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MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: Ghost Rider Fights Fire with Fire

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.! Proceed with caution, agents. If you haven’t yet watched this week’s episode, “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire”, we highly suggest you do so before proceeding. Okay? We good? Then let’s go.

This week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. furthers the fourth season’s ongoing plots concerning AIDA and the Watchdogs, and it gives Daisy an opportunity to rejoin Coulson and co. for the first time since last year. But make no mistake — most of this is just preamble to the sight of two guys with a lot of attitude and similar pyrokinetic powers unleashing holy hell on one another in a building chock full of explosives. I am more than okay with this.

The politics and strategizing of the last few weeks’ episodes are left aside this time around — as is S.H.I.E.L.D.’s new Inhuman Director and Mack’s on-again, off-again relationship with Yo-Yo. That’s probably for the best. S.H.I.E.L.D. sometimes falters when it dwells too long on any one subplot instead of being the zippy action show it was always meant to be, and its commentary on real-world events is best offered in small doses lest it grow stale and tiresome. We do wind up getting a little romance this week with FitzSimmons and their happy househunting, as well as a little bit of G-rated romantic farce when Simmons finally meets AIDA, whom Fitz has been crushing on, and Fitz believes she’s discovered his feelings towards the AI — only to sigh with relief when it turns out his girlfriend is too preoccupied with admiring AIDA as a feat of engineering to notice her boyfriend’s reaction.

Her feelings are understandable. Mallory Jansen is pretty terrific in the role, which is about as far as possible from her last gig in an ABC show (that of the scheming Queen Madalena in the musical comedy Galavant). Here, her performance recalls Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Data and Star Trek: Voyager‘s Seven of Nine, with a healthy dollop of Ex Machina‘s Ava. Though she’s a bit more naive than her predecessors, she’s a fast learner. So it won’t be long before she grows tired of being cooped up in Radcliffe’s lab, and the rest of the team discover his and Fitz’s ruse. Will AIDA eventually join S.H.I.E.L.D.? If she proves half as good at kicking ass as she is at treating patients, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.

In the bromance department… Coulson and Mack again steal the show, even if they’re operating without Fitz this week. I’ve said it before, but Clark Gregg just seems so much more relaxed and energized with his character once more out in the field. He’s more like the character we first fell in love with back in Iron Man than at any point in this show’s run. We even get to see Coulson in his suit and tie again when he visits Robbie’s uncle in prison, and his demeanor recalls old times to the point where I was half expecting him to call on Tony Stark next. I’d really have no problem if Jason O’Mara’s Mace was made S.H.I.E.L.D.’s director for life. If it means more quips and high-speed chases with Lola, count me in.

Another favorite relationship is renewed this week with Daisy and Jemma. It’s a delight to watch the former’s surprise when she learns her old pal is now the big boss of her division, and as capable as she herself is of tossing out the rule book and going with her gut. (Her marksmanship has also improved.)

Daisy’s relationship with Robbie is also working right now, and that’s something I never said about any of her past love interests. Her relationships with Ward and Lincoln felt much more plot driven than the connection she’s forged with the man inside the Rider. Both of them, it turns out, are shaped by feelings of guilt, revenge, and more than a hint of masochism. Which means the sex, if in fact it eventually happens, should be off the charts.

Yet, again, it’s really the chance to see Robbie light up in a fireworks warehouse than makes “Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire” work so well — and do so as transparently as it does, with Mack pointing out the absurd chances of seeing “two fire dudes dropped into a warehouse full of fireworks.” The treacherous Inhuman James goes down pretty quickly, but Robbie leaves him alive, igniting my hope for a rematch. The Ghost Rider, however, will soon face far bigger threats in the form of the Darkhold’s devotees. We’ve already seen how the book can influence people. Now in all likelihood we’ll get witness the power behind that influence.

Declassified Deliberations

— “You were always a sucker for a breakfast nook.” In all fairness, who isn’t?!

— “We had to very gently…kill you.” Radcliffe is just way too cocky to be on the same team as May for very long.

— Remember when we thought Lola would be a much bigger thing than she turned out to be? But if sacrificing her flight capability is the price we pay for seeing her more often, then keep that lady grounded. Between Robbie’s Charger and Coulson’s candy-apple red convertible, “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire” is positively indecent in its car porn.

— There’s a nifty little Easter egg this week in the “Red Skull” rocket that’s advertised on the outside of James’ fireworks store.

— “I get to keep his car, right? Isn’t that how this works?”

What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter (@JMaCabre).

Featured Image: Marvel/Disney/ABC

Images: Marvel/Disney/ABC

CHANNEL ZERO: CANDLE COVE Recap: “I’ll Hold Your Hand”

Editor’s Note: This is a recap, which means it’s full of spoilers! Don’t read if you haven’t watched this episode of Channel Zero: Candle Cove!

The first episode of Syfy‘s new anthology horror series Channel Zero: Candle Cove started creepy and stayed that way, but this week’s episode, “I’ll Hold Your Hand,” took a much different approach—one that led to a far less frightening installment, but that should pay bigger dividends down the line.

The constant unsettling tone of the premiere was absent for most of this episode, with the over-sized pirate puppet and the Tooth Child coming across as weird far more than they felt scary (though those long shots of Mike walking in the abandoned cement factory felt very ominous). However, it didn’t seem like a letdown by episode’s end so much as a conscious and deliberate decision to make us care about the people involved. Because although the episode felt slow moving for the first half, it was clear by the time Marla was sitting on the floor, sobbing after they found Eddie’s (strangely preserved) body, that this was an hour designed to make sure we care about the real consequences of these horrible events, no matter how surreal they may be.

Seeing the Yolan family deal with Katie trying to disembowel her brother and Marla having to face the reality of not only Eddie’s death, but also the revelation that Mike was the one who killed him, added a human touch to the proceedings that wasn’t there last week. Fiona Shaw, who many of you will always think of as Aunt Petunia from Harry Potter, was especially empathetic and powerful throughout. We only know this world as a bizarre horror mystery worth trying to untangle, but for her it’s been almost 30 years of pain and loss. When you have a Tooth Child walking around it can be tough to get invested on an emotional level, but she, and the episode, managed to make us feel real pathos.

That should make the rest of the short season (only four episodes left!) a little more meaningful, since we’ll be invested in the people involved in the mystery as much as we are in the mystery itself. And it wasn’t like the strange on goings were ignored. The Tooth Child, who ended the episode by being fed by Marla’s friend—meaning he/she/it is very real—also managed to show up in Katie’s hospital room. And the TV station manager, who not only had seen Candle Cove years ago but made some cat-filled fan-fic for it, was the creepiest part of the episode.

Then of course there was Paul Schneider’s Mike Painter, who confirmed something the show hinted at in the premiere: namely, that he killed his brother and buried him in the woods. For someone who seemed like a victim before, now it’s unclear if Mike himself was the evil twin, and not Eddie. That makes things much scarier, since we might be following the villain and not the hero.

This wasn’t an episode that was really scary, just bizarre, but it did advance the overall mystery that really drives the entire show and makes it interesting (the dialogue was also vastly improved, with only the whole “your teeth is part of your skeleton” line evoking an eye roll), as well as adding a whole new dynamic to Mike’s true motives for returning. But where it sacrificed scaring us, it made it so we care about the people these things are happening to.

Everyone on the show has secrets, Marla is hiding something, Gary is currently driving Mike somewhere besides the police station, and Mike knows much more about what happened in 1988 than he is letting on. Going forward it will be better if we care about more than just the answers to those secrets, it will be better if we care about the people holding them.

What did you think of this week’s episode? You have to go in…..to the comments section below to tell us what you think.

Images: Syfy

Queen’s Fast Version of “We Will Rock You” Should Be the Band’s New Old Single

It doesn’t get much tougher than trying to cover a Queen song. Beyond the monumental task of having to live up to Freddie Mercury’s vocals, arguably the greatest in pop music history, the songs themselves are among some of the best, most beloved, most distinct in rock ‘n’ roll history. But this incredible uptempo version of the band’s iconic song “We Will Rock You” manages to pull off the impossible, by making us wonder if it might even be better than the original one we know so well.

Of course, it helps that Queen themselves recorded it in 1977.

We learned about this very rare, and totally kick ass version done by the band at Rolling Stone, and it is part of Queen’s upcoming, 24-song release of tracks they recorded at the BBC during six sessions from 1973 to 1977. Although the band played this fast version in concert, this appears to be the only time they recorded it in studio.

The anthem-esque album version of “We Will Rock You” that we know is much more under control, exuding the confidence of a rallying cry, whereas this fast version feels much more frantic and exciting, like a punk song that wants to get you moving instead of singing along. Mercury’s vocals in the choruses particularly stand out, but we’ll take that guitar solo anytime we need a musical adrenaline shot to the heart.

No wonder they liked playing this version live.

Queen on Air: The Complete BBC Sessions, “meticulously restored by Queen engineer Kris Fredriksson and mastered by Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan,” comes out on November 4, but you can pre-order it now here at the band’s site.

What version do you like better? What does this fast take remind you of? We’d be royally indebted to you if you shared your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: Queen Official

SAMURAI IRON MAN, SUICIDE SQUAD JOKER Headline Bandai Tamashii Nations’ 2017 Line-Up

We were hoping they weren’t just one-offs, and Tamashii Nations has rewarded that faith.

Like many other companies, Bandai‘s collector-focused sub-brand obtained rights to Suicide Squad figures, but until now, had announced only one: Harley Quinn. Likewise, their Samurai Spider-Man was a thing of beauty, yet for a while there was no indication that he’d be joined by any amazing friends. Well, it’s time to give them some company.

Joker comes ready to stand next to his kinda-sorta lady love, complete with alternate hands and heads (laughing and serious), all colored by a digital process so precise it even distinctively colors his pupils. Plus he has two pink guns, because this Joker doesn’t kid around about blowing your head off.

Iron Man, redesigned in the aesthetic of feudal Japan, includes a steampunk-esque backpack and flintlock cannons. He also comes with alternate hands, and a katana for swordfights with Samurai Spidey.

Tamashii Nations’ samurai aesthetic will also be bringing us a feudal era Star Wars Stormtrooper archer–but we’ve covered him in-depth before. Joker’s practically a steal for a high-end import figure at $59.99, while Iron Man, with his more detailed paint apps and intricate breastplate scrollwork, is more in line with his buddy Spider-Man at $91.99. Preorders start now at many of your favorite online retailers, for deliver by March of 2017.

And that’s not all. Also starting preorders are chibi-style Power Rangers figures of the Mighty Morphin Red Ranger, Pink Ranger, and Lord Zedd; the High-Metal R Dougram from Fang of the Sun Dougram, with pilot figures, opening cockpit, and diecast parts; The FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam based on the ’80s incarnation of the model series; a Saint Seiya figure/diorama set of Sagittarius Aiolos that comes with two cute baby accessory figurines; and a 20-inch Kaleidomoon Scope prop replica from Sailor Moon. You can get closer looks at all of them in our image gallery below.

Are you ready for a new year of amazing toys? Tell us what you think in comments.

Images: Bandai/Bluefin

Kid’s STAR WARS Tauntaun Costume is Beyond Wizard

You know those mugs and t-shirts that say, “Best Mom/Dad in the World?” Well you have to stop buying them for your own parents now because those titles have officially been bestowed on this father and mother who built a functioning Halloween costume for their young son of Luke Skywalker riding a tauntaun from The Empire Strikes Back.

In a short video uploaded to their YouTube channel Darth Porkins, the two parents proudly watch as their son walks around, looking like he’s really riding a tauntaun. What’s even better is that this is a “completely handmade costume,” that looks like it was professionally made. Look at how accurate it is compared to Luke from Star Wars.

The only major difference seems to be in the color of the horns, and a lack of ice. However, we imagine he won’t be trick-or-treating on Hoth so this is probably an accurate look for riding one around in your kitchen. Also, we are fairly confident this Halloween costume version smells a heck of a lot better than the real thing.

So sure your parents might have been the best in the world before, but now they’ll have to settle for being second best. That is unless they can make you your very own incredible Star Wars costume before October 31st.

How can they top this though? An Obi-Wan riding a Boga from Revenge of the Sith costume? What other ideas from Star Wars would you like to see this mom and dad team make for their son next Halloween? Journey into our comments below to give us your best ideas.

Let’s talk about Rogue One‘s latest trailer!

Images: Darth Porkins/Lucasfilm

Nerdist Podcast: Rick Astley

Rick Astley (musician) chats with Chris about returning to music after retiring for a few years, starting out in music at such a young age and he talks about driving across the US. Rick then talks about his quick rise to success, how Rickrolling became a thing and his new album 50!

Image: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty

THE LOST CITY OF Z is a Dazzling Epic About the Black Hole of “Great Man”-ness (NYFF Review)

The shadow of Don Quixote looms large over the 400 years of fiction in its wake, endowing the great men of the page, stage, and screen with that impossible dream in which to found their worth. From this tradition, we’ve gotten characters like The Lost City of Z‘s Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), the turn-of-the-20th century British Army’s equivalent of a middle management milquetoast who vies for bigger and better things. While on an especially non-glorious mapping expedition up the Amazon River, Percy glimpses his unreachable star: hints of an ancient city buried deep in the jungles of Brazil, yet undiscovered by mankind.

…Scratch that—yet undiscovered by white people, a qualifier that even the contemporaneously progressive Percy seems willing to brush under the rug. It is by virtue alone of the aid and knowledge of an enslaved tribesman that Percy is even made aware of the lost city to whose conquest he thereafter becomes irreparably bound.

Thus ensues the duality of stories inherent to Percy’s quest to follow that star. After earning the endorsement of the powers that be back home (who, though impelled to scoff at the possibility of a so-called savage race beating the Brits to the punch of advanced civilization, are hardly a tough sell on seeing one of their own lay claim to the majesty of such a potential discovery*), Percy and his chosen crewmen set off on a bushland adventure that is as visually enchanting as it is ceaselessly eerie. The most prominent fixture of the team is Robert Pattinson, who mines more than his share of charm out of less than his share of dialogue as Percy’s navigator Mr. Costin, a wry and somewhat cavalier foil to the self-serious soldier.

But then there’s the other side of the narrative. The deeper Percy travails into the bottomless pit of his journey, the more of the world outside of it fades to black. We see this most vividly in Percy’s wife Nina (Sienna Miller) and son Jack (Tom Holland), whose early dissent from the patriarch’s exclusive obsession are themselves swallowed up into the establishment of masculine grandeur that he comes to embody.

In weaving these two pieces together, The Lost City of Z becomes a tour de force in holding Golden Age cinema up to the standards of modern psychology. No excitement is expensed from the film’s rejection of the lionization that has historically been afforded to men and missions like Percy and his. Every moment spent silently skulking through the South American wilderness is soaked in unsettling tension; every reckoning with strange and dangerous worlds deep inside that jungle is like a bona fide adventure of the viewer’s own.

But these majesties never forgive Percy, his world, or the novels, plays, and films that have heralded his society their transgressions. Though enthralled by his choices, we are all the more pained and infuriated by them, over and over again. Still, The Lost City of Z does understand its so-called hero, and those who’ve paved the way for the heroism he’ll forever be celebrated for. But it refuses to get caught up in that tradition, capping Percy’s story not with an exclamation point, but with an asterisk.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Featured Image: Amazon Studios/Bleecker Street

Michael Arbeiter is the East Coast Editor of Nerdist. Find him on Twitter @MichaelArbeiter.

 

Reggie Watts Talks Bacon, Being a Late Night Bandleader, and Paperclips

A typical scene on The Late Late Show with James Corden: Corden has his celebrity guests on the couch, and in the flow of conversation, somebody says something funny, funny enough to elicit laughter. The guests laugh, Corden laughs, the audience laughs, and when the camera switches over the bandleader Reggie Watts, he’s laughing as well, but he’s also eating a salad, right in the middle of a popular, nationally televised late night talk show.

It’s a perfect combination of three of his talents and interests (music, comedy, food), all of which are on display in his newest endeavor, “The Reggie Watts Bacon Experience” (which can be seen above).

In the most basic of terms, it’s a 90-second video (made in partnership with Hormel Black Label Bacon) that showcases a quick, fun song he made which samples the sizzles, crunches, and other bacon sounds for a culinary and aural experience.

“I went into the studio with my friend Steve, and we created a really fun track that we added the samples to later,” Watts told us. “I approached the project with a lot of enthusiasm about the samples, and thought it would be a good challenge to use the samples of bacon and make a song out of it.”

It’s a fun and goofy time, yet the reason it works is because musically, like the rest of Watts’ work, it’s catchy and engaging enough to stand on its own merits. His ability to improvise and adapt is a huge part of why he’s become arguably the most versatile and talented bandleader in late night television.

“I didn’t want to be like one of the other bands, so there was that concern,” Watts said. “When I went into it, I wanted to make sure it was fully improvised, and they gave me all the leeway I needed to create the music for the show, so it’s a great situation. I took the things I learned, how to do what I do, and mix it in with a sort of quasi-traditional talk show television format. What I’ve learned is how to refine that process and make it as easy as possible for everybody.”

Aside from figuring out the role of him and his bandmates in their interactions with each other as a cohesive unit, there was also the question of how to incorporate a personality as vibrant as Watts into the non-musical elements of the show. Whether it’s Fred Armisen on Late Night with Seth Meyers or Jon Batiste on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, it’s becoming increasingly common that the bandleader is a regular character on the program, but Watts and Corden take that dynamic a step further.

“James, from the beginning, didn’t think of me as a sidekick, he thought of as more of a co-star, which was nice of them, to look at it that way,” Watts said. “In that regard, I think it still looks like a sidekick position, but at least show-wise, theoretically, it’s a bit more like a co-star. I feel like I’m equally responsible for what I do as James is for what he does.”

So aside from providing The Late Late Show‘s musical elements, Reggie also actively participates in sketches and bits, a favorite being Reggie’s Question, during which he asks one or multiple guests a bizarre query seemingly in an attempt to catch them off guard and see how well they can improvise. We decided to ask Watts a question of our own and see how he’d handle being on the other side: Do you think it’s ethical for a paperclip to hold documents of varying importance together, like a life insurance policy and a garage sale flyer, or does that not sit well with you?

“Well, paperclips are capable of much more than that, and that’s something I’m very aware of, because obviously, they’re used to open locks, simple locks, handcuffs, things of that nature,” he responded. “Or they can be used in an art project, as a stamp or something. I just don’t like them being so limited, but other than that, I’m quite happy.”

Watts’ new Netflix special Spatial, begins streaming on December 6. He described it to us thusly: “It’s going to be probably one of the worst specials ever experienced. I designed it to be just slow and terrible, so hopefully it’ll get received that way, with the possibility that people might think, ‘Oh, this is a pretty normal special,’ but I guess we’re going to have to see.”

Images: Hormel Foods

Werner Herzog’s INTO THE INFERNO Trailer is Sublime and Scary as Hell

Imagine taking a tour of the world’s molten and fiery underground, and then imagine who you’d want as your tour guide. Did Werner Herzog, a filmmaker with a German accent as thick as the forests through which he machetes his own path immediately pop into mind? Yeah, he did for us too. Which is great news because the ‘zog himself is coming out with a new documentary about volcanoes, and it looks—insert Herzog voice—eek-splosive.

The first look at the film titled Into the Inferno comes via Entertainment Weekly, and gives us a glimpse at a documentary that Herzog says will explore both the scientific side and “the magical side” of volcanoes, “no matter how strange things might eventually get.” And Herzog, whose filmography includes fiction features like the legendary Fitzcarraldo and documentaries like Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, is definitely willing to go deep into the strangeness.

For the documentary, Herzog teamed up with “esteemed volcanologist” Clive Oppenheimer, and the pair traveled all over the world to get up close and personal not only with some gargantuan lava spewers but also with esoteric and sometimes forbidden cultures. Herzog and Oppenheimer, for example, traveled into North Korea for the documentary, which we all know really doesn’t dig foreign film crews (except for that time Conan O’Brien went; that worked out OK).

“Into the Inferno is vintage Herzog,” says Netflix, “offering extraordinary locales, outré characters, improbable stories and, through it all, a chance to go deep inside a mesmerizing subject and emerge with new understanding.” Plus there seems to be a sweet synth score that’s very reminiscent of Stranger Things. So between the visuals and the music in the trailer, it literally looks and sounds like we can’t lose with this one.

Into the Inferno erupts on Netflix on October 28.

What do you think about this latest Herzog documentary? Are you all fired up, or is your curiosity on the subject still dormant? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Netflix

Leonardo DiCaprio to Take Pollution Down to Zero with CAPTAIN PLANET Movie

Eco-villains beware, it looks like 1990s-obsessed fans may eventually be able to feast their eyes on a Captain Planet and the Planeteers movie, courtesy of everyone’s favorite real life environmental superhero, Leonardo DiCaprio!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount and Appian Way, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, are in talks to bring everyone’s favorite green-mulleted superhero to the big screen. The studio is currently angling for the rights to the classic 1990s animated series, and is eyeing the writing duo of Scream Queens and Everybody Wants Some!! star Glen Powell and Jono Matt to the script.

The most fascinating aspect about this news is what could be done with the story. As cited by The Hollywood Reporter article, “the story takes place years after the adventures of the show, with the Captain now a washed-up has-been who needs the kids more than they need him.” Logically, we know a remake of the series in its original form wouldn’t necessarily work for today’s cinematic audiences, and although “darker” stories don’t always work, it’s fun to think where this idea could lead.

Environmental causes are in the forefront of most news cycles these days so there’s definitely some intriguing thoughts to be had. If it’s set in modern day, will the big baddie be climate change? Will Andy Serkis play a eerily lifelike, CG-animated version of Verminous Skumm? Do the over-the-top eco-villains have much evil-doing to do these days with the current state of things? Are they even necessary? Since it’s years later, does that mean we’re looking at thirtysomething Planeteers? (If anything, that’d mitigate Hollywood’s trend of trying to cast thirtysomethings as high schoolers.) What do you do with a magic elemental ring if you’re not stopping Hoggish Greedly on a daily basis? Or perhaps most important of all, will Don Cheadle reprise his role as the captain?

We’re guessing “no” on that last question, but we can’t wait to see how this news unfolds.

What hopes do you have for the Captain Planet film? Who would you cast as the Planeteers? Lets discuss in the comments below!

Image: Warner Bros./DIC Entertainment