It seems that this year is the year of "hero vs. hero," with Batman fighting Superman, and Captain America getting ready to take on Iron Man, so this past Monday's Supergirl was a nice change of pace, giving us a team-up instead of a fight. The title for the episode was "Worlds Finest" and it definitely lived up to it's name. Apparently, I'm not the only person that enjoyed the epsiode, Supergirl saw a jump of 31% over it's last two episodes that aired, enjoying 7.2 million viewers. So why did this episode work so well?
When Arrow debuted four years ago, it gave us a superhero series that was dark and brooding, but during season two it introduced us to Grant Gustin's Barry Allen and when his own series began the following year it gave us a lighter and more comedic superhero show. The lighter tone seemed to resonate with viewers, and The Flash has quickly become the CW's most popular program. With the overwhelming success of Arrow and The Flash, the show's executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg decided to shop around Supergirl, which ended up getting picked up by CBS. Supergirl followed the same tone as The Flash, giving us a more light-hearted show, but not without weekly villians and good match ups. It debuted strong, but viewership began to fall off as the season progressed. At the time of writing this, CBS still hasn't renewed Supergirl for a second season yet, but after the Supergirl/Flash crossover, that may soon change. It would be a smart move for CBS to renew it for a second season. Both Arrow and The Flash found their strides during their second seasons, so not giving Supergirl a second season wouldn't be fair to the show.
The crossover episode takes place on Supergirl's Earth, an alternate Earth from the one that Flash lives in. According to Barry Allen, there are multiple Earth's that exist in the same space, but they vibrate at different levels, so they aren't able to interact with one another. Barry was trying to get back to his own Earth when he accidentally popped into Kara's world. The two immediately hit it off, and the two actors definitely have chemistry when on the screen together. This isn't the first time Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist have worked together. They both appeared on the show Glee that aired on Fox. The episode was written so that people that have seen one show and not the other would still be able to enjoy it, and not be lost as to who Kara or Barry are. It was a funny and light-hearted episode, and I hope that it won't be the last time that they get to team up.
Supergirl airs on CBS Monday nights at 8 pm (EST). The Flash airs on The CW Tuesdays at 8 pm (EST). If you haven't watched either of these shows, you really should give them both a try!
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice broke more than a few records this past weekend, but the one that has Warner Bros. most nervous was the Friday to Sunday drop in movie-goers.
After pulling in $420 million globally over the weekend (very impressive!), the combination of critic's reviews and bad word of mouth seemed to halt it's incredible debut. People seem to agree that the movie's dark tone didn't work for the film. Even super-fanboy geek Kevin Smith said that the movie lacked heart. Ouch. So after raking in $82 million on Friday, Sunday's take dropped to $37 million, which roughly is a 55% drop in sales. That's the largest Friday to Sunday drop in movie history, it's even larger than the drop that last year's Fantastic Four had which was 48%. Again, ouch.
This surprises me quite a bit. Why? Even with all of the negative reviews, everybody...and I mean everybody that I've talked to that's seen the movie said that Ben Affleck was an amazing Batman, Gal Gadot stole the show and out shown the two title characters, and Jesse Eisenberg nailed it as Lex Luthor. They also said that the fight scenes and car chases were some of the best that have been done, so the only thing that I can think of is that the script for the movie sucked. I'll find out for myself later this weekend. Even with all of the poor reviews, I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Something else that I read about the film has left me scratching my head...the movie cost $250 million to make, it pulled in $420 million it's opening weekend, and the article I read said that in order for the movie to break even, it will have to pull in $800 million. In order to make a profit, it'll have to make $1 billion. Wha...? Look, I love movies, but I'm not going to lie and say that I understand the financial side of the movie business. I understand that on top of the costs for making the movie, they also have to promote the film, domestically and internationally, and a percentage of the box office take goes to the theaters, but $800 million to break even? That doesn't make sense to me.
One of the things that Batman v Superman has going for it is that there really won't be any competition at the box office for it until May when Captain America: Civil War gets released, so that may help it reach its goal of breaking even, or even a profit.
Have you seen the movie yet? If you have, let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments section down below. I trust the fans more than the critics, so let me know your actual thoughts on the movie.
Blink and you may have missed him.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, be warned...***SPOILERS*** ahead!
Some people who went to see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice this past weekend noticed that Jimmy Olsen was shown to have appeared in the movie during the end credits. So where was he?
Turns out that Jimmy Olsen was the CIA reporter that meets up with Lois Lane while she's on assignment in Africa. You know, the one who dies. So why kill off such an important character in the world of Superman? Here's what director Zach Snyder had to say about Jimmy Olsen:
“We just did it as this little aside because we had been tracking where we thought the movies were gonna go, and we don’t have room for Jimmy Olsen in our big pantheon of characters, but we can have fun with him, right?"
Even though he didn't get to say anything in the theatrical release of the movie, he will be getting to say his line when "Ultimate Edition" comes out on DVD and Blu-ray later this summer. In that scene, he goes up to Lois and says, "Lois Lane, I'm Jimmy Olsen, photographer, obviously...you know, I've been assigned to you for this mission," or something along those lines.
Snyder originally wanted to hire a big named actor to play the role, so fans would be caught off guard when he ended up getting killed. His first thought for the role was Jesse Eisenberg, before he ended up being cast for Lex Luthor. Snyder, who was talking to EW said, “I thought, if it were Jesse Eisenberg and he got out and he goes, ‘I’m Jimmy Olsen,’ you’d be like, oh my God, we’re gonna have Jimmy Olsen in the whole movie, right?’” Snyder says. “And then if he got shot, you’d just be like, ‘What!? You can’t do that." He continued, “I said, ‘I want to do this misdirect and you’d be great. You’d be a great Jimmy Olsen,’” the director says. “And he’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool,’ and he was being very Jesse in the meeting. Introverted but constantly going, ‘Okay, I see, uh-huh. So it’s sort of a pop-culture redirect, you’re gonna do, because of the certain status of an actor…” At the time of this interview, they were considering Bryan Cranston for the role of Lex, but ended up changing his vision of the character and gave the role to Eisnberg.
Sorry this is a little late going out, but I've been a little under the weather this past weekend. I wasn't able to go and see Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice, but I've read a lot of the news reports and have talked to a lot of people that went and saw it...and not just once, but two or three times. In all, Batman v Superman pulled in over $424 million in it's opening weekend, making it the highest opening comic book movie EVER, and it showed that there is a bit of a disconnect between comic book fans and movie critics. Before it's release late Thursday evening, there were a slew of articles that said the movie was horrible, but with an opening like the one it had showed that people are going to see this in droves, and not just once, but two or three times. Fans are embracing this movie like no other. And who can blame them? This is the first time that we get to see the Holy Trinity on the silver screen at the same time. By the way, that would be Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, just in case you didn't know who I was talking about. And speaking of Wonder Woman, from what everyone has been telling me, she stole the show. She was the most talked about character from the film out of everyone I talked to, which bodes well for Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman solo film that is currently filming as we speak. The true test of this movie's staying power will be next weekend when we see how much the movie drops off from this past weekend. That will be when I get to go see it. So I've got to go, kids. I've got a doctor's appointment to make, but I'll be back again tomorrow. Same Bat time, same Bat channel!
The opening credits to the movie Deadpool were the first indication of what kind of movie we were about to be treated to. I have never seen anything like them before, and I was laughing out loud while reading them...especially when it came to the writer's credit, or "the real heroes" of the movie. But what gave them the inspiration to create them like that? Blur Studios put them together (note: Blur studios was co-founded by Deadpool director Tim Miller) and Frank Balson (also with the company) explained exactly how they came to be in an interview at Silicon Valley Comic Con:
“The idea for the title sequence was actually already in the script from the very beginning, at least the main part: frozen moments in the middle of this f*cked up car accident. Originally, the titles were supposed to be actual titles, with actual actors’ names and stuff like that. Very early on in the process, Ryan [Reynolds] was the only one who had been cast at that moment, and we started working on the pre-vis for the whole film. We started working on that sequence because it was going to define that whole car chase. It needed to finish exactly in this freeze-frame moment and look good. We looked at different ways to put the guys, and were just going, ‘Okay, that’s a really cool thing to have’. At the time, since we didn’t know who was going to be in the movie, I was like, ‘okay, what do we have? So we have the hot chick, the bad guy, the CGI character,’ and just put all those names in there."
When the movie was nearly finished, they showed what they had to Tim Miller, Ryan Reynolds, and the film's producers, before they had a chance to go back and change the credits to show everyone's actual names. The decision was made right then and there to keep it the way it was, and it also gave us one of the truest line of credits ever to be put up on the silver screen!
If you enjoy reading my blog, be sure to let other people know about it and feel free to write me about things that you're interested in or about, and I'll look into whatever it is and I'll write up posts letting you know what I find out. You can either contact me in the comments section below each post or contact me through Twitter @Comconoclast or email at comconocave@gmail.com. Enjoy the weekend everybody!
Even though he hasn't even made his cinematic premier yet, that won't happen until May, the upcoming Spectacular Spider-Man is gearing up to be one of the most anticipated movies of 2017. We already know that Tom Holland will be playing the lead role of Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man...yeah, I know. That was kind of pointless to mention.), Marisa Tomei will be playing Aunt May, and now we have confirmation that Zendaya will be appearing in the film as well.Yesterday Zendaya made the confirmation herself while making an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, but she didn't reveal who she'd be playing. Here's what she said about getting the role:“It’s very exciting. When it comes to the acting space, I’m basically unknown. I’ve never been in a real movie before or anything like that, so I had to start from the bottom like anyone else. I auditioned and auditioned and auditioned and [broke] down those walls because a lot of people do have that pre-conceived notion of who I am based off previous things I’ve done, so you got to really break that down and go hard, put in the work, take all the meetings, take all the auditions.”There has been a lot of speculation on who she's going to be playing, but the most common theory is that she'll be cast as Michelle Gonzales. In fact, if you go to IMDB.com she is only listed as "Michelle". Now she could be playing Michelle Gonzales, but another theory is that she'll have the name Michelle, but that Michelle will actually be a number of different Spider-Man characters rolled into one person. By the way, Michelle Gonzales is a criminal defense lawyer and Peter Parker's roommate in the comics...in case you didn't know who she is.Who do you think she'll end up playing? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let me know your thoughts. Spectacular Spider-Man is set for release July 7, 2017.
Simon Pegg has to be one of the busiest people in movies today. From his "cult classic" movies Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End, he also recently appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and is one of the main actors (and more recently, writer) for the Star Trek movies. Now, he can add Ogdon Morrow to that list.
Ogden Morrow is one of the creators of a company that gave the world a free VR system to enjoy called "Oasis" in the book Ready Player One. It's other creator and programmer, James Halliday, passes away at the beginning of the book, so don't worry, I'm not giving anything away there. Before his passing, Halliday created an "easter egg" hunt that takes place throughout the worlds of Oasis. The winner of this easter egg hunt wins his share of the company and all his wealth. He did this because he has no heirs or family. He also wants people to learn about the things that he loved the most growing up, and it all ties into the search for the egg. It covers everything from Dungeons and Dragons to 80's television shows, movies, video games, and music. And if you want to win this hunt, you have to know everything from this decade inside and out.
Ready Player One was written by Ernest Cline back in 2011 and it was recently announced that it had been picked up by Warner Bros. to be made into a movie. Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct the film, and should begin filming as soon as he finishes up his current project, The BFG. Other actors that have been cast for the film include Tye Sheridan as the main character of the book, Wade Watts (a.k.a. Parzival), Olivia Cooke as Samantha Cook (a.k.a. Art3mis) and Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento (a.k.a. the big bad guy of the story).
If you haven't had a chance to read this story, I highly recommend doing so before the movie comes out, because I really don't know if they will be able to fit everything into the film due to copyrights of the other properties. If you're not much of a reader, pick up the audiobook, it's a great listen narrated by the always enjoyable, Wil Wheaton.
Ready Player One is scheduled for release March 28, 2018.
Sorry this is a little late going out, but I've been a little under the weather this past weekend. I wasn't able to go and see Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice, but I've read a lot of the news reports and have talked to a lot of people that went and saw it...and not just once, but two or three times. In all, Batman v Superman pulled in over $424 million in it's opening weekend, making it the highest opening comic book movie EVER, and it showed that there is a bit of a disconnect between comic book fans and movie critics. Before it's release late Thursday evening, there were a slew of articles that said the movie was horrible, but with an opening like the one it had showed that people are going to see this in droves, and not just once, but two or three times. Fans are embracing this movie like no other. And who can blame them? This is the first time that we get to see the Holy Trinity on the silver screen at the same time. By the way, that would be Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, just in case you didn't know who I was talking about. And speaking of Wonder Woman, from what everyone has been telling me, she stole the show. She was the most talked about character from the film out of everyone I talked to, which bodes well for Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman solo film that is currently filming as we speak. The true test of this movie's staying power will be next weekend when we see how much the movie drops off from this past weekend. That will be when I get to go see it. So I've got to go, kids. I've got a doctor's appointment to make, but I'll be back again tomorrow. Same Bat time, same Bat channel!