After a few weeks of back and forth, rewrites, and retitling, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus 2 finally has a title, a release date, and even an intriguing synopsis.
Alien: Covenant is the official title of Prometheus 2, according to the release from 20th Century Fox via their Facebook page. The title card also hearkens back to Scott’s original Alien film:
And here is that official synopsis:
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with ALIEN: COVENANT, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with PROMETHEUS — and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.
So now you know what to call it, what it will be about (in a sense at least) and that Michael Fassbender will be the focal point of the story. That’s a relief, since Fassbender’s synthetic David was maybe the most believable human in the first Prometheus. This sequel has Spectre scribe re-working portions of the script, so take that as you will.
Star Wars News – Empire released the first image for a new character from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Constable Zuvio.
LucasFilm describes Constable Zuvio as a “vigilant law officer on a mostly lawless world” who “keeps order in a frontier trading post”. He’s also apparently “tough and humorless.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will take over the universe on December 17.
John Oliver opening his show, Last Week Tonight, with his comments on the Paris attacks.
“Here is where things stand. First, as of now, we know this attack was carried out by gigantic f—–g a——s. Unconscionable, flaming a——s, possibly working with other f—–g a——s, definitely working in service of an ideology of pure a——ery. Second, and this goes almost without saying, f–k these a——s. F–k them, if I may say, sideways,” said Oliver.
“France is going to endure. And I’ll tell you why: If you’re in a war of culture and lifestyle with France, good f—ing luck! Because go ahead, bring your bankrupt ideology; they’ll bring Jean-Paul Sartre, Edith Piaf, fine wine, Gauloises cigarettes, Camus, Camembert, madeleines, macarons, Marcel Proust, and the f—ing croquembouche. The croquembouche! You’ve just brought a philosophy of rigorous self-abnegation to a pastry fight, my friends! You are f—ed! That is a French freedom tower!” said Oliver.
Marvel’s Jessica Jones comes out this Friday on Netflix and two scenes from the series involving David Tennant’s Purple Man were released. From the two clips, there is a sense of suspense that wasn’t felt with the Daredevil series. This is a welcome emotion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and depiction of Marvel heroes on Netflix continues to impress with tone and concept.
Are you taking Friday off the binge watch?
The show takes places after a tragic end to her short-lived Superhero career. The series follows Jessica as she rebuilds her personal life and career as a detective who seems to get cases involving people with super abilities in New York City. Marvel’s Jessica Jones premieres on November 20th on Netflix.
The series stars Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, David Tennant as Kilgrave, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Rachael Taylor as Patricia “Trish” Walker, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Marvel’s Jessica Jones is Executive Produced by series Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg and Liz Friedman, along with Jeph Loeb, who also serves as Marvel’s Head of Television.
Marvel’s Jessica Jones is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix. The series premieres on Netflix November 20.
The first shot of Liam Neeson in Martin Scorsese’s Silence has popped up tonight, proving that Martin Scorsese is, in fact, following through with one of his fifty upcoming projects. To be fair, Silence was always set to be his next film, it’s just that whatever film would be after Silence seems to have changed depending on the day of the week.
Anyways, here is Liam Neeson, decidedly slimmer, in Silence:
Courtesy: Paramount Pictures
In an interview with Variety, Neeson discussed working with Scorsese and trimming away about 20 pounds for the role. “[Scorsese] gives 200%,” he said. “All he requires is that you give 100%… He’s intimidating… He requires absolute silence on the set — if he hears one tiny sound, it shatters it for him.”
Here is the brief synopsis for the film:
In the seventeenth century, two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity.
There is no set release date for Silence, but Scorsese is angling for a Cannes premiere next year. Aside from Neeson, the film also stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver among others.
The Second Season of iZombie is back again on solid ground, with a bit of foreshadowing, more twists than the average person can handle, and a really solid murder to boot. iZombie is back at it’s best, and I love it.
Review of iZombie Season 2 Episode 6 ‘Max Wager’
Let me get right to the heart of this episode. The murder was a two-parter! But it wasn’t your typical two-part mystery, actually each episode was mostly self-contained. But Max Wager was able to build off of the last episode is such a perfect way, it gave the last episode more weight, we got to see some consequences.
I also loved that Liv’s brain this week was from a character previously introduced, and not as “Hello, I’m the guy that’s about to die, nice to meet you.” It makes me look forward to the inevitable day that Liv has to eat the brain of a newly deceased main character (Peyton or Clive, perhaps?).
What was pretty interesting was the sexual tone of this episode. A lot of this episode was devoted to Major and Liv trying to figure things out, while Ravi tries to figure different things out. While it was a change from the norm, it felt natural considering the Sex = Zombie plotline’s focus this episode. Speaking of which, it seemed like that was a little rushed. As if the reveal of condoms ineffectiveness should have been held back until next week, but considering Liv and Majors eagerness, coupled with many other plot-lines are beginning to climax (pun intended), it seems to be the right choice, rushed or not.
Moving from sexual tone to sexual tension we got a bit of our favorite FBI agent Dale with Clive. Other than the fact that it was so a date, the important part of that scene was to talk a bit about the brains. Everything is pointing to Clive finding out about zombies within the next three episodes, Clive has been unusually attentive of Liv’s changing behaviors, has rushed her into cases without letting her eat, and of course, the Suzuki brains. The question is whether the Suzuki brains will help Dale hunt for Major.
Another great moment this episode had was a question brought up for the first time. Is being a zombie bad? Blaine mostly deals with the issue, even going so far as to ask Liv what she thought. Blaine’s daddy was the first to really cement the idea that being a zombie might not be such a bad thing. Blaine has benefited, his father has benefited, and we, certainly, have benefited, because no zombies means no iZombie. The only problem I had, is that is seems like found his answer, he likes being a zombie, but if that is truly the case then his fathers threat means nothing. If Blaine’s dad’s threat means nothing, then Blaine has nothing to worry about. Blaine certainly didn’t have to go as far as he did.
Speaking of going far, Blaine and Grandpa, dang. Really have to give David Anders credit here, you could tell, just through facial expressions how hard it was for Blaine to kill Grandpa. Especially when he found out it was all in vain.
An additional moment worth loving was when Major and Dale met. It was immediate that their interactions won’t end well, a great moment leading up to what will hopefully be a great arc.
iZombie‘s been pretty good with its villains so far, Blaine is great, Du Clark is a wonderful asshole, but Stacey Boss, yeah. The scene between Peyton and Mr. Boss was fantastic (even if the build-up was a little obvious), so far iZombie is three for three with great villains. I look forward to what Mr. Boss has in store for us.
But there were two standout moments this episode. The first is when Liv began gambling with “The Barber.” This is the first time that Liv’s persona is really gotten in the way of the case (unless you count that BS villain in the third episode). What makes this so special is that it’s indicative of what is happening throughout iZombie, but I have one more moment to cover.
R.I.P. Grandpa
And that moment, as previously alluded to, is when Blaine found out that his dad was missing. Anyone with half a brain knew immediately why, Major killed him. This is a major moment in iZombie, not only was it heart-breaking for Blaine (He killed Grandpa for nothing!), but two major plot-lines have crashed into each other.
All throughout iZombie, from here on, we will see endless bumping between the plotlines. Major’s is affecting Blaine’s, Clive’s will affect Dale’s which will affect Major’s, Major’s also affects Peyton’s which affects Mr. Boss’s which affects Blaine’s. Things are about to get messy, I can’t wait.
If I were to critique anything overall it would be the number of antagonists. While Blaine has shifted into more of a morally ambiguous position, we still have Super Rager and Du Clark on one side, and Stacey Boss on the other. With everything else iZombie is juggling, one of these villains is going to be defeated soon, but which? Given how quickly Mr. Boss has been introduced and the pace of the Rager arc, I’d guess Stacey Boss will be dead or behind bars by the end of the season. I don’t like that idea, Mr. Boss has far too much potential to be just a seasonal villain, but we can’t have two central antagonists that have nothing to do with each other. This is just speculation though, we’ll have to wait to see what iZombie does.
Overall this episode was iZombie at it’s best, everything was rock solid, and I cannot wait for the next episode. But what did you think? Did you enjoy the episode as much as I did? Do you agree with what I have to say? Let me know in the comments, all discussion is appreciated!
I speak for all movie goers in stating just how excited we are for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to hit theaters in mid-December. After what you did in resurrecting the Star Trek franchise, I’m giddy at what you and Lawrence Kasdan have created. However, I have one small request if you wouldn’t mind, stop with the endless TV Spots promoting the film! I understand that you have an obligation to promote the movie but seriously does this movie need any more promotion? Star Wars: The Force Awakens is projected to shatter every box office record ever created, so I think you guys certainly have the word out about Episode VII.
Now I don’t want you to take this as an insult to the trailers you have put out for all of us to see. Trailers are fine (in fact they are necessary) but having an average bland Disney Channel host talking us through the Star Wars Universe is just taking it a little too far. Don’t you think?
I bet you that if you went to Disney right now and had every ad pulled for The Force Awakens that you still would make 250 million dollars in the opening weekend. Come on, you have to be feeling pretty good about this movie as Disney bought every IMAX screen from Maine to Montana and all points in between.
Also can we please tone down the Corporate Synergy that’s happening during the promotion of this film? Everywhere I turn, I see another The Force Awakens cross-promotional moment. From the trailer airing on Monday Night Football to having Shonda Rimes discuss The Force Awakens footage on ABC this past Thursday. We get it, Disney, you know own the rights, but you don’t have to take it to this level of intergalactic promotion. I swear it wouldn’t surprise me if Kylo Ren was cast as the new Mr. Feeney in Girl Meets World. Now that I think about it, that actually would make sense because Adam Driver does have experience appearing on a show dominated by women.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, Mr. Abrams, I wish you nothing but success as you begin your new venture into the Star Wars universe.
Your Fan, Dewey Singleton
P.S. – If you have a role for a bald surly film critic in either Episode VIII or Episode IV, look me up.
“BLAM. You’re dead. Maybe that’s how I’ll do it. Just get you in my sights and blow your brains out. Nah. That’d be too quick.”
Those are the first sentences of Daredevil issue number 181: The Last Hand. They’re said by the mass murdering psychopath, Bullseye, as he sits in his jail cell seething at Daredevil over their latest conflict. Daredevil saved Bullseye’s life in their last encounter, which in Bullseye’s warped sense of honor, was the greatest humiliation. So, now Bullseye has vowed to kill Daredevil and become the world’s deadliest assassin again. He doesn’t care who’s going to get hurt or who’s going to suffer, he’s going to get what he wants.
Daredevil 181 is often called the epitome of a Daredevil story. It’s often discussed as an influence for a lot of creators in the industry, particularly for Daredevil stories. Brian Michael Bendis used it as influence for his fantastic run on Daredevil back in the early 2000s. And it really makes perfect sense, this comic was ground breaking for its time and really showed that Marvel was pushing the boundaries of comic book literature in the early 80s.
Believe it or not kids, there was a time when Marvel was not known as the fun company telling cool superhero stories that the whole family could enjoy. They were actually the exact opposite of that, and often branded themselves as the “edgy” comic book company. Through X-Men, Spider-Man, and Daredevil Marvel was telling dark, complex stories that were known for having a certain sense of bitterness behind them and were provocative for the time. Daredevil 181 was ground breaking for a plethora of reasons.
From an artistic perspective, Frank Miller’s pencils and Klaus Janson’s colors (the same team on The Dark Knight Returns) brilliantly capture a troubled, grim New York through heavy shadows, and negative space. The facial expressions are unique and specific for each character, and there’s a lot of movement in each panel. It gives the action scenes a lot of weight and tension as the two artists show every blow and strike and their ramifications. The art also keeps the story focused. As each panel has a specific purpose in keeping the story flowing, or showing us how Bullseye interprets something.
The story is where the book really shines. Rather than just rehash another “by the books” of Daredevil fighting Bullseye, this one is told entirely from the point of view of Bullseye. And it’s how we as an audience can understand his hatred, see how brilliant of a foe he is, and even kind of like him through his pretty funny internal narration. Most superhero stories had sympathetic villains then, and there were even a few villain focused books, but this one gave us a front row seat to the mindset of a terrifying villain, and made him the protagonist of the comic. And as he hunts down Daredevil we feel scared that he may actually do it.
The biggest conflict of this story, and it’s most famous confrontation was between Bullseye and Elektra, Daredevil’s ex-girlfriend, and top assassin for the Kingpin. The two have a disturbing fight through out the streets of New York each showing their respective abilities and fighting styles; the fight is also done with barely any dialogue, which makes it all the more haunting. And ultimately Bullseye wins by stabbing Elektra through the heart with one of her own weapons. And the only reason he does this is because Bullseye was pissed at her for taking his old job.
This was also a time when superhero deaths were more permanent, so when Elektra died, she died…. Well that is until Marvel pressured Miller in to bringing her back in one of the most bizarre stories ever, but back then a comic book character dying was more of a long-term concept. But, yea, at the time she was dead, and audiences had no idea that she was coming back.
And with Elektra’s death, Daredevil finally confronts Bullseye, but he’s much more primal, violent and uncompromising in their battle. It’s another grim fight with little dialogue that lets the art of the comic set the mood. Miller succeeds with flying colors in the show don’t tell rule here. But, even after Daredevil puts Bullseye in intensive care again, Bullseye still gets the last laugh as he hurt Matt Murdock. Worse than anyone, Bullseye, hurt Murdock.
This book is perfect. It has amazing action scenes, a disturbed protagonist that keeps you glued to the book, Frank Miller’s best art ever, and a focused narrative that never gets bogged down or distracted. This is the Daredevil comic, and one of the best comics ever created. If you’ve never read it, get your hands on it as soon as you can. It’s definitely worth the time and money.
According to Bleeding Cool, Gerard Way revealed today at NC Comicon that his pitch for a Doom Patrol comic has been approved by DC. Way, the lead vocalist of My Chemical Romance and a comic book writer, said he will collaborate with artist Becky Cloonan (American Virgin, East Coast Rising) on the series, but has not yet had time to fit the project into his busy schedule.
The Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 back in 1963, and was created by writer Arnold Drake, artist Bruno Premiani, and editor Murray Boltinoff. The series featured a bizarre collection of bitter outcasts, victims of accidents which had altered their bodies in radical ways, accidents which gave them extraordinary powers but alienated them from a fearful public.
The cornerstones of the team include four members: Robotman, a cyborg with a human brain and a super-strong metallic body; Negative Man, whose ability to transform into an energy being leaves his flesh and blood defenseless; Elasti-Girl, who can change her shape and size, but not always at will; and the Chief, a wheelchair-bound scientific genius and the mysterious founder of the team. The most famous run of Doom Patrol was that of Grant Morrison’s, who wrote the series from 1989 to 1993, providing readers with wildly imaginative, psychedelic stories which stayed true to Drake’s original vision. Way, who has collaborated with Morrison numerous times in the past, is sure to draw on his run for inspiration.
Check out yet another new T.V. Spot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens that aired on the Cartoon Network a short time ago. This spot seems to highlight Kylo Ren and all I can say is WOW ! I for one am so glad that this movie is finally getting the publicity it needs to be successful.
