News Around the Net! UPDATED with Avengers 4 Trailer!
UPDATE: The first trailer for Avengers 4 has finally dropped!
First off: the title. Endgame. That’s… OK. Not a bad title, but it’s a bit generic. I think the phrase “endgame” is a bit overused in genre circles, and Dr. Strange’s line in Infinity War that “we’re in the endgame now” frankly wasn’t my favorite piece of dialogue in the film. I’m not sure why Marvel felt the need to keep this title so top-secret for the last few years! After such a build-up, this title is a bit disappointing. But it’s fine. The title underlines the importance of Dr. Strange’s line of dialogue in Infinity War that there was only one way in billions to defeat Thanos. I’d commented in my original review that I suspected that Strange’s choice to give Thanos the Time Stone wasn’t a defeat but, in fact, the key to victory. From this title, it looks like I was right, big time.
As for the rest of the trailer — excellent! We don’t actually see very much, but it’s a great tease. The first half with Tony Stark is fantastic and strikes the right “hopeless” tone. I like seeing this more substantial clip rather than just fast-paced shots. I love the way the Marvel logo dissolves just like everyone dying at the end of Infinity War. I’m delighted to see Hawkeye (who appears to be dressed up as Ronin from the comics — that’s an interesting touch and a nice reference for comic book fans) and Ant Man in the trailer, since they were the two main characters left out of Infinity War. (Looks like Scott escaped from his perilous situation in the post-credits sequence of Ant Man and the Wasp!) I love what I am seeing so far. I really hope Marvel can stick the landing on this one. I am counting the days.
Ok, back to our regularly scheduled post…!
Stop what you’re doing and please watch Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s new short PSA about how the motion-smoothing setting on most HD-TVs ruins movies. Their life-and-death, super-serious tone is sort of hilarious. But also, I agree!! I am evangelical about this, though most of my friends and family just shake their heads. Turn off this setting so that you can watch movies properly!!
Then, for follow-up reading, this is a great piece on Tom Cruise and Mr. McQuarrie (author of The Usual Suspects)’s many recent collaborations.
This is an inspiring interview with architect Frank Gehry on how he got started.
I’m impressed and awed that, after more than a half-century, Doonesbury continues. Here’s a great interview by Rolling Stone with Garry Trudeau.
Red alert: Nicholas Meyer, one of the key creative forces behind the very best of Star Trek from across the franchise’s fifty-year history (he wrote and directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and he also wrote all of the 1986-set sequences of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), wrote a three-part, three-night event miniseries called Ceti Alpha V, depicting the years in exile of Khan Noonien Singh in between the events of the Original Series episode “Space Seed” and Star Trek II!!!! Why is this not a project that has been green-lit?? Look, as readers of this blog know, I generally hate prequels. But the idea that Mr. Meyter has written ANY sort of new Star Trek project that isn’t actually happening bums me out. I hope things change and this project eventually sees the light of day.
I was very sad to read of the passing of magician and actor Ricky Jay, a familiar face from David Mamet’s films.
Marvel just dropped a great new trailer for Captain Marvel:
I can’t wait for this one.
Let me make this very clear: I will not be paying to see the PG-13 re-release of Deadpool in theaters. I have nothing against the idea, it’s just that I wasn’t wild about the first film (I know, I’m in the minority, I respect it for what it was, it just wasn’t for me) and I’m not rushing to see it again. But I CANNOT GET ENOUGH of these clips of the new Princess Bride-inspired framing sequence with Fred Savage. I’ve watched this latest one three times already:
This is GENIUS, folks!!
Disney’s bizarre quest to create a live-action remake of every single one of their classic animated films continues, with this first trailer for Jon Favreau’s The Lion King:
That’s a gorgeous trailer. I quite enjoyed Mr. Favreau’s remake of The Jungle Book and so I am definitely interested in this. The visuals look spectacular and the voice-cast is fantastic. (It is glorious hearing James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa.) Still, I don’t really get this trend of remaking these animated films. (Also, calling this a live-action remake is a misnomer, as this film looks to me like it is completely CGI. So it’s really a computer-animated version of a hand-drawn animated film…)
Following hot on the heels of Netflix’s cancellation of their Marvel shows Luke Cage and Iron Fist, they have also cancelled their first and flagship Marvel show: Daredevil. Wow. I guess this Marvel-Netflix relationship is definitively over. Daredevil’s third season had just come out last month, and had been well-reviewed. (I haven’t seen it yet but hope to get to it soon.) I could understand the cancellations of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, as those shows hadn’t been firing on all cylinders creatively. But I’m taken aback to see Daredevil cancelled, and it confirms for me that these decisions were not made for creative reasons, but for money reasons. Netflix, it seems, wants to promote shows it owns and controls, and doesn’t feel it needs this partnership with Marvel any longer. I’m sorry to see this once-promising partnership go down like this. It looks like the in-prodiction third season of Jessica Jones will be completed and released (as well as the second season of The Punisher, which I don’t plan on watching), but I doubt we’ll see any new shows beyond that. Will Disney & Marvel resurrect any of these shows, and bring back any of these actors, on it’s soon-to-come streaming service? If I had to bet, I’d say no, but you never know…
This photo of the cast of The Office’s reunion brunch made me smile.
I’ll leave you with this: Carol Kane and Karen Allen’s look back at Scrooged, a movie that will always have a warm place in my heart.
Have a great weekend, everyone!