Lionsgate will give Comic-Con® 2015 attendees two exclusive looks at the studio’s most anticipated fall film releases, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” and “The Last Witch Hunter,” during a panel that will feature Q&As with the stars and filmmakers of both movies to be moderated by Emmy® Award-winning comedian and talk show host Conan O’Brien. The star-studded Lionsgate panel and exclusive reveals will take place in Hall H on Thursday, July 9 from 12:00-1:15 p.m.
At the Lionsgate Booth (#4045), there will be talent and filmmaker signings, photo opportunities, promotional giveaways, AV and displays for an exciting slate of upcoming films. Among the numerous films being included are: “The Hunger Games” Mockingjay – Part 2” (November 20, 2015), “The Last Witch Hunter” (October 23, 2015), “Shaun the Sheep” (August 7, 2015), “American Ultra” (August 21, 2015), and “Sicario” (Limited – September 19, 2015).
Additional details regarding the panel:
Location and Time: Hall H (Thursday, July 9, 12-1:15pm)
Moderator: Conan O’Brien
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 – a must-see for all, this panel will provide a sneak peek into the powerful final chapter of the epic “The Hunger Games” film franchise. Attendees will be shown never-before-seen footage from “Mockingjay – Part 2” and treated to a Q&A session with the cast and filmmakers, who will reveal details of the big screen finale.
The Last Witch Hunter – Vin Diesel is “The Last Witch Hunter” and he is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history. Join the cast as they preview exclusive footage from “The Last Witch Hunter” before its worldwide debut.
Marvel released a new TV spot for Ant-Man and three posters that shows how Scott Lang measures up to the Avengers.
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must leave his criminal past behind if he hopes to take down Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) and the unbridled power of the Yellowjacket suit! With the help of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and the Ant-Man suit, Lang must embrace his inner hero to pull off a heist that could save the world. See why heroes don’t get any bigger than Ant-Man in the video above.
Terry Gilliam’s vision of Don Quixote is still alive, and looks to be a heading to Amazon as part of a multi-picture deal Gilliam struck with the company.
In an interview with The Playlist, Gilliam said his version of the story, to be called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, will begin filming in 2016. Amazon confirmed the news as well, so let’s hope the film will actually come to fruition this time.
“I’m intrigued by their [Amazon’s] way of doing it,” Gilliam told Playlist in the interview. “They go into the cinemas first and then a month or two afterwards they go into streaming. And I think that’s good because you get a chance to see it on the big screen, and yet I know that more people have seen my films on DVD than they have in the cinemas and that’s the reality of life now.”
Terry Gilliam has tried to make a Don Quixote film for about twenty years. Going back to the late 90s, Gilliam was actually in the middle of filming an adaptation starring Johnny Depp, but the project fell apart in epic fashion, so much so that the story of the film’s failure is more polar than the movie could ever imagine.
Gilliam has said Depp will not be involved this time around, but in a brilliant casting decision, he has recruited John Hurt to play Don Quixote. Jack O’Connell has also been cast in an unnamed role, possibly as Sancho.
Amazon signing Terry Gilliam to a movie deal is another bold move by the company, who has already recruited the likes of Spike Lee and Woody Allen. Also, along with this news of Terry Gilliam was the name Jim Jarmusch, who has signed his own Amazon deal. Amazon is steely moving up the ranks of an entertainment mecca for consumers, and hopefully The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will be the success Terry Gilliam always envisioned.
Christopher Lee, star of Hammer Horror Films, The Lord of The Rings, the Star Wars films, and many other films, has passed away at the age of 93.
According to a report in The Guardian, Lee passed away at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. Lee actually passed away Sunday morning, but his wife of 53 years, former model Birgit Kroencke, wanted to make sure all family and friends were notified before releasing the news to the public.
Lee made his name playing Dracula in the Hammer Horror films in the 60s and 70s, but soon found himself a goto actor for all types of franchise films. He appeared as Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun, as well as The Lord of The Rings trilogy and Star Wars Episodes 1-3. Lee also appeared in such films as the cult classic 70s horror The Wicker Man, Sleepy Hollow, and Tim Burton’s adaptation of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.
Christopher Lee is survived by his aforementioned wife, Birgit Kroencke, and their daughter Christina.
ABOUT CRAIG SHOEMAKER (from his website)
“Shoemaker is insightful and amusing…we are moved beyond laughter to tears.” — The Los Angeles Times.
You might know Craig Shoemaker as the unmistakably engaging, iconic, baritone-voiced character, The Lovemaster. Maybe you were one of the millions who saw him in his decades of successful stand up comedy. Or you may have seen one of his specials aired on Showtime, HBO, ABC, CBS, NBC and just about every other major network. Perhaps you saw him in a TV show or movie like Parks & Recreation, The Bold and The Beautiful, or in Scream 2?
Or maybe you just recognize his voice: Pleasantville, many characters in numerous animated series, and all the voices (and even the title song) for the BBC cartoon, Big Foot, Little Foot.
“I’m going to science the shit out of it,” said Mark Watney, from the film “The Martian.”
How did 20th Century Fox not realize this catch phrase was going to blow up the internet?
The Martian was schedule to be released on November 25th but after the trailer hit the web and was received with an overwhelmingly good vibe the studio has decided to move the film up to October 2nd.
Based on Andy Weir’s best-selling novel, The Martian is the gripping story of Mark Watney’s survival against the odds after he becomes stranded on Mars.
Fans of the Punisher have reasons to celebrate this week. On Tuesday, Marvel announced Jon Bernthal of the Walking Dead fame would play the character in Season 2 of the Netflix-Marvel series; Daredevil. The Punisher is notable, in that he has received three separate feature film incarnations and while each version has its fans, none of them have been able to get the box-office or critical traction necessary to maintain a franchise. Recent comics series have done very little to improve the character’s image in the eyes of the mainstream audience (Franken-Castle, I’m looking at you). In fact, while the character may have a rich forty-year history, the comics themselves have been very hit or miss. The most successful iterations of the character in recent years have been Matt Fraction’s War Journal and Jason Arron’s Max runs respectively, which each offer a distinct approaches to the character, but they are very much the exception that proves the rule.
Part of the problem is that the character’s popularity has very little to do with him being an interesting character per se. The Punisher is a bad-ass, no one is going to question that and everybody loves a bad-ass. This is a character whose entire reason d’etre is to kill criminals in the most brutal fashion imaginable. There is a primal part of us that is drawn to this Frank Castle’s simplistic view of morality, a morality which says that any crime, no matter how small, merits death. The Punisher is arguably one of the first truly popular objectivist heroes. No code of conduct, no redemption, just punishment.
Frank’s origins are something readers have little trouble empathising with. His war on crime is spawned from a very human tragedy; the murder of his wife and child. It is this central tragedy which humanises the character, but Frank Castle purges himself of that humanity when he becomes the Punisher. He crosses the line between justice and vengeance. As a protagonist, it becomes hard to relate to him when there is so much red in his ledger. One could try to recitify this by giving the character a more nuanced perspective, but if you introduce too much doubt into his character then he ceases to be the Punisher.
For me, the Punisher is at his best when he is written as a force of nature. What’s interesting isn’t how he acts, that is predetermined, but how other re-act to his presence. The Punisher is not one to be swayed from his mission regardless of the socio-economic context in which crime exists. Frank’s role in life inevitably means he comes into conflict with other heroes whose morals directly conflict his methodology. It is in that context that we are likely to see the Punisher in Marvel’s Netflix series. The Punisher has a long history with Daredevil with the latter’s Catholic beliefs acting as a key source of tension between the two. Frank Castle is a reflection of what Matt could become if he allows himself to go over the edge, if he gives in to some if his base desires. The problem with acting as a foil is that it becomes very difficult to sustain your own stories. Hence why the best Punisher stories rarely feature the Punisher as the main character.
So how should the character be portrayed in Marvel’s Daredevil? It is possible for a character like the Punisher to have operated under the radar for years and to be seen by many as little more an urban myth. This can also be used to explain why we haven’t seen hints of him before now. Don’t give us an origin story, give us a Punisher who is in his tenth year or so. Show us that this war has left its scars. This character should feel tired, exhausted from the years of battle and struggle on anyway. The most crucial thing to understand about the Punisher is that he knows that his war will ultimately achieve nothing. He knows that the job will one day cost him his life. This impossible mission is what gives his life purpose, its all he has left. It is the one thing that allows him to feel any sense of satisfaction.
One of my favourite Punisher moments in the last few years has been a brief scene in Secret Wars #1. The Kingpin has invited a number of his super-villain colleagues to share a final drink together as they watch the world end or as he so eloquently puts it “our enemies’ greatest failure”. The Punisher turns up at this party and proceeds to gun down everyone in the room. Even in the face of the apocalypse, knowing that these men will die regardless, Frank Castle remains undeterred from his mission. Their deaths must come at his hands in order for his sense justice to be fulfilled. That is the Punisher that I want to see in Marvel’s Daredevil.
For those of you who are interested in an excellent, stylish, live-action take on the character, check out Adi Shankar’s Dirty Laundry.
What do you think? Have any of the Punisher films gotten the character right? What are you looking forward to seeing the character bring to Daredevil? Let us know in the comment section.
So second episode of Sense8 and still little to nothing has happened. I mean honestly people, these are hour-long episodes. Now this is an exaggeration, of course stuff happens, but there is probably only ten minutes devoted to actually developing the story. So if you can’t tell already I didn’t like this episode… So let’s get into it.
First of all I’d like to point out that Sun (Korean business woman) and Chaephus (Nigerian truck driver) literally have two seconds of screen time. Which would be okay but last episode they barely had any either. Most of this episode is devoted to Nomi (trans girl) Brian (Chicago cop) and Lito (Mexican Movie star).
So lets start with Brian. Apparently the woman who committed suicide and started this whole sensation these people are getting killed herself in a rundown church in Chicago. So Brian is busy trying to convince his partner that a crime went down and its related to these weird things that have been happening. We also get a really good scene where he is visiting the kid who got shot the previous episode, and Brian spills his past as a child delinquent. Which I thought was really good. A way to give a little character development and have it relate to whats going on and to help us better understand where he’s coming from. All-in-all I think Brian is my favorite character. But that might be because we’ve had the most time with him. He has a good heart and feels like its his obligation to do right where the people who came before him did wrong. And I think it’s handled really well. The show doesn’t try to win you over to his ideals, but it lets you at least understand them because it’s a part of his character.
As for Nomi, I just feel like her whole story is a big whine-fest. She’s a victim of society and her parents, and people just need to realize who she is and be okay with that. Now while everything she stands for is mostly fine, I do have a problem with the way the show presents it. As opposed to Brain’s ideals, when Sense8 deals with Nomi its pretty obvious that the show itself is taking a stance on the whole LGBTQ community. And while not wrong to do so, feels misplaced in a show where there are all these other ideals and you focus on one. It just seems to be more pandering to whats hot and topical. But things are happening with her which will hopefully move the story forward. After seeing the Indian dude from the opening scene, she passes out and winds up in a hospital. There the doctor tells her about her brain problems and how it will require surgery. We also get a very poorly acted scene between her and her mother, but I’d rather not talk about it. Anyway, there is this sort of devious feel behind this hospital and it seems like there are people who know who these people are and are hunting them.
And I went back and checked and found out the Indian guy was with the lady who gave, like birth to these eight and is on like a mission to help them. I don’t know how I forgot but I had to go back and check. The room was very ill lit anyway so it was hard to tell regardless. His name is Jonas BTW.
Lito the secretly gay movie-star gets harassed by a fellow actress and she finds out he’s gay. And its pretty funny because she isn’t surprised by it, she’s actually interested in helping him keep his way of living a secret. Its fun and Lito is really suave and proud of the situation. And if they’re trying to show a comparison between him and Nomi and how they deal with their sexual differences I totally approve. Also he’s such a cool actor, taking selfies with his fans!
Kala (the Indian girl) gets some more time being depressed about marrying a guy that she doesn’t want to. We also get more of them sensing things the others are feeling and as opposed to the first episode, most of them in this episode are played for laughs. Its almost just turned into a thing these people have but they go on with their lives as normal.
We do get to see Jonas slowly start to approach each of the Sensates and kind of tell them whats going on. But he does it really cryptically. Like to the point to where there really is no reason he can’t tell them what going on, except for the fact that the writers don’t want them to know yet. This guy is kind of a dick. Also he sort of causes Brian to crash his car.
Sense8 still isn’t bad but it is starting to feel really trying. And that usually puts me off to a show. But there are enough good nuggets to where I don’t hate the show yet. Hopefully watching Sense8 doesn’t turn into a hate watch where I’m just ripping it apart… Actually that might already be what its become. But whatever, we’ll see. Like always I want to hear what you have to think about the show and how you view it, and all the ways I am wrong about this show. And you know, you can comment if you agree with me too. It’s all welcome.
Yesterday, it Marvel announced that Walking Dead star Jon Bernthal was the new Punisher (Frank Castle) for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He will debut in the second season of Netflix’sDaredevil. While we can only speculate where they’re going to take the Punisher (please give him his own Netflix show!), we do have a few thoughts on where they shouldn’t take him based on his own long and varied comic book series.
Could it be vigilante vs vigilante this upcoming season?
These are the five stories that are just too extreme, too sickening, too disturbing, too stupid, or just simply too awful up to ever show on TV. The Punisher has a long list of disgusting, horrific stories that easily put Game of Thrones to shame. And you might be thinking, “Hey now, Marvel’s not going to go too dark with this.” But, we would like to remind you all that there’s a scene in Daredevil where a guy’s head’s crushed with a car door so many times it explodes like a watermelon. Marvel can totally go dark. Let’s just hope they don’t jump the shark by adapting any of these.
5). PUNISHER MAX
What is it?
Punisher Max is somewhat of a “what if?” story. It’s set in a more realistic universe without the Marvel superheroes, but with some of our favorite Marvel villains. Essentially, Wilson Fisk tricks the five head mob bosses into creating a Kingpin. A fictional head of all crime in New York. Of course it works, and Wilson Fisk betrays the mob bosses by brutally murdering them all. The Punisher finds out about the Kingpin and vows to kill him like the rest of the criminal scum out there. Insanity ensues, and you get a gory tale of revenge, obsession, and betrayal.
Why shouldn’t it be adapted?
Overall the story is actually pretty good. Jason Aaron really understands the characters and has a lot of fun bringing them to life. It shouldn’t be adapted, because it just gets messed up. Like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer messed up. The content is gruesome on a level that is just hard to digest, and it never stops. Torture, murders, beatings, severed limbs, eyes popping out of sockets, child murder, and rape. Punisher Max has it all. What makes it more disturbing for some reason is the art style. Steve Dillon’s techniques somehow is both realistic yet cartoonish at the same time. So while the faces, and figures are realistic, the colors are bright and pop off the page. You really feel a sense of over zealousness from the gore on the page. It just might be a little too much to see the Punisher cut off a guy’s fingers and bolt each one to the wall with a nail gun.
4.) EMINEM/THE PUNISHER VOL 1
What is it?
It’s exactly what you think it is. The Punisher teams up with The Real Slim Shady to fight a criminal named Barracuda on the mean streets of Detroit and then later on a boat. Because why not? If you’re wondering why this description is so short, well we can explain: there is literally nothing else to add to this comic. You literally get what the title says. The Punisher meets Eminem.
Yes. This happened.
Why shouldn’t it be adapted?
If you just read that summary and are now thinking to yourself, “Wow. That sounds incredibly stupid.” You’d be right. It is incredibly stupid. The story is bizarre to say the least, the Punisher is barely in it, and Eminem is not nearly as entertaining as you would think he’d be. And the most disappointing thing about it? There is barely any action in the comic, which is usually the biggest sell for a Punisher story. This is one story that definitely needs to just stay in comic book limbo where it belongs.
3). FRANKEN-CASTLE
What is it?
Frank Castle is a character that works best outside of the main Marvel continuity. When he’s alone fighting hordes of mobsters, and criminals he’s able to keep his character interesting. When somebody messes with that formula it can lead to some really crappy stories. Enter comic book writer Rick Remender who decided that the Punisher needed a gimmick. Something to give him an edge, to make him unique. So, why not turn him into a Frankenstein monster?… Shhh. Do hear that? That’s the sound of a million face palms at once.
Why shouldn’t it be adapted?
Well despite how silly it would look to see a giant Frankenstein Monster with guns fighting Daredevil, the real stories about this zombified Frank Castle are really uninteresting. You would think that concept would be very entertaining, but they aren’t. They’re more thoughtful, dull experiences that are in desperate need of something blowing up. It’s easy to tell that the writer was just really happy that he came up with a gimmick that’s a pun of the Punisher’s name. This is another dark time in the Punisher’s career where Marvel likes to quietly sweep it under the rug.
2).PUNISHER PURGATORY
What is it?
Death in super hero comics is about as effective as a five-year old fighting off Godzilla. Every good comic book super hero fan knows to just set their watch when a character dies. They’re usually back in about a year and a half after they die. So, of course, the Punisher does in fact die at one point. But, he gets brought back. As an avenging angel from heaven with guns. Remember, this was the nineties, and superhero comics needed to have guns in everything. Even undead angels needed UZIs.
Why shouldn’t it be adapted?
Well, again, the tone would just be weird in the Marvel Netflix universe. But, it’s also just a poorly written story that is about as generic as every other avenging angel character that’s designed to smite the wicked and do the work of God. Johnny Cash did a better job at this. Also, as stated before, the character is just not that interesting when he’s given a gimmick. He works best as just a guy who kills criminals. It can be that simple some times. So giving him angel sub machine guns, and a holy mission from God, is just lame.
1). THE PUNISHER #60-62
What is it?
You can probably tell by reading this list that some writers don’t seem to know what to do with the character. He sometimes is given crappy gimmicks. Or is given weird team ups. Or is just poorly thought out. And this is a rare case where all three just mesh perfectly well. Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you the unanimously decided worse Punisher story every created. The infamous story where the Punisher turns black to escape the law. The white Punisher turns African-American.
Are we sure this isn’t a Tyler Perry movie?
Why shouldn’t it be adapted?
DID YOU READ THE LAST PARAGRAPH?!
This comic is amazing to think about how it was made. Because, if you know anything about printing process for comics, then you would probably gather that comic books are a very collaborative experience. This concept was thought of, pitched to editors, written by a writer, drawn by an artist, inked, typed, edited, and then reviewed for printing. In that time nobody, at any point, went, “This seems like a really bad idea.” The comic also features Luke Cage who is getting his own Netflix show soon, but he couldn’t save this travesty. This is the comic that is just spectacular to research about. It’s weird, it’s gross, it’s disturbing, and it’s the greatest Punisher comic that should never be adapted.
Thankfully, if Marvel keeps going in the direction they’re going with Netflix then we shouldn’t have to worry about them dusting off one of these chestnuts. Hopefully the future of the Punisher will be very bright in the twisted, dark world of Marvel’s Netflix pocket of their cinematic universe.
A new trailer has been released for Regression, the horror film starring Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson as people being sucked into the world of Satanic cults. The film, directed by Alejandro Amenábar (The Others), is set to hit theatre at the tail end of August.
“Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) is investigating the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses his father, John Gray (David Dencik), of committing an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly without remembering what happened, admits his guilt, the renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is incorporated into the case to help relive his repressed memories. What they discover is a sinister conspiracy unmasked.”
While nothing seems incredibly new with Regression – these religious horror films are a dime a dozen and the late August release date seems rather dubious – the intrigue lies with Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson. Hawke has handled the horror genre quite well in the past, most notable in Sinister, and he remains a magnetic actor no matter how good or bad the movie around him may be. It’s also nice to see Watson branch out a bit as she continues to grow as an actress.
Something else working in its favor could be director Amenábar, whose haunted-house film The Others was a surprise hit in the early 2000s, and a nice, self contained little ghost story.
Regression could be a sleeper hit, but it could come and go without much notice. It opens August 28.
