Showtime dropped an ever-so-brief teaser last night for the return of Twin Peaks, before their season debut of Homeland. The sixteen-secodn teaser didn’t show any of the new season, but it did hint at that David Lynch weirdness and musical taste we have all come to love (or hate).
Here is the teaser:
The thing to note here is this footage is from the old shows, so we still haven’t seen any new images from the show’s return. Fans of the original will certainly enjoy seeing the “Man From Another Planet” (Michael J. Anderson) back in the fold.
Twin Peaks will hit Showtime in 2016, 25 years after it abruptly left TV. David Lynch is directing the entire series, and original writer Mark Frost is also back to pen the screenplays.
Following the success and, more importantly, the geek-fandom mushroom cloud that is the wake of Mad Max: Fury Road, fans have been eagerly awaiting the news of possible sequels from George Miller. It’s been assumed for a while that Miller is going to direct more Mad Max films, though nothing was set in stone.
Now, George Miller seems to be moving forward on the Mad Max sequels, though it may take some time for any of them to his theaters. Hell, Fury Road took a decade, so don’t hold your breath.
Miller spoke with Top Gear about Mad Max sequels, citing the long production of Fury Road as a chance for he and his creative team to flesh out more of the universe and, in the process, develop ideas for at least two sequels:
“We were then rained out of Australia. The desert rained for the first time in 15 years, and we ended up in South West Africa, Namibia. But in this process, we had dug down deep into the backstory, not only of the characters, but of every vehicle. How the steering wheels became religious artefacts and things like that… “So we ended up with two scripts, without really trying. We’re talking to the studio [Warner Bros] about it as we speak, but which one of the two stories will happen next, I’m not so sure.”
However, Miller also said before he heads back into the Mad Max world, he needs to do something a little less frenetic and on a smaller scale. Which makes perfect sense:
“I want to do a small film without special effects before I do any of that, just to do it quickly. We shot Fury Road for eight months… that’s a lot. Every day in the heat and the dust, doing these stunts, it’s very wearing. We’ve got two more planned, but at some point in the future.”
The next Mad Max film will probably be The Wasteland, which Miller had discussed this summer. The sixth film could be based on a novella, but that is down the road. At least we already know Tom Hardy is signed on for two or three more films (thought Charlize Theron has not been confirmed for any), so that should be enough to keep fans foaming at the mouth.
Director:Full Metal Alchemist, The Slayers Next, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Animation Production:Full Metal Alchemist, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, Noragami, Captain Earth, and many others! Streaming on:Funimation and Daisuki. Chances are good that it will turn up on Hulu next week.
Overview
Concrete Revolutio episode 1 seems to have two different interchanging threads to give us a bit of character background and set up the plot.
First, we have the story of how Kikko, a magical girl, was recruited by a government agency via a man named Jiro. The Superhuman Bureau protects “good” superhumans and disposes of the dangerous ones.
A sting operation was set up in Kikko’s diner to help capture an alien spy. Once the alien was exposed, it lured out a “good” alien named Grosse Augen who has been fighting to protect humans. Unfortunately, Grosse Augen had possessed a human being and essentially killed him to live. After a crazy superhuman battle in the streets, Jiro sets Grosse Augen free and tells Kikko that the man who was possessed died a long time ago. Kikko ends up joining the Bureau to help protect super humans.
Interspersed with the backstory, we find out Jiro has defected from the Bureau, and agents are trying to take him down. Kikko is pretty conflicted, still calling him Senpai and saying she is 20 now (I assume this should mean something to Jiro). She eventually catches up to him and we discover the man who was Grosse Augen is not, in fact, dead. Jiro had disobeyed the agency way back when and let the man fuse with the captured alien spy. Jiro declares he will not go back to the Bureau.
Thoughts
The episode was a bit hard to follow because it jumped back and forth between the past and present with very little context to help you with what’s going on. I would think this trend would continue because we don’t have enough information to know why Jiro defected, and there are characters in the future timeline we still need to meet.
The art style of Concrete Revolutio is gorgeous. It has beautiful colors that reminds me of comic books and cartoons, and it is often shaded or accented with dots and lines like you would find in a manga or newspaper comic strip.
I love that this show has everything in it. We get magical girls, kaiju alien battles, a shape shifter, and a transforming giant unicorn mecha all in one episode. I can’t think of anything that’s not to like! Kikko’s outfit is over-the-top poofy and her magic is nuts. I think she’s fantastic.
Don’t get me wrong. Concrete Revolutio is kind of insane. But so are many other beloved series out there. I think this one is right up my ally.
Director John Hillcoat who is most famous for The Road, Lawless, and The Proposition looks to break into the crime drama genre with his next film Triple 9.
A crew of dirty cops is blackmailed by the Russian mob to execute a virtually impossible heist and the only way to pull it off is to manufacture a 999, police code for “officer down.” Their plan is turned upside down when the unsuspecting rookie they set up to die foils the attack, triggering a breakneck action-packed finale tangled with double-crosses, greed and revenge.
The film stars Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Gal Gadot, Teresa Palmer and Clifton Collins, Jr.
“He’s the kind of guy that likes realism. If you see a car chase that is supposed to be 110, 120 (mph) there is damn good chance that they’re really going 120 (mph). That is how Hillcoat likes to run, I really respect him and love him for it,” said Clifton Collins Jr. to Monkeys Fighting Robots.
A group of passengers experience the outbreak aboard a commercial plane. A new installment of the 16-part series is available every week in the AMC Mobile App and on-air during premiere episodes of The Walking Dead.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, AMC has confirmed the web series will be called Flight 462 and debut on AMC.com on Sunday, Oct. 4. The series will be a 16-part series and then will air as promos during two commercial breaks within The Walking Dead season six premiere on Oct. 11. Follow-up episodes will run less than a minute and then air during the flagship series. Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson will produce while David Wiener will co-exec produce. L. Signorino and Mike Zunic will pen the script, with Fear DP Michael McDonough set to direct. As was originally planned, one surviving character will become a regular on Fear season two.
Daniel Craig brought life back into James Bond franchise that seemed lost, but lately he has definitely sounded like a man who is either done with OO7 or playing a coy game trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of the studio.
Craig is under contract for one more film but in early September he didn’t sound like he was coming back for another film.
“At this moment, no. I have a life and I’ve got to get on with it a bit. But we’ll see,” said Craig to Esquire about continuing on as Bond in the series. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Honestly. I’m not trying to be coy. At the moment I can’t even conceive it.”
As we get closer to the release of Spectre Craig is pumping the brakes in his retirement.
“It’s getting harder. But such is life. I’ll keep going as long as I’m physically able. I’m contracted for one more – but I’m not going to make predictions,” said Craig in an interview with The Daily Mail.
Spectre will be in theaters on November 6 and it will be interesting to see how reviews and the box office pan. If the film is a critical and box office success look for the studio to work out a deal with Craig for a fifth film. The speculation of Craig leaving the franchise has given Spectre tons of press, just imagine the victory lap press tour for a definitive last Bond film.
The Internet, and specifically Youtube and Vimeo, has become an important platform over the years for a lot of talented people with no other means to share their amazing creations. Like a movie supercut.
From every “Dude” in The Big Lebowski to a lot of film “Are you kidding me?” lines (with all its variations), the latest one to go viral right now is the “Movie Phone Super Call”, a phone call conversation across almost 60 movie scenes in under three minutes.
These kind of supercuts might not be the hardest to make in terms of research, but the editing, getting everything to fit perfectly like in this one, I know for a fact can take hours.
The creators of the “Movie Phone Super Call” are Andy Schneider and Jonathan Britnell, from Burger Fiction, a channel on Youtube dedicated to film supercuts, short commercial-style videos and other very interesting little pieces of filmmaking, including stop motion – with a video where an Apple Watch unboxes itself. All of it is definitely worth checking out.
A little back story for the younger fans of anime out there: Osamu Tezuka was one of the greatest creators of Manga in the history of the media. He was so great at his craft he received the nickname of “The Godfather of Manga.” While most fans around the world will remember him for creating Astro Boy, one of his more personal projects came in the form of Black Jack, a story of a back-alley Doctor who would perform any operation for the right price. Tezuka himself had medical training and it helped him write a better story; and although some of the material he wrote about over the years involving the character may have been more fantastical than others, he still wrote intriguing stories of Black Jack and his godlike skill with a scalpel.
Now in Young Black Jack, its 1968, and we are introduced to Hazama Kuroo, the young man who would become Black Jack. He is studying to be a Doctor despite the tension that seems to be taking place in the country. This is of little interest to him as he prefers to practice surgery in the courtyard while the rest of his classmates prepare to march in protest. When a train accident occurs it becomes all hands on deck in the hospital. Hazama takes interest in a young boy who was hit by the train and has lost an arm and an a leg. The attending Doctor believes the best course of action would be amputation but Hazama a man who is patchwork himself believes the limbs can be reattached. With the aid of Okamato Maiko, another fellow medical student, the two head to the Operating Room of a Doctor Hazama knows named Yabu and the operation begins. With his incredible skill, Hazama is able to save the boy’s limbs but his parents go back on his word on the amount that was promised, which angers Hazama who can’t stand when someone bargain over people’s life.
One of the first questions you may as after watching this show is “How can he be so angry? Didn’t he ask for an insane amount of money to do the operation to begin with?” but know this is all part of Black Jack’s character. In the original manga he would often charge extreme amounts of money when people would ask for his services. He would take the money from those who were immoral and corrupt and then let the amount go entirely for those he saw as being genuine in willing to do all they could to save their loved ones. Had the parents said they were poor and wouldn’t be able to pay, Hazama would have shrugged off the expense and simple been happy that he helped another person of worth in the world. The explanation behind this mindset will hopefully be explored in future episodes.
The animation is gorgeous. A great way to update the characters for a more modern audience while at the same time holding true to the originally of Tezuka’s characters. The ending sequence with the spinning cards, one showing the original manga art of the character and the other showing the new art for the show is very impressive. The work as Hazama is performing surgery is interesting with the surgical sutures moving almost like when someone uses garrote wire in an action movie.
The characters are intriguing but Black Jack, no matter which series he is portrayed is always an interesting character. The show introduces a few others like Okamato Maiko, a fellow medical student who may prove to be Hazama’s love interest and Yabu, a doctor who is afraid of blood (Seriously how did he pass his exams with that type of flaw?). Both of whom will be aiding Hazama in his early days as he works to become the world-class surgeon of the future.
The new series does a lot to offer a new generation the chance to enjoy the great character created by Osamu Tezuka. It looks promising and hopefully will continue to be as intriguing in future episodes.
SPOILERS FOR THE EPISODE AND BASICALLY THE WHOLE SERIES…just as a heads up.
Summary: Steven helps a friend who’s afraid of thunderstorms.
They are really trying to be as vague as possible not to spoil the developments that have been happening these recent episodes. For those who missed the last episode, you’re no doubt surprised to see that Peridot is currently taking up residency in Steven’s bathroom. Basically she was defeated last time and had no choice but to stay in their as it seems to be the only place in Steven’s house with a locking door. This episode picks up moments later, Peridot still in the bathroom and the Crystal Gems deciding to leave for…Reasons? Anyways, they head out and leave Steven home alone with Peridot, who quickly becomes freaked out by thunder. Steven is quick to point out there is nothing to worry about and the two bond a little and Peridot agrees to tell him about The Cluster.
Heading to Kindergarten, the secret of The Cluster is revealed. A big secret about Earth and why there is so many Gem mutants everywhere is also revealed. It turns out way back when the Gems first decided to colonize Earth, they realized the planet wasn’t suitable to be a new home planet and instead decided to run experiments on it instead. All the monsters the cast has been fighting all this time have been experiments the Gem home world wanted to run just because they could. And The Cluster? Turns out it’s a giant mutant gem shard monster near the Earth’s core and when it wakes up the entire planet is going to be destroyed. Nifty huh?
Then a horde of Gem monsters show up and Steven and Peridot get cornered. Luckily they are saved by the Crystal Gems and Peridot realizes she has no choice but to cooperate. End of episode.
The big reveal about The Cluster, the secret of Earth, and Peridot finally realizing she needs to open up and trust the Crystal Gems are the real highlights of this episode. No longer in the bathroom and deciding to help make sure the Earth won’t blow up in the future, the next few episodes will no doubt show Peridot exploring the planet more and interacting with the Crystal Gems. Sounds like something to look forward to.
Robert De Niro and Ann Hathaway were on The Graham Norton Show along with Tom Hiddleson to promote The Intern and Crimson Peak. Check out the hilarity that transpired
