Andy Park, the visual development supervisor for Marvel Studios released some concept art of the original Wasp from Ant-Man on his Twitter feed.
At the end of the film Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) is given a prototype of the Wasp suit and is presumed to carry on her mother’s tradition. Audiences will probably get the first glimpse of the new Wasp in Avenger: Infinity War Part 1 coming out on May 4, 2018.
Park has also worked on Avengers, Captain America: Civil War, and is currently working on Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
The last time a movie told the story of an American astronaut stranded on Mars, things didn’t turn out as well as they apparently have with Ridley Scott’s The Martian. Brian De Palma’s Mission to Mars is his strangest, most outlying film in a career filled to the brim with outlying directorial choices. De Palma is one of my favorite directors because he does take chances, and they sometimes don’t work; but even so, Mission to Mars manages to stand out from even his most bizarre choices.
Not that Mission to Mars is traditionally a “weird” movie. It tries to be weird, no doubt, as it is loaded with the typical De Palma homages and rife with attempts to shine a light on existentialism. No, this film is not dense in that way, it’s just… odd. The structure is off, the action scenes unintentionally (or intentionally?) languorous, the performances wooden and detached. I may have an explanation for those performances, but the rest is fundamentally inexplicable.
The story takes place in some sort of familiar near future (they have futuristic cars and such), and begins with a Norman Rockwell-esque NASA backyard barbecue shot in De Palma’s familiar, drifting single-take. It’s the same sort of bravura opening De Palma used in Snake Eyes and within films like Dressed to Kill and Carlito’s Way. Only this one is more utilitarian, introducing our main characters and doing very little to propel any action or build substance. The conversations between Woody Blake (Tim Robbins), his astronaut wife Terri (Connie Neilsen), Luke Graham (Don Cheadle), Phil (Jerry O’Connell) and Jim McConnell (a noticeably adrift and confounded Gary Sinise), are aimless and forgettable, and the drifting POV camera somehow grinds the gears eve further. It is a strange opening for what is intended to be an epic space opera.
Fast forward to Don Cheadle’s Luke Graham being stranded on Mars after a dust storm kills the rest of his crew and he ends up nowhere to be seen. This pushes Woody, Terri, Jim, and Phil into action to try and reduce him. And the plot is underway… sort of. Again, De Palma seems to eschew his typical crazed energy and feverish editing in lieu of long, drawn-out scenes that go absolutely nowhere. Even a sequence during the trip where a microscopic meteor punctures some holes in the hull, causing the cabin pressure and artificial atmosphere to dissipate rapidly, is handled by actors who seem to think they have all the time in the world. There is no urgency, no proper dread. The suspense is surprisingly lackluster from one of the masters of suspense, a Hitchcock disciple nonetheless.
Then, we get to the Red Planet, which looks glorious. It’s really the only thing that works the way it was intended. It is here De Palma employs homages to 2001, only his story is better served with 2010 sensibilities. The astronauts discover aliens have left behind a sort of blueprint, indicating they were the creators of all things in the universe… or something (so this picture manages to tie into two separate Scott space adventures). We see an incredibly 2000’s CGI montage of life evolving on the planet – including wooly mammoths transitioning right into Bison. Who knew? The entire alien encounter, intended to inspire awe, is a head-scratcher without some form of introspective existentialism necessary to make any of it compelling. Not to mention the fact the alien being represented in these final moments appear to be drawn and put together by eighth graders.
It’s clear what De Palma is trying with Mission to Mars, but his methods are confounding. His invasive camera backs off too far this time, making it feel less like a De Palma production more than anything else in his catalogue. Perhaps the wooden performances from Robbins on down are his attempt to “Kubrick up” the actors. Their detachment feels like the sort of far off performance ol’ Stan would employ on the regular. Only here, the majestic visuals and compelling story is absent. Without any driving force behind the events, these intentionally stilted performances are all wrong. Especially Sinise, who seems confused he’s even in the film from time to time. It’s almost as if he’s in the audience, watching this strange and languid story unfold in front of his eyes.
What new powers will Barry Allen realize he has in season two of The Flash?
“In the second episode Barry discovers a new aspect of his powers involving lighting, and it’s very, very cool and I’m excited about it,” said Grant Grant Gustin.
The Man Who Saved Central City Picking up months after the Singularity attacked Central City, Barry is still struggling to forgive himself for Eddie’s death. Concerned about putting his friends in danger, Barry has pushed everyone away and has chosen to protect the city on his own. When a meta-human named Atom Smasher attacks the city, Iris tells Barry that he needs to let his friends help him protect the citizens of Central City. Meanwhile, Cisco helps Joe with his Meta Task Force
The second season of The Flash premieres on October 6 and the CW network released the latest promo which highlights Jay Garrett, the Flash from another universe and the evil that is Zoom.
This will be an interesting season for the series as they introduce alternate universes and different incarnations of characters. Will DC Comics’ complicated universe be too much for the casual fan?
The Cosmic Treadmill was introduced in season one, in the comics Barry uses the treadmill to traveled the different universes. Will Cisco upgrade the treadmill in the show and let Barry take a jog in Season 2? Do you think the series should try an introduce the Crime Syndicate of America?
20th Century Fox released the second trailer for Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant Tuesday morning.
Inspired by true events, The Revenant is an immersive and visceral cinematic experience capturing one man’s epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption. The Revenant is directed and co-written by renowned filmmaker, Academy Award® winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman, Babel).
The Revenant will be in theaters on Christmas Day.
Producer Michael Uslan’s first film was Swamp Thing, he was 28-years old and asked Warner Publishing for the rights at no charge to an old DC comic book. Since then, Uslan has been involved with every Batman film produced and he is currently working Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Doc Savage and Shazam!.
When Uslan says there will be a major Batman announcement at New York Comic Con, everyone stops and listens.
“On Saturday October 10 we plan on making a major announcement. Stay tuned, join us at 1:45 p.m. in one of the large rooms. You won’t want to miss what’s going to take place there,” said Uslan on the Fan Theory podcast.
What could this major announcement be? Will Geoff Johns announce the Batman trilogy that is rumored or will they show the next Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?
If you were a betting man (or woman) I would make sure that I had a seat for the “Batman: The Bat Universe” panel which takes place on Saturday, October 10, on the Empire Stage of the Javits Center.
And check back with us as we make sure you’re covered on all your Batman and New York Comic Con news and updates.
New York Comic Con runs from October 8-11 at the Javits Center in New York City.
The previously announced Walking Dead zombie plane half-hour special now has more details and a premiere date. What was thought to be a complete 30-minute special is now a 16-part web series that will air one-minute episodes during the season finale of Fear The Walking Dead and continue on in 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.
“‘Flight 462’ is a great extension of the world of ‘Fear’ and will engage fans across multiple platforms with another riveting story set at the start of the fall of civilization,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Dave Erickson and David Wiener on another piece of original content. Watching how they’ll bring one of these new characters to the second season of ‘Fear’ will be really exciting for viewers to follow.”
The Walking Dead season 6 hits Sunday, October 11th. AMC released a new trailer titled ‘You Don’t Have a Choice’ Sunday night.
Season 6 starts with Alexandria’s safety shattered by multiple threats. To make it, the people of Alexandria will need to catch up with our survivors’ hardness while many of our survivors will need to take a step back from the violence and pragmatism they’ve needed to embrace. These reversals of roles won’t happen easily. Or without conflict.
But now our group is fighting for something more than survival… They’re fighting for their home, and they will defend that at any cost, against any threat.
Bryan Snider in Gilbert, Arizona took a time lapse video of the eclipse that occurred Sunday evening into Monday morning. What Snider did not know is his video would go viral Monday morning as Facebook published his post in the trending section.
As of 10:30 a.m. EST this video has 195,258 views and counting on Facebook.
Horror remakes often fall flat in comparison to their originals. In the horror genre, George A. Romero is a God! In the sub-genre of zombie-horror films he is the grandfather of all. In 1968 he established himself as the king of the undead with his release of Night of the Living Dead. This black-and-white film noir about a hypothetical virus that reanimates the dead and turns those who are bitten by the infected into slow-moving corpses spawned a slew of sequels as well as imitators. We can thank Romero for shows like the Z Nation, Fear the Walking Dead, and the pan-ultimate, The Walking Dead. Hail to the slow-moving zombies! It has also muse behind spoofs like Simon Peg’s Shaun of the Dead.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) is the second in the “Living Dead” series, written by George A. Romero in collaboration with another horror great, Dario Argento. But there are no connections to the original characters or setting from the first film other than the virus outbreak and zombies. This feature picks up three weeks after the initial epidemic and portrays the U.S. as a population being overrun by reanimated, flesh-eating corpses.
In spite of the best effort of the United States government to manage the unknown virus, it continues to rage out of control. Civil services have all but collapsed and with it goes order and social control, and chaos ensues. The cities are the first to fall with their large populations creating a greater chance to come in contact with the infected. Folks in rural areas and the military fare better because of their smaller populations and weapons.
A television station in Philly, WGON, is still broadcasting, but some of their staff members come to the realization that they should get out of the city and find a safer haven. The dead move into the broadcast station and few of them escape in the station helicopter. While stopping to refuel they have a close call with the dead, but noticed an abandoned mall while flying over and take sanctuary there.
They move in, block off all the entrances to keep the dead out, and clear the mall of any zombies that happened to me inside. They make a living quarter and create a false wall to mask its existence in-case some undead inadvertently get in. They live decadent lives within the walls of the mall. As things do, they eventually go sideways and the mall is attacked by a horde of roaming motorcyclists (of which a young Tom Savini is one) looking to loot the place. They try to the defend their “home” but the mall becomes invaded with zombies and Peter and Francie – two from the TV station – are the only ones to get away in the chopper flying into an uncertain future.
Interesting factoid, for some of the zombies Romero used amputees as stunt doubles. He also enjoyed making a commentary on capitalism, the mall culture, and consumerism. The undead could have returned to any location in that area yet they were drawn to the mall. Their reanimated bodies drove them back to their consumer driven former lives.
The 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead is considerably dark and has a faster pace. The premise is the same, but the differences in the story line is quite evident. Sarah Polly, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber star in this well done film.
Polley’s character, Ana, is a nurse who comes home from a long shift to have date night with her husband, Luis. They miss the bulletin about the outbreak during their “date” and go to bed unaware. A neighborhood girl, who is infected, gets into their bedroom and kills Luis while Ana sleeps. He is almost immediately reanimated and he attacks her but she escapes through the bathroom window and speeds off in her car.
Ana eventually joins forces with some folks – a police sergeant (Ving Rhames), an electrician (Jake Weber), and a petty criminal (Mekhi Pfifer) and his pregnant wife, Luda – and they take refuge in a local mall with some security guards – C.J., Bart, and Terry – who insist on relieving them of their weapons in order for them to stay.
A day later a delivery truck full of people arrive at the mall and there is a dispute with C.J. and Bart over whether to let them in or not, and the two are outvoted and disarmed. The new arrivals are brought into the fold but it is, at times, a tense situation. There is also Kenneth, the man trapped in his gun store across the street, who has ammo, but is starving to death. His store is surrounded by zombies and he cannot get out. Friendships, romances, and animosity bloom in this close quartered community of strangers.
What the remake has that the original film lacks is greater tension between the characters locked in the mall together. Because there are more of them in this mall setting, there is a greater chance for disagreements and conflict. The only gang attempting to get into the mall are the zombies that surround them. Unbeknownst to the mall inhabitants, they also have to worry about Luda. Upon entering the mall she was scratched by a reanimated guard and became infected, but she hides it from the group.
Eventually they decide to leave the mall and set about reinforcing shuttle buses from the parking garage. The group decides to fight their way out of the mall and to the marina in order to take a boat out to a deserted island in Lake Michigan. During the journey to the marina we see something a vastly different. The zombies in this remake are fast-moving and they run after their prey with a vengeance. There is definitely more gore, and thanks to technology, more realistic undead. Don’t forgot to take notice of the zombie baby that the dead Luda gives birth to in the mall – it’s just as hungry as the rest!
The crew loses a lot of people on the way to the boat and the survivors sail into an unknown future. The island is not the Valhalla they sought. This film is definitely worth seeing, plus you get to see Ty Burrell, Phil Dunphy from Modern Family, play a complete douche!
