Noomi Rapace, one of the two survivors at the end of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, won’t be returning for the long-gestating sequel, Alien: Covenant.
This is a weird move for the sequel, as Rapace and Michael Fassbender’s droid, David, were the only survivors at the end of Prometheus. the sequel seemed set up for Rapace to be the new explorer, finding the origins of existence and whatnot. After that fizzled out and Scott said Rapace would have no more than a “small role” in the film (possibly being killed off in the beginning), he now tells The Playlist she won’t be returning at all.
This leaves the entire cast, save for Fassbender, entirely up in the air. It’s an odd move in a series of odd moves surrounding this sequel, which has a great deal of work to do just to recover from the original film. Prometheus was a beautiful film mired in illogical nonsense and poorly-drawn characters who made at least a dozen terrible decisions. The brightest cast member in the whole thing was Rapace. Her not returning for the sequel is disappointing.
There are a few people being considered to replace Noomi Rapace, or at least fill the void. Katherine Waterston, a standout from PTA’s Inherent Vice, has been circling the project for some time now. Filming will begin on Alien: Covenant this year with a scheduled release date of October, 2017.
Animation had always been DC’s strength. With series like Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited, and features like Under the Red Hood, DC was the undisputed heavyweight champion of animated superhero flicks. Then, the company rebooted with The Flashpoint Paradox in 2013, in an effort to jump on the “shared universe” bandwagon. Suffice it to say, the post-Flashpoint films have not lived up to their predecessors. However, the latest installment, Batman: Bad Blood, is a definite step in the right direction.
Bad Blood is a direct sequel to 2015’s Batman vs. Robin, also written by J. M. DeMatteis and directed by Jay Oliva. It seems that DC is looking to invest equal time, if not more, in establishing a Batman animated universe in addition to the Justice League one. That’s not a bad thing; there’s a reason the Caped Crusader is as popular as he is. But, after three solo films, one hopes that the company will look into another member of the team (a Wonder Woman animated feature would be a great lead-in to the live-action one in 2017).
The story here is relatively thin; the villainous plot is generic. It borrows heavily from Grant Morrison’s run in the comics, though only in broad strokes (fortunately). In a nutshell, Batman has vanished, and the Bat Family has to step up in his absence. It seems elementary. Nevertheless, the film goes deep with its theme: family. It develops the relationships that Bruce has with his young allies, and develops their relationships with one another. Nightwing’s view of Batman is dissected, and animated Dick Grayson finally gains the depth that is so beloved in the comics. The “family” theme has made for some of the best Batman stories of all time, so it was a smart choice by DC to focus on it in their latest animated endeavor.
The art is the same as the rest of the series. The characters are ridiculously thick and bulky, and their lips hardly match their dialogue. Luckily, after five films, it’s becoming normalized. That’s not to say that it’s improving, or aging well. It’s just not as jarring as it used to be. It’s become more of a minor annoyance than a major issue.
This is not an outstanding film. DC still hasn’t gotten back to the glory days of Under the Red Hood, and their recent Justice League Action announcement is cringeworthy for fans of the old series. Bad Blood is a general improvement, though. Perhaps it has to do with involving an actual comic-book writer, but the story is actually worth listening to, even if the animation isn’t worth watching.
Batman: Bad Blood is available now on Digital Download; the DVD/Blu-Ray releases February 2, 2016.
A24 released a new trailer for The Witch, written and directed by Robert Eggers.
The film has generated buzz since early last year as the new standard in horror. Eggers won the best director at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 for The Witch. Collider stated that if the film was released in 2015 it would have made their Top 10 List.
In this exquisitely made and terrifying new horror film, the age-old concepts of witchcraft, black magic, and possession are innovatively brought together to tell the intimate and riveting story of one family’s frightful unraveling in the New England wilderness circa 1630. New England, 1630. Upon threat of banishment by the church, an English farmer leaves his colonial plantation, relocating his wife and five children to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest – within which lurks an unknown evil. Strange and unsettling things begin to happen almost immediately – animals turn malevolent, crops fail, and one child disappears as another becomes seemingly possessed by an evil spirit. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, family members accuse teenage daughter Thomasin of witchcraft, charges she adamantly denies. As circumstances grow more treacherous, each family member’s faith, loyalty, and love become tested in shocking and unforgettable ways.
The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson.
The Witch is scheduled for release on February 19.
The cast of Star Wars: Episode VIII is off to the UK to begin production this month. Several cast members used their travel time to tease the new adventure on social media.
The exchange between Anthony Daniels and director Rian Johnson maybe the funniest and shows Johnson’s respect for the source material.
Gwendoline Christie also commented on returning as Captain Phasma to People.
“I will be in the next Star Wars movie. I think that’s an exclusive, actually. I was very overexcited. I made no secret of the fact that I really campaigned for the part for a long time. And then I was delighted when J.J. Abrams wanted to have me in the film and then wanted to cast me in this role that had originally been designed for a man,” said Christie.
Episode VIII is written and directed by Rian Johnson. The film stars Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Benicio Del Toro, Gwendoline Christie, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong’o, Peter Mayhew, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, and Jimmy Vee.
If there’s one show and character that can grab your attention from the first moment they are introduced, they’re Breaking Bad and Walter White. Vince Gilligan created the show and brilliantly directed the first episode (and a few more), where we get to see the beginning of what would become a cult series. This fast-paced pilot is exactly what the show needed to start off with, but what else can be said anymore? If you still haven’t seen Breaking Bad, here’s a reason why you should:
Game of Thrones
One of the highest rated, most expensive TV shows is on this list because its premiere episode is also defining of one of the biggest television and pop culture phenomenons of this decade. It establishes the premises of the show, congregating the main characters, showing us their colors without filter and ending with a bang.
After being in development since 2007, shot in 2009 and directed by Tom McCarthy (who recently helmed the acclaimed Spotlight) the original pilot was greenlighted to become a series, however HBO scrapped it and ordered a re-shoot. McCarthy stated not having enjoyed the experience, so apart from some of the cast who didn’t return, that second time the director was Timothy Van Patten.
Mr. Robot
This crime drama was one of the biggest surprises in 2015. The thing that makes the most impact in audiences when they watch the first episode is how intelligent and researched it is. The writing in this show is what elevates it from interesting to brilliant, and the acting helps the audience feel more engaged to a story which, while being original, can feel a bit far-fetched.
Mr. Robot recently won 2 Golden Globes for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Christian Slater). Lead actor Rami Malek was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama.
American Horror Story: Murder House
As a fan of horror, and after having given up on Glee, I was initially very intrigued about a new Ryan Murphy show with such an impressive cast on board, from Jessica Lange and Denis O’Hare to Connie Britton. This detail has always been the case in any of its seasons, but the one I enjoyed the most in terms of story was, by far, Murder House.
The series premiere episode was one to never forget. It set the tone nicely from the first scene and it didn’t let you go until the end, when you were left wanting more. From then on, each episode kept getting better than the previous one. Yes, it was scary, creepy and plenty sexual, but it also had a lot of style and characters to care for.
Six Feet Under
Before the rapidly deflated True Blood, Alan Ball‘s most treasured TV creation was this drama series about a family who run a funeral home.
In this pilot episode, we’re introduced to a completely dysfunctional family, suddenly mourning the loss of their patriarch in the midst of their own chaotic lives. Michael C. Hall stands out as the son who stayed with his parents to help run the business and is now forced to consider its fate.
The show also has what’s considered one of the best series finales, but this first episode is just as important to set the premise and characters as well as the sense of disarray between all of them.
The Killing, Longmire, Arrested Development, Full House and recently Gilmore Girls are shows which received the Netflix revival treatment, meaning they were cancelled before the streaming service picked them up again to produce new seasons. There are several other cancelled series fans are dying to see continued which could interest Netflix to bring back. Here I present some of them.
Firefly (2002-2003)
It’s no surprise to see Firefly in any kind of list like this one. This is the show everybody asks Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon about during Comic Con each year. Even Alan Tudyk mentioned last year the possibility of it returning for a second season. Could it actually happen?
Over the past seven years Fillion has been attached to the show Castle, but now rumors of it ending soon are becoming more and more loud since nobody can assure whether Stana Katic and/or Nathan Fillion would sign on for another season. And while it seems that Whedon is taking a break after Avengers: Age of Ultron, he might be open to continuing one of his most fan-loved projects.
One thing is for sure, if Netflix were to revive Firefly, it would be praised upon by thousands upon thousands of “browncoats” all over the world.
Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)
This show created by “self-professed Star Trek geek” Bryan Fuller was cancelled prematurely after only two seasons when it was still quite popular because of its unique aesthetic, vibrant colors and quirky tone. The story about a pie-maker (played by Lee Pace) who can bring people, plants and animals back to life with his touch would fit in nicely amongst the rest of Netflix’ catalog. Think about the outside-of-the-box kind of comedy a show like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt presents, with a bit of romance, drama, and fantasy.
Dexter (2006-2013)
There are shows running for several years and they end the way Dexter did: not entirely how fans would have liked or expected. For what it’s worth, this was a great crime show which lasted 8 seasons and had somewhat of an open end that disappointed many people. In the same style as The Killing, it would be interesting too see one final season on Netflix to mend those broken hearts.
Chuck (2007-2012)
Zachary Levi has said time and time again that he’d be open to doing a Chuck movie or mini-series instead of a full-on revival. Still after 5 seasons and a weak finale, this fun spy, action show deserves a proper goodbye and Netflix could make it happen. While Levi is busy on Broadway until June, Yvonne Strahovski’s latest show The Astronaut Wives Club, was just cancelled after only one season on ABC. Is it this year a good opportunity?
Dead Like Me (2003-2004)
Another Bryan Fuller comedy, drama and fantasy show which got cancelled before it should have been. A young girl who dies on the street by a toilet seat that falls on her head gets recruited to work in a team of grim reapers to collect souls of people before they die. While the series ending essentially with a direct-to-DVD movie wasn’t terrible, it didn’t make the show justice. Over 10 years later, a wrap-up season or mini-series on Netflix feels like a sound idea to me.
Carnivàle (2003-2005)
HBO cancelled this great fantasy show, intended to form a cohesive arc every pair of seasons, ending after 6. But after the series finale episode in season 2 there were a few questions remaining unanswered to this day. The problem is that while fans would be definitely open to a continuation, even if it meant a jump forward in time, HBO is still in possession of the rights and also, the level of production design Carnivàle needs is fairly high. Would Netflix be up for that kind of investment?
Forever (2014-2015)
A 200-year-old man works in the New York City Morgue trying to find a key to unlock the curse of his immortality.
Why was this cancelled? Although ratings picked up toward the end of the season, the show wasn’t strong enough against the list of great series on ABC, including How to Get Away with Murder, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel’s Agent Carter. In the end, the interesting premise didn’t hold up for the network, which didn’t even own the show. That might have solidified the decision to cancel it. Still it had enough potential to be developed by Netflix if they were interesting in acquiring the rights. At least the lead actor, Ioan Gruffudd would definitely come back to it, as he was very sad when he learned the bad news.
Which shows would like to see come back by the hands of mighty Netflix?
Yesterday afternoon, at Universal Studio Orlando during its celebration of Harry Potter event, Warner Brothers unveiled a surprise for the fans. They showed an exciting behind the scenes featurette for the highly anticipated Harry Potter prequel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which was meet with thunderous applause.
The behind the scenes featurette shows off never-before-seen footage as world famous magizoologist Newt Scamander makes his way to New York. Check out this new wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling.
Warner Bros. Pictures has slated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for worldwide release in 2D and 3D in select theaters and IMAX on November 18, 2016. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) stars in the central role of wizarding world magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter blockbusters.
The Star Trek movie franchise was reinvigorated by director J.J. Abrams with a reboot in 2009, albeit with the new movie taking a slightly different view on the original series characters. After the huge success of the ’09 film a sequel was produced, which received a mixed reception namely due to the overly secret nature of the movie’s plot and the ultimate letdown of said “spoiler.” 2016 will witness the third entry in this new series released and expectations have been relatively low. However, there may be more reasons to be optimistic than first glance.
Back to Basics Star Trek Beyond appears to be going back to the basic trend of the Star Trek TV series: the crew of the starship Enterprise exploring new worlds and boldly going where no one has gone before. From what we know so far of Star Trek Beyond, the Enterprise has been destroyed and the crew must fend for themselves on a new planet and face a brand new enemy, played by Idris Elba. One of the criticisms of Star Trek Into Darkness was too much retreading over previous story lines, so this at lest appears to be trapping over new ground intros new franchise while returning to the truth of the original series and its offspring.
More of an Ensemble
In a move to differ from the previous two Star Trek movies, Beyond appears to be more of an ensemble focusing as much on the rest of the crew and new characters as to the leads of Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock. Star Trek has always had it’s leads but traditionally never failed to develop the rest of the crew throughout the many movies and TV series.
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg who will be playing Scotty for the third time, he took over script writing duties from Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof, and as a self confessed ‘Trekkie’ himself, Pegg will surely bring back the best of Star Trek and what fans love about the entire series. Despite the fact that Paramount supposedly are trying to emulate movies like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy, Simon Pegg is a real fan and shown much integrity with his film making work so far.
“Scully puts the ‘science’ in science fiction,” is a concept that stuck out from my previous article arguing Dana Scully’s essential role in The X-Files. When we left Scully and Mulder in ‘My Struggle,’ Scully had scientifically proven that both her and Sveta have alien DNA. This ties into bigger X-Files mythology around abductees, the Cigarette Smoking Man, and The Syndicate. Of course Scully is key to these storylines, and Scully and Mulder fear their son William is a part of The Syndicate’s conspiracy.
Now ‘Founder’s Mutation,’ which starts off like a monster-of-the-week episode, goes on to explain what exactly this conspiracy is. The Syndicate, featured heavily in The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998), worked to implement a project for aliens to colonize and repopulate the planet. The full details of this storyline never really played themselves out in The X-Files. This episode looks into human-alien hybrids as the new theory on how this alien colonization will work. For The Syndicate this has been their goal all along, as some twisted way to speed up human evolution. One great allusion to the human evolution theme is when Scully and Mulder run into Agnes (Kacey Rohl) at the hospital. In one of the shots with Agnes, the audience can see Planet of Apes playing on a TV in the background.
Scully and Mulder’s investigation lead them to discover a series of inhumane genetic experiments, most of which are preformed on women and young children. This is a call back to Scully’s choice to give up her son for adoption in Season 9. Could William be like these children that Scully and Mulder find in Goldman’s hospital? Bringing back William Scully might be Chris Carter’s master plan to finally give audiences the answers to all the alien-related storylines. Often the government conspiracy and alien cover-up storyline felt tired. These mythology episodes usually didn’t work for me, because any answers given to the viewer felt vague. But in The X-Files revival these mythology-heavy episodes hold my attention, because Scully can quantify what’s fact and what’s fiction. Scully’s medical background makes her indispensible proving the science in these genetic experiments. As a former abductee, Scully continues to develop through her character arc. Dana Scully adds complexity to the story, as she can relate to and help investigate other survivors.
The second episode works by giving audiences the Scully and Mulder team that fans know and love. It’s a call back to some serious nostalgia, complete with scene in Assistant Director Walter Skinner’s office. Here the mission is clear, and Scully has a lot of challenges ahead of her.
Ewan McGregor was on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night to promote his latest film Jane Got A Gun, McGregor talked about his voice-over work for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In the scene describe below Rey has a Force Vison, and Obi-Wan says, “Rey, These Are Your First Steps.”
In ‘The Force Awakens’ when Rey touches the hilt of the lightsaber, the Force vision takes hold, and she is taken to the hallway on Bespin, where Luke fought Vader. She is then taken to a scene where she observes Luke placing a hand on R2. A fire backlights the scene. Next we see a figure, swinging a club-type weapon, before a red lightsaber blade blooms from his chest. Then, Rey in on the ground, in the rain, staring up at Kylo Ren and the other Knights of Ren. The next scene is a little girl (Rey) being dropped off on Jakku, as an alien hand pulls her saying “Quiet, girl.” The girl is screaming and crying, as she watches a starship take flight and leave Jakku’s atmosphere. Finally, Rey is taken to a scene from the future, where she is in a snowy forest, and as she turns, Kylo Ren is in front of her, his lightsaber ignited.
There are several theories on who Rey is and who she’s related to. You can check out this article: Top 5 Theories On Rey
What we do know is Rey has a connection between Obi-Wan, Luke and or Anakin. If she didn’t, there would be no Force Vison. The best theory so far is that Rey is Luke’s daughter and Obi-Wan’s granddaughter. That would mean that Obi-Wan had a daughter and Luke found her. Obi-Wan’s daughter could be one of the female characters introduced in Episode VIII.
Episode VIII is written and directed by Rian Johnson. The film stars Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Benicio Del Toro, Gwendoline Christie, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong’o, Peter Mayhew, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, and Jimmy Vee.
Episode VIII will be in theaters on December 15, 2017.
