Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2350

Exploring the Creatures of FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

As if the recently released Harry Potter and the Cursed Child weren’t enough for fans of J.K. Rowling‘s creations, the upcoming movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will explore previously unknown aspects of this Wizarding World. Many of the creatures will be making their live-action debuts in this film, but we now know a lot more about at least a few of the Fantastic Beasts! There are minor spoilers ahead!

Entertainment Weekly has posted profiles of six of the Fantastic Beasts, offering up photographs and descriptions of what to expect from them. Perhaps the most adorable new creation is the Bowtruckle, a kind of a tiny Groot-like living plant, a “sweet and intensely shy creature[s], but extremely loyal, and it can be very handy to have around when there are locks to pick.”  Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) even has a favorite Bowtruckle named Pickett, which often sits in his front pocket.

The next creature is called a Demiguise, and it has a very handy ability to turn invisible at will. The fact that its hair is used to create invisibility cloaks means that the Demiguise is potentially endangered. When they’re visible, the Demiguise resemble an orangutan with white hair.

Finally, we have the Occamy, which appears to be part bird and part dragon. The Occamy’s eggs are made out of pure silver and it is a choranaptyxic–which means that it can shrink or grow depending upon the size of its immediate environment. So, it would probably not be a good idea to let one loose outside.

For profiles and pictures of the Thunderbird, the Niffler, and the Swooping Evil, head over to EW and read their entire story!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be released on November 18.

What do you think about the new creations from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? Cast your spells in the comment section below!

Images: Warner Bros.

The SWISS ARMY MAN Guys Made a Choose Your Own Adventure-like Short Film

Daniels are on a roll. The writing/directing duo of Dan Kwan and Daniel Sheinert has the broken wind of Swiss Army Man at their backs, they just launched a fantastically bizarre Nike commercial for the Olympics, and they have a clever short film online that displays a single conversation with infinite lives.

Possibilia is impossible to review because it’s going to be different every time. A Choose Your Own Adventure style short, it asks you to become the editor, to cut clips in real time as indie darlings Alex Karpovsky and Zoe Jarman attempt to break off a four-year-long relationship. You decide whether they grumble at the kitchen table, take their fight to the front yard or desperately make out on top of the washing machine.

Of course, true to the ebullient, transitory nature of the piece, you have to edit on the fly without a road map. “If you want them to stay together, turn to pg. 69,” doesn’t handily pop up to guide you toward the sunny-side-up ending you may want; Possibilia successfully mirrors life, where you have total freedom to make choices and almost zero control over what’s going to happen.

It’s an aching illusion that tops off a fantastically imaginative bit of intimate theater. Karpovsky and Jarman are unsurprisingly great as the twee couple on the verge of disaster, and, yes, a Noah Baumbachian stylized gloss on their conversation makes it ten times more polished than any real-life argument, but it’s still easy to get lost in the moment as an unusually powerful fly on the wall. Grab some pop-popcorn and watch/influence it on Eko.

Featured Image: Eko/Daniels

New CGI Animated Fan Short Revisits the Classic AKIRA Anime

Since its release in 1988. the Akira animated adaptation has been hailed as one of the greatest anime films of all time. There may even eventually be an Akira live-action remake, but for now, a new fan-animated creation has recreated some of the classic moments from the movie.

Editor Brad Kremer and animator Dean Fowler have released a CGI animated short that takes us back to Akira‘s Neo-Tokyo. In the short, the lead character, Kaneda, and his gang, the Capsules, race through the streets of the city as they battle their rivals, the Clowns. Fowler even revisits some of the film’s signature visuals, including the famous sequence where Kaneda abruptly stops his bike and turns towards the camera.

Note that in this rendition, Kaneda is wearing a skull insignia on his helmet, but that may have been to avoid animating his face and hair. Still, it’s an impressive demo of Fowler and Kremer’s skills and a reminder that Akira still resonates nearly three decades after its release.

The original Akira manga by Katsuhiro Otomo was first published in 1982, and it was one of the first manga series to be fully collected and translated into English by an American publisher. Its influence still looms large in manga and anime, which is why there is still talk about a live-action Akira film. Warner Bros. currently has the rights for that, and Fast and the Furious director James Wan was reportedly in talks to take it on. As recently as a few years ago, Warner Bros. probably would have pushed for a more Americanized version of Akira, but Akira‘s story, characters and themes have more power if they retain the original setting and culture. And damn it, we want to see Neo-Tokyo, not Neo-Los Angeles, or any substitute U.S. city.

What did you think about the Akira animated short? And what would you like to see in the eventual, probably inevitable live-action adaptation? Let us know in the comment section below!

Image: Brad Kremer/Dean Fowler

New Poster for Rob Zombie’s 31 Is Maybe the Rob Zombie-est Thing Ever

Whether or not you like Rob Zombie as a filmmaker, or even if you like some of his work and not all of it, you’d have to admit there’s a definite aesthetic to what he does, and there are certain things he really likes. And with the poster for 31, his newest horror movie that was partially funded by the fans, he’s made it very clear that he will deliver plenty of what they expect. Clown makeup, infantilization fetish, scary rural folk, character actors with (shall we say) less-than-fashion-ready faces, exploitation movie imagery, “ordinary” people menaced by the lower classes (who usually win), and of course wife Sheri Moon Zombie as either a prime instigator or principal target of the mayhem.

Coming on the heels of his more Polanski-esque Lords of Salem, which wasn’t quite as easy to figure out, this one-sheet, revealed via Zombie’s social media channels, is like the Jack in the Box Ultimate Cheeseburger of killer clown posters–all meat and cheese, with no distractions:

Maybe Zombie should have directed the Suicide Squad movie. Although there’s no way Mattel would have been able to sell action figures for it at Walmart if he really let loose. Something about that Hitler clown at the bottom of the poster tells me we won’t be seeing toys of some of these characters anywhere, ever.

But I must take issue with the tagline, “Death is the Only Escape.” Because when I stress out and decide that I want to blow off some steam by watching a movie where clowns chainsaw people to bits, Rob Zombie movies are the only escape.

Are you happy to see Rob Zombie return to telling his own stories, rather than being attached to numerous remakes over the years? Is this the real insane clown posse you’ve been waiting for? Rock out in our comments section with your thoughts.

Featured image: Saban/Rob Zombie

 

Gotta Catch All These Crocheted Pokémon!

If you find yourself in Lewisville, TX, there’s a chance you might stumble across a Pokemon in the wild. No, not the cartoon critters that pop up on the extremely popular Pokemon Go game, but actual, three-dimensional Pokemon that you can hold in your hand! The Texas town has turned into a sort of Pokemon Safari Zone thanks to local craftsperson Nichole Dunigan, whose handmade crocheted creatures have been attracting a lot of attention. And she’s giving away the Poke-patterns, and her creations themselves, for free!

Dunigan, who can be found on Nichole’s Nerdy Knots Facebook page, was featured on her local news station once reports started spreading across social media about Pokemon enthusiasts finding her hand-knitted critters hidden in local parks. Her crocheted Pokeballs and Pokemon were a hit with her kids, as you might expect them to be, so she started sharing the wealth both online–she also has an Etsy shop, webpage, and YouTube channel–and in her community.

“Yea, it’s really cool, I ride my bike and I’ll see these people look in the bushes and I’m like, ‘Why are you looking in the bushes? There’s not any virtual Pokemon’s in the bushes. [T]his little girl she’s like, ‘We’re just playing Pokémon,’ and she found a real Pokémon. She’s like, ‘Can I take it home?’ That’s why I put the tag on there; you can take it home,” said Dunigan.

A particularly heartwarming aspect of this story is that Dunigan was recently diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, but this new creative outlet has helped her deal with her anxiety and reconnect with people. And people certainly want to connect with Dunigan since they’ve been contacting her with questions on how they can purchase their own crocheted Pokemon. She has no plan to sell them at the moment, but you can check out her social media accounts for more information on her designs. For more Crochet Go examples, take a look at the images in our gallery.

Are there any particular Pokemon you’d love to see Nichole make next? Let us know in the comments!

Images: The CW 33, Nichole’s Nerdy Knots

This TARDIS Toilet Is Actually Bigger on the Inside

Every Whovian has, at some point, tried to work out a way to get a TARDIS in their home. Pinterest is full of clever ideas like painting fridge doors or creating a hidden room to make your at-home Gallifreyan spacecraft actually bigger on the inside. But for the owners of a steampunk-themed bar called The Way Station in Brooklyn, the bathroom seemed like the most obvious choice for a TARDIS. Whether you’re powdering your nose or traveling through time and relative dimensions in space, you’re covered!

The YouTube series Golden Thrones is dedicated to highlighting the best in public toilets–seriously–and recently hit up The Way Station to check out their Whovian restroom. Of course, having a TARDIS in the back of a New York bar isn’t necessarily a new thing. However, having one that is not only a functional feature to the building rather than decoration, and one that is actually bigger on the inside? That’s certainly not something you see every day.

So maybe you can’t actually travel through time and space using The Way Station’s TARDIS, but the bar made sure that their restroom would delight any Whovian who stepped through its doors. In addition to its fun “bigger on the inside” feature, the TARDIS restroom also features a “starry” ceiling (because everyone wants to feel like they’re pooping under the stars, right?), and nods to Doctor Who featuring paintings of Four and his scarf, Weeping Angels, K-9, and a Dalek on the walls.

So why did this bathroom even come to pass? Out of necessity, really. No one likes it when they have to sit next to the restroom in a bar or restaurant. To mare the dreaded bathroom adjacent seating a bit less awful, the owners of The Way Station used the TARDIS to keep customers happy while also making the bar host to one of the coolest bathrooms ever.  As Andy Heidel, the proprietor of The Way Station puts it, the TARDIS bathroom was a “Bob Ross happy accident,” drawing in loads of nerd patrons including the likes of Matt Smith and Steven Moffat. For The Way Station, their unique bathroom is the perfect finishing touch on an already badass bar.

Have you ever visited The Way Station? Did you use the TARDIS bathroom? What other cool ways have you seen TARDISes incorporated with a business’s interior design? Tell us about it in the comments!

Featured image: sw77/Flickr

Kylo Ren Has the Best Reaction Video to the ROGUE ONE Trailer

Go to YouTube and look up any modern trailer for an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster and you are sure to find a plethora of “reaction” videos alongside it. With so many people making them, ranging from the very informative and funny to the cringe-inducing and painful, it can be hard for any one in particular to stand out. One very good way to get us to notice yours, though, is to be the grandson of Darth Vader.

We came across this reaction video of Kylo Ren watching the new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story at ScreenAnarchy, and if it’s not the best trailer reaction video we’ve ever seen then it is damn close. It’s definitely the funniest.

Made by the folks at Auralnauts, a YouTube channel with plenty of experience having some fun with the Star Wars universe, this video shows us what the newest villain in the galaxy far, far away thought about the great new Rogue One trailer that debuted this week, even if it does tell a piece of the story about how the Rebel Alliance destroyed the first Death Star.

For those of you that keep mixing up the time frame for when all those Bothans died, don’t feel too bad; even Kylo Ren isn’t totally sure about it. And while he too wishes he had the power of a stick to fight off lasers, the most exciting shot for him was, predictably, the image of his grandfather at the end.

That is until he became convinced they had cast Hayden Christensen to wear that suit once more. Talk about the dangers of the Dark Side…

Forget a trailer reaction video; we’d eagerly re-watch the prequels if we could get Kylo Ren to do commentary over them.

What was your favorite part of this video? Tell us in the comments below.

Images: Lucasfilm/Auralnauts

Cosplay Friday #176 – Daredevil, Artorias, and More by Sudanro Bladeworks

Cosplayers that stick with the hobby progress by leaps and bounds over time. Kamui Cosplay created a thread on Facebook for fellow makers to show how far they’ve come since their first costume, and it’s fascinating and inspiring to see the differences. Baxter “Bucky” Durham, a.k.a. Sudanro Bladeworks has been cosplaying since 2004, and I can only imagine what he’s learned over the past 12 years of building ensembles.

Bucky’s portfolio shows off a number of skills: sewing, making armor, and crafting props. He’s tackled projects inspired by video games, television—you name it. He completed a Dark Souls III costume this year, and I’m especially impressed by the amount of details on his Artorias outfit. The raised embellishments were done with Apoxie Sculpt, while the engraved elements were burned in. The excellent lighting in this shot by Photosnxs (who I featured last week) shows off all those details:

And how about this Daredevil costume? The all black ensemble is based on what Matt Murdock wore in the first season of the Netflix series, and the dark and moody lighting combined with the pose makes Bucky look intense.

Photo by Photosnxs

Jump to the gallery below to see the Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy and few more creative costumes. Then, head to Facebook to keep up with Bucky’s work.

Are you a cosplayer or cosplay photographer? Share your work with me so we can discuss highlighting your creations in a future edition of Cosplay Friday. You can reach out to me at alratcliffe at yahoo dot com.

Images: Courtesy of Baxter “Bucky” Durham

OUTCAST Season 1 Finale: “This Little Light” Was Dark, Suspenseful, and Perfect (Review)

The following review features minor spoilers for the finale of Outcast‘s season 1 finale. If you’re not caught up, maybe do so before continuing. You’ve been warned!

Any time you are watching a television show or a movie, and you realize you haven’t taken a breath in quite awhile, that’s a pretty good sign the creators have done something right. Well I caught myself not breathing over and over again during Outcast‘s superb season one finale, a tremendous, tense closing episode to a great first season.

The awful death of Mark last week gave the show a greater sense of doom (on a show that already lives and thrives on it), and I was prepared for almost anyone to be greatly harmed or killed during this finale, which is exactly what you want from a horror story.

But it also gave the show much more pathos, as the horrible situation the characters found themselves in (including the traumatized little girls, both played wonderfully by the two young actresses) gave all of the suspense and terror a heartbreaking and emotional base. When I wasn’t terrified of what was coming next I was crushed by empathy and sadness for the people in it. What makes this show so entertaining is the expertly crafted story and the constant suspense, but what makes all of that matter, and as a result what makes the show great, is that we know who these characters are and care about them.

There wasn’t much in the way of closure here in the traditional sense, but it did feel like the story of season one found a natural ending. Kyle knows that while he is the “outcast” (for whatever that means), he is not the only one with his “superpower,” as his daughter also has the ability (which means she too is a beacon for the demons, putting her and the people around her in the same constant danger as her father). Reverend Anderson finally (finally) realized he can’t fight this battle alone, but also decided his old tools of faith weren’t working, instead turning to a crowbar and some gasoline. Chief Giles also now knows that turning a blind eye isn’t possible, partly because the Ogdens won’t let him do it, but especially because someone he cared about is now dead.

But like any great season finale, the seeds for the next installment in the story were laid. Kyle might have thought there would be freedom in escaping Rome, but as he and his daughter learned at that gas station, the problem is greater and wider than they could have realized, and they remain that “little light” in the darkness. You can’t run from the problem when you are the problem.

Anderson, in his quest to kill Sidney, attempted to do so even at the cost of a soul he would have tried to save before, but instead (presumably) killed Patricia’s son, the kind of mistake we know will torture him and make him question how he can truly serve god, and even if he can serve god. That might have been the worst kid ever, but he was also a broken, scared kid, and he didn’t deserve that, and Anderson’s lack of faith in his lord killed him.

Beyond even next season though a major piece of the larger story was put in place, when Sidney told Kyle that him and his fellow demons/possessors/beings “can’t stay” where they are from. And where are they from? The “same place” as Kyle.

You don’t get labeled the “outcast” without being being cast out of some place, so if Kyle comes from the same place as these evil-ish beings, what does that mean for him? For his daughter? Is he a potential savior, or the potential big bad?

Outcast‘s first season was wonderfully written, beautifully shot, superbly acted, and suspenseful as hell (literally at points). And it did it all while weaving a compelling mystery and making us care about the people trapped inside of it.

For viewers that find Outcast before the start of the next season, this is probably not going to be the easiest show for them to binge, seeing as how draining each episode was from being relentless in the suspense, but I wish season two was starting right now.

What did you think of season one? What are you most looking forward to going forward? Don’t be afraid to tell us in the comments below.

The cast and crew of Outcast spill some beans!

Images: Cinemax

Adam Warren Takes on DEADPOOL and More Comics News

Time for your weekend edition of Comics Relief, and we’ve got plenty to cover in today’s column, so let’s get started on a bit of happy news for fans of Deadpool. Read on for the full story.

Manga-inspired artist Adam Warren takes on Deadpool

Former Dirty Pair, Gen 13, and Empowered creator Adam Warren is coming back to Marvel for the upcoming Deadpool Annual #1, which is set to hit your local comic shops in September. Marvel has announced that Warren will be both writing and drawing a 10-page standalone story in addition to the main story by previously solicited team.

On the downside, Deadpool Annual #1 has been pushed back from its original September 14 release date to September 28. The main story, by the creative team of Gerry Duggan & Brian Posehn, features the long lost pilot episode of “Deadpool and His Insufferable Pals”, a spoof on the ’80s cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. [Newsarama]

Frank Cho Goes from Rebirth to Reborn

Artist Frank Cho, known for his drawings of, shall we say, healthy and robust women, got into a bit of a disagreement with current Wonder Woman writer Greg Rucka about how he portrayed the Amazon princess on the series’ variant covers, which led him to only completing six of the twenty-four variant covers for the current Rebirth: Wonder Woman series. But don’t cry for Frank Cho — writer Mark Millar and artist Greg Capullo have brought on Mr.Cho as the cover artist for their new creator owned sci-fi/fantasy series Reborn. Hopefully, Reborn will suit Frank Cho’s talents more than Rebirth did. You can check out an early preview of Cho’s Reborn cover above. [Bleeding Cool]

Rebirth puts DC back on top of the sales charts

This time last year, it’s fair to say DC Comics was struggling. Their DC YOU rebranding didn’t really click with readers, and a lot of longtime fans, many who were put off by the New 52 in the first place, started leaving in droves. But what a difference a year makes. Thanks to the big DC Rebirth initiative that began in May, DC is back on top in a big way. The sales figures for the month of July are in, and DC Comics is on top of Diamond’s Direct Market sales for the first time since September 2013.

According to data released by Diamond Comic Distributors this week, DC’s Rebirth titles accounted for eight of the Top Ten selling comic books in July, led by Justice League #1 along with titles like New Super-Man #1, Batman, Nightwing, and Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. Marvel entered the Top 10 only with the third and fourth issues of Civil War II. Of course, Marvel has Marvel NOW! coming, so don’t count them out for too long. They’re not used to being in second place after all. [ComicChron]

Dark Horse Comics supports the Hero Initiative

Dark Horse Comics is celebrating three decaded in the comics business this year, and as a part of the celebration, the publisher is offering a Humble Bundle with over $600 worth of digital comics at a pay-what-you-want price to help raise money for the Hero Initiative. Among the comics included in this bundle are titles such as Hellboy, Mass Effect, Alien vs. Predator and a whole lot more. You can check out the Dark Horse Comics 30th Anniversary bundle by clicking here. [Bleeding Cool]

Marvel’s Mark Gruenwald honored with charity auction

Younger readers might not know his name, but if you grew up reading Marvel Comics in the ’80s, then a name you saw on a regular basis was Mark Gruenwald. He wrote lengthy runs on Captain America, Thor, Quasar, and many other titles, was an occasional penciler, and Marvel’s executive editor for a time. He sadly passed away at the young age of 43 from a heart attack back in 1996.

Now twenty years later, his widow has partnered with others in the auction of a unique piece of art commemorating him. The organization CharityBuzz is now auctioning off a piece by artist David Banegas done in Gruenwald’s honor, titled “20 Years Tribute to Mark Gruenwald, Mr. Marvel.” All proceeds will go to the University of Wisconsin’s Oshkosh Foundation, and a scholarship set-up in Gruenwald’s name. You can see a video on the creation of the piece above: [Newsarama]

DC’s Prez Returns for Election Special in November

Despite being one the critical darlings of last year’s DC YOU rebranding at DC Comics, Prez–the revival of the 1970s satirical comic about a teenage president of the United States–won’t be coming back for another long term in office. Originally there was an announced six-issue follow up to last year’s six-part series, with original writer/artist team of Mark Russell and artist Ben Caldwell, but now the political satire will conclude with a 12-page special in November.

Prez was set in the not-too-distant future, and centered on a teenager named Beth Ross who becomes internet famous because of an awkward online photo that goes viral. She then unexpectedly receives enough votes via Twitter to pick up a several electoral votes, and next thing you know, she becomes President of the United States. Back in 2015, the idea that someone who is a celebrity for dubious reasons could then take that fame and parlay it into a bid for the presidency seemed silly and fun. Turns out that Mark Russell and Ben Caldwell were like Nostradamus. [CBR]

Florida comics retailer gets missing $85,000 comic collection returned safely

In the most recent Comics Relief, we reported the sad story of a Florida comics retailer named Rick Whitelock, who had some $85,000 dollars worth of rare comics stolen from him at a convention in his home state. Among those was the first appearance of Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15 (seriously, Florida…get your act together here soon). Luckily, this story has a happy ending, because as soon as the story began to circulate, Whitelock received an anonymous phone call from a man who said he had the box in his possession.

It seems he was another exhibitor, and said that the box turned up while he was unloading his own merchandise from the convention. Whitelock told the Tampa Bay Times “He saw my sticker that says New Force Comics, so he Googled us. He freaked out when he did, because he saw all these news stories talking about stolen comic books.” The box was then Fed-Exed to Whitelock, who one assumes can now sleep peacfully…and won’t let those comics out of his sight ever again. [CBR]

Images: DC Comics/ Marvel Comics / Dark Horse Comics / Image Comics / Greg Capullo