Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2223

Ben Affleck’s LIVE BY NIGHT Misses Most of Its Marks (Review)

 

What Live by Night gets right is its understanding that Affleck has always worked best playing dubious characters, a fact that has held true from his breakthrough role in Mallrats right up to murder-Batman. I remain convinced that The Town would have been a better movie had he and Jeremy Renner switched roles; Affleck’s movie star good looks contrast well with inner darkness.

To the same end, Affleck doesn’t seem to be able to push himself to these dark places when he’s the one directing. It’s part of the classic actor-as-director trap, familiar to the likes of Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson, which also makes it seem like he cannot bear the thought of trimming a single frame of himself from the film.

And while we’re at it, it would help if somebody else had the authority to tell him not to attempt crying scenes and sex scenes if he’s gonna do them like that. It’s not that as an actor he isn’t capable of them; it’s that as a director, he can’t seem to convincingly pull them out of himself.

With his latest directorial effort, Affleck’s goal was to pay homage to old gangster movies, albeit on a modern big-budget and with present-day content restrictions or lack thereof, which is a bit like saying you want to pay tribute the old Universal Monsters movies, but with buckets of gore and CGI. You know, like this.

But while those older movies got by on star power and atmosphere precisely because they didn’t have a ton of money to blow, and while it may be unfair to compare Affleck to icons like Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney, he is at least aspiring to creative and industrial heights. In the film, Affleck plays Joe Coughlin, a WWI veteran-turned-small-time hood who pulls off scams with the help of his girlfriend Emma (Sienna Miller), who also happens to be the mistress of powerful gangster Albert White (Robert Glenister).

That fact becomes a problem when she helps Joe knock over some of Albert’s establishments. Joe gets beaten and set up, Emma gets “disappeared,” and Joe’s cop father dies while his son is serving time. Anxious for vengeance, Joe agrees to serve Albert’s rival, Italian gangster Maso Pescatore, by taking charge of his rum-running business in Florida. It’s here that the movie starts to feel more like a Godfather tribute than a Cagney one, as the focus on revenge becomes sidelined in favor of empire-building, and maintaining the unsteady peace with corrupt local law enforcement who also have blood ties to the KKK. Here, Joe hooks up with Graciela (Zoe Saldana) a Cuban expat with dreams of revolution and a flair for crime. And that leads to Affleck attempting his O-face on camera. You’re welcome, America.

It may be silly to argue that classic B-material might be a bad fit for prestige treatment. What, after all, are our modern superhero movies if not just that? But if the goal here was really to do classic gangster material, a touch more pulpy thrill and a tighter edit would work wonders. Elle Fanning’s actress-turned-evangelist character is fun, but her whole subplot could have been excised. Yes, it’s all based on a novel, but Affleck has made several changes to make his own character more noble; he could have maybe considered making more still, for a leaner revenge pic that would have all popped just as much as the climactic shootout.

In the end, Live by Night doesn’t know whether to be an Oscar-contending drama or a larger-than-life, old-school shooter. Affleck’s Argo managed to be both by not trying to be; this time, he strained too hard and has rendered his efforts neither fish nor fowl.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Images: Warner Bros.

The Best Action Figures and Accessories of 2016

First thing’s first: Why aren’t we doing a list of the best toys of 2016?

What we consider toys is a matter of opinion. If you play with a stick, it’s a toy. Action figures are things we more or less agree on a definition for, even if it’s somewhat arbitrary nowadays how you might differentiate them from dolls. My rule of thumb, in these cases, is to just go with what the producing company calls them. Substantive distinctions are all but erased, as you’ll see below.

Even with how much the market has changed, there are still some companies out there crazy enough to make vehicles and bases for their figures, and I salute and encourage them for doing so, hence my inclusion of accessories on this list. Looking over the list as a whole this year, a prevailing theme seems to be that, our economy aside, price simply no longer matters. You can make just about anything, charge whatever it takes, and if toy collectors dig it, they will buy.

Here are the figures and such that had our attention in 2016.

Lion-O (Thundercats Classics)

Thundercats and Masters of the Universe have always been very similar lines, both being beloved ’80s fantasy properties that incorporated both sci-fi and magic. And yet they were never quite in the same scale; even when Bandai tried to relaunch the Thundercats line in three separate sizes a few years ago, they somehow skipped the 7-inch style that would have made them play well with He-Man. Mattel finally got the rights last year, and began giving us Thundercats using shared parts with Masters of the Universe this year. Sadly, the announcement preceded one about Mattel canceling both lines, but at least we got one good Lion-O before it all went down.

Ben Affleck Barbie

There’s a reason Removable Cowl Batman is one of the most sought-after Mego figures from the ’70s: a decent removable cowl is very hard to manufacture in a manner that looks good both on and off. Tellingly, most toy companies nowadays simply cheat by using interchangeable heads. The difficulty is in getting material thin enough that it doesn’t look silly yet strong enough that it doesn’t tear, and using just the normal plastics for action figures, that’s no easy feat. Doll makers, however, have a much better handle on different clothing materials, and this year, only Barbie managed to pull off a Batman v Superman toy that looked equally decent masked and unmasked. This didn’t come as a surprise to doll collectors; Barbie had previously put an Adam West cowl on Ken. But it did make many collectors of superhero figures suddenly realize that maybe we shouldn’t be gender-categorizing such toys in our minds, or on store shelves.

Animated-Style He-Man

 

In the three decades since He-Man entered our pop-culture lexicon wielding the power of Grayskull, we’ve seen many He-Man action figures come to be. But until this year, there was never actually one of the pageboy-haired, sheath-backed, smirking and super-tan animated version of the character whom most casual fans know best. Before entering its death throes, Mattel’s collector site Mattycollector.com finally delivered, with a Filmation-based figure that sold out before you could sing “HEYAYAYAYAYA WHAT’S GOING ON?” While it probably could have done well enough at mass retail, its limited nature will make it extra special to those who had the power to whip out their credit cards in time.

Fortress Maximus

In a retail market that generally doesn’t support either playsets or figures costing over $100, the fact that Hasbro can pull off something like Fortress Maximus and get major chain stores on board for it is something of a miracle. With lights, sounds, removable Headmaster bot, two different play set configurations, and a massive action figure mode, the transforming titan was a worthy revamp of one of the classic ’80s holy grails of Transformers collecting.

Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing became a multi-limbed nightmare with a huge wiener in this Figma interpretation of fine art. It’s like some kind of amazing Clash of the Titans fan fiction, from a toy line that previously gave the Venus De Milo arms.

Batman: The Animated Series Batwing

It’s kind of unbelievable this even exists. Seven-inch scale figures don’t generally get vehicles, and if they ever do, the scale gets cheated, because who has the room? And yet DC Collectibles went ahead and made an Animated Series Batwing that’s over three feet long, fits two figures, has retractable landing gear and includes light-up features. That it can be yours for a mere $144.99 is kind of breathtaking; this might just be our generation’s version of the G.I. Joe aircraft carrier, i.e. the thing only the lucky eldest child gets.

Star Trek Mega Bloks

Star Trek should have been a LEGO property years ago, but if it has to go to the competition instead, Mega Bloks are a step-up from Hasbro’s misfired Kre-O line, and the classic beat the nu any day. Building the old school bridge and transporter room is a blast, and the minifigs are more like fully articulated action figures than the stylized block-guys you’d expect from LEGO-ish sets. I suspect McFarlane Toys’ attempts this year at “mature” construction toys expanded Mattel’s mind a bit.

McFarlane Color Tops’ The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon

McFarlane Toys’ return to the scale and style they’ve been most known for over the years wasn’t met with joy by everyone, especially fans of The Walking Dead 5-inch figures. Indeed, the results were mixed. But they pulled out all the stops for fan-fave Daryl, who came with multiple points of articulation, a detailed crossbow, and even a zombie head accessory, ready to meet your Movie Maniacs and NECA horror collection full-on (not to mention the latter company’s in-scale Boondock Saints Norman Reedus figure). Now, if we can just get an 18-inch version, we’ll be good.

Mattel Ghostbusters Jillian Holtzmann

“Girl action figures don’t sell” is a stereotype we’re still trying to break out of, so it was bold of Mattel to go all in on the new Ghostbusters movie and make the four leads, complete with pieces to build the villainous Rowan ghost. But you can praise a gesture and criticize the execution. Whosever job it was to capture Kristen Wiig’s likeness did not succeed to the extent one would hope. On the other hand, Holtzmann, the fan-favorite character coming out of the movie, was executed nicely. Mattel could have easily cheated and reused body parts, despite all four leads being physically distinct from one another, but a unique body and challenging glasses were recreated well. It’s just too bad we didn’t get a new Ecto-1 for her to drive.

DC Icons Batgirl of Burnside

Coming in at the last minute with the year nearly done, Barbara Gordon on her motorcycle makes for the perfect combination of elements to please kids and collectors. She’s got multiple hands, a vehicle that can be played with or displayed, useful articulation that holds a pose and never feels like breaking, and maybe the best paint job I’ve ever seen on a brightly colored superhero toy. DC collectibles can’t compete with Hasbro Marvel Legends on price, but in terms of quality, they are definitely worth the mark-up.

Toy Story Chogokin

The Japanese toy market seems to operate under a different set of rules than the domestic one does, with licensees allowed to take wild, weird chances with the properties they get to play with. Bandai previously gave us Samurai Star Wars, and this year decide to Voltron-ize the characters of Toy Story into a large unified robot. Rex may have dreamed of being a Dinozord, but we’re betting nobody besides Emperor Zurg or Bandai thought the Power Rangers concept was a natural for these characters until now. But it totally works; literally everyone I know who has seen this toy wants it.

My Little Pony: Guardians of Harmony Pinkie Pie

At $9.99, My Little Pony’s hyper-caffeinated party planner is the most affordable figure on the list, and the epitome of what a good mass-market toy should be. Hasbro finally realized both that (a) the property was appealing to more than just girls and (b) all fans wanted cartoon-accurate toys, and, in the Guardians of Harmony line, created fully articulated figures with fun-but-inessential accessories for added value. It’s awesome that Pinkie comes with a cute little Patton helmet and a chicken cannon, but it’s equally awesome that they aren’t essential and can be removed. Then again, I might be biased—she reminds me a whole lot of my wife.

LEGO 1966 Batcave

 

How is it we’ve come this far without ever having had full-size Batpoles before? I love how ridiculously tall this set is just to make the poles work, and the coolest thing of all is how complete the set is, with villains and Bat-vehicles included so that in theory you don’t need to buy any further LEGO Bat-toys to fully enjoy it (you will, of course; I’m just saying you don’t need to).

NECA ‘s Age of Ultron Hulk

Bigger than a newborn baby, NECA’s Hulk, designed to round out the “core four” Avengers in quarter-scale, was a crazy gamble on a par with DC’s Batwing, a gigantic action figure to tower over even the rest of NECA’s gargantuan quarter-scale figures, most of which are 18-20 inches tall. Unlike the rest of the team, it was too big and pricey to be sold in any major chain stores, and had to be ordered in a plain brown box from online retailers. And it’s so solid and huge it’s tough to find a place to display Mr. Banner’s angry id without risking a fall and a Hulk smash. But the detail is impeccable as usual, and he’s guaranteed to turn heads.

Hot Toys Rey and BB-8

Last year around this time, a collective refrain of “Where’s Rey?” was coming from the toy collector community as Disney, in an odd lack of wisdom, had decided they wanted to misdirect fans as to who the true protagonist of The Force Awakens really was, withholding many key details from Hasbro as well. So when we all saw the movie and learned it was actually Rey who was strong with the Force, her figures sold out everywhere while Finn languished on shelves. Hot Toys, however, announced their version of the heroine and popular new droid BB-8 almost immediately, capitalizing on the fervor created by the vacuum in other products, all of which had assumed that (a) Finn would be the lightsaber-wielding main hero, and (b) Kylo Ren would be snapped up as a popular badass villain, rather than being revealed as an overgrown angry wounded adolescent whom some audiences genuinely hated for killing Han Solo. A resourceful female lead in a Star Wars movie trumped them both.

As for the specific figure, well, Hot Toys is, as always, the closest thing to lifelike one finds in a toy. And because they go all-out, of course BB-8 is self-balancing and lights up.

One:12 Collective Mr. Spock

At one time, Leonard Nimoy was the celebrity with the most action figures in his likeness, and presumably almost all were of Mr. Spock, the original pop-cultural alien phenomenon. He has been done many times, with many different gimmicks, costumes, and angles, but now everyone can give it up, as Mezco made the ultimate Spock this year. The One:12 Collective line is one that photos simply don’t do justice to–you have to see for yourself the astonishing amount of detail and care it takes to make them look like tiny, photo-realistic human beings. And yet they’re still toys, with full articulation, form-fitting clothes, multiple hands, heads, and accessories, and a display base, packed in the most collector-friendly, reusable packaging you’ll ever see. A $70 price tag is steep for six inches, and yet with craftsmanship like you rarely see except on Hot Toys and Sideshow 12-inchers, it’s somehow a good deal too. Some of the superhero figures in the One:12 style cost a lot more due to having more accessories and complicated outfits, but if you’re looking to own just one, keep it simple: an iconic character, flawlessly pulled off, and our favorite toy of the year.

What did we miss? Which figures were must-buys that we clearly didn’t? What would you have us purchase? Show and tell us about your faves in comments.

Images: Mattel, Hasbro, DC Collectibles, Mezco, Bandai, Figma, Hot Toys, LEGO, NECA, Julia Thompson

GAME OF THRONES and IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA Make a Surprisingly Good Mash-Up

At first glance, the epic drama Game of Thrones and the raunchy comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia don’t have much in common. One is about separate royal families conflicting in the name of political power and trying their best to survive in a dangerous, mystical land filled with dragons and other menacing threats. The other chronicles the trials of a group of bar owners as they get in their own way with wild ideas that typically end in somebody getting injured, rejected, or shamed.

Then again, there’s a lot they have in common too. They both take place in a rough part of the world, both star an engaging and eclectic ensemble cast, both include the possibility of family members getting freaky with each other (we’re looking at you, McPoyles). While the Game of Thrones parody is well-trodden territory at this point, that doesn’t mean that it can’t still be done well. Truly, YouTuber Pa Jama has triumphed with his mash-up of the two series, sensibly titled It’s Always Sunny in Westeros (via Polygon).

The trick to the series is applying the wickedly cheery It’s Always Sunny aesthetic to the much more somber GOT, playing with the misfortunes of Westeros’ finest. For example, there’s one episode (each are about 30-60 seconds long) titled “Jamie Gets Crippled,” which takes place following Bran Stark’s coma-inducing fall in the first season, while another episode, “The Game Goes to a Wedding,” happens right before… well, you can probably guess.

Check out all 14 episodes of the series for yourself above, and whether you’re in Philly or Westeros, be safe out there.

Featured Image: HBO

JUSTICE LEAGUE ACTION Reveals First Wave of Toys

Cartoon Network recently premiered its long awaited new animated series Justice League Action to rave reviews from pretty much everyone. Although geared towards younger audiences than the classic Bruce Timm animated shows of the past, like Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League, this latest version of the team is a bit of a cross between the original Teen Titans show and the sprawling epic  Justice League Unlimited, with a dash of the zany humor of Batman: Brave and the Bold. With the live-action movie versions of the Justice League characters on the far more adult side, it’s nice to know kids now have an option for adventures with the DC Comics heroes too.

Of course, with the advent of a new animated series comes an all new toy line from Mattel to go with it. Thanks to the folks at ComicBook.com (via Superman Homepage), we have our first look at what the new Justice League Action toys are going to be. The first wave of action figures will feature 2-inch figures that have interchangeable pieces, which you can attach to the other figures in the line as well. Wave 1 features Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Blue Beetle, Firestorm, a Batman variant, The Flash, Green Arrow, Lex Luthor, and The Joker.

Alongside the first wave, they are also releasing special three-pack assortments, and each one will contain a buildable piece to complete a Darkseid figure. There will be three of these sets, and they will consist of Superman, Lobo, and Hawkman, for the first, Batman, Firestorm, and Mr. Freeze, for the second, and Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Mongul for the third. Also coming from the line will be a Battle Wing Batman, which includes 15 sounds and phrases and pop-out wings, a Batman Transforming Batcycle that goes from Bat-cylce to a Batmech and includes a Mighty Mini Atom figure, and Batman and Flash masks.

You can check out images of the first wave of Justice League Action toys in our gallery below.

Are you excited for a whole new series of Justice League figures to collect? Let us know down below in the comments!

Image: DC Comics / Mattel Toys

To Unlock the Pages of This Book, You Must Complete a Physical Puzzle

For every amazing Kickstarter campaign, there are probably a thousand absolutely garbage ones, but that’s not something to worry about at the moment, because this one is a bona fide wonder; so great, in fact, that it completely met its fundraising goal in just six hours.

You know the way puzzle books usually work: Open the book, see a crossword or sudoku or what-have-you on the page, complete that brain-bender, then flip the page and move onto the next one. The Codex Silenda, on the other hand, has a mere five pages, but it’ll take you more than a couple minutes to get through it. The pages don’t contain the puzzles: The physical pages themselves are the puzzles.

The book only has five pages, like we said before, but don’t expect to blow through it, because until you solve the puzzle of the page you’re currently on, it’s physically impossible to move onto the next one. The book features “five puzzles in one, an intriguing story that ties everything together and a hidden storage compartment,” according to its Kickstarter page, and they are the Mechanical Iris, the Rotating Maze, Geneva Gears, Paradox Sliders, and the Cryptex Lock.

It seems like a real fun doozy, and the puzzles should be mechanically tight and structurally sound, as each element is laser cut to perfect precision. In fact, one of the main reasons for the Kickstarter, which demolished its $30,000 goal on the way to $210,000, was so the crew could purchase a laser cutter and make this fun piece of engineering happen.

Due to extremely popular demand, you can’t actually claim a Codex Silenda for yourself just yet, but you can sign up for the waiting list and hopefully get your hands on one before too long. It might too late to expect one before the holidays, but fun is for the entire year, so treat yourself!

Featured image: Brady Whitney

Check Out the Latest BLADE RUNNER 2049 and ALIEN: COVENANT Photos

The holiday season is typically a time when Hollywood slows down its marketing efforts, but Tinseltown has provided plenty of goodies for today’s Movie Morsels. We’ve got new photos from both Blade Runner 2049 and Alien: Covenant, as well as a fantastic Easter egg that Star Wars fans may have missed in Rogue One, a clip from Vin Diesel’s xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and much more!

Blade Runner 2049

With the trailer for next year’s much ballyhooed Blade Runner 2049 now running on a constant loop in our minds, a handful of new photos from the sequel we didn’t know we wanted have arrived via Entertainment Weekly, showcasing stars Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling. Of the two, the latter looks more than a little like Deckard in Ridley Scott’s original science-fiction masterwork…

Check Out The First Official Stills From @bladerunner 2049 Along With @EW‘s Latest Coverhttps://t.co/xy33s3uf9c pic.twitter.com/aJylNNEbYB

— ComicBookMovie.com (@ComicBook_Movie) December 21, 2016

New #BladeRunner2049 photos released! https://t.co/ZSGB9eJYsh

— Blade Runner 2 (@bladerunner_2) December 22, 2016

Check out Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in 7 exclusive new #BladeRunner photos: https://t.co/qA1LzEDVegpic.twitter.com/rJEmZyjDr4

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) December 21, 2016

Exclusive: Check out 7 photos from the long-awaited @BladeRunner sequel: https://t.co/pT7SWRwpRR #BladeRunnerpic.twitter.com/Q7o3pWdzKL

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) December 21, 2016

[Twitter]

Alien: Covenant

In other Ridley Scott-related news, the latest pic from Alien: Covenant brings back a very creepily familiar location from the 1979 classic, one which yours truly may or may not have walked through when I visited the film’s set in Sydney earlier this year…

These #AlienCovenant Teaser Images just make us want to see the d*mn TRAILER! https://t.co/k0z04NEbwE pic.twitter.com/FajmewsJ5L

— ComicBook NOW! (@ComicBookNOW) December 21, 2016

[Twitter]

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

As both Blade Runner 2049 and Alien: Covenant demonstrate, everything old is new again when it comes to big screen sci-fi these days. But that hasn’t stopped Lucasfilm from injecting a little bit of its new Star Wars Rebels TV series into a familiar film locale in Rogue One. Many fans have noticed and been talking about the presence of the show’s principal ship, the Ghost, in the film’s big space battle. But did you know a member of the Ghost’s crew can be seen at the Rebel base on Yavin? Check out the following image…

We all love #chopper #StarWars #RogueOne #StarWarsRebels @futureotforce @StewartGardiner @philthecool @UKToyCollector @StarWarsUK pic.twitter.com/JsIqcdfgVv

— eggmanstudios (@Eggmanstudiosig) December 20, 2016

[StarWars.com]

xXx: Return of Xander Cage

Ah, nothing like a little Vin Diesel machismo to make my life complete. With the star returning to the role of the extreme sports enthusiast/superspy he created in xXx, we’ve got ourselves a new clip of Vinnie D in a high-speed motorcycle chase in xXx: Return of Xander Cage. James Bond, eat your heart out…

[Paramount Pictures]

Dune

While David Lynch’s Dune (pictured above) has its admirers, the film isn’t exactly the most faithful adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Hugo Award-winning epic, which is still arguably the finest pure science-fiction novel ever written in the English language. So my heart swells knowing Herbert’s book could finally be getting its due on screen. The Dune remake may soon have a director, and word on the streets is that Blade Runner: 2049 helmer Denis Villeneuve is in early talks to take the job. We haven’t heard anything official just yet, so for the time being file this news under “Cautiously Optimistic.”

[Variety]

How to Be a Latin Lover

Finally today, we’ll leave you with a laugh. Funnyman actor-director Ken Marino has assembled a motley cast that includes Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, and Rob Riggle, and topped it off with Mexican superstar Eugenio Derbez in How to Be a Latin Lover, a comedy about an aging lothario who just doesn’t know when to quit. Here’s the first trailer…

[Pantelion Films]

What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know below!

[Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks]

Featured Image: Warner Bros.

Images: Universal

Half Hour Happy Hour #104: Drunksmas Day 4

On the fourth day of Drunksmas the HHHH peeps are joined by friend of the show Stephen Scaia to class up the joint

Follow @HalfHourHappyHr and hosts @alisonhaislip, @alexalbrecht and Tom “Super Volcano” Krajewski on Twitter

IRL GUITAR HERO Was Made With A Conveyor Belt, Wooden Blocks, and Drumsticks

Ten years ago, there was absolutely no stopping the Guitar Hero franchise. Everybody and their grandmother had the plastic guitar leaning against a wall by the TV, ready to be pulled out at a moment’s notice in case you felt the unsuppressible urge to play through Boston’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” for the umpteenth time. Although 2015’s Guitar Hero Live didn’t quite live up to the popularity of the first few games in the series, it did well enough to show that the gameplay mechanic of matching up real-life movements with falling on-screen notes is more than a gimmick, but a legitimate type of game that has its place in the gaming world.

If playing the Guitar Hero drums isn’t exactly realistic to actual drumming, and actual drumming is genuinely musical, then what YouTuber MysteryGuitarMan has achieved with his latest video sure falls somewhere in the middle.

This time, MysteryGuitarMan, known best for his videos that combine music with ultra crisp video editing and production to create something new and unusual, decided to recreate Guitar Hero, or at least the drumming portion of it, in real life. The gameplay mechanics are exactly the same: Notes come towards him, and he has to match their timing with his drum hits, but the process is much more mechanic now, as the “notes” here are wooden blocks quickly placed on a conveyor belt, arranged to match up with a drum track he’s following along with on headphones.

It must have taken a supreme amount of coordination and organization for MGM and his ten helpers to get this right—the video claims what we see is the 28th attempt at it—so admire their hard work above.

Featured image: MysteryGuitarMan

This Guy Sang the HALO Theme Song Beautifully in a Reverb-Heavy Church

Around this time last month, Halo: Combat Evolved, the original game in the beloved series, celebrated its 15th anniversary. While first-person shooters have made tremendous strides since 2001, what remains undeniable about Halo is its music, created by Martin O’Donnell and meant to convey “a feeling of importance, weight, and sense of the ‘ancient.'”

The game’s main theme certainly gives that impression, with it’s opening ethereal vocals that sounds like mountaintop monk chants of yesteryear before transitioning into a more intense classical/tribal sound. Well, a couple years ago, when two buddies were hiking in Switzerland, they came across an empty chapel, and when they noticed the reverb-heavy acoustics of the room, one of them put his gorgeous voice to use and recreated the intro of the song (above, via Reddit).

In case you’re blanking on what the original sounds like, here it is for reference:

Aside from the lack of string accompaniment, this guy absolutely nailed it, as it seems the level of reverb perfectly matches that of the original recording. If you ever find yourself in Switzerland, you have an angelic voice, and you want to recreate this yourself, the video uploader says that the building they were in is “the church on top of Monte Bre in Lugano, Switzerland.”

We also couldn’t help but be reminded of one of our favorite chant-related movie scenes of all time, from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Next time you find yourself in that Swiss church, guy from the video above, bust out a quick “Alrighty then” chant for us, please and thank you.

Featured image: Microsoft Studios

Squirm-Inducing Video About Worst Parasites on Earth is Surprisingly Uplifting

NTDs, or Neglected Tropical Diseases, are as horrific as you’d imagine. They are a group of infectious diseases that affect over 1.4 billion people — including 500 million children — mainly in poor and rural populations in developing countries. These diseases, which are caused by pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and even incredibly long worms that poke through skin (and take weeks to extract), cause immense pain and psychological discomfort. But as Kurzgesagt shows in the above video, the horror story that is NTDs may soon be coming to a happy ending.

As the Kurzgesagt narrator notes in the video, it seems like it’s become increasingly rare to hear about signs of hope in the media. But they are there! Good things are still happening. And when it comes to NTDs, big pharmaceutical companies have stepped up to plate and pledged to “give away 14 billion doses of medicines by the end of this decade” to developing countries.

Margaret Chan, director of the World Health Organization (WHO), said in 2012 that “These ancient diseases [NTDs] are now being brought to their knees with stunning speed,” and according to this recent Kurz video, there seems to be solid follow through on behalf of big pharma.

It should be noted that while it would be great to believe that the pharmaceutical companies did indeed take this action “with no other motivation than to help each other” as the Kurzgesagt video says, Reuters did report that the pledge to do away with NTDs comes in part because “The AIDS pandemic forced drugmakers in the past decade to pay more attention to the developing world, and a new focus on the economic potential of emerging markets has provided an incentive to promote their brands in poorer countries.”

What do you think about NTDs and big pharma’s pledge to wipe them out? Are you frustrated that there may be a profit motive behind this action, or does the end justify the means? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Kurzgesagt