Dark Tower Trailer Analysis

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The fantasy genre is one of the most unrewarding parts of blockbuster cinema in the 2010s.  Fantasy has always been a persnickety genre, with a lot of bizarre or subpar elements populating its history, but the 2000s were a better time for it.  Between Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, and Pirates of the Caribbean the 2000s were flush with cool, epic fantasy blockbusters.  

However, since 2011 the genre has undergone a bit of a stumbling block.  The kings of the genre have only managed disappointing prequels like The Hobbit and Fantastic Beasts, while the most continuously successful films on the block are all up-jumped Disney fairy tales. 

There’s something about that which just doesn’t feel right, even if Maleficent, Cinderella, and Jungle Book have all placed in the highest grossing films of the year they just haven’t stuck in the mind or the culture the way 2000s fantasy blockbusters did.  Even in the realms of TV, the influence of Game of Thrones has begun to wobble with nothing really to replace it.  

This has left a prolonged hole in the fantasy genre for new films to set the attitude, stuff like Dr. Strange and Warcraft.  Now, it looks like we’ll have a brand new blockbuster to try and put its stamp on the fantasy genre, the long-awaited adaptation of the classic Steven King dark fantasy series Dark Tower.

5 O'Clock Shuffle - August 8th

Welcome to the latest installment of the site's news broadcast the 5 O'Clock Shuffle, coming to you every Monday with the news you may have missed over the weekend and a look at what's to come, all in just under 10 minutes.

This week I take a look at Suicide Squad's controversy and box office returns, Man of Steel 2, the prospect of new Marvel and Star Wars TV Shows, and a look at all the hot new DC Comics hitting the store this Wednesday.  

The Legend of Tarzan Trailer

I’m honestly not sure what to make of the trailer for Legend of Tarzan.  The fact that we’re getting a big budget Tarzan movie isn’t, in and of itself, surprising as it actually conforms to a lot of trends that are dominating the modern blockbuster scene.  What is shocking is that we’re getting this big budget Tarzan movie, produced in the strangest manner by some of the strangest people.  I’ll get more in depth on this as the article goes on but as it stands I have no idea why this movie is happening or what series of events might’ve conspired to force it into existence, it’s like this movie was conceived specifically to vex me. 

Warcraft Movie Trailer

If ever there was a studio that embodied the difference between winning and leading it’d be Universal.  They basically struck gold with the Fast & Furious movies and have been letting that box office money pit accumulate while floundering about in search of fellow hit makers and it’s served them well with equally successful hits like Pitch Perfect, Despicable Me, 50 Shades of Grey, and this year’s mega box office smash Jurassic World.  The thing is that “experimentation” really is the Universal approach as none of their efforts have been in order to define trends or lead the pop cultural scene, simply attempts to get money making films. 

That’s why, even though Jurassic World made unfathomable amounts of cash and Fast & Furious is on its 8^th film I’d never call Universal trend riders or taste makers.  So their latest venture, a collaboration with Blizzard Studios to bring the massively successful Warcraft franchise to life on the big screen is throwing me for a bit of a loop as it actually seems like the most financially successful yet culturally irrelevant studio in Hollywood has finally decided to step up to the plate and lead the way for a change. 

1st Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Set Photos Debut

Edited by Robert Beach 

The importance of the Harry Potter franchise to the modern age of fantasy, blockbuster, and cinematic landscape cannot be overstated. This franchise is a pop culture phenomena second to none; a tremendously popular book series that was translated in something close to its entirety to the big screen in a radical cinematic experiment of letting the actors age through the films over the course of an entire decade.  

Modern pop culture, geek and nerd pop culture specifically, just doesn’t make sense without Harry Potter. Especially for Warner Brothers, the company that spent nearly 10 years dominating the entire fantasy genre thanks to the double barrel blast that was the Potter films and the Lord of the Rings movies. And now, with the fantasy power vacuum still unaddressed since the recession of Game of Thrones’ influence over the medium, and the Hobbit films having run their disappointing course, WB is returning to the Harry Potter well one more time for a prequel series all their own entitled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and we’ve just received the first set photos.

Dungeons & Dragons Reboot is Happening

Edited by Robert Beach

WB has announced that they are planning a remake/reboot (/whatever your preferred nomenclature is) of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. While not a total sideways move, this does indicate a few major red flags as far as studio thinking goes. My biggest take away form this is that somebody at Warner Brothers thinks that either the Warcraft movie or that Magic: The Gathering movie Fox is making have the potential to be major hits and take a chunk out of the fantasy market. 

Troll: Rise of Harry Potter Animated Series Coming

Earlier this week it was announced that plans are currently in the works for Troll animated series.  I don’t really know what kind of people read this blog but I’m betting that was probably a strange announcement regardless of your background because there is nothing about this animated series that makes sense.  In fact Troll the animated series actually goes out of its way to defy all rational logic as part of the universe’s ongoing effort to troll rationalists everywhere (pun completely intended.)  Let’s take a guided tour through trolls, animated series, and why this announcement makes no God damn sense.