Christopher Walken slips effortlessly between playing a total badass and playing roles that require him to act super silly, but his acting range isn't something he just picked up.

Christopher Walken's range comes from experience- he's been acting since he was 10 years old, when he was bitten by the acting bug after appearing in a sketch with Martin and Lewis on The Colgate Comedy Hour in 1953.

But young Ronnie Walken didn't make his official debut until 1954, when he and his brother Glenn began appearing on the soap opera Guiding Light- as the same character, Michael Bauer.

That may not have been a career highlight for young Ronnie, but these amazing photos taken by Al Barry in 1955 show us that Ronnie, who later changed his stage name to Christopher, was born to be an entertainer.

And seriously folks- if you're still scared of clowns after seeing young Ronnie Walken yukking it up in front of the camera your issues may run much deeper than mere coulrophobia!

See Christopher Walken. As a child. Dressed like a clown. here

The Batcave is supposed to be one of the most secure, well hidden and safest places on the planet, a base of operations where Batman can sip tea and use his Batcomputer in peace.

But, despite his best efforts to keep the location a secret, the Batcave has been raided by at least a dozen different villains, and Batman has been forced to carve out a few new Batcaves around the city since Bane broke in.

When Bane literally broke the Bat in the Knightfall story arc he did so inside the Batcave, after breaching Wayne Manor's defenses with a frontal assault, to prove a point- Batman's

After Knightfall all kinds of characters from the Rogue's Gallery started finding their way into the Batcave including Two-Face, who simply toyed with the caretakers, and The Joker, who left Alfred short-handed.

But the strangest Batcave break-in title goes to Doctor Hugo Strange, a guy so obsessed with Batman he tried to kill him and take his place, and even built an exact replica of Wayne Manor and the Batcave as a Bat-trap.

Hugo drugged Batman and brought him into the replica, then he threw on his own Batsuit and the surreal Bat-vs-Bat battle began!

Batman got the better of Dr. Strange and actually killed him, which is when he discovered it was actually just a robotic version of the mad Dr. being remotely controlled by the real Hugo- from the real Batcave.

See 15 Villains Who Broke Into The Batcave here

These days, we have seen Disney princesses reimagined as just about every possible thing. Many of these have become downright silly, which is why this Imgur series is just so damn delightful. 

Recognizing some of the silly potato characters is a fun game -the one at the top is obviously Pocahontas, the one above is Elsa from Frozen, lastly, the final one is Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

I think we may have finally seen the most absurd version of the reimagined princesses trend, which is saying a lot. You can see the rest of the series at Imgur.

Via That's Nerdalicious

Many Otakus think anime girls would make great girlfriends, because they're powerful and beautiful, with plenty of magical charm and cute little voices that can make a raging bull stop and smile.

But if these anime girls existed in the real world they would be virtually undateable, and any Otaku who made a play for them would instantly regret their decision.

Jealous boyfriends would rage when they're forced to watch as their anime GF falls on top of their male "friends" in suggestive ways over and over again, because that's how clumsiness is portrayed in anime.

The new BF would also have to deal with the brooding and sinister ex, who still somehow has a hold on that seemingly innocent little anime girl despite having tried to once tried to kill her.

But, as this comic by JHALL shows, the worst part about dating an anime girl would be the quest to find something to talk about, because they might be kick-ass warriors but they definitely aren't known for their conversational skills.

-Via Dorkly

Face it, there are plenty of things in the Star Wars prequels that make no sense at all. Some can be attributed to the temptations of modern CGI, while others are clearly due to the difficulty of retrofitting a plot to link to the story in the original trilogy. The prequels were there to set up the character of Darth Vader, his motivations, and the characters that surround him. It all leads to Anakin Skywalker turning to the dark side in Revenge of the Sith because he was afraid his pregnant wife would die. It should not have been so.  

Prenatal visits never happen in Episode III, not even offscreen. Despite Anakin’s spiraling paranoia about Padme’s health, doctors or hospitals are bizarrely never mentioned. And the evidence says that Padme never got an ultrasound.

When she confronts Anakin towards the end of the movie—shortly before giving birth—she refers to “our child,” rather than “our children.” It doesn’t make sense for her to be hiding the ball here, she’s making one last emotional appeal to the father of her children, to try to bring him back to the light side. Rather, Padme simply doesn’t know that she’s about to give birth to twins.

Later, when she actually gives birth, everyone is taken aback by the revelation that she’s having babies in the plural.

All of this points to one thing: Padme’s never had an ultrasound. In fact, Padme’s never had a prenatal check-up.

Padme is a privileged character who should have had access to the best medical care in the galaxy, but medical technology in Star Wars leans more toward bionic body parts to replace those sheared off by a light saber. Yeah, it's a feminist issue, one that the entire plot of the Star Wars saga pivots on. Read more about the nonsensical twists that led to Darth Vader at Motherboard.

Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are new role-playing games in the Pokémon family released to coincide with the franchise's 20th anniversary. If you haven't tried them out, be warned that they take a bit of a left turn in relation to the rest of the games. If you have, be assured that you're not the only one surprised. Learn a bit of what makes these games so different.  

2. Mimikyu Can Kill with Terror

Mimikyu managed to win the hearts of Pokemon fans all around the world within a short time after its introduction. However, it is important to note that while it has good intentions, it is nonetheless a Ghost Pokemon, as shown by how its true form is so terrible that it has killed through sheer terror. This is rather appropriate, seeing as how the sighting of ghosts as a warning of imminent death is a common motif in folklore.

3. Gengar Wants a Friend

Speaking of Ghost Pokemon, Mimikyu is far from being the spookiest of them, as shown by Gengar’s latest mention in the Pokedex. Past entries revealed that it tends to be rather cruel towards its victims, but what is interesting is that the latest mention reveals that its cruel actions are not without purpose. In brief, Gengar is tormenting its victims in an attempt to create another Gengar as a companion, which it knows to be possible because it used to be human.

Read the rest of the list at Unreality.

The Other Side

There are a bunch of "best of" movie lists released at the end of every year, but the ones I always find most fascinating are the lists put together by film directors.

Their insight and exposure to many obscure movies makes their picks a cut above the rest, and since TV shows are becoming more like movies every day their lists are starting to include their TV show picks too.

Green Room

Creator of the edgy and compelling TV series Mr. Robot Sam Esmail picked an even mix of movies and TV shows for his top 10 list:

"OJ: Made In America"

"Arrival"

"Horace and Pete"

"Black Mirror"

"Game Of Thrones"

"The Lobster"

"Atlanta"

"Manchester By The Sea"

"Green Room"

"Everybody Wants Some"

Julieta

Meanwhile Jonathan Demme (of The Silence of the Lambs fame) chose films with more personal storylines about people with complicated lives:

 “Moonlight”
“Julieta”
“La La Land”
“Loving”
“Krisha”
“Maggie’s Plan”
“13TH”
“Toni Erdmann”
“Christine”
“Gimme Danger”

Sausage Party

And comedian/film director Mike Birbiglia presented a list that seems to reflect his personality- part comedy, part touching drama, part documentary, all extremely enjoyable to watch:

11 faves (sorry, amazing year for movies, and there are a ton more I loved)

“Moonlight”
“Hell or High Water”
“Captain Fantastic”
“20th Century Women”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Tickled”
“Weiner”
“Sausage Party”
“Where To Invade Next” (2015/16)
“Pop Star”
“Black Mirror” (S. 3 episode 4 “San Junipero”— I will fight people on this.)

Want to see many more movie lists hand picked by directors? Read 35 Directors Pick Their Favorite Movies and TV Shows of 2016 at IndieWire

Artist Alex Solis' Icons Unmasked series imagines famous geek icons (mostly cartoons) being unmasked as other characters. Each of the illustrations seems approriate though not always for the same reason.

He's made over 112 pieces in the series and who knows how many more he will add. You can see the rest of the series here.

Via Geek Girls

Don't you hate it when Cthulhu's Witnesses show up at your door while you're in the middle of an eldritch ritual?

It's like they know you're a faithful follower of Nyarlathotep and they're just itching to argue about which deity is superior, as if ol' Squidface could take down Crawling Chaos!

But, as this Optipess comic shows, Cthulhu's followers are an extremely loyal bunch, and they don't even mind if he chews on them a little as long as he's happy...which is an emotion he doesn't understand.

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

There's somtething special about a dragon and if you're a fan of the fantastic beasts of legend, you'll want to check out LilDragonDesigns' Etsy store where you can grab some magical new jewelry designs featuring dragons.

You can even get a cool jewelry box to hold your reptilian jewelry. 

Via Geek Girls

There is a noticeable difference between the average superhero comics from the 80s and beyond and issues starring the same characters from the 1950s and 60s, and that difference is all thanks to the Comics Code Authority.

The Comics Code kept writers and publishers from printing anything that could be considered immoral or remotely offensive, and their assault on comic books began with the release of Dr. Fredric Wertham's book Seduction Of The Innocent.

Susana Polo of Polygon's Issue At Hand discusses the silly effect the Comics Code had on comic storylines, touching on how writers fought back with the power of morally neutral absurdity and how Nixon and Stan Lee helped cut out the Code.

(YouTube Link)

-Via Polygon

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Back in the 70s and 80s companies were making board games based on anything and everything, and they were trying to appeal to adults with both theme and gameplay.

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But it seems like their idea of adult meant bland and boring, because retro games like The Backbone and 15 Love are easily identified as mind-numbingly dull simply by looking at the board.

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They, like many of the games on Cracked's sarcastically titled list of The 9 Most Insane Board Games Of All Time, also feature themes and box art that have nothing to do with the game.

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With crazy clowns, angry lemons, and Kilkenny cats dueling with pistols on the boxes you'd think these games would have something interesting about them, but their colorful box art was pure gimmick.

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The clown game Narro is just a simplified version of checkers, the angry lemons game Früchtchen plays like Old Maid with dice, and The Amusing Game of Kilkenny Cats is simply checkers mixed with Sorry!, with no cats, no guns and no fun!

Read The 9 Most Insane Board Games Of All Time here (NSFW language)

It turns out that Benedict Cumberbatch may have been born to play Sherlock Holmes. Researchers have recently discovered that he is actually a distant relative (16th cousins, twice removed to be exact) of Mr. Holmes' creator, Conan Doyle. Of course, that is pretty distant. To put it in perspective, their last common ancestor was John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster, who lived in the 14th century.

Researchers from Ancestry.com discovered the connection in their free time simply because they love the Sherlock series, which returned yesterday by the way. According to Fox, the website has not yet told the actor about the connection.

There's a reason The Simpsons is one of the most highly regarded TV comedies of all time- the writing is comedy gold.

From the ridiculously funny character development to the satirical nature of Springfield, USA to the witty jabs taken at politicians and famous people, people expect an irreverent laugh and the writers deliver.

They love to make the audience cringe with those uncomfortable jokes that make us say "sad but true", because it's better to laugh at the dark side of human civilization than let it turn you into Kirk Van Houten!

See 28 Times Jokes on The Simpsons Were Super Dark here

(Via Nathan W Pyle)

Many comic artists put out a new strip weekly, if not daily, so their strip has plenty of opportunities to go viral, but very few strips actually pull in millions of readers and hit the internet jackpot.

(Via Dami Lee)

But sites like BuzzFeed are helping artists share their stuff with a broader audience, so comic strip lovers don't miss out on all the incredibly relatable and highly entertaining comics being put out by these clever folks.

(Via Adam Ellis)

BuzzFeed shared all the best strips posted to their site in 2016 so we can relive all the ego boosting highs and embarrassing lows with comics that remind us we're never alone in our awkwardness!

(Via Loryn Brantz)

See 24 Of Our Best Comics Of 2016 here