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nerdist_feedAndrew Orvedahl is a comedian based in Denver, Colorado, and honestly? He’s delightful. He and Dave talked drinking and quitting drinking and kids and quitting drinking because of your kids. Also, turns out that if you have kids, you are constantly worried you’re going to die.
Follow @TheOrvedahl on Twitter!
Follow @davetotheross on Twitter and Like the show on Facebook!
nerdist_feedIn honor of 300: Rise of an Empire’s (in theaters today) latest addition to the bad ass villainess Hall of Fame, Eva Green’s Artemesia, from comics to movies to animation, I present thirteen of the most badass chicks in pop culture history. Better watch out, ’cause these girls will totally cut you.
13. Varla (Faster, Pussycast…Kill! Kill!)
You may not know the name, but you’ve certainly felt her influence in pop culture. Varla, as played by the fabulously-named actress Tura Satana, was the ring leader of a wild pack of killer go-go dancers in director Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult classic film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Varla was a stone cold monster who, within the first thirty minutes of her movie, drag races in the desert, karate chops a dude to death, and kidnaps his girlfriend. Sporting a black cat suit that showed off her rather abundant gifts, long black hair with bangs, and painted-on eyebrows, Varla was the template for every bad ass chick you ever met at a dive bar or at a tattoo parlor who ever gave you the stink eye for staring at her for too long.
12. Gozer the Gozerian (Ghostbusters)
This entry is cheating a little bit, after all, Gozer the Gozerian isn’t really a woman, it’s an ancient Babylonian God who can choose any form it wishes. However, when it finally makes its big entrance on the roof of Sigourney Weaver’s building at the climax of Ghostbusters, it chooses the form of a back up dancer from an early eighties music video. But it’s a female backup dancer, so it counts in my book. Although only existing as a female form for a grand total of three minutes before becoming a giant marshmallow creature, Gozer made the most of her time as a “nimble little minx.”
11. The Borg Queen (Star Trek: First Contact)
When the Borg were introduced as the new villainous alien species in Star Trek The Next Generation, they were a single minded hive with no personality. As cool as that concept is, when it came time to make Star Trek: First Contact for the big screen, the producers knew that they needed someone to act as the “face” of the Borg, so they came up with the notion of the Borg Queen. Played by Alice Krige, who brought a creepy sexuality to the role, the Borg Queen ended up being the franchise’s most memorable villain next to Khan. And her grand entrance, where her head and shoulders are lowered into her body from above, was super badass back in 1996. She would later be used several times on Star Trek: Voyager, as that show ran the Borg into the ground, but she was never cooler than in her first appearance in First Contact.
10. Annie Wilkes (Misery)
While most of the female villains on this list are “sexy” in some way (which says a lot about our culture’s views on sex and “badness,” but that’s another article for another day), no one can claim to have ever called Kathy Bates’ breakthrough performance in 1990′s Stephen King adaptation Misery “sexy” in any way. Bates won an Oscar for her portrayal of Wilkes, a deranged obsessive fangirl of fictional literary character Misery Chastain, who ends up caring for her favorite novelist (and Misery Chastain’s creator) Paul Sheldon after he’s injured in a car accident. She’ll only help him recover on the condition that Sheldon writes a new novel resurrecting the character with whom she is obsessed. Needless to say, there are complications. In all my decades of movie-going, I have never seen anyone literally get up out of their chair and fist pump when a movie bad guy “gets theirs” like I did at the climax of this movie.
9. Joan Crawford (Mommie Dearest)
I have no idea if the real Joan Crawford was as much of a monster as the 1981 biopic film Mommie Dearest would suggest (actually, I read the book…she was that bad), but Faye Dunaway sunk her teeth into the role of Hollywood golden era acting legend Joan Crawford, who at the height of her fame decided to adopt two cherubic orphans “for a little extra publicity” and then proceeded to make their lives a living hell. Dunaway’s performance is part kabuki theater, part campy horror flick, and entirely something you’ll never forget. Dunaway was coming off over a decade’s worth of critically praised performances and an Oscar win when she made this, and she blames the film’s reception as a camptastic schlock fest for ruining her career. (According to urban legend, Dunaway also claims to be haunted by the ghost of the real Joan Crawford for ruining her reputation. I desperately want to see someone tackle a movie based on that scenario.) For thirty plus years now, gay men the world over have become grateful for the endless amount of quotes Mommie Dearest has provided us, and for everyone else, the movie can serve as reminder that your mom isn’t really that bad.
8. The Alien Queen (Aliens)
Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie introduced us to the Xenomorph, one of the most terrifying creatures in sc-fi movie history. James Cameron’s sequel Aliens raised the stakes even higher by introducing a whole colony overrun by Xenomorphs. But the worst was still to come for Ellen Ripley and her crew of Colonial Marines, when we discover that these aliens are merely the children of a ginormous Alien Queen, a creature that is the living embodiment of the phrase “never come between a mother and her cubs.” The Queen is one mean mother… literally. When Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley says, “Get away from her, YOU BITCH!” you are right there with her.
7. Mystique (Uncanny X-Men)
When Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont created the mutant shapeshifter Mystique, he probably had no idea she’d grow into one of the franchise’s most popular and enduring villains, and even come to symbolize the entire franchise due to a brilliant make-up idea conceived of for the first X-Men movie. Although her portrayals in the comics and the movies come with starkly different backstories, one thing remains the same about her: her single-minded devotion to protecting the mutant race at all costs….regardless of innocent humans getting in the way. Although originally just part of a team, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, she quickly became the standout character, and is now the X-Men’s most notorious female adversary.
6. Catwoman (Batman)
Batman doesn’t only have all the best villains, he also has all the best villainesses. So when it came time to pick one for this list, I almost gave this spot to Talia al Ghul, Poison Ivy, or Harley Quinn. But in the end, this entry belongs to Batman’s longest running femme fatale, Selina Kyle, a/k/a Catwoman. While Catwoman teeters the line between hero and villain more than anyone else on this list, truth is, she’s still a master jewel thief, and last time I checked, stealing was still considered bad. Besides, for the first fifty or so years of her existence, she was definitely considered a villain, so I say that’s where she really belongs. Aside from a long career in the comics, Catwoman has also had a ton of memorable portrayals in the media over the years, including Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, and most recently Anne Hathaway (I won’t mention C.I.N.O, or “Catwoman In Name Only.” You know who I mean.) For decades now, this badass villain has been inspiring young boys to visit dominatrixes when they grow up, and had no doubt inspired young girls to be dominatrixes themselves. Nothing more badass than that.
5. Cersei Lannister Baratheon (Game of Thrones)
I know many out there that would argue that King Joffrey is the “big bad” of Game of Thrones, and while he is indeed the most inherently hateable, I would say the biggest villain would be none other than his mother, Cersei Lannister Baratheon. It is she who is the real power behind the throne at King’s Landing, and she is the puppet master who is pulling all the strings in a quest to seek absolute power for herself and her family, possibly even more so than her father. Just why is Cersei so awful? For starters, she had three kids with her twin brother (ew), then plotted to kill her husband the king, and when the King’s Hand Ned Stark found out the truth and tried to expose her, well… let’s just say it didn’t go very well for him at all. Cersei is the perfect villain for an ongoing series like Game of Thrones, because no matter how much you hate her, you kind of love to hate her, and realize the show would lose a vital element were she to go away. Actress Lena Headey brings an actual humanity to Cersei that makes you almost sympathize with her at times, and actually not want her to die a horrible death… if only for a little while.
4. Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
The fictional embodiment of what happens whenever a bully is given to much power and free reign. Played by actress Louise Fletcher, who won an Oscar for her performance, Nurse Ratched is on a massive power trip and gets sadistic glee from brutally terrorizing the assortment of outcast patients that live in her psychiatric ward, including Jack Nicholson, Danny Devito, Christopher Lloyd, and Brad Dourif, in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Far more than anyone else on this list, you know there are real Nurse Ratched types out there, making her all the more horrible. Louise Fletcher didn’t have much of a movie career after this, but she would go on to play the evil Kai Wynn of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, becoming one of the primary antagonists for that series, and she infused her with more than a little of Ratched’s cold evil.
3. May Day (A View to a Kill)
There is quite the long list when it comes to female 007 villains, and therefore it’s hard to pick one to represent them all. A great deal of people would probably say it’s Pussy Galore, played by Honor Blackman in 1964′s Goldfinger, but I’d have to disagree. I think the best Bond girl villainess would have to be May Day from 1985′s A View To A Kill. First and foremost, she’s Grace Jones, a statuesque goddess with fierce style (hello, look at her awesome haircut and those shoulder pad suits!) She base jumps off of the Eiffel Tower, and while she does sleep with Bond, she uses him just as much as he’s using her. Heck, for a second I thought he might give the old boy a heart attack (Roger Moore was already fifty-seven years old when he made this one, it could have happened.) Like most female 007 villains, the power of Bond’s penis makes her switch sides at the end, and she ends up sacrificing herself and saves him. In the end however, I think if May Day went toe to toe with any other Bond girls she’d kick their butts hands down. May Day for the win.
2. The Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)
The Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz is the original scary bad guy most kids are exposed to for the first time, and she is certainly one that makes an impression that lasts a lifetime. Not only does Margaret Hamilton’s character make one of the best entrances of any villain in movie history (“Who killed my sister?”), but she goes out in one of the best ways too (“Oh, what a world, what a world”). The original character as found in the L. Frank Baum novel wasn’t that much to write home about; it was Hamilton who infused her with that manic cackle and that green skin. The Wicked Witch of the West is so iconic, in fact, that if you were to say the word “witch” to the average person on the street, the image that their mind that would conjure would probably be that of Margaret Hamilton’s character above anything else. Despite attempts to make the witch seem more sympathetic in things like Wicked and Oz, the Great and Powerful, it’ll take a lot more than that to undo the Wizard of Oz‘s legacy of the green hag as the ultimate evil.
1. The Disney Villainesses
Starting in 1937 with the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney has had, hands down, the greatest assortment of female villainy anywhere. All of these ladies are dripping in malevolence and glamour, from Cinderella’s wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine, to the ultimate bitterness of Maleficent (sixteen years of making a kingdom suffer because she wasn’t invited to a baby shower? That’s devotion, baby), to Cruella de Vil, someone who wanted to kill adorable puppies to make a coat, for heaven’s sake. Take that, Hannibal Lecter. Then there’s the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, Ursula the Sea Witch from the Little Mermaid.… the list goes on and on. Any one of these ladies could have earned a separate spot on this here list, but collectively, they own the number one space by a landslide.
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Who is your favorite bad ass female villain? Let us know in the comments below.
nerdist_feedSome critics have been so ecstatic about Eugenio Mira’s new limited-release thriller Grand Piano they have been openly comparing it to Alfred Hitchcock. While Grand Piano is not as good as Hitchcock’s oeuvre, it can at least be compared to some of the better suspense films of Brian De Palma (complete with a split-screen effect), and that’s nothing to sneeze at. It’s certainly a few hairs better than Joel Schumacher’s Phone Booth, the not-too-bad 2003 movie that it closely resembles.
Grand Piano is a wholly engaging and wonderfully taut thriller that manages to wring tension from what is essentially a single location and a series of closeups and voiceovers. Suspense thrillers always work better when they are enclosed and the number of players is limited. In Grand Piano, almost the entire film is a verbal back-and-forth between an unseen, rifle-sporting assailant (voice of John Cusack), and a man performing on stage at a major piano concert (a nervous Elijah Wood). Low budget film, high-concept premise, and two good actors bantering. It works.
Wood (amazing) plays Tom Sleznick, reported to be one of the best pianists of his generation. He is trying to live down the shame of an attack of stage fright he experienced five years earlier, preventing him from perfecting a real-life “impossible piece.” Tonight, he is to perform for the first time since then with his wife and a whole concert hall watching. While performing, he discovers ominous messages written in his sheet music, declaring that his wife (Kerry Bishé) will die if he makes a mistake. He eventually comes across a telephone earpiece, and he begins hearing the threatening words of a silent gunman (Cusack) lurking somewhere in the theater, able to shoot holes in things without anyone noticing. From there, Tom has to figure out how to signal people from the stage, and solve the mystery of who his assailant is with nothing more than conversation, a surreptitious cell phone, and only a few brief departures from the stage. Could the wife be in on it? How about the wife’s two friends (Tamsin Egerton, Allen Leach)? How about the helpful security guard (the awesome Alex Winter — good to see him back)? Or maybe it’s all controlled by Tom’s conductor friend (Don McManus).
I will say nothing more about the plot, ultimate goals, or secret alliances, but I will say that some of the reveals are really cool, and some of them are – perhaps predictably – kind of silly. Indeed, the ultimate climax involves more chasing and last-minute face-off than the previous cool, steel trap maneuvers would have suggested. What Grand Piano manages to do, though, is what all of the best thrillers do: create genuine tension out of a seemingly innocuous situation. It may not be all that plausible that a star pianist is secretly being harangued by a murderer at the very same time he is performing on stage (and not missing a note, I might add), but Grand Piano makes us think that it might actually happen, that the nervous musician actually does have an earpiece on, and that his mumbling may actually be a back-and-forth with someone offstage.
I cannot credit Elijah Wood enough as a performer. I’ve always admire the man for playing resolute, often mildly defeated people, and here his natural on-screen skittishness aids him greatly. Also, it does seem that Wood bothered to learn a lot of the piano he performs in this film. Either that, or the special effects used to fudge his playing are impeccable.
Grand Piano has been touted by early reviewers as one of the better horror films of the year. It certainly falls into the camp of deserving quality films that perhaps require more hype than your average studio film to ensure people see it. I cannot say for certain that this is a top-ten-of-the-year movie, but I recommend Grand Piano.
Rating: 4 burritos
nerdist_feedAs if winning best director at this year’s Oscars wasn’t enough, director extraordinaire Alfonso Cuarón is already set to premiere his latest work, the pilot of NBC’s upcoming series, Believe (which he also co-created). Today, the network has released a clip from the opening of the pilot, and yes, it is a long take:
So we have a car crash, some back woods, a secret group of people after a little girl, and an evil lady breaking necks. Yeah, we’ll watch this. Despite some highly publicized showrunner shakeups behind the scenes, this show looks cool enough to stick with for a few episodes. And if it makes a difference, it is a J.J. Abrams production as much as it is a Cuarón, so there’s that.
Believe premieres this Monday after The Voice on NBC.
nerdist_feedRock stars, tattoos, the history of modern art and the impact of those oh so famous soup cans – that’s where the conversation goes when Robert Sparks, Senior Consultant for the Martin Lawrence Galleries, USA joins Alton for this week’s podcast. Sparks also gives an inside look at the world of fine art and advises on how to get rid of those posters from college and put some treasure on your walls.
nerdist_feedAfter debuting the best spot of the Super Bowl, audiences have been anxiously waiting to see what was next for their favorite counter-terrorist agent, Jack Bauer, in Fox’s upcoming limit-series event, 24: Live Another Day. The 12-episode run, beginning on May 5th, will pick 4 years after the events of the series finale and see Jack still on the run until he must help thwart on terrorist attack in London. You know, because that’s how he do.
While we must still wait a little longer for some new footage, today Entertainment Weekly is offering up some brand new set photos for us to ogle:
A little FYI for those that don’t know: that photo of returning character James Heller is tagged as “PRESIDENT James Heller.” That’s right, he’s the new president. HOLY **** BALLS, YOU GUYS! And the keen observer will also note the first image of another returning character, former Bauer lover Audrey Raines. Oh, and punk rock Chloe. I mean, you guys, are we going to argue about punk rock Chloe? I think not.
This summer is going to rock, if these pictures have anything to say about it. The return of 24 is one of television’s most anticipated events, and May 5th can’t get here fast enough.
And if you wan’t some Mary Lynn Rajskub goodness, check out her Nerdist Industries podcast Kickin’ It Mary Lynn Style.
Are you excited for 24: Live Another Day? Let us know in the comments below.
nerdist_feedOh hey there, friends. We’re just kicking back over here on another installment of Nerdist News WTFridays.
In a SHOCKING TWIST, today’s episode offers the silly goods you’ve come to expect from WTFridays, PLUS a big ol’ exclusive news bomb from our friends at WonderCon! We’ve also got a couple of hilarious riffs on house favorite Jurassic Park, and of course your Best Worst Comment of the Week.
Relax and enjoy today’s episode, have a killer weekend, and come back to see us Monday for some more juicy pop culture news!
spiralsheep
china_shopthe_mary_sue_feedAnd it’s more filled with more food puns than that time Peeta in their Catching Fire was an actual piece of pita bread. Jean Bon Bon. Flantine.
(via: voice.fan.tv)
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What happens when we have J.J. Abrams, the director of Star Trek and Star Wars: Episode VII, and Alfonso Cuarón, the Academy Award-winning director for Gravity, joining forces? We get NBC’s Believe. The series follows a 10-year-old girl named Bo who has the power to change the world. The show premieres at 10/9c on March 10th, with its regular timeslot starting on Sunday, March 16th at 9/8c.
NBC has released the first two minutes of the show and a bunch of previews and interviews.
First Look
Instant Chemistry
The Prison Break
Interview with Alfonso Cuaron
Interview with J.J. Abrams
annathepiperBecause I haven’t done one of these in a while, and because I’d like to clear out my list of Stuff I Really Need to Get Done before I scamper back up to Canada tomorrow for Le Vent du Nord goodness, here’s a roundup of recent book acquisitions!
From Amazon:
From Barnes and Noble, because I was in the mood to augment my French ebooks collection and because I’ve got credit to blow on the B&N store:
Directly from Gary Botting, as a “from one author to another” gift at the De Temps Antan show at the Rogue:
And again from Barnes and Noble, this time in print:
Lastly, from Angry Robot:
17 for the year so far.
Mirrored from angelahighland.com.
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What it says on the tin. Some of Steve Casino‘s other superhero peanut portraits can be seen at That’s Nerdalicious.
Do you know French animated film The Triplets of Belleville? Do you love French animated film The Triplets of Belleville? If so, you might want to watch this Simpsons couch gag by its director, Sylvain Chomet. And then go watch Chomets The Illusionist, ’cause that’s good too. No, it’s not the one with Ed Norton. (Neatorama)
HBO’s official Game of Thrones rap album has arrived. You can stream it for free on SoundCloud (if you don’t want to listen to all of it, at least give Dominik Omega‘s “Arya’s Prayer” a listen) and then read Geekosystem‘s review.
Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?
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Any excuse to remind more people that a “post-apocalyptic Zorro” was a concept Fox Studios was playing around with two years ago.
Any excuse to remind more people that Zorro: Generation Z was a thing that happened.
I’m telling you, Sony, I’m much more interested in a self-consciously ridiculous futuristic Zorro reboot with lasers and neon-lit urban landscapes than I am in an un-self-consciously serious take on another pulp adventure. But go ahead, try me.
The ambition of the movie is less traditional swashbuckler, and more of a Dark Knight-style unveiling of the character with a new backstory, gritty realism and emotional core. There will be swordplay, combined with the martial arts that came from Europe and created a deadly combination of action and lethal fighting systems that combined swords, daggers, grappling and bare knuckles.
You know, there’s actually a lot of real history that could be incorporated into the basic story of Zorro in order to give it grit. American expansion westward, into, for example, annexed territory in California and Texas, was a process that pushed into spaces that had been conquered and “civilized” by European settlers for several generations already. What became clear over time was that the things that American settlers had in common with Spanish descended settlers (like the subjugation, conversion, and cultural erasure of Native peoples), did not outweigh their differences in language and religion. Mainly that Spanish descended settlers definitely did not count when it came to Manifest Destiny, and already having your own system of even western-style government didn’t mean that white settlers wouldn’t run you off the ranchero your family had tended for three generations.
I’m just saying, American audiences like freedom fighters and rebels fighting against invasion forces, and there’s nothing more gritty than a story where everybody is a kind of bad guy. Anything for Hispanic representation in Old West movies better than, say, Cowboys vs. Aliens.
(via Deadline.)
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Carol writes, "After a much-needed break, this week Phil & Kaja Foglio started up a new story arc on their multiple-Hugo-award-winning 'Girl Genius' comic series. This new story arc is a good place for new readers to jump in, as Agatha Heterodyne sets out on a new adventure. 'Girl Genius' is a long-form series, with three new full-color comic pages posted on the site each week. Updates appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 'Girl Genius' has been running since 2001, following the gaslamp fantasy adventures of Agatha, the titular girl genius mad scientist."
I love this stuff. Here's my review of the novel version of the story.
Here we are, back with the second act of the Girl Genius story! (Thanks, Carol!) 
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There are comic book movies, and then there are comic book movies that feel like it has jumped right out of the pages and onto the big screen. Sin City is a great example of that, and now there’s a new trailer for the sequel, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.
Back in the director’s chair are Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller (creator and writer). The film will contain 4 stories: “A Dame to Kill For” starring Josh Brolin and Eva Green, “Just Another Saturday Night” starring Mickey Rourke, “The Long Bad Night” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and “The Fat Loss” starring Jessica Alba. (The last two are original stories.)
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For releases in theaters on August 22, 2014.
oursinDaffodils! daffodils! in Euston Square.
Not quite hosts and clouds, but quite a few.
Houndz ov spring b goin arf.
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Book Description Get the audiobook from Audible. |
boingboing_feedJim Munroe sez, "Ten years from now, videogames are so immersive that teenagers learn lethal skills just by playing. They're called hapheads. The folks I made Ghosts With Shit Jobs with made this trailer I adapted from a book-length story I'm working on. Don't know if we can honestly call what we do lo-fi sci-fi anymore -- with fight scenes and full-on special effects, it's way more in the mold of traditional action sci-fi. I'm thinking what'll set it apart is the characterization of the father & daughter (my emotional entry into the story, thinking about my relationship with my daughter in 10 years) and the subcultural millieu that'll emerge."
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nerdreactor_feedBy Joe Fortunato
Movies were once a wonder as audiences looked up at the screen imagining if the scenes they were watching would ever come to fruition. Well, as technology would have it, many of the devices used in movies like Total Recall and James Bond are now becoming a part of everyday life. And you can expect the near future to evolve even more.
With that said, here are seven gadgets from movies that are a lot closer to reality than you think.
Marty Mcfly was a bit underdressed when he arrived in Hill Valley in 2015, so Doc hooked him up with an “up-to-date” wardrobe. Clothes that automatically fit to your arms and legs, a hat that changes colors depending on your mood, and, the most memorable of all, a pair of Nike sneakers that automatically laced up when you put your foot in them. Nike fans around the globe have dreamt of getting their hands on a pair of their own, and now that dream is becoming a reality. Tinker Hatfield, a Nike shoe designer, recently spoke at Jordan Brand’s Flight Lab in New Orleans at an event held surround the NBA All-Star game. When asked by a member of the press about the possibility of the shoes, he responded “Are we gonna see power laces in 2015? To that, I say YES!”
In Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger promised that he would be back. In Total Recall, though, he climbed into a robot taxi and let the automated driver take him to his next destination on Mars. If you happen to visit Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates, you can take a ride in a robo taxi just like the former governor of California did in one of his blockbuster hits. A European company, 2GetThere, operates the fleet of 10 autonomous taxis that transport about 25,000 people each month. Self-driving cars, robo taxis — they’re coming sooner than you think.
LG Electronics
This 2000 B-level sci-fi action movie introduced flexible displays as some far-fetched concept, but tech companies have really worked hard to make this a reality. Today, LG’s flexible OLED TV is probably the most amazing device on the market that features the technology. It was first introduced at CES 2014, and it’s amazed people since.
In The Avengers, Iron Man swipes through screens, taps on videos, and adjusts sliders on his holographic displays. While the first implementation of this technology on a large scale took place in the 2012 BMW 3-Series, it hasn’t picked up steam until now. Pioneer Corp. is at the forefront of developing the holographic display technology, using it to transform car windshields and rear view mirrors to display devices. The company aims to have this technology commonplace the cars it has a hand in manufacturing by 2018.
Warner Bros.
People loved the quadcopter-like flying vehicle that the superhero Batman used in this movie. Although there isn’t anything like it in real life for humans yet, the technology has already made a splash in the personal piloting industry. The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 is a 22-inch 4.6-pound aircraft that can record 720p video and snap pictures, all while flying around your neighborhood.
When the Minority Report came out in theaters in 2002, there wasn’t a consumer version of a biometric face scanner — you know, the kind that knows who you are and can ask you personal questions. It’s a bit of a scary concept when thinking about how it’s used in the movie, but today it’s used for security purposes like when you’re signing in to your Dell Ultrabook or T-Mobile cell phone. Although the technology isn’t perfected yet, it’ll definitely be safeguarding your belongings with strict authority in the near future.
Fox
In the movie, the crew throws floating orbs that fly through hallways and rooms, recording everything they see onto a holographic map. Sounds cool, right? Well, Google Street View is essentially using the same sort of technology as an army of cars drive around and snap panoramic images to provide you with a view of every house, street, and block in the world.
There’s no telling what other movie technology we’ll be seeing in the palms of our hands in the near future. What movie tech have you seen that seems outlandish but you’d like to see in reality?
Author Bio: Joe Fortunato is a professional writer based out of Tampa, FL. As an avid tech fanatic, Joe is constantly on the lookout for new things that will help him enjoy his hobbies: playing golf, brass instruments, cooking ethnic foods, and bass fishing. To find more of Joe’s published work, check out his Twitter profile, @joey_fort.
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via TMZ
The top news from Nerd Reactor this week, in case you missed it.
Clever HUVr hoverboard prank is a month early
Similar to Jimmy Kimmel’s twerking girl who caught on fire, creating viral videos disguised as pranks are becoming more common these days. This one spread like wildfire as it displayed a certain technology that the masses are eagerly anticipating, but NR’s resident Russian Adam Kharakov explains why we were just moths to an obviously fake flame.
SCEA president Jack Tretton retiring from PlayStation
An unexpected announcement came across the web as Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, says he’s leaving the team and embarking on a new career-adventure. Even though the Playstation is doing extremely well, one can’t help but wonder if the stress of a largely projected all-company loss has something to do with this.
Andrew Garfield didn’t betray Batkid
The interweb was all tangled up about a recent misreporting by NYPost’s Page Six, stating that The Amazing Spider-Man actor refused to present at the Oscars with Batkid. As more reliable sources and recent photos surface, the slingshots were retracted as it proves that Andrew Garfield truly is the people’s hero.
via Unleash the Fanboy
Uncharted writer and director, Amy Hennig, leaves Naughty Dog
What is this — a mass exodus in the gaming industry? It was misreported (this week’s theme apparently) that Uncharted writer Amy Hennig was “forced” out of the company by The Last of Us writers Neill Druckmann and Bruce Straley, although Naughty Dog has officially come out to say that this is not the case. Will we ever know why Amy left the doghouse?
Michael B. Jordan says haters are going to see the Fantastic Four reboot anyway
Seemingly unaffected by all the controversy surrounding his recent casting as the Human Torch in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, TMZ caught up with Fruitvale Station actor Michael B. Jordan for his thoughts on all the haters, which was basically a nice way of saying “Get over yourselves.”
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