Three new TV spots for the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have been released online, giving us additional looks at the film. Watch them right here.
TV Spot #12 – “Contact”.
TV Spot #13 – “K-2SO”.
TV Spot #14 – “Trained To Fight”.
“In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.”
Rogue One hits theaters on December 16. Tickets go on sale Monday, November 28!
In Rotation, a listicle for music lovers, and seekers of new and different things to listen to. So, if you’re looking for new music, something different, or maybe music to suit your mood this week, here is the place to get a diverse offering each week. Usually, it would be every Friday, but the holidays always have other plans in mind
In Rotation this week, your thanksgiving playlist is still another interesting mixed bag. There’s a few in the punk rock genre, some new wave and Gothabilly, two classic emotive rock groups, a band who does a little bit of everything, and one serving of classical music.
So, let’s dive into varied selection on the table this week.
No Motiv is an uncompromising, emotive/punk rock/alternative band from California, who prior to the release of Winterlong, had a roughly seven-year hiatus. Hailing from the mid-nineties, No Motiv has been around much longer than you have been aware. Though much of their work has always had a poppiness and sort of happy vibe to it, Winterlong taps into the melancholy that many feel throughout the coldest season of the year. This is something they partially tapped into with their ’04 release Daylight Breaking, but maintain some of the older style that they created between …And the Sadness Prevails and Diagram for Healing. Both very good albums as well. If you’re in for a long winter haul this year, you should add their Winterlong EP to your playlist. 2)
Monster Hand is the brainchild of two members of No Motiv, which includes singer Jeremy Palaszewski. It almost cliché to call a band’s music “not classifiable,” but Monster Hand is difficult. The sounds invoke Tribal/Voodoo music, Alternative Rock, Experimental music, Emocore (In the style of Sunny Day Real Estate), and some other things one can’t quite put their finger on. Sadly, this one a minor departure during one of No Motiv’s hiatuses, and was never developed past this little Myspace EP. Still, it is worth trying to add to your collection, as it is quite a remarkable album. 3)
Unwritten, in general, is emotive/pop punk/punk band from California. However, Elva is unlike much of their body of work. Elva‘s music boasts sounds of old school Hardcore, punk, Pop punk, Emo punk, Reggae, Acoustic, Rap rock, and they may about cover it. If any of these music genres appeal to you, it is worth putting album on your need to listen to list. 4)
Before The Juliana Theory went through hippy phase, and there almost Screamo phase, there was this classic Pop rock, Emo rock, Emocore, and Instrumental album. Sadly, they dropped out of sight one day, and have et to return. They are well worth the listen, and Emotion is Dead is a good place to start. 5)
Dave Vanian and Roman Jugg of The Damned, during their ’80s Goth sound that Jugg more heavily brought into the band, The Phantom Chords formed. Fusing ’80s Goth rock and ’50s rockabilly. Many bands claim to be Gothabilly, but Dave Vanian’s love and admiration for the ’50s rockabilly makes sure that The Phantom Chords put the “billy” in Gothabilly. Along with Brendan Mooney to bring Rockabilly, Roman Jugg to make sure the Goth Rock is dark and gloomy, and a rotating cast of bass and drums. Their second album took on a grittier rockabilly sound, but this first outing kept a gloomy Gothic sound. This recipe made The Phantom Chords a unique sound in and of themselves.
Do yourself a favor, and add this band to your playlist. 6)
The Sound is probably one of the most underrated New wave/Post Punk bands of the ’80s. This writer has only scratched the surface of this band’s catalog, as they are a more recent intrigue. From the Lion’s Mouth takes the group from the Punkier and guttural vocal sound of their first album, and gives it a more mellow, new wave sound.Suffice it to say, if this decade and genre appeal to you, why haven’t you already been listening to The Sound? 7)
Taking Back Sunday, a name that is synonymous with late ’90s early ’00s Emo rock/Emo core music. Their classic debut album Tell All Your Friends still remains the bands finest effort, save for the follow-up Where you Want to Be and Louder Now. What separates Taking Back Sunday from other bands of the same musical genre is their musicianship and style. Plus, the aggressive, angrier direction their brand of Emotive rock takes the form of versus a more tear and tissue worthy sounds and lyrics of a Dashboard Confessional, as one example. Do yourself a favor, and if you never listen to anything else by TBS, listen to this album. 8)
Armor for Sleep is another unique offering in the Emo/Screamo category, and one that was actually passed on to this writer from the singer of another unique Emo/Screamo band Vendetta Red. Their brand of Emo adds a dash of Grunge to the mix, and adds a fresh take on a genre that has gotten cliche in the mainstream. What to do when your Dead is a unique album in Armor For Sleep’s repertoire. If any of this sounds appealing to you, add this album to you playlist.
Requires Further Inquiry:
This is a little irregular, but some parts of this In Rotation, did not make the typical cut. This is because they were singular tracks, and not full albums. Camille Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre and The Deadly Syndrome’s I Hope I Become a Ghostare fascinating descents into a darker classical composition, as well as a piano/Indie Rock/Pop/ Folk band trying on a darker, more melancholy theme and sound respectively with these two additional solo tracks.
Thank you for taking a short journey into a vast collection of various genres that hopefully will give you something new to listen to this week.
In the past, I’ve limited my beer reviews to Canadian and American brews, but after my globe-trotting sister came back from Australia with a bag full of beers, I couldn’t resist expanding my international beer-folio. So, today I’m reviewing Nomad Brewing Company‘s Long Trip Saison.
Nomad Brewing Company is the product of a creative partnership between Leonardo Di Vincenzo, Italian brewmaster, and Kerrie and Johnny Latta, owners of an Australian beverage distributor. Nomad Brewing Company’s motto is simple and iconic: “We are Nomad. Never settle.” The brewing nomads obviously took their motto to heart, having won a champion’s trophy at the 2016 Craft Beer Awards in Brisbane. But enough of history and talk of Australian beer reviewers. What does this Canadian think of Long Trip Saison?
Nomad Brewing Company: Long Trip Saison – First Sip
Long Trip pours a cloudy orange-yellow colour with a thin layer of foam at the top of my half pint glass. This brew has a noticeable floral aroma and a tart, smoky taste. Long Trip’s fizzy mouthfeel seems strange for a sour brew, but it doesn’t detract from this beer’s flavour. Long Trip finishes on a malty note that rounds out its sharp tart taste.
Nomad Brewing Company: Long Trip Saison – Last Sip
Because of its distinctly tart taste, Long Trip is a brew that it’s easy to drink a few of. Like the hop-forward flavour of an IPA, Long Trip’s sour flavour keep you wanting more every time you put it down. This tasty beer, though, packs a punch. At 6.6% ABV these 330 mL bottles are small but strong. I suggest pairing this unique brew with pub food. The oily and salty taste of french fries, or any other suitably deep-fried dish, will bring out this brew’s flavours. Deep-fried foods will also help deaden the relatively sharp taste of this brew.
Peanuts and its quintessential character Charlie Brown are so woven into the tapestry of American pop-culture that many have forgotten the original source material. Much more than simply a great character to model a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon after, Charlie Brown continues to provide laughs and sighs from readers of Peanuts over 66 years after the original four-panel comic strip first appeared in 1950.
My childhood, like many others’, involved multiple screenings of A Charlie Brown Christmas. But, I’d never read a Peanuts strip until I borrowed The Complete Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: 1950 to 1952, published by Fantagraphics Books, from a friend of mine. And, though the films and TV specials are excellent, the Peanuts strips offer bittersweet humour too mature for most children.
Peanuts 1950–52: Cast of Characters
The first Peanuts strip featured three characters, only one of whom (Charlie Brown himself) stood the test of time. Readers of Charles Schulz‘s original 1950 strip met Shermy, Patty (not Peppermint Patty), and the one and only Charlie Brown.
Chuck has the last laugh. Shermy stops appearing in Peanuts strips in 1969.
Those familiar with Schulz’s later work on Peanuts will notice a marked difference between this strip and what they’re used to. Chuck’s shirt is without its trademark stripe and his head is slightly less spherical than it becomes in later days.
The art may be unfamiliar, but Schulz’s unique sense of humour is immediately recognizable. It’s obvious from this strip that Schulz wasn’t making these for children. By inserting his cast of child characters into adult social situations, Schulz highlights those situations’ absurdities. Shermy’s lack of finesse in pretending to like Charlie Brown works on two levels. It nostalgizes the vagaries of the reader’s youth and serves as a negative example of how to be an adult.
Aside from an unnamed third boy who Patty punches in the eye, the next character to grace the pages of Peanuts is Snoopy. The early days of Peanuts saw Snoopy acting a lot more like a dog than he comes to later on. Most early gags involving Snoopy revolve around the lovable mutt mooching candy. After a few months, readers also meet Violet, Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus.
Peanuts 1950–52: The Bitter
If I had to pick one Peanuts strip to present as an exemplar, I’d pick this one featuring Patty and Charlie Brown discussing human greatness.
“At least I’m not like Donald Trump!”
Schulz’s self-deprecation, a theme in many of his strips, is on full display here. Schulz’s ability to tap into his own self-doubt paved the way for his unique sense of humour. As David Michaelis points out in The Complete Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: 1950 to 1952′s afterword, “Schulz dared to use his own quirks—a lifelong sense of alienation, insecurity, and inferiority—to draw the real feelings of his life and time.”
Peanuts 1950–52: The Sweet
But, among the veiled hatred and feelings of inadequacy, Schulz also spared time for touching moments. The most touching strip in this anthology of dailies and Sundays features Charlie Brown and Shermy having a heart to heart.
“It’s alright, my head is unnaturally round as well.”
Schulz’s spare pen line accompanies this strip’s spare dialogue well. This strip stands out because of its strong and mysterious moment before. The reader doesn’t know what Chuck and Shermy’s conversation was about, but the reader feels they know. Only one word balloon need apply.
Peanuts 1950–52: Schulz’s Influence
From a small mid-western town where he sold his work for $10 per week, Schulz built an international brand out of his own insecurities. It’s difficult to overstate Charles Schulz’s influence on comics and American pop-culture in general. One wonders if edgy cartoons like Daria or indie comics like Fun Home would enjoy the popularity they do today had Charles Schulz not laid the groundwork.
2016 Has Been Jam Packed With Some Great Horror. Does Your Favorite Film Make This List?
Other than comic books, no other film genre did as well this year as horror did. Everything from big budget hits to indie surprises come together as the best of horror in 2016. It comes as a shock when films like ‘The Shallows‘ & ‘Ouija: Origin Of Evil‘ do far better on Rotten Tomatoes than Hollywood films released next to them. Rarely does horror get the appreciation it deserves but this year seems to be slight shift. Out of all the genre films released this year, which are the top 10 of 2016?
To make this list, I’ve taken into consideration the all aspects like critical reception and box-office. Sadly, we all know when it comes to scary movies, critics & viewers have never been too kind. Ultimately as a massive fan of horror films, I look at how each film on the list impacts or helps the genre.
So below are the top 10 horror films of the year!
Let me know in the comments below if you agree with my list.
Most people know bout ‘Hush‘ from randomly scrolling past it on Netflix. That’s where some of the best horror is nowadays. This movie relies on an intriguing conceptual story about a deaf & mute woman living in the middle of the woods. She’s attacked but remains calm as she fights back. A classic home invasion movie done right. ‘Hush‘ kicks off my list and director Mike Flanagan’s great year.
In a sea of supernatural films, ‘Don’t Breathe‘ stands out as something so rare in the mainstream nowadays. Masterful director Fede Alvarez decided to go for something totally unexpected and bring out of the most interesting stories of the year. With just enough jump scares with the right amount of blood, I’m glad to see Alvarez follow up his ‘Evil Dead‘ remake with ease.
One of the times where my love of a film will trump the critical and fan reception for a list. I’m still flabbergasted on why ‘Blair Witch‘ wasn’t well received. It is another found-footage film but it’s insanely inventive with the sub-genre. Updating and expanding the Blair Witch mythos, I found to be one of the most satisfying sequels in years. Maybe this film will gain cult classic status later on…
Who knew Patrick Stewart would star in one of the best horror movies this year? Punk music and horror films seem like a great fit and ‘Green Room‘ proves it. I didn’t know what to expect from this but the end result is a brutal film about neo-Nazis attacking a punk band that witnesses a murder. It would place higher on the list but it just lacks real human connection that some of the others do.
‘Under the Shadow‘ is an international co-production coming from the United Kingdom, Jordan, and Qatar. It tells the story of a mother and daughter dealing with a haunting during the Iran–Iraq War. If being in the middle of the “War of the Cities” wasn’t enough, the pairing also has to deal with an evil spirt tormenting them. ‘Under the Shadow‘ is not only scary as hell but deeply profound.
Any film with a color palette more vibrant than ‘Suspiria‘ is a winner to me. What makes ‘The Neon Demon‘ so notable is the immense attention to detail. This piece shows the exploitation of women in such a realistic way but sets you in this surreal world. Nicolas Winding Refn knows how to visually tell a story and this is by far one of his best scripts. It did prove to be too arthouse for some critics.
The story of a Puritan family fighting against evil forces in the woods beyond their small farm is probably one of the most stripped back horror pieces in years. ‘The Witch‘ obviously deals with witchcraft but it’s the madness the family deals with that feels like the true horror. This kicked off the year of great horror and remained one of the best throughout 2016.
I heard ‘Ouija: Origin Of Evil‘ was actually good but I had to see to believe. Following the horrible ‘Ouija‘ from 2014 was a challenge but the serious direction from Mike Flanagan allowed this to shine in a overused sub-genre. Appearing for the second time on this list, Flanagan made a major name for himself in 2016 with some great horror movies. Let’s hope we see more of him in 2017.
This hit came out of no where. Literally, the promotion for this movie started less than 3 months before the actual release. ‘10 Cloverfield Lane‘ is the quasi-sequel to 2008’s ‘Cloverfield‘ but it takes the franchise in a whole new direction. Throwing away the found-footage style of the first film, it’s replaced by a cerebral story of survival and monsters. The real star is the stellar showing from John Goodman.
Everyone knows the easiest way to a number one spot for me is mix to sexuality with prolonged torture scenes, as well as disturbed revenge. ‘The Handmaiden‘ feels like a fever dream of a foreign horror fan but it’s a real thing created by the genius Park Chan-wook! I expect to see ‘The Handmaiden‘ on the top of many list, not just horror, this year. What could have topped it?
Did your favorite horror film of 2016 make the list?
A lot of people die in this episode. Or do they? After the cliffhanger incident from the previous episode, things take a turn for the worst as Kira’s dad comes and visits his beloved psychopathic son. Everything get messed up from there as the Stand granting Stone Arrow plunges itself into Kira’s body and causes him to develop a new power.
What is this new power and does it make him even more of a threat then he was previously? It’s called Bites the Dust (hence the nickname of this episode) and it makes him extremely threatening. It activates whenever Hayato tries to tell someone about Kira and how he’s not really his dad. It’s effect is killing the person who he revealed the secret to and rewinding time to right before the event took place. The character already had the ability to turn anything he touched into a bomb, was it really necessary to give him the ability to warp time? He was threatening enough and now he’s on the same level of Dio Brando was from the previous arc, Stardust Crusaders. The final fight with Kira is truly going to be a knockout and drag out fight to the end.
This new rewind ability means there is a good chance we’ll have a lot of characters die in the last four episodes only to have them come back from the dead before the end of the episode or by the end of the season. This will result in a lot of people crying in horror as they watch some of the beloved cast die gruesomely for what is essentially just a shock factor scare. Well a scare tactic or not, the result is still the same. You find yourself eagerly awaiting when the next episode will come out.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable is streaming on Crunchyroll.
The blooper reel for the David Ayer directed Suicide Squad has been released online via a channel aptly titled “Harley Quinn” on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKznHPZt2T0
“Figuring they’re all expendable, a U.S. intelligence officer decides to assemble a team of dangerous, incarcerated supervillains for a top-secret mission. Now armed with government weapons, Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and other despicable inmates must learn to work together. Dubbed Task Force X, the criminals unite to battle a mysterious and powerful entity, while the diabolical Joker (Jared Leto) launches an evil agenda of his own”
Suicide Squad stars Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Viola Davis, Cara Delevigne, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, Jay Hernandez, Karen Fukuhara, Scott Eastwood, Adweale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Ben Affleck.
In a story covered on the Monkeys Fighting Robots express, did anyone really think the X-Men would hit the MCU? Speculated in constant online columns, articles, and endless chatter on social media. Kevin Feige managed to put a smackdown on that speculation in a big way. Fox is in a state of flux with X-Men overall, but they’re still profitable for them. On the other side, Marvel is stacked with projects from here until 2019. Every time the idea of X-Men coming to the MCU appears, it gets knocked down, so why does it keep popping up? Well let’s dive into this more, heck I know I got a lot of thoughts on it. So let’s get started.
X-Men: Forever Radical, just not in the MCU (For Now)
Yes, I would love to see the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; it would be cool. There is nothing but love for this even remotely happening. For Fox right now, it wouldn’t make sense. Fox isn’t in the shape Sony was in with Spider-Man. In the case of Sony, they were limping along with Spider-Man and it made sense for Sony and Marvel to team up. Until the day comes when Fox cannot make any money with X-Men, Fox will hold on to that franchise.
Now you will reference X-Men: Apocalypse and while it didn’t make billions of dollars, it made over $543 Million dollars worldwide. While it didn’t do brilliantly domestically, that worldwide number is nothing to sneeze at. Add this to the playing field, a New Mutants movie is happening. We still have Logan coming up in March, Deadpool 2 on the way, and Fox still has a lot to do with the X-Men in the coming years. There is a lot still on the docket with Fox and X-Men. Even on TV, with the upcoming Legion TV series and other stories, Fox has a tight reign on X-Men.
Take note of this for anyone enjoying the idea of Fox doing R-Rated films along the line of Deadpool, Disney/Marvel wouldn’t be game for it. Not saying it wouldn’t happen, but Marvel is staying strictly PG-13 and an R-Rated anything in The Great Mouse Empire likely would be a no go. With Logan being an R-Rated film as well, Fox is willing to take their characters in a tougher direction movie wise. With the MCU, it would be awesome but you’d never see an R-Rated film out of the X-Franchise again. Not that I’m for everything being R-Rated but it is food for thought.
Since Wolverine and Deadpool have had Mature Readers stories, R-Ratings for either franchise works.
The ultimate part of this Thought Blast though is will the X-Men end up in the MCU? Will we see the X-Men in the Marvel Movies and even live action TV series? Well, the answer is, likely yes. Eventually, this will happen, the X-Men will end up back at Marvel, just not for a long time. Alas, this won’t put an end to every think piece on this subject. These sort of pieces will never end but unless something crazy happens, I won’t be writing much of a think piece on this myself for awhile. There’s only so many think pieces one can write on this. TThis is more a way of processing my own thoughts out into the grand universe of the Internet.
If you want to chat about it with me, I’m not hard to find. Leave a comment below and tell me what you think. Always happy to talk about this stuff, good or bad comments alike. Until then, thanks for reading! Thought Blast over.
A new action-packed promo for Justice League Action has been released by Things I Like on Youtube. You can watch it below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WG56fUyNNY
Based on the 30 seconds of footage, the show seems to base its art style off of Batman: The Brave and The Bold but its tone, style and substance is akin to Teen Titans and even Spectacular Spider-Man.
Pilot episode – Shazam Slam:
“In ‘Shazam Slam,’ the villainous Black Adam battles Batman on the Rock of Eternity and unleashes a horde of Djinn determined to turn the Earth back to its pre-human, volcanic state. Affected by the otherworldly powers of these primordial monsters, Batman becomes possessed and is turned into a giant flying Batmonster laying waste to the Hall of Justice, with only Superman capable of taking the fight to the Dark Knight. One by one, the Justice League – with the help of Shazam (voiced by Sean Astin) and The Wizard (voiced by Carl Reiner) – must hunt down and defeat each Djinn in order to yet again save the world from destruction.”
Justice League Action starts on Cartoon Network on Saturday, November 26 at 7:30 a.m.
What are your thoughts on the promo? Will you be tuning in for the premiere? Let us know in the comments!
As per the trend for Season 7, The Midseason Finale of The Walking Dead runs nearly 90 minutes long as per Comicbook.com. Keeping with this trend, Episode 6 will run 10 minutes more ending at 10:10, Episode 7 is set to be a 90-minute episode ending exactly at 10:30 pm, and the Midseason Finale Episode 8 ending at 10:25 pm. Meaning the last part of this season will all be extended episodes. Yet has this extended episode wonderland been to the benefit of the show? This is what makes this all the more interesting.
Extended Episodes are Meant to Be Special Events, so do these episodes hurt ‘The Walking Dead’ more than help it?
Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple leans towards the help aspect of the extended episodes from his quotes. Gimple says, “We sneakily tell you the week before.”, he continues on to say about the episodes, “Yes there are, here and there. We’ve had the opportunity to do that, and that’s been really exciting. There’s a lot of story to tell and there’s a lot of characters to serve, and I feel really, really lucky we’re able to give the audience more story.” Yes, the audience has been given more story to work with, but does it help the show? That seems to be the dividing point if you pay attention to the ratings.
This is where the usage of multiple extended episodes gets interesting.
As noted in the ComicBook.com piece and noted by multiple sites, IGN being one such site, the ratings are down. The premiere of Season 7 had 17 million viewers and as of episode 5, ‘Go Getters’, the viewership is down to 11 million viewers. The ratings are still excellent for any night, that’s for sure. The Walking Dead is renewed for an eighth season so the show is safe. By the mid-season finale, all this talk about ratings will be a non-issue as it should get a spike from that. If there isn’t a spike from the mid-season finale then we might need to revisit this subject.
This season has had a lot to get into story wise, but the extended episodes have been overkill for some viewers. With other viewers, the season premiere was enough to drive them away but that’s another story entirely. The Extended episodes and a controversial season premiere have made Season 7 a divisive one.
So what do you all think of the extended episodes of The Walking Dead? Are you all more or less interested in the show? Are the episodes overused or used to great effect? Feel free to leave a comment and let us know.
The Walking Dead airs on Sunday nights at 9 pm on AMC.
