New Mutants Trailer Breakdown

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One of the curious things about film success in the 2020s is that “quiet victories” have become more and more prevalent.  That’s more the result of Geek Media spending a lot of time talking up the loud victories than anything else.  For instance, the X-Men franchise is a great example of something quietly successful.  Outwardly the franchise is considered mostly past its prime and running on goodwill and fumes.  

However, a lot of that is simply because the main film series doesn’t draw a lot of interest in the online circles, meanwhile, the spin-off material like Deadpool, Logan, and Legion have been making big waves and spawning imitators left and right.  A lot of that is that Fox seems more willing to experiment on the job with the X-Men peripherals, probably because they assume they aren’t going to be successful anyway so might as well get weird with it.  That certainly seems like the attitude at play with the latest X-Men spin-off flick The New Mutants whose trailer has revealed it to be…a teen horror flick? 

Static Thoughts - Beauty and the Beast (2012)

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Back in March, I took a look back at the 1987 Beauty and the Beast live action TV show.  If you need a refresher on that I said that it had some charming elements but was ultimately too much of a product of its time.  At the end of that article, I mentioned that there was a reboot of the show in 2012.  Well, now seems about the right time to tackle that particular piece of bizarre TV ephemera, especially given it’s the anniversary of the release of the animated Beauty and the Beast adaptation. 

However, the show itself has left me a little stymied.  It’s not exactly a bad series it’s just not interesting enough on its own to actually discuss so this will be less of a review than the previous article.  Instead, think of this as a retrospective as I think the way Beauty and the Beast (2012) actually happened is way more interesting than the show itself.  It’s a strange one-shot of a series that embodies the last moment in time when its various trends could come together in this way. 

Game of Thrones S7 Trailer Analysis

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One of the curious things about the new age of perpetual media is the way franchises, and series persist well past their definitive moment in time.  The most obvious example of this is, of course, The Simpsons, a series that passed its moment of genuine relevance decades ago but has continued on as a part of the pop culture oxygen supply regardless.  That’s kind of the place where a lot of big name franchises have ended up in their final installments, like Harry Potter at the 8^th film or the last 2 Hobbit movies- they still made money but they didn’t set the trend or a significant impact and mainly existed so that all the confirmed fans could see how things ended. 

That feels like the best description of where Game of Thrones is at this moment in time, a series entering its final cycle well after its days of relevance have waned and basically just throwing all the fireworks on the screen to celebrate actually making it to the finish line.  There’s nothing overtly wrong with that approach, it’s a worthwhile goal, and I’m hard pressed to blame any series for just running out the clock after doing as much as Game of Thrones has.  There are, however, risks about getting too complacent and they shine through a little too clear in this first trailer for the penultimate season of Game of Thrones. 

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.

Inhumans Casting Breakdown

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As the future of Marvel TV lurches forever forward the time has finally come to speak once more about the Inhumans.  I actually blew most of my article formats on this particular Marvel property 2 years ago when it first looked like Agents of SHIELD was going to lead into the Inhumans.  Allegedly that’s still happening only now their debut will be in the form of a prestige TV show rather than a film, which is probably for the best.  Marvel spent 5 years trying to make the Inhumans into a suitable substitute for the X-Men with exactly zero success so abandoning that plan in the name of a television show is probably smart. 

However, there are still some pretty big red flags when it comes to the Inhumans show but rather than go through them in a list format I figured I’d naturally address them through a casting breakdown.  After all, an Inhumans show is going to have to focus heavily on a very small collection of characters, and while I’ve already discussed their comic book origins, the actors involved raise a whole new dimension to the conversation.  So, with that in mind let’s talk about the casting of Marvel’s Inhumans. 

Static Thoughts - Beauty and the Beast (1987)

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This Friday marks the premiere of Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.  The hotly anticipated film will be Disney’s 7^th live-action fairy tale blockbuster and is basically the company’s way of planting their flag onto the fantasy genre.  There were sporadic competitors but ultimately Disney’s brand of big-budget fable has become the defining name in post-Game of Thrones mega-fantasy.  What’s more, the film is the first major live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast in decades, certainly the first major attempt to try and realize the Beast with CGI. 

Given the occasion, I thought it’d only be fair to take a look back at the last time this particular fairy tale was given a major release.  Back before Disney’s animated adaptation became the Oscar-winning success that completely defines this story there was another Beauty and the Beast, a bizarre 1987 TV series that time has more or less rejected despite featuring Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, and George RR Martin, the father of modern fantasy.  With such a pedigree how is this series not more widely known; let’s find out. 

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 1st Trailer

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I’ve been saying for a couple years now that the fantasy genre is unmoored.  It’s basically a slogan of these articles because it lets me talk about form and style and genre history, the stuff I know the most about.  However, I’m starting to wonder how true that actually is anymore.  After a decade at the top of the blockbuster fantasy has definitely receded in the 2010s, producing fewer Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings level sagas in comparison to the success of superheroes and sci-fi properties. 

That translated to a thoroughly unsure nature for the first few years of the decade, especially when it turned out The Hobbit wasn’t as successful as everyone was gearing up for it to be.  However, as we pass the midpoint of the decade and begin the slow trickle towards its twilight years it’s starting to seem more and more like the new defining affect of fantasy is what I call Number Zero stories.  I’ll get into what that means in a little bit but there’s no greater example of it than the fact WB is giving Guy Ritchie the reigns of a new big budget King Arthur movie.

Static Thoughts - Game of Thrones Season 6

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Edited by Robert Beach

And so another season of Game of Thrones comes to a close. In this year’s latest installment of everybody’s favorite fantasy soap opera, we learned secret origins, saw shocking resurrections, epic battles, and the demise of somewhere around half the remaining cast. While I came down very hard on season 5, I'm more inclined towards leniency on season 6. There are still problems, astronomical problems (if we’re being honest), but for the most part, I’ve more or less come to terms with the show Games of Thrones wants to be as we start the long slow march towards the final 15 episodes. 

Every work of art must be judged on some level by the intent of its creation, and it’s become fairly obvious that Game of Thrones just isn’t intended as a complex, character-driven thriller the way it was when the series started. Instead, the show has adopted a new identity that of shallow ‘girl power’ fantasy. I maintain that the show is broken in a lot of fundamental ways, but it does succeed on its own terms as being a power fantasy. 

Panel Vision - Who Are The New Mutants

With X-Men: Apocalypse already slipping into the background of the national conversation, Fox has already starting teeing up the next installments of the franchise.   That’s more or less just how things work in the wake of Avengers monster success and the continuing domination of the MCU.  Nowadays, most action films, but especially superhero movies, need to make it clear to audiences there’s some kind of larger syndicated plan in store. 

That’s part of why Amazing Spider-Man was already teeing up Sinister Six and Bryan Singer was already trailing Apocalypse before Days of Future Past came out.  Currently, the X-Men’s future is a little more uncertain with the next confirmed X-Men film coming out in 2018.   Fox’s already talking Phoenix for that installment but there are two more Fox mystery movies in between.  It’s starting to look like one of those two is going to be the long rumored New Mutants movie as it finally has a character line-up, let’s meet them. 

Film Land - 8 Actors Who Should Play James Bond

Edited by Robert Beach 

At the time of writing, Daniel Craig has done everything outwardly possible to indicate his time as James Bond is at an end.  I say this because it’s Hollywood, and things have a tendency to be false from the start, so it’s still remotely possible Craig will have another film outing, just not terribly likely.  

With Craig now done with 007, ending on the spectacularly bad Spectre, the hunt is on for a new James Bond. As is ever the case with the recasting of one of pop culture’s most enduring fixtures, everyone is throwing out ideas. It seems every hat is ending up in the proverbial ring. As someone who writes about geekery and pop culture on the net, here are my top 8 choices for the next James Bond.

 

Iron Fist News Round-Up

Edited by Robert Beach 

At time of writing, Marvel has successfully produced 3 Netflix original series with a 4^th ready to premiere this fall. Marvel’s Netflix output has been…mixed to say the least. Jessica Jones is one of the greatest iterations of the superhero genre ever produced while Daredevil season 1 featured a breakout performance from Vincent D’Onofrio as the Kingpin. Conversely, Daredevil season 2 has been met with a good amount of dislike owing to the plethora of unresolved plot threads, lack of a strong antagonist, and abysmal adaptation of Elektra.  

The second season did boast the incredible Jon Bernthal as the Punisher, who’s apparently getting his own Netflix show down the line. For the moment, the Marvel/Netflix saga isn’t in as strong a place as it was in 2015 when it first burst on the scene. That could all change this fall with Luke Cage, but only one name is dominating the Marvel/Netflix news cycle, and that is Iron Fist. And that’s not a good thing either.

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. 

Doctor Who - The Girl Who Died Review

Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones fame makes her debut on Doctor Who with this fun 5th episode, check out my full review on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/21/doctor-who-the-girl-who-died-review-tv/

Jungle Book Teaser Trailer

Edited by Robert Beach 

Just when you thought the up-jumped fairy tale trend was dead and buried, it’s back from the grave and honestly looking better than ever. I’m honestly not that surprised that it took the involvement of Disney to finally get something good out of this over-used genre. Back in the days before Star Wars made fantasy a viable blockbuster option, Disney was one of the only names in the game alongside Ray Haryhausen, and a lot of their live-action fantasy adventure films were incredibly well received. 

They’re forgotten nowadays, but films like Swiss Family Robinson and Bed Knobs and Broomsticks were major hits in their day. Additionally, Disney was pretty much the only company not to copy the Lord of the Rings approach to fantasy in the 2000s, blazing their own path with Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.  Even though Disney didn’t kick-off the fairy tale fantasy craze of the 2010s, they’ve thoroughly capitalized on it. And now they’re at it again with this first trailer for next year’s Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau.

Game of Thrones Season 6 Casting

Game of Thrones has a reached a seriously bizarre plight in its latest season.  Despite ratings for the show being very good and a lot of audiences enjoying the excellent action episode ‘Hardhome,’ the series has hit something of a brick wall in terms of cultural capital.  The biggest take away I’ve had from most folks over this last season is a sense of exhaustion over the show’s direction and tone, especially after the slew of very alienating “shocking moments” that punctuated this latest season.  What’s more this year just didn’t seem to have the same fanfare and clamor that accompanied previous seasons. 

Some people might argue it’s because of how dark this season’s big moments were but previous installments like the Red Wedding or the Death of Ned Stark were thoroughly dark and audiences still found them to be exciting and compelling.  Personally I think it has more to do with the audience and creators clashing but that’s an article I’ve already written.  Regardless HBO seems aware that change is in order for Game of Thrones season 6 so they’ve announced both Max Von Sydow and Ian McShane to the series.  In addition HBO execs have actually set a time limit on the show, saying that it will most likely not extend beyond 8 seasons.  

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. 

Static Thoughts - Game of Thrones S5

A little over two weeks ago HBO’s Game of Thrones concluded its 5^th season.  It was a very divisive season with an even more divisive conclusion; with a lot of folks I’ve talked to finding the season’s ending unsatisfying and alienating.  Personally I found the entire season to be rife with problems though they weren’t necessarily unique to this season of Game of Thrones.  More this season is just the time when the show’s many issues finally boiled over onto the surface, and I say that as a pretty dedicated fan.  However, even though I know exactly what it is I found so problematic and distasteful about this season of HBO’s hit fantasy show I can’t help but feel a strange sense of reservation in my dislike and wondering if the problem really is Game of Thrones or if it’s more on my end as a viewer. 

Panel Vision - Southern Bastards

Southern Bastards is one of the best comics currently being published.  Initially the comic was about Earl Tubb, a tired old man returning to his childhood home to see the ugly twisted thing it had grown into.  However, as the narrative has unfolded over the past 8 issues the focused has moved away from formula plot and stock archetypes and settled into a focus on ideas and themes.  I’ve talked multiple times previously about the value of placing emphasis on mood and theme rather than the strict mechanics of character and plot and there is no better example of this than Southern Bastards.