Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2237

Surgeon General Says Youth Shouldn’t Vape, Paradoxically Makes Vaping Even Cooler

The U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek H. Murthy, has released a report outlining the health effects of vaping on young people, and as of right now, he says “that the science tells us the use of nicotine-containing products by youth, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe.” And while this is certainly a damning report, it doesn’t necessarily bode well for making vaping less appealing among teens: They do tend to love that whole rebellion thing.

The report (which comes via the Verge), sounds the alarm over e-cigarettes, noting that “E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the United States,” and that “many of today’s youth who are using e-cigarettes could become tomorrow’s cigarette smokers.” It seems that in general, the concern isn’t directly with vaping and e-cigarettes — not because they’ve been deemed safe, but because long-term tests haven’t been concluded yet — but rather with e-cigarettes’ strong association with smoking regular cigarettes.

The report notes that vaping, which was banned on all U.S. commercial flights earlier this year, “is strongly associated with the use of other tobacco products among youth and young adults, particularly the use of combustible tobacco products.” The report also emphasizes that e-cigarettes are being marketed to young people in the same way as traditional tobacco is, noting that “Companies are promoting their products through television and radio advertisements that use celebrities, sexual content, and claims of independence to glamorize these addictive products and make them appealing to young people.” In other words, they’re making vaping look “cool.”

It should be noted that some researchers disagree with the Surgeon General’s claim about the link between e-cigarettes and traditional smoking. Michael Siegel, a tobacco-control researcher at Boston University’s School of Public Health, told the Washington Post that “Although electronic cigarette uptake has skyrocketed among youth, cigarette smoking has fallen at historic rates. This would be nearly impossible to explain if electronic cigarettes were causing a substantial number of youths to start smoking.” Now if we can just get moms on Facebook to endorse vaping, we’ll be all set.

What do you think about e-cigarette usage among the youth? Is it a major societal health concern, or is it a significantly better replacement to traditional smoking? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Flickr / Lindsay Fox

Audio Rewind: 40 Riotous Years of Sex Pistols’ Punk

By 1976, the term “punk” had been integrated into the lexicons of music journalists all over America. Punk, a new fast-paced, noisy, barebones music, was a deviation from ’60s garage rock. As Lester Bangs wrote in a 1971 piece for Cream: “Punk bands started cropping up who were writing their own songs but taking the Yardbirds’ sound and reducing it to this kind of goony fuzztone clatter. … oh, it was beautiful, it was pure folklore, Old America, and sometimes I think those were the best days ever.”

“Punk” was used to describe the devotees of this new music just as readily as its makers, an indication of both the music’s intimacy and its accessibility. Like folk before it, punk rock fostered closeness. A sweatier, more irreverent closeness, but closeness nonetheless. There were bands like The Clash in the UK, and Television and The Ramones in New York City, early torchbearers for the movement’s appeal to the viscera. Only one group, though, truly embodied the punk ethos—that cheeky subculture housed in vomit-covered basements and roiling rock club mosh pits. Never mind those other bullocks, here’s the Sex Pistols.

The Sex Pistols grew out of a London band called The Strand (and sometimes The Swankers). Formed in 1972, the ragtag threesome of working class teens—Steve Jones (vocals), Paul Cook (drums), and Wally Nightingale (guitar)—reportedly amassed their gigging equipment by staying at venues after concerts and stealing instruments when no one was looking. Eventually the band hired local clothes shop owner Malcolm McLaren to be their manager. Nightingale, at McLaren’s suggestion, was kicked out of the group for being too nice, which prompted Jones to shift to lead guitar, led to the hire of bassist Glen Matlock, and made room for the band’s most notorious fellas: John Ritchie (Sid Vicious) and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten).

Fast forward to 1976 and the public emergence of the Sex Pistols. By now Lydon had joined the band as their wild, green-haired lead singer, and the Pistols had attracted a significant following (including a covey of followers called the Bromley Contingent, one of whom was soon-to-be influential alt. rocker, Siouxsie Sioux). They’d also begun performing their first single, “Anarchy in the UK.” Through their riotous anthem, punk became associated with a newly politicized attitude. “I am an anti-Christ” and “I want to destroy thee,” lyrics roared by Lydon, conveyed a sense of an aggrieved, yet euphoric nihilism.

The Sex Pistols’ reputation preceded them, but not so much that they didn’t attract the attention of major record labels. EMI signed the group to a two-year deal in October, prompting them to record and release “Anarchy” as their debut single. The then-foundling music weekly NME reviewed the song 40 years ago this week, derisively proclaiming that “Johnny Rotten sings flat, the song is laughably naive, and the overall feeling is of a third-rate Who imitation.”

Sure, in terms of musicality, the track was shrill and jouncy, but this was punk, and punk didn’t care. Punk hit people in the guts. Colin Newman, who had just co-founded Wire, called “Anarchy in the UK” the “clarion call of a generation.” And this was a generation tired of genuflecting to the idea that urbane musicality could be the only effective mode for rock ‘n’ roll.

Punk culture was more than just music, though. A few days before the NME review arrived, the band demonstrated a personality apropos of their sound’s turbid impiety. Filling in after a late cancellation from fellow EMI band, Queen, the Sex Pistols and their Bromley Contingent appeared on a live broadcast of Thames Television’s program, Today. After the band members swore several times on the program, host Bill Grundy, looking blithely bewildered, engaged in suggestive banter with Sioux. “I’ve always wanted to meet you,” she told him.”Did you really?” he replied. “We’ll meet afterwards, shall we?”

This exchange prompted Jones to curse repeatedly at the host, calling him a “dirty sod” and a “dirty old man” before giving him far more obscene epithets. The story was picked up by national publications and the Sex Pistols’ brand of punk was born and disseminated far and wide, injecting an entire generation with the “clarion call” of a new anarchic breed. Anarchy, though, is hard to sustain.

In 1977, Matlock was kicked out because, according to McLaren, he “liked the Beatles”—a slight to Matlock for not being punk enough. To replace him the band appointed Sid Vicious, a friend of Rotten’s and a diehard Pistols fan. He couldn’t play bass, but he had “the look,” and apparently that was enough.

Vicious worked hard to become better, but when the band recorded their only album, Never Mind the Bullocks, they wouldn’t let him anywhere near the studio. Jones recorded all of the bass parts and Vicious stayed away, fueling his drug-addled habits and inciting various mischiefs. By January, 1978, the new bassist was addicted to heroin and, after several violent incidents, he’d devolved into disarray. The band soon followed. Rotten, at odds with Jones and Cook and disgusted by Vicious, left a San Francisco show early and the band split three days later, just two-and-a-half years after the journey began.

Vicious spun out of control after the breakup. He was convicted of the murder of his fiancé, Nancy Spungen, smashed a beer mug in Patti Smith’s brother’s face, underwent a cold turkey drug detox during a 55-day stay at Rikers Island, and then died of a heroin overdose during his return-from-jail party. He was just 21 years old.

This is hardly the full tale of the smut and debauchery that was the Sex Pistols brief punk foray, and it’s said nothing of the ugly, greed-ridden legal disputes that followed, but it’s a glimpse of the foundation (or lack thereof) of the punk people refer to when they call something punk. With the Pistols, ideas of a “proper” public image went to hell. Propriety be damned, they seemed to be saying, and here’s an outlet for everyone who feels the same way. It’s an attitude that ultimately led to their demise, but the influence of that attitude on punk culture and our zeitgeist at large is inestimable.

In a contenious nod to punk a couple weeks ago, McLaren’s son, Joe Corre, burned five million dollars of Sex Pistols memorabilia on a boat in London. He denounced the fact that punk had been “turned into a museum piece” and set flame to everything he owned. Whether the act was punk or simply a publicity stunt is up for debate, but it affirms that, even to this day, the Sex Pistols remain the paragon of punk. Even now, whenever we have to mind life’s bullocks, we think of them.

Image: Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway) via Wikimedia Commons

Hot Toys’ Deluxe Jyn Erso Comes Fully Loaded for Battle

Do you think when her friends heard she was going on a dangerous mission, they ever said, “Oh, that Jyn. ‘Er so crazy”? If they didn’t, they missed some prime punning real estate. Unlike sarcastic pals, however, Hot Toys does not pass up any opportunity related to Star Wars movie protagonists. Their new Jyn Erso (Deluxe) looks so much like the real thing that you might want to encrypt all your own secret plans just so she doesn’t run off with them.

The various Jyn Erso toys from Rogue One are a case study in what does and doesn’t work well in different scales. It’s pretty clear that in the movie, she’ll disguise herself with a shawl at some point, and the action figures have all tried to make this an alternate look, but in the smaller scale it’s plastic and does not easily come on and off. At the 12-inch scale fabric works better, but you may notice that Hot Toys hasn’t gone with rooted hair this time, as they do with most female figures–I suspect the reason for this is so you can take her removable helmet on and off without messing up the ‘do. It also seems much easier to capture Felicity Jones’ likeness in a larger size; subtleties get lost on the more standard Star Wars figures, but this looks like the real actress is staring right at you.

A less-deluxe version will also be available, but this Jyn includes “an additional costume including a poncho with bandolier, a breathing mask, hat with goggles, quadnoculars, and additional blaster parts for Jyn’s unique blaster that can be combined into multiple modes.” Check her out in full detail in the gallery below, which also includes an advance look at Hot Toys’ K-2SO.

Are you jonesing to add the Sergeant to your ranks? Give us your thoughts in comments.

 

Image: Hot Toys

GAME OF THRONES Re-Throned: “Walk of Punishment” (S3, EP3)

Winter is coming, but not soon enough. So to help pass the time until season seven of Game of Thrones, we’re doing a weekly re-watch of the series, episode-by-episode, with the knowledge of what’s to come and—therefore—more information about the unrevealed rich history of events that took place long before the story began. Be warned, though: that means this series is full of spoilers for every season, even beyond the episode itself. So if you haven’t watched all of the show yet immediately get on that and then come back and join us for Game of Thrones Re-Throned.

Because the next best thing to watching new episodes is re-watching old ones.

——

Season 3, Episode 3: “Walk of Punishment”

Original Air Date: April 14th, 2013

Director: David Benioff

Written by: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss

A couple of weeks ago we talked about how few shows in television history have ever played the long game quite as well as Game of Thrones, and the third season’s third episode, the fantastic “Walk of Punishment” (the one that ended with Jaime having his freaking hand chopped off), is also full of those great moments that resonate even more on a re-watch (like after the still un-revealed Ramsay kills the men who recaptured Theon, and one calls him a “little bastard”). However, this installment is also a perfect example of something else the show does so well, something that contributes to it being the most popular television program on earth: trust its audience.

For a show that has so many locations, characters, and plot lines—all framed by a backstory that is deeper and more complex than some actual real world countries—showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (who both co-wrote and co-directed this episode) don’t hold the viewers hand, and they follow the advice all of your English teachers gave you of “show, don’t tell.”

In the opening scene, we meet two new characters at the funeral for Lord Hoster Tully, Catelyn Stark’s father. We see Robb and his mother standing with an older, gruff looking gentleman, and then a younger man steps up, places an arrow into the fire, and shoots it at Hoster Tully’s boat where his body is floating down the river.

He misses, followed by everyone grimacing. Then he misses again. It’s an uneasy scene. Finally, with the boat almost out of range he misses a third time, and that’s when the older man pushes him aside, takes the measure of the wind, and fires an arrow. The old man throws the bow at the younger man and walks away, all without even seeing if the arrow will hit the boat (it does).

This is our introduction to the Blackfish and his nephew Edmure Tully, and—without a single word being spoken by any character—the show has instantly established their characters, relationship, and how the rest of the characters see them. The Blackfish is a competent, no-nonsense man of action, and Edmure is a disappointment who doesn’t have his uncle’s respect (remember this when Edmure betrays him in season 6). A lesser show would have felt the need to have some comment on what was going on, or to add some pithy insults to further the moment. Instead we get to see it with our own eyes and make our own judgements without being told what to think. When we get to the next scene, where Robb berates his uncle Edmure for not following his orders, it means more because we already have a foundation for who these new characters are.

Soon after, we go to the new Small Council meeting in King’s Landing. Hand of the King Tywin Lannister is standing at the head of the table, waiting while the rest of the chairs are lined up on one side. Baelish, Varys, and Grand Maester Pycelle walk in and pause, unsure of where to sit. Then Baelish rushes ahead and takes the seat closet to Tywin. Varys and Pycelle fall in next.

However, Cersei has no intention of sitting that far away, and when she walks in she grabs a chair and takes it all the way to the head of the table on the opposite side to literally sit at the right hand of her father. Only one chair remains, for Tyrion. However, he isn’t going to take an actual back seat either, so he slowly drags the last chair away from the side and to the other end of the table, in direct line with his father.

It’s a quiet power struggle rife with characterization and meaning, and it all happens in virtual silence. No one needs to tell us why anyone is doing what they are doing, and it makes a scene about where people sit at the table entertaining and purposeful.

However, there is yet another way Benioff and Weiss trust their audience, and that’s by not worrying if they remember the specifics of everything that has come before. There’s a perfect example when Arya, now a “guest” of the Brotherhood Without Banners, confronts their prisoner The Hound. They are at the Inn at the Crossroads, and she steps in front of him and asks, “You remember the last time you were here?”

The Hound looks around and answers, “Looks like every other shit inn on the road.”

That’s the entire interaction, with no further explanation, but this is the road where The Hound killed Mycah the Buther’s Boy after Joffrey had been attacked by Arya’s direwolf, Nymeria. This is where Arya’s hatred for Joffrey, the Lannisters, and The Hound was born. But the show doesn’t tell us exactly what Arya means by having her remind him of what he did (and by extension us). It’s a much quieter moment, one that might have been missed by some, but has more impact for those that know what she means. Her anger is real, boiling over from a horrible moment in her life that eats at her with guilt. Yet for The Hound it might as well have never happened. It pays off even more soon enough when they go on their buddy adventure through Westeros.

It’s great and awful, and if the show held our hand during it, it wouldn’t have been as good.

Game of Thrones could easily fall into the trap of so many other shows of reexplaining and retelling the same points over and over, or of not letting a moment or scene speak for itself, but it doesn’t, and that’s one of the reasons its so good.

I mean, on this show it’s genuinely better to chop off a hand than to hold one.

But what did you think of this episode? Don’t be quiet, tell us in the comments below.

Images: HBO

Never Step On a LEGO again with LEGO WORLDS (Impressions)

LEGOs are the staple of many a childhood—my own included. Admittedly, I was never great at actually building anything, but that didn’t stop me from trying nearly every day with my older brother. TT Games’ has captured some of that magic with their series of LEGO games; LEGO Dimensions is still hands-down my favorite toys-to-life game. The developer has taken things a step further with their virtual LEGO brick-builder LEGO Worlds—which has been in development for a while and is slated to hit PS4, Xbox One, and STEAM on February 21. I got a chance to see it for myself at the PlayStation Experience over the weekend. Here’s why you might want to keep it on your radar.

Create your own world

Much like Mojang’s Minecraft, LEGO Worlds grants players the ability to create a virtual world, brick by brick—but this time with even more freedom. Simply by holding down triangle on the Dualshock 4, I was given several options that would shape my world, including: the build tool, the discover tool, and my inventory. The build mode is obviously the draw here, and acts as a virtual set of LEGO.

After entering the build mode, hitting triangle again would expand my options. From this menu, there not only was a variety of LEGO block shapes to choose from, but additional accents like doors to add to your masterpiece. Not a fan of the color? No problem. You can change the brick color in the options, or use the paint tool to change the shade of your creation or alter existing terrain.

Everything is awesome!

Building isn’t the only draw here, however. The items and Discover mode is where a lot of the charm comes in. During my hands-on preview, everything was already unlocked, so I got a good taste of the sheer amount of items I would be able to use. In the weapons section, I had several exciting options like a megazooka (a bazooka, but mega), carrot launcher, ice bow, troll club, and so much more. Seriously, there are a lot of weapons you can find in the game, and actually use! For anyone that’s wondering, the megazooka creates a much larger crater in the terrain than the bazooka. I tried it out several times…

Speaking of creating a hole in the terrain, the drill vehicle is especially handy for tunneling deeper in a short amount of time. Though when I tried the vehicle (one of many) out I ran into an unfortunate bug. For some reason, when I dug into the ground, the procedurally generated environment rendered at a snail’s pace. Granted, I was experiencing a ton of bugs at that point that didn’t seemed to be shared by the players nearby, but it was still unfortunate to see. The only way to stop the issue was to leave the vehicle and hop out of burrow I just dug.

Horsing around

For the remainder of my time, I honed my skills as an expert horse whisperer. Wait…what? Yep. After discovering that I could interact with a horse by tossing it an apple—which you’d normally have to find in the environment, but was unlocked for me—my new friend followed me around the map. Because having only one horse was boring, I tossed apples to five of his buddies and had a group of them following me.

After that, I used the discover tool to teleport unlocked animals like rabbits, cows, and even a polar bear! I had a zoo in no time—and it was awesome. Sure, it’s probably not the aim of the game, but it was fun, and a perfect demonstration of how many things you can do to entertain yourself beyond building. Not great at building, no worries! Just pop in a pre-built building with the Discover tool.

The Verdict

While I did run into several bugs during my brief hands-on time with the early PS4 build, LEGO Worlds already showed charming potential. As Niels Jørgensen, Vice President of Digital Games for the LEGO Group, put it, “LEGO Worlds brings the very essence of LEGO play—building—to the digital world, more than ever before.” I’m excited to see later builds of the title, and how it performs on consoles. It’s been in early access on STEAM for a while now, and the community has already created some impressive content. With multiplayer functionality, players will be able to take things a step further by exploring each others’ worlds, creating together, and engaing in co-op experiences.

Are you interested in trying out LEGO Worlds? Let us know in the comments below!

 Images: WB Interactive Entertainment/TT Games

ROGUE ONE’s Riz Ahmed Performs STAR WARS Rap on THE TONIGHT SHOW

Last night’s episode of The Tonight Show was already geek friendly with a demonstration of Super Mario Run, the Nintendo Switch, as well as Shigeru Miyamoto and The Roots playing the Super Mario Bros. theme. And then Rogue One: A Star Wars Story co-star Riz Ahmed got in on the musical action, proving it’s not just Lando who’s got the rhymes in the new Star Wars Universe.

Host Jimmy Fallon asked Ahmed to perform a freestyle rap incorporating three Star Wars characters: Yoda, Darth Vader, and Lando Calrissian. (Amusingly, Ahmed seemed to be briefly confused about who or what Lando was, which offered up a missed opportunity on Fallon’s part to say that Lando’s not a system.) Fortunately, Ahmed nailed the reference when it came up in his rap, and he even made a joking remark about Jimmy’s lightsaber, while The Roots provided the backing track.

Within Rogue One, Ahmed plays Bodhi Rook, an individual who has a small but vital part in the Rebel mission to steal the Death Star plans. Without giving away too many spoilers, Rook’s past may come up in the film as well. Ahmed briefly spoke with Fallon about his appearance in the next Star Wars movie, and his most interesting story was about the way that he bombarded director Gareth Edwards‘ e-mail by leaving 14 different audition scenes. Fallon followed that tale up with a clip of Ahmed’s character in Rogue One.

What did you think about Ahmed’s freestyle Star Wars rap? There are honorary points for anyone who replies in verse in the comment section below!

Image: NBC

And check out who we think is going to die in Rogue One (hint: it’s a lot):

Walk Down Meme-ry Lane with YouTube Rewind 2016

We love watching TV and movies here at Nerdist, but since we are primarily a web presence, we spend a fair share of our time browsing YouTube. I know that personally, there are plenty of days when I watch more YouTube (shouts out to GameGrumps) than network shows or box office hits, because YouTube as a platform is capable of offering a more casual media experience than big-budgeted productions can, and sometimes, that kind of easygoing watch is all we need.

YouTube has undeniably changed the media landscape, and to commemorate a noteworthy 2016 in online videos, the video streaming service has posted a video that pays tribute to the greatest online trends of the past 12 months, and boy is it a trip down memory lane.

It opens with newfound YouTube star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson pulling a red rewind button from an equally red fanny pack and saying, “Bring it.” Set to music by The Hood Internet and Major Lazer, the original video takes a celebratory look back at what was big on the service in 2016, and they included nods to hydraulic press videos, unlikely bruise-faced sports hero Scott Sterling, the DudePerfect guys, video game “Let’s Play” legend PewDiePie, water bottle flipping, Kanye West’s controversial “Famous” music video, and others.

They even snagged some high-profile celebrities who aren’t distinctly YouTube personalities, but whose presence on the site is undeniable, like The Daily Show‘s Trevor Noah, One Direction member Niall Horan, Seth Meyers, and James Corden with a quick Carpool Karaoke segment. It just goes to show that YouTube culture is becoming an increasingly important part of pop culture as a whole, so take a look back above at what online video in 2016 was like.

Featured image: YouTube Spotlight

GARBAGE PAIL KIDS Mystery Minis Coming From Funko

Back in the ’80s, you were the lowest kid on the totem pole if you didn’t have any Garbage Pail Kids sticker trading cards to trade at recess or on the school bus. For a handful of years, Garbage Pail Kids, which were basically gross-out spoofs of the popular and wholesome Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, and which had names like Acne Amy and Jay Decay, were the scourge of parents and teacher everywhere. In fact, my elementary school banned them for a time. (quaint to think of a time when silly trading cards were the big problem in American elementary schools).

Of course, like most things from that era, there is massive nostalgia for them now, and the folks at Funko are capitalizing on the love for all things Garbage Pail Kids by making them the subject of their latest line of Mystery Mini vinyl figures. These little guys come in a “blind box,” so you don’t know exactly who you’ll be getting until you buy them, kind of like getting a pack of cards back in the day. Among the classic GPK characters you could get are Buggy Betty, Brainy Janie, and Beasty Boyd. The new Garbage Pail Kids Mystery Minis are available now, and you can see a preview of them in our gallery below.

But wait! There’s more Funko awesomeness coming your way in 2017! Coming next year to the Super Deluxe vinyl figures line is DC Comics’ #1 hero, Batman. Unlike the regular Funko Pop! vinyl figures, the Super Deluxe line stands  10″ tall and packaged in a window display box, for all you “keep them in the box” type collectors out there (you know who you are). Batman Super Deluxe figure hits stores in February. You can also check out a preview image of Bats down below in our gallery.

Which of these Garbage Pail Kids is your favorite? And how badass (and adorable) is the new Super Deluxe Batman? Let us know what you think in the comments down below!

Images: Funko / Topps / DC Comics

Schlock & Awe: GREMLINS

Tis the season, folks, and by that I mean the season when I attempt to watch more horror movies that are Christmas themed but aren’t ones where Santa Claus is an evil monster or something like that. I dunno, those just don’t do it for me. Last year I wrote about Silent Night, Bloody Night, and the great Black Christmas, but for this yuletide, I thought I’d go a little more mainstream. In fact, a lot more mainstream. A movie that somehow was a horror flick, a goofy comedy, an It’s a Wonderful Life riff, and a huge money-maker: Gremlins.

On the one hand, this trailer is really bad. It doesn’t show anything, and focuses on weird, sort of uninteresting side moments in the film. But on the other hand, that’s kind of exactly what you want. There’s a promise that something there is worth looking at and gives you enough moments where the titular little buggers could be that it probably made audiences in 1984 go crazy with anticipation.

But that’s sort of what puzzles me about Gremlins. It’s seemingly a movie that’s not FOR anybody. It’s too dark to be a straight-up kids or family movie, and it’s a bit too juvenile and tame to appeal to the horror hound of the ’80s. This famously is one of the two films that prompted the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating, because it wasn’t dark enough to be R, but nowhere near safe enough to just be PG. So the fact that it was successful at all is something of a miracle.

You no doubt know the story: A traveling inventor and salesman (Hoyt Axton) buys a strange tiny creature called a Mogwai from a antique shop in Chinatown. He’s going to give the cute critter–which he names Gizmo–to his fully grown adult son Billy (Zach Galligan) who works at the bank in their small town and basically supports his whole family. The rules of the Mogwai are simple yet weird: 1) Don’t get them wet; 2) Don’t subject them to bright lights; 3) Don’t feed them after midnight. Without much hesitation at all, Billy gets Gizmo wet, which causes him to reproduce rapidly, and then the new birth trick him into feeding them after midnight, transforming them into green, scaly, ravenous beasts. Billy and his girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates, who has perhaps the movie’s weirdest and darkest moment with an out-of-place monologue about why she hates Christmas) have to stop the onslaught that will destroy the town on Christmas Eve.

I’ve become a massive fan of director Joe Dante in recent years (he of The Howling, Piranha, and many other great movies) so, even though I’d seen Gremlins when I was a kid, I didn’t know too much at the time. Now, I’ve done so much research on it, I almost can’t watch it for pure fun because all I can see is what the movie could have been. The story goes that up-and-coming screenwriter Chris Columbus wrote a hyper violent, super gory version of Gremlins as a spec script, never intending it to be made, but more as a writing sample for potential other film work. Lo and behold, however, Steven Spielberg, the hottest producer and director in Hollywood, read it, loved it, and wanted to produce it. He hired Joe Dante as the director after Dante’s impressive segment in The Twilight Zone: The Movie and they were off to the races.

However, Spielberg wanted to soften the movie a bit, in keeping with his general take on everything; hard-edged but still for a wider audience. He insisted on changes, including lowering the violence, allowing the Gremlins to be mischievous and could still result in deaths, but they were no longer man-eaters. The original draft also had Gizmo be the one to turn into the ringleader of the Gremlins, but Spielberg thought Gizmo was too cute to lose, so the character of Stripe was created to stand in as the main villain. Spielberg also, for some reason, thought Gizmo was the hero of the movie, which is why Gizmo — who had essentially been sidelined since the Gremlins started marauding — is directly involved in the finale, driving a toy car(?) around a store to help Billy kill Stripe. These are, for my money, dumb changes that lessen the impact of the movie.

That being said, they only lessen the impact of the movie if you’re watching it as a horror movie. Dante’s sense of humor, which is heavily referential to ’50s horror and sci-fi and comedians like the Marx Brothers and Looney Tunes, shines through quite a lot in the movie, which, it could be argued, is more attuned to a lighter comedy film than a horror movie. However, Dante is ALSO really adept at creating tense, visually interesting horror sequences, and the movie wouldn’t be the same without the scene where Billy’s mother dispatches a handful of Gremlins using household gadgets, or a later scene with the Gremlins attacking and causing grievous harm to the townsfolk, or especially bits of the finale where Stripe gets hit with sunlight and starts to melt while attempting to reach a fountain to replicate again.

So, really, Gremlins is a movie of brilliant individual scenes. It’s a great set-up and the town and townsfolk are suitably believable; there are some really funny bits with slapstick humor and darkly hilarious scenes of mayhem that work like a twisted Warner Bros cartoon (fitting since this is a Warner Bros movie); and the straight-up horror sequences are some of Dante’s best. So maybe I just don’t cotton to the cutesey stuff with Gizmo being adorable, and I definitely don’t care for the lengthy bar sequence where all of the town’s Gremlins overtake Kate’s place of work and act out everything from aerobics to flashers to dogs playing poker to just being dumb drunks. But that’s the reason the movie made so much money, and kids bought the merchandise in truckloads, so what do I know?

Even with my grouchy, I-wanted-a-horror-movie gripes, Gremlins is still a highly delightful watch, and a movie everybody should add it to their Christmas watching, because even a not-quite-perfect Joe Dante movie is something to celebrate.

Images: Warner Bros

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He writes the weekly look at weird or obscure films in Schlock & Awe. Follow him on Twitter!

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Marvel Brings Back Long Dead SPIDER-MAN Character

Welcome to your mid-week edition of Comics Relief, comics fans! To start our collection of comics news off this week, we have the scoop on a long gone character from Spider-Man’s past that I’m not entirely sure anyone was really clamoring to have back. But they are back anyway, like it or not. Read on for all the details!

Marvel announces the return of another long-dead character (Spoilers for Clone Conspiracy)

Proving that absolutely no one stays dead in comics forever, even characters no one really liked in the first place, Marvel Comics revealed Wednesday as part of their ongoing Spider-Man-centric Clone Conspiracy storyline that the mastermind villain behind Peter Parker’s current drama is none other than Ben Reilly, the infamous Spider-Clone who also once went by the name the Scarlet Spider.

Dan Slott’s The Clone Conspiracy has had Spider-Man dealing with a medical tech company called New U, which was producing “miracles”, bringing people who were once believed to be fatally sick or gravely wounded back from the brink of death. Peter naturally thought this all too good to be true, and he was right — turns out the people “saved” go a wee bit crazy.

But the leader of New U wasn’t Peter’s old nemesis Miles Warren, AKA the Jackal, as he once thought. Turns out it’s none other than Ben Reilly, the Spider-Clone was was once thought to be the real Peter Parker himself. Last time we saw him was 20 years ago, where he literally melted away in front of Peter. But what’s a little disintegration between clones? The new Clone Conspiracy story is only half over, so we’ll see if Ben Reilly sticks around this time. If he does, I hope he gets a better costume and name than “the Scarlet Spider.” [Comic Book]

Go behind-the-scenes of Marvel’s Monsters Unleashed

Another Marvel event coming soon is Monsters Unleashed, a five-issue miniseries which hits stores in January, which features Marvel’s heroes fighting off the giant monsters who ruled at the publisher before the era of super-heroes. Now Marvel has released a special behind-the-scenes video detailing the event, and giving fans a sneak peek at the artwork. You can watch the full video above.

Frank Miller may be working on a DC World War II heroes comic

Frank Miller is still knee-deep in Dark Knight III: The Master Race, but it seems he won’t be done with DC Comics once that story has concluded. During a panel featuring Miller at the recent Brazil Comic-Con Experience, the Sin City creator revealed plans for what he hopes will be his next DC project, saying “I have a fixation by World War II and I’m talking to DC on a project with their heroes at that time.” Could this be the big DC Rebirth version of the Justice Society of America relaunch that’s been hinted at? Or a Superman story set in WWII? Only time will tell. [CBR]

Batman writer Tom King teases the return of The Legion of Super-Heroes

Aside from the JSA, another missing team from DC’s history that might be making a comeback soon is the Legion of Super-Heroes. Although the team has always had strong ties to the Superman family, they are now being teased by writer Tom King in the pages of Batman.

In recent issues of Batman, we see Legion founder Saturn Girl is, for some reason, in Arkham Asylum. In an interview, King said “We saw one of the pieces in Batman #9 with Saturn Girl, who was also in DC Universe: Rebirth #1 and plays a role in the story going forward. She’s in Gotham City, and she is in Arkham Asylum… We’ll see what that means both to her and the Legion of Super-Heroes.” [CBR]

Valiant Comics details X-O Manowar relaunch

Last week, Valiant Comics released a teaser image for their new X-O Manowar relaunch, and now we have the details on this new series. According to the official description, writer Matt Kindt will begin this new iteration of the character “by separating Aric from his armor and sending him to a far-flung alien planet and continue into a yearlong science-fiction epic split into different arcs.”

Each of these arcs will be drawn by a separate rising star artist, with each artistic interpretation meant to reflect the different stages of Aric’s latest journey. We’ll go  from “Soldier” to “General” to “Emperor” to “Visigoth.”  X-O Manowar #1 is set to hit stores March 22, 2017, and for more info on the new series, be sure to click on the following link: [Entertainment Weekly]

Jack Kirby’s only Justice League work to finally get reprinted after 30 years

When most people hear the name Jack Kirby, they think of the man who co-created the bulk of the Marvel Universe icons, like The Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, etc. And while he did work at DC for a time, and created their vast New Gods mythology, he isn’t known for any significant runs featuring their iconic characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Except once. In 1984, as a tie-in to their Super Powers toyline, DC produced a series of mini-series featuring the Justice League under the Super Powers banner, and drawn by the legendary Kirby. This is the only time Kirby drew characters like the Flash, Green Lantern or Wonder Woman, and they are all now finally being collected in hardcover format after thirty years. The collection will come out on August 29th for $34.99, and it will collect Super Powers Vol. 1 #1-5, Super Powers Vol. 2 #1-6 and Super Powers Vol. 3 #1-4. [Bleeding Cool]

Civil War II gets 8 extra artists to help finish series

Brian Michael Bendis’ current crossover epic Civil War II got an extra issue to wrap up from Marvel, but artist David Marquez is getting some help to wrap this sucker up. Seven additional artists are joining Marquez to complete the delayed final issue.

Civil War II #8 will now have 32 pages by Marquez with eight additional pages, which are being described as a “special top secret interior sequence”, will be drawn by artists Esad Ribic, Leinil Yu, Adam Kubert, Alan Davis, Mark Bagley, Marco Rudy, and Daniel Acuna. The release date for Civil War II #8 remains set at December 28, an eight-week delay from the originally solicited November 2 release date. [Newsarama]

Images: Marvel Comics / DC Comics / Valiant Comics