Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2081

The National Announce New Album, SLEEP WELL BEAST

Grab your nearest bottle of wine and put on your finest gray suit, The National are back! Wednesday the band of brothers from Cincinnati announced their first record since 2013 will be titled Sleep Well Beast and has an expected release date of September 8. According to vocalist Matt Berninger, who wrote some of the album’s lyrics with his wife, the album is about “marriages falling apart,” which means two things: 1. Yikes and 2. This will be yet another dour addition to the group’s brooding discography.

New @TheNational album out Sep 8th. @pitchfork pic.twitter.com/oSCwU5lqmP

— Ghosts of the Kodiak (@GhostsOfKodiak) May 10, 2017

We suspected that a new album was on the way this week when the band and their label 4AD began teasing instrumental snippets (check those out below). It’s hard to guess what the album will sound like based on those album teases alone, but so far the visual aesthetic have amplified the aforementioned themes of strained relationships and the burden of domesticity. Semi-voyeuristic images of people living their lives behind cracked windows call to mind Todd Hido’s photography, which is perhaps most recognizable as covers for Raymond Carver’s short stories. And much like Carver and Hido’s work, The National have always excelled at painting the sadness of banality, so this seems like a spot-on visual association.

The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness.

A post shared by The National (@thenational) on May 9, 2017 at 9:01pm PDT

Are you looking forward to the new The National record? What era of the band’s work is your favorite? Will they appear as a musical guest on the forthcoming season of Game Of Thrones? Let us know all your thoughts and hopes in the comments and on Twitter.

What Are Matt Berninger’s Favorite Songs?

Image: Fox

 

Michael Rooker’s THE WALKING DEAD Merle Dixon Figure is No Yondu

It’s no surprise to anyone that Michael Rooker nearly stole the show away from even Baby Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, right? From Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer through Mallrats, Slither, and The Walking Dead, Rooker has always radiated an ornery, don’t-mess-with-me charisma, to both dramatic and comedic effect. Sometimes both at once: As Yondu, he’s an abusive adoptive dad to Peter Quill, but ultimately shows a good side. As Merle, the extremes were even greater: A dangerous racist as presented initially, and even a dubious traitor later on, he eventually proved to be enough of a good brother that his death had a tragic note.

All of Rooker’s “baby face that aged angrily” features are perfectly captured in this upcoming 12-inch figure by threezero (distributed domestically by Sideshow Toys), which can sate your thirst for The Rook in this style at least until Hot Toys announces a Yondu (they’ve teased an image, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything will come of it; the company is known to show things that sometimes don’t happen).

Merle’s a bargain at a $164.99 preorder price, compared to most figures in this size with similar detail (which tend to go for upwards of $200). And yes, he comes with multiple pairs of hands so you can have him as a pre-amputee if you like, but why you’d want to display him without the stabby stump is beyond me.

Check out more of Merle in our gallery below. Do you think he’d stand a chance against Yondu’s whistle-dart? Tell us below which Rook you’d pick to checkmate.

Images: Sideshow/threezero

Get Ready for STRANGER THINGS to Get Darker in Season 2

Stranger Things was one of Netflix’s breakout hits in 2016, and we’re still eagerly awaiting the second season. And while the first season was a nearly pitch perfect blend of classic kids movies and ’80s-style horror, the new season is set to take a dramatically darker turn. That’s coming directly from executive producer Shawn Levy, and today’s Nerdist News is turning the world upside down to bring you the latest Stranger Things scoops!

Beware of potential spoilers ahead!

Join host, and the only woman never to get lost in Hawkins, Jessica Chobot, as she breaks down Levy’s recent comments about the “darker threats” awaiting the AV Club kids this season. One of those threats may be one of their own. Noah Schnapp’s Will Byers will have an expanded role in season 2, and the producers are already singing his praises for being a great performer. The last time we saw Will, he was coughing up tiny monsters and having Upside Down flashes. There’s clearly something wrong with him, and that may be just the beginning.

While the kids are still dealing with last season’s trauma, the unnamed government agency is once again running secret experiments and Dacre Montgomery’s Billy is going to be a more human threat to the group because he’s a psycho bully in the Stephen King mold. As for the non-human threats, the kids may end up missing the Demogorgon when they see the very Cthulhu-like horrors awaiting them this season. In fact, we’re wondering if the Upside Down invasion is happening on a larger scale than we previously believed. What exactly are the Duffer Brothers up to? You know, our office has been infested with Duffers before. Could there be another cameo appearance in this episode?

What do you think about the latest threats on Stranger Things? Use your incredible mind powers to let us know what you’re thinking! Or just do you, and write a comment below like everyone else.

SNATCHED is an Amusing, Surprisingly Sweet Bit of Nonsense (Review)

It’s safe to say that my lifelong affection for Goldie Hawn and few years’ worth of the like for Amy Schumer were pivotal in getting me through Snatched with a smile. Not so much an exhibition of either performer’s greatest talents, but rather my own inclination to like each of them, no matter what they might be doing. Call it a cheat or a crutch, but it can’t be easy for an actor to maintain this caliber of charisma, nor for a movie to bottle and deliver it as well as Snatched does.

Even in absence of an especially funny or clever script, what Snatched manages to mine from the watchability of Hawn and Schumer borders on remarkable. Each is saddled with a sort of generational archetype—Schumer, as aimless Emily Middleton, is dippy, obnoxious, social media-obsessed, and light on the foresight. Hawn plays her mother Linda, a divorcée whose panic meter is running overtime and who spends the lot of her time doting on her cats, and phoning her seldom responsive daughter.

Familiar outlines aside, the Middleton women don’t feel boring—the inherent humanity packed into Schumer and Hawn’s natural screen presence instead renders them earnest and relatable. And though soon enough their ordinary lives give way to a particularly brutal outburst of screwball comedy mayhem, this relatability sticks all the way through.

The hijinks promised by Snatched’s plot, which sees the pair kidnapped while on a mother-daughter trip to South America, isn’t quite funny enough on its own accord. Though especially wacky supporting parts, including a subplot involving Emily’s brother Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz) and an increasingly frustrated state department agent named (Bashir Salahuddin), likewise scattered cameos from a goofball Christopher Meloni, Wanda Sykes, and an entirely silent Joan Cusack—her facial contortions are a gift from the beyond—offer the occasional hearty laugh, the Middletons’ adventure plays out without quite enough wit or imagination. Many of the bigger gags feel yanked from the studio comedy warehouse, while the side banter isn’t quite as biting as Schumer fans may be hoping for.

In lieu of ample humor, Snatched finds its footing on more surprising grounds: emotionality, thanks in no small part to the charms of Hawn and Schumer, but also to an unexpectedly touching array of bits peppered throughout Katie Dippold‘s screenplay. The Middletons’ relationship yields more than might be suggested by the broad and uncouth premise of Snatched, and just about makes up for some of its less inspired aspects.

That said, one thing that none of Snatched‘s smoother edges would be able to make up for is its insensitivity (at best) in dealing with South American culture and people. There’s a lot to take issue with in Snatched—on the one hand, the film’s entire Latinx cast can be divided into two groups: ruthless criminals and whimsical rural folk; on the other, despite the fact that a few throwaway lines suggest that indulgent American tourists like the Middletons may be more of a pox on their vacation destination than they realized, the movie is hardly willing to contend with this idea properly.

To sum up, Snatched isn’t exactly without its rough patches. As a movie depicting the worlds of Ecuador and Colombia, it’s certainly doing no noble work. As a screwball adventure comedy, it is indeed on the lighter side. But as a showcase of the screen presences of Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer, it has much of what you expect it offer. And as a story about a mother and a daughter reconnecting, it has more.

Images: 20th Century Fox

Michael Arbeiter is the East Coast Editor for Nerdist. Find Michael on Twitter @micarbeiter.

GAME OF THRONES Re-Throned: “Kill the Boy” (S5, 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 5, Episode 5: “Kill the Boy”

Original Air Date: May 10th, 2015

Director: Jeremy Podeswa

Written by: Bryan Cogman

Shireen Baratheon introduced greyscale to viewers in season three, but it became a major topic on the show during season five, culminating in Ser Jorah Mormont contracting it in the season’s fifth episode, “Kill the Boy.” Jorah’s illness on its own is an important moment, an apparent death sentence for a major character who has been involved in the story since the pilot. But considering how much time was dedicated to greyscale during this season, and the final order Daenerys will give to him in season six about finding a cure, the disease’s biggest role on the show might still lie ahead. It may promise salvation for mankind, or be very similar to another “affliction” that threatens the living.

While sailing through the ruins of Valyria, Jorah and Tyrion are attacked by Stone Men, whom Jorah warns Tyrion not to come into contact with. Tyrion is apparently fine following their escape, but Jorah hides that he was touched on the wrist, and the disease has already begun to affect him.

Earlier in the season Gilly told Shireen about her sisters who had greyscale and how they had to be quarantined. She says towards the end they “started to sound…not like themselves” and they “acted like animals” before Craster killed them. Greyscale is a horrible skin disease, one that leads either to forced euthanasia or to expulsion in distant and abandoned lands. However, it is feared by many–even more than death–in large part because it eventually leads to madness. People with fully developed greyscale are in many ways no longer human; they are something entirely different, something other.

Which is why Jorah tells Daenerys in season six, after saving her life for the second time after he was banished by her, that this time he will truly have to leave her. He says he will “end things before” he becomes like the Stone Men. She doesn’t accept that, though. She says to him, “I command you to find the cure wherever it is in this world. I command you to heal yourself and then return to me. When I take the Seven Kingdoms, I need you by my side.” Because it’s her, and he loves her, it’s reasonable to expect him to do just that.

We know it can be “cured” of Stannis’ story of how he called on every healer in the world to save an inflicted Shireen. They did stop the spread, though it scarred her face. But with so many different people trying so many different methods, it’s impossible to know what was actually responsible for saving Shireen. This is not the only time in season five someone talks about treatment, though.

In episode three, Tyrion hears a red priestess of R’hllor in Volantis say how the Lord of Light hears the prayers of kings, slaves, and Stone Men the same. Tyrion replies, “Stone men. Good luck stopping this spread of grayscale with prayer. You’d have better luck dancing away the plague.” While we can’t speak to the merits of dancing away the plague, praying away greyscale doesn’t seem like the best hope for Jorah.

Put all together and season five dedicates a remarkable amount of time to a single disease that hadn’t been particularly important before. It’s possible it all could have been in service to Jorah’s story, to set up the illness before giving it to him, but why would show runners Benioff and Weiss need to create a reason to keep Jorah away from Daenerys when that had already happened twice? We’ve already seen him return to her side and be redeemed–why use up valuable time on an otherwise unimportant ailment to do it yet again?

Which is why the role of greyscale feels far more important to the larger story than just what happens to Jorah. If he returns, we would expect him to do so having found the cure, since he would never endanger Daenerys. But where could he find it? In Asshai, the mysterious dark city on the far side of the world where the Lord of Light is followed most passionately? What other secrets might come with him from there that could be in service to Daenerys and the great war against the White Walkers? Could Jorah’s sickness ironically help lead the living on a path to victory against the army of the dead?

An army made up of people that are no longer humans–beings who are something else, something other. An army that has a lot in common with the Stone Men themselves.

Because the destructive madness and the loss of control shared between the Stone Men and the wights raised by the White Walkers make them far more alike than different. They both were once alive, but now pose a great danger to the living.

Which also means that if Jorah returns, and the cure is nothing more than a temporary abatement and not a true reprieve, instead of bringing a way forward he might bring yet another army to threaten the realms of men. The dangers of greyscale and the potential harm it can cause feels much more menacing when viewed in that context.

Stone can be just as cold to the touch as ice.

But what do you think? What roles might greyscale and Jorah play going forward? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Images: HBO

Talking STRANGER THINGS Season 2, Plus New DEADPOOL, JUDGE DREDD, and X-MEN Shows

It can be tough to keep focused on the all-important strata of pop culture when there’s so much pesky national news to worry about. Clearly this is a tribulation held near and dear to the heart of one Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who merged the entertainment sphere and current events into one convenient package with his announcement that he just might be running for the President of the United States of America. Now, the Rock may be a perfect candidate for high-octane action films and family friendly adventure flicks. But is he a suitable choice for POTUS? This burning question kicks off today’s Nerdist News Talks Back, featuring host Jessica Chobot, Nerdist’s Managing Editor and Fangirling overlord Alicia Lutes, and Nerdist’s Science Editor and supreme leader of Because Science, Kyle Hill.

Once we’ve covered the Johnson ’20 campaign, Nerdist News Talks Back will tackle an array of exciting upcoming TV projects. First off, season two of Stranger Things, which will feature more Will Byers, as well as more horror and gore. But there’s only so much room in a single season, so we’re also diving into the prospect of Stranger Things‘ future.

On a much lighter, sillier note, we got news this morning that Deadpool will be hitting TV screens in animated form, courtesy of comic mastermind Donald Glover. As fans of 30 Rock, Community, and Atlanta, as well as his sketch comedy and standup, we’re pretty in tune with Glover’s sense of humor, but what kind of flare will he bring to the world of the Merc with a Mouth?

This morning also gave us news of a new Judge Dredd TV series, which could work even better than anything we’ve seen of the character on the big screen. The NNTB team dives into that one as well, with thoughts on what we’d like to see in a Dredd show.

And finally, our latest look at the new X-Men program The Gifted.

There’s lots to unpack here regarding the possibility of an overarching shared screen universe with Legion, Deadpool, and the X-Men movies. But still, so much yet to learn. Weigh in with your thoughts, hopes, and predictions on The Gifted, and all the rest of today’s Nerdist News Talks Back topics!

Image: Netflix

Now You Can Go on a Real Life STAR WARS REBELS Adventure

Every Star Wars fan who picks up a lightsaber will immediately wave it around and start making the noise. The sound effect is ingrained in our DNA, showing our hope to make the Star Wars universe a reality. Star Wars Land is opening soon with big promises of an immersive experience. Until then guests staying at the Walt Disney World Resort already have the opportunity to get a taste of what a fully interactive Star Wars adventure would be like.

Disney Information Station shared details of a Star Wars themed in-room celebration, where fans of the Disney XD show Star Wars Rebels can make their dreams a reality by going on an interactive adventure guided by Rebels’ own Ezra Bridger.

First teased over a year ago, it seems that now the package is finally ready to be blast-off to Lothal and beyond. The adventure starts out as guests arrive to their resort room to see an Imperial recruitment banner on their door—already this is my dream come true. Once inside you’ll see that the Rebel Alliance has infiltrated the room leaving behind necessary tech and gear for your mission, including an Imperial Security Officer disguise. Disney, please say this comes in XXXL kids size, because I need that uniform for myself.

By downloading a Star Wars app on your smartphone, Ezra will be your guide as he takes you on an undercover mission. An image on the screen shows the characters Sabine and Chopper, which gives me hope that storylines from the show will be incorporated into the mission. Imagine Darth Maul wanting to enter your mind to search your memories or possibly interacting with the Seventh Sister. Or maybe you’ll get a side mission to go find Meiloorun fruit—you know, to keep you out of trouble. Wherever the mission takes you, you’ll get experience the thrill of being in the Star Wars Rebels universe.

This adventure isn’t just virtual, it involves actually leaving the room and heading over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and riding Star Tours-The Adventures Continue. This sounds similar to Phineas & Ferb: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure, where guests were sent on missions that involved walking through Epcot’s World Showcase. While that activity was free, this one is not—mostly due to all the extra gifts and decor that go along with this encounter. After all, in addition to the posters, outfits, gear and more, when you complete Ezra’s mission you’re directed to head back to your room where a familiar reward will be waiting—a medal of honor, just like the one from Star Wars: A New Hope. Impressive, most impressive.

All this interactivity makes me hopeful for a fully immersive Star Wars Land when it opens. By engaging with guests through the use of technology, fans get to experience Star Wars in their own personal way. I like the idea of being able to fulfill your destiny—be it the path of the Jedi or my own personal path to the dark side of eating churros all day.

For information on how you can participate in this Star Wars Rebels Adventure experience, check out the website and more images in the gallery below.

Are you up for a Star Wars Rebels challenge? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Disney

We caught a glimpse of Kylo Ren’s new starship!

Somebody Turned a Vintage TV into the Ultimate Retro Video Game Machine

We’ve long been fans of the Raspberry Pi, the miniature and inexpensive computer that can allow you to make just about anything you can imagine. Perhaps the area of tinkering that the Pi has gotten the most use for is making retro gaming machines. There are plenty of examples of this, like the Burger King toy turned Game Boy Color and the actually functioning BMO from Adventure Time.

Knowing about these possibilities, modder Finn Anderson couldn’t just walk by the vintage portable TV he saw on the street and not do anything about it. He took that sucker home and converted it into a retro gaming machine that could be the ultimate standalone old school video game experience.

Anderson posted a gallery of photos from his build process on Reddit, and from that, we learned that very few of the TV’s original innards made it into the final product. It didn’t have much in the way of input, so its guts were replaced with a Raspberry Pi, a modern screen, a wireless Xbox controller receiver, and even a digital tuner so you can still watch TV on this TV. He even created a curved plastic screen cover, and that bit of nostalgic design is the kind of touch that can bring a project like this together and make it feel complete.

Check out Anderson’s build gallery below and a video of his new/old machine in action above. Is this the coolest Raspberry Pi project you’ve ever seen? Share some of your favorites in the comments below!

I turned an old portable TV into a dedicated retro gaming system!

Featured image: Finndersen/YouTube

One Player Beat POKÉMON RUBY With Just A Magikarp After Six Years Of Trying

We’re in an age of video gaming right now where it seems like there are three main groups of players: Those who play games casually, those who try to beat them as fast as possible (also known as speedrunners), and those who try and complete seemingly ridiculous objectives in games based on self-imposed rules. We recently just got an amazing example of the latter: One Japanese gamer, who livestreams as Leomon, just beat Pokémon Ruby… using only a shiny Magikarp… and it took him six years to do it (via Kotaku).

For those who don’t know, Magikarp is infamously one of the weakest, and therefore hardest to battle with, Pokémon in existence, so of course beating an entire Pokémon game with just that flopping fish in your party would be an achievement. In the video below, you can see Leomon defeating Pokémon League champion Steven thanks to liberal use of Hyper Potions and Lemonades.

The strategy here is tedious but simple: Keep healing Magikarp, which is at level 74, until the opponent either misses an attack or attacks and doesn’t deal enough damage to the point where another attack is likely to cause Magikarp to faint.

Leomon’s method of attack is interesting as well: We’re not sure if it’s because he ran out of PP-restoring items or if it was a deliberate choice, but the only move Magikarp uses is Struggle, which is the default go-to move when all of your Pokémon’s attacks are out of PP and therefore cannot be used. It may not seem like it, but there’s an advantage to using Struggle over Tackle or Flail (the only moves Magikarp can know aside from Splash, which does no damage); While the move does recoil damage, it’s also more powerful than Tackle (50 power vs. 40), and type advantages do not apply to it. For example, Tackle, a Normal-type move, wouldn’t damage a Ghost-type Pokémon, but Struggle will. Struggle would have also been necessary in the early stages of the game, since Magikarp only learns Tackle, its first damage-dealing move, at level 15.

This type of endurance battle strategy also wears down the PP of opponents’ moves, so eventually, they’re not able to use their strongest attacks and taking them down becomes that much easier. This was definitely a wild journey with a lot of thought and effort put into it, so revisit the culmination of it all above, and let us know in the comments if this is the craziest Pokémon playthrough you’ve ever seen.

Featured image: The Pokémon Company

IZOMBIE: Liv Becomes a Hot Freaking Mess

Warning: This recap contains spoilers, undead and otherwise, for the iZombie episode “Some Like It Hot Mess.” Go find some brains to eat if you haven’t watched yet.

We all know someone who seems to be constantly embroiled in drama. It can latch onto a person and follow him or her and the problems said drama causes have a ripple effect. Drama brings more drama. I’ve definitely been caught in those spirals before, and now Liv gets to live in the haze of a dramatic party girl in the latest iZombie, “Some Like It Hot Mess.”

Before we talk about Liv’s latest personality influences, we must discuss what happened to Major. He took the cure; as predicted, his memory faded until it was all but gone. The loss happened at a pace so rapid it was disturbing. Then, the tide changed. His memories returned. We didn’t know the cure was actually successful because Blaine lied about his memory loss. Dammit, Blaine.

I’m overjoyed about Major and the possibility of Liv being cured, but part of me realizes a show called iZombie likely can’t continue without zombies. So, I’ll put that on hold for now and focus on Blaine. I can’t believe he truly thought Peyton wouldn’t care about him lying to her about his memories. Dude. Have you met Peyton?

On the other hand, I think Blaine does genuinely care for Peyton and saw an opportunity to make a new life and start for himself. His previous existence was in large part guided by trying to impress his father, and now that he’s free of those shackles, he’s becoming the person he always wanted to be. However, the road to a fresh beginning shouldn’t start with a lie. It’s setting yourself up for failure. And now, Blaine’s in desperate mode, which isn’t a positive for anyone.

The Meal

Knowing you’re going to become infused with obnoxious personality traits you don’t want makes a serving of brains less appetizing, but Liv dressed up Yvonne’s cerebral matter as best as she could. She combined chunks of brain with noodles, sauteed vegetables, and hot sauce. The brain pieces look a lot like shrimp to me, so I just thought of it as a lovely seafood pasta. You could replicate it at home without worrying about taking on drama queen qualities.

One other food scene of note: once Major turned back into a human, he committed to eating some of his favorite snacks. He had an intense exchange with ice cream. Seriously, Major and the ice cream should have been left alone for their moment.

Liv

Yvonne’s roommate called her a hot mess. When you think of those two words, what traits come to your mind? I imagine a drama queen, someone who’s disorganized, scatterbrained and never seems to have it “together.” Usually it comes with the person literally being messy, too. Yvonne could put a check beside every item on that list, plus she was a party girl–her habits sort of exacerbated all those personality quirks. Everything came through in a strong, unpleasant way once Liv ate Yvonne’s brains.

Liv became an obnoxious flake. We saw Yvonne absolving herself of any responsibility for her mistakes and issues, and Liv followed suit. When she repeatedly spaced about picking up important items for Ravi, she blamed Clive for being needy about the case. Of course, it wasn’t Clive’s fault Liv was focused on only herself. Because geesh, Liv was incredibly selfish. Yvonne was in the same boat; she needed a break, she needed money, she needed more time to pay rent… she made everyone around her continually focus on her. By making others spend their time and energy on her, it made them easier to single out for her failures. She trapped herself and those around her in a cycle.

We saw Liv act impulsively and without consequences while she was in the club with Clive; she didn’t care that what she did could have landed Clive in trouble–Yvonne wouldn’t have cared either. Liv tried to manipulate her friends and was altogether a pain in the ass. Major going missing (after Liv flaked on babysitting him) seemed to snap Liv out of being affected by Yvonne’s brain. Thank goodness.

Oh, and Liv was right with her observation about Joe. Nice guys are the worst. If a dude self identifying as a nice guy, it’s a red flag.

What do you think will happen with the cure? Head to the comments and tell me your theories about what’s next.

Images: The CW