Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2141

New WONDER WOMAN Trailer Reveals More of Diana’s Origins

Uh-oh. Don’t tell Wonder Woman she’s not fierce. She’ll show you otherwise. Many times over, in fact.

Welcome to Themyscria. I am proud to present the NEW trailer for #WonderWoman! pic.twitter.com/7q7SQ80ut1

— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) March 12, 2017

This new trailer, unveiled during the Kids’ Choice Awards, shows us footage we’ve seen before tied together with new footage that gives a sense of the progression of the story. It looks like we’ll follow Diana’s story from childhood, and when she meets Steve Trevor she’ll travel with him to London by boat. In the process, she’ll get involved in World War I, beat up a lot of the Kaiser’s men (and probably at least one evil woman), and finally settle the debate on how you say “Themyscira” aloud.

Seriously, that one has been the source of many arguments over the years. Gal Gadot has just erased all doubt. I probably could have looked it up somewhere, but it feels better to hear her say it.

It also appears as though Chris Pine as Trevor will add some of that humor you all have been requesting, as will Gadot’s deadpan reactions to the decidedly pre-feminist world of the nineteen-teens. We’re certainly not going to tell her what outfits that sword and shield do or don’t go with!

We’re lasso’d in, all right–are you ready for some Amazonian action? When will we see Ares? Leave us not to wonder what you thought–tell us in comments below!

Image: Warner Bros.

What do Wonder Woman and Luke Skywalker have in common?

STAR WARS REBELS Recap: Chopper and AP-5 Have an Adventure

Warning: This recap contains spoilers for the Star Wars Rebels episode “Double Agent Droid.” Make the jump into hyperspace and away from this page if you haven’t watched the episode yet.

How can you tell Chopper’s not himself? Simple. If he’s not acting like a grumbling pain in the butt, something’s up. That was the case in “Double Agent Droid.” This episode of Star Wars Rebels paired Chopper and AP-5 together with Wedge Antilles for a secret mission to extract crucial information from the Empire. The specifics of the job aren’t so important. What’s key is how we again see the way the Empire dismisses droids and how it’s to their detriment.

As you’ve probably noticed, anytime Chopper goes undercover to sneak around Imperial ships and locations, he has the same paint job. My theory is they only have those colors on hand on the Ghost. His color scheme jumps out to me, but it doesn’t really matter in the story because the Empire doesn’t notice droids. We’ve seen the stark contrast in how the rebels treat droids versus how the Empire treats them again and again.

The Empire doesn’t pay attention to droids. They use them and leave them to their work, never giving them a second glance unless they’re bossing them around. Like AP-5 pointed out, they don’t take droids seriously, so it’s no wonder Chopper has been so successful. It was smart for them to include the bit of dialogue for viewers who have been wondering how the heck Chopper hasn’t been busted yet.

On the other side of the coin, Chopper’s actions have been noticed by the Empire. Or at least they note the Ghost rebels have a droid with them. An Imperial controller with one of the Lobot-esque devices noticed Chopper. By the way, said controller is voiced by Josh Gad. He became obsessed with capturing the droid in order to please Grand Admiral Thrawn. I always find it interesting to see ambition and brown-nosing in action in the Empire.

Not having respect for droids means Imperials don’t understand how they can have distinct personalities. When the controller takes charge of Chopper, he does it with a one size fits all attitude. He apparently believes all droids follow black and white programming and protocol. So, of course, when Chopper starts acting polite, it’s a sign something is wrong–at least it’s a sign to AP-5.

This led to a frustrating point of the episode: neither Wedge or any of the Ghost crew listened to AP-5. Yes, he can be a touch annoying. He has a vast amount of knowledge and doesn’t know how to be tactful about sharing it, so he comes across as a know-it-all. I say this with love because I enjoy all things AP-5. He knew Chopper wasn’t acting like himself and tried to tell everyone, but they ignored him and they almost paid for it. Chopper was this close to giving the Empire the location of Atollon base. They shouldn’t have ignored AP-5. Ugh.

On the upshot, Hera realized Chopper was being weirder than usual. We know Chopper is Hera’s pal, but I forget how fiercely protective she can be of him. She struck back at the Imperials, and while it was insanely effective since she wrecked the whole damn control center, she put Chopper at extreme risk. I was surprised she was willing to chance frying him. Chopper made it through, but I didn’t like seeing him hurting. Poor Chopper. What a stressful day.

Now, let’s discuss the wacky aspects of “Double Agent Droid.” If you watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars, you likely recall the “Sunny Day in the Void” arc. It won’t surprise you to learn this episode is written by the person behind those stories, Brent Friedman. He’s not afraid to explore the bizarre. We have AP-5 engaging in an “anything you can do, I can do better” gag with Chopper, and then we have AP-5 straight up singing in space, surrounded by little flying creatures. If the sequence is a nod to a film, I cop to not recognizing the source material. If it’s not an homage, it wasn’t a tone we’ve seen in the show before. I don’t mind it, but I can see it not going over well with fans.

And one final thought: why the hell didn’t Ezra use his lightsaber to get them out of the cargo hold?

How do you feel about the weird aspects of “Double Agent Droid?” Tell me your opinions in the comments or come talk to me on Twitter.

Images: Disney XD

John Goodman Reprises Dan From ROSEANNE on THE TALK

Today John Goodman is one of American’s most beloved character actors, known for his roles in movies like The Big Lebowski, Argo, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and the just released Kong: Skull Island. But for a whole generation of TV viewers, he will always be Dan Conner, the world’s greatest ever blue collar dad from the sitcom Roseanne. Goodman starred as Conner family patriarch for nine seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1997.

One of the Conner family’s two daughters on the series was played by actress Sara Gilbert, who played the sarcastic middle child Darlene for all 9 seasons of the show. Post Roseanne, Gilbert launched successful career of her own, which includes being co-creator and host of the currently running daytime series The Talk.

Via Variety, on an episode of The Talk this past week, Gilbert reunited with her former TV dad John Goodman to play their characters from Roseanne for the first time in 20 years. The old Conner living room set was recreated (as best as possible), and we were treated to a skit of Dan and Darlene watching TV, just like the good old days. Only this time, Darlene has something she wants to tell her dad: “I don’t know how to say this. I’m a talk show host.” Dan jokes that he was expecting her to reveal something else….

Of course, the whole joke here is that Gilbert has been an out and proud lesbian since 2010, when she revealed she was gay shortly before launching her show The Talk. Considering that Roseanne was one of the first American sitcoms to portray gay characters as normal everyday folk, I’d like to think that if Darlene actually did come out as a teenager on the series back in the day, Dan and Rosie would have been pretty cool parents about the whole thing. You can watch the entire The Talk skit above.

What did you think of the ever-so-brief Conner family reunion? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: CBS Television

Who does Goodman think Kong should fight? We asked…

Channel Your Love for the LOGAN Movie Through Mezco’s OLD MAN LOGAN Action Figure

The critical and box office success of Logan was a wonderful way to send off the role Hugh Jackman made his own for 17 years. However, since the movie rights to the X-Men movie franchise are owned by 20th Century Fox and not Marvel themselves, tie-in Logan action figures are not exactly easy to come by (and by “not exactly,” I mean they don’t exist).

Mezco has a way you will still be able to show your love for Jackman’s last hurrah vicariously through their new One:12 scale (6-inch) figure based on the “Old Man Logan” storyline from 2008, which they debuted on their Facebook page this past Friday. Written by Mark Millar and drawn by Steve McNiven, “Old Man Logan” is set on the alternate Earth-807128. This Logan is older and is raising a family. When his family is killed by a gang of Hulks, Logan sets out on a mission of revenge, unleashing his claws for the first time in years.

 

Pre-orders for this toy begin on Monday, March 13th on Mezco’s website here. Even in action figure form and regardless of age, Wolverine is not a man to be messed with.

The figure comes with 30 points of articulation, a cloth costume, and six interchangeable hands which will give you a range of ways you can pose him in his berzerker rage. He also comes with a baby Hulk, the only survivor of Logan’s road to revenge. Now, the description says he comes with a “white t-shirt.”  Any Wolverine fan worth their salt knows that this should be a “faded red t-shirt.” What’s the point of having claws if you’re not going to use them to rip people into bloody pulps, right?

Check out more images of the figure down below. Even though it can be a struggle to get Marvel and its movie rights weirdness understood, Mezco is helping us fans get around that red tape and celebrate the characters we love.

So what do you think? Are you going to pre-order this figure? Is Logan truly the best there is at what he does?  Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: Mezco

Speaking of Logan…

Scream at a Wall: FULL OF HELL, MASTODON, SLIMY MEMBER, and More

Wipe the blood from your teeth and get in the pit: it’s time for a recap of this week’s best hardcore, metal, and punk rock. Spring is upon us, the flowers are in bloom, and it’s the perfect time to get amped up on some new heavy tunes. Looking for some new death metal to bring into your life? Got you covered. Need some grindcore to get your wedding reception off on the right foot? Say no more. Strap in, kiddies; it’s time to rock.

 

Full of Hell only need 58 seconds to melt your freaking face off. “Deluminate,” the first single off of their upcoming album Trumpeting Ecstasy, is a grindcore masterpiece. This track will blast the flesh from your bones and leave you with nothing more than a bleached skeleton and soul that has been thoroughly rocked. “Deluminate” isn’t breaking the mold for the band, as it is exactly what we expect from Full of Hell: dark, fast, and vicious. If the band’s split with Nails late last year whet your appetite for bloody grindcore, Trumpeting Ecstasy will hit your sweet spot. Crank this song and bum out your entire office. Demoralizing and caustic, Full of Hell are not for the faint of heart.

 

Pallbearer are driven by big riffs and thoughtful melodies. Their sound is expansive and enveloping. Listening to their new album is like going on an epic journey, and the band’s new music video for the song “I Saw The End” is a visual representation of that. It’s equal parts cheesy and ambitious. The majority of the time we’re watching a strange, cloaked warlock enslave a bunch of dudes. The warlock gives these primitive people the gift of sight and then makes them build a bunch of pyramids. That’d be weird enough, but the video also features a coked-up executive screaming into his employees’ faces. And there’s a White House press conference at one point. Yeah, weird stuff, we know. Still, there’s something so awesome about the low-fi, throwback quality to this video. Bands don’t make epics like this any more; it’s something that Led Zeppelin would have done late in their career. We can’t help but love this stuff and we adore Pallbearer’s huge presence. This band rocks.

 

Only Fucked Up would release a 24 minute hardcore song. The latest edition to their “Year of” series of singles/albums is Year of the Snake and it’s comprised of two songs that together total about 30 minutes. That’s a lot of Fucked Up, which is okay because we really, really like Fucked Up. The title track has all the anger and intensity of your standard Fucked Up number, but also rolls through some electronic noise-pop territory and bizarre feedback loops. It’s 24 minutes long, guys: you can’t just play melodic hardcore for 24 minutes, because you have to break it up and get a little weird, which is exactly what Fucked Up does. They get a little weird. Really weird, actually. Trance inducing weird. Drink some nighttime Theraflu and listen to “Year of the Snake.” It’ll take you to a weird place and you’ll be thankful for it.

Noisey

 

Casey is a pretty aggressive post-hardcore band. Their album, Love Is Not Enough, is filled with tons of anger and raw emotion. Casey is also a thoughtful, spacey band. These two sides often play against each other throughout the album, pulling the listener back and forth from mournful melody to sonic chaos. It’s an awesome duality and the band does it very, very well, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to slow down and wallow in a dark beauty for a track or two. “Darling” is an example of this; a slow, brooding number that ends in fiery, reverb-soaked guitars. It’s a grief stricken number, perfect for a dark Summer evening. The video is a simple and haunting story that, like the song itself, ends in fire and darkness. Check it out below.

 

There’s not enough horror punk in the world, right? There’s a true void in that department. Fortunately, Slimy Member are here to slip in and deliver the goods. This band makes ugly punk rock that sounds moist and tender; there’s nothing showy or overproduced about it. It’s punk rock the way punk rock should be. At the same time, it’s got a gothic element to it. Slimy Member is a horror show, in a good way. You could see them opening for Misfits in the early ’80s. This album is killer; there is not an ounce of bullshit on it. Just straightforward horror punk that stings like a bloody lip.

Clrvvynt

 

Holy crap, this new Mastodon song rules. This the meanest track these guys have done in years. It still has the harmony and bright tone of recent Masoton tunes, but there is something down and dirty about the hardcore shredding that is laced throughout “Andromeda.” There is so much riffing here that it borders on too much. The guitars are just dancing and toying with you, a constant barrage of licks and fiery grooves. The contrast of snarls and catchy singalongs is perfection; the careful  balance of this song is staggering. Mastodon still has it, guys. They’re still the emperors of metal and we’re honored to worship at their feet.

 

That’s it for this week, folks. Hit us up in the comments with the punk rock, hardcore, and metal that’s ruling your world right now.

Image: Full of Hell/Profound Lore

Gif: Toei Animation

Benjamin Bailey writes for the Nerdist and can be found on Twitter talking about Godzilla, comic books, and hardcore music.

Tom Savini Designed a New Jason for FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE GAME and It’s on Fire

Have you ever wondered what Jason Voorhees would actually look like after he came crawling back from the fiery depths of Hell to continue wreaking havoc at Camp Crystal Lake? Luckily for us, we have a great interpretation of what that might look like thanks to an exclusive DLC skin for Friday the 13th: The Game designed by special effects artist Tom Savini.

 In the 9th Friday the 13th installment, Jason Goes to Hell, our masked serial killer looks fairly normal…for him. The hockey mask has melted directly onto his face, becoming fused with his skin. It’s a bloody, inflamed mess around the area where the mask cuts into the skin but he more or less looks the same. In the movie, the rest of his body remains char free, and he still sports a healthy looking glow.  However, the images released by Gun Media of their interpretation of Jason escaping from Hell takes the concept of being burned alive and pushes it to the extremes. He looks way worse for the wear, and much more terrifying.

Revealed on Friday the 13th: The Game’s Facebook page, several images show Tom Savini’s depiction of Jason after he escaped Hell. They’re incredibly brutal and we love it. Unmasked, his eyes have become literal pockets of angry fire that seek vengeance. His complexion is blackened and charred, and the skin around his mouth is melted and also full of flames. He sports several cuts around his face (possibly courtesy of a certain Mr. Krueger), whereas the rest of his body is equal parts fiery and full of spikes.

The “Hell Jason” skin is available for pre-order, and will be shipped digitally for your platform of choice in early 2017. The DLC add on also includes a unique weapon. We were already excited to be able to play Jason, but this exclusive add-on has increased our desire to scare the life out of campers.

What do you think of the “Hell Jason” skin? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Friday the 13th: The Game, Gun Media

Jeff Bridges Channels ‘The Dude’ to Honor John Goodman

Yesterday, John Goodman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and quite a few people he’s worked with over the years showed up to support him. Among the famous faces–of Emile Hirsch, Dann “Capt. Cragen” Florek and Goodman’s Kong: Skull Island co-stars Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston–there was one really special guest in attendance.  When Goodman’s Big Lebowski co-star Jeff Bridges took the stage to say a few words, he did so in character as “The Dude.”

It’s a great to see Bridges slip into character like it’s no big deal and even better to see the pure joy it brings to Goodman on his special day. The Dude waxes poetic in his own special and confusing way about his friend Walter John’s achievements and makes it a point to spell out that his last name is, in fact, “Good, Man.” The way Bridges seems to effortlessly speak as Lebowski makes us wonder if this is just something he does for fun from time to time when he’s bored. Imagine walking through a grocery store and actually seeing The Dude collect ingredients for white Russians!? We’d be quite disappointed if he didn’t do this sort of thing on a regular basis the way Bill Murray randomly pops into people’s lives.

It’s good to see The Dude back in all his sweater’d glory especially when it’s to honor his friend. We just hope his appearance doesn’t motivate some Hollywood big-wig to try and re-boot an already perfect movie.

What Jeff Bridges character would you want to say a few words for you someday? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: YouTube/Variety

For more Goodman, check out our Kong coverage.

Video Explains Wolverine’s Wonky X-MEN Movie Timeline

There are few movie franchises with as confusing a chronology as the X-Men films. There are other examples out there of course – the Halloween movies for instance, where the first two movies are canon, and then the sequels all branch off in crazy directions – movies 4-6 are contradicted by movies 7-8, which all contradict movie 3. It’s seriously nutso.

Then there’s the Terminator series, which at least has time travel antics to fall back on to explain why the sequels don’t really match up with one another. But the X-Men movies, which began in 2000 with Bryan Singer’s original film, and end (at least for the Wolverine character) with the recently released Logan, gives all those other series a run for their money when it comes to confusing timelines.

So if you’re one of those people for whom the X-Men movie timeline gives them a bit of a headache, you’re in luck, because the folks at CineFix have got you covered. They’ve made a handy dandy video lesson where, with the use of a dry erase board and one very knowledgeable nerd, explain Hugh Jackman’s journey through the series, which chronologically began in the flashback sequences of X-Men: Origins Wolverine in the year 1845, and conclude in the year 2029 in Logan. You can watch the entire video timeline tutorial above.

Actually, once you watch the whole video, you realize that the X-Men timeline mostly makes sense, thanks to the timey-wimey antics of X-Men: Days of Future Past, which among other things, basically deleted the events of the more maligned X-Men movies like Origins and X-Men: The Last Stand. Although, Wolverine still remembers the events of those movies, which would explain why he’s so damn grouchy. I’d be pissed off all the time too if I had to remember things like “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” and no-mouth Deadpool, while everyone else got to forget it ever happened. That seems hardly fair.

Does this video clear the whole confusing X-Men timeline for you? Or does it all still make no sense? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Twentieth Century Fox

X-23 might have an…edge…over Wolverine.

Now’s Your Chance To Watch Adorable Baby Rays Eat Sashimi

Look, we’ve been around the internet for a long time. We’ve seen a lot of cute things. We’ve watched baby otters eat cereal. We’ve seen Stranger Things reenacted by pugs. We’ve even watched a tiny hamster eat an equally small burrito, the most desirable of the tortilla-based foods. All that land-based cuteness is wonderful and good, but it’s possible we may have been overlooking aquatic environments as a source of adorableness. Case in point: We just came across this video of baby bat rays eating sashimi, and we’re starting to think it’s better down where it’s wetter, under the sea.

There’s a lot to discuss here, so let’s dive in. Right from the first shot, it’s clear that these baby rays 100 percent have seal eyes. Let’s quickly revisit what those look like in this graphic footage of a seal attacking a man:

We’re not sorry you had to see that. On second viewing, though, the rays’ eyes are actually more human like. Does that make them cuter or no? We’re not entirely sure, to be frank, but we’re gonna embrace our flat seals (new name for baby bat rays) regardless.

The next thing to talk about is their little mouths. Those tiny little things can barely fit the sashimi in there, so they carry on, swimming about as the fish hangs out of their little food holes. These tiny little sea flaps are majestic and beautiful and we should probably stop watching now, because this feels like the start of an extremely deep YouTube wormhole we’re about to fall into.

Featured image: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Cosplay Friday #202 – Scarecrow, STEVEN UNIVERSE, and More Photos by Kendra J. Harriston

If you’re a cosplayer and you’ve attended a convention near the Washington, D.C. or Maryland areas, chances are high you’ve been photographed by Kendra J. Harriston. She’s a freelance photographer and has been taking pictures of cosplayers since 2012. While she usually remains local to the area, she’s also traveled as far as San Diego Comic-Con and even a convention in Japan to do photo shoots. But enough of the words. Let’s take a look at some of Kendra’s photos, starting with this Scarecrow:

Scarecrow (DC Comics) | Cosplayed by Danielle

Scarecrow should be frightening, and I’d say this photo more than accomplishes that vibe.

As always, you’ll find more costumes in the gallery below, including Judge Dredd, Garnet from Steven Universe, and more. To see Kendra’s extensive portfolio, visit her website. She doesn’t only photograph costumes, she also captures snaps of nature and travel. Fancy, right?

Do you cosplay or take photographs of cosplayers? Then I want to see your work so we can talk about highlighting your creations in a future Cosplay Friday gallery. If you’re interested, please get in touch with me at alratcliffe@yahoo.com and send hi-res photos you’d like me to feature. Be sure to provide credits for the cosplayers or photographers for each image because giving credit is good manners–bonus points if you include links to relevant Facebook pages or websites. Though I wish I knew all the nerdy franchises, I don’t, so please let me know who or what is being cosplayed.

Images: Kendra J. Harrison