News Around the Net!

Just released is a first look at the new Alien movie, Alien: Romulus! 

It’s funny, I’ve been so excited about Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion)’s in-the-works Alien TV show that I’d forgotten there was also a new Alien movie in the works.  I still wish that Ridley Scott would be able to finish the storyline that was left hanging at the end of Alien: Covenant, but I understand the studio’s desire for a fresh start.  I don’t know what the title Romulus means and I have no idea if this will be any good… but this trailer looks and sounds like an Alien film, and I’m suddenly excited for this…!

Here’s a new trailer for Furiosa:

As I’ve written before, I’ll always be excited for a new George Miller movie, and this looks terrific.  I generally am not into prequels, though.  I hope this is good.  Mad Max: Fury Road was a masterpiece.

Here’s our first trailer for the new Star Wars TV show, The Acolyte:

That’s a solid trailer and I’m intrigued.  I haven’t read any of the High Republic books or comics, so it’ll be interesting seeing this era (a century before the Star Wars films) brought to life on screen.  (Though, and how many times do I have to say this, I don’t like prequels!!  I wish this was set in the future of the Star Wars universe… or further in the past.  The Jedi of the Prequels seemed totally flummoxed by the return of the Sith, so seeing the spread of evil just a century before seems weird to me.  We’ll see how that feels in the actual show.)  I do like the idea of a show that will purportedly be more focused on the villains than the Jedi heroes.  That could be cool if done well.  Also: I love seeing The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss as a Jedi!  Also: This new poster for the show is awesome.

Here’s a trailer for Hacks season three:

I’d thought the show had come to a satisfying conclusion at the end of season two, but I’m down for more.

Click here for a fascinating article about what life is like for newspaper cartoonists these days, and how many approach their craft in terms of using digital tools versus more traditional ink and paint on paper.  I do most of my artwork by hand, and use the computer for final corrections and polishing.  I thought I was an outlier in working that way, so it’s fascinating to read in that article that many others do the same.  Also, you might consider backing — as I just did! — the author Glenn Fleishman’s Kickstarter project, a book called How Comics Were Made: a Visual History of Printing Cartoons.  That sounds cool to me!

I’m excited to watch the new X-Men ’97 animated series, that just premiered this week on Disney+.  I’m a little older than the generation that discovered the X-Men through this cartoon… but as a young fan who already adored the X-Men comics because of Chris Claremont’s long run writing Uncanny X-Men, I ate this cartoon up as a kid.  I’m hoping it’ll be a fun nostalgic blast to see a continuation of that classic series.  (It’s too bad the launch of the show was marred by the public ugliness of Marvel’s firing the show-runner Beau DeMayo.  I wonder what went on behind the scenes there.)  I enjoyed this in-depth interview with the new show’s director Jake Castorena.  And click here for lots more interesting info from Executive Producer Brad Winderbaum.

Speaking of Brad Winderbaum, he also said that the Marvel Ironheart and Wonder Man shows are both in editing.  Ironheart feels like it has been delayed for years… I hope it seems the light of day soon.  As for Wonder Man, I always loved that character from the comics, and I’m excited to see him brought into the MCU.  I hope the show is good.

I grew up loving Robotech, and I have long wanted to watch the original Japanese Macross show and its many spin-offs.  But they’ve always been very difficult to find here in the U.S.  So I’m surprised and excited at the news that many of the Macross shows will be coming to Disney+… though that article also left me confused about what to watch and in what order.  And apparently Disney+ only has the rights to some of the shows, not all of them… so the whole thing seems like it might be a bit of a mess.  But I’m hoping for the best!

I’m excited to watch the new two-part Paul Simon documentary, In Restless Dreams.  It sounds amazing.

I’m so sad that Richard Lewis has passed away.  He was one of the greatest comedians of all time.  I’m so glad I had the opportunity of seeing him perform live once, in Boston, years ago.  He was amazing.  Click here for Larry David’s tribute to his frequent Curb Your Enthusiasm co-star.

I love the animated Invincible show on Amazon Prime Video and I’m excited that new episodes just started getting released.  (I just watched season two, episode five, and it’s terrific.)  Click here for a fun interview with Invincible creator Robert Kirkman, discussing this new batch of episodes!  Click here to start watching this great show!

I’m a big Guy Ritchie fan, so I’m curious to see that he’s moving to TV, directing and Executive Producing a spin-off of Liev Schreiber’s Ray Donovan… that seems to me like a bizarre choice!  I’m curious to see what this winds up being.

Speaking of interesting TV projects… apparently Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther) is still working on his reboot of The X-Files, according to X-Files creator Chris Carter.  It’ll be interesting to see if that ever winds up actually becoming real…!

Click here for a wonderful interview with John Williams, in my opinion the greatest film composer of all time.

This is interesting: Ray Bradbury’s terrific short story Frost and Fire is in development for a movie adaptation.  I’d love to see that.

I’m excited that The Bear has been renewed for TWO more seasons, three and four!  That’s great news!  I love that show.  Click here for my review of season one and here for my review of season two.

Click here for a super-fun look back at the weirdest Star Trek action figures made over the years!  What a great article!

I am very excited to read the news that Brian Michael Bendis, one of my very favorite comic book authors, has signed a deal with Amazon to develop his awesome creator-owned series Pearl, Jinx, and Murder Inc. into TV shows.  I hope these shows happen!!  The original comic book series are all amazing.

I’m excited that more Marvel and Star Wars Disney+ shows are finally being released on physical media!  Here’s the news that Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Moon Knight will soon be released on disc.  I look forward to buying three out of the four of those!  (I’ll pass on the mediocre Obi-Wan show…)

OK, this is wild: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Skyfall) is working on a Beatles documentary… actually, he’s making FOUR films, each from the point of view of one of the four Beatles.  Wow!!  I can’t wait to watch those!

Speaking of the Beatles, I’ll leave you with this: Dave Grohl’s rocking cover of Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die!