Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2329

This GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF Coloring Book Is the Best Technical Challenge

Fans of the Great British Bake Off (Great British Baking Show, here in America) series are glued to their TV every week staring at judges, staring at bakers, staring at their ovens. Every minute is a nail-biting, edge of your seat, riveting experience waiting to see if a dreaded soggy bottom will be revealed.

Watching amateur bakers try and fail can be so maddening for the viewer that you definitely need to destress at times to recompose yourself before the big Showstopper Challenge. That’s where this new Great British Bake Off coloring book comes in.

Adult coloring books are hugely popular at the moment, let’s just say I’m on pins and needles waiting for my Supernatural coloring book to make it’s way to my doorstep. @mudron on twitter first alerted us to the fact that a Great British Bake Off themed coloring book even existed and we jumped at the chance to dig a little deeper.

What sets this particular coloring book apart is that it’s all line-drawings of pastries and biscuits, drawn by the GBBO’s official illustrator, Tom Hovey. Hovey is the very man responsible for giving us the details on what each baker’s bakes are projected to look like by the end of the episode.

The book contains 90 illustrations of memorable Signature, Technical and Showstopper bakes. Every GBBO fan remembers firefighter Paul’s impressive lion made entirely of bread; now, instead of carefully placing olive and mustard details you can just color them in using pencils and crayons.

Another gasp-worthy bake was Nadiya’s peacock Showstopper during Chocolate Week. Each feather, hand-piped and dipped, is presented in illustrated form for you to lovingly color in at your leisure.

No word on whether Paul Hollywood or Mary Berry coloring pages will be included but we can hope. On your mark, get set, color!

Check out pages from the book in the gallery below. The Great British Bake Off Colouring Book is available online.

Will you be coloring up Signature bakes while you watch the Great British Baking Show? Let us know in the comments and tag @nerdist and @justjennrecipes on instagram to show us your results!

Images: Amazon

Flight Attendant Does Safety Announcements in Looney Tunes Voices

Airline safety instructions. Who cares, right? I mean, realistically. Obviously you SHOULD care–for your safety and all–but if you fly frequently they’re as easily and routinely tuned out as buzzing insects. Southwest airlines have a different philosophy: they encourage their flight attendants to make the announcements fun and funny, and as a result, people pay attention.

And one, a fellow named Zach Haumesser, is now getting everybody’s attention (he got ours via NBC). Channeling Mel Blanc, his routine incorporated all the major Looney Tunes characters, from Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd to the Tasmanian Devil (he didn’t get to Marvin the Martian, but he’ll have plenty more flights on which to give that a shot). Filmed by a coworker who captured her colleague’s vocal dexterity, Haumesser has gone viral on YouTube, and will probably have at least one offer on the table for a voice-over agent by the time you’re done reading this.

YouTube comments range from the predictably horrible hijacker jokes to folks both loving and hating Southwest for allowing Haumesser’s bit of self-expression. We’re always happy to see somebody let their nerd flag fly, and hope this leads the airline down a path of one day hiring somebody who can impersonate all 12 Doctor Who leading men. Plus Peter Cushing and John Hurt, for extra credit.

If you worked for Southwest, what would your go-to impersonation(s) be? We figure somebody must have done a Ben Stein “Bueller…Bueller” bit by now, but offer up your own suggestions in comments below.

Image: YouTube/Jordy Girl

Weekend Earworms: The Best of Childish Gambino

An estimated 92% of us experience earworms. Despite the annoying times we can’t get a chorus or a hook of an overplayed pop song out of our heads, getting a really good earworm stuck can be one of the best things, ever. We here at Nerdist are dead set on bringing you those types of songs—even if only for the weekend. So shove this into your grey matter!

With the new FX series Atlanta premiering this week, it only seemed fitting that I celebrate the creator and star of the show, Donald Glover, and the music he produces as Childish Gambino. While most may know him from his comedic role on Community, he’s proven himself to be much more over the years through his music and is sure to turn some heads for his new dramatic role. Should you be so inclined, be sure to read Matt Grosinger’s review of Atlanta after getting the following music firmly cemented into your brain.

“Freaks and Geeks”

I wanted to start with the track that most would recognize as Childish Gambino’s main debut to the world. This and tracks like “Heartbeat,” off 2011’s Camp, are incredibly catchy and, as some are bound to point out, fairly explicit in their lyrics. The subject matter of many bars in “Freaks and Geeks” displays a certain “bravado” that, although comedic in some of the wordplay, comes across seeming like it may be an exaggeration of hip-hop’s tendency to be male-chauvinistic. While Glover’s voice as Childish Gambino continues to touch on some of the same elements to this day, it’s since matured to be… a bit more subtle.

“Sweatpants”

Both this and “Freaks and Geeks” read like they’re open letter dis tracks to any and all criticism of Gambino’s life, style, or actions. Yet there’s a distinct feeling in “Sweatpants” that the sentiment had evolved to a place where it felt far more sincere. Perhaps it’s that this song was released at a time when Gambino had already established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the music world and that “Freaks and Geeks” feels as if it’s answering naysayers that just weren’t there at the time it was released. “Sweatpants” doesn’t shy away from that same bravado but does so with far more tact. Especially in the chorus–Don’t be mad cause I’m doing me better than you doing you–which shines a light on what I would consider the root cause of most interpersonal animosity in the world.

The Worst Guys (Feat. Chance The Rapper)

As a Chicago resident, I am obligated to do a few things. Never put ketchup on a hot dog, sing the praises of deep dish pizza, and–whenever possible–share any song featuring Chance the Rapper. Furthermore, being able to work in a Sister, Sister reference (“go home, Roger”) into a song is an achievement worth celebrating.

There are some people out there that may dismiss Childish Gambino as a serious artist because of Glover’s acting career. Let’s face it, there’s a long line of actors turned musicians that don’t entirely make it easy to be taken seriously. I’m looking at you, Russell Crowe, Bruce Willis, Heather Graham, Billy Bob Thornton, Eddie Murphy, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal, Jada Pinkett Smith, Don Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., and America’s cousin who’s always asking to borrow money sweetheart Corey Feldman. Glover, on the other hand, could easily excel at either profession, and the fact he’s collaborated with quite a few incredible musicians over the years is proof positive that his music career is legitimate.

“Sober”

I wanted to end on a track that I am absolutely obsessed with. From the Kauai EP released in 2014, the song and video are (to me) an absolute conundrum. What sounds like a love song at times also plays out as if it’s one fit for a break-up. Lyrically, it appears to contradict itself mentioning that something has ended where there is now a need to escape into chemical dependence. And yet the verses are a plea for love.

The video plays out like a surreal dream sequence in which Childish Gambino eventually wins the affection, in some small way, of a woman sitting in a diner. The song’s lyrics would lead us to believe they’re a couple toward the end of a relationship but by the end we realize they may not even know each other. Is what’s “over” the time spent without this woman in his life? Could never being “sober” allude to wanting to feel “high” on affection for her? Am I interpreting all of this completely wrong? Inquiring minds (mine) need to know!

What are your favorite Childish Gambino tracks? Are you excited for Atlanta? Did you read Matt’s review of it yet? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: Childish Gambino Vevo 

Blake Rodgers writes for Nerdist from Chicago, IL where he lives happily with his Guinness World Record for High Fives. You can be his pal by following him on Twitter (@TheBlakeRodgers)

Watch a Functional Tomahawk Forged out of a Large Wrench

Everyone knows the old saying about how you need the right tool for the job, but what if you just do not have the right tool available? What if you need to do some good old fashioned wood chopping, but all you have at your disposal is a measly wrench? Well it turns out that if you are crafty enough that’s not really a problem, because you always have the right tool in your box, as this video showing a tomahawk being forged out of nothing more than a wrench can attest.

Okay, “nothing more” than a wrench and some very skilled, very impressive craftsmanship.

This video was shared by the YouTube channel Miller Knives, and in it we get to see the process of how a normal, large wrench is heated, shaped, molded, and finished into an effective, sharp tomahawk, one that is capable of chopping through wood.

For you and I, people who can safely be described as having “zero ability whatsoever working as a blacksmith,” it definitely would be easier for us to go buy a tomahawk (especially because if we tried to do this we would then be without both a tomahawk or a wrench), but that isn’t nearly as satisfying as this looks.

Because, it turns out if you have the right skills, the right tool for any job is you.

What other type of tool would you love to see him try and make out of a wrench? What are some other projects you’d like to see him attempt transforming useful items into other useful items? Forge ahead into our comments below to tell us your ideas.

Images: Miller Knives

Your First Look at AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Ghost Rider

UPDATE 2:31 p.m.: Marvel just posted the faux found-footage video, above.

Remember when Ghost Rider was considered such an expensive special effect that the only way to bring him to live-action was in a big-budget movie with a big-name star who had always been vocal about wanting to play superheroes? Yeah, well, that was fun, but for those wanting a more comic-accurate spirit of vengeance, the news of GR coming to Agents of SHIELD was better than any announcement of a third Nic Cage film (which some of us would be totally into, by the way, Marvel).

Today, Entertainment Weekly has revealed the first image from the show of Robbie Reyes, played by Gabriel Luna, whose head will go all boney and flamey on a regular basis. This pic doesn’t feature the full CGI treatment yet, but the costume should look familiar to anyone who’s ever picked up a Ghost Rider comic:

While Dr. Strange opens the metaphorical portal to more supernatural characters in the Marvel universe, on TV as well as in film, the executive producers are still hedging their bets on whether the character can be explained by really, really super-advanced science, or if it a certain point they’ll just say “because magic.” Somehow we don’t think Satan will be appearing on ABC any time soon.

But since this Ghost Rider isn’t Johnny Blaze, that means Nicolas Cage could conceivably still come back, right? RIGHT? Sigh. That’s a rhetorical question and I know it.

Are you aboard for this ride? Who would win a fight between this Ghost Rider and Daisy/Quake? And since Robbie Reyes’ origin in comics is tied to Mr. Hyde, can we get Kyle MacLachlan back, please? Hit the throttle and head for comments below to speculate!

Featured image: Marvel

Photo credit: Jennifer Clasen/ABC, via EW

Relive All of Jason Statham’s Cinematic Kicks in New Supercut

Last year, we wrote about the glorious supercut that chronicled every single punch that action icon Jason Statham has ever thrown on film. Now it’s time for Statham’s kicks to get a supercut of their own.

Burger Fiction was the creator of the Jason Statham punch supercut, as well as the newest installment, “Every Jason Statham Kick. Ever.” Some sticklers for details may notice that a lot of these kicks were made with Statham’s knees. But since a kick can be any “physical strike using the leg, foot, heel, tibia, thigh, hip, or knee,” it all counts!

This supercut opens with one of Statham’s most famous kicks from The Transporter, and frankly, it seems like most of his kicks come from that movie and its two sequels. Still, when Statham was surrounded by other action stars in The Expendables and its sequels, he nonetheless managed to get in his signature offense. Even Statham’s animated appearance in Gnomeo & Juliet adds to his kick count!

Inanimate objects, doors, soccer balls, and even a dog were all kicked by Statham, but other people are definitely his favorite target and he makes kicking ass look like an art.

So which does Statham favor: kicks or punches? The numbers complied by Burger Fiction suggest that Statham’s kicks far outnumber his punches with a total of 394 to 264. Of course, those numbers are bound to significantly go up when the punches and kicks from the recently released Mechanic: Resurrection are added to the mix.

What’s your favorite Jason Statham kick? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: 20th Century Fox

TRANSFORMERS Fan-Created Shorts Bring the Toys to Life

When you’re a kid, you tend to play with your toys. And when you’re young, it’s an easy way to imagine your own stories and realize your own epic battles. That’s the essential premise of a recently released short called “The Real Deal,” which features the Transformers as filtered through the eyes of a five-year-old boy. And as he envisions them, the robots in disguise actually come to life and move on their own.

Filmmaker Patrick Boivin released the “The Real Deal” on his YouTube channel, and it definitely recaptures some of that old Transformers magic. Almost every sound effect in the video is supplied by the kid, including the soundtrack, the character voices, and even the transforming sound effects. The dialogue is in French, but even without the subtitles it’s pretty easy to understand what’s happening

Romeo Bulte Boivin provided the story, music, and sound fx for this short, while Alexis Lemay created the mix. The brief shots of the animated toys are the most impressive part of the video, but it’s well-made on all levels.

Boivin is a self-taught filmmaker who has posted several live-action and stop-motion animated shorts on YouTube, including a series of videos that pit Optimus Prime’s original incarnation against the Bayformers’ Optimus.

Another one of Boivin’s previous videos included an Indiana Jones vs. Darth Vader fight that went better for Doctor Jones than Han Solo‘s brief encounter with the Dark Lord of the Sith in The Empire Strikes Back.

You can check out the rest of Boivin’s videos here.

What did you think about these animated shorts? Transform and roll out to the comment section below!

Image: Patrick Boivin

Watch Safety Matches Set Ablaze With Sulfuric Acid

If you find yourself with a bunch of safety matches but no red-phosphorus strips upon which to strike them, remember your Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and don’t panic: mainly because you can always use sulfuric acid instead.

(In all seriousness, please don’t ever actually use sulfuric acid to light matches—it’s dangerous, and still quite mesmerizing to watch people like the host of NurdRage execute the whole process in crystal clear 4k anyway.)

NurdRage, the YouTube channel “run by science nerds for science nerds…” combined two of the most (metaphorically) metal things in the world for their latest video: acid and fire. And it turns out that sulfuric acid, which is often found in cleaning products—and can do very serious damage to skin upon contact—is a stellar way to set a match ablaze.

The NurdRage host explains that most safety matches use potassium chlorate as an oxidizer, and when it comes into contact with sulfuric acid, they react to become chloric acid. The chloric acid is in turn “extremely reactive and unstable” and proceeds to react with the other chemicals in the match head, burning them and starting a fire. (The chemical reactions are written out by NurdRage below, for any curious chemistry nerds.)

If you’re mesmerized by this close-up footage of acid and fire (that lasts for nearly six minutes), you’re in luck, as this isn’t the first time NurdRage has combined the two. Just a month ago the channel showed us how to make Game of Thrones wildfire using sulfuric acid, with the glorious green glow and all. Also, NurdRage destroys hard drives with acid.

This channel really loves acid. You might say they eat it up.

What about you? Do you have a passion for watching things melt or burn thanks to sulfuric acid? Do you have any chemistry-inspired MacGyver tricks of your own? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: NurdRage

New FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE GAME Trailer Showcases Jason’s Latest Kills

Summer may be winding down, but Camp Crystal Lake is hiring another group of young and nubile counselors. They go through these kids so quickly, thanks to Jason Voorhees. At PAX West, Gun Media released a new trailer from Friday the 13th: The Game that features Jason doing what he does best, and it ain’t camping!

Via Polygon, the latest footage from the game depicts just a few of the new kills designed by SFX designer Tom Savini, who worked on the original Friday the 13th movie as a stuntman before going on to a legendary career as a make-up and special effects artist. Fair warning: this video is a bit NSFW, and it gets pretty brutal. Jason has no mercy, especially not for the blonde guy wearing the ascot. This video is set to Crazy Lixx’s song “XIII,” and it perfectly captures the spirit of the hair metal songs from ’80s horror films.

Savini isn’t the only Friday the 13th veteran who returned for this game. As we noted last year during the game’s Kickstarter campaign, Friday the 13th: The Game began as a more generic title before the original film’s director, Sean S. Cunningham offered Gun Media the rights to make it an official adaptation. Former Jason, Kane Hodder even reprised his role for the game’s motion capture, while composer Harry Manfredini also came back to the franchise and laid out some new killer tracks.

You won’t have to wait long to take control of Jason or his would-be victims. Friday the 13th: The Game is coming out for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC in October. Or if you’re out in the woods, you can just wait for Jason to find you.

What was your favorite Jason kill in this clip? Unleash your thoughts in the comment section below!

Image: Gun Media

The Build Team From MYTHBUSTERS Are Coming Back With a Netflix Show

UPDATE: Nerdist reader Leif Anderson was there for the announcement and adds: “I was in the panel when they announced this. They described it as “Mythbusters in Wonderland”. The subjects they tackle are those that you find when you ‘go down the rabbit hole on the internet.’ Then they showed a hilarious teaser clip of Tory and Kari sitting down for some wine, except Tory is strapped up to a bunch of wires and Kari is attempting to control his arm movements remotely. You can imagine how well it turned out.”

Though they never had quite the epic facial hair of hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, MythBusters‘ M7 Build Team of Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci, and Kari Byron were integral to the show, and we were as shocked and saddened as anyone when they were suddenly no longer a part of it. And while we could still see Grant making videos behind the scenes at McDonald’s, or Tory and Kari hosting Thrill Factor on the Travel Channel (a TV show as excuse to ride rollercoasters is an idea so brilliant it took them to figure it out), none of that was quite the same.

We are very excited, therefore, by the following Twitter announcement out of DragonCon:

The build team is coming back together! @ToryBelleci, @KariByron, @grantimahara on a @netflix original: #TheWhiteRabbitProject coming Dec 9!

— Dragon Con (@DragonCon) September 3, 2016

Right now, that’s all the information we have–searches for Netflix and White Rabbit bring up a movie called White Rabbit that sounds downright disturbing and not sciencey at all. And parsing the language carefully, it isn’t clear if they’re literally coming back AS the build team, or if that’s merely a term used to describe these three people in any capacity. After Alice in Wonderland, though, the first thing that comes to mind when we hear “white rabbit” is “Feed your head!” Which is what they’ve always done…with science!

What would you like to see the gang tackle on their new show? What do you suspect the name means? We’re sure there’ll be more details revealed soon, but in the meantime, is it irresponsible to speculate? Naw, it’s irresponsible NOT to–our nerdly duty, even. So imagine away in the comments section below.

Featured image: Discovery Channel

Remember when we said goodbye to the MythBusters the first time?