Sherlock finally returns to television on New Year’s Day.
It’s been three long years since the BBC series aired a new episode.
A new preview for the show’s fourth season has been released. It features Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) confronting his demons and introduces the newest villain, Culverton Smith (Toby Jones).
Martin Freeman reprises his role as Dr. John Watson.
Based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle popular detective stories, the TV series debuted in 2010.
One of Will Smith’s breakout roles was in the 1996 sci-fi hit Independence Day. However, the actor was missing from 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence, as he chose to have a role in Suicide Squad instead. Entertainment Weeklytalked to Smith about the choice he made.
“I had the two screenplays in front of me for the Independence Day 2 and for Suicide Squad. I had to choose between the two of those. Even the choice of going to Suicide Squad — nothing about the qualities of the movie — but the choice of trying to go forward versus clinging and clawing backwards. I do want to aggressively go forward and do new things and create and hopefully be able to stumble upon a new heyday.”
Based on the box office results of Resurgence compared to Suicide Squad, the actor is likely happy with the decision he made.
Suicide Squad is released on blu-ray on December 13.
From Doctor Strange to Blair Witch, here are the absolute worst films of 2016.
Honorable Mention- Dr. Strange and Suicide Squad
2016 was an important year for both Marvel Studios and DC as well. Marvel ventured into uncharted waters as it entered the spiritual realm with its release of Dr. Strange. DC attempted to introduce to a band of antiheroes known as ‘Suicide Squad.’
Instead of the usual well-balanced release that we’ve grown accustomed to from Marvel Studios, we were treated to a cookie cutter narrative that amounted to a huge disappointment. Dr. Strange just didn’t connect in the same way that many of the Marvel films have. Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed Stephen Strange as incredibly bland and lack the nuance the character needed. The villains were incredibly hoo-hum and didn’t cause any stir within the audience. To top it off, you made changes to mythology behind Dr. Strange that were so poor that it ultimately derailed a promising film (example: The Ancient One).
Suicide Squad ended up amounting to a disjointed two hours of boredom that left audiences wanting to exit the theater rather than wanting a sequel.
10. The Light Between Oceans
If you are interested in a melodramatic film that claims to tell a romantic tale but will only elicit boredom, then have I got the movie for you. What was baffling to me is the narrative is highly predictable, but is drawn out so much that you’ll be begging for the film to end after about an hour.
9. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
Seth Rogen and all the executives at Universal must think we are morons. There was no need for this film to even see the light of day. Were we left with any burning unanswered questions after the initial film?
8. The Legend of Tarzan
The Legend of Tarzanwas meant to be an exciting summer film that grabbed audiences attention and launched a potential franchise. What we got was a tepid tale that failed to turn a profit for Warner Brothers.
7.The Huntsman: Winter’s War
Why? would you take a terrible movie that wants everyone to think it’s similar to Game of Thrones and make a sequel? The answer is money.
6. Zoolander 2
Zoolander 2is a really, ridiculously bad movie. This is the type of film that the members of Rifftrax would have a field day with. The only shocking part of this list is that this movie is only #6 (which should tell you how terrible 2016 was).
5. Keeping up With The Joneses’
Oh, I have a splendid idea. Let’s take the weird guy from The Hangover and make him the male lead and take the better actor and make him a supporting actor. Also, let’s throw in action sequences that are reminiscent of a Disney channel original film as well. That’s sure to draw audiences right in.
4. Independence Day 2: Resurgence
It took all of 5 minutes to realize why 20th Century Fox didn’t screen this film for film critics before it’s release. I imagine this to be Jeff Goldblum’s face shortly after seeing the final cut of the movie.
3. Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day was yet another example of Hollywood trying to shove down our throats more regurgitated garbage. There’s nothing in the film that can’t be figured by watching the trailer one time. To make matters worse, the narrative is flat and doesn’t nearly do enough to pay homage to Mother’s everywhere.
2. Warcraft
Take away the terrible narrative, the laughable special effects, the sound quality, and actors whose performances seem flat, and you have one of the best of movies of 2016. Video gamers everywhere should be insulted this film is meant to represent one of the most popular games in the world.
1. Blair Witch
Blair Witch is so uninspired and ridiculous that I almost walked out of the screening. This movie is supposed to frighten audiences, but all it did was bring out moments of laughter in the theater. Also enough of the found footage horror films already!
What do you think the worst film of 2016 was? Comment below.
Jessica Chastain gives a ferocious performance in the title role of John Madden’s Miss Sloane. However, one performance often isn’t enough to elevate the overall quality of a film. The best way to characterize this movie is that Miss Sloane is anchored by an “A” list actress saddled with a below-average narrative.
The film centers around the prowess of lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain). Sloane knows how to play the game of politics and employs an array of ruthless tactics to get exactly what she wants every time. Her boss (Sam Waterson) brings her into a meeting with a powerful gun lobby that is hell-bent on defeating any measure that calls for regulatory background checks. Even Sloane can’t bring herself to take on this conservative viewpoint and decides to jump ship and starts working for the opposition.
What motivates Sloane? It certainly isn’t money as she goes from making mountains of cash working for the Pro-Gun Lobby to making next to nothing for an Anti-Gun Lobby that appears to be fighting a losing battle. This campaign doesn’t seem to be personal either as Sloane doesn’t put any value into personal relationships. The only thing that motivates her is winning. She will do whatever is necessary to whomever to achieve the ultimate goal of dominating her opponent (no matter the consequences). Chastain’s performance is what draws audiences in; it’s a shame the narrative isn’t nearly robust enough to keep audiences engaged.
Miss Sloane is Johnathan Perera’s first foray into script-writing, and that’s painfully obvious from the beginning of the film. Rather than spend his time developing a narrative that’s equally engaging and compelling, he overloaded his script with various tropes. What motivates Miss Sloane? Whatever, let’s just make it obvious that she hooked on drugs. Why she’s so focused on winning? Who cares, let’s just throw in a scene where she’s with a male prostitute. Why is guns the one issue which causes the most corrupt lobbyist in Washington to have a conscience suddenly? What does it matter, let’s just have a congressional hearing which is loosely connected to Sloane’s previous dealings on Capitol Hill?
Miss Sloane is the type of film that would have benefited from having a veteran scriptwriter at the helm rather than someone who’s first script inexplicably was purchased and fast tracked to production. I wonder how different this film might have been if Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy crafted this narrative. They both did a fantastic job allowing the corruption in the movie Spotlight to stand out rather than embellishing it. Their focus was on crafting well-rounded characters and stellar dialogue. The result was an intense film, with a stellar narrative, and performances that stand out. Miss Sloane has none of these.
The sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming is slated for a July 5, 2019 release date, according to Deadline.
This announcement came after the massive success of the trailer launch.
“A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.”
Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7, 2017.
Love Is All You Need? imagines a society where homosexuality is the norm, and heterosexuality is shunned. It tells the tale of two women that through the events of the film begin to feel varying levels of attraction towards people of the opposite sex.
One of the women is a young girl named Emily (Kyla Kenedy). She is introduced to the concept of heterosexuality when she meets her new neighbors, a couple living in a straight marriage. Her mom immediately informs her that heterosexuality is wrong, but the wheels have begun churning in young Emily’s mind. She begins to get bullied by people at her school, as they pick up on her sexual leanings. Though it’s never explained how, since she doesn’t actually do anything heterosexual until much later in the film. Her main nemesis, Paula (Ava Allan), also bullies her long before her heterosexual leanings are even introduced, and it’s never explained why she gets bullied in the first place.
The second woman we follow in the film is Jude (Briana Evigan). She is a star quarterback for her university football team, on fast track to stardom. At a party she meets Ryan (Tyler Blackburn), and they fall in love with each other much like a standard romantic arc. Jude begins to question her feelings for Ryan, and seeks council from her local priest, Reverend Rachel (Elisabeth Röhm). Rachel is the embodiment of extreme religious views, and through several sermons in the film she preaches hate and judgement upon any man or woman participating in heterosexual activity.
These three components are all interesting ideas, cause it’s easy enough to predict what notions they might explore. However, the film struggles to present them in a logical way, and the events are structured in an unnecessarily complex way. It detracts from the film’s message, and ruins any chance it has of making a long lasting impact. The violence all three of the film’s heterosexual lovers experience as a result of their feelings is a powerful message on its own, and it’s easy to compare it with the violence laid down upon homosexual people in our society.
It is therefore a shame that director Kim Rocco Shields never allows the events to speak for themselves. She constantly interweaves the events together, attempting to make it seem like it’s all happening at the same time. Even if it was, seeing Emily getting beaten up by Paula and a group of other people is a powerful scene, but a lot of its emotional impact is undercut by having other scenes inter-cut with her beating. It would have created a much more long lasting impression if the film had allowed the scenes to speak for themselves, as oppose to worrying about making it seem like it’s all happening at the same time.
This is all made even worse by the film’s 2 hour runtime, which never feels earned or necessary. None of the characters are fleshed out enough to make them able to carry a film for that long, and the annoyance felt by the stylistic choices just makes the viewer want to stop watching after 30 minutes, rather than sit around for another 90. This really is an idea that works better as a short film, as seen with the 2011 short by the same name, of which this film is a feature length remake.
Overall, the idea for this film is interesting. The acting throughout is decent, though never anything special. The writing is fine, but too many of the characters are thinly fleshed out, with little explanation for why they behave the way they do. It tries to make a point about how religious extremism contributes to these sorts of attitudes, but never really dares to call it out. It also attempts to make a strong message by comparing the attitudes presented towards heteros in this film, with the attitudes towards homosexuals in regular life. However, it never manages to do it in a meaningful or impactful way.
It’s going to be very hard to talk about these last few episodes without giving away any spoilers as this arc enters its final three episodes. Still, it would be a disservice to all fans out there not to at least try so as not to deprive them of the joy of experience of such an intense finale. If you can’t tell already, this was another outstanding episode of this series.
The opening followed the previous format of showing the rewind effect of Deadly Queen’s power, Bites The Dust. Shame really as the third opening song is incredibly uplifting and given the extreme challenge Yoshikage Kira is presenting to the characters, a little lightheartedness would actually be a welcomed sight. His pride became his downfall though which resulted in him unintentionally revealing his identity to Josuke.
This is when things really start to pick up. It became Josuke vs. Kira. Shining Diamond going head-to-head with Deadly Queen. All while the rest of the cast is just down the street but surprisingly right out of earshot of such an intense battle. In the end, the fate of certain certain characters remains in flux with only two episodes left in the arc.
With all the intensity happening on screen Hayato, a character who was previously annoying and a little creepy at times with having the entire house bugged with surveillance, finds a way to totally redeem himself. It’s a moment which really make the audience gasp in shock by what they just saw and elements like this is what has kept this series so enjoyable. The end is coming for this series and fans will have to hope and pray everyone is able to make it out and enjoy great days.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable is streaming on Crunchyroll.
‘Justice League 2’ Makes Way For The ‘Batman’ Solo Project!
Things are changing for Warner Bros. and the DC Extended Universe as ‘Justice League 2‘ will shoot later than expected. Instead of filming that project, they are jumping right into the Ben Affleck-directed ‘Batman‘ movie.
While Affleck’s ‘Batman‘ film has no release date, ‘Justice League 2‘ is still scheduled to be released June 14, 2019. Will that change with this filming change?
According to Hollywood Reporter, Zack Snyder will film his long in-development project called ‘The Last Photograph‘. It’s reported that the small scale of that movie fits perfectly into the gap created by the changes in the DCEU. That film follows a war correspondent in Afghanistan who is the lone survivor of an attack on a handful of Americans. I’m glad to see Snyder work on a passion project in his down time.
Which film are more excited for: ‘Justice League 2‘ or ‘The Batman‘?
Goosebumps author R.L. Stine is now entering the Marvel Universe in March 2017 with Man-Thing. That’s right, The New York Times reveals that R.L. Stine is writing a five-issue miniseries for Marvel Comics with interior art by German Peralta and Daniel Johnson, with covers by Tyler Crook. The story for the series is Man-Thing heading to Burbank, CA wondering why he isn’t the movies. There’s a new twist with this series as Man-Thing will not be mute, he will be speaking for the first time ever. R.L. Stine is planning to give Man-Thing a sarcastic personality with his new speaking voice. The story is going to be made for teens and adults, but with a wicked sense of humor. So what sparked this story and his love of comics? That’s a fun story in itself.
Goosebumps and R.L. Stine sound like a match made in horror heaven for Man-Thing.
R.L. Stine has seemed to be always ready to write for Man-Thing or any comic for that matter. Initially, he wanted to break in as an artist, even writing and drawing a comic called ‘Super Stooge’ in the fourth grade. While he let his classmates see the stories he realized he had no talent for illustration, as he says, “I had no choice but to be a writer.” and now he’s getting the chance to write a comic series. Man-Thing is also to his interests as this story is influenced heavily by his love of 50’s horror comics, notably Tales of the Crypt.
A bonus for the upcoming mini-series is a short story written by R.L. Stine and drawn by a different artist for each one. The artists at this point are all unknown so they’ll be a surprise to everyone. His plan for Man-Thing is, “I’m going to do a lot of action and a lot of great violence and make it creepy, but I’m going to make it funny at the same time,” and he says further, “It’s what I try to do in my books.” and he had his choice of many characters but settled on Man-Thing because of his love of Swamp Monsters.
March just got a lot more interesting with the announcement of this new series. What do you all think of R.L. Stine writing Man-Thing? Feel free to let us know in the comments below. Marvel got a powerhouse of a new mini-series, with a name like R.L. Stine involved, you can’t help but pay attention.
Although technically no longer a craft brewery since being purchased by Asahi Premium Beverages in 2013, today I’m reviewing Keeper’s Lager from Cricketers Arms, the third and final beer in my Australian beer review series. Check here and here for my others.
Cricketers Arms’ website relates to visitors how the brewery started in 2009 as Paul Scott’s tribute to his cricket-playing father. But one wonders how this brewery’s mandate to honour friendships and celebrate communities has withstood the trials of three years of corporate ownership.
It seems that either Asahi owes a lot to Dermot O’Donnell, Cricketers Arms’ brewer, or the other way around. O’Donnell’s brews for Cricketers Arms received lots of attention at the 2016 Australian International Beer Awards. Among other wins, Keeper’s Lager received gold and bronze medals in the Australian Style Lager category.
I’m not sure whether Asahi’s corporate takeover has affected Cricketers Arms’ ability to celebrate communities, but it doesn’t seem that it’s affected Cricketers Arms’ ability to make good beer.
Keeper’s Lager pours a transparent golden colour. Its lively bubbles create a thin layer of foam around the rim of my half-pint glass. I smell lots of grain when I take my first sip: its aroma matches its flavour. Keeper’s Lager’s fizzy mouthfeel supports its subtle tart aftertaste, which helps Keeper’s Lager stand out from other easy-drinking lagers.
Cricketers Arms: Keeper’s Lager – Last Sip
This gold medal winning beer offers a relatively low 4.6% ABV. And, since it’s a lager you won’t miss much if you drink it from its 330-mL bottle.
Like the Asahi website suggests, seafood and fish are great companions of this beer. If you’re enjoying it in a pub, try it alongside some fish & chips. Or, if you’re anti-fish then try it with some guacamole and chips. Keeper’s Lager’s tart taste goes well with just about anything salty.
