Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2071

Look Inside Dynamite’s UNDISPUTED STREET FIGHTER Art Book (Exclusive)

For thirty years, Capcom’s Street Fighter franchise has revolutionized fighting games and given gamers the chance to control an unforgettable cast of characters as they collide in epic battles. This fall, Dynamite Entertainment is taking the deep dive into over three decades of gaming history with Undisputed Street Fighter: The Art and Innovation Behind the Game-Changing Series.

Steve Hendershot wrote Undisputed Street Fighter, and in collaboration with editor Tim Lapetino, he’s brought together a comprehensive look at the art, design, and storytelling that goes into each iteration of Street Fighter. The book is still several months away, but we’ve got an advance look at pages that have never been seen anywhere else before. First up is a two-page spread about Birdie’s visual evolution from the very first Street Fighter and all the way through his appearance in Street Fighter V. Note that all preview pages are not final, and they are pending approval from Capcom. (Click to enlarge)

As any fighting game fan knows, part of the fun is listening to the vocal clips from their characters. The next two-page spread takes a look inside the voice acting process for the Street Fighter games, as well as the unusual secrecy that entails.

Street Fighter is more than just a gaming franchise. It’s a cultural phenomena. It’s been adapted as live-action movies, cartoons, anime series, and even turned into a pinball game. The characters have also become everything from statues to action figures, as you can see in our final exclusive image.

In our gallery below, you can find the cover for Undisputed Street Fighter as well as the previously revealed pages. The book will be published in October as part of Dynamite’s continuing Video Game Icons series.

What did you think about this Street Fighter art preview? Execute your special moves in the comment section below!

Images: Dynamite Entertainment

Hugh Jackman Admits He Didn’t Know Wolverines Were Real Animals

After 17 years, there are few comic book fans who would argue that Hugh Jackman didn’t fully inhabit the part of Wolverine through six X-Men films and three solo adventures. Jackman really made that role his own, and Logan was a fitting place to step aside from the character that made him into a star. But by Jackman’s own admission, his initial performance fell short because he didn’t know that wolverines really exist.

Via Page Six, Jackson recalled that he spent a few weeks researching wolves after he was cast in the very first X-Men movie. That led director Bryan Singer to ask Jackman about the wolf-like qualities that he gave his character. “[Singer] said, ‘Are you sort of walking funny, what’s going on?,'” recalled Jackman. “And I said, ‘I’ve been doing this thing with wolves,’ and he goes, ‘You know you’re not a wolf, right?’ I said, ‘Well, there’s no such thing as a wolverine.’” According to Jackman, Singer replied “’Go to the zoo, dude,’” before Jackman added that he “literally didn’t know it existed.”

For the record, wolverines are very real, and they are a very fitting name for Logan’s superhero alter ego. Wolverines are known to be especially ferocious and strong, with a reputation for killing prey that are much larger in size than they are. Wolverines are also loners that resemble small bears, even though they are more closely related to the Mustelidae family. But nobody would ever call Logan a weasel to his face!

In the end, it all worked out for the best. But hopefully Jackman’s inevitable replacement will also be aware of actual wolverines before stepping into the role.

What do you think about Jackman’s confession? Pop your claws in the comment section below!

Images: 20th Century Fox/Marvel

Michael Giacchino Gives SPIDER-MAN’s Classic TV Theme an Epic Symphonic Cover

While Danny Elfman‘s music for the original Spider-Man trilogy has one of our favorite superhero themes, Spidey’s best known music is still the opening theme for the 1967 Spider-Man animated series. Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris’ song is so catchy that it’s been featured in nearly every Spider-Man film to date. Apparently, Spider-Man: Homecoming composer Michael Giacchino is also a big fan of that tune.

Yesterday, Giacchino posted a clip of the Spider-Man: Homecoming scoring session and shared a piece of music that’s sure to stir the radioactive blood of any Spidey fan.

Who’s ready for your friendly neighborhood you-know-who?@SpiderManMovie @MarvelStudios pic.twitter.com/iSHk4IvVgk

— Michael Giacchino (@m_giacchino) May 19, 2017

We don’t know for certain if Giacchino will incorporate the Spider-Man ’67 music in the final film, but it certainly lends itself well to this symphonic cover. One of the most common complaints about the Marvel movies is that the superheroes don’t have iconic themes anymore. We don’t necessarily agree with that, but Giacchino’s take on this piece of music could easily be the opening theme for the new movie.

 

That said, our preference would be to hear an original Spider-Man theme by Giacchino. He’s more than proven himself with his previous scores for Star Trek, Rogue One, The Incredibles, and Doctor Strange, as well as the music for all six seasons of Lost. If anyone can write a new musical legacy for Marvel’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, it’s Giacchino!

What did you think about Giacchino’s Spider-Man cover? Spin a web, any size, in the comment section below!

Image: Sony Pictures/Marvel

Maybe he can cover this next:

STAR WARS and THE HIDDEN FORTRESS: The Beauty of Modern Cinematic Fairy Tales

A handsome rogue and his two bickering companions accompany a strong willed princess across a strange and mysterious landscape, evading capture and triumphing over adversity against the backdrop of an epic and devastating civil war.

Star Wars: A New Hope had an impact like none other, becoming a resounding cultural phenomenon which consumed pop culture and spat out a whole new way of creating, watching, and participating in the moviegoing experience. In the early years of the summer blockbuster, George Lucas’ unexpected science fiction smash was a revelation, still running in cinemas two years after its release date.

The Hidden Fortress preceded Lucas’ seminal space opera by almost 20 years, yet the opening line of this article describes the Kurosawa classic just as well as it describes A New Hope and that’s not a coincidence. The sprawling, fantastical world of Akira Kurosawa‘s quintessential samurai adventure movie was a direct influence on a young Lucas, who not only took numerous character and story beats, but also editing techniques like Kurosawa’s trademark screen wipes, which are now synonymous with the Star Wars brand.

Lucas has always been open about The Hidden Fortress’ influence on his space opera, and though Hollywood has a history of stealing from its foreign counterparts without recognition, Lucas has often talked of Kurosawa’s influence and worked to help him in his later career. This reimagining of narratives isn’t unusual, in Hollywood or history, stories are shared, adapted, and evolve constantly. Storytelling is one of the most ancient ways of creating a collected history of human experience. Both of these films, as different and fantastical as they are, are works that further the notion that cultural storytelling can be passed along through the medium of cinema.

Akira Kurosawa was already 17 years into a celebrated career when he made The Hidden Fortress. A departure from the serious and brilliantly brutal arthouse films that he’d become known for, Fortress portrayed a comedic world filled with action but also driven by a sense of adventure and, as always, honor. Set in a feudal Japan devastated by war, Kurosawa’s vision took the focus away from samurai and soldiers, instead introducing us to two bumbling outlaws whose misadventures and greed would lead them on an epic quest–kind of like a couple of smugglers from a galaxy far far away. He crafted an exhilarating and expansive tale that also subverts ideas around Japan’s strict class structure by creating a narrative that constantly changes character roles and power dynamics.

Lucas paints his love for Kurosawa in broad strokes all over the first installment of Star Wars. Jedi are essentially space samurai, their iconic lightsabers nothing more than swords ripped from the hands of Kurosawa’s warriors and illuminated with neons. Lucas originally envisioned Obi Wan Kenobi as The Hidden Fortress’ very own Toshiro Mifune–the films’ General Rokurota Makabe –and though that never came to pass, Alec Guinness’ robes would not be out of place in Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, or any of Kurosawa’s iconic catalogue.

Kurosawa’s tale may seem familiar even to the few people left in the galaxy who haven’t seen Star Wars, and Star Wars familiar to those unlucky enough not to have seen Kurosawa’s masterpiece. This innate relatability that makes these properties feel comfortable, dreamlike, and timeless is in part due to the use of age old tropes and folkloric themes that both films weave into their unique and vibrant worlds to tell their stories.

Princess Leia was the role that made and ultimately defined Carrie Fisher’s acting career. Misa Uehara only starred in nine films before retiring from acting, though her performance in the iconic role of Princess Yuki would live on far longer. Princesses are one of the most archetypal tropes in fairy tales and also in wider pop culture, though both Yuki and Leia subvert many of the more negative and outdated ideas of a princess–they’re strong willed, often save others rather than being saved themselves, and at times wear masculine coded outfits. Both of these princesses also check the box on one of the most classic fairy tale tropes of them all: the missing mother.

The world of fairy tales is dark and full of terrors, not least of which is that most female protagonists we meet are motherless. Whether killed, deserted, or simply not there, mothers are a missing element in the lives of your Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. Leia senselessly lost her mother as a young child, raised by adoptive parents. And all we know of Yuki is that her clan has been besieged, leaving her at the end of the film to prepare to rebuild the clan alone. Ironically, in the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales the mothers were the evil antagonists, rather than the far better known evil stepmothers. This was changed in later translations as it was seen as too cruel, hence all the missing moms.

Looking at both Star Wars and The Hidden Fortress, it makes sense that they work as cinematic fairy tales, as they both operate heavily in the world of archetypes. This was a conscious decision for Kurosawa. Utilizing secondary characters to tell his story meant that the roles usually filled by the leads would work better as simple tropes. Yuki is the haughty and strong willed princess– a role which at the time was radical in Japanese cinema. Rokurota Makabe is the loyal and courageous general, and the film’s main conspicuous companions–Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matakishi (Kamatari Fujiwara)–are the comic relief.

Lucas’ characters also work within these boundaries. Han can be Makabe, a charming man with (in Han’s case, questionable) good intentions. Though he and Chewie also share traits with Tahei and Matakishi, the latter pair ultimately become the bickering and beloved R2D2 and C3PO. And Princess Yuki is, of course, the huttslayer herself, Leia. There’s no Luke character in The Hidden Fortress, though in Star Wars he’s simply an avatar enabling the (perceived) audience to place themselves in the movie. Even without the basic moral lessons, Star Wars easily slips into the realm of fairy tale by featuring some of the most recognizable genre tropes out there: droids take the place of sentient objects that often inhabit Grimm’s world, while male characters in fairy tales are rarely named (and when they are they’re often called Han/s).

Kurosawa’s influence on Lucas continues through all of the Star Wars films. I won’t spoil it for those of you who may want to revisit it, but the end of Return of the Jedi owes a great debt to The Hidden Fortress’ dynamic conclusion. The original plot for A New Hope was far closer to Kurosawa’s classic, and you can see the echos of that in The Phantom Menace. Why else would Padme hatch that ridiculous plan to dress as a handmaiden if the revolutionary Princess Yuki had not done the same so many decades before?

The parallels between The Hidden Fortress and Star Wars have been pointed out before, not least of which by George Lucas himself. Hopefully my fairy tale fan theory has inspired you to revisit Kurosawa’s masterpiece and return to a galaxy far, far away.

What classic tropes do you see in Star Wars? Grab your inner film student and join us in the comments!

Images: Lucasfilm/Disney, Toho/Criterion

Even in Funko Form, ALIEN: COVENANT’s Neomorph Is Terrifying

This weekend audiences can finally return to the Alien universe with the release of the highly anticipated Alien: Covenant. The trailers have us excited for a lot of action, adventure, and a fair amount of Xenomorph mayhem (Xenomayhem?)–but we have to say we’re equally psyched for all the sweet, sweet collectibles headed to stores. Particularly, the addition of this Neomorph to the Alien: Covenant family of Funkos!

These creatures are new to the Alien film universe and will be encountered by the crew of the USCSS Covenant in the new film. Even in adorable Funko form they share quite a few characteristics with the xenomorphs we all know and pee our pants over, but these lighter-skinned (is it skin? Or are they like beetles?) creatures are obviously the indoor kids of the Alien family as they clearly haven’t been out in the sun.

The Neomorphs also come with a tiny toddler version, which is quite possibly the best thing Funko has done in a while. Considering Funko makes larger versions of characters (like the six inch Stay Puft Marshmallow Man or Overwatch‘s Winston) has us crossing our fingers that they continue to market all sorts of smaller creatures in Pop! form. We’d fork over so much money for an itty–bitty chestburster. Even more for the Spaceballs version!

Oh man! We know we’re off track here but how awesome would Funko-fied versions of Mel Brooks films be!?

Have you checked out the rest of the Alien: Covenant Pop! Funkos? Which one is your favorite? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Images: 20th Century Fox, Funko, Brooksfilms/MGM

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger Says He’s Still Doing TERMINATOR, TWINS Sequels

The movie business has been tougher on good ol’ Arnold since he came back to Hollywood from politics–chances are you didn’t even know that a movie he starred in called Aftermath even came out just last month. So who can blame him for wanting to get back to the properties he does best? Even though the last Terminator sequel felt like a betrayal to a lot of fans when it turned John Connor evil, he was still good in it, both as Old Man Terminator “Pops” and as digitally recreated Young Arnold.

We previously mentioned that the rights to Terminator were returning to James Cameron, who hopes to produce another installment with Deadpool‘s Tim Miller directing. But only today did Schwarzenegger confirm the last part of the puzzle. Talking to Screen Daily from Cannes, he is quoted as saying “It is back” and “I will be in the movie.” He also said that the Twins sequel, Triplets, which he announced off-the-cuff at an Expendables panel years ago at Comic-Con, nearly has a completed script, and Eddie Murphy is still attached to play Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito’s long-lost third brother.

So how exactly will he be back in Terminator continuity? Genisys probably won’t be considered canon moving forward, but its notion that Terminator flesh ages like regular humans needs to be maintained if the star is to do more than digitally paste his head onto somebody else’s body. Johnny Depp and Kurt Russell both have big flashback scenes this summer where they have been impressively de-aged, but that’s tough to pull off for an entire film.

Can a reunion of Schwarzenegger and Cameron entice you back to the Terminator franchise? Don’t just tawk to dah hand–leave us a comment below!

Images: Paramount

GHOSTBUSTERS Written In Shakespearean Prose Is Absolutely Hilarious

Across recorded history, humanity has been blessed with some truly fantastic artistic works, such as the paintings of Michelangelo, the writing of William Shakespeare, and Ghostbusters. Does Ghostbusters belong in that list? Perhaps not, but it’s one step closer to fitting in with the esteemed writings of historical note: Author Jordan Monsell recently released Ministers of Grace: The Unauthorized Shakespearean Parody of Ghostbusters, and as you’d expect, it turns Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis’ original script into the Shakespearean epic we didn’t realize we wanted until just now (via io9).

Although it’s unofficial, Aykroyd himself approves of the parody, and even provided a quote for the book: “Jordan Monsell has trance channeled the Bard in genuine, scholarly and hilarious to celebrate the Ghostbusters in a whole new, old way.”

Iambic pentameter and other writing styles of the period certainly are hilarious when applied to Ghostbusters; check out this brief excerpt from the book, from when the Ghostbusters go out to their first call:

INNKEEPER

I humbly thank thee gentles for thy speed. Our guests grow anxious by the hour and start To question me for reasons have I none.

RAY

Hath it appeared ere now?

INNKEEPER

The eldest servants know of higher floor The strange impatience, I do mean to say Though stirred it not these past five moons till late. And ne’re did carry on as violently.

EGON

Did’st thou make report to any soul?

INNKEEPER

Nay! Good heavens! We do not speak of it. I wish it were removed before the dawn.

RAY

Verily. Now peace good sir. Custom hath made it in we a property of easiness.

Exit INNKEEPER

MAN AT STAIRS

What be you, a Muscovite?

PETER

Nay, we be extirpators. A rat a man did see on floors above and called upon us.

MAN

An unholy size this rat must be.

PETER

‘Twould take this from this, sirrah.

RAY

Wilt thou follow?

MAN

I’d rather keep my head to chew and swallow.

RAY

It hath occurred to me of late that a successful trial of our weapons have we not.

EGON

I do accuse myself.

PETER

As do I.

RAY

The fault, dear Egon, is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.

PETER

Wherefore be troubled? For upon our backs have we unlicensed boxes of rough magic.

RAY

Agreed. Are we content?

EGON charges RAY’s pack, then backs away.

If that tickles your fancy, the book is available on Amazon. Do you think you’ll grab, or is Shakespeare, even hilarious Shakespeare, just not your thing? Let us know in the comments!

Featured image: Shadowcut Press

Apple’s Latest Piece of Cutting Edge Technology Is… A Pizza Box

As hardcore pizza enthusiasts, we’re no stranger to the recent pizza-related innovations that have been made recently. You can order pizza with your shoes, get pizza in a box made of pizza, and even smoke weed with a pizza box. Though the latter two are fun ways to reimagine the pizza box, has any real progress been made since the standard cardboard box most of us are working with now? Not that we’re aware of, and while Apple has been making some of the world’s finest phones, computers and whatever other devices will dominate our lives next year, they also took a minute to design, patent and make a pizza box of their own (via Engadget).

It’s actually a pretty impressive pizza vessel. The ribbed and ventilated container was designed so pizza wouldn’t get soggy by allowing air and moisture to escape. The box’s creation is largely due to Francesco Longoni, the maestro of the Apple Park café (which was profiled by Wired, who included this odd bit of trivia in their story). Take a look at the patent image below:

The patent itself, which was filed in 2010 and approved in 2012, is fun to look at because of the detail and length of writing that went into describing a pizza box. For example, here’s the first item from the “Claims” section of the document:

“1. A molded fiber container suitable for containing a food item, comprising: a base, the base comprising: a plurality of ridges integrated with an interior surface of the base, wherein when the food item is placed on at least some of the plurality of ridges, a gap is formed between the food item and the interior surface of the base, the gap assisting in thermally isolating the food item and allowing moisture expelled from the food item to be transported away from the food item; and a lid, the lid comprising: a plurality of openings arranged in accordance with at least some of the plurality of ridges, and a moisture channeling feature integrally formed in the lid, the moisture channeling feature cooperating with at least some of the plurality of openings and the gap to provide a path by which at least some of the moisture expelled from the food item is transported out of the container and into an external environment.”

Soggy pizza is a significant issue, obviously, but do you think Apple’s finally cracked the code? Let us know in the comments!

Image: cyclonebill/Wikimedia Commons, United States Patent and Trademark Office

You’ll Want to Bring Home These Cute Pop Culture Crochet Dolls

Having pop culture inspired art hanging on your walls is wonderful. Having a pop culture inspired plush or doll you can snuggle? It might be better. I definitely find Diane Boucher’s handmade crochet dolls huggable and couldn’t resist featuring them in Fan Art Friday. She’s been making her adorable dolls for three years. She started crafting the plushes as a hobby, but it’s become a full time job. Diane pulls inspiration from all sorts of films, comics, and games—including Star Wars. Look at BB-8:

I’m guessing a lot of you would be absolutely fine with having a lil’ Jareth from Labyrinth to cuddle at night.

Take a trip to the gallery below to see more of Diane’s work. You’ll find Groot and Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy, a cookie-eating Snorlax, and more. If you’d like to place an order for a doll of your very own, you can do so at Diane’s Etsy shop. Visit her Instagram feed to see everything she’s currently working on. And hey, if you’re going to Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con in June, you can buy dolls from her in person.

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: Diane Boucher

One-of-a-Kind Millennium Falcon Piano Up For Auction

We’d enjoy hearing John Williams’ iconic Star Wars score if it were being whistled by Lloyd Christmas, but we’ve always been particularly fond of the incredible medley that was performed on custom-built pianos that were decorated to pay homage to the galaxy far, far away. Well, we’ve got a good feeling you’re going to be excited by this opportunity, because the Millennium Falcon piano from the video is now up for sale.

Player Piano, who made the most beautiful looking hunk of junk instrument we’ve ever seen, along with the amazing R2-D2 piano also seen in the “Ultimate Star Wars Medley” featuring pianist Sonya Belousova, has put it up for auction on eBay.

The auction runs for a week, and as of now there is currently no opening bid for the listed price of $7,500, which does not include the assumed cost of having it shipped from their storage unit in Los Angeles (which is a factor since the piano lights up but doesn’t fly). We are sure though that soon enough some Star Wars fanatic who loves to sit down and play (Han) solo Star Wars medleys will jump into hyperdrive to have this travel into their home.

And if not, their has to be some cantina owner out there who knows that such a unique and elegant piece would be sure to bring tons of Star Wars lovers to their establishment. Though that increased business is sure to also bring in some scum and villainy.

Still totally worth it.

Where do you hope this piano ends up? In the home of some dedicated superfan, or in a bar or restaurant you can visit? Visit our comments section below and let us know.

Images: Player Piano