#The Cast Of Thor Plays Would You Rather Superhero Edition

[rosshiddleston]

#TomHiddleston Gifs

[ryanmeft]

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Part 1

The culmination of the superhero ride that started with Iron Man back in 2008 is almost here. Avengers: Endgame tickets are selling out fast even though the movie is nearly three weeks away, and speculation as to how this stage of Marvel’s box office juggernaut will all end is at a fever pitch. What better time to rank the movies that have brought us here? Now, no one with even a tiny bit of objectivity sincerely believes Marvel had a ten year plan and executed it precisely according to a grand vision. Looking back through these movies makes it clearer than ever that, more often than not, they made it up as they went along. In fact, considering all the retcons, changed minds, dropped plot threads and unexpected surprises, it’s amazing the continuity holds together at all. It mostly does...but the bottom part of this list contains the few movies even Marvel’s PR team probably wishes they could have a mulligan on, as well as some good-but-not-quite-lighting-the-world-on-fire fare. Let’s get to it. Warning: this article contains spoilers for nearly every movie in the MCU.

21. Iron Man 2

The red-headed stepchild of the MCU. After the surprise success of the original Iron Man, Marvel Studios apparently forgot that the strength of that film was allowing Jon Favreau and the writing team to put heart before brand synergy, and decided to make a movie that was half marketing for their planned Avengers crossover. Dropping Black Widow in here felt completely jarring, and it didn’t help that her role just added to the jumble of plot threads that didn’t seem to add up to anything; at the time, many saw it as proof that Marvel was putting a little too much faith in their ability to pull off this whole crossover thing. That’s only part of the sordid story, though, because the movie is also a mess in nearly every other way. Rather than the tight plotting of the original, this one sees Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and the rest speeding from random situation to random situation---a car race, an unhinged party, a spy caper---with only the barest of plot threads holding it all together. The movie’s only saving graces are the villains played by Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke. Each of them deliciously devours every scene they are in, providing the film’s lone moments of enjoyment, but they’re also squandered on what feels like an extremely low stakes plan. Iron Man so well proved that superhero movies can have a soul that it even managed to make some critical best-of lists for 2008. The sequel made us wonder if that might have been a tad premature.

20. The Incredible Hulk

There are some genuinely creative moments in this action-oriented “apology” for the in-reality-pretty-good Ang Lee Hulk movie. The opening sequence showing how Hulk’s blood travels, a chase through a Brazilian favela, tossing Bruce out of a helicopter to incite his other half, and the almost-love scene aborted by the alter ego were signs of how clever the movie could have been if it were not focused on cramming in as much smashing as possible. Nick Nolte’s complex antagonist is replaced with William Hurt chewing a little too much scenery, the new super-villain played by Tim Roth is a dull waste of the actor’s talent, the finale is listless, and the entire movie is just one long excuse to show Hulk ‘roiding out as much as possible. The camera work of skilled action veteran Peter Menzies Jr. and some excellent CG on the title character make it more fun to look at than many of the tights flicks of the time, which is something. As a general rule, things that are made to chase fleeting audience sentiments don’t stand the test of time, and there’s been a quiet reversal since 2008 in which Lee’s more original and creative vision for the character has come to be re-evaluated, while this one has been almost forgotten and relegated to endless TNT re-runs. Maybe with Mark Ruffalo having one more movie on his contract, he’ll get a crack at doing it right post-Endgame.

19. Thor: The Dark World At the time, this movie served as iron-clad proof that the only reason the Thor character worked at all was Loki. The god of mischief is at his delicious then-best here, conniving from a prison cell, partnering with his brother out of genuine concern, and eventually managing to actually take the throne. Sure, that latter development was quickly undone in the next film, but what a parting shot. He’s the only aspect of the movie that fully works, and if you pop it in today you sit patiently waiting for his scenes and snoring through the second, Loki-free half of the movie. Thor himself is lifeless when Loki’s not on screen. The Warriors Three are still nowhere near the right balance of humor and bravery. Natalie Portman remains wasted on a supposedly genius scientist who can nevertheless be stunned into immediate silence by Thor’s golden locks, while Sif is still 100% unnecessary in every way. Perhaps worst of all, the underrated Christopher Eccleston is miscast as a villain who always seems to be doing bad Shakespeare. We all tried hard to forgive it at the time (and director Alan Taylor claims it was made “a different movie” in the editing room, not at all implausible) but thankfully we’ve since admitted this is mostly a misfire.

18. Ant-Man

If you were to judge Ant-Man entirely by the size-changing shenanigans, it would be one of the best Marvel movies. Peyton Reed, building off a script by departing director Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish (and tidied up by Rudd and Adam McKay) gets a ton of mileage out of the novelty of being the size of an insect, from outrunning a flood in a bathtub to that rather brilliant final confrontation in a child’s playroom, using toys as ammo. Further, Paul “I Am Immortal” Rudd is pitch-perfect in the title role, while Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly bring a lot to the picture. It’s in the details where Ant-Man falls a bit short (pun intended). To start, we have a single major Hispanic character in the MCU, played by the frankly more-legendary-than-you-think Michael Pena, and he’s reduced to a fast-talking stereotype. Judy Greer and Bobby Cannavale are also worlds better than their roles, which are, respectively, a cliche shrewish ex-wife and a cliche over-suspicious cop. What really drags things down, though, is the lackluster villain, who may be the most inert black hole in the MCU’s rogues gallery. He is neither good enough to engage us, nor bad enough to hate. He could have been played by a grip, for all the personality he’s allowed. The core of the film is delightful. The hill around it is crumbly.

17. Captain Marvel

Marvel’s first female-led flick is understandably a phenomenon, pulling down the sixth-largest opening weekend of all time and serving as inspiration to young girls and target to the kind of people who don’t want women in their clubhouse. So what about the movie that’s causing all this hullabaloo? It’s pretty decent. The movie can be summed up very succinctly as “safe”. It takes few chances and is more like one small step than one giant leap for womankind. Had it been released during the early superhero boom, it would still be fondly remembered as a major link in the genre’s evolution. As it is, it borrows from the buddy-cop subgenre to create what is essentially an adventure/sci-fi movie between Carol Danvers and Nick Fury. It stands out more as a callback to the kind of action pics made in the 90’s (when it is set) than the heavily marketed shared universe of the MCU, and includes standout performances from Annette Bening, Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn. It meets expectations; it does not exceed them, and if you are a fan of the distinctive style practiced by directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, you won’t find it here. It’s only a month old, and it may be too soon to definitely say how it will be seen as time goes on. Right now, it feels more like a solid first step for the character than a fully realized final destination.

16. Thor

The original Thor has some completely solid, indisputable charms. Chris Hemsworth does physical comedy much more skillfully than he is ever given credit for, it is the debut of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, the third act is a rare-at-the-time case of inventiveness in an MCU finale, and it’s always great to see Stellan Skarsgard in literally anything. I would watch two hours of Stellan Skarsgard eating lunch, with a clone of Stellan Skarsgard. His drinking scene with Thor is a seriously underrated bit of awesome. It helps make up for the fact that the movie has no idea what to do with most of the supporting cast, including in part Loki, who at this stage seems to flail around between personalities, having crazy forced on him in time for the final duel despite it not even being hinted at earlier. It’s as if director Kenneth Branagh just let him do his own thing, and Hiddleston’s not 100% sure what that should be yet. The mirror scene is objectively amazing, but he won’t really come into his own until Avengers. The Warriors Three are utterly wasted; Branaugh and the writers just never nail the right combo of comedy and camaraderie needed to pull them off. Sif is superfluous. Natalie Portman is one of the finest actors of our generation, here reduced to goggling over Thor’s pecs. It’s not bad, especially compared to some of the dreck that gets pumped out of the blockbuster machine. It’s just rather inert.

That’s it for part 1. I’m  going to be doing some Marvel/Superhero/General Nerd content leading up to Endgame’s release. Check back next Friday for part 2 of this list, and pop by Monday for part 1 of my predictions on the fate of each character in Endgame. Part 2: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/184208179827/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-2 Part 3: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/184372777282/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-3

[theavengers]

The cast of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ plays “Would you rather: Superhero edition”. 

[shirlleycoyle]

All the Streaming Shows Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Everyone Else Announced at Comic Con

For at least one day, the most interesting head-to-head battle during San Diego Comic Con wasn’t between traditional Hollywood studios, but between Netflix and Amazon Prime. On Friday afternoon, it was the two streaming services commanding the con’s attention and forcing fans to choose between getting their fill of The Boys and Carnival Row, or The Witcher and the long-awaited return of the Dark Crystal saga.

That type of head-to-head would’ve been unthinkable in the past. Heading into its 50th edition this year, the story of SDCC has been one of Hollywood gradually transforming the con into more of an all-around pop-culture festival. First, it was movie studios hosting the centerpiece panels. Then, the renaissance of superhero and sci-fi fare on TV swung more attention toward networks and cable channels.

But while Marvel capped SDCC Saturday with details about Blade, Black Panther 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and the new Thor, other big studios—most notably Warner Bros. and its DC Extended Universe—skipped the event entirely. That further opened the door for streaming providers to expand their footprint, whether it was through convention programming or mounting “activations”—events and immersive exhibitions—to entice would-be viewers with a taste of the worlds their shows explore.

Of course, there’s more streaming services than ever, and it’s hard to decide which of them are worth subscribing to and which ones will inevitably fall victim to more piracy. There are many ways to decide what to subscribe to, but one way of doing it is determining how much effort the streaming services themselves are putting into promoting their new shows, and so we booked our schedules, early morning to late night, to check out all the moves, from the panels, to the parties, to the swag. Here’s our scorecard.

The Expanse activation. Image: Dave Maass

Amazon Prime Video

This Year’s Shows: The Boys, Carnival Row, The Expanse, Undone , The Man in the High Castle

As if Jeff Bezos’ tentacles hadn’t already disrupted commerce and the internet itself, Amazon Prime Video has been an emerging player in the SDCC ecosystem in recent years.

From the moment a con-goer opened their badge box and saw The Boys advertisement lining the lid, it was clear that the adaptation of the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson was going to be Amazon’s centerpiece offering. Starring Karl Urban, the show imagines a world where superheroes are a carefully branded and marketed private police force managed by a corrupt megacorporation that shields them accountability, and it’s up to mere humans to take them down.

The Activation: The Boys, Carnival Row, and The Expanse each had its own section in the 60,000-square-foot Amazon Prime Video Experience complex near the SDCC grounds, with visitors plunged into their respective landscapes. At the Carnival Row section, for example, visitors were asked to draw “identity cards” listing them as Creatures (aka “Critches”) or Humans and were treated accordingly; Creatures were quickly berated by the local constables while Humans were given carte blanche as they explored the marketplace setting and Carnival Row itself—“a safehouse of ill repute” that still faced its own dangers.

At the other end of the spectrum, the activation for The Boys was a literal car wreck. When we visited, we were plunged into the show’s take on a crucial early scene from the comic-book that inspired the show, and nudged into scouring a decimated auto shop looking for clues.

The activation for The Expanse—much like the show—put visitors in a more thoughtful situation, with visitors meeting with disaffected locals in one of the show’s outer planets as part of a peacekeeping mission. During our stop, we were offered tea and a heartfelt plea for peace as well as the chance to partake in an off-the-books “business proposition.” (For the record, no actual currency was offered.)

Some of Amazon’s swag. Image: Dave Maass

The Parties: In Amazon’s case, the activation doubled as a host site by night for soirees each night celebrating each show with DJs; live-action setpieces atop its mammoth reflective tower; photo booths; screenings for each show, and the chance to mingle with cast members. On Friday night, Amazon screened the first two episodes of The Boys, where the audience got to sit with the cast while servers walked around with milk shakes and popcorn. At the Saturday night Carnival Row bash, stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne first appeared incognito in their own cosplays before revealing themselves to the crowd.

The Swag: At least some of the visitors to the Amazon complex walked away with pouch of challenge coins for each of the five shows, along with bonus prizes for doing each of the three experiences. The Expanse had special, spill-proof tumblers that would function pretty well in zero-g. Carnival Row had wearable fairy wings. The Boys gave out a special pin, and if you were lucky, you got to visit a secret comic book store and take home The Boys #66 and other assorted comics, depending on how well you did playing a game of darts.

Dark Crystal. Image: Dave Maass

Netflix

This Year’s Shows: The Witcher, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Order

The Panels: With not much available on The Order—creator Dennis Heaton said that filming on its second season had only recently begun—the centerpiece of Netflix’s presentation this year was the Witcher/Dark Crystal double-header on Friday. Stars Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, and Anya Chalotra showed the crowd some clips showing that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s adaptation of the book series is set to step into the void for fans of high-concept fantasy stories.

Meanwhile, the Dark Crystal panel had an ace up its sleeve—or rather, a Joker. Mark Hamill, who voices the evil Scientist on the prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson & Frank Oz classic, shined throughout the panel, riffing with both fans and a starstruck Taron Egerton, who yelled “It’s Luke fucking Skywalker!” at one point before giving way to an advance screening of Age’s first episode. It’s not a spoiler to say that new director Louis Letterier and his crew have successfully married the original’s puppetry with modern directing tech with enough aplomb that fans shouldn’t worry about a slump.

The Activation: Two years ago, the streaming service had a lush spot at the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter Hotel promoting Bright, Stranger Things, and what we thought at the time would be a highlight of its Marvel slate in The Defenders. It had VR, set recreations, and actors in costume–the works. But this time around, with Stranger Things on hiatus and Marvel developing its own service (one firmly integrated into its film universe), Netflix held back, only promoting a small Dark Crystal walkthrough on the convention floor.

The Swag: Netflix swag was hard to come by, but a small number of attendees scored a headband with a pair of gelfling ears.

Hulu’s Orville activation. Image: Dave Maass

Hulu

This Year’s Shows: Solar Opposites, Veronica Mars, The Orville

There were a couple of worthwhile surprises for fans at Hulu’s panels: fans of Veronica Mars piled into Ballroom 20 knowing they’d get to see the first episode of the show’s fourth season. What they didn’t know until star Kristen Bell announced it was that the whole eight-episode run was available that day—a week earlier than anticipated. Justin Roiland, a creator of Rick & Morty, revealed the animatics (basically animated storyboards) from his new series for Hulu, Solar Opposites, which centers on a family of aliens trying (or not) to fit into middle America life. The best news, however, was that Roiland and his team seem to have gotten their act together, promising the audience they wouldn’t have to wait for years between seasons for either of this shows.

The Activations: Last year, Hulu recreated a New England bed and breakfast that took you through an impressive multistage haunted house experience. This year, post Disney merger, Hulu was bundled unremarkably with FX and 20th Century Fox’s installation on the convention floor.

Midway through con, Seth McFarlane announced that his space comedy, The Orville, would be moving to Hulu. A few blocks from the convention center, he transformed a warehouse space into a gallery of props, costumes, and storyboards from the show’s two seasons, as well as a photo opp with one of the series’ main monsters.

The Swag: Promoters handed out The Orville hats and the new, hardbound The World of The Orville from Titan Books.

The Pennyworth party. Image: Dave Maass

Epix

This Year’s Show: Pennyworth

The Party/Activation: Perhaps it’s fitting that one of the more unsung streaming services landed one of the most unsung characters in the DC universe: Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Stylized as a 1950s British action spy thriller, the show features a young Jack Bannon in Michael Caine’s role.

Epix rented out the basement of the upscale Oxford Social Club, transforming it into a series of scenes presumably from the series. Upon entering, party guests were served craft cocktails (e.g. The Alfred, a “mince pie old fashioned) and ushered into drag queen cabaret. In another room, there was a photo opp, where you were strapped to a torture chair and interrogated by costumed criminals who snapped a shareable picture while a metal sceptor was swung at your head. Epix was punching well above its class with this well-articulated activation, but we’re still not quite sure what the show is actually about.

The Swag: Attendees of the party received a black eagle lapel pin if they downloaded the Epix app and a collectible postcard with a poem written in front of you by a costumed poet.

Image: Dave Maass

CBS All Access

This Year’s Shows: Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Discovery , The Twilight Zone

Star Trek has long been the butt of nerd convention jokes, but with the launch of the Discovery reboot in 2017, CBS All Access has moved the franchise up from a small ballroom into a 90-minute “Star Trek Universe” block. The Star Trek resurgence is welcomed, but CBS All Access still has a long journey ahead before it truly meets the expectations of one of the most demanding fandoms in the alpha quadrant.

The Activations: VR/AR has proven a perpetual challenge for exhibitors on the convention, both because of the external cacophony and because of the time it takes to swap people in and out of a headset. Star Trek took a different tack this year, installing “The Transporter” on the convention floor: essentially a solitary confinement-sized room with enclosed entirely by screens. Every few seconds, the transporter sounds would swish and you’d be in another scene. All the while, you were on film to produce a shareable social media video. Unfortunately, all we ended up with was a clip of ourselves looking confused and underwhelmed.

“Jean-Luc Picard: The First Duty,” a museum pop-up installed in an art gallery down the street, on the other hand was a delightful tribute to the Next Generation captain.

The Swag: Upon exiting the transporter experience, guests were handed a weighty metal com-badge style “Visitor” pin. The general consensus was that it was one of the better pins of the con.

The Crunchyroll activation. Image: Dave Maass

Crunchyroll

This Year’s Shows: Black Clover , Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II , To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 5 , Dr. STONE , A Destructive God Sits Next to Me

After last year’s Comic-Con, the popular anime streaming service was acquired by AT&T’s WarnerMedia, making it kin to two other streaming services, VRV and the upcoming HBO Max. For other networks, that might be cause for worry, but Crunchyroll has put its dedicated fans (who bring cosplay to a spiritual level) at the center of its brand through anime conventions and fan documentaries. During its late Saturday night panel, the Crunchyroll team burned through its upcoming offerings, including a slew of mobile games, such as Mob Psycho 100: Psychic Battle and Attack on Titan TACTICS.

The Parties: Crunchyroll was involved in two of the weekend’s bigger parties at the swank nightclub Fluxx: Ready Party One and the Awesome Mixer Vol. 2, both of which traded on 80s and 90s style to attract fans going from the con floor to the dance floor by featuring DMC (yes, that DMC), Dan Fogler from the Fantastic Beasts film series, 80s cover specialists the Flux Capacitors, and Farscape star and singer Gigi Edgley among other acts.

The Activation: During the day, Fluxx was transformed into Crunchyroll HQ, the company’s first off-site activation. Visitors could dive into a tub of several hundred plush “bananyas,” pose with the enormous sword from Black Clover, and try out the new mobile games.

The Swag: Crunchyroll was the first to admit that its booth on the convention floor was dinky, but nevertheless it had fans coming back again and again to get one-per-day mystery pin. If you took the pin to Crunchyroll HQ, staff handed you an exclusive challenge coin.

YouTube Originals

This Year’s Shows: Cobra Kai, Origin , Impulse

Unsatisfied with its success with community produced content, ASMR videos, and the creation of “YouTuber” as an apparently legitimate job title, YouTube Originals is continuing to pursue scripted content. At its panel, Cobra Kai, the Karate Kid spin-off, announced a third season. The cast of the superpowered drama Impulse also met with reporters to discuss its upcoming second season.

The Party: Variety and YouTube Originals teamed up for a party, but we weren’t able to get in.

DC Universe

For a network with a set of shows acclaimed by fans and critics alike including the animated Young Justice: Outsiders series and the live-action Doom Patrol show, DCU had a seemingly insular approach to Comic-Con this year. Subscribers to the service received their own set of swag, including original prints; passes to a screening of a documentary on the making of Zachary Levi’s Shazam; and there was purportedly some sort of VIP boat excursion in the San Diego marina, among other items.

DC’s official presence was limited to one two-hour panel rounding up Outsiders, Doom Patrol, Titans, and the upcoming Harley Quinn animated show, which at least looks like it’ll be a gnarly romp. And the most visible sign of the channel’s footprint on the actual floor was a walk-through experience promoting the latter. They also sponsored a series of pedicabs lined up across the street. But compared to last year, when DCU had a Harley rage room and a Batman escape room, it’s tough to give the channel more than an incomplete grade for this year in the wake of Warner Bros. apparent reluctance to promote its DC film slate at the con.

TikTok

The Chinese viral video app popular among Gen-Zers dabbled in Comic-Con promotions this year, but you had to squint to see the banner attached to the back of plane circling around the convention center. There were also a handful of unremarkable branded pedicabs.

NBC

Technically, NBC doesn’t have a streaming service yet. But it’s not hard to imagine that the shows represented at the convention— The Good Place, Superstore, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine—will be expected to be centerpieces when the NBCUniversal offering launches in 2021. In terms of showmanship, the Nine-Nine installation definitely brought its A-game. Visitors were treated to not only a full “mobile office” complete with officers and cosplaying perps, but they got recruited into an escape room-style puzzle game replete with geeky touches. At the very least, this effort went more smoothly for them than the Game of Thrones panel did for the future HBO Max.

Audible

But it was another digital service, Audible, that provided maybe the most bittersweet touch of all to this year’s convention, with an activation devoted to one of Stan Lee’s final works, the audio adventure Alliances: A Trick of Light. Narrated by Grown-ish’s Yara Shahidi, fans made their way through an appropriately vivid activation that included a final message from Stan himself: “What is more real? A world we are born into, or one we create ourselves? Excelsior.”

All the Streaming Shows Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Everyone Else Announced at Comic Con syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[amateurfan227]

Shitlist Reviews - Trailer Analysis - Jan-Mar 2019

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and welcome to the Shitlist, where bad movies eventually burn. It’s been a good while since I posted something up on the site since the Halloween reviews so I thought it was time to do another trailer analysis review based on the upcoming movies which will pan out during this year.

This will be the first one of three trailer reviews through-out this year starting off in the spring; then the summer and finally the fall, winter will be excluded for the personal reasons. I will go through not 1 but 6 individual trailers that have been released and will give my views and theories upon the movie following on either what I’ve heard about the films in general or in my opinion on what I think of the trailer but not of the film, despite revealing spoilers (although saying that, most of you will possibly see the spoilers I will be stating soon).

Some will follow on adaptations of notable works or reboots for example which will be interesting as well as re-edited reviews such as looking at other trailers of a movie that I previously looked at in the past. Keep in mind that this is only opinion based with theories summed by me only rather than ideas that were passed on by others.

The first would be the notable remake of an 1980s movie which coincidentally still haunts me to this day on how dark it was at the time, Pet Sematary... based on the Stephen King novel following a Parent’s worst nightmare come to life, I was sceptical at first when I saw the trailer, especially the casting as John Lithgow towards Fred Gwynne’s performance as Judd.

Though after re-reading the book several times leading towards the second trailer which had a major spoiler on the first child (Ellie) in the movie getting killed off rather than the baby (Gage) in the book, it worked as it displayed innocence as Gage was indeed a baby rather than Ellie who in this case was a pre-teen.

Another thing that got my interest in this is how interesting it was the fact that they made the being behind the supernatural more maleficent and mysterious rather than in the original adaptation when it was only there for shock value with its history not being fully explored. I find this however kind of weird as well as it looks closer towards an occult movie with ritual sacrifices rather than being a standard supernatural threat following the other characters seen in the second trailer.

It looks promising enough though the second trailer may have leaked a bit too much on the actual film itself displaying way too much rather than holding back the mystery that held the book and the original so close. I admire the view of the Sematary which looks more supernatural based on Native American lore rather than something closer to a H.P. Lovecraft novel.

Though seeing it remade is going to be interesting to look at it in 2 separate perspectives on how close it was to the source material as well as seeing it as a standard remake to a superior version.... as long as they don’t go full female Ghostbusters on us, then its fine. (Christ that movie was bad... Screw you, Feig for killing a franchise).

The second trailer I would like to discuss is something that caught my eye after the hype from Infinity War which would be the new Spiderman film Far From Home which features the appearance on one of my favourite villains in Marvel history, Mysterio played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

After viewing the trailers for a good few moments, it took me a while to think of an actual opinion aside from glee and joy on seeing the web-head back into action, but questions were raised on the time-zone towards the movie as well as Infinity War. I would like to see something else made towards the movie such as how His transformation from teenage superhero into following the responsibilities that Stark warned him about in Homecoming.

Though seeing Mysterio in the trailer has got my interest on how they changed his design to become more realistic though this raises a bunch of questions on why he was acting the form of a hero in defending Parker and his classmates with the inclusion of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury and Maria Hill being involved with Mysterio’s vigilantism.

Personally I’m not entirely interested in seeing this movie for the particular reason is that I’m not a Marvel fan, especially with the fact that I don’t see Tom Holland as Spider-man nor as Peter Parker, though I enjoy watching the others like the Avengers or the independent superheroes like Iron Man or Thor but Spiderman however is something I grew up watching especially growing up with it during the 90s.

My theory before the trailer would be that Mysterio was a former agent working for S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who was betrayed by Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. following a mission on the field leading him to go astray leading him to own an individual identity to act like a hero to get Fury’s attention leading him to stage major crimes through-out Europe with the advantage to beaten Spider-man to both spite and weaken Fury.

Though this may be falsified when the movie is released or if any other trailers will be coming out later this year prior to the movie’s premiere but keep in mind that this is only a theory of mine and seeing that the entire MCU series is nearly based on betrayal and distrust, I think this might happen but as I said, it’s only a theory.

Another Trailer is the remake or should I say reboot of the another classic 1980’s horror movie relating to the supernatural or in this case the Arcane side of things when it comes towards Magic, Child’s Play, now there was a lot of controversy over this movie following several parents believing that the doll could actually exist.

There is even a bigger problem as well as the current franchise is taken over to TV following the recent movie that was on Netflix not too long ago known as Cult of Chucky which featured main star of the killer doll Chucky and notable Horror movie Actor, Brad Dourif alongside his real-life daughter Fiona Dourif.

For those who don’t know, the original series follows a mass-murderer known as the Lakeshore Strangler Charles Lee Ray ending his pursuit of madness in the hands of a toy-store by being mortally wounded by a cop leading him to transfer his soul into a doll known as a Good Guy toy, a parody of Cabbage Patch Kids at the time.

After his soul transferred to the doll, he continued his murderous pursuit whilst attempting to transfer his soul back into another person before his doll body becomes human which is a curse to his voodoo practice. The original’s concept was new at the time which was interesting but raised a bunch of parody movies relating to the same premise such as Soul possession movies like the Conjuring or more in particular the Insidious movies.

The remake follows it in a different perspective following it in a more technical pursuit such as the Terminator series such as a company how manufactures home entertainment appliances with the addition of a new feature in the form of a doll which may be a bit too adapted when it comes to the owner.

I’ve seen the trailer several times now as well as the website and it peaks my interest greatly especially that they are following a different aspect towards the original material, such as making it but on a rogue A.I. rather than a voodoo possessed toy; some of the behind the scenes footage looks incredible to say the least as well as the use of technology is a new adjustment to a franchise such as this.

From what I see is that it follows a similar premise towards the characters following the original names (Karen and Andy Barclay) who were the first victims who came to own the doll, with the doll causing havoc and murders occurring towards their residence, mainly towards Chucky’s influence.

I’m intrigued by this decision as it would open new possibilities to see the use of technology expanding the way it is including in modern world as well such as WI-FI and Amazon’s Alexa. But possibilities towards this are cancelled as the name Child’s Play is owned by an individual company with the sequels following separate copyrights towards the original owner.

The next sequel is again like last time, Godzilla: King of the Monsters... I talked about this a while ago but I never really explored the discussion over the monsters independently, mainly because they were still under heavy work in Legendary Pictures, but seeing them more and more closely is making it believe that the sequel is going the right direction, possibly surpassing over monster movies that flopped in the past (see Pacific Rim: Uprising).

What I appreciate is how the monster’s look more closer to actual animals including Mothra and Rodan (I’ll get to Ghidorah momentarily) Mothra looks more of an insect rather than her original counterpart which resembles more of a ball of fluff rather than an actual animal (but seeing how she was made in the 50’s I let it slide) she looks beautiful in a more graphically dangerous sort of way and with the appearance of Rodan as well looks more menacing aside from the fact he is Godzilla’s arch rival at first glance though the same can’t be said for how both of them are described.

Ghidorah however looks more threatening than I’ve ever seen him especially with the way he moves to the way his appearance is more mysterious. The look of Ghidorah reminds me more too how he first appeared including his powerful figure looks more curious than it does boastful.

Godzilla on the other hand looks closer to the original material from his frame down to the dormant spikes on his back which resembles the 1050’s edition which made him more of a protector of Earth rather than the original message that he was meant to become which was a memorial of nuclear destruction.

I’ve seen several trailers which looks promising enough despite the human interaction with the creatures (or Titans in the movie’s presence)which from the sounds of it makes the monsters more like gods which is distracting to the last movie, especially that Godzilla literally saved the world from the monsters that again was caused by nuclear radiation.

I am interested and (as a Godzilla fan) intrigued to see how this movie changes the timeline especially seeing how the world would see Godzilla either as a weapon or as a monster created by their own stupidity towards Nuclear Warfare,

Hellboy is the next one (yup another Comic book Trailer) but this one is surprisingly more closer to the material than Del Toro’s versions (including the animated movie which technically counts as canon to his series) with the appearance of a meaner tougher and more dark-hearted Demon Hunting badass known as Hellboy.

Seeing the trailer a few months ago, I thought that it was going to flop badly but seeing that it’s followed some of the stories closely from The Wild Hunt (Omnibus Vol 3 if any of you are interested in reading Mike Mignola’s works); The trailer looks very promising towards the original material as it was more darker, gothic and more based on Lovecraft’s work (mainly on the Seed of Destruction arc) it was the basic Horror graphic novel when it was released with the addition of the BPRD (Bureau of Paranormal and Research Department) series following shortly after.

Hellboy is changed in this one to look more demonic which is something I highly respect as it was darker in the graphic novels and brutally graphic when it came to the occult. The original material was more based several fairy tales as well but shown towards religious aspects, mainly towards Christianity and folklore of independent countries which made the graphic novels more serious when it came to tales.

Hellboy is directed by Neil Marshall who has directed a few of my favourite movies such as the Descent, Dog Soldiers, Centurion and several shows like Game of Thrones, Westworld (Which I’ve yet to see) and Constantine (premiere episode) so you know a series like Hellboy is in good hands especially in his taste of Horror as well.

David Harbour (Stranger Things) stars as the main lead of Hellboy with Ian McShane and Milla Jovovich to co-star alongside the main villain and Trevor Bruttenholm which is an interesting choice with English actors being featured towards the movie as cameos such as Mo from Eastenders who stars from both trailers.

As you can see I too am looking forward to seeing this, mainly towards the dark nature of the trailers as well as to see if this adaptation can surpass the Del Toro adaptations as well as to see if Harbour can possibly be better than Ron Perlman (no offence Ron, you’ll always be awesome in my eyes regardless).

Now for something different a teaser was given out recently of a famous franchise that was destroyed by a.... failed director who thought it was better to reboot the series by replacing the franchise by replacing the dialogue from something that was written down on the walls of toilets in the local bar as well as replacing the theme to ridiculous science that would make Neil deGrasse Tyson shake his head in confusion.

I’m talking about the Ghostbusters teaser which would FORTUNATELY ignore the reboot and follow on the main franchise by adding the son of the main director Ivan Reitman in the directing chair with Ivan taking the franchise to a new setting. I should mention that the teaser only lasts 1 minute long with the hopeful addition to veteran actors who starred in the original such as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.

Though this is something I never actually expected to see until it was confirmed through an interview by Aykroyd as well as Jason Reitman (son of Ivan) being the writer and the director so hopefully when later this year the full trailer will be displayed. This had my excitement thrown around as a huge fan of the original series it will bring back a lot of references to the characters and possibly bring back the Ghostbusters everyone knows and loves but as I said, this is only a hopeful situation especially for a teaser.

I will get more reviews later on this year so if you are interested in seeing me post some more of them up especially with the upcoming DC movie Shazam just around the corner, I might do something special as I did with the Killing Joke... I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and I will see you guys in next time, Stay Safe, guys.

[polluxian-keith]

TLDR: Infinity Wars sucked don’t @ me

I'll start with what I liked, there is a lot less to talk about. I really loved Thor in this film, they did a good job maintaining his character as Taika and Hemsworth developed him. They also finally made him as powerful as he was in the comics, and thank God for that because the plot came to a screeching painful halt any time he wasn't there. I did actually feel that the scene where Quill had to make the choice to kill Gamora was very good, but more on that later. I also felt that Peter's death was really well acted and it was one of the few times in the film I actually felt anything. 

But now for what I didn't like (and this is only a small sampling, cos I just fundamentally didn't enjoy this as a film or an addition to the MCU) the whole movie had moments where we were given hints of loss and grief that were never given the time or weight to actually draw the audience in properly. I spent the entire film waiting to get sucked in but instead I got three hours of me thinking about how poorly executed it was. It would have been a great movie about loss and grief if it wasn't a tonally confused hyper manic narrative failure. Honestly the tone and pacing of the entire film was a wreck, whoever edited it did an abhorrent job. You get whiplash from how quickly they jump from a character dying to a new scene with banter that could be good if it didn't feel like they were just recycling more of exactly what we've seen for the past 10 years. The humour was rarely well executed, it was trite and they played it all safe by replicating the exact same formula used in the previous Avengers movies.

They had the largest cast of characters of any Marvel film released but they still tried to not only introduce more characters but also new relationships. Again, despite the film running nearly three hours, giving them plenty of time to develop these new characters meaningfully, they don't, they somehow never had time? I didn't give a fuck about Vision and the Scarlett Witch and they never gave me a reason to. Their relationship hadn't been built up in previous films and it wasn't built up in this one. When she hesitated to break the stone I was just like "Damn, really, you are choosing your boyfriend of six months over the universe... I'm... not impressed." It was lazy shock-value writing. You can't write a scene that is supposed to be impactful without giving it a reason to have impact. I'm not saddened by the Scarlett Witch feeling conflicted about destroying the stone if I have been given no believable explanations for why they are so important to each other. As a writer one of the most important things to remember is that you need to give your audience a reason to care, and they rarely did. 

Iron Man's suit has reached new levels of Too Much, like the writers were so inept that any time they realised they had written themselves into a corner they used "nanotech" as a bandaid for the giant gaping plot hole they created. Isn't it convenient that suddenly Tony has yet another weapon that can pop out of his suit right before someone lands a killshot, why didn't he use it before now? Oh who knows... Why is the Hulk suddenly not fighting? Oh who knows, we won't give any explanations for that... Where is Valkyrie? Oh who knows... Why does Loki, a villain who was tortured and mind controlled into submission by Thanos, suddenly think he can trick Thanos? And why does Loki, an all powerful witch God, use a knife? Who knows... Where is SHEILD during the entire film? Who knows... Why does Heimdall send Hulk to Earth but not Thor or Loki? Who knows... It was just so poorly written, like I know it's a superhero film but the Russo brothers truly reached new levels of negligence and laziness.

Thanos as a villain was possibly the most disappointing part of the film. His power is wildly inconsistent, we never understand how strong he is because it keeps changing. He can beat the Hulk down but Spiderman can also punch him out apparently? He can choke an immortal god to death but Captain America can stop his punch? His back story is so poorly adapted from the comics. He was always a straight up, inarguable villain, but at least in the comics they don't give you this bullshit "white boy in college who took entry level economics" excuse for his actions. If you wanna make a villain relatable fine, but do it well, this was a train wreck. He has a gauntlet which makes him omniscient and omnipotent, and his solution is to kill people rather than help them. I never once did anything but roll my eyes when Thanos talked, he sounded like every other manipulative powerful man who has never been checked, but instead of using this as a subversive commentary like Ragnarok and Black Panther, they just present it like somehow we are supposed to feel bad for Thanos or see where he is coming from. Gamora's death was used (poorly) as a tool to make us empathise with Thanos, cos the audience is meant to believe he is sacrificing so much for what he believes is the greater good. The only thing that was sad is that they took a strong character, and removed all her agency to have her killed by someone who had manipulated and abused her her entire life. Thanos was literally such a promising villain and they just made him so boring and one-note. Gamora is not the only woman or person of colour to be treated poorly by this film. The MCU started as a highly white, highly masculine franchise, women and people of colour have slowly been added into the cast to varying levels of success. The writers used Thanos to retcon essentially all of these additions from canon. It felt like a slap in the face with a white male power fantasy and I hated it.

On a stylistic note, all the fight scenes were choreographed poorly (but it's an American movie so what can you do?), and they literally had all the female good guys fighting the only female child of Thanos at the end which was tragic to be honest. Like I spent the entire scene thinking "Ah yes, a man wrote and directed this and you can really tell." They would have done better to hire a director who had worked on larger projects like Game of Thrones, Star Trek, or Lord of the Rings, someone who actually knew how to write large casts in a way that emphasises each character meaningfully would have made for a stronger film. Not to mention the fact that the CGI was just too much. It was so poorly done. The mechanical objects and super suits were mostly well executed, but Thanos and his children looked like they popped out of a video game almost every time they came on screen, it was clear that they used motion capture suits because their movements floated and the texturing on everything from their clothing to their skin looked oddly soft. The facial expressions on Thanos's children were especially poorly executed, it was jarring and pulled me out of the film even more. The editing was confusing from a narrative standpoint, they did a poor job of balancing the large cast of characters in a cohesive way. I have many more complaints but I have some reading to get done before class. Idk it just wasn't a good movie. I don't know man, if it wasn't a Marvel movie I wouldn't even have gone to see it, as it stands it was a boring waste of three hours of my life thank God my friend paid for my ticket.

[craigmoore-blog]

THE UNDERLINING FAILURE OF WARNER BROS AND THEIR DC FILM UNIVERSE

Poisonous work environments, an incompetent studio, well-meaning directors, rushed scripts, a rebellious mustache, and the Wonder Woman who nearly saved them all.

Just under five years ago, following the finale to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Warner Bros. released their Superman reboot, Man Of Steel. Directed by Zack Snyder with Nolan serving as Executive Producer, Henry Cavill’s modern version of the Big Blue Boy Scout was met with a polarised reception; many praised Snyder’s visual style and the blockbuster action, along with the attempts made to fit Clark Kent in to the paranoid, “all seeing and all knowing” internet age, as well Michael Shannon’s take on Krypton’s genocidal General Zod. Just as many people, however, found these attempts to be dour, plodding and far too clinical - completely missing the warmth and heart that made Christopher Reeves’ Superman so special in the 70s. (For the record, going forward, you should know I am firmly amongst the former, despite not being a big fan of it when it came out. It has grown on me immensely.)

Despite the mixed reviews, the film was a modest success at the box office, earning almost $700 million (a big jump from Superman Returns’ $390million in 2006) and was considered by many fans to be a reasonably strong start from which to build upon. And while the box-office returns would be more than acceptable for a first film in almost any franchise (Batman Begins, Nolan’s first Batman film, made about half that), Warner Bros. viewed it as a lacklustre start to their rebooted franchise, and sought ways to improve upon the film’s “modest” success. Man Of Steel 2 seemed like an exciting prospect for many.

Before we get too far down the rabbit hole, lets take a small step back to 2008. Marvel Studios, under the guidance of their President Kevin Feige, have just released Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey Jnr. as the title character - a billionaire weapons manufacturer and technology developer named Tony Stark who is captured by a terrorist organisation in Afghanistan. With a piece of shrapnel about to enter his heart and kill him, Stark designs and assembles a weaponised suit of magnetised armour which allows him to escape. Upon returning home, Stark abandons his industrialised ways to make a difference as the superhero Iron Man. The film received rave reviews, with Downey Jnr. being lauded for his performance as the CGI-enhanced Shellhead, and it went on to gross over $500 million worldwide.

As the first film in what has popularly become known as Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man laid the groundwork for what was to evolve over the next ten years for Marvel Studios. Biannually, Feige and his studio released one film after another, beginning with solo adventures and origin stories like Iron Man, Iron Man 2 Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk, alluding to a greater universe without directly hinging each story on other character’s involvement. After four years and five films, Marvel Studios brought together their band of heroes for their first team-up adventure - the Joss Whedon helmed The Avengers. A box office smash, The Avengers pulled in nearly $1.5billion at the global box office and received strong reviews, with critics praising the seamless and organic culmination of the characters previous trajectories into the same story.

Following on from the success of The Avengers, Marvel then expanded their cinematic universe by bringing in new characters and continuing to evolve their existing ones - Phase Two included Guardians Of The Galaxy and Ant-Man, alongside Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier which led themselves into Avengers: Age Of Ultron, again directed by Joss Whedon. This is the template that Marvel have followed right up until the very moment that you read this article. Feige runs a tight ship; giving directors just enough room to create something for themselves, while maintaining the overarching goal that the series will be heading towards next.

What is the relevance of all that to DC, you ask? Well, we jump forward to the Summer of 2014, where Warner Bros decided to amp up their plans for their DC properties following Man Of Steel using the Marvel model. At the San Diego Comic-Con, Zack Snyder took to the stage to announce that he would be directing the follow-up to his Superman film. There was further rapture among the attendees as it was announced that Warner Bros. were using the film to launch their DC Extended Universe and that the sequel was to be Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice; Batman and Superman were to share a cinema screen for the first time in history, with Ben Affleck playing the The Dark Knight opposite Henry Cavill. The film would also mark the first big-screen appearance of Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot. 

On top of that, David Ayer, the scriptwriter/director behind films such as Training Day, Harsh Times, End Of Watch and Fury, was given the job of bringing Suicide Squad to the big screen for the first time. A rather left-field project considering the universe’s infancy; Suicide Squad focuses on a rogue gallery of villains (mainly from the Batman universe) who are forced together to complete a near-impossible mission for the Government. The film had an ensemble cast which included Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Jared Leto as the new version of The Joker, Batman’s arch-nemesis.

Sounds great right? Well, unfortunately we all know how it turned out. In a desperate bid to achieve Marvel level incomes in a much shorter space of time, Warner Bros. essentially coerced Snyder into packing Batman v Superman with nods, Easter Eggs and groundwork for their planned Justice League film (which would end up being released in November 2017) as well as teasing The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg and many subplots lifted from various comic book arcs. As a result of this constant studio meddling, the film became a bloated behemoth of absolutely mind-blowing proportions. It’s first rough cut was nearly four hours long. At this point, Warner Bros. realised that the film could not be any longer than two and a half hours - this was to ensure a maximum number of screenings could be held on any given day during its theatrical run; more tickets, more money. 

Snyder originally intended to tell a modern Superman story - where Kal-El would slowly and progressively accept his destiny as the Man Of Steel in a world that doesn’t trust heroes anymore, and sees him as a potentially dangerous illegal alien (cough). All very ambitious and interesting, despite the often heavy handed religious metaphors that he uses to frame the character through. However, the compromises forced upon him by a naturally money-driven but irrationally thinking studio resulted in his arc for Cavill’s version of the character being condensed, diluted and sucked of any and all impact - despite his best efforts to provide Superman with the strong sense of morality and righteousness that the character was known for. 

When Batman v Superman was released in March 2016, it was greeted with strongly negative reviews, and its record-breaking opening weekend ($400million+) quickly tapered off and it finished its run with a $873 million - earning a profit but falling short of the studio’s $1billion+ expectations. Taking into account the film’s massive budget, rumoured to be just south of $400million, this final tally was a massive blow for both the studio and for Snyder, who suffered the wrath of online critics and keyboard-happy but overall very disgruntled fans. An extended “Ultimate” Cut was released on home video, which added nearly 30 minutes of footage - but while this certainly improved the film overall by reinstating vital subplots and was much better received by fans, it didn’t remove the bad taste left behind by the version that was released in theatres.

Suicide Squad didn’t fare much better in the end, either. In order to meet the August 2016 release date, David Ayer was given less than six weeks to write the script for the film before it needed to start filming. Upon the reveal of the first teaser at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2015, many fans reacted negatively to its dour, dark tone. Following the release of a much more brisk and light trailer (complete with “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen thumping away on the soundtrack) in January of the following year, the studio decided to go back and “add some jokes” along with more action to the film through re-shoots. It was after these re-shoots that the film’s marketing campaign began to pick up speed, with a number of pulpy trailers making a conscious effort to emphasise how much fun Suicide Squad was going to be following the criticisms of over-seriousness towards Batman v Superman in March. The re-jigging and re-adjustments did not end there, however.

Warner Bros., worried that Ayer’s cut of the film would not meet the expectations they had set, had the film taken away from him in secret. All shot material was handed over to Trailer Park, the same company who had been responsible for editing together the well-received trailers for the film. Ayer, meanwhile, turned in his version. Warner Bros. took both versions and amalgamated the two. The result? The visually incoherent, music video style film that was released in theatres and ended up receiving the same brutal reviews that Snyder’s film had. Suicide Squad did however make significant bank for the studio - it brought in $745million against a $200million budget. Ayer would go on to publically claim that it was still his film, and that the released cut was true to “his vision”, despite evidence to the contrary and claims from various sources (including Jared Leto) that there was enough footage excised “to make another movie”. The film also had an Extended Cut on home release, but it wasn’t nearly as impactful as the Ultimate Cut for Snyder’s superhero smackdown.

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a pattern emerging here. And if you genuinely hadn’t noticed, then just wait til we start talking about Justice League.

The one slam-dunk that Warner Bros. have had so far came in 2017. No, it wasn’t Justice League. It was Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot’s version of Diana of Themyscira made such a strong impact in Batman v Superman that she deservedly received her own solo film - an origin story set during the First World War. Directed by Patty Jenkins, the film became the highest grossing female-directed film of all time (as well as the highest grossing Superhero origin story) with a take home of over $800million worldwide. The film was also acclaimed by critics; praise was afforded to Gadot’s performance as the title character and the chemistry between her and Chris Pine, the story, score and Jenkins’ direction. Jenkins had to fight for a number of sequences to be included, including the now famous “No Man’s Land” scene which features Diana taking on a horde of German soldiers who have besieged a French town. Warner Bros. immediately greenlit a sequel (to be directed by Jenkins) and pushed Gadot front and centre for marketing materials on Justice League - where she essentially took over the team leader position usually occupied by either Batman or Superman. Wonder Woman became the DCU’s bright spark of hope.

Zack Snyder immediately began work on Justice League, the DC Film Universe equivalent to The Avengers, after he had finished work on Batman v Superman. The ensemble team-up film began shooting in London in the Spring of 2016. The relationship between Warner Bros. and Snyder could be described as shaky at best by this stage, and the negative press following the release of Batman v Superman going into the start of shooting for Justice League was constantly hanging over the heads of all involved. Snyder (along with his wife, Deborah), as a producer, was the official creative driving force behind the universe up til that point. Unofficially, as you will have gathered from the above, there was no singular driving force. However, prior to the release of Suicide Squad, Geoff Johns was drafted in by Warner Bros. under the title of Chief Creative Officer of DC Films. Johns is a well known comic-book scribe and has penned works for a variety of DC characters, including The Flash, Aquaman and Superman. A lot of creative control was wrestled away from the Snyders, despite filming on Justice League not yet being complete. A continuing trend of requests and alterations were made by the studio. Despite this, filming for Justice League wrapped in October 2016, after a six-month shoot. Re-shoots were planned for early 2017, with Avengers director/writer Joss Whedon coming on-board to assist Snyder with “adding more jokes” to what was described as a film that was tonally continuing the motifs established in Man Of Steel and Batman v Superman.

Approaching what we thought was the middle of a long period of post-production work, Snyder announced he was stepping away from the project to be with his family - as his daughter had recently committed suicide. The decision was presented as an mutual one, with Warner Bros. insisting that Whedon remain on the film to finish Snyder’s “vision”. Whedon then proceeded to re-shoot approximately 30-35% of the film, change the ending and remove several subplots and key scenes that had been already shot. Henry Cavill had to re-shoot 90% of his scenes as Superman, a fact very-obviously revealed by the awful digital removal of his (rather wonderful) mustache that he was contractually obligated to grow and keep for Mission Impossible: Fallout.

The real kicker here is that not all of this is accurate; it’s merely the official version. In the months following Batman v Superman’s release, Warner Bros. executives were eager to remove Snyder from Justice League. Their Head Of Production at the time was Greg Silverman, who refused to fire Snyder. Silverman was later removed by Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara. In January 2017, Snyder was fired from Justice League - with Silverman gone, Snyder was finished; he never even got to finalise a cut of the film he had been planning for nearly two years. Obviously fearing more negative publicity towards the film, Snyder’s removal was kept under wraps until the death of Snyder’s daughter became public knowledge, and at that point Warner Bros. choose to reveal that he had stepped down to be with his family. Make from that what you will.

In November 2017, like Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad before it, Justice League was released to miserable reviews. Critics and audiences pulled the film apart - citing its uneven tone, short running time and poor pacing, a boring and underdeveloped villain, and subpar visual effects. While a number of people considered Whedon’s more joke-focused dialogue to be an improvement, many found it completely out of place with the visual look and feel of the film, as well as being completely out of character (referring to Batman). Despite the amount of tinkering done to the original version of the film (which also had an hour cut from the runtime as well as the other structural changes), Snyder’s name remained on the credits as director. Whedon received a screenwriting credit. Factoring in the re-shoots on top of its extensive and expensive principal photography, the film apparently cost Warner Bros. nearly $300million before accounting for marketing costs, making it one of the most expensive films of all time. So expensive was it, that it would have had to generate over $700million just to break even thanks to distribution revenue shares.

Justice League made $656million worldwide.

Meanwhile, Black Panther - a character first introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016′s Captain America: Civil War but who I think it’s fair to say was not very well known compared to say, Batman or Superman - is on track for his solo film to open to $170million in its opening weekend alone. Avengers: Infinity War is looking like it’s going to be one of the biggest films of all-time, both physically (with over 90 speaking main cast members) and financially (it’s likely to cross the $2billion mark by the time it’s all dried up).

What will Warner Bros. learn from this? Probably nothing. What should they learn from this? Well, it seems that the studio executives watched the Marvel Cinematic Universe develop with one eye watching the spreadsheets, but with no idea on how you get the numbers on those sheets to spike they way they did. Instead of organically building on the foundation laid by Snyder with Man Of Steel (a film that admittedly is not perfect but is still very solid), a rush job was enacted in order to join the Billion Dollar club as quickly as possible - a feat they have yet to accomplish despite having films that have such iconic characters in them. Unfortunately, the damage seems to be done. Ben Affleck seems to be on his way out as the Caped Crusader due to having multiple scripts for his proposed solo film rejected along with his deteriorating relationship with the studio - a massive blow considering how strong he was in the role in the face of frustratingly under-developed material given to him. The only DC films currently guaranteed are Aquaman, Shazam, and Wonder Woman 2, while both The Batman and Man Of Steel 2 look to be going nowhere. Quite incredible, really.

The overall consensus at the moment is that while these films will continue to be loosely connected in some way or another, going forward they will ultimately be standalone projects. Warner Bros. seem to be signalling that they will instead focus on hiring higher-end filmmakers and making good films again. However, the allure of the ensemble superhero film will always be there as long as connected movie universes continue to be popular, and the flipside to working with higher-end filmmakers on standalone projects is that they will always want more control - just like Christopher Nolan did on The Dark Knight trilogy, which were successful thanks to the fact that there was little interference. It’s telling that the two highest rated DC Universe films, Man Of Steel and Wonder Woman, were the ones least meddled in. For the moment, though, the DC Universe seems to be stalled over very high ground. Marvel fans should count themselves lucky that they have Kevin Feige.

It’s a massive shame that instead of sitting here typing about how great this universe is, I’m wondering when the final nail is going to be put into its coffin. What a waste. Many people online will be quite happy to lay the blame at Zack Snyder’s feet, but considering what his original plans for the development of the universe were compared to what we got, I find it hard to not acknowledge that there is a serious problem at the top of the food chain concerning how these films, and the people behind them, have been handled and treated. One thing is for sure - these films and “their vision” will likely continue to divide critics and audiences alike for some time. It’s not an S, in our boardroom it means $.

[makingawkwardsexy]

Stuff I Liked In 2017

I guess I want to do a little round up of a few Best Of lists I have so I can look back on things I enjoyed! Though for it, I’m not sticking to things released in 2017 but rather things I experienced in 2017. I don’t think I started any new live action shows that were worth it. 

Movies:

Baby Driver - oh man, this movie. The editing is great, the music is great. It’s a musical without singing. The feeling when you imagine yourself in a music video, but conveyed in a movie. I liked the movie a lot, it’s safe to say. Edgar Wright is possibly my favourite director now with his meticulous filmmaking in the movie. It also hired a deaf actor to play a deaf character and it’s so charming. The bad side is Kevin Spacey is in it.

Boy (2010) - Taika Waititi wasn’t on my radar for long before I saw this. It’s got charm, humour, and emotion. I can’t say much about this movie other than it was a pleasure to watch. It’s a coming of age story that was told by a director that is a cross between Edgar Wright and Wes Anderson (in my opinion).

John Wick Chapter 2 - it’s even more fun than the first one. If you just want a fun action movie, this would be the best one for 2017 I think. It’s nonstop gunfights and cool choreography. 

Logan - the first of three superhero movies on my the list. Logan was just a nice break from the standard superhero story we’ve been getting. It was serious and dark at times, it was touching as well, in it’s own way. Possibly the best shot superhero movie as well. 

Spider-Man: Homecoming - so I love Spider-Man and this may just be on this list because of that mostly. But, boy was I happy with what they did with Spidey. Sure, there are some parts that could be changed, but that’s the case with almost everything. 

Thor: Ragnarok - this movie could’ve been awful...it ended up being amazing. It was hilarious (to be expected with Taika Waititi to be fair). He knocked it out of the park and made the funniest superhero movie I’ve ever seen, and one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. 

Anime Movies: A Silent Voice (2016) - this movie is beautiful. By the end of it, I felt like I had experienced a whole TV series with the characters with how well done the character development was handled. It’s about a boy who bullied a deaf girl, and was subsequently shunned by everyone for being a prick (fair enough). They’re in high school now and he is trying to redeem himself, and tries to make amends with her. It’s a touching story with gut wrenching moments. 

Majokko Shimai no Yoyo to Nene ( Magical Sisters Yoyo & Nene) (2013) - I didn’t expect too much when going into this, but it has some lovely art and animation. The story is fun as well. A nice adventure story that uses the “Magic Users Trapped In A Different World” trope well. 

Patema Inverted (2013) - an accident took place in the past, and now there are people who live underground. But not only that, their gravity is reversed. There are complications when the rich, dictatorship above ground discovers them. But the story is about a boy from the above and a girl from below who befriend each other and try to get the girl back to her people. They start to discover secrets along the way! Again, very lovely looking!

Anime Shows:

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (2011) - made by the same team behind Toradora, it’s a story about a group of friends who have grown apart since one of their friends died. They all blame themselves for it as well, which causes some lovely moments that are touching and heart breaking. What makes it interesting, however, is that one member can see their dead friend’s ghost who has returned for some reason. They try to help figure out why, whilst grappling with the conflicting emotions they feel (and the fact that they cannot see or hear her).

Erased (2016) - about a character who can reverse time to stop an event from happening. He has used it to save lives before, and suddenly he is transported to the far past, when he was in school. One of his schoolmates was murdered, so he is trying to find ways to prevent her murder. 

My Hero Academia (Season 2) - kind of a cheat, but it was a fun ride. I don’t like it a lot, which is weird, considering it’s going on this list, but there’s something about it that just draws me to it. It’s shounen, and typically so, but not obnoxiously so. Unlike Naruto, for example, I actually like the protagonist and his close friends. It’s generally a feel good show.

Ping Pong: the Animation (2014) - an ugly art style? Check. Initially unlikable characters? Check. But, man, it has some cool imagery when they play. It’s also an interesting take on sports anime from my limited experience with the genre. The director did the movie Mind Game, which is also an experience. 

ReLIFE (2016) - there are some things not too great about this show, but it really resonated with me at the time of watching. The main character feels like he’s wasting his life and has found it hard to get into employment after his first job. He’s offered a chance to re-do his life, which he accepts in a drunken state. When he wakes, he is 17 again and enrolled in school (this is the dodgy part). But ultimately the anime is a nice story of him using his experience in life to help students out. 

Shirobako (2015) - about a group of female friends who all want to make it in the anime industry in their respective roles. It is a very interesting anime that shows how anime is made really. It really highlights how difficult it is to make an animated show, and gives a diverse cast of characters as well. It really put me in creative moods after watching episodes, so that’s the main reason it’s on here.

Video Games: 

Moon Hunters (2016) - this game has pretty pixel art and also the portrait art for things is also very well done. You choose a class and go on an adventure to save your tribe from the Sun Cult. Along the way you can meet random people and interact with them, as well as take part in random events. Each choice builds your personality and gives you traits. The main thing that makes this game fun is that you can also do it with up to 4 friends, so it feels like you’re in your own Fellowship trying to save the world. 

Persona 5 - okay, favourite game ever. I hate the colour red, and this game made me love it. I love Persona 3 & 4, and this managed to exceed those expectations. The characters in it, the gameplay, the style of it. Oh boy, I don’t think I’ve played a cooler game. It won’t be for everyone, but if you get a chance to try it out, I would recommend it. 

Stick Fight: The Game - a silly physics based brawling game with guns that spawn that are as likely to get you killed using them as they are to kill your enemies. You need friends for it sadly, but you can play with up to 4 players and it’s a quick, fun, round-based party game.

Tekken 7 - I just like fighting games to be honest. It also has a bunch of female characters that don’t just fight like female characters do in older fighting games. They have some real brawling moves, which I dig! 

Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition - another cheating item on the list, I played the original version years ago. It’s an isometric RPG set in Greek mythology (and Egyptian and Norse as well). You can mix and match from a variety of classes, and play with friends. I enjoy running around with two wolves, a lightning wisp, and a nymph following me, whilst my friend can summon a magma golem. Pretty rad.

[reeltalker]

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and its spin-off television shows) grows, the number of actors being cast also increases exponentially. Not only do we start to see more cross-over between actors who’ve worked together before (Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson, for example, have worked together almost a dozen times now), we’re starting to see a great deal of influence from other large bodies of work. Now, with Thor: Ragnarok right around the corner, we’re noticing a recurring trend – there are quite a few cast members from Peter Jackson’s imaginings of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies making an appearance in this world of superheroes! Some are fairly obvious, but digging through the two extended universes, it’s actually pretty interesting just how much crossover there is.

Richard Armitage

Thorin Oakenshield – The Hobbit Trilogy

Heinz Kruger – Captain America: The First Avenger

Armitage struck a reasonably recognizable figure as the Dwarf king Thorin in Jackson’s foray into the prequel series The Hobbit, as he should’ve. But when you strip away the medieval clothes and massive dwarf beard, you realize you’ve actually seen Armitage before – as a Nazi in the first appearance of Captain America. Heinz Kruger was the Nazi spy that used a bomb to blow up the super-soldier presentation, stole a vial of the serum (that was thankfully destroyed), and killed Dr. Erksine. Though his MCU appearance was a small one, it was pivotal in Captain America’s journey, and most of us didn’t even make the connection to the King Under the Mountain.

Sala Baker

Sauron / Orc / Uruk – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Extremis Soldier – Iron Man 3 / King – Iron Fist S1.E5

Now this was an appearance I can almost guarantee you didn’t recognize. Though the voice of the Ring throughout the series was played by different actors, Sauron’s flashback appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring was handled by Baker, who was then invited back as an orc for The Two Towers (the one who sniffed and said “Man-Flesh!”), and then as an Uruk in The Return of the King. Afterwards he played an adversary of Tony Stark as a soldier effected with Extremis, before getting a role with a name in the Netflix adaption of Iron Fist. So not only has he branched the two universes, he has played multiple roles within them.

Cate Blanchett

Galadriel – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy

Hela – Thor: Ragnarok

This Oscar winner has always brought a presence of strength and mystery to her roles, so it only makes sense that she makes a big impact on both universes. She was one of the few characters to perform in all six films in the Jackson franchises, which audiences loved because the elf queen Galadriel was both beautiful and a little terrifying. Now, in just a couple of weeks, Blanchett will step into the MCU as the first lead female villain, Hela, the goddess of death. She stands to be an adversary of Thor and Asgard, but who knows where that role will lead her as Infinity War looms ever closer?

Benedict Cumberbatch

Smaug / Necromancer – The Hobbit Trilogy

Dr. Stephen Strange / Dormammu – Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok

Though Cumberbatch first drew attention for his appearance of Sherlock Holmes (a role once played by Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr.), it didn’t take him long to set foot in Jackson’s take on The Hobbit. Though his pivotal role was as the dragon Smaug, the foe of the dwarves, he also performed a voiceover role in the first film of the trilogy as the Necromancer who summoned the Nazgül back to “life”. He even went so far as to perform motion-capture for Smaug, though it was eventually discarded from the final cut. Then in 2016, Cumberbatch took a step into the MCU as surgeon-turned-magician Dr. Strange, wielder of the Eye of Agamotto (a coveted Infinity Stone), as well as providing the voice of his great foe Dormammu (though this is uncredited on IMDB, trivia confirms that Cumberbatch provided the voice). It has also lead to many jokes and petitions that when Tony Stark and Stephen Strange finally appear in a scene together, a Sherlock Holmes joke should be made.

Brad Dourif

Grima Wormtongue –  The Two Towers, Return of the King (extended edition)

Thomas Nash – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., S1.E16

One of the favored performances of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was that of Grima Wormtongue, the twisted advisor to King Theodon that secretly worked for Saruman. He was slimy and everyone loved to hate him, especially when he got super creepy towards the king’s niece Eöwyn. That was not his only experience as a villain – he then went to ABC’s television show Agents of  S.H.I.E.L.D. to be hunted as the potential candidate for the Clairvoyant, a Hydra mole inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. Because Wormtongue was such an iconic look, it was hard to recognize him in regular clothes!

Martin Freeman

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War L to R: Agent 13/Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) and Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal © Marvel 2016

Bilbo Baggins – The Hobbit Trilogy

Everett K. Ross – Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther

Freeman has developed a bit of a reputation as being eternally paired with Benedict Cumberbatch for projects, as the Dr. Watson to his Sherlock Holmes on Sherlock, and appearing in these two extended universes alongside Cumberbatch doesn’t help dispute the theory (even though in the MCU, the two have shared no scenes yet)! Freeman was chosen to portray Bilbo Baggins in his youth (after Ian Holm’s performance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy), on a journey with a group of dwarves as their burglar. Freeman stood out with his unique mannerisms and fun attitude, becoming a fan favorite even to those who were upset with the trilogy itself. In the MCU, Freeman cuts a different sort of figure – not only is he second character with the surname Ross (whether or not he’s related to Hulk opponent Thaddeus Ross has yet to be clarified in the films), but he seems to be an antagonist toward the Avengers. He appeared alongside Team Iron Man to promote the Sokovia Accords after Captain America’s group were captured with Bucky in Germany, and he seemed pretty happy to throw away the key on all of them. The magnitude of his role in Black Panther has yet to be determined.

Evangeline Lilly

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (2013) EVANGELINE LILLY

Tauriel – The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies

Hope van Dyne – Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp

As a rather athletic actress, Lilly has been taking extended universe roles as a rather badass fighter, so it makes sense that both her characters in these series’ can hold her own with warriors and superheroes. Lilly performed in one of the few female roles of the Hobbit trilogy as the female elf scout Tauriel. She eventually fell in love with one of the dwarves, but throughout the two films she appeared in, she spent a great deal of time fighting Orcs and giant spiders, proving her skills with a bow and knives. She then slipped into the role of a business woman who still knew how to throw a punch in Ant-Man as Hope van Dyne, the daughter of Hank Pym. She was a bit of an antagonist towards Scott Lang at the beginning, taking pleasure in showing him exactly how she punched, but by the end the two had gotten plenty close, and now she stands to be equal to him in a superhero suit of her own in the sequel film.

Lee Pace

Thranduil – The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies

Ronan the Accuser – Guardians of the Galaxy

Pace is one of the only actors to have appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy segment of the MCU as well as the Jackson-verse, going from something between an anti-hero and antagonist to a full-blown villain. His performance as Thranduil in the Hobbit films was an interesting one, as his elven king was both a hinderance to the dwarf quest and yet he was not necessarily out to murder them like the Orcs. He was also the father of Legolas, who played a pivotal role in the Lord of the Rings series. Pace’s appearance of Ronan was far darker, however, as an alien with a vendetta against an entire planet and an Infinity Stone in his grasp. He threatened to destroy entire planets in his rage, and was only stopped by a dance-off. Sort of.

Andy Serkis

Gollum / Smeagol – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Ulysses Klaue – Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Panther

Serkis is the king of motion-capture performance, though he surprisingly does none in the MCU (where you would expect they’d need a bunch). One of his best performances to date is as the deformed Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as both an antagonist and protagonist, helping and hurting Frodo and Sam on their journey to Mount Doom. His creepy snarls and creeping stance was left beyond as he traversed into the MCU as weapons dealer Klaue, a former associate of Stark Enterprises that was approached by Ultron for a deal on vibranium. It has also been established that he is the only dealer to get in and out of the mysterious Wakanda on a regular basis, perhaps hinting at more screen time in the upcoming Black Panther. 

Liv Tyler

Arwen – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Ross – The Incredible Hulk

Tyler’s angelic face and sweet voice provides her with a great aptitude for the love interest, and her two appearances in extended universes reflect that. In one, she is the daughter of the elf lord Elrond, linked to the future king of Gondor Aragorn. Her visions of the future help to lead him down the path to reclaiming his throne, and her elf magic also helped to save Frodo after his encounter with the Nazgül. Then she moved on to become a biologist and become romantically involved with the nuclear physicist Bruce Banner. Though The Incredible Hulk is one of the films that the MCU crowd tends to ignore (even if it’s not the worst Hulk film), Tyler’s performance was still an important one to the development of Banner and, consequently, the Hulk.

Karl Urban

Eömer – The Two Towers, The Return of the King

Skurge – Thor: Ragnarok

Karl Urban has actually branched into three extended universes (if you include the rebooted Star Trek films), but his newest “trek” is into the MCU as the Asgardian warrior Skurge. He is a character playing two sides, trying to keep Hela from destroying him alongside Asgard, but he still cuts a frightening figure, so who knows what he’s really after? This is coming after Urban’s experience as the horse lord Eömer, nephew to the king and leader of the army of Rohan. At the very least, Urban’s got experience with all of the medieval weapons that a warrior of Asgard would be working with.

Hugo Weaving

Lord Elrond – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Unexpected Journey, The Battle of the Five Armies

Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull – Captain America: The First Avenger

Weaving is only one movie short of appearing just as many Jackson films as his costar (and according to Lord of the Rings lore, mother-in-law) Cate Blanchett. The two have, however, starred in the same amount of MCU films, both as villains no less. Weaving took the role of the elf Lord Elrond, father of Liv Tyler’s character Arwen, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also appeared in two films of the prequel series, The Hobbit, to continue world-building Middle Earth. He was presented as a wise and fair character, though maybe a little disheartened by everything he’d seen in the world, and more than ready to head to the undying lands. In the Marvel Universe, on the other hand, Weaving played the man who would become Captain America’s greatest foe – The Red Skull, leader of Nazi offshoot Hydra, determined to wield the power of the Tesseract himself and become a perfect being. His character was greatly unstable, but there are speculations that, because of the Tesseract’s ability to open portals into space, we may not have seen the last of him.

David Wenham

Faramir – The Two Towers, The Return of the King

Harold Meachum – Iron Fist

Another character who made a wild transition from franchise to franchise is Wenham, whose character in the MCU is extremely different from his Middle Earth appearance. In Middle Earth, Wenham appears as Faramir, the second son of the steward of Gondor who has grown up in the shadow of his brother, as he is the more bookish of the two and less of a warrior. He does have a great strength of character, however, as he is able to push out the influence of The Ring. When he appears in the MCU, however, that strength of character didn’t come with him. The series Iron Fist brings out his inner demon as Harold Meachum, the ruthless business partner of Danny Rand’s father, brought back to life by The Hand, and willing to do anything to protect what he believes is his, no matter who gets in his way. It is actually very funny how much he acts like Denethor, as though the influence of his deranged father followed him across the universes.

  Mystical in Marvel: The Lord of the Rings Crossover As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and its spin-off television shows) grows, the number of actors being cast also increases exponentially.