I’m back with another review of an Australian brew. This time it’s Newtowner Pale Ale from Young Henrys in Newtown. Young Henrys’ website describes Newtowner as an Australian Pale Ale. Having never had an Australian pale ale before, I looked up how the Australian version compares to its Indian, American, and Canadian counterparts. From what I’ve read, Australian pale ales typically taste similar to American-style pale ales but are brewed with Australian hops.
According to Young Henrys’ website, starting up was a difficult process involving several rejected development applications and running out of stock during their first year of business. Luckily for me they seem to have dealt with those problems. So, without further ado let’s drink some amba’ fluid, cobba’!
Young Henrys: Newtowner Pale Ale – First Sip
Newtowner presents a classic golden colour with a thin layer of head as I pour it into a chilled half-pint glass. I enjoy Newtowner’s semi-sweet malt flavour, like an unripe pear, subtly undercut by its Australian hops. This brew’s fizzy mouthfeel promotes a bitter/tart aftertaste.
Young Henrys: Newtowner Pale Ale – Last Sip
I regret that I don’t have any more of these oddly-sized cans of unique-tasting beer. It may be the Australian hops. It may be the fact that the brewers use three different types of Australian hops. Either way, this beer is well-balanced.
As with IPAs, APAs, and CPAs, this “AusPA” is best with salty food. I recommend seafood of just about any kind. If you’re not a shellfish person, try a burger, fish & chips, or, if you’re a beer-with-breakfast type, bacon! But keep in mind, you may want to avoid drinking this beer in the morning (a good rule most of the time). As its 375-mL can awkwardly asserts, this 4.8% ABV brew counts as approximately 1.4 standard drinks. So, as a lifelong Smart Serve member I warn you, it’s more like drinking a pint than a bottle.
Of course the sequel to John McTiernan’s groundbreaking 1988 action masterpiece makes perfect sense from a bottom line standpoint, which is really all that matters in Hollywood. The first one made hella cash, and the second one followed suit with an even bigger payday. It was a massive hit, solidifying the John McClane character into popular culture for decades. But what about the merits of “Die Harder” as a standalone sequel in the continuing adventures of John McClane? As a film. In that regard, it’s the third best of the original trilogy in a runaway (let’s just pretend 4 and 5 never happened for now, okay?).
Too often in Die Hard 2, there’s something just a little hollow and, somehow, too preposterous at work. Yeah yeah, there was plenty of over-the-top nonsense in Die Hard with A Vengeance, but John McTiernan back behind the camera is evident in the details and the creativity of the script and the plot construction is still terrific. The director was all set to return for this first sequel, but in the down time while details were being ironed out, McTiernan found another project he liked more because it gave him the opportunity to test his own limits: The Hunt for Red October.
Anyway, Die Hard 3 was still five years away. As a direct sequel to the original, one of the leanest most economically brilliant action movies of all time, Die Hard 2 is little more than a poor photocopy in just about every way. First of all, the Christmas setting here is just a gimmick to trigger familiarity. Despite McClane himself spending ample time reassuring us that he, too, wonders “how can the same shit happen to the same guy twice,” it’s not enough to truly get past the endless coincidences. When you think about the fact that Richard Thornberg (William Atherton), in an amazing twist of fate (i.e., corny script construction), is on Holly McClane’s airplane as it circles the terrorist-controlled D.C. airport, running low on fuel, you know you’re watching a half-baked sequel working with a checklist.
Then there’s the stand in for Dwayne T. Robinson, Dennis Franz’s Carmine Larenzo, head of airport security and an even bigger ball buster than Robinson was the first time around. Even as McClane’s predictions begin to fall into place, here’s Carmine with the stick up his ass for no reason, defying McClane at every turn. It’s exhausting and all too forced.
Which gets us to McClane himself. One of the things so endearing about the original (and McTiernan’s sequel) is the way Bruce Willis played McClane, and the personal turmoil the character found himself in through the entire movie. He was on the outs with his wife, Holly, creating an organic and real world motivation for his desperate heroics. But this time, all that tension and drama is gone because Holly and John are as happy as clams. It steals some of the luster from the McClane character. This, on top of the fact that McClane is a super cop now – something that upended both 4 and 5, among many many other issues. Finding the trouble instead of the trouble finding him robs the character of any honesty.
But all is not lost in Die Hard 2. Not entirely. William Sadler’s Colonel Stuart is a worthy adversary, as ruthless and cold as the icicle McClane rams into the eye of a terrorist. He may be a step down from the Gruber brothers on either side of him, but going up against Alan Rickman, and later Jeremy Irons, is a battle not many actor’s could win. As for the action, director Renny Harlin – whose next film, Cliffhanger, still holds up – manages to craft some exciting sequences. The snowmobile chase is effective, and the climactic shootout resulting in the fiery runway for the jets running on empty is wonderfully executed. But the set piece stand-in for the original’s rooftop jump scene, McClane ejecting from the cockpit of a plane as it explodes, plays out more like a Looney Tunes riff than anything as genuinely thrilling as the original. It sums up everything amiss with Die Hard 2; it looks like the original, it sounds like the original, but it isn’t quite right.
And so you wind up with just a predictably mediocre, undercooked sequel with a few merits, but nothing more than a cheap imitation in the end that grows increasingly less interesting after every watch. It still baffles me how Roger Ebert could think Die Hard 2 was better than the original (he gave it, somehow, 3 and a half out of 4 stars!), which he couldn’t praise pretty much because he was annoyed with Paul Gleason’s dopey Dwayne Robinson.
It’s been over eleven years since the airing of Star Trek: Enterprise‘s series finale, “These Are the Voyages … “. Since then, three films set in the “Kelvin timeline” have appeared on the big screen. Meanwhile, Star Trek prime fans have had to make do with re-runs on their small screens. As many Trekkies already know, though, this dearth of small-screen Starfleet protocol will end in May of 2017 when Star Trek: Discovery hits the airwaves.
Trek fans know precious little about the new show, but rumours are everywhere. And, although we’ve seen little information concerning when Star Trek: Discovery is set or whether it will comprise multiple crews, Trekkies are now aware, at least, of a few casting choices.
“Make it so, or I’ll defy gravity and slice you open.”
Star Trek: Discovery, Michelle Yeoh – Captain Georgiou
Michelle Yeoh has an impressive résumé in action and martial arts movies. Yeoh’s portrayal of Wai Lin in the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies made hers a familiar name among Bond fans. And, her lead role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon garnered Yeoh a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in 2000. Beyond her roles in action movies, though, Yeoh was also in the dystopic science-fiction thriller Sunshine.
Yeoh’s relatively well-known name and level of talent make her a great pick for the new series’ captain. Trek fans will have to wait to find out how large a part Yeoh will play in Star Trek: Discovery, though. Some rumour mongers claim that this series will focus more on lower-ranking officers, so let’s talk about them …
Jones will put his strength as a character actor to work, this time portraying an alien
Star Trek: Discovery, Doug Jones – Lieutenant Saru
Another recently announced casting choice was Doug Jones as Lt. Saru. Saru will apparently be a member of an alien race that hasn’t yet appeared in other iterations of Star Trek. Considering Jones’s previous roles in Pan’s Labyrinth,Hellboy, and Legion, and his history as a contortionist, Trek fans are understandably excited to see what Lt. Saru will be like. And, with a special effects budget backed by CBS Television Studios, Paramount Television, Roddenberry Entertainment, and Secret Hideout, this excitement is likely warranted.
“Ya’ think?”
Star Trek: Discovery, Anthony Rapp – Lieutenant Stamets
Star Trek: Discovery’s third and final casting announcement was Anthony Rapp as Lt. Stamets. Rapp is best known for his original portrayal of Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson’s Broadway production of Rent, later reprising the role in the film adaptation. That said, what I remember Anthony Rapp best for is his portrayal of Daryl in Adventures in Babysitting.
Rumours currently abound that Lt. Stamets will be the first openly gay character in Star Trek franchise history to appear on the small screen—the same big-screen honour going to John Cho for his portrayal of the Kelvin-timeline Lt. Sulu. Check out this interview with George Takei to find out why he portrayed Star Trek‘s Lt. Sulu as heterosexual.
Beyond possibly being gay, though, Lt. Stamets will be an astromycologist. The fact that astromycology, the study of space fungus, will figure largely enough in Star Trek: Discovery to warrant a recurring character being an expert in the field is, in this Trekkie’s mind, more interesting than rumours of Stamets’s sexuality. One wonders what the creative team has cooked up, maybe an alien race of mushroom-people? Time, and the Star Trek rumour mills, will tell.
Since it’s been revealed there will be a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen film, I have been really excited. I’ve always been a huge fan of Alan Moore, and League is one of my favorite comic books of all time. It occurred to me, however, that a movie is not the best format the Franchise. The structure of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is actually best suited for a TV rather than a film adaptation.
The entire concept of the comic is a world where fiction is real, Where all the stories we grew up reading actually take place in a shared universe, where everyone knows about each other or has actually met each other. Jess Nevins, who wrote the annotations for the League comic books, described it as a crossover event series in a world without superhero comic books. Because of this concept, the world is huge, and the audience needs to feel the size and depth of the world. Everything was a reference to something. Television would allow the writers to keep the spirit of Moore’s comic by adding plenty of easter eggs. This approach would do justice to the bigger universe where the story takes place.
The format of the comics also leads itself to TV. The first two volumes are self-contained stories and would correspond very easily to two seasons of a TV show. The writers could elongate each issue into one or several episodes for a 12+ episode series. Adding flashbacks that reimagine the events of the original source material would be a fun way to flesh out further the characters and plot. Flashbacks would also help create the huge world that the comics take place in.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has six members, all of whom are important characters who deserve their share of screen time. Moore also added many background characters who were themselves main characters in well-known fiction. Character screen time and plot development often compete for time in a movie, where writers need to decide which characters can best move the plot along. Television does not have those kinds of time constraints; more time can be devoted to each character. Hopefully, we will see a TV adaptation in the future.
Chicago comic book artist Jim Terry, who is half Native American (Ho-Chunk Nation), traveled to Standing Rock in early November to deliver supplies to water defenders. The journey inspired him to create a stunning piece of artwork, and this is his story.
Terry wanted to make clear that he was not speaking for Standing Rock Sioux, but from his personal experiences.
Talking about the prayerful sit in. “It is not only representative of the attempt to preserve the earth in some way. It is also the most symbolic representation of what has gone on to the native people of this country since it was colonized,” said Terry.
“Here’s the thing that I want people to take away from this. This is key, this pipeline, the oil in this pipeline is not even for America,” said Terry.
“Here is the most amazing that I took away from it. I went to the prayer that morning. This elder was speaking and he said, I’m going to lightly paraphrase, but he said, “There are people from DAPL who have infiltrated our camp and they’re walking around our camp. So, if you see anybody who looks suspicious.” At this point, I’m like okay what are we supposed to do. He says, “Invite them to the fire, have a cup of coffee with him. Talk to him, and tell him we are doing this for his children too.” And that is no joke the philosophy of the camp,” said Terry.
“One of the things that I noticed when I was out there, when these elders spoke, he said “Good morning relatives” to everyone, everybody that was there, you had every kind of race, sexual orientation, everything was “Good morning my relatives. We’re all connected here. We’re all on this planet together. We are the custodians of this planet, we are not the conquers of this planet. We are its custodians.” I hope that if nothing else this raises some awareness about the direction we can go in from here on out,” said Terry.
It’s been nine years since the release of the last Harry Potter novel and five years since the film series concluded with Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows – yet 2016 has shown there is still plenty of life in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potterand the Cursed Child is a big hit on the West End and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has started a spin-off series of five films and it has already made a healthy $479.7 million at the box office.
J. K. Rowling has created a rich and detailed fantasy with a long history, ranging in events from the founding of Hogwarts to the Second Wizarding War. There is also a large cast of supporting characters that fans have got to know and love (or hate) and many of their stories have the potential to make great spin-off films. If the author of a textbook could lead a film then anything’s possible within the Harry Potter cinematic universe. So let’s look at some of the great wizarding heroes and villains who deserve a chance to lead a spin-off film.
Merlin
Kicking off this list is an unusual choice but certainly no less worthy: Merlin. Throughout the novels and films, Merlin has been referred to in small ways: the term ‘Merlin’s Beard’ is the wizarding version of saying ‘My God’ and the Order of Merlin is the highest honor the Ministry of Magic can bestow on wizards and witches for their bravery or achievements in magic.
Merlin was a student at Hogwarts in its early years and got sorted into Slytherin House. That alone can be an interesting dynamic, showing that not everyone in Slytherin is an arrogant bratty bully or a horrid racist. Someone from Slytherin could end up achieving great things without being a mass murderer or plot world domination. Or prepares there is more to Merlin than legends suggest.
J. K. Rowling has various ideas from mythology and folklore – the Harry Potter universe is populated with dragons, goblins, werewolves, centaurs and many other creatures, so it would be interesting to see her take on Arthurian legends.
Plus there is set to be an increase in films using Arthurian legends next year. Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and the fifth Transformers film, Transformers: The Last Knight are telling stories about the mystical characters. So the Harry Potter series may as well strike when the iron’s hot.
Nicolas Flamel
Harry Potter fans will recognize the name Nicolas Flamel; he was the creator of the Philosopher’s Stone which was the key for making the Elixir of Life: allowing the man and his wife to live for 600 years. This by itself makes Flamel an interesting candidate for a spin-off film because his long life allows him to see and be involved in numerous events in the Harry Potter universe.
Flamel’s biography shows he was a French wizard and alchemist in 14th Century Europe, becoming a powerful wizard and a friend of Dumbledore’s. His French background could allow the viewers to see the wizarding world in mainland Europe and the series can use legends and folklore from Western Europe to show more wonderous creatures, important artifacts and tell of important legends from this region. It’s doubtful that Voldemort was the only wizard that wanted to use the Philosopher’s Stone and Flamel would be the target for many wicked and power-hungry wizards and witches. Flamel could also have made other important magical devices and could act as an important advisor to the British and French magical governments.
Flamel was based on a real person: a French scribe and manuscript-seller who was believed to have been an alchemist. This could allow for a blend of history and fiction and be set at a time when Muggles knew about wizards and even mixed with their circles.
Hermione Granger
Out of the main trio in the Harry Potter series, Hermione Granger is the most competent. She’s the one who normally figures out what a problem is and comes up with a solution, using her intelligence and research skills. She was the smartest witch at Hogwarts and has been called one of the brightest people of her generation.
After the events of the Harry Potter series Hermione marries Ron, started a family and joined the Ministry of Magic. In the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child she rose up the ranks to become the Minister for Magic: she was celebrated for championing the rights of non-human creatures like house-elves (a storyline that was introduced in The Goblet of Fire novel but never introduced in the films), eradicated the Pure Blood laws and with her friends reformed the Ministry. Her political activism and rise to power in the Ministry would be an interesting way to explore the wizarding world and the issues it faces. Plus Hermione would have made a lot of enemies to achieve such a position, especially Voldemort sympathizers because they would not be happy that a filthy Mudblood becomes the Minister of Magic.
Emma Watson has become been the most successful out of the Hogwarts students, appearing in films like This is the End, The Peaks of Being a Wallflower and Noah and is set to appear in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Warner Brothers and the Harry Potter series would want to use her popularity while Watson could tap into her real life activism when playing the adult Hermione. She can also show her range as the adult version of the character – whether it’s comedic bickering with her husband or look at the impact of emotional moments like when Hermione erased her parents’ memories: having parents who don’t know her existence.
Buzzfeed made a comedic video of what Harry Potter would have been like if she was the main character. Down with the patriarchy!
Igor Karkaroff
Igor Karkaroff was the Headmaster of the Durmstrang Institute – a wizarding school in Northern Europe which refuses to take Muggle-born students. Karkaroff was also a former Death Eater, a follower of Voldemort, but named names during the First Wizarding War to save his own skin. This action led to him being hated by witches and wizards on both sides of the conflict and after Voldemort’s return Karkaroff was forced into hiding before getting killed by Death Eaters a year later.
There are many ways for a spin-off involving Karkaroff. Firstly Warner Brothers and Rowling could look at life in Durmstrang, the only school in the world that teaches students the Dark Arts and installed a regime of fear and intimidation. His school makes Slytherin House look cuddly in comparison. It would be an interesting location to visit, a dark gothic castle in the snowy north.
During the First Wizarding War, Karkaroff tortured Muggles and wizards and witches, who refused to support Voldemort and displayed a sadistic streak throughout his life. Or there could be a spin-off looking at his life on the lamb -, similar to what happened to Harry, Ron and Hermione during The Deathly Hallows – Part One.
Karkaroff name suggests that he is from Eastern Europe and his childhood/young adult life could be a gateway to look at wizarding culture in this part of the world. There is certainly a lot of ideas from Eastern European and Slavic folklore that could be given a Harry Potter spin, ranging from vampires, werewolves, baba yagas and many other creatures.
Frank and Alice Longbottom
Frank and Alice Longbottom were introduced in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix novel, but their appearance was cut from the film version. They are Neville Longbottom’s parents and permanent residents at St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries because they were tortured to the point of insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. Both were respected Aurors for the Ministry of Magic and were members of the Order of the Phoenix.
Their lives as Aurors would be a way to show a slice of the First Wizarding War, a small part of a large war effort, and tell a different story from it. They could be fighting on the frontline or investigating Voldemort rings of evil witches and wizards so they could break them up.
Their son was born on the same day as Harry Potter and Sybill Trelawney prophesied that one of them could defeat the Dark Lord. Voldemort chose to attack Harry because he was a half-blood. However, the idea could be twisted because some of Voldemort’s followers may also have found out about the prophecy and attacked the Longbottoms to find their son in an attempt to double down and protect their lord and master.
Merope Gaunt
Some of the most interesting parts of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were the flashbacks to Voldemort’s early life but most of them were cut from the film version. One of the biggest casualties yet most interesting stories cut was the tragic story about Voldemort’s mother, Merope Grant and it deserves to be told in a film.
The Gaunts were descendants of Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts. Unlike their famous ancestor the Gaunts had fallen into poverty, although they have a lot of pride in their lineage. The household was violent – Merope was abused by her father and brother because she possessed only a limited magical ability. After her brother attacks a Muggle she liked both her father and brother ended up being sent to Azkaban.
Merope also fell in love with a wealthy Muggle, Tom Riddle, and she uses magic to trick him into falling in love with her. The pair married but after Tom regains his senses he abandons Merope and their unborn child. Merope ended up dying shortly after childbirth in an orphanage in London at the age of 19.
Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort
A film about Lord Voldemort’s origins would be a high risk, high reward strategy – for every X-Men: First Class there are films like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hannibal Rising or the Star Wars prequel to counteract it. However, Voldemort still has an interesting origins story and most of the flashbacks from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to his past in the novel were cut from the film version.
Voldemort’s time at Hogwarts had been explored in the films, so a spin-off film can skip ahead to his life as a young adult and his rise to power. There is plenty of material to look at: the novels showed his search for the Hogwarts artifacts so he can turn them into his Horcruxes. There is no look at Voldemort travels and learning the dark ages and powerful forms of magic that made him into one of the most powerful wizards in history.
Nor has there been much explanation on how Voldemort developed a following and created an army. A spin-off could show the early days and causes of the First Wizarding War. In the novels, the Ministry of Magic resorted to draconian laws to counter Voldemort’s insurgency – showing that there weren’t much better than the Death Eaters.
One of the themes of the Harry Potter films and novels was the darkness that lurked underneath the main character. Both Harry and Voldemort were orphans and abused as children, the Sorting Hat told Harry he had potential in Slytherin House and nearly put him in there. The two have been bound together in numerous ways – from having a psychic connection to having wands made from the same phoenix feather. A story focused on Voldemort could show the path Harry Potter could have gone down if only a few things had been different.
Albus Dumbledore
Like Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore has a long and complex history and the story (or stories) of his life could make for a compelling spin-off. Early in the book series, Dumbledore seemed like a kindly old man who looked after Harry Potter and his students, but as the novels progressed Dumbledore became more of an enigma with his relationship with Harry changing after the events of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Rita Skeeter published a controversial autobiography The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, revealing secrets that Harry and his friends did not know about their headmaster. The book stated that Dumbledore had anti-Muggle feelings in his youth and he formed a relationship with the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, leading to Dumbledore considering working with Grindelwald to achieve wizarding domination before they fell out.
Skeeter’s book also stated that Dumbledore had a sister he neglected in his early adult life. Skeeter stated that Ariana Dumbledore was a squib (a person from magical ancestry but have no magical powers themselves). Her information was incorrect, Ariana was attacked by a group of Muggle boys and was so traumatized by the experience that she lost the ability to control her magic powers which eventually led to Ariana killing her mother.
The story of Dumbledore’s young adult life could work as a story of redemption – how some went to the dark side and had abhorrent ideas – yet can still come good and the character of a hero is more complex than a legend suggests. Plus it would be a bold step to have a homosexual lead character in a major franchise.
The Founders of Hogwarts
Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin were the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 10th Century and some of the most important figures in British Wizarding history. The Houses of Hogwarts were named after the founders and reflect their characteristics, Gryffindor was for the brave, Hufflepuff values loyalty, Ravenclaw was for the smart and Slytherin liked ambitious student.
The origins of Hogwarts was touched on in The Chamber of Secrets – in the novel Professor Binns, the teacher of the History of Magic told the story, in the film it was Professor McGonagall. What happened was Gryffindor and Slytherin were best friends but had a falling out because Slytherin wanted to enact a pure blood admissions policy and created the Chamber of Secrets before he left the school.
A film about their lives can go into more detail, showing why they founded Hogwarts, the construction of the school – and show the split between the founders. It would be fun to see the medieval Wizarding world and what relations were like between Muggles and Magical Kind. Over the course of a millennium the lines between truth and legend would have blurred – leading to plenty of leeway for a creative team to tell a story.
Severus Snape
Severus Snape is one of the most complex characters in the Harry Potter series – a wizard who dresses in black and his loyalties were always in question. He was a Death Eater who defected to the Order of the Phoenix and always trusted by Dumbledore – despite his duplicitous nature and doubts of others.
In flashbacks it was revealed he was friends with Lily Evans, Harry’s mother, but bullied by his future husband, James Potter and his friends. Their friendship became strained when they were placed in rival houses – Lily was in Gryffindor and Snape was Slytherin and the anti-Muggle view of Slytherin made the friendship taboo. Snape defected from the Death Eaters to protected Lily and her family but arrived too late to save her – grieving her demise and promising to protect her son. But just because Snape has to protect Harry, it doesn’t mean he has to like him.
There is a risk that a film focusing on Snape would simply repeat a story that has already been told, but the flashbacks were fleeting in the films, so there is plenty of potential in a spin-off film: whether it’s a look at his school days or his time during the First Wizarding War. It would be a tough task for any actor to replace Alan Rickman, yet Adam Driver has expressed an interest in playing Snape and he would be an excellent casting choice for the young Snape.
What character do you want to see take over the Harry Potter Universe? Comment below.
Universal Pictures released a teaser trailer and poster for ‘The Mummy’ Thursday morning, with a full trailer release on Sunday, December 4.
‘She is real,’ is the tagline of the film.
Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.
From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
The film stars Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, and Russell Crowe. ‘The Mummy’ is directed by Alex Kurtzman from a script by Jon Spaihts and Christopher McQuarrie.
Universal Pictures relaunches the monster universe on June 9, 2017.
Filmmaker James Gunn released the RED-BAND trailer for ‘The Belko Experiment’ Wednesday night with the tagline, you’ve heard about the BEAUTY, now take a look at the BEAST.
The American Belko Company in South America is mysteriously sealed off at the start of work, leaving 79 people trapped in an office building, forced to kill each other or be killed.
The film is written by Gunn with direction by Greg McLean, and sports a large cast of fan favorites. John Gallagher Jr. from ‘The Newsroom’ looks to have a lead, John C. McGinley looks like he is going to kill everyone, and Michael Rooker is the wild card.
But what Monkeys Fighting Robots wants to know is, does our friend David Dastmalchian survive or does he get a spectacular death? Dastmalchian plays Alonso ‘Lonny’ Crane, that doesn’t sound like a good name if you want to live.
‘The Belko Experiment’ also stars Tony Goldwyn, John Gallagher Jr., Adria Arjona, Sean Gunn, and Melonie Diaz. The bloodbath hits theaters on March 17, 2017.
Who do you think with Survive ‘The Belko Experiment?’ Comment below.
WWE veteran Cody Rhodes is campaigning for a Marvel role, and this is a very special one.
In fact, it would not require a lot of talking.
During a Bleeding Cool interview, the Arrow actor reveals he would like to play Black Bolt in the upcoming Inhumans series. According to Rhodes, “The idea that a simple, spoken word could blow a room up is just… I dig everything that is Black Bolt.”
As a diehard comic book fan, Rhodes cites Black Bolt as one of his favourite characters. While he doesn’t go into detail, he confirms plans to expand his acting career, and he hints at lobbying to play Black Bolt.
“I will fully disclose that I have been actively pursuing a couple of roles, that being one,” he says. “So that would mean the world to me if that were to happen. And we’re actively looking into it. I’m all about it.”
Physically, Rhodes has the stature and presence for Black Bolt, but it remains to be seen if he fits the part. The character chooses not to speak, because the shockwaves of his voice can destroy a city. His brain produces a particle that disrupts the proton interaction field. Because of this power, Black Bolt remains vigilant at all times, relying on telepathy to communicate with the Inhumans.
Rhodes is known for his appearance on Arrow‘s fifth season. His role is the notorious drug dealer Derek Sampson, who’s trying to sell his “Stardust” product. Although there are no plans to bring Sampson back, Rhodes explains he is open to reprising his role. He praises producer Greg Berlanti’s work in creating a unified tv universe.
“I would love to be part of the Arrowverse, Star City, again as Derek Sampson, or even part of something like Legends of Tomorrow,” Rhodes says. “I’m a lifelong comic book reader, and they were very excited about the episode and how it turned out. So I’d say there’s a good chance.”
Marvel’s Inhumans will premiere in September 2017.
I guess this means we can rule out Vin Diesel as Black Bolt
Cyclops is one of the longest-serving X-Men, but he’s now the subject of a major plot twist in Death Of X #4.
In the final chapter, Cyclops’ team faces off against a Terrigen cloud. Despite neutralizing the threat, Alchemy succumbs to the M-Pox virus and dies. Scott confronts Black Bolt and Medusa over their role in creating the virus.
At the urging of Medusa, Black Bolt obliterates Cyclops with a mere blast of his voice. The X-Men are horrified at the death of their leader. Meanwhile, Storm manages to broker peace with Medusa. Both teams agree to keep their distance.
Cyclops bites the dust – or does he?
Later, during the funeral, Storm delivers an eulogy and wishes Scott could have lived to see peace. Alex “Havok” Summers confides in Emma Frost that Scott’s body is not there. He wonders if this is some kind of trick, but Emma tells him that is not the case.
Emma admits Scott has been dead the whole series. During issue #1, he got M-Pox exposure and passed soon after. His last words are, “Don’t let it die, Emma.” The Cyclops seen in the series has been a psychic projection by Emma. Even his “death” at Black Bolt’s hands is her doing. As she explains, the notion of Cyclops being alive is important, because it will keep his dream alive.
The series ends with the X-Men and Inhumans back to co-existing with each other. The X-Men are in various factions. While Beast wants to find an M-Pox cure, Emma seeks to fight back against the Inhumans.
Cyclops’ dream must continue to exist
All of this sets the scene for Inhumans vs. X-Men. The prologue issue is now in stores.
