Category: Movies

Strong hints of future Fantastic Four flicks in Disney’s conference call.

A very interesting statement here, from the Mouse’s Q3 2018 earnings conference call:

Our strategy is to give the studio what it needs to continue to do what it does best and to also expand the brand’s high-quality storytelling into the DTC space with original television and film projects. 20th Century Fox Film is yet another example. It gives us the opportunity to be associated with and to expand iconic movie franchises like Avatar, Marvel’s X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Deadpool, Planet of the Apes, Kingsman, and many others. We’re obviously very excited to leverage the Fox assets to enhance and accelerate our DTC strategy. But I want to be clear that we remain incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about the movie theater experience. It’s a vital part of our company and in fact, our studio just crossed $6 billion in global box office for the third year in a row.

Continue reading Strong hints of future Fantastic Four flicks in Disney’s conference call.

Whaddya MEAN they’re remaking The Fog it’s a classi oh it’s a 4k *restoration*.

Awesome: “New York based Rialto Pictures will release John Carpenter’s landmark horror movie The Fog on October 26, in its first-ever major restoration. The horror classic, in a full 4K restoration from Studiocanal, opens October 26 for limited runs at the Metrograph in New York, Landmark’s Nuart in Los Angeles and The Music Box Theatre in Chicago.”  Plus it’ll be on the Alamo Drafthouse circuit for Halloween week, so that the rest of us can see it if we want to. Continue reading Whaddya MEAN they’re remaking The Fog it’s a classi oh it’s a 4k *restoration*.

Oscars decide to add a ‘popular movies’ category.

They’re cutting the Oscars down to three hours and adding a ‘popular film’ category.  They’ll also be doing some of the technical awards during commercial breaks and airing them at other points.  And, one presumes, there’s going to be a lot less flexibility when it comes to awards speeches.

That’s all nicely objective of me, yes?

Continue reading Oscars decide to add a ‘popular movies’ category.

Took a mental health night, watched Winter Soldier.

Finished the table, got it stabilized, then said Now that I can access my DVD drive again (long story) I’m going to actually watch Captain America: Winter Soldier.  …I’ve said this before, but: it’s a damned solid film.  Not just as a MCU flick, not just as a superhero flick, not even just as a Captain America/Black Widow/Falcon flick; this movie is one of the things that Disney/Marvel have been doing right with the MCU.  They gave us a classy paranoia spy flick with all the trimmings, and it’s worth seeing if you haven’t yet.

Many people have also said this, but: the MCU shines best in the movies that aren’t Avengers flicks.  Which I like, mind you.  But I like stuff like this more.

Quote of the Day, Sometimes, (Metaphorical) Bullets CAN Kill It edition.

The author here has a point.

The collective internet is kind of like the little kid in AI: Artificial Intelligence. When it loves something, that love is the most passionate, powerful and awe-inspiring thing. And if you even slightly interfere with that love in any way, it will destroy you with a cold, mechanical fury.

Particularly since the author was referencing what happened when they made a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender — No! Sit back down!  It’s OK!  It’s OK!  The franchise is dead!  It can’t hurt anybody anymore!  You can even click the link; it goes to a Blu-Ray of the real show.  The animated one.

Anyway.  See what the author meant?

The icky thing about this Baywatch remaster isn’t what you might think.

I don’t have an opinion on Baywatch itself.  I never watched it.  I also don’t judge people who did.  You like what you like, and if this was entertainment for people, well, I get a little annoyed when people judge me, you know what I mean? So a remaster and possible streaming isn’t a big deal for me.

But this is a little bit different: “They have also replaced 300 of the songs featured in the show with modern songs, with the help of composer Corey Larios.” …Yuck.  If there’s a better method of making absolutely certain that modern audiences are squirming on their seats, trying to figure out what the mismatch from what they’re seeing and what they’re hearing, I don’t know what that better method would be. Continue reading The icky thing about this Baywatch remaster isn’t what you might think.

Birds of Prey update: no Batgirl, villain to be Black Mask.

Interesting. No Catwoman, either:  Birds of Prey will feature Harley Quinn, Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya, who *I* remember as the smart Gotham City cop in The New Batman Adventures but who is apparently the second Question in regular continuity (also, gay**).  According to the the gestalt of the various synopses and revelations out there, these four will be teaming up to save a child Cassandra Cain (who later grows up to be a Batgirl) from the crime boss Black Mask.  Continue reading Birds of Prey update: no Batgirl, villain to be Black Mask.

Jean-Luc Picard coming back to Star Trek. But WHICH one?

This is important.

Continue reading Jean-Luc Picard coming back to Star Trek. But WHICH one?

A fan-trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters that is well worth your time.

It is wonderfully retro.

Not perfectly so, of course.  It’s done a good job of duplicating the color, style, and even the gradual decay of a film clip from the 1960s; but there are limits to what the state of the art can do.  Still, this really captures the aesthetic of what I want from Godzilla: King of the Monsters.  Will we get it? I’ll tell you opening night.