Chris Evans spoke with Empire about the state of Steve Rogers as the character enters Civil War.
“This is one of the first times Steve doesn’t know what side he’s on or what the right answer is. With the first Captain America [movie], I think we can all agree that Nazis are bad. The aliens are no good either; we can all get on board with that notion. This conflict is more mirroring that which we deal with on a daily basis, where it’s just different points of view. There’s no clear right, no clear wrong, and it’s hard for him to understand the right move,” said Evans.
Evans also spoke with Cineplex about the evolution of Captain America snd Iron Man.
“We’re going to have a nice evolution where you have a guy like Cap, who grew up with structure – he was a soldier and he liked hierarchy, he liked the chain of command. Now, all of a sudden, you have a guy who used to love the system not so sure about trusting it. And a guy like Tony Stark, who used to buck the system and dance to the beat of his own drum all of a sudden thinking, maybe we need some order,” said Evans.
Captain America: Civil War is directed by Anthony & Joe Russo from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, Captain America: Civil War picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.
The film stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Emily VanCamp, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Martin Freeman.
Captain America: Civil War is set for release on May 6, 2016.
First it was George Lucas and now it seems Sam Jackson has some harsh words for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Jackson appeared on ABC promoting The Hateful Eight and had this to say to Peter Travers:
“It’s…it’s…it’s done in the spirit of the Star Wars films… adventuresome and exciting, in a way” before delivering his real thought: “I think the kids need to go to lightsaber fight school.”
No one is going to disagree that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is different than any of the prequels but does that warrant the harsh words from Sam Jackson? J.J. Abrams has been very upfront about how the lightsaber sequences are rawer than it’s predecessors, but is that necessarily a bad thing? Star Wars is currently crushing everything at the box-office not only because of the name recognition of the film but more importantly because it’s an excellent film. What are your thoughts on Jackson’s comments?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Hateful Eight are both in theaters right now.
Summary:Steven has a birthday party at the barn. SPOILER ALERT
Happy Birthday Steven! The little boy is turning 14 but Connie realizes he looks exactly the same in every birthday picture since the age of 8. Worried he will never grow up, Steven uses his Gem powers to change his body and grow taller. Unfortunately, he has a problem staying this size and it wears him down. He strains himself so himself so much he turns into a baby. Got to give the boy credit for willing to try so hard it is actually causing him physical pain.
This episode showcases just how much Steven and Connie mean to one another. It’s a great moment to display just how strong their relationship is and how much they mean to one another. Steven willing to push his limits just to show he can grow to be with Connie and her stating she will not leave his side no matter what. It really tugs on the heartstrings and makes the viewer cheer for them as a couple.
One can only hope this isn’t being done with ulterior motives. As Steven Universe is based on anime, it is a common trope in anime where two characters have a moment of closeness right before a devastating battle or event tears the two of them apart. Hopefully, the creators aren’t going down this path with Steven and Connie but you never know.
Another touching yet low key episode. The creative team is on fire with the string of episodes they have been creating lately. Keep it up!
Even though streaming has been great for distribution and viewing, home video formats are hard to beat for a lot of people. On top of that, there are great shows remain unseen in the United States because they’re not available in any format. Here are some series that haven’t gotten the release they deserve.
La Hora Marcada
Even if its production value left a lot to be desired, this was a show that many remember as genuinely scary. It certainly got the job done with episodes directed by filmmakers such as Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo Del Toro. Mexican TV shows, particularly telenovelas, are no strangers for DVD distribution in the United States. So a release of this series doesn’t seem unrealistic. There was a DVD release in Mexico but it didn’t have all episodes and a lot of the episodes that would get the attention of cinephiles, such as those directed by Cuarón and Del Toro, were missing. So, here’s to hoping that someone decides to pick it up for a better, more complete series set in the United States.
Dekalog
Krzyszstof Kieslowski’s maverick miniseries did have a DVD release in the United States years ago. But with its burned-in subtitles and mediocre A/V quality, it left a lot to be desired. Two of its episodes were expanded into feature films. So if you’ve seen A Short Film About Killingand A Short Film About Love, you know you’re in for a ride.
Utopia
What happens when your favorite graphic novel turns out to be a key part of a conspiracy? Utopia happens. Considered one of the best British TV series of recent years, Utopia hasn’t found a home video release in the USA. Its fantastic cinematography and insane score make it deserving of the best picture and audio quality. With David Fincher and Gillian Flynn attempting to do a remake for HBO, there was hope there would be an American release. But with the remake and the actual show now cancelled, who knows when we will see it.
If you have the means, get the British Blu-Ray and DVD right here.
Him and Her
Tired of movies and shows glamorizing relationships and love? This BBC series will surely satisfy you. Although a little too gross at times, its (sometimes) crude humor is part of its appeal, giving a sweet and funny insight into relationships. Sarah Solemani and Russell Tovey must be seen to be believed.
If you have the means, you can get the BBC DVD here.
It’s a new year, and time for a new monthly segment at Monkeys Fighting Robots: B-Movie Badassery. In these, we will take a look at some of the biggest, baddest B-movie brilliance in film history, movies that don’t bother with prestige or logic or subtlety, genre movies that float beneath the blockbusters and the award winners of this world. Rather, they perfect and thrive in the realm of the unhinged, the insane, the violent, and the bizarrely entertaining. Not all B movies created equal. Let’s kick things off with one of the greatest B movies of the 90s, Ricochet.
Ricochet is a pure, unhinged, kitchen sink thriller, filled to the brim with violence and aggression, written with madness in mind. The film flies willfully in so many different directions, crazed and taking joy in the depraved world where it wallows. It tells the story of pure virtue facing off against inherent evil, and the black hat polluting the white hat in the name of revenge. It’s a great movie, all things considered, one that would probably never happen today.
Denzel Washington, never more magnetic than he is here, wears the white hat as officer Nick Styles, a squeaky clean law student and beat cop who’s close with his partner Larry (Kevin Pollak), and loyal to his childhood friend, Odessa (Ice T), even though Odessa is heading for a lifelong career of crime. Styles has dreams, ambitions, but so does Earl Talbot Blake, played by John Lithgow at his peak early-90s Lithgow craziness (watch this and Raising Cain and you might want to have Lithgow committed). Blake is as evil and murderous as Styles is pure, and Lithgow is as wonderful in this role as the great character name would suggest. These two men should never cross paths were it not for a botched robbery sending Blake out a window and into the middle of the carnival Styles and Larry are patrolling. Look no further for metaphorical material than here, where the mechanisms of the plot are put into motion in the middle of a busy carnival.
Styles disarms and diffuses Blake in spectacular fashion, after stripping down to his underwear and pulling a gun hidden on his backside. The scene is caught on home video (in those ancient days before camera phones) and makes the nightly news. And just like that, a chance encounter sends these two men hurtling down two opposing paths. Blake is sent off to prison, where his obsession for revenge grows and percolates and drives him. Styles, on the other hand, forgets almost entirely about Blake as his ascent takes him all the way to Assistant District Attorney of Los Angeles. He marries and has two daughters, a suburban home, and the adoration of everyone around him. He even brings along his partner Larry. Blake, on the other hand, is confined to a cell, building his rage, planning his revenge.
And revenge he exacts, in some of the film’s most insanely elaborate sequences. After staging a prison break that is loony in and of itself, Blake fakes his death and returns to the city to begin systematically destroying Styles’ perfect world. Ricochet goes off the rails in this second act, and that’s not a complaint. Because director Russell Mulcahy goes all in. The screenplay from Steven E. de Souza is willfully cynical as Blake murders Stiles’ business partner and frames him with child porn, kidnaps Blake and holds him hostage in an empty pool while injecting him with heroin, and hires a prostitute to film having sex with him while he’s strung out. If that weren’t enough, in a later scene, when Styles’ personal and professional life has begun to dissolve, Blake shows a video of himself in Styles’ daughter’s rooms, therein sending Styles half drunk and groggy to a park where he assaults a clown.
It’s insane. And kind of brilliant in it’s own weird way.
Having clear moral lines between the two central characters is crucial. Ricochet is concerned not with creating doubt, but showing off. Nick Styles must be pure at heart form the get go, and it is crucial Blake be evil personified. These two men must exist on the entire opposite ends of the human spectrum. With any gray area, mystery or moral uncertainty might infect the story, and it would cloud what this film’s true intentions are: thrills.
Ricochet refuses to let up. It never allows for a single moment of second guessing from the audience in regards to the absurdity, so we buy in. Littered with so much craziness, from the prison gladiator battle between Blake and another prisoner (the one and only Jesse Ventura), to the wild crack den firebomb near the end, Ricochet knows only one speed. And in case you’re concerned the film ignores the macho fad of it’s day, fear not, there’s two separate arm-wrestling scenes. By the time we arrive at the final showdown at Watts Towers, splayed with violence and brutality, we’re exhausted. This is the sort of picture than would never wrangle in talents like Washington and Lithgow these days; it probably would never be made no matter who was involved, because it thrives on cynicism and borders on exploitative violence. But these seemingly negative descriptors are why the film absolutely works.
With 2016 now upon us, a new year begins in box office statistics. Now, I don’t fancy myself much of a box office pundit nor do I believe that discussing the amounts of money that a movie makes is at all relevant when considering the quality or impact a film may carry. It is, however, a great barometer when looking at what the public was into at a certain time. Theatrical box office numbers capture mainstream zeitgeist like very few other statistics and I find the end results highly interesting even if I don’t give a damn about 7/10ths of the particular entries.
All this said, 2016 is going to be a very interesting year at the box office. 2015 was seen as a deathmatch between films as a large number of sure-fire hits released seemingly week after week. It certainly helped that 2015 contained quite a few absolute masterpieces in which a film’s monetary earnings were matched by its quality (sorry, Jurassic World, I’m not talking about you here). In 2016, there will not be an episodic Star Wars, no Avengers and will instead feature no fewer than 8 superhero movies tackling many characters that are mid-tier at best, expensive revivals of long-dormant franchises with very many of these not being guaranteed successes and sequels of movies that were questionably deserved in the first place. The trailers for many of these movies bring more questions than answers and I don’t mean that in an “I’m so interested I can’t freakin’ wait” kinda way.
I genuinely believe that this year is an absolute toss-up when it comes to how much money is made and which movie earns what. 2015 might have been as close as we’ve come to discovering the market threshold for moviegoing so we’ll see if 2016 suffers at all from consumers who are just tired of going to the cinemas. I certainly hope not.
So, without further ado, here come the absolute most accurate predictions for the top 10 movie grosses (US domestic) of 2016 and the money in which they’ll earn. Feel free to take this list to Vegas and make some quick cash. I only charge 15% for the usage of this list.
I can see Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book being the most surprising film of the year. I’ve got it at the bottom of this particular top 10 and I think $200 million is a very safe bet even if the movie is no good. The thing is, it looks wonderful. At the very least, Disney cut an excellent trailer that I’ve heard audiences go orangutan over when they’ve been generally ambivalent over trailer for movies I’m going to place higher on this list. Much has already been made of the technical prowess of the film with almost everything outside of Mowgli being CG work and performance capture. If the film turns out half as fun and good-looking as the first trailer, I wouldn’t be surprised if this film actually makes closer to $250 million in a year dry of much YA material (and yes, I think this is right in the YA alley). For now, I’m being safe and putting The Jungle Book at a reasonable $200 million take.
9) Ghostbusters $207 million
Paul Feig’s sequel/reimagining of the Ghostbusters series is sure to draw plenty of ire from mouth-breathing sexists based on its casting alone. That thing people say about no press being bad press rings sort of true here because the cast will surely bring in some folks who are interested in seeing how this familiar concept is drawn from the other side of the gender line. I think Ghostbusters cracks the top 10 because Paul Feig hasn’t yet directed a non-hit and the Ghostbusters property could certainly blow it past his currently highest-grossing film, Bridesmaids ($169 million). And if the film is really good like we hope… the sky’s the limit.
Here she is, the most interesting superhero movie of 2016. Like a Guardians of the Galaxy for the grim dark DC Universe, Suicide Squad is by no means a sure thing. Audiences and internet fandom have already sort of drawn their line in the sand when it comes to what the DC movies mean to them in comparing them to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But this movie does look good. Throw in Will Smith, Margot Robbie, the interesting if not insufferable Jared Leto as Joker and a true filmmaker in David Ayer and you’ve got me in a seat for sure. I don’t think Ayer has made a 100% complete film yet (4/5ths of Fury are a masterpiece) while I do greatly enjoy all of his work. It’s going to take a complete Suicide Squad movie for it to break $250 million and potentially rise on this list.
I think this is when we start to see the law of diminishing returns kick-in when it comes to the rebooted X franchise. X-Men: Days of Future Past, while being a pretty good movie, lit the box office world on fire, I believe, because of how damned great X-Men: First Class was. The first movie in this rebooted universe brought in Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy and let Matthew Vaughn run as wild as he wanted. Bryan Singer returned with the smash sequel that certainly feels like the cultural apex of the series. He isn’t able to bring the scope that Vaughn is capable of but I do think DoFP was the best X thing Singer has made. This is supposedly going to be the last film with the First Class cast and will likely be very light on the Wolverine front. Audiences will come, but I don’t believe (unless the movie is actually great, something I’m currently doubting) it will be enough to shoot Apocalypse past its predecessor.
6) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them $259 million
I think Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will surely be a bigger overseas hit than a US one. This is the first film in the Harry Potter universe not based on an already established J.K. Rowling novel, though she did write the script. I think re-teaming Rowling with 4-time Harry Potter director, David Yates, will at the very least be a familiar creative collaboration that will be as good as Rowling’s material allows it to be. If audiences are hungry to re-enter this world, I can see Fantastic Beasts being a very lucrative follow-up to The Boy Who Lived.
Alice in Wonderland (2010) made $334 million in the US and over a billion worldwide. Why? I honestly have no freaking clue. This movie will make money, though probably not as much as Wonderland likely because of it being Tim Burton-less. I really hope I’m wrong here and audiences have smartened up in the last five years, but I sincerely doubt it. This is the one movie on this list I won’t be donating a contribution towards. Burn, Alice, burn.
Finding Nemo is arguably one of Disney/Pixar’s greatest achievements and it’s a wonderfully sad and funny tale of a father willing to do anything to find his son with the help of and in spite of a Blue Tang fish with memory problems named Dory. Voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, Dory is one of the best aspects of Nemo but can we expect a movie about just her character to be as engrossing? I don’t think so, but I won’t put anything past Pixar when it comes to surprises. Still, I doubt it outgrosses Nemo and will likely fall into the top quarter of 2016’s offerings.
3) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice $341 million
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* will make plenty of money no matter how good it is. Zack Snyder’s sorta-sequel to Man of Steel (though likely more a Warner Bros. order to put some sourpuss Batman story in with Superman’s fantastic lack of box office returns) includes Ben Affleck as the Caped Crusader who isn’t at all happy with The Great Boy Scout’s antics in Metropolis three years ago. I’ve been in packed Hollywood theaters with rabid fanboy moviegoers and heard howls of laughter each time this trailer plays. I really enjoy Zack Snyder as a director even if his work isn’t great on the whole. Warners has staked a lot of claim into this particular telling of DC’s comic Gods, so they’re really hoping this one works. I think it makes more than Man of Steel ($291 million) but might still cause a bit of Warner panic when it doesn’t hit $350 mil. I just hope it’s as sincerely goofy as it looks.
2) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $457 million
Ok, I honestly have no idea how much money Rogue One will make. This is the first live-action Star Wars feature film that isn’t an episodic entry in the series so the question will finally be answered if audiences really care about this universe or if it’s Skywalker dependent. Coming hot off the heels of The Force Awakens I’d wager Rogue One makes at the very least $450 million US. America and the world are in awe of this universe again and I think are down for anything Star Wars related. The plot, involving the stealing of the Death Star plans, which occurs pre-Episode IV, is intriguing and includes a killer cast with Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelson, Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendohlson and Donnie Yen. Though, I must say, another movie with a Death Star is groan-worthy. Gareth Edwards (Godzilla (2014)) is sure to bring some scope to this story but I’ll wait cautiously to see if he can inject new, interesting characters into a galaxy already full with rich personalities.
Consider this The Avengers 2.5. Captain America: Civil War pits Steve Rogers and his team against Tony Stark and his in an ultimate duel of bubbling ideologies that have been aching and growing steam with each new MCU movie. This is all part of the long-term plan Marvel has been instituting and boy, does it look amazing and ripe with character tension that all feels earned. Cap 3 won’t likely make Avengers money, but I think it will greatly overtake the good-to-great box office earnings of the two previous Cap entries. The Winter Soldier made $259 million in 2014, which was much less than the unlikely hit, Guardians of the Galaxy ($333 million), but I don’t think this will be the case in 2016. Audiences rebelled a bit against the bloated, albeit fantastic Age of Ultron but I think will return in droves to see Cap and Iron Man duke it out. The Russo Brothers have now become the shepherds of the MCU after Joss Whedon’s departure and their filmic eye has been impeccable so far. I think Captain America: Civil War will be the biggest movie of 2016 and likely one of the best. Also, TEAM CAP ALL THE WAY!!! … ahem.
Honorable mentions that might have a shot at cracking the list: Kung Fu Panda 3, Doctor Strange (could be this year’s Guardians), The BFG, The Girl on the Train, Star Trek Beyond, Independence Day: Resurgence.
Creed and Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler, and burgeoning directorial superstar, Ryan Coogler, has been confirmed to direct Marvel’s Black Panther.
The rumors of Ryan Coogler and Black Panther have been around for a month or two now, but in the upcoming February edition of Empire magazine, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirms Coogler is on board. “This one is important,” Feige said. “Not only do you get an unbelievable lead character, but you also get all of Wakanda which is a whole new setting and culture to explore.”
It’s a fascinating marriage between Marvel and Ryan Coogler, who has become one of the most sought after filmmakers in Hollywood since he broke out with Fruitvale Station. This year, he’s at least in the Best Director discussion with the job he did on Creed. It’s also a change of pace for the MCU, which has been much more producer driven than visionary filmmaker influenced.
When asked about whether or not it was vital to hire an African-American director, Feige responded with “I think when we have opportunities where you have people of color and minorities, filmmakers, producers, writers, directors making decisions on what stories to be made and actually going to work, then you prove that those works can have financial value.”
Black Panther, who we can first see in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, is slated for a 2018 release date
It’s January, 2016 and you know what that means: season two of Agent Carter is starting this month. If you’re anything like me, you have much hope for Marvel’s foray into network television but you’re also concerned that those in charge will bungle another viable property. It might not seem like much of a problem; after all, mediocre products are routinely made of the Marvel properties we hold so dear—every Fantastic Four movie, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Hulk, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, and X-Men: The Last Stand to name a few—and the Mighty Marvel refuses to lessen its production line’s momentum. So we’re in no peril of missing out on seeing our favourite Marvel properties appear on big and little screens all over the world.
Unfortunately, that’s the problem: because Marvel sometimes lacks a quality filter, we see inadequate versions of these beloved properties pumped out at full throttle. These pale imitations of our favourite characters try to endear themselves to the public, but they lack the draw of the originals because they’ve been put through the Hollywood grinder and have come out as uniformly shaped movie/TV sausages. These easily consumed links are devoid of the extra qualities that made legions of fans salivate for decades, so new fans become fair-weather ones.
The solution to the problem of how to retain new fans, though, is pretty plain. And, conveniently, this solution should also help retain the devotion of tried and tested fans: don’t phone in a project because you think you’ve got a sure thing.
In a world where it’s so easy for any screenwriter to find out about the fictional contexts of these characters, why wouldn’t they? And though it’s not the job of a director or screenwriter to base their work completely on previous incarnations of a setting, such as the shared world of Timely Comics in the ’40s, these tend to be good jumping off points.
The Whizzer is missing from ABC and Marvel Television’s Agent Carter
Betty Dean could be an excellent addition to Peggy’s team
Or, if those in charge are trying to push the idea that unpowered women can be just as powerful as super-powered men, why not do a crossover episode featuring the brilliant police work of Betty Dean or the stealthy subterfuge of Lady Dorma? The obvious answer: these properties don’t provide a sure enough thing with which to phone it in. As a congenital true believer, though, I’ll keep watching Agent Carter hoping to see a smoky trail cutting through the sky with a half-naked, wing-footed fish-man tailing behind.
Sphero took the world by storm this past fall, introducing an app-enabled BB-8 droid on Force Friday. The Star Wars toy seemingly sold out that day, and became one of the hottest items of the holiday season.
Now, Sphero is upping the game with their new “Force Band,” introduced at CES. The Force Band will allow the wearer to control their BB-8 with just a flick of their wrist, and the power of the Force (and/or Bluetooth):
The Verge comments that the product is still in development, and the design, gestures, and even the name may change by its scheduled release this Fall. Hopefully they at least keep the Rebel/Resistance logo, or maybe even come out with a variety of options for fans of the Jedi Order or the Empire/First Order.
Regardless of the name/design, this is an awesome product in concept alone. It’s sure to be a big seller, and may even drive BB-8 sales back up a year after its initial release.
If you’re the “early adopter” type, you can sign up for updates on the Force Band here.
Louis C.K. and Albert Brooks, who recently teamed up to voice characters in the upcoming animated feature The Secret Life of Pets, will team up again and develop an animated series for FX.
According to the report in THR, the animated show is unnamed and will remain a secret for some time. Apparently, the two brilliant comedians hit it off when doing their voice work for The Secret Life of Pets, which is no surprise.
C.K., who also co-wrote and produced the pilot for the upcoming FX comedy Baskets starring Zach Galifianakis (which looks positively bizarre), has yet to confirm whether or not he will come back for a sixth season of his offbeat, always fascinating “comedy” series Louie. At the end of the last season, C.K. stated he would take a hiatus from writing and producing that show, which he basically owns and just allows FX to air. Brooks, on the other hand, will return to television for the first time since 2008 when he popped up on the briefly memorable Showtime comedy Weeds.
Louis C.K. and Albert Brooks can be heard in The Secret Lives of Pets this summer. Here’s the hilarious trailer:
