While Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is just weeks from release, the film has only just completed post-production. It’s very common for big films such as Rogue One to work on post up until the release of the movie, due to the special effects. In some cases, movies have been known to work on post just days before the release of a film.
Todd Vaziri of Industrial Light and Magic celebrated the completion of Rogue One with a twitter meme.
In other Rogue One news, five new images have found their way online, giving fans a new look at Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera, and finally Alan Tudyk as K-2SO. Get a look at the images in the gallery below.
Following the foundation of the Galactic Empire, a wayward band of Rebel fighters come together to carry out a desperate mission: to steal the plans for the Death Star before it can be used to enforce the Emperor’s rule.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, and Jonathan Aris. The film will land in theaters on December 16.
The One Piece film, titled One Piece Film Gold, recently got a trailer; now, Fandango is selling tickets for the North American theatrical run taking place January 10-17.
Funimation is releasing the movie in theaters, with the screenings being “presented in English dub”.
“Set in Gran Tesoro, an independent country chartered by the World Government, home of the world’s greatest entertainment city where well-known pirates, Marines, and millionaires throughout the world gather in an “absolute sanctuary” that even the World Government can’t touch.
There, the Straw Hat Pirates meet the ruler of the country, the golden emperor, Gild Tesoro, who easily wins pirates, the Marines, and even the World Government over to his side with money. He is about to take action to satisfy his bottomless ambition which may result in major changes in power relationships in the New World…”
One Piece Film Gold opened in Japan in July and was a moderate success. We’ll see if the upcoming theatrical release will help its overall earnings.
Tom Hardy is coming to FX with Taboo, what looks to be a wild period drama about James Keziah Delaney (Hardy), a man who avenges his father’s death and builds a shipping empire in the down time from his vengeance.
FX has released four promo videos ahead of Taboo‘s January release, and they’re all awesome and seem appropriately edgy given the fact that Hardy himself, along with his dad Chips Hardy, created it.
Here are the promos, in case you needed more motivation for some reason:
Anyone else salivating?
Set in 1814, Taboo follows James Keziah Delaney, a man who has been to the ends of the earth and come back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa in 1814 to inherit what is left of his father’s shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But when his father’s legacy is revealed to be a poisoned chalice and enemies lurk in every dark corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Encircled by conspiracy, murder, and betrayal – a dark family mystery unfolds in an explosively colourful tale of love and treachery.
Aside from Tom Hardy and his dad being involved, Peaky Blinders creator and Locke director Steven Knight is on board in the creative department. Plus, it’s being produced by Ridley Scott. If you need more convincing, well, maybe this just isn’t your thing.
The eight-part mini-series will kick off January 10 on FX.
2016 has been another outstanding year for Image Comics. In addition to the continuing success of bestsellers like Paper Girls, Saga, and The Walking Dead, the publishing house has also cranked out a slew of new series. Today, we’re taking a look at ten of those series that hooked us with issue one and refused to let us go.
Honorable Mentions:
Cannibal
Eclipse
Demonic
Lake of Fire
Glitterbomb
Moonshine
Do you like 1920s ganger tales? Pick up Moonshine. Do you like werewolf tales? Pick up Moonshine. New York City gangster Lou Pirlo goes to the backwoods of West Virginia to cut a deal with a moonshiner, but quickly gets in over his head after discovering the family secret. From the team that brought you 100 Bullets.
Snotgirl
Lottie Person is a fashion blogger and a social media celebrity. But while she may seem perfect on Instagram, Lottie has horrendous allergies that render her a mess. The new series from Bryan Lee O’Malley and Leslie Hung starts out as a study of internet culture, but quickly evolves into a story of paranoia and delusion where nothing is as it appears.
A.D. After Death
This is what Image Comics is all about: experimentation. A.D. is a mix of illustrated prose and traditional comics storytelling, making it probably the most unique and most daring title on this list. Jeff Lemire’s raw artwork shines behind Scott Snyder’s poignant words in this story about a world that’s cured death. Their protagonist is Jonah Cooke, a thief with a big secret and mysterious plans. At about 70 pages, A.D. delivers a beautiful and captivating tale about life (and death).
Violent Love
It’s Bonnie and Clyde, meets Romeo and Juliet, meets Natural Born Killers. Frank J. Barbiere and Victor Santos’ crime/romance is more of a tragedy at its core, promising to break its readers hearts from the outset. It looks to be a fun ride, but through all the violence, deep down this is going to be a story about loss and what people are capable of when they have nothing left to lose. Read our full review of Violent Love #1 here.
Seven To Eternity
The God of Whispers rules the kingdom of Zhal. He can offer you whatever your heart desires, but in hearing that offer, you surrender your freedom. Seven To Eternity is the story of Adam Osidis, whose father refused the God of Whispers long ago and forced his family into exile. Now Adam is faced with the same decision: should he hear the God’s offer, or should he fight to free the kingdom? Magic and sci-fi are seamlessly interwoven in this series from Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña.
Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian’s Wall is a classic murder mystery set aboard a space station. When an astronaut is found dead, a pill addict detective is sent to “rubber stamp” the investigation. But he quickly realizes that there’s more to the scene than meets the eye, and begins to unravel a plot greater than he ever imagined. Everybody’s a suspect in this gripping miniseries from Kyle Higgins, Alec Siegel, and Rod Reis.
Reborn
Where do we go when we die? Mark Millar and Greg Capullo’s epic fantasy is about the world after death, a world where we are reborn as our younger selves and thrust into a battle between good and evil. It’s one of those rare series that perfectly balances action with captivating emotional drama. And Capullo’s artwork is out-of-this-world (literally and figuratively). Read our full review of Reborn #1 here.
The Fix
The team behind The Superior Foes of Spider-Man deliver another brilliant crime comedy in The Fix. Roy and Mac are corrupt Los Angeles cops looking to make some quick cash. Their misfortunes make for a hilarious read, but then an actual mystery reveals itself, and makes the series that much more compelling. If you’re looking for nonstop jokes coupled with intrigue, look no further.
Renato Jones: The One%
Here is maybe the most cathartic series of 2016. Renato is a billionaire by day, but by night be becomes The Freelancer, the one percent’s worst nightmare. The Freelancer takes out fat cats whose sole purpose is to expand their own wealth, regardless of who they step on in the process. This series is the definition of over-the-top, gratuitous violence, and it’s absolutely amazing. It’s all the fun of a mindless action movie, with valuable social commentary wrapped inside.
Kill Or Be Killed
A new Image Comics noir from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips? Of course Kill Or Be Killed makes our list; it’s everything fans have come to expect from this dream team and more. Protagonist Dylan has to kill others to stay alive (read it to find out why), so he turns his sights on “bad” people. But as his “night job” picks up steam, his day-to-day life begins to fall apart. Kill Or Be Killed is gritty, exhilarating, and it’s a fascinating look at vigilantism and the value of life.
What were your favorite new Image Comics from 2016? Tell us in the comments, or tweet us @monkeys_robots (and tweet me @The_Great_Ace)!
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a busy man these days, having moved on from Hamilton to tackle Hollywood next. And it seems he is ready to adapt The Kingkiller Chronicle into a musical for TV.
Like most things are in fantasy literature, The Kingkiller Chronicle is a series of books, and Miranda will serve as executive producer on book one, The Name of The Wind. Oh, and he’ll also be writing and producing original songs for it, which is pretty great news.
Here’s a synopsis for The Name of The Wind:
So begins the tale of Kvothe—from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But The Name of the Wind is so much more—for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe’s legend.
I don’t know much about The Kingkiller Chronicle, but it definitely has legions of fans, ones who are likely fired up about this news. There’s no word on schedules or release dates as of yet, so stay tuned.
Rogue One is a mere few weeks away, Episode VIII is in the midst of post-production with a trailer release any day now, Han Solo casting is heating, yet the Ewen McGregor Obi-Wan Kenobi film that seems obvious to fans has no movement from Lucasfilm’s Chief Kathleen Kennedy.
Rebel Force Radio interviewed Entertainment Weekly’s Anthony Breznican and he might have some answers to why the film seems delayed. Breznican’s answer also impacts Episode IX.
“Um, I have heard rumors that the one reason they haven’t moved sooner on Obi-Wan is that they’re not done with Obi-Wan quite yet… in the Saga films. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Obi-Wan thing happen beyond Episode IX,” said Breznican.
“So I don’t think that’s controversial to say, but I think that there’s bound to be some reference to Obi-Wan – and I’m not being coy here, this is literally all I know is that [Lucasfilm’s thinking is] ‘Ehh, if you want to tell an Episode IX story, it’s better that it happens after this first trilogy, because things that happen in it can maybe reference The Force Awakens trilogy,’ if that makes any sense. Some of this is sort of like doing CIA spywork, where you get little pieces of information and then you try to connect them. But I think that they’ll probably be some reference to Obi-Wan in the Saga films, and his connection to whatever characters he happens to have a connection with. I’ve already written that I think that Rey has some kind of connection to him – family connection. So if that’s the case, maybe we see a part of that play out in the future Obi-Wan movie. Ewan McGregor would be the perfect age to reprise that [character]. So he seems game to do it, and I think [the movie] hasn’t been one they’ve greenlit just yet, but partly because they’re still shaping that story. So we’ll see. I think it’s – again – kind of a no-brainer,” said Breznican.
What do you think this all means, is Obi-Wan Rey’s grandfather?
Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII.
Star Wars: Episode VIII, is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcomes back cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. New cast members will include Academy Award® winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award® nominee Laura Dern, and talented newcomer Kelly Marie Tran.
Star Wars: Episode VIII is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin and Tom Karnowski. Joining the production crew will be some of the industry’s top talent, including Steve Yedlin (Director of Photography), Bob Ducsay (Editor), Rick Heinrichs (Production Designer), Peter Swords King (Hair and Make-Up Designer), and Mary Vernieu (US Casting Director). They will be joining returning crew members Pippa Anderson (Co-Producer, VP Post Production), Neal Scanlan (Creature & Droid FX Creative Supervisor), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Jamie Wilkinson (Prop Master), Chris Corbould (SFX Supervisor), Rob Inch (Stunt Coordinator), Ben Morris (VFX Supervisor), and Nina Gold (UK Casting Director).
Star Wars: Episode VIII is scheduled for release December 15, 2017.
Colin Trevorrow directs the final installment, from a screenplay by Trevorrow, Rian Johnson, and Derek Connolly. Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters May 23, 2019.
The remake, reboot, revival craze continues in Hollywood and even Netflix is in on the fun! Why not? It’s a ratings goldmine that comes with a built-in aurdience. Rehashing Full House last year with Fuller House became a pop culture success leading to second season in 2017. Arrested Development was an early success for the streaming service as are Trailer Park Boys and Longmire now. Now comes a revival of Gilmore Girls. But does the next nostalgia missile explode into awesome or fall like a dud?
If you don’t know, the Gilmore Girls ran from 2000 to 2007, first on The WB and then on CW. It stars Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), a single mom raising an extraordinary overachieving teenage daughter, Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel). The pair struggle with school, work, life, and family as they chug coffee in the small town of Stars Hollow. Gilmore Girls is a comedy and drama, but a bit of a fantasy too as the idyllic Stars Hollow exists in a world with a town troubadour, quirky townspeople, and pop culture references galore.
Gilmore Girls is like living inside a Norman Rockwell painting only everyone has whip-smart things to say.
The show’s three strengths were it’s rapid-fire and pop culture-infused dialogue, fantastic acting, and fluid directing. Long, one-shot takes put you in Stars Hollow along with acclaimed performances from Graham, Bledel, and Kelly Bishop as matriarch Emily Gilmore.
Gilmore Girls grew into a strong ratings performer. But it’s that final season that fans complain about. And for that reason, Netflix decided to fill a void by offering Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life. It’s four episodes, each taking place during a different season (Summer, Fall, etc.) that recaps the lives of the Gilmore Girls and puts a better bow on the entire Gilmore Girls package than the original, weak series finale.
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life hits the ground running. The overall story takes a bit to get going. But from the opening moments, the dialogue is shooting out the mouths of the cast. The camera is carefully following. And the wacky, small town is buzzing again.
For fans of the series, it’s a must-see. It’s four more episodes to enjoy with these great characters and the brilliant way the show mixes humor and drama. For those who have never watched Gilmore Girls it’s still entertaining, if only for the dialogue and performances. However, without the benefit of the series, a lot of the feels will get lost, as will those joyful moments when old characters pop up.
Is it perfect? No. A lot of questions are left unanswered. And there are a few song and dance numbers that feel a little tacked on or are longer than they should be. Not all the old Stars Hollow folks return or are around like they should be. And the ending will be a point of discussion for fans for years to come. As a personal nitpick, why didn’t they use the theme song. “Where You Lead” by Carole King?
I’m generally not a fan of reboots, remakes, or otherwise uses of weaponized nostalgia. I like to look forward and in the end that’s the message behind this new Gilmore Girls. Emily, Rory, and Lorelai all leave old fears behind to face new, exciting fears as the bonded, confident women they are.
Marvel’s recent X-Men event, Death of X, just wrapped up this past Wednesday. It focuses on Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men reacting to a mist that was killing mutants. The event took place before the events of the All New, All Different relaunch, and was set to answer some questions, as well as build up to the next superhero vs. superhero brawl Inhumans VS. X-Men. Because Marvel clearly needs more events where superheroes fight each other and not supervillains.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The main goals of this particular miniseries were to kill Cyclops, explain why Mutants and Inhumans hate each other, and give a reason why there are more Inhumans now. So obviously there’s a lot riding on this four issue series as the other comics in the universe were building up to this. Cyclops’ actions raised a lot of controversy and debate among other heroes. Specifically something that he did labels him as a terrorist.
The “too long; didn’t read” version goes like this: the superhero group The Inhumans discover that their sacred gems, The Terrigen crystals, can turn normal humans into Inhumans. The Terrigen crystals are ground up into two mist clouds and released around the world turning humans into Inhumans. However, the mist kills mutants, and The Inhumans don’t really seem to care. So Cyclops and a few other mutants band together to try and stop the mist clouds.
Something tells me the editors stopped listening to the writers.
There’s more to the story, but the focus of this editorial is about Cyclops’ actions that lead him to terrorist level notoriety (and something else that comes up). Cyclops was never much of a liked character, both in the fictional Marvel universe and among fans. But keep in mind that this was built up as the supposed final straw. Cyclops would never be redeemed after this. So, what did he do?
He and another mutant named Alchemy manage to make one of the Terrigen mists useless.
That’s it.
How does that make Cyclops a villain? He saved a good chunk of his own kind, and chose not to attack the Inhumans. He did something heroic, and yet he’s being punished for it. His legacy is as a no good mutie douchenozzle terrorist who cheats at scrabble and smells bad. He is not in the wrong here, and there’s no reason for anyone to hate him. Because when we look at this conflict, there’s no justification for the other side. If anything, The Inhumans should be the ones vilified.
NO. HE. DIDN’T.
The X-Men and mutants are dying, and The Inhumans aren’t interested in stopping that. They want to expand their race; to hell with the consequences of others. But even if we took out the whole “your perfume is killing an entire species of people,” The Inhumans didn’t consider that maybe people don’t want to be Inhumans. Not everyone wants their DNA changed to become a superhero; The Inhumans are forcing this on the general populace. The point of this event (I’m guessing) was to create a scenario that would leave the readers divided in their feelings. This way they could lead effortlessly into Inhumans vs. X-Men. But I don’t identify with The Inhumans; I don’t see Cyclops’ fault here. I’m having a hard time believing that anyone does.
If the Terrigen Mist was the only way Inhumans could survive on Earth, or if Cyclops snapped and started killing Inhumans that would lead to a better ethical dilemma. But for some reason this perfectly reasonable response from Cyclops is what’s supposed to make the audience pick a side for the Inhumans/X-Men conflict. It doesn’t though, because this is something that both groups should have thought of from the get go. And as I was reading this the whole time I kept thinking, “why do people like The Inhumans again?”
But then there’s a twist thrown in at the very end. It’s a bizarre shake up that just raises more questions. It turns out Cyclops died in the first issue, and everything after that has been a psychic projection created by Emma Frost. While this is an interesting concept, it doesn’t really add anything unique. Again, maybe if she did something more drastic to the Inhumans that would be one thing; in fact it would be in line with her character if she did act aggressively against the Inhumans. That would make sense why people hate mutants again, and specifically Cyclops.
Man this remake of The Sixth Sense is really weird.
Overall it feels like Death of X is the symptom of one of Marvel’s much larger problems. Because they focus so heavily on event stories and yearly relaunches, there isn’t enough editorial oversight on planning the stories properly or giving them time to develop. It feels like the editorial staff just throws everything at the wall, sees what sticks, and then connects the dots later. This doesn’t allow the comics to stand on their own two feet or develop naturally. They have to connect to event, or acknowledge an event coming up. This creates great build up for said future story, but if Marvel can’t deliver a satisfying pay off, then it was all for nothing.
Let’s hope the upcoming Resurrexion will bring back what fans loved about the X-men.
To this point, the trailers for Passengers have been at least intriguing. The balance of romance and sci-fi action has been carefully managed.
Well, it looks like the studio wanted to heighten the whimsical pop romance aspect of the movie in this third trailer, which is kind of ridiculous. I’m not sure what this song is (and I’m not much of an authority when it comes to modern pop music… now get off my lawn), but it’s terrible here. UPDATE: Hey Larry, it’s Imagine Dragons “Levitate.” – Monkey
At least it is to me, see for yourself…
A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early.
The existence of this trailer seems pretty pointless, on top of the fact it makes the entire movie look like some mid-90s alt-rock music video. The Goo Goo Dolls in Space!
Of course, this trailer might exist to bring in the younger female audience and teens on date night. If that’s the case they probably succeeded because this looks a lot like that new movie where the kid from Mars falls in love with the girl from Earth. Maybe they let Nicholas Sparks in the room to do a little editing.
Passengers stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, is directed by Morten Tyldum, and releases December 21.
‘Moonlight’, One Of The Most Important Films Of The Year, Is Already Winning!
At the 26th annual Gotham Awards, ‘Moonlight‘ kicked off what looks to be an interesting award season. The timeless drama took home four awards at the event in New York. The wins includes Best Feature, Best Screenplay, a Special Jury Award For Ensemble Performance, and the Audience Award.
It ended up beating out other critically praised movies like ‘Hell or High Water‘ and ‘Manchester By The Sea‘ to the shock of some. Is this a preview of what’s to come?
This could be the best film to counteract all the #OscarSoWhite controversy from this year. ‘Moonlight‘ is an insanely raw depiction of a young black man from childhood to adulthood. It dives into struggles of finding his place in the world and growing up in Miami. The film’s real look at life as an African-American living in America is shown on-screen perfectly by the predominantly black cast & crew. Never a cheap ploy to get back at the Academy Award or for attention, it’s genuine. So thrilled the Independent Filmmaker Project recognized the importance.
For the upcoming award season, I’d love to see Trevante Rhodes get Best Actor nominations for his performance as Chiron. Even director Barry Jenkins getting a nomination or two for Best Director would be a lovely nod to his masterful work on this project. His screenplay already won at the Gotham Awards so it’s not a stretch!
Do you think ‘Moonlight‘ by Barry Jenkins will continue to play a major part in the upcoming award season? Let me know in the comments below!
