‘The Walking Dead’ on AMC is back, and Rick is ready to battle it out with Negan in hopes of rebuilding society.
It is always good to have ‘The Walking Dead’ back on the air, but the writing of this episode prevents the viewer from going on a season-long journey with Rick. ‘Mercy’ explained more than it needed, the best experience is when the viewer can react and grow with the show. When too much is revealed, the viewer gets pulled out of the episode as the intrigue is diminished.
Season 8, Episode 1 ‘Mercy’ Rick and his group, along with the Kingdom and Hilltop, have banded together to bring the fight to Negan and the Saviors.
Watch our breakdown of the episode below?
What did you think of Sunday night’s episode? Comment below.
Season 8, Episode 2 ‘The Damned’ The plan involving Alexandrians, Kingdommers and Hilltoppers unfolds. As Rick continues to fight, he encounters a familiar face.
Check out the teaser for next week’s episode below.
I want more Doctor Aphra! That’s Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, to be exact. I want her to have her very own Star Wars The Black Series figure, a Funko POP!, posters, stickers, lunchboxes and clothing. I want to see her in future movies and TV shows. I want it all. Everything. She is basically the Star Wars version of Lara Croft. There is so much to love in a sarcastic, fun-loving archaeologist that hangs out with two assassin droids, 0-0-0 and BT-1.
Aphra first appeared in Darth Vader #3 (2015), where she was recruited to take on several missions before falling out of favor with the Sith Lord. She was stalked most of the series by Vader, only to survive the entire 25-issue run, propelling her into her very own series.
There is an outside shot she could have ties to Star Wars: Episode 8 – The Last Jedi(2017). Don’t pass it off as crazy just yet. Here me out. Fresh off her recent five-issue crossover with the ongoing Marvel Star Wars series, ‘The Screaming Citadel’, she teams up with Luke Skywalker in search of said temple. Now, we have all read the theories, rumblings and reports that Aphra might only exclusively date women (more HEREandHERE), but the back-and-forth with Luke is undeniable. It’s similar to the exchange between Han and Leia when they first met. If indeed Rey turns out to be the daughter of Skywalker, could Aphra possibly be the mother? We’ll see on December 15, 2017.
It is never too late to catch up. Jump on board! You can get Aphra comics digitally HERE or physical copies HERE.
The 1980s were crazy! You could still smoke on airplanes and people were fighting each other for Cabbage Patch Kids. By the time the late 1970s rolled around, America was going through big changes. Many Americans no longer trusted the government and were tired of the struggle. Hollywood was really beginning to attack social issues. I mean, a former Hollywood star was newly named president in Ronald Reagan. That swell guy not only cut taxes, introduced ‘Reaganomics’ and ended the Cold War, but he also racked up 82 credits as an actor.
TheBlue Lagoon came out in 1980, starring a 14-year-old Brooke Shields alongside Christopher Atkins, in which the pair played naked teenage cousins that were experiencing their budding sexuality while marooned on an island. Moviegoers took issue with watching real-life teenagers having fake sex. Never mind the fact that the two, well … conceived a child. Oh, can you believe that, at one point, parents didn’t even want their kids playing Dungeons and Dragons? With that, see below for my favorite five movies from 1980. This was a tough list to put together and I still hate myself for not including The Shining (Please feel free to yell at me for omissions in the comments section below).
The original Halloween (1978) was the first horror flick I ever watched. It prompted me to want to check out movies like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm St. (1984). Just like JAWS (1975) had people scared to go in the water, this movie had folks terrified to go to camp. The premise is simple, as a group of camp counselors, trying to reopen a summer camp a few years after a child drowned, are murdered by an unknown stalker. For all the trivia buffs out there: the actress who played Mrs. Voorhees, Betsy Palmer, thought the movie was going to be a bust and only took the role so that she could buy a new car. This movie, to me, is really a feel-good story about the lengths a mother will go to prove how much she loves her child.
I first watched this movie with a group of friends in high school. It was our favorite movie for an entire summer. We could all literally quote the movie, word-for-word. Still can. I have a legitimate man crush on Bill Murray and I don’t care who knows it. True story – I was Carl Spackler for four Halloweens, including three-consecutive. In my opinion, Ted Knight as Judge Smails, quietly steals the show among a star-studded cast that included the Murray brothers, Rodney Dangerfield and Chevy Chase. I can still see him swinging his grandson around from his arm and saying, “You’ll get nothing and like it!”, and yelling, “Spaulding, get your foot off the boat!”. This is a true underdog story for caddies and slackers everywhere.
Before Michael Shannon took on the role of General Zod in Man of Steel (2013), that honor belonged to one Terence Stamp. He was great! He played the part so well. Superman is one of my favorite superheroes, ever. Just a guy that wants to be a regular guy, but has amazing powers like a super guy. When Dan Jurgens and Co. killed him off in the Death of Superman-Doomsday graphic novel in the 1990s, I legitimately cried (No, you’re ridiculous!). That was Earth-shattering stuff. Henry Cavill is excellent, but Christopher Reeve really set the bar high. He was a fantastic Superman and an even better Clark Kent.
I remember seeing this movie in high school and not really appreciating it (please be kind). After seeing it again when I was in college, it was – it is – to this day, one of the most-hilarious movies I have ever seen. Great writing with a calming blend of dry humor. Leslie Nielsen was an absolute genius in everything he did. I loved his brief role in this movie as Dr. Rumack, but it was after seeing the absolutely incredible The Naked Gun (1988-94) series, where I completely became a fan of his. He was one of my favorite actors and always made me laugh with his stern comedic delivery.
Harrison Ford is my acting hero. It feels good to say that out loud. My favorite movie trilogy of all-time is that of Indiana Jones (1981-89). Yes, I, like so many others, refuse to acknowledge that the fourth installment, 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, ever happened. Not much I have to say here. We all love Lucasfilm flicks and this movie had it all. I mean, Luke meets Yoda and, in what I would consider the greatest reveal in cinematic history, his father, (gasp!) Darth Vader. Lando invites the crew to Cloud City for his own version of the ‘Red Wedding’ and Han gets frozen in carbonite! How about that Millennium Falcon, huh?
Honorable Mentions: The Shining, Raging Bull, Stir Crazy, Blues Brothers, Flash Gordon, Smokey and the Bandit II, Humanoids from the Deep, Maniac!, Popeye, Prom Night.
The trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s second collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread, is finally here. And it is everything PTA fans should expect. Full of mystery, suspense, quiet tension and, yes, an aging Daniel Day-Lewis, this one should not be missed.
Check it out:
Pus, we have a new, detailed synopsis:
Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love. With his latest film, Paul Thomas Anderson paints an illuminating portrait both of an artist on a creative journey, and the women who keep his world running. Phantom Thread is Paul Thomas Anderson’s eighth movie, and his second collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis.
This looks unsurprisingly fascinating and gorgeous. Alongside Daniel Day-Lewis you see relative unknowns Lesley Manville and Vivki Krieps, both who will undoubtedly captivate audiences. Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood is back scoring Phantom Thread, and Anderson is doing his own cinematography.
Phantom Thread opens Christmas Day. Be there or be square.
Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Psycho landed like a cinematic atomic bomb in 1960, shocking audiences and changing the face of film forever. On a micro level, it was the shower scene that, for a myriad of reasons, completely upended the notion of what suspense and horror could be. Director Alexandre O. Phillippe’s documentary, 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene, examines the impact of Psycho, specifically those few moments in the film where everything changed.
The title refers to the shower scene. There were 78 camera setups, and 52 cuts in this brief moment of savagery. Phillippe’s film uses archived interviews of Hitchcock, moments from the previews, and dozens of interviews from an impressive collection of celebrities and family members. Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Bogdanovich, Karyn Kusama, Guillermo del Toro, Danny Elfman, Bret Easton Ellis, Mick Garris, Eli Roth, and Elijah Wood are mere highlights of who speaks on the film and the scene. We even have an appearance from Richard Stanley, a filmmaker made infamous for his failed attempt at The Island of Dr. Moreau which is chronicled in its own fascinating documentary.
While the bulk of 78/52 tackles the dynamics of the shower scene, with specific insight from Marli Renfro who was Janet Leigh’s body double, the history and the impact of Psycho is also examined in great detail. Alfred Hitchcock was coming off a decade of incredible success, with enough films in a span of ten years to cement his status as a master filmmaker. But those 50’s films – To Catch a Thief, Rear Window, North by Northwest – were splashed in technicolor and the sensibilities of the decade.
With Psycho, Hitchcock was basically trolling everyone, killing off his star in the first act and telling a gruesome, salacious story in black and white. Not only did the manic editing of the scene, and Bernard Herrmann’s score, shock audiences and change the face of cinema, the marketing and screenings of the film readjusted audience expectations. To that point, people would often come and go during films (which was shocking enough for me to even think about); with Psycho, Hitchcock put in the provision that everyone must be there in the beginning, and could not come and go as they pleased.
78/52 celebrates a pivotal moment cinema, even if it does sometimes devolve into tedium. A few of the celebrity interviews, sometimes shot as they are watching the scene on a monitor somewhere off camera, feel a bit contrived. But for movie historians and film geeks, there is more than enough to chew on here. No matter how much you might know about the shower scene, odds are you will learn something new somewhere in these 90 minutes.
It appears as if it really will be all hands on deck for the untitled Avengers 4. According to IMDb, Iron Man 3 star Ty Simpkins will be reprising his role as Harley Keener in the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War.
You’ll remember Simpkins’ Keener as Tony Stark’s companion in Iron Man 3 following his crash landing in Tennessee. Keener’s garage was given a complete tech makeover by Iron Man himself after assisting in Tony’s escape from AIM agents. The child actor has also been featured in such films as Jurassic World and Insidious.
It’s unknown what role Simpkins will be playing in the larger picture of the film. His return will likely be due to a large event that involves Tony Stark and following the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, it could very well be a wedding.
“As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.”
Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman, Josh Brolin and is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo.
The untitled Avengers 4 will be released on May 3, 2019.
Where do you think Harley will be up to in ‘Avengers 4? Let us know in the comments below!
The official Stranger Things Twitter has unveiled a new, colorful poster that gets us ready for season two.
The marketing for this upcoming season is strikingly different than that of the first. While the first season was much smaller-scale, it seemed like a pre-teen dramatic horror show set in the 1980s. Season two is taking it up a notch, promising lots of mystery and suspense. I absolutely love the Halloween vibe they are projecting, and I’m sure many will spend their October 31 binging this show.
“It’s 1984 and the citizens of Hawkins, Indiana are still reeling from the horrors of the Demogorgon and the secrets of Hawkins Lab. Will Byers has been rescued from the Upside Down but a bigger, sinister entity still threatens those who survived.”
Stranger Things season two hits Netflix this Friday, October 27. Are you excited? Sound off in the comments below.
A realtor from Florida collects stories from his clients and it inspires Cocaine Cowboys, a book that’s part 80s drug-running tale and part coming-of-age. A lot of it might be real, too. As the book begins, writer T. Thomas Saunders states it plainly: “This is a work of fiction. That being said, there is a hell of a lot of truth in it if you know where to look.” And the reality is that Saunders specialized in selling ranches in the Lakeland area of Central Florida. So he met a lot of ranch owners who knew previous owners who knew owners before them. And stories survived the years in a truncated form of folklore. Saunders took what he knew and turned into something new. But it’s also something old. A gritty first step into life in the Sunshine State during the decade of decadence.
Written by T. Thomas Saunders Art by William R. Liberto Colors by Hank Jones Letters by Micah Myers Edits by Jessica Rossana Consultant by Marco Lopez Cover Art by Aaron Conley
WRITING Cocaine Cowboys is a solid first story from someone who doesn’t write comic books for a living. There’s great patience in the story as it builds and reveals. And Saunders pulls no punches when it comes to the violence of the era.
Saunders said about the book “The Cocaine Cowboys story ends in death and chaos, and I chose to write it that way because the real-life story ended and everyone is either dead or in jail.” The first book indeed ends with a head-spinning twist full of carnage and broken realities.
If there is one weak point to the story, it does include the ending which feels a bit rushed. The twist works but feels a bit easy. The character and his decision feel a bit too contrived and less conveyed through a story arc. However, the big twist is brilliantly done by both the writing and artwork, exemplifying the right touch of both. All it needs is a little more setup earlier on to drive it home.
Overall, the writing has a gritty vibe that carries readers from one page to the next. Saunders’ quote at the start about there being truth if you know where to look adds a sense of intrigue to the story as well. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
ART
Liberto delivers the pencils and inks here. The style of the book suites the gritty nature of the story and Saunders’ writing. The artwork is consistent throughout, reminiscent of Byron Vaughns (Batman and Elmer Fudd) or Robert Hack (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). However, there’s a lack of “directorial” vision here. Almost every panel is a medium shot. In rare cases does Liberto pull back or push in or offer varying angles which makes the art feel a bit monotonous. However, the colors by Hank Jones enhance the visuals. Jones gives the book an 80s look and feel that is spot on. Jones also goes noir-ish at just the right moments with stark contrasts like old Hellboy comics.
CONCLUSION Cocaine Cowboys is a solid book that provides all the drug-dealing violence and intrigue that you could want in a single comic book. The pros vastly outweigh the cons and the work done by the creators leaves readers wanting more. If this is just the beginning, and the first of many stories, then Cocaine Cowboys is gearing up to be one wild ride.
Aquaman has wrapped principal photography, and the film’s director and two leads are celebrating.
James Wan posted this on Twitter:
“Holy mackerel, you scampi serious — that’s finally a principal photography WRAP on Aquaman!! Thank You to an awesome cast & crew.”
Holy mackerel, you scampi serious — that’s finally a principal photography WRAP on Aquaman!! Thank You to an awesome cast & crew. pic.twitter.com/CqytboeaJJ
“The countdown begins. @guinnessus to start spaghetti for dinner and @penfolds till we burn our it down . Big mad crazy love to my MERA. @amberheard My rider we went through some heavy shit mama. I’m super proud of you. Congrats. My crew and cast these awesome studios. Australia I fucking love ya. Aloha j. Ps sorry I can’t be at the game all blacks gotta wrap Aquaman. I know you’ll win we always do.”
Joining Momoa and Heard in Aquaman is Willem Defoe, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, and Patrick Cox.
“Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and to be a hero to the world.”
The first volume of ‘Back to the Future’ closes out with issue #25, to get you pumped for the finale IDW Publishing gave us an exclusive five-page preview of issue 24, “TIME SERVED, PART 3!”
About the issue: Who’s been following Marty and Professor Irving through 1972? What happened to the DeLorean? What is 1972 Doc’s secret? And what does it all mean for Jailbird Joey Baines? All these answers and more… just in time for a whole new set of mysteries!
Check out the five-page preview below:
John Barber and Bob Gale worked on the story, with Barber handling script duties. The art on the book is by Marcelo Ferreira and Athila Fabbio, with inks by Maria Keane, and colors by Jose Luis Rio. Shawn Lee lettered the issue.
Back To The Future #24 hits your local comic book store on October 25.
Have you been reading Back To The Future? Comment below with your thoughts.
Go behind-the-scenes with Ferreira as he rocks out while drawing Back to the Future.
