James Wan has officially taken over directing duties for both Aquaman at Warner Bros. and Robotech for Sony Pictures.
Deadlinebroke the news moments ago that the Furious 7 and Insidious director is attached to both films. Aquaman we know will also star Game of Thrones alum Jason Momoa. Greg Silverman made the announcement on Wan’s hiring, saying “The Aquaman film will be a major tentpole picture for us and James’s span of work has proven him able to take on any manner of project, bringing his incredible creative talent and unique voice to the material.”
Very little is known about the Robotech project at the moment outside of James Wan’s involvement, but the Aquaman film already has Zack Snyder on board as producer, and Kurt Johnstad and Charles Roven are working on the screenplay. James Wan is a fun director and seems to be a great fit for both projects given his ability to shoot coherent and axciting action scenes.
Rob Fee a comedic writer, took time to talk with Matthew Sardo about pop culture, social media, Norm MacDonald, Danny DeVito and the worst sports fans in the world.
He also took mushrooms for the first time and then went to Wrestlemania. Read his article in Playboy.
Fee has worked with Comedy Central, MTV, Ellen, Playboy, IFC, Epic Meal Time, CBS, VICE, Mandatory, Relevant and IGN to name a few.
Caitlyn Jenner figured out how to be free & happy in life & Ive been staring at McDonalds menu for 9 minutes debating which hamburger to eat
The new trailer for 99 Homes, one of the hits of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has been released, and it showcases Andrew Garfield squaring off against Michael Shannon in the midst of the 2008 housing crisis. If the trailer is any indicator, 99 Homes looks like a searing mixture of drama, emotional anguish, and powerful performances from all involved.
“Set amidst the backdrop of the 2008 housing market catastrophe, Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield), a hard-working and honest man, can’t save his family home despite his best efforts. Thrown to the streets with alarming precision by real estate shark Mike Carver (Michael Shannon), Dennis, out of work and luck, is given a unique opportunity—to join Carver’s crew and put others through the harrowing ordeal done to him in order to earn back what’s his. Delicately training his eye on the rigorous details, the reliably astute Ramin Bahrani imbues his characters with icy complexity to achieve his compassionate portrait of a man whose integrity has become ensnared within an all-too-relevant American crisis. With precision and care, Bahrani’s provocative character study applies all the cinematic tools at his disposal to explore the ethical dilemma at the heart of man’s struggle to reach higher—by whatever means necessary.”
The film definitely has a Gordon Gecko Wall Street vibe from Michael Shannon’s end, and it is always nice seeing Laura Dern on screen. Perhaps she is in line for a second consecutive Best Supporting Actress nominee after picking up one for last year’s Wild.
It’s also good to see Andrew Garfield back where he belongs, at least in my opinion, in serious dramatic roles. He was okay as Spider-Man, but the films were average at best, and Garfield showed some true chops in films like The Social Network and Never Let Me Go.
99 Homes, directed by Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop, Man Push Cart), hits theaters September 25.
Greg Silverman, Warner Bros. head of film production, recently did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and discussed DC Comics’ movie strategy, direction, and competition with Marvel Studios.
Marvel has gotten more than a head start on DC Comics, and is running roughshod over the box office with their ever-expanding universe. Outside of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, DC Comics has struggled to gain any traction with quality films. They have just recently kickstarted their own cinematic universe, with 2013’s Man of Steel and the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice leading into Wonder Woman films, Justice League films, and beyond. Regardless of what is in store, DC Comics has a long road to matching Marvel’s prowess with fans.
Silverman discussed Warner Bros. strategy with The Hollywood Reporter, and their strategy to differ from Marvel in order to separate their universe:
“We have a great strategy for the DC films, which is to take these beloved characters and put them in the hands of master filmmakers and make sure they all coordinate with each other. You’ll see the difference when you see Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, Justice League and all the things that we are working on.”
In this statement, Silverman is referring to Marvel being more of a machine, and less films with unique identities from individuals. It’s a nice approach, but the directors must be right for the part for the film to work. One of the other issues people have had with Warner Bros. approach to the DC Comics films is the idea of bringing in several screenwriters to compete with each other for films. Silverman explained that strategy:
Every project is different. On some projects, we have multiple writers working together. In some cases, we put writers together who have never been a team together. And sometimes, there is only one writer whose voice is right. In the case of Wonder Woman, the right approach was to have writers pitching different scenes within the framework we created.
Silverman delved much deeper into Warner Bros. approach to the DC Comics universe. It may be a tough task to compete with Marvel, but perhaps the play here is not to compete, but be different. There is a very real possibility that fatigue could eventually set in with the Marvel stories at about the time DC Comics hit their stride. Then again, DC could simply end up being the SEGA Dreamcast of this arms race when all is said and done.
YouTube is celebrating 10 years creating viral videos and that has had a huge impact on the advertising community. Decided by public voting, the video giant announced its ad of the decade.
Kobe vs. Messi: The Selfie Shootout from 2013 by Turkish Airlines is your winner.
Basketball star Kobe Bryant and football icon Lionel Messi are back in this epic face-off for selfie supremacy. Armed with cameras and Turkish Airlines – the carrier that flies to more countries than any other – these superstars show up and show off across the globe.
At this time this is just a wild rumor from an unnamed source, don’t hate us.
According to We Are Wakanda, another Hulk will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe be very soon, Red Hulk.
At the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron the Hulk seems to disappear and Thor takes off looking for Thanos. These two events needed to happen to remove these powerful characters from the chessboard to make Civil War work. In the comic books Tony Stark’s side in Civil War clone Thor, but it would make more sense in the MCU that they try to create a new Hulk. Enter in General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross and the Red Hulk. William Hurt is reprising his role as Ross in Captain America: Civil War and this would be an interesting twist to the film.
Do you want to see the Red Hulk in Captain America: Civil War?
According to the Economic Daily, Apple is ahead of schedule on production of the components for the iPhone 6S. This could lead to an August release compared to Apple’s traditional September date.
The International Business Times is also reporting that this could be Apple’s biggest release ever. Apple plans to ship 230 million new iPhones in 2015 and and 250 million in 2016.
The rumors on the 6S are the phone will be thinner with 1080p display, have a 12 megapixels camera, the Force Touch sensor, the iOS 9 operating system, and A9 chip.
Are you ready to trade-in your phone yet?
A huge thank you to the talented team at Apple who make days like this possible. It's a privilege to work along side of you.
A fifth season of Arrested Development is coming to Netflix some time in the middle of 2016, according to producer Brian Grazer. Grazer confirmed the news on Adam Corolla’s podcast.
“Netflix is determined to do more episodes, so we’re going to do more episodes,” Grazer said on Carolla’s show. He also said that the new season would go from 15 in season four up to 17 for this new season.
Netflix brought Arrested Development back in 2013 after it had been canceled on FOX a few years previous. Fans wanted more, and so Netflix stepped up and brought the show back, albeit with a different twist.
The fourth season of Arrested Development had the different members of the dysfunctional and idiotic Bluth family appear in their own individual episodes, with the other members floating in and out like satellites. The gimmick felt like nothing more than just a gimmick, and it really stole a lot of the charm and energy from the episodes in the first two seasons. Season three felt like desperation, but it still worked better than the Netflix rebirth.
Hopefully, Grazer, Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard won’t resort to that technique again and will simply let the Bluth’s work their magic all together.
If anyone has kept up with the academy awards in the last decade of longer, they have probably seen a Studio Ghibli film featured. In 2015 it was The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and in 2014 it was The Wind Rises. Both magnificent films by two great directors (Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata). Unfortunately Ghibli movies haven’t been able to accomplish anything in the academy since Miyazaki’s masterpiece Spirited Away won best animated picture in 2003. When Marnie was There is supposedly the last feature film to come out of this legendary production house. And boy does it not disappoint.
When Marnie was There is based of a book of the same name by English author Joan G. Robinson. Hayao Miyazaki has for years made this book required reading for anyone who works for him at Studio Ghibli and in their seemingly last days made a wonderful adaptation of said book.
As for the movie itself, well it has the same lovely Studio Ghibli art/animation style that has become world-famous and recognizable. The music is classic Ghibli with lullaby like piano tracks that let you become enraptured into the world that is being created. These elements firing on all cylinders is what can make a movies atmosphere seem real, even though its animated.
The story follows Anna, a young girl from the city who is leaving her foster parents for the summer because of her asthma as she heads to live with some relatives in the country to get some fresh country air. It is there where she sees a wonderful lake side mansion and meets its keeper, an equally young blonde girl named Marnie.
Anna is voiced by Hailee Steinfeld and she does a great job of portraying all of Anna’s self loathing and the doubts she is having as a child dealing with foster parents and the feeling of not being wanted. Which I think is something everyone has felt at some point in their childhood. And although it may seem annoying and whiney at first I truly came to relate and sympathize with this little twelve year old girl.
Marnie is voiced by Kiernan Shipka and has the tough job of keeping a light hearted mood in spite of the constant angst and depression Anna is facing. And she does an excellent job as well. She’s the friend you had when you were little who would always help with your problems but still be playful and have an upbeat attitude. They wouldn’t get down in the dumps with you, they would raise you out of the dumps and Kieran brings that across as Marnie perfectly.
There are other side characters like Anna’s aunt and uncle and this chubby girl Anna scuffles with plus a fisherman who only says like one line, but none of them really matter. Don’t get me wrong they are crucial to creating the mood and environment of this small country town. But they are dwarfed by the developing relationship of Anna and Marnie.
While not impossible it can be very challenging for adults to relate to the existential struggles of children, but this movie does it all in a way that I really haven’t seen before. Instead of making you feel for the child, it takes you back to when you were a child and thats where the emotions hit. When you have been caught off guard and have returned to your pre-teen self and are faced with the things you feared and hated back then. Then quickly takes those emotions and brings it back to your adulthood. With the combination of these two different world views colliding so suddenly its enough to make anyone feel the emotion. And Precilla Anne’s Fine on the Outside insert song is enough to push you over the edge to waterworksville.
Studio Ghibli has always been a go-to for me if I want something that I know, no matter what its about, I will enjoy it. And When Marnie was There is no exception. I am thoroughly looking for its home video release so I can pick up a Blu-ray copy. And hope that it will make its way to next years academy awards and bring home that trophy for Studio Ghibli one last time.
Due to the slow and limited release its getting in the states I’d be surprised if many people have seen it (let alone knew about its existence). But it is picking up steam in the states releasing in more and more theaters each week. So if it isn’t in a theater near you, request it!
Arcadia #02
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Eric Scott Pfeifer In Arcadia, a child psychologist assesses Giacomo, the son of the digital Lee and Sam, and discovers there’s something very different about him. Lee is pulled out of a plastic surgery procedure by officials and flown to Beijing to examine a Homesteader’s corpse. Officials believe that the real world is conspiring to introduce death into Arcadia. In the real world, Valentin confronts Lee about his illegal midnight calls to his suicidal daughter Coral in Arcadia.
Alex Paknadel layers on the mythos in the second issue of Arcadia. In a monthly book this is very hard on the reader. I’m not saying that comic book readers are lazy, just busy with sensory overload from other sources. Do you remember what you did 30 days ago?
Since Paknadel starts issue two drastically different from issue one, it messes with the senses of the reader and keeps you off-balance. The questions are starting to mount without the presence of answers showing up anytime soon.
The first issue was compelling enough to want to read issue two, the second issue continues the complex story and begins to feel like an episode of Game of Thrones with snips of the different plot threads. Additional characters are introduced and the reader might be closing in on who the main villain is in the book. There are several “grey” characters in story so far and you wish that the issue was longer so that these characters could be flushed out more.
Artist Eric Scott Pfeiffer gets in my head by the second page and I will have that image stuck in my brain for the rest of the week. Who or what was that? This image motivates and frustrates me for the rest of the issue as I wanted to see more of this inside world. Pfeiffer’s work excels on the darker panels and adds to an already tense feel.
Arcadia #02 evoked a frustrated emotion as I didn’t get all the answers or enough plot progression as I wanted. The art of storytelling in a six issue mini series is tough because you have to entertain your reader month to month, but you also need to save some story for a big payoff in the final two issues.
Did issue two entertain, yes. Will I read issue three, yes. Would I like more answers about the universe that Paknadel created, absolutely!
