Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2213

A Toilet Paper Skateboard Has Finally Been Created

2017 is upon us, and perhaps now the world is finally ready for a skateboard that was created almost entirely from toilet paper. It’s not exactly the intended purpose of the material, but the toilet paper skateboard exists, and it apparently took the power of a hydraulic press to become a reality.

Via The Awesomer, the Hydraulic Press Channel‘s Lauri and Anni Vuohensilta posted a video about the creation of the toilet paper skateboard on their Beyond the Press channel. We’ve posted the video above, but it may test your sanity to see the nearly eight-and-a-half-minutes of edited footage that chronicles the couple’s attempts to press the toilet paper into something that resembles the shape of a skateboard. It took a ridiculous amount of effort and a whole lot of toilet paper to complete. But they proved that it is possible, even though Lauri Vuohensilta readily admitted that he’s not a skater.

Near the end of the video, Lauri Vuohensilta briefly demonstrated the finished skateboard (which has real skateboard wheels), much to the bewilderment of the couple’s cats. Vuohensilta added that this project was only done to submit it to the YouTube channel, Braille Skateboarding for the “You Make It We Skate It” video series. While it’s unknown if the board has already been sent, the Braille Skateboarding team left the following comment under the original video: “If you want to send this in we’re down to skate it! Awesome board!”

What do you think about the toilet paper skateboard? Spare a square in the comment section below!

Image: Beyond the Press

JOHN BATTMAN Is Possibly the Most Realistic BATMAN Ever Depicted

There are times when even we, a site dedicated to everything nerdy, can’t suspend disbelief permanently enough in a comic book universe. We find ourselves putting on a mindset for each particular world and saying “Yes. OK. For the time being, in this world, that guy can do this or has this power. Fine.” But once we’re away from it for a bit, things can sometimes fall apart. Questions surface, like how does Superman not crush every doorknob or human hand he holds? How can Spider-Man‘s powers work through clothes if touchscreen gloves barely work in the real world? Knowing what we know about Batman, why don’t we see him as someone just as crazy as anyone else he fights? Well, for that last one, at least, we have the folks from Cyanide & Happiness to thank for finally showing us what Batman would be like IRL.

In their latest animated short, we’re treated to a commercial for the vigilante crime fighter “John Battman.” Reminiscent of the late-night testimonial TV advertisements from shady lawyers full of bad actors spouting how their services really work, the ad explains that should your city be in need of crime fighting on a budget, you need only contact John Battman. The video sheds light on how crazy the concept of Batman would actually be by hinting at things we all already know are silly. The concept of bad guys being scared by bat-related things more so than just a vigilante, the convoluted traps villains always seem to implement, and (perhaps most damning) the method of calling him to Gotham by “putting a light in a cloud.”

The Bat Signal portion of the short might be our favorite part when we think about all the technology otherwise used by Batman in his adventures. Granted the “Bat Phone” was used for a time but we’ve seen that fall away in recent and more “realistic” Batman movies (Batmen? Batmans?) Clear nights in Gotham have to be the most crime-filled, right?

What’s your favorite part of the short? Did they miss any other silly things the real Batman does? Are you going to refer to Batman’s secret identity as “Broots Waymb” from now on like we are? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: ExplosmEntertainment

How big would John Battman’s cape need to be? We know…

How MS. MARVEL, G. Willow Wilson, and Her Fans Gave Me Hope

One thing I got to do this year that didn’t suck was attend my very first San Diego Comic-Con. If you’ve never been, the whole thing is so massive and impressive that it almost doesn’t feel possible they pull it off every year. Hundreds of thousands of people cram into one small area of the city, to visit an untold number of companies doing an infinite number of things, all in the name of fun and entertainment.

Everywhere I went, everyone was in a pleasant mood. In five days of being down at the Convention Center I didn’t see a single person get shoved or yelled at by someone sick of waiting in line, nor did I witness anyone having a meltdown over being stuck in a crowd. Even the exhausted seemed content to sit on the ground with smiles on their faces. There was a feeling of camaraderie, like a bunch of friends had showed up for the best party of the year. It’s really a remarkable celebration full of joy; Comic-Con itself is a testament to what we can do when we come together, and I was a tiny part of it.

This was the only SDCC cosplayer whose photo I asked to take.

And I was miserable. I’m never happy when I feel like I don’t know exactly what to do, and since it was my first time there I had everything to learn. My problems were made worse by the feeling that everyone else was an old pro at navigating this massive event, and I was the new student that had transferred in the middle of the year. A comedy of errors quickly seemed to be conspiring against me gaining any confidence too. Some mistakes were my own fault, some were out of my control, but I felt lost in what seemed like the happiest place on Earth.

I got there on Wednesday, and by Saturday afternoon I was toast, figuratively and somewhat literally, since it was also incredibly muggy. I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to hit the reset button and start over, or to just turn the whole thing off. Fortunately I had made plans to see an old friend from college that night, one of my favorite people that I hadn’t seen in many years: my friend Willow. You might know her better as G. Willow Wilson, the writer behind the comic book Ms. Marvel.

Willow and I went to Boston University together where we were in the same theater group. If you think her use of the word “embiggens” in Ms. Marvel is a perfect Simpsons reference, you should have seen the calendar prop the two of us made that included “Smarch.”

She was an invited speaker at Comic-Con, participating in a number of panels, and we met up on Saturday before one of them. Our reunion hug and dinner-making plans were interrupted by a very excited young man and woman who said they were huge fans of hers. They apologized to me, but I was never happier in my life to be interrupted. Here was my friend who had created something people love, and here were real people who loved her for it. I was just as excited for them to meet her as they were.

She went in to her panel and I went off to write a story for Nerdist, but I made it back before it was over. Willow is one of the most thoughtful and intelligent people I have ever met, and I sat there with a big dumb grin on my face listening to her answer questions. All of the frustration and self-doubt I had been feeling disappeared. I was just happy to see my friend.

And then I saw something even better.

When the panel wrapped up I walked over to Willow so we could leave for dinner, but I had to wait. There were two young girls waiting to meet her. I didn’t want to intrude on this very personal moment for them, as they were obviously big fans meeting someone that meant a lot to them, but it was a small room. The first girl was over the moon with excitement. She loved Ms. Marvel so much and thought Willow was the best. This was pure joy personified, and she was bubbling over with it.

The second, shorter girl looked much different. She was shaking and could barely muster the courage to walk up to Willow (which is like being afraid of a warm pillow). But she finally did, with tears in her eyes.

I don’t remember anything she said. I just remember the look on her face. She wasn’t meeting a comic book writer, she was meeting a hero. Here, in this room, I was watching a young girl meet a Muslim female comic book writer, and it felt like the most hopeful thing I had ever seen. There were no barriers between them, with no limitations on what someone can aspire to be. The cynical world didn’t exist at this moment.

Here was my friend, someone I love and admire, someone I know is a genuinely good person, and she had made something so beautiful and wonderful, in a medium that often treats women as something less than whole, that she had become a real-life superhero to this young lady. That girl is growing up in a world where a Muslim woman can write a comic book with a young Muslim girl as its hero. For all of the darkness and awfulness of this year, that’s a bridge that will open up a path to any number of places that young lady hopes to go in life.

So many marvels! #SDCC16 pic.twitter.com/Ng54y6XPB9

— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) July 22, 2016

No surprise, my whole weekend turned around that night, and I suddenly felt great about everything. As Willow and I walked the streets of San Diego more and more people came up to her, to tell her how much they loved the comic and what it meant to them. It’s easy to see why if you’ve read Ms. Marvel. Kamala Khan is a loving, optimistic, and hopeful young lady, who deals with self-doubt and questions of what it means to be a good person, the same as any of us that struggle with trying to be better people. And it offers us all a look at what it means to be a young Muslim American at a difficult time in this country’s history to be one. It is a beacon of empathy and understanding when the world seems to be in short supply of both.

I tried to describe to my friend why seeing her fans had made me so happy and hopeful, but it’s something Willow herself wrote in the pages of Ms. Marvel that explains what I was trying to say so much better than I can.

“Good is not a thing you are. It’s a thing you do.”

My friend G. Willow Wilson is a good person, and this thing she has made has brought so much actual good to the world.

Not even 2016 can take that away from me.

What was the best thing you saw or experienced in 2016? Help us end this year on a positive note by sharing the stories that gave you hope.

Featured Image: Marvel

Photos: Michael Walsh

STAR WARS Ring Theory Offers a Whole New Way to View the Prequels

It’s been over 17 years since 1999’s The Phantom Menace was released in theaters, and over 11 years since the Star Wars prequels wrapped up with 2005’s Revenge of the Sith, and by now we all have our own very, very strong opinions on how successful the trilogy was or wasn’t. Some see them as the ultimate disappointment, films that failed to capture the magic of the original movies, while others appreciate them all on their own, different and unique from its predecessors.

But what if somehow we were all wrong, not about if they are good or not, but that they were far more interconnected with the original trilogy than we ever thought; an accomplishment in storytelling never before seen in cinema? How would all of our perceptions–good, bad, indifferent–change if it turned out that the prequels were a massive and unprecedented attempt to use an old technique to create a complex tale on a scale never before attempted? Because that’s exactly what the Star Wars Ring Theory suggests.

The Star Wars Ring Theory isn’t new: it’s been around for a couple of years, but it’s been on our minds since seeing Rogue One, the first real connection between the prequels and the original trilogy (though a small handful of us are still in the Snoke = Darth Plagueis Club).  For two years Mike Klimo put together his massive and fascinating essay arguing that George Lucas was connecting all six films into something far more complex than we might have thought, by using an old technique found in ancient stories called ring composition.

“The story is organized into a sequence of elements that progress from a beginning to a well-marked midpoint. Then, the ring turns and the first sequence of elements is repeated in reverse order until the story returns to the starting point.”

So what does that mean? Think of it like this, instead of lining up the original sequels with their installment equivalent in the prequels, which would seem obvious (in this case that would mean that Menace = Hope, Clones = Empire, Sith = Jedi), they actually line up in a mirrored form (so Menace = Jedi, Clones = Empire, and Sith = Hope).

Confusing? Another way to think of it is like a poem with matching stanzas, in this case they don’t go “ABC ABC,” they go “ABC CBA.”

The Star Wars Ring Theory says that we shouldn’t be viewing these six movies as a straight linear tale, or even as parallel sagas about Anakin and Luke (though those elements are surely there too), but rather as a circle, which ends right where it starts. When we watch The Phantom Menace we should be thinking about how it relates to Return of the Jedi; the same with The Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

Your first instinct might be to say, “So what? Even if that’s right it doesn’t change how I feel about the movies.” But Klimo explains why it’s still worth considering.

“The scheme is so carefully worked out by Lucas, so intricately organized, that it unifies the films with a common universal structure (or what film scholar David Bordwell might call a “new formal strategy”), creating a sense of overall balance and symmetry.

At the same time, Lucas’s use of this ancient form revises our readings of the films and the saga as a whole, and opens up new ways of thinking about Star Wars. It also allows us to gain a much greater understanding and appreciation for the films, and gives us a deeper sense of the magnitude of Lucas’s accomplishment.”

His breakdown showing the use of ring composition, with countless specific examples from the paired films, is extensive, and worth any Star Wars fan’s time, especially because any chance to see the prequels, and yes, even the original trilogy, in a new light is a chance to appreciate them even more. It’s doubtful anyone will think less of the movies as a result of this theory, but it might just enhance how you feel about them.

At the very least it will offer a chance to watch the prequels in a different fashion, where instead of focusing on what you dislike about them you might be able to try and appreciate the attempt to do something massive and grand with them, even if it wasn’t clear at first.

It’s been a long time since we met little Anakin Skywalker. It would be nice to know it really was worth it, even if it took a long time to figure out why.

But what do you think? Does this theory have merit? Or is it just an attempt to make the prequels seem better and more important than they really are? Does it even matter? There’s a lot to discuss here, so do it with us in the comments below.

Images: Lucasfilm

Samara Returns in a New Year’s RINGS Video

It’s been over a decade since Samara Morgan terrorized horror movie fans in The Ring, and the world has changed. A video tape just isn’t going to be an effective way to spread a curse anymore, and there’s barely anyone left who even owns a VCR! But that doesn’t mean that anyone will be safe from Samara. VCRs may be gone, but videos are everywhere. They’re on YouTube, on Facebook, and even on our site! That may be the key to Samara’s upcoming return in Rings.

To celebrate New Year’s weekend, the official Rings Facebook page posted an unsettling promo for the new film which demonstrates that there isn’t a video that Samara can’t use to stalk her victims. And the seven day deadline is up!

While footage of Daveigh Chase from the first two movies will be used in the sequel, Bonnie Morgan is playing Samara in Rings, and this is one evil little girl who doesn’t sleep. It’s not clear if Rachel Keller (the heroine from the first two films) and her son will make appearances as well, but it is known that Samara’s tale has morphed into an urban legend and that at least one of the cursed video tapes will factor into this story. This time, the main character is a young woman named Julia (Matilda Lutz), who takes it upon herself to watch the video in order to spare her boyfriend, Holt (Alex Roe) from meeting his end at Samara’s hands. However, Julia is also the first to discover a “movie within the movie;” which will likely unleash Samara’s evil on a new generation.

Rings will open in theaters on Friday, February 3, 2017.

What did you think about the new Rings video? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: DreamWorks

BEYOND Imagines STRANGER THINGS Happening in DAWSON’S CREEK (Review)

High school freshman Holden Matthews is thrilled by astronomical discovery. He’s also great at fixing machines, bad at talking to girls and one drunken, star-gazing night away from a freak accident that leaves him in a coma for 12 years. When he wakes up, he discovers he has telekinetic powers, a recurring dream where a creepy old dude keeps telling him to “do it now,” and a need to learn how much has changed since the early 2000s.

“There’s a whole store for apples?” Yes, Holden, there is, and they always seem to get glitchy after a software update.

Beyond—Freeform‘s family-friendly sci-fi fantasy premiering in January–is a rehash of very familiar ground. It owes the most to Stranger Things (and its wild success), co-opting most of its plot concepts and deep love for flashing lights. It’s essentially a show that imagines Eleven as a handsome 20-something with girl troubles, injecting a supernatural high concept into the standard ABC Family teen angst formula. Filming Beyond the same summer that audiences went nuts for Stranger Things must have been a surreal experience, but the show didn’t seem to alter its course away from the similarities one bit.

The puzzle pieces all come standard with the confused-Neo-in-too-deep starter kit. There’s a creepy stalker in horn-rimmed glasses (and a nasty yellow Member’s Only jacket) working for a shadowy organization who wants Holden (Burkely Duffield) because of his newfound powers; the sexy mystery girl/probable love interest (Dilan Gwyn); the younger brother (Jonathan Whitesell) who keeps Holden grounded to the real world; the weirdo mental Kung Fu master in Holden’s head; the best friend (Jordan Calloway) with conflicted allegiances; and well-meaning parents (Romy Rosemont and Michael McGrady) who don’t really know what’s going on.

Instead of Stranger Things‘ plucky adolescents coming of age in the middle of a spooky conspiracy adventure, Beyond boasts pretty college-aged kids trying to piece a family back together while one of them learns to handle his Carrie-esque coma magic and to make out at parties.

The only other major departure it makes from Netflix’s surprise hit is in focusing on a single figure instead of an ensemble, allowing the world to revolve around Holden instead of jumping feverishly between narrative threads and evolving characters.

To its credit, Beyond does what it does capably, if only strictly by the book. Duffield is lovably dumb as a 13-year-old boy stuck in a 25-year-old man’s super powered body, with his default setting over the course of the first few episodes being bewilderment and panic attacks that burn down buildings. Gwyn is alluring and magnetic as Willa, the go-between who claims she spent the last decade and change with Holden’s consciousness as it trained in the astral arts. And, yes, the mystery behind what’s really going on is intriguing even though the show’s lack of inventiveness doesn’t point toward anything groundbreaking behind the big curtain.

Calloway, who plays Holden’s grown-up childhood friend Kevin, earns a special nod for maintaining intensity and interest even as the writing leaves his character’s motivations confusingly vague.

Beyond is also shot beautifully, finding interesting ways to frame sequences (like watching shadows in a flood light scale a security fence) and conversations (redefining intimacy when Holden meets Willa for the first time) without getting too jarring or experimental for cable.

Despite the sheen of older stories, it finds nooks and crannies between the slabs of sci-fi paranoia formula to have fun. That meet-cute is a nice subversion, turning a stock scene where a fumbling goof recovers from an awkward comment about underwear into a dire warning from a young woman whose heart breaks just a little when her brain-altered friend doesn’t recognize her. There’s also a fantastic revelation of Holden’s super powers that would feel comfortable in the middle of any big-screen, comic-book movie.

That’s really where Beyond shines: a production value that elevates the standard and editing that injects electricity into the familiar. It’s fun and safe, with a cast that sharpens the dull edges. It’s the comfort food form of well-trod sci-fi–a younger sibling to Heroes that is appropriately at home on ABC’s younger sibling station.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 telekinetic burritos

Images: Freeform

Speaking of Stranger Things…

Hot Toys Reveals GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Figures

Before Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy hit theaters in 2014, few expected that film to become one of the studio’s signature franchises. Nobody is going to make the same mistake for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which is now just months away. Hot Toys is getting an early start on the promotions this weekend by revealing the first look at its new figures for the Guardians.

On the official Hot Toys Facebook page, the company wrote “As we celebrate the new year and make resolutions, let’s join up with Star-Lord’s gang of unlikely superheroes and gear up for this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which promises an epic new adventure, an awesome new mixtape, and some exciting new collectibles from Hot Toys!” before adding “we can’t wait to show you the new offerings we have planned for the year, so remember to stay tuned!”

No one has to ask “where’s Gamora?” of Hot Toys, as she has taken her rightful place alongside her original teammates, all of whom appear to be represented in this lineup, including Baby Groot. Although it seems likely that Baby Groot will be packaged with Rocket Raccoon. The likeness and sculpting on Drax is particularly good, and it looks like Star-Lord is wearing a new shirt for the sequel. Hot Toys didn’t reveal when these figures will be released or what the pricing will be, but they seem likely to hit before the sequel premieres on May 5, 2017.

Of course, we’d also love to see Nebula and Yondu get their own Hot Toys figures for the sequel, in addition to newcomers Mantis and Ego the Living Planet. And since we also expect Baby Groot to transform at least once in the movie, perhaps we’ll also see a figure of that form as well.

What do you think about the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 prototype figures? And which Guardians of the Galaxy characters do you want to see Hot Toys make next? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Hot Toys

There’s plenty of good toy fodder in the trailer:

Turns out Benedict Cumberbatch Is Related to the Creator of Sherlock Holmes

In what is surely the only bit of good or pleasant news left in 2016, the star of the BBC television series Sherlock has been revealed to share a bloodline with the creator of the Sherlock Holmes character and novels. Despite the upcoming season 4 premiere of the show, we’ve been assured that this isn’t a paid or influenced bit of advertising; rather a pretty delightful bit of serendipity.

Ancestry.com announced that through their own research, they’ve determined that British actor and occasional pretend American Benedict Cumberbatch happens to be related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes over a hundred years ago. Genealogy shows that the two men are 16th counsins, twice removed. While Doyle passed in 1930, their common ancestor was John of Gaunt, the 14th century duke of Lancaster and fourth son of Edward III. This man connection Doyle and Cumberbatch is their 15th great-grandfather and 17th great-grandfather, respectively.

“Making family history connections is similar to piecing together a mysterious puzzle, one that the great Sherlock Holmes himself would be intrigued to solve,” said Lisa Elzey, family historian at Ancestry.

The folks at Ancestry.com also let the world know that no one has bothered reaching out to Cumberbatch yet to fill him in on this development. Hey Benny, if you’re reading this here for the first time, please consider this an apology from us for airing your personal information in a public space but also ISN’T THIS COOL? We think it’s cool.

Our friends at i09 tipped us off to the story, and we think it’s a twist worthy of the show itself.

Have any of you found yourselves genealogically linked with cool historical figures? Sound off in the comments and let us know! (This author is directly down-line from Robert E. Lee which is… complicated. Let’s talk about that.)

Image: BBC

It’s been a while, so let’s refresh your memory as to what’s next for Sherlock.

SESAME STREET Fighter: For Elmo, It Was Tuesday

Sesame Street is one of the most easygoing, easy-to-watch shows that’s ever been broadcast, but you have to admit that sometimes, there are moments that can be frustrating, or at least frustrating to the characters involved. For instance, how about the time that Bert was trying to enjoy a leisurely afternoon of reading, only to be unceasingly cajoled into a game of tag by Ernie, despite his constant opposition to the idea? It wouldn’t be canon for the peace-loving show at all, and it’s not really how any real-world problems should be resolved, but don’t you think that, at least for a second, Bert really wanted to rear back and smack the daylight out of his orange-skinned friend?

That’s a fantasy that you can carry out on your own right now, since the folks at Sesame Workshop aren’t likely to work a brawl into the show’s narrative. There’s an internet fighting game oh-so-wonderfully titled Sesame Street Fighter that is an amalgamation of, you guessed it, Sesame Street and Street Fighter.

It featured six characters, which are basically all re-skinned versions of Street Fighter brawlers: Cookie Monster is E. Honda, Grover is Dhalsim, Ernie and Bert and Ken and Ryu, and so on. Beyond that, it’s less of a fighting game and more of a fighting proficiency challenge: You land blows on your opponent by correctly typing out words as they appear on screen.

For a fan-made game, it’s very crisp, well done, and surprisingly fun, so learn more about it in the video above, or play it for yourself here.

Featured image: Kuboekin

James Cameron and Disney World Debut New Footage of Pandora: The World of AVATAR

The first sequel to Avatar is at least two years away, but fans won’t have to wait that long to explore James Cameron‘s vision of Pandora. Next summer, Walt Disney World‘s Animal Kingdom will open Pandora: The World of Avatar to the public. And while most of the park’s Avatar attractions are still under wraps, a new Disney Parks video not only features previously unseen photos and footage, it also has some effusive praise from Cameron himself.

“I don’t even know if I can express how it feels to see something that I imagined in 1995 suddenly made physically real…using absolute cutting edge technology, stuff that’s never been applied before.” said Cameron in the video. The video also unveiled a few seconds of The Na’vi River Journey, while explaining the intricate ways that the artificial plants and the alien bioluminescence were linked together. “There’s something pretty amazing at the end of that river ride, that you’ve never seen anything like it in your life” added Cameron.

Additionally, Cameron briefly spoke about Pandora’s other major attraction: Avatar: Flight of Passage. “Riding the Ikran is a thrill,” said Cameron. “You’re gonna plunge, you’re gonna dive, you’re gonna see the world [while] flying through it.” Cameron went on to note his familiarity with the technology behind Disney World’s upcoming Avatar expansion, but added that he was extremely impressed by the work of the Disney Imagineers.

While the video didn’t show too many of the Avatar attractions that will be a part of the park, the recently revealed concept art depicted an Avatar themed trading outpost, and two restaurants.

Are you looking forward to visiting Disney World’s Pandora: The World of Avatar? Wager your Unobtainium in the comment section below!

Image: Disney World