The 17th China International Industry Fair opened in Shanghai last week, and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology debuted their robot astronaut “Little Heaven.”
“Little Heaven” can complete complex operational tasks that mimic a human hand and the robot is able to cope with a harsh space environment and complex operational tasks of the new space robots. These skills can be applied to space station repairs, manned moon landings, in-orbit servicing, and space exploration, according to Xinhua.
What is interesting about this robot from a design standpoint is the red and yellow paint job that makes it look like a possible Iron Man knock-off. “Little Heaven” even have a place on its chest for an arc-reactor.
I wonder if Disney will start an Armor Wars with China?
20th Century Fox released the animated short Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe that teases the concept for Ice Age: Collision Course. The short premiered before The Peanuts Movie in theaters.
Scrat journeys where no ICE AGE character has gone before in COSMIC SCRAT-TASTROPHE. The consequences of Scrat’s antics are always momentous, and this time he’s creating his own version of the Big Bang.
ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE, stars returning cast members Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Keke Palmer, Wanda Sykes, and Jennifer Lopez. Joining the herd are Stephanie Beatriz, Adam DeVine, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Max Greenfield, Jessie J, Nick Offerman, Melissa Rauch, Michael Strahan and Neil deGrasse Tyson
Scrat’s epic pursuit of the elusive acorn catapults him into the universe where he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age World. To save themselves, Sid, Manny, Diego, and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest full of comedy and adventure, travelling to exotic new lands and encountering a host of colourful new characters.
Ice Age: Collision Course will be in theaters on July 22, 2016.
In anticipation of the November 25th release of CREED, we’ll be taking a look back at the ROCKY franchise and discussing why these characters and this world are still relevant and necessary forty years later.
Rocky II had one of the most unenviable tasks in film history. It followed one of the greatest pieces of American cinema featuring one of cinema’s greatest characters. The fact that it isn’t a shambling, publicly derided mess is an accomplishment in and of itself. As a matter of fact, Rocky II is actually a very good movie.
Sylvester Stallone directs his first entry in the series with Rocky II, again working from his own script. The film feels very familiar as we basically get everything we got in Rocky but more of it. Rocky, having earned a decent sum of cash from his first fight with Apollo Creed, spends all of his earnings like you would imagine Rocky spending them: a brand new Trans-Am (which he can’t drive), garish clothes for himself and Adrian, watches and more watches for himself, Adrian and Paulie and a townhouse (without looking at the upstairs because, “it’s just details”). When Rocky hits financial bottom and is forced to slum it in Mickey’s gym emptying spit buckets, we’re right back to the Rocky we met at the outset of the series. Apollo Creed, being ridiculed for letting the “bum” go 15 rounds with the Champ and accused of fixing the fight, challenges Rocky to a rematch and we’re back off and running. Adrian has their first child and becomes ill. Rocky stops training to tend to her. She heals. Rocky trains fiercely. Rocky runs the steps. Rocky and Apollo fight. This time, Rocky wins! Freeze frame. Credits. The runtimes of the two movies are even exactly the same. So why does this movie feel so much different, ultimately being just good enough?
I feel like this is a case of having too much of a good thing. We go deeper into Rocky’s psyche here and each moment with him is a joy and a pleasure. He is still the simple guy from Philly who just wants to do what he’s good at and love his woman. His casual observation of, “I never knew you were so light… I would’ve carried you everywhere,” is the perfect mix of cheesy yet innocent sweetness*. Stallone gives us so many moments which remind us of those facts that it ultimately becomes more tedious than helpful. It’s a case where the material really isn’t bad, there’s just too much of it that doesn’t serve the story moving forward.
Technically, gone are a lot subtleties of character through the artfully gorgeous camera movements of John G. Avildsen and James Crabe (The Karate Kid) as Stallone and new DP Bill Butler (Jaws) let the shots run much longer (scenes often covering the same ground) with often very questionable photographic choices. It isn’t a total abandonment of style from the first go-round but it’s a noticeable shift that doesn’t feel “right”. Scenes will start off at the traditional wide angle but the characters will be framed way off to the side, leaving the viewers’ eyes to wonder where to look as the ADR voices are like sounds in the dark.
Let me slightly correct myself from the first sentence in my piece on Rocky: Rocky II is where it all really began. While I have major problems with the revisionist history and sameness of Rocky II, it is essentially the birthplace for the rest of the series. We are given an up close look at Apollo Creed’s home life and even a healthy dose of pathos for why he is the way he is. Carl Weathers‘ work here is some of the most under appreciated in cinematic history. The way he sells every inch of Apollo is breathtaking, which only helps to prop the character against what becomes some aggravating storytelling in the coming installments. The film introduces a version of Paulie that isn’t a drunk and only a mild asshole, leaving plenty of room open for the character to be whatever Sly wants him to be in the future. Mickey is Mickey. Essentially, all is left is plug-n-play.
I can’t be angry with Rocky II for changing the perfect thematic ending of the first film. If I was around when Rocky was released and heard about the sequel plans, no doubt I would have been staunchly anti-Rocky II. Sly did the exact perfect thing to send this character on another journey, leaving the road open for many more. Now, onto Rocky III, where the series becomes what everyone remembers it to be.
*I highly suggest watching these films with someone who has never seen them. They’re such a cultural foregone conclusion that seeing someone’s reactions to the sweet and funny moments, further demolishing the established clichê, is wonderful to witness. My girlfriend, who is new to the series, has exclaimed multiple times, “Why am I crying?!”. Prepare for much, much more.
Our job at Monkeys Fighting Robots is to find pop culture news for you, but every once and awhile we uncover information that spoils the film for us. It’s the cost of doing business.
Do not proceed any further is you want to enjoy Star Wars: The Force Awakens on December 18.
Disney Lucas Films Ltd. released a Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1000 piece puzzle on Amazon and the description might spoil the origin of Finn.
Star Wars RARE COLLECTIBLE! New Episode 7 ” Finn” (Lando Calrissian’s Son) 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle in Collectible Storage Tin
Hours of Fun and Entertainment will be had with this Star Wars VII Force Awakens 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle featuring Lando Calrissian’s son Finn.
The comment section is hilarious and leads us to believe that the information in the description is fake. If the information is false, that means that Amazon needs to do a better job monitoring the products on their website. Are the five dealers selling this product, just trying to jack up the price or are they telling the truth and spoiled the film. Either way, someone is going to be upset.
We have reached out to Disney, Lucasfilm, and Amazon for comment and will update the post accordingly.
Welcome to the first installment of Miller-Palooza! With the upcoming release of the The Dark Knight III later this month, I’ll be looking at Frank Miller’s long and varied history as a comic book writer and artist throughout November and December. These articles will be more of a retrospective and analysis on Miller’s work at DC, Marvel, and his independent comics. So, let’s get started with arguably Miller’s greatest work of graphic literature, The Dark Knight Returns.
The Dark Knight Returns is often credited as the epitome of a Batman book. It is the Batman comic discussed among fans and critics, and was a huge source of inspiration for Tim Burton’s Batman films, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and Zack Snyder’s upcoming Batman V. Superman. The Dark Knight Returns (TDKR), along with Watchmen, is considered to be the launching point into the “Dark Age of Comics,” and raised the character of Batman from the Adam West camp, to a more complex superhero. The book has been referenced, discussed, adapted, given sequels, and become a household name for every comic fan from casual to hardcore.
However, does The Dark Knight Returns still hold up?
I know that sounds like comic book blasphemy considering TDKR has done so much for the character of Batman, and comic books in general. One can’t deny the impact Miller’s magnum opus has had on the industry. But, this article isn’t about the cultural weight TDKR has, it’s about the story itself. Specifically, I’m trying to see if after all the hype, the influence, and the impact it’s had, does the comic still stand strong on its own?
I have to say, the story of TDKR was immensely creative for its time. It was such a radical departure from the comic stories that were on the shelves. Most of the stories back then kept a similar tried and true superhero morality with only slight discussions about social issues back then. Comics were starting to get a little darker, and more serious, but they still followed basic moral stories we were all very familiar with when it came to super heroes. TDKR was vastly different from the other comics that soon after its release a lot of writers tried to copy the formula.
TDKR stood out by focusing on a very specific concept, which was essentially the idea of a broken superhero returning to his mantle. But, the story is dripping with Batman tropes and Miller has an ideal version of the character. A strong, silent figure who is kind of like a wrecking ball of aggression. Yet, Batman remains the detective, and mental strategist. Even going as far as wearing disguises and collecting evidence. The story’s antagonists are all intimidating and memorable from the unbalanced Two-Face and brutal Mutants to the homicidal Joker and even the big blue boy scout Superman.
Oh yeah. It’s awesome.
The main narrative surrounding Batman is focused and specific. However, there is another element to the story that drenches itself in political and social commentary along with Miller’s strange brand of satire. It’s easy to see why Miller discussed these issues considering where he was living at the time and what was going on in the world. 1980s New York was not a safe city due to a rise in crime, and with the fear of the Cold War, and Soviet Union Miller must have felt that it was necessary to merge these elements to his story. The problem is that they don’t hold up after time has passed and distract from the basics of the story that are so strong.
Specifically, there are a few elements that stand out as particularly bizarre. For starters, Miller gave narration captions for Batman, and while some of them really work, and perfectly capture the essence of The Dark Knight, there are a few that feel unnecessary, and straddle the line between Frank Miller’s commentary and Batman’s point of view. It’s hard to know at times if certain aspects of Batman’s character are what Miller’s own beliefs and ideals, or if he’s trying to get further into Batman’s mind. Also, as stated earlier, the commentary about the Cold War is mostly very distracting. Ronald Reagan’s presidency was easy to mock for Miller, but it really takes away from Batman’s exploits.
However, most of the story is still focused on Batman’s narrative fighting crime and reclaiming the city. And while the Cold War element is distracting, it does all come together in the end into a very memorable climax, which I won’t spoil here. But, I will say it’s a great ending to the story, and pretty damn epic.
The art of the book is some of Miller’s best, the images are dynamic, and haunting, with muted colors and a Noir style. Each character looks different, and there’s an inherent ugliness in the book that enunciates the tone of the book well. Every action scene has movement to it, every pose looks intimidating, every facial expression is specific. Klaus Janson also helped the inking on the book, and certainly deserves some credit, but Miller was the star here. However, the art does suffer a bit when it comes to the panels in the book. Some times there are just so many that it becomes difficult to read. And when the colors are all so muted, sometimes you have to strain your eyes to see what’s going on.
Overall, The Dark Knight Returns is still a great book; there are some problems, but it still holds up well. It’s a comic that just about every comic fan should hold on to. However, I wouldn’t call it Miller’s greatest work. If you want to know what I do think Miller’s greatest work is, join me next time when I talk about the “Man With Out Fear” himself.
Post Note:
If you’re not interested in reading TDKR, Warner Bros. Animation did a phenomenal adaptation of the story. You can get it on iTunes, and the movie (in my opinion) actually outshines the original source material. It has Robocop, Peter Weller, as the voice of Batman, and Michael Emerson as one of the most disturbing Jokers ever put on-screen. It also does away with the monologues and shortens the Cold War element much. It also has some great action scenes and keeps Miller’s artistic style. It’s definitely worth a buy soon.
Actor Garret Dillahunt is a big fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead and is lobbying for the role of the Negan on the show, according to his Twitter account. Dillahunt first started leaving hints about his interest in the series on November 2, and as speculation grew the actor added fuel to the fire with a picture of himself in the woods covered in blood and commented on a photo of the infamous Lucille. Then as more and more news outlets and rumor website picked up the story, Dillahunt put out a statement that he didn’t have the role of Negan but wants it.
The character Negan is rumored to make an appearance at the end of season six.
Jon Hamm and Kevin Durand’s names have been linked to the casting as well.
Negan first appeared in issue 100 of ‘The Walking Dead.’ He is the leader of a group of over 50 survivors in Washington, DC called the Saviors, who subjugate other communities in the area for resources in return for their protection against zombies. The character’s appearance in the comics is based on Henry Rollins, according to series artist Charlie Adlard and Negan’s excessive use of profanity was worked in by Kirkman’s own vernacular and derived from other people he knew.
Dillahunt has proved with his characters in Justified and Deadwood that he can bring the pure evil needed for the role of Negan.
Who do you want to see cast as Negan?
@monkeys_robots No. He just likes comic books. Would be cool, though.
Following the character driven “The Woman Who Lived” The Doctor returns with a big event episode in the form of “The Zygon Invasion”, acting as a follow up to “Day of the Doctor” and “Death in Heaven”.
After a quick recap of the events in “Day of the Doctor” – where Humanity and the shapeshifting Zygon race have signed a peace treaty and UNIT has had to managed the relocation of 20 million Zygon on Earth. UNIT scientist Osgood (Ingrid Oliver) and her Zygon doppelganger are the key to the peace. But when one of the Osgoods dies in “Death in Heaven” the peace breaks down and Zygon extremists have gone to war. The remaining Osgood sends a distress call to The Doctor and he comes to Earth to try and find a peaceful solution while UNIT prepares to go to war. “The Zygon Invasion” does share similarities to movies like The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing and Men in Black and the miniseries V. The episode does act as a fine mash-up of these properties and the ability of Zygon to shapeshift into any human form leads to a certain air of mystery and distrust – ranging from love ones to people in authority. One of the cruellest tricks the Zygon can pull is take the form of the family member so they attack someone or psychologically manipulate people into their bidding. One great little moment being the Zygon taking the form of drone controller, preventing her from shooting. But this theme is killed when A UNIT soldier faces off against Zygon’s pretending to family members of the soldiers. It was directed, written and acted in the most cheesy way possible and it leads to two major questions: number one, wouldn’t UNIT soldiers be smarter than the way they were portrayed and second how would the Zygon know who to copy and how did they get their bodies in the first place? It could have been more impactful if it turned out that the Zygon doppelgangers were actually telling the soldiers and could have made for a more suspenseful episode.
“The Zygon Invasion” is the second episode to be written by Peter Harness who’s name should make any fan of Doctor Who shudder because Harness wrote “Kill the Moon”, one of the worst episodes of the rebooted series. “The Zygon Invasion” is a big improvement over his previous effort, actuallybeing believable within the world of Doctor Who: to put it into context the plot of “Kill the Moon” was the Moon was really an alien egg. There are still some problems with his writing such as the aforementioned plot hole and Harness need to inject political commentary. These bits are when its mentioned that the Zygon rebels are an extreme minority and the majority of the Zygon want peace. It is the younger Zygons being radicalized and if UNIT bomb their base it would radicalize the whole population. There is nothing wrong with Doctor Who being political occasionally but this was just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole just to force thought a message about modern international politics. The previous episode “The Woman Who Lived” was a comedic episode with moments of seriousness, “The Zygon Invasion” goes the opposite direction, being an episode that plays it straight yet has some comical moments. Again Peter Capadi seems more comfortable as The Doctor, playing “Amazing Grace” on the electric guitar and saying he likes to ‘ponse about in a big plane’. His interactions with Zygon high commanders, disguised as two seven year girls was a mix of funny and creepy.
Osgood was a popular character when she was first introduced to the series – when she was first appeared in “Day of the Doctor” – and was the fan’s favorite to become The Doctor’s next companion: so it was a huge shame when she was killed off in the Season Eight finale. Fortunately the show have found a way to bring the character BACK in a convincing way – well a convincing way with Doctor Who logic. Oliver is fantastic screen presence as the earnest, geeky scientist who uses previous Doctors as style icons. Some of Oliver’s best moments are at the beginning where she has to interact with herself – which is a tough job for any actor – and she pulls it off brilliantly.
“The Zygon Invasion” is a solid episode in a solid season of Doctor Who. It works as a continuation of “Day of the Doctor” and referencing to the wider Doctor Who canon. It is great to see Osgood return to the series.
Disney and Lucasfilm released the first TV spot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with more additional footage. Fans were taken back by how much additional footage was in the international trailer released on Friday. Lucasfilm might need to pull back the reins and leave some mystery to the film.
Lucasfilm and visionary director J.J. Abrams join forces to take you back again to a galaxy far, far away as “Star Wars” returns to the big screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18, 2015.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.
So you would think because I missed a week that there would be a lot to say about Comet Lucifer. Well there is, sort of, I guess. It seems that every episode that goes by I have to keep changing my expectations for what kind of show Comet Lucifer is, and it’s getting exhausting. This show is an ambitious one, but ambition only gets you so far. If your ideas don’t work then whats really the point. Comet Lucifer seems to be one of those stories that could have benefitted from a few more edits and rewrites. But some cool stuff happened during these episodes, so let’s get into them.
Episode Summaries
Sogo chases after Felia and her kidnappers. Moura takes on Gus in beast mode and gets his ass kicked. Felia morphs into a glowy ball of light and Moura transforms into a human form mech. Now he can fly and shoot lasers and beats Gus. Felia uses her morph ball to save Sogo and return to a safe place. But now after being in the glow ball, Felia has seemed to grow in age, and can now talk fairly fluent.
So now they have to find some spring so they can recharge the magic Felia used and get her back to her small self. On their journey Kaon gets jealous of Felia and Sogo’s relationship, they take part of a wedding, and more bad guy mechs come in to ruin the party. Roman comes to save the day “sort of.” And we find out that the girl who delivers bread to Do Mon is some sort of spy.
Episode Thoughts
I know these are episode reviews but I want to make one thing clear. Episode 5 and 6 should have been episode 2 and 3. There was too much bullshit and dead air going on. Now that the characters actually have some sort of goal they are going towards, I think that we could have gotten rid of all that other fluff and tightened up this show. Because 5 and 6 were pretty entertaining, at least compared to the last three episodes.
Anyway, it takes way too long for Moura to “mech-up” in episode 5. For some reason Sogo thinks that scootering is the better option. This is dumb and is probably just an excuse to fill time. Once we get to the mech battle its a pretty cool one. Gus is pretty bad ass and Moura is a straight pussy when it comes to fighting a real opponent. This was a good use of tension and made it seem like saving Felia became more dangerous and difficult than anything in the show prior. But even after Moura goes human mode, he still struggles a lot with Gus. At first I equated it to Gus being so bad ass, but in episode 6 Moura has trouble with a random pilot. So I don’t know how to gauge Moura’s strength at this point, but he kinda seems like a push over. But I guess if you can fly and spam lasers, you don’t need to be good at Hand-to-hand.
So along with Moura’s changes, Felia also goes through some. Apparently because she used too much magic or something, she grew to about Sogo’s age. They hinted at this earlier a bunch, but never really explain why this is a bad thing. Even after saying how to restore her magic they never explain if she would continue to age, whether or not she could still use magic, or why her losing magic makes her age at all. But even with this loose explanation, I’m okay with it because Felia can finally form sentences. Now she can engage with the rest of the characters, and start to develop as a character. Sure I fin did cheese and conveniently that they stumble upon a wedding and the concept of love is introduced to Felia, but its something. Fell still is only a half character, but so is the rest of the cast, so at least they’re all on the same level now.
Except for Kaon that is, I think she took a step back form being a character and turned into a plot device for an episode. Her actions and mood seem to directly coincide with moving the plot along and helping Felia sort out her feeling, in the most blatant way possible. I knows she likes Sogo and is jealous of Felia because she now has a “legal” body, but there really was no reason for her to act the way she did for most of the episode. Plus the dialogue seemed like the same copy and paste love triangle bullshit I’ve heard time and time before. Plus it doesn’t help when Sogo is so dense, it’s almost like expressing your feelings to a wall. Oppositely it was super nice when Felia says she loves Kaon. That made sense and the fact that Kaon could understand what she meant by that made the feelings being expressed work. Still inconsistent with Kaon’s feeling just a few seconds ago, but you can chock that up to “woman being irrational” trope.
So while Comet Lucifer has slowly found something to grab onto, episode 6 felt like just another distraction to reveal character emotions because they couldn’t weave it into the main plot. I don’t like when this happens and its pretty blatant that’s what is it. On the other hand, I’ll take any sort of development at this point. Hopefully by the end these characters will be “characters” and I will care about whatever climax this show has planned. Still confused on a lot of things, but there is some stuff to latch onto. I’m not going to say these episodes were bad, because they weren’t. They had a lot of problems, but they’ve been the best part of the show so far. Comet Lucifer is still a mess, but at least it’s starting to feel like a mess that is trying to give us something.
Adding to the previous set of photos released earlier this week, more pictures from Marvel’s Doctor Strange have emerged, including a first look at Chiwetel Ejiofor as Strange’s arch-rival and foe Baron Mordo. Mordo can be seen guiding Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) through a Himalayan village in the photos, which were taken by photographers in Nepal.
Doctor Strange, staring Cumberbatch, Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, and Tilda Swinton and directed by Scott Derrickson, opens in theaters on November 4, 2016.
