Black Mass is ramping up its ad campaign ahead of its September release. We have a third full-length trailer for the film, unpacking more of the mechanics of the plot, and showing the rest of the cast in action.
Here is the latest Black Mass trailer:
In addition to this latest trailer, Black Mass also has a new poster ahead of its release:
I don’t know about you, but I was satisfied after the initial trailer for Black Mass hit earlier this summer. It was brief, threatening, and brimming with an undercurrent of tension and danger. Alas, studios are privy to showing off as much of the film as they can ahead of its release September 18. Let’s hope this is Johnny Depp’s comeback.
Beasts of No Nation, the new film from Netflix (studios?), stars Idris Elba as a coldblooded leader of child soldiers in Africa. The film is stirring some controversy, and some theater chains are boycotting because Netflix has opted to release it on their streaming service the same day it hits multiplexes.
Here is the trailer for Beasts of No Nation:
The film will first debut at the TIFF, and here is the synopsis from the Festival:
Based on the highly acclaimed novel, director Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation brings to life the gripping tale of Agu (newcomer Abraham Attah), a child soldier torn from his family to fight in the civil war of an African country. Idris Elba dominates the screen in the role of Commandant, a warlord who takes in Agu and instructs him in the ways of war.
Beasts of No Nation will generate intrigue from fans of True Detective who think his influence is sorely absent in the muddled, uneven second season. It will also be interesting to see, if this film does generate Awards buzz, how its release on Netflix is handled.
Beasts of No Nation hits theaters and Netflix November 16.
Welcome to the last installment of the Summer 2015 Anime Roundup series! This time we only have four shows to cover since the rest of the action was rounded up in other posts. Don’t worry, though – I’ll make up for it by giving you more information.
Aoharu x Machinegun
This series airs on Crunchyroll and updates Saturdays at 1:00am.
Director: Hideaki Nakano (has not fully directed anything until now) Anime Production: Brain’s Base (One Week Friends, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Penguindrum) AKA:Aoharu x Kikanjū
Hotaru Tachibana is a brash action girl with a strong sense of justice. Unfortunately, she is often mistaken for a boy. She goes into a fit of range when she thinks her best friend was swindled by a host at a club, who turns out to be her neighbor, Masamune. He challenges Hotaru to a survival game duel. Survival games are played with toy guns that fire plastic bullets.
Hotaru not only loses the duel – she causes a lot of damage to the club. Instead of forcing Hotaru to pay off the debt, he suggest she work it off by joining his survival game team because she is strong and has fast reflexes. Unfortunately, Masamune’s team is males only. Hotaru ends up enjoying the thrill of the games but must continue to masquerade as a boy to play on Masamune’s team.
This show easily could have been under last week’s comedy post, but there is enough action to warrant it being placed here instead. The action is very silly. Hotaru will just push off the ground in a jump and destroy the ground with the force of her foot digging in. It even happens on tile!
She did this to move a few feet. Why? WHY?
I know this show isn’t that great, but I keep laughing at it and I enjoy the action, so I guess I’ll just be calling this one my guilty pleasure of the season even if it isn’t ecchi like Shimoseka. I would go so far as to say this series would be enjoyed more by women than men because it can creep into reverse-harem mode, even though her teammates think that Hotaru is a boy.
Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
This series airs on Crunchyroll and updates Fridays at 3:25pm.
Director: Yoshitomo Yonetani (Brigadoon, Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning, Tiger & Bunny: The Rising) Anime Production: J.C. Staff (Excel Saga, Ikkitousen, Shakugan no Shana, Witch Craft Works, and many more)
Soma Yukihira has worked all his life in a small but successful diner with his father, Jōichirō Yukihira. They often compete to see who can make the best dish, with those dishes often eliciting sexy and bizarre reactions from the judges. After Soma saves his diner from being sold with one of his amazing dishes, Jōichirō decides to pack up shop and sends Soma off to Engetsu Teahouse Culinary Academy, a cutthroat cooking school.
It turns out that only a small percentage of students ever graduate from Engetsu, and they often have food battles (called shokugeki) and challenges similar to what Soma and his father always did in the diner. Soma not only has to pass entrance exams to get into the school. He must earn a place in a dormitory, survive “hell week”, participate in shokugeki, and more, all with his continued enrollment on the line.
Food Wars started last season, and you have probably heard a lot about how it is “food porn”. Well, it kind of is. The food looks delicious and often times when someone takes a bite of food, you enter a mindscape where the diner’s clothes have burst off and they are writhing around like they’ve had a roll in the hay. However, this doesn’t happen every time, and many times you just guffaw out loud when, for example, someone compares what they are eating to getting a kiss from the Prince of Apples.
This show is a true shounen. At first it may not seem like Soma is going to get any growth or character development. He starts out really full of himself. But as the show goes on, he experiences defeat at the hands of people other than his father, begins to understand that he has a lot to learn, and gains rivals who cause him to want to improve himself. Isn’t that what a shounen is all about? Well, besides crazy fighting skills. In this case, we have crazy cooking skills, so that aspect is still there, too!
RIN-NE
This series airs on Crunchyroll and updates Wednesdays at 3:00pm.
Director: Seiki Sugawara (D-Frag!) Anime Production: Brain’s Base (One Week Friends, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Penguindrum)
AKA: Kyoukai no Rinne
Sakura Mamiya has been able to see spirits ever since she was tricked into visiting and eating food in the otherworld when she was a child. She finds out her classmate, Rinne Rokudou, is “sort of” a shinigami. He helps spirits pass in and reincarnate. Because he is poor, he has a donation box set up at school for offerings in exchange for his help, and often ends up asking Sakura (or other characters) for assistance.
This is a Rumiko Takahashi series that started last season, and I would say if you enjoyed the hijinks of Ranma 1/2 but kinda wished Akane wasn’t such a harpy or that Ranma wasn’t completely socially inept, you might like this show. There isn’t anything new about it, but it is nice to have “good guy” characters that are a bit more mellow than usual for their stereotype while still retaining enough characteristics to make you laugh. For example, Akane would just see or hear what she wanted and interpret it as perverted. Sakura still has this “selective seeing” and remembers Rinne holding hands with someone else even though it didn’t happen that way. However, Sakura doesn’t kick Rinne into outer space for it. Therein lies the difference. I’d say the only character who is over the top for a character stereotype is Rinne’s father. Oh man. He’s Genma + Miroku. I’ll let you think about what this means.
This show is cute and charming. I love the it when ridiculous things happen (find the fun Ranma 1/2 homage in episode 17). I love the silly attack names and items. I love the antics of the villains and rivals. I don’t mind that there is no overarching storyline aside from the threat of the Damashigami, who try to trick the living into the otherworld for reincarnation so they can hit a quota. I hope the series goes on for a long time so I can giggle at it every week.
Ushio and Tora
This series airs on Crunchyroll and updates Fridays at 10:30am.
Director: Satoshi Nishimura (Trigun, Fighting Spirit) Anime Production: Studio VOLN (this series only), MAPPA (Zankyō no Terror, Kids on the Slope, Punch-line)
Ushio Aotsuki finds out the crazy stories his dad tells about youkai are true when he finds an ancient youkai (whom Ushio later names Tora) pinned to a wall in their temple with a spear. He was initially inclined to leave Tora there, but the Tora’s aura attracted lesser demons to his house. Ushio was forced to free Tora to kill the other demons and save his friends. As it turns out, the spear is called a Beast Spear and gives the wielder aspects of a beast, allowing the person carrying it to fight demons more effectively. So long as Ushio holds the spear, Tora is afraid to act against Ushio. The two end up fighting other demons that show up in the area, though Tora is mostly reluctant to do so.
This series is based from a manga released in the early 90s, and it shows (in a good way). The designs definitely look like they come straight from the 90s without looking dated. The banter and tropes come straight from early 90s stereotypes, and they make me feel nostalgic. The opener is basically 90s punk and is awesome. Plus, the characters have the best expressions. Especially for Tora. He can look super evil, and super silly, and super cute. I would own a Tora figure, and right now I don’t really own any anime figures.
I’ve heard people say this series doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Well, it kind of doesn’t. It’s from the 90s and already had one anime adaptation already. But if you want action, the nostalgia factor, and enjoy the “friendly enemy” trope with all the banter it entails, this series is a great fit for you.
More to come!
While the Summer 2015 Anime Roundup has come to a close, there will definitely be other roundups and reviews between now and the Fall 2015 season. Stay tuned for more!
Peter Parker will make his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War, the third installment in the series is currently filming and will be in theaters on May 6, 2016.
The Latino-Review is reporting that they have a source who has seen the new Spider-Man costume being used for Captain America: Civil War; and instead of posting an illegally obtained photo they have released an image that closely resembles the actual costume. The image below is from SpikeSDM’s Deviant Art page.
In the grand tradition of not publishing things illegally obtained, I’m happy to report this is an artist’s rendering of the Civil War Spider-Man costume. [UPDATE: ED. the concept art was not drawn from descriptions of the concept art as the initial version of this post stated, this photo was found by a source with access to the Spider-Man costume as a way of legally reporting on how it looked.] That means specific details (like how the lenses and gloves are styled) might be a little different when they hit the screen next year. HOWEVER, it’s really easy to see the “home made” costume look that Marvel Studios has been touting. – Latino-Review
Amazon has announced in their UK website that they’ll be releasing a new show with British journalist and writer Jeremy Clarkson, formerly host of one of BBC’s gem, Top Gear.
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are reuniting to create an all-new car show, exclusively for Amazon Prime. The show will be produced by the trio’s long time executive producer Andy Wilman. On working with Amazon, Jeremy Clarkson said “I feel like I’ve climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship.” The first show will go into production shortly and arrive exclusively on Amazon Prime in 2016.
Jeremy Clarkson was fired from Top Gear in March for provoking a quarrel with a producer. Both sides parted on bad terms. Clarkson’s co-hosts and producer Andy Wilman followed him not long after. It has been rumored that a new project was in the works, so this comes as no surprise.
However, it seems that this new Amazon show will be about cars, which was Top Gear’s “thing” and what made it so popular. We’ll see how they make it different.
.@AmazonVideoUK now saying I can’t be their chief drone pilot. Apparently they want us to make a car show.
AMC’s The Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the new characters on the show and expectations for season six.
Merritt Wever will play Dr. Denise Cloyd, she has a very important role among the group with her skill set as a surgeon. Ethan Embry will play Carter, this is a combination of multiple characters from the comic.
“Ethan plays a combo of a few characters that we actually haven’t hit yet or weren’t able to hit in other characters,” said Gimple to EW. “He is an Alexandrian, and has been there the whole time, just quite busy.”
Corey Hawkins has been cast as Heath a supply runner, in the comics he is romantically linked to Denise.
“He’s terrific and I’m so excited to see him bring Heath to life. It’s been fun and he dove in with both feet. He’s tough and skeptical when the cameras are rolling, and then when they’re off he’s just like a goofy fan. He’s really, really excited to be there,” said Gimple.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC for a sixth season on Sunday, October 11.
Odds are, if you were to go up to the average person and ask them whether or not they liked Tom Cruise, you would get a negative response. Most people tend to focus on his beliefs or some of his past actions and allow that to formulate an opinion of Mr. Cruise. Some people, and writers, just think he’s lost some cool points over the years. I posed the question on Facebook:
Here are some of the responses I received.
Here’s another –
Some felt a bit differently
It’s gotten to a point now where even the public opinion is influencing box-office reception. I can think of no bigger example of when Edge of Tomorrow went up against The Fault in our Stars, which should have wiped the floor with the teen weeper. That didn’t happen, as the teenage crowd arrived in droves to support the YA adaptation. It seems people are now choosing to not see his films, not on the merit of the movie, but based on whether or not they like Cruise. If you ask me, whether we like or hate Tom Cruise is irrelevant when it comes to evaluating his films. Sure, I’m not a big fan Cruise. However, Mission: Impossible – Rouge Nation is one of the most entertaining action movies this summer.
This fifth story kicks off with the IMF being disbanded and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) out in the cold. A new threat known as “The Syndicate” emerges from the shadows. The Syndicate is a group a highly trained operatives who are determined to disrupt the World Order. Faced with impossible odds (wink), Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with a British operative (Rebecca Ferguson) who may or may not be part of The Syndicate.
Rouge Nation does what most movies should do when they have a successful formula, and that is stick with it. The audience loves to see Cruise running and blowing stuff up and running some more. The audience loves to see him risking his neck performing increasingly absurd stunt work, like the most incredible dalliance outside a plane as it takes off from the runway. Director Christopher McQuarrie ratchets up the action that was more subdued in his collaboration with Cruise on Jack Reacher, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. When you have a formula that works, why would you change it?
Cruise seems very comfortable wearing the action hero pants, however, what makes this movie pop in my estimation is Simon Pegg. You need Pegg to add some humor and to point out the absurdity of the situations that they find themselves in time after time. It’s this comic relief that adds some flavor to the kinetic fireworks throughout.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is the epitome of summer entertainment. You don’t have to think, You don’t have analyze. It’s nonstop fun from beginning to end, and audiences should leave satisfied.
No matter how much we may or may not like Tom Cruise, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Mission: Impossible does it again.
HBO has acquired U.S. rights to VERY SEMI-SERIOUS: A PARTIALLY THOROUGH PORTRAIT OF NEW YORKER CARTOONISTS, directed by Leah Wolchok and produced by Davina Pardo. An offbeat meditation on humor, art and the genius of the single panel, the feature-length documentary debuts MONDAY, DEC. 7 (9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) exclusively on HBO, following a limited theatrical run (Nov. 20-Dec. 3) in New York at Lincoln Plaza, in San Francisco at the Roxie Theater, and in Los Angeles.
Leah Wolchok’s light-hearted yet poignant debut film, which had its world premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, offers a window into The New Yorker, the undisputed standard bearer of the single-panel cartoon. Whether they leave readers amused, inspired or even a little baffled, the iconic cartoons have been an instantly recognizable cultural touchstone over the past 90 years.
VERY SEMI-SERIOUS is an unprecedented glimpse into the process behind the cartoons. The film follows cartoon editor Bob Mankoff as he sifts through hundreds of submissions and pitches every week to bring readers a carefully curated selection of insightful and humorous work.
In addition to interviews with New Yorker staffers, including editor David Remnick, VERY SEMI-SERIOUS includes interviews with legends Roz Chast and Mort Gerberg and young hopefuls like graphic novelist Liana Finck as they discuss their cartoons and go through the process of submitting them each week to the magazine. The documentary observes Mankoff as he strives to nurture new talent and represent the magazine’s old guard, while also considering how his industry must evolve to stay relevant.
“We are thrilled VERY-SEMI SERIOUS has found a home at HBO,” says Wolchok. “The New Yorker cartoons bring insightful humor to the magazine weekly, and we hope the HBO audience enjoys meeting and spending some time with their creators.”
Take a trip to the University of Michigan campus and you may find yourself in a ghost town. Where are all the people? This particular town was not created for people. U of M’s recently unveiled 32 acre ‘Mcity‘ is populated entirely by driverless cars.
The 10 million dollar test city for driverless cars will allow for the unabridged testing of these vehicles. Fully autonomous vehicles will certainly be a vital element for the future of society, and potentially solve a number of obstacles that drivers currently face.
Senior citizens and people facing disabilities would have better opportunities for transportation without having to rely on a driver. Ideally the probability of traffic accidents would be virtually eliminated. Although Google’s driverless cars have been involved in a number of collisions in California, in all cases humans were at fault, according to Google.
Mcity currently has only one resident, a robot named Sebastian. Sebastian was created by U of M engineering students to give the driverless cars a pedestrian obstacle. The driverless cars are tested on how they would react to live pedestrians by avoiding Sebastian as he walks in front of them.
The Michigan Department of Transportation also contributed 3 million dollars toward development of Mcity. Thirty affiliate sponsors plus Ford, General Motors, and Verizon also contributed over 1 Million to the project. These sponsors are allowed to use Mcity for their own purposes at four hour intervals.
It seems that Mcity will likely create a progressive research utopia for autonomous vehicles. What are your thoughts on the progression of this technology, and what would you do if you could spend a day with Sebastian in Mcity?
Content Sources:
Felton, R. (2015, July 26). Welcome to MCity, Michigan’s ghost town of driverless cars. The Guardian. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com
Harris, M (2015, May 11). Google’s driverless cars have been involved in three car accidents. Quartz. Retrieved from www.qz.com
So, I finally got to see Ant-Man yesterday. I know, I know, late to the party (wait until you hear that I haven’t even seen Ultron yet), but as I left the theaters I realized something awfully sad.
Before I get to that sad thing, I need to cover my bases. I really loved Ant-Man. The CGI was great, it had a real ‘weight’ to it. I loved the fact it was a heist film. Paul Rudd and Michael Douglass gave fantastic performances. Ant-Man is by far the funniest MCU movie yet (though, it’s only real competition is GotG). Ant-Man might not have a chance at the ‘Best MCU Movie’ award, but it was definitely a fun time.
Now, back to the sad thing. It’s no secret that Marvel seems to have a problem getting the villains right in their movies. But I never really felt bothered by it. Sure, Ronan the Accuser was a pretty boring antagonist, but it felt like that’s all they could do with him, so I let it slide.
Darren Cross, the antagonist of Ant-Man, however, does not feel like that. In fact, Darren Cross had the potential to be a fantastic villain. Spoiler Alert: he isn’t.
What do I mean? Well, Darren Cross is your typical money-focused evil businessman, but he’s also more than that; he’s the apprentice of Hank Pym, obsessed with finding his mentor’s secrets. He’s also slightly off his rocker due to his exposure to the Pym Particle.
There is so much potential here! Perhaps a flashback of when Hank left him, and have him gradually get crazier as the film progresses could have really given him some more depth.
But I’m not a filmmaker so I don’t know. What I do know is that there was so much potential in Darren Cross, and Ant-Man would have been a much better movie with that potential harnessed.
