Monthly Archives: November 2016
Suicide Squad Extended Cut Fleshes Out Joker and Harley Quinn But Not Much Else
The Suicide Squad Extended Cut contains 11 extra minutes of footage, but is that enough to make the divisive movie any better? Unless your name is Harley Quinn, no, not really.
This article is solely focused on whether the Extended Edition makes Suicide Squad a better film and what new material appears in this version. Check out my review of the Suicide Squad theatrical release for my full thoughts and the film’s critical score.
Warning: beware of spoilers for Suicide Squad!
Suicide Squad’s main problems had to do with the clunky story, mishandling of key characters, and the use of a dozen too-many pop songs that made it feel like a feature length trailer more than a cohesive film. The addition of a few cut scenes and putting some lines of dialogue back in doesn’t change any of that.
What the Heck Happened to Harley Quinn?
Harley Quinn experienced a big change in the newest issue of Suicide Squad.
Warning: this issue contains spoilers for Suicide Squad #6!
As this issue proved, the members of Task Force X aren't doing so well since their recent mission in Siberia. The mysterious artifact they brought back to ARGUS headquarters has begun influencing the minds of everyone in the base, causing the various Squad members to turn on each other in a bloodthirsty rampage. However, the orb didn't work as intended on one member. Harley Quinn is already insane, so it's mind-altering effects merely turned her sane instead. For the first time since her fateful encounter with Joker, Harley is back to being plain old Dr. Harleen Quinzel again.
Don’t Breathe Filmmakers Talk Sequel
Don't Breathe director Fede Alvarez and producer Sam Raimi have plans for a sequel to their acclaimed thriller.
At a lunch attended by IGN to celebrate the home home entertainment release of Don't Breathe on Digital November 8 and Blu-ray and DVD on November 2, the filmmakers talked about an idea for the sequel that could be "the greatest idea for a sequel" Raimi's ever heard.
"Right now we have Don't Breathe 2 as something we really want to do", said Alvarez. "The challenge obviously is we just don't want to do the same movie again and just have 2 in it. We'll feel so embarrassed if we do that. At first our reaction when they told us was no no no no no that's Hollywood, that's the devil pushing us to do something just because we can. And then we had an idea that we got really excited about, we won't tell you what it is, it'll spoil the whole thing..."
Director Promises ‘Sordid’ Dragon Tattoo Sequel
IGN was among the press outlets that attended an interview on Wednesday with director Fede Alvarez for the Blu-ray release of Don't Breathe, during which time the press also asked about the news that Alvarez was attached to helm The Girl in the Spider's Web, Sony's sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
David Fincher directed the 2011 American adaptation of Dragon Tattoo, but the film's lukewarm reception has long stalled Sony's plans to adapt the second and third books for the screen. The Girl in The Spider's Web is based on the novel by David Lagercrantz (who took over the series after original author Stieg Larsson died). The story follows hacker Lizbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist as they uncover a web of government spies.
Could Super Mario Run Become the Best-Selling Mario Game?
Mario is finally making his mobile debut next month with Super Mario Run. With more than 2.5 billion iOS and Android devices out there, could the game become the best-selling Mario game ever made?
The short answer is... no. Probably not. But as always, it's a little more nuanced once you dig into it. To start, let's take a look at the current standings for best-selling Mario games:
- 1) Super Mario Bros. (1985) - 40.24 million
- 2) New Super Mario Bros. (2010) - 30.79 million
- 3) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) - 29.32 million
- 4) Super Mario World (1990) - 21.11 million
- 5) Super Mario Land (1989) - 18.06 million
Westworld: New Images Show Bernard Getting Answers
Last week's Westworld episode, "Trompe L'Oeil," ended with a huge revelation about one of the show's main characters - one with major ramifications moving forward.
In this week's episode, "Trace Decay" -- airing Sunday, November 20th -- you can expect some serious fallout, and from the looks of the new image gallery for the episode, Jeffrey Wright's Bernard is about to get a big explanation from Anthony Hopkins' Dr. Ford. Take a look!
The official synopsis for "Trace Decay" reads:
Teddy is disturbed by painful memories; Maeve hopes for a change in her script; Dolores has trouble separating her dreams from reality; Bernard is ordered to return to business as usual; the Man in Black looks to the past to explain the present.
Justice League Dark: Release Date, Box Art Revealed
Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment's new animated film Justice League Dark will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 7, 2017.
The Deluxe Giftset Blu-ray release features an exclusive Constantine figurine and plenty of bonus content—including several featurettes, an early glimpse at the next DC Universe Original Movie, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, and sneak peeks at Justice League: Gods and Monsters and Justice League: Doom—for a suggested retail price of $39.99.
Additionally, a Blu-ray Combo Pack and standard DVD option will be available for $24.98 and $19.98, respectively. The former includes all of the aforementioned content except the figure, while the DVD version just includes the bonus sneak peek at The Judas Contract. Check out the official box art for the R-rated animated feature below.
Nintendo Bans Pokemon Sun and Moon Pirates From Online 3DS Functionality
Players who downloaded pirated copies of Pokemon Sun and Moon are having their 3DS systems banned from all of Nintendo's online services.
As spotted by Kotaku, users with pirated Pokemon copies began posting to online forums like 4Chan claiming that after playing online for some time, they were unable to play Pokemon Sun or Moon online. They also said that general online functions for the system, like connecting to the Nintendo eShop, were also not working.
The network-wide nature of the ban was then confirmed by an official Nintendo statement:
University Offers Simpsons Philosophy Course
This is no couch gag. The University of Glasgow in Scotland will offer a new course called D'Oh! The Simpsons Introduce Philosophy.
TheWrap reports professor John Donaldson is teaching the class about The Simpsons. Starting next year, the course -- which will cost £30 -- will include two sessions taking place January 21 and February 4.
The class description states: "The Simpsons is one of the modern world’s greatest cultural artifacts partly because it is so full of philosophy. Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Camus and many other great thinkers’ ideas are represented in what is arguably the purest of philosophical forms: the comic cartoon."
The 100, Riverdale, iZombie Premiere Dates Announced
The CW has released its full midseason schedule, revealing the premiere dates for their Archie-based series, Riverdale, The 100: Season 4, iZombie: Season 3, The Originals: Season 4, and Reign: Season 4.
Riverdale will makes its debut on Thursday, January 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The following week, The 100 will make its highly anticipated return on Wednesday, February 1 at 9 p.m. The season premiere of Reign will air on Friday, February 10, while iZombie is scheduled to make its return later in the spring, on Tuesday, April 4.
The Originals will return on Friday, March 17th, taking the place of The Vampire Diaries, which will air its series finale on Friday, March 10th.