Disney CEO Bob Iger believes that ESPN will move towards standalone service like HBO Now, were cord cutting consumers can just buy the channels they want.
“I think eventually ESPN becomes a business that is sold directly to the consumer. I think there’s an inevitably to that, but I don’t think it’s right around the corner,” said Iger on CNBC’s financial morning show “Squawk Box.”
This will be a very interesting concept to see unfold. ESPN would be one of the few standalone services with live broadcasts like the NFL and the College Football Playoff. These events have huge ratings and advertisers pony up big dollars for events where the consumer can’t fast forward through the commercials.
“I have very bullish feelings about ESPN long-term, but I’m a realist in terms of the disruptions of the business. I happen to believe that if we end up seeing more erosion in terms of the so-called multi-channel bundle, quality will win out and popularity will win out,” Iger said. “The business model may face some challenges over the next few years. I think long-term for ESPN because of the strength of its brand… they’ll be fine.”
X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer loves to teases his fans with Instagram photos while filming. The latest photo shows how massive a set they have built for the film as it looks like Apocalypse’s tomb.
Singer admits in the post his love of practical effects and memories of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Ancient mutant Apocalypse is unearthed after 5,000 years and recruits his four horsemen; Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and Angel (Ben Hardy). The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse try to reboot the world through destruction.
X-Men: Apocalypse is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac (Apocalypse), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Lana Condor (Jubilee), Olivia Munn, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
The film is set in 1980s and we will see younger versions of previously-seen characters.
X-Men: Apocalypse opens in theaters on May 27, 2016.
One of the biggest cliffhangers in television since “Who shot Mr. Burns?” is whether or not Jon Snow from Game of Thrones is alive. The Night’s Watch definitely tried to kill him but there are several theories on how Jon could survive. But HBO might have accidentally spoiled the drama as Cinemablend points out their dubious marketing campaign.
HBO sent out emails about a toy and merchandise sale they’re having on their website called “In Memorium: Fallen Fan Favorites,” which is basically a sale for all the merchandise of characters that have been killed off Game of Thrones. See image below. Guess what character doesn’t have any items in the sale? JON SNOW! Check out the website for yourself (HBO).
Does this mean he’s alive, not sure. There has been no official word. It would be funny if this is true and the mystery was solved by the melting kids over at CinemaBlend.
If you’re afraid of the first day of camp and not remembering who anyone is, Netflix has released a featurette to reintroduce you to Camp Fire Wood. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is a limited 8-episode series that comes out July 31, 2015 on Netflix.
“Working on this just feels like when we shot Wet Hot — it was really cold, we’re moving really fast and everybody’s having sex with each other,” said Amy Poehler.
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp stars; Janeane Garofalo as Beth, David Hyde Pierce as Prof. Henry Newman, Molly Shannon as Gail von Kleinenstein, Paul Rudd as Andy, Christopher Meloni as Gene, Michael Showalter as Gerald “Coop” Cooperberg/Alan Shemper/Ronald Reagan, Marguerite Moreau as Katie, Ken Marino as Victor Pulak, Michael Ian Black as McKinley Dozen, H. Jon Benjamin as Mitch / Can of Vegetables, Zak Orth as J.J., A. D. Miles as Gary, Amy Poehler as Susie, Bradley Cooper as Ben, Marisa Ryan as Abby Bernstein, Kevin Sussman as Steve, Joe Lo Truglio as Neil, Elizabeth Banks as Lindsay, Judah Friedlander as Ron Von Kleinenstein, Chris Pine[2] as a mysterious figure, Jon Hamm as a secret spy, Jason Schwartzman as the boy’s camp head counselor, Kristen Wiig as a snobby Camp Tigerclaw counselor, Michaela Watkins as a tough New Yorker, John Slattery, Josh Charles as a tough guy from a rival camp, Randall Park as a camp librarian in love with Gail, Jayma Mays, Lake Bell, Paul Scheer as a journalist, Rob Huebel as Professor Newman’s rival, Richard Schiff as Professor Newman’s superior, Michael Cera, and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
John Oliver tackles the issue of mandatory minimums, the require fixed prison sentences for certain crimes. Oliver states that the United States treat some turkeys better than most low-level offenders.
Dennis Dugan the director of Problem Child, went off on the critics and their recent hatred for Adam Sandler in an interview for The Hollywood Reporter. Dugan directed Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Grown Ups, You Don’t Mess With Zohan, Jack and Jill, and Grown Ups 2.
“I don’t give a fuck what [critics] think. I give a fuck that almost every one of my movies opens up number one and makes a giant profit for the studio, and people buy them, rent them, quote them and have a good time seeing them. … How fucking dare anybody say that he’s a shitty [entertainer],” said Dugan.
The Co-writers and co-directors of National Lampoon’s Vacation John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, confirmed in a NPR interview that they will write the Spider-Man reboot.
“We can finally acknowledge that,” said Daley.
“We’ve been saying no comment for the last week,” said Goldstein.
“This is the first time that we can say that we are writing it (Spider-Man),” said Daley.
“We’re thrilled,” said Goldstein.
“He’s a sharp kid and witty and kind of deals with the fact that he’s an outcast and a geek through humor. It is sort of the safety net for geeks like us, so I think we can totally relate to where he’s coming from. As well as the superpowers, which we also have,” said Daley.
Jon Watts will direct and Tom Holland will star in Spider-Man due out on July 28, 2017.
Welcome to the third installment of the Summer 2015 Anime Roundup! While we don’t have a lot of slice of life to cover this season, we have comedy in spades. If it’s laughter you are looking for, here’s where to find out what suits your tastes.
My Love Story!!
This series airs on Crunchyroll and updates on Wednesdays at 3:00pm.
Director: Morio Asaka (Chihayafuru, Chobits, NANA) Animation Production: MADHOUSE (Chihayafuru, Hanayamata, NANA, and so much more) AKA:Ore Monogatari!! (My Story!!)
Gouda Takeo is a very tall, muscular, and perhaps not particularly attractive student. He’s got a great heart and has a lot of (male) friends. Unfortunately, whenever he falls in love with a girl, she ends up in love with his good-looking best friend Suna. Suna in turn always rejects these girls because they talk crap about Takeo. Therefore, after he falls in love with Rinko Yamato after saving her from a grouper, he assumes she is in love with Suna and vows that he will help them get together because he doesn’t want Suna to break her heart. As it turns out, Yamato is actually in love with Takeo!
This series is a carry-over from last season, and if you haven’t started watching it yet you should. The synopsis above is just the first three episodes. How often do you get a romantic comedy that doesn’t take a full series for the main characters to get together (if they even do at all)? Not often. That’s a fact. Plus it’s reversed from the “awkward girl becomes friends with a cute popular boy” trope, so that allows male viewers to enjoy the show as well.
After episode 3 the perfectly timed romance, drama, and comedy continues. We learn there is more to Yamato than being “pure and innocent”, that Takeo isn’t as unpopular with girls as he thinks he is, and that there might just be a girl out there that is worthy of Suna. It never suddenly gets too weird or serious. The situations could happen in real life, mostly, except for all the silly things Takeo is capable of. This romcom is worth your time. I promise.
Charlotte
This series airs on Crunchyroll and updates on Saturdays at 1:00pm.
Director: Yoshiyuki Asai (has only done episode directing until now) Animation Studio: P.A. Works (Angel Beats, CANAAN, Shirobako)
A high school student named Yuu Otosaka has the power to temporarily possess other people, which he uses to cheat on tests and become popular at school. However, he is discovered by the student council at Hoshinoumi Gakuen and learns that he is not alone in the world. Many teenagers awaken to powers that then disappear in adulthood, and using them causes such children to be discovered and experimented on. He is bribed into transferring to Hoshinoumi Gakuen and joining the student council to help (or stop) other teens with special powers.
I have heard many people say that Yuu acts a lot like Lelouch from Gode Geass. I haven’t seen much of that franchise, so it doesn’t bother me. What I like is that he gets put in his place early on in the show. It isn’t about Yuu acting like a jerk. Right now it’s about the student council going around and helping people. It’s not particularly unique, but I do like that the powers tend to be “incomplete” somehow, each coming with a restriction that can either cause some trouble for the student using it or can only be used in certain situations.
This show is based on a Key visual novel and it is a lot like Angel Beats, from helping individuals to the baseball game episode. This also means we are given another more prominent male character so we aren’t just watching an unrealistic “guy surrounded by girls” series. Hopefully, given the source of the show, it will get into more deep and tragic backstory and have a bittersweet resolution. That is what I want from this show.
And Yuu. Stop being a nitwit and just tell your sister you don’t like pizza sauce. For goodness’ sake. That joke is getting old and it’s only been four episodes. Grow a pair and just end it.
If you want a more in-depth analysis of Charlotte, Our own Logan Peterson has been posting up episode reviews. Get started with episode 1!
Miss Monochrome-The Animation-2
This series airs on Crunchyroll and updates on Fridays at 11:30am.
Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki (Hayate the Combat Butler, Love Hina) Animation Studio: LIDEN FILMS and SANZIGEN Animation Studio (Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, The Heroic Legend of Arslan)
Miss Monochrome, self-proclaimed idol, is on a quest to become more popular and beloved so she can compete with the famous idol Kikuko. She slowly and ineptly builds up staff, merchandise, and band members to help her with her goals.
While last season focused a lot on Miss Monochrome’s backstory and new beginnings, this season has some fun new characters to help Miss Monochrome on her way to having a great career. It is a short show, only about 7 minutes or so, and it is amusing enough to watch Miss Monochrome fumble her way to victory. If you watched season 1, this is more of the same. In my opinion, this show would be best watched all at once when you have an hour or so to spare.
Seiyuu’s Life!
This series airs on Funimation and updates on Wednesdays at 1:00pm.
Director: Hiroshi Ikehata (Has mostly done episode directing only up until now) Animation Studio: Gonzo (Full Metal Panic!,Last Exile, Samurai 7, Bokurano, and more!) AKA:Sore ga Seiyuu!
This series follows Futaba, Ichigo, and Rin through their careers in the seiyuu (voice acting) industry. Futaba and Ichigo are fairly new seiyuu, and are adults with other jobs as they try to improve their careers as seiyuu. Rin is more of a veteran seiyuu, even though she is a high school student.
That’s really all there is to the show so far. It is not as fun as Shirobako, but is trying to be for the seiyuu industry what Shirobako was for the anime industry. Voice acting works very differently in Japan than it does here, and the show provides some good insight to the career. Also, it hasn’t gone into moe-trope-land yet. As long as they stay focused on girls’ careers and don’t start doing stuff like beach episodes, I’ll probably keep watching just for the information.
Shimoneta: a Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist
This series airs on Funimation and updates on Tuesdays at 4:30pm.
Director: Youhei Suzuki (Hasn’t fully directed a show yet, but has done a lot of episode directing and storyboarding.) Animation Studio: J.C. Staff (Food Wars, Golden Time, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and more!) AKA:Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai AKA:Shimoseka (Thank goodness!)
Japan has cracked down on the public and banned lewd acts and speech. Citizens must wear collars that monitor their every word. Pornography is burned. Tanukichi Okuma has worked hard to enter a school so pure and in-line with Japan’s public morals laws that the students there don’t know anything about biology and reproduction at all, let alone pornography. This is because his childhood friend Anna is the student council president there, and he wants to be pure like her. However, he ends up being blackmailed by student council vice-president Ayame into helping her terrorist organization, SOX, distribute lewd materials and educate the student body.
Because Tanukichi’s father was also a “pervert terrorist”, Tanukichi grew up with all the information that he feels he is not supposed to know. The rest of the students KNOW he knows, and he is reluctant to explain, part out of embarrassment and part because he thinks the knowledge makes him a bad person. But when he is helping Ayame it gives him a thrill, even if he denies it afterward
I avoided this show at first because it sounded dumb. Well, it IS pretty dumb, but it is also hilarious. With the problems Japan is having with its low birth rates, it doesn’t seem like this kind of society is that far off. People are already not having sex; what if people simply didn’t know how anymore? So with that kind of mindset, I can’t help but cheer on SOX and support their endeavors to educate their fellow students and commit “terrorist” dirty joke acts against the Japanese government. I like this show so much better than the dark and disturbing Prison School even though there’s just as much perversion in it. It’s just more fun.
Sky Wizards Academy
This series airs on Funimation and updates on Wednesdays at 1:00pm.
Director: Takayuki Inagaki (Rosario + Vampire, Seiken Tsukai no World Break) Animation Studio: Diomedea (Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!, Squid Girl, KanColle) AKA:Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan
The world has been invaded by magical armor insects, and mankind has retreated to floating cities and fights the bugs in mid-air battles. The show follows Kanata, who people call a traitor even though their reasons for it make him just seem lazy or cowardly instead of traitorous. He is assigned the three worst students in the academy – all female, of course. Misora has no talent in her chosen weapon and is oblivious when it comes to information gathering and tactics. Rico can walk the walk, and she’s also too full of herself to work properly in a team. Lecty has talent but doesn’t have the self-confidence to demonstrate it. They all think he is a pervert. He couldn’t give a crap.
I was originally going to file this with the action shows, but it turns out that there’s not really all that much action going on. This is much closer to a slice of life or romantic comedy. In fact, the girls in this show want this to be a harem. They keep trying to pull in harem tropes, and Kanata keeps refusing to react like a typical harem-hero. For example, when he accidentally touches breasts:
AHAHAHA! Kudos to Kanata. He’s the only reason I’m even still watching this show. So long as he continues to resist the evil that is a harem, I will continue to be amused. I really was hoping for more sky-magic-fighting but instead in episode three we watch people shop and work a waitressing job. Kanata explains why he had the girls do these things, but…just…bleh.
Next time on the Summer 2015 Anime Roundup
Aoharu x Machinegun Food Wars Kyoukai no Rinne Ushio to Tora
Last time on God Eater we left off with 1st squad heading out to save Alisa from her plane, that was being attacked by a ton of Aragami. Lenka is still on thin ice and Lindow is not about to let him forget it before the mission. After all Lindow wants him to succeed, so he’s going to make sure that Lenka can prove himself to the higher-ups.
Now this episode we get a good look inside Alisa’s personality and maybe a peak at her back story. While she’s almost stoic while in combat, she doesn’t act that way when interacting with people. I like this because it shows that she’s smart enough to differentiate situations. It gets old when characters are just stoic all the time for no reason. She also has a very, either caring or dutiful personality towards people around her. After all, she prioritizes everyone else’s safety on the plane, even when she could have gone away with 1st squad if she wanted to. She also takes this opportunity to comment on how certain people aren’t looked at with value by the military. These feelings could mean that her family was abandoned by military forces and left to fend for themselves. Which would explain her sense of compassion and duty.
She fights almost with a sense of recklessness and instinct. For example, when she hops off the plane and is jumping from Aragami to Aragami slashing them open. I mean she’s literally nowhere near the plane but manages to get back on board every time. Clearly she either has insane skill or is gifted like Lenka. Speaking of Lenka, after Lindow spills the beans of him being a New-Type she gives off a little hint of Jealousy on her face. She may have a superiority complex and feels special in the fact that she’s so strong that everyone can depend on her. Having Lenka around may seem threatening.
Lenka on the other hand really proves himself in this episode. As opposed to earlier he is able to control his transformations very fluidly. Almost too fluidly considering he’s had little to no practice at all. This might contribute to Alisa’s jealousy seeing him accel too quickly. And just like Alisa he cares about the people more than the mission. Even at the expense of failing the mission and getting in even in more trouble, he decides to help Alisa protect the plane and its passengers. I’m starting to see signs of kindred spirits here, but I’ll have to wait to see them interact together to be sure. If they don’t get along very well, that’ll be a sure sign.
Now I have earlier complained about how even though the animation looks incredible in this show, they don’t seem to use it to their advantage. Up until now all the action scenes seemed basic and bland. But throw that out the window because the animation fucking rocked this episode. Very fluid characters moving in insane movements, camera pans alongside the action that you want to see, and awesome perspective shots with movement going on in the background. Even if the story doesn’t go anywhere I think the characters and the animation may be a reason in itself to keep watching God Eater.
Speaking of the story it’s getting really annoying with these black and white flashbacks. They pop at random times to explain things that are going on in real-time and it just seems lazy. Half the time I don’t care what’s going on in these scenes because I’m being taken out of a breathtaking action shot. This show needs to learn when and where to drop exposition on its viewer and maybe deliver it better. In not against the flashbacks, but when they pop up so abruptly it sort of ruins it for me. Like there’s a point where an Aragami evolves and is able to beckon other Aragami to fall in on itself. Then we get a flashback explaining what we just saw. Why did we need that? The scene earlier already explained that.
I mean there are times where exposition happens in the story that feels natural. Like when Alisa has run out of ammo and her God Arm devours an Aragami to recharge. This explain’s and foreshadows so much about the God Arm’s but feels natural and congruent with whats going on with the show. The same can be said near the end of the episode when they see the enormous Aragami in the distance. Now we know something about Aragami as well as the state the world is in. Even though they may have triumphed now there still is something out there that if it made a move they wouldn’t stand a chance.
So I can confidently say this was the best episode of God Eater yet. Sure there are still a few things that need to be worked out but the fun is still there and it doesn’t seem to be letting down anytime soon. All I can hope for is that God Eater doesn’t end up devouring itself when it gets to the actual plot of the show. Because no matter how good the animation and characters are, if the plot gets so far up its own ass that I can’t see sunlight anymore I might have to give up on it.
George R.R. Martin, author of The Song of Ice and Fire novels that inspired the Game of Thrones series, recently wrote a blog post in which he states his problems with some Marvel superhero movies while praising Ant-Man.
As a self-proclaimed “Marvel fanboy”, he wishes they’d gone for the Hank Pym Ant-Man instead of Scott Lang, but commends the end result in his review.
I am relieved and delighted to report that they did it right.
He then went on to criticize the way some Marvel movies are developed in terms of plot and characters, pointing out that the excess of action can become overwhelming if it’s not well balanced.
A superhero movie needs a fair share of smashing and bashing and stuff blowing up, of course, but IMNSHO that stuff works best when it is happening to people we actually know and care about, and if you jam in too many characters and don’t take time to develop any of them properly, well…
He talks from experience, of course, with juggling so many characters.
In short, George R.R. Martin offers his Ant-Man review with a positive light, ranking it only second in what he considers the bulk of all Marvel movies. So from what he writes, his list might be something like this:
But I could be wrong. He didn’t mention any of the Captain America or Hulk movies in this “ranking”, but he did talk about the latter when complaining about the lack of originality when introducing villains. He laments the fact that the villains in most Marvel movies seem to have the same powers as the heroes (Abomination, Iron Monger, Venom), rejecting a chance to make a difference.
I want more films where the hero and the villain have wildly different powers. That makes the action much more interesting.
Okay, but what about Thanos—which we’ll be seeing more of—Loki…? Even Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were villains at some point, and they are wildly different from the rest of the Avengers. What bothers me a bit is the fact that it seems like to George R.R. Martin it all becomes reduced to who is the hero and who is the villain. These movies are more than that! Again, not once does he mention Captain America in the blog. I think Cap has the most powerful, well-developed story, and even his “enemy” in The Winter Soldier is not a one-dimensional copy of him. In fact, Bucky and Loki are two baddies who Marvel keeps bringing back because they offer so much more than just an opposing character, they’re a big part of Steve’s and Thor’s life, they mean something to them.
And of course the assemble movies are going to be much more about the action, but also to show them as part of a team, because that’s what the solo movies are for; apart from leading up to Avengers movies, they carry on with the individual characters.
Yes, Marvel has a lot of work to do in terms of villains and character development (Black Widow solo movie, anyone?) but I still have some faith for future releases, starting with Civil War.
I’m only surprised George R.R. Martin didn’t alude to Marvel bringing characters back to life over and over again…
