#The allspark is Amazon

[churochoru]

the baby

[onenettvchannel]

BALITANG ENTERTAINMENT: U.S. Streaming Provider 'Netflix' to bid farewell of "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" [#EQIMNLExclusive]

(Written by Aerial Soundwaves / DJ and News Correspondent of PonyvilleFM News)

LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA -- Netflix, an American streaming service and provider plans to remove 'My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic' from its library on Saturday (February 1st, 2025, Pacific local time). This beloved cartoon series, which has amassed a loyal fan base since its debut are no longer be available to stream on the platform worldwide, according to independent blogger outlet 'Equestria Daily'.

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" made its debut on 'The Hub' (now known as 'Discovery Family' in the early mid-October 2010. The American cartoon show follows 'Ms. Twilight Sparkle', a dedicated pre-alicorn princess who was once the Station Manager and President of 'OneNETtv Channel' (ONC) in her previous home residence of Ponyville, and is now the broadcast president of the 'Equestrian Broadcasters Association' (EBA) in Canterlot City.

With her team friends of Mane 6 (Rarity Belle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack), she travels through the magical land of Equestria, learning important things about friendship. The series gained a dedicated fanbase quickly, including an unexpected following of teens and adult fans (brother and ponies) known as "Bronies".

The upcoming removal of the mainstream cartoon series in this said streaming library of Netflix is attributed to the expired distribution rights between Netflix and Hasbro, which co-produces the franchise of "My Little Pony". The expiration of licensing deals and agreements between content creators and streaming services automatically delists the content from service, unless the license is yet to be renewed. This applies across the board, depending on its popularity, and thus impacting thousands of TV shows and movies.

For those looking to continue enjoying "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic", it is available for purchase on platforms like Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video in the United States of America (U.S.A.), as well with Physical Media on DVDs and Blu-ray compact discs to be legally sold everywhere online. New viewers can now get the opportunity to see the show on demand the first time, while the past viewers can catch the episodes for one final time, since it has been pulled off from the streaming service as stated there above.

As the series departed out for Netflix, fans are reminded of the long-lasting impact that 'Prncs. Twilight' and her friends have brought to audiences all over the world.

FILE PHOTO COURTESY: Allspark Animation via Discovery Family

SOURCE: *https://www.equestriadaily.com/2025/01/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-set.html *https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/leaving-soon/whats-leaving-netflix-in-february-2025/ and *https://gbtimes.com/why-did-netflix-remove-mlp-seasons-5-8/

-- OneNETnews Online Publication Team

[ptbf2002]

My Top 30 Favorite Paramount Pictures Movies

30. Transformers: The Last Knight

29. Transformers: Age Of Extinction

28. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

27. Transformers (2007)

26. G.I. JOE: The Rise Of Cobra

25. G.I. JOE: Retaliation

24. Shake Eyes (2021)

23. Gemini Man

22. The Adventures Of Tintin

21. Yours Mine And Ours

20. The Rugrats Movie

19. Rugrats In Paris The Movie

18. Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts

17. Playing With Fire

16. South Park: Bigger, Longer, And Uncut

15. Rugrats Go Wild

14. Beavis And Butt-Head Do America

13. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

12. Barnyard

11. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

10. Rango

9. Good Burger

8. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

7. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

6. Rumble

5. The Little Prince

4. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

3. IF

2. Sonic The Hedgehog

And 1. Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Original Template: https://www.deviantart.com/princessflamefigher/art/My-Top-30-Favorite-Meme-763485673

Transformers: The Last Knight Belongs To Akiva Goldsman, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, Ken Nolan, Weying Galaxy Entertainment Ltd. Huahua Media Co. Ltd. The H Collective, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Takara Co., Ltd. Tomy Company, Ltd. Takara Tomy, Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Transformers: Age of Extinction Belongs To Ehren Kruger, Jiaflix Enterprises, China Movie Channel, China Central Television, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Takara Co., Ltd. Tomy Company, Ltd. Takara Tomy, Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Belongs To Ehren Kruger, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Takara Co., Ltd. Tomy Company, Ltd. Takara Tomy, Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Transformers (2007 Film) Belongs To John Rogers, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Takara Co., Ltd. Tomy Company, Ltd. Takara Tomy, Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. DreamWorks Pictures, Amblin Partners, LLC. Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

G.I. JOE: The Rise Of Cobra Belongs To Michael B. Gordon, Stuart Beattie, Stephen Sommers, David Elliot, Paul Lovett, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. Spyglass Media Group, LLC, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

G.I. JOE: Retaliation Belongs To Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. MGM Holdings, Inc. Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon, Inc. Skydance Media, LLC, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Snake Eyes (2021) Belongs To Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. MGM Holdings, Inc. Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon, Inc. Skydance Media, LLC, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Gemini Man (film) Belongs To David Benioff, Billy Ray, Darren Lemke, Fosun Pictures, Fosun International Limited, Alibaba Pictures Group Limited, Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Jerry Bruckheimer Films Inc. Skydance Media, LLC, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

The Adventures of Tintin (film) Belongs To Hergé, Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Hemisphere Media Capital, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, WingNut Films Productions Ltd. Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Amblin Partners, LLC. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. Sony Pictures Releasing, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Sony Entertainment, Inc. Sony Corporation of America, Sony Group Corporation, Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Yours, Mine & Ours (2005 film) Belongs To Mort Lachman, Melville Shavelson, Bob Carroll Jr. Madelyn Davis, Ron Burch, David Kidd, Robert Simonds Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. MGM Holdings, Inc. Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon, Inc. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. Sony Pictures Releasing, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Sony Entertainment, Inc. Sony Corporation of America, Sony Group Corporation, Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

The Rugrats Movie Belongs To Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Paul Germain, David N. Weiss, J. David Stem, Animagic Studio, Anivision Corporation, Sunwoo & Company Co., Ltd. Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials, Grimsaem Animation Co. Ltd. Klasky-Csupo, Inc. United International Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Belongs To Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Paul Germain, J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Jill Gorey, Barbara Herndon, Kate Boutilier, Grimsaem Animation Co. Ltd. Koko Enterprises Ltd. Seoul Movie, Sunwoo Digital International, Sunwoo & Company Co., Ltd. Tama Production, Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. Yowza! Animation, MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Company I. Produktions KG, Rugrats Production K.G. Klasky-Csupo, Inc. United International Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Belongs To Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber, Bayhem Films, New Republic Pictures, LLC, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. Takara Co., Ltd. Tomy Company, Ltd. Takara Tomy, Hasbro Studios, LLC, Entertainment One Holdings USA Inc. Allspark, Entertainment One, eOne Canada, Lionsgate Canada, Lionsgate Studios Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro Entertainment, Hasbro, Inc. Skydance Media, LLC, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Playing with Fire (2019 film) Belongs To Dan Ewen, Matt Lieberman, Broken Road Productions, Walden Media, LLC, Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. The Anschutz Corporation, Nickelodeon Movies Inc. Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Rumble (2021 film) Belongs To Rob Harrell, Hamish Grieve, Matt Lieberman, Reel FX Animation, Walden Media, LLC, Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. The Anschutz Corporation, WWE Studios Inc. World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC, Paramount+, Paramount Streaming, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

South Park: Bigger, Longer, And Uncut Belongs To Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Pam Brady, Blur Studio Inc. Silicon Graphics, Inc. Scott Rudin Productions, Braniff Productions, South Park Studios, Comedy Central Films, MTV Films, MTV Production Development, MTV Studios, MTV Entertainment Studios, MTV Entertainment Group, Paramount Media Networks, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Paramount Pictures Corporation And Paramount Global

Rugrats Go Wild Belongs To Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Paul Germain, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, Stephen Sustarsic, DongWoo Animation Co. Ltd. Lotto Animation, Inc. Sunwoo & Company, Co., Ltd. Klasky-Csupo, Inc. Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America Belongs To Mike Judge, Joe Stillman, Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. MTV Productions, MTV Films, MTV Production Development, MTV Studios, MTV Entertainment Studios, MTV Entertainment Group, Geffen Pictures, Paramount Pictures Corporation And Paramount Global

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Belongs To John A. Davis. David N. Weiss, J. David Stem, Steve Oedekerk, DNA Productions, Inc. O Entertainment, Nickelodeon Movies Inc. Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Barnyard Belongs To Steve Oedekerk, Omation Animation Studio, O Entertainment, Nickelodeon Movies Inc. Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Belongs To Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman, Brendan O'Brien, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Mikros Animation, Technicolor Creative Studios S.A. Vantiva S.A. Cinesite, Mirage Studios, Point Grey Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Rango Belongs To John Logan, Gore Verbinski, James Ward Byrkit, GK Films, Blind Wink Productions, Nickelodeon Movies Inc. Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Good Burger Belongs To Michael Tollin, Brian Robbins, Dan Schneider, Kevin Kopelow, Heath Seifert, Tollin/Robbins Productions, Nickelodeon Movies Inc. Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Belongs To Stephen Hillenburg, Paul Tibbitt, Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. Method Studios, Screen Novelties, United Plankton Pictures Inc. Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Animation, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run Belongs To Stephen Hillenburg, Tim Hill, Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Mikros Animation, Technicolor Creative Studios S.A. Vantiva S.A. MRC II Distribution Company, L.P. United Plankton Pictures Inc. Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Animation, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

The Little Prince (2015 film) Belongs To Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Irena Brignull, Bob Persichetti, Reynal & Hitchcock, Éditions Gallimard, Groupe Madrigall S.A. Lucky Red, LPPTV, Method Animation, ON Animation Studios, ON Kids & Family, Mediawan Animation, Mediawan, Orange Studio, Orange S.A. M6 Films, M6, Metropole Télévision S.A. Groupe M6, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Belongs To Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Stephen Hillenburg, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, Rough Draft Studios, Inc. Rough Draft Korea Co, Ltd. Toon Boom Animation Inc. United Plankton Pictures Inc. Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Players, Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

IF (film) Belongs To John Krasinski, Sunday Night Productions, Maximum Effort Productions, Inc. Paramount Pictures Corporation, And Paramount Global

Sonic the Hedgehog (film) Belongs to Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, Hirokazu Yasuhara, Pat Casey, Josh Miller, Blur Studio, Marza Animation Planet Inc. Original Film, Sonic Team, SEGA of America, SEGA Corporation, SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc. Paramount Pictures Corporation And Paramount Global

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Belongs to Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, Hirokazu Yasuhara, Pat Casey, Josh Miller, Blur Studio, Marza Animation Planet Inc. Original Film, Sonic Team, SEGA of America, SEGA Corporation, SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc. Paramount Pictures Corporation And Paramount Global

[allspark]

Transformers Legacy Wave 1 – Details and Pre-Order Links Now Live! BBTS, Amazon, & Pulse

Transformers Legacy Wave 1 – Details and Pre-Order Links Now Live! BBTS, Amazon, & Pulse @BigBadToyStore @Amazon @HasbroPulse #Transformers #Toys

Preorders have gone live for Transformers legacy Wave 1! Hit the break to get all the links to these figures and hurry and get yours before they sell out! You can check out the official images for these products here. Be sure to discuss Legacy in our Forum Thread or on our Transformers Discord server: discord.gg/allspark (more…)

[ralith]

Per my response to that last ask, I'll list some good content of Hide and Ratch in the movie comics imo.

TF Defiance: not a whole lot going on here but Ironhide was seemingly just hanging out with Ratchet while waiting for Starscream to show at base despite the fact Hide and Ratch operate in 2 different divisions, Science and the defense forces.

TF Alliance: Both are given time to shine here. We learn Ratch loves collecting dirt samples. They share panels together most of the time. There's even a small image of Hide touching Ratchet's shoulder in a background. Look, I'm starved for content okay?

DOTM Adaptation issues 1 & 2: Though Hide and Ratch dont do much here, almost every frigging panel they share together.

Saga of the Allspark: a small collection of selected titles that originally premiered in the Titan UK comics. These include:

Ratch fighting an alien warlord and technically becoming ruler of an empire, but instead negotiating peace.

Ironhide being interrogated by an alien species and defeating them through sheer stubbornness.

There's one panel where Ratch is transforming his hand but the midtransformation sequence gives him like 8 blades on his hand. Easy there Doctor Stabby.

Ironhide getting mind-controlled by Scorponok and attacking humans by smashing them with a tank. The good shit.

Ratchet received his own comic with the voyager DOTM toy and it provides more insight into his pacifism. Also the dork was taking more soil samples.

Now for a few of the Titan UK comics:

Twilight's Last Gleaming I believe is the alternate reality where the Cons won Mission City. Features Hide and Ratch fighting side by side again. Ratch kinda maybe blew up a factory.

Two times Ratch and Hide were dispatched on missions with each other, once on a sensitive mission in the Amazon to protect Natives from Starscream and then a diplomatic mission to gain human supporters to the autobot cause. Optimus please stop sending Ironhide on diplomatic missions. It never ends well.

Also that time Ratchet revived Jazz and it turned out to be a horrible idea and Jazz went rogue. Also where we learned Ratchet carries a whole set of spare organs within him for repairs. One hell of an organ donor.

[beephomets]

yea hi, amazon, what the fuck happened to the pricing of Allspark Almanac and why the fuck is it $60 when i swear on my life it used to be like $25 

[shropsnews4u]

Shrewsbury + Why Shrewsbury is king of the Monopoly castle

Shrewsbury has won a UK ‘beauty contest’ – seeing off 24 other places across the nation to land its very own official version of Monopoly, it has been announced today (Thursday 2 May 2019).

Monopoly – the Shrewsbury Edition.

The medieval market town, which boasts more listed buildings (600+) than almost anywhere in the UK, has seen off 24 rivals nationally – including Telford, Ludlow, Hereford and Chester regionally –  in a UK ‘beauty contest’ to land its very own Monopoly Edition.

It will be the first time any place in Shropshire has ‘Passed GO’.

The official announcement that the Monopoly dice are to roll on Shrewsbury took place at the imposing Shrewsbury Castle at 10.30am this morning as Mr Monopoly (in costume) declared the announcement from atop the castle, which overlooks the ancient town.

“We want to shout this one from the rooftops,” says Jake Houghton, from the game’s makers Winning Moves UK.

Pictured from left to right: Alan Mosley, Shrewsbury Town Council’s Leader; Mr Monopoly; Jake Houghton from the game’s makers Winning Moves UK and Lezley Picton, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture and leisure.

Following the announcement, people have now been invited to vote for town landmarks like Shrewsbury Abbey, Shrewsbury Castle, Quarry Park, The Charles Darwin Statue and the Old Market Hall to feature in the game, which will be themed in sets.

Property sets are expected to span the worlds of heritage, tourism, shopping, festivals, entertainment, education, business, charity, travel – and lots more.

And the board almost uniquely could feature two jails on different Monopoly spaces: The traditional MONOPOLY jail and the Dana Gaol – a tourist hotspot these days.

Games bosses could also be fielding calls for a coffee house on every corner of the board – on the basis there seems to be coffee rooms on every Shrewsbury town centre street corner in real life!

Jake Houghton, Custom Games Executive at Winning Moves UK – who are producing this board under official license from MONOPOLY owners Hasbro Inc. – says:

“Shrewsbury’s extremely high current cachet and visitor magnet status has made it absolutely irresistible for us to produce this board.

“Shrewsbury is a leading UK tourist venue – generations after it was the centre of the Midlands in medieval times. It’s enjoying the most wonderful renaissance. Its hundreds of listed buildings makes it a perfect fit for Monopoly – as everyone knows, which is based on houses and hotels on iconic properties.. We are absolutely sure we will be wonderfully spoilt for choice putting this game together.”

The board will hits the shops this October in time for Christmas.

Today Shrewsbury civic and tourist leaders praised news of the new game.

Councillor Peter Nutting, Shropshire Council’s leader, says:

“We’re so pleased that Shrewsbury will now have its very own iconic board. As well as being the birthplace of the father of evolution, Charles Darwin, the town is blessed with an abundance of great landmarks such as the Castle, Market Hall and Quarry Park – the game makers will be spoilt for choice!

“Shrewsbury is a town which is steeped in history, well-loved by locals and well-known to visitors – and we have ambitious plans for its future.”

Alan Mosley, Shrewsbury Town Council’s Leader, says:

“With iconic places like the Flaxmill, the Quarry, the Castle, the Railway Station and Lord Hill Column, it is hardly surprising that Shrewsbury has been chosen as the next Monopoly location.

“This is extremely exciting for the town and its promotion as a place to live work and visit and it has sorted out what my family will be receiving for Christmas.”

Seb Slater, Executive Director of Shrewsbury BID, says:

“This is excellent news for Shrewsbury!

“We would urge everyone to vote for their favourite landmark, hotel, coffee shop, attraction or even gaol!

“We know we have beaten off stiff competition from many other towns and from cities regionally and nationally and we’re looking forward to attracting more visitors to the town following the Shrewsbury Monopoly launch this October.

“I’m sure it will be on many Christmas wish lists this year!”

The new board will be available at all major retailers, as well as very widely online including Amazon.

Shrewsbury saw off 24 other UK cities and towns in a search by games bosses to find Britain’s most beautiful town. There is a famous Community Chance card in the original Monopoly version which says: ‘You have won Second Prize in a Beauty Contest.”  Well Shrewsbury has now very much won FIRST prize! Nationally Leamington Spa, Chester and several towns in the Lake District were eclipsed by Shrewsbury charms. Regionally Ludlow was pipped by Shrewsbury to the MONOPOLY post.  “Ludlow came 2nd, “ adds Mr Houghton.

How to vote for your favourite landmark to feature in the game

Votes for Shrewsbury landmarks and cards to feature in the game via three ways:

By email to: shrewsbury@6starpr.co.uk

To the official Shrewsbury Monopoly Facebook page.

Good old fashioned post, to: Shrewsbury Monopoly, Winning Moves UK, 7 Praed Street, London W2 1NJ

Polling started at 10.30am today (2 May 2019) and closes exactly one month later on 1 June 2019.

About Hasbro Inc.

Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World’s Best Play Experiences. From toys and games to television, movies, digital gaming and consumer products, Hasbro offers a variety of ways for audiences to experience its iconic brands, including Nerf, My Little Pony, Transformers, Play-Doh, Monopoly, Baby Alive and Magic: The Gathering, as well as premier partner brands. Through its entertainment labels, Allspark Pictures and Allspark Animation, the Company is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for children and their families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked No. 5 on the 2018 100 Best Corporate Citizens list by CR Magazine, and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past seven years. Learn more at www.hasbro.com, and follow us on Twitter (@Hasbro) and Instagram (@Hasbro).

The post Why Shrewsbury is king of the Monopoly castle appeared first on Shropshire Council Newsroom.

http://bit.ly/2vH4YIt

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND December 21, 2018  - Mary Poppins Returns, Aquaman, Bumblebee, Second Act, Welcome to Marwen

This was going to be my last column for the year, but there’s just too much to write about, so I’m going to split it up and publish another, hopefully shorter, column next Monday. This is the last weekend before Christmas, and while there are a ton of big movies released – as well as a couple lower-key ones – most of these movies will just be doing a very small part of their overall business in the generally slower weekend before they explode next week with everyone off from school and most off from work all week.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS (Disney)

Opening on Wednesday is Walt Disney Pictures’ last prospective blockbuster of the year as well as a sequel to one of the company’s most iconic films over its entire history, 1964’s Mary Poppins, which was nominated for 13 Oscars, winning five. Mary Poppins Returns might also be Disney’s first big play for a Best Picture nomination since The Helpin 2011, which actually was a DreamWorks movie. Then again, Disney already seemingly has its stokes in the Oscar fire this year with Marvel’s Black Panther, so this family musical in the Walt Disney tradition might be suitable back-up.

It’s the latest movie directed by Rob Marshall, who helped Disney’s Miramax division win Best Picture with his theatrical directorial debut Chicago, then delivered a musical holiday hit for Disney four years ago with Into the Woods, which grossed $128 million from a Christmas Day release. Chicago grossed $170 million after its own Christmas Day platform release in 2002, and that got Marshall the gig directing 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which grossed $241 million in North America but did even better with $800 million overseas.

Marshall reunites with a couple of his Into the Woods stars, most notably Emily Blunt, who is so perfect to step into the very big shoes of the original Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews.  Blunt is already having quite a spectacular year after starring in hubby John Krasinski’s The Quiet Place, which grossed $188 million domestically, making it Blunt’s highest-grossing movie to date. A few years ago, Blunt starred in the movie based on the bestselling book The Girl on the Train, which also did decently with $75 million, and that was mostly based on her name (and the book, of course.)  That should be enough to help place Blunt even closer to the A-list and playing Mary Poppins is likely to solidify that role. Who knows? It might even get her that Oscar nomination that has been so elusive despite having six Golden Globe nominations.

Of course, Blunt is ably helped by popular actor-rapper-songwriter Lin Manuel Miranda, whose Hamilton broke many records for Broadway musical and who is working on adapting his previous musical In the Heights  for the screen. Miranda previously got involved with the Disney brand when he wrote songs and provided his voice for Dwayne Johnson’s Moana a few years back, and no surprise that he’s out there doing the most press and talk shows for Mary Poppins Returns. Then on top of those two stars, Marshall and Blunt also reunite with Into the Wood’s Oscar-nominated scene stealerMeryl Streep, clearly an A-list star who can bring people out to see almost anything she does, although she only appears for one song/musica number in this movie. The cast is rounded out by Ben Whishaw, James Bond’s Q, and Emily Mortimer, another great British actor, plus there are a couple highly-publicized cameos by original Mary Poppins stars that will be a thrill to fans of the original.

The thing is that there’s a whole generation or two that did not grow up watching the original Disney movie, so they won’t have the personal connection to the character/movie as their parents might. Also, one can expect that males of all ages will be more interested in checking out Aquaman  or Bumblebee their opening weekend,

It’s important to remember a couple things – the first one being that the weekend before Christmas can be slower than usual, and the second being that opening on Wednesday means that really diehard fans who can’t wait until the weekend might try to see it before heading out of town for the holidays. On the other hand, some might just wait until the weekend or until Christmas week to see it with their families. Either way, these things will likely keep the movie’s weekend numbers to be too crazy.

Because of that, I can see Mary Poppins Returns  making around $10 million on Wednesday and Thursday, getting a nice bump over the weekend to just over $40 million, but REALLY exploding in the week beginning with Christmas to the point where I can see it hitting $200 million by New Year’s Day, which would be quite amazing for a studio that is having their best year ever.

MY REVIEW OF MARY POPPINS RETURNS

AQUAMAN (Warner Bros.)

It’s hard to imagine the latest movie from Warner Bros’ DC Universe might be considered counter-programming to a Disney movie, but let’s face it, Warner Bros. has been struggling against the Disney-Marvel Studios titan for a bunch of years now, and they need a way back into fans’ good graces after last year’s Justice League and 2015’s Suicide Squad.

It’s hard to believe that anyone would ever make an Aquaman movie, especially after the famous Entouragegag – not to mention Saturday Night Liveand others making fun of the character. Jason Momoa’s Atlantean warrior from the Justice League movie is indeed getting his own solo movie, directed by James Wan of Furious 7  and three horror franchises: Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring.

Joining Momoa as Mera is Amber Heard, who also had a brief appearance in Justice League, but has mainly been off-the-grid with the long-delayed London Fields and in the tabloids for her issues with her ex Johnny Depp. Heard hasn’t really been in a major release since the Oscar bait The Danish Girl and Magic Mike XXL in 2015.

The cast also includes Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (as Aquaman’s mother), Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (as Aquaman’s advisor) and Wan regular Patrick Wilson as his brother Orm aka one of the film’s main baddies, Ocean Master. It also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Aquaman’s other bad guy, Black Manta.

Reviewsfor the movie have generally been mixed but on par with Mary Poppins Returns, maybe a little lower, but much better than Justice Leagueor Suicide Squad. (Thank, God!) Warner Bros. even gave the movie sneak previews this past Saturday for Amazon Prime users, in which it made $2.9 million. That might help get the word out on the movie, but it also might take some money away from the movie’s opening weekend, since many probably went to see it early from positive reviews.

The movie will also have to tackle the most direction competition from Paramount’s Bumblebee (see below) as well as last week’s well-received Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is likely to have strong word-of-mouth business from last weekend going by its rare A+ CinemaScore.

Expect Aquaman to do decently over the pre-holiday weekend with $70 to 75 million, because as mentioned before, many people are travelling or doing last-minute shopping over the weekend, but expect it to continue to bring in repeat business over the holidays, so I could see it grossing $250 million or slightly more by the time it leaves theaters.

Also, make sure to check out my interview with director James Wan over at the awesome new VitalThrills.com! Very excited to have a byline on that relatively new site!

MY REVIEW OF AQUAMAN

BUMBLEBEE (Paramount)

The third big movie of the weekend -- and some will find it crazy that Paramount is releasing it this weekend against the two stronger movies above -- is the latest movie in the Transformers franchise, the prequel telling the story of Autobot Bumblebee.

Directed by Travis Knight, the CEO of Laika Studios and director of the stop-motion animated Kubo and the Two Strings, this is a prequel that shows the origin of the beloved Transformer character as he’s sent to earth during the Fall of Cybertron and ends up befriending a rebellious teenager (played by Hailee Steinfeld) in 1987.

Having a female lead in a Transformers is quite groundbreaking since women were mostly used as eye candy in Michael Bay’s movies, but Hailee Steinfeld has done a good job establishing herself with her debut role in the Coens’ True Grit, for which she received an Oscar nomination. Since then, she’s been in films like Ender’s Game, Begin Again, Pitch Perfect 2 and most recently, voicing the role of Spider-Gwen in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

On the plus side, having a female lead might help bring in younger girls that might not normally be interested in Transformers, but it could theoretically turn off the guys who have already been complaining about the female leads in the Star Wars saga. Both franchises are very male-driven, and both of the new movies above will be of equal interest to anyone who might be interested in Bumblebee.

Fortunately, Bumblebee is much better than most people are expecting, and some might be surprised that it currently has better reviews than both Aquaman AND Mary Poppins with 98% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, as of this writing.  It does have a ton of competition arriving in theaters, but it’s fairly clear that Paramount and Allspark Films (the film division of Hasbro) are hoping to get some run-off over the holidays from people who have already seen the above two movies, as well as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The fact that Paramount gave a well-attended early sneak preview of Bumblebee on Dec 8 gives you some idea how confident they are that the fans will dig so.

Even so, Bumblebee will be lucky to make more than $20 million this weekend, although there might be enough room with most people off work and out of school on Sunday to see more than one movie this weekend. I can see this one making around $25 million over the weekend but it should also be able to exceed $100 million by New Year’s, and its overseas money should help Paramount stay in the Transformers business for some time.

MY REVIEW OF BUMBLEBEE

SECOND ACT (STXfilms)

And then we get to some big-time counter-programming, and in this case, it might be a movie that might have a hard time finding an audience, especially against Mary Poppins Returns.

Second Actcould just as well have been called “Jennifer Lopez Returns,” because it is in fact her first major non-voice role in theaters since 2015’s thriller The Boy Next Door. That movie was a bit of a joke, yet it still opened with nearly $15 million and grossed $35.3 million based on her role. Her previous movie Parker two years earlier didn’t fair particularly well, much of which may be attributed to her not being as much in the public eye in terms of movies anyway.

Directed by Peter Segal (50 First Dates), Second Actis more in vein of Lopez’s 2002 hit Maid in Manhattan, which grossed $94 million over the holidays after a moderate $18.7 million December opening. Lopez went on to have a few other romantic comedy hits after that including Shall We Danceand Monster-in-Law, but others like The Back-Up Plan (2010) and What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012) barely made it to $40 million domestic.

That brings us to 2018 where Lopez hasn’t really been in a movie in some time but still has quite a few female fans, and maybe some of them might not be so interested in the mostly white Mary Poppins Returns. (Yes, I realize Lin Manuel Miranda is Puerto Rican-American … no need to write that angry letter/tweet!)

The movie offers a great premise which has Lopez making it in big business after a friend makes up a fake Facebook account, and it’s something that helps push the female empowerment conversation from the past few years even further. Earlier this year, STX released Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty, which did decently with $16 million opening, grossing nearly $49 million domestically, despite terrible reviews.

The trailers for Second Act have been received similarly well and Lopez has been doing her fair share of the talk show rounds, but otherwise, STX has only opened one movie with more than $20 million, and that was 2016’s Bad Moms, which was an easy sell even for its rushed-out sequel Bad Moms Christmaslast year.

Even though Second Actseems like a strong inspirational story, it also seems like the definition of a holiday movie that’s released in the bad weekend pre-Christmas, in which it probably couldn’t make more than $8 million. If the movie is as good as it looks, I can see women going to see it with female friends over the holidays to make it a sleeper with between $40 and 50 million total.

Mini-Review: I didn’t go into Second Act expecting much, even though Peter Segal did direct one of Adam Sandler’s better films (50 First Dates).  I certainly didn’t expect that I’d relate to Jennifer Lopez’s Maya as much as I did. No, I’m not a Latina woman from Queens who works in a supermarket, but I have been having trouble getting a job since I don’t have a degree despite having 25 years of experience writing for the internet.

But enough about me, let’s get back to Second Act, a movie with such an up-front premise that you will pretty much get exactly what you might expect if you’ve seen the trailer and liked what you saw. Somehow, Maya finds herself as a consultant at a big-name corporation’s make-up department because her friend’s son doctored her resumé and Facebook page.

Lopez is definitely in her element with this sort of premise which falls somewhere between Working Girl and 13 Going on 30, and if you like those inspirational woman-empowerment comedies, then you’ll probably find elements to like about Second Act as well.

Much of that is due to Lopez’s supporting cast, a group of underrated funny women like Leah Remini (as Maya’s best friend) and Charlyne Yi (an office assistant) plus Vanessa Hudgens proving once again that she’s quite good at handling anything that’s thrown her way as Maya’s primary competition at the company. Some of the jokes work better than others, but whenever Remini is on-screen, you can expect to laugh.

Sure, the overall premise is one that’s already a little hard to swallow, but then it goes off the rails with a twist absolutely no one will see coming. And yet, it somehow finds a way to recover nicely and get its audience back.

Regardless, Second Act is a perfectly harmless and safe film that gives you more than a few laughs, might even have you in tears at times, but basically gives you exactly what’s advertised, which is something rather rare these days.

Rating: 7/10

WELCOME TO MARWEN (Universal)

Lastly, there’s the latest movie from Robert Zemeckis, which ten to fifteen years ago, may have been a huge deal, especially following the huge success he had with Tom Hanks inCast Awayand Forest Gump, both which were Oscar-nominated (and winning) mega-blockbusters.

Zemeckis’ last film, the WWII spy drama Allied, only made $40 million despite starting Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, and his real-life story The Walkstarring Joseph Gordon Lewis might as well have been thrown over the side of the World Trade Center, because it tanked so badly. Zemeckis’ last hit was Flight, starring Denzel Washington, which barely grazed $100 million domestic, but also received two Oscar nominations. The three movies before that were performance capture animated movies with had varying degrees of success.

Like Flight and The Walk, Welcome to Marwenis based on a true story, that of artist Mark Hogancamp, who was injured in a brutal attack and finds therapeutic solace in the models and dolls he builds in his backyard. Hogancamp’s story was previously told in Jeff Maimberg’s award-winning doc Marwencol in 2010, although I’m not sure that many people are aware that doc exists.

Like Nicole Kidman above, this is Steve Carell’s third movie of the year, including the Christmas Day opener Vice, and his last drama Beautiful Boy has only grossed $7.5 million… and that was with super-hot Timothée Calamet! Carell’s 2017 releases, Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying and Battle of the Sexes haven’t fared much better, and he’s generally done better voicing Gru in Illumination Studios’ Despicable Me and Minions movies. For this one, Carell is co-starring Leslie Mann (reuniting with Carell for the first time since his breakout film The 40 Year Old Virgin), Eisa Gonzalez from Baby Driver, Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie, Diane Kruger and Janelle Monae, a solid female supporting cast, for sure.

There have been many movies like this released right before Christmas in hopes for any sort of business over the holidays. Movies like Jim Carrey’s The Majestic opened with less than $5 million in 2001, and Will Smith’s Collateral Beautyonly did slightly better in 2016 with its $7 million opening. Also, there was the Tom Hanks movie Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which only got a platform release over Christmas, which is generally the way to go for movies looking for Oscar nominations.

In some ways, Marwen reminds me of Ben Stiller’s 2013 remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which opened on Christmas Day (a Wednesday) with $7.8 million and made another $12.7 million on its way to $58 million domestic. I don’t think Marwen could do that well since it’s opening before the Christmas holiday bump, because Universal is only opening Zemeckis’ latest in 1,900 theaters, and the movie has barely been screened for critics or awards groups before this coming week, which tells you that the studio doesn’t see it being an Oscar player.

Frankly, I’d be shocked if Marwen made more than $5 million this weekend, but if it’s any good, it could make upwards of $30 million but not much more. There’s just too much stronger competition in theaters.

Mini-Review: If you haven’t seen Jeffrey Maimberg’s doc – and I haven’t – then you might be even more puzzled by why Robert Zemeckis might want to dramatize the story of artist Mark Hogancamp who was beaten up outside an upstate bar and left in such a bad mental state, he lost all his memories. In order to get through the repercussions of such an assault, he began building a small town called Marwencol in his backyard, populating it with dolls that he would put into various hero scenarios.

Maybe this premise wouldn’t be so weird if the movie doesn’t start off with a WWII action scene involving Carell’s Captain Hogie in doll form taking on Nazis and being saved by a group of women… and the seeming cross between live action and animation just gets weirder and weirder as the movie goes along. There’s also Mark’s proclivity for collecting and wearing women’s high heel shoes, which also plays a pivotal role in the story, as does a “Belgian witch” named Deja (after the John Carter of Mars character), who is voiced by Diane Kruger, who doesn’t have a real-life counterpart like all of Hogie’s other women.

Sometime in the past ten years or more, you may have heard one woman or another complain about the body issues created by Barbie dolls that real girls couldn’t possibly live up to… so take that and then add a poorly-chosen Robert Palmer song, and you can understand why this movie might get many young women bristled.

It’s hard to completely hate a movie that features Leslie Mann in such a key role as Mark’s across-the-street neighbor Nicol, on which he has developed such a huge crush. This 40-Year-Old Virgin offers the movie’s sweetest and most emotional moments but then it’s soon lost in more silliness with dolls or once again showing Mark being beaten up on that fateful night. Janelle Monae and some of the other actors are wasted, barely appearing fully in human form.

The saddest part about this movie is that it’s painfully aware that Zemeckis has completely lost touch with the kind of movies that audiences might want to see, and Welcome to Marwen frequently has you asking, “Who was this movie supposed to be for?” Rating: 5/10

It certainly will be interesting to see how the top 3 movies fare in a busy pre-Christmas weekend, but even moreso to see how they affect the well-received Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Clint Eastwood’s The Mule, although the former will probably be more affected than the latter. Fox Searchlight will continue to expand The Favourite nationwide, this Friday into 775, as it racks up awards and nominations, although I’m not sure that will be enough to break into the top 10. It probably will end up with around $2 million or so, as will, Focus Features’ Mary Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan, which will expand into 700 theaters with Ronan doing the talk show rounds this week. It’s a battle of the costume dramas outside the top 10, but expect both of them to find business over the holidays.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this… (and mind you, these are all for three days, Friday through Sunday)

1. Aquaman  (Warner Bros.)  - $73.6 million N/A 2. Mary Poppins Returns  (Disney) - $41 million N/A ($10 million on Weds/Thursday) 3. Bumblebee  (Paramount) - $25.5 million N/A 4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse  (Sony) - $19.4 million -45% 5.The Mule (Warner Bros.) - $9.1 million -48% 6. Second Act (STXfilms) - $7.5 million N/A 7. The Grinch  (Universal) - $7 million -40% 8. Welcome to Marwen  (Universal) - $5 million N/A 9.Ralph Breaks the Internet  (Disney) – $4.4 million -48% 10. Mortal Engines  (Universal) - $3.4 million -55% -- The Favourite  (Fox Searchlight) - $2.1 million -- Mary Queen of Scots (Focus Features) - $1.8 million

LIMITED RELEASES

Thankfully, things are slowing down as far as limited releases with only a few left this weekend and a couple more next week.

First up is the new film from Oscar-winning Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowsky (Ida), as COLD WAR  (Amazon Studios), this one a love story between a young singer and older conductor and how that relationship evolves over the course of the years and a number of world events that try to come between them. I wrote about the film briefly when it played the New York Film Festival earlier this year and hope to rewatch it over the holidays, because it’s quite amazing. A wonderful story told in a tight 90 minutes, all in black and white with fantastic cinematography by Lukasz Zal, who received an Oscar nomination for his camerawork and lighting on Ida. It opens in select cities on Friday.

Opening in L.A. for a one-week Oscar consideration run is Kenneth Branagh’s ALL IS TRUE  (Sony Pictures Classics), which I haven’t had a chance to seen myself, but it takes place during the final years of William Shakespeare in 1613 with Branagh playing the playwright, Judi Dench playing his wife Anne and Ian McKellen as the Earl of Southampton, who according to Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous, may have authored Shakespeare’s works. It follows the burning down of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater which sends him back to his family in Stratford. No word on when it will get a normal theatrical release, but from what I heard, it doesn’t have much of a chance for Oscars either.

Written by Luc Besson and Richard Wenk  (The Equalizer) and directed by Steven Quale  (Final Destination 5), American Renegades  (Europacorp) follows a group of Navy SEALS who have hidden a vast treasure underwater in a lake in Sorbia. It stars Sullivan Stapleton (300: Rise of an Empire), JK Simmons, Sylvia Hoeks (Blade Runner 2049) and others, and I’m not 100% convinced it’s going to be in many theaters this Friday, but it will be on VOD and digital download on Christmas Day.

Maria Pulero’s psychological thriller Between Worlds  (Saban Films), playing in New York (Cinema Village) and L.A. (Arena Cinelounge) following its VOD release earlier in the week, stars Nicholas Cage as truck driver Joe, who has an encounter with a fellow trucker Julie (Franka Potente, The Bourne Identity) who is able to travel through the astral plane to communicate with the dead. When her daughter Billie (Penelope Mitchell from Hemlock Grove) ends up in a motorcycle accident, Julie uses her power to try to bring her back but instead brings back Joe’s ex-wife and puts her spirit in Billie’s body. Sexual hijinks ensue.

This holiday’s special Bollywood film is Aanand Rai’s Zero (Yash Raj Films USA Inc.), starring Shah Rukh Khan as a young man from a wealthy affluent family who meets two women (Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma) who take him on a journey to broaden his horizons. It should be in a couple hundred theaters on Friday.

Also on Wednesday night is a special screening of Christina Kallas’ ensemble drama The Rainbow Experiment (Gravitas), which was the opening night film of this past year’s 13thAnnual Harlem International Film Festival and is currently on VOD. It will screen at the Xavier High School where it was filmed Weds. at 6pm, and you can find out more information and get tickets on the Facebook page.

STREAMING

Streaming on Netflix Friday is the post-apocalyptic thriller BIRD BOX, directed by Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier (In a Better World) and adapted from Josh Malerman’s novel with Eric Heisserer (Arrival). It stars Sandra Bullock as a woman travelling with two small children down a river, all three blindfolded to prevent them from being affected by a virus that has forced millions of people to commit suicide. Since I don’t have many limited releases, I’m going to go ahead and review the movie which I got to see Monday night.

I haven’t read the book, but this is a really interesting decision for Bier, who has done smaller dramas for the most part, and Bird Box really allows her to up her game with a couple action set pieces as well as a lot more involved story.  Although much of the marketing has focused on Bullock’s boat trip with the two kids, the movie spends just as much time five years earlier as some kind of virus or event causes millions across the globe to kill themselves. It’s quickly determined that being outside with your eyes open causes you to become infected by the deadly virus.

Bullock’s character is pregnant and she ends up fleeing to a house full of a disparate group of characters played by John Malkovich, B.D. Wong, Trevante Rhodes from Moonlight, Rosa Salazar, Jacki Weaver, Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) and Machine Gun Kelly. They’re soon joined by an also-pregnant Danielle McDonald (Dumplin’), as the film cuts between this group trying to survive and get along with Bullock and the two kids rowing down the river with the blanks filled in as it goes along.

I really found this to be a fascinating high-concept premise that actually thrived from the interesting cast and Bier’s ability with pulling out great emotions from an audience through performances and the remarkable score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Of course, Bullock is as fantastic as always but I was equally impressed with Rhodes who is proving himself to be a heroic lead that audiences can root for.  The film has lots of twists that keep you guessing a out what might happen as others are introduced in to the mix, and frankly, I found myself liking this as much or more than A Quiet Place, mainly due to the cast. I also have to say that it was very enjoyable seeing the movie with an audience as well, and it will play in a couple theaters Friday.

Rating: 7.5/10

Also streaming on Netflix Friday is Irek Dobrowolski’s doc Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski about the Polish surrealist who was rediscovered in 1968 by pop culture collector Glenn Bray who brought it to the attention of underground comic publisher George DiCaprio. (George and his famous son Leo are two of the producers on the film.)

REPERTORY

In some cases, this week is a continuation of series that began last week, so if you see your favorite repertory theater missing, then just go back and check last week’s column. Also, the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn will be showing René Manzor’s 1989 French genre holiday film Dial Code Santa Claus (a new 2K restoration via AGFA)on Dec. 19 (sold out!) and Dec. 23.

METROGRAPH (NYC):

In the Year of the Grifter continues, while the weekend’s Playtime: Family Matinee is The Muppet Christmas Carol, while the Metrograph will continue to show some popular holiday favorites in its series Holidays at the Metrotraph, which includes The Umbrellas of Cherbourg  (1964), Vincente Minell’s Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Joe Dante’s Gremlins (I984), John Landis’ Trading Places  (1983), Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread  (2017) and of course, Todd Haynes’  Carol.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Beginning on Friday is a new 4k restoration of Marcel Pagnol’s The Baker’s Wife  (Janus Films) from 1938, another French filmmaker who I know every little about, although this stars Raim, who also starred in Pagnol’s Marseilles Trilogy. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr.  is the late, great Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 filmThe Circus.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

The theater’s Holiday Spirit 2018  series continues with double features of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns and Joe Dante’s Gremlins, as well as the even odder double feature ofDie Hard(1988) and Trail of Robin Hood  (1950). On Saturday night, there’s a “Cyberpunk Megazone” double feature of 1995’s Virtual Assassin  and Hologram Man with introduction by Rob Schrab. And on Saturday… It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) but also another oddball holiday double feature of The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982) and The Oracle  (1985).

AERO  (LA):

American Cinemateque’s other L.A. theater is also getting into the Holiday Spirit  with The Lion in Winter (1968) on Thursday night, Will Ferrell’s Elf (2003) on Friday, Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) on Saturday and It’s a Wonderful Life  TWICE (!) on Sunday, because that seems to be the go-to for repertory theaters this season.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Visconti’s Death in Venice (1971) continues through Thursday and the theater’s vast Rated X series will continue into the new year with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls  (1970), Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead  (1981), the Japanese erotic drama In the Realm of the Senses  (1976) playing over the weekend, as well as many more.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Yup, It’s a Wonderful Life will continue to play here as well, while this weekend’s Late Night Favorites  will be David Byrne’s Eraserhead, the Weekend Classics Coen Bros. movie is The Hudsucker Proxy  (1994) on 35mm, and this weekend’s Shaw Brothers Spectacular running Friday, Saturday and Sunday at midnight is Holy Flame of the Martial World  (1983).

THE NEW BEVERLY  (L.A.):

Tarantino’s renovated theater continues its holiday celebrations with double features of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Scrooged on Weds. and Thurs. (sold out online but with tickets at the door). It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story play as double features on Friday and Saturday, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Jingle All the Way  has matinees on Saturday and Sunday, and then Die Hard and The Silent Partner play as double features on Sunday and Monday’s Christmas Eve.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Also showing Bruce Willis’ Die Hard at midnight on Friday night.

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER(NYC):

The amazing Jacques Tourneur, Fearmaker series continues, and between this, the Quad’s Rated X series and all the great programming at the Metrograph, New York repertory-philes should be set for the weekend before Christmas and next week, as well.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. continues with The Exile  (1947) on Weds., Sinbad the Sailor  (1947) and The Dawn Patrol  (1930) on Friday.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

A Cher For All Seasons continues.  

I was hoping this would be the last column of the year, but there are two new movies opening in wide release on Tuesday, Christmas Day,the Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly comedy HOLMES AND WATSON  (Sony) and the Will Ferrell-produced Adam McKay semi-comedy VICE (Annapurna Pictures). Instead of bombarding you with more numbers and info, I will post another mini-column NEXT MONDAY. Something to read while you wait for Santa to bring you better presents.

[allspark]

EAN & UPC Codes for New Transformers Shattered Glass and Golden Disk sub-lines! "Project Bat" EAN!

EAN & UPC Codes for New Transformers Shattered Glass and Golden Disk sub-lines! "Project Bat" EAN! #EAN #UPC #Transformers #ShatteredGlass #GoldenDisk #Amazon #Toys

EAN & UPC Codes for the recently leaked Amazon AUS listings are here! Hit the break to view all the codes! Be sure to discuss this in our Forum Thread! Thanks to Almalexia on the Allspark Discord for notifying us of these codes! We also have a Hasbro Pulse listing for SG Blurr! (more…)

[allspark]

Transformers Deals - Amazon Prime Day 2021

Transformers Deals for Amazon Prime Day 2021 @Amazon #PrimeDay2021 #Toys #Transformers

Happy Prime Day! Below is a list (and links) to Transformers Figures that are on currently sale! No new figures unfortunately, but there are some Studio Series figures on sale as well as WFC. Be sure to Discuss this in our Forum Thread or on our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/allspark (more…)

[allspark]

Transformers Kingdom Mirage & Grimlock 2-Pack Amazon Listing & Official Description

Transformers Kingdom Mirage & Grimlock 2-Pack Listing & Official Description #Amazon #Transformers

Thanks to various sources both on the Discord and on the Forums, we now have a listing for the Transformers WFC Kingdom Mirage & Grimlock 2-Pack via Amazon AUS. There are no images for this product as of yet. Hit the break for more info, plus the EAN number! Be sure to discuss this in our Forum Thread or on the Discord: discord.gg/allspark (more…)

[allspark]

Target Exclusive Transformers Earthrise Decepticon Clones on Clearance

Target Exclusive Transformers Earthrise Decepticon Clones on Clearance #Target #Transformers #Clearance

Thanks to a heads up from Allspark User Nortimus on our Discord, we now know that the Target Exclusive Decepticon Clone two-pack is now on Clearance for 30% off their original Price of $24.99! This sighting was made in Southern Louisiana yesterday! Be sure to discuss this in our Hot Deals Thread! Also, if you missed out on the Amazon Exclusive Autobot Clones you can click here to order…

[allspark]

Triple Changers, Constructicons, Commander Classers, and more in officially photographed glory!

  Via the Facebook for UK toy retailer In Demand Toys, we have our first look at official photography of several toys from the upcoming third wave of Transformers: War for Cybertron Siege and Studio Series! For Siege, we have pictures of Deluxe Class Brunt, Red Alert, and Refraktor, Voyager Class Springer, and the new Commander Class’ Jetfire! On the Studio Series side of things, we have Deluxe Class Drift (in his AoE helicopter form), Dropkick (in his car form), and Hightower, plus Voyager Class Long Haul!

  Check out the full gallery of pictures below or by checking out In Demand’s Facebook post above! Many of these figures are available from Amazon, Hasbro Pulse, or site sponsors such as Big Bad Toy Store and TFSource! And be sure to check out the the Allspark forums, Facebook page, or Discord server for more Transformers discussion and news!

  Siege:

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Studio Series:

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New Official Stock Photos for Siege Wave 3 and Studio Series Wave 7! Triple Changers, Constructicons, Commander Classers, and more in officially photographed glory!

[allspark]

Siege Spoiler Season has Ceased!

It’s been a long road, but we finally have the last batch of card reveals for Transformers Trading Card Game: War for Cybertron: Siege I! It’s okay to feel a little emotional, take as much time as you need. Shed those tears, here’s some tissues if you’d like. You good? Yeah? Okay then, let’s get on with the reveals!

  Before we get to the big, final batch of card drops, first Twitter’s @425Suzanne dropped one more Battle Card, Hiding Spot, over the weekend. On our last card reveal round up, we shared her previous reveals, which included Wave 3’s final character card!

    Now, on to the main attraction, which comes courtesy of the folks running the Transformers TCG’s Twitter themselves! Over two separate tweets, a whopping seven cards were revealed, finally revealing the entire line up of cards! The Secret Actions Bolster and Defensive Formation, the regular action Dismantle, Weapon Upgrades EM24 IR Laser Launcher and Smokethrower, and the Utility Upgrades Personal Targeting Drone and Urban Camo!

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  And that’s that for Wave 3 reveals! Transformers Trading Card Game: War for Cybertron: Siege I will release June 28th in the US and Canada, with booster boxes available for preorder from Amazon, a wide variety of TCG focused online retailers, or your friendly local gaming store! You can find the Allspark’s coverage of previous Wave 3 reveals here, and to chat reveals, deck strategy, or just Transformers in general, you can check out the Allspark forums, Facebook page, or Discord server!

Transformers TCG Card Reveal Round Up for 6/10/19 – The FINAL Wave 3 Battle Cards! Siege Spoiler Season has Ceased!

[allspark]

The long rumored twisted Firestormers could be on their way very soon!

Via a listing that has appeared on Amazon.uk, we now have our first chance to pick up the (seemingly online-exclusive) War for Cybertron: Siege Firestormer pack! First rumored after a list of upcoming Siege product was posted on Chinese social network Baidu Tieba, the existance of the set and an accompanying Skywarp boxset was all but confirmed late last month by UK retailer In-Demand Toys. Now, in addition to new, officially-offical images, the set (which contains G2 Sideswipe, a Slamdance redecoed from Siege Skytread, and a mystery Battle Master) is available for Amazon customers to order… kind of.

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  While the pack is listed, currently it is appearing as “Out of Stock”, but the site is still allowing for orders and promises to deliver as soon as they become available. If you’re willing to take a shot, the pack will set you back £64.99, or roughly $81.95 American. You’ll allegedly only be charged once the item ships.

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  You can find the Firestormer pack listing here! And if you take the plunge, tell us all about it on the Allspark forums, Discord, or Facebook!

War for Cybertron: Siege Firestormer Pack (Sort Of) Available on Amazon.uk! The long rumored twisted Firestormers could be on their way very soon!

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Appearing within the storm clouds engulfing the Moon Palace to resume command in the Allspark Studio today is the menacing Lord Zedd! Will he finally destroy the Power Rangers when no other could, or will he simply be another would-be conqueror for the Rangers to defeat?!? Tune in after the jump!

Ever since the announcement that Hasbro had obtained the toy license for Power Rangers, then not long after purchasing the Power Rangers property altogether, I have been eagerly anticipating the products Hasbro would produce for the franchise. Having purchased toys from other Hasbro collector toylines such as, Marvel Legends and Star Wars The Black Series, I’ve had faith in what they could do with a Power Rangers with their collector oriented line. Then plans for The Lightning Collection were revealed and expectations were shattered. As a 90’s kid, I have been a huge fan of the franchise and I can say that these figures are pretty close to what I have always dreamed of having as a kid.

Figure

In its franchise history, no Lord Zedd figure has ever truly captured and depicted the frightening character, and with Bandai America’s track record of releasing monsters and villains, we probably never would have if it weren’t for the power transfer that allowed The Lightning Collection figure to become a reality. Out of the package, which has some really wonderful illustrations by talented artist Tom Whalen, the figure comes with two alternate interchangeable hands, Lord Zedd’s signature staff weapon, a growth bomb, and an energy effect. The toy is wonderfully sculpted and is packed with texture and details. Nice wash on the figure to bring out those textured details on the muscles. The muscles are not comically or absurdly muscular and its head looks proportionate to its body. Paint applications are really good. The armor has a really nice silver, but unfortunately Hasbro missed painting Lord Zedd’s finger (fingernail) and knuckle armor silver as well. They were sculpted right there! So close!

Articulation

The figure is packed with articulation. Lord Zedd’s armor pieces are made of soft plastic so it does not hinder articulation. His head has a full range of motion: forward, back, and side to side. His full rotation of the arms, bicep swivel, double joint elbows, wrist hinge and swivel, and an amazing butterfly joint that gives you extra articulation to pose the arms. There is a ball joint swivel at the upper torso for some added range of motion, and it also has an ab crunch for forward and back motion. While the figure cannot do a full split do to the placement of some of his leg armor, the legs do have a nice range of motion that allow for plenty of poses. The legs also have an upper thigh cut to allow rotation at the thighs, a double joint at the knee, and an ankle rocker at the feet.

Overall thoughts

Overall, I highly recommend getting this figure. I am extremely pleased with this figure and can’t find much to complain about besides the aforementioned missing silver paint on the fingernails and knuckles. And if I’m being real picky, his staff not being the same silver as the rest of his armor. While my figure does not suffer from this, there have been reports by others that the figure suffers from a minor case of loose ball joints at hips. If you’re a Power Rangers fan, this figure is simply a must have. If the Lightning Collection continues producing this kind of quality figures, then may the power protect our wallets Ranger Nation!

Check out the full gallery shot by our talented photographer, Jason/Onyx Minor, bellow and let us know what you think of the figure here in our Allspark Forums! Not a member? Join our community by creating your own free account here! Or jump right into the live chat on our Discord server or our Facebook Group!

You can purchase yours today at Hasbro Pulse, Amazon, BBTS, Entertainment Earth, or a major retailer near you.

Power Rangers Lightning Collection Lord Zedd Gallery and Review! Appearing within the storm clouds engulfing the Moon Palace to resume command in the Allspark Studio today is the menacing…