Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2163

These GHOST IN THE SHELL Statues Are Detailed and Dangerous for Your Wallet

The upcoming Ghost in the Shell film has its fair share of controversy, but there’s no denying that the visual effects and cyberpunk feel that we’ve seen from the trailers look pretty amazing. Weta Workshop is a design studio based in New Zealand that was brought on to handle merchandising duties for the movie. With the March release date approaching, Weta Workshop has introduced two highly detailed statues of the Geisha and the Major.

The statues are limited to 500 pieces each and are priced at a hefty $449.00, but it certainly looks like you’re getting your money’s worth, especially considering they’re at 1:4 scale. According to the website, the Workshop spent months working closely with director Rupert Sanders and his production team, helping to translate the iconic manga into a reimagined live-action setting. The attention to detail definitely shows through the quality of the builds.

Both of the statues have differing features. While the Geisha has two interchangeable heads, the Major has an illuminating base and weighs almost three pounds more. On the Weta Workshop site it tells you who the sculptors of the pieces are (Mauro Santini, Lindsey Crummet and Gary Hunt), which gives it a nice personal touch. Being able to put a face to the names that meticulously crafted all the intricate parts is an added bonus.

If you’re in the market for having the Major loom over you as she wields the decapitated head of a robot geisha in your presence, preorders are available now and will be delivered in March 2017.

What do you think of the figures? Take a closer look in our gallery below, and let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page.

 Images: Weta Workshop

Scream at a Wall: PLANNING FOR BURIAL, THE BOMBPOPS, WOE, 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. We dug through the record crates to find the new tunes we think you need to spin and rage to. Strap in, kiddies; it’s time to rock.

 

 

The thick, mean, atmospheric sound of Planning for Burial’s Somewhere in the Evening is like a chaotic fever dream. It’s a wall of oppressive sound that hinges between black metal, noise, garage, and The Body. It’s beautiful stuff, even when it terrifies and confounds. It haunts you like the ghost of the past you can’t let go; like memory flickering and fading, nearly lost to time. This is an album you have to hear, something truly special and unique. Heavy and laced with feedback, Planning for Burial take us to sonic places we have rarely traveled.

(Consequence of Sound)

 

There is something comforting about metal done right. Bathsheba is a crawling monster of doom, a sludgy beast of a band that lumbers through darkness and melodic horrors. It’s hypnotic, in no small part because of the lead vocals. Michelle’s tone is unforgettable and instantly gives Bathsheba a sound all their own. The gentle harmony of her voice over fuzzy, rhythmic guitars gives the whole thing a classic rock vibe, in the best possible way. Bathsheba is metal done right. They’re rock and roll of darkest order, the kind of jams that make you throw up some horns and bang your head. Also, they have a track with a pretty fierce saxophone solo, which is something not a lot of metal can or would say.

(Noisey)

 

Weltesser continues to impress the hell out of us. “Guide” is the latest single off their stellar Crestfallen record, which you can pick up right now. It’s big, ugly post-metal; an angry brew of reverb and crunch. These guys move slow and deliberate; there’s not a wasted note or breath. “Guide” is a crusher of a tune, a wave of sound that pummels you into marrow and pulp. Weltesser is a band that’ll make you bleed and beg for more. They are the score of your nightmares.

 

Woe is almost too slick. These guys play black metal that is ripping and technical, laser focused stuff that borders on being way overdone. Somehow, it’s not too much. They take you right to the edge and then let you breathe, but just a little. Woe hits a groove the moment you think you can’t take anymore insane riffing and blast beats. They become just human enough that you let your guard down and get swept away in the tide of hollow screams, blackened growls, and tremolo. It’s good stuff, in other words, and fans of black metal that ditches atmosphere in favor technical prowess will love it. Crazy talented band, no doubt.

(Decibel)

 

We spend a lot of time wallowing in bleak and bitter metal bands. In dark times, dark tunes feel appropriate, but everyone needs little brightness in their life. Sometimes, you just need some pop punk, the sort of stuff that you sing-along to while you bounce and sway. For times like that, The Bombpops are perfect. No frills pop punk that’ll worm its way into your brain and stay there for days. Those of us who grew up with the punk bands of the 90s will fall in love hard with The Bomobpops. Raw, infectious, and fast, this band is utter perfection. Give them a listen and you’ll be hooked, we promise.

Fear of Missing Out by The Bombpops

 

That’s it for us this week. Throw some horns up and go wreak havoc. On your way out, make sure you hit up the comments below and let us know what grind, thrash, doom, hardcore, punk, and metal is filling your earholes currently.

 

Image: Bathsheba

Gif: Adventure Time/Cartoon  Network

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

DC COLLECTIBLES Shows Off New JUSTICE LEAGUE Statues, the BATCAVE, and More (Toy Fair 2017)

Earlier this week we showed you DC Collectibles latest wave of DC Bombshell figures that debuted at Toy Fair 2017. Well, the fun didn’t stop with the Bombshells. Reported by Action Figure Insider, DC Collectibles has a whole slew of toys and statues ready for fans to devour. From Justice League to Batman: The Animated Series to DC Rebirth, here is a rundown of what we can expect in 2017.

Superman by Neal Adams Statue

This awesome looking statue of the Man of Steel is based on Superman #233 drawn by the legendary Neal Adams. If you have ever wanted Superman in this classic pose, now is your chance.

Batman: The Animated Series Batcave Vignette

This set is the perfect compliment to your Batman: TAS action figure collection. This huge Batcave set is no statue, but a full playset that you can use with your 6″ Animated Series figures. It also comes with an Alfred figure, so you had best learn how to make plastic cucumber sandwiches.

Batman and Harley Quinn Battle Statue

If Batman wants to get to the Joker, he almost always has to go through Harley Quinn to get him. This statue exemplifies how much the Batman wants to put the Clown Prince of Crime down, and how Harley will do anything from stopping it from happening.

DC Icons: Nightwing and Death of Superman

As part of their Icons series, DC Collectibles will be releasing 6″ figures based on two of its most classic stories. First, we have Nightwing, as designed by Jim Lee from Hush. There will also be a two pack featuring Superman and Doomsday from Superman #75, where the Man of Steel (supposedly) gave his life to stop the unstoppable monster from wreaking more havoc.

Justice League Statues

In anticipation of the release of Justice League this November, here are 12″ statues depicting the entire League with their actors’ likenesses. Above is the Flash (Ezra Miller). Joining him will be Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman in tactical suit (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher.)

Batman: Black and White Statues

The Batman: Black and White statue line never disappoints. They decided to keep with that trend in 2017. Along with the Amanda Conner statue shown above, we’re also getting versions of Bats based on John Romita, Jr. and Jonathan Matthews. Amanda Conner also does double duty this time around with her version of Harley Quinn.

You can check out ALL of the DC Collectibles releases in the gallery below. Make sure you let your local comic shop know which ones you want to order!

So what do you think? Which of these items did DC hit out of the park? Is there a certain figure you are secretly anticipating? Let me know on Twitter or shake your figures violently to indicate they are talking in the comments below.

Images: DC Collectibles

What’s up with that new Batsuit, anyway?

TRAPPED Is a Hot-Blooded, Bone-Chilling Prestige Mystery (Review)

In the frozen waters off a small town in northern Iceland, the fisherman have found something. You could call it a body, but it’s missing the head, the arms, and the legs, which has put the three-deep bench of police in a bind on the eve of a massive snowstorm. Fortunately, the big city detectives can’t get to town because the blizzard has shut down flights and roads, and as a fun bonus, the killer might be on the ferry that’s just arrived from Denmark, which means detaining a few hundred severely irritated travelers.

This is Trapped, an expertly crafted murder mystery with an added layer of frost. Created by veteran writer/director Baltasar Kormákur, it stars Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as the supremely bedraggled police chief juggling a heinous crime without resources, the political will of a glad-handed opportunist mayor (Pálmi Gestsson), and his ex-wife’s (Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir) officially replacing him with a serious boyfriend. Ólafsson is the business-like beating heart of this project, carrying its full weight on his broad, slumped shoulders. He seems to have gone to the Royal Brendan Gleeson Academy of Acting, carrying himself as gruff but not humorless. He’s direct and capable, but always presents himself as 10% dumber than he actually is.

With that foundation, Kormákur and company have built out an impressively dense mystery that doesn’t seek to reinvent the wheel so much as violently deflate it under the crushing weight of tension-fueled, life-ruining subplots. Absolutely no one wants to cooperate with the investigation or support their local sheriff; almost everyone has a hidden agenda. There’s definitely some shady things going down in the white-out besides a vomit-inducing murder.

To be clear, Trapped is a traditional snowed-in mystery, but unlike Agatha Christie tales where everyone seems weirdly delighted to spend the weekend in a posh chalet with a murderer, everyone is tired and pissed off. The show brilliantly tosses in a ferry full of suspects, which means hundreds of breathing red herrings, as well as a Lithuanian human trafficker (Vytautas Narbutas), the Nigerian girls he was smuggling (Grace Achieng and Marta Quental), an obstinate ferry captain (Bjarne Henriksen), and his cagey engineer (Hans Tórgarð).

The police also have to store the hacked-up torso in the fish factory freezer because–food inspectors be damned–where else are you going to put it? So you’ve got a dead person, a killer on the loose, an ice storm, hundreds of cranky tourists, and no cavalry comin’.

It’s at this point that things really start to go bad.

To say much more would give the game away, but consider that when things look bleak, they’re just about to get bleaker.

Yes, there’s an almost farcical level to how wrong everything goes once the avalanche really starts rolling down the mountain, but Trapped keeps a stoic face on at all times, reveling in the darkness of, say, Fargo, without succumbing to its cheery black silliness. Ólafsson wears it well with a calm, stubbly wisdom while looking constantly like he needs a big hug and a stiff drink.

What’s more, the added pounds of pressure are never taken for granted or sloughed off too easily. There’s real heft there, girded by scenery so outrageously beautiful that you might start to see your own breath in the comfort of your living room. It’s good for Icelandic tourism; even better for prestige drama fans. Far from crystallizing the feel of isolation, the camera places you inside a lived-in desolation, increasing the typical stakes by consistently reminding you that all the picturesque houses in the valley have their own survival stories brewing behind closed doors.

There’s a warm sense of doom hanging over the town in Trapped, where everyone’s best laid plans seem to crumble and crack, and that personalized air of tragedy mirrors the mystery of an unidentifiable body (a literal nobody) turning up on the worst possible afternoon. It’s a story about the lives that hang in this delicate balance, as well as a a thriller that stirs up the ingredients of a classic recipe to delicious near-perfection.

It demands attention, but be warned that if you watch the first episode, you’re as good as committing another nine binge-style hours of your life to it.

Trapped premieres Sunday, February 19th at 10p.m. EST. on VICELAND

4 out of 5 headless burritos

So who wants to go to Iceland and solve a crime? Don’t freeze us out in the comments section.

Images: Viceland/Weinstein Television

STRANGER THINGS Are Afoot in the U.S. House of Representatives

Every day we think things can’t possibly get any stranger, and then a U.S. Congressman gets up on the floor of the House of Representatives with a big giant sign to make a very serious and important point with a tortured pop culture analogy, and we realize that yes, we really might be living in the Upside Down.

At the very least we are living in a very dark, confusing place.

This past Thursday Congressman David Cicilline, who has represented Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district since 2011, got up on the floor of the House with an over-sized Stranger Things poster, but with “Trump Things” in its place, to….uh, make us realize how serious we should be about staying vigilant about protecting the world from evil.

And while we will never, ever complain about Eleven getting a formal shout out in Congress, the analogy didn’t exactly hold up from start to finish like he had planned. But then again his actual plan, to draw attention to his larger message, clearly worked, because here we are talking about an otherwise unknown Congressman giving a random speech on a Thursday.

His understanding about how the Stranger Things kids survived might not be totally up to snuff, but he definitely understands that we can’t help but pay attention when someone references the show. But since we now know for a fact that Congress is aware of what occurred in Hawkins, and therefore what took place with the Department of Energy and the Demogorgon, we have one very important question: can we get a congressional investigation into why no one cared about what happened to Barb?

Because that’s a bipartisan issue all Americans can get behind.

But what did you think of this? Was it a winning analogy, or did he only roll a 3 when he cast this comparison? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Featured Image: C-SPAN

Body Images: Netflix

LEGO Showcased STAR WARS, PIRATES, GUARDIANS And More at Toy Fair 2017

There’s nothing like being surrounded by LEGO sets everywhere you look to make you feel like a kid again! That’s what was in store for the lucky attendees of this year’s Toy Fair in New York — and we were there to make sure you don’t miss out on a single minifig.

The hugest reveal of the Toy Fair: Silent Mary, a new ship from the latest Pirate Of The Caribbean movie. Whether or not you’re champing at the bit for more Jack Sparrow in your life, you’ve got to admit that she’s a real beauty — and so are the new Pirates characters in LEGO’s Brickheadz line.

Of course, it was no surprise The LEGO Batman Movie featured prominently among the offerings as well, with new sets due out this summer of all your favorite Bat-characters. You know, like the Wicked Witch of The West. She totally counts now, right?

 

Over in the Marvel section we got our first IRL peek at the stretch-tastic Ms. Marvel minifig that was announced last fall, as well as some awesome close-up looks of sets for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

And while there weren’t any huge The Last Jedi spoilers to glean from anywhere there were LOTS of Star Wars figures and sets. My personal favorite: the Santa BB-8 that’s featured in the 2017 Advent Calendar. 

Check out the rest of the new and upcoming sets we saw at Toy Fair, including Disney, Minecraft, DC: Super Hero Girls, LEGO City, LEGO Friends, Nexo Knights, LEGO Technic, Elves, and more in our gallery below.

Which one are you most excited to build for your very own? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Victoria McNally, LEGO

Kurt Russell’s Ego Gets an Exclusive GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Action Figure From Entertainment Earth

Does your ego have its own action figure? No. It does not. Kurt Russell‘s ego, however, just so happens to be Ego the Living Planet in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2…and he’s Star-Lord’s dad.

When we revealed the first wave of Guardians of the Galaxy sequel figures from Hasbro, we did wonder when we’d see more movie characters. A Baby Groot has to be coming, we figured, but will there be a Kurt Russell? Indeed there will. And we’re delighted to debut the first images here, as he will come with two different heads–angry face, and “Welp, guess you’re my kid!” resignation. Ego will be available in a two-pack with Star-Lord, but if you’re wondering whether that means you need to buy two Star-Lord figures, fear not: Peter Quill is the one figure in the basic wave to not come with a build-a-figure part.

Entertainment Earth will be receiving these $39.99 two-packs first, and you can preorder one now if you don’t wish for Russell to play “Escape From Your Collection.” Figures should be in stock at EE as early as August, with other retailers receiving them later. Kurt Rusell is no stranger to plastic immortality, having reached it before as Snake Plissken, Jack Burton, Col. O’Neill, and John Ruth, but how often do you get made into a toy planet? Even Disney’s Pluto can’t make that claim, with Pluto having been downgraded and all.

Are you Groot enough to handle a world of Kurt Russell in one toy? Lord it over our comments section with your reaction, and be a star.

Images: Entertainment Earth/Hasbro

How closely did you watch that Super Bowl tariler?

THE SIMPSONS New ROBOT CHICKEN Couch Gag Mocks SOUTH PARK

Simpsons did it! After all these years they created an opening couch gag that makes fun of South Park. Well, they had a little help doing it, from someone who knows a thing or two himself about having fun at the expense of other pop culture institutions, Robot Chicken‘s Seth Green.

The couch gag for the upcoming 14th episode of The Simpsons‘s 28th season is stylized after Robot Chicken, as it is made up of quick little gags mocking well known shows and characters, and ending with one of Seth Green’s most recognizable characters.

In it, Homer goes on a search for the family’s sailboat painting, the one that hangs behind their couch, after Bart suggests that maybe another animated show stole it from them (that or he sold it on Craigslist). From there Homer leaves the “set” of The Simpsons, and goes into what is clearly meant to be a South Park scene, where four little boys proceed to swear at him. “Hee-hee-hee. Out of the mouths of babes.”

Then he heads to the most Robot Chicken-like vignette of them all, a musical video for The California Raisins, which turns extremely violent. Once that bloodbath ends, Homer ends up in the bedroom of the nerd who bought the painting, which Homer promptly takes backs, returning home through all of the other scenes he previously traveled through.

We doubt anyone outside of the Raisin Lobby will be too offended by any of this, but it’s exactly what any fan of both The Simpsons and Robot Chicken would want out of a united couch gag. And while it’s certainly no South Park “Cartoon Wars” style potshot, at least Fox can finally say they had their own fun with the kids from Colorado.

What did you think of this couch gag? Where does it rank among your favorites? Plop down into our comments section below and let us know.

Images: FOX

Cosplay Friday #199 – WORLD OF WARCRAFT and More by Smirka Cosplay

With so many mediums and titles to choose from, I’m often impressed cosplayers can ever make decisions about who or what they want to cosplay. If I were to make a wish list without thinking about budgetary or skill constraints, it would have at least a dozen characters. I’d probably have to narrow my selections down to one area, like Star Wars films or something—sort of like how Smirka Cosplay mostly sticks to the worlds of video games. Behold, this World of Warcraft ensemble:

Blackhand (World of Warcraft) | Photo by Joye and Waffles

Besides the challenges of wearing the Blackhand costume, I’m also curious about how she transports and stores it. I’m convinced most cosplayers have closets that are bigger on the inside, a la the TARDIS.

More of Smirka’s impressive work is included in the gallery below. You’ll find another World of Warcraft character and a couple of looks from League of Legends. You can view her entire portfolio and keep up with her latest projects by following her on Facebook and Instagram.

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 geek franchises, I don’t, so please let me know who or what is being cosplayed.

Featured Image: Joye and Waffles

New Toy Gives Batman His Own Giant Robot

In Tim Burton’s first Batman movie, the Joker famously asked, “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” As seen at this year’s Toyfair, Batman has a new weapon against the Clown Prince of Crime, and it may be his biggest toy to date!

Via io9, Fisher-Price has unveiled the BatBot Xtreme, Batman’s personal giant robot. Readers of Scott Snyder’s Batman run may recognize some of the design from the Batman robot that James Gordon used when he briefly stepped into the role during Bruce Wayne’s absence. But that Batman robot wasn’t the size of a city building…

Obviously, this toy was made with very young fans in mind. Although, at 28-inches tall, it may be bigger than some of the kids who want to play with it! Also, we have to ask: why was only Harley Quinn hit by the missile in this ad? Seems like a bit of overkill from Fisher-Price’s Dark Knight.

The thing about Gotham City is that it’s all about the escalation. Batman’s reign over the city gave rise to the costumed villains like the Joker, Riddler, and Two-Face. If Batman ever did get a giant crime fighting robot, how long do you think it would be before the villains got giant robots of their own? As a matter of fact, there is already a giant robot for the Joker, although it wasn’t actually piloted by the Joker himself. It appeared during the same stretch of time when Gordon was running around with the Batman robot.

What do you think, people? Should Fisher-Price give the Joker his own giant robot toy to fight the BatBot Xtreme? Let them fight, and then share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Image: Fisher-Price

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