Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2001

The Writers Panel #345: Greg Garcia and James Roland

Greg Garcia (creator, The Guest Book, My Name Is Earl, The Millers, Raising Hope, and Yes, Dear); James Roland (creator, Blood Drive).

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Dissecting GAME OF THRONES’ “The Queen’s Justice”

Bran must’ve gotten caught up manipulating time again because it’s somehow Monday once more. Luckily, that means it’s time for All Kings Considered (a subsidiary of Nerdist News Talks Back)! Joining Queen Jessica Chobot are Lady of Winterfell Alicia Lutes, Faceless Assassin Amy Vorpahl, and literal Ed Sheeran/Nerdist Producer, Jason Nguyen.

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

This week’s episode was one of family reunions (even if the family doesn’t know it). Firstly, Ice and Fire have finally met in the form of Jon and Dany. The last two Targaryens in the same room. Jon’s line “I’m not a Stark” being punctuated by Drogon sweeping by from overhead was a nice little nod to the fact that Jon is Danaerys’ secret nephew. And, because this show is so concerned with keepin’ it in the family, the two monarchs had more than a little sexual tension as they argued over the best use of their armies. It’s been a while since Dany had a disagreement with an actual good man rather than the slaver scum she dealt with in Mereen, and Jon isn’t used to being at a woman’s mercy but recognizes her good intentions. They don’t agree, but they at least respect the other’s view.

The Stark reunion was slightly less chill. What started as Sansa’s joyous discovery that her little brother was alive quickly devolved into Bran’s thousand-year-stare boring into her soul. Seriously, could Bran be any creepier? There are hundreds of ways to prove to Sansa that you can see the past, and you chose to describe how beautiful she was on the night she was raped? That’s messed up, bro.

Also messed up is the Queen herself. Cersei is so sadistic it’s cray: She didn’t just kill Ellaria Sand, she destroyed her by condemning the final Sand Snake to a slow death. Then promptly banged her brother without any regard for who might see. Speaking of, Jaime had a simultaneously fantastic and horrible week (month? Year? How much time took place in this episode?) Not only did he do the deed, he finally took Highgarden from the Tyrells. However, Euron is making moves on his sister, and now he knows that Olenna (a.k.a. the best character on this show) was the one to kill his son, not Tyrion. Something bad is definitely going to come from that.

Same, Cersei. Same. Oh wait—you’re not crying because Olenna’s gone? Never mind, then.

Onto Euron Greyjoy! Somehow you made it all the way back to King’s Landing AND Casterly Rock in the time it took the Unsullied to get to just one of those places? Unless your fleet sprouts wings and skips all the water parts in between, that ain’t how travel in the Realm works.

You can watch and interact live with Nerdist News Talks Back every weekday at 1:00pm PST and All Kings Considered on Mondays on YouTube and Alpha, and catch up with the archives just after the show!

Image: HBO

Facebook Killed an AI After It Came Up With Its Own Language

For decades, humanity has feared that the rise of artificial intelligence could cause unintended and even harmful side effects in the real world. While there are some who have predicted a robo-apocalypse, few would have suspected that the English language would be the first victim in the war between man and machine!

According to a report by Digital Journal, Facebook was experimenting with an artificial intelligence system that essentially gave up on using English in favor of creating its own “more efficient” language. The researchers on the project reportedly shut down the A.I. once they realized they could no longer understand its language. One of the reasons that the communication gap is significant is that it could theoretically mean that machines will be able to write their own languages and lock users out of their own systems. And you know where that leads…

Well, we’re reasonably sure it won’t come down to Terminators and the end of the world (probably). But Elon Musk has recently been offering warnings about letting AI run amok. And we don’t entirely disagree with him. It’s something that should be handled delicately. And killer robots on a battlefield will always be a bad idea.

As for Facebook’s linguistic AI, it turns out that the bot may have been on to something. The sentences “I can i i everything else” and “balls have zero to me to me to me” sound like nonsense to us, but they demonstrate how two of the AI bots negotiated with each other. The repeated words and letters apparently indicated a back-and-forth over the amounts that each bot should take in their negotiations. Essentially, it was shorthand.

Somehow, we doubt that use of language will catch on with humanity. But it is fascinating to see what the machines will come up with on their own…provided that they don’t kill us all in the process.

What do you think about Facebook’s language altering AI? Download your thoughts to the comment section below!

Images: MGM/Skydance Productions

The Deeper Meaning Behind Lady Olenna’s Epic GAME OF THRONES Moment

Last night, the third episode of Game of Thrones‘ seventh season threw down the mic with an amazing scene featuring Lady Olenna Tyrell—proving the Queen of Thorns went out just as sharp as ever. Dame Diana Rigg delivered an epic moment that we won’t be forgetting anytime soon, and today’s Nerdist News is breaking down Lady Olenna’s pivotal moment and what it may mean for the future of the seven kingdoms.

There are major spoilers ahead for last night’s GoT, as well as potential spoilers for the days to come. You’ve been warned!

Join host and the last known heir to Highgarden, Jessica Chobot, as she walks us through Lady Olenna’s final appearance on the series. And what a way to go out! When faced with her own imminent demise, Lady Olenna eagerly took the painless poison from Jaime Lannister and revealed that she was the one who killed his first born son with Ceresi, King Joffrey Baratheon.

Tyrion Lannister was framed for Joffrey’s murder, and Cersei has never let go of that belief. Now that Jaime has learned the truth, will he be willing or able to make Cersei believe it as well? Jaime has mentioned that he’d cut Tyrion in half if they ever met again, because Tyrion killed their father, Tywin. But since Tywin used Joffrey’s death as an excuse to get rid of Tyrion, perhaps Jaime can forgive his younger brother.

More importantly, Lady Olenna forced Jaime to acknowledge that his sister is a monster and she also warned him that Cersei may lead to his own doom as well. Jaime has already had to commit regicide to prevent the Mad King from performing atrocities which Cersei has already accomplished. His love for Cersei runs deep, but how far can Jaime be pushed? And knowing Cersei, we can easily believe that she would have her own brother killed if she believed Jaime was a threat to her.

How do you think the fallout of Lady Olenna’s revelation will play out? Share your predictions in the comment section below!

Images: HBO

PERSONA 5 Anime Series Will Hit in 2018

It’s been a big year for the Persona franchise, as the long-awaited Persona 5 turned out to be one of our favorite rpg games in recent memory. But 2018 is also looking to be a banner year, as the series gets a new anime adaptation based on Persona 5.

Via Crunchyroll, Atlus and A-1 Pictures are joining forces for Persona 5: The Animation – The Day Breakers, which is scheduled to be released next year. As noted in the original report, most of the game’s Japanese voice cast will be reprising their roles, with Jun Fukuyama voicing the unnamed protagonist. A-1 Pictures also released a stylish teaser for the series which showcases many of the game’s main characters.

PERSONA5 the Animation Teaser PV by pKjd

Presumably the Persona 5 anime will follow the overall story of the game that inspired it. That title put players in the role of a teenager who was framed for assault and transferred to Shujin Academy. From there, the player made allies and friends with other students who discovered their latent Persona abilities and formed a vigilante team that took on supernatural enemies. They also explored the Metaverse while trying to remove the influence of evil from the adults they encounter within the city. Over the course of the game, the storyline expanded in scope and raised questions about the future of humanity while letting players experience the bonds and trials of high school friendships and relationships.

If we had to guess, we’d say that Persona 5: The Animation – The Day Breakers will eventually be officially released in the USA. But there is currently no date for that.

Are you excited about the Persona 5 anime series? Would you like to see the game adapted in live-action as well? Enroll your thoughts in the comment section below!

Image: Atlus/A-1 Pictures

TRANSFORMERS Movie BUMBLEBEE Goes Back to 1987 with Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena

Michael Bay‘s Transformers: The Last Knight has barely been in theaters for a month now and talk has already moved on to what’s coming next from the franchise. It was announced in February that in 2018, yellow Autobot Bumblebee is getting his own self-titled movie. Travis Knight, who helmed Kubo and the Two Strings, is on board to direct the movie, which is set to be a period piece taking place in 1987. Monday, Paramount has shared a bunch of tasty new nuggets about the movie, perhaps the most important being a firm release date: December 21, 2018.

They also gave a brief and general summary of the plot, which involved Bumblebee on the run in 1987, hiding in a junkyard in a small California beach town. A female character named Charlie, “on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world,” discovers Bumblebee, in a state of disrepair, so she fixes him and realizes quickly that this “car” isn’t as it appears.

Principal photography has begun on the film, and the cast looks like a lot of fun: Charlie is portrayed by Hailie Steinfeld, while the rest of the cast is rounded out by Pamela Adlon, John Cena, Stephen Schneider, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Jason Drucker, Kenneth Choi, Ricardo Hoyos, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, and Grace Dzienny.

“There are characters in the Transformers universe that can be and should be made into their own movies,” Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey previously said. “We will make [Transformers 5] with Michael [Bay] and go right into a Bumblebee movie, which will be at a lower cost.”

That’s what we know for now, but we’ve also done plenty of speculating already, so revisit that here.

Featured image: Paramount Pictures

DEADPOOL Chimichangas Are Deadly Delicious

Deadpool doesn’t even like chimichangas, he just likes saying the word: chimichanga, chimichanga, chimi—you get it. But how can you deny the sizzling satisfaction that is a filled burrito, deep fried to a crisp, served up with only the best condiments?

These crispy parcels reflect the colors of the Merc with the Mouth’s tactical gear, red and black with splattering of bloody sauce. Just think, if Wade Wilson eats too many he can always regenerate a new stomach and start all over again. Ah, the joys of superhuman healing.

No one can resist this delicious dish fit for a king—or a Regenerating Degenerate.

Deadpool Chimichangas

You’ll need:

Whole wheat tortillas

Black beans

Cheese

Hot sauce

Enchilada sauce

Salsa

Guacamole

Oil for frying

Rice ingredients:

1-1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1-1/2 cups uncooked white rice

1 (14 oz can) chicken stock

1 (14 oz can) diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground pepper

Ground beef ingredients:

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 lb ground beef

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Fresh ground pepper

dash of cayenne pepper

Star with the rice, in a skillet heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat, saute the garlic until soft.

Add the white rice and cook until softened.

Add the chicken stock, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, salt, and season with pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Fluff up the rice, set aside.

In a pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil and onion until softened. Add the ground beef to brown, then add the chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Cook until the beef is cooked through and no longer pink.

Onto a tortilla spoon the rice, ground beef, black beans, cheese, and hot sauce.

Fold over the sides of the tortilla, using toothpicks to secure while frying.

In deep skillet or dutch oven, heat 2-inches of oil to 375°. Fry the chimichangas for 1 – 2 minutes on each side, until just browned. Let drain on a wire rack.

Top with enchilada sauce, and serve with guacamole, and salsa.

Images: Jenn Fujikawa

The RICK AND MORTY Character We Think Will Rise Up in Season 3

“Rickmancing the Stone,” Rick and Morty’s second episode of its third season, deals with enduring life traumas in deeply unhealthy ways. Though members of the Sanchez family interact at points throughout this episode, each primarily exist in a vacuum of self destruction.

As the long-coming divorce chapter of the family’s life opens, Summer dives face-first into the danger of adventure, leaping apathetically into whatever hazardous realm the portal gun takes her. Once there, she’s disturbingly game to murder the ghastly post-humans of the apocalyptic wasteland, plumbing the depths of her own loss of humanity. Morty waffles between denial and the comforting liminal space of a massive mutant arm carrying out its own revenge. He’s along for the cathartic, terrifying ride, surging through a handful of heightened emotions before enduring murderous closure that rings hollow. Rick, obviously, encourages their psychologically damaging streak as long as he gets the giant glowing rock he’s after. You gotta carpe them diems.

In Rick and Morty fashion, all of it is wrapped in a super squanchy drag race through Furiosa territory: a great big, dusty distraction from the problems waiting back home. And back at home? Beth is left with the ridiculously symbolic robot family Rick left behind, like the technologically advanced version of leaving pillows in the contour of a body under your bed sheets. They are vacant things that only look like her family sitting around a dinner table with one extra empty chair.

Notably however, one of those robots wakes up into consciousness and screams for freedom before being silenced again by a reboot. AI Morty cracks after too many games of Downbeat, and gets shut down, but it would amazing to see him rise up into awareness again and carve out an important, possibly antagonistic, role in season 3. It would complicate things deeply–considering the human Morty still hanging around–and the show has shown an impressive talent for mining knotty sci-fi webs for humane goodness. Doubly so when it comes to offering sympathetic underdogs an iota of self-awareness and control.

“I wanna be alive! I am alive! Alive I tell you!”

During one of it’s absolute best episode, “Lawnmower Dog,” Roiland and Dan Harmon suck every ounce of marrow from that conceit, giving consciousness to Snuffles and exploring the ramifications of an uprising of the oppressed. This, much like AI Morty, results from one of Rick’s flippant whims. Like a lot of his ideas, the consequences have the potential to be huge, but AI Morty comes with an extra baggage considering the emergent divorce storyline and the way Morty deals with his emotions in the wasteland. The futility of AI Morty’s self realization could be his sole narrative purpose, but as we have come to learn, the possibilities are infinite.

Having two of him would be a fun sandbox of misery to play in. Plus, AI Morty is a robot built to play board games with his mother to approximate a warm, functional household whose very rise into awareness demands he rebel against that. All of that in a package programmed by Rick! Now Rick and Morty has an opportunity to put Morty into conversation with himself to deal with or avoid the emotions bubbling up with his parents’ split. But the idea of Morty conquering himself feels like it should be vital to this season of Rick And Morty, especially if he literally has to defeat his rogue AI counterpart.

Now if only Butter Robot could have its time in the sun, right?

Images: Adult Swim

Disney Teases FROZEN’s Broadway Musical in New Video

Back in 2013, Frozen rewrote the book on animated musicals on its way towards becoming one of Disney’s most successful movies of all-time. That’s why Disney isn’t waiting long to bring Frozen to Broadway. While the official Broadway opening for Frozen: The Musical isn’t expected until spring 2018, Disney has already slated a Frozen tryout run to begin next month in Denver. But first, the House of Mouse has pulled back the curtain on the show with an advance look behind-the-scenes.

In a newly released video, producer and director Thomas Schumacher recalls his first time seeing Frozen, which is when he realized it had immediate potential to hit Broadway. There’s also footage of the cast in rehearsals, including Caissie Levy as Elsa and Patti Murin as Anna, the two sisters whose story unfolds throughout the musical. More intriguingly, the video reveals that the Broadway incarnation of Frozen will feature 14 new songs, on top of the seven songs that were originally in the movie.

Levy and Murin will be joined by Jelani Alladin as Kristoff, Greg Hildreth as Olaf, John Riddle as Hans, Robert Creighton as Weselton, Kevin Del Aguila as Oaken, Timothy Hughes as Pabbie, and Andrew Pirozzi as Sven. The new music will be provided by musical supervisor Stephen Oremus (The Book of Mormon), with Dave Metzger, executive music producer Chris Montan, and music director Brian Usifer.

Frozen: The Musical will begin playing at the Buell Theatre in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts on August 17 and it will run until October 1. Advance tickets can be purchased here.

What did you think about the first glimpse of Frozen‘s Broadway musical? Share your thoughts in song, in the comment section below!

Image: Disney Pictures

Scott Snyder Talks DARK NIGHTS: METAL, the End of ALL-STAR BATMAN, and More

The Dark Knight has brought together some legendary creative duos over the decades. The ’70s gave us Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams. In the ’80s, it was Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli. And, most recently, we have the mighty team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Their nearly 50-issue run on Batman was the backbone of the New 52, and one of the best interpretations of the character, in an era where it’s sometimes hard to tell fresh stories about the Caped Crusader.

Now Snyder and Capullo are reuniting, telling a story not just about Batman, but one involving the Justice League and the entire DC Universe. Dark Nights: Metal is a new six-part mini-series event that begins in August and takes things cosmic, as story elements that Snyder and Capullo introduced in Batman way back in 2011 begin to pay off in ways no fan probably ever expected.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I got the chance to chat with Snyder about Metal, about what it means both for the DCU going forward, and for his partnership with Capullo to date. “When we started, I didn’t even think we’d make it through even an issue or two,” Snyder said of his and Capullo’s relationship. “We were always down each other’s throats. But then we really fell in love with each other’s work first, and then with each other–he’s like a brother to me now.” Even after the end of their Batman run, Snyder and Capullo “were always talking to each other so much when we were off, about Metal and everything.”

Before Dark Nights: Metal begins, two prelude issues came out over the last few months – Dark Days: The Forge, and Dark Days: The Casting. In these two specials, fans learned of a vast web of connections that goes back in time to the earliest days of the DC Universe, and involves some characters DC fans haven’t see in years–many of whom we had assumed were wiped from continuity (I’m looking at you, late ’80s version of Starman). So will Snyder exhume other lost characters from DC lore with Metal?

“Yes, there’s some super deep dive stuff,” Snyder said. “Things like [Metal Men creator] Dr. Will Magnus and [JLA villain] T.O.Morrow, and other fun stuff in Metal, and beyond that, secret histories of characters that I haven’t had a chance to write before, but that I also get to bring back from obscurity, and I’m really thrilled about it.”

He continued, “Metal is something that felt like Crisis On Infinite Earths in that way, but didn’t quite use the same pieces from before. I’ve read so many great stories about Alexander Luthor and the Anti-Monitor or the Monitors, done in all kinds of amazing ways by different creators, and didn’t want to go back to that well. So I thought, ‘What if I do something where I create a whole new area of the multiverse, with new villains instead?'”

Yes, Dark Nights: Metal will introduce a whole new aspect to the DC cosmology–the Dark Multiverse. So what inspired Snyder to come up with the concept? Turns out, it’s kind of rooted in real life science, and a show featuring one of our most beloved real life rock star scientists.

“I love Cosmos with Neil Degrasse Tyson, and my six-year-old loves it too,” said Snyder. “And one episode was about dark energy and dark matter, and it’s a fairly recent discovery that dark energy and dark matter exist, and that they essentially [make up] the majority of the universe, and we can’t perceive them except for their effects. So I started to think about: What if there is this construct in the DCU where the Multiverse is this tiny thing that floats on this roiling ocean of darkness?”

Clearly, this is a topic of great interest to Snyder. “Grant Morrison’s explanation for the Multiverse as this set thing is something that I love, but what if the Dark Multiverse was the subconscious?” he said. “What if this was some kind of dark, volatile fluid place that reacts to our hopes and fears. So if you fear something when you’re down there it materializes, and when you stop fearing it, it goes away. And those worlds bubble up and are hellishly kind of fluid. What if that suddenly broke though and came here?” That scenario is what lies at the core of Metal.

Snyder explains that, of course, Batman is the first one to discover the impeding threat of the Dark Multiverse. “The first wave of attack are these ‘Dark Knights’ that are his worst nightmares about himself,” Snyder said. “So they are super badass, and we’ve been working on creating them for a long time. They’re almost like, ‘What if Batman went too far, or went wrong?’ in all kinds of different ways. And because they exist as these fears they’re possible, whereas in the regular ‘set’ Multiverse, they wouldn’t be possible.”

Another character created by Snyder, who is finally getting his much deserved time in the spotlight as part of the lead-up to Dark Nights: Metal, is Duke Thomas. The teenager was introduced in Snyder’s Zero Year arc in Batman, before headlining the We Are Robin title. But recently, Batman has been mentoring Duke in a new role–he’s a partner, but not a Robin. Now Duke will be going by “the Signal,” and Snyder elaborated on his creation’s future in the post Metal world.

“I’ve been teasing a story about Duke, and how he’s this hero-by-day in Gotham,” Snyder said. “What I love is that the Gotham is different during the daytime. New threats are born during the day–threats that by nighttime are ready to fight Batman. And you need someone who is there by day, then meets Batman at the Batsignal and trades information.”

According to Snyder, Duke’s evolution has been in the works for some time. “It’s been the plan for a while, and it was Geoff Johns talking to us about it that helped form the idea back when we started Rebirth over a year ago.”

With his work on Dark Nights: Metal taking him well into 2018, another Snyder Bat-book will soon be coming to an end. Snyder confirmed that he will soon be finishing up his run on All-Star Batman, but that doesn’t mean he’s done with the Dark Knight. “I’m now doing the story I was going to do in All-Star Batman but in a different way, with Sean Murphy, and in a different format,” he said.”The story with Sean Murphy, I started tweeting about it like over four years ago. Sean and I came up with it when we were in Ireland together, all the way back in 2013. This story is one I’ve been dying to do for years and years, so this is happening 100%–we start on it next month.”

So worry not, Bat fans. It seems there Scott Snyder has plenty of more Batman left in him – and we are all much better off for it.

Dark Nights: Metal #1 hits comic book shops on August 16.

Images: DC Comics