Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2276

5 Actors Who Could Pull Off the Just-Announced RAMBO Reboot

It had to happen eventually. With all the iconic properties that get revived, Rambo was going to come back around again. The surprise is that this time, Sylvester Stallone is no longer involved in the conversation. It looks like the character famous for being a Vietnam veteran is getting made over as a veteran of our more recent wars, as the new movie in development is entitled Rambo: New Blood.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story:

“Nu Image/Millennium Films is plotting a reboot of the classic 1980s action franchise that starred Sylvester Stallone, tapping Brooks McLaren to pen the script and Ariel Vromen to direct the feature.

Titled Rambo: New Blood, the new reboot would not see Stallone return as the action hero, like he did in Millennium’s 2008 outting, but would see a younger actor inhabit the role. The company is looking at Rambo as a character akin to James Bond. “

There have been many talks over the years about Rambo revivals, from a TV show to a possible sequel in which Rambo fights a monster. From the current description, we can intuit that this will not likely be a truer-to-the-book reimagining of First Blood, in which the character dies. They want a franchise revival, and need someone who has multiple potential movies in them. So who could it be? We have a few ideas:

1. Michael B. Jordan

For a Rambo reboot to work, you might not need Stallone, but you probably want someone that at the very least won’t cause Stallone to speak out against the project. So who better than a guy to whom he already gave tacit approval to inherit the Rocky franchise? There’s absolutely nothing essential to the character that says John Rambo needs to be white, and considering that Rambo feels like an outsider anyway, having him be a person of color adds another dimension to a small-town sheriff harassing him.

2. Liam Hemsworth

Another Stallone-approved star, having played one of the non-veteran Expendables, Hemsworth has proven he can do action in movies like Independence Day: Resurgence, but he hasn’t entirely proven he guarantees box office results; just name recognition.

3. Joseph Baena

Who? Arnold Schwarzenegger’s out-of-wedlock son, who recently portrayed his dad in a remake of a scene from Terminator 2. We don’t know if he can really act yet, but he definitely has a presence, and the look of his old man.

4. Robbie Amell

If we’re going with relatives of famous superhero actors, the Arrow’s cousin might be a better bet than Thor’s brother. He’s already been a lead in the sci-fi action movie Arq, in which he was frequently shot and tied down. That’s half the battle.

5. Oscar Isaac

Probably the longest of long shots, but if Poe Dameron wants a franchise besides Star Wars, this is one we could easily see him take over. Abel Morales from A Most Violent Year with a little bit of Nathan Bateman from Ex Machina thrown in seems like a potent potential mix.

5a. Nathan Fillion

Look, we’re a nerd site. It’s obligatory we mention him as possible casting for EVERYTHING.

Who do you want to see as the new Rambo? Draw first blood in comments below with your sharpest suggestion!

Images:  TriStar, New Line/Warner Bros., Lionsgate, YouTube/Ben Hess, Netflix, Universal, Fox

Rambo almost ended very differently. Here are the best worst alternate movie endings:

THE WALKING DEAD’s Devastating Negan Scene Has Been Recreated in LEGO

There are huge spoilers ahead if you somehow managed to miss last Sunday’s horrific season premiere of The Walking Dead. This is also a pretty graphic scene, even in its LEGO form!

Fans waited throughout the entire summer to see who would end up being Negan’s victim victims on The Walking Dead. But we didn’t have to wait long at all to see the entire sequence remade as a LEGO scene.

YouTube user kristo499 “took it like a champ” and turned around this video in just four days. It’s almost a shot-for-shot recreation of the scene from the premiere, with LEGO figures in place of Negan, Rick, and the remaining survivors, as well as the two unfortunate victims: Abraham and Glenn. This clip also uses the exact audio from the TV series, and the LEGO faces were surprisingly expressive. But kristo499 took it even further and recreated the very graphic gore as well, including Glenn’s infamously protruding eye.

Unlike the creative team of the show, kristo499 didn’t have time to create multiple versions for each potential victim. And there are some subtle touches that simply couldn’t be recreated with LEGO. For example, Abraham’s “peace” signal to Sasha wouldn’t be possible at all with LEGO hands. They have no fingers!

Kristo499 has made several previous LEGO stop motion shorts on his YouTube channel, including the near death of Glenn from season 6, which was so very upsetting at the time. Now it’s almost tame compared to Glenn’s actual death on the show.

What did you think about these Walking Dead LEGO videos? Don’t feed the vampire bats in the comment section below!

What’s next for The Walking Dead Season 7?
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Image: kristo499

A Tribe Called Quest Will Drop Their Final Album in Two Weeks

Our hearts still hurt after Phife Dawg passed away earlier this year, but what better way to celebrate one of rap’s greatest icons than for the group he’s from to record a reunion album? A Tribe Called Quest hit the studio in secret and, in only two weeks, will share a brand new (and final) album with the world. That’s not the only thing worth celebrating this week. Muse dressed up as The Cramps to cover one of their songs, someone found a letter from John Lennon to Queen Elizabeth II hidden in a record sleeve, Charli XCX returns with a poppy single, and Common gave a moving performance with The Roots on live TV.

Remember when we lost Prince? And David Bowie? And everyone ever this year? Yeah, it’s hard to forget. One of the legends that passed away in 2016 is Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor of A Tribe Called Quest. He was working on a solo album before passing, and now we found out that apparently the rest of A Tribe Called Quest was eyeing studio time, too. Q-Tip took to Facebook on Thursday night to announce that, after performing a reunion set on The Tonight Show in November of 2015, A Tribe Called Quest decided to hit the studio to record a new album. You read that correctly. A new (and “final”) album by A Tribe Called Quest is on the way. Best of all, it will drop in two weeks (!) on November 11. There’s always a silver lining as long as you know how to kick it.

If nothing else, Muse are phenomenal at performing. The band loves to go for dramatics, be it standing atop pillars at their live shows or filling modern albums with plenty of pops and pizazz. Now the British rockers are at it again, but they’re channeling that energy into Halloween. Muse dressed up at The Cramps and performed “New King of Kick” in a new video directed by Tom Kirk, which is fun and entertaining as promised, and yet it’s still totally Muse-y. Watch it above to see what we mean, especially if you want to get extra spooky before the holiday. [Consequence of Sound]

Image Credit: The Beatles Story

The last thing people expect to find when they buy old, crummy records are important notes, nevertheless historic ones. That’s what one lucky fan found when he bought a £10 car boot haul over two decades ago. Apparently the person found a letter John Lennon wrote to Queen Elizabeth II in 1969 inside one of the records. According to BBC News, it may be a draft of an actual letter Lennon sent that’s now in the Royal archive. As such, this goes for a massive £60,000 as The Beatles Story declared this past Wednesday in Liverpool. Not too bad for some bin buys, huh? [Consequence of Sound]

At last, pop’s punk princess has returned. Songwriter, pop star, and rock ‘tude woman Charli XCX dropped a new single that sees her reeling with plenty of catchy hooks. The song, called “After the Afterparty,” bounces with a piano melody and heavy bass with help from Atlanta rapper Lil Yachty. He brings out some of the song’s punchy undertones while Charli XCX, as usual, dominates in a captivating, entrancing way. It’s the comeback we’ve been wanting. Give it a listen above. [Rolling Stone]

This Thursday, The Tonight Show got political. Grammy-winner Common stopped by to perform his powerful single “Black America Again” with help from The Roots and BJ the Chicago Kid. The title-track to his upcoming 11th LP is bold and important, a song that’s worth listening to if only to remember that change is a constant and we’ve certainly still got plenty to work on when it comes to equality. Check it out above before you head out to Halloween festivities. [Rolling Stone]

See you back here on Monday for another Music Dispatch!

Image: A Tribe Called Quest/Jive Records

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and ALIENS Get a Comic Book Crossover in 2017

The live-action adventures of the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew have been over for more than a decade, but their comic book counterparts may be unintentionally expanding the multiverse. Next year, Dark Horse Comics and IDW will be teaming up for a Star Trek: The Next Generation vs. Aliens comic book miniseries that will pit Captain Picard and company against the dreaded Xenomorphs…one of the few alien races that even Picard can’t reason with!

Bleeding Cool had the first report of the announcement, which was made earlier today at MCM London Comic Con. Star Trek: The Next Generation vs. Aliens will be out in April 2017, and it will reunite the creative team of the Star Trek: TNG/Doctor Who crossover: writers David and Scott Tipton, and artist J.K. Woodward. No story details have currently been revealed, but somehow we suspect that we’ll see Xenomorphs crossed with several iconic alien races from Star Trek. A Klingon Xenomorph is a must!

Including the previously mentioned Doctor Who crossover, the Next Generation crew have previously met the X-Men, while the original crew of the Enterprise recently had a crossover with the Planet of the Apes. However, the Aliens have a crossover record that includes encounters with Batman, Superman, Judge Dredd, Vampirella, Witchblade, Green Lantern, the Terminators, and of course, the Predators. Batman himself is considered one of the comic book crossover kings, including team ups the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Hulk, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Grendel, and numerous others. Basically, the comic book multiverse just became one of the easiest games of Six Degrees that anyone ever played.

Are you excited to see TNG‘s crew battle the Aliens? Burst out of our chests and share your thoughts below!

Image: IDW/Dark Horse Comics

Dissecting THE POWER RANGERS’ Dinozords Redesign

If you’re a 90’s kid (or just a 90’s kid at heart) then you know you’re living for next summer: that’s when our favorite team of teenagers with attitude—the Power Rangers—hit the big screen in a Mighty Morphin’ big-budget reboot. The first trailer for the movie was released a few months ago and showed us a lot of the angst and grit that the filmmakers were promising from this modern day update, but held back on most of the sci-fi elements. Well get ready to shout “AY-YI-Y!” because we just got our first glimpse of one of the new Dinozords and we are freaking out harder than Alpha-9 after Dark Specter captured Zordon!

The image premiered on the official Power Rangers fan site, Rangers Nation, and let’s just say Rita Repulsa better get her Monster Maker working over time if she wants to take on these Zords. The new, red t-rex looks a lot like one of the classic Zords but with a few upgrades. And what could those be? Well, for starters they seem to be modeling it after a slightly more scientific depiction of the t-rex, positioned horizontally (Jurassic Park style), instead of the old school tail-dragging beast from the tv show. They’ve also given it a hard core weapons upgrade, with rockets that launch out its tiny arms and a massive cannon sprouting out of its back. Something tells us Bulk and Skull won’t be bullying Jason any time soon, once they see him behind the wheel of this bad boy!

Now we still have no idea how this will combine with the other four, still unseen Zords to form the Megazord. But you can bet we’ll be there opening day, March 24th to find out! Until then, guess we’ll just be chilling down at the Angel Grove Youth Center, enjoying a few banana shakes to kill the time.

How about you? How excited are you for the new Power Rangers? And do you think the new Zords look awesome or mega-awesome? Let us know in the comments!

PEOPLE OF EARTH is at Its Funniest in Outer Space (Review)

People of Earth, a new comedy from TBS about a support group of people that claim to have been abducted by aliens, debuts on Halloween, Monday October 31st. Below is our spoiler free review.

The premise for People of Earth is a lot like a Christopher Guest movie. It involves large group of slightly off people brought together by a very strange connection that the rest of the world scoffs at. In this case the characters are (mostly) united by their own experiences with an alien abduction. It’s a concept ripe for opportunity, but like a Guest film the line it has to walk is making it so we can laugh with the characters without feeling too badly about laughing at them. The problem is we don’t get to laugh enough.

The star of the show and driving force of the story is Ozzie Graham, played by Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show) in a role that fits him perfectly, as he gets to be quietly incredulous but still likable. Ozzie is a successful a journalist who writes an unflattering story about these people that he thinks are freaks, but who then quickly becomes a member after having his own questionable “experience.”

There isn’t a weak link to be found in the large cast (which includes personal favorites Nancy Lenehan, H. Jon Benjamin, Brian Huskey, and Oscar Nunez), and through the first four episodes almost everyone gets a moment to shine. The trade off is that you find yourself wanting more time with certain characters, like Ana Gasteyer, who plays the group’s leader, and feels not only underused but also somewhat misused (perhaps due to the sheer size of the cast). Her character, like most of the group, is so broken from life that she’s usually playing sad instead of getting to be funny.

Because for the most part the beginning of the show is about making us understand who these people are, some of whom recognize the sadness of their life, and some who still don’t recognize just how lonely they are. The balance between making us care about the people and making us laugh skews too much on the sad side and it’s a problem People of Earth will need to solve to get better as it goes forward. But the good news is there is promise, because the times when the show is laugh out loud funny are truly laudable, it’s just that those moments don’t involve the people of earth—rather the aliens in space.

Don’t worry, we’re not giving anything away that you can’t see in the trailer above. The show doesn’t take long to address whether or not the outrageous claims of the group members have any legitimacy anyway, and it is better for it. First, because we don’t have to worry about laughing at a bunch of lonely losers, but more importantly because the scenes that take place on the ship involving the three types of aliens discussed by the group (the Reptilians, the Greys, and the Whites) are the show’s best moments.

TheSE scenes there are like The Office meets Veep, but with language you can air on TBS. Actor Ken Hall, who plays “Jeff the Grey,” steals every scene he is in (too bad for him no one will know what he looks like under all that makeup), and while you don’t want to overdo them and ruin the fun with over-saturation, the difference in comedy between those moments and the moments back on earth do leave you eager to get away from the group.

There are also enough questions being raised by the show—beyond just what may have happened to the individual members—to give the writers plenty to play with going forward. The mystery of what the Reptilians are planning, who may or may not be what they say they are, Ozzie’s own history with aliens, and a potential revenge plot should mean they show doesn’t have to worry about going stale any time soon. There’s a freedom of strangeness that should be a lot of fun to explore.

It just needs to work on the balance between making us care about the actual people of earth and making us laugh. Once they find that, and there’s plenty of reasons to think they will since this isn’t the first time an ensemble show like this has had to find it’s footing, they should have a winner.

For now it just gets 2.5 burritos, but we’re coming back for seconds because we think the kitchen is figuring things out after a rough start:

What are you looking forward to with People of Earth? Tell us in the comments below.

Images: TBS

GIMME DANGER is the Rock Doc All Others Should Be (Review)

Depending on how the film is made, a compelling and engaging documentary could be made about any rock band. I like stories, and if the band members are interesting or quirky enough, there’s a movie to be made. But if the band happens to be one of the best and most important bands of the 20th Century, and if the people involved are truly weird and fascinating, and if the filmmaker is a true genius, then you get something like Gimme Danger, the story of Iggy Pop and The Stooges, directed by Jim Jarmusch. It’s a rock doc masterpiece.

Jarmusch is an indie film icon and has tackled a number of genres in his own inimitable style, from the vampire film (Only Lovers Left Alive) to the romantic comedy (Broken Flowers) to the gritty hitman movie (Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai). Not all of his movies hit, but more often than not they do. He’d made one rock documentary, the 1997 concert film The Year of the Horse which chronicled Neil Young’s 1996 tour, but that was only moderately well received. Gimme Danger is a full exploration of a band told through copious interviews and rare footage of the band performing. Since it’s The Stooges, you almost feel like the concert footage could have told the story on its own.

For those not already converts, the Stooges were an experimental, stripped-down rock band from Michigan who bridged the gap between the Velvet Underground’s meandering art rock and the birth of punk rock. Led by their frenetic lead singer Jim Osterberg (better known as Iggy Pop), the Stooges shot to the top of the hard rock scene and were very quickly left careening to the ground. Only producing three albums between 1969 and 1973, their influence was felt for decades after with their mix of crunching, distorted guitar and bass sounds, acid jazz noodling, and Pop’s high-energy, low-syllable singing. If you’ve not heard much of the Stooges, Gimme Danger will make you want to listen to nothing else for a good long while.

What makes Jarmusch’s take on the band so compelling is the way it starts as close to in media res as possible, with the band talking about their final, disastrous performances together in the mid ’70s and then hopping back to the beginning and exploring the end. Jarmusch wants us to know, from the opening few minutes, that the band imploded and that implosion is as important to their history as the music they made. Anecdotes are peppered in with animation and seeming digressions end up being part of the whole narrative of the piece. Since we know what eventually happened, we’re watching a rags to riches to rags type of story.

The band members themselves are endlessly fascinating and feel completely burnt out in a lot of ways, with Iggy Pop ironically seeming the least affected by the life, even though his descent into drug use is what caused much of the band’s turmoil. We learn about how each member fit in and why and how they learned to play the way they did. Initially, a group of dopers living the communal lifestyle, they eventually made experimental, heady thrash rock seem effortless in a difficult way.

Jarmusch himself appears only once, at the very beginning as he has Iggy introduce himself prior to the first interview piece, but you can feel his presence throughout, with his love of the band and their place in rock music history spilling out on every frame and through every story being told. This is a band that means something to him, and he makes it mean something to the audience.

I listened to the Stooges for a week straight following my viewing of Gimme Danger, and I’m guessing it’ll do the same for you. Search out this movie…and destroy.

4.5 out of 5 Burritos

Image: Magnolia Pictures

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

What Does WARCRAFT Lukewarm Yak Roast Broth Taste Like? We Found Out

In World of Warcraft it’s eat or perish! If you’re feeding the Horde, or the Alliance for that matter, the best thing to do is to get the official World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook and create a true Azerothian feast.

What I love most about this cookbook is that it stays true to the mythology and details of the game. Author Chelsea Monroe-Cassel does a great job in making sure that the food not only feels like it’s straight out of Azeroth but the recipes are simple and doable.

I decided to create my own quest and recreate the recipe for Lukewarm Yak Roast Broth. The title sounds less than appetizing but after a quick perusal of the instructions I saw there were fewer than ten ingredients and that beef chuck roast was the substitution for yak, so I was all in. The cooking time is between two and three hours, but since that’s mostly undisturbed on the stove top it’s perfect timing to start and finish a raid and be back for dinner.

I loved this recipe, it was simple to prepare and had great flavor and texture even with minimal ingredients. The soup was reminiscent of the game but is easily something I’d prepare for dinner any day of the week.

My notes:

-After many hours of boiling, the leeks become almost nonexistent. If you want that beautiful green color as shown in the book photo, chop up an extra leek and add it in at the last ten minutes of cooking time.

-I doubled the amount of pasta because I wanted it to be more of a beef noodle soup. Plus who doesn’t want more pasta in their lives.

-You will definitely benefit from cooking it for the full three hours. Any less and the meat remains a little bit too toothsome.

Lukewarm Yak Roast Broth

Ingredients:

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 leek, washed and chopped small

-1 pound beef chick roast

-12 cups water

-1/2 cup soy sauce

-1/2 cup mushrooms

-1 handful fettuccine, pasta, broken in half

-Salt and pepper, to taste

-Dash of Sriracha sauce, to taste

-Hard-boiled egg (optional)

(Reposted with permission from Insight Editions)

Combine all ingredients except the mushrooms and pasta in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer.

Cook for 2 to 3 hours, until the meat starts to fall apart. Remove from heat temporarily and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces with a pair of forks.

Return to heat, then add the mushrooms and reduce the heat to low.

In a separate pot, boil salted water and cook the pasta (if the pasta is cooked in the main pot, it will absorb too much of the broth) until the pasta is tender, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Drain the pasta, then add to the main pot. Ladle into bowls and serve. Top with a hard-boiled egg sliced in half (optional).

Images: Jenn Fujikawa, Insight Editions

STRANGER THINGS Meets PEANUTS in MERRY CHRISTMAS, WILL BYERS

It’s only been about four months since Stranger Things dropped on Netflix and became the pop culture sensation of 2016, and in that brief amount of time, we’ve seen a metric ton of parodies and homages. We’ve gone from the awesome (Stranger Things 8-bit video game!) to the super awesome (nothing will ever beat Stranger Pugs. Nothing. Because PUGS). Having said that, the pugs might be given a run for their money with this latest Stranger Things mash-up.

Thanks to the folks at Polygon, we’ve learned that filmmakers Leigh Lahav and Oren Mendez have reimagined the cast of Stranger Things as Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang in the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas with Merry Christmas, Will Byers. Hey, since the actual series ended around Christmas 1983, this is kind of/sort of in continuity with the series, so extra nerd points go to the filmmakers here. It should be noted, this isn’t the first time someone has made the Peanuts/Stranger Things connection, but it is the first time someone has animated it.

The new short film follows Will Byers, cast in the traditional mopey Charlie Brown role, recently rescued from the Upside Down. But he’s now having a hell of a time getting into the whole Christmas thing. Being trapped in a scary-ass alternate dimension will do that to a person.

In order to try and get into the Christmas spirit, Will seeks advice from his friends like Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Eleven, Steve Harrington, and even his mother Joyce. We don’t actually see Winona Ryder’s character here, but as fans of Peanuts know, adults are not to be seen, only heard…and only heard making “wah-wah-wah” sounds. And in keeping with Peanuts traditions, there is, of course, a random goofy dance sequence. You can watch the entire short film in the video above.

What do you think of this latest Stranger Things parody? Best one yet, or does Stranger Pugs still rule the roost? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Image: Leigh Lahav and Oren Mendez

Fan-Made Imperial Probe Droid Drone Brings THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Home

The vehicles and droids of the Star Wars universe lend themselves well to drones, but this is the first time that we’ve seen a drone turned into an Imperial Probe Droid from The Empire Strikes Back. With this thing flying around in the living room, “it’s a good bet that the Empire knows we’re here!”

A YouTube user calling himself ajw61185 posted a video of his homemade Imperial Probe Droid in flight, which is set to some of John William’s music from Empire. All it’s missing is the sound effect for the Probe’s Imperial signal. The drone’s creator even makes a cosplay cameo in the video as a Rebel riding a Tauntaun.

“This is a build I’ve had on the back burner for a while,” wrote ajw61185 in the video’s description. “It’s based on the same quad I used for the Falcon 9 build (the Blade Inductrix) and is built entirely from 3mm depron foam. The whole body weighs about 50g, and the drone flies reasonably well indoors. Landing is a bit of a challenge, but I made break away mounts for the legs, in case I miss a hand catch.”

The creator also noted that he only builds his Star Wars inspired drones for fun, so this is definitely not for sale. On his YouTube channel, he has posted several original Star Wars inspired drones. But we were particularly taken by his speeder bike drones, straight out of Return of the Jedi.

What do you think about this fan’s Star Wars inspired drone creations? Use the Force in the comment section below!

Image: ajw61185