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toulousewayne · 2 years

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Batman: The Dark Knight Series🦇🌃✨

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This is a concept for a live-action Batman Tv Series that could be adapted on something like HBO MAX or a another network or streaming.

Synopsis: Gotham City has been at the mercy of criminal networks and underground operations that have plagued it for years. Batman had fought hard to protect Gotham. Has the Dark Knight enters his third year he learns just how much more help he’ll need to accomplish his crusade on the city.

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Cast & Characters Season/ Part One:

Bruce Wayne/Batman…….Ryan Guzman

Alfred Pennyworth……. Pierce Brosnan

Dick Grayson {Becomes Robin in 1x10}…………… Leo Howard

Commissioner “Jim” Gordon….Stanley Tucci

Barbara Gordon….Bailee Madison

Selina Kyle/ Catwoman….. Shay Mitchell

The Joker {does not physically appear until 1x08}……….Finn Wittrock

Carmine Falcon……….Jay Acovone

Tony Zucco………Joesph Gordon-Levitt

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Seeing if this was on streaming TV series the episode count would be anywhere from 8-13. For the first season will go with 10. Each episode is about 59 minutes, and all give a little summary for each episode.

Episode List:

Lockdown:

- Gotham is in the mist of its nastiest,brutal and bloodiest turf wars in decades. Tony Zucco demands the get Falcone’s districts or Gotham will pay.

- Gordon is dealing with the pressures of becoming the new Commissioner while Gotham is in the middle of a Cold War.

-Batman Is tracking down the Joker who has gone under the radar during the Blackgate Breakout.

2. The Rose Club:

- Carmine Falcone makes his first public appearance since the start of the turf war and persuades the GCPD protect him.

-Tony Zucco has become impatient and makes the first strike for power.

-Batman gathers information about the Falcone Crime syndicate that allows him tow assist Gordon in ending this war.

3. Sins of the Father

- Bruce comes to terms with information that Wayne’s and Falcone’s have had dark ties to one another.

- Catwoman breaks into Dagget Industries to gather hidden files about how close the Wayne’s are to the Falcones.

4. Code Red:

- Catwoman and Batman team up to confront Falcone, only to find him dead.

Catwoman realizes she’ll never get the answers she’s been looking for.

Tony Zucco has now gotten operations belonging to Falcon but they can’t pin Falcone’s death on him without evidence.

5. Curtain Call:

- Alfred decides that Bruce needs a break and the two go to Haley’s Traveling Circus.

- Tony Zucco has started collecting Debts there once Falcone’s,but not everyone is in agreement.

-A young circus acrobat’s life chances when he becomes an orphan after a terrible ‘accident’ and he is welcomed into the home of Gotham’s Most Eligible Bachelor.

6. Not My Home:

- Dick is trying to adjust to life in manor, and it’s a lot lonelier than he thought it would be.

-Selina and Bruce go undercover at one of Tony’s newest clubs to finally bring him down.

- Gordon helps his daughter settle into her new life in Gotham after moving in with him after her mother’s passing.

7. The Last Laugh:

- Zucco was in GCPD custody thanks to Batman and Catwoman, but when Gordon and Batman go to interrogate he finds the ordeal hysterical.

- Dick has grown curious about Bruce’s whereabouts,and start wandering around the Manor,much to Alfred’s dismay but even he can’t hide what’s below the Wine Cellar.

8.The Jaded Jester:

- The Joker releases his toxic into the Bowery’s water supply and creates mass hysteria throughout the city.

-Batman tracks the Joker to Ace Chemicals where the Joker recounts their first meeting and his creation.

- Dick uses the cave faculties to train himself into something stronger, something smarter.

9. Old Wounds:

- Bruce knows the Joker will never stop, and being the Brutal Bat isn’t making a difference either.

- Dick starts at Gotham Prep and meets a library aide who helps his understand what he needs to do to help Gotham.

- Bruce takes a more detective approach to un-covering what the Joker’s final plan is.

10. The Dynamic Duo:

-Joker has captured Commissioner Gordon and his holding his captive at Amusement Mile, with a detonator for a series of bombs around the city.

- Alfred reminds Bruce that he can’t do everything alone and Bruce becomes aware of some new additions to the cave.

- Robin assists Batman with disarming the signal for the Bombs, and helps with the defeat of the Joker.

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Directors Notes/ End Credits:

- Arkham Asylum is show at the end of episode 10

- Zucco doesn’t die from his exposure to Joker toxic it was a smaller dose which is why it took so long for it to take full effect.

- Barbara is the one to unintentionally help Dick realize he can do more than most people and that his heart is the reason why he wants to be something stronger.

- The cause of Carmine’s death is stated but we don’t learn who is the person who kills him. (Until Catwoman’s series)

-Batman get a suit upgrade before his final battle with Joker in 1x10

- Catwoman and Batman have a dramatic goodbye at the end of episode 1x09

-Robin’s suit is adapting from his Flying Grayson’s costume.

-A new psychiatrist will be hired by the head of medicine Dr Hugo Strange will welcome Dr. Harleen Quinzel in the last few seconds of the finale.

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I hope you like this idea I had and if you do please let me know what you think about my ideas and what you would do different.

I will do more parts for the next seasons and I hope you enjoy it 😊

#batfam #batman #jason todd #dc comics #batfamily #tim drake #btas batman #dcau #dceu verse #dick grayson #batgirl #nightwing #gotham knights #gotham #batman tv series #hbo max #trending #cassandra cain #stephanie brown

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charliethomascoxuniverse · 2 years

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Charlie Cox on ‘Boardwalk Empire’

NY TIMES / SEPTEMBER 30 .2011

By JEREMY EGNER (X)

Joining an acclaimed series already in progress can be a fraught proposition. But the British actor Charlie Cox faced an additional obstacle when he signed on to HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” for its second season: He’d never seen the show.

“I didn’t start watching it until I’d already filmed four or five episodes,” he said. “The fact that I was playing someone from an entirely different world, who had no experience of this place at all, probably helped because it was similar to what I felt as Charlie on set in New York.”

The 28-year-old actor has starred in movies like the fantastical “Stardust” and the period drama “There Be Dragons,” and on the London stage in the Harold Pinter play “The Collection.” But he had never worked regularly on a television series before taking the role of Owen Slater, a rakish visitor from Ireland. The character insinuates himself into the business and household of Nucky Thompson, the series protagonist played by Steve Buscemi, claiming to prefer Prohibition-era Atlantic City to the chaos and war of 1920s Ireland.

“But as time passes,” Mr. Cox said, “you start to get that something else is going on with me.”

Mr. Cox, who lives in London, makes his debut in the second episode of the season, showing on HBO on Sunday. He called this week from his parents’ home in Southern France to discuss intimidating co-stars and the perils of playing a fictional character — as opposed to one of the many historical figures — on “Boardwalk Empire.” This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Q. So you had never seen “Boardwalk Empire” before you joined the production?

When I got to New York it had finished airing and it hadn’t yet started in London. I didn’t manage to see the show until they very kindly gave me some DVDs so I could watch it, because it hadn’t been released on DVD yet either.

Q. How did you prepare for the role?

I knew that they were focusing on the 1920s, the start of Prohibition, so I managed to do a little bit of reading. At the same time, my character turns up from Ireland. So really most of the stuff that I was reading and the research I was doing was around what was going on in at Ireland at this time, which was of course very, very different, with the War of Independence and the Easter Rising. It was interesting for me because, of course, the knowledge that I had of this period was all from England’s perspective. So then to read up from the Irish point of view, it was a very interesting feeling. You suddenly feel less patriotic.

Q. Was it intimidating to join a cast with so many acclaimed actors?

Absolutely. Lots of those people were Brits, as well, so I’ve known about them for a long time. Stephen Graham, who plays Al Capone on the show, delivered one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in “This Is England.” I’ve known about Kelly Macdonald [who plays Nucky Thompson’s girlfriend] ever since I started acting. And then Steve Buscemi is one of my idols. In some ways it’s nerve-wracking but it’s also a compliment.

Q. Was it hard to break in?

Not really. I was thrown in the deep end — I had a lot of material on the first day, and I think it was a good thing. I had to get in there and be really focused and just bang out almost my entire episode. Everyone has been just delightful and lovely, and I think part of that comes from being on a good show. People who are on a good show tend to be pretty nice, you know?

Q. They have more to be happy about, perhaps.

And maybe less to prove, I don’t know.

Q. Did you know anyone on the show before you signed on?

I was friends with Jack Huston, who plays Richard Harrow.

Q. He’s the assassin with only half of a face. Is that mask as unsettling up close as it is on TV?

Yeah, it’s really creepy isn’t it?

Q. What can you tell me about your character?

He comes over with another Irish chap, who’s his boss. We’re over there trying to get money for the Irish for the War of Independence. And when this other chap goes back, he says to Nucky, “If you can help him get a job, he’s going to stay out here.”

Q. Does your character have any broader role in the narrative?

One of the themes this season is this sense of family and one’s feelings toward family, the relationships between husbands and wives. I’m an aggravator, in that sense, toward some of the characters.

Q. Is he based on an actual person, like many others on the show?

He’s entirely fictional, which is kind of frustrating because half of the characters are nonfictional, so it’s the actors who have fictional characters who are perpetually in fear of being killed off [laughs]. I’ve been trying to find someone with a similar name who lived into the ’80s who I could claim as my character so they can’t do that. But so far, no luck.

Q. But he is supposed to be tied to the Irish Republican Army, right?

Yeah he’s been working with Michael Collins [the Irish revolutionary leader] — part of this is from my conversations with Howard Korder [a writer and producer on the show] and part is me filling in the blanks. Michael Collins set up this group of young I.R.A. guys and he called them the Squad or the Apostles, and they were there to take out people who were being difficult. Now my character, Owen Slater, turns up in Atlantic City in January of 1921. In November of 1920 there was a mass assassination of a group called the Cairo Gang — the Squad assassinated 14 of these guys in a day [part of what is known in Irish history as Bloody Sunday]. So I decided that my character had been part of that and had been advised to lay low in America.

Q. Did any of those Squad guys live into the 1980s? Maybe you can hitch your character to one of them.

You know, there’s not much information about any of them — none of them has a large enough Wikipedia page and none of them has a name that is even remotely similar [laughs]. So I’ve had no luck with that.

~*~

#charlie cox #owen sleater #boardwalk empire #interview

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isagrimorie · 2 years

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So why, then, did The CW clean house this season? The blame isn’t squarely on network CEO Mark Pedowitz. Broadcast’s longest-tenured network topper reports to a board comprised of execs from Warners and CBS Studios, who for years have played a vital role in programming decisions. For example: While Dynasty has had the distinction of being broadcast’s lowest-rated scripted series for years, revenue from the reboot’s international sales and the Netflix deal kept it on the air for far longer than its linear numbers deserved. So after five seasons of living life on the bubble that included a wild history of casting changes, why did time run out on Dynasty and so many other CW favorites?

Blame streaming. And mergers. And The CW’s impending sale.

Warners and CBS Studios — now overseen by newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global — ended the Netflix output deal in 2019 to help boost their respective streaming platforms, HBO Max and Paramount+. Foreign sales, too, have dried up as those rights need to stay in-house as both platforms continue their global expansion in a bid to compete with Netflix and company in the streaming wars. That’s a loss of billions of dollars in revenue, making shows like Dynasty, for example, no longer profitable.

Without those two revenue streams, and amid new corporate ownership, the free lunches are officially over as both of The CW’s corporate parents are in active sale talks with station group Nexstar and other potential buyers.

(snip)

While The CW is expected to look considerably different next season — expect more low-cost foreign acquisitions and unscripted programming — the network’s most-watched originals are all returning. The CW gave early renewals to seven of its eight returning shows, all of them among its highest rated. Sources say Pedowitz wanted to bring back the Greg Berlanti-produced DC Comics dramas Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow but Warners no longer wanted to pay the leases on the studio space, which expired May 1, and prompted April 29 cancellations. Plec’s Legacies was also said to be a financial decision made by the studio.

Legends and Legacies, along with Charmed, In the Dark and Roswell, New Mexico all were part of the Netflix output deal.

(snip)

And before anyone can start a petition for the unfortunate shows that met their early demise this week, keep in mind that HBO Max and Paramount+ can’t save those lucky shows that were able to stay on the air as long as they did because they were part of the Netflix deal. Sorry, Legacies, Legends, Dynasty, Charmed, In the Dark and Roswell, as Plec said, “Today we mourn.”

Corporate greed destroyed CW. Paramount Global and Warner Bros wanted to compete with Netflix so badly that they made CW (a network they owned) unwind their Netflix deal.

I had wondered for the longest time why Batwoman was on HBO Max instead of Netflix and found out it was because CW ended their output deal with Netflix. I knew then CW was in trouble -- true enough a year after I learned about it, CW announced it's being put on sale.

Another thing I learned about HBO Max's/Warner Bros Day and Date release in 2020 and the outrage it caused among filmmakers is that Warner Bros putting their 2020-2021 movies on HBO Max meant the filmmakers/studios couldn't shop around their movies to other streaming platforms and would actually make less money. Because going straight to HBO Max meant WB would just be paying itself and at a lower cost too.

This is basically what happened with CW, CW used to have a sweet output deal where they just churn out shows regardless of ratings because Netflix and foreign markets would pay handsomely for the shows. The moment Paramount Global and Warner Bros decided to compete with Netflix and turned their eye on CW, was the moment CW was toast.

Because Paramount Global and Warner Bros were never going to pay CW the kind of numbers Netflix was willing to pay.

(Mind you, this was before the market corrected itself and Netflix's stocks fell to more reasonable figures-- which unfortunately triggered Netflix going around like a headless chicken because they've just been focusing on acquiring customers and not retaining them. Again, corporate greed).

This also means, unfortunately, as much as my heart wants it, there are no saving Legacies because Paramount Plus and HBO Max are the reason why Legacies was canceled in the first place. Netflix is also having its own problems, so there's a very slim chance for a save from there.

It's also a bitter pill to swallow knowing the reason why Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman were canceled was that Warners couldn't be bothered paying the lease on studio space. That's it. The whole reason.

Warners. Didn't. Want. To. Pay. Studio. Space.

#tv: batwoman #tv: legacies #tv: legends of tomorrow #legacies cw #batwoman #legends of tomorrow #article #streaming platforms

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anotheruserwithnoname · 2 years

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The numbers game

As has been mentioned repeatedly, the rights to John Constantine are allegedly tied up with the announced HBO Max production (scheduled to film in early 2023), which is why we have been blessed with Jenna Coleman’s interpretation of the character in The Sandman. I’ve seen some folks on twitter outright disbelieve Gaiman’s claim on this. Some people have become conditioned to question people’s motives on these things. Fact is, it’s purely pragmatic: Gaiman wanted a modern Constantine in Sandman (they could have created a new character for Dream a Little Dream of Me to provide the sand), plus I think he fell in love with Jenna Coleman (as you do) and wanted to give her more than the cameo she would have otherwise had when 18th century Lady Johanna appears. People will be debating the casting decisions on Death, Lucifer and others for years to come, but fortunately with Johanna it’s actually as cut-and-dried as you can get with such things.

Anyway, back to my point for this post: I can’t help thinking that the HBO Max production shouldn’t be used as an excuse to not give us some form of Johanna Constantine spin-off. For one thing, DC/Warners seems to love doubling up, if not tripling up adaptations of their characters. If not for a combination of C19 and a few other factors you may have seen reported in the news, the Ezra Miller Flash movie would have been released long ago. Miller’s version was actually announced not long after Gustin’s series debuted (you may recall the star of Arrow being a bit pissed about that). They even lampshaded this in the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries by having Miller and Gustin’s Flashes meet briefly. Ironically, as it looks now, the Gustin Flash series is scheduled to end after its NINTH season before the movie comes out.

And that’s the thing: there is a canonical DC multiverse. Just like with Marvel (which means we get to enjoy seeing Hayley Atwell playing a female version of Captain America, albeit mostly in animated and comic book form other than her cameo in Dr. Strange 2). And Crisis (both the comic original and the TV version) established that ALL the different versions of DC characters co-exist (in the comic they even account for Cathy Lee Crosby’s forgotten Wonder Woman movie of 1974). In the DC Multiverse, Michael Keaton’s Batman co-exists with Adam West’s. Mia Sara’s version of Harley Quinn from the 2003 Birds of Prey TV series co-exists with Margot Robbie’s movie version; and BoP’s Oracle (formerly Batgirl) technically co-exists with the version in the now-cancelled film. There is zero reason why Jenna Coleman’s Johanna Constantine, from a universe in which that person happens to be female, couldn’t co-exist with Matt Ryan’s John Constantine or Keanu Reeve’s version or the person who will be cast for the HBO Max version (according to some media reports, the role is apparently not officially cast yet). Why can’t they all co-exist? How many Dr. Stranges were there in that last movie, anyhow?

Count how many variations of Batman or the Batman continuity are either current, announced or recent: Robert Pattinson (The Batman, which may get a sequel); Michael Keaton (returning for The Flash and he was also supposed to be in the Batgirl movie; rumor has it he’s in Aquaman 2 as well); Ben Affleck (rumor has it he may return for Aquaman 2 as well or Flash); a sequel to Joker has been announced (Bruce Wayne appeared in the first film); Pennyworth (a prequel series about Alfred) is about to air its 3rd season; the Gotham series ended not that long ago; animated films featuring Batman still come out periodically. I’m sure I missed one or two - thing is we can have a ton of Batmen but not two very different versions of Constantine? They don’t even say Jenna’s name the same as Matt’s.

Hell, if there isn’t a fan fic already on AO3 featuring Jenna’s Johanna and Matt or Keanu’s John getting busy on some astral plane, someone’s being lazy! LOL

#the sandman #johanna constantine commentary #jenna coleman

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denimbex1986 · 1 month

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'25 years after The Talented Mr. Ripley turned Tom Ripley into a household name, Netflix is getting ready to bring the character back, just the latest in a long slate of revivals. Ripley, a new miniseries from the streaming juggernaut, will debut soon. The series, which will star Andrew Scott in the titular role and be filmed entirely in black and white, has been eagerly anticipated by TV lovers everywhere. And, hot on the heels of Saltburn, it will be an important reminder of where so much of that movie’s plotting and style come from. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming miniseries (which could eventually run for more seasons):

What is Ripley about?

Ripley is adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novels about her most famous character. The first, The Talented Mr. Ripley, begins when a wealthy industrialist hires Tom Ripley to help bring his son Dickie home from Italy. As Tom becomes more and more involved with Dickie’s life, though, he becomes obsessed with him, and it isn’t long before things take a dark and sinister turn.

Ripley was followed in subsequent novels as well as he continued to manipulate and murder his way through the halls of power. It seems, though, that this entire eight-episode miniseries will focus on the events of The Talented Mr. Ripley. For those familiar with the movie, which adapted the same novel, this version of the story will likely give the story much more room to breathe. Ripley will ingratiate himself into Dickie’s world much more slowly than he does in the movie. Here’s what the official synopsis for the series explains:

“Tom Ripley, a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York, is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy to try to convince his vagabond son to return home. Tom’s acceptance of the job is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud, and murder. The limited series drama is based on Patricia Highsmith’s bestselling Tom Ripley novels.”

Who is in the cast of Ripley?

Andrew Scott will be starring in the series as Tom Ripley, and the cast also includes Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf. Those roles were played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law in the 1999 movie, whereas Ripley was played by Matt Damon.

In taking on the iconic character, Scott said that he tried to abandon all the expectations that come with the character.”I feel like you’re required to love and advocate for your characters, and your job is to go, Why? What’s that? You don’t play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley,” he explained. “You have to throw all those out, try not to listen to them, and go, Okay, well, I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character.”

Who are the creators of Ripley?

Steve Zaillian, the TV creator best known for his work on the 2016 HBO miniseries The Night Of with John Turturro and Riz Ahmed, wrote, directed, and produced all of Ripley. Zaillian also has writing credits on movies like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball, and The Irishman.

“Tom Ripley is a part of our consciousness,” Zallian told Vanity Fair. “Almost 70 years after Highsmith created him, contemporary figures are still being compared to him. He won’t go away.”

Is there a trailer for Ripley?

The trailer for Ripley was released in late February and showcases the black and white cinematography that will distinguish this miniseries from the 1999 film and other adaptations. The trailer emphasizes the most familiar pieces of the Ripley story, but it’s unclear how far we’ll follow the character into subsequent Highsmith novels.

How many episodes is Ripley?

Ripley, which was originally commissioned by Showtime, will be eight episodes in total.

Will there be a second season of Ripley?

Because it has been billed as a miniseries, it seems clear that Ripley is not intended to be a multi-season series. It’s been reported, though, that Zaillian originally pitched the show as multi-season and envisioned adapting each of Highsmith’s five novels about Ripley into its own season. For now, though, it seems like the show will be just a single season, although it seems clear that Zaillian and Scott could reunite for another season if they so desired.

When does Ripley premiere?

Ripley is set to premiere on Netflix on April 4, 2024, and all eight episodes will be available on Netflix at that time. No subsequent seasons have been officially announced.'

#Ripley #Netflix #Patricia Highsmith #The Talented Mr Ripley #Andrew Scott #Johnny Flynn #Dakota Fanning #Matt Damon #Steven Zaillian #The Night Of #The Irishman #Dickie Greenleaf #Marge Sherwood #Jude Law #Gwyneth Paltrow

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dritatoday · 2 years

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Findy first love tv show

#Findy first love tv show movie

#Findy first love tv show update

#Findy first love tv show series

#Findy first love tv show tv

It certainly has a great cast going for it, led by screen legend Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase, an off-grid former CIA agent with a complicated past, who is targeted by an assassin, forcing him on the run. Thomas Perry's 2017 book, The Old Man, was called an "engrossing if not flawless thriller" by Publishers Weekly, so it waits to be seen how flawed or not this on-screen adaptation will be. Irma Vep premieres on 6 June on HBO and HBO Max in the US

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He told Variety "Everything in the history of cinema seems to have just exploded, and you're trying to understand what the new picture is… it's an exciting moment to make a movie about cinema, and especially about going back to the basics." Watch the teaser trailer here.

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Assayas' original film was a comment on the French film industry, and this remake seems to want to update that take.

#Findy first love tv show series

The first three episodes of this eight-episode series premiered at Cannes, where Screen Daily's Jonathan Romney called it "a cannily crafted, enjoyable and sometimes cheekily scabrous show". Lost yet? Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) is Mira, a disillusioned American movie star who goes to France to play Irma Vep – but the boundaries between herself and her character begin to blur.

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Now, Assayas is remaking his film into a TV series – so it's a TV series remake of a film about a remake, but this time, they're making a TV series. In 1996, Olivier Assayas released Irma Vep – a film whose plot is centred on an auteur remaking the classic silent film Les Vampires. Ms Marvel is released on 9 June on Disney+ The show isn't just your usual superhero fare either – with Vellani saying it leans into a "coming-of-age, corny vibe", taking inspiration from the likes of Eighth Grade, Ladybird and Scott Pilgrim. Speaking to Cosmopolitan Middle East, Vellani said that Brie Larson – who plays Captain Marvel – reached out to her when she got the part: "she's been my greatest resource and mentor throughout this whole process". Played by newcomer Iman Vellani, Khan loves video games, fan-fiction and superheroes – particularly Captain Marvel. She isn't a billionaire with a metal suit or a super soldier who has been injected with a potent serum to create the ultimate fighter – she's Kamala Khan, a Muslim-American teenager living in New Jersey and just trying to get through high school, a task which isn’t helped by the sudden addition of superpowers to her life. "It's not usually the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world," the MCU's latest addition says in the Ms Marvel trailer. Queer as Folk premieres on Peacock on 9 June in the US Davies, who is serving as a producer on this reboot, said in a statement: "The 2022 show is more diverse, more wild, more free, more angry – everything a queer show should be." Watch the trailer here. The regular cast includes Devin Way (Grey's Anatomy), Fin Argus (Clouds), Jesse James Keitel (Big Sky), Johnny Sibilly (Hacks), Ryan O'Connell (Special) and newcomer CG – while Kim Cattrall, Juliette Lewis and Ed Begley Jr are among the high-profile guest stars. Set in New Orleans, it follows a group of friends in the aftermath of a tragedy. Following the lives of three gay men living in Manchester, Russell T Davies' comedy drama portrayed their lives "in a frank, funny and explicit way that had never been seen on screens before," as BBC News' Joseph Lee wrote. Having been remade in the US once before, the show has spawned a second transatlantic spin-off. When, in 1999, Queer as Folk first appeared on TV, it was nothing short of revolutionary. The Midwich Cuckoos premieres on Sky Max on 2 June, and is released on Now on 3 June, in the UK The suburbs have never seemed scarier,” wrote Katie Rosseinsky in The Evening Standard. “This is a fresh and propulsive spin on a familiar story. Starring Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) as the psychologist helping the families through this odd event, and Max Beesley (The Outsider) as the police officer trying to maintain order – all while a very sinister truth comes to light. John Wyndham’s classic sci-fi novel has been reimagined once again – it was also the base text for both Village of the Damned films – this time for the 21st Century, in this new adaptation by David Farr (The Night Manager, Hanna). Until one sleepy summer's day, that is, when the power and communication lines drop, people pass out in the street and then all women of childbearing age suddenly become pregnant. Midwich is as seemingly normal as any other English suburb, marked by quiet roads, nuclear families and little in the way of drama.

#Findy first love tv show

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mmorgchecker · 2 years

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The owl house season 1 episode 1 online

THE OWL HOUSE SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 ONLINE HOW TO

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But it turns out that the show isn’t available on Disney’s streaming platform. Since The Owl House is on the Disney Channel, it’s only natural that fans would turn to Disney+ to stream the new hit series. After a long break in the middle of the season, The Owl House returned to Disney Channel in July and just gave us the finale episode last week. The Owl House first premiered on the Disney Channel earlier this year in January, and while that may seem like a long time ago now, Season 1 only just came to a close. There, she becomes friends with a witch named Eda and a warrior named king, who help her pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a witch when she takes on a job as Eda’s apprentice.

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The comedy series follows Luz, a teenager who finds herself in a magical portal that leads her to another world. Ladies Get Lit! 'The View' Launches Summer Time Book Club Reading Listĭisney has a slew of animated hits, but its latest, The Owl House, has fans especially hooked.

THE OWL HOUSE SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 ONLINE HOW TO

'The View' to Announce Meghan McCain's Replacement: How To Watch Live Joy Behar Fears Voters Will Only Focus on Kitchen Table Issues on ‘The View’: “Bigger Issues Are Going to Get Worse” 'Southern Charm's Madison LeCroy Shares the One Thing She Misses About Austen Krollįans Threaten Boycott If 'The View' Hires “Trump Traitor Trash” Alyssa Farah Griffin Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Forever Summer: Hamptons’ on Amazon Prime Video, A New Rich Kid Reality Show In The Spirit Of 'Laguna Beach' 'Southern Charm' Stars Madison LeCroy and Venita Aspen Dish On All Of The Season 8 Drama 'Southern Charm': Did Shep and Taylor Break Up? 'Breaking Bad' Statues Of Walter White & Jesse Pinkman Unveiled In Albuquerque Sweet Endings: Cinnabon Reflects on the End of 'Better Call Saul' What Time Will 'Better Call Saul' Season 6, Episode 11 Premiere? 'Only Murders in the Building’ Season 2 Episode Release Schedule 'Only Murders in the Building' Drags 'The Staircase's Owl Theory with Parrot Theory Joke 'The Bear' on Hulu Cast Guide: Who Stars In The New Series About A Chicago Man and A Restaurant In Crisis?Ĭara Delevingne Couldn't Keep Still on 'Live with Kelly and Ryan' Interview 'The Bear' Episode 7 Delivers 'Uncut Gems' Levels of Anxiety 'Pretty Little Liars Original Sin' Episode 2 Recap: "The Spirit Queen"įX Renews 'The Bear' For A Second Season on Hulu New Movies + Shows To Watch This Weekend: HBO Max's 'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin' + More Is 'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin' Connected to the Freeform Show? 'PLL: Original Sin' Episode 3 Recap: "Aftermath" Zac Efron Poses in Front of 'High School Musical' Building Weeks After Vanessa Hudgens What We Know About Netflix’s ‘Pinocchio’ 2022: Trailer, Release Date Is 'DC League of Super Pets' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? Is Gaten Matarazzo From ‘Stranger Things’ The Son Of Wiener Dog? Heather Matarazzo Breaks Her Silence On TikTok Shonka Dukureh, Blues Singer Who Starred in 'Elvis,' Dead at 44 Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl’ on Netflix, A Doc That Reflects On Her Lively Life And Lengthy Career Some Revelations About Mutt Lange, Shania Twain’s Ex-Husband from ‘Not Just a Girl’ Netflix Documentary ‘Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story’ Promises The Show Of A Lifetime But Delivers Only Platitudes To Puffy Stream It Or Skip It: ‘We Met in Virtual Reality’ on HBO Max, a Documentary That Finds Real Emotions in an Unreal Setting Is 'Alex's War' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix?

THE OWL HOUSE SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 ONLINE LICENSE

"Deceitful" Princess Diana Interview Clips Will Be in New Documentary ‘The Princess’ Despite BBC Pledging to Never License Footage ‘Blonde’ Trailer Blasted for Exploiting Marilyn Monroe: A “Sick Fantasy” Stream It Or Skip It: 'Fanático' On Netflix, Where A Look-Alike Fan Of A Hip-Hop Star Takes On His Life After An Untimely DeathĬristin Milioti Does "Weird, Morbid Chick" Better Than The Rest Sydney Sweeney Is The Next Evolution Of The Hollywood Sex Symbol Sylvester Stallone Drags ‘Rocky’ Producer Irwin Winkler for “Exploiting” His Characters in the ‘Drago’ Spinoff Stream It Or Skip It: 'Uncoupled' On Netflix, Where Neil Patrick Harris Is A Man Starting Over After Being Dumped By His Longtime Partner Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Honor Society’ on Paramount+, A Delightful And Sneaky Sly High School Comedy Zoey Deutch Delivers a Perfect Satire of Influencer Scams in Hulu’s ‘Not Okay’ Mia Isaac From ‘Not Okay’ and ‘Don’t Make Me Go’ Is Having A Breakout Year

#The owl house season 1 episode 1 online

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taki118 · 3 years

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Go watch Final Space

This poor series that has been jumping from platform to platform is releasing its third season this march on adult swim and HBO maxx and by god it deserves to go the 6 seasons it’s creator Olan Rogers thinks it can go.

One of the main reasons this show got a bad rap at the start was people insisting that because of its art style and genre it was a Rick & Morty clone let me say it loudly for the people who still think this

FINAL SPACE IS NOT A KNOCK OFF RICK & MORTY

Rick & Morty is a Sc-Fi comedy series with action Final Space is a Sci-Fi action series with comedy now that might seem like very little difference but it is. Final Spaces in series history and lore is its own unique thing that gets built up and expanded on as the series goes on. It is not a backdrop for things to happen to our protagonist.

Another issue people had when this series came out early was the main character Gary being annoying, and yes he was, and this was done so intentionally as the series goes on he drops a lot of these annoying tendencies as he develops and grows (also he was alone for like 5 years yeah he was desperate for interaction)

But let me tell you some reasons I love Final Space and I’ll try my best to not spoil things, cause you should really give this show your time. While season one is a little rough season 2 really shines and season 3 looks like its going to tear my god damn heart out.

1: Found Family

Final Space seems to really love this idea that family is not just the people who share your blood but the people around you who stay. This series showcases both good parents and bad parents BUT also shows good surrogate parental figures AND bad ones and thats something i rarely see. The series goes out of its way to show how vulnerable people desperate for a place to belong will attach themselves to the wrong people. All the while our main cast develops and strengthens their bonds over the seasons making a weird family that is always has room for one more.

2: Character Growth

I am a sucker for good character growth and Gary Goodspeed gets some get great character growth as well as Little Cato and Knightfall (who was very unexpected as she seemed like one of those character types who wouldnt). Like let me tell you if you think Gary is just a happy go lucky idiot who doesnt have a bunch of emotional trauma you’re wrong, trauma which the show address and he grows from dealing with in healthy ways.

3: Using the Multiverse as Character Study

Now i could talk forever about this because this show uses the idea of multi realties in a way not many pieces of media do. See normally the idea is just this play ground to explore how characters or the world could be different or as a means to cheaply bring back a character to maintain staus quo. But Final Space does something interesting it explores how this people both are and are not you. They may look, sound, and act like you but they have experienced a live different from your own, and in this way will never fully be you.

Ex. A character comes from an alternate realty the person they loved died there but is alive in this one and while they play with idea of being with this person instead but finds that they just can’t because this just isn’t the person they loved and they never will be.

They also use this a means of almost existential horror with the inevitably of fate, if in hundred different timelines you tried to do the same thing but failed each time would you still try? Would it even mean anything if what happens after is worse? Like this series really does hit you with these moments and ideas to ponder and it never feels out of place.

4: The Humor is Really Weird and Fun

Like its really hard to pin down exactly what this humor is but I’d say its very character based like these jokes just would not work anywhere else or with anyone else. The series has a very odd sense of humor that you just cant pin down, from like witty dialogue delivered in just the funniest ways, to a literal piss war to a deadpan AI talking about death to an alternate version of yourself telling you you’ll never grow a mustache to a guy who wants to be stabbed cause he thinks it’d be cool to silly background gags you might miss, the shows comedy is just very enjoyable and fun.

Like honestly there is a lot more I could talk about but its all so specific and spoiler filled like you have no idea how hard this was till now. Anyway I hope this helps some people take the time to give Final Space a chance. Like I said the start is slow and Gary is a bit much at the start but by the season 1 finale you definitely wont feel like you have wasted your time. Final Space is a hell of a ride that’ll go places you definitely did not expect.

#final space #show recommendations #adult animation #adult animated shows #animation #animated series #sci-fi

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talkingtea · 2 years

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I’ve tried so hard to understand it but I will never be able to. They never tried to sabotage arrow when the flash was first released on the network and never tried to sabotage flash with supergirl, or supergirl with batwoman even. So what about s&l has made them decide to abandon everything and throw all thier eggs in the s&l basket?? is it bc superman is the most well known dc hero? is it bc the leads are a white heterosexual couple? are they trying to recreate the smallville success? the emphasis on the show is crazy and i don’t understand why, especially since it isn’t delivering. how’ve you got a hbo budget and yet your show is still shit? how have you got comic book “accuracy” yet the comic book fans still aren’t checking for you? how have you got the perfect formula- budget, promo, socially “attractive” main cast, other shows are being sabotaged for you- yet there’s nothing keeping ppl watching and your views are dropping like flies?? I don’t understand how the higher ups are seeing their little project failing and instead of backpedaling and putting their attention back on the flash, they have instead put their foot on the gas for s&l. idk maybe since tf is a dying/dead show they’ve realised that there’s no point… but they helped contribute to the show dying…. it’s crazy how we can see what they’re doing to ruin the show, but we’re powerless to stop it

Superman & Lois checks all the ‘right’ boxes.

—Hero that’s the crown jewel of the DC universe ✅

—Bland and safe enough to appeal to the conservative base ✅✅

—Lead characters aren’t race bent. More specifically the main lead actress/love interest is white. Even more specifically viewers don’t have to watch the white male lead be in love with a black woman ✅✅✅

S&L is hitting all the so-called high points to make the rabid fanboys happy to go along with the bigger budget and better promo and yet it’s hardly anything worth writing home about. It clearly doesn’t live up to the hype.

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toulousewayne · 1 year

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Catwoman:The Series

Season 2

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This is a concept for a live-action limited Catwoman Tv Series that could be adapted on something like HBO MAX or a another network or streaming.

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Synopsis:Selina Kyle has never been defined by the things she does.As Catwoman she has decided to do whatever she pleases, and dares anyone to back this cat into a corner.

Release: May 6, 2028

Rating: TV-MA

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Cast:

Selina Kyle/Catwoman……Shay Mitchell

Mavin “Holly” Robinson…….Lachlan Watson

Kate Kane/ Batwoman………Kristen Stewart

Amanda Waller…………Angelia Bassett

Cameos:

Stephanie Brown/Spoiler…….Teagan Croft

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Concept:

Catwoman suit:

Batwoman’s Suit:

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Seeing if this was on streaming TV series the episode count would be anywhere from 6-13. For the series however will go with 7. Each episode is about 42 - 59 minutes, and all give a little summary for each episode.

Episodes:

Catflies:

Selina attempts to steal from a museum in Gotham’s Financial District,but Is unexpectedly captured. She wakes up in a cell comes face to face with the infamous Amanda Waller who wants Selina something of top secret. In exchange Walker will give her information for her long lost sister.

Holly doesn’t just want to be the sit on the sidelines anymore and wants to be out on the prowl like Catwoman.

2. Beware the Cat:

Catwoman goes undercover as a sexy club goer in order to get into the Iceberg Lounge. She meets a woman named Late at the bar who is taken with her,Selina plays along long enough to find the Penguin’s office.

She finds plans and blueprints for a Electric Skeleton Key, and find that is being manufactured at Kane Industries. While breaking to the building she meets the new vigilante known as Batwoman.

3. Catastrophic:

Catwoman and Batwoman team up to find the missing Skeleton Key. They travel to nearby Bludheaven which is filled with crime with no current hero.

Holly attempts to pose as Catwoman and try to bust a robbery and is nearly killed herself with out assistance from Spoiler who just returned from Hong Kong.

4.The Bat and the Cat:

Batwoman and Catwoman return from Bludheaven with intel about Black Masks strongholds that is supposedly housing the key for a black market auction later that night. The two break and take on some of Gotham’s most notorious mobsters.

Stephanie has Holly meet her Pauli’s Diner and she tells her why if she wants to go out a be hero she needs to find the right reasons for her,but most of all she needs to be the hero she wants to be.

5. Independent:

After finally getting the Skeleton Key Selina realized it’s full capabilities and wants to know why Waller wants it.

She meets with Waller and demands an explanation. She is met with a hit on her life if she’s crossed.

Holly took what Stephanie told her yesterday and decided to find one of Selina’s old friends in Gotham.

6. The Stray:

Selina is thrown into Waller’s cell again deep underground the Agency. Waller tells her through inner com that she isn’t to be taken lightly.

Batwoman had been secretly tailing Catwoman and breaks into the temporary Agency base to free her.

7. Fresh Start:

After escaping with the flash drive about her sister and destroying the Skeleton key. Catwoman nearly kills Waller and demands she leaves Gotham. Reluctantly Waller agrees but tell her that she could use someone on a team of her’s she’s about to create and Selina declines the offer.

Selina finally learns Batwoman’s identity. And thanks her for her help. Selina clears out her small apartment in the East End and Holly tells Selina that she needs to find her own path and is staying in Gotham. Selina takes Isis her cat and leaves Gotham City.

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pascalsky · 3 years

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Pedro Pascal is flying high on The Mandalorian, but defining success by his earthly bonds

The Wonder Woman 1984 and The Mandalorian star is one of EW's Entertainers of the Year.

Human connection. It’s vital. Especially in a year like 2020. Especially for Pedro Pascal. So it’s ironic that the 45-year-old’s highest-profile success to date is working with an adorable animatronic puppet, inside a chrome helmet he famously can’t take off. "It is why I wanted to do this show. Selfishly, I knew [the Child, a.k.a. Baby Yoda] was likely to make people fall in love with the show," says Pascal of tackling the title role on The Mandalorian, the Emmy-nominated hit Star Wars series, which returned for its second season on Disney+ in October.

The Chilean-American actor has an eye for choosing projects where he’ll stand out, from popular network procedurals including The Good Wife, The Mentalist, and Law & Order to his breakout roles as the charming — and horny — Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones and, soon after, DEA agent Javier Peña on Netflix’s Narcos. But it’s the stoic bounty hunter safeguarding a frog-egg-eating 50-year-old toddler that’s made him a household name. The new season of The Mandalorian followed Pascal’s galaxy-traveling warrior as he searched for the home of the Child, generating countless memes in the process.

Playing the Mandalorian has been one of the hardest and most unique experiences of Pascal's career to date. At this point, it's no secret that he wasn't physically under the helmet as much as he would've liked in season 1 and recorded his dialogue in post-production to match what his doubles, stunt actors Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, did on set in the armor. Giving a largely vocal performance was a challenge for a physical actor like Pascal, who is almost unrecognizable when you compare his turns on The Good Wife and Game of Thrones, for example, because of how he carries himself. Yet, being on set way more in The Mandalorian season 2 didn't make his job any easier because he still had to figure how to make Mando compelling while also being as economical as possible in his physical movements and vocal performance.

"I'm not even sure if I would be able to do it if it weren't for the amount of direct experience that I've had with being on stage to understand how to posture yourself, how to physically frame yourself into something and to tell a story with a gesture, with a stance, or with very, very specific vocal intonation," says Pascal, who believes his collaborative relationship with creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, a.k.a. his "Mandalorian papas," also helped him inhabit the role in season 2.

Speaking of collaboration: Working with comedian Amy Sedaris, who plays gruff Tatooine mechanic Peli Motto, was one of the highlights of The Mandalorian’s sophomore season. “I followed Amy Sedaris around like a puppy. [I was] like, ‘Hey again. I’m not leaving your side until you wrap,’ and she’s like, ‘Cool,’” Pascal says. “I love the Child — it really is adorable — and it is so fascinating to see it work, but somebody who makes you spit-laugh right into your helmet will always be my favorite thing."

Pascal longed for those kinds of interactions during quarantine, which proved difficult for the actor who was living alone in Los Angeles. But he lights up, is even giddy at times, when the conversation turns to bonding with the Community cast right before a charity table read back in May (he filled in for Walton Goggins), or FaceTiming his friends to celebrate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' election victory on Nov. 7. "Ahhhh! Ahhhh!" Pascal exclaims, reenacting the joyous calls with buddies like Oscar Isaac that Saturday morning. "It was screaming and jumping and dancing and crying…. I very arrogantly took screenshots of everything and [shared them], like, 'I am a part of this!'”

"I'd be less nervous playing tennis in front of the Obamas than I was seeing a reunion of these people that I think are brilliant and have this incredible chemistry with each other and stepping in and having really, really, bad technology in this new space that I had moved into. I really resented having to actually participate acting-wise because there were instances where it was way too much fun to watch."

- PEDRO PASCAL ON SHOOTING THE COMMUNITY TABLE READ.

His appreciation for those around him has only grown during the pandemic. Before flying to Budapest to film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicholas Cage, Pascal leaned on his bubble for support. Community's Gillian Jacobs, for example, hosted him for an outdoor socially distanced pizza night every Saturday in the early weeks of lockdown. (He suspects that's why he was recruited for the sitcom's table read when Goggins couldn't participate.) "The friends that got me through it are absolutely everything to me and very beautifully marked in my head. I've got old friends and new friends that literally did nothing short of parent me through the experience," says Pascal, who has "survivor's remorse" for being in Europe right now. "I feel guilty not being [in the States] with my friends through [this tumultuous time] but also grateful that, individually, I was able to gain a little bit of separation from the stress of it."

Those tight bonds helped redefine, or at least clarify, what success means to him. "I want to make sure that my relationships are right, and I want to make sure I'm nurturing meaning in a sustaining way, and that won't necessarily be related to getting good jobs and making lots of money," he says. But he'll take them — as he did for both of his 2020 projects, about which he's thrilled. And how could he not be, starring in two of the year's most feverishly anticipated properties?

Besides The Mandalorian, Pascal appears in Patty Jenkins' superhero epic Wonder Woman 1984, which has endured a Homeric journey to its release (read: several pandemic-related delays). Thankfully, the odyssey is almost over because Warner Bros. recently confirmed that it will open in both theaters and on HBO Max on Dec. 25. Pascal is stoked audiences will finally see his turn as the villainous Maxwell Lord because playing the greedy dream-seller pushed him out of his post-Game of Thrones action role comfort zone.

"With Wonder Woman, [Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig] are doing the action, baby, and I'm doing the schm-acting!" he says, hilariously elongating that final syllable. "I am hamming it up!" (Indeed, Pascal reveals Cage inspired his performance in one particular scene.)

But Pascal felt he was up to the challenge because everything he needed was right there in the screenplay, which Jenkins co-wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. "I didn't have to take something and figure out how to put more flesh onto it. I had to achieve getting into the skin of what was being presented to me," he says, contrasting the experience with playing a DEA agent for three seasons on Narcos. "For me, Colombia was almost the central character, and then I was allowed to make him depressive and to tonally interpret what the character was. And in this case [on Wonder Woman 1984], there was just so much for me to meet rather than to invent."

He continues: "That was an incredible delight and challenge because Patty Jenkins is a director who loves actors and when she sees she can ask for more, she does. And there isn't anyone better, in my experience, to give more to."

In 2021, he rejoins the good guys as an aging superhero and father in Robert Rodriguez's kid-friendly Netflix drama We Can Be Heroes. The inherent optimism of the Netflix film's title also complements Pascal's hope for the new year. Says Pascal, ”If [fear] can take a little bit of a backseat and not be the main character in everybody’s life, that would be great.”

SOURCE

#omg he looks so damn good #entertainment weekly #pedro pascal #the mandalorian #din djarin #max lord #maxwell lord #wonder women 1984 #ww1984 #oberyn martell #prince oberyn #the unbearable weight of massive talent #javier pena #narcos #javi gutierrez #we can be heroes #marcus moreno

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frankendykes-monster · 3 years

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Space Jam: A New Legacy is content to be content.

The original Space Jam was a calculated marketing exercise. Michael Jordan was the biggest sports star of the nineties, and Space Jam capitalised on Jordan’s brand potential while also allowing the athlete to refashion his own narrative into a family-friendly mythology. Space Jam packaged Jordan for a generation, smoothing the wrinkles out of his story by presenting a wholesome family man making an earnest transition from basketball to baseball.

It also helped Warner Bros. to figure out what to do with their Looney Tunes characters, which had largely laid dormant within the company’s intellectual property vaults. There had been a conscious effort to revitalised the company’s animation with shows like Tiny Toon Adventures and even Animaniacs, but those classic and beloved cartoons were a merchandising opportunity waiting to happen. So the logic of the original Space Jam was clear, it was an excuse to tie together two potentially profitable strands of intellectual property.

Space Jam itself was something of an afterthought. The movie struggles to reach its ninety-minute runtime. It often feels like the production team have to utilise every scrap of film to reach that target, with extended riffs focusing on Bill Murray and Michael Jordan on the golf course and with a lot of the improvisation from the voice cast included in the finished film. The movie’s ending comes out of nowhere, and Space Jam struggles to hit many of the basic plot beats of a scrappy sports movie.

The movie itself was immaterial to the success of Space Jam as a concept. After all, the film only grossed $250m at the global box office, enough to scrape into the end of year top ten behind The Nutty Professor and Jerry Maguire. However, the film’s real success lay in merchandising, with the film generating between $4bn and $6bn in licensing and merchandising. Key to this was the success of the six-time platinum-certified soundtrack which remains the ninth highest-grossing soundtrack of all-time.

In some to trace a lot of modern Hollywood back to the original Space Jam. So much of how companies package and release modern media feels like an extension of that approach, the reduction of the actual film itself to nothing more than “content” that exists as a larger pool of marketable material. After all, the unspoken assumption underlying AT&T’s disastrous decision to send all of their blockbusters to HBO Max was the understanding that HBO Max itself was often packaged free with company’s internet. Movies would no longer be their own things, but just perks to be packaged and sold as part of larger deals.

In the decades since the release of Space Jam, the industry has become increasingly focused on the idea of packaging and repackaging intellectual property. It has become increasingly common for films to showcase multiple intellectual properties housed at the same studios. Simple crossovers like Alien vs. Predators or The Avengers now seem positively humble when compared to the smorgasbord of brand synergy on display in projects like The Emoji Movie or Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Interestingly, as Disney have steadily securing their intellectual property portfolio with additions like Pixar and Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. have becoming increasingly bullish about showcasing the depth and breadth of their bench. The LEGO Movie imagines a wide range of properties consolidated under one brand. Ready Player One depicted a pop culture user space lost in nostalgia for properties and trinkets. However, those movies also managed to tell their own stories, even as they grappled with the weight of brand synergy pushing down on top of them.

Space Jam: A New Legacy has no such delusions. It understands that it does not exist as a story or as a feature film. Instead, it has distilled cinema down to a content-delivery mechanism. The plot of the movie finds basketball star LeBron James sucked into the “Serververse” and forced to ally with the Looney Tunes in order to play a basketball game with the fate of the world in the balance. However, while the original Space Jam ran a brisk and unfocused ninety minutes, A New Legacy extends itself to almost two hours. There is always more content to repackage and sell, after all.

A New Legacy slathers its cynicism in nostalgia, directly appealing to a generation of audiences who have convinced themselves that Space Jam was a good movie and a beloved childhood classic. A New Legacy is built around the understanding that the original Space Jam walked so that it might run, counting on the audience’s nostalgia for the original film to excuse a lot of its indulgences. After all, it would be a betrayal of the franchise if A New Legacy wasn’t a crash and vulgar cash-in. In many ways, A New Legacy does what most sequels aspire to do, scaling the original film’s ambitions aggressively upwards.

As with the original Space Jam, there is layer of irony to distract from the film’s clear purpose. In the original Space Jam, the villainous Swackhammer planned to abduct the Looney Tunes and force them to play at his themeparks. The implication was that the characters did not want to be sold into corporate servitude, stripped of their own identity and rendered as crass tools of unchecked capitalism. The irony of Space Jam lay in the fact that the entire movie was a variant on Swackhammer’s themepark and the Looney Tunes were dancing to that theme anyway as Daffy puckers up and kisses the Warner Bros. stamp on his own ass.

In A New Legacy, a sentient algorithm – Al G. Rhythm – is cast as the movie’s primary antagonist. The film gestures broadly at a satirical criticism of the modern film industry, with Al G. Rhythm shaping and warping the future of movie-making by suggesting things like computer-generating movie stars and producing a constant array of recycled intellectual property. A New Legacy recognises the machinations of Al G. Rhythm as unsettling and horrifying, with throwaway jokes about the theft of ideas and the violation of privacy, but the villain largely serves as a smokescreen to let the movie have its cake and eat it.

After all, A New Legacy revels in Al G. Rhythm’s plans. LeBron James is turned into an animated figure and dumped into classic Looney Tunes shorts like Rabbit Season and The Rabbit of Seville. The film understands that while the audience might be afraid of the algorithm, they also yearn for it. After all, it isn’t Al G. Rhythm who structures A New Legacy so that the film spends an extended sequence touring the company’s beloved intellectual properties.

A New Legacy is really just an investors’ day presentation that celebrates the sheer amount of content that Warner Bros. own. It’s not too difficult to imagine the film screened investors before the Discovery deal, as proof of just how many viable franchising opportunities existed within the copyright of the company itself. It’s a weird and unsettling showcase, in large part because it feels like that warning from Jurassic Park. The studio were so obsessed with whether they could do a thing that they never stopped to consider whether they should.

The film’s middle section includes a whirlwind tour of the properties owned by Warner Bros. After Bugs “plays the hits” with James, the two set off on an adventure to recover the other Looney Tunes from other beloved Warner Bros. properties. Some of these advertisements make sense: Daffy and Porky are living in the world of Superman: The Animated Series, while Lola seems to have found the Wonder Woman from the Bloodlines animated films. Others make much less sense in a movie aimed at kids, like the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote hiding in Mad Max: Fury Road or Yosemite Sam living in Casablanca.

Of course, it’s debatable how much of A New Legacy is aimed at kids, as compared to the kids of the nineties. Its target market seems to be kids in the late nineties who never grew up, because they never had to. Elmer Fudd and Sylvester are hiding out in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Granny and Speedy have taken refuge in the opening scenes of The Matrix. While the original Space Jam featured odd pop cultural shoutouts to things like Pulp Fiction, at least that was somewhat contemporaneous.

To be fair, there is no art driving these choices. Many of these references serve to point the audience towards established properties. It is a sentient recommendation algorithm for HBO Max and a handy way of stoking audience interest in upcoming projects like The Matrix 4 (December 2021) or Furiosa (June 2023). It is a helpful reminder that Superman: The Animated Series has been remastered in high definition to stream on HBO Max. Foghorn Leghorn even rides a dragon from Game of Thrones to remind viewers that the show is streaming on HBO Max and that there are prequels coming.

It’s all very bizarre, but also strangely lifeless. The climax of the film finds the inevitable basketball game played in front of a crowd of familiar pop culture icons drawn from a wide range of sources: King Kong, The Iron Giant, Batman ’66, The Wizard of Oz, The Mask and many more. It feels very much like a surreal power play, a company showcasing the depth of its own vaults at a turbulent time in the industry. It leads to weird moments, like Al G. Rhythm even quoting Training Day, perhaps the film’s most unlikely draw from the “Warner Bros. Intellectual Property Vault.”

The most revealing aspect of the movie is its central conflict, with Al G. Rhythm cynically manipulating LeBron’s son Dom. Dom is convinced that his father doesn’t understand him, that his father is unable to see that his skill lies in video game coding rather than old-fashioned basketball. Rhythm is able to create a schism between father and son, using Dom’s code and his anger to attack and undermine LeBron James and the Looney Tunes. It’s a very broad and very archetypal story. There are no points for realising that Dom eventually comes around to his father and accepts that Rhythm is a villain.

However, it signals an interesting shift in these sorts of narratives. Traditionally, these sorts of generational conflicts played out between fathers and sons, with fathers presented as antagonistic and sons presented as heroic. The original Star Wars saga is built around Luke Skywalker trying to wrestle and grapple with his father Darth Vader. In Superman II, the eponymous superhero is forced to confront Zod, a representative of his father’s generation and the old world. Even in Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne is set against his surrogate father figure Ra’s Al Ghul.

The metaphor driving these sorts of stories was fairly simple and straightforward. Every generation needs to come into their own and take control of their own agency within the world. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi ends with Darth Vader dead and Luke staring out into the wider universe. Times change, and each generation has an obligation to try to create a better world than the one left to them by their parents. In the conflict between parents and children, it has generally been children who have prevailed.

However, in recent years, the trend has swung back sharply. It’s notable that the villain in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is an errant child who doesn’t properly respect his parents, and that Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker ends with order restored when the protagonist takes the name of the beloved heroes of the older films. Shows like Star Trek: Picard are built around the idea that kids need their older generation of parents to swoop in and tell them how to properly live their lives.

A New Legacy is an interesting illustration of this trend. The movie ends with a reconciliation between LeBron and Dom, but it is very clearly on LeBron’s terms. Dom is manipulated and misled by sinister forces, and his father has to save him while realigning his moral compass. Father knows best. It demonstrates how the underlying logic of these stories has shifted in recent years, perhaps reflecting the understanding that perhaps the older generation won’t surrender the floor gracefully.

As with Ready Player One, there’s a monstrous Peter Pan quality to A New Legacy. It is a film about how the culture doesn’t have to change. It can be recycled and repurposed forever and ever and ever. At the end of Space Jam, Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny parted ways. There was an understanding that the two worlds existed apart from one another. However, A New Legacy ends with the collapse of these worlds into one another; the “Serververse” manifesting itself in the real world. As LeBron walks home, Bugs asks if he can move in.

Of course, with HBO Max subscription, the audience can take Bugs home anytime they want

#long post

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destiniesfic · 3 years

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Folktober 05 — for @jurdannet/@jurdannetrevels. In which Jude was never taken to Faerie and grew up in blissful ignorance of the fair folk—mostly—until the night they tried to steal her twin sister away.

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The door is the first test. It is difficult not to stare at every new thing I see. There are lamps on either side of the polished wood doors, and at first I think they’re just regular lights, but of course nothing here is that simple; the light comes from two tiny glowing faeries, trapped behind glass. I am immediately filled with questions. Did they volunteer for the job? Is this a punishment for some unknown crime? Do they eat, and if so, who feeds them? Do they live forever, miserable in their prison, or do they eventually burn themselves out?

But I am meant to be glamoured and not ask questions, so I don’t, even though I want to pound my hands against the glass until they bleed and the tiny faeries are freed. I keep my eyes straight ahead and hardly even flinch when I notice the grotesque carving on the door. It looks horrible, a twisted and terrible face, the knocker piercing its nose.

Cardan acts as if this is all totally normal, because of course to him it is, because he lives here and none of this is new to him. Without any hesitation, he reaches for the door knocker. And as he does, the carving’s eyes spring open.

To keep from screaming, I bite my lip hard enough to draw a bead of blood. My entire body goes taut, a coiled spring waiting for release. I force myself to breathe in through my nose.

“My prince,” says the carving.

Cardan smiles at the door in a way I am not even sure he smiled at his friends. “My door.”

I am relieved when the next words from the door’s awful mouth are “Welcome home” and it swings open to admit us. Cardan stalks inside, and I follow.

There is a faerie servant waiting for us, wearing some kind of livery. “Prince Cardan,” they say, with a small bow. “Your brother would like to speak with you.”

“A pity for him,” Cardan replies, handing his cloak to another servant. No one offers to take the jacket I am wearing. “I would like that less.”

“I am afraid it was not a request,” the first servant says. “He wishes to speak with you and the mortal girl you have brought back with you.”

Cardan glances back at me, a frown turning down the corners of his full mouth. “Very well, although I cannot imagine why. Come, Jude.”

I bristle at the command, but I follow after him; it’s what the glamoured girl I’m supposed to be would do. I force a little smile on my lips and trot after him. “What’s going on?” I whisper through it.

“I know not.” The frown deepens. “And I like that even less. Stay close to me and face front, no matter what you see. And under no circumstances may you antagonize Balekin as you do me. Am I understood?”

I want to tell him that if he thinks my meager resistance so far has been antagonism, he doesn’t really know anything about hardship, but there’s an urgency to his voice, maybe something like nerves or fear, that makes me think he’s being serious.

“Totally,” I say, and then I fall back a little so that I trail him.

Soon I see why he warned me to stare straight ahead. As we walk through the hallway, I see another human for the first time, a young man dressed in the same palace livery. At first I want to call out to him, to scream, to tell him I’ve been taken and he has too and we should both run away from this place, but I notice the glazed look in his eyes, and, as we approach, his cracked fingers and chapped lips. He hums to himself as he polishes an old suit of armor on display, and doesn’t seem to notice as we pass.

I shudder. Cardan may have kidnapped me, true. He and his friends might have intended to do terrible things to my sister, and he may still intend to do terrible things to me. But at least I have been spared that fate, the loss of my all my faculties, of any control.

I’m not relieved for long, because Hollow Hall still has horrors in store for me. Soon we come to another set of gleaming doors, through which I can hear the sounds of chatter and the faint thrumming of music. The doors are thrown open for us by another pair of servants, and then we are in the middle of the great hall.

There is what is clearly a party happening. Well, I assume it’s a party, what parties are in fairyland. It looks like the kind of scene HBO would get in trouble for when casting a bunch of nude extras. I mean, by human standards, it would definitely be considered an orgy, but I am beginning to think that human and faerie standards are very different.

And that’s not to say all of the Folk are embracing. Some are eating golden fruit. Some are drinking wine and mead from great goblets, like the ones Cardan brought for his picnic jaunt into my world. Others seem to be falling asleep. Two might be strangling each other to the amusement of onlookers. There is a small band on the other side of the room that includes a green-skinned pixie playing a flute and a boy with goat legs playing an honest-to-god lute. And, yes, there are faeries in varying states of undress, on couches near the perimeter of the room or cushions on the floor, and some are definitely, um, occupied. They are clearly inhuman, but their bodies are human enough that I find myself blushing, out of embarrassment or mortification I don’t know.

But Cardan said I couldn’t stare, so I do my best not to. I face front and think about the places I would rather be. Which is pretty much anywhere. I imagine myself at the Starbucks downtown, sipping pumpkin spice lattes with Taryn, or bingeing She-Ra on Netflix with Vivi, like we had the last week of the summer. Then I think about how my parents will panic when they realize I’m not there in the morning—probably just a couple of hours from now—and I nearly feel sick to my stomach.

“Jude,” Cardan hisses through his teeth. “With me.”

I don’t nod. I just follow him as we chart a path through the revelers, managing to hold it together. A naked girl with daffodil-yellow skin and pink flowers for hair laughs and calls to him, trying to coax him into joining her circle, but he ignores her. I guess being a prince makes you popular.

Our destination is on the far side of the room, unfortunately, which means I have to do a lot more repression to make it there in one piece. For example, I can’t think about how a sharp-toothed faerie seems to be using a tiny bone to pick his teeth, or how another revel guest’s lips shine red like they’re wet with blood. At least I can easily pick out where we’re going and focus on that as I keep from tripping over any outstretched limbs.

Another faerie, one who looks much like Cardan with dark hair and high cheekbones, reclines in a wooden chair carved to look much like a throne, up on a dais. He is in conversation with a very lovely woman in a blue gown, but when she sees us approaching she kisses his ring and leaves. I almost want to tell her to come back, to not leave us with the host of this debauched fete. But there’s nothing to say. I’ll have no help here.

Cardan climbs the dais seps and stops before the chair, inclining his head with deference that seems a little mocking. Without being told, I know that this is Balekin, whom Cardan said was the eldest of the princes.

Brother,” Balekin says, and even I, an outsider, can sense the danger under the familial cheer. “How was your jaunt to the mortal world?”

“Tiresome,” Cardan says, stifling a yawn as he raises his head.

“I was told you brought a companion back with you.”

“Word travels fast.”

Balekin waits for him to say something else, and frowns when he doesn’t. I, meanwhile, am thinking of how I felt like we were being watched as we rode through the forest. Maybe we were. Or maybe the goblins who’d paddled the boat were spies. Nothing here was safe.

“Well, won’t you call her hence so I may examine her?” Balekin asks at last.

“Oh, indeed,” says Cardan, who clearly isn’t happy to have been called out for this. Still, he waves for me, and I take a step forward. “This mortal girl interfered with our fun. She was unhappy that Locke wanted to play with her twin sister.”

“Twins?” Balekin sounds intrigued. He sits forward. I’m learning that twins are probably rare among faeries if Taryn and I are so consistently interesting. “Why not keep them both?”

Cardan shrugs. “It was better sport to promise the freedom of one sister and then take the other. This one was so angry when she found her twin glamoured, and now she suffers that fate.”

I’m angry still, I want to shout. I’m angry now! I want to stomp my foot. I want to haul off and punch him. But I stay where I am, trying to keep the placid smile fixed on my face. I’d thought Cardan and his friends terrifying and wrong, but now that I am face-to-face with an adult faerie, I realize that Cardan can’t be much older than me—or whatever the faerie equivalent is. Maybe he’s ninety and just looks nineteen. But Balekin is clearly grown, less lanky than Cardan, more dangerous. He is looking at me in a way I don’t like.

“Come closer, child,” he says to me, and he almost sounds kind. I try not to hesitate as I approach his chair. When I am near enough, he reaches out and takes my face in his hand. There are thorns poking out of his skin, sharp enough to prick me. I stay very, very still and try to breathe normally.

“She’s not unpretty, is she?” he asks Cardan.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cardan shift uneasily. “If mortals are your flavor.”

Balekin frowns, turning my face from one side to the other. “She has a familiar look. What is your name, girl?”

“Jude,” I say obediently.

“Your surname.”

“Smith,” I lie. It’s the first thing that comes to mind. Telling a faerie prince my actual full name seems like a really bad idea.

Balekin’s eyes narrow, but he releases me. My jaw tingles. He swirls the wine in his goblet the way sophisticated people do in movies, and then he leans back in his chair. “So, brother. Now you have a mortal girl. What will you do with her?”

“I have not yet decided,” Cardan replies, sounding thoughtful. “I would rather not put her to work in the kitchens or the hall. Mortals are so fragile, with such clumsy fingers. It amuses me to think of her carrying my schoolbooks, serving my wine, and sleeping at the foot of my bed like a faithful hound.”

“Trite amusements,” says Balekin, but I notice that he doesn’t seem displeased with his younger brother. “If you misplace this one it is of no consequence to me. Do as you will.”

Cardan inclines his head in a mock bow, then says again, “Come, Jude.”

Like the faithful hound, I follow at his heels. Unlike the faithful hound, I chafe doing so. But I can’t see another way out just now, so I will play this game until the end. Whatever that is.

---

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agentnico · 3 years

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) Review

It all started with Sonic’s teeth. Ever since fans successfully bullied a studio into reanimating their titular hedgehog character after the abomination shown in the first trailer, fans realised that rallying together (on Twitter) can make a difference. So you’d think it would mean we could all come together to restore world peace and get rid of racism, injustice, poverty, war and negativity of all kind? Nope, nope it does not. But at least we get a better version of a bad DC movie that came out in 2017. I mean, baby steps I guess.

Plot: Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes -- Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash -- it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

I recall my younger simpler self in 2017 at the early age of 20 soon to be 21, sitting down and watching the new Justice League film with zero to no expectations, as by that point the DC Extended Universe was a trainwreck and was a franchise that was literally falling apart before out unblinking red hay fever filled eyes. However, after watching Justice League I was baffled at the fact that I still managed to be disappointed after having zero expectations! With zero expectations this film took me into the minuses, and we all know I’m not great at mathematics so boy are we in the danger zone when we hit the minuses! Looking back at my review of the film back then, I used extreme yet fitting comments like “generic”, “predictable” “messy” and plain “dogsh*t”. Which is what it was. 2017′s Justice League is exactly how I’d imagine a dog’s poop would look if it was turned into an abstract film! It was truly abysmal. After that I thought I’d never have to talk about this film again. How wrong I was. But, in a rare turn of tables, I am glad that I was wrong...

A little history lesson first. Alright, settle down kids, settle down.... Rob, put the paper plane down, do not throw it, I said DON’T THROW IT! NO! Stop! Stupid child!! Headteacher’s office right now! Also, say hi to your mother for me, okay? I’m having brunch with her on Saturday and you better not be there as you should be doing your homework watching the 4 hour cut of Justice League and questioning your life choices!! Anyway, now let’s have ourselves a history lesson. The topic is - What In The Flying Fudge Happened Behind-The-Scenes Of Justice League For DUMMIES: Condensed Edition. A really condensed version as honestly none of us have the attention span to read loads and I’m probably losing the vast majority of you due to this overlong rambling session. So anyway, to the last couple of readers left, here we go! Following the success of Man of Steel, Warner Bros. gave Zack Snyder the reigns to oversee and create a DC cinematic universe to rival the success of Marvel. And so came Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which turned out to be a bit of a hodgepodge, receiving mixed to negative reviews and though was a box office success, earned diminishing results to what Warner Bros. originally anticipated. However, by the time Batman V Superman released, Zack Snyder was already hard at work on the big superhero team up film Justice League (which was meant to set up many characters and future films for the DCEU) with a lot of filming already underway, so Warner Bros. couldn’t particularly pump the breaks on it by that point, even though they evidently lost trust in the Snyder formula. To be honest, at that point I too lost trust in Snyder’s vision and the DCEU as a whole, but my opinion doesn’t class for a single dime, whilst the opinions of Warner Bros. executives make millions, so there aren’t any hard feelings on my behalf for them not enquiring on my thoughts. Anyway, midway through production Zack Snyder was hit with a family tragedy with his daughter committing suicide, so Snyder naturally had to depart the project to be with his family during this grieving time. Warner Bros. had the option to pause production and await for Snyder’s return, or progress at their own accord. Naturally they decided to do their own thing cause they are a business and want that dollar dollar bill baby!! So they hired Joss Whedon who was riding fresh off the success of two Avengers movies and obviously had experience in cinematic universes and such, to rework the Justice League movie by condensing it into a 2 hour film (from the over 4 hour material that Snyder shot) and reshoot scenes to fit the smaller runtime. So you cannot particularly blame Whedon for taking out so many great scenes as he had a contract to fulfil with Warner Bros, but then you look at the many forced jokes and unnecessary reshot scenes and you realise how self-indulgent Joss Whedon was during filming, as he basically was spitting on everything Snyder did and was trying to do his own thing. Low and behold, the mess that is the 2017 movie is created, where its the visions and creative minds of two director with evidently different styles clashing and not really mixing well at all, and as such we have a messy movie that doesn’t really make sense and is a bit of a middle finger to DC fans and honestly everyone and all. Also, there was that little aspect of Henry Cavill’s deformed upper lip due to the fact that during reshoots he had a moustache that he’d grown and was contractually obligated to have for his Mission Impossible role, so the visual effects team had to digitally remove it in post production and the result is, well, see for yourself...

Yes, they made the dashing handsome my-sexuality-questioning Henry Cavill look stupid, and that is UNFORGIVABLE. Funny, yes, very funny but unforgivable!! So for this and many other reasons the 2017 film turned out horribly. Then after that many months later, Zack Snyder and cast and crew members began teasing of this mythical version of the movie that was befit of Snyder’s original vision. You see, apparently before he left the project, Snyder actually filmed everything he wanted and it was only awaiting to be reworked with visual effects and edited properly, but then Whedon came in with his scissors and cut everything mercilessly with a cheeky grin and his ginger beard. Speaking of his ginger beard, is Joss Whedon Irish? Or has Irish roots? Honestly, I would Google it, but wait, I don’t think I really care. So anyway, Snyder still had all of his filmed scenes saved on his ridiculously oversized hard drive just waiting to be looked at again. This is where the fandom did its magic by creating a Twitter hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut and began spam posting for Warner Bros. to let Zack Snyder release what he originally intended to. Honestly, who would have thunk it, but this actually worked!! Warner Bros. allowed this, and not only that, but gave Snyder an additional $70 million to finish up the visual effects as well as to film a couple of additional sequences and gave it the prestigious honour to debut it on HBO Max, so as to boost the subscriber rating on Warner Bros. new streaming service. And here we are.

Honestly, I thought seeing this Director’s Cut of sorts wouldn’t bring much to the table as I didn’t believe that a film that was so broken had originally been in any way good. After finishing this 4 hour Snyder vision I must admit though that I was pleasantly surprised. Completely baffled by the studio and Joss Whedon, but really happy for Zack Snyder. The guy was fighting for it and finally was able to accomplish and bring out his true original vision, and though Zack Snyder’s Justice League has its flaws, its so much better than what we got in 2017, and in fact is a soaring science fiction sci-fi epic that literally feels epic!! It takes time establishing the characters and every single plot point as well as building out this rich mythology of this world of the DC Extended Universe, and so as you move into the second half of the film, there’s a feeling of pay off. You actually care about the characters and understand the plot points and it doesn’t feel rushed. Its truly astounding that there are producers out there who thought it was a good idea to get rid of all of that and instead bring out whatever the heck Joss Whedon did with the 2017 version. Look, I quite enjoy Joss Whedon’s work, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to Cabin in the Woods and his work on Marvel, the guy obviously has a talent, but also he obviously does not belong to the dark and brooding style of DC. Zack Snyder on the other hand, though makes his mistakes, truly embraces the epic feel of the DC material. And it seems once you give Snyder enough time and space, he can actually bring out something like this:

The main characters are all given so much more to do, or at least those that got side-lined in the 2017 version are given more to do here. One of my complaints with the original was how pointless the League turns out to be. Basically in the theatrical version the main team all end up being useless and only once Superman shows up he saves everyone’s asses and literally does EVERYTHING. Might as well have called the film Man of Steel 2 (feat. Justice League). However in this new version, every main character serves a purpose. Well most of them do at least. Cyborg and Flash are much more compelling characters with more layers and backstory, and in fact are a prime reason to defeating the great evil in the end. You now understand why Cyborg actor Ray Fisher was pissed at Joss Whedon, as the guy literally got rid of his best stuff. Superman strikes a cool black suit and is still powerful, however as the finale shows, he isn’t all-powerful and does need the help of the rest of the team. Wonder Woman gets a lot more to do in this theatrical cut, and in fact this is probably Gal Gadot’s best performance as Wonder Woman and she really shows herself as a powerful female superhero! Aquaman’s role stays largely unchanged, however to be honest Jason Momoa’s character was one of the only ones who didn’t suffer in the theatrical cut. That’s unsurprising seeing as Jason Momoa is such a naturally cool dude! A big panda that is friendly in real life, but when necessary can turn into a roaring bear. To be honest, the only League member that ends up a bit pointless is actually Batman. He still serves a purpose in the film in that he’s the one who assembles the team, but otherwise the rest of the group is so overpowered compared to him that in the end you do kind of think that he doesn’t really belong there. Still, Ben Affleck is great in the role and it’s a shame we won’t see much of him past Flashpoint film that will be released in the next few years.

There are a lot of characters in this film and one can still say the movie is overstuffed, but also seeing as the movie was originally intended to spring board the DCEU properly, all these teases are actually welcome. There are an abundance of cameos, and to be honest so many characters are so well cast that you do end up wishing that Snyder was given the opportunity to make his entire Justice League planned trilogy, but nevertheless at least we have this. There are truly an abundance of cool appearances here, from the menacing villain Darkseid (played by Ray Porter) to Willem Dafoe doing what Dafoe does best, only in this case underwater and I’m certain that’s gonna span many comparison memes with The Lighthouse. Joe Morton as Cyborg’s dad is given a lot more to do here and in fact is pivotal towards building up Cyborg into the important character that he is. There’s also a cameo from Jared Leto’s Joker, who in some ways redeems himself after his appearance in Suicide Squad. Also, we need to talk about Steppenwolf, who’s the main baddie in this film. In the theatrical cut the guy was the most generic one-note villain who also looked like a PS2 character. It was honestly embarrassing the way he was animated. Luckily in this version he’s been put through enough Skyrim mods to looks much more intimidating and is also given a better motivation. As we find out, the reason he does what he does is because he wants to go home. He’s been banished and he simply wants to earn his place back home, so it’s actually kind of sweet. Steppenwolf is a sweetie. I mean, yeah, he wants to destroy half of the world to fulfil his dream, but hey, haven’t we all taken something extreme measures to get what we want?

The film is far from perfect though. At the end of the day, the movie is just about a guy hunting down a bunch of magical boxes. That was the premise of the theatrical cut and its the same here too. Yes, there is more substance and gravitas to the proceedings, but at the end of the day the story doesn’t really surprise much. And with the entire thing running at 4 hours, it is definitely too long and there is the element where there is simply too much in this thing. Also visually, though the movie has plenty of gorgeous shots and Zack Snyder’s signature slow motion sequences are on full display here, there are still many sequences where the CGI and green screen are super obvious and look really fake. That being said there’s still so much visual goodness in this, and also I have to mention Junkie XL’s new music score that does reiterate the epic feel of this movie, in comparison to Danny Elfman’s weak uninspiring notes in the theatrical cut.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a massive surprise and completely changes the perception of what we saw in the original 2017 theatrical cut. It’s a sprawling massive adventure that’s a dream come true for any comic book fan. It shows how vital film editing is, and how important it is to have a cohesive plan when making a movie. Gone too are the silly forced jokes, and though there is still some humour here, it feels more grounded and fit of the setting and scenario. This is Snyder’s vision through and through, and though at times it is clunky, it overall is incredible to behold, as it’s this one guy’s mind and his love for the DC lore. It’s a credible achievement, and I’m actually sentimentally happy for Snyder that he finally managed to complete this. He even during the credits dedicates this to his daughter Autumn that passed away, and I found that to be truly bittersweet. Justice has indeed been served.

Overall score: 7/10

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