Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2020

Quentin Tarantino’s Next Movie May Be About the Manson Family

More even than dazzling ballistics and rhythmic dialogue, what most crucially defines Quentin Tarantino’s identity as a filmmaker is his obsession with the most brutal corners of great Americana. Tarantino founded his career on stories about organized crime, evolving quickly to stories about the even crueler penal system. He’s treaded generously in gangster pictures, Western epics, and war dramas–none specific to stateside cinema, perhaps, but each a fundamental piece thereof. And right in step with this ideology is the next project he’s reportedly tackling: a Manson Family movie.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Tarantino’s ninth feature film will, in some yet unknown fashion, tackle the story of Charles Manson, his cult of brainwashed killers, and the victims of their reign through 1960s Southern California. The Hollywood Reporter suggests, as one of the few bits of tangible information yet permeating the rumor mill, that Manson Family casualty Sharon Tate–actress and wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski–will serve as a pronounced character in the film.

via GIPHY

As far as casting goes, The Hollywood Reporter mentions that Brad Pitt has reportedly been approached for a part, as has Jennifer Lawrence, though which parts are yet undisclosed. Nerdist has reached out to The Weinstein Company, which has backed Tarantino’s last four films (Grindhouse, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight) and is said to be involved with this latest endeavor as well, for confirmation of the news at hand.

With every announcement of a new Tarantino movie, fans no doubt endure a bit of anxiety. Tarantino himself has declared an intention to cap his career at 10 movies, which makes whatever film comes next–Mansion-related or otherwise–his penultimate project. On one hand, an examination of the darkness bubbling over the surface of late ’60s L.A. does sound perfect for Quentin’s oeuvre. On the other, let us know how you feel about Tarantino doing a Manson Family movie!

Image: Miramax

Nerdist Podcast: Tom Holland

Get ready for the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! The Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s new Spidey, Tom Holland, was Chris Hardwick‘s guest on the latest installment of the Nerdist Podcast. And together, they’re spinning a web about Spider-Man: Homecoming.

After sharing a funny story about the ’70s Spider-Man TV series, Tom was quick to admit that most of his in-costume scenes were filmed in a motion capture studio. However, he stressed that it is almost always him in the costume. Tom also related the feeling of powerlessness he felt when his face was covered, before finding ways to convey his performance through the rest of his body.

Chris and Tom also speak about the new tone used in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which plays a lot like a John Hughes movie. Although both Tom and Chris agreed that they would probably embrace a life of crime if they had superpowers. Tom went on to relate his Lip Sync Battle experience, and how he felt when he had to “become” Rihanna.

Amazingly, Tom hasn’t had a chance to really process how much his life has changed since his first appearance as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. He also pointed out that the final movie would work as a high school comedy even if all of the Spider-Man scenes were cut out of it. Additionally, Tom recalls the time that he forgot to use an American accent in one of the scenes from Homecoming. According to Tom, no one noticed it until he pointed it out.

It’s a long chat between Tom and Chris, so sit back, and enjoy!

Image: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty

Captain America Has More PSAs on SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING’s Blu-Ray

Iron Man wasn’t the only Avenger in Spider-Man: Homecoming. While Tony Stark may have played a larger role in Peter Parker’s journey, Captain America stole his scenes with some hilariously cheesy PSAs. It seems as if Cap’s post-Civil War status as a fugitive isn’t enough to fully ruin his good name, even if he does seem hopelessly out of touch in those clips. But if you loved those Cap moments, then you’ll be happy to hear that there are a lot more of them to come.

According to a report on Collider, Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts has confirmed that Chris Evans filmed at least ten PSAs as Captain America in the limited time he was on the set. And all ten of those PSAs will be included as a bonus feature on the blu-ray release of the film. Judging by the costume that Cap wears in the videos, we’re guessing that he filmed them shortly after the first Avengers movie and before he gained his more cynical outlook in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

“I just wrote pages of them ’cause I had Chris Evans for however amount of time,” explained Watts. “I think we had a teleprompter actually, so he was just … It was like Captain America just showed up and had to do this stuff for the government… He’s just reading it off the scrolling thing and being like, ‘Are you sure you want me to say this?’”

Without spoiling the surprise, one of Cap’s PSA’s seemed to be directly addressing the audience’s expectations. But it’s fun to imagine Cap sharing his thoughts on conflict resolution and communication, which were his two biggest weaknesses in Civil War. It would also be entertaining to hear Cap’s thoughts about public service, teenage smoking, and especially sex education. That last one practically writes itself.

What topics would you like to see Cap address in his Spider-Man: Homecoming PSAs? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios

Gerard Way’s UMBRELLA ACADEMY is Heading to Netflix

Ten years ago, My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way made a big splash in comics with the debut of his unconventional superhero miniseries, The Umbrella Academy. Alongside artist Gabriel Bá, Way depicted the story of seven intriguingly super-powered children who were adopted by a space alien posing as a wealthy adventurer so that they could save the world as a team. However, the main story took place decades later, after the children grew into dysfunctional adults. It’s been a long, long wait for new Umbrella Academy adventures, but they are finally coming to television, courtesy of Netflix.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has picked up The Umbrella Academy for a 10-episode first season. Way is on board as a co-executive producer, with the series being adapted for television by Jeremy Slater (The Exorcist). Judging from the description released by Netflix, it appears that the first season will be based upon the Apocalypse Suite miniseries. Within that story, the children reunite as adults after the apparent death of their adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves. However, the true threat emerges when one of their own embraces evil.

As you can see, this is a very unusual group of heroes. The most normal person in the family is arguably The White Violin—as she doesn’t seem to have any powers at all. Spaceboy, the leader, has the body of a Martian gorilla thanks to a mishap on a mission. The Kraken’s power is that he doesn’t need to breathe (although he’s also quite adept with knives and fighting. Think of him as the combination Hawkeye/Batman of the group).

And then there are the even more unsettling ones. Like The Rumor, whose power is rewriting reality by lying (which: hoo); The Séance has the ability to talk to the dead, while The Horror literally has monsters under his skin. As for Number Five? He’s a time traveler, so he’s the same age in the past as he is in the present. He just doesn’t follow a linear path in time.

Assuming the series gets a second season pickup—possibly adapting the “Dallas” miniseries?—that would leave only original material for any story arcs beyond that. Way and Bá haven’t released a new Umbrella Academy miniseries since 2008 (although the “Hotel Oblivion” storyline has been mentioned many times in press interviews), so—if nothing else—we hope that the TV series leads to more comics by Way and Bá!

Are you excited about The Umbrella Academy TV series? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Dark Horse Comics

New STRANGER THINGS Details Could Spoil Hopper’s Secret Past

Our world is turning upside down! We’re just a few days shy of the one-year anniversary of Stranger Things‘ debut on Netflix, and it’s going to be hard waiting until October to see new episodes. Fortunately, Netflix has dropped a creepy new teaser, and more intriguingly, a timeline of the major events in Hawkins, Indiana. And guess whose name immediately jumped out at us? Why it was none other than David Harbor’s Jim Hopper, Hawkins’ chief of police. Today’s Nerdist News is looking into the mystery of Hopper’s connection to the town’s deeper secrets.

Join host and Justice for Barb treasurer, Jessica Chobot, as she walks us through the newly released timeline. It’s got the things we expected, including the beginning of MKUltra’s experiments in 1953, as well as the abductions of Will Byers and Barbara Holland. But why is Jim Hopper’s return to Hawkins given equal prominence? Believe it or not, the answers may actually lie in the first season.

What do we really know about Sheriff Hopper? The man values coffee and contemplation in the mornings, and we saw him cut a deal with MKUltra in exchange for letting him make the attempt to save Will alongside Joyce. However, Hopper may have earlier ties to MKUltra that even he doesn’t know about. We don’t think that Hopper was experimented on, but doesn’t mean that his daughter wasn’t one of their victims.

Did you forget that Hopper lost his daughter to cancer? The first season specifically mentions that she had an experimental treatment for her illness, but the details weren’t specified. Considering that Dr. Brenner frequently used children for his experiments, it’s entirely possible that Hopper’s daughter was a part of that even if he didn’t know about it. A wilder theory is that Hopper’s daughter may actually be alive, and her cancer was just a trick to separate her from her father. Sounds crazy, right? And yet we’ve already seen MKUltra fake Will’s death with a false body. That seems like a trick that they’ve pulled off before.

Back in the Super Bowl Big Game ad, Hopper was briefly seen digging up something. Has he realized that something about his daughter’s death seems suspicious? Or is there a chance that he’s exhuming her body in the hopes of finding proof that she’s still alive? That would be a rare happy turn for the series, until we ask the following question: if Hopper’s daughter is alive, what has she become?

We’ll learn more when Stranger Things season 2 hits Netflix on October 27th.

Are you intrigued by the latest Stranger Things theory? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Netflix 

Marvel Legacy’s SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE Gets Wild As Hell (Exclusive)

The Marvel Comics universe can be a pretty spooky place, what with all those demons, evil sorcerers, vampires, and malevolent spirits running around. To shut them down, you need a dose of divine wrath delivered by the Spirits of Vengeance. Luckily, Marvel is rebooting the Spirits as part of its Legacy event, in an all-new series written by Victor Gischler, penciled by David Baldeon, and with covers by Mark Texeira.

Published in the 1990s, the original Spirits of Vengeance comic dealt with various Ghost Riders who were possessed by (surprise) the spirit of Vengeance, an entity sent from heaven to punish the wicked. Marvel Legacy’s Spirits of Vengeance builds on this concept to bring hardcore smiting into the 21st century. The Legacy series, Gischler said, aims to preserve the “vibe” of the original, but the overall feel of the comic is “mostly looking forward, not back,” with a hefty dose of awesome. “I’ve had a chance to glimpse some of David’s art, and it’s exciting stuff…We’re just cranking the coolness up to eleven.”

Part of that move forward involves focusing on a different central cast. Instead of an all-Ghost Rider lineup, the main characters in the new Spirits of Vengeance include Daimon Hellstrom, Satana, and Blade–the Daywalker himself–alongside Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze. Gischler also teased the appearance of characters that readers haven’t seen before: “There’s a particular character I’ve invented for this book and I’m dying to [see] what David has come up with for the character’s look. And it’s the sort of character that needs to be in a book like this.” Plus, he hinted, “who knows who we might see in the future?”

Alternate cover by Ken Lashley

As befits a comic about supernatural retribution, the Legacy Spirits of Vengeance is going to get dark; taking an eye for an eye leaves a lot of nastiness on your hands. “These characters…are not squeaky clean heroes,” said Gischler, adding that the creative team makes the most of “play[ing] with macabre and horror toys which maybe wouldn’t fit so well in another book.”

Cynical fans may wonder whether the resurrection of Spirits of Vengeance is just Marvel’s attempt to snag that sweet nostalgia revenue, since for many readers the series is firmly rooted in the extreme (X-TREME) 90s. After all, the characters looked like this:

While Gischler acknowledged that some fans may pick up the Legacy Spirits of Vengeance out of nostalgia, he described this as a side benefit of the series rather than a main attraction. “For me it’s pretty simple,” he said. “I think these are great characters that need to be showcased. If the book feeds an appetite for 90s nostalgia then great, but you’re not going to be left out if you missed the 90s. If these characters are brand new to you, you’re still in for a wild ride.”

Are you pumped for the return of Spirits of Vengeance? Which supernatural characters are you hoping to see in the new series? Tell us in the comments!

Images: Marvel

Breaking Down the WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: 10 YEARS LATER Poster in Depth

We can laud Game of Thrones for always staying two steps ahead of its audience. We can champion Twin Peaks‘ inclination to wade eternally against the grade. But if there’s one franchise that truly lays waste to all efforts at predictions and theorization, it’s the Wet Hot American Summer-verse. Truth be told, we have no idea what to expect from the cult classic film’s 16-years-in-the-making sequel series, set to hit Netflix on August 4th. And that’s not because creators David Wain and Michael Showalter have made it their business to keep all cards close to the vest, much in the way Game of Thrones‘ creators strive to, and David Lynch seems preternaturally disposed towards. But because quite literally anything can happen in the world of Wet Hot.

The cast of @WetHot American Summer: Ten Years Later is feeling the 90s nostalgia https://t.co/77yMDgHBQx

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 11, 2017

Still, we can’t help but try to extrapolate a bit from the above poster for 10 Years Later, shared first by Vanity Fair (where you can see the fill-sized version). The image sparks intrigue early by introducing a brand new character in the first (bottom) row: Alysa Milano’s Renata, who, as Vanity Fair‘s Joanna Robinson gleaned from a chat with Wain and Showalter, is playing the nanny to the daughter of McKinley (Michael Ian Black) and Ben (we’ll get to that).

The rest of the row should be immediately recognizable: Nina Hellman’s Nurse Nancy (who, though a smaller character in Wet Hot and First Day of Camp, was seen smooching Showalter’s Coop in the sequel series’ first trailer, suggesting a bit more in the vein of story), Amy Poehler’s teen theater counselor-turned-adult partier Susie, and Michael Ian Black’s McKinley, whose entire arc may as well be about his trading in of his thigh-high shorts for leg-length pants (but may in fact have more to do with the fact that, per the trailer, his nanny seems to want to murder him). And if you look closely, you’ll also catch sight of Mitch, H. Jon Benjamin’s dead camp director-turned-talking can of vegetables.

Row two also has some new, as well as slightly renovated, faces: To combat the ageless punim of Paul Rudd, 10 Years Later has soaked him to the bone in ’90s grunge; fans who caught the 10 Years Later trailer will recall that Andy’s storyline will involve a series of desperate attempts to save Camp Firewood from some unspecified grave fate, though he may also be contending with a new camp bully (whom we’ll introduce later on).

Next to Andy are newbies Mark Feuerstein and Sarah Burns, whom, as Vanity Fair‘s Robinson learned in her chat with Wain and Showalter, will play a “super couple” who’ve been fixtures of the camp all along. (It seems, in fact, that their familiarity among the cast will play as a joke in contrast to audiences’ having never seen them before.)

Next is Marguerite Moreau’s Katie, a big business hotshot who’ll team up with her old flame Andy to save the camp, followed by Zak Orth’s JJ, who’ll likely be resigned to hilarious side gags and over-expressive reactions to mundane happenings. Beside him is newbie Adam Scott, who Joanna Robinson speculates, based on an offhand comment by Wain and Showalter, is actually playing the Ben role twice upheld by the now absent Bradley Cooper (which, if true, is hilarious).

Per Vanity Fair, our next player Elizabeth Banks’ Lindsay–who, if you’ll recall from the prequel series First Day of Camp, was actually a 20-something lifestyle journalist who sneaked into Camp Firewood in the name of a story–will be investigating a mystery with the help of the curiously not-pictured Marlo Thomas and Dax Shepard. Finally, Michael Showalter’s franchise unhero Coop.

Third row: Showalter plays double duty as the caricature of President Ronald Reagan we met briefly at the end of First Day of Camp. An even more surprising returning player: Jason Schwartzman, whose counselor character Greg was brutally murdered in the prequel series. (Granted, he may be playing another character entirely… but he also may not. Wet Hot has really no reverence for the laws of reality.) Eric Nenninger and Kristen Wiig, both of whom played pompous rich teens from the neighboring Camp Tigerclaw in First Day of Camp, also return, ditto the prequel series’ lustful coupe of Yaron (David Wain) and Donna (Lake Bell).

We don’t know just yet how any of these characters will come into play in 10 Years Later, we do know a bit about what we’ll see of Ken Marino’s Victor. Though the trailer showed us that Victor’s adopted a newly liberated lifestyle of bar-stripping, his encounter with a camp crush seems to send him right back into his old sex-pertinent anxieties.

And speaking of which: Janeane Garofalo‘s camp director Beth, who admits regrettably to being forced to sell Camp Firewood, alongside her 1981 love interest, Associate Professor Henry Newman, as played (to perfection) by David Hyde Pierce. Note: We haven’t seen any hint of what Pierce will be doing in the new show, as he was omitted from the trailer entirely; though this may mean that he’s only playing a bit part in 10 Years Later, the revelation that he’s included whatsoever is indeed a relief.

The fourth row begins with your pal and mine Jai Courtney (#jaibless) as Garth McArthur, whom Vanity Fair tells us is an indie actor wannabe who, as we know from the trailer, has a love affair of some sort with Poehler’s Susie. Next up is Christopher Meloni’s fan favorite Vietnam War vet and camp chef Gene, who comes out of seclusion to learn that he seems to have a 10-year-old daughter with Molly Shannon‘s perpetually heartbroken art counselor Gail. (Sitting between the two is Mad Men vet Rich Sommer, who played a Camp Tigerclaw rich kid in First Day of Camp.) A.D. Miles, now with scraggly long hair, sits next to Shannon, and rounding out the row is Joe Lo Truglio’s Neil, who works at the bar with his lifelong pal Victor.

Now, though things seem to be going okay for the ostensibly upbeat Neil, the placement of his old girlfriend Shari (Beth Dover, Lo Truglio’s real life wife), whom we met in First Day of Camp, at the top of row five may suggest the two have since split. Next to her: David Wain as a sax-tooting Bill Clinton, Chris Pine as First Day of Camp‘s reclusive rock star Eric, and Josh Charles as the prequel series’ chief antagonist, rich kid Blake.

Marisa Ryan marks the first OG character we see in the top row, and the trailer suggests she’ll be reigniting her old flirtations with Marino’s Victor. Next to her is newbie Skyler Gisondo, whose camp present day counselor character Deeg will supply a bit of trouble for former Big Man on Campus Andy. In the same vein, John Early looks to be playing nemesis to Poehler’s Susie. (Early did appear briefly in First Day of Camp, though it’s not clear if he’s reviving the same character or creating a new one.)

Lastly, we close on Freaks and Geeks vet Samm Levine, who may not have shown his face in the original Wet Hot American Summer, but who did provide his voice for the loudspeaker-happy Artie the Beekeper, and who will play the character in the flesh this time around.

Oh, and then we have Michael Ian Black as George H. W. Bush.

Then again, everything is subject to change, since Wet Hot American Summer is ready, willing, and able to decontextualize any and all of its elements in the name of a laugh. Let us know what you hope to see in the new series!

Images: Netflix

Man Real-Time Realized He Was Reading HARRY POTTER Fanfiction

Fanfiction, among many things, can be a great way to practice writing. Rather than creating your own world from scratch, you take a setting and characters that you already know and have at it. However, fanfiction is not a great way to read the actual book. In fact, it’s literally the opposite of the real book. One new Harry Potter fan found that out the hard way.

Friend is reading Harry Potter for the first time. He suddenly realizes he's read a fanfiction Order of the Phoenix instead of the real one. pic.twitter.com/tKNgT6usi6

— Shelley Zhang (@shelzhang) July 10, 2017

Somehow, this man managed to read the first four actual Harry Potter books but confused a fanfic Order of the Phoenix for the real thing. The fake one is called Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent, written in 2001, and is over 330,000 words long. To put that into perspective, A Game of Thrones is 298,000 words long. This fanfic is 10% longer than A Game of  freaking Thrones! Not only that, the The Psychic Serpent is incredibly, comically dark and disturbing. Yes, the novels do get more mature as they go on, but in the “Snape kills Dumbledore” sense, not the “Dudley Dursley is forced to jump off a building and Malfoy pretends to assault Ginny” sense.

What’s even better is that this guy bought a Harry Potter set containing all seven books. Somebody, somewhere, created a bundle that traveled from Sorcerer’s Stone to Deathly Hallows by way of an obscenely long fanfiction. But wait, there’s more. The Psychic Serpent has two sequels, The Time of Good Intentions and The Triangle Prophecy that are each even longer!

How about you? Want to share your long-hidden The Sorcerer Gets Stoned fanfic like I do? Throw down a link in the comments below!

Images: Warner Bros

The Writers Panel #342: “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having… for Breakfast!”

A double feature with Everybody Loves Raymond creator and food-lover Phil Rosenthal. Breakfast with Phil has become an ATX Television Festival tradition. From last year’s fest, Ben Blacker join Phil to talk breakfast tacos, coffee, travel, and more, while Phil resists the narrative.

Then, from 2017’s season six, Sweet/Vicious creator Jennifer Kaytin Robinson joins Phil to discuss his favorite moments from the first season of I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, his favorite places he visited on this upcoming season, what he thinks Raymond would look like if it were on the air today.

Get your badge now for ATX’s seventh season, June 7-10, 2018, at http://atxfestival.com/

Follow @BenBlacker and Like the show on Facebook!

Our SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Spoiler-Filled Discussion

Spider-Man: Homecoming is out, and it’s really good! Today on Nerdist News Talks Back Host Rachel Heine is joined by Associate Editor Kyle Anderson, and Nerdist News writers Joan Ford and Aliza Pearl as they discuss all things Spider-Man: Homecoming. Additionally, Daniel Craig will be coming back for another James Bond film, and there are so damn many nerd events in two weeks.

 

No Spoilers Here! Homecoming is great! It perfectly incorporates Peter Parker into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and delivers a small-scale story with truly meaningful stakes. It also gets Peter right, a perpetually down-on-his-luck kid just trying to do the most good with what he’s been given. Not only that, the movie is also fun as hell. There are so many little moments that really sell the friendly neighborhood angle and keep the levity without detracting from the story’s emotional weight. And Michael Keaton’s Vulture is so good he might even be the MCU’s best villain. For more spoiler-free Spider-Man check out our review. And for spoilers, watch the video above.

Rumors can now cease! Daniel Craig will be returning as 007 in the next James Bond film, according to The Daily Mirror (although, to be fair, it’s The Mirror, so it’s not a guarantee). The actor had previously stated that he would not come back to the franchise, but his mind appears to have changed. This will be his 5th, and probably final, Bond movie. Rumors can now commence! Adele is rumored as the singer of the theme song. Her previous Bond outing, Skyfall, was #1 on many radio stations around the world the week it was released. But wait! There’s more! Christopher Nolan wants to direct a Bond movie, and it will star Michael Keaton as another bird.

Speaking of Nolan, his WWII film, Dunkirk, comes out soon alongside sci-fi epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Those alone would make it a huge weekend, but it’s also San Diego Comic-Con 2017! That’s a whole lotta nerd, so we did what every nerd does. We played marry, f***, kill with them! You can join us in the video above.

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