Deadline reports the 28-year old Teen Wolf actor will appear on the second season of the CW series. It has been announced Superman/Clark Kent will visit his cousin Kara (Melissa Benoit) in National City. Previously, the character appeared in brief glimpses during Supergirl‘s first season on the CBS network.
According to executive producer Andrew Kreisburg, “Greg [Berlanti] and I have wanted to work with Tyler for ages, so this worked out perfectly because Tyler is Superman. We are so thrilled and humbled to add another amazing actor to the legacy of this iconic character.”
Not far off from Henry Cavill
Interestingly, this is not Hoechlin’s first time starring in a comic book property. He started his career playing Tom Hanks’ son in Sam Mendes’ 2002 film adaptation of Road To Perdition. Hoechlin was also considered for the role of Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before Ben Affleck was cast.
Supergirl will premiere on the CW Network in October 2016.
Anyone who is going to Finding Dory expecting it to live up to the lofty standards set by Finding Nemo, prepare to be disappointed.
Now don’t interpret this as a warning to avoid this sequel to the 2003 Pixar release. Quite the opposite actually. It’s that Finding Nemo was groundbreaking. In 2003, Finding Nemo was the first release where Pixar implemented it’s more advanced digital animation technology, and the results were astonishing. The story was a unique tale about taking risks no matter how daunting the odds might appear to be. And Nemo was often upstaged by an extremely forgetful blue tang voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.
Now Dory is back in a movie of her own, aptly named Finding Dory, set for release across the country this weekend just in time for kids who started summer break recently. Dory, directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane, not only atones for Disney Pixar’s massive flop, The Good Dinosaur, but is the best sequel the studio has produced since Toy Story 2.
The film takes place a year after Nemo’s return to the reef. It incorporates a lot of flashbacksto her childhood when she was tiny bug-eyed fish and outlines how Dory was initially separated from her parents (voiced by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy). We see she spends most of her adulthood (before meeting Nemo) looking for her family. Through a chain of events her quest to find her parents is rekindled, and this time Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) are the sidekicks.
The search takes place primarily in the confines of the Marine Life Institute, an aquatic center full of wonderful new characters. There are gift shops, loud children, aquarium tanks, cockney sea lions, near-sighted sharks, and quite unusual looking birds. The plot to Finding Dory is a roller coaster; everyone knows there will be ups, downs, and a few moments where your heart might slightly race, but in the end, everyone makes it. Yes, Finding Dory is predictable, but that’s to be expected.
Much like the original film, Dory attempts to teach us all a valuable lesson. In Finding Nemo, the lesson was about taking a risk no matter what the odds, and in Finding Dory it’s all about acceptance. For starters, they touch on the acceptance of chaos, as Dory never has a plan, large in part because of memory issues. This drives Marlin crazy throughout Finding Nemo, and that trend continues during Finding Dory.
The film also touches on acceptance of who people are as human beings. In the original movie, Dory’s inability to remember the simplest of details was more for comic relief but in Finding Dory, it takes a more serious turn as her disability is what indirectly leads to her separation from her family.
What’s remarkable about the film is they take that moment and in a very natural way teach the message of inclusiveness. Not one of the characters in the movie shuns Dory due to her condition, and they treat her like any other fish. In fact, Marlin marvels at Dory’s ability just to act in a situation and doesn’t overthink the whole thing. Finding Dory shows us all that what we might perceive as being a weakness, might actually be a strength in the long run. A lesson all of us can learn.
Finding Dory, Disney•Pixar’s sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, starts with everything you loved about Nemo all those years ago and builds out into a beautiful film all its own. With a film story that sure to tug at heartstrings and animation that sets yet another new benchmark for the very best in the field, it’s a must-see for those who loved the original, and a sure-fire good time at the movies for everyone else.
What’s it about?
A year after she helped Marlin (Albert Brooks) find his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence), Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) is living with her friends in their reef. She’s still dealing that little short-term memory loss problem, but otherwise she’s happy as the proverbial clam (as opposed to a clam that appears in this film, who isn’t very happy).
One day, out of the deep blue that surrounds them all, the most remarkable thing happens: Dory remembers something. And not just any “something” — she remembers that she has a family somewhere out there that may be looking for her, may be worrying about her, the way Marlin once worried himself crazy over losing Nemo.
With her friends at her side, Dory ventures out to find her long-lost mom and dad. Their journey takes them to California’s Marine Life Institute, where things of course start to go awry.
But if Dory is good at anything (aside from forgetting things), its improvising in unexpected situations. With the help of some of MLI’s more interesting residents — Hank the octopus (Ed O’Neill), Destiny the near-sighted whale shark (Kaitlin Olson, TV’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia“), and Bailey the beluga whale (Ty Burrell, TV’s “Modern Family“) — Dory does her best to “just keep swimming”, hoping her path and the occasional memory or two will take her back home.
13 years make a big difference
The first thing that’s glaringly apparent about Finding Dory is just how far Pixar’s animation has come since 2003. As breathtakingly beautiful and sweeping as Finding Nemo was all those years ago, Finding Dory is an leaps-and-bounds improvement.
Arguably, that improvement is most noticeable in the way textures and features of the different marine species who star in the film are brought to life. Yes, it all still retains an “animated” quality to it, but at the same time, everything on screen simply pops as though ready to swim into your lap. Especially in the film’s shots where subjects are in the distance, the sensation felt in watching Finding Dory is that of being in the water or in the aquarium — it’s that immediate and striking.
New characters a delight
But all of that visual splendor might be diminished if story and character didn’t live up to or at least aspire to the heartfelt heights that Finding Nemo reached way back when. Thankfully, writer/director Andrew Stanton, who directed the original film, returns to his characters and treats them and their stories with reverence, and gives audiences new characters to fall in love with.
Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks return to the roles of Dory and Marlin as though they’d never left them, as though they’ve been playing them all these years. But this time DeGeneres really gets to show some range, as Dory’s emotional arc and the film story’s exploration of what’s at Dory’s core beneath all that irrepressible optimism and brightness demands a great deal that she delivers. Dory’s memory issues were played for laughs in the first film — this time, some very real consequences of that problem get a good look, and it makes for thoughtful fare.
As for the newbies to the ensemble, admittedly, the most prominent, Hank the octopus, is a bit of a cliché. The initially hard-hearted, cantankerous lout who works hard to not be won over by Dory’s effusiveness is not much of a stretch for Ed O’Neill’s voice talents, but the production does have a lot of fun with Hank’s ability to camouflage, as well as a particular deficiency that Hank’s very sensitive about.
Dory’s other new aquatic acquaintances all have fun quirks which prove to be instrumental to the story’s resolution and its subtle theme of overcoming obstacles that seem impossible. Destiny and Bailey are a fun comedy duo, but they’re almost outshined by a pair of hilarious sea lions voiced by, of all people, former “The Wire” castmates Idris Elba and Dominic West. If you don’t giggle even just a little bit during their scenes, you may need to reassess your own sense of humor.
Worth seeing?
Without a doubt, Finding Dory is worth seeing, and worth seeing at the premium 3D price, if at all possible. It’s a film experience that’s meant to be as immersive as it is emotional and funny, and thus the larger the screen and the immersive the sound, the more audiences are certain to enjoy. Even if you haven’t seen Finding Nemo in a very long time, or your only experiences with Nemo, Marlin, and Dory come from visits to “The Seas with Nemo and Friends” at Disney’s Epcot, Finding Dory should still awe and delight you if you allow it to.
Finding Dory
Starring the voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Eugene Levy, Diane Keaton. Directed by Andrew Stanton.
Running Time: 97 minutes
Rated PG for mild thematic elements.
When we last left David, the android from Prometheus played by Michael Fassbender, he was a disembodied head helping Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw escape the clutches of newly-evolved aliens. Sadly, Rapace won’t be reprising her role in Alien: Covenant, leaving Fassbender as the only connecting character between this and the first film.
And nobody expected David to just be a body-less head the whole time in Aline: Covenant, and this new set photo featuring Fassbender and director Ridley Scott might confirm a couple of things: David has changed his hair from blonde to brown (maybe he isn’t interested in Lawrence of Arabia anymore?), and he clearly has a new body attached to his noggin:
It’s hard to tell what sort of gear he’s wearing there in the background. And of course we’re all micro-analyzing one random set photo. It’s still fun to try and figure out the direction of this prequel sequel. The most disappointing thing about the movie right off the bat is Rapace’s absence from the shoot. This means she will almost certainly die off screen in between stories.
Alien: Covenant stars Fassbender, Billy Crudup, Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride (certainly alien fodder), and Demián Bichir. It will hit theaters August 4 in 2017.
Title: Finding Dory Director: Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane Summary:The friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish reunites with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the real meaning of family along the way.
This review is probably going to date weirdly but it’s something that I need to address. I saw Finding Dory on Monday evening mere days after the Orlando massacre that has left fifty people dead. I almost didn’t want to go because there was a vigil being held downtown at the same time but I opted for the movie. I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do, but this movie feels like one that needs to come out this week. Pixar movies are known for being happy but also bringing audience members to tears which feels like the thing that everyone needs right now, even if I wasn’t too excited about the movie to begin with.
Finding Dory isn’t quite as good as Finding Nemo, and lacks the emotional gut punch of Inside Out or Up, but it is joyful and happy in a time when we could use some of both.
Photo: Pixar
The short that played before the movie is called Piper and it is probably going to win best animated short. It’s about a little sandpiper that needs to learn to feed itself. This is one of those Pixar shorts where you’re smiling the entire time and want to laugh with joy by the end.
Pixar is a studio that hasn’t really swung and missed yet. While Brave wasn’t perfect and the Cars movies exist to sell toys than tell stories, they always produce quality content. I wasn’t really looking forward to Finding Dory because it felt a little lazy but I can understand why Pixar did it. They had two original movies last year and Moama later this year so a sequel is fine. The thing that I was worried about was the shift of focus. I was worried that Finding Dory would lose some of its weight by focusing on a character like Dory (Ellen DeGeneres *voice*) instead Marlin (Albert Brooks *voice*). The movie sidesteps this problem by keeping Marlin and Nemo (Hayden Rolence *voice*) in the story. The movie feels very balanced in who they decide to focus on and Dory’s memory problem never gets irritating.
The highlight of the movie is Hank (Ed O’Neill *voice*), the mimic octopus. I already consider the mimic to be a fascinating creature to begin with and I think parents should explain to their kids what they are before they see the movie. Hank is funny and the way they use him is great as he bounces off of Dory in an easy going way. He is the dry sense of humor as he only helps Dory so he can get a tag from her and go to Cleveland. Hank doesn’t want to go into the wild and would rather hide in a glass case. There are a lot of jokes that won’t make sense to some that don’t know how brilliant octopi can be. Hank escaped his own tank, for example, which octopi are known for doing.
The movie doesn’t get quite as dark as some other Pixar movies but it does get very close. There is one moment that really gets to me, but this is a Pixar movie that seems to focus on being happy rather than being sad. When I say that it’s not as good as Finding Nemo that’s like comparing silver and gold; both are precious in their own ways. Finding Nemo is a classic that introduced us to a new world under the ocean. Finding Dory is more focused on the world outside the ocean and how fish might react in aquariums. It doesn’t feel quite as groundbreaking as the original but it’s still leagues above what other animation studios are putting out. There is a Marvel style extra credits scene that might be worth the price of admission so stay until the very end.
Finding Dory is the movie we all need to go see this weekend. We need to remember what it’s like to feel joy and be happy in such dark times. The movies are here for escapism and Finding Dory is perfect for the entire family. It’s a movie that revels in its ability to make everyone watching it smile, and I think that’s something we could all use right now.
And Demetrius Shipp Jr. Couldn’t Look More Like the Rapper.
The Instagram page for Big Boys Neighborhood, an LA-based radio station, has posted the teaser trailer for the Tupac biopic All Eyez On Me. And this looks promising, especially the uncanny resemblance Demetrius Shipp Jr. has to the late rap superstar.
A post shared by Big Boy's Neighborhood (@bigboysneighborhood) on
Today would have been Tupac’s 45th birthday. Hopefully, this won’t follow the standard rise and fall and rise and rinse and repeat formula that’s plagued recent biopics like I Saw the Light or Miles Ahead.
Benny Boom directed All Eyez on Me, and outside Shipp Jr. in the titular role the film stars Danai Gurira, Kat Graham (as Jada Pinkett, oddly enough), Annie Ilonzeh, Jamal Woolard as Biggie, and Dominic L. Santana as Suge Knight.
All Eyez on Me has some prime real estate this fall with a November 11 release date. Perhaps that means the studio is banking on this being something worth our time.
When news broke that Donald Glover had been cast in the upcoming Marvel Studios and Sony co-produced Spider-Man movie, now known as Spider-Man: Homecoming, the internet exploded with rumours due to a reference of a fan created Twitter campaign that pitched Donald Glover to take on the role of Peter Parker in TheAmazing Spider-Man reboot, a role that eventually went to Andrew Garfield. Most people believe that campaign encouraged the creation of Miles Morales in Marvel’s Ultimate Comics. A successor spider-man of mixed ethnicity.
Despite a chorus of demanding fans hoping he will play Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Homecoming, he probably won’t be putting on any red and black spandex in this role. Glover may only have a small cameo as a nod to fans but here are five Spider-Man characters Donald Glover could play.
Phil Urich
The nephew of Daily Bugle reporter, Ben Urich who has already appeared in the MCU in Daredevil season 1 played by Vondie Curtis-Hall. This could be a fun nod to the Marvel Netflix series. In the comics Phil took up the role as the villain, Hobgoblin after a stint as a heroic version of the Green Goblin.
Joe ‘Robbie’ Robertson
J. Jonah Jameson’s right hand man at the Daily Bugle, Robbie Robertson featured heavily in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and has been a supporting Spider-Man character since the 1960s. Robertson has always been portrayed as a fan and supporter of Spider-Man, opposing Jameson’s hate of the web-head himself.
Tinkerer
Also known as Phineas Mason in the comic books, the Tinkerer is a super-genius turned armourer for super-villains and criminals. Unseen as yet in any Spider-Man films, the Tinkerer could be recurring force and a doorway to even more characters as the source of tech and powers for some of Spidey’s greatest foes.
Mac Gargan
A private investigator initially hired by J. Jonah Jameson to track Spider-Man and reveal his secret identity. Mac eventually became the superpowered Scorpion and the 3rd host of the Venom symbiote. This could be a recurring role, with Mac evolving from annoyance to full villain over a number of films.
Dr. Curt Connors
Peter Parker had a long-term friendship with scientist Curt Connors. Connors took on a mentor role for the super-intelligent Parker and inadvertently helped Spider-Man with many of his enemies. Curt Connors eventually evolved into the Lizard, one of Spider-Man’s greatest villains. Spider-Man: Homecoming could feature a younger iteration early in his own career much like Spider-Man.
Who do you think Donald Glover could be playing in Spider-Man: Homecoming?
Central Intelligence, directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, is an action comedy that’s sneaky intelligent and executed deftly. Written by Thurber and a team of David Stassen, Ike Barinholtz, and Peter Seinfeld, it’s a film with loads of comedic subtext, a story that grabs the audience from the onset, and keeps them engaged throughout.
Johnson and Hart play two guys who attended high school together in 1996. Back in the day, Johnson was the chubby kid, who showered alone, and rocked out to En Vogue. Hart was the most popular kid in high school, voted homecoming king, and voted most likely to succeed. When Johnson is the victim of a cruel senior prank (anyone who’s seen the trailer knows what I am referring to), Hart was the only person who showed kindness during his darkest moments.
Fast-forward 20 years, and now Hart is a junior accountant who wonders what has happened to his glory days. In contrast, Johnson has transformed himself into a ripped, unicorn loving, Molly Ringwald adoring CIA Operative with the impulse to leap into danger. Johnson is currently a wanted man as the CIA has been lead to believe that he’s gone rogue and is now a terrorist, code name “The Black Badger.”
Central Intelligence is intelligently written. Stassen, Barinholtz, and Steinfield who are all writers on The Mindy Project are all incredibly gifted at crafting comedic scenes stemming from a character’s quirks. Example: In the pilot when Mindy attempted once more to solve her problems in the most grandiose way possible by getting plastered and riding her bike over to her ex-boyfriend’s house to win him back only to crash into her pool.
Johnson’s character, Bob Stone, is loaded with quirks ranging from an unhealthy fascination with the movie Sixteen Candles, seemingly loving 90’s pop culture way too much, and a strong love for Unicorns or, as he calls them, “Corns.” It seems they saw the potential in shying away from having Dwayne Johnson play his typical character, and they were rewarded with a fabulous performance. It certainly was refreshing to see Thurber return to his risk-taking roots after playing it safe in We’re The Millers.Remember, Thurber directed Dodgeball and made the unusual decision of casting Ben Stiller as the villain in Dodgeball ( which at the point in his career he had never played before in feature film) and look how that turned out.
Hart slips into the role of the slightly rational sidekick superbly. I’ll have to admit that there was doubts but those did evaporate when he was delivering lines reminiscent of Detective Murtaugh chastising Detective Riggs in the original Lethal Weapon throughout the film.
The only glaring negative in Central Intelligence is when Hart and Johnson had scenes without one another. When Hart is in scenes with his on-screen wife (Danielle Nicolet), the chemistry is missing. You could see him pressing a little but it seems as if Hart and Nicolet were going through the motions in the few moments they are on screen together. Johnson fairs slightly better but not by much. If the script was tweaked just slightly to allow for more scenes between Johnson and Hart, it would have resulted in making a goof film a great one.
Curtis and Brock bridge the gap between critics and fans as they defend Warcraft for its ambitious yet incomplete nature. It’s good! It’s bad! FOR THE HORDE!!
There’s real meat to chew on with Duncan Jones’ adaptation and the guys make the case that dismissing it entirely is incorrect and downright irresponsible.
Also The Conjuring 2 makes Curtis sleep with the light on and hear Brock’s monster voices sure to scare all.
3:38 Monster Voices & Voice Actor Advice!
9:45 Listener Email
10:18 The Conjuring 2 Seance and Review!
12:53 Movie News – Mallards 2 & Cars 3
17:50 ‘What’s Cookin’ in The Rock’s Kitchen’ – Central Intelligence & Kevin Hart
21:32 Warcraft Review & Analysis
Have a topic you’d like to hear UnPOPPED? Send any comments/love/vitriol to unpopentertainment@gmail.com
At long last, The UnPOP Podcast is on iTunes! Check us out there!
We’re on Stitcher! Add us to your playlist and rate and review our show!
This week we take a break from our normal banter and try to understand the world we live in today and how pop culture, superheroes, and childhood shape our outlook on life. We want a better world, but how are we going to get there?
If you would like to continue the conversation please comment below.
Do you have a question that you would like answered during the show?
Email your questions to matt@popaxiom.com.
If you are looking to sponsor the podcast email matt@popaxiom.com as well.
Never heard of Matt Sardo? For starters, he made the Kessel Run in less than 11 parsecs. Prior to that, he gave Doc Brown the idea for the flux capacitor and led the Resistance to victory over SkyNet – all while sipping a finely crafted IPA. As a radio host, he’s interviewed celebrities, athletes and everyone in between. He’s covered everything from the Super Bowl to Comic-Con.
Who is EJ Moreno? Is he a trained physician? No. Is he a former Miss Universe contestant? Possibly. But what we know for sure is he’s a writer, filmmaker, and pop culture enthusiast. Since film school, EJ has written & directed several short films. He’s used his passion of filmmaking to become a movie critic for MonkeysFightingRobots.com.
Now Dory is back in a movie of her own, aptly named Finding Dory, set for release across the country this weekend just in time for kids who started summer break recently. Dory, directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane, not only atones for Disney Pixar’s massive flop, The Good Dinosaur, but is the best sequel the studio has produced since Toy Story 2.
Fast-forward 20 years, and now Hart is a junior accountant who wonders what has happened to his glory days. In contrast, Johnson has transformed himself into a ripped, unicorn loving, Molly Ringwald adoring CIA Operative with the impulse to leap into danger. Johnson is currently a wanted man as the CIA has been lead to believe that he’s gone rogue and is now a terrorist, code name “The Black Badger.”
