Disney’s live-action fantasy ballet film, Nutcracker and the Four Realms, officially has a release date: November 18th, 2018.
The release date was announced today during Disney’s D23 Expo. Concept art for the film, along with a quick first look were shown. From ComingSoon.Net, it had “[a] very detailed set and costume design.” Dancer Charles Riley, who is portraying the Mouse King, also gave a live dance performance.
The first trailer for the film was also shown, though it has not been released as of writing.
The film is an adaptation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffman, about a young girl who finds a Nutcracker doll and is tasked by her parents to take special care of it. Taken on a magical journey, she explores the Land of Flowers, Snowflakes, Sweets, and a fourth realm, belonging to Mother Ginger (played by Helen Mirren).
Nutcracker is directed by Lasse Hallström (Chocolat, Cider House Rules) and stars Misty Copeland, Mackenzie Foy (Clara), Morgan Freeman (Drosselmeyer), Keira Knightley (Sugar Plum Fairy), Helen Mirren (Mother Ginger), Ellie Bamber and Miranda Hart.
Disney’s D23 Expo manages to combine everything that is in Disney’s cinematic world into one massive event. Yesterday, during the animation panel details were released surrounding many of their future releases including Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck It Ralph 2. What’s great about this is that it allows some free thinking journalists to capture moments with their phones for our benefit. Check out this footage from one of the booths of the sequel to Wreck It Ralph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaKOIhAqce0
The panel also announced the casting of Taraji P. Henson as a character named Yessssss. If one was to speculate, perhaps she’s some sort of Siri character. Probably the biggest news to come from this portion of the panel was the announcement of Disney Princess (voiced by the original actresses), Marvel, and Star Wars characters joining Ralph on his latest adventure. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-it-Ralph 2 hits theaters on November 21st, 2018 starring John C. Reilly, Sara Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch.
Part of the allure of the first film is that it took some of the more iconic video game figures and turned them into normal people. Who didn’t just feel a little sad when we saw Q-Bert down on his luck in the first film? My hope is that they take these characters from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and give them the same treatment. How cool would it be to see Airel and Belle fight? What are your expectations for the sequel?
The first trailer for Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time is here! Watch it below.
“The film, which is an epic adventure based on Madeleine L’Engle’s timeless classic which takes audiences across dimensions of time and space, examining the nature of darkness versus light and ultimately, the triumph of love.
Directed by Ava DuVernay from a screenplay by Jennifer Lee based upon the beloved novel by Madeleine L’Engle, “A Wrinkle in Time” is produced by Jim Whitaker and Catherine Hand with Doug Merrifield serving as executive producer. The film stars: Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peňa, Levi Miller, Deric McCabe, André Holland, Rowan Blanchard with Zach Galifianakis and Chris Pine and introduces Storm Reid.”
Comic book fans are familiar with Batman’s nickname. No, I don’t mean the Dark Knight or the Caped Crusader or Bats or even BatGuano. Everyone’s favorite orphan is known in the DC universe as “the world’s greatest detective” yet, if you only know the character from the movieverse, it’s hard to understand why he gets that name. Batman movies have not, to date, focused on the detective side of things. And while an argument can be made that Rorschach or even Nightwing is a better super-sleuth, that’s not what we’re doing here. We’re exploring Batman films and why there’s so little detecting done by the world’s greatest dick.
Why isn’t the world’s greatest detective always absent on film? Before we get to that answer, let’s quickly review the movies we’ve had so far.
Batman
In the original Tim Burton film, Batsy takes on The Joker who is poisoning the entire city through unknown means. Batman is an action film through and through. However, there is a little moment where Bats figures out what Joker’s chemical concoction is and where he’s doing it. It’s a touch of detecting, but that’s it. Otherwise, Batman is trying to manage being a borderline sociopath with love while closing in on the Clown Prince of Crime.
BatmanReturns
Criticism regarding Burton’s last Bat-film centered around it being “too adult” and “mean spirited” for a comic book movie. These descriptions are why I’d rank it the second best movie featuring the character ever made. Batman Returns puts Batman in a battle with The Penguin and Catwoman. The Penguin is trying to take over the city with an army of armed penguins. Batman does far less detecting here.
BatmanForever
Dear universe, please grant me the strength to talk about the Schumacher Batman films without devolving into nerd rage. To counter Burton’s vision of a dark, Dark Knight, Schumacher added neon and nipples. And the film as a whole features even less real detective work by the world’s greatest.
Batman & Robin
Less detecting, more steroids pumped into the stupidity. Batman and Robin is great if you consider an avant-garde art-house film honoring the original 60s TV show. Unfortunately, it was a blockbuster studio action film that clipped The Bat’s cinematic wings for a decade. No detecting here. Just the joy of watching Arnold Schwarzenegger ham it up as Mr. Freeze and half-ass one of the villains in Batman’s rogue’s gallery with the most sympathetic and tragic back stories.
Batman Begins
Eleven years after Batman & Robin put the world’s greatest detective out of business, Christopher Nolan brought Bats back to life. The grittier take (even grittier than Batman Returns ever was) on the Dark Knight was a box office hit that reignited the hero’s cinematic adventures. However, it was yet another adventure where the gumshoe is simply an action hero and not a detective.
The Dark Knight
Arguably the best Batman film made thus far; The Dark Knight is ripe with layers and contemporary themes such as the surveillance state. Batman is a super-spy here, traveling the world to stop the Joker’s agenda of chaos. However, he’s no super-detective, even being (fairly easily) fooled by the Joker as to where his beloved Rachel Dawes was held captive.
The Dark Knight Rises
The last Batman film until 2019(?), The Dark Knight Rises features one incredible detective. However, it’s played by police officer John “Robin” Blake who figures out Batman’s secret identity from a “look?” Any who, long story short, not much detecting happening here either.
Why is it so hard to put the world’s greatest detective part of Batman into a movie?
So, we’ve quickly covered the seven solo films. Affleck’s Caped Crusader in BvS, the last film appearance of the hero, does little detecting too. In fact, he’s so bad he doesn’t ever figure out who Superman is or that his mom’s name was Martha. The best detective in the DCEU so far is Lois Lane or perhaps, Lex Luthor.
Why is it so hard to put the world’s greatest detective part of Batman into a movie? The comics do it on a regular basis. Sure, an argument exists that the Dark Knight fails there too, but at least there are many stories where Bats goes full on sleuth. The simple answer, though, and frankly, the anticlimactic answer is: money. Name the last hard-boiled detective film that grossed 500 million dollars? You can’t because that movie does not exist. And for WB, particularly in this age of super-blockbusters, a 500 million dollar return on investment for a Caped Crusader movie is simply not enough.
The popular cinematic formulas of any age have never included a pure detective story. Peruse the list of Top 20 blockbusters, and you won’t find even one in the bunch. The pattern is clear. A blockbuster needs crisp, beautiful eye-candy and action. Batman crawling through dark streets looking for clues makes the eye-candy side of things a bit harder, so Warner Brothers has to double up on the action (which, in turn, helps with the eye-candy). There’s simply no room in all this for a detective. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to do it. And there will be no shortage of Batman movies anytime soon, so maybe it’ll happen one day.
However, all hope is not lost. You see, there is a place where sleuthing and action live happily alongside each other.
The True Detective
If you want to see the Caped Crusader the way he’s meant to be, then look no further than some of the animated shows (and comics, of course), notably Batman: The Animated Series. The early 90s show is arguably the best representation of the entire Bat-verse there has ever been. The Dark Knight does plenty of fighting with his knowledge of a million fighting styles, but there are also episodes dedicated to showing off the investigative mind that’s under the cowl. See episodes like “The Demon’s Quest” or “What is Reality?” to see the sleuth be super.
While attending D23, Samuel L. Jackson talked a little bit about the differences between two of his characters, Frozone and Nick Fury.
“Well you know it’s different being in a studio and being on set and looking at people that are bigger than you and have super powers. At least in this one I have powers. When I’m Nick Fury I’m just kind of the only guy in the movie that really doesn’t have powers. I’m just kind of angry, but anger can be a power.”
Although Fury has no actual super powers, he’s a crucial part of the Marvel cinematic universe. If not for him, The Avengers would never have formed. Frozone was important to the first Incredibles movie, and will likely have a big part in Incredibles 2.
Entertainment Weekly has dropped a new photo from Justice League that features Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash. See it below.
“fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.”
Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder and stars Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Ezra Miller (The Flash), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), Ciarán Hinds (Steppenwolf), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth), J.K. Simmons (Commissioner Gordon), Amber Heard (Mera), Kiersey Clemons (Iris West) and Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor).
With The Incredibles 2 hitting theaters in less than a year, information is starting to be released.
IGN talked to Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter about the timeline of The Incredibles 2, and he confirmed that the sequel takes place immediately after the first.
“It starts right as the first one finishes, so it just carries on. It starts with the Underminer and a big old set piece. You know that at the end of the first movie when he comes up and you see the family dressed as superheroes, well that’s where start this movie.”
Although the movie begins right after the first, it’s a possibility that time will skip later on. However, those details will likely be known when audiences see the movie.
Great Gallifrey’s Ghost! The BBC announced that the actor who will play the 13th Doctor will be revealed this Sunday, July 16, on BBC One, after the men’s final match ends at Wimbledon.
Behold the announcement trailer:
After Peter Capaldi announced his exit as the titular Time Lord back in January, Whovians spent months anticipating and speculating as to who would become the Thirteenth Doctor.
Top picks to play the Thirteenth Doctor have been a vast array of actors, of different genders and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the top contenders to fill Capaldi’s TARDIS include Tilda Swinton, Kris Marshall, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Whomever it may be, we need not wait much longer!
The actor is set to take over from Peter Capaldi this December in the Christmas special, which will be the final episode for Capaldi and series showrunner Steven Moffat.
The actor and new head writer Chris Chibnall will officially take over for the episode’s final scene (where The Doctor will regenerate into the 13th incarnation) before returning for a full series some time next year.
Any last-minute thoughts as to who will regenerate into the 13th Doctor? Share in the comments!
With A New American Brand, New Japan Is Ready To Rumble!
First, I need to be clear. New Japan Pro Wrestling is arguably the second largest wrestling company and has been WWE’s competition for decades. By saying that the American brand is proving New Japan’s status as a threat, I’m not trying to discredit the years of amazing work for the company. Just now more than ever, it feels like a big change is coming!
Like previously mentioned, the rise of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) didn’t happen overnight. Current WWE stars AJ Styles, Finn Balor, and Shinsuke Nakamura was main event talent in NJPW only years ago. Industry pros like Brock Lesnar, Stan Hansen, Vader, and Hulk Hogan are also known for working with the company. The legendary Antonio Inoki founded NJPW in 1972. Since then, the company has grown to become Japan’s largest wrestling organization. New Japan is a wrestling organization that has been crafting the superstars of today for decades and produces “5-Star” matches almost monthly.
What makes this year special? The launch of the American subsidiary company and dojo!
Following this news is the IWGP Unites States Championship debuting at the G1 Special In USA shows. More so than ever before, New Japan is becoming a global brand. Not only is it dominating on the far east but moving into Vince McMahon’s backyard. This new American brand is the first massive wrestling shake up in quite some time. Usually, WWE’s attempts at mainstream appeal or the blunders of TNA/Impact dominate American wrestling, but NJPW is now another player in the mix.
The Face That Runs The Place:
Kazuchika Okada is a blessing to New Japan. Okada shows the face of a company doesn’t have to be a generic superhero or one-note villain. At 29 years of age, we are witnessing the birth of a Japanese wrestling legend. Since 2011, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer gave 20 matches a “five-star” rating. Out of 20, Okada has been in seven of them. Two of those matches with Kenny Omega even broke the system with each getting “six-stars”! Kazuchika Okada also found himself in four Wrestle Kingdom main events (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017). That’s the equivalent of four WWEWrestlemania main events in five years!
Okada is one of the wrestlers right now proving that life can be good outside of WWE. Not only with being a huge industry name, but he’s also setting the bar financially. Reports earlier this year say Kazuchika Okada makes $2.2 million in a year. That’s just shy of John Cena’s reported $2.75 million in 2016. It used to be that making it to the “big league” meant WWE, but New Japan is proving otherwise.
Now the rumors of Okada going to WWE won’t go away. Those dirt sheet stories grow more when photos and videos came out showing Okada backstage at a WWE show. He said on multiple occasions that he has no interest in working for the company, but these rumors are evidence of his importance in the industry.
Bullet Club, The Top-Tier Brand
The Bullet Club is a force to be reckoned within pro wrestling. Not only because the collective group of elite wrestlers rules the ring, but it is also a part of pop culture. You will see a Bullet Club shirt at just about EVERY wrestling show from NJPW to WWE and even that local indie show down the street from you.
The Bullet Club contains great names like Bad Luck Fale, Marty Scurll, and Tama Tonga but the focus of this section is about four major stars. Those stars being Kenny Omega, The Youngbucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), and new member Cody Rhodes. Each of those men brings something to NJPW and wrestling that’s left a huge impression. Omega is putting on classic matches monthly. The Youngbucks are branding themselves with a Hot Topic deal and becoming an Internet sensation. Kenny Omega and The Youngbucks (collective known as The Elite) are showing that life is possible out of WWE.
That leaves us with Cody Rhodes. While he’s one of the newest Bullet Club members, the impact he’s making is felt through the entire industry. Cody Rhodes isn’t the most infamous WWE departure but what he did is undoubtedly a shocking power move. Asking for your release from the biggest companies in the world and being such a high-profile figure is a stupid concept for most. Why would anyone leave the perceived “best of the best” to work independents? The reason is Cody saw the chances around the world to make something more. That’s a refreshing idea for so many young stars to see that even Cody Rhodes is saying you can make it somewhere else than WWE. His former company even tried to strip him from his famous last name, but that still hasn’t stopped him from becoming a global star. Cody and The Bullet Club’s work is history in the making!
The Ring of Honor Connection:
“I got a deal with Hot Topic. I can’t lose on TV!” -Matt Jackson of The Youngbucks
One of the best decisions New Japan Pro Wrestling has made in the past decade is a partnership with Ring of Honor. NJPW often collaborates with other companies, but nothing makes more sense than these two together.
What this partnership truly does is introduce the world to wrestlers they’d usually never see. NJPW fans most likely wouldn’t have seen wrestlers like Jay Lethal, tag team War Machine, and even The Youngbucks to an extent. On the other hand, ROH fans get a perfect introduction to current New Japan stars like Kushida and Tetsuya Naito. Even The Bullet Club gets the chance to expand with the inclusion of ROH stars like Marty Scurll.
On a business standpoint, NJPW and ROH both have a lot to gain from this. Brand exposure is becoming easier as they are so many crossovers. Some NJPW wrestlers are even winning Ring of Honor Championships giving more publicity on both shows. New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor are reliable companies on their own but together; they are creating a global force that seems unstoppable.
The Best Of The Rest:
Hiroshi Tanahashi
– Tanahashi is the current IWGP Intercontinental Champion and a former seven-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He is the wrestler that many credits as the leading star during New Japan Pro Wrestling’s comeback years. Truly, he is a megastar!
Tomohiro Ishii
– Ishii is a pure force. Not only because he’s a powerhouse, but he’s just magic to watch. The man quickly gained a cult following with his brutal style. Tomohiro Ishii brings some much-needed personality to strong-style wrestling.
Kota Ibushi
– The upcoming G1 Climax will mark the New Japan return of Kota Ibushi. He just made an appearance in NJPW as Tiger Mask W, but this is the first time Ibushi gets billed in over two years. His work as a free agent only upped his value in the company.
Zack Sabre Jr.
– Zack Sabre Jr. is a global star. ZSJ works for multiple companies including PWG, Progress Wrestling, and even made a guest appearance in WWE. With no disrespect to those other companies, the work Zack Sabre Jr. does in NJPW is the best.
What do you think? Is New Japan Pro Wrestling on its way to becoming a prominent American brand? Let me know in the comments below!
