In the latest episode of the FilmKind podcast, Kieran reviews and discusses the first trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Is there a problem with Cyborg and the CGI? Should the trailer have shown Superman? Find out what Kieran thought in the episode below!
The FilmKind Podcast is an awesome new show discussing the latest movies and movie related content. With amazing weekly episodes and detailed reviews!
Listen To FilmKind’s Review Of The Justice League Trailer Below!
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.
Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder and stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Amber Heard, and J.K. Simmons. The film will land in theaters on November 16, 2017!
Enter the UnPOP Podcast review of Legendary’s latest giant monster extravaganza: KONG SKULL ISLAND! Come for the guys’ opinions on the (spoilers: incredibly fun) film, the impact it has on the kaiju shared universe and stay for Curtis and Austin’s rescue mission to save Brock from his doomed gig on Skull Island as an adventure tour guide!
(All creature voices, save Kong, were performed by members of the UnPOP Podcast including the monstrously talented Sean Keller).
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In my mind, Disney’s 1991 animated version of Beauty and the Beast is a perfect film. It’s nothing short of a masterpiece, and it still has a place in my top five favorite movies of all time. The 2017 live-action remake, in turn, did something I never thought it would be able to do; it came closer to matching the perfection of the cartoon than I ever thought possible. It was absolutely magical, and judging from the enormous box office returns it’s grossed in just over a week, clearly I’m not the only who thought so.
Because of this, it came as no surprise when Sean Bailey- who runs Walt Disney Studios Motions Pictures – mentioned to Deadline that the studio will be exploring prequel and spinoff ideas for the ‘tale as old as time.’ One of the more popular suggestions people are throwing out on the internet is doing a movie based on Gaston and LeFou’s time in the war, which was a new piece of backstory provided for the characters in the remake. Other suggestions I’ve seen for these potential films are ones detailing the Prince’s childhood, which leads to him becoming a terrible person and turning into a Beast, and one focusing on the romance between Maurice and Belle’s mother in Paris, long before the old man moved his daughter to the poor provincial town they’re living in at the beginning of the classic story.
Personally, my favorite idea for a possible spinoff is one that I’ve yet to see anyone throw around on the internet. I believe Disney should do a live-action reimagining of their animated Beauty and the Beast midquel, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.
After a tumultuous and much-maligned second season, True Detective Season 3 has been bouncing back and forth between sorta happening and not at happening at all. It may have gotten a shot in the arm today, as David Milch and Nic Pizzolatto are moving forward as a team.
Milch, who produced some absolute gold with Deadwood and NYPD Blue… also produced John From Cincinnati. Can’t win ’em all, I guess. And Pizzolatto, who was widely criticized for the bizarro second season (which I support and which I know will appreciate over time. Trust me , here) and who didn’t have his season one directing partner Cary Fukunaga back for round two, has penned the first two episodes of a potential season 3.
I for one would love to see True Detective Season 3 come together. A wonky season two shouldn’t be enough to derail what could be a terrific anthology crime series. It’s unlike anything else on TV when it works, and perhaps in a few years when people will come to the realization that Season 2 was actually good, the whole series will take on a different feel.
Think about The Wire, whose second season was dismissed by fans for the longest time before a reconsideration changed that a little. Now, True Detective Season 2 is a little more batshit crazy, this we know, but stranger things have happened.
The collaboration between Milch and Pizzolatto hasn’t gone beyond early discussions about the series, but it’s more good news about the show than we’ve had in almost two years.
The much anticipated (and rumored to be pretty scary in and of itself) IT remake is inching ever closer, and we have some photos to prove it.
These new photos that popped up today over at Dark Horizons look to be from a new trailer that should be here Wednesday. And one of these pictures is creepy enough to get me excited.
Nope.
In a small town in Maine, seven children known as The Losers Club come face to face with life problems, bullies and a monster that takes the shape of a clown called Pennywise.
Also, why the sewer pipe clown photoshop job first? That was anything but reassuring! That image was absurd, these are terrific.
Pennywise is played by Bill Skarsgård, and Mama director Andrés Muschietti is behind the camera. If the trailer is half as good as what’s rumored out there, this has serious potential when it opens on September 8.
Michael Keaton arrives at the Hollywood Film Awards at the Palladium on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
It sounds like Toomes will be a businessman and inventor much like the comics. The major change in his origin concerns his line of work. In the film, Tomes is a blue-collar worker who runs a salvaging company. By cleaning up after superhero battles, they act as the damage control for the MCU.
Director Jon Watts aims to focus on the street-level side of things. “My whole approach for this movie is that we’ve seen the penthouse level of the universe,” he says. “We’ve seen what it’s like to be a billionaire inventor and to be a Norse god. We’ve seen the very top of this world. But we’ve never seen what it’s like to be just a regular joe.”
Unlike previous Spidey villains, Toomes feels like he is a victim who has been wronged. “Some people see themselves as victims — he sees himself a little bit like that,” Keaton says. “He probably would have a strong argument that he never got a fair shot — a lot of ‘Why not me? Where’s mine?”
Vulture’s anger stems from a beef with Iron Man. After an accident, Toomes loses his contract when a Stark-backed company takes over. This leads to him teaming up with Shocker and Tinkerer for revenge.
Director Jon Watts confirms Toomes is going to use tech seen in the MCU. He describes it as “neat junk from all the other movies.”
“It’s a really great starting point for the villains to have the Vulture picking over the stuff,” Watts says. “And finding the valuable exotic elements and having the Tinkerer assemble into something that could be used.”
In essence, the Vulture will be a scavenger looking for materials to put to use. Watts explains Toomes is an interesting choice, because he brings a ground-level perspective to the MCU.
“I like the idea that in these huge movies, you pick out one extra and you’re like, ‘What does he think of all this?” he says. “Sometimes these movies are so casual about just destroying whole cities and incredible things happen and everyone’s like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ If that really happened, it would be amazing and change everything.”
Big Rock Brewery has one of those unlikely stories that somehow seem to typify the world of craft beer. An Albertan lawyer, Ed McNally, started Big Rock Brewery in 1985, naming it after a glacial formation near Calgary. Learning as, essentially, a wheat lawyer that Albertan barley is ideal for malting, and because the Rocky Mountains provide a source for glacier water, McNally decided to go into the brewing business. He hired a brewmaster and went to work. The years passed and McNally’s small business eventually went public, becoming one of the most popular independent brewers in Alberta.
I developed a fondness for Big Rock beer when I was planting trees in British Columbia. So, after having a good meal at Big Rock Brewery’s Liberty Commons brewpub in Toronto, I nostalgically purchased a tall can of their Citradelic Single Hop IPA. But now, without further reminiscing, let’s get sipping.
Big Rock Brewery: Citradelic Single Hop IPA – First Sip
Citradelic pours a light amber colour with about a half-inch of foam that sticks around at the top of my pint glass. The Citra hops are evident in this beer’s raspberry and tropical aroma and its bitter flavour. With 67 IBUs, this is a beer that some might say requires an acquired taste. But I’m a great lover of hop-forward brews, ever-present and passé though they may be. So, I enjoy the interaction between this brew’s smooth mouthfeel and its strong flavour.
Big Rock Brewery: Citradelic Single Hop IPA – Last Sip
Citradelic is one of those beers that I wish I had more of when it’s gone. Its smoothness balances its heavy taste out nicely. Citradelic is a well-rounded India Pale Ale … or is it? Confusingly, though the label reads IPA, Big Rock’s website describes this brew as an American IPA. And, as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of similar beers, this confusion is compounded by the fact that this 6.0% ABV beer is brewed exclusively in Canada.
Nothing crushes like the pain of disappointment after looking up a product you’ve seen in a TV show or movie, and finding out it isn’t real. The few that do exist out here in the real-less fun-world, take literally a thousand years to track down. Well, luckily for you, the work has been done for products you want, and products you didn’t know you want. Here’s a list of products that originated in fictional worlds, and can now be found IRL, so you can feel like Homer Simpson is your neighbor, and Michael Scott might crash your wedding. So grab your debit card, and say “bye-bye” to that paycheck because you’ll be adopting the #NoRagrets credo.
It’s 2004. I joined a rag-tag group to put together an indie pop culture magazine. We small gang of nerds gathered together daily to report on what was hot back in the early oughts. Our nights consisted of debauchery, but that’s a story for another time. We were 20-somethings, out of college, and dreaming of diving into our creative endeavor of choice. Sometimes we’d share our biggest fantasies, what we wanted to accomplish when we became “adults” and accomplished our goals. Those talks usually ended with a laugh when the romance would result in our catchphrase — “I’m rich, bitch!” A phrase borrowed from Chappelle’s Show.
A year earlier comedian Dave Chappelle premiered his new sketch comedy show Chappelle’s Show. “I’m rich, bitch!” was a quick line spouted out in a high-pitched, scratchy voice during a skit and used in the end credits. By January 2004, when our magazine was prepping its first issue, Season One was a hit, and Season Two was just about to get underway.
By the time Season Two ended, Chappelle’s Show was undoubtedly the funniest show on TV. Comedy Central offered Chappelle 50 million dollars to produce more seasons of the show. Chappelle was indeed, rich, bitches, and it only felt like the beginning. But, as history tells us, it was only moments away from the end. Season Three abruptly ended when Chappelle quit the show and virtually vanished off the face of the earth.
Over the years people dealt with Chappelle’s departure by plowing through the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. We couldn’t believe it, we were angry, pleaded for a return, realized it was never going to happen, and determined it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
But we never stopped loving.
Chappelle didn’t vanish for long and returned to where he feels most comfortable — the stage. Stories would come out of a bad show here or a heckler there. However, stories of the comedian only reminded people of the show we’d lost, and it only made us want more. So, Netflix, masters of creating streaming content, convinced Chappelle to come back for real and to sweeten the deal they gave him two things: creative control and 60 freakin’ million dollars!
Chappelle returned to TV as host of Saturday Night Live.
The deal consists of three comedy specials. It seems Chappelle scored a major victory here. Two of the three specials were released last week and were recorded in 2015 and 2016 respectively. So, if you think about it, Chappelle is being paid sixty million dollars for the third special, yet to be taped, which will ultimately include new material. Business genius from a comedy genius.
The first is The Age of Spin, filmed at the Palladium in California during the summer of 2016. Chappelle covers topics ranging from the letters in LGBTQ to Bill Cosby. The entire special is given a rhythm as Chappelle seamlessly breaks things into segments punctuated by stories of the comedian’s four encounters with OJ Simpson.
The second special, Deep in the Heart of Texas is from 2015. Critics have pointed out that the material is a bit dated with jokes about Paula Deen’s racism. It’s entirely fair. And yet, it doesn’t matter. Chapelle’s style, the comfort he exudes on stage, and the way he delivers his punchlines, work nonetheless.
Chapelle’s ease on stage is evident in both specials. While the comedian did many movies through the 90s and created one of the funniest shows of the 21st century, he never felt at home in front of the camera like that. On stage, however, Chappelle is king. And you don’t have to take my word for it. Comedians like Kevin Hart, who Chappelle highlights in a funny bit, concede that Chappelle has a comfort on stage that’s uncanny.
During the Kevin Hart bit, Chappelle takes his son to one of Hart’s shows. And for 10 minutes audiences are brought to the show with Chappelle and son. The story ends with going backstage to meet Hart. I won’t spoil it, but as usual, the punchline is unpredictable, self-deprecating, honest, and hilarious. The joke even prompted Hart fans to ask the comedian what he thought of it. Hart’s response: “It was amazing!”
Amazing is the ultimate sentiment I can share about Chappelle’s two new specials. They aren’t perfect, particularly the older one of the two, but they are amazing. The great jokes are so great that it doesn’t matter that there’s a few that don’t fly. It’s amazing to watch Chappelle do what he does best. And it’s amazing to see the comedian give his adoring fans what they’ve craved for so long … jokes and jokes and jokes and jokes!
Welcome back, Dave Chappelle. I’m glad you’re rich, bitch!
As Shout! Factory continues its quest to get every episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000’s original run on home video, the new Volume XXXVIII may represent one of the harder sells for anyone but die-hard fans. At the same time, there are plenty of treasures to discover under the surface of some seemingly middling episodes mostly from the sixth season.
Experiment 602 – Invasion USA
Invasion USA sees new host Mike Nelson well-settled into performing riffs instead of just writing them. The film itself is a propaganda piece to encourage people and businesses to submit to the “universal draft” – a commitment of resources and labor in the event of another war. To illustrate the point, an illusionist played by the late great character actor Dan O’Herlihy (RoboCop) forces a handful of bar patrons to experience a communist invasion of the United States.
Curiously, the communist and the filmmakers want the same thing: control of the American industrial complex, a paradox Mike and Bots never focus on. But they get a lot of mileage from the thinly drawn characters — like a rancher desperate to get home to Arizona — a tepid love story and the wavering accents of the strangely unidentified communist enemy. The absurdity of the film and the speed of the riffing pair well and overcome the initial lack of momentum.
And even if the film leaves viewers cold, the episode features the best moral hygiene short MST3K ever took on: A Date with Your Family. The short stresses that “pleasant, unemotional conversation” is the key to a good dinner. They zero in on the repression suggested by the narrator. And in the sketch afterward, in the which the crew attempt to suppress their emotions, is a highlight.
Experiment 605 – Colossus and the Headhunters
If there is one dependable genre for MST3K, it’s the poorly dubbed Italian gladiator films of the 1960s. Colossus is no exception as Maciste – a traditional Italian hero in the vein of Hercules – helps a group of people escape the apocalyptic destruction of their island. Or it’s about Maciste settling a feud between warring factions of the next culture he encounters. Or it’s about Maciste romancing the Princess of said culture.
In fact, the imprecision of the plot leads to some of the best riffs as Mike and the Bots continue to be baffled by the shifting goal posts in the story, the disappearing characters, and the fact “Maciste” sound like “My Cheesesteak” whenever anyone utters the hero’s name. While the writing offers plenty of places to hang great jokes, the film is visualy interesting thanks to color photography and the wealth of resources Italian sword-and-sandal pictures had at the time. It may also be the episode you return to the most as it really is just that baffling.
The episode also features a running joke throughout the sketches about a genetically engineered ball of cute known as Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter. The dog-bunny creature sheds all over the Satellite of Love, driving Crow nuts, and leaves TV’s Frank so despondent that he sings a song about his loss.
Experiment 618 – High School Big Shot
Perhaps the most competent film in the collection, High School Big Shot aims to tell the tale of a smart, but disadvantaged high school senior plotting a robbery to win the hand of the class bad girl. Well shot, if modestly produced, the film looks legitimate. But the Satellite of Love crew finds plenty to riff on as the hero is a weird loner, his dad a stereotypical drunk and the film introduces two thieves halfway through who are far, far more interesting than the title character. Sadly, they never pick up on the film’s misogynistic undertone as all the women featured in the film only want money or riches.
This episode also features the bizarre industrial short Out of this World, in which a bread delivery route becomes a struggle between an angel and the Devil. Though the print is faded, the saturated colors pop off the screen even as grocery stores at the time appeared to all be painted a dull brown. Industrial shorts became a specialty for Mike, and the this one does not disappoint. Crow’s impression of the Devil is a delight.
Experiment 1007 – Track of the Moon Beast
While there is an immediate charm to the zany B-grade horror movies of the 1950s, extremely low budget horror films from the 1970s also offer their own Malaise Era giddiness. Provided, of course, one is ready to plow through the muddy photography of these pictures. Track of the Moon Beast is one such film and it is possibly the reason to get Volume XXXVIII.
Shot entirely in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the film combines werewolves and aliens for an unconvincing creature costume and one of the most non-committal romance subplots ever committed to screen. But Mike and the Bots excel with these sorts of slow, drab monster movies – particularly in the SciFi Channel era. Besides riffing on a recipe for stew and awful 70s fashions, one sketch points out the strange way characters in the film explain the entire concept of pranks to the protagonist.
Extras
Special features include the un-riffed version of High School Big Shot and an interesting documentary about Invasion USA producer Albert Zugsmith, who went from producing B-pictures to Orson Wells’ Touch of Evil and then back to B-pictures. Trailers for Invasion USA and Track of the Moon Beast are also included, as is an interview with actress Leigh Drake, who recalls her experiences on the set of Track of the Moon Beast and its later fame as a MST3K episode.
The highlight of the extras, though, is Mike, by Joel, a featurette on the Colossus disc featuring MST3K creator Joel Hodgson discussing how Mike Nelson first came to be head writer on the series, the go-to performer for guest characters, and eventually the show’s host. He points out the way Mike was more of an equal with the Bots, setting up a different dynamic. He also suggests everyone involved in the show could have handled the transition better, preventing decades of Joel vs. Mike debates.
While not the set to get someone hooked on the show, Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXVIII is still a must have for die-hard fans. Though none of these episodes are considered classics, they all offer great riffs, a number of funny sketches and one of the best shorts the series ever took on. It will definitely tide fans over until the new season debuts in mid-April.
