Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2037

Buffy Slays in Fan Art Friday

There’s never a bad time for adorably drawn fan art, but Fan Art Friday truly is the ideal place for showing it off. This week is all about Susan Curry of Susan Curry Design, an artist and animator with a cartoony style I can’t get enough of. She has a unique take on characters from films and television, and I think we should start with a look at her version of Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I adore Buffy for obvious reasons, but would you look at this Poe? I like to imagine that the cat he’s holding is none other than Millicent. Sidenote: I really need someone in Star Wars to have a pet tooka cat.

Poe Dameron

And look at Leia, Rey, and Jyn!

A post shared by Susan Curry (@susancurrydesign) on Apr 26, 2017 at 1:58pm PDT

Keep scrolling down to the gallery to see more of Susan’s art. You’ll find Moana, a rather terrific piece inspired by Mulan, and more. Venture over to her Instagram feed to keep up with all her latest llustrations.

Do you create any sort of fan art? If so, I want to see it. Whether you focus on a specific fandom or pull inspiration from multiple stories and mediums, I’d like to highlight what you do. If you’re interested in being featured in a future edition of Fan Art Friday, get in touch with me at alratcliffe@yahoo.com with examples of your work. If you’re not an artist, feel free to email me with recommendations for Fan Art Friday!

Images: Susan Curry

What Does Tony Stark’s New Look Mean For AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR?

Avengers: Infinity War is going to be one of Marvel’s biggest movies to date, and so far, the best sources for spoilers has been the stars themselves. Like earlier this week, when Robert Downey Jr. welcomed Doctor Strange stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong to the set of Infinity War in a picture that may have revealed more than Downey intended. And it could mean a major change for Iron Man in the next Avengers film. Today’s Nerdist News is examining the evidence and offering up a few theories about Tony Stark’s new look.

There are potential spoilers ahead for Infinity War. Don’t say that you weren’t warned!

Join host and former Stark Industries analyst, Jessica Chobot, as she looks at the mystery of Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor! You may recall that Tony finally ditched the Arc Reactor in the closing moments of Iron Man 3. But if you look closely at Downey’s shirt from his post, you’ll notice that the Arc Reactor sized hole is back on his shirt again. This happens to be a story that we broke just a few minutes before anyone else online realized the potential implications.

So, what’s going on here? Is Iron Man going to be so badly injured during Infinity War that he once again needs his Arc Reactor to survive? Or is Tony going to use an Infinity Stone as the ultimate Arc Reactor power up in the battle against Thanos? There are some pretty wild ideas to explore, including the theory that Doctor Strange may have used the Time Stone to resurrect Iron Man and accidentally set him back further in his timeline. Is that crazy? Maybe. But we can’t rule it out!

Why do you think Tony Stark has an Arc Reactor again? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

The BABY DRIVER Cast Reveals Their Guilty Pleasure Songs

When you’re behind the wheel of your car and your favorite song comes on the radio, you feel as though you can do anything. When the windows are rolled up, it’s like you’re in your own personal recording booth and the natural instinct is to belt out whatever’s on the radio like you’re the headlining act at Coachella. It’s something that I do every morning to the sweet strains of Toto’s “Africa” as I roll into the Nerdist parking lot. But what if my windows were down? What if my colleagues heard my voice cracking as I try to replicate David Paich’s angelic melodies? I would be mildly mortified, even though it’s a song that I love dearly. Everyone has a song like this. Everyone. And that’s exactly why I had to ask the cast of Baby Driver all about their guilty pleasure songs, the songs that you would never expect them to be listening to behind closed doors and tinted windows.

While at a Los Angeles press day, I sat down with stars Jon Hamm, Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx, Eiza Gonzalez, Lily James, and director Edgar Wright to find out what their guiltiest pleasure songs are and what we’d be surprised to hear them bumping in traffic. This is a particularly appropriate question for Baby Driver given that music is so thoroughly suffused into the film’s DNA. Edgar Wright’s latest film tells the story of Baby, a getaway driver who suffers from tinnitus, a neurological condition that causes the perception of sound when none is present (i.e. a so-called “ringing in the ears”). In order to drown out the painful sounds, Baby listens to music constantly, providing an epic soundtrack for the bank robberies and ensuing getaways in which he takes part. The result is a film that provides as much unexpectedly awesome action-comedy as it does unexpectedly awesome musical accompaniment, all meticulously edited and choreographed by Wright and his creative collaborators.

Baby Driver is in theaters on June 28, 2017. Read our review right here!

What is your guilty pleasure song? Let us know in the comments below.

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).

Here’s What It’s Really Like to Drive TRANSFORMERS Cars

By all accounts, Michael Bay’s Transformers movies are a spectacle of steel, sports cars, and super-sized ‘splosions. It’s a relentless onslaught of visual stimuli meant to overload and overwhelm you with non-stop action and truly dazzling, outrageously expensive supercars. Sure there’s a sprawling, labyrinthine mythos about the fate of the world, warring robots, and now apparently King Arthur, too, but they trigger the same type of endorphin release as seeing a car jump from skyscraper to skyscraper in a film like in Furious 7. 

Recently, in honor of Transformers: The Last Knight‘s release, Paramount furnished an opportunity for a group of Los Angeles-based press and digital content producers to see what it would actually be like to get behind the wheel of some of the supercars you see on-screen in the Transformers films. We pulled up to the sun-baked asphalt of the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, walked through the doors of Exotics Racing Los Angeles, then promptly picked our jaws up off the floor at the dazzling array of Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris, and other rare vehicles parked just outside.

Image: Exotics Racing

After watching a brief safety video, I was escorted out to the sea of supercars, trying to process what my new driving instructor was telling me as I frantically looked from vehicle to vehicle trying to suss out which obscenely expensive car would be my first ride of the day. Eventually, my instructor led me to a bright yellow Ferrari F430. With a nearly 500 horsepower engine, the Ferrari F430 is capable of reaching speeds of 198 miles per hour, going from 0-60 MPH in just 3.9 seconds. It also retails for around $200,000, which is many many thousands of dollars more expensive than my Honda Civic. While it doesn’t have a direct analogue on the big screen, it does bear a resemblance to Mirage from Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a car inspired by Enzo Ferrari that took the form of a Ferrari 458 Italia, and that’s close enough for me.

Image: Dan Casey

As a filthy city-slicker who never learned how to properly drive stick, I was more than a little nervous about shifting gears during my drive around the track. Visions of accidentally stalling out mid-drift and dropping a transmission more expensive than my college education on the speedway appeared before me, heralding untold financial apocalypse. Thankfully, these cars were modified to have paddle shifters, which are located on either side of the steering wheel, and felt eerily similar to using shoulder buttons on a PS4 controller. Suddenly, I felt grateful for all the hours and hours I spent indoors, honing my fast-twitch reaction time in first-person shooters because unlike in video games, there is no re-spawning in real life. Then again, given my track record playing racing games, I was all but certain that I would crash into at least one wall, disappointing the pixelated model waving a giant checkered flag at the end of the course.

A scene I will never see. [via Giphy]

My first laps around the course were tentative as I listened to my instructor’s constant stream of orders to shift up, shift down, brake, accelerate, and generally not die. But as I got more comfortable on the course, I began to let loose and finally understood the visceral thrill of driving at genuinely irresponsible speeds. At least, I thought I was going at a genuinely irresponsible speed. Watching the playback of my dashboard camera footage, I saw that I rarely exceeded 80 MPH, which was disappointing in hindsight but probably speaks volumes about my survival instinct. Sure, it means that I’d likely perish at the mechanical hands of Decepticons in a high-speed chase, but at least I’ll be able to make it through the notoriously hairy Los Angeles traffic in one piece.

Image: Porsche

For my second ride, I was ushered over to a Porsche 911 GT 3, which I was told was “the best car we have” by my excited tour guide. Packing a 500 horsepower engine, capable of reaching speeds of 200 MPH, and retailing for a whopping $250,000, this rally-ready speedster is a genuine joy to drive. Smaller than the Ferrari F430, I found myself feeling a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t get to flip open the suicide doors of the bright orange McLaren P1 sitting across the parking lot. Yet when I buckled myself into the driver’s seat of the GT3, I felt less like a giant, gangly fish out of water and more like I was in the cockpit of a mech. My driving instructor wasn’t nearly as entertained by this as I was, but I’m guessing I wouldn’t be nearly as entertained by NCIS: Los Angeles as he is, so I’ll just chalk it up to a generational gap.

Image: Hasbro Studios

The history of Porsche in the Transformers franchise is a fascinating one. You’ll be hard-pressed to find one in the Michael Bay movies; in fact, the only place you’ll see a Porsche in Transformers is way back in the 1984 animated series. The Autobot known as Jazz, who appears as a Pontiac Solstice in the live action films, was originally based on a Porsche 935 Turbo. In 2003, though, when Hasbro wanted to license a Porsche 986 vehicle for its Transformers: Alternators version of Jazz, the automobile manufacturer allegedly refused the request on the grounds that Transformers are “war machines” that are “not worthy [of] carrying the Porsche trademark.” So, in a way, getting to drive a Transformers-branded Porsche around the Speedway track was sort of the ultimate deleted scene. Eat your heart out, Sam Witwicky.

So did I do well enough to leave my life as an entertainment writer behind, embarking on a career as the most highly paid stunt driver in cinema history? Absolutely not. Did I feel like I just did a rail of energon cubes and release enough adrenaline to bench press Megatron? You bet your ass I did. And much like what I want from the Transformers movies, that’s all I ask for.

Transformers: The Last Knight is in theaters now. Read our review right here!

What Transformers car would you most like to drive? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: Paramount

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).

Twitch Hosting 6-Day, 38-Episode MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 Marathon

Back in a more analog time of TV watching, if you wanted to make sure you could watch a show or event a second (or twentieth) time, you had to record it on a Video Home System (VHS) tape in a thing called a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR). The quality would be eh, whatever, but if you used the SLP setting, you could fit three full movies on one tape. Or, as in the case of me, three full Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes, perfect for marathons any day of the week.

Well, now you don’t have to have antiquated electronic equipment to enjoy your movie riffing from the not-too-distant future, because, beginning June 26 at 11:00 am PT, there will be a six-day, 38-episode marathon of classic Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Shout Factory’s Twitch channel.

These are episodes from the Comedy Central and Sci-fi Channel (here are our favorites of those) days, from 1989-1997, featuring hosts Joel and Mike. Back then, there would often be marathons of the series on the odd Saturday or holiday, and part of the fun was seeing which episode would be next. That’s why last Thanksgiving’s Turkey Day marathon consisting of a countdown of fan favorites was so fun; we’re always excited what they choose!

But, this is something that would have blown my mind when I was a kid–a full six days of MST3K episodes, without the burden of choosing any yourself. Twitch has become the haven for nostalgia shows to have days-on-end marathons, like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage with Carl Sagan, Julia Child’s The French Chef, The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, and Saban’s Power Rangers.

The live stream will kick off on Monday, June 26 at 11:00am PT, and will last through Saturday, July 1. That’s a pretty great way to lead into a holiday weekend, no?

Which episodes do you hope they show? Will you watch the whole shebang? Let us know in the comments below!

Image: Best Brains/Satellite of Love, LLC

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and a lifelong MSTie. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

There Was Another HARRY POTTER, J.K. Rowling’s New History Reveals

There’s no more famous last name in the wizarding world than that of The Boy Who Lived, but who or where that name came from has long been a mystery. Until today that is, because according to a new history from author J.K. Rowling the name Potter has a long and (literally) rich history in the magical community. And not only that, it turns out there was once another Harry Potter.

In the latest addition to Pottermore—which we first came across at The Wrap—Rowling has finally answered some long-held fan question about Harry Potter’s family. In a bit of a surprise, his very Muggle-sounding last name is a coincidence, as the family can trace their roots and surname back to the twelfth century and a very successful wizard named Linfred of Stinchcombe. He had the nickname “the Potterer,” which he earned from all the time he spent working with his plants. He used them to heal unsuspecting but grateful Muggles who thought him a merely talented—though strange—neighbor. His nickname “became corrupted” until he was simply known as “Potter.”

The spells he developed, like Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion, not only earned his family quite a bit of wealth that has been passed down and expanded over the centuries, they are still used to this day.

Linfred Potter’s oldest son Hardwin married the granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell, Iolanthe, and that’s how the famed Invisibility Cloak of the Deathly Hallows came into the Potter family. It was Ignotus who had asked for it from Death, and since he had no male heirs it went to Iolanthe. From their it was passed down in total secrecy to the eldest Potter child, until hundreds of years later when it ended up in the hands of one Henry Potter—better known to close ones as Harry.

The original Harry Potter had a son, Fleamont, whose weird name was Harry’s mother’s maiden name, in an attempt to keep it alive. Fleamont quadrupled the family fortune and married a woman named Euphamia. He passed the Invisibility Cloak to their son James, who married a Muggle-born witch named Lily, our Harry Potter’s parents.

This new information doesn’t change anything about the novels, so there is no retconning going on here. It is fascinating however, because it answers many questions about Harry’s family, both those with more direct ties to him as well as his ancestors. We now know where he got his name, who his grandparents were, how he came to inherit so much money, and how the famed Invisibility Cloak of Ignotus Peverell ended up as a Potter family heirloom.

There’s a lot more in this new history for Potterheads to wade through, including an explanation for why—if they were such an old and prestige family—the Potters weren’t included in the famed list known as the “Sacred Twenty-Eight” pure-blood families. Quite fittingly, it seems to be in part thanks to the first Harry Potter being a real thorn in the side of the Minister of Magic, after the minister refused to let wizards help Muggles during World War I.

There just must be something about the name Harry Potter and being a pain in the wand to authority figures.

We know some fans think Rowling should stop writing these new histories or backstories, but there’s no harm in knowing more about Harry Potter’s family. It’s just fun information to enrich the wizarding world we love; it’s not a Time-Turner that will ruin your enjoyment of reading the books.

And considering how much we love the famous one, it’s cool to find out there was a second Harry Potter.

But what do you think of this new information? And what other magical mysteries would you love to learn more about? Cast a spell with your thoughts in the comments below.

Images: Warner Bros. Studios

Ska Band Cosplays During SCOOBY-DOO Theme Song

If you’re anything like us, old school theme songs take up prime real estate in our memories and–despite our best efforts–we rarely get to use them in everyday adult life. Thankfully, we can always rely on ska bands to bring them back in a new way and give us a reason to sing them again.

The Holophonics are a band from Denton, Texas who seem dead-set on keeping ska music (and the time-tested tradition of ska covers) alive and well. Laughing Squid recently shared the video above of the five piece band going above and beyond for their love of Scooby-Doo by dressing up for their minute-long cover of the theme song. It’s one thing to pay homage to a classic cartoon, it’s another altogether to track down the proper wardrobe for an impressively accurate cosplay. Or rather, should I say “Skasplay”? (There’s also an EDM version of Scooby-Doo if that’s more your thing.)

The band’s energy and nerd-cred doesn’t end at Hanna–Barbera cartoons since The Holophonics have entire albums dedicated to the art of a good pop culture ska cover. Their YouTube channel is also chock full of covers for the Pokemon theme, The Legend of Zelda, Mega-Man, Chrono Trigger, and more. The band seems to really have their finger on the pulse of pop culture so much so that they’ve even managed to get in a good Rick-roll.

You can check out more from The Holophonics on their YouTube and Bandcamp pages. Have a listen and let us know which one of their ska covers you like best in the comments below!

Image: Warner Brothers/Hanna-Barbera

Traveling to Other Solar Systems Becomes More Possible Through Hibernation

Today’s Nerdist News Talks Back saw Senior Editor Dan Casey, Science Editor Kyle Hill, and Associate Editor Kyle Anderson join host Jessica Chobot in discussing Han Solo’s new director, the new title and poster for the sequel to Jurassic World, what’s next for Spider-Man after he loses both Uncle Ben and Uncle Tony, and how humans could potentially become better than bears once again! This time at hibernating.

Following Tuesday’s news that directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller had exited the Han Solo anthology film, Ron Howard, the man behind Apollo 13, was announced to finish the project. Considering Lord and Miller are big proponents of a more improv-heavy style of directing, it will be interesting to see how this movie turns out with them leaving so far into production. Either way, it should make you feel better to know that our very own Kyle Hill thought the previous directors were a single man named Lorden Miller, and his Because Science videos get millions of views. So there’s hope for everyone.

In more movie news, the new dino movie on the block has an official title: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The movie’s tagline, “Life finds a way,” harkens back to the famous Jeff Goldblum line from the original film, albeit without the iconic endless pause. Once more details come out, we’ll be sure to…uh…get back to you.

According to our friends at The Hollywood Reporter, Iron Man will not be returning for the next Spider-Man movie (why is only one of those hyphenated?), and an unnamed avenger will team up with the wall crawler instead. Additionally, an Infinity War cast photo might point to a step back for Tony Stark.

For thousands of years one question has plagued the human race: How can we beat the bears? Fast forward to 2017 and we’re more intelligent, wealthier, have sharper claws. And now, Phys.org thinks we could become better at hibernating. New advancements in stasis technology are bringing humans ever closer to the ability to hop in a star ship, go to sleep, and wake up in another solar system. Granted, we’d need to figure out how to get there, but bears can’t do that either.

Oh God, I take it back!

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: Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema

FAT CAMP Isn’t Phat or Campy Enough (LAFF Review)

Fat Camp comes with a certain amount of nerd pedigree, being directed by Jennifer Arnold, who also helmed 58 episodes of Wil Wheaton’s TableTop, as well as the documentary segments of the Glee 3D concert movie. It’s mildly disappointing, then, to note that this is a rather formulaic camp counselor/dubious mentor comedy, distinguished from the pack mostly by the sheer amount of f-words and vulgar references to oral sex by one of the kids. It’s still amusing enough that you might not turn it off if it were on TV, but it lacks the transcendence from template that helps us to fondly remember Meatballs, Wet Hot American Summer, or even Ernest Goes to Camp.

Hutch (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping‘s Chris Redd), a narcissist who looks at himself doing ab crunches in the mirror while having sex, isn’t motivated by anything as dramatic as parole to become a counselor at a fitness camp; he’s merely being kicked out of the house by his mom (Vivica A. Fox) after four years of joblessness. Unable to persuade his closest friends to let him freeload with them instead, he grudgingly concedes to work for his uncle Mike (The Last Man on Earth‘s Mel Rodriguez) at the aforementioned camp for kids, despite the fact that he himself spent an unpleasant summer there years ago, back when he was overweight.

Once the set-up is in place, most of what ensues is easily guessable. Will Hutch annoy everyone and screw up at first? Will he start a rivalry with the jock counselors at another nearby camp? Can his heart ever melt and allow him to find acceptance? Will the gorgeous female counselor (Anabelle Acosta) who just wants him to shut up change her mind? When all is on the right track, will he backslide and screw up worse before rallying to the final challenge? Do I really have to answer any of these questions for you? If I do, the movie might actually surprise you.

The pleasure of movies like this is usually found in a combination of the bad mentor being Bad Santa-levels of hilarious f***uppery, and the dorky misfits winning your heart and his for a final triumph. Fat Camp nails the latter, but not the former; Hutch is a selfish jerk at first, but not in an especially funny way. It also should be noted that for a movie with an essentially positive message–exercise and weight loss is good, but not hating your fat is good too–this very much wants to have it both ways. There’s a running gag about Hutch’s effeminate trainee (Michael Cienfuegos) having the hots for a fat woman who isn’t particularly nice, and there’s a lot of mileage gotten from the frequently uttered gay-panic “No homo!” punchline before the movie ultimately rebukes it…and then sneaks in another one under the wire for good measure.

One always hesitates to guess how much a screenplay changes from the first draft but it really feels like what was here was a bare-bones structure that could ideally be optimized by an improvisational comedy star. Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey, or Will Ferrell might have been able to elevate the basic material, while Redd and company seek the easy laugh of an f-bomb or a gross vagina/masturbation reference. It’s hard to be offended, as the comedy isn’t exactly edgy or risk-taking; and it’s easy enough to be moderately entertained…the finale, at least, is creative.

But unlike summer camp, which stereotypically begins with kids not wanting to go and ends with them never wanting to leave, this is more of an “eh, maybe I’ll go” experience that culminates in possibly not entirely regretting the time spent, but definitely wanting to move on.

2.5 burritos out of 5

Images: FC Production

Luke Y. Thompson likes to review the movie-films. For more from him, Tweet at @LYTrules.

WONDER WOMAN About to Become Highest Grossing Movie Directed by a Woman

Princess Diana of Themyscira continues to break all kinds of records and exceed expectations. Well, not my expectations — I always knew that Wonder Woman was the greatest hero in the pantheon of DC Comics, but now I’m glad that the rest of the world knows too. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wonder Woman is on track to break yet another record at the box office.

Director Patty Jenkins’ film will soon eclipse the $609.8 million earned worldwide by Phyllida Lloyd’s adaptation of the Broadway hit Mamma Mia! back in 2008 to become the top-grossing live-action film of all time from a female director (not accounting for inflation). Wonder Woman also has a very good chance of passing up Kung Fu Panda 2‘s $665.7 million to become the top-grossing film of all time from a female filmmaker as a solo director. Jennifer Yuh Nelson was behind the 2011 animated sequel. Right now, the sky is the limit.

This is important for several reasons, most notably that this is an action/superhero film, a genre that many don’t believe a female director can tackle, much less make tackle with such incredible skill. Look at the other films which broke box office records directed by women — Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, and Pitch Perfect — all movies that would be considered heavily female-skewing, and therefore, “safe” for a woman to direct. Wonder Woman’s success has shattered all those preconceived notions.

Here’s hoping that Warner Brothers gives Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot a big fat raise for Wonder Woman 2, and that DC Films and Geoff Johns have Jenkins at least consulting on the rest of the DC film slate. And if they want to give Jenkins the chance to direct a Man of Steel sequel? I wouldn’t hate that, either. But just make sure she does a Wonder Woman sequel first. Priorities.

Are you as stoked as we are for Wonder Woman’s massive success? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments!

Images: Warner Brothers