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First look at Darwyn Cooke’s Batman Beyond short

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Batman Beyond short

Earlier today we brought you the news that Beware the Batman is to return to the air, joining Adult Swim’s Toonami block from next month, and now we’ve got our first look at another returning Batman animation as Darwyn Cooke resurrects Batman Beyond for a special DC Nation short to coincide with The Dark Knight’s 75th anniversary…

The Batman Beyond short is set to premiere at WonderCon before airing on Cartoon Network’s DC Nation programming block. And don’t forget to check out Bruce Timm’s Batman: Strange Days short, which you can watch in its entirety here.

The post First look at Darwyn Cooke’s Batman Beyond short appeared first on Flickering Myth.


Zack Snyder talks Batman vs. Superman, bringing the characters together and more

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Batman vs. SupermanWith production underway on Batman vs. Superman, we should expect to hear plenty about Warner Bros. Man of Steel sequel over the coming weeks and months (which will no doubt be music to DC fans’ ears), and to start things off director Zack Snyder has taken part in a lengthy interview with Forbes, during which he spoke in depth about the hotly-anticipated film:

On the decision to include Batman (Ben Affleck) alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman in the Man of Steel seuqel: “It definitely was a thing that… after Man of Steel finished and we started talking about what would be in the next movie, I started subtly mentioning that it would be cool if he faced Batman. In the first meeting, it was like, ‘Maybe Batman?’ Maybe at the end of the second movie, some Kryptonite gets delivered to Bruce Wayne’s house or something. Like in a cryptic way, that’s the first time we see him. But then, once you say it out loud, right? You’re in a story meeting talking about, like, who should [Superman] fight if he fought this giant alien threat Zod who was basically his equal physically, from his planet, fighting on our turf… You know, who to fight next? The problem is, once you say it out loud, then it’s kind of hard to go back, right? Once you say, ‘What about Batman?’ then you realize, ‘Okay, that’s a cool idea. What else?’ I mean, what do you say after that? But I’m not gonna say at all that when I took the job to do Man of Steel that I did it in a subversive way to get to Batman. I really believe that only after contemplating who could face [Superman] did Batman come into the picture.”

On seeing Affleck and Cavill suited up alongside Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman: “The thing also that’s really fascinating for me is that, even just in the tests we’ve been doing, the costumes, right? You basically have Batman and Superman — and this is without Ben and Henry in the costumes, but just like the stand-ins, just testing to see what the costumes look like. And you have them standing there and they’re standing in the same shot — and then we have Wonder Woman, you know, all three of them in the same shot. Even just for a test, you really have to go, “Wow, that’s crazy!” Not only is it the first time that I’m seeing them, it’s the first time they’ve ever existed together on screen in a movie. And that’s kind of a huge deal. Even just Batman and Superman standing next to each other… It’s kind of epic. You do sort of sense the weight of the pop culture iconography jumping out of its skin when you’re standing there looking at the two of them and Wonder Woman. It’s crazy. But it’s fun. I mean, I have the first photo, I’ve got it in my archive because I was like, ‘Okay, I better keep this, it’s gonna be worth something.’”

And the $64,000 question – when might we see the Trinity in their costumes: “Unfortunately, I don’t even know the timeline… Because the movie takes place so far from now, it’s hard to know exactly. That all gets tied to marketing and strategies for the movie. It’s not just a free-for-all, which I’d love it to be. Because I take a picture of the suit with my camera– I’m actually staring at one right now in my office. And it’s just massive on my wall in my office and it’s epic, let me tell you! And I’m like, “God, I want to send this to the Internet immediately.” But I know I’m not allowed to [laughs]! I do value the sort of excitement of the way the film is [revealed]… the pieces that are released and sort of trickle out to everybody, and those reveals are exciting milestones for us.”

Batman vs. Superman is set for release on May 6th 2016 with a cast that also includes returning Man of Steel stars Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent) and Laurence Fishburne (Perry White) alongside Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me) as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as Alfred Pennyworth and Holly Hunter (The Piano), Callan Mulvey (300: Rise of an Empire) and Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.

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First trailers for David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars

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Maps to the Stars postereOne has released the first two trailers for David Cronenberg’s upcoming Hollywood ghost story Maps to the Stars, which stars Mia Wasikowska (Stoker), Julianne Moore (Carrie), John Cusack (The Frozen Ground), Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Olivia Williams (Sabotage) and Sarah Gadon (The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Check them out after the official synopsis…

Led by the loathsome yet funny and touching child-star Benjie, we witness the convoluted world of shallow, selfish celebrities and their minions, all of whom are about to be manipulated and destroyed by the young woman who literally represents the fruit of their twisted machinations, Agatha, Benjie’s tormented, apparently psychotic sister. As much as it is a sharp, comic look at a vacant and corrupt world, MAPS TO THE STARS is also a haunting ghost story.

Maps to the Stars will premiere at Cannes, and is currently without a fixed release date.

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First teaser poster for WWE’s Leprechaun: Origins starring Hornswoggle

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When you think of “horror icons”, chances are that Warwick Davis’ Leprechaun is pretty far down on the list, but that hasn’t stopped Lionsgate and WWE Studios from claiming that “a horror icon is reborn” with the arrival of the first teaser poster for the upcoming reboot Leprechaun: Origins

Leprechaun Origins poster

Leprechaun: Origins is directed by Zack Lipovsky (Tasmanian Devils), and features WWE star Dylan Postl – a.k.a. Hornswoggle – in the lead role alongside Stephanie Bennett (Grave Encounters 2), Andrew Dunbar (Arrow), Teach Grant (Down River), Bruce Blain (The Impossible), Adam Boys (If I Had Wings) and Brendan Fletcher (Freddy vs. Jason). Expect a trailer soon.

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Fargo – Episode 1 Review

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Anthony Stokes reviews the first episode of Fargo…

af473a33-ed87-4515-a622-8fbe3135e5fb_Fargo_CL_0872_firstlook1Like many people I was introduced to the Coen brothers through Fargo. A fun black comedy that kickstarted their career and inspired several other movies that followed. Fargo is probably my favorite Coen brothers movie, and one of the only ones I’ve entirely enjoyed. When it was announced that there would be an FX miniseries I was completely on board. FX has continued to make shows that are as good as AMC or HBO, but doesn’t even get half of the accolades. And I’m happy to say that the Fargo TV series reaches the bar set by the movie, along with other dramas such as True Detective.

The reason I like FX is that their shows don’t have the pretension of other network dramas. They get in and get done. As much as I love Breaking Bad or Boardwalk Empire, there are a lot of times that they’re filling out time until the big cliffhanger at the end of an episode. Fargo is a perfect companion to the movie. It revolves around a very light recreation of William H. Macy and Frances McDormand’s characters from the movie, but other than that it’s all completely original characters. This feels exactly like Fargo in tone and character. There’s even a few times a character says “ooo yah”. It does a good job of assimilating with the movie without ripping it off. Wide shots of snowy fields and the overall quaintness of scenes that don’t feature a murder really make you forget you’re watching the miniseries and not the actual movie.

The central character is Lester Nygaard, played by Martin Freeman, a nebbish insurance salesman and the psuedo H. Macy character, who encounters Lorne Malvo, played by Billy Bob Thorton. These two are clearly the meat of this miniseries and they’ve both never been better. Freeman plays the cliched down-on-his-luck wimp with a level of cynicism and patheticness that keeps him sympathetic. Billy Bob Thorton is probably the one who will get most of the attention though. He’s the character who’s one step ahead of everybody and has a chilling, reserved presence. He gets the best dialogue and delivers it very well.

Much like the movie it’s based upon, Fargo has a great comedic sensibilities, and all of the characters are either funny or charming in a really quirky way. This is definitely a show worth watching for fans of the movie, fans of television dramas, and even casual viewers who want something a little different. I’m a little sad that these characters will only be around for one season. With no real complaints, Fargo is definitely one of my new favorite shows to air this year. Between this and From Dusk Til Dawn, Hannibal and Bates Motel, I think expanding on iconic movies on television could be the way to go, and hopefully we’ll get more in the future.

Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.

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First featurette for Disney’s Maleficent

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MaleficentWith a little over six weeks to go until its release, Walt Disney Pictures has debuted the first featurette for Maleficent, Oscar-winning production designer Robert Stromberg’s (Alice in Wonderland) live-action reimagining of the animated classic Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie (The Tourist) as the Mistress of All Evil and Elle Fanning (Super 8) as Princess Aurora. Check it out below….

From Disney comes “Maleficent”—the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.

Maleficent is set for release on May 30th with a cast that also includes Sharlto Copley (Elysium), Imelda Staunton (The Pirates! Band of Misfits), Miranda Richardson (The Hours), Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises), and Lesley Manville (Romeo and Juliet). Watch the latest trailer here.

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New trailer for The Rover starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson

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The RoverGuy Pearce reunites with Animal Kingdom writer-director David Michod this year as he stars alongside Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga) in the dystopian Aussie thriller The Rover, which has just received a new trailer. Check it out below…

The film is set in the Australian desert, in a dangerous and damaged near future. Eric (Pearce) has left everything, everyone and every semblance of human kindness behind him when a gang of desperate criminals steals his last possession.  Eric sets off on a ruthless mission to track them down, forced along the way to enlist the help of Rey (Pattinson), the naïve and injured junior member of the gang  who was left behind in the chaos of the gang’s most recent robbery.

Featuring alongside Pearce and Pattinson in the cast of The Rover are David Field (Chopper), Gillian Jones (Oscar and Lucinda), Scoot McNairy (Argo) and Animal Kingdom stars Susan Prior and Anthony Hayes.

 

The Rover is set for release on June 13th in North America and August 22nd in the UK.

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Second Opinion – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2014.

Directed by Marc Webb.
Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, B.J. Novak, Felicity Jones, Chris Cooper, and Denis Leary.

the-amazing-spider-man-2-poster

SYNOPSIS:

Peter Parker runs the gauntlet as the mysterious company Oscorp sends up a slew of supervillains against him, impacting on his life.

tasm2-11

Dear reader, there’s two things I’d like to divulge here. 1) This contains some spoilers. Boo hoo. And 2) My writing style is not usual filled with so many open questions and SCREAMING CAPS LOCK but this film brought out the worst in me. I blame Marc Webb.

The sequel nobody wanted to the reboot nobody wanted. A script from the creative minds behind such beloved classics as Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Island, and Star Trek Into Darkness. The return of a director who demonstrated he is incapable of handling large-scale action sequence in the previous woeful instalment. What could possibly go wrong?

The obvious answer would be “a lot” – but that suggests there is room for something to actually go right. In the case of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 the answer is “Everything. Absolutely everything.”

When a production is as disastrous as this it can be hard to know where to begin, but here the issues are so glaringly obvious that only a person who still needs to have their food mushed up and fed to them with accompanying airplane noises would struggle to point them out. Call me old fashioned but I rather enjoy a film, whether it has a budget of $20k or $200m, to have a plot which makes sense featuring characters which have at least a hint as to what their motivations are for doing whatever it is they do. Perhaps I’m showing my age, but I remember when Spider-Man films were the pinnacle of blockbuster storytelling back in the summer of 2004, effortlessly fusing action, story, and character together. How things have changed…

Let’s start with the ‘plot’ as it could loosely be referred to. There isn’t one; it’s just a bunch of scenes devoted to three films’ worth of storylines mashed together and pumped out as one. Think of a great film as a 1000 piece jigsaw perfectly put together by countless numbers of people to reveal a beautiful picture for which you just have to sit back and enjoy, without worrying if the pieces fit. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is like a 100,000 piece jigsaw dumped on a table by the writers and director who tell you to sort it out yourself. But if you ever managed to put it together it’d still only be a picture of a giant steaming turd.

There a not one, not two, but three villains in the film. Didn’t Sony learn from the last clusterf*ck from 2007 that three doesn’t work? Why is there the urgent rush to show Electro, Green Goblin and Rhino in the same film, and worse still, not give any of them a reason to even exist other than the need to have three villains? Moreover, what are Electro’s motivations in the film? He gets electrocuted and suddenly becomes obsessed with power grids… because in his human form he worked with power grids? So if he worked in McDonalds he’d become hell-bent on consuming as many burgers as possible, or resoling every shoe on Earth if he were a cobbler by trade? Why is he all of a sudden evil? Why does he suddenly HATE Spider-Man so much when he is OBSESSED with him as a human? Why does he feel the need to call himself Electro all of a sudden (in one of the many laugh out loud moments) and what purpose does that hope to achieve?

Then he’s obliterated with at least 30 minutes still to go with no pause for thought as in flies Green Goblin, and the questions start all over again… Why is he after Spider-Man when his only goal is to find a cure for his illness? Are we supposed to believe he is so upset Spider-Man wouldn’t give him his blood that he has to go fight him INSTANTLY? How does he know how to fly the hoverboard? WHY DOES HE GET IN THE SUIT? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY IS ANY OF THIS HAPPENING?

There is a moment in the film which, to its credit, did take me my surprise. This moment could have been used to build serious depth in the paper-thin Peter Parker character and send the currently awful film into an unexpected but welcome direction, ending on a much darker note, with questions surrounding Peter’s ability to now put on the suit. It could have saved the film from total and utter failure if the writers dared to ‘go there’… but no, they bring Rhino in with ten minutes left (who also ludicrously announces his name) to have a shootout with cops, not kill cops when a random kid appears (arguably the worst part of the film), not shoot at Spider-Man once despite showing a proclivity to do so just moments earlier, and engaging in a slow mo battle we’ve seen countless times before.

On to director Marc Webb, the man who manages to make modern CGI sequences look more dated than when Sam Raimi was doing it over a decade ago. Can someone tell Mr Webb that slow-mo then normal speed then back to slow-mo may have been cool in 1999 and since then was, at best, used by directors to show off then-new tricks but no one is buying it now. Add to this an obnoxiously loud and needlessly bombastic opening sequence which should have been handled in quiet, sinister manner, the needless destruction of several parts of New York in both his films (how original!), and an uncanny knack to make every scene as visually unappealing as possible despite all the money he can throw at it, and you have a catalyst for an extremely poorly directed film in every respect.

Webb is actively regressing the state of modern cinema with his ideas of action set pieces and the outstanding lack of tension and excitement he is able to make (or not, as the case is). It’s the clear sign of a man who had exhausted all ideas two years ago, a list which could be written on the back of a postage stamp.

What really baffles me are the same questions which I asked two years ago; why are Sony treating the character with such disrespect (filmically speaking) when Sam Raimi already gave us two awesome pictures and was keen on making amends for the terrible third? These films from Webb may well take lots of money, but they won’t be remembered a month after they open because, quite frankly, they are crap. In the context of superhero films these are right at the bottom, and that’s not where a character as great as Spider-Man belongs but is where he has been unceremoniously dumped. Shame on everyone involved for this is a very, very bad film.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★

Rohan Morbey – follow me on Twitter.

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First poster and trailer for Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys

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Warner Bros. has released the first poster and trailer for director Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys, and we’ve got them for you right here…

Jersey Boys poster

Jersey Boys chronicles the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from “the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey and their rise to forming the iconic 60s rock group”. John Lloyd Young (Oy Vey My Son is Gay) reprises his Broadway role as Frankie Valli alongside Erich Bergen (How Sweet It Is), Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire) and newcomer Michael Lomenda as Four Seasons members Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito. Also featuring in the cast is Christopher Walken (A Late Quartet). The film is set for release on June 20th.

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Final season of Glee will see big changes

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glee_green_1280x1024The Fox series Glee has gone through a lot over the past year or so. Series regular Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, sadly died last July and the series has seen record lows in its ratings over this past season. However, the show still has one final season after its current season and creator Ryan Murphy plans on some changes.

Next season will see the show move away from its New York setting and will also jump in time. Murphy hasn’t revealed where the new setting will be but it certainly won’t take place in New York or Lima, where the show started out. He also hasn’t revealed how long of a jump in time there will be but the current season’s finale will apparently have something big happen that sets things up for the final season.

It would seem that the show was probably going to go in a different direction before the death of Monteith, with Finn eventually taking over the Glee club for Mr. Shuester (Matthew Morrison) and so on. But now with Finn out of the picture it gives the writers room to be a little more creative with how to end the series other than the way they were more than likely going to end it. It’s good to see that the show will see some changes because they have been long overdue.

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Book Review – Afterparty by Daryl Gregory

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Villordsutch reviews Afterparty by Daryl Gregory…

afterpartyIf you wanted to be glib about this book you could say it’s a basic gumshoe novel of woman who thought she was out of the world of Numinous (brain altering drug) and was dragged back in due to the suicide of young teenage girl on said drug.  However, if you’re being glib about this novel you’re a fool as this book is far, far more than a mere gumshoe novel.  This is a novel is a Detective, Thriller, Science-Fiction, Tragedy, Comedy, Social Commentary and Angel Sword Wielding novel all rolled up into one.  Granted only Lyda can see the sword wielding angel but it’s in there.

Lyda is a sharp-tongued psychiatric patient and she is currently detained as she was one of the four people involved in the drug-induced brutal murder of her wife; her wife who had spiked, with a brain altering drug, the champagne drank by the four people accused of murdering her.  The drug in question is Numinous, a drug that can make people feel so happy and well with themselves they believe they can see and converse with their God – even Atheists such as Lyda.  When a teenage girl is brought into the detention facility with Lyda and shows the signs of withdrawal symptoms of the previously unreleased Numinous and then kills herself, Lyda decides she needs to find out who’s making the drug and put a stop to its production quickly.

Set just far enough into our near-future to have its foot planted in the believable we see Neo-religions appearing in abandoned shopping centres, “Chemjets” that “print” recreational drugs with recipes being found easily on the internet, prostitutes that can send their profiles wirelessly to would be buyers cars as they drive by, the use of drugs in society has become the norm for work related tasks and unfortunately the by-product of this is the burnout people suffer pushing themselves too far on said drugs.

Afterparty’s tragicomedy doesn’t however grab you by the neck and scream its sermons in your face, demanding you pay attention.  Instead they are delivered within a number of different parcels from very smart humour, occasionally crude humour too, cutting wit and situations which can be heart-warming or breaking and when the PTSD, agoraphobic cowboy appears it’s neck breaking or suffocating.  Along with that we also have an amazing array of players acting as mirrors for us, andsome are fantastic: Millies who are a Millionaire female Afghan drug club, started by non-profit, Canadian, charitable donations when they were forced to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban moved back in, in 2020.

It’s been a while since I have read a book which has left me smiling every time it’s wandered into my head, with its humour and its take on both society and religion.  Normally when a book wades in on both the two big’uns of “Society and Religion” it’s a pitiful attempt and it feels like you’re being spoken to be a misinformed fourteen year old, angry at their parents for choosing a PS4 instead of an Xbox One, or so heavy on the preaching you need to take a shower afterwards, but with Afterparty you come away smiling to yourself and feel that bit more informed, like you’ve just sat in on a very humourous debate, but with more Angels and ex-CIA agents than usual.

Definitely a book you need to buy and of course read.

Afterparty is released on the 22nd April 2014 through Tor books.

Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. poster for ‘The Only Light in the Darkness’

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Yesterday we brought you a promo and selection of stills from Tuesday’s episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., entitled ‘The Only Light in the Darkness’, and now we have the latest ‘Art of Level Seven’ poster courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, which has been produced by Pascal Campion…

agents of shield poster the only light in the darkness

‘The Only Light In The Darkness’ – With their world turned upside down, Coulson races to save the life of his one true love as the mystery of “The Cellist,” which began in Marvel’s The Avengers, is finally revealed on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., TUESDAY, APRIL 22 (8:00-9:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons.

Guest starring are Bill Paxton as Agent John Garrett, Patrick Brennan as Marcus Daniels, Amy Acker as Audrey, B.J. Britt as Agent Antoine Triplett, and Patton Oswalt as Agent Koenig.

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Flash Gordon getting a reboot courtesy of Star Trek 3 screenwriters

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Flash GordonGordon’s alive! It looks like pulp sci-fi hero Flash Gordon is heading back to the big screen, with Film Divider reporting that Star Trek 3 screenwriters J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are working on a reboot of Alex Raymond’s classic character.

According to the site, the duo’s pitch “goes right back to the original Raymond comic strips and sidesteps any association with the [1980] movie, and even the serials. The idea, I’m told, is to reclaim Flash Gordon from his current reputation in the way that Tim Burton redirected the public conception of Batman.

There have been numerous adaptation of Flash Gordon on the screen, dating back to the 1930s, although the character is best known for the 1980 movie starring Sam J. Jones as Flash and Max von Sydow as his arch-enemy Ming the Merciless. He was last seen back in 2007-2008, with Eric Johnson (Smallville) playing the character in a short-lived live-action TV series on Sci Fi.

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Bates Motel Season 2 – Episode 7 Review

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Alice Rush reviews the seventh episode of Bates Motel season 2…

bates_motel_2-7This week on Bates Motel saw characters leave, the tension between Norma and Norman escalate to breaking point and a shocking revelation. And yet it still managed to feel repetitive and slow. The overarching storylines that Bates has been tackling in this season have been pretty interesting and intense on the whole, but each episode is beginning to feel very similar with regards to structure and scenes. Too much time is given over to argument sequences between Norman and Norma or standoffs between Dylan and Zane which are, quite frankly, just getting dull. What started off as a promising season has degenerated into a repetitive pattern in which its only saving grace is the golden 20 seconds at the end of an episode that throws a spanner in the works. However, said spanner is never as dramatically dealt with in the next episode as it could be.

After last week saw Norman inadvertently cause Cody’s father’s death most of the episode this week takes place in the police station where he is being held. Predictably Norma turns up ranting, raving and almost close to tears about not being able to see him, but you can’t really blame her when she knows what Norman is capable of when he blacks out. This is what leads her to believe that it wasn’t an accident and that the blackouts were the cause of Cody’s father’s death so takes it into her own hands to warn Cody about mentioning the blackouts to the police. She doesn’t tell the police, but she does tell Norman just before she leaves White Pine Bay for good. It’s a shame that she seems to be leaving so soon after being introduced as she was always an interesting character with a different edge. The supporting characters all seem to have a rather short shelf life in this show and only stand there to further the Bates’ own family plot, serving little other value or adding to the surrounding dynamic of the show. Characters like Emma and Sheriff Romero have a more important part to play but they are never fully given the space to expand and evolve as characters as so much air time is given solely to Norman and Norma.

Removed completely from this storyline, Dylan is in trouble this week after Zane finds out about his sister’s plan to have Dylan keep an eye on how he runs the business. After meeting with some shady people he forces Dylan and Remo on a night drive with them in which they end up at Nick Ford’s warehouse. Dylan protests about storming in and wrecking the place as he’s worried that the violence will only escalate, but Zane refuses to listen to him and instead knocks him unconscious as the rest of the group run in all guns blazing. Hopefully this direct attack will have a real impact on the business as well as the town, as up until now it’s been a bit of a background part with no real drama or importance.

The real juicy bit from this episode was saved till the last 20 seconds yet again. Though Romero reveals that Norman will not be charged for the accidental death of Cody’s father, after his Deputy logs Norman’s DNA into the system it brings up a match to the unidentified semen found in Miss Watson’s body. So not only are we about to get a deeper look into Norman’s psyche and no doubt see it unravel but Romero now holds a vital bit of information that could not only tear the Bates’ apart but the town as well seeing as Miss Watson was Nick Ford’s daughter.

With only three episodes to go I’m hoping that the pace is going to get much quicker and that there is more action and less talking. I am a huge fan of the intimate scenes between Norman and Norma as they reveal so much about each of the dysfunctional characters but it’s time to see some fireworks in White Pine Bay.

Alice Rush

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New teaser and image from Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain

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FX has released a new promo and image from The Strain, the upcoming series from Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim) and Carlton Cuse (Lost), which is based on a trilogy of vampire novels by del Toro and Chuck Hogan (The Town). The promo gives us a glimpse at the worm responsible for spreading the virus at the heart of the story, while the image features Corey Stoll (House of Cards) in the lead role as Dr. Ephraim Goodweather…

Corey-Stoll-as-Dr.-Goodweather-in-The-Strain

The Strain follows Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City, as he and his team investigate what appears to be an outbreak of vampirism. They soon need to fight for the fate of humanity itself.

The Strain is set to premiere on FX this July, with a cast that also includes David Bradley (Game of Thrones), Kevin Durand (Fruitvale Station), Mia Maestro (Alias), Jonathan Hyde (Titanic), Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings), Richard Sammel (Inglourious Basterds), Doug Jones (Hellboy), and Robert Maillet (Pacific Rim).

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Second Opinion – Locke (2013)

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Locke, 2013.

Directed by Steven Knight.
Starring Tom Hardy, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott and Olivia Coleman.

Locke Poster

SYNOPSIS:

A successful construction manager’s life is drastically changed by a series of phone calls while he drives.

Tom Hardy in Locke

Ivan Locke gets in his BMW X5 one evening in Birmingham and he sets off on a journey to London. Over the course of the 90 minutes he expects to be in his car, he knows he has to make some phone calls and these phone calls will change his life forever. Locke knows this, he is prepared for it, and in this new film from Steven Knight the events unfold very nearly in real time in the confides of only Locke’s car with only actor Tom Hardy on screen for the duration of the 90 minutes, making it one of the most compelling, engrossing and (crucially) realistic experiences I have seen for quite some time.

In reviewing Locke I think it helps to clarify what it is not, should the film’s promotional materials set expectations which may go unfulfilled. It is not ‘Phone Booth in a car’ nor is it a race-against-time thriller where every second counts to reach a destination before someone dies; Ivan Locke is not a reluctant hero nor does he turn into an expert high-speed racer in the final act. He is just a man like anyone else and like anyone else he makes mistakes but what drives this film is Locke’s personal mission to do what he believes is the right thing.

Watching the film I asked myself if I would have done the same thing if I found myself in Locke’s unenviable position, and the answer is that I really don’t know. What I do know is the screenplay is a masterclass in how to create, build, and sustain an engrossing scenario for the audience without ever sacrificing believability or asking us to ‘just go with it’. Every plot development is organic, stemming from Locke’s decision to make this journey but soon enough through the course of the journey and many phone calls the lives of several people are changed forever and only Locke is to blame. Part of what makes the film so compelling is how Locke never shifts the blame nor asks for forgiveness, he is accepting his fate from the moment he gets in the car despite the lies he could have told to maintain his current lifestyle. I don’t recall a character who is given seldom few likable qualities in a film yet is neither a ‘bad guy’ nor sympathetic; he is just Ivan Locke and this is the decision he has taken based on the actions he has made. He doesn’t want your forgiveness.

Despite the unique (at least it is to me) premise, the film would be nothing if it were not for both a powerhouse, one-man tour de force performance by Tom Hardy and the ability of director Steven Knight to ensure his film is consistently interesting to look at, which is no mean feat considering the options, other than Tom Hardy’s face, are the interior of a BMW X5, the motorways of the UK, and streetlights. You wouldn’t imagine this could make for both a compelling and visually interesting experience but Knight has made a film which delivers in both areas; the lights on the motorway take on a hypnotic effect, blending into one another and floating across the windscreen and Hardy’s face like his only companion on this lonely journey, whereas the display of the car’s hands free phone system soon makes it own tension once the familiar names pop up and we know what situation Locke must now confront. My favourite scene is when Locke first speaks to his wife and how Knight places Hardy’s face to the far left of the screen leaving three-quarters of the screen in darkness, forcing his character into a literal and proverbial corner and making him look, for that moment, detached from everything else in the world.

I love films which give me a new experience, introduce me to a different kind of leading character with a strange moral code, and take me on a journey on which I don’t know how it will end or even how I want it to end. Locke is minimalist, art house cinema at its best and it’s exactly what I look forward to from today’s exciting new film makers. I can barely fault it.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★  / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Rohan Morbey - follow me on Twitter.

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Steven Spielberg attached to The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

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Steven-Spielberg1Steven Spielberg has added a new project to his upcoming slate, with Variety reporting that he’s attached himself to the religious drama The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, which is currently being written by Tony Kushner (Munich, Lincoln).

According to the report, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara is based on a nonfiction book by David Kertzer and tells the “true-life story of an Italian Jew who became the center of an international controversy in 1858 when he was removed from his parents at the age of 7 by authorities of the Papal States and raised as a Catholic. He went on to become a priest in the Augustinian order.”

It’s said that Spielberg will produce the film, and may also direct, although his next directorial offering is thought to be between Robopocalypse and Montezuma, with Robopocalypse the front runner. Chris Hemsworth is attached to star in the adaptation of the sci-fi novel by Daniel H. Wilson, assuming he can fit it into his schedule after completing work on Avengers: Age of Ultron.

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Pierce Brosnan says he “was never good enough” as Bond

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Pierce Brosnan as James BondDuring an interview with The Daily Telegraph to promote his new film The Love Punch, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan has been reminiscing about his time as James Bond, stating that he is unable to watch himself as 007 as he was “never good enough”.

“I felt I was caught in a time warp between Roger and Sean,” says Brosnan, who played Bond in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. “It was a very hard one to grasp the meaning of, for me. The violence was never real, the brute force of the man was never palpable. It was quite tame, and the characterisation didn’t have a follow-through of reality, it was surface. But then that might have had to do with my own insecurities in playing him as well.”

How do you feel Brosnan stacked up as Bond? Let us know your thoughts…

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Arrow promo and images for ‘Seeing Red’

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Following on from this week’s episode ‘The Man Under the Hood’ [read our review here], The CW has released two promos and a batch of images from the next instalment of Arrow, entitled ‘Seeing Red’, which we’ve got for you here…

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ROY SPINS OUT OF CONTROL – The mirakuru sends Roy (Colton Haynes) into an uncontrollable rage and he unleashes on the city. After Roy’s deadly fight with a police officer, Oliver (Stephen Amell) realizes the mirakuru has taken over Roy completely and must figure out a way to stop him. Things get more complicated after Sara (Caity Lotz) declares that Roy is too far gone and the only way to stop him is to kill him. Meanwhile, Thea (Willa Holland) believes she can breakthrough to Roy so she goes on camera at Moira’s (Susanna Thompson) campaign rally to lure him to Verdant. Her ploy works but after Roy attacks Thea, Team Arrow unleashes on him.

‘Seeing Red’ airs next Wednesday, April 23rd.

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The Amazing Spider-Man producers rule out Avengers crossover until “we’ve run out of ideas”

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Spider-Man and The AvengersDespite the fact that Sony has laid out the future of its Spider-Man franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 4, Venom and The Sinister Six, and Marvel Studios having reportedly mapped out the Marvel Cinematic Universe until 2028, it’s the question that just won’t go away… will we see Andrew Garfield’s wall-crawler appearing alongside The Avengers?

Marvel Studios may have kept quiet on the issue, but we’ve heard several comments from the likes of Garfield, director Marc Webb and others affiliated with the Spidey franchise raising hopes that we may get to see the big Marvel crossover one day. However, according to producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, it’s not going to happen until the Sony franchise has “run out of ideas”.

“I think I’m probably a little bit of the militant here,” Arad told IGN (via CBM). “I think it will take a moment in which we’ve run out of ideas. There’s so much to tell about Spider-Man. There’s so much to tell about The Sinister Six. The relationship between Spider-Man and Venom will bring a whole other world in.”

Tolmach went into a little more detail, stating that: “Avi always refers to that question as a stunt. If you were to do that, you know, Spider-man in The Avengers is a stunt. And I get why everybody – you know, fans and audience members and movie goers – I understand it. When you think about the Sinister Six and you think about Venom and you think about Carnage and you think about Spider-man in whatever way you want in association with those movies, they feel like they’re built for Spider-Man. Like that’s where his story needs to go and wants to go, and it has to be about more than a stunt. Stunts can be cool but its also a business, and so the other side of the answer is they’re owned by different companies. And there’s a ton left in Sony’s world – there’s a lot of business left because there’s a lot of story left. So for them to want to take this character and put it with Marvel and Disney is a huge undertaking and probably, as Avis’ saying, isn’t necessary until you feel like, ‘Wow, we’re sort of out of ideas. what should we do?’ And we’re far from out of ideas.”

So, I guess we can rule out the possibility of seeing Andrew Garfield lining up alongside the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, but let’s face it… was it ever really going to happen anyway?

 

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