Wes Craven

I remember watching A Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time as a child.  It was one of the most scary films I had ever seen. Knowing that he could enter your dreams, where you were most helpless, and seeing his burned face kept me up at night as a child.  I loved that film.

The master of murder and mayhem that brought that fear to me passed over the weekend.  Wes Craven had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and he finally succumbed to the disease at the age of 76.  Like me, Wes Craven was born a Buckeye (for those of you not in the know...in Ohio) and graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois with a undergraduate degrees in English and Psychology, and later a masters degree in Writing and Philosophy from John Hopkins University.  He later went on to be one of the most well known horror film directors of the recent age.  His influence can be seen on the screen to this day.

Not only was he the leader in horror and suspense films, but he was also a large figure in the comic book world.  I've got a number of Wes Craven comics that I loved to read from the late 80's to early 90's.  His influence reaches across many platforms, and a number of current directors and writers owe their careers to his body of work.  His films include A Nightmare on elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The People Under The Stairs, Vampire In Brooklyn, and the Scream movies.  Some of them he wrote, some of them he just directed, but either way, he stamped his signature on each one with his unique vision.

He also made a number of cameos in film and television, appearing in A New Nightmare, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and his last appearance was in an episode of Castle.  The world lost a true genius this past weekend, and I'm sure the tributes will be pouring out.  I just wanted to get my own out there so I could say thank you to him.  Thanks for scaring the crap out of me for all of those years.  You will sincerely be missed.

New Fifteen-Second Clip From Star Wars: The Force Awakens Has People's Heads Spinning!

Holy crap!  Have you seen the latest clip for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens that has been posted onto the web?  Most of it is stuff we've already seen, but there is around two-seconds in it that put a whole new spin on the scene with Kylo Ren where he ignites his hilted three-bladed lightsaber.  The picture above is the follow-up to that scene and it shows Finn wielding his own lightsaber!  Well, technically it's not Finn's lightsaber, it's Anakin/Luke Skywalkers old lightsaber.  The blue blade is the first clue, but the handle is identical to the lightsaber that Anakin had, the same one that Obi Wan gave to Luke, and the same one that Luke lost when Vader cut off his hand in The Empire Strikes Back.  We kind of knew already that Finn was going to be using a lightsaber in the movie from the release of the official movie poster for the upcoming film.  Check it out:

                 

The fact that Finn is wielding the Skywalkers old lightsaber is pretty big news, but what does it actually mean?  In the official trailer for the flick that was released a few months ago, we she what appears to be a woman handing over the lightsaber to another woman.  It's being speculated that it's Rey giving it to Leia, so does this scene take place before or after that happens in the film?  If it happens before, then this fight scene might not be as such a big deal as people are making out to be, but if it happened after Leia receives the lightsaber, then it means that she gave it to Finn, which is a pretty huge deal all in itself!  If that's the case, then this might be a pivotal fight scene for the movie and it's characters.  What are your thoughts on the whole thing?  Let me know in the comments section below. 

Oh yeah, I've also got some Star Wars: Rogue One news.  you can check it out in the video below, and don't forget about Force Friday which is September 4th.   A lot of the new The Force Awakens toys are being released all around the world that day!  Enjoy the video!

This Is The New Spidey Suit?

 

Okay, probably not.  This is actually some amazing fan art done by Bosslogic, but it is pretty cool.  It looks like a mash up of Spider-Man Noir and the Spidey Clone costumes.  That being said, we will be seeing Peter Parker rocking not one, but two different outfits in his debut to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Civil War.

The first one will be, more than likely, a home-made costume.  I have to be honest, one of the things that bothered me about the last two Spider-Man franchises was how the heck did Peter Parker make such a cool costume?  Did he get super sewing skills from the spider bite along with his wall crawling abilities?  I know it's kind of a trivial thing, but still, it bothered me a little.  If I had half his skills from the movies, I'd be rocking at some pretty awesome cosplay!

The second of the two suits will be given to Peter Parker by Tony Stark.  It's been reported that it will be the more popular version of the suit, and be blue and red with black webbing on it.  It's coming from Stark, though, so shouldn't there be some cool tech gadgets to go along with it?  I mean, even that little smart-ass kid in Iron Man 3 got an entire garage full of awesome lab equipment!

Since we know that Stark is giving Spidey this new costume, it's pretty safe to assume that the Web Head will be fighting along side Iron Man in the upcoming Captain America film.  But does he stay on his side, or does he switch allegiances and join Cap and Bucky?  Oh, yeah, right.  Forgot to mention that the Winter Soldier will be showing up in the movie as well.  And he's not the only one that'll be showing up either.

The last bit of news that I'll share with you is that the Black Panther will make his cinematic debut in the film, too.  His story sounds to be more of an "origin story," unlike Peter Parker's introduction.  Let's face it, we all know how Peter Parker got his powers, we don't need to sit through that for a third time.  The Batman movies taught me that.  If I had to sit through watching Bruce Wayne lose his parents as a kid one more time, I think I'd snap.  But I digress...where was I?  Oh yeah, Black Panther.

It's being said that T'Challa's father is killed during the movie, and he takes up the duties of being Black Panther.  It's also being reported that he's going after The Winter Soldier in the film.  Did Bucky kill his father while he was a brainwashed Hydra assassin? 

Expect a lot of action and introductions in the upcoming Captain America flick.  Captain America: Civil War will be released May 6, 2016.

Details From The First Scene Shown From Captain America: Civil War

So I was checking out some different sites to see what would be fun to write about today, and when I got to cinemablend.com the gave us a detailed account of the first clip that was shown from the upcoming Captain America: Civil War at the D23 event that was held a couple of weeks ago, and it sounds like it will be just as action-packed as Captain America: The Winter Soldier was.    It should be mentioned that there are spoilers ahead, so if you're still interested, then check out the detailed description that cinemablend.com ran down below:

The footage began with a shot of Captain America (Chris Evans) in full gear, his famous shield placed on his back, and staring out what appears to be a hotel window. Using a communicator, he reaches out to Falcon (Anthony Mackie), who is also suited up, but standing on a rooftop. The flying hero then activates "Redwing" – a special drone that launches from his pack – and the device flies down to street level where it can investigate a particular car. Using specialized scanners on the robot, Falcon confirms that the car is what they’re looking for, and we see a quick shot of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) chilling out at a nearby café to make sure everything goes okay. Falcon then dives from the roof where he’s perched… but that’s when things start to go really, really wrong.

A van full of dudes show up, and bad dudes start pouring out, but the most significant presence is Crossbones (Frank Grillo) – who is dressed in full armor, complete with skull mask and an exo-skeleton that provides him with some serious power. His entrance is only made more grand by the fact that he throws a magnetic bomb that attaches itself to Cap's shield - forcing the hero to throw it in the sky to avoid hurting anyone. Falcon and Black Widow face off against the henchmen, both showing off some extreme fighting skills, but it’s Cap who is pitted against his former adversary. The Super Soldier gets totally rocked by a couple of punches thrown by Crossbones, and is only barely able to stop himself from getting stabbed by one of the villain’s retractable knives. Eventually gaining the upper hand, Cap is able to get the bad guy’s helmet off… but that’s when the ridiculously scarred Brock Rumlow begins teasing the hero, saying, "He remembered you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky…"

With that sequence concluded, the footage began to focus more on what we can expect to be the central plot of Captain America: Civil War. While we see shots of the Avengers facility, Cap trying to prevent a helicopter from flying off a rooftop, and the titular hero running through an exploding building, General Thadeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (William Hurt) provides a bit of narration, clearly speaking to people about the importance of differentiating heroes versus vigilantes. He notes that people are afraid – and it seems like he’s in a position where he’s more than happy to take advantage of that fear. Following that, we see a shot that looks exactly like the mid-credits scene from Ant-Man, with Cap and Falcon down in a dank basement with a trapped Bucky. Cap asks his old friend if he remembers who he is, and the former Winter Soldier confirms by saying that Steve Rogers’ mom’s name is Sarah and that he used to wear newspapers in his shoes.

From there, the clip also set up the idea of heroes fighting against heroes, with Captain America and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) specifically going head to head. While we didn’t get to see the characters exactly go toe-to-toe, Tony Stark threatens to punch the star-spangled Avenger in his "perfect teeth," and Cap yells at his friend about the idea of being covered by "protection" (which may be a reference to the movie’s Superhero Registration Act). The clip also gave us a brief shot of Cap and his followers charging into battle against Iron Man and his people – with Black Widow and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) specifically winding up fighting. Widow asks her longtime S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague if they’re still friends, which gets the response, "Depends on how hard you hit me."

Perhaps the best moment in the footage, however, came in the very last clip. Serving as a perfect follow-up to the post-credits scene in Ant-Man, the moments featured Captain America, Falcon and Scarlet Witch approaching a white van, and opening its door to find Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) sleeping inside. The shrinking superhero bolts awake, and immediately finds himself in a state of shock because he is actually standing in front of the Captain America. He rushes out of the van and takes Cap’s hand, and begins shaking it furiously – until he openly admits that he has been shaking his hand for way too long. Scott turns around to see Scarlet Witch, saying, "I know you too. You’re great," but then finds his attention drawn right back to the world’s favorite super soldier, tripping over his words: "I know you know a lot of super people, so thanks for thanking of me… Thinking of me."

Pretty cool, huh?  It's also being reported that Spider-Man's Aunt May is going to be appearing in the movie. and if you hadn't heard who's playing her yet, it will be none other than the wonderfully talented Marisa Tomei.  With the ever-growing list of characters that are going to be appearing, this movie is starting to look more and more like an Avengers movie than a Captain America one!

This Fantastic Four Movie Would've Been So Much Better!

I'm one of the few (many) people that think that the downfall of Fantastic 4 was due to it's director, Josh Trank, as well as the board at 20th Century Fox that caved into this idiot's ideas for the film.  But hey, he's a genius, right?  What could possibly go wrong?

I was reading an article on comicbook.com that talked about the direction that the writer from Trank's breakout film, Chronicle, had wanted to take the Fantastic Four.  His name is Max Landis, and I really wish that what he had in mind would've been the film that they had made.  This is what he had to say on his own idea for the movie, and then you can tell me your thoughts in the comments section below:

“My Fantastic Four was an on-the-run movie. It begins with their origin, which is an illegal Branson-esque space launch where they want to go see this thing. They become the biggest celebrities in the world, except then they wreck and they get these horrible powers. The government is hunting them and they split up, and you really get into the dynamics of these people as they’re learning to control their powers. So the origin takes place in the first two minutes and then you learn it’s a character movie. Avengers had just come out, and I wanted to present Fox’s superhero team so that any one of them could beat all of the Avengers, and any one of them could be the villain of an Avengers movie. Reed Richards is indestructible. Sue Storm can control light. Johnny Storm can burn hotter than the sun. The Thing is impossibly strong, and you can’t hurt him no matter what you do. I thought, what a cool idea, that these four friends have accidentally become gods. I had Doctor Doom as a good guy, one of Reed’s college friends, and my whole movie he’s trying to find and help them but it wasn’t clear if he was good or bad—until the finale of the movie when you realize his connection to Reed, and that they’re best friends. The audience who knows Doctor Doom thinks he’s going to turn bad, but the movie ends with him saving them. And in the sequel he’s probably good, too. You know, you Sam Raimi-Spider-Man it—at the end of the sequel he gets all ***ed up and shows up in the Doctor Doom armor. But then in the third movie he’s like, ‘What have you done to me?’”

Just by itself it sounds like a movie that I would want to go see.  It's compelling, it follows each individual character as they come to grips with what's happened to them, they're all kind of like Bonnie and Clyde where the world sees them as heroes even though the government is after them.  I also like the idea that they all split up and have to deal with their new super powers individually.  Makes for a more compelling story and forces the characters to accept what's happened to them under their own terms, not through someone else's pushing them  towards it.  But what do I know, right?  I'm just a fan.

It would seem that Marvel isn't a fan of the Fantastic Four, though.  Not any more, anyways.  Not only did they cancel the comic book of Marvel's First Family, but now their headquarters...or former headquarters, has been bought by Peter Parker in the new Marvel Universe.  Parker Industries now calls it home.  So what do the former foursome think of his moving in?  The Human Torch (who now runs with the Inhumans) seems to be a little ticked, The Thing is off with the Gaurdians of the Galaxy, so he's no where around, and Reed and Sue Richards have gone AWOL from the comics all together.  I guess if Marvel can't own the movie rights to something, then they'll just make the brand Kryptonite so that nobody wants to touch it.  Sorry, Kryptonite is DC...what's the Marvel equivalent to it?  Oh yeah!  The Fantastic Four!

The Justice League Movie That Almost Was...

  

With all of the talk swirling around the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie, as well as the Justice League follow up movies, it should be noted that these aren't the first movies that Warner Bros. planned to produce that involved the Justice League.  Back in 2007, there was a script that was given the go ahead by Warner Bros. called Justice League: Mortal.  They had a script, a cast of actors lined up, and had even began building set designs, and would have beat the Avengers to the theaters by a number of years.  So what happened?

Let's start with who was hired into each roll for the movie.  Here's a list of the actors and who they were going to portray:

Adam Brody as The Flash
Armie Hammer as Batman
Common as Green Lantern
DJ Cotrona as Superman
Megan Gale as Wonder Woman
Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter
Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman
Zoe Kasan as Iris Allen
Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord
Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul

That's a pretty impressive list of great actors!  So what was the movie going to be about?  The script was never released to the public, but Mike Cecchini who writes for denofgeek.com was able to look at the script and he said it was a very impressive read.  To start, he said that there were costumed superheroes from scene one all the way through until the end.  The Justice League had already been established at the start of the film, so much so that Wonder Woman was addressing the United Nations to tout the beginning of global peace.  At one point, even Alfred says to Bruce Wayne that crime in Gotham had been eliminated to the point of it just being a small nuisance.  The storyline sounded like it was told from the point of view of Barry Allen, who is sitting in a restaurant eating with Iris, while watching Wonder Woman on the television addressing the UN.  Of course, the good times wouldn't last, or else there wouldn't be a movie to be made, right?  Things start to go south when Martian Manhunter gets slipped something that causes him to burst into flames once his skin comes in contact with oxygen.  The rest of the Justice League rush to his aid, but when they do, each one of them is exposed to some nanotechnology that exploits each of their weaknesses.  Sound familiar?  It should.  WB Animation made a straight to DVD film based loosely on this storyline in Justice League: Doom.  So how does all of this happen?  Talia slips the tech into Batman's shorts during one of their romantic encounters, and Maxwell Lord is seeking revenge for all of the experiments that were performed on him by OMAC Project when he was a child.

Sounds pretty interesting, right?  It gets better.  The script was written by Michele and Kiernan Mulroney, who were the ones that wrote Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and was going to be directed by George Miller, who most recently directed Mad Max: Fury Road.  So why didn't this film ever get made?  Like I said, there was a script, a cast, and they'd even begun to build set pieces and costumes for the film over at Weta Workshop with filming to be done down in Australia.  When George Miller was asked about it, he started off by stating the obvious, "Well, it's weird...":

"There was a writers strike. There was some legislation with a tax rebate to make it in Australia. It was the first film that came up, and there was a debate about whether it was Australian content even though I was driving it. It didn’t have to be Australian content, but Australian control. But there was a board that no longer exists that the government cobbled together from people who knew nothing about the film industry. And they voted -- they struck it down by one vote. We were all ready. Once that happened and then the writers’ strike happened…it fell apart."

There were also some worries about the film from Warner Bros. after the release of Superman Returns. The film failed to connect with audiences, and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight was currently in production.  Warner Bros. were afraid to introduce a new Batman to theater goers while the other movies were still being produced.  And of course, the most obvious reason most films get shelved...money.

I wonder what the release of this version of the Justice League would have done to current explosion of superhero films that are now being released.  Would Marvel be the giant in the industry if this movie had ever been made?  Would Warner Bros. be the ones to catch?  I guess we'll never know...but it is fun to speculate!

Amazing Photo And Video Taken From ISS

              

Photo taken by Scott Kelly

Have you ever wondered what the Aurora Borealis looks like from outer space?  Thanks to NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, you don't have to wonder any more.  Kelly posted this photo, as well as a time lapse video of the natural wonder, online.  Check out the video below:

Scott Kelly is currently spending his time on the International Space Station and is scheduled to stay up there for one year.  If you aren't following him on Twitter, you should really consider doing so!

Zorro Reborn Is The Latest Stupid Reboot

This is a really bad idea, but what else do you expect from Hollywood any more?

The last time that we saw a good Zorro movie was 1998's The Mask of Zorro.  The sequel was less than stellar, but compared to what the this next one is going to be like, it was Oscar-worthy.  Fresh off the success of Mad Max: Fury Road, get ready for Zorro Reborn, a futuristic post-apocalyptic take on the masked swash-buckler.  No, really.  It's going to be a sci-fi Zorro film.

Look, I grew up watching old reruns of the Zorro television show, and I remember going to see Zorro, The Gay Blade when it came out in theaters.  I thought that The Mask of Zorro was incredible retelling of the tale, but this?  Didn't Hollywood learn anything after giving us Jason X?

Right now there is a legal battle going on to determine who, if anyone, owns the rights to the character, or if he's public domain.  There's no telling when a decision will be handed down, but for our sake, and the sake of Zorro, let's hope that the winner isn't the one that is planning on making this Gawd-awful film.

And movie studios can't figure out why ticket sales keep going down...

What Are The Knights Of Ren?

     

Last week Entertainment Weekly published articles and pictures that dealt with the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  One of the more interesting stories that they published dealt with Kylo Ren.  They discussed how that name wasn't the one that was given to him at his birth, but one that he took after joining a mysterious group called The Knights of Ren.  But just who exactly are The Knights of Ren?

IndieRevolver.com has published an article discussing this very question, and they've also published what look to be pictures of concept art for the Knights of Ren.  The biggest question being asked is the one that I posted just above in the previous paragraph, "who exactly are The Knights of Ren?"  Are they an off-shoot sect from the Sith?  Had they even been around during the time of Darth Vader?  That last question was mine, and the reason I ask it is because of the drawings that show what the Knights of Ren look like.  Here, let me show you before I go on:

                           

                                

Now, it should be noted that these pictures are rumored to actually be early designs for Kylo Ren's costume, but it seems that they may have given inspiration for the Knights of Ren's uniforms as well.  We did learn from the article that Kylo Ren created his own mask to blend both the Knights of Ren and Darth Vader's into his own.  He did this because of his obsession with Vader.  JJ Abrams stated that Kylo Ren "is well aware of what's come before, and that's very much a part of the story of the film." 

 

One last thing I should mention, even though the pictures show the figure holding a lightsaber, it's not known if the Knights of Ren use them.  I'm assuming that they do, but that's just my own guess.  Like I said earlier, these pictures are supposed to be early drawings of Kylo Ren, so the lightsaber in then isn't very surprising.

 

So what are your thoughts on this new group of antagonists for the Jedi and the Rebellion?  Leave your thoughts and comments in the section below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Predator Movie Not A Reboot

      

I'm not really sure how I feel about this one, considering how well the last few movies (AVP, AVP: Requiem, Predators) did at the box office.  This sequel is being written and directed by Shane Black, and will be his next project after he's done with The Nice Guys starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.  Producer John Davis has said that he's read most of the script and he thinks it's genius.

Wow.  A producer of a film saying that it's brilliant.  That's unusual.

Working off of the mythology that has already been established within the franchise really isn't that surprising.  When you look at all of the different Predator movies, none of them have been actual sequels.  Each one could pretty much be considered stand-alone movies.  You had the first one with Arnold Schwarzenegger that took place in the jungle, you had the second one with Danny Glover which took place in the city, and you had Predators, which starred Adrian Brody, which took place on another planet.  Why not do a entirely new story that follows this formula?  It might just work.

The real question that needs to be asked is are people really wanting to see a new Predator movie?  Has there been enough time that has passed that this is something that movie goers are excited to see?  There's not been any release date set yet, so this may give the studios enough time to try and drum up excitement for the next chapter in the franchise.  If the script is as good as they are saying, we may actually be in for a treat!

Is This Proof That The New Joker Is Really The Former Robin?

An eagle-eyed fan may have just found the most damning bit of proof that Jared Leto's Joker is none other than Jason Todd, a.k.a. Robin!  Look at the picture above and pay close attention to the markings on the suit compared to the scars on the Joker in the picture next to it (they're the ones that are circled in red.)  Do they seem to match up to you?

This would be a smart route to go, considering that the last version of the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, is considered to be the best that's ever been done.  The Academy Awards felt the same way, giving him a best actor Oscar for the film The Dark Knight.  This would allow Leto to perform his own take on the character without having to deal with the comparisons that are sure to come.  If he's playing a completely different Joker, then why compare him to Ledger's?

There's a lot of reasons to believe that this version of the Joker is actually Jason Todd.  It was no coincidence that the Robin costume showed up in the movie, and it's been rumored that Robin will be making an appearance in the film during a flashback sequence.  It may be the scene where Jason Todd dies.  But then who kills him?  Does the Joker?  I mean, a different Joker?  Is the spray painted Robin costume meant to mock Batman because the Joker killed him. or is it taunting him with the fact that he used to be Robin and now has gone nutty somehow from the resurrection he went through?

Now let's go anti-Robin theory...Jared Leto is pretty much the same age as Ben Affleck...so how do they play into each other if they really are/were partners in crime?  I know that they can age Affleck, but can they really age him the appropriate amount of time?  It's just something to think about.

These are all just rumors and theories, and we won't know for sure until the movie comes out next year.  2016 seems a long way off just to get some answers...

Meet The Rogue One Crew

It's not the entire crew, but it is the first picture that's been offically rleased for the film that has most of the actors.  There were a couple of actors that will soon be joining the crew that were introduced this past weekend at D23.  The new title for the film was also released.  Here it is:

 

So it looks like the "Anthology" has been dropped form the official title of the movie.  Let's do a run down of the actors that will be starring in the film, as part of the official announcement at StarWars.com:

The filmmakers have assembled a stellar cast, including Felicity Jones, nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in The Theory of Everything,

Diego Luna, who was featured in 2008's Oscar-winning Milk and the critically acclaimed Killing Them Softly.

Ben Mendelsohn, recently nominated for an Emmy for his role in Bloodline and co-starring in the upcoming Mississippi Grind.

Donnie Yen, Hong Kong action star and martial artist who starred in Ip Man and Blade II.

Jiang Wen, who co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in the award-winning Let the Bullets Fly and Devils on the Doorstep.

Forest Whitaker, recently featured in the critically-acclaimed Lee Daniel's The Butler and winner of an Academy Award for his leading role in 2006's The Last King of Scotland.

Mads Mikkelsen, who starred in The Hunt and was the memorable villain from 2006's Casino Royale.

Alan Tudyk, who plays a performance-capture character in Rogue One, stars in the soon-to-be-released Con Man series and Trumbo, which releases this November.

And Riz Ahmed, who was recently featured in Nightcrawler and starred in the BAFTA-winning film Four Lions.

This is what Kathleen Kennedy had to say on the upcoming film:

“‘Rogue One’ takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and will be a departure from the saga films but have elements that are familiar to the Star Wars universe,” says Kathleen Kennedy. “It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know. Gareth is such an innovative director and I’m so excited to be working with him and the extraordinary ensemble cast he’s selected for ‘Rogue One.’”

Let's hope that Tudyk doesn't die at the end of this battle...that would be too much deja vu!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters December 16, 2016.

LG's Newest Flexible Technology

This is pretty wild!

I love the site www.IFLScience.com because they introduce us and inform us on some of the craziest things that are being invented, worked on, or explored.  This is just one of the many articles that they have posted on their site that grabbed my attention.  If you haven't before, you should check them out!  Okay, let's get started.

LG, one of the pioneers in video technology has created a paper-thin high-definition television screen. Not only could it be a television screen, but this technology could also be used as computer screens, tablets, and smart phones.  How many times have you dropped your tablet of smart phone and cracked the screen?  I know I have more than once.  This technology would all but eliminate this from ever happening again.  The 18" wide screen that they introduced to the world at a Korean event this past week can even be rolled up into a 3 cm radius without damaging anything to the screen!  This is possible through it's OLED technology (organic light emitting diode) that can be attached to any surface through the use of magnets, no matter what the surface is like, whether it's flat and smooth, or curved.  Imagine having a tablet that you could carry in your pocket or purse, making it all that much easier to carry with you when you're out and about, or a smart phone you could slide into your pocket, purse, or wallet, without worrying about damaging the screen?

Apple and Samsung have been working on this technology as well, with Samsung claiming to have a flexible phone available to the public by 2015, but so far, that's all just smoke up our you-know-whats.  This is the closest that any company has given us that shows us that this technology isn't going to be that far off after all.  I can't wait to get one of these things!  Would you like a look at how it works?  Check this video out:

Is this something that you might be interested in getting for yourself?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!  Until next time, people!

Wonder Woman vs. (SPOILER!!!)

I love that picture!

So have you seen the latest trailer for the upcoming Batman v Superman movie?  In it, there is a scene that shows Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman battling an unseen foe.  So who is this adversary? It seems that Heroic Hollywood has gone on the record as to who it is.  And just in case you hadn't guessed by now, there are some potential spoilers ahead, so be warned!

Still with me?  Good!  So in the scene that we saw in the trailer, it's being reported that Wonder Woman is fighting none other than Doomsday!  The fact that Doomsday is going to appear in the film isn't new, it's been speculated on for quite a while.  In fact, if you go back to some of my earlier posts on this blog, you'll see that I've talked about it previously myself.  The rumors have it that Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) some how gets his hands on the body of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and begins to do tests on the Kryptonian to try and find a weakness that he can use against Superman.  Evidently, he is able to extract Zod's DNA and creates Doomsday using that DNA.  This changes up the whole origin of Doomsday from the comic book, but this wouldn't be the first time that a movie has taken "artistic liberties" when it comes to making a comic book into a movie.  Just look at pretty much every X-Men movie.

With the introduction of Doomsday into the mix, it sounds like he will be the catalyst that makes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all join forces.  After all, it is titles Batman v Superman, so it's safe to assume that they aren't exactly chummy when the movie starts out. 

Keep in mind that these are all still just rumors, and we won't find out anything for sure until the movie is released.  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25, 2016.

New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Pictures

If you haven't already, you should go out and pick up Entertainment Weekly's Star Wars: The Force Awakens issue.  This actually pains me to suggest to people, because Entertainment Weekly does shoddy work, and their writers get a lot of things wrong, but the pictures in this issue are really pretty cool.  Not only are the pictures good, but they also reveal some information about the movie that hadn't been discussed before.

For example, the name "Kylo Ren," one of the characters in the upcoming film, isn't his given name.  It seems that the name "Ren" is a title, kind of like "Darth."  There was a group called the "Knights if Ren" that seemed to embrace the dark side of the Force.  They didn't say whether they were aligned with the Darth group or not, but it seems that Kylo Ren became fascinated by this order, as well as with Darth Vader.  In fact, the magazine said that Kylo Ren's mask is a nod, or a tip of the hat, to Darth Vader's own mask.  Studying this art on his own, Kylo Ren even builds his own lightsaber, one that is described by JJ Abrams "as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character."  Earlier rumors on the movie have suggested that Kylo Ren is actually the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia.

The article explains that like us, things never slowed down for the characters in the Star Wars universe.  It's been thirty years since the destruction of the second Death Star, and the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader.  There's a whole new generation around that hadn't lived through the time of their existence.  Stories of these two could have been told to countless children to either scare or inspire them, depending on which side of the war they were raised on.  It seems that Kylo Ren was one of these children who became obsessed with Darth Vader, which led to his involvement with the Knights of Ren.

If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures that Entertainment Weekly posted, check out my YouTube video below, and if you haven't already, go ahead and subscribe to the channel as well.  Enjoy!

Jay Garrick To Join Flash Season Two

The Golden Age Flash is coming, and Teddy Sears is going to be playing him!

I have to admit that I really like the promotional photo that they sent out, it was a nice nod to The Flash issue #123.  It's actually kind of appropriate, too.  In that issue, it was the first time that DC introduced the idea of multiple universes, and was the first time Earth-Two was mentioned.  So why is that significant?

The Flash is going to introduce Earth-Two in season two.  In fact, the whole idea of multiple universes is going to be playing apart in the upcoming season.  Not only is Jay Garrick going to be joining the show, but Wally West is also going to be appearing.  It's not been revealed if Wally West is from a parallel universe, or if he's being added as someone from our own universe.

Wally West and Jay Garrick won't be the only two new faces this season.  Shantel VanStaten will be joining the series as Patty Spivot, "a police officer and science enthusiast who catches the eye of Barry Allen."  She gets partnered up with Joe West, and it's said that she is "obsessed" with metahumans.  Should make things interesting if she ever finds out that Barry's the Flash.

Two new characters that will be making appearances on both The Flash and Arrow are Vandal Savage and Hawkman.  These two roles will be played by Casper Crump and Falk Hentschel, respectively.  Both of these characters will then move over to DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

The Flash returns with season two October 6, 2015.

Constantine's Not Dead Yet

Fans of the Matt Ryan portrayal of John Constantine can rejoice!  Well, maybe not rejoice, but they will be able to see the trench coat-clad demon hunter at least one more time.  It was recently announced that Ryan will be making a guest appearance on Arrow this season.  Here's what the CW has to say about the upcoming episode:

John Constantine is a weather worn exorcist and expert on the supernatural and the occult.  He is a detective, magician, and a hunter of demons, and will provide critical support to Oliver (Stephen Amell) when arrows aren't enough.

Okay, I know that doesn't really tell you a lot about what his role is going to be on the shows fifth episode of season four, so I did a little digging and this is what I found out.  I'm not really sure how Oliver and Constantine meet, it could be a recent introduction, or they could have met during the five years that Oliver was away.  Regardless, Constantine is brought in to help with Sara Lance's resurrection from the Lazarus Pit.  When Thea was brought back from the dead, she was only mostly dead (did you like how I threw in that Princess Bride line?) where Sara had been dead for, well, all through season three.  Because she had been dead for so long, there are some consequences of using the pit on her, and it also creates some "unforeseen difficulties."  Cue John Constantine.  He's brought in because he is "uniquely suited" to help the team deal with these problems.

I know that some of you out there may be a little disappointed that they're going to be bringing magic into a show like Arrow, one that seems to be grounded more in the real world than in the supernatural, but with the introduction of the Flash last year, as well as the Lazarus Pit, it's already been done, so deal with it!

Right now, his appearance is only being billed as a one-shot deal, but look at all of the other one-shot characters that have appeared on the show, only to return in later episodes.  If his appearance turns out to be something that the fans enjoy, Constantine may get new life for future episodes and maybe his series will get resurrected.

Here's hoping!

What Is FOX Thinking???

This idea is bad on so many levels.

This fall, FOX, the same network that thought canceling Firefly was a good idea, is going to bring us a crossover event involving Bones and Sleepy Hollow.

Huh?

Why in the world would they be doing a crossover event that would bring a television show that's based in the real world with one that deals with a supernatural one?  Let's see what Bones executive producer Michael Peterson has to say about this:

"The Bones/Sleepy Hollow crossover is like a great episode of the X-Files, where the Bones hour is the Scully, logic-based perspective and the Sleepy Hollow hour is more Fox Mulder-esque.  Put them together, and it's going to be a great two-hour event that fans of both programs are going to love!"

I hate to break it to you, Michael, but FOX already has an X-Files-ish show on their network...it's called the X-Files?!?  Maybe you didn't get the office memo letting you know that they were bringing it back?  Okay, maybe I'm being a little hard on the guy.  Let's hear what the showrunner for Sleepy hollow, Clifton Campbell, has to say on the subject:

"When the idea came about to create this crossover event for the fans, our writers' room went immediately energized.  The creative freedom to merge these two worlds which, at face value, seem so different, but at the core have such striking similarities - mystery, intrigue and methodical deduction, wrapped up in such strong character partnerships - was a challenge that we all welcomed, and we believe that fans of both series will be very satisfied by the result.  It was a terrific collaborative experience across the board and we are eager to see the fan reaction to Ichabod and Abbie working alongside Brennan and Booth."

Oh!  So this idea was for the fans.  Sounds to me like your writers had a bit of writer's block, and this was the best that they could come up with.  And as far as "striking similarities?"  The real world show of Bones and the supernatural world of Sleepy Hollow are as far from similar as you can get!

These are all just my opinion.  If you really are interested in watching this, here's the official synopses for the crossover:

On Bones, the grisly discovery of human remains lead Brennan and Booth on a hunt for clues, during which they encounter Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills, searching for answers of their own.  Realizing that they are after the same evidence, they team up to solve the mystery.  Then, immediately following on Sleepy Hollow, the intrigue continues as Ichabod's old nemesis is back  from the dead.  Ichabod and Abbie need advanced forensic help and expertise to stop him and turn to Brennan and Booth to unlock 18th century secrets using 21st century science."

This monstrosity will air Thursday, October 28, 2015.

Meet Lexi Johnson, Fear The Walking Dead's Patient Zero!

Do you want to know who's responsible for the zombie apocalypse?  It's Lexi Johnson.

Meet "Patient Zero."  Lexi Johnson is going to be playing "Gloria" in the upcoming Fear The Walking Dead, the companion series to the ever popular The Walking Dead series.  The series is promising to show us what actually happened when the world turned to complete crap.

Lexi Johnson, who admits to being a huge fan of the original series, recently sat down with Comicbook.com for an interview and she talked about her love of the series.  Here's what she had to say to them:

"A couple of months before I landed the roll of Gloria, I was just sitting there saying, 'How amazing would it be just to be one of the zombies on the show?'  And then a couple of months later the opportunity came and I booked it!"

She said that the audition process was a lot more different from her previous auditions for other parts.  She said that through the whole process, she never met any of the other actresses that were trying out for the part.

"They had us go into a make-up chair and put on the full make-up.  In full make-up, they gave me full wardrobe, they dowsed me in blood with the contacts, they turned on the camcorder, and they were like, 'Alright, start walking.  Start pretending like you're eating someone.'  As soon as they put the contacts in with the blood, it was almost like second nature to switch into zombie mode."

It sounded like there was a lot of directing going on during the audition, too, as they told her what they wanted her to do and how to eat the flesh off of a victim.  Shew said the director would say, "Violently rip your head back and forth like you're really tugging on the meat!"

"The meat you see me ripping off of his face is actually pantyhose.  They realized pantyhose has that stretchy feel they're looking for."

Fear The Walking Dead premiers on AMC August 23, 2015.

Ready Player One Gets Release Date

I was working yesterday, and early in the day I received an alert from one of my friends (she's @inkeater on Twitter and she also has a YouTube channel under the same name.  Make sure you check it out and follow her!) telling me that it had just been announced that Ready Player One, the movie that is being adapted from the book of the same name, finally received a release date!  This is pretty big news, because Steven Spielberg is set direct the flick, and he has a habit of pulling out of projects that he's shown interest in before they get going.  With a release date set, this means that things are moving forward!

Ready Player One is a novel that was written by Ernest Cline back in 2011, and it follows a teenager hunting for an "Easter Egg" in a virtual reality world that was created by a man who recently passed.  The person who finds this Easter Egg inherits his entire company and fortune.  The one catch?  Every clue and every challenge deals with pop references from the 80's!

The book has garnered a huge legion of fans (myself and Inkeater at the top of the list!) and when it was announced that Steven Spielberg was going to direct the movie version, excitement among fans hit an all time high!  Will he be able to capture the essence of the film though?  Hey, it's Steven freakin' Spielberg!

The release date for Ready Player One is December 15, 2017!

The Next Generation Of Dungeons & Dragons Coming From Warner Bros.

               

Over the last two years there has been a lawsuit being fought in court trying to determine who owned the rights to the widely popular game.  Finally, Warner Bros., Hasbro's Allspark Pictures, and Sweetpea Entertainment have negotiated a deal, giving Warner Bros. the rights to producing a new Dungeons & Dragons feature film.

And thank gawd, too!  I need something to wipe that first attempt at a D&D movie out of my mind forever!  I mean, really?  Marlon Waynes???

The timing couldn't have worked out better for Warner Bros., too.  There's been a resurgence in the games popularity as a new generation has decided to put down the game controller and actually use their imaginations.  There are plenty of video games out there featuring fantasy realms that pay homage to the pioneering game, most popular of the group, World of Warcraft,  Heck, there's even a Warcraft movie that's soon to be released.  The Harry Potter books and movies have shown us that there's still a demand for the wizarding world, and HBO's adaptation of the wildly popular Game of Thrones series has a cult following all their own,  And let's not forget about The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films!  I mean, The Return of the King even won the Best Picture Oscar!  You can't tell me that there's not a demand for this kind of movie!

From what is being reported in Variety, David Leslie Johnson (The Conjuring 2) has already been working on a screenplay for the film, and it's being set in the Forgotten Realms world of the fantasy game.  As part of the negotiations, Hasbro's Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, Sweetpea Entertainment's Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman, and Roy Lee (The Lego Movie) will be producing the project.

There hasn't been a release date set yet, but considering that this project has been labeled as a "high priority project" I'm sure we'll be getting more details about it in the near future.

Kraven Is Rumored For Spider-Man Reboot

Things are quickly coming together and moving forward for our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!  An actor has been cast to play Peter Parker's alter ego (Tom Holland), He's already shot his debut scene that will introduce him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), he already has a movie scheduled for release in 2017, and now he may have his next archenemy for the film!

According to Heroic Hollywood, the next villain to grace the silver screen opposite the web-slinger will be none other than Kraven the Hunter!  This works on so many levels, if the rumor turns out to be true, this will be the perfect adversary for Spider-Man's "first" film.  Why is that, you ask?  It's because of who he is, and what he brings to the story.  Let me explain...

The most recent Spider-Man films that were released tried to give us fight scenes that were of epic scale, where the city was in danger, as well as the Wall Crawler.  Bringing in Kraven will give us a more personal battle of wits (as well as the danger of being hunted), instead of buildings collapsing and the city being destroyed.  We already get that in the MCU with the Avengers.  Each of their two movies have featured battles of such epic scale, that the entire planet was in danger of being destroyed.  On the opposite side of things, the MCU has also given us Daredevil, whos story takes place in a small portion of the city, Hell's Kitchen, and whos battles were confined to that area.  Spider-Man needs to find that happy medium in between these two scales and carve out his own territory.

Kraven is also an incredible tracker.  If he comes to the city to take down Spider-Man, what will he find out about Peter Parker in the process?  Will his family and friends be at risk?  Will he track him to his high school possibly putting all of his classmates at risk?  This will be more of a one on one type of battle, as opposed to consorted effort of two or more big baddies trying to take him out with pure brute strength and force. 

I think that if they go this route, it will set their Spider-Man movie apart from all of the other ones...which is something they'll want to do.  Sony was smart to ask for the help of Marvel, and I'm starting to see that this partnership is going to be one for the ages!

The Spider-Man reboot is scheduled for release July 28, 2017.

Deadpool Trailer For The Trailer

With today's post, I really don't have anything to add, I just thought that you would enjoy the teaser for the trailer for Deapool.  The actual trailer should be released later today, but until then, this will have to do.  I'll have one of my regular posts tomorrow, I just had some things to take care of today, so I apologize for such a short post.  Come back tomorrow, people!  Until then, enjoy the teaser:

Is Felicity Jones Going To Be (SPOILERS!) In Star Wars: Rogue One?

With all of the talk about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it's easy to over look the first Star Wars movie in the Anthology series that will be coming out in 2016.  If you were one of the lucky few that were able to view the teaser trailer (like I was!) then you know that it looks absolutely amazing!  This will be the first Star Wars movie that won't feature someone that can use the force.  It's an old fashion heist film!  It will follow Rogue One in their attempt to steal the plans for the Death Star, and get them into the Rebel's hands.  The only other thing that we know about the film is that it will be starring Felicity Jones, and we don't know what her role in the film will be...or did we just find out?

Ever since it was announced that Felicity Jones was going to be starring in the movie Star Wars: Rogue One, speculation about what role she was going to be playing has been running around all over the place.  But now, according to Umberto Gonzalez of Meet The Movie Press, that role may have just been revealed.  Take in mind...this is just a rumor.  We may not actually know until the movie comes out, but it is fun speculate!

So, i guess it's needless to say, but there are possible SPOILERS ahead!

Umberto is reporting that Felicity Jones' character in the upcoming Star Wars film is going to be Boba Fett's daughter!  It's not really known what role she's going to play in the movie, but he's making it sound like she's part of the Rebel Alliance.  This kind of makes sense, Boba Fett is the most ruthless and cunning bounty hunter in the galaxy, so why wouldn't she want to "rebel" against her father?  I'm sure he wasn't exactly the most caring dad that a girl could have.  Some are speculating that this will tie all of the Anthology films together, since there are rumors that the second of the Anthology films is going to be based on Boba Fett and Han Solo.  My problem with this concept is that the Anthology films are all supposed to be stand alone films...why try and tie them all together?  That's not to say that they changed their minds on how to deal with these films, but that's a pretty big thing to change, and it would limit them as far as storytelling goes.

Chances are that we won't know what role she will actually be playing until the movie gets released.  Star Wars: Rogue One is scheduled for release on December 16, 2016.