Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2023

SPIDER-MAN’s Original Green Goblin Mask Deserves a MCU Comeback

This weekend, Spider-Man: Homecoming is ruling the box office and making a compelling case for the wall-crawler to stay in the MCU beyond the current five picture deal between Marvel and Sony. If we had to place a bet, we’d say that a renewal is likely. And while Marvel’s Kevin Feige has said that the sequel to Homecoming will probably feature a Spider-Man villain who hasn’t been in the movies, we think there’s an opportunity to give the Green Goblin some cinematic redemption as well.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Amalgamated Dynamics’ 2012 videos of the original Green Goblin mask from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man have once again been making the rounds. Unlike the mask that made it into the final film, this is not only faithful to the Green Goblin’s comic book origins, it’s also a very impressive blend of animatronics and makeup. The overall affect is unsettling and creepy, which is perfect for the Goblin.

It has to be said that Willem Dafoe was exceptionally well cast as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. But the first film would have been better off going in this direction for the movie. These days, the same special effects may be more easily achieved through motion capture and CGI, but this is proof that the Green Goblin’s mask can look terrific in live-action.

There is an outside possibility that Sony will use Green Goblin in one of the company’s non-MCU Marvel films simply because they can. However, that would be remarkably shortsighted. Green Goblin is Spider-Man’s ultimate archenemy, and they shouldn’t be separated for long. It would also be rash to simply throw Green Goblin into the sequel to Homecoming. We think fans need and deserve a break from the Green Goblin since Dane DeHaan’s turn as Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

That said, a potential third or fourth Marvel Studios Spider-Man movie could touch upon the Green Goblin before finally bringing him back to the big screen. And because the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a much stranger place than the original films, the Goblin’s mask could be accepted at face value. That only makes the Green Goblin even more intimidating. We may not see the actor’s face that way, but it would be an immediate improvement on the previous two iterations of the character.

What do you think about Spider-Man‘s original Green Goblin mask? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: Amalgamated Dynamics

This Beautifully Animated Short Film Wants to Save the Alien Sky Whales

Which planet is it? Is it some distant star? Is it one a bit closer to home and farther into the future? Panacée (French for panacea) wants you to puzzle that out for yourself.

The short film was written, directed, and animated by Jules Boulain-Adenis (aka Naleb), and it shares a glimpse into a world of scientific sorcery and flying whales. Fair warning: the small amount of dialogue is in French without subtitles, but the artwork and simple story of life, death, and rebirth speak for themselves. (Although if someone who speaks French wants to translate for us in the comments section…it would help us draw out the nuance here and would be appreciated. Merci in advance!)

Children of the ’90s may get a special kick out of the animation style, which echoes a movement in pop animation from back then on shows like Liquid Television. It’s a kind of realistic anime that evokes the Japanese form without the exaggerated features. With Panacée, it’s used to create a menagerie of fantastical creatures preserved in a buttery time capsule to be discovered later by scientific explorers Alpha (Mathilde Boulain-Adenis) and Nova (Merieme Mesfioui).

PANACÉE from NALEB on Vimeo.

Yes, the weird crew of beasties and the massive whale skeleton are tremendous, but also keep a keen eye on small details like the shared symbol on the explorer’s foreheads, the softly-rendered sky, and the impressionistic grasslands.

What’s the best creature? My vote goes to the flying smiley face silently, ridiculously guarding the skies at the end. What kind of conditions have to exist to have that and a flying whale evolve and live together? How can we achieve that here? Give us your theories in comments.

Image: Naleb

Rev Up With STAR WARS-Inspired Motorcycle Helmets

For four decades, Star Wars has fueled our collective imaginations with visions of speed. From jumping to hyperspace to the speeder bike chase on Endor and even podracing on Tatooine, there’s almost always a way to go faster than anything we have on Earth. For safety reasons, that may be for the best. But there’s no reason that we can’t recapture the Star Wars aesthetic while on the road with these stylish motorcycle helmets.

Via BoingBoing, helmet maker HJC has a few options for Star Wars fans that are officially sanctioned by Lucasfilm. They can’t send you on a Death Star trench run, but the Star Wars X-Wing fighter pilot helmet is such a thing of beauty that we’re tempted to buy it just to put it in on display!

It may not have all of the details from the movie helmets, but it is very pleasing to look at and it is designed to protect the rider’s head while riding. The orange sunshield is a particularly nice touch that makes us want to stay on target. If you’re so inclined, you can buy this on Amazon right now for $179.99.

But perhaps you want something a little more menacing, say perhaps the helmet of the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter? Because of course there a two versions of the helmets inspired by Boba Fett’s iconic costume. A full face helmet, which you can find here, as well as a slightly different model available here. They are far from cheap at $584.99 each, and some Amazon sellers are asking for even higher prices to get the Boba Fett models.

 

What do you think about the Star Wars motorcycle helmets? Are you ready to plunk down your cash? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: HJC

PRINCE Music Videos From PURPLE RAIN Are Finally Available on YouTube

It’s been over a year since we lost the Purple One far too soon, but his music not only lives on; it’s more popular than ever. In fact, a new remastered version of Prince’s signature album Purple Rain was released last week, with unreleased tracks from the album’s original recording sessions, B-sides, alternate takes, and a whole lot more. And it’s currently at #4 on the Billboard Top 100. Not bad for an album that is 33 years old. But one can’t deny greatness.

Along with the re-release of Purple Rain, Warner Brothers and Prince’s estate have finally released the music videos for his songs from Purple Rain on an official Prince Channel on YouTube. Why is this a big deal? Because while Prince was alive, he never allowed his music videos on YouTube, or anywhere on the internet for that matter. In the days after his death, fans would post videos of his, only to have his estate send cease and desist orders and have them yanked. It was frustrating as hell for a Prince fan who just had a wild notion to just share “Raspberry Beret” via Twitter.

Right now it’s just the videos from the Purple Rain era that are being allowed on YouTube, but hopefully there is more to come soon. (For some reason, the song “Purple Rain” itself is not among them.) Still, some are better than none. So far, here is what we’ve got:

“When Doves Cry”

The first single off of Purple Rain, “When Doves Cry” was also the first video released in May of 1984. This was Prince’s first American number one single, topping the charts for five weeks. This one is more than just footage from the movie, as it also has the iconic shot of Prince emerging from the bathtub, ready to seduce the entire world. Oh, a lots of doves flying about.

“Let’s Go Crazy”

The second #1 single off of Purple Rain, and the opening track of the album and film. The music video is just really well edited footage from the movie, and honestly, watching the video almost negates ever having to see the movie itself. It’s all right there.

“I Would Die 4 U”

The fourth single off Purple Rain following the title track, this was the last Billboard top ten hit off the album, peaking at #8.  This one got a special extended live music video with a different arrangement from Prince’s protege Sheila E. There was also a “regular” video that aired on MTV, which was just movie footage, but it seems Warner Brothers wanted to release this version instead. No complaints here.

“Take Me With U”

Another live concert video, from the Purple Rain tour. This one’s from Houston, Texas, shot in January 1985. Wendy and Lisa are filling in for Apollonia on the female vocals. Trust me, it’s better this way.

“Baby I’m A Star”

Another live concert video from the Purple Rain tour, this one, like “I Would Die 4 U,”  is from the same November 1984 show in Maryland. The lyrics to this song sum up the Purple One in just a few sentences: “Everybody say nothin’ come to easy/But when you got it, baby, nothin’ come too hard.”

Here’s hoping Warner Brother’s and Prince’s estate release the rest of Prince’s vast music video library to YouTube. It’s long overdue.

Which music videos of Prince’s do you want to see again the most? “1999?” “U Got The Look?” Maybe even “Batdance??” Let us know down below in the comments.

Images: Warner Brothers 

 

OVERWATCH Pet Cosplay is the Best Cosplay

There’s only one thing better than playing Overwatch with your friends, and that’s playing Overwatch with your pets! Sure, it’s hard enough to keep humans on the payload, but at least when these critters ignore you, their cuteness will keep all your game-rage at bay. In celebration of Overwatch’s one year anniversary and the much awaited announcement of Doomfist, we’re throwing an animal costume party and all your favorite Overwatch characters are invited!

Here’s your lineup!

 

Reinhardt:  Precision Doggo engineering!

Reinhardt Doge #Overwatch pic.twitter.com/jsLlJwxMea

— Vox

Toying With DC Collectibles’ New CW Greg Berlanti-verse Action Figures

Welcome to Figures & Speech, Nerdist’s regular column by, for, and about grown-ups who still play with their toys but might want to know more before they buy.

Now that both Mattel and DC Collectibles are doing action figures based on DC’s CW TV shows, you have a choice, separated by about 5 bucks. Mass-produced, more basic paint job, and with part of a larger build-a-figure for around $20, or better detail for around $25? The latter recently put out a new wave featuring several live-action superheroes new to toydom, consisting of Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Vixen, and John Constantine.

The packaging is your basic DCC-style box, but with colorful, slightly stylized photos of the toys on the side. It was my wife who spotted immediately that they must have been prototypes, as the Supergirl on the side panel has something of a Mona Lisa smile…

…while the figure itself is more serious. Subtle difference, but it’s there.

Vixen’s a bit different too–she looks angry on the box, but just exasperated in person. Maybe because even though she and Constantine have their own animated shorts, and are headliners in their own right, they’re packaged as Arrow characters.

Constantine just looks bemused by it all, though.

Serious Martian is serious.

The figures are in the standard 7-inch DCC scale, but they’re weirdly inconsistent when it comes to articulation. Constantine is the only one with a waist joint, but he’s also the only one without double-knee joints. Martian Manhunter gets a mid-torso joint nobody else has, but his codpiece is flexible to allow for more leg movement, while Vixen’s hips are restricted from a lot of forward motion.

The dudes have ball-jointed elbows, while the women have cut-and-hinge combos. In the case of my Supergirl, this has led to some paint peel.

What they’re missing most, I’d say (apart from waist joints on the women) is more hip articulation. Either a ball hip (rather than the side-side, front-back combo they have now) or an upper thigh cut to allow their feet to turn out in action poses would be a plus. The Bombshells and the Harley Quinns felt more playable in that sense.

Like a lot of DCC figures, they come with interchangeable hands, though in some cases you wonder why. Supergirl’s “jazz hands” look like she’s letting her nail-polish dry, while Martian Manhunter’s fists look proportionately tiny. And then there are the “karate chops” that look not unlike turtle flippers.

Constantine, however, comes with bonus fireball hands, and while they won’t package him smoking, they have conceded a cigarette-lighter hand (yes, I realized afterward I gave him two right hands. He does come with right and left fireball hands).

 

You might notice also that the neck ball joint allows for some real expressiveness on his part. The ladies are too restricted on that front by their hair.

While these figures may not be as poseable as everyone would like, the details are where they excel. DCC continues to have just about the best paint-jobs in the business, outside of super high-end collectibles. Check out the red stitching on Supergirl’s suit.

Here’s a look from behind…

My wife’s biggest question, and a genuinely confused one, was, “Are these meant to be played with, or kept on a shelf?” I think the latter, but as long as you’re not making them crazy martial artists, they should work okay in any play scenario. I’m generally a pretty big fan of live-action-based renditions, so it’s cool to finally get these (CW Supergirl had a Mattel figure first, but not the others as far as I’m aware). We’re probably not getting Vixen, Martian Manhunter, or Constantine live-action movies any time soon, so if you like “realistic” versions, these will serve you well.

I’m going to try to find a way to hang Supergirl from the ceiling in a flying pose, though. Anything less feels subpar.

Wanna talk toys? Call out the CW figures you’d like to see? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @LYTrules.

Images: Luke Y. Thompson

 

 

GAME OF THRONES Re-Throned: “The Door” (S6, E5)

Winter is coming, but not soon enough. So to help pass the time until season seven of Game of Thrones, we’re doing a weekly re-watch of the series, episode-by-episode, with the knowledge of what’s to come and—therefore—more information about the unrevealed rich history of events that took place long before the story began. Be warned, though: that means this series is full of spoilers for every season, even beyond the episode itself. So if you haven’t watched all of the show yet immediately get on that and then come back and join us for Game of Thrones Re-Throned.

Because the next best thing to watching new episodes is re-watching old ones.

——

Season 6, Episode 5: “The Door”

Original Air Date: May 22nd, 2016

Director: Jack Bender

Written by: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

We’ll get to this column’s usual analysis in a moment, first we have to take care of something.

“HOLD THE DOOR” IS THE SADDEST MOMENT IN TELEVISION HISTORY AND IT BROKE ME ALL OVER AGAIN AND I HATE EVERYTHING.

Seven bloody hells, nothing–not Ned’s execution, not the Red Wedding, not Oberyn’s head exploding–ruined me during this re-watch the way the end of “The Door” did. I was worried that last year, when I listed it as the show’s most devastating moment, I was guilty of recency bias when I put this number one, but nope. Nope nope nope. It’s the worst.

But I’m a professional, and it’s my job to wipe away the tears and overcome the shock of what I watched to try and understand what it all means. But I don’t like it.

The big takeaway from this is that Bran can impact past events, in what is best thought of as a time loop. The White Walker attack in the present, and Bran turning young Wylis into Hodor in the past, happen at the same time, and therefore have always happened at the same time. Hodor’s sacrifice seems to be a necessary one in the great fight against the coming Long Night. Because not only did Hodor save Bran during this attack, he (and Bran’s ability to warg into him) has kept Bran alive countless times.

And as we have discussed, Bran might be the only one who can defeat the White Walkers.

So if Bran can affect the past, what else has a future Bran done to shape the events we’ve already seen? Did he learn about Jaime and Cersei’s relationship and make himself climb that tower to catch them, specifically so Jaime would push him out and paralyze him, making younger Bran seek out the Three-Eyed Raven?

Did he send that flock of crows to warn Sam and Gilly of the White Walker, and in doing so teach Sam about dragonglass? And when his Uncle Benjen rescues them at the start of the next episode and tells them the Three-Eyed Raven sent him to help, was it Bran and not the tree-guy who did that?

Did/does Bran, knowing the existential threat of the White Walkers, whisper in the Mad King’s ear to “burn them all,” so it would set off a chain reaction allowing the living to find a ruler who can actually lead them to victory in the Great War?

Has every tragedy–every death, every horror–happened because Bran made it happen, knowing it was the only way to save the living from the dead? If so that’s a great responsibility, but an enormous burden to bear.

Bran’s unimaginable powers might make him the single most important person in the world, and we might still be underestimating how important he really is. Meanwhile, we can’t underestimate the sadness that can result from his powers. Not after what we learned about Hodor.

The worst thing that has ever happened.

—

This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed this episode. Back in season five’s third episode “High Sparrow,” when Tyrion listened to a red priestess in Volantis preach about how the Mother of Dragons is the savior of mankind, we also talked about how it connected to the conversation he and Varys have in “The Door” with another red priestess, Kinvara.

Those two scenes have us worried about the danger the Lord of Light fanatics could pose to the living. They believe Daenerys, the woman reborn in fire, will “purify” the nonbelievers in dragon flame, which doesn’t sound like a much better fate than being killed by an ice-demon.

But there’s something else here also worth noting. Kinvara knows Varys’s darkest secrets, about what he heard in the flames when the sorcerer castrated him as a boy. She also knows Tyrion was there that day in Volantis listening to the red priestess. She could know all of that thanks to some red priestess’ gossiping, or because she saw it in the flames.

But this is a world where magic allows men and women to change their faces. Is it possible the Faceless Men of Braavos aren’t the only ones who can do this? Could Kinvara have been that same priestess Tyrion listened to on that bridge?

If so, that raises an even bigger question: is there a connection between the Faceless Men and the followers of R’hllor? They both believe in the “gift” (Melisandre believed she washed away the sins of the wicked by burning them alive), and they both can use powerful magic, magic capable of concealing their real identity.

If they are connected in some way, that could make them the most powerful force in the world. A force who can move in the shadows in a way not even the army of the dead can. And if that’s the case, Daenerys, who they believe is the Prince That Was Promised, and not Jon or Bran or anyone, might be mankind’s greatest hope.

But what do you think of this episode and what it all means? Or does it make you to sad to think at all? Either way, talk about it with us in the comments below.

Images: HBO

Is Michael Keaton’s Vulture the Best Marvel Villain?

With the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming we finally get to see Michael Keaton play a super-bird! For the first time. Ever. (I mean, aside from Birdman.) And he’s apparently super good at it. Like scarily good. But we’ll get to that in a second. It’s Jessica Chobot’s birthday! That means resident Chobot-understudy Dan Casey is joined by Associate Editor Kyle Anderson, Nerdist News Writer Joan Ford, and Editor-in-Chief Rachel Heine on Nerdist News Talks Back. In addition to Michael Keaton, they discuss the best and worst Pixar movies, as well as a Sesame Street–Beastie Boys mashup.

One of the main criticisms of Marvel movies is that their villains are, for the most part, pretty forgettable. Marvel focuses on its heroes, sometimes at the detriment of its villains. That trend seems to have been uprooted with Homecoming, with Keaton’s sinister villain stealing the scenes he’s in. Though he doesn’t have a ton of screentime, Keaton’s scenes cement him as an acting powerhouse. We at Nerdist loved Spider-Man: Homecoming, and you can read our review here.

D23 is right around the corner, which means more Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar than we could ever hope for. But we’ve talked enough about Star Wars and Marvel, so let’s focus on Pixar. For over a decade Pixar was the undisputed king of animation, but the last few years have seen a small but noticeable dip in quality. Inside Out was great, but films like The Good Dinosaur, Cars 2, and Brave received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Either way, we’re incredibly (see what I did there?) excited for The Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4. Pixar still has its magic, just maybe not all the time.

YouTube user IsThisHowYouGoViral seems to have figured out exactly how to go viral. All you have to do is take a beloved children’s character and insert it into a Beastie Boys music video. Using scenes from the movie Follow That Bird, this video is the closest we’ll get to a true Big Birdie Boy. Actually, Big Bird is pretty hardcore, so maybe it would have happened eventually.

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!

Image: Marvel Studios, Pixar

A Skateboard Wheel Spinning Really Fast Changes Shape Radically

The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders our world has to offer, and a big reason it exists is because of the destructive power of water. Sure, that level of erosion happened over the course of thousands and millions of years, but if you can concentrate the force of moving water, you can make some more significant destruction happen a lot more quickly. That’s what the folks on the YouTube channel Waterjet Channel explore, and they found that a 60,000 PSI jet of water is capable of doing things you probably wouldn’t expect.

In a recent video, they see what it looks like when you cut a skateboard and skateboard sneakers in half, but easily the most interesting part of their experiments is when they see how fast they can make a skateboard wheel spin. They turn on the jet, which immediately and cleanly creates a hole through the board, and when the water hits the wheel, in a twist nobody saw coming, it starts to spin so fast that it expands and explodes.

They don’t explain what happens (mainly because they seem pretty amazed and dumbfounded by what happened), but what it looks like is that the rotational velocity of the spinning wheel got so fast, that the centrifugal force becomes too much for the rubber to be able to maintain its shape. Then, it seems that the combination of the rotational velocity and the water jet’s increasing ability to cut through the expanding rubber causes the wheel to break and fly off.

It’s really a bizarre thing to watch, so check it out above and let us know in the comments what other water jet experiments you’d like to see.

Featured image: Waterjet Channel/YouTube

STAR WARS REBELS’ Dave Filoni Details an Unseen Ahsoka Tano and Bendu Encounter

The story of Ahsoka Tano isn’t over. Star Wars Rebels co-creator and executive producer Dave Filoni shared a new tidbit from season two of the series that adds another factor to the is Ahsoka alive or isn’t she theories by sharing dialogue from a scene where Ahsoka met the Bendu on Atollon, a.k.a. Chopper Base. But first, context.

Ahsoka’s fate after confronting Darth Vader in the season two finale of Star Wars Rebels isn’t clear. Thanks to statements from Filoni and voice actor Ashley Eckstein, we do know we haven’t seen the last of the character. By facing her former teacher, Ahsoka dealt with not only the scary and hard truth about what he’d become, but also one of the most ruthless and dangerous beings in the galaxy. In that way, he was like her Balrog. Like Gandalf the Grey, Ahsoka sort of fell after the battle–we saw her descend into the Sith Temple on Malachor. She didn’t necessarily die in the traditional manner. But will she come back as an avatar of the Daughter from Mortis (the theory I believe in), a Force ghost, or the Star Wars version of Gandalf the White?

The meeting with Tom Baker-voiced Bendu doesn’t help narrow it down but leans into the not-dead line of thinking:

pic.twitter.com/pYBHCWq4pN

— Dave Filoni (@dave_filoni) July 7, 2017

Slight tangent, but the dialogue reminds me of this scene from the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special:

Anyway.

Ahsoka thought she might die. I’m sure she considered the possibility before talking to Bendu. As a Force-sensitive entity that sat in the middle between the Jedi and Sith, Bendu has a unique brand of wisdom and has doled out advice even Yoda would have trouble untangling. Here, Bendu points out change doesn’t necessarily mean death.

They met right before the end of “The Mystery of Chopper Base,” the episode that preceded the season two finale. Bendu’s comments could have given Ahsoka the idea for considering other options for continuing her existence. However, I’m trying to keep in mind she wouldn’t have had much time to put those plans into place before she departed for Malachor. But! Maybe being open to another path was all that was needed when the moment came.

What are your thoughts on the Ahsoka and Bendu exchange? Do you like or dislike when Filoni shares these kind of tidbits? Tell me in the comments.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm/Disney XD