Movies

What can you say about Agatha Christie that hasn’t been said a thousand times? I mean, when your books are only outsold by the Holy Bible and that lousy hack William Shakespeare, that’s pretty much all there is to say. I’ve read a number of her stories, mostly the ones revolving around Hercule Poirot or Mrs. Marple. I have somehow managed to neither read WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION nor seen it performed until tonight, presented by The Kirkwood Theatre Guild. I don’t know what I was waiting for—I love a good courtroom drama.

I have a confession. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is not my favorite Disney movie. While it's also far from my least, the original probably ranks in my top five animated favorites. That said, the live action version starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast will make you fall in the love with the story and the characters all over again.

Watson is charming, fierce, and courageous. She embodies every aspect of Belle and is everything you could possibly want and more from the iconic Disney Princess. Stevens is the tortured and angry, self-loathing Beast in every way, and Gaston is still the pompous villain you love to hate and roll your eyes at. All the characters from the villagers (including Gaston's sidekick, LeFou) to the loveable household items Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and even the tiny teacup named Chip, felt so real in this adaptation. It's a world that sucks you in and makes you want to be a part of it.

Image source: Marksman via Twitter

If the huge success of Marvel’s cinematic universe has led to one thing, it is the desire of big film studios to have a ‘franchise’. Now everyone wants a successful ‘tent-pole’ franchise of interlinked films, whether it is Warner Bros trying to create a DC Comics version of Marvel’s success, Fox looking to develop more Alien films or Universal pushing out yet another THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS film.

Of course the films are just one part of the pulling power of these franchises, with studios looking to take big-screen success into other areas including merchandise and gaming. The aim is simple – to leverage the brand recognition of a franchise to attract fans to new experiences.

However, taking a film into the gaming world is not always as easy as it sounds. It is possible, although not always in the genre of games that you might expect.

Has Kal found Hal? If you enjoy a good conspiracy then we've got a juicy one for you!

File this one under EXTREME SPECULATION but given the clues, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Henry Cavill being spotted in a gym with Nathan Fillion could mean more than just a random encounter. On February 28th, Henry Cavill posted a couple of interesting pictures to his Instagram account:

His dog, 'Kal', staring out the window with an interesting caption:

Fasten your bracelets, adjust your tiara and draw your sword a new trailer for this summer's WONDER WOMAN is slated to drop tomorrow!

The official Wonder Woman twitter account (@WonderWomanFilm) released a brief 15 second video as a teaser for the new trailer. "All's fair in war and wonder" the teaser featured an action packed swordfight between Diana and another combatant that ended in a massive...well, check out the teaser to find out!

All is fair in war and wonder. New trailer for #WonderWoman arrives TOMORROW. pic.twitter.com/SmjL5HEEC2

2016 was a great year for movies if you're into geek culture. Superheroes seemed to dominate, with DOCTOR STRANGE, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN, and SUICIDE SQUAD. Not counting the Marvel Cinematic Universe entries, Disney also gave us animated greats like ZOOTOPIA and MOANA, and Harry Potter fans got another helping of J.K.

Continuing our series of announcements from our Best of 2016 Readers' Poll, we approach the Best Actor of 2016.

The nominees for this award included Tilda Swinton (DOCTOR STRAGE), Jesse Eisenberg (BATMAN V. SUPERMAN), Chris Evans (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR), Kate McKinnon (GHOSTBUSTERS), Eddie Redmayne (FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM), Ben Affleck (BATMAN V. SUPERMAN), Jeff Bridges (HELL OR HIGH WATER), and Benedict Cumberbatch (DOCTOR STRANGE).

None of these heroes (or villains) however were able to surmount the huge turnout of reader ballots that lapdanced their way across the lap of that Merc with a Mouth, the unkillable killer, Deadpool, portrayed with perfect smartass attitude and comedic style by Ryan (Green Who?) Reynolds!

Saw this posted on Star Wars Facebook feed and thought it was kind of cool.

Your first look at The Last Jedi product packaging dropping out of hyperspace on September 1 for Force Friday II

Can't much more of an official announcement then this. On Star Wars.com, they announced the name of Episode VII...

Drum Roll Please...

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI!

We have the greatest fans in this or any other galaxy. In appreciation of the fans, we wanted them to be the first to know the title of the next chapter in the Skywalker saga: STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI.

THE LAST JEDI is written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is scheduled for release December 15, 2017. 

The term "Women in Refrigerators" was coined by comic book writer Gail Simone in reference to a Ron Marz written issue of Green Lantern where Kyle Raynor found his girlfriend dead and literally stuffed into his refrigerator.

Often referenced when a female character dies in order to motivate the male protagonist, 'fridging' has become a commonly used expression.

Yesterday, USA Today released a new image from the upcoming Justice League movie, directed by Zack Snyder. The image depicts the league exiting the "Flying Fox", a ship used to transport the league from one place to another. What's IN the picture isn't very newsworthy, as we see the team we expect exiting a ship.

Saw this story on Deadline this morning:

Rob Liefeld, whose disruptive Deadpool creation was the blockbuster movie surprise of 2016, is at the center of the first big film rights deal of 2017. Graham King and Fundamental Films have partnered to build movies from the comic book characters Liefeld created in what is known as Extreme Universe. King has partnered with Weed Road’s Akiva Goldsman, and they will produce the movies with Liefeld and Energy Entertainment’s Brooklyn Weaver. This rights deal is seven figures, I hear.

Director Jay Martin's vision of James Patterson's MAXIMUM RIDE is less of a movie and more of a CW series pilot -- and not a great one.

Allie Marie Evans (VANITY) plays Max, the heroine of Patterson's tale of a band of children who have been freed from a scientific facility known as "The School," where they were kept in cages while medical experiments were conducted upon them. They're special, because they have functioning wings. The kids -- Max, Fang (EXTANT's Patrick Johnson), Angel (Lyliana Wray), Gazz (Gavin Lewis), Nudge (Tetona Jackson) and Iggy (Zayne Emory) are now living in hiding, having been abandoned by the doctor who rescued them from the facility, Jeb (Peter O'Brien, WINTER), with no idea of Jeb's fate.

Last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, they debuted a trailer for next year's Spider-Man: Homecoming.  

I am sure I am one of the few people who care about this, but so happy to see Jon Favreau back as Happy Hogan.  And I like the contining use of Iron Man as a mentor for Spider-Man.   The opening scene with the Avengers quip was pretty funny.  

Not quite sure how I feel about the costume.  It's not bad, just looks a little busy at times.  

Marvel has a new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Trailer up!

I will admit, I am a little late posting this one.  Had the flu all weekend.  Real fun.  This video was already videoed 81 million times in the first 24 hours. Personally, I loved the first Guardians of the Galaxy, and I am really looking forward to the sequel on May 5, 2017! The trailer promises more of the same from the first movie.  Lots of wild looking alien creatures (including some giant monsters this time), stong well developed characters, and a lot of humor.  And Mantis?  I am still shocked that somehow probably the least significant Avenger ever is going to be in a movie!

When Disney/Pixar released the teaser for Cars 3, they clearly decided to go in a slightly different direction than the bubbly optimism from the first two movies…

I was pretty stunned watching it.  The teaser promises “From this moment, everything will change."  They sure weren't kidding. 

If you hear an alarm bell in the back of your mind when you read the phrase "Based on a True Story," listen to it.

Todd Phillips (THE HANGOVER) directs this somewhat comedic "true story" of David Packouz (MILES TELLER), a massage therapist disenchanted with his life who runs into an old friend, Efraim Diveroli (JONAH HILL), and ends up on the ride of his life in the high-paying world of selling weapons to the U.S. Government.

That's really all you need to know about the plot. Jonah Hill does his best Jonah Hill impression in playing Efraim, while the story unfolds from Packouz's point of view -- perhaps due to the fact that the real life Packouz only endured house arrest while the real life Diveroli served actual time, all for selling Chinese-made ammunition to the U.S. Military during a time when there was an embargo against Chinese-made weapons.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM is a fantastical story with hints of dark arts and other delicious treats.  This film is highly anticipated by the Harry Potter fans, and it delivers in a few ways.  In order to not over-hype, I went in without expectations, and I think that was the right way to watch this film.  I grew up with Harry Potter and saw each film as it came out.  I read all of the books within 1 week and cried when favorite characters died and cheered when others conquered evil against the odds.  So this spin-off meant a lot to me - a reminder of the magical world of Harry Potter and all of the memories of my youth that come with it.  Though there were not many overlapping characters due to being a different era, the vibe was very cool in 1920's New York, and there were multiple references to Hogwarts and the Harry Potter world that the fans know and love.

I was supposed to like ARRIVAL, the new first encounter thriller starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker. I wanted to love it, and sing it’s praises in high hyperbole. I wanted to tell you to walk out of Marvel’s excellent Doctor Strange and sneak in to watch this gem. I can’t though. I can’t because it’s a bit of a chore to sit through. Unnecessary subplots were an unwanted distraction. WARNING: SPOILERS MAY BE PRESENT HEREAFTER!

On this election day in the United States, people on both sides of the political aisle are conjuring up visions of a dystopian America should "the other side" win the vote. What better day than this, then, to release THE HUNGER GAMES on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc?

I have to say, MARVEL’S DOCTOR STRANGE was probably the most visually stunning Marvel movies I’ve ever seen. It was like INCEPTION and HARRY POTTER had a baby and it grow up to be the coolest kid ever!

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Dr. Stephen Strange, an outstanding neurosurgeon who, due a tragic car accident, loses the use of his hands. Dr. Strange learns about a possible way to get the use of his hands back, so he can return his beloved profession. Strange’s quest to repair his hands takes him beyond his wildest comprehension when he meets The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Thanks to Dr. Strange’s photographic memory, he catapults from student to being center stage for all the action.