Category Archives: Movies

Andy Serkis Answers 10 Questions About The Force Awakens

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"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" New York PremiereWhile none of the actors are able to tell us much about The Force Awakens yet, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly Andy Serkis shared a few things that he can tell us about the movie and his work on it. His answers to EW’s questions, unsurprisingly, don’t give us a lot of detail about the story or characters, but he does reveal that he plays only one character in the film and that his voice in the teaser is unaltered.

One question that he’s not able to give an answer to is whether or not his character is performance capture, which is unsurprising, given the amount of information one could likely draw from the answer.

Cumberbatch Confirmed as Doctor Strange, We are Less Than Pleased

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ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2012 - LondonToday Marvel confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock fame will indeed be portraying Doctor Strange in the 2016 film of the same name.

And we sigh. We sigh so heavily.

I have nothing personally against Cumberbatch and find him to be a talented actor but just what proportion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is made up of white dudes? Of the fourteen Marvel films focusing on a single hero that have been announced and/or released, only two are not about a white guy.

Two. Out of fourteen. And we had to wait six years for even that much.

A big reason so many people are so excited about the Black Panther and Captain Marvel films, besides them simply being great characters who deserve the full cinematic treatment, is because we have been waiting for years to see a film starring someone who is not a white dude. Yes, we’re finally getting a film about a character of color and a film about a woman and that is wonderful and that is progress. But Doctor Strange was an opportunity to even the scales a little more and make the MCU a little bit more diverse.

While Doctor Strange is typically portrayed as white in the comics, there is no reason why he has to be white–or even male–in an adaptation. Marvel’s previously cast actors of color as characters who were white in the comics, casting Idris Elba as Heimdall and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. This isn’t without precedent. Heck, Warner Brothers cast Jason Mamoa as the star of Aquaman a few months ago. If Aquaman can be played by a person of color, there is zero reason why Doctor Steven Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, can’t be as well.

Marvel had an opportunity to make things a little less overwhelmingly white-dude-ish, to stop focusing on just one sort of character the vast majority of the time, and Marvel didn’t take that opportunity. At this point, they’ve already built two phases of movies around films focusing on white male characters, setting up those movies and those characters as the foundation for all that comes after. I had hoped that they might try to bring a little more balance and diversity to their universe. I am disappointed.

Star Wars Teaser Trailer Confirmed for Select Theaters This Friday

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Earlier today, Bad Robot tweeted a note by J.J. Abrams that confirms that the first teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with debut this Friday, November 28 in select theaters and that it will be 88 seconds long:

In case that image isn’t loading for you, the note says

A tiny* peak at what we’re working on–this Friday in select theaters. Hope you enjoy, and have a most excellent Thanksgiving!

Best,

JJ

*88 seconds

Regal Entertainment has posted a picture of Mon Mothma and a note to check their website soon for information about which of their theaters will be involved in the teaser debut, implying that at least some of the select theaters will be theirs.

As of yet, no theaters have been officially confirmed for the debut.

UPDATE: AMC had joined Regal in confirming that some of their theaters will be involved in the debut:

The specific theater locations that will show the teaser remain unconfirmed.

UPDATE THE SECOND: Cinemark has joined the league of theaters debuting the teaser, posting this tweet in confirmation:

Again, still no word on specific theater locations.

UPDATE THE THIRD: The official site has confirmed the theater locations that will show the teaser on Friday, as well as confirming that the teaser will be in theaters worldwide after this weekend. There are thirty locations total, 28 of which are in the US and two of which are in Canada. Check out the complete list here.

Review: Mockingjay Part 1

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No one should want to live in Panem and no one should wish they were Katniss Everdeen. The Hunger Games has never been a series to shy away from showing the horrors of war and the oppression of a people and Mockingjay wipes away all the glamor of the Capital to give its viewers an unblinking view. It’s unapologetically grim and bleak in a way that young adult geared films haven’t quite been before but that doesn’t stop Mockingjay Part 1 from succeeding as a thoroughly enjoyable film even if you likely won’t leave the theatre with a broad smile on your face.

After the abrupt end to the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss found herself swept off to District 13. Peeta is left behind and District 12 is no more. The leaders of the rebellion aren’t willing to give her time to grieve because they need her to be their symbol and ignite the people of Panem into action. She agrees to play their game but it has to be on her terms.  If they want their Mockingjay, they’ll have to agree to her conditions.

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Marvel Announces New Films Including Captain Marvel and Black Panther

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Some dreams do come true.

Some dreams do come true.

This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Marvel has finally announced solo films starring characters who are not white dudes.

Earlier today Marvel had a special media event, where they announced the titles and release dates of all of their upcoming movies through their Phase 3, including Captain Marvel and Black Panther.

Captain Marvel and Black Panther are getting movies.

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Me, as I type this.

Black Panther, which will star Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, is slated to be in theaters November 3, 2017 and Captain Marvel (which will indeed be about Carol Danvers, something Feige blessedly confirmed) is scheduled for July 6, 2018.

Black Panther will be Marvel Studio’s first solo film starring a person of color and Captain Marvel will be their first starring someone who is not a cis man, unless they surprise and delight us with the casting for Doctor Strange.

In addition to Black Panther and Captain Marvel, Marvel also announced seven other movies, including Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which is had its release moved from July 2017 to May 2017. Here’s a handy chart of all of them and their release dates:

Captain America: Civil War May 6, 2016
Doctor Strange November 4, 2016
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 May 5, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok July 28, 2017
Black Panther November 3, 2017
Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1
 May 2018
Captain Marvel July 6, 2018
Inhumans November 2, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War, Part 2
 May 2019

You can read more about event and the films here at Marvel’s official site.

Edit: Guardians of the Galaxy 2 info has been added. Thank you, Bria, for pointing out that it was missing!

Review: Catching Fire

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catching-fire-posterHow do you successfully follow one of the most well-received films of the year?  With a continuation of the series obviously!  Catching Fire, in theatres today, does not disappoint as either an adaptation of a popular novel or as a follow up to the incredibly successful and well-received Hunger Games.

This review contains mild spoilers but likely nothing you wouldn’t have guessed from the trailers and promotional material.

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JK Rowling to Pen “Harry Potter” Spin-Off Film

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Fantastic_beastsJ.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. have brokered a deal for her to pen the film version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a “textbook” from the Harry Potter universe, originally published in 2001.

Rowling said in a statement, “‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry’s gets underway.”

This will be first movie of a new franchise, which will also include a video game and other products. Warner Bros. will also distribute a TV adaptation of Rowling’s novel The Casual Vacancy.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will mark Rowling’s screenwriting debut.

Harrison Ford joins “The Expendables 3”

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Harrison FordIn what will be the newest addition to a franchise in which no one understands a word anyone says, Harrison Ford will likely come as a breath of fresh air and an unexpected blast of actual enunciation, as Sylvester Stallone tweeted this afternoon that Han Solo would be joining the cast in lieu of Bruce Willis, who has bowed out in some sort of fractious encounter.  The Wrap has independently confirmed Ford’s involvement with Ford’s reps, since Stallone has been posting possibilities for the movie on Twitter for months without confirmation one way or another.

Ford will be playing a new character in the film, rather than stepping into Bruce Willis’ vacated role as Church.

The Expendables 3 is due to hit theatres 15 August 2014.

SDCC Film/Television News Round Up

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In completely and utterly unsurprising news, this year’s Hall H panels at San Diego Comic Con were the hot spot for all the film news.  Plenty of new trailers and clips were shown but here are some of the highlights or at least some of the ones that we thought were awesome and mention-worthy:

  • Zack Snyder will officially be directing a Batman/Superman film with an anticipated release date of Summer 2015.  The Hollywood Reporter also says that Warner Bros. is aiming for a Flash film in 2016 and a Justice League film for 2017 but that wasn’t announced at the panel (or at least as far as we are aware.)
  • Lionsgate treated audiences to a new Catching Fire Theatrical Trailer.  (The staff is still recovering from that one.)  The film will be out this November.
  • We also got to see some of the first footage for the Veronica Mars film.
  • The X-men were out in full force with first some footage from the soon to be released Wolverine and then with a trailer for X-men First Class: Days of Future Past.  Basically every X-men every was on that panel.
  • The anticipated Marvel Studios panel didn’t disappoint especially if you were in Hall H.  The audience was greeted by Loki.  Yes, Tom Hiddleston was in full Loki costume and character as an introduction for extended trailer/footage for Thor: The Dark World.  Then the cast/crew for Captain America: The Winter Soldier got to take the stage.  The cast talked about their characters and Kevin Feige mentioned that the Winter Soldier story will definitely stick pretty close to Ed Brubaker’s run on the book.  Obviously, the audience was treated to some exclusive footage.  Once more, the staff is incredibly jealous.  Marvel continued to overachieve by bringing out the cast and crew of Guardians of the Galaxy who all flew in specifically for the panel.  Even though they just started filming less than two weeks ago, they still brought footage with them.  Unfortunately, no new films were announced.  They did, however, have one last mic drop in the form of Joss Whedon taking the stage for the last few minutes to announce the full title for Avengers 2: Age of Ultron.   For those in the comic book know, Kevin Feige as said that the film is borrowing the title from the recent book and will not be a direct adaptation of it.
  • How I Met Your Mother got its very first SDCC panel for its very final season.  Usually, this wouldn’t make this post but we’ve poked fun at how the show has dragged on in the past and how those kids must be adults by now.  The crew showed they have a good sense of humor by putting together this promo for Season 9 in which the kids are finally done with Ted’s story.
  • And finally, even though the panel was Friday,  the trailer for Season 4 of The Walking Dead was also premiered and wow does it look excellent!  Season 4 will start airing on October 13th on AMC. 

Go/No-Go: Pacific Rim

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Welcome back to Go/No-Go, Tosche Station’s regular feature where we offer our spoiler-free opinion as to whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on a book, film, or other entertainment. Today on the launch pad: Pacific Rim. A film that features giant monsters and giant robots. Will this be a surprise hit with the staff, or is it just another all-flash, no-substance shallow popcorn flick? To mission control for the ruling!

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