Okay, so maybe Robert Downey Jr. IS actually finished as Tony Stark. Despite a recent claim by Jeff Goldblum that Downey would be returning to voice Iron Man in an episode of the Disney+ series What If?, a new report from TheWrap says otherwise.
Disney had never bothered to respond to Goldblum’s statement, but a source close to the production has said he misspoke and that Downey is not involved with What If? in any capacity. Disappointing, because it meant Downey’s appearance in Avengers: Endgame wouldn’t be the end of his time in the MCU.
Downey’s name was noticeably absent during Marvel’s big reveal of the animated series at San Diego Comic-Con, but I think we all just assumed he’d return. Most the MCU’s biggest stars have agreed to voice their live-action characters in the show which presents alternate reality versions of major Marvel events.
There’s still plenty of time for this to change, though. What If? doesn’t arrive until 2021 and maybe Downey will get the urge to play hero once again
Rumors have persisted that Matt Reeves’ The Batman will be based, at least in some part, on the classic story The Long Halloween. Some fuel may have ben added to that fire with the casting of John Turturro as Gotham City crime boss Carmine Falcone, along with the sheer volume of villains we already know will be showing up.
The news comes from Reeves himself, who referenced Turturro’s unforgettable role as Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski when making the announcement…
Falcone, who was played by Tom Wilkinson in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, is leader of the Falcone Crime Family and a frequent nemesis of Batman’s. However, the Wayne Family is very close to the Falcone’s, thanks to a friendship forged early on between Bruce Wayne and Carmine Falcon’s fathers.
Turturro joins Robert Pattinson who takes over as Batman, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, Colin Farrell as Penguin, and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth. The Batman opens on June 25th 2021. Turturro recently revisited the role of Jesus Quintana in The Jesus Rolls, which had its world premiere last month.
Never fear, the Baby Yoda merch is here. Or at least it will be soon now that Disney has declared the adorable little Force-user is no longer a spoiler. That Jon Favreau and Co. were able to keep him secret through to The Mandalorian‘s first episode is extraordinary, especially when you consider most spoilers happen now because of early toy and merchandise previews.
Turns out, Favreau had to pull some serious strings with Disney to keep Baby Yoda hidden from the public, and that meant convincing them not to produce any toys or merchandise that would give it away. And this is the holiday season when that shit would sell like beskar steel to a Mandalorian. Favreau tells ET…
“I have to thank Disney and Lucasfilm because the way the cat usually gets out of the bag with that stuff is merchandising and toy catalogs and things like that. So they really backed us up because we really wanted to have it be that you had to watch it yourself, so that every time you watch the show, there are new twists and secrets that come out.”
He continued, “But that requires a lot of restraint from the people who are footing the bill, saying they’re gonna hold back on certain things so that the public doesn’t know ahead of time. Part of that was holding back on some of the merchandise and holding back on some of the characters.”
It used to be that if you wanted the hottest, most exclusive toy you had to actually accomplish things like collect cereal box labels or send in the UPC code from a certain number of GI Joe figures. I had to work my ass off to get that special edition William “Refrigerator” Perry action figure from Hasbro. Favreau remembers that shit, too, and is happy to put the current generation through just a small taste of that waiting game…
“Now you know what my generation went through because they didn’t have ‘Star Wars’ toys that first Christmas. I got a voucher for Christmas ‘77. There were commercials and I traded in the coupon and got them redeemed. So, that’s what it was like when I was a kid.”
Now that the secret is out you’re starting to see Baby Yoda apparel around on the Internet, and other merchandise will be made available soon, some as early as today. CNBC reports…
Apparel and accessories featuring the yet unnamed creature will soon be available through Amazon, Zazzle, Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Hot Topic and Box Lunch, a person familiar with the company plans said. These items could arrive as early as Friday.
Other products will also arrive at the Disney Store, ShopDisney and at the Disney Parks before the holidays. In addition, presales for toys and plush will be available in the coming weeks. It is uncertain when that merchandise will be shipped.
Just let me know when the Funko shop gets Baby Yoda on pre-order. He’s gotta come with his little egg carrier, too, right? Followed by a Mando/Baby Yoda combo, and if we’re all lucky a Werner Herzog/Baby Yoda exclusive Chase.
Titled “The Sin”, episode three of The Mandalorian fittingly explores Mando’s “betrayal” and his bounty of beskar steel (not unlike Judas’ 30 pieces of silver) received upon delivery of the package. That package is, of course, the cute and cuddly baby Yoda that is driving people nuts with Yoda madness right now. More information on what the Client (Werner Herzog) has planned for Yoda are hinted at, but also a deeper dive into Mandalorian culture than we’ve seen since in any live-action Star Wars film.
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni continue to cram a lot of information into each 30-minute episode, but I think Deborah Chow (who will direct the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series) handles it best of all the directors so far. The action moves swift, Yoda gets his share of time to be adorable, and every action leaves you on the edge of your seat with anticipation for what comes next.
Right off the bat, the question that has been dreading all of us gets answered. Will Mando (Pedro Pascal) REALLY hand baby Yoda over to the Client and Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) to have whatever done to him? “I don’t know if he wants to eat it or hang it on his wall”, is an unfortunate comment from Greef Kara (Carl Weathers), conjuring up all kinds of nasty images in mind. The answer is “Yes”, yes he will. And it’s awful to watch; the child’s sad, “You’re really gonna do this to me?” looks breaking your heart as Mando accepts payment for the delivery. Be prepared to really want Mando to tumble into his own personal sarlaac pit for a while, folks.
What comes next is, for me, the best part of this episode and the series thus far, as an entire tranche of beskar steel means a trip to the mysterious Armorer. Last episode’s battle with a Mudhorn has left Mando’s armor ruined, but now he’s got the beskar for a shiny new one (That’s going to be a new Funko, just you wait), with enough left over for the Foundlings. She also crafts him some of those cool “Whistling Bird” tracer missiles we’ve seen attached to his wrists. We also get a sense of the conflict within the protagonist as he dismisses a Mudhorn insignia by saying his victory wasn’t “clean” because he received help from an “enemy” who did not know he was an enemy, referring to baby Yoda. If you’re wondering how he could bear to turn baby Yoda over, this pretty much covers it. He saw the child not as just another bounty to be cashed in, but as an adversary.
Furthermore, we get a look at the rest of the hidden Mandalorian clan hidden underground, the result of a great purge by the Empire. A fleshing out of the flashbacks seen in previous episodes reveal Imperial battle droids slaughtering the Mandalorian people. It’s for this reason that we learn only one Mandalorian is allowed above ground at a time, while the others hide in the shadows. That’s some new information that explains so much. Believe it or not, we’re only about 10 minutes into this episode and already so much has been learned. It’s unclear when this Great Purge happened, perhaps at the same time the Jedi were destroyed during Order 66? The timing would make sense, and Palpatine would seek to destroy all potential threats to his rule.
Decked out in his shiny AF Mandalorian armor, Mando is scorned by everyone, but walks confidently to meet Greef for his next assignment. After some bragging, and an offer to hit up a space brothel for some R&R, Mando takes a job that will send him far away from any thoughts of what he’s done. But he can’t help himself and keeps asking questions about what Yoda’s fate will be, drawing suspicion from Guild members and others.
You can un-cancel those orders for Mandalorian action figures a few minutes later when he decides, literally seconds before takeoff, that he can’t leave his little pal behind. Returning to the Client’s hideout, he overhears a conversation about extracting the “necessary material”, which I think lends credence to any “cloning” theories out there, and decides enough is enough. Busting in and taking out a few lame Stormtroopers, Mando finally finds baby Yoda with Dr. Pershing who, surprise, may not be the bad guy we think he is. He instead acts to protect the child, thinking the Mandalorian is there to kill it. That said, Pershing might’ve been lying so as not to be shot full of holes, or perhaps he has a larger mission in mind that we know nothing about?
The Mandalorian has betrayed his oath as a bounty hunter, which I guess makes for his next sin of the episode, although it’s done to stick with his personal code. Unfortunately for him, his actions have every bounty hunter on the planet after him, and they track him down, led by Greef, just as he reaches the Razor Crest. A fierce firefight breaks out, and just as it appears all hope is lost, the rest of his Mandalorian clan emerge, ready for battle. Outside of the animated shows we’ve never seen this many Mandalorians together before and it’s quite the sight. Their emergence from hiding means they will have to find a new hiding place, but it shows the Mandalorians may be small in number, but their loyalty to one another is stronger than ever.
The episode ends with Mando offering Yoda his favorite toy, the knob from a ship’s lever. Everything is right again, but clearly that won’t last. Every episode has changed the show’s dynamic in some crucial way, and now with “The Sin” we see the predator become the prey. I won’t be surprised if it becomes something entirely different next week, but whatever it becomes I’m fully aboard to see how it plays out.
The trick for any modern Jane Austen adaptation is to make them feel current without losing the period values that made them so popular. Jane Austen’s comic novel Emma is a popular choice to be adapted, most notably with the 1995 high school comedy classic Clueless and the 1996 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Now a new version led by The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy looks to hit the same witty sweetspot as last year’s acclaimed comedy, The Favourite.
Emma stars Taylor-Joy as Austen’s titular rambunctious heroine, in a bold new adaptation by first-time feature director Autumn de Wilde. Wilde has largely worked on music videos and indie rock photography, bringing some of that rock star edge which could help separate this version from the many that came before it.
SYNOPSIS: Jane Austen’s beloved comedy about finding your equal and earning your happy ending, is reimagined in this delicious new film adaptation of EMMA. Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along.
Joining Taylor-Joy are Mia Goth, Bill Nighy, Johnny Flynn, Miranda Hart, Callum Turner, Josh O’Connor, Gemma Whelan, and Rupert Graves. Emma arrives in theaters on February 21st 2020.
It’s officially that time of year, Awards Season!! With their announcement this morning the Independent Spirit Awards kick of the first of many industry awards culminating with the Oscars (including our very own Washington Area Film Critics Awards)
The Spirit awards, whose nominees are limited to those with a budget of less then $22.5 million (knocking out big names like The Irishman) have been a fairly good indicator of what is going to be on the slate for that year’s Academy Awards not to mention bringing to light plenty of films that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve. A nomination here can be the launching pad for an Oscar campaign and a healthy box office.
The big surprise for those who haven’t been following film news as of late would be Adam Sandler’s nomination for his upcoming film Uncut Gems with a number of nominations for the film itself. Sandler is always supremely underrated as an actor due to his usual choice in roles, but the guy has the talent and, while I haven’t yet seen it, it would appear he’s unleashed that skill for this film. I also love that the Spirit awards have some fun categories, like ‘Best First Feature’. The big boys over at Oscars house really need to start paying attention to things like this if they want to inject some juice into their ratings. Check out the full list of nominees below and tune into the Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 8th, 2020
Best Feature A HIDDEN LIFE CLEMENCY THE FAREWELL MARRIAGE STORY UNCUT GEMS
Best Director Robert Eggers – THE LIGHTHOUSE Alma Har’el – HONEY BOY Julius Onah – LUCE Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS Lorene Scafaria – HUSTLERS
Best First Feature BOOKSMART THE CLIMB DIANE THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO THE MUSTANG SEE YOU YESTERDAY
Best Female Lead Karen Allen – COLEWELL Hong Chau – DRIVEWAYS Elisabeth Moss – HER SMELL Mary Kay Place – DIANE Alfre Woodard – CLEMENCY Renée Zellweger – JUDY
Best Male Lead Chris Galust – GIVE ME LIBERTY Kelvin Harrison Jr. – LUCE Robert Pattinson – THE LIGHTHOUSE Adam Sandler – UNCUT GEMS Matthias Schoenaerts – THE MUSTANG
Best Supporting Female Jennifer Lopez – HUSTLERS Taylor Russell – WAVES Zhao Shuzhen – THE FAREWELL Lauren “Lolo” Spencer – GIVE ME LIBERTY Octavia Spencer – LUCE
Best Supporting Male Willem Dafoe – THE LIGHTHOUSE Noah Jupe – HONEY BOY Shia Labeouf – HONEY BOY Jonathan Majors – THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO Wendell Pierce – BURNING CANE
Best Screenplay Noah Baumbach – MARRIAGE STORY Jason Begue, Shawn Snyder – TO DUST Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS Chinonye Chukwu – CLEMENCY Tarell Alvin Mccraney – HIGH FLYING BIRD
Best First Screenplay Fredrica Bailey, Stefon Bristol – SEE YOU YESTERDAY Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen – DRIVEWAYS Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy – BLOW THE MAN DOWN Jocelyn Deboer, Dawn Luebbe – GREENER GRASS James Montague, Craig W. Sanger – THE VAST OF NIGHT
Best Cinematography Todd Banhazl – HUSTLERS Jarin Blaschke – THE LIGHTHOUSE Natasha Braier – HONEY BOY Chananun Chotrungroj – THE THIRD WIFE Pawel Pogorzelski – MIDSOMMAR
Best Editing Julie Béziau – THE THIRD WIFE Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie – UNCUT GEMS Tyler L. Cook – SWORD OF TRUST Louise Ford – THE LIGHTHOUSE Kirill Mikhanovsky – GIVE ME LIBERTY
John Cassavetes Award BURNING CANE COLEWELL GIVE ME LIBERTY PREMATURE WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY
Robert Altman Award “Marriage Story”
Best Documentary AMERICAN FACTORY APOLLO 11 FOR SAMA HONEYLAND ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
Best International Film INVISIBLE LIFE, Brazil LES MISERABLES, France PARASITE, South Korea PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, France RETABLO, Peru THE SOUVENIR, United Kingdom
Piaget Producers Award Mollye Asher Krista Parris Ryan Zacarias
Someone to Watch Award Rashaad Ernesto Green – PREMATURE Ash Mayfair – THE THIRD WIFE Joe Talbot – THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
Truer Than Fiction Award Khalik Allah – BLACK MOTHER Davy Rothbart – 17 BLOCKS Nadia Shihab – JADDOLAND Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside – AMÉRICA
Annual Bonnie Award Marielle Heller Lulu Wang Kelly Reichardt
Next August it will have been 5 years since the horror community, and really Hollywood as a whole, lost a legend when Wes Craven passed away. It will also be 10 years since the less then favorably received remake, starting Jackie Earle Haley in the stripped sweater, was released. Word is now coming out that Craven’s estate has begun taking meetings to discuss the future of the famed franchise, and you know what? I’m pretty freakin’ happy about that. ANOES has one of the best untapped mythos of any property out there, and that’s AFTER 8 movies and a remake. There’s just so much to get into, from the events that turned Freddy into the dream stalker to the many ways one can be knocked off inside a dream. This may be counter to what I’d say about most properties, the mystery is what makes most of these guys special but I don’t think Freddy fits in that space. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees? Sure, mystery is the key word, but Freddy? That’s so much personality and story to be filled in a way that’s meant to be told.
The word from those horror mavens over at Bloody-Disgusting is that they aren’t just looking for film ideas but also exploring pitches for a series to air on HBOMax (oh great, another must have streaming service). We’ll have more on this as it comes out but for now, get your ambien ready and prepare to head to dreamtown, population. EVERYONE!
We all had a good laugh when Shuri called Martin Freeman “colonist” in Black Panther, but I don’t think the majority of folks knew what a evil moniker she was assigning to him. We know bad things happened and we know that Africa has long been plundered for its vast natural resources, but the details are where the devil lies, as they say.
Ben Affleck is gearing up to produce and direct the adaptation of King Leopold’s Ghost a fact-based story about a time when King Leopold became the richest man in the world by employing unspeakable violence and brutality against the people of the Congo in a bid to harvest all of their ivory and rubber. Affleck has shown he is more then capable of handling a story of this size and while it remains to be seen if he will be able to deliver it with the deft hand that will be required, and whether or not this should be a film directed by a person of color. Those things aside I think we can count on Affleck to deliver the depth and emotion required by this story.
This film is an account of the Congolese who defied Leopold II and fought back. Their heroic plight sparked a daring and unlikely alliance between a black American missionary, an English investigative journalist and an Irish spy that shone a light on the horrors and gave birth to the first human rights movement. Once photographs were made public, Leopold’s charade of spreading Christianity in the heart of darkness was exposed as a greedy ruse, and the king was assailed by the likes of Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, Arthur Conan Doyle and Joseph Conrad, whose disgust with Leopold’s “civilizing mission” led to writing Heart of Darkness.
I’m sorry….I promise not to clickbait you again, but I really couldn’t help myself. The returning character(s) are the porgs, and honestly I never would have noticed them if not for the good folks over at /Film (if you’re really interested their in the lower left behind BB8 and DIO). This glorious looking poster doesn’t really tell us anything new of note but I’m glad to see certain things are remaining at the forefront, like the Knights of Ren being included en mass. This may be the light side version of the poster, and I’m also probably looking way into things but it’s somewhat of note that Kylo Ren appears bathed in both Blue and Red (good and bad). His helmeted visage mostly blue while his silhouetted stance mostly red. This may seem like nothing but historically the line was literally drawn down the middle and the colors have revealed secrets in the past. I don’t think Ren’s loyalty being in question is a shock to anyone but this stands out as some obvious subliminal trickery.
While not quite having a moment like Stephen King adaptations are, the works of author Tom Clancy are definitely popular in Hollywood again. After a failed big screen reboot years ago, Jack Ryan is back with hit series over on Amazon Prime. Now, Michael B. Jordan is bringing another of Clancy’s literary heroes back in Without Remorse, with hopes of turning it into a franchise.
Jordan takes on the role of CIA operative John Clark, a former Navy Seal who takes a more aggressive approach than Jack Ryan. The character has crossed over into multiple Clancy projects. He was portrayed by Willem Dafoe in Clear and Present Danger, then by Liev Schreiber in The Sum of All Fears. He’s the main character of Clancy’s bestselling Rainbow Six novels and video games.
Without Remorse is basically an origin story, set before John Clark becomes the established, badass CIA agent seen across the Clancy-verse. It takes us back to John’s time as a Navy Seal, when he’s caught up in a conspiracy that ends in tragedy.
SYNOPSIS: His code name is Mr. Clark. His work for the CIA is brilliant, cold-blooded and efficient…But who is he really? In a harrowing tour de force, Tom Clancy shows how an ordinary man named John Kelly crossed the lines of justice and morality to become the CIA legend, Mr. Clark. It is an unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness. Without mercy. Without guilt. Without remorse.
The film is directed by Stefano Sollima, who directed Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Perhaps most intriguing is the script by Hell or High Water and Wind River‘s Taylor Sheridan. Clancy seems like just the right lane for Sheridan to be in if he’s not going to be doing his own original stuff.
