Chris Baker
WIRED
California, United States
Contact Chris
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Chris:
Use Minecraft to Amuse and Ensmarten Your Kids
While Minecraft can let kids spell dirty words in 10-foot-tall letters, the game can also develop problem-solving skills, spatial reasoning, and more. → Read More
Lego Dimensions Is One Seriously Ludicrous Brand Mashup
Lego's toys-to-life game blends elements of blockbuster IPs like a fanfic author hopped up on Pixie Stix and Mountain Dew. → Read More
Fans Have Dropped $77M on This Guy's Buggy, Half-Built Game
This massively multiplayer universe may not be up and running for several more months. Or several more years. Or … longer. → Read More
For Disney, the Future of VR Goes Beyond a Headset
In a fascinating panel presentation at GDC last week, Disney’s Bei Yang encouraged game developers to think outside of VR goggles. → Read More
Angry Nerd: Why Guardians of the Galaxy Works Where Spider-Man Fails Hard
Is it too much to ask for a comic book flick that doesn't rely on three crappy prequels for the plot to make sense? Let's lose the complicated, interwoven storylines and focus on quality standalone films. Angry Nerd explains why Marvel's new <em>Guardians of the Galaxy</em> gets it just right. → Read More
Angry Nerd: Why Andy Serkis Is the Greatest Actor of His Generation
He's the maestro of motion-capture performance with credits that include Gollum in the <em>Lord of the Rings</em> and <em>Hobbit</em> films, and Caesar in the new <em>Dawn of the Planet of the Apes</em>. So why hasn't Andy Serkis received an Oscar for his thespian excellence? Listen up Academy, or Angry Nerd will take matters into his own hands. → Read More
Angry Nerd: The French Comics That’d Make for Better Movies Than Marvel Heroes
It's hard for him to admit, but Angry Nerd has had his fill of Marvel and DC Comics blockbusters. Instead of another big-budget movie with an oversaturated superhero, why not look to sophisticated French graphic novels for source material? Case in point: the excellent new comic-to-silver-screen adaptation <em>Snowpiercer</em>. → Read More
Angry Nerd: Only You Can Save Star Wars’ Expanded Universe
With Darth Disney holding the keys to <em>Star Wars</em>, the fate of the Expanded Universe is at stake. The movies are only a fraction of the franchise's stories, and the new regime has announced that the entire canon must be brought in line with the new <em>Star Wars</em> movies. Angry Nerd makes a desperate plea to the only one who can help save the unabridged material: George Lucas. → Read More
Angry Nerd: Why Disney Needs to Make More Movies About Classic Villains
Disney makes a mint off of its stable of princesses, but its only strong interesting female characters are the villains. The new film <em>Maleficent</em> suggests that the House of Mouse might be onto something. Angry Nerd explains the pros of putting the evil queens and wicked witches front and center. → Read More
Angry Nerd: The Madness of the Timeline Mashup in the New X-Men
Like the X-Men, Angry Nerd has his own mutant power: an uncanny ability to detect when a film franchise's timeline is irrevocably scrambled and confused. And <em>X-Men: Days of Future Past</em> has his geek sense tingling like you wouldn't believe. → Read More
How the Godzilla Team Designed the Monster’s Iconic Scream
The kaiju’s shriek is every bit as iconic as its atomic breath and Tokyo-tromping, so it has to be pitch-perfect. → Read More
How the Godzilla Team Designed the Monster’s Iconic Scream
The kaiju’s shriek is every bit as iconic as its atomic breath and Tokyo-tromping, so it has to be pitch-perfect. → Read More
Angry Nerd: The Greatest Fictional Characters Ever All in One Show? Sign Me Up
Showtime's new series <em>Penny Dreadful</em> takes place in a world where Mary Shelley's Frankenstein coexists with Bram Stoker's vampires and a motley crew of other baddies from Victorian pulp fiction. Is it worth a watch? Angry Nerd would like to make a case for metaphysical mashups. → Read More
Angry Nerd: Networks Somehow Find Another Way to Resurrect Old Shows
In the old days when TV show finished its run, it just went to syndication. Now, networks are bringing series back to life in a new form: the "event mini-series." Angry Nerd explains the problem with revivals like <em>Heroes Reborn</em>. → Read More
Angry Nerd: Why Exactly Is Parkour Not a Film Genre Yet?
In <em>Brick Mansions</em>, parkour maestro David Belle shows off his wall-hurdling, window-jumping, roof-clambering skills. The movie is proof that parkour could be the greatest genre in cinema since the heyday of kung fu flicks. So why isn't Belle the new Bruce Lee? Angry Nerd blames the French. → Read More
Angry Nerd: How Hollywood Can Get Its Evil Twins Right
The Evil Twin is the crutch of the lazy screenwriter. Slap some facial hair on an actor and—POOF! They're evil. Will Jesse Eisenberg's new movie <em>The Double</em> be another dumb evil twin movie? Angry Nerd, naturally, has some predictions. → Read More
Angry Nerd: Why HBO Will Have to Add Even More Nudity to Game of Thrones (NSFW)
<em>Game of Thrones</em> is outpacing the release schedule of the novels that it's based on, so Angry Nerd has several brilliant suggestions on how to make the material last until the final book appears. → Read More