Last night on Saturday Night Live, Adam Driver was the host, and as expected, they did a sketch that focused on Driver’s character Kylo Ren. Apparently Kylo Ren is a terrible boss, and now the First Order Storm Troopers have him as an undercover boss. Driver’s character tells the audience ” You get so caught up in restoring the galaxy to its rightful state that you miss what’s going on behind the scenes.”I’m looking forward to having some real talk with some real folks.” Check out the sketch from last night.
Kylo shuns his black robes for overalls as he masquerades as the geeky Matt the Radar Technician. Cameras are set up in the canteen and the storm troopers are unaware that “Matt” is the commander of the first order.The skit sees the disguised Ren ask some stormtroopers if they like working there and what they reckon of Kylo’s chances of “finishing what Darth Vader started.The highlight of the sketch was when one of the storm troopers referred to Kylo as a “little punk bitch.”
Over the last two months Fox has been releasing several previews, promos and behind-the-scenes videos for the new X-Files. On Friday fans got the latest full-length trailer, and oh does it give audiences a lot to think about.
The original X-Files ran from 1993-2002 for 9 seasons. At the end of Season 9 the FBI shut down the X-Files, and Mulder and Scully learn of an impending alien invasion. Of course none of the problems presented at the end of Season 9 were resolved later on. The next film installment in the franchise, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), turned into a standalone plotline.
It’s been 13 years since fans have gotten a taste of the weird and unknown, and government conspiracies. With this trailer, among others, the new X-Files seems to be bringing back the good stuff. According to an article by Entertainment Weekly, new series is heavily influenced by a post-9/11 context. In the trailer this is pretty obvious with clips of paramilitary soldiers storming into public, surveillance equipment, and a U.S. drone. “They police on us, spy on us, tell us that makes us safer,” says Mulder. Here is the perfect combination for a serious government conspiracy, and of course Chris Carter has to raise the stakes. A simple government cover-up of aliens on Earth won’t cut it for today’s audience.
Reworking The X-Files for a modern audience, which has a beloved 90s feel to it, requires something a little more fast-paced. The trailer gives us that with upping the hostile government storyline. Mulder’s still obsessed with aliens, but he sounds pissed off. There’s also a ton of explosions. The Smoking Man is back, again, because apparently the old man just won’t die. Every time they re-open the X-Files the guy rises from his assumed grave.
The show is clearly trying to pick up where it left off in Season 9. The trailer gives audiences the horror/sci-fi element with what looks like human experiments. There are also some strong hints at Scully’s son coming into the story. Scully gave up her son William for adoption in Season 9. The idea of bringing back such a significant character would seriously shake up the character dynamics.
The X-Files is premiering on Fox on January 24, 2016. Most of the plot details are top secret, but the series will bring back David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Mitch Pileggi.
Deadpool seems to be getting into the spirit of the football playoffs, releasing it’s second sports-themed TV spot. This one arrived during the NFL Playoff game between New England and Kansas City. This one isn’t that much different that the “Canadian Rules” TV Spot, but 20th Century Fox promises 5% new footage. Check it out!
Now that the NFL playoffs are in full swing, the Merc with the Mouth is celebrating the only way he knows how.This video shows Ryan Reynolds’ title character seemingly lining up a “field goal,” only to kick one of his enemies square in the head.
Based upon Marvel Comics’ most original anti-hero, Deadpool tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts a new alter ego.Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life. Deadpool is slated for release on February 12, 2016. Ryan Reynolds stars as the Merc With the Mouth, with a supporting cast that includes Morena Baccarin, Gina Carano, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Olesia Shewchuk, Style Dayne, Rachel Sheen and Dan Zachary. Tim Miller makes his directorial debut with Deadpool, working from a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Deadpool is based on the Marvel comic book series created by Rob Liefeld.
Tvline is reporting that Marvel and Netflix (the streaming service) is looking to greenlight a Punisher series starring Jon Bernthal in the title role. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet but being that TV Line is a sister site of Deadline, don’t be shocked to hear something official soon. The Punisher will join Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders. It’s not hard to wonder if Elektra might soon join that list as well. One can only take it as a clear sign that Marvel is taking the reboot of the character seriously as they look to redeem themselves after a series of failed big screen adaptations. It’s been reported that The Punisher’s origin story will play out in Daredevil season two, but as we all know Frank Castle (The Punisher) has many more stories that can be told on the small screen.
Season Two of The Flash has been ripe with speculation about who is behind the Zoom mask. In the comics, Zoom is Hunter Zolomon and it could well be him behind the mask. What I would like, is for it to be someone completely different.
The theory I have is Zoom the Earth Two version of Barry Allen. Below is the storyline I would love to be a reality.
The Earth 2 version of Barry Allen was a normal kid with a loving family until one day he loses his parents in a car crash. This has a devastating effect on him but he seems to get through it after being taken in by family friend Joe West.
Jump forward to adult Barry who is now working as a forensic scientist for the police force (same as the Earth One version). The particle accelerator incident happens which again causes Barry to be struck by lightning and is in a coma for nine months. Here’s where the versions of Barry differ. After waking up, Barry finds out Joe and Iris have been killed by a metahuman which causes Barry to have a mental break as he has lost everyone he ever loved.
He begins to use his powers and slowly gets faster and faster until one day he somehow crosses over to our Earth. While here he sees Earth One Barry, and sees how his life is different and how he has friends and loved ones around him which enrages Earth Two Barry. While here he discovers he is the Flash and decides he wants to destroy his life so he becomes Zoom (this is my theory on why the suit looks like the Earth One Flash, Zoom’s life has been a nightmare so he becomes the nightmare version of the Flash).
Zoom then crosses back over to his world and then finds that he can no longer get back across to ours which only causes his anger to increase. As a result, he goes after the next best thing, Jay Garrick, and proceeds to terrorise him for the next two years.
When the singularity happens Zoom realises that he now has the means to truly destroy Barry’s life and puts his plan into motion.
There have been a couple of things which have made me think this.
1. Since the singularity happened, we haven’t heard anything of the Earth Two version of Barry. We do know from recent news reports, that Caitlin Snow and Ronnie Raymond from Earth Two will be appearing in an upcoming episode. We also know they will be Killer Frost and Deathstorm (Earth Two version of Firestorm). With this is mind, I believe it hints at a pattern where the alternate versions of characters are evil, following different events thathappened in their lives. This would then fit with a darker personality for Barry of Earth Two.
2. Zoom’s suit is the pretty much the same as Barry’s. Except its more of a nightmare version, which could be a clue to the mental state of Earth Two Barry as he is living a waking nightmare.
3. There was a few times in Episode Five: ‘The Darkness and The Light, where time travel is discussed and how Barry has done it a couple of times. Then when you see Zoom has Wells daughter and she said her father will kill him, Zoom responds with “I will not die, but yours and your father’s fate is undecided”. Is this because he has figured out time travel also and has been to the future himself and seen certain things. Maybe he has figured out how to cross into other versions of Earth, and has already killed other versions of Flash and already absorbed their Speed Force which is why he is so strong. Earth Two Wells mentions the multi verse in the episode so it’s not impossible.
I for one am very excited to see how it pans out. Do you have your own theory for who the man in the mask is? If so, let me know in the comments.
Whether it’s TV or film, it seems comic book-based programming is everywhere. It’s not remotely surprising given the success of these entities on both TV and in theaters. However, it’s to imagine a more challenging property to develop for broadcast than Lucifer. Set to debut on FOX January 25th after The X-Files (talk about a great lead-in), Lucifer is based on the character primarily created by Neil Gaiman in his seminal DC/Vertigo comic series The Sandman, and later further developed by writer Mike Carey in his spinoff series named after the title character. In all versions of this tale, the story centers around Lucifer, the villain in more than half of the world’s major religions. His comics had a lot of sex, lots of death, a total overthrow of the cosmos, and at the center of it all is Satan, so when word got out that Fox was developing this into a pilot many were taken aback.
This show sounded like a home run for premium cable, but network TV? The idea of a Lucifer TV Show that was 100% faithful to its source material was far fetched. Which is probably why the show has mostly tossed the concept and created a police procedural around the character. What was crucial to make this concept work is to make sure Lucifer is as he is in the comics- irreverent, sinister, and even a smidge conflicted. Well, thanks in large part to Tom Ellis’s spot on portrayal of the title character, everything works.
The show centers around the idea that Lucifer has grown bored. Given this, he decided to take a break from the business of soul torture to live in a seedy part of Los Angeles. However, this doesn’t sit well his friends in heaven, who request that he get back to the business of running the underworld. Lucifer seems to have grown tired of overseeing the underworld and now appears to prefer managing the evils of the living realm. He owns an upscale nightclub called LUX and is drawn into a murder mystery when a beautiful pop star is murdered outside his club.
One thing leads to another, and Lucifer ends up helping the police solve crimes and working on the side of justice.
If fans of the comic are flocking to this show and expecting to see the same Lucifer they’ve read in the comics, then they’re going to be tremendously disappointed. It safe to say this show is inspired by the character from the DC comics and that’s not a bad thing. Remember, not everything on the page can be translated to the screen. The producers of Lucifer seemed to focus more on building a quality product by not being mired too heavily in the source material and focusing on the script and the casting choices. For the show to be a success, there has to be a balance between all three. They succeed, and Fox may have another hit on their hands. Be sure to check out Lucifer Jan. 25th on FOX.
Yesterday morning, the internet exploded after hearing a new Cloverfield movie will be here in just two months! No one saw this coming and everyone is trying to find out how 10 Cloverfield Lane could possibly be connected to the just as strangely marketed 2008 horror film.
10 Cloverfield Lane has been under the codename Valencia up until now; the plot synopsis is pretty vague and sounds nothing like a Cloverfield sequel:
“After a car accident, a young woman comes to in an underground cellar, where most of the action takes place. She fears she has been abducted by a survivalist, who tells her he saved her life and that a chemical attack has left the outside world uninhabitable. Uncertain what to believe, she decides she must escape, whatever dangers she may face outside.”
Not to mention the movie appears to be set in some sort of bomb shelter instead of New York City and is missing the found footage aspect. So how in the world is this connected to the original Cloverfield?
Let’s start with the facts we are left with at the end of Cloverfield, spoilers obviously follow! At the end of Cloverfield, we see Hud get ripped apart by the monster, Beth and Rob take shelter from under a bridge in Central Park and then see bombs drop on top of the monster and the bridge that Beth and Rob are hiding under. During the credits of Cloverfield we hear a transmission, when played backwards it says “It’s still alive!” So the question is, what the hell happened to the monster? Was it captured? Did it escape? We have no idea.
After doing some digging, I found out there used to be a division at Paramount called Insurge. Insurge made movies like The Devil Inside with a budget of $5,000,000 or less, which is what the budget of Valencia was estimated to be. The division was closed down at some point and Valencia was left in development hell. Paramount swooped in and picked the movie back up. This is when people like J.J. Abrams and Dan Casey came in to connect this movie to the Cloverfield universe. Earlier last year, reshoots were done and they have been editing the film since they wrapped. It’s possible the budget has been increased since the film was resurrected; the movie is advertised as being shown in IMAX and you don’t film in IMAX unless you have some crazy action and effects in it.
Here is when things start to get a bit more confusing if they weren’t already, stick with me! My guess is at the end of the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane is when she see’s the world outside and Nate comes to the door in the hazmat suit which brings shock to Michelle. Yes, you see her with Nate and Howard before this scene but they might have intentionally edited it to misdirect us. After all, she is seen in the same clothing once with a leg brace and again without. Once Howard decides to let Nate in they settle in for a little bit and Michelle asks about what happened, leading to Howard bringing out the barrel we see in the trailer. It is possible that one of the creatures from the Cloverfield monster is in the barrel, most likely dead, and he tells her a story about it and explains what happened. I have more theories on where the movie would go from there but I will keep those to myself for now as I don’t want to potentially spoil the film for others.
The barrel with the creature.
One last thing I want to touch on is the tagline for the movie: “Monsters come in many forms.” This could imply a ton of different things. The Cloverfield monster has evolved into something else, or there is some sort of new threat that is connected to the first movie, or the monster is John Goodman’s character, Howard.
I have much more I could go into, but I don’t want to share everything quite yet because I want to wait and see what may come true as we get closer to the film’s release. The mystery surrounding this movie is amazing and will hopefully pay off. I look forward to seeing how this whole thing plays out and seeing if the marketing for this film is as cool as its predecessor.
10 Cloverfield Lane releases March 11th, 2016 and stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher Jr. It will be the directorial debut of Dan Trachtenberg who made the short film Portal: No Escape.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Wonder Woman has finally cast Hippoyta. Connie Nielsen, the Danish-born actress who is best known for playing the Roman queen in Gladiator, has joined the cast of the film and is slated to play Wonder Woman’s mom. The movie is currently shooting in the United Kingdom and Italy. Gal Gadot is playing the Amazonian princess with a cast that includes Chris Pine, portraying Captain Steve Trevor, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, and Ewen Bremner.
Nielsen’s recent credits include a stint on the Kevin Bacon crime drama The Following as well as The Good Wife. She also appeared in Nymphomanic Vol. 1. Wonder Woman will be released June 23, 2017.
I remember the first time I had an IPA. I was amazed at how different it tasted from what I’d been drinking. When I realized that APA’s have the same essential qualities as IPA’s, I became hooked on both. “American,” “Indian,” I’m not picky, so long as the beer makes my jaw clench and my mouth water after I drink it. So with great joy, I present my first review of an APA: from Barrie, Ontario, Flying Monkeys’s take on the American Pale Ale: Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale.
First Sip
For a pale ale it has a surprisingly creamy mouth-feel, not as thick as a stout but again not as thin and fizzy as some others. The much-advertised Amarillo hops makes my mouth water but doesn’t pucker my lips or tighten my jaw like a bitterer APA or IPA.
Last Sip
The creamy mouth-feel I enjoy as I’m drinking ensures that the final sip is always a heady one, so avoid chugging these or you’ll be belching more than speaking for the rest of the night. Like most beers, don’t let this one get warm. This beer’s bitterness packs a refreshing kick when it’s cold but that turns into a full-on Ryu-style roundhouse if drunk at room temperature.
Nom, nom, nom
Other Comments
Some people don’t like bitter things. I sympathize: I hate coffee. Beer—especially an APA—is one of those things that benefits from a bit of bitterness, though, especially when enjoyed with some deep-fried food.
The History
Established in 2004 as Robert Simpson Brewing, the brewery’s name was changed in 2008 to Flying Monkeys to more accurately reflect its philosophy. Whatever their name, though, Flying Monkeys is a success story in the world of craft brewing. The About page of their website—on which you start at the bottom and scroll up—describes them as the little guy down to the brewery’s founder Peter Chiodo’s beer making origins, “In a dorm room, in a basement, in a kitchen … .” On top of 2008 being a big year for the brewery’s re-branding, it was also the year that sales of Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale were launched. Since then Hoptical Illusion as well as other Flying Monkeys brews have won a number of Ontario Craft Brewers medals, and, thankfully, Flying Monkeys continues to release new flavours every year.
The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts is a documentary directed by Steve Yu, starring Steve Austin, Adam Copeland ‘Edge,’ Ted DiBiase, Jim Duggan, Scott Hall, Gene Okerlund, Dallas Page, Jim Ross, and Aurelian Smith ‘Jake Roberts.’
The documentary did the film festival circuit in 2015 and was released January 12 on demand.
When presented the opportunity to watch a documentary about the life of Aurelian Smith Jr, most would find almost anything else to do rather than subject yourself to that. However, when you change the name from Aurelian Smith Jr to Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, my assumption is that the reaction would be drastically different. Such was the case this past Thursday when a friend of Mr. Smith’s arranged for an opportunity to screen The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts. Now being a child of 80’s, being aware of Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts is not the biggest of a stretch as the WWF dominated programming on Saturday Mornings (Yes, they had a cartoon), Saturday Nights, and their pay-per-views drew record crowds. Who could forget ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund announcing at Wrestlemania Three that they had 93,000 screaming fans jammed into the Pontiac Silver Dome? However, this documentary is much more than a retelling of past glories in the ring. In fact, if someone were to go to watch this documentary expecting to relive Jake’s glory days, they will be vastly disappointed. This film is less about Jake and more about the demons that Aurelian Smith Jr. is still facing to this day. The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts is a raw and unfiltered look at the demons the people face and how they can through hard work overcome them.
The catalyst behind the resurrection was former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page. Mr. Page, who’s since retired from wrestling, has found success with his DDP Yoga plan wanted to reach out to Mr. Smith for no other reason than to pay him back for all the times he had helped Diamond Dallas Page in the ring. When they arrive at his home in Gainesville Texas, we find a Three hundred pound Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts bemoaning how terrible his life currently is and how he feels likes he’s spiraling out of control. He even goes as to admit that he’s dabbled in some crack as recently as a month prior. After some persuasion, Mr. Smith agrees to move in with Diamond and start his road to recovery. Jake’s road to recovery is filled with clean living, clean eating, and tons of DDP Yoga.
Now where this documentary could have gone astray is if this turned into some ‘infomercial’ for DDP Yoga but that wasn’t even remotely the case. As the documentary went on it seems that director Steven Yu pushed the envelope even more as we were able to witness the multiple instances where Jake would relapse and to say it was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Yu should be commended for sticking with those scenes and allowing the audience to go on this journey with Jake even during his rough times. How could you not empathize with Jake’s struggle when they found him intoxicated at the Atlanta Airport? The audience truly gets to see the depths of addiction can affect a person no matter how much they want to change for the better.
Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts has a lot of issues, but those issues seem to be getting under control right from the moment we meet Scott Hall, and Mr. Page invites him to join Jake on the path to recovery and to move in with them. While Scott Hall does factor in this documentary, he does play a significant role in Jake’s recovery because it’s the first time he gets to see a person who’s a reflection of himself. Both Scott and Jake are addicts, and before they moved in with Mr. Page, they probably were headed towards an early death. Seeing Scott, seems to motivate Jake just enough to get him on a permanent track towards happiness.
The shame in all this, The Resurrection of Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts won’t nearly get the respect that it deserves because it will get lost in the shuffle of other films. This documentary wasn’t even on my radar until it was brought to my attention. In a word, this documentary is sensational. It’s an authentic look at a man who’s struggle nearly cost him his life but through the power of determination, he started down the road to recovery. Do yourself a huge favor this weekend and avoid the same regurgitated Hollywood nonsense and order this brilliant documentary on I-Tunes.
