News Around the Net
“There’s always money in the banana-stand!” I am thrilled that, four long years after the release of season 4, Arrested Development season 5 is officially happening!! Yes, season 4 was a bit of a disappointment, but I’m hoping Mitch Hurwitz and this amazing cast can turn things around with another time at the plate. I can’t wait.
A brief follow-up to my recent analysis of the teaser trailer for the new Star Trek show, Discovery: I’d noted in my review that it looked like they had adjusted the look of the actual starship Discovery since the initial teaser a year ago, though it was hard to get a good look at the ship in that new trailer. However, eagle-eyed on-line fans noticed what I didn’t, which is that Jason Isaacs had previously been announced as the captain of the Discovery. This means that much of what we see in the trailer between the first-officer played by Sonequa Martin-Green and the captain played by Michelle Yeoh all probably happens in the first episode as a prologue to the events of the series itself. Therefore, the starship seen in this trailer is not the Discovery at all. So we don’t know yet whether the Discovery is really going to look like that blocky, angular design seen in that first trailer. (As I commented a year ago, I like the idea of basing the starship’s design off of an unused-by-famous-to-Trek-fans Ralph McQuarrie design for the refit Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture more than I like the execution as seen in that teaser, which looked chunky and without any of the art of Matt Jefferies’ original Enterprise design.) Also, this likely means that Michelle Yeoh, who I liked so much in the trailer, is probably going to have a very small role on the show itself, assuming that something bad is going to happen to get first-officer Burnham (played by Ms. Green) assigned as the first officer to another captain on another starship, rather than getting her own command. That is a bummer, since I really liked the dynamic between Ms. Yeoh and Ms. Green in that trailer.
Ordinarily we’d be well into the new season of Game of Thrones at this point in the year, but we all need to wait two more months. This substantive new trailer will ease the pain (or make it worse!!):
Let’s also join in lamenting that the shortened seven-episode seventh season will be followed by an even-shorter final season, which will reportedly only be six episodes long.
Jon Williams recently received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University, and one of the school’s a cappella groups, the Din and Tonics, presented a tribute to Mr. Williams with a rendition of several of his famous film themes. This made me smile:
Speaking of Star Wars, Vanity Fair has a wonderful sneak peek at The Last Jedi. And here is a look at Annie Leibovitz’s wonderful cast photos for the cover(s).
This is a fascinating interview with Jimmy Fallon and look at his Tonight Show, which has fallen significantly in the ratings since his puff-piece interview with then-candidate Trump back in September.
In the current golden age of Marvel Studios’ movies, it’s easy to forget just how terrific and ground-breaking Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man movies were. Unfortunately, the much-anticipated third film was a real dud, which sullies the series over-all. So I am intrigued as to whether the “editor’s cut” of Spider-Man 3 that is apparently going to be released on an upcoming new blu-ray edition of the film will improve the movie in any way? It’s weird to have a new cut of the film made so many years later, and I am unclear as to the degree that Sam Raimi himself was involved. Here is some of the info that has recently popped up on-line.
My heart goes out to Zach Snyder and his wife, who had to step back from production of the upcoming Justice League because of a family tragedy. I am also extremely intrigued as to what we are going to get from a Zach Snyder film being finished by Joss Whedon. We’ll all find out in November…
I am enjoying the TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods (though I’m not as head-over-heels in love with the show the way I am with the book), and this is a fascinating article analyzing the show’s approach to sex. The show has featured some eye-popping (and headline-grabbing) moments, but it’s fascinating the way showrunner Bryan Fuller contrasts his show’s approach to sex with that taken by other shows like, say, Game of Thrones.
Fan film corner! I love these sorts of things. Here’s a trailer for a fan-made effort called Slice of Life, a short story set in the world of Blade Runner:
Here’s a trailer for a fan-made Harry Potter film called Voldemort: Origins of the Heir, which sets out to tell the story of Tom Riddle’s transformation into He Who Shall Not be Named:
Let’s close with this Game of Thrones fan-made prequel film called The Wild Wolf, telling the story of the doomed love affair between Brandon Stark (Ned’s brother) and Catelyn Tully: