The summer is almost over and the back to school specials have already appeared in stores. With another month down it’s time to look at the different titles which are coming to Netflix and pick the geeky titles you need to check out. There are some big releases this month to keep you entertained you as summer comes to a close.
10Death Note (August 25th)
A live action Americanized version of the widely popular Japanese Manga is coming to Netflix. Watch as a young man finds a book which causes anyone whose name he puts into the book to die violently. Who knows, maybe if it’s popular there will be more American adaptation of Anime in the future. As long they don’t make the American version of Akira.
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Which titles are you looking forward to most? Leave a Comment below and let us know.
Most important among the announcement is the premiere date of Top of the Lake: China Girl, which will air on September 10 at 9pm. Top of the Lake is SundanceTV’s most prestigious current project, with Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, The Handmaid’s Tale) reprising her role as complex Detective Robin Griffin. The series, which is set in New Zealand and examines the abuse of women and children, will return for three episodes. Jane Campion serves as showrunner for the series, her first television project since An Angel at My Table in 1990.
There are a host of other shows on the SundanceTV roster as well, however.
One such series is Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders, which will take place as a two-part event on November 18 and 19 at 9pm. The subject matter of the series will focus on the titular family, who were all the subject of Truman Capote’s genre defining true crime masterpiece In Cold Blood. With this series, however, SundanceTV is seeking to tell a more complete version of the story, featuring commentary from the first hand accounts of those who actually knew the family.
Liar, which premieres on September 27 at 10pm, is about a teacher who begins dating a surgeon. An as-yet unspecified event sets off a chain of events and vile accusations that destroy both of their lives. Liar stars Ioan Gruffudd and Jane Froggatt.
The final addition to SundanceTV is Unspeakable, a series about Canada’s tainted blood scandal in the 80’s. Robert C. Cooper, who is serving as showrunner, has created the narrative by weaving together two non-fiction books, The Gift of Death by Andre Picard and Bad Blood by Vic Parsons, to tell a singular story about the rise of HIV and Hepatitis C in Canada. This tragedy would infect thousands, including Cooper himself, hence his passion for the project.
Independent Horror Is Alive & Well With Peter Herro’s ‘WTF.’
The slasher sub-genre is certainly a staple within horror. Like monster movies or ghost stories, slasher films play a significant role in why fans love the genre. Slashers are too much fun to watch, and a good slasher can feel timeless. WTF, a film by Peter Herro, is on its way to becoming one of those movies.
Instead of going for the origin story of a “final girl,” our lead character Rachel (Callie Ott) is a survivor of a past attack. She uses this experience to change the dynamic of usual slasher stories. Like Erin in You’re Next or Syndey Prescott in Scream 2, Rachel avoids cliched female victimhood. That’s a refreshing character arc to see as the 1980’s, and early 90’s are infamous for overusing that trope. While sci-fi and action pushed for stronger female roles, the female leads in horror still felt dated. WTF is a pleasant shift from the usual narrative but has some work to do.
While our final girl gets different treatment, the rest of the women in this movie feel like glorified objects. WTF makes an effort to say the men in this story are perverted degenerates but doesn’t feel in on that joke. Lines like “chivalry is so fucking dead” are used for punchlines about nagging women and not about the vapid men. Even the girl-on-girl kiss scene is cringe-worthy and only there for the male gaze. Not saying the movie needs to be a feminist manifesto, but this type of humor feels so dated in a film that is otherwise fairly progressive.
“Seven friends, one survivor… spring break has never been so bloody.”
Other than some problematic writing, the only other complaint is the lack of inventive or exciting kills. As a self-proclaimed “gorehound,” WTF missed out on plenty of chances for something memorable. In any great slasher movie, you remember one or two kills feel etched into your memory. With this, I can only remember one brutal burning sequence, and that’s about it. Also, doesn’t help that the entire final act is so dark that it’s hard to see what’s going on. With these types of films, you need to be able to bring something more to elevate any flaws that come with making low-budget horror. In this case, a little extra brutality could’ve made up for any weak script moments.
Actress Callie Ott knew how to take the material given to another level. The film hinges on her performance. Ott’s character Rachel is the center of two stories, the Spring Break killings and the police investigation. She balances both well and serves up a layered performance no matter where Rachel is thrown. There is a connection between director Peter Herro and Callie Ott that needs exploration in other films. Ott would make a great muse for Herro’s unique brand of horror.
Final Thoughts:
WTF is cheesy slasher fun that makes horror the best genre ever. The formula for slasher movies will never change, but WTF still finds a way to make a difference. Breathing new life into a sub-genre that’s been popular for decades is challenging. So difficult that WTF still stumbles now and then. Even with some minor hiccups, this movie comes with a recommendation for horror enthusiast.
“Seven friends go to a secluded house for the best Spring Break of their lives, but only one will be alive to post about it on Facebook the next week.”
WTF stars Callie Ott, Nick Reilly, Andrea Hunt, Benjamine Norris, and Perez Hilton. Peter Herro serves as the writer and director for this film. The release date is August 1st, 2017.
Best Local Columnist – Dewey Singleton
Best Local Instagrammer – Dewey Singleton
Best Local Podcast – Monkeys Fighting Robots
Best Mover & Shaker – Matthew Sardo
Best Networker – Matthew Sardo
Best Web Developer – Matthew Sardo
Best Local Blogger – EJ Moreno, Dewey Singleton
Best Local Internet Radio Show – Matthew Sardo and EJ Moreno ‘Movie Show‘ Monkeys Fighting Robots
Best Local Personality to Follow on Twitter – Dewey Singleton
The competition is fierce, and we can use all your support, cast your vote here: http://www.cltampa.com/botb2017. Voting runs through August 23; you can cast one ballot per social media account (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). The winners will be announced on September 27 at the awards party held at the Mahaffey Theater sponsored by the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Thank you for your support!
Monkeys Fighting Robots a pop culture website based out of St. Petersburg, Florida, launched in 2015 covers your favorite comic book, superhero film, movie, TV show, and Anime with a staff of 40-plus writers from around the world.
Marvel’s Secret Empire #7 debuted today, and if you haven’t been reading you may want to move along.
Seriously.
You sure?
All right then.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Black Widow.
Marvel killed Black Widow. Yes, the same Black Widow Scarlett Johansson plays in the MCU. The same one that has gained a large (albeit recent) following. The same one that fans have been demanding a movie for. The same one that seems to be a vital part of the Avengers to most audiences.
And Hydra Cap snapped her neck with his stupid looking new shield.
Because shock deaths sell comics, or at the very least they generate publicity. After all, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?
Why isn’t this bigger news?
Let’s give Marvel some benefit of the doubt before we dive into this head first. They probably didn’t expect that July 26, 2017, was going to be a rather insane news day. So attention spans were focused elsewhere. It’s certainly possible that on any other day the death of Black Widow would’ve struck a stronger chord. And that’s probably why it seems that this major comic news has slipped under the radar at the time of writing this article.
Also, let’s not kid ourselves, event comics usually contain at least one or two shock deaths. It doesn’t matter what the event series is about, it doesn’t matter who’s the star; if a major event is announced, there’s a significant chance that a beloved character will die.
Finally, it’s important to note that this could be a ruse. Black Widow, could be up and about wrapping her legs around people’s heads in the next issue. Fake outs happen way too often in superhero comic books, and publishers really need to be smarter about them. Plus, even if she is “dead” she will most likely come back eventually. The afterlife of the Marvel (and DC) universe is a bit more lax on the whole “eternal” aspect of death.
But, even if the 26th was all about Marvel, and no other news came out, I’m willing to bet that Black Widow’s death wouldn’t have turned any heads. Because Marvel has finally done it. They got to the place I’ve always feared they’d get to, and on a much larger scale than I expected
Readers just don’t care anymore.
So, why did they kill Black Widow?
There are two answers to that question, so first let’s talk about it in terms of story context.
During Civil War II the world was given a glimpse of the future through very convoluted means. In that glimpse of the future Spider-Man (Miles Morales, not Parker) was seen killing Captain America. It was a rather jarring panel that caused a lot of questioning, and confusion amongst both the characters in the story and fans reading it.
Of course, nobody knew that Cap was a double agent for Hydra at the time.
Flash forward to the events of Secret Empire.
With Cap taking over the world lots of our favorite superheroes splintered off into resistance groups. Black Widow is leading one of these groups that contains most of the younger superheroes: Riri Williams, the new Falcon, the new Wasp, Amadeus Cho, and of course, Miles Morales. Black Widow is trying to train these young, naive heroes to be willing to solve these issues with more permanent solutions. Miles Morales is there, because he feels that since everyone thinks he’s going to kill Cap, he may as well face his destiny.
After getting the impression that all of her friends might be dead from a fake out in the last issue (I said there would be spoilers damn it!) Black Widow rallies her team up to assassinate Hydra Captain America. Right before this, Miles confides to her that he feels like he needs to be the one to kill Cap. Black Widow refuses, because she “doesn’t see him as a killer.” Even though she was training him to be a killer. So, make of that what you will.
But, Miles faces down Cap anyway. Black Widow is shocked and jumps out to try and save him from Cap, but gets killed. Miles goes into rampage mode, and beats Cap down, but doesn’t kill him, because he’s not a killer. And nothing of any importance actually happens in this story.
You know Miles, I’ll probably start reading your series if you end this stupid event.
Okay, but WHY did they kill Black Widow?
Shock deaths ignite an audience, and an emotional audience buy more books. Hulk died last year; the story made national news and caused a sizeable amount of online rage. This tactic is constantly used by Marvel (and DC) to sell books. In the past ten years of comics there have been a staggering amount of shock deaths. Most of the characters who died came back a year later.
Black Widow is Marvel’s most well known female superhero for the mass audience. She has the most recognition from the films. She’s played by one of the most beautiful/popular actresses in the world. And there’s a large group of people still demanding that she gets her own movie. Marvel’s editorial staff probably thought that this was going to be the “Oh snap! Things just got real!” moment.
This move was a marketing strategy to breathe more life into this series.
It didn’t work.
For a move like this to hit properly there needs to be a large reaction. Much like with the Hulk’s death last year. There wasn’t really any outrage on Twitter say for a few tweets from fans. Google only lists seven articles that even mention her death. The big reveal fell flat on its face.
Why doesn’t anyone care?
First of all, most comic book fans (especially fans of Marvel) can see through all the bull. We know when we see sales gimmicks and marketing tactics. Character deaths are often treated as ploys to get people talking about the industry. This has been true since the death of Superman back in the early 90s. However, after over two decades of crappy shock deaths designed to get people to buy comics, we’re sick of seeing them. The death has lost all meaning.
It’s further undercut with the knowledge that these characters will eventually come back in one way or another. Why bother mourning a character’s death when they will most likely come back in at least a year. Who wants to set up the “How long Black Widow has been dead” counter?
Second, the death didn’t have much weight to it. The way the panels are laid out, doesn’t evoke any new kind of drama. It just kind of happens, and feels more bizarre than tragic. It’s something we’ve seen a thousand times before. The only difference is that now it’s Black Widow.
So, what does this all mean?
Black Widow’s death is a symptom of the larger problem of Secret Empire and Marvel as a whole. This entire event was marketed, and branded under the idea that this event will shock you. Nothing in the series has warranted that shock, or outrage. It’s a bland book that doesn’t offer much commentary, action, drama, or even stakes oddly enough. There are some nice character interactions, but so much of the book doesn’t move at a natural pace. It oozes all over itself with no clear direction.
The series is like that kid in class that’s always trying to grab everyone’s attention, but when it finally does everyone realizes it has nothing of value to say.
It’s a shame, because the concept of the story is worth exploring. The idea that Captain America can be corrupted hits close to home with our current political climate. But the book does not deliver that story. It is branded as this groundbreaking shock material, but instead it is a disjointed story being shepherded by a lazy, ineffectual editorial staff that cares more about pleasing a bottom line than telling powerful stories.
It is not worth your time, or money. But, maybe this is the kick in the ass Marvel needs to wake up. Because, if we can prove to them that we are over their obvious shock death sell tactics, and ignore these bloated event comics, we might be able to see more consistent and better stories. Or at the very least, a more cohesive universe.
Black Widow’s death does not stop the world from turning Marvel. Either catch up with us, or stay in your little world where you think we still care.
“The cut right now, I reckon it’s about 100 minutes,” he says. “It’s not gonna be a very, very long film.”
Watiti goes on to elaborate as to why the movie will be shorter than most Marvel films. He wants to avoid the risk of audiences feeling fatigue.
“I think that stories are better when you leave them wanting more, and this film moves at a clip,” he explains. “I think people are still gonna feel exhausted by the end, they’ve been on this big journey and stuff, so I don’t think we need the film to be three hours.”
While the movie won’t be overlong, the short running time does give one to feel a bit of concern. Most of Marvel’s films are around two or two a half hours in length. With Thor and Loki’s quest, there is a lot of ground to cover in this movie. On top of that, they will be depicting the fall of Asgard. Furthermore, you have to factor Hulk’s story arc in the film as well. How will all of these plot elements mesh together?
According to Watiti, fans will really enjoy the film’s extras. “There are a lot of deleted scenes. Great scenes,” he explains. They’ll be available on the film’s DVD and Blu-Ray releases.
“Funny, funny moments that—you can’t have it all,” he says. “As I say you gotta kill those puppies, so we had to take some of those things out. Those scenes will exist so people will be able to see them.”
Fans will remember Jon Favreau did trim some scenes from Iron Man, because he felt “Less is more.” While this may be true, juggling Thor and Hulk’s stories in one film is a tricky tightrope to walk.
The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Karl Urban, Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett and Anthony Hopkins. Benedict Cumberbatch will be reprise his role of Doctor Strange.
Thor: Ragnarok comes to theatres on November 3, 2017.
On the heels of the Eisner Award Ceremony, the comics industry has announced the nominees for a new award, The Ringos, named after celebrated comic artist Mike Wieringo. You can check out all the nominees below. The winners will be announced September 23 at a ceremony held at this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con.
‘Wonder Woman’ was a good film, but does it deserve an Oscar? Apparently, Warner Bros. believes so as the studio has internally discussed launching a formidable awards-season campaign for the movie, in the hopes of making it the first comic-book film nominated for best picture, according to a report by Variety.
No comic book film has ever been nominated for Best Picture, not even Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight.’
The report continues to say that Warner Bros. will push hard for Patty Jenkins as well for Best Director. In 89 years, only one woman has won Best Director – Kathryn Bigelow for ‘The Hurt Locker’ in 2010. Gal Gadot is a member of the Academy, so ‘Wonder Woman’ and Jenkins have at least one vote.
For fans of the film, look for the Amazon princess to get a limited re-release in theaters this fall to generate award buzz. ‘Deadpool’ gained traction last year with two Golden Globe nominations, it will be interesting to see how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association treats ‘Wonder Woman.’
‘Wonder Woman’ has a worldwide box office take of $782 million and counting, and a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Do you think ‘Wonder Woman’ deserves a Best Picture nomination? Comment below.
About ‘Wonder Woman’
Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.
Gal Gadot returns as Wonder Woman in an epic action adventure from director Patty Jenkins. Joining Gadot in the international cast are Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner, Lucy Davis, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Eugene Brave Rock, and Saïd Taghmaoui.
Bonus: ‘Wonder Woman 2’ will hit theaters on December 13, 2019.
After three Hobbit movies and three Lord of the Rings movies, Middle-Earth fans might not get the chance to return to the beloved realm anytime soon, with Tolkien estate refusing to sign over film rights for the Silmarillion. But in the meantime, Ringsters may have another movie to flock to: a JRR Tolkien biopic!
Potentially starring as the mythmaker is the Young Beast from the X-Men prequels Nicholas Hoult. According to Deadline, Hoult will play a young JRR Tolkien, exploring the years before he wrote his beloved children’s book The Hobbit and his epic masterpiece The Lord of the Rings. However, if fans are expecting a magical journey, they might want to brace themselves. While the film will explore his younger years as an orphan developing friendships with “a fellow group of outcasts at school,” it will also explore his time in World War I. To give an idea of what Tolkien experienced in the war, you only need to read Lord of the Rings—the battles in it were based on ones he fought in. And as a communication officer waving flags on the battlefield, it’s a miracle Tolkien even survived to write his Middle-Earth realm.
There’s no release date yet for Fox Searchlight’s Tolkien, written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford and being directed by Dome Karukoski. Hoult’s Beast, however, will be returning in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, hitting theaters November 2, 2018.
With a Spawn movie currently in development with Todd McFarlane writing the script, one role that fans will be excited to see cast is Twitch—but McFarlane already knows who he wants to play the character:
“When I was writing, I had Leonardo DiCaprio in my head,” McFarlane said in an interview with Vulture. “I don’t know if people have seen The Wolf of Wall Street, but there is a manicness in him. He was going up and down and up and down. It was almost dizzying emotionally to go with him. There are parts in this movie where I’m going to need an actor to make those moves both in terms of normality, and in terms of manic, and in terms of anger and in terms of joy and be able to go to some extremes in it.”
Not only would DiCaprio be great for the role, but it would give the movie a healthy dose of star power. Not every studio is willing to take the same gamble that Marvel did with Guardians of the Galaxy. So far, not much is known about the project, other than that it will be more violent than Logan and Deadpool and that McFarlane is going for a Hard R.
