Monthly Archives: December 2019

The Biggest Missed Opportunity in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Warning: this article contains major spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker!

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was never going to be as good as fans wanted it to be. The pressure of wrapping up not just a trilogy of space fantasy blockbusters but an entire cinematic saga dating back 42 years is too much for any one film to realistically manage. Even so, The Rise of Skywalker is a sequel full of missed opportunities -- and perhaps nowhere is that more obvious than in how the movie wraps up the story of the Jedi.

When absorbed chronologically, the Skywalker Saga is a story about the failure of the Jedi. In Episode I we see the Jedi Order at the height of its power. Yet even as they sense the Dark Side growing in power, the Jedi simply watch, wait and put their faith in a vague prophecy about a Chosen One restoring balance to the Force. Their hubris is so great that the Jedi wind up losing the battle for the Republic -- and their lives -- before they even knew it was being fought.

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Celebrating the Best Decade in Pop Culture History

The 2010s will truly be a decade to remember. The Avengers made their big-screen debut. Batman and Superman fought each other over Gotham City. Wonder Woman lifted a tank. Comic-Con became a household name. The CW ushered in the age of the Arrowverse. Pokemon Go got the whole world on its feet. Star Wars said goodbye to the Skywalkers. And we all became obsessed with a little show called Game of Thrones.

Do you remember where you were when you found out that Spider-Man was coming to the MCU? Or what you were doing when Disney announced they were going to buy Lucasfilm and make more Star Wars movies? Did you weep playing Breath of the Wild on Switch for the first time? Did you cheer when Captain America wielded Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame? Did you download the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy after seeing the film? We did.

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Kevin Feige Says This Is the MCU’s Strongest Avenger

With Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe wrapped up, Kevin Feige has shed some light on who is the strongest Avenger in the MCU post-Endgame — and it might not be who you think.

Speaking at the New York Film Academy, Feige was asked who the strongest hero in the MCU was post-Endgame, according to CBR.com. "I think it's interesting if you look at Endgame, Wanda Maximoff was going to kill Thanos," said Feige. "That's as scared as I've ever seen Thanos, and if he hadn't said 'decimate my entire team to get her off of me,' I think she would have done it."

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Crystal Caves Show Sea Levels Were Raised 50 Feet During Warm Period in History

Global Warming seems like it's been a hot topic of discussion for the last couple of decades as we learn more about our environment and the impact we have on it as humans. Surprisingly, though, we're not even in the warmest period the Earth has seen, and now scientists may have a better understanding of what we're in for in the future.

According to a report by Science News, the Spanish Cuevas de Artà off the Balearic island of Mallorca has revealed mineral deposits that were the result of higher water levels from long ago. Scientists have dated these deposits to a time that could be over five million years old, a period known as the Pliocene Epoch.

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Uncharted Movie Loses Another Director Over Scheduling Issues With Spider-Man

Another director has left Sony’s live-action Uncharted film starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake. Travis Knight is the sixth director to leave the project since plans for the movie were started in 2011.

Deadline is reporting that Travis Knight, who previously directed the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, has left the project due to scheduling conflicts. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man schedule is forcing the production to crunch on Uncharted, which ultimately cost the studio Knight as the director.

Knight is the sixth director to leave the live-action Uncharted movie after Dan Tractenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) left in 2019, Shawn Levy (Free Guy) in 2018, Seth Gordon (Baywatch) in 2015, Neil Burger (Divergent) in 2012, and David O. Russell (American Hustle) in 2011.

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Syd Mead, Artist Behind Blade Runner, Dies

Visual concept artist and cyberpunk pioneer Syd Mead has passed away at the age of 86.

Known for creating the unique and dazzling worlds behind Blade Runner, Aliens, Tron, and countless other watershed sci-fi projects (including Johnny 5 from Short Circuit!), Mead designed some of the most iconic cinematic images of all time.

Mead kept busy through the decades, working as a conceptual artist on everything from Star Trek the Motion Picture and 2010 to '90s fare like Johnny Mnemonic and Strange Days. Even more recently, Mead lent his gifts to Elysium, Tomorrowland, and Blade Runner 2049 (where he designed the future Las Vegas).

The news of Mead's passing reportedly came from John McElroy of Autoline, who'd previously interviewed Mead on his podcast. Twitter is filled today with loving memories of Mead and heartfelt tributes to his talents...

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Witcher, Umbrella Academy Rank Among Netflix’s Most Popular of 2019

Netflix has revealed its most popular TV shows and movies of 2019 and Stranger Things Season 3, The Witcher, and Umbrella Academy place in the top ten.

These titles are ranked by how many people watched at least two minutes of the movie or TV series during the first 28 days of release. For the shows and movies that haven't been out for 28 days, Variety says that Netflix estimates how many total viewers will have watched at least two minutes by the full 28 days based on early viewership data from the first few days of release.

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