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Hot dang! I have to see this when it comes out. Masters of the Universe looks to be the most funnest movie that I would have beheld in a theater in too long a time. And I will see this in a theater, Lord willing. It's just... awwww man this is simply awesome! It's like the Masters of the Universe figures that I had all together in a box, taken out and brought to glorious life. Not sure about the "Earth angle" though, but I'm going to be more than willing to give this a chance. Right now I want nothing more than the distilled essence of this trailer shot into my veins and giving me a hearty boost of magnificent.
Awright well enough of me blabbering on, here is the first trailer for Masters of the Universe: a film that dares to be better than we possibly deserve:
"I HAVE THE POWER!!!!"
I wonder if Dolph Lundgren will get a cameo in this. He did play He-Man in that very peculiar Masters of the Universe movie from 1987 after all. Maybe he can play King Randor.
Since Thanksgiving night I have watched the first volume of the final season of Stranger Things twice. The shock still hasn't faded. Dang it I want to talk openly about what's been streamed so far!!! But there are still so many who haven't watched the latest episodes yet. I'm going to be considerate of them.
But if you have seen the first four episodes of season five already, here is the new trailer that dropped earlier today:
I'll share an interesting theory I've heard, though. It's being posited that Vecna, for all his malevolence and power, is not the ultimate villain of Stranger Things. That there is some one or some thing over him that is the true monster behind everything that has happened. I've heard it suggested that in keeping with the Dungeons & Dragons motif that's rife through this show, this final entity could be code-named Tiamat. I kind of like that idea, though I don't know if there's going to be enough time to elaborate on that in the four final episodes. Still a neat notion.
I'll go ahead and share my personal theory for the big finale. Stranger Things's very last scene is going to be fifteen or twenty years later. We get to see our heroes all grown up and happy and long past all the trauma and heartbreak that they went through together. Among other things, Dustin and Suzie are married and have a son named Eddie. That would be a happy ending for Dustin, who I've been cheering for since I first saw this show in a hotel room in Phoenix years ago.
"William, you are going to help me... one last time."
Love that cover of Queen's "Who Wants To Live Forever?" I have to wonder what that portends.
Feels like the end of an era of my lifetime is looming. I really don't know what is going to fill the void left by Stranger Things after the finale airs, streams, whatever. I watched the first season on my iPad one day in a hotel room in Albuquerque. From the very first moments I loved it. That was nine years ago. So much has happened since then. And now... well, what do I do now?
The final season begins with volume one on November 26th.
Okay, the past few days have been a little wacky on my side of the screen. Quite a bit of stuff going on that has been below my radar and this is one of them. Five days ago the trailer for Fallout second season dropped and I'm just now looking at it.
And having just seen it I got to say: it looks glorious! Now, Fallout: New Vegas is the one Fallout title that I've yet to complete. I bought it when the game first came out in 2010 and, let's just say that real-world circumstances have kept me from finishing it. The last thing that I did in the game before having to take a "leave of absence" from it was to get to New Vegas and explore around. I'm pretty familiar with the landscape surrounding the city before arriving there. So I already know much of the terrain that this trailer touches upon.
Which makes my appreciation for this trailer even more profound. This looks amazing. Season one was some of the best television I'd seen all this past decade and this next season looks to intensify that.
Okay well, on with the trailer!
Fallout second season premieres on Amazon Prime this December. Who knows, maybe I'll finally finish the game by then.
Just like "Running Up That Hill" did three years ago, "Child In Time" by Deep Purple is no doubt going to burn up the charts on Spotify and iTunes the next few days
Behold the trailer for the very last season of Stranger Things:
The kids look GREAT! It's almost like no time has passed at all since we last saw them in 2022. For all the delays that COVID and then the strikes caused to this series's production, it doesn't really seem like the cast has become too old for their parts.
Maybe we should call Stranger Things "the little Netflix series that could."
Part one of the final season drops the day before this Thanksgiving. The second part on Christmas Day. The grand finale on New Years Eve. And I seriously don't know what my pop culture drug of choice is going to be after this series is finished. For the past decade Stranger Things has been the only series of television or movies that has really interested me. What's going to take the place of that? Or could it be that the final season will herald my "growing up" at last ? I like to think that I've still got a smidgeon of "the old fire" in me, waiting to be fanned into new life with the right kindling. But I really don't know what that could be.
EDIT: late yesterday Netflix released the poster for season five. I'm getting the shivers looking at this one....
Well, I know what I'll be doing from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve in another six months...
"RUN!! RUUUUUUUNNNN!!!!!"
Volume One at Thanksgiving. Volume 2 on Christmas. The finale on New Year's Eve.
Stranger Things has been the only show that I've followed at all during this past decade. I seriously don't know what's going to fill that void in my life. It's one of the few things pop culture-wise that I've been interested in all this time. I haven't watched Star Wars: Andor though I keep getting told that I must see that, it's supposed to be the best thing that Disney has done with that franchise since it took over.
But Stranger Things will forever have a very special place in my heart, just from when it started. When I was on the road going across America for a year. That it's ending this coming holiday season, well.. it's almost like that extended life journey since 2016 is finally drawing to a close for me. Maybe something else will come along now.
EDIT: Netflix has released some pics from season five. The kids don't look that much older than they did in the previous season three years ago (though it's good that the show is wrapping up now cuz this is no doubt the last time they'll be able to pull off that trick). Click each image to embiggen it.
A couple of things went online today that I've watch a few times. I've got a good feeling about both of these.
First, it's the first trailer for the second season of Amazon's Fallout series. As a die-hard fan of the Fallout games I absolutely loved the first season. They completely nailed the look and feel of the franchise. It was an astounding surprise that throughly delighted me. Season two debuts in December, which may be a busy month for streaming if the final volume of Stranger Things comes out then also (as many are speculating).
So here's the trailer for Fallout season two:
And then there's this: the new (and probably final) trailer for Superman. This is a project that has gotten me increasingly intrigued with each new spot that's been released. I think David Corenswet is going to do much as the great Christopher Reeve did in the role: making Superman and Clark Kent two entirely separate personas in the eyes of the world. Reeve's portrayal is the platinum standard of that and Corenswet seems poised to tap into that also.
More than that though, I can't help but believe that this is going to be a movie we need right now. The idea of Superman being good and upright and moral in a world that has grown cold and jaded and cruel, like ours has become... there is something uplifting about that. It seems that there are few absolutes on this earth anymore. A Superman who can inspire us to be our best should be one of them.
I could say a lot more about that, but anyhoo here's the trailer:
Looks like we're about to get a whole new meaning for "going off the grid"...
Tron is one of the more delightful films from my childhood and I really liked Tron: Legacy when it came out in 2010. Tron: Ares looks like it's going hardcore for the next iteration of the franchise's evolution: the digital world entering the real one. Well, Flynn did tell his son in Legacy that the two realms are more connected than we realized. And Clu believed he could invade our reality. So that seed has already been sowed.
Maybe if Disney commits to a solid film without a "woke" agenda - like its Snow White currently bombing bigtime - I might see this.
And, ummm... little on the fence about this. I think David Corenswet is definitely tapping into the Superman mystique. When I see him as Superman and then as Clark Kent it really is like looking at two different people, which is what Christopher Reeve - the gold standard for the character - pulled off magnificently.
I'm wondering if this trailer packs in too much for a teaser. This is our first time looking at James Gunn's Superman, due out this coming July 11. It doesn't give us as much sense of wonder about Superman himself as I was anticipating. But, Krypto is awesome! Who doesn't love dogs? :-)
Anyhoo, here is the teaser, which dropped a little while ago. See for yourself and feel free to leave a comment.
In the past couple of years some beloved characters have begun entering public domain. And that's led to them being abused by people with less than noble intent. The worst example probably being the recent film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, in which Pooh becomes a feral bear hellbent on revenge for Christopher Robin abandoning him. It's a horrible thing to do to such a revered children's character and of course it found an audience, probably of people who never cared to even watch the Disney movie much less read the original book.
But what "they" have done to Popeye has got to be worse than that.
Here is the trailer for Popeye the Slayer Man:
This is actually one of two movies coming up featuring a murderous Popeye. The other is Shiver Me Timbers and it looks more horrible than this one.
I'm sure the people who do this think they're being "cute" but they're really not. It's almost pitiful: They could be using their talents and their tools to make something much more original and endearing to a larger audience. And instead they are giving us this... crap.
This isn't something being done in tribute to a beloved franchise. It's not like this is a "fan film". A true fan film is done out of care and devotion and appreciation. Star Wars has had tons of fan-produced movies, some of them even full-length features. Nobody who has made a serious fan film ever expected to actually make money for their effort. It's something you do because you have a neat idea that you want to express your love of that particular setting and its characters with. And because making movies can be a fun experience for everyone involved. There is a kind of child-like innocence that happens when making a sincere fan film. We certainly had that vibe when my friends and I made Forcery years ago.
Popeye the Slayer Man is not any of that at all. It's a cheap cash grab making a mockery of the source material. There is nothing whatsoever "funny" or "horror"-filled about its premise. Just like the other movies being derived from characters now lapsing into public domain.
I certainly won't be seeing this. Any more than I saw the Pooh "film". And I sincerely hope that nobody involved in this dreck ever gets taken seriously by the entertainment industry.
Betty Boop enters public domain next year. God only knows what some sick minds out there plan to do to her.
Why didn't somebody tell me about this?? It was released three weeks ago!!
Oh alright, I guess I've just been so busy with things that I didn't notice. The past three months or so have been so whacked on my end. I'm sure an awful lot slipped under my radar.
But I'm glad to be seeing it now. Stranger Things has more or less become the only pop cultural franchise that I'm interested in anymore. Star Wars is now such a mess that I finally gave up being a fan. And Doctor Who has gone completely off the rails in the worst way.
Well, there is one final season left of Stranger Things. Feels like an enormous epoch of my life is winding down. This show is going to leave a vacuum and I don't know what is going to fill it.
So here is the teaser for season five, with the titles of the episodes to look forward to. Speculate away!
I've had the honor and the great pleasure of being among the cast of two productions of the stage play of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. If it were possible I would play the head fireman every year for the rest of my life, it was so much fun! It's a wonderful story rife with holiday hilarity, hijinks, and hope.
I had no idea that this movie was coming, the announcement struck right out of the blue. But I'm already looking forward to it with great zeal. This is the second time that the book has been adapted into a motion picture, the first was a television movie for the ABC network in 1983. This new version is directed by Dallas Jenkins, who I have a lot of respect for.
And if done right The Best Christmas Pageant Ever could... emphasis could... become a holiday tradition movie every bit as much as Home Alone. It might be THAT good.
So here's the first poster that was released a few days ago:
And here's the first trailer, which promises lots of chaos from the Herdman kids:
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is set to premiere in theaters this November 8th.
I very rarely play video or computer games anymore. Mostly it's because of a lack of time. And there are other amusements too, like having a miniature dachshund. But that doesn't mean I don't have an active interest in the industry...
(I am currently trying to finish Fallout: New Vegas at last, whenever I'm having some downtime. It's only been out since 2010. Time to wrap that baby up!)
There is one game franchise that is especially near and dear to my heart though: the Gears of War series.
Maybe it's because each of the games seem to have coincided with some circumstance in my life. Gears of War was released on November 7th, 2006. That was also Election Day of my first/likely last political campaign. Then came Gears of War 2 two years later. That game came out a few weeks after the worst thing that ever happened to me. I had lost everything except a few belongings including, somehow, my Xbox 360. That second Gears game provided a much needed distraction from myself. And then in 2011 came Gears of War 3. I think my girlfriend at the time found my excitement to be more than a bit amusing... like when I called her on the phone at 10 p.m. to tell her that I'd successfully defended Anvil Gate.
I haven't been able to play Gears of War: Judgment yet though. Again, circumstances coincided and not the best of them at that. And I haven't had much opportunity to get a more modern Xbox system, so the fourth and fifth of the main Gears series are still unplayed by me.
Maybe someday I'll get that newer Xbox. Maybe it'll coincide with a new BioShock game (another game series I love immensely). And based on what was released yesterday, I'm making it a personal goal to get that Xbox X or whatever it's called...
Behold the announcement trailer for Gears of War: E-Day.
As the title suggests this game is set during around Emergence Day, fourteen years before the first Gears of War. These are considerably younger versions of Marcus and Dom. We're going to see the very first attacks by the Locusts upon the humans of Sera and based on the trailer it's going to be brutal.
Gears of War: E-Day is scheduled to be released sometime in 2025, probably around the fall if previous games have been any indication.
Maybe this next game's release will coincide with happier circumstances. For all of us.
New trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire dropped a few hours ago and I've watched it a few times now. I'm getting a vibe that this might be the best film since the original. It's hitting on all the right notes. And hey, it even has the return of Walter Peck!
Word is breaking loose at this hour that Bethesda's new Indiana Jones game has finally been revealed...
Coming later this year it's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Looks set pre World War II aka the "golden era" of the saga. As for the "MacGuffin" of this particular adventure, there are hints of in in the trailer that went live a little while ago.
So let's take a look at it!
I'm not much of a video game player anymore (though I still want to eventually finish Fallout: New Vegas) but this might tempt me to get a new console. Well, of course a new BioShock game would make me want that even more :-)
It was released earlier today. I've watched this trailer for Babylon 5: The Road Home at least five times now... and I am stoked. It looks beautiful. And it seems that they've done an excellent job at casting the voice actors for the characters whose original portrayers have "gone beyond the Rim" over the years.
(I'm hoping that we get at least one look inside Garibaldi's quarters aboard Babylon 5. Just to see if the painting of Daffy Duck is still there.)
Anyhoo... enjoy!
Babylon 5: The Road Home hits digital download, 4K, and Blu-ray on August 15th, 2023.
Gonna be WAY easy to post today! The trailer for Stranger Thingsseason four dropped this morning. I may or may not have watched this a few times at the office today.
Holy smokes! Hard to believe it's been three years since season three. Looks like the wait will be worth it though. Love the use of Journey's "Separate Ways" in this. Just... epic, man.
War is coming indeed. And did you catch Robert Englund's character with the gouged-out eyes? What the heck?!
Stranger Things season four hits Netflix on May 27th.
Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune just dropped its first trailer. And it looks insane!! The film itself is due in December and here's hoping that the theaters (and everything else) will finally be wide open because this looks to be a movie screaming for the big screen experience. Love the reveal of the sandworm!
Turn your peepers toward this, ladies and gents:
Will Villeneuve's Dune succeed where two previous adaptations have come up short? I thought the Sci-Fi Channel's version was an admirable attempt (and it did give us the follow-up Children of Dune) and however glorious a mess it was, David Lynch's Dune has a hypnotic quality to its production design. But those didn't quite nail it. Or maybe Dune is one of those stories best left to the book and the reader's imagination. We'll find out in a few months.
American soldiers fighting undead horror during the invasion of Normandy. Maybe instead of Overlord it could have been titled The Longest Night. Get it? Get it?! "Yes ladies and gentlemen I'll be here all week, try the salad!"
Just one complaint about an otherwise great trailer: the music. Not very much fitting for a World War II setting no matter it's unique conceit. Could have been more suggestive of the era. Nonetheless, I will be looking for this one.
And then there is the first trailer for Glass, that premiered during Comic Con yesterday. Still haven't seen Split but I did hear about its tie-in with Unbreakable: a film I have loved since seeing it when I lived in Asheville years ago. M. Night Shyamalan looks to be giving us a genre we don't deserve and didn't even know we needed: a "thinkin' man's" superhero shared cinemaverse. I might be finally catching Split via iTunes later today. In the meantime, here's the first look at Glass, which breaks loose this January. And to be honest, this is the first trailer for anything in quite awhile that has me stoked about seeing the movie...
