Films and TV (Untagged spoilers)

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp9kTVhIWwU

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekLEKqf1KcM

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trHLhcpEPmo

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK2nevD7cWA

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uck0UbEwxJE

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3H5Ye2BvUk

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OVIVXv8Gps

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

So the rumors were true. Her powers are being changed from polymorphic stretching/body manipulation to crystalline energy construct projection.

[Dragaros]

"No Time To Die ($474M) takes 2nd place for Hollywood at the global box office in 2020/2021, beating out Godzilla vs. Kong ($468M) which is now 3rd, with F9 ($716M) remaining in the lead."

"James Wan reveals that his scrapped Aquaman spin-off, The Trench, was actually about Black Manta, the villain portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II."

"Brendan Fraser has been cast in the villain role of Firefly for the DC/HBO Max Batgirl movie starring Leslie Grace and directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah."

"Jamie Clayton has been cast as the lead Cenobite Pinhead in the upcoming reboot of Clive Barker's 1987 horror classic Hellraiser."

"The Many Saints of Newark has reignited interest in The Sopranos, and now HBO Max is in talks about a Sopranos prequel series."

[Alienmorph]

So the rumors were true. Her powers are being changed from polymorphic stretching/body manipulation to crystalline energy construct projection.

I'm okay with that! Stretchy powers always look freaky in live action.

[Alienmorph]

Part 2 got the green light! Letsgoooooo

[Dragaros]

Part 2 got the green light! Letsgoooooo

We got wormsign!

Sweet. Good to know the story will get its proper finale. Finally got to see Part 1 for myself and it was a very solid movie. I think it's an exaggeration to say its the next Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, but I very much enjoyed myself and would like to see this continue as long as it can; there's certainly more than enough material to draw from in the books to get a franchise going. The film had a great cast, engaging characters, striking visuals and cinematography, excellent special effects, and good world-building. I didn't mind the slow pacing because it was more opportunities to learn more about the setting and the characters. (I especially loved how they depicted and utilized the Voice here.) My problems with the film are mostly minor. For some examples: the music wasn't bad, but it was very forgettable and didn't have a unique enough flair to stand out. This Paul Atreides is a little on the young and small side for me, and is usually the least interesting character on screen when in a crowd, but I see the potential for development in him. Also, a little more color would have done the film wonders in my opinion. And while I agree that the decision the split the story from the first book into two films was a wise move, I think the end point of Part 1 wasn't as organic and fulfilling as it needed to be, as it feels like the story just abruptly stops rather than come to a natural conclusion that's open enough for the plot to keep going, like the way Fellowship of the Ring ends. Part 1 depends on Part 2 sticking the landing.

Dune is one of those stories that's famously difficult to adapt, so I respect Denis Villeneuve's passion and ambition for this project. I think he did as good a job as one can do with the impossible task of simplifying the plot and lore so that mainstream audiences can understand and connect with it without losing the heart and soul of the source material or the structure of the primary narrative, even with the changes and alterations. I have high hopes for Part 2.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNuqLbtUjhA

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8eXlqct-q0

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULCIHP5dc44

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtdXK6yNFN0

[magnuskn]

Dune part two being announced is pretty dope. Let's hope Chalamangalangalaine keeps up his youthful appearance for two more years. ^^

Cowboy Bebop looks good as well.

Kamala's power set being changed probably means that they'll change it as well in the comics, as they are wont to do. Well, no problemo, since I've stopped reading comics altogether during the pandemic.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQCAgCKQ5WY

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPL0Md_QFQ

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPAYuCt7Eco

[Dragaros]

Saw Venom: Let There Be Carnage. I did not like it at all. So boring. Tom Hardy's trying but even he can't save this movie. Bad script. The film treats almost everything like a joke. The comedy didn't land for me most of the time. CGI seemed worse than the last one. Score is forgettable. Action scenes are lame and poorly done. Characters are not served well here. Carnage/Cletus was mishandled and not done justice on multiple levels. Total disappointment. The only thing of note is the after credits sequence:

► Show Spoiler

Venom gets transported across the multiverse and lands in the MCU, right at the time Spider-Man gets outed to the world as Peter Parker after dealing with Mysterio. The Venom symbiote recognizes him, not because they've met before, but because we learn that symbiotes apparently have access to a giant hive mind of memories and knowledge that transcends time and space, which means symbiotes can access the experiences of others of their kind, even ones from different dimensions and timelines. So even though this Venom has never bumped into a Spider-Man before, it has the knowledge of other Venoms meeting their Spider-Men. So if you want Venom vs Spider-Man in the MCU, the stage is set for you. Its gonna be the battle of the Toms: Tom Hardy vs Tom Holland.

Also saw Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This one is a very mixed bag. There was some stuff here I really enjoyed, and there was stuff that really weighed the film down. So overall, I would say its one of those mediocre MCU movies: not bad, not great. It's a very unfocused and flawed film, but I will say it was much better than Black Widow. This is one of those movies with good ideas and a lot of passion and creativity, but is soured by bad writing and direction. What helps the movie is that it's got some really good martial arts action scenes, a decent kaiju battle monster mash at the end, and the primary villain here --the true Mandarin-- was actually a very cool and a very complex character. Easily one of the better MCU baddies. If the movie had focused on him more, we could have gotten a solid B+ story on our hands. Sadly, he gets sidelined often, and the Father-Son dynamic with him and our hero doesn't get the attention or payoff it needs and another plotline overshadows it. And our protagonist feels like a secondary character in his own movie.

► Show Spoiler

So the Ten Rings themselves are drastically different--most likely to avoid comparisons to Thanos and the Infinity Glove--but it really works well here as a weapon of unknown origin that generates these energy fields that allows one to do amazing feats of strength, movement, defense, and even semi-immortality in regards to rejuvenating the body for a longer lifespan. No one is sure if they are magical artifacts forged by some wizard in ancient times or an alien super tech from a distant galaxy or anything in-between. Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Bruce Banner (not Professor Hulk anymore, but still with a busted up arm from using the Infinity Stones) all look at the Rings and have no idea what to make of them, just that they will be very important in the future.

The Dweller-in-Darkness is like the love child between a Western-style dragon and Cthulhu, and pops in during the third act stealing the thunder away from the Mandarin, as its been manipulating him into freeing it so it can consume the souls of mortals in every realm, and the Dragon Protector of Ta Lo has to fight it. Like I said, the kaiju fight between them is neat, but only an aesthetic level, because the two beasts are never given any personalities so there's no real emotion or narrative weight to their struggle, unlike say the battles featuring Godzilla or Kong in the Monsterverse who are treated as actual characters and not just plot devices or special effects. If they had taken the time to flesh out the creatures we could have had something here. Even small, simple things like body language would have done wonders.

Apparently Emil Blonsky/Abomination is out of jail and has turned over a new leaf, as he's friends with Wong, and the two do fake cage match fights for extra cash on the weekends.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X68NG1ST_TQ

Really? Rebooting Jeepers Creepers? Did anyone ask for that?

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JjjirsnEWc

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_oPGiU-tYs

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m2hYQJ8OUc

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoAA0sYkLI0

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NldC2v0xQIw

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX6e6ZLNmtA

[Dragaros]

"Peter Parker... brilliant but lazy!"

[Dragaros]

Take this with an EXTREME amount of salt and temper your hopes in case its BS, but there’s a supposed leaker from a German film site claiming that:

--Godzilla will be staying in the Monsterverse (Whether Rodan or Mothra will also be remaining this person didn’t say)
--the next Monsterverse film is being worked on, but they’re still deciding between two different ideas
--Godzilla and Kong will again cross paths and team up in a future movie
--more news on that Skull Island animated series for Netflix is coming “soon”
--both Toho and Legendary have more plans to continue to grow the franchise worldwide, so more Monsterverse animated Netflix series are “not out of the question”

/////




"A 4K Steelbook Monsterverse Collection set has been revealed on the Italian Amazon website."

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOJ1cw6mohw



Boba Fett's becoming the Kingpin of the galaxy's criminal underworld.

[TTTX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZQ2Ddjxw40&ab

Well Chris sure getting a lot of voice roles

[Dragaros]

Well Chris sure getting a lot of voice roles

I like Chris Pratt, but man, these recent voice acting gigs are... odd choices to say the least.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl-FFqWxjRY

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx97DuHGr2o

So the moon is an alien death machine filled with killer nano-bots. Ok.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZoHCmfNjaM

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ6iiRrz1SY

Spider-Man posters, Vulture, a shout-out to Venom...

[Mazder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ6iiRrz1SY

Spider-Man posters, Vulture, a shout-out to Venom...

Also Black Cat and Rhino easter eggs in the newspaper.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaDfDKIQY5k

Godzilla wins. Brutality.

[Dragaros]

Hail to the king, and long may he reign.

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

"Keanu Reeves gave the 'John Wick 4' stunt crew $10K Rolex watches as a thank you for their hard work."

[Dragaros]

Possible leak for Transformers Rise of the Beasts:

► Show Spoiler

If real, Arcee actually looks good in orange. She wears it well.

[Dragaros]

Possible leak for Jurassic World Dominion:

► Show Spoiler

Possible Pyroraptor concept art for both the film and the JW Alive game

[Dragaros]

So I finally finished Squid Game. There was a lot of hype around this show; I have't seen this much buzz since the Chernobyl miniseries on HBO. I can happily say the show lives up to the hype. Its not perfect by any means, but it was still very enjoyable and I highly recommend it. South Korea hits another one out of the park. Great cast of characters, excellent acting, a story that hooks you in and is merciless with the emotional gut punches, and actually does a good job of weaving its themes and commentary into the narrative in a way that is very organic and nuanced. It's not super original in concept; you've seen stories that explore these ideas before, but the way it's done here is what makes it unique. The violence is never gratuitous; it's always done for a reason and fits the mood and tone of the scene. Also, one thing I really appreciated is that while the series is not afraid to get grim and dark, it never falls into hopeless nihilistic territory; it's ultimately a story that explores both the lows AND highs of the human condition.

I also saw Halloween Kills. As someone who really enjoyed the last one from 2018, I was disappointed with this film. Very sloppy, very messy, very disjointed. The characters you want to see the most are sidelined, a lot of characters make really dumb decisions even by this genre's standards, the second act is a slog to get through, the themes of the dangers and self-destructive nature of irrational and panicked mob mentality are done in a very forced and un-engaging way that slows down the story rather than enhance it, and the ending is really abrupt and makes this whole movie feel like filler so they can justify a trilogy. It has its moments--if nothing else this is Michael Myers' movie, with a ton of personality in his body language and actions and he gets to show off just how monstrous he truly is--and if all you want out of a slasher horror is a masked maniac killing people you'll get your itch scratched, but for everyone else, you'll probably walk away feeling let down. One thing of note...

► Show Spoiler

...is that this film leans hard on the "Is Michael a mortal or supernatural killer?" question and answers it: he survives things that would have easily killed a mortal man dozens of times over, and it's implied he grows stronger with every murder he commits and is slowly becoming something other, something beyond human. So while he's not yet full supernatural like, say, the ghostly Freddy or undead Jason, he's in the middle of transforming into one, which explains how he can shrug off damage that should by rights put him down and has seemingly unlimited stamina. He started out human, but is becoming "the essence of evil". He can be killed, but it's going to be really, really, really, REALLY hard to do so, and it can't be done by simple brute force. It's also implied only Laurie Strode can do it, as they have a symbolic/metaphysical connection. She's the one who got away, so she's the one who can end him.

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJZS7oXX5SE

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ntDZke2-U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MumEJ3jKlfM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kab59XDWP2c

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu_DFKGxPAs