Sony Pictures released the first trailer for ‘The Dark Tower’ starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey based on the Stephen King series.
There are other worlds than these. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.
The movie is said to pull plot points from the complete series. There are eight books in total.
The Gunslinger (1982)
The Drawing of the Three (1987)
The Waste Lands (1991)
Wizard and Glass (1997)
Wolves of the Calla (2003)
Song of Susannah (2004)
The Dark Tower (2004)
The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
‘The Dark Tower’ is written and directed by Nikolaj Arcel and stars Idris Elba, Katheryn Winnick, Matthew McConaughey, Abbey Lee, and Jackie Earle Haley. The film is slated for release on August 4.
“Marvel’s The Defenders follows Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. A quartet of singular heroes with one common goal – to save New York City. This is the story of four solitary figures, burdened with their own personal challenges, who realize they just might be stronger when teamed together.”
‘Marvel’s The Defenders’ stars Charlie Cox, (Matt Murdock/Daredevil), Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Mike Colter (Luke Cage) and Finn Jones (Danny Rand/Iron Fist). Additional cast members include Academy-Award nominated actress Sigourney Weaver (Alexandra), Elodie Yung (Elektra), Scott Glenn (Stick), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), Carrie-Anne Moss (Jeri Hogarth), Rachael Taylor (Trish Walker), Eka Darville (Malcolm Ducasse), Simone Missick (Misty Knight) and Jessica Henwick (Colleen Wing).
Marvel’s The Defenders is executive produced by Marco Ramirez and Doug Petrie along with Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.
Are you looking forward to the show? How do you feel about Marvel’s Netflix properties so far? Sound off in the comments below.
“Months of intensive prep have led to this. Here we go.” #DayOne#Ahab
Jason Momoa stars as the title character in Aquaman, with Amber Heard portraying Mera, Willem Defoe as Vulko, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the villainous Black Manta.
The film hits theaters on December 21, 2018.
Momoa’s next appearance as the character comes in this year’s Justice League, directed by Zack Snyder.
“Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes — Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash — it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions”
Yes, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery is now twenty years old. Originally a parody James Bond, the film became a hit, launching two highly-earning sequels. It also made Mike Myers a film superstar.
In 1967, superspy Austin Powers tries and fails to capture Dr. Evil, who blasts off into space. Powers has himself frozen until his nemesis returns. Thirty years later, the Ministry of Defence learns Dr. Evil has come back to Earth. They revive Austin from cryogenic freezing and assign him to the case.
As Austin finds out, the nineties are far different from the swinging sixties. Free love is dead, and the Cold War is long over. He teams up with Vanessa Kensington, who is the daughter of his former coworker. Unlike her mother, Vanessa is repulsed by Austin’s behaviour and finds it difficult to work with him. Over time, a romance forms between the two of them.
Meanwhile, Dr. Evil plots a world domination scheme. Despite his empire becoming legit, he has no interest in honest business, but he has trouble coming up with a new idea. Dr. Evil’s frustrated with most of his ideas having already been done. Instead, he decides to hijack a nuclear weapon and hold the world hostage. All the while, he’s trying to be a father to his son Scott, whose childhood he missed out on.
Mike Myers delivers a tour-de-force performance. Austin Powers is hilarious, witty and utterly clueless. Although not being handsome, the character has an irresistible appeal to women, but he has trouble coping with the modern age. Nor does he understand that free love is a thing of the past. Yet his tangles with fembots and habit of sleepwalking in the nude are a riot to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C8Sizx-Gpc.
As Dr. Evil, Myers is hilarious as a wonderfully inept villain. Written as a spoof of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, he is hellbent on world domination, but he can’t seem to come up with a great plan. Nor does he understand the concepts of money and inflation. He tends to reject his son’s logical ideas, because he doesn’t consider him evil enough to be taken seriously. Ironically, these ideas would be far more successful than Dr. Evil’s plots.
Elizabeth Hurley holds her own as Vanessa, who plays the straight man to Myers’ antics. Her banter with Austin is one of the film’s highlights. This is especially clear in the airplane scene, during which Austin tries and fails to sleep with Vanessa. She responds by vowing they’ll never have sex- even if the fate of the human race depends on it.
As the plot progresses, the two characters grow closer and form a relationship. It’s quite touching to see these opposites develop an attraction. Sadly, the leading ladies in the sequels don’t have the same chemistry with Myers.
The supporting cast is spot on in their roles. Michael York gives a solid turn as Basil Exposition, whose sole purpose is to fill in Austin on the plot. Lily Tomlin is a delight as Frau Farbissina, who tends to scream in almost every scene she’s in. Robert Wagner’s Number Two is the perfect Smithers to Dr. Evil’s Mr. Burns. Seth Green portrays Scott has a put-upon Gen X teenager who resists Dr. Evil’s attempts to bond with him.
There are also several hilarious cameos in the film. Will Ferrell is a riot as henchman Mustafa, who Dr. Evil has a hard time killing off. Mimi Rogers has a brief appearance as Austin’s former partner Mrs. Kensington. The late Carrie Fisher has a funny cameo as a therapist, who tries to counsel Dr. Evil and Scott. Her attempts to help father and son bond result in a long, disturbing monologue about Dr. Evil’s childhood.
Overall, International Man Of Mystery is one of the funniest spy spoofs ever. Austin Powers was meant to be a Bond farce, but it took on a life of its own. Mike Myers’ comedic genius is a delight to watch, and it makes one wish we saw more of him on the big screen. Hurley is in fine form as Austin’s best love interest of the franchise. When it comes to movies, this sort of thing is definitely my bag.
Tekken 7 is coming to the US soon with some surprising and embraceable updates according to the Tekken Talk with Mark “MarkMan” Julio, Dalton Link and Maximilian Dood. Expect some fun new things to do in the Tekken universe and some shout outs to generations gone by. So here are a few highlights from the over an hour long talk.
New Characters
Tekken 7 will have a few new characters and some familiar faces. The Mishima clan in all their glory get another chapter of their ill-fated destiny written. Some notable mentions being added to the roster is Street Fighter’s Akuma and the narcoleptic vampire favorite from Tekken Revolution Eliza. They are joined by new fighters like Claudio Serafino an Italian light magic wielder and Katarina Alvez a seemingly none capoeira using fighter from Brazil. What can adding another Mishima to the clan hurt? Nothing at all. The more Mishima the better is the rule. The mother of monsters or tigers as it were, Kazumi Mishima, the wife of Heihachi is revealed as the final boss fight.
New Functionality
While Tekken has its detractors in regards to fighting game fan bases when it comes to functionality, this version is seeking to relieve some of that stress. Specifically with a tournament ready focus. The game will have a tournament mode setting. This will set matches to 5 rounds instead of just 3. Players will be able to customize detailed controller functions and even test controllers before playing.
Now we will know if ‘Insert friend name here‘ is telling the truth when they claim a loss due to a faulty controller. This also takes away some of the false starts that happen due to controller testing. The function is built to adjust and respond to a specific controller function to start a match. Story to game play visuals have been streamlined also. There is very little difference from in fight graphics and cut scene graphics.
New Stages New Play
Tekken 7 has made a commitment to a better game experience. New mutable stages have been added. These stages change with dynamic weather effects and based on the level of the character. Besides the tournament focus Tekken 7 aims to be a more fleshed out game by offering an updated monetary system that allows even more customization than offered by previous editions. Almost all play will earn bucks. However the Treasure Battle mode let’s gamers earn game customizations out right from treasure chests no less. Gamers will have access to ten slots per character for their own character mods. Most notable is the addition of New Japan Pro Wrestling customizations like Bullet Club shirts and some fun King ring gear.
Practice mode has a streamlined modification where all of the gauges can be pulled out leaving clean stark screens. This mode will let the gamer record practice sequences and combos. Tekken 7 will feature ten levels of difficulty which will effect the way modes of play work. For example Promotion Battles, which pit the player against harder AI fights are to gain rank, better items and better battles. Also fighting mechanics alter in certainbattles such as in Turbo Battles where juggling effects intensify.
Customization
If this game had a middle name it would be customization. The Jukebox and Gallery modes allow players to revisit music and movies from previous Tekken games. Players can change select character’s outfits to throwbacks from previous titles. They can replace the current soundtrack entirely with the soundtrack of any available previous game soundtrack. But that’s not all. Players can change life bars, add custom subtitles to characters and even add New Japan Pro Wrestling plates to character profiles. Even though Tekken 7 will release on PS4, Xbox One and PC, a decent amount of these customizations will be exclusive to the PS4 platform. Double check before getting your heart set on these mods if you are not on a PS4.
I don’t know about you but I’m ready for the June release. Showing up for the story, staying for the fights.
What are your thoughts on some of the Tekken reveals? Comment below.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed that Rampage, his next film, has begun production. Additionally, the actor posted a synopsis of the movie that will get fans excited for the project.
“Day 1. Kicking off production. #RAMPAGE.
In our story we have three animals (gorilla, crocodile and a wolf) who fall victim to evil genetic editing, rapidly changing every strand of their DNA so they grow, evolve and mutate. Everything becomes amplified.. their size, strength, speed, agility.. and violent aggression.
One of the animals infected – a rare Albino gorilla named, George, is my best friend.
George, is played by 6’9 @tallie7487, (Jason Liles, pictured here). Jason has been studying gorillas for months now preparing for this motion capture role. Gorilla movements, body language, and all emotions – joy, pain, sadness, love, aggression etc. It’s insane when you get around this man and how he’s able to brilliantly embody a gorilla. This is the most fascinating advanced VFX/motion cap process I’ve ever worked with in my career. Incredible learning curve for me.
We have the best mo-cap team in the world (WETA Digital) working on our gigantic RAMPAGE MONSTERS and you’ll get a taste of this new technology in the upcoming WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES as well as James Cameron’s AVATARS.
With all the cool advanced technology in our movie, the #1 thing you’re gonna experience when you watch it, is FUN.
Because when my best friend, George no happy, then me no happy. And when me no happy.. bad people become our lunch.”
Rampage is directed by Brad Peyton and produced by Beau Flynn – it’s based off of the 1986 arcade game by the same name.
The movie is slated for a theatrical release on April 20, 2018.
‘Hap and Leonard’ was a very wild wide this season. I wrote a review for the first episode titled Mucho Let Down. Then after the 2nd episode I thought it was ‘mucho redeemed’ episode 3 came out and I thought it was once more ‘mucho disappointed’. This pattern went on and on throughout the entire season. It had an almost equal amount good points and bad points leading to a particular unremarkable and messy season. I think it was a ‘mucho messy’ season which wasn’t nearly the thriller of season 1. It was uneven. Ironically the season catch phrase was ‘The Good the Bad and the Mojo.’
First the good. The format remains the same. Hap and Leonard are once more two men caught up a dangerous conspiracy that they’re involved in more by fate than by chance. As with season 1 it’s a conspiracy with social and political implications for today despite the show’s 80s time frame. Season 1 dealt with the dark side of activism and how people can go too far into fanaticism. Now season 2 deals with race relations and the police. Hap and Leonard’s involvement doesn’t stretch credibility and their drawn into a hopeless terrifying situation.
The villains remain scary. Drug dealers Solider and Angel with they’re over the top psychotic personalities were a big drawn for me as the series villains last season and toping that this season was clearly a very tough obstacle. The writers chose not to give us villains meant to outdo our previous set and instead we’re watching the shadowy serial killer whose not seen for the majority of the season, Reverend Fitzgerald. he is the opposite, he’s almost ever present as an evil without the flashiness. When he’s reveled it’s a surprise and for about ten minutes we get a stellar performance of cold religious fanaticism.
Now the bad. Brian Dennehy being brought in as Sheriff Valentine sounds great on paper, but he wasn’t used to his optimal effect by the show. Valentine was referenced in season 1 and finally seeing him should be great. Dennehy is a masterful bad guy and even in his old age should be wonderful as an equally omnipresent villain, but his screen time was too minimal. There wasn’t time for us to see him being the threat that we know the actor can be. Valentine as a character was also a strange choice. We knew his son killed Hap and Leonard’s fathers so his presence has a lot of emotional impact on the characters that seemed supercilious to the plot. A different bad sheriff would have been just as good.
There was actually a lot of things that seemed superfluous. Hap’s newest ill-fated romance was also strange and seemed out of place. Episode 1 had an entire plot about how he wasn’t over Trudy and implied that he wouldn’t be for awhile only for Hap and Florida to get together two episodes later. Leonard’s foray into surrogate fatherhood is likewise written in a manner that makes the viewer wonder if they could have archived the effect on the plot in a more concise way. Both of these plots were simply handled badly if they were meant to be important.
Basically, this season was a disaster in terms of cohesive story telling. There were a lot of good parts and a lot of bad parts. That said if since they renewed I’ll be watching again next season, or at least I’ll try to.
When I was a lad growing up on the mean streets of Beamsville, Maple Grove Public School was an elementary school with an alternative-learning bent. Times have changed, though. Now, rather than being a school for gifted youngsters or an estate winery which will never host its celebrity owner, the old Maple Grove building is home to the Bench Brewing Company.
Bench Brewing is the realized dream of Matt Giffen who saw the Niagara region as a great place to set up a “terroir” brewery. The fact that the term “terroir” is traditionally associated with fine French wines should give readers a sense of how dedicated Giffen and his team, including brewmaster Mark Horsley, are to brewing high-quality beer that’s a product of its environment. As usual, though, all this discussion of breweries is making me thirsty. So, stand back as I reconnect with my Beamsvillian roots and try Bench Brewing’s Citra Grove Dry Hopped Sour.
Bench Brewing Co: Citra Grove Dry Hopped Sour – First Sip
Citra Grove pours a very cloudy pale yellow colour. A thick layer of foam develops around the top of the wineglass that I’m drinking from as per the bottle’s pictorial instruction. I learn too late that, according to Bench’s website, I should’ve used a Belgian tulip glass. The foam dissipates quickly, leaving about 1/2″ of head that sticks around. I pick up a strong citrus aroma as I take my first sip, and enjoy a mouth-puckering tartness that’s full of lemon and semi-ripe orange flavours. With relatively lazy bubbles, Citra Grove provides a crisp and watery mouthfeel enhanced by its sour flavour — check out the gose I reviewed earlier this week if you’re a fan of sour beers.
Bench Brewing Co: Citra Grove Dry Hopped Sour – Last Sip
Learning from my mistake, I make sure to enjoy my second glass of Citra Grove from a Belgian tulip glass. And, since Citra Grove comes in 750-mL bottles, there was a lot left over after my first glass. I don’t notice much of a taste difference when I drink from a Belgian tulip glass rather than a wineglass. I do notice its citrus-y aroma more. If you don’t have a Belgian tulip glass or a wineglass, ensure you pour it into something. Citra Grove’s aroma is not to be missed.
You probably think you know all about the Black Plague: rats, masks, and a ravaged Europe. The usual. Oh, and also the first unrecorded zombie infestation and black ops Vatican teams. Pestilence, a new creator-owned series at AfterShock Comics from Frank Tieri and Oleg Okunev, explores this “untold” history. We caught up with the Frank about his new series, medieval zombies, Church conspiracies and more!
Art by Oleg Okunev / AfterShock
Monkey Fighting Robots: It’s not a stretch to say that this is a unique story; how did you come up with the premise for Pestilence?
Frank Tieri: Actually, it was AfterShock who initially approached me with the idea—“What if the Black Plague in actuality was a previously undisclosed zombie apocalypse that was covered up by the Church?”– and then I came in and further developed and expanded on it. But you’re right, it’s certainly unique…it’s the type of thing that has everyone’s ears perk up as soon as you tell them what the tagline is.
So yeah, it’s not your typical zombie story. And if it was, I wouldn’t have agreed to do it, to be honest.
MFR: What story are you trying tell with Pestilence?
Tieri: Well, right off the bat, like I said… yes, this is a zombie story. But with zombie stories — with The Walking Dead, Resident Evil, World War Z, etc. — well, let’s just say the zombie genre has been done to death (No pun intended… ah fuck it, pun intended). So this had to be different, this had to have something else going on for it — and we def believe that it does.
Our story follows an ex Crusader named Roderick Helms who leads a sort of medieval black ops team of knights — think of them as a kind of medieval Dirty Dozen — called Fiat Lux. They’re basically the “cleaners” for the Church of that era. So in other words, if the Church wants someone whacked, these are the guys doing the fucking whacking.
So when the zombie apocalypse breaks out? You guessed it, these are the guys who get the call — although what they find along the way is that zombies are not their only problem. There are those within the Church itself who may have known about what was going on all along — and they may ultimately be the bigger problem in the end.
MFR: Why was Oleg Okunev the perfect choice for art on this book?
Tieri: We needed a guy with this series that could nail huge fight scenes with lots of zombies getting sliced up and bodies getting torn to shit and your basic massive fucking chaos—and we saw that in Oleg. And honestly, he’s gotten even better and better as the series has progressed. Trust me when I say Oleg is a guy you’re going to start hearing more and more about after this.
MFR: The solicit for the book calls you “the master of violence, gore, and mayhem.” Pestilence is certainly no exception. What about the setting of Pestilence allows you to use violence in a new or unique way?
Tieri: Yeah…“the master of violence, gore, and mayhem”, they write. Thanks, AfterShock. Now I’m going to have fucking cops pulling me in for questioning and digging up my backyard next week, for crissakes. Dicks.
But all joking aside, yeah, sure I’ve done lot of stuff with violence, stuff with horror—and there’s no shortage of any of that here. Trust me when I say there’ll be plenty of kick ass, gory, over the top knights vs zombies fight scenes in different and unique situations from the Holy Land to all over Europe. If you like seeing knights chopping the shit out of massive amounts of zombies and zombies eating and killing and eating some more, then this is your book.
And then of course, there’s the zombies themselves. Yes, they start off as your typical “walker” type zombies. But let’s put it this way…they might not necessarily end up that way. And we’ll just leave it as that.
MFR: What can we expect from Pestilence in the future?
Tieri: I mean, hey, we’d like to do a sequel. And to that end, ultimately, as we’ll see, the conspiracy within the Church may actually turn out to be the bigger danger than the zombies themselves. And really, it’s exploring that conspiracy that Roderick uncovers that has plenty of potential as far as possible sequels go. Not to spoil anything, but I def leave the series in a place where there can be more… so it’s up to the fans, really. If you show us you want more PESTILENCE, more of Roderick and his band of zombie killing brethren… then there will be more.
Get your armor ready because Pestilence comes shambling in to wherever you buy comics starting tomorrow, May 3.
PESTILENCE #1 / $3.99 / 32 pages / Color
writer: Frank Tieri
artist: Oleg Okunev
colors: Rob Schwager
letters: Marshall Dillon
cover: Tim Bradstreet
NEW SERIES!
It’s the late 14th Century, and a Great Pestilence—the “Black Death”— is sweeping across Europe, killing over 100 million people. BUT, what if history as we know it was a lie? What if, in reality, this was no straightforward plague, but the FIRST non-recorded Zombie Infestation of man? Ex-Crusader Roderick Helms and his fellow “black ops” agents for the Church, Fiat Lux, must seek out the cause of this undead outbreak and vanquish it before mankind ceases to exist!
Written by the master of violence, gore, and mayhem, Frank Tieri (Marvel vs Capcom, Wolverine, Deadpool), with spectacular art from Disney illustrator, Oleg Okunev, and covers by Eisner Award-nominated artist Tim Bradstreet (The Punisher, Hellblazer)!
Excited about Pestilence? Let us know why in the comments!
