Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2068

How LOST Changed the Game of Pop Culture Easter Eggs

Given the fantastical nature of Lost, from the magical properties of the island to the perils of time travel that eventually plagued the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, it makes sense that the writers dropped references to the real world into scripts whenever they reasonably could. And when you consider the tastes of the co-showrunners—Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof—it comes as no surprise that many of those references are directly linked to some of the most sacred geek-friendly texts in pop culture. Sure, the Boston Red Sox get their fair due and a lyric from “Strawberry Fields Forever” gets plenty of screen time since it’s tattooed on Charlie’s arm. But the best examples of how Lost tied itself back to cultural artifacts were sometimes stealthy, usually nerdy, and, on rare and thoroughly enjoyable occasions, a little bit of both.

There are two characters in particular who end up dropping the most references thanks to the archetypes on which they’re built: Sawyer, the outwardly surly but secretly sweet bad boy from the South, and Hurley, whose soft heart, geeky interests, and relatable sense of bafflement made him a fan favorite.

Let’s start with Sawyer, who had the habit of nicknaming everyone he met. While the monikers were sometimes fairly basic—“Freckles” for Kate being the best example—he had a tendency to go deep in the trenches of pop culture. Jin gets hit with Sulu and, on a number of occasions, Chewie; Desmond is christened with another Trek alum, Scotty; and Mr. Eko earns the dubious honor of being referred to as Mr. Ed. This could’ve seemed hacky if another actor had been the one delivering the lines, but that was never the case with Josh Holloway. He dropped every reference with swagger, a pointed tone that implied he was teasing, insulting, or some combination thereof. Nicknames were a Sawyer trademark, and no matter how you felt about the character, you had to admit he had a way with words (and names).

Given the frequency with which Sawyer uses nicknames pulled from classic sci-fi franchises, you’d think he and Hurley—who loves Star Wars enough to reference even the much-maligned Anakin and appears to have the Twilight Zone intro memorized—might get along. That takes some doing, though, and it’s lucky that Hurley is thick-skinned. Even as Sawyer makes a Jabba jab at him, Hurley soldiers on, gamely handing off a Green Lantern and The Flash comic off to Walt and contemplating catching Libby’s attention with the Lloyd Dobler method. (Granted, Say Anything isn’t exactly a touchstone of geek culture, but what misled teen hasn’t considered the boom box as a catalyst for romance?)

But it isn’t just Sawyer and Hurley explicitly naming Enterprise crewmembers and reading superhero comics. The true genius of the Lost writers’ penchant for pop culture references was in the details, woven into episode titles, character names, and background images. Both “The Man Behind the Curtain” and “There’s No Place Like Home” get their names from snatches of dialogue in The Wizard of Oz; continuing the Oz theme, Ben Linus assumes the name and identity of a man named Henry Gale when he first crosses paths with Sayid. The Muppets, the Power Rangers, and Voltron all appear in some form or another behind the action onscreen somewhere down the line, but you’d have to be obsessively poring over episodes to notice any of them—something Lost fans were always willing to do.

Even when the references were overt and took up ample screen time, the show made them work. There’s a scene in the terrifically named “Some Like It Hoth” that exemplifies this and shows just how well the Lost creative team made the typically complicated trappings of a time travel plot work for them. “Some Like It Hoth” is a stellar episode in general; it’s the only Miles-centric episode in the series and delves into the complications that make the character so watchable. “Hoth” explores Miles’ early life, bringing into sharp relief that fact that he’s never really recovered from both the unwanted gift of communicating with the dead and growing up without a father.

Daddy issues are a Lost cornerstone, a trait they share with a certain sci-fi franchise that’s already had its fair due in the series; in “Hoth,” it gets the spotlight as Miles discovers that Hurley is writing The Empire Strikes Back “with a couple improvements” so he can send it George Lucas’ way. It’s a fine break in the episode’s tension—and gets completely turned around when Hurley, in response to Miles’ mockery, points out how easily Miles could resolve his issues with his father (who happens to be on the island in 1977, where, or when, they are).

“Some Like It Hoth” serves as a great illustration of how overt a reference could be while remaining effective. Making a Star Wars script a part of a conversation that shaped the direction the episode took on a whole was a bold move—bolder than Sawyer calling Hurley “Jabba” or the casual use of the term “those Rambo guys.” But both methods of grounding the series in reality, no matter how out there it may have been by “The End,” were perfected over the course of six seasons. Whatever Lost’s legacy may be in the grand scheme of TV history, it deserves more than a little credit for that.

Which Sawyer nickname is your favorite, and which references did we miss? Let us know in the comments!

Images: ABC

TOP GUN 2 Will Take Tom Cruise Back to the Danger Zone

In today’s example of “Umm, sure, we didn’t think we needed this, but why not?!” we got another instance of ’80s nostalgia–and really the continued power of movie stardom–giving us a sequel. Tom Cruise–surely you know him–announced on an Australian morning show that, yes, indeed, there will be a Top Gun 2, filming in the next year. Take a look!

WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE: @TomCruise just confirmed that Top Gun 2 is happening! "I’m gonna start filming it probably in the next year". #sun7 pic.twitter.com/X17xvxz4Q4

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 23, 2017

Top Gun is the 1986 fighter pilot movie that made Cruise a huge megastar, and also gave the world a very successful soundtrack album containing tracks like Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” and Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away.” What exactly Maverick could be up to 30+ years after his initial Goose-killing adventure is anyone’s guess, but we’re pretty sure he could do a shot-for-shot redux of the volleyball scene and it would still be awesome.

More news on this as it develops. Are you jazzed for another Top Gun? Let us know in the comments below!

Image: Paramount Pictures

New WWE Funko Pops Will Add You to the List!

Oh, you have a problem with collecting Funkos? You don’t understand why we think they’re awesome? Well, YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU JUST MADE THE LIST!

Seriously, we never knew how badly we wanted the List of Jericho in Funko form until right now, and we’re drinking it in, maaan! The goofy little scarf is an awesome touch as well, as what is deliberately pretentious on a live-action performer somehow becomes ridiculous cute in tiny caricature form.

Chris Jericho may be the highlight of Funko’s Newest WWE Pops, but he’s certainly not the only great addition. The newest series can make you feel like a million bucks AND like a boss…

Of course, now that Ted DiBiase has a Pop figure, you can expect former bodyguard Virgil to start petitioning for himself…and possibly charging $20 at conventions to sign the DiBiase one. And speaking of “the Virgil,” one WWE legend who’s undoubtedly very happy to get a Pop before him is this guy:

Yes, Funko is Team Sheikie all the way, as WWE continues its delicate balance of marketing the Iron Sheik‘s newfound popularity on social media while politely overlooking the fact that it’s due to his hilarious and often-profane outbursts (probably written by his publicists, but it’s all in character). Just don’t tell him, or he’ll break your back and make you humble. DiBiase and the Iron Sheik will also feature 1/6 chase variants, which you can see in our gallery below, along with a Walgreens exclusive 2-pack of Enzo Amore and Big Cass, and a Toys R Us exclusive Bayley that’s somehow even more huggable than the real deal.

These are bona fide Pops and certified collectibles, and you can’t teach that. Bada boom, which ones get added to your collectible room? Tell us “how you doin'” in comments below.

Images: Funko

Who Will Be INFINITY WAR’s Mystery Avenger?

Avengers: Infinity War is already shaping up to be the most jam-packed superhero epic that we’ve ever seen. Remember when we were all impressed to see Nick Fury bring six heroes together in The Avengers? Infinity War has all of them, plus the newer Avengers, plus the Guardians of the Galaxy, also Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange. (Phew!) But is there room for one more mystery Avenger? Today’s Nerdist News is on the case with intergalactic implications!

Join host and the only heroine with cosmic awareness, Jessica Chobot, as she looks at some recent comments made by Stan Lee, the co-creator of many of Marvel’s top heroes and the star of countless cameo appearances. The famously verbose Lee may have gone a little too far in a new interview when he said that an Avenger will debut in Infinity War who hasn’t previously appeared in the MCU.

It’s gotta be Captain Marvel, right? Brie Larson’s heroine is all set to make her solo debut in 2019, and it’s already been rumored that she’ll be in Infinity War. But given the way that Lee’s assistant had to step in to keep him from spilling the beans, we’re thinking that this is a genuine secret that Marvel has been able to keep under wraps. Until now.

Could it be Namor the Submariner? Marvel has reportedly reclaimed the Namor rights from Universal Pictures, and he is one of the very first Marvel superheroes and a member of the Avengers in the comics. Namor is also a mutant, but that could probably be ignored or retconned.

Another strong possibility is the Red Hulk. Captain America: Civil War went through the trouble of reintroducing William Hurt’s Thunderbolt Ross. The next logical step is to see Bruce Banner’s personal nemesis acquire Hulk powers of his own.

Another character we’d love to see is She-Hulk. Jennifer Walters is Bruce Banner’s cousin in the comics, and she gained a measure of his power through an emergency blood transfusion. While we would have probably noticed another big name actress joining the cast as the fun loving She-Hulk, Marvel did manage to surprise us with those characters in the end credits of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. So perhaps we’ll see an even bigger surprise next year during Infinity War.

Who do you think should be the mystery Avenger? Assemble in the comment section and let’s discuss!

Why You Should Be Watching DC SUPER HERO GIRLS

With the announcement that DC Super Hero Girls is getting a full series at Cartoon Network–with scripts and new character designs by series producer and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic creator Lauren Faust–this could be the brand new smash hit animation that comic book fans have been waiting for.

Launched in 2015, DC Super Hero Girls is a line of action figures and dolls from Mattel that reimagines the most famous women of DC Comics as teen super heroes learning how to save the world at Super Hero High. Focusing on the adventures of Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Bumblebee, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy, the line was initially accompanied by young adult novels from Random House and a successful series of online digital shorts.

In only two years, DC Super Hero Girls has become a full blown phenomenon, and a huge presence at comic conventions. With two feature films, three graphic novels, and a new roster of female super heroes including Katana, Starfire, and Frost recently added to the main lineup, these super powered teens have become a force to be reckoned with.

So let us tell you why you should be paying attention to these high school super heroes.

It’s All About Badass Girls

With a name like DC Super Hero Girls you know that this show has girl power galore and it delivers on every level. No matter what medium you meet them in, this team of super heroines is ready for awesome action. From fighting with some of DC’s most fearsome foes to coming first in their finals, these girls are always giving it their all.

With a roster already including Katana and Bumblebee–who’s the heroine of the first movie–DC Super Hero Girls is already more inclusive than your average cape comic and will hopefully continue to create more diverse superheroes to engage and entertain new fans.

It Stars Your Favorite Comic Book Characters

The world of DC Super Hero Girls is far more expansive than just its core team because Super Hero High is filled with many of DC’s classic characters. There’s something innately fun about these high school heroes, battling evil and trying to get homework in on time. With a regular cast including Cyborg, Beast Boy, Cheetah, Star Sapphire, and Hal Jordan among others DC Super Hero Girls is the DC ensemble of your dreams. Even Wonder Woman’s most famous sidekick Steve Trevor has his place as the owner of a local cafe.

Though the series is primarily an introduction for new fans, it doesn’t mean they don’t get their deep cut references in there for the Easter egg fans too. For example, scenes set in the student’s fave hangout, Steve Trevor’s Capes & Cowls Cafe, feature background characters from Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire’s seminal 80s run on Justice League International.

It Was Created by a Bunch of Amazing Woman

Created by Shea Fontana, Lisa Yee, and Aria Moffly, DC Super Hero Girls has one of the rarest things in comics: an all female creative team, giving this property a distinct authenticity from the beginning. Having these ladies leading a line that focuses on all female heroes has been one of DC Super Hero Girls biggest strengths.

From page to screen the creative team has focused on making sure that there are women in all of the important roles. When the series was picked up for a digital only comic, the team behind the successful graphic novels–Shea Fontana and Yancey Labat–added artist Agnes Garbowska to the roster to create the serialized story of Super Hero High. Both DC Super Hero Girls movies were directed by and produced by Jennifer Coyle and Cecilia Aranovich. Lisa Yee’s young readers novels about the super powered team have been a huge part of their success, and the toy designer behind the line, Christine Kim, made sure that the characters need to look like “they could save the save the day rather than being saved.”

The Greatest Power in DC Super Hero Girls is Friendship

There’s a distinct lack of happiness in the world at the moment, and having a show that focuses on the power of friendship–specifically female friendship–is pretty radical. The show itself never strays from the fact that all of the super heroes work better when they work together, which is one of the oldest rules in the comic book.

Though many of comics’ seminal works focus on the darker side of fighting crime, that’s not to say there isn’t a place for a more cheerful positive version of that same fight. DC Super Hero Girls hearkens back to the Golden Age of comics, with outrageous villains and morally driven heroes who do the best thing for everyone rather than just themselves. If you need some bright, beautiful, and bold super heroes in your life right now, DC Super Hero Girls has the heroes for you.

Images: DC Comics/Cartoon Networks

Everything we know about Joss Whedon’s Batgirl.

Roger Moore’s 007 Coolest Bond Moments

Anybody who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s pretty much exclusively knew James Bond to be the visage of a one Mr. Roger Moore. With frequent movie-of-the-week airings of his films, Moore’s cocksure, smoothly brutal version of the world’s greatest secret agent is still for many the definitive version of the character. And I have to say, even though his seven films were often silly (if not downright stupid), Moore always delivered his quips with the same droll eye-twinkle that made him the perfect casting choice in the first place.

Now, with the sad news of the 89-year-old actor’s passing, I think it’s time we look at Roger Moore’s (00)7 coolest moments as James Bond.

007 – A View to a Kill (1985)

Moore’s final Bond film—when he was 57 years old, and even he was like “uhh, I’m too old to do this, right?”—is by far my least favorite of them, but it’s still got some amazing set pieces and Moore still acts the crap out of it. Toward the beginning of the film, Bond is in Paris and gives chase to a mysterious assassin called May Day (played by Grace Jones), and he jumps onto the Eiffel Tower’s lift and steals a hapless cab driver’s car with aplomb.

006 – Octopussy (1983)

The penultimate Moore film is arguably the most boring of them—I’m pretty sure the plot is just about Faberge eggs—but the opening sequence gave us a typically awesome action sequence. This time out, Bond is driving a horse trailer near an enemy base, but then it’s revealed that the trailer actually houses a tiny jet, which leads to some awesome aerial maneuvering.

005 – Moonraker (1979)

Moonraker is a polarizing film, not least because it routinely veers into parody, both self and otherwise, and while I have a childlike love of the final 45-minute space station laser battle (it was directly trying to rip-off Star Wars), Moore isn’t especially cool in it. But, the opening of the movie gives us some of his best work, and an absolutely phenomenal bit of skydiving photography. And Moore is one of the only people who can make that kind of grandpa-ish light jacket seem super awesome.

004 – The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

There’s tons of great action and stunt sequences in The Man with the Golden Gun, but part of what made Moore’s Bond so spectacular was his way with words and his air of both erudition and menace at pretty much every turn. This scene finds Bond questioning the specialty gun maker who supplied the titular assassin with his particular $1 million each bullets. And boy, this guy is lucky Bond’s such a crack shot.

003 – Live and Let Die (1973)

Moore’s inaugural outing was a direct attempt to ape the success of the Blaxploitation movement that was happening in the early ’70s. There are some definite problematic elements to this but Moore, at the very least, maintains the Bond-ness throughout. And one thing that his version of the character always was was crafty; after being stranded on a tiny mound surrounded by crocodiles and alligators, Bond first tries to use his brand new magnetic wristwatch to fetch a boat, but when that doesn’t work, he has to use his head…and also the heads of several hungry bayou residents.

002 – The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Hands down my favorite (and, come on, the best) of Moore’s films is this pull-out-all-the-stops action flick The Spy Who Loved Me, which sees Bond’s British agent forced to team up with a Soviet Agent code named XXX (Barbara Bach) on the hunt for a megalomaniac with a fish fetish. There’s a great deal of undersea photography in this one, and easily the franchise’s best non-Aston Martin car, the submarine-converting Lotus Espirit. Its initial dive shows off Moore’s utter suaveness in the face of seemingly certain death.

001 – For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Bond is always a ruthless sort of character, but—despite the supercilious exterior—he’s never more ruthless than when played by Roger Moore. In the best of his ’80s outings, Moore expresses that by following up a car chase with a henchman—who killed one of Bond’s friends, BTW—by kicking his dangling car off a cliff. That’s some cold blooded spy stuff right there.

Roger Moore will be missed, for truly nobody did it better.

What are your favorite Roger Moore James Bond moments? Share them in the comments below!

Image: MGM/Sony

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He writes the weekly look at weird or obscure films in Schlock & Awe. Follow him on Twitter!

Meet Crispin Glover’s AMERICAN GODS Character in New Clip

Editor’s Note: this post contains minor spoilers for American Gods the TV series up until this point — don’t say we didn’t warn ya!

Can’t we all just get along? That’s the guise under which Mr. World is introduced to Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), the leader of the Old Gods, in Sunday night’s new episode of American Gods. And in the first clip from “Lemon Scented You,” we see why Crispin Glover was the only man for the part: he’s got that creepy, all-knowing omnipresent smirk down pat. But that doesn’t mean we’d necessarily trust him, either.

Mr. World is the ostensible leader of the New Gods, an omnipresent sort of fella whose immense knowledge of—well—everyone and thing in the world makes him incredibly powerful and potentially dangerous. After all, in the books (minor book spoilers!), he’s able to erase himself, almost instantly, from people’s memories—no doubt a handy tool when trying to manipulate the thoughts of the masses and the machinations of your warring gods. And, truly, Glover embodies this sort of globalist, information-driven godpower with the sort of terrifying flare we’ve come to expect from the hyper-talented and super unsettling (we mean this in a good way, we promise) actor.

(No wonder Mr. Wednesday looks so concerned.)

Whatever your feelings on the battles of old God and New, Mr. World may seem innocuous at first, but don’t discount his impressive power and hold on the world.

But what do you think of the new clip? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: Starz

Alicia Lutes is the managing editor of Nerdist, creator and host of Fangirling!, and can frequently be found on Twitter.

And for more from the Gods gang, check out Dan’s chat with them about their complex characters:

Russian Stuntman Makes Working Transformer Armed with Real Guns

The Transformers are toys that really exercise the imagination. Pick up an Autobot or Decepticon, and like magic your mind unfolds with various world-saving scenarios, and your mouth, with machine-mimicking noises. But for one Russian stuntman and father, simply playing with a toy Transformer wasn’t enough. He had to build one, and for some reason — an Earth invasion we’re unaware of? — he had to arm it with live machine guns.

The father and stuntman (can we call him Father-Man?), Gennadi Kocherga, was inspired to build the real-life Transformer after he witnessed an RC car transform into a robot at a market in Singapore (the transforming toy was either a genuine Transformer or a knock-off). Kocherga, who’s interviewed in the video, says that he had been working on plans for taking the toy and turning the concept into a real-life Transformer since the end of last year.

The result is a Lada, a Russian-made vehicle (possibly this one, although it’s unclear), morphed into a one-off hatchback that can go from car to imposing, machine gun-firing robo-overlord in about 20 seconds. Above, it’s roaming the Russian city of Oryol before an understandably apprehensive audience.

The Lada 112, which is possibly the vehicle used to build the Transformer.

Although Kocherga has dubbed his creation “Optimus Gennadievich Prime,” it’s probably a bit too jiggly and tentative to be considered for membership on a team of world-defending heroes from Cybertron… Although it does have those machine guns, which may or may not fire live ammunition.

What do you think about this real-life Autobot? Would you take this over that BMW 3 series Transformer? Thoughts, roll out! in the comments below.

Images: YouTube / Ruptly TV; Rderijcke

Andy Samberg Takes on the World of Competitive Cycling in New HBO Mockumentary

John Cena seems to have found his calling when he takes a break from the squared circle to dabble in Hollywood. From Trainwreck to Sisters, comedy is definitely his strong suit. He will be continuing to prove that as part of the next HBO sports mockumentary, Tour De Pharmacy.

Featuring an all-star cast that includes Andy Samberg, Orlando Bloom, Maya Rudolph, Freddie Highmore, Dolph Lundgren, J.J. Abrams, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (among MANY others), Tour De Pharmacy delves into the world of drug use in professional cycling. Much like its predecessor 7 Days in Hell, Pharmacy looks like it is shot on video tape to give it that retro feel.

I can definitely see myself laughing from beginning to end of this film. The idea of cyclists doing nothing but screaming and getting into fights while at the same time trying to win a race is flat out hilarious to me. The cameo at the end of the trailer also gives it that self-awareness that will make it even funnier.

HBO is taking the SNL Digital Short format and turning into somewhat of a longer form product. Having Andy Samberg, who helped make the Digital Shorts the best part of SNL, as part of these mockumentaries is only going to make them get better and better.

Tour De Pharmacy premieres July 8th on HBO.

So what do you think? Will you be checking out Tour De Pharmacy and the obvious hilarity that will ensue? What sport would you like HBO to tackle next? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: HBO

Neural Network Invents Paint Colors Like “Burble Simp” and “Bank Butt”

We’ve said it before, but allows us to say it again: research scientist Janelle Shane has stumbled upon an entertainment goldmine with her creative use of neural networks, or computer software that is capable of machine learning. She’s previously user neural networks to make lists of fake Pokémon names and awful pickup lines, and now she’s back with a slew of computer-generated paint colors that, based on name alone, you might not want to paint your living room with.

Anybody who’s ever been to a Sherwin-Williams knows that different hues of paint have flowery and descriptive names like Dandelion Fields or Rainy Slate (we don’t know if those are real, we just made them up), and when Shane fed “about 7,700” of the store’s paint colors into her neural network, the results were even more abstract and bizarre.

With that information, the network eventually learned how to produce valid RGB values (numbers that indicate what ratios of red, green, and blue make up a color), and much later on in the process, it learned how to give somewhat coherent names to these colors. Take a look at some of the hues the network eventually produced:

If you want to give your bathroom a fresh, dope look, “Dope” might be your best bet (although honestly, colors like “Turdly,” “Stanky Bean,” and “Bank Butt” might be more fitting). We can see why : computers just aren’t up to the task quite yet.

What other neural network fun have you come across recently? Did you see and Magic: The Gathering cards? Share what else you’ve found in the comments below!

Featured image: United Soybean Board/Flickr