Movies
The Final “Voyage” of the Galactic Starcruiser
The Galactic Starcruiser hotel never made sense to me. Obviously, it didn’t connect with enough people.
I’d do a Star Wars hotel if it was just that, a hotel. I think all the interactive crap (that skyrocketed the price) they forced guests into doing for an “experience” didn’t help, and it’s the main reason why I never had a desire to go. There’s no way I could have convinced my wife to go along with any of this even if it appealed to me. And it never did.
Even if I had the money for it, I wouldn’t have spent it for a windowless hotel room that’s supposed to be in a space ship that’s also a LARP.
I am looking forward to the inevitable Defunctland about it…
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Official Trailer
This trailer looks great.
According to the official plot synopsis, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and the IMF crew are tasked with “track[ing] down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands.” Isn’t that the plot of nearly all of them? Oh, hey. We get Eugene Kittridge played by Henry Czerny too. Nice call back to the first movie way back in 1996.
Seriously though, this movie knows what the audience is here for: Tom Cruise running, Tom Cruise on a motorcycle, Tom Cruise doing yet another batshit crazy stunt in the name of entertainment.
And everyone loves it.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 opens in theaters July 12. The finale (of the franchise? Ethan Hunt’s story?) Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part II hits theaters on June 24, 2024.
The Creator - Official Teaser
The synopsis for The Creator illuminates more of the plot we see in the trailer. Apparently the movie is about the following:
Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (John David Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.
I’m getting The Golden Child meets The Matrix with a dash of A.I. Artificial Intelligence vibes set in a science-fictional future. So, somewhat original. This movie looks cinematic while still retaining the necessary amount of heart. At least, that’s what I’m getting from the teaser.
I suspect AI will be the bad guy in science fiction movies coming out over the next few years. Skynet… here we come. HAL says hello.
However, I would like to point out that I am tired of the remixing of classic rock songs for the trailer trope. I’m over it.
All the Enterprises
John de Lancie, the incredible actor behind the mischievous character Q in Star Trek and Picard, offered a wonderful tour inside the bridge of every USS Enterprise for The Roddenberry Archive. For this, de Lancie describes the history and evolution of each ship. He also explains how it was designed, how it was used on set, for which series it was used, and in what year.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse - Official Trailer #2
Here’s official trailer #2 for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.
This will be the movie that gets me to go to an actual theater to see it.
KISS Biopic Chronicling Band’s Early Years Coming to Netflix in 2024
Apparently, there’s a KISS biopic on the horizon.
If it’s as good as the silly Motley Crue one, it should do well and probably bump up the band, especially in 2024, when I expect them to do close to nothing until a likely Vegas residency in 2025 or 2026.
Ben Affleck on ‘Air,’ New CEO Gig and Those Memes: “I Am Who I Am”
Lexy Perez writes a profile of Ben Affleck. It’s not bad.
So if DC came to you now and said, “Do you want to direct something?”
I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not. I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.
I’m not 100% convinced he won’t direct a movie in the new Gunn-led DC movie universe, but then again he might not.
John Wick: Chapter 4
Here’s the final trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4.
Looks as amazing as the previous three installments. What a cool world.
Gods and Monsters
James Gunn shares his vision for the future of the DC Universe and the upcoming slate from DC Studios.
I wish him all the luck in the world.
The Flash - Official Trailer
The Flash – Official Trailer is here. It looks good.
Even though Ezra Miller is problematic, I’m pretty hyped for this one.
The Flash is all about time travel and explores the commonly-discussed paradox of meeting your past self, which happens to the Flash’s alter ego Barry Allen. Also, the paradox of changing the past big time and ruining everything is the main plot. However, the real hook in this trailer is the return of Michael Keaton as Batman. I am not making this up. In fact, there are two Batmans, the other played by Ben Affleck, and two Flashes. And, of course, a whole bunch of other superheroes and supervillains. The Flash hits theaters on June 16.
The Big Hollywood Quiz
This Saturday Night Live sketch was on point. Everybody remembers the finale of _MAS*H _and All About Eve, but we don’t share those experiences as a society anymore. There’s hundreds of streaming choices on dozens of platforms that anybody can watch anytime.
There just aren’t any touchstones.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Official Trailer
Here’s the trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
They just nailed the tone and aesthetic with these Spider-Verse movies. The first one was the best superhero movie of all time (IMHO).
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is coming to theaters June 2023. Really looking forward to seeing this one.
Every Star Wars movie and TV show, ranked
Joshua Rivera, Pete Volk, and the Polygon Staff, writing for, you guessed it, Polygon, created a ranking of the best Star Wars movies and TV.
I thought I might not agree here, but surprisingly, it maps out pretty much the same way for me as well. Granted, I have not seen all the TV shows, but I have seen most of them.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Here’s the teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure about this movie and now color me excited. My humble prediction… looks like they might be going after the Nazi Bell.
Still, Harrison Ford is 20 years older than Sean Connery, when he played Indy’s dad in The Last Crusade.
The Mystery of the Vanishing Blockbuster
Jamie Lauren Keiles, writing for The New York Times, has a piece on Avatar.
A franchise is an ecosystem oriented toward an infinite horizon, in which a common set of characters and stories are constantly refreshed and reworked across platforms.
The whole piece is filled with interesting ideas. The concept of franchise IP is fascinating.
I was not very enamored with Avatar when it came out, and I don’t really care about the sequels. I’m sure they will not be flops, but are people really excited to revisit Pocahontas with giant-size Smurf people?
The New DC Studios
Borys Kit and Aaron Couch, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, has the scoop on the new DC Studios.
Gunn will focus on the creative side of things, while Safran will focus on the business and production side. Both are expected to continue to direct and produce projects, respectively. They will report directly to Zaslav and work closely with Warners film bosses De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Sources say the deal runs four years and Gunn will be exclusive to DC. The goal is for them not just to be producers, but to truly function as executives even as Gunn will occasionally hone a movie.
This seems smart. I like Gunn way better than Geoff Johns (who should stick to writing comics).
How "Spider-Verse" Forced Animation to Evolve
The look of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was like nothing before it. It certainly broke away from the Pixar style.
Vox breaks down the evolution from Toy Story to today and how Pixar’s photorealistic style is shifting into an experimental and almost avant-garde style, which frankly, is awesome.