Much like in the film Hail, Caesar!, we talk movies within movies this week on the podcast! What are your favorites, you filthy animal?
For more episodes of The 5Cast Podcast on GeekTyrant, click here, and click here for our entire back catalog of episodes. Be sure to e-mail us at 5castpodcast@gmail.com with your feedback and suggestions for future Top 5 lists we should discuss.
One of the complaints I've heard about The Revenant is that it takes itself too seriously. Well, here's one way to completely undercut whatever pathos it's trying to achieve: mash it up with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater in a fake video game called Leo DiCaprio's Pro Revenant.
It appears that the One Perfect Shot team must have taken a ripped copy of an awards screener (not cool, guys) and applied Tony Hawk-style sound effects and graphics to it, giving Leonardo DiCaprio's Hugh Glass points for things like riding his horse and shooting natives. It's a fun concept, but they probably should have waited until the movie was legally available...and maybe not added points for killing natives. Kind of comes off as a little racist, don't you think?
Artist Xin Wang created this crazy and eerie Batman character design that reimagines the superhero in an animalistic kind of bat/human hybrid. I guess it’s more of a Man-Bat design, but the artist specifically calls the character Batman. It really doesn’t matter because it’s just freakin’ cool looking!
Some new promo art for Captain America: Civil War has surfaced featuring the teams of Iron Man and Captain America assembling. They offer us new looks at Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), Vision (Paul Bettany), and War Machine (Don Cheadle), who is now apparently going by the name of War Hammer. This should tide us over until the day we actually get to see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
View post on imgur.comMarvel’s Captain America: Civil War finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability. Get ready to pick a side and join the nonstop action playing out on two fronts when Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War opens in U.S. theaters on May.
The movie also stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Martin Freeman.
Captain America: Civil War is set to be released on May 6th, 2016.
Via: CBM
The most recent trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been awesomely recreated in Grand Theft Auto V. The trailer was completely recreated from scratch by Merfish for TGN, and it makes for a fun video to watch — mostly because it’s so damn weird and awkward!
Walt Disney Animation has released a new UK trailer for their upcoming feature, Zootopia. It offers a good amount of fun new footage including some action and funny gags, and it also shows us how the two main characters in the story — officer Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) — meet. It’s gonna be a fun Disney flick to take the kids to! I also included three clips called “Arrival”, “Fur of a Skunk”, and “Elephant in the Room”.
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman).
Zootopia is directed by Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, The Simpsons) and co-directed by Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero).
Zootopia opens in theaters on March 4th, 2016.
I had to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens four times in theaters to finally be able to get it out of my system. Of course, the awesomeness of the film still lingers within me, and my house is full of all kinds of Star Wars merchandise.
We have a funny short film for you to watch called Star Wars Hangover: The Force Won’t Stop Awakening, and it focuses on a fanboy who is overcome with Star Wars fever and how it’s time for him to move on.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I still haven’t even moved on from the first time I ever saw Star Wars. It’s been part of my lifestyle since I was a kid, and I know I’ll never move on from it. I think this video relates to the newer more casual Star Wars fans, though. It’s still amusing!
I'm extremely excited for this upcoming sci-fi film called Midnight Special. The movie comes from director Jeff Nichols, who previously brought us great films like Take Shelter and Mud. The movie stars Michael Shannon, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard, Kirsten Dunst, and Joel Edgerton, and it looks fantastic.
The film has a very classic '80s Amblin vibe to it and was inspired by films such as E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Starman. We have our first clip for the movie to share with you today, and it offers us a mysterious, intense moment that features Shannon's character being very overprotective of a young boy wearing goggles. Here’s the official synopsis:
Every mile that Roy and his eight-year-old son cover on their journey down highways and byways brings us closer to their incredible story. Gradually, we begin to understand why this boy with extraordinary powers has to wear protective glasses. We also learn why religious extremists are interested in him, and why both the local police and high-ranking American government officials are hot on the heels of father and son. In his new film Jeff Nichols may have changed genres but he remains true to himself. Midnight Special is an idiosyncratic mixture of science-fiction and family saga; at the same time, Nichols continues to explore the structures of violence and paranoia in small-town America, showing us both the influence wielded by arch-conservative sects and the powerlessness of the individual in the face of an aggressive state apparatus. The longer their flight continues, the more fantastical it becomes as we observe a loving father undertaking everything in his power to lead his son to his destiny a destiny that could also decide the fate of the entire world.
Midnight Special is set to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival next week and it will be released in theaters on March 18th.
If you're looking to take your Super Bowl party to an incredibly ridiculous level tomorrow, you can always purchase Pizza Hut's limited edition Super Bowl Stuffed Garlic Knots Pizza, which are sprinkled with $100 worth of 24-karat edible gold.
What prompted Pizza Hut to offer such an absurd thing? According to the VP of marketing, it’s because the Golden Anniversary of the Big Game is being played in the Golden State.
"It's not every day that the Golden Anniversary of the Big Game is played in the Golden State, so we felt it was only appropriate to celebrate with a limited-edition Golden Garlic Knots Pizza. This handmade pizza starts with our all-new, great-tasting Stuffed Garlic Knots Pizza, which is then topped with about $100 worth of incredibly cool, real edible gold to make this pizza the ultimate addition to any football party on Sunday."
This golden pizza isn't something that you can just request. It will only be offered to 50 lucky customers who order a Stuffed Garlic Knots Pizza on February 7th. So if your delivery man shows up with a custom gold-colored pizza box along with a $100 Pizza Hut Gold Card, then you know you won!
The golden pie is also only offered in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, or West Virginia. This is kind of weird because none of these states actually have any involvement with the Super Bowl.
For more details on the promotion, click here.
Two new TV spots have been released for the big screen animated adaptation of the video game Ratchet & Clank. This looks like it will be a fun film that I know at least my kids will enjoy watching.
Ratchet and Clank tells the story of two unlikely heroes as they struggle to stop a vile alien named Chairman Drek from destroying every planet in the Solana Galaxy. When the two stumble upon a dangerous weapon capable of destroying entire planets, they must join forces with a team of colorful heroes called The Galactic Rangers in order to save the galaxy. Along the way they'll learn about heroism, friendship, and the importance of discovering one's own identity.
Ratchet & Clank was directed by Kevin Munroe (TMNT) and co-directed by Jericca Cleland. It also has a great voice cast that includes Sylvester Stallone, John Goodman, Rosario Dawson, Paul Giamatti, and Bella Thorne. The voice cast of the original video game have also reprised their roles. That list of actors includes James Arnold Taylor as Ratchet, David Kaye as Clank, Armin Shimerman as Nefarious, and Jim Ward as Captain Qwark.
Ratchet & Clank opens in theaters on April 29th, 2016.
For years, hardcore Deadpool fans have been yearning for an R-rated live-action movie that does justice to the character. You asked for it, and now you got it — but while this film certainly gives the Merc with a Mouth plenty of opportunities to address the audience and make meta references, that unfortunately doesn't mean that the movie around it is great.
Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a former Special Ops soldier with a snarky attitude who now spends his days "sticking up for the little guy," which, in this case, means scaring teenage stalkers away from young girls in exchange for cash. Soon he meets Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), a prostitute he falls in love with after the two banter how messed-up their childhoods were. But when Wilson is diagnosed with late-stage cancer, he accepts a stranger's offer to undergo special treatment that will cure him and give him super powers. That "treatment" turns out to be torture by a guy named Ajax (Ed Skrein) and his assistant Angel Dust (Gina Carano) as they attempt to catalyze any mutant genes lying dormant within Wilson's body, eventually succeeding and turning him into an immortal being who looks like a burn victim. But instead of becoming the supervillain-for-hire they hoped, Wilson dons a body suit, adopts the Deadpool moniker, and devotes his life to hunting down Ajax to get revenge. Along the way, he's aided by his sarcastic bartender friend Weasel (T.J. Miller), and two X-Men — Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) — who attempt to recruit him onto Professor Xavier's team.
With the plot synopsis out of the way, let's really start talking about this movie.
I'm a fan of superhero movies. I'm a fan of Ryan Reynolds. Combine the two, and I should probably really like this film, right? Well, it's hard for me to do that when the script is this desperate for laughs. From the opening credits onward, the film practically pleads with you to laugh at it. No names are featured in those credits — they just say things like "Produced By Asshats," "Written By The Real Heroes Here," starring "A Hot Chick" and featuring "A Gratuitous Cameo." There's also a close-up of a coffee cup with "Rob L." written on it (a shout-out to Rob Liefeld, the creator of Deadpool), and a People Magazine with Ryan Reynolds' Sexiest Man Alive cover. Get it? Because he's in this movie!
This film is packed with those kinds of jokes that aren't really jokes. I'm probably going to alienate a lot of you by saying this, but you know the kinds of people who shriek with laughter and practically jump out of their seats when they see the Stan Lee cameo in Marvel movies? Those people are going to love this film, because it's constantly elbowing the audience, raising its eyebrows, and asking, "You recognize this, right?" Example: at one point, Colossus tells Deadpool he's going to take him to meet Professor Xavier. Deadpool responds: "McAvoy or Stewart?" Cue the audience losing its sh*t. Look, I understand that the appeal of the character is that he's edgy and swears a lot and drops meta references all the time, but at a certain point, this becomes just like The Big Bang Theory. Simply referencing something doesn't automatically mean you're actually making a joke about it.
Did I laugh a handful of times? Sure, I won't deny that. When a movie throws two jokes a minute at you, eventually a few of them are going to land, and there were some I thought were genuinely funny. But for the most part, I found Deadpool to be a basic revenge story wrapped in a series of references, swearing, and ball jokes that would primarily appeal to a thirteen-year-old boy. Some people are going to absolutely love it, and that's totally fair. I wouldn't hold that against anyone. I'm just telling you that it's not really my thing. I didn't hate it overall — I just thought it was fine.
This is the feature directorial debut of Tim Miller, and you can occasionally feel his lack of experience. It's competent enough, but the movie often falls prey to shaky cam action scenes and quick cutting; this is a small-scale story, but Miller's direction gives it a sense of claustrophobia that I'm not convinced is intentional. He gets good performances out of Reynolds — who clearly relishes playing this character, delivering his one-liners with an almost Ace Ventura-like affection — and Baccarin, and the two of them appear to have genuine chemistry on screen. Even though their love story is a little underdeveloped, it was that aspect — not the blood-spattered action sequences — that I found most compelling.
But the villain's storyline is totally undercooked. We know absolutely nothing about Ajax as a character other than that he's a jerk to Wade Wilson and he doesn't feel pain, and we know even less about Angel Dust. This is in the trailer, so I don't feel like I'm giving anything away, but she eventually gets in a fight with Colossus, and it's just the two of them punching each other back and forth for like five minutes, intercut with other action. Their fight doesn't matter, because we don't know a single thing about this character, other than that she chews on matches for some reason. Keep an eye out for what happens to her at the end of the movie, too — you'll have to really pay close attention, because the film isn't at all concerned with giving you any real indication of whether she even lives or dies.
Why does Ajax he do what he does? What does he want? What are his orders? Who is his boss? These are fundamental questions that are either glossed over in an unsatisfying way or not even addressed, which makes it really hard to engage with the film's story on anything more than a surface level. And try as it might to break from conventions, Deadpool still relies on the unnecessary crutch of having the third act climax take place on a giant vehicle that inevitably crashes to the ground in a wave of CGI nonsense.
If your only hope is that Deadpool is a vehicle to rebrand the character after X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it definitely succeeds on that front. Reynolds is undeniably a great fit for the part, and it sure seems like everyone there was having a lot of fun making a movie they probably never thought would actually see the light of day. But if you want the movie to have anything to offer besides quips and head shots, you're going to be sorely disappointed.
Here’s a cool piece of Marvel comics fan art created by Davide Tosello that features Spider-Man locked in an epic fight with one of his arch nemesises (nemesi?), Doctor Octopus. The artist explains that this is actually his first piece of fan art, and says:
“..my first fan art piece is done!!.. I know that Is not in perfect Marvel style.. I used my own style to create my characters version.”
I thought is turned out pretty rad. I like it when artists use their own unique styles when doing fan art like this.
David Lynch continues to fill out his cast for Showtime’s Twin Peaks revival series. Deadline reports that Naomi Watts has joined the project, along with Tom Sizemore. The report also says that Lynch himself will be reprising his role of FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole from the original series.
Watts got her big Hollywood break in Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, and the filmmaker has been trying to get her on board since October of last year. Watts and Sizemore will join newcomers Laura Dern, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Amanda Seyfried. The series will also bring back Twin Peaks vets Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee, and Sherilyn Fenn.
Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential broadcast series of all time, Twin Peaks followed the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town who were stunned after their homecoming queen Laura Palmer was shockingly murdered. The town’s sheriff welcomed the help of FBI agent Dale Cooper, who came to town to investigate the case. As Cooper conducted his search for Laura’s killer, the town’s secrets were gradually exposed. The mystery that ensued set off an eerie chain of events that plunged the inhabitants of Twin Peaks into a darker examination of their very existence. Twenty-five years later, the story continues…
There’s a lot of great talent jumping on board this series, and it will be awesome to see what Lynch is actually planning to do with this thing. The series is set to premiere in early 2017.
DC Entertainment has released the first part of a five-part motion comic called Gotham Stories. It was developed to bridge the gap between Gotham Season 2 “Rise of the Villains,” and the next episode of the second half of the season, “Wrath of the Villains.”
Each installment will air on Fox weekly during The X-Files. The last installment of the motion comic will be released on February 29th, which is the midseason premiere of Gotham.
Gotham cast members Robin Lord Taylor (Penguin), Camren Bicondova (Cat), Nathan Darrow (Victor Fries), Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon), and Donal Logue (Harvey Bullock) all provide their voices to this Gotham Stories series.
If you’re a fan of Gotham, then this motion comic is something you’ll want to watch.
The Revenant is one of the best films of the year and there's a strong chance that it will take home several Academy Awards this year. One thing we've heard a lot about regarding the movie is how much of a challenge it was to make. To shed some more light on how the film was shot, 20th Century Fox has released a 45-minute "making of" documentary that needs to be seen by anyone who is interested in the process of filmmaking. It gives an amazing behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this film and you get to see Alejandro G. Iñárritu's directing process. Check it out!
I have never had ratatouille, but it’s a dish that I’ve always wanted to try. The opportunity has never really presented itself. Pixar made a wonderful animated film called Ratatouille that I absolutely loved, and I wondered if the ratatouille food presented in that movie was just as delicious as it looked. Well, now we can all find out! ChefSteps has released a video showing us exactly how we can make the same kind of ratatouille that we saw in the film! I love to cook, and this is a dish that I will be making for my family for dinner in the near future. I’m actually really excited to try this out!
David Fincher is one of my favorite directors. I love how detailed and meticulous he is in creating the movies that he makes. The guy is a very skillful filmmaker and we have a video supercut here for you to watch that focuses on the extreme close up shots that Fincher has used in his films. As you’ll see, he utilizes these shots in a unique way that makes them stand out.
The video was created by editor Jacob T. Swinney, who writes:
“The extreme close-up may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of David Fincher’s unique visual aesthetic. That’s because Fincher’s extreme close-ups don’t call attention to themselves. The filmmaker stitches the shots into his pictures in a way that is subtle and fluid, yet impactful and abrasive. They often go unnoticed, sitting just under the surface and scratching at our eyes.”
The video is a great tribute to Fincher's craft.
We may not be getting a Hellboy III anytime soon, if ever, but for those of you who own a pug dog you can have your own Hellboy characters pooping and peeing around your home. Pupstar Sonoma has released a series of dog costumes that you can check out here. As you’ll see, they went all-out with these costumes!
Via: Fashionably Geek
One superhero movie I would have loved to see is George Miller's vision of DC Comic's Justice League. That's something that we'll never see, though. It's a shame because it could have been amazing. He was developing Justice League: Mortal back in 2009 and it would have brought the team together against Maxwell Lord and Brother Eye.
The cast of the film included Armie Hammer as Batman, D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as Flash, Common as Green Lantern, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter, and Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord.
You can actually see some concept art from the film here and a test photo shoot of Gale as Wonder Woman here. Zack Snyder is the man who will now bring the Justice League to life on the big screen, and I hope he's able to pull it off.
During an interview with THR, Miller opened up about what happened to his film and listed off a few reasons as to why it never happened:
"I really was attracted to it. But there was a writers strike looming. We had to cast it very quickly, which we did with Warner's casting people. And we cast it really quickly and we mounted it very quickly. And it depended on a start date and it depended on some basic rebate legislation that had just got through a new Australian government. But it was just too big a decision for them to make in the time. And that fell through and the whole film fell through. We almost got there. And it wasn't to be. But that happens a lot, where films line up and the stars look like they're aligning and they didn't."
There's currently a documentary about Justice League: Mortal that is in development, but right now it's waiting on getting an official approval from Warner Bros. That's poster art for the doc that you see above. There's a great behind-the-scenes story behind the development of this project, and I hope WB allows it to be told.
I've read a lot of Deadpool comics, and I believe those who have done the same thing can agree on the following things.
These are shortcomings of the comics that were not apparent to me until I saw the film. "Exceeded expectations" was a term I commonly heard as I exited the theater last night. I felt the same way, and so I began to evaluate why.
Let's talk about what I expected.
I'm not a guy who gives a laugh just because a joke is told, and while I fully expected to laugh maybe a couple times, I thought some of the jokes would fall flat. In the comics, there are times when the writing has a tendency to make Deadpool a bit of a meme machine and replace jokes with whatever current pop trend is en vogue. I accepted that some of it would be corny, and threw that notion out the window in the first ten minutes. There were times when the audience and I were laughing so hard we missed successive jokes and moments. A second viewing would definitely reveal more jokes that I may have missed
Of course, it wouldn't be Deadpool without the gore and smack talk while delivering said gore. We see that in the comics, but there's something truly magical as a fan seeing it happen in motion. Scenes you've imagined on the pages are directly on screen, and it's nothing short of incredible. Yeah, I know that's how hero movies work, but there's a difference between seeing The Hulk smash and Deadpool doing some of the insane things he does in this movie.
Deadpool isn't the only one with laughs either. One complaint I've always had about the series is that everyone in the comics always played a second generic character to Deadpool. I've never really cared for Weasel or Blind Al, and frankly, the comics have never given me reason to. In the movie, T.J. Miller made me like Weasel. I didn't just hear the whiny, sarcastic, half-cocked lines I've read, I heard the asshole coward who is the closest thing Wade Wilson has to a "friend." While other books I've read treat them more or less as vessels for more jokes, the film gives them a real presence that I absolutely loved.
I'm not just gushing, it's incredibly hard to find shortcomings in this film. Any nitpicks you might have had were directly called out by DP himself as he went along the adventure. There will be times when it will be exactly what you wanted, there will be times when it's more.
Perhaps the biggest strength of the film is it's never forced. You never once feel like Ryan Reynolds is "trying" to be a Deadpool we know. He has become Deadpool, and in some ways transitioned him on screen to be better. He's finally atoned for Green Lantern.
If there's anything I can finally say to send you over the top on the hype train, I have not left a comic book movie this satisfied since The Avengers.
