Netflix just keeps punching us in the face with good ideas. The streaming service just gave David Fincher a series about understanding the mind of serial killers. How is this not going to be great?
How do we get ahead of crazy if we don’t know how crazy thinks? Two FBI agents set out on a sinister investigative odyssey to discover the brutal answers.
Check out the first trailer for ‘Mindhunter’ below:
Charlize Theron is a producer on the series. It’s exciting to see her influence on the business side of filmmaking.
‘Mindhunter’ stars Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv, Cotter Smith, Sonny Valicenti, and Tyler James Larkin.
The series is written by John Douglas and Joe Penhall, with David Fincher directing three episodes, Asif Kapadia 2 episodes, Tobias Lindholm (TBD), and Andrew Douglas 2 episodes.
‘Landline’ directed by Gillian Robespierre (‘Obvious Child’) starring Jenny Slate, John Turturro, Edie Falco, and Abby Quinn, hits theaters this week.
‘Landline’ is a multi-generational coming of age tale set in 1995 that awkwardly tugs at those tricky heartstrings. The world is not black and white, and Robespierre does her best to explain that relationships take work in this graying of the family dynamic. The nostalgia of the 90s does just enough to make the film unique, but any time period would work for this story. ‘Landline’ has a familiar, pretentious, indie feel to it; but the heart of the characters is what shines through in the end.
The cast is what sells this film and gives the plot movement and life. Jenny Slate’s character Dana is an awful person, but with Slate behind the wheel you can’t help but like the character. What ever the middle is between ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ and ‘Seinfeld’ is where Dana lives. John Turturro at this point in his career has hit the ‘Kevin Spacey level’ when comes to putting on an acting clinic. Turturro’s character, Alan, is where most men hope they don’t end up in life. Edie Falco brings the true grit the role of Pat, the mother of the family. Keeping a family together is rough and takes a toll on Pat. When Pat has finally had enough, that’s where Falco reminds the audience of her power and command. Ali, played by Abby Quinn is the most put together character, and it will be interesting to watch her mature into an actor. Ali is cold-hearted, and Quinn made that resonate in her performance.
Robespierre doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but the audience will relate to her passionate storytelling. Where Robespierre succeeds is playing it down the middle with this film, not being too comedic or too serious. Either direction would have ended horribly for this movie. The balance is what makes Slate awful and likable at the same time.
If you want to contemplate your life choices and relationships, ‘Landline’ will get you brain churning.
Sandwiched in between Kathryn Bigelow’s breakout vampire western Near Dark and her modern classic Point Break, lies Blue Steel, a crime thriller that is aggressive and violent and a modicum of the types of thrillers in this era. It is a film of many different surprising narrative turns, a story that shouldn’t work as well as it does, and a clear indicator of the sort of filmmaker Bigelow would soon become.
Blue Steel is the sort of movie an audience watches, and with every outlandish turn as their jaws drop even further, they find themselves swept up in the thrilling inertia and terrific performances, lost amid the chaos. Jamie Lee Curtis’s Megan Turner graduates from the police academy under the credits, only to be thrust into a grocery store armed robbery day one of her patrol, the sort of grocery store armed robbery that would only exist in the movies. She shoots and kills the perpetrator (a young Tom Sizemore), and his gun goes spinning across the tile floor of the grocery store, where it rests directly in front of Eugene Hunt, who is one crazy sonofabitch just waiting for the right moment to let his inner demons spill out.
This is that moment, as Eugene pockets the gun. The disappearing weapon causes more problems for Megan, who is immediately dressed down and stripped of her badge and gun. Of course. Meanwhile, Eugene begins to stalk Megan, and eventually the two meet, date, sleep together, and almost immediately Eugene reveals himself to be a completely insane human being.
The late Ron Silver plays Eugene Hunt as a mix of yuppie Wall Street douchebag and unhinged psychotic murderer. It’s a weird juxtaposition outside of the satirical realm of something like American Psycho, but Silver’s dedication to the role and his curt, unnerving cadence, the way his voice can slink through a conversation like a snake, gets right under your skin. Beyond his words, Eugene’s increasingly fracturing mental state throughout the film is a sight to behold. It’s almost avant garde the way Silver approaches the physicality of this role, whether it’s trying to scream away the demons in a gym or rubbing blood all over his naked body… Silver is here to do some crazy things, and they all work.
Bigelow’s screenplay – which she co-wrote with Eric Red – lays all the cards out on the table early on, at least as far as the mystery of the plot is concerned. It’s the same sort of reveal she has in Point Break, when we realize pretty much from the get go that Swayze’s band are the criminals. Megan finds out in the second act that Eugene has been murdering people with the missing gun, but she cannot do anything to stop him even though she’s back working with detectives. Because this is a movie.
Blue Steel is not about Megan’s shocking realization, it’s a cat-and-mouse thriller about a mouse eluding a cat in a wide open space. Kathryn Bigelow knows where to find interesting and unique tension, even in films that seem more predictable than they turn out to be. The third act finally loses its grip on the insanity, and the finale reaches its hand out and grabs ahold of near parody. But that’s not enough to dismiss Bigelow’s first action feature. It is one of the rare instances where Bigelow’s protagonist is female, and Jamie Lee Curtis is right at home fending off a madman who seemingly can’t be stopped.
Kathryn Bigelow’s latest, Detroit, opens this Friday.
The network had recently boasted a diverse lineup of original television series, most of which was the source of moderate critical acclaim. Most notable among these was Underground, a series about the Underground Railroad, which had brought WGN considerable prestige but few viewers. This latter part, the low viewership, however, became a thorn in the network’s side, and ultimately they ended up canceling the vast majority of their original programming.
WGN America’s troubles in this regard are perhaps an early sign that the Prestige TV/Peak TV bubble may be popping. After all, other channels or content creators have also had similar problems, the most notable example being Netflix, which had to cancel a huge swath of content like The Get Down and Sense8. The cancellation of Sense8 in particular was so uproarious that Netflix eventually attempted to pacify fans with an extended finale for the series.
WGN, cutting their losses, has acquired Bellevue, a Canadian drama starring Anna Paquin (True Blood). This is the first show the network has picked up since the departure of their president, Matt Cherniss, and marks a very different trajectory for the channel. After Tribune Media recently acquired WGN, CEO Peter Kern selected Gavin Harvey to serve as the interim president, and under his leadership, the channel is clearly straying from the high production costs of creating original series. Instead, they appear to be acquiring other properties and reruns, although the idea of original content with a lower price tag does not appear to be out of the question.
As for Bellevue itself, Paquin will star in the eight-episode mystery as a detective investigating a missing high school athlete. Jane Maggs and Adrienne Mitchell are co-creators and showrunners, while Allen Leech and Shawn Doyle co-star in the series. The exact air date is not known yet, but it will certainly be sometime in 2018.
Marvel Comics Editor Heather Antos grabbed a milkshake with coworkers this past Friday and posted a selfie of the group on Twitter. The innocent photo managed to become a beacon for worthless internet trolls.
Here are some of the remarks:
No wonder Marvel Comics sales have nose-dived. Everyone has moved to DC where there is no SJW crap. – @SatansRobots
Can we just get off of feminism and social justice and actually print stories. God DC looks better and better – @Iwishiwashim12
Looks like a bunch of SWJ’s to me – @OutlawForHire
Antos received more negative comments over the next 12 hours.
“Woke up today to a slew of more garbage tweets and DMs. For being a woman. In comics. Who posted a selfie of her friends getting milkshakes,” said Antos in a tweet.
Here is my open letter to any person who thinks we need less Social Justice Warriors in the comic book industry.
“Go fuck yourself,” – Matt Sardo.
The job of a superhero is to inspire us all to be better. Peter Parker makes the right choice, even when it’s not the popular option. It doesn’t matter who you are; Superman will save you because Ma and Pa Kent raised him to be a good kid. When little Steve Rogers jumps on the grenade in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ who do you think he was saving?
Complaining about reboots is one thing, but when you’re angry about diversity in a comic, you have the problem. Moving forward, you have two choices: stop being an asshole or stop reading comics. I would prefer that you cease to be an asshole. Since we launched Monkeys Fighting Robots in 2015, I’ve seen some pretty dark comments about diverse comics and women. I do not give in to internet trolls, but when you start harassing a woman for getting a fucking milkshake, you have too much time on your hands, and I don’t want you part of this community of comic book nerds.
If this were the Ultimate Universe, Captain America would be knocking on your door to kick the shit out of you. I bet 99% of you trolls would piss your pants before the first punch was landed.
Superman would give you a second chance, and that is what I’m going to do, but this is your final warning: STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE!
If you sent an insult to Antos, you need to apologize. Just hit the comment button you used to send the insult and type ‘I’m sorry,’ then send. Very simple and very easy.
If diverse superheroes make you angry, you need to ask yourself some serious questions. If you think you can bully the comic book community, you are wrong and need to stop buying comic books.
If you have an opinion about bullying in the comic book industry, comment below. The conversation needs to continue.
In honor of the 37th birthday of the boy who lived, here are some quick updates from Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, and the Wizarding World.
Filming of the untitled sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them iscurrently under way, with an expected release date of November 16, 2018. The film is set in 1927, months after Newt helped in the capture of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
According to Pottermore, Grindelwald will “make a dramatic escape” from MACUSA custody, forcing Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) to join the wizarding world’s efforts to stop him. Dumbledore will look to his former student Newt for help, traveling from New York to London to Paris to stop the dark wizard.
Newt will also be joined by Queenie (Alison Sudol) and Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), as well as No-Maj Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). They will encounter some new characters, including Grimmson, a bounty hunter, a wizard called Yusuf Kama, and Skender, the owner of a wizarding circus.
Warner Bros. also confirmed that Callum Turner will appear as Newt’s older brother, Theseus Scamander. Zoë Kravitz is returning as Leta Lestrange, who was featured in a magical photograph in the first film. Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), the Obscurial who seemingly blew up at the end of Fantastic Beasts, is set to return “in a mysterious way.”
There is also a new, illustrated edition of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book being published in November. This new edition includes full-color versions of every beast featured in the textbook, illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill, which was originally ‘written’ by Newt Scamander, via J.K. Rowling, back in 2001.
Finally, J.K. Rowling is releasing two new Harry Potter books in October, in conjunction with an exhibition at the British Library called The History of Magic, which will run from October 2017 to February 2018.
Harry Potter: A History of Magic – The Book of the Exhibition explores the curriculum of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, including Herbology, Astronomy, and Care of Magical Creatures. Harry Potter – A Journey Through A History of Magic will cover subjects like unicorns, alchemy, and ancient magic.
Be sure to look out for plenty more news from the Wizarding World in the months to come. So with that, Happee Birthdae to J.K. and Harry! And happy reading, Potterheads!
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have a long weekend of binging ‘The Defenders’ on Netflix a head of them. As we look to the future of the MCU on Netflix, the next logical move would be a ‘Heroes For Hire’ or ‘Power Man and Iron Fist’ series, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Finn Jones spoke with Screen Geek about the potential spinoff:
“First, I would love to see Heroes For Hire. There’s not been any talks about that so far – but working with Mike is brilliant. He’s a great actor and a great human being. We just have a really good natural chemistry together both as actors – but also as the characters as well. One of the greatest things about The Defenders and the way that Marco Ramirez wrote it was [that] he really wrote great scenes for me and Mike. I think people are going to be really pleased when they see them because there’s this awesome Heroes for Hire sort of connection,” said Jones.
As season 2 of ‘Luke Cage’ and ‘Iron Fist’ are in the works, it makes sense that a ‘Heroes For Hire’ is still far off in the distant. If fans come out in hoards this weekend to watch ‘The Defenders,’ look for Marvel and Netflix to make some statement on the future of the franchise as early as Monday.
Current MCU Netflix schedule: ‘The Defenders’ drop this weekend, ‘The Punisher’ season one comes out this fall, and in 2018 ‘Daredevil’ season three, ‘Jessica Jones’ season two, and ‘Luke Cage’ season two.
Do you want to see Luke Cage and Iron fist join forces in a ‘Heroes For Hire’ series? Comment below.
The world of Anime is changing as Sony Pictures Television Networks is working on a deal to buy 95% of Japanese anime distributor Funimation Productions for $143 million, according to reports by Deadline.
“Around the world, Sony’s networks have been major players in the anime space for nearly two decades, and in more recent years we have rapidly increased our networks’ over-the-top and digital offerings to consumers. With the acquisition of Funimation, the combined IP of Animax, Kids Station and Funimation allows us to deliver the best anime to fans across all screens and platforms,” said Andy Kaplan, President of Worldwide Networks at Sony Pictures Television.
Funimation CEO, Gen Fukunaga will now hold 5% of the company and still be in charge. Based out of Texas, Funimation licenses and distributes Japanese anime content in the U.S. along with the streaming service FunimationNow.
“With Funimation’s long-established leadership position in anime and Sony’s direct access to the creative pipeline in Japan, it will be a great partnership to take Funimation to the next level,” said Fukunaga.
Funimation was founded in 1994 by Fukunaga with its most popular property being Toei Animation’s action-adventure series ‘Dragon Ball Z.’
This is big news for Anime fans, what do you think? Comment below.
If you had any hope for the ‘Bumblebee’ Transformers spinoff, John Cena just walked into the room. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Cena has landed the lead role in the film, he joins pop star, Hailee Steinfeld.
Potential plot details: Bumblebee’ is set in the year 1987, where Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small California beach town. Charlie (Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary yellow VW bug.
Cena may not be the most exciting casting choice, but Steinfeld amazed audiences in ‘True Grit.’ Also, for the few people that saw ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ – Travis Knight is a talented director.
The Transformers Cinematic Universe needs to put a lot of good will out into the world after the hot-garbage that was ‘Transformers: The Last Knight.’ Knight, Steinfeld, and an old VW Bug could be that positive vibe fans of G1 animated series is looking for.
1987 Bumblebee
‘Bumblebee’ is directed by Travis Knight, from a script by Christina Hodson, and stars Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg, Jason Drucker, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, Ricardo Hoyos and Gracie Dzienny.
Paramount Pictures’ latest addition to the Transformers Universe hits theaters on December 21, 2018.
What do you think of the John Cena casting? Comment below.
The CW’s ‘The Flash’ continues to expand its roster of heroes with the addition of the Elongated Man for Season Four. The Network announced the casting of Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibny Monday afternoon, in the reoccurring role.
Elongated Man has the ability to stretch like Plastic Man and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. It will be interesting to see how the show handles the special effect. What separates Dibny from the other elastic heroes is his detective skills, that according to DC Comics rival Batman’s. This season on ‘The Flash,’ Dibny will use his new abilities to help Team Flash solve one of Central City’s greatest mysteries.
The Elongated Man made his first appearance in THE FLASH #112.
THE FLASH Comic-Con 2017 Sizzle Reel
‘The Flash’ returns to the CW on October 10.
Are you excited to see a live-action version of the Elongated Man? Comment below.
