Monthly Archives: March 2016
How Civil War is a Captain America Movie, Not an Avengers Movie
I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of cool things doing this job, but I have to say that as a lifelong Marvel Comics fan, one of the biggest “Wow, is that really happening right in front of me?” moments took place on the set of Captain America: Civil War, as I watched Captain America, the Winter Soldier, the Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant-Man run into battle together.
It was a blazing hot June day in Atlanta, with temperatures above 100 degrees, and the awesomeness of this superhero gathering didn't change how incredibly uncomfortable it had to be running around in those elaborate, layered costumes and, for some, masks. In-between takes, cold compresses were applied to the back of cast members’ necks and, for some, tubes could be hooked up to feed air conditioning into their suits. But then would come another take and Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner and, well, whoever was inside the Ant-Man suit at that moment (Paul Rudd was there for filming that day as well, but not needed inside the enclosed Ant-Man mask for this shot) would run forward together and it would be thrilling – something reinforced when the film’s trailer included pieces of this scene and the sight of Falcon and Scarlet Witch taking flight (obviously added later), as Cap’s team faced Iron Man and a group that includes Black Widow, War Machine, Vision and Black Panther.
New J.K. Rowling Stories to Explain History of Magic in North America
As a lead-in to the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, four original stories from J.K. Rowling will be debuting this week on Pottermore, focusing on the American side of the Wizarding World that was never explored in the Harry Potter novels or films.
According to Entertainment Weekly, The History of Magic in North America series will fill in a lot of the backstory of the world seen in Fantastic Beasts, which is set in New York in the 1920s.
EW also debuted a special video preview for the new Wizarding World stories, which you can check out below.
Monster Hunter Generations Release Date Possibly Leaked
Monster Hunter Generations could be headed West on July 31.
Monster Hunter X, which will be called Generations when it is eventually released in the West, is due out this summer. An Amazon listing suggests the release date could be July 31.
Monster Hunter X launched last year in Japan, and had sold over 3 million units by the end of December.
The 100: A Few More Thoughts on Last Week’s Episode
Warning: Full spoilers for The 100: “Thirteen” below.
One more spoiler warning, given how big these events were for The 100…
I wrote my review of The 100’s “Thirteen” episode last week and posted an accompanying video reaction (see below). But that was all done the morning after I’d first seen the episode – and several days before it aired and the audience reaction came pouring in.
And the reaction has been notable, to say the least. Many fans are sad, many are angry and some are outright furious (and a small handful have taken to making threats against The 100 writers, which, it should go without saying, is clearly crossing a line).
The Division Mission Count Revealed by Data Miners
An enormous amount of information has been apparently datamined from Tom Clancy's The Division's game files, exposing missions, weapons, and more. If you don't want anything spoiled, I'd advise you to stop reading now.
Reddit user itsgamerdoc has found 26 missions in the base game, as well as information on cut-scenes, weaponry, boss fights and more. The list of (unverified) missions reveal quite a bit about the story - check em all out here - including a bunch of references to Brooklyn, a location that will reportedly not be available at The Division's launch. Two DLC missions have also been dug up: 'The Drones' and 'Kill the Tank'.
5 Reasons We Want to Go Back to WWI for Battlefield 5
It wasn’t so long ago that Battlefield’s biggest competitor, Call of Duty, looked like it was heading back to the trenches of World War II. History showed it wasn’t meant to be, as Treyarch continued to push Call of Duty and the Black Ops sub-franchise back into the future. But there’s really only so far Call of Duty can travel into tomorrow before it becomes more about lasers and less about ballistics.
This is where the Battlefield franchise has the chance to reverse the polarity of the contemporary combat flow and rewind the series back into a mostly unexplored era for gaming: World War I. And if the recent rumours prove true, that’s exactly where Battlefield is heading next.
Zootopia Tops Frozen as Biggest Disney Animation Debut
Disney's Zootopia opened to massive success this weekend, bringing in nearly $74 million in revenue.
Directed by Byron Howard (Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It-Ralph), Zootopia is a classic whodunit film that centers on rabbit Judy Hopps—voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin—as she follows her dream to become a big city cop. Along the way, she meets con-artist fox Nick Wilde—voiced by Jason Bateman—who helps her uncover an alarming conspiracy.
While Zootopia's opening does not topple Pixar's top debut numbers, the animated story has taken down Frozen for the title of largest Disney Animation opening. Frozen, which bowed in 2012, opened to just over $67 million in revenue.
Zootopia is projected to continue its success, as no major family friendly movies are opening until The Jungle Book debuts April 15.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Drops Out of Sandman Movie
Following the news of Eric Heisserer's involvement in The Sandman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- who was set to star in and direct the film -- has exited the project.
In a post to his Facebook page, Gordon-Levitt cited Warner Bros. decision to move its catalog of Vertigo comics to its subsidiary New Line Cinema as a key issue.
Gordon-Levitt "came to realize" that his ideas didn't line up with New Line's, and decided to remove himself from the film.
The Dark Knight Rises and Looper star added he wishes "nothing but the best" for The Sandman team as they move forward with the project.
House of Cards: Season 4 Spoiler Discussion
This is a full-on spoiler discussion for those who have watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards: Season 4. For our spoiler-free review of the season, click here.
Back in my full season review, I mentioned how the season was sort of fragmented. In a good way. It's all one long campaign trail, sure, but there are pull-out stories that provided more wicked weigh-stations than there were Season 3. The first six episodes, in fact, were all about the rift between Frank and Claire and how Frank's near-fatal shooting at the hands of a pushed-to-the-edge Lucas brought them back together. By allowing Frank to sit with vivid hallucinations for weeks and come to the realization that he needed Claire more than she needed him. And by allowing Claire to, essentially, take the reins of the presidency by subtly seducing (not sexually), and pushing, a weak-willed Blythe (Reed Birney) into a big power move against Petrov. Which gave her the taste of control she wanted while also instilling her with confidence.
Bates Motel Leans into Psycho’s “Impending Doom”
Full spoilers for the first three seasons of Bates Motel continue below.
The closer Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) gets to Mother on Bates Motel, the more troubled his relationship with his actual mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) is going to become.
When Bates Motel returns with Season 4 on March 7, it's going to be picking up not long after Norman's huge Season 3 finale mental break where he fully took on the Mother persona and killed Bradley (Nicola Peltz). That's the starting point for a big emotional schism between Norman and his actual mother, who is struggling to do right by her special needs child.
Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates on Bates Motel