing skills landed several of us in martial arts classes, but most of us never got to actually realize that childhood dream of actually becoming a ninja. Well now it’s officially possible to become a real, certified ninja in Japan…sort of, anyway.

As Kotaku reports, the Koga-ryu school of ninjutsu will be offering a certification ninja test on October 22. The test will be held take the prospective ninjas about thirty minutes, and it will allow the test-takers to show their knowledge of the Koga-ryu school. If you get at least 60% of the answers correct (or are able to increase your score by accuracy in throwing a shuriken), you’ll earn your official certification.

Unfortunately, this won’t be a way for you or I to become real ninjas. If you check out the original At Press article or head to the Imashiga website advertising the test, you’ll see that this is really more of a fun event for kids hosted by the Koga City Tourism Association. The test is designed for fifth graders (regardless of nationality) at beginning levels of training, and ninja cosplay is encouraged. And don’t worry, if you don’t have your own ninja costume, they’ll rent some out to the first 100 people to inquire.

Still, the event sounds like a ton of fun. It’s limited to 200 people, and is commemorating the “Warring States Period,” when the Koga ninjas played a valuable role. Kids who attend will not only get to take the test, but will be given a lesson on throwing a shuriken. All attendees will be able to learn about real ninjas of the past, and see a ninja demonstration by the traditional ninja group Black Party (Kuroda). The event will be held at the Jodo Shrine Omotoyama Zojoji in Tokyo. So I guess the only real question is: how quickly can we all book our flights to Tokyo?

Does this sound like fun to you? Have you ever attended an event like this? Tell us about it in the comments!

Image credits: Imashiga

THE SIMPSONS’ “Homer at the Bat” is Getting a “Documentary” from Morgan Spurlock

The Simpsons‘ iconic “Homer at the Bat” turned 25 earlier this year, and even though Homer was honored for it this summer by being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and some lunatic (:waves:) did a super serious, statistical deep dive on how good the team really was, the legendary episode is getting another tribute. Because this Sunday Fox is giving it the Ken Burns treatment with its very own “documentary.”

Fox Sports and Major League Baseball have teamed up for Springfield of Dreams: The Legend of Homer Simpson, a one-hour special mockumentary directed by none other than Morgan Spurlock. It features interviews with some of Springfield’s finest, including Homer, his teammate Carl, and local resident cynic Comic Book Guy.

But that’s not all, because announcer Joe Buck also sat down to talk about the Springfield Power Plant nine, as did some of the ringers from that unforgettable softball squad, like Wade Boggs, Steve Sax (who has apparently been freed from jail–so beware), and Jose Canseco.

Hmm, no sign of Ozzie Smith. He must still be in that hole. (Actually, EW reports eight of the nine baseball players who appeared in the episode gave interviews for the special, so there’s hope for Ozzie yet!)

Springfield of Dreams: The Legend of Homer Simpson airs this Sunday, October 22nd, on Fox, but you’ll have to check your local listings for when. Depending on where you live it will either air before or after Fox’s afternoon NFL game.

That’s dangerous though. We know how unreliable all of those professional ball players turned out to be. We’d feel much better if they knew the exact time and place to show up.

Who was your favorite player on the team? Step up to the plate with your thoughts in our comments section below.

Images: FOX

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