Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2323

Cinefix Knows ‘It’s All in the Hips’ in Their 8-Bit HAPPY GILMORE

Of the many, many reasons to love the folks over at Cinefix, their 8-Bit Cinema series might take first place. Their videos have delighted us for quite some time and we’d love to be able to see any film in this style. Thankfully they keep cranking them out so their library of videogamed (totally a verb) movies continues to grow. Not ones to just re-make the popular films of today, they occasionally go back and re-imagine a comedy classic like their latest: Happy Gilmore.

A recent article on Entertainment Weekly focused our gaze on the 8-bit Sandler flick (no, not Pixels) and we couldn’t be happier with what Cinefix has produced. As with all their “8-bit” shorts (yes, we know, some are closer to 16-bit), the film is recreated in classic video game graphics and ends up looking like it could have been a halfway decent game back in the day. A mixture of sporting event style gaming with side-scrolling adventure fighting, we follow Happy as he hits (literally in most cases) the major plot points of the film. We see his story arc from failed hockey player to successful golfer unfold in under three minutes in various stages, from exacting revenge on the alligator that ate Chubbs’ hand to taking the beating of a lifetime from Bob Barker.

With each stage completed, Happy wins his Grandma’s house back from the evil 8-bit Shooter McGavin, and we’re treated to a shot of the unfortunate kid who thought he was tough enough to take Happy’s same batting cage training barrage. Our only gripe with this video is how they decided to go with a midi version of “More Today Than Yesterday” for the end credits, instead of how the movie really ended with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone.”

What’s your favorite 8-bit Cinema? What other Sandler movies would you like to see in this format? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: Cinefix

BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS to Get a Theatrical Release

This past summer, Batfans got to see one of the Dark Knight’s most controversial tales brought to life in animated form with the release of The Killing Joke. It was the latest in the line of DC’s popular animated films, and it was among the very few to receive a limited theatrical release. Based on that success, DC and Warner Brothers will be doing the same with their next animated feature. Going from one extreme to another, DC this October will take us back to the world of the 1966 TV series with the release of Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.

Screenrant reports that after its world premiere at NYCC on October 6th, the movie will have a one-night engagement in theaters on October 10th with times at 2:00, 7:00, and 10:00. The movie will be released on Digital HD the following day, and released on Blu-Ray November 1.

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders will feature the voices of Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar reprising their iconic roles as Batman, Robin, and Catwoman respectively. Other voice actors will fill in for the rest of the Rogues Gallery: Joker, Penguin, and Riddler.

This movie looks great for quite a few reasons, as it strives to capture the camp and earnestness of the original series that made it so special. For kids, it was one of the greatest action shows on TV. For adults, it was one of the funniest sitcoms. What I am looking forward to the most is that we may finally get a glimpse of how they get their costumes on while sliding down the Batpoles. Physically impossible (at our current level of technology, anyway), but still pretty cool.

So what do you think? Are you excited for the return of Adam West and Burt Ward as the Dynamic Duo? Let me know on Twitter on sound off at the same bat-time, same bat-channel in the comments below.

Images: Warner Home Video

A MONSTER CALLS Is a Good Kid’s Story, and Not Much Else (Review)

A Monster Calls is a mash-up of two reasonably effective films–a weepy cancer drama and an animated children’s fantasy–that never quite adds up to an effective whole. Describing the film’s plot and its origins makes it seems so rich with emotional meaning that it must be a can’t-miss project, yet it does miss, frustratingly so. The film is based on a novel by Patrick Ness and “inspired by an original idea by Siobhan Dowd.” The latter conceived of the idea when afflicted with terminal cancer, and she died before she could write it. While she and Ness have some real wisdom to pass on to parents and children in similar situations, it never evolves beyond the instructional phase.  A Monster Calls is painted in poetry but written in prose.

The film is set in England, where Connor (Lewis Macdougall), a quiet young lad, is getting it from all sides. He’s being bullied at school, and things are even worse at home: His mother (Felicity Jones) is suffering from terminal cancer, and the latest round of treatment hasn’t worked. With her ex-husband thousands of miles away in California, arrangements for him must be made elsewhere. She speaks in hushed tones to his strict grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) about moving him into her home, but Connor isn’t having it. He pushes back against any notion of a permanent change, making the inevitable even more painful than it already is.

Like many troubled boys before him, he finds respite in art. He loses himself in his fantastic drawings, coloring over the written lessons in his school textbooks and making quick, fancy work of blank pages at home. One night, he draws a magnificent tree come to life, and moments later, well, it does. The Monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) emerges, transformed from an enormous tree in Connor’s yard, and he strikes up a threatening, friendly relationship with the boy.

The Monster, a figment of Connor’s imagination, is vague in his intentions. He’s imposing and violent, but he never seems to mean the boy any harm. That’s because his purpose is to tell Connor the truth that he can’t admit to himself off the page, and the truth is both cathartic and dangerous. He spins yarns about bloodthirsty kings and slain princesses, and each of them comes with a twist to highlight life’s complicated nature. The corrupt king is actually a benevolent ruler, and a greedy apothecary is a good healer. And just in case the message wasn’t clear through the visually-inspired telling–they are gorgeously animated in watercolor brilliance–The Monster explicitly lays out the moral of each story to Connor moments after he’s done telling it. “Life is complicated,” he too plainly tells him.

It’s this on-the-nose storytelling that prevents A Monster Calls, which has much to recommend otherwise, from ever transcending its clunky structure. The film by director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible) is psychologically astute and emotionally rich, but it makes everything too clear and doesn’t allow for any of the real mysteries of life and death to shine through.  The casting of Neeson is a perfect example. He might seem like a clever choice, but his menacing persona has veered into caricature of late, and his performance is far too obvious to be effective.

And yet I assume it will be effective for its intended audience of children like Connor, who is “too old to be a boy and too young to be a man.” For those kids who lock into its frequency, A Monster Calls could be a film that changes their lives. For the rest of us, it’s a very admirable failure.

Rating: 2 junior-sized burritos out of 5

Featured image: Focus/Universal

Does Ben Affleck’s Batman Need A Robin? Ryan Potter Seems To Think So

In the past few days there’s been quite the buzz about Ben Affleck’s upcoming solo Batman film. It’s been reported that Magic Mike and True Blood actor Joe Manganiello will be playing the villainous Deathstroke, which has us quite excited for what that could mean for the franchise. Imagine how brutal the fight scenes will be between Bats and Deathstroke, considering the unbridled fury Affleck’s Batman already displayed against street-level thugs in BVS. It makes us wonder if this Batman needs a reality check, but with Alfred on board with his tactics and Jason Todd’s Robin already dead at the hands of Joker, who’s going to help him? Well, Ryan Potter has some thoughts.

A recent post on io9 featured the video above, of actor and martial artist Ryan Potter (Big Hero 6) kicking some stunt guy ass in what turns out to be the best job application we’ve ever seen. After dispatching his assailants, Potter addresses the camera with a message directly for Ben Affleck stating quite perfectly “Hey Ben, like Tim said: ‘Batman needs a Robin.'” Frankly, we here at Nerdist couldn’t agree more. This needs to happen.

The Tim that Potter quotes is, of course, Tim Drake who became the third iteration of Robin in the comics and later went on to lead the Teen Titans. In the DCU, Drake had deduced the identities of Bruce Wayne’s Batman and Dick Grayson’s Robin and years later joined in the caped crusades after realizing Bats had become reckless and more violent after Joker murdered Jason Todd. While there’s no telling if Robin will be a part of the solo Batman film that Affleck is directing, his addition would make perfect sense for what we’ve already seen in Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The Batman we saw was extremely violent and fairly sadistic with that bat-brand of his, and Jason Todd was probably the dead Robin whose costume we saw, so having Tim Drake help him find his moral compass would definitely add some much-needed depth to the DC cinematic universe.

Since it puts all of our LinkedIn profiles to shame, we sure hope Potter’s audition makes its way to Affleck and it sways him to have Robin join him on the big screen.

What do you think of this audition tape? Does Batman need a Robin in the movies? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: Force Storm Ent.

Speaking of Deathstroke…We’ve been speaking of Deathstroke!

STAR WARS REBELS Will Bring Katee Sackhoff Back From the CLONE WARS

Throughout the first two seasons of Star Wars Rebels, Dave Filoni and the rest of the creative team have been slowly reintroducing characters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. And it looks like Battlestar Galactica‘s Katee Sackhoff will be one of the next Clone War veterans to reprise her role from that series in Star Wars Rebels season 3!

Via Comic Book Movie and Sci-fi Central Australia, Sackoff reportedly told the crowd at the Sydney Comic-Con that she has already recorded her lines for Bo-Katan Kryze, the Mandalorian warrior she portrayed in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (Nerdist has reached out to Disney XD for confirmation, but we have not yet received it.) Naturally, this report is going to lead to speculation about a connection between Bo-Katan and Sabine, the fan-favorite Mandalorian character who is slated to have a much bigger role this season. Last season confirmed that Sabine was tied to Death Watch, the Mandalorian splinter group which Bo-Katan played a key part in.

Assuming the report is accurate, there’s no way to be sure where Bo-Katan’s allegiance will be in the new era. During her final storyline in The Clone Wars, Bo-Katan was among the members of Death Watch who broke with the group after Darth Maul seized control of it. While she aligned herself with Obi-Wan Kenobi against Maul, she could still side with the Empire. But Bo-Katan’s most likely side will be her own.

In other Star Wars Rebels news, JediBibliothek has leaked the names and air dates of the first six episodes of the season:

01-02: “Steps into Shadow, Parts 1 & 2” – USA: 24/09/2016

03: “The Holocrons of Fate” – USA: 10/01/2016

04: “The Antilles Extraction” – USA: 10/08/2016

05: “Hera’s Heroes” – USA: 15/10/2016

06: “The Last Battle” – USA: 10/22/2016

Given what we know about the new season from the trailers, it seems safe to assume that episode 3 will feature the return of Maul, while episode 4 will introduce Wedge Antillies and other defectors from the Imperial Academy.

Star Wars Rebels season 3 officially begins on Saturday, September 24 on Disney XD.

Are you excited about the return of Bo-Katan? How do you think she will be connected with Sabine? Share your theories in the comment section below!

Image: Lucasfilm

ARRIVAL Is the Smartest Potential Blockbuster Since THE DARK KNIGHT (Review)

It’s dangerous to say an alien movie achieves any level of realism. That is, we won’t know which ones are realistic until the aliens show up in real life and confirm it. With that caveat, Arrival feels like an uncommonly realistic alien invasion movie, if only because it understands a simple fact of life often misunderstood by Hollywood: few of life’s biggest mysteries can be understood through conventional thinking. Too many alien movies assume that our interplanetary visitors will look, sound, and communicate like some gnarled version of ourselves. Arrival rewrites the rule book. Instead of filtering the aliens’ intentions through our understanding of human behavior, it asks us to put our thinking caps on and luxuriate in the unknown.

Arrival sees language as the key to understanding a foreign species. When twelve enormous spaceships–dubbed “shells”–suddenly arrive and hover over random points on the globe, the U.S. Army calls Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguistics expert who previously worked for the government translating terrorist videos. Working for the military left some scars. “You made quick work of that insurgent video,” a colonel (Forrest Whitaker) tells her. “You made quick work of those insurgents,” she quips back. Banks is also nursing a broken heart from a divorce and the painful loss of her daughter to a rare disease, so when she arrives at the makeshift base and is promptly escorted up into the depths of the shell, she does so with the courage of a woman with little left to lose.

Director Denis Villenueve (Prisoners, Sicario) doesn’t make us wait for her first encounter with the aliens. After all, this isn’t a monster movie. It’s about empathy and communication, and hiding them would only build their symbolism and hide their true selves. Even without the wait, though, their reveal is stunning: Familiar and foreign, they look like oversized octopi who walk gracefully on their seven legs and communicate by firing dissolving ink into the air in bizarre, roundish shapes. We’ve seen a lot of aliens with vaguely human arms and legs, and a mouth that sort of talks, but Arrival offers us a distinctly original vision of extra-terrestrial life.

Its depiction of human life is just as insightful. Adams is a commanding presence at the center of the film: a strong, confident woman to whom the men around her mostly defer. She’s the smartest person in the room, but it’s not just her intelligence that gives her strength. She also has the calm compassion to not assume a defensive position and prepare for the worst. As she expands her ability to communicate with the two aliens on the ship– her partner (Jeremy Renner) dubs them “Abbott and Costello”–other nations move past the investigative stage and begin preparing for a preemptive attack. It’s up to Louise to convince them to opt for peace.

Without spoiling the film’s breathtaking ending, I’ll only say that the plot takes twists and turns that are both impossible to foresee and deeply foreshadowed. Its plot, themes, and ingenious structure are so intertwined that they are impossible to separate, like so many braids of rope.  It’s also the rare studio film that not only spouts philosophy about our collective humanity but also has the intelligence, diligence, and faith in its audience to thoroughly explore those ideas. With every cynical Hollywood trope that it discards, it becomes a more passionate appeal to the better angels of both Hollywood and its audience. A film of rare vision and beauty, Arrival is easily the most intelligent blockbuster released this year–and maybe any year.

Rating: 5 Mysterious, Soul-Searching Burritos Out of 5:

Featured image: Paramount Pictures

Home Geekonomics: The 5 Best STAR TREK Sulu Merchandise Items

Home Geekonomics is a series that features the best in geeky home decor, food and DIY. Each week will focus on a specific fandom and highlight the best of geek for your home and everyday life.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. Making its debut back in 1966, Star Trek was ahead of its time, looking towards the future with a diverse cast and an exploratory outlook towards space.

Captain Hikaru Sulu was a part of the original-series crew: portrayed by George Takei and later John Cho, Sulu was a third officer who rose through the ranks to become a captain in command of his own ship. This beloved character has become a part of television history for the past five decades and these five fun Sulu-inspired items prove that he will continue to be a fan-favorite for years to come.

Sulu Visa Card from StarTrek.com

Do you take American Express, Mastercard, or Sulu? StarTrek.com is a treasure trove for Trek fans. The shop is filled with fun items that fans will truly appreciate like this pre-paid gift card featuring the face of Hikaru Sulu.

Sulu Floating Pen from ThinkGeek

Shirtless swashbuckling Sulu (say that three times fast) from the episode “The Naked Time” is paid homage in the best way possible: a floaty pen! Watch Sulu drift back and forth and back again as you sign your important paperwork.

Sulu Cologne from Amazon

I don’t even know what to say about this so I’ll let the product description do the talking: “the perfect cologne for the man who does everything, whether that’s cataloging exotic plants, collecting antique firearms, or piloting ancient helicopters and advanced starships.” Well, now I’m sold.

Sulu Baby Onesie from Amazon

Why this Sulu baby onesie exists, I have no idea, but any item of clothing with John Cho’s face on it is all right in my book. Show off your baby’s geekiness as you head off in the car seat on a mission to explore strange new worlds.

Sulu Coloring Sheet from activity-sheets.com

Haven’t you heard? Adult coloring books are all the rage right now, so why not channel your restless energy and zen out by coloring a drawing of Sulu hard at work?

Did we miss any cool Sulu items that you think are even better? Warp down to the comments and let us know what they are.

Images: StarTrek.com, ThinkGeek, Amazon, activity-sheets.com

 

One day, of course, we hope real transporters will be the coolest thing ever.

We’re Getting an ALIEN NATION Remake from the MIDNIGHT SPECIAL Director

It’s criminal that Jeff Nichols isn’t a household name. Mud ranks up there with Stand By Me in the coming-of-age category, Midnight Special is a gorgeous, twisty take on Amblin’s 1980s bread and butter, and Take Shelter is an outright masterpiece. Now, according to Deadline, Nichols will be writing and directing a remake of Alien Nation for 20th Century Fox.

Made during the faddish era of mismatched detective partners launched by Lethal Weapon, Alien Nation earns a lot of genre labels: science fiction, buddy cop, neo-noir, thriller. It’s also a morality play about the cost of racism and the value of accepting outsiders into your community—a tail-end swipe at the kind of early Cold War paranoia that The Twilight Zone openly mocked. The big bad plan in the original Alien Nation was to craft and disperse a devastating drug that only affects the formerly enslaved alien population of “Newcomers” who were making their transplanted home in Los Angeles; at the time, it was a not-at-all-subtle metaphor for what crack was doing to inner city black populations. James Caan played a racist cop who teams with Mandy Patinkin’s alien cop to solve a murder that, no surprise, leads to a much bigger conspiracy.

It feels a bit like Nichols is combining his two most recent films—Midnight Special and the TIFF premiere of Loving, a biopic about the couple who fought Virginia’s anti-interracial marriage law at the Supreme Court—in tackling Alien Nation. As far as the usual remake heartburn, it’s hard to get up in arms about this one. As great as Alien Nation is, it’s in the sweet spot for getting an update, and if Nichols is the one tasked with it, it’s something to get excited about.

Featured Image: 20th Century Fox

Father and Son Cosplayers Make Theirs Marvel

As far as I’m concerned, any kind of cosplay is the best cosplay because I like to see people making stuff. I know it’s a simple statement, but it’s true. That said, I have a particular fondness for family cosplay. When you see family members cosplaying together, you can imagine the bonding and work that went into making the costumes together. Shawn Richter and his 10-year-old Gavin know that kind of teamwork well because they dress as Marvel characters and attend conventions in Southern California and beyond together. Shawn mostly dresses as Captain America, while Gavin switches it up a little—Gavin’s especially known for dressing as Phil Coulson.

The father-son cosplay experience sometimes leads to awesome photo ops like this one with Hayley Atwell:

And please admire how fierce they both look in this photo by York In A Box.

Drop to the gallery below to see Shawn and Gavin in more fantastic cosplay shots. You’ll see Gavin’s Kid Coulson costume, some Civil War action, and more. You can keep up with their latest costume antics on Twitter; Shawn’s at @cofphoto and Gavin’s at @KidCoulson.

Are you a cosplayer or cosplay photographer? If so, I’d like to highlight your portfolio in an upcoming edition of Cosplay Friday. If you’re interested, please reach out to me via email at alratcliffe@yahoo.com. Send me the photos you’d like me to feature (with credits for the cosplayers and/or photographers if you have them, because giving credit is awesome), and then I’ll send you back a release form.

Images: Courtesy of Shawn Richter

Celebrate CRASH BANDICOOT’s 20th Anniversary with Two SKYLANDERS IMAGINATORS Videos

Exactly 20 years ago today, Naughty Dog (the developer behind the Uncharted series and The Last of Us) ushered the lovable Crash Bandicoot into the world. One of the highlights of the game’s anniversary year so far was when Sony revealed during their E3 press conference that three Crash games (Crash, Crash 2, and Crash Warped ) would be getting a graphical overhaul for the PS4, and that the famous marsupial would be making an appearance in the next Skylanders game. To celebrate Crash’s birthday, Activision released two videos paying tribute to the character. Check out the one at the top of the page to see some of the ways the series is being honored in Skylanders: Imaginators.

In the video at the top of the page, the Thumpin’ Wumpa Islands level, which features Crash, is in the spotlight. The developer shows some of the ways the game will pay tribute to the beloved series. To help fans (and even those who may be unfamiliar with the games), a counter has been added to the video. The countdown was pretty helpful, especially considering how many references are packed into the one-minute video. Some of them were so fast we missed them the first time around.

The second one is a bit shorter, but still pretty awesome. It features both Crash Bandicoot and Aku Aku, another character from the series. Check it out below:

The first video has us particularly excited to get our hands on Skylanders: Imaginators once it hits shelves on October 13, 2016. The only thing that would make Crash’s 20th even better is if he made an official comeback in a new Crash Bandicoot game. There are still four months left in the year, so anything can happen. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

How are you celebrating Crash Bandicoot’s birthday? Will you be grabbing Skylanders: Imaginators once it launches? Let us know in the comments below, join the conversation on Facebook, or start one with me on Twitter: @Samantha_Sofka.

Images: Activision