Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2351
August 12, 2016
What We Learned from the New ROGUE ONE Trailer
After several days of delayed coverage of the world’s greatest athletes in competition with each other, NBC finally gave us what we really wanted out of the Olympics: a brand new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The trailer dropped last night and we’re breaking it down in today’s Nerdist News.
Senior Editor and 100 Things Star Wars Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die author Dan Casey guest hosts this episode, as he uses his non-midi-chlorian enhanced powers of perception to examine this footage for clues about Felicity Jones‘ Jyn Erso, the U-Wing, Jedha, and that awesome looking cyborg alien, K-2SO.
Of course, any reasonable Star Wars fan is asking one big question about this trailer: Where the *bleep* is Mads Mikkelsen‘s character? The man himself has been dropping spoilers left and right in interviews, but he’s suspiciously absent in this trailer. Is he less important to the plot than we’ve been led to believe? Or is he being held back for some surprising moments in the film itself? That would be a very acceptable reason for his lack of visibility.
And yes, the trailer does feature the one and only Darth Vader, making his first live-action appearance since the end of Revenge of the Sith. We all knew that was coming, but it’s still exciting to see Vader back at the height his villainy.
What did you think about the new Rogue One trailer? Steal the battle plans and share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Donald Glover Shines in the First Trailer for FX’s ATLANTA
After quite some time out of the spotlight, Donald Glover–who reportedly is the first choice to play Lando Calrissian in the forthcoming Han Solo film–is gradually returning to the fold in anticipation of his melancholy comedy/drama on FX, Atlanta.
Because we have only seen the artfully done teasers featuring Donald Glover walking backwards, this trailer is our first introduction into some of the characters, themes, tones, and music of Atlanta. The first scene of the trailer features Ernest “Earn” Marks (Glover) very sweetly spending time with his significant other Van (Zazie Beetz), with whom he shares a daughter and evidently a lot of relationship issues. As a very compelling trap beat plays–a longstanding staple of Atlanta hip-hop–we are introduced to Earn’s cousin, rising rapper Paperboy (Brian Tyree Henry), whom Earn is trying to manage before he gets signed to a major label. Based on this trailer alone, it looks like Atlanta is going to tackle the theme of what constitutes a family, and how best to provide for each one you have without burning yourself out.
As we see mostly dramatic moments that are shot with a super keen eye, the moments of levity–Earn stealing a cup of soda at a soda fountain or Earn sarcastically telling his young child that her living situation is healthy for her–stand out, as Glover’s temperament malleably shifts from somber to silly.
Given Glover’s history as rapper Childish Gambino and the music selections for the show we’ve heard thus far (Tame Impala’s “New Person Same Ol Mistakes”) I have a very solid feeling that the music featured on the show is going to be stellar. In other words, we feel confident that Atlanta will look as good as it sounds and vice versa.
Atlanta debuts on FX September 6.
Are you as excited for Donald Glover’s new show as we are? Spit some verses about it in the comments and on Twitter.
Image: FX
Matt Grosinger is the music editor of Nerdist and is so so so stoked for Atlanta to premiere
Mornings Are for Coffee and STRANGER THINGS Fan-Made Gifs
In the category of obvious statements: We’re rather fond of Stranger Things here at Nerdist. Personally, I’m considering putting up colored Christmas lights as a little tribute to the awesomeness of Joyce Byers–I’m not, however, painting the alphabet on my wall. If there is a being that wants to communicate with me via flashing lights, I don’t want to know about it. Anyway! Instead of talking about my arts and crafts projects, let’s look at some more fan art from the Netflix series.
Last week’s Fan Art Friday was all about Stranger Things, and we couldn’t get enough. This time around I found some rad fan-made GIFs featuring the supernatural story, and they’re mostly about Eleven. I mean, why wouldn’t they be? She’s the sort of character that makes an impression.
To kick things off, here’s a beautiful GIF by Joy + Noelle–it’s quintessential Elle, right down to the dripping blood.
We have all Will’s pals and Eleven in this lovely pixelated GIF by Francesca De Vivo:
Matheus Bitencourt has created a few GIFs inspired by the show, and it all started with this one–I love how it flips to the Upside Down.
3DRod did this fierce Eleven animation test. His next game mock-up is going to be focused on Stranger Things. Keep up with his work on Twitter.
Do you have any Stranger Things fan art we should be drooling over? Want to share your favorite GIFs or illustrations with us? Leave a link in the comments or tweet us.
Also! If you create fan art, I want to see it for a future edition of Fan Art Friday. Get in touch with me at alratcliffe at yahoo dot com, and we’ll talk!
We talk all about Stranger Things season 2!
Regina Spektor and the White Stripes Release New Songs
2016 has actually been a rip in space-time, during which we have all been transported back to the late ’90s and early aughts. Just weeks ago, the most popular things in the cultural zeitgeist were Pokémon and Blink-182, who had the number one record in the country. Emo has made quite a comeback with Brand New and Dashboard Confessional releasing new material. Independence Day just got rebooted, Green Day are back, and we’re getting a Legends of The Hidden Temple movie. And now, to complete this time warp, the White Stripes have unveiled a previously unreleased track and Regina Spektor has debuted a brand-new track.
Jack White just announced that on September 9 he would be releasing a career-spanning double LP of material from the White Stripes era called Jack White Acoustic Recordings 1998-2008, and as a brief taste, he dropped the previously unheard White Stripes song, “City Lights.” As promised by the title of this record, the song is a beautifully performed ballad that taps into the softer side of the Stripes repertoire, in the vein of “We Are Gonna Be Friends.” White, lovelorn yet hopeful, sings “So we will be side by side / the plane will land / in the winds we’ll glad… / and to you I will arrive..” It’s a really beautiful song and hopefully indicative of the tone throughout the rest of the forthcoming record. You can listen to the whole thing above.
The queen of mid-aughts, piano-driven indie pop, Regina Spektor, has finally returned to the fold, announcing a brand new album due out on September 30. Her first offering from her forthcoming record, Remember Us To Life is called “Small Bill$” and features the rich storytelling Spektor is best known for. While, admittedly, the instrumental and vocal structure of the verses is a bit repetitive, her wordless chorus breathes a bit of life into the song. The track is really well produced, which is not too surprising given Spektor told us that she was extremely excited about her creative relationship with her producer while making this record. You can check out that whole conversation below.
What do you think of these new songs from Regina Spektor and the White Stripes? Will you be copping both albums when they drop next month? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter.
Image: Third Man Records/Columbia;Warner Bros./Sire
Matt Grosinger is the music editor of Nerdist and wonders
This POKÉMON Fan Game is Finally Done After 9 Years, and It Looks Amazing
There are tons of Pokémon fan games out there: I played one recently that was the exact same thing as Pokémon Red, except instead of capturing and training your own Pokémon, the only way to advance in the game was to steal other trainers’ Pokémon. These variations are fun, but it’s a whole other thing to create an entirely new adventure that adds on to the Pokémon universe.
One day, a couple of fans, JVUranium and voluntarytwitch, started working on an entirely new Pokémon game called Pokémon Uranium, which includes features like 150 new custom Pokémon, the ability to talk to your Pokémon, and a new type: Nuclear. The game also takes place in a tropical setting, an interesting coincidence given the impending release of Pokémon Sun and Moon. If this all sounds ambitious, it was, and that’s why it’s taken NINE YEARS to complete.
Now, version 1.0 of the game is done—but don’t check the game’s website for the download link, because unfortunately it’s down due to extreme traffic (and possibly Nintendo). The game is currently only available for Windows at the moment, but Mac and Linux versions were promised soon), and once you get it going, Pokémon Uranium also includes the ability to battle and trade online.
To see some of the new Pokémon and to stay updated on the game’s status, check out the official Pokémon Uranium Twitter page, and let us know if you plan on installing this post haste (or if you’ll be waiting impatiently if you’re on a Mac or Linux machine).
Featured image: PokemonUranium
Hear 3 Songs Florence and the Machine Recorded for FINAL FANTASY XV
As if we needed another reason to love Final Fantasy or Florence Welch, Florence and the Machine recorded a bunch of music about the iconic video game. But that’s not the only music that’s making us grin this Friday. Tegan and Sara shared an animated music video done by the Bojack Horseman producer, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo brought his dad and daughter onstage to perform, and Carly Rae Jepsen just guest starred on the coolest PC Music song you’ll hear this year.
Several months ago, news broke that Florence and the Machine would lend her gorgeous voice and powerful music to a videogame often described with those same adjectives: Final Fantasy. The English musician teamed up with her band to cover Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” for the upcoming Final Fantasy XV game. Now, the three songs she recorded for the game can be heard in full. It’s a nice treat for those of us who feel like SEptember 30th, the day of the game’s release, can’t come soon enough. Stream it above via Spotify. [Pitchfork]
Europe, I’mma let you finish, but America has the hippest President of all time. With Summer’s remaining weeks clocking in, President Obama shared his summer playlist for this year. Unsurprisingly, it’s stuffed with really cool songs by really cool musicians we love. Everyone from Jay to D’Angelo to Courtney Barnett and Wale are on there. Like last year’s playlists, he organized the set of music into two categories: songs for the daytime and songs for the nighttime. Interpret that as you please. Once you give them a spin at the suggested times of days, you will see why he sorted them as such. Thanks, Obama! No really, thank you. [Rolling Stone]
Tegan and Sara have always been the coolest twins out there. As if we were silly enough to doubt that, they dropped an amazing music video that’s as funny as it is fun. “Hang on to the Night” sees the pop sisters entering a surreal world directed and designed by Lisa Hanawalt, the production designer and producer for BoJack Horseman on Netflix. As such, there’s quite a number of horses and weird animals. This is the type of midnight magical madness that happens in Tegan and Sara’s world, even when animated. Can we join? [Consequence of Sound]
A photo posted by weezer (@weezer) on Aug 11, 2016 at 6:04am PDT
Weezer is full of fun. Turns out that’s a genetic trait. Rivers Cuomo was born to a father who is a respected jazz percussionist, after all. At a recent show in Irvine, California, Cuomo brought out his father to perform live with him onstage, and boy, did his father deliver. He banged through “Beverly Hills” and lightened up the otherwise heavy backbeats. Earlier this year, Cuomo brought out his daughter, too, to perform keys on “Perfect Situation.” We get it. Your family is really cool, y’all. [Consequence of Sound]
Everything Carly Rae Jepsen touches turns to ’80s pop gold. When faced with the hyper-current sounds of PC Music, she begins to wobble, and yet she still lets her voice shine through, turning things into a blissful, vintage mix of sugary pop and slinky retro sounds. That’s the case, at least, with Danny L Harle‘s newest single, “Super Natural,” which premiered in July at Red Bull Music Academy’s RBMA Radio LA Stream. “Carly was always at the top of my list of people who could sing it, but I never envisaged it actually happening!” Harle said in a press release. “I love her take on the track; her voice has an amazingly positive energy which was essential in giving “Super Natural” a necessary sense of euphoria.” That it does. Hear for yourself in the Spotify stream above. [Pitchfork]
Enjoy the weekend! See you back here on Monday for another Music Dispatch.
Image: Island Records/
Marriage Tips, Seth Rogen, and Echoes of the Expos: The Week In Podcasts
Well, this was an interesting week for me, and I’ll just say that you can find out about some of THAT by reading this piece I wrote about it (or just following me on Twitter and going back to the beginning of the week. There’s more, but I’ll save it for another time. Now is the time to reflect not on mortality but rather on what we had here at the Nerdist Podcast Network, which included these fine programs:
We had a hostful Nerdist Podcast with plenty of marriage tips for Chris from the Voices of Experience, Jonah and Matt, followed by Seth Rogen returning to talk about Sausage Party, This is the End, Preacher, and Canadians in comedy.
We also had two great editions of The Jonah Keri Podcast, one with the voice of the Montreal Expos and, for many years now, the Miami Marlins, Dave Van Horne, and another with Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis on the dynamics of framing pitches and maintaining faith; Comedy hero Phil Proctor of Firesign Theater and Rugrats (and many, many other things) renown on Maltin on Movies; Mike Birbiglia making his third appearance on You Made It Weird to promote Don’t Think Twice; and Javier Grillo-Marxuach (The Middleman), Brian Michael Bendis (Jessica Jones, Powers, a zillion other things), and director Rosemary Rodriguez (Jessica Jones) on the “Pulp Page to TV” panel from ATX on The Writers Panel.
And we had Ben Blacker, Heath Corson, Ashley Miller, and Julie Benson answering your comics questions on Nerdist Comics Panel; Some Bachelor in Paradise talk with Ralph Garman (Hollywood Babble-On, The Kevin and Bean Show) and Paget Brewster on Will You Accept This Rose?; Arj Barker hitting the couch for another Cash Withdrawal; Legacy Music Hour‘s Brent Weinbach visiting Love, Alexi; Justin Kirk (Weeds) on The JV Club; Matt Cohen returning for comic talk and fact trading on Today We Learned; and actor Eugene Cordero (The Kings of Summer) on Pro You, after another live experience edition.
Wait, we also had Kevin and Steve back from their summer break on Chewin’ It; Matt Braunger back with a fresh Ding-Donger; Another New York episode of The Jackie and Laurie Show; A live-streamed edition of Bizarre States plus a bonus episode with a look at the movie The Binding with cast and crew; Still more moving woes with the Elfmans on Kicking and Screaming; An ode to some special toast on Half Hour Happy Hour; A message from Bucatino Business, courtesy of Thrilling Adventure Hour; and Part 2 of another Family Show on The Todd Glass Show.
That’s a lot. And it’s all at the Nerdist Podcast Network homepage and Facebook page, so go and listen and subscribe. It’ll help you take your mind off things. Trust me, I know all about that.
Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment
GREEN ARROW #5 Preview Pits Ollie and Dinah Against Shado (Exclusive)
DC Comics has been kicking all kinds of ass with their Rebirth series since the publishing initiative launched back in the spring. The initiative has been restoring classic elements to their long-standing iconic heroes, and been doing a bang-up job. And maybe no other title has benefited from the new direction more than Green Arrow.
Ever since his Rebirth relaunch from writer Benjamin Percy and artists Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra, Oliver Queen has become a true “social justice warrior” as he was in years past, has gotten his signature goatee back, and most importantly, has once again entered a relationship with heroine Black Canary. A relationship that was done away with when DC launched the New 52 in 2011. As wiser fans than me have pointed out, Black Canary doesn’t need Green Arrow to work as a character, but Green Arrow does need Black Canary.
In the first four issues of the new Green Arrow series, Oliver Queen and Black Canary have been tangling with the assassin Shado, and now you can take a sneak peak at what’s in store for Ollie and Dinah as they take Shado on directly. Check out our exclusive preview of the first five pages of Green Arrow #5 in our gallery below.
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Benjamin Percy Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Cover Artists: Juan Ferreyra / Variant: Neal Adams
Here’s the official synopsis:
“The Death and Life of Oliver Queen” part five! It’s Green Arrow and Black Canary versus Shado and the Ninth Circle in the belly of the Inferno.
Green Arrow #5 is due to hit stores on Wednesday, August 17.
Excited about the new direction for Green Arrow? Let us know what you think down below in the comments.
Images: DC Comics
Check Out This Fantastic Custom STAR WARS Speeder Bike
You know the old movie trope where the main character—usually a superhero—shows off some super ability in public, and only a small child sees it? Then the kid tries to tell his parents and they brush it off as the kid imagining things? Hopefully, parents in real life are paying more attention to their kids, since our young ones might actually be telling the truth if they mention having seen a Speeder Bike cruising down the highway.
Reported by Laughing Squid, the above video shows how Vintage Works, a design shop from Suamico, WI created a custom motorcycle to replicate the Speeder Bike from Return of the Jedi. With every part custom-made (including the motorcycle itself), it took over 800 pieces to create the bike. According to Paul Nelson from Vintage Works, even though it doesn’t look like it, the bike DOES turn, which gives a few points above the Bat-Pod already.
He also added that they tossed in a few easter eggs for all the Star Wars fans out there. There’s an Imperial cog on the front suspension, T.I.E. fighters on the rear shock mounts, and a replica of Darth Vader’s mouthpiece on the rear wheel.
Check out the below video to see its test run, where they took it up to 35 mph (doesn’t sound fast, but when you are creating something this awesome, you want to be careful).
You can check out more videos of Vintage Works’ Speeder Bike on their YouTube channel here, and photos on their Facebook page here.
So what do you think? What other sci-fi vehicles should Vintage Works attempt next? Land, seas, or air? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.
Image: Vintage Works/YouTube
August 11, 2016
New ROGUE ONE Trailer Teases Darth Vader
“The world is coming undone.”
The Star Wars universe is in a precarious position in the time before A New Hope. Emperor Palpatine has slowly and carefully maneuvered the Empire into the role of galactic domination, and countless citizens are suffering. The Rebellion changes that, and the events in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story lead to their first big victory. The first full length trailer for Rogue One gives us some quality face time with the rebels charged with stealing the plans to the Death Star–an action that sets in motion the downfall of the Empire.
Let’s talk about the Sith-shaped elephant in the room first, shall we? Since he’s at the right hand of the Emperor, Darth Vader has a role to play in Rogue One. It’s not a huge role, but his presence and importance in the galaxy at this particular time can’t be ignored… and Disney and Lucasfilm can’t ignore how much fans adore the villain, so of course he has a brief cameo in the trailer (less is more) and “The Imperial March” plays under many of the scenes.
Seeing Vader is awesome, but I’m a rebel through and through and I was fascinated by the balance of optimism and pessimism among the rebels in the footage. Saw Gerrera is the practical voice, telling Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, and co. about the imposing threat of the Empire. As for Jyn? She seems to believe they can make a difference. They all appear to understand the stakes of their mission. Well, maybe everyone except the droid K-2SO; he wants to tell them about the likelihood of failure. He would get along well with C-3PO.
Rogue One will be here on December 16, and no, that is not fast enough. Was this trailer everything you hoped it would be? Share your thoughts with me in the comments.
Image: Disney/Lucasfilm
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