Here's some great news for the people who basically copy and paste their sentiment about Hollywood being out of original ideas into every site's comment section: Disney is actually developing a live-action/CG hybrid that's a completely original idea not based on any of its existing intellectual property. It's called Wild City, and THR reports that the idea comes from James Ponsoldt, the guy behind solid indie movies like The Spectacular Now, Smashed, and The End of The Tour (he also directed some of Aziz Ansari's excellent Netflix show Master of None).

Not much is known about the movie, but we do know that the story "explores the adventures of Los Angeles' wild animals" and is a fully original concept originated by Ponsoldt, who will write, produce, and direct this film for the studio. I'm getting a Zootopia/Homeward Bound kind of vibe from that description, but Ponsoldt is a talented filmmaker who's made some really good movies, so it continues the trend of Disney looking to exciting and somewhat unexpected talent for their projects (see also: the Pete's Dragon remake being directed by Ain't Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery, and A Wrinkle in Time by Ava DuVernay).

Before we see Wild City, though, Ponsoldt has The Circle coming to theaters, a tech thriller with Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, and John Boyega. That one should be out later this year.

Blizzard may have plans for an HD remake of Starcraft according to Kotaku. The site says a well reputed news site in Korea is running with the news citing "multiple sources" saying this announcement will be official in September, and that more information will be delved out...

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Did you know Netflix's version of Daredevil is dark? I'm sure you knew that in the metaphorical sense, but it's also true cinematically. The show is intentionally shot with less light than usual, and occasionally some scenes are so dark they have to be lightened up in post-production! More facts like that can be found within ScreenCrush's latest video featuring The Man Without Fear!

HBO's Game of Thrones is always full of surprises, but their latest could be one of the most important yet.

Yesterday, the network announced that a live concert will take place this coming Monday, August 8th, at 11:30am at the Palladium in Hollywood, California, featuring a Q&A with composer Ramin Djawadi and an appearance from actor Isaac Hempstead-Wright (who plays Bran on the show).

They included this brief teaser:

According to The L.A. Times, "The event will feature a full orchestra performance of music from the show, a display of costumes from Season 6, an interactive “Hall of Faces” exhibit, a “holographic experience” involving the character Melisandre and Arya Stark’s sword, Needle."

But the biggest surprise of all will be "the reveal of exciting new details surrounding an extension to the Game of Thrones® universe." What could that be? The official announcement of a spin-off or prequel TV show? A movie? The debut of the release date of George R.R. Martin's The Winds of Winter? We're not sure, but I'll be there to write about whatever happens, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, bask in the glory of Djawadi's "Light of the Seven," the gorgeous song prominently heard in the season six finale:

Can't get enough of Stranger Things lately? That would put you right with the rest of the GeekTyrant team! If you can't get enough of the show, you should really check out this 360 video on your smartphone! If you happen to have Google Cardboard, or just super big and steady hands, you can experience it in VR. The video depicts one of the crazier scenes of the show as if you're in the room when it happens! Watch it below. 

Early this year, noted fanboy and writer/director Kevin Smith co-hosted a CW special about the future of the DC Extended Universe with DC Films co-head Geoff Johns. I assumed this arrangement meant Smith would probably just be polite and keep quiet if he didn't like particular aspects of the movies after he ended up seeing them, but much to my surprise, that wasn't the case. Smith didn't really like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and explained why in a couple of different podcast episodes after the film came out. (Mad props to him for speaking his mind and not being beholden to corporate overlords, by the way.)

So with the knowledge that he's said something in the past when he didn't like a DC Comics movie, Smith shared his review of Suicide Squad on Twitter and Instagram, and he didn't pull any punches:

You magnificent bastard! @SuicideSquadWB is a beautiful, visionary, fun-ass film! You did @DCComics proud, sir! https://t.co/2pa5KZo8mo

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) August 2, 2016

I look up to @suicidesquadmovie maker #DavidAyer. His #endofwatch, shot with a mixture of media including dashboard & body cams, was the work of a true filmmaker. And I don't know how he got me to love a tank movie, but #fury is another amazing Ayer effort. When I heard he was shepherding a cinematic #suicidesquad, my already-high interests in a @dccomics movie shot over the top: what would a gritty guy like Dave do with the likes of #Deadshot & #HarleyQuinn? Well I think he made magic and did #dccomics proud. The #Squad movie doesn't look like any other comic book flick I've ever seen. The periodic use of both #Batman and the #joker as background characters instead of the usual leads was thrilling and felt like our first real glimpse at an interconnected #dceu. The cast is top notch but Harley, as expected, steals the show. The #jokerandharley beats are simply wonderful for a longtime fan to watch and make you immediately wanna see the all-Harley movie they already announced. Throwaway moments made me so happy (like Katana and her Soultaker sword) but this flick as a whole had me smiling the whole time. Thanks to her name, my kid @harleyquinnsmith_ was already on board for this movie - and she loved it (like LOVED it). I'll be heading back to see it again tonight so expect a brand new #FatManOnBatman review soon. #KevinSmith

A photo posted by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Aug 4, 2016 at 7:00am PDT

If for some reason you can't see his caption above, I'll transcribe it here:

I look up to Suicide Squad maker David Ayer. His End of Watch, shot with a mixture of media including dashboard & body cams, was the work of a true filmmaker. And I don't know how he got me to love a tank movie, but Fury is another amazing Ayer effort. When I heard he was shepherding a cinematic Suicide Squad, my already-high interests in a DC Comics movie shot over the top: what would a gritty guy like Dave do with the likes of Deadshot and Harley Quinn? Well I think he made magic and did DC Comics proud. The Squad movie doesn't look like any other comic book flick I've ever seen. The periodic use of both Batman and the Joker as background characters instead of the usual leads was thrilling and felt like our first real glimpse at an interconnected DCEU.The cast is top notch but Harley, as expected, steals the show. The Joker and Harley beats are simply wonderful for a longtime fan to watch and make you immediately wanna see the all-Harley movie they already announced. Throwaway moments made me so happy (like Katana and her Soultaker sword) but this flick as a whole had me smiling the whole time. Thanks to her name, my kid Harley Quinn Smith was already on board for this movie - and she loved it (like LOVED it). I'll be heading back to see it again tonight so expect a brand new Fat Man on Batman review soon.

Sounds like he really loved it, and he doesn't seem to be hedging his bets on this one. He's certainly one of the fans that the cast say they made the movie for, so I'm glad some people (Joey included) are digging the movie despite its largely negative reception so far. Suicide Squad is in theaters now.

When Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker came out back in 2009, Anthony Mackie wasn't even close to being the household name that he is now. But they're both working at the top of their game right now, so it's cool to read Deadline's report that she'll be reuniting with the actor for her upcoming untitled movie about the Detroit riots.

John Boyega stars, and Mackie joins the recently-cast trio of Will Poulter, Ben O’Toole, and Jack Reynor in a story about the five-day riot that broke out in the city in 1967 that resulted in 43 deaths, almost 1,200 injuries, over 7,000 arrests, and over 2,000 buildings being destroyed. Mackie will play a returning Vietnam veteran, but at this point, not much more is known about the story or who the other actors will play.

The movie is aiming for a release in 2017, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the riots and be a stark reminder that society really hasn't come all that far in certain areas in the intervening years. I'm excited to see Mackie reunite with Bigelow (and writer Mark Boal) for this one, and hopefully this will be a nice counter-balance to his more lighthearted supporting performance as Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Sentinel is an awesome proof-of-concept animated fantasy short film that centers on a young runaway boy who awakens an ancient stone warrior. The story is set in a twisted world in which the two will embark on an adventure in which they will be “seeking for a new home for humanity and for themselves.“

This is such a cool concept and I think it would make for a great feature film! The designs are beautiful and the animation is impressive. I also loved the tone and atmosphere of the story. This thing could really be something special. The fact that it revolves around a young boy and a giant creature kind of reminded me of The Iron Giant. 

The short ends on a perfect note and it got me extremely excited to see more, so I really hope that this short gets noticed by a studio that is willing to help take it to the next level.

The film was directed by Adam Floeck and Nate Swinehart and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of it.

Agent Carter was a great series! It was way better than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but it still ended up getting cancelled after two seasons. It's a shame, but Hayley Atwell doesn't feel like she's done playing the character. She still thinks that we haven't seen the last of the character. 

While speaking on a panel for the Television Critics Association about her brand new series, Conviction, Atwell well talked about Agent Carter and doing both shows if ABC would allow her to.

“I think they would have figured something out in terms of making a special or waiting until we finish this season and then me doing something else with another network perhaps. All I’m saying with that is it’s still a much-loved show for the people involved in the making of it and we know that the fans, it has a special place in their hearts. That’s something that I would be very happy to go back to if the opportunity came.”

Atwell then spoke about how she has been hounding Marvel to continue the adventures of Peggy in the form of a movie.

“I hound [Marvel Studios co-president] Louis D’Esposito on a regular basis saying, ‘Give me a movie.’ The great thing about Peggy is we know from The Winter Soldier that she lives a long life, so she can come back. I’m banking on when I’m in my 50s, let’s see what Peggy’s up to in this decade.”

I think a movie would be a great way to go! I'd even be OK with it being a TV movie or something. The actress clearly loves the character and isn't willing to say goodbye to her yet. Maybe one day we'll see her again.

“I don’t feel like I’ve said goodbye to her because she does still seem to live on a lot for a lot of the fans. Marvel is still such a big part of my career and I suppose my professional family that I would absolutely not rule out the idea of going back to Peggy at some point or seeing her in other avenues. I love her and I hope that she has a life elsewhere another time.”

I would love to see Agent Carter make a comeback! I don't know if it will ever happen, but it's good to hear that Atwell hasn't given up on the character. I hope she hounds Marvel until they eventually give in to her.

Source: IGN

For those of you geeks out there that have to look professional in the office, Fun.com has announced an incredibly cool collection of suits, ties, and other accessories for you that are inspired by DC and Marvel Comics. Each suit is lined with patterns, designs, and logos from the comic book properties. 

There aren’t many details to share with you on the suits at the moment, but the full collection won’t be available until later this year around November. I will definitely be buying myself one of these suits when they become available, though! According to io9, pre-orders will start in a few weeks.

The Duplass Brothers (Jay and Mark) are forces to be reckoned with in the indie film world, having directed and produced tons of movies and TV shows. Their heartfelt HBO dramedy Togetherness came to a close recently, but now the duo is jumping back in with a new project for the premium network. It's called Room 104, and it's an anthology series. Here's the logline: "Set in a single room of an average American hotel, ROOM 104 tells a different story of the assorted characters who pass through it in each episode."

The duo elaborated on that in a statement:

We’ve all seen stories set in seedy motels and high-class international resorts, but for years we’ve been fascinated by the funny, weird, sad, scary, absurd things going down in that corporate chain hotel near the airport. That’s what ROOM 104 is after… finding some magic in the seemingly mundane.

Sounds like it could be a cool idea, and these guys have a good enough track record that I'm at least willing to give whatever they do a shot for a little while to see if it's something I'll dig. The show is supposed to start production this year for a 2017 release. What do you think? Does this have potential?

Deadpool is obviously the most self-aware comic book superhero, and the movie carried that trait over to the big screen. (Isn't it sort of crazy that the movie came out earlier this year? It feels like so long ago.) So it makes sense, then, that the character will be very aware that he's in a sequel when Deadpool 2 rolls around, and in a new interview with /Film, producer Simon Kinberg says that's one of the aspects they're going to tackle in the new movie:

“I think Deadpool 2 will comment on anything that’s happening in movies today especially in superhero movies,” Kinberg said. “The sort of glut or saturation of these movies and the proliferation of sequels is definitely something we’ll play around with.”

He also commented briefly on the swirling rumors about who might play Cable, the time-traveling character Deadpool himself promised we'd see in the first film's post-credits scene:

"I’ve seen rumors from about everybody from Arnold Schwarzenegger to I can’t even remember,” Kinberg said. We haven’t cast him is the truth."

The talk then shifted to the delayed film adaptation of Gambit, which is set to star Channing Tatum in the title role as the Cajun mutant. What's the latest on that one?

"I think the truth is when you have these movies that need a very special and unique tone, it takes a little while to find that tone," Kinberg said. "Deadpool feels like it exploded out of nowhere but it was a ten-year development process on that movie. I think it was honed over those ten years. I hope that Gambit doesn’t take ten years but it takes a little honing to get that tone and that voice exactly right. The character has such a specific voice in the comic in the same way that Deadpool has a specific voice in the comic, that we want to make sure that we capture that voice on the page. Really it’s just about getting a screenplay that is worthy of that character and I think we’re really close right now."

Well, at least they're taking their time getting the script right instead of rushing to hit a release date. I think every true fan would prefer a better movie that comes out later instead of a mess of one that potentially ruins the character and franchise that comes out now.

For a couple more quotes about Star Wars, Legion, and the future of the regular X-Men movie franchise, read the full interview.

Disney released a teaser to its second trailer for Moana. Normally these teasers to trailers don't reveal anything, but this one gives us our first animated look at the Lava Witch. Previously, we have only seen concept art of the character that looked much older. She is made of lava, and I imagine that she'll take different forms.

The second trailer for Moana will be released this Sunday on NBC during the 2016 Rio Olympics. Moana splashes into theaters November 23rd (USA).

The critical response to Suicide Squad has been pretty harsh. It has a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is an aggregate score from multiple film critics. This led to a petition to shut down the website before the film was released. It's interesting how film critics who study film in school and watch movies obsessively would have such a different opinion on the last three DC cineverse films than general audiences. This had lead to some tinfoil hat fanboys theorizing a massive conspiracy to give the DC cineverse films bad reviews.

Joey Paur, GeekTyrant's Editor in Chief loved the film and thought it was "Freakin' Awesome" and gave it an 8/10. Some of the GeekTyrant team has seen it and these are their mini-reviews.

Derek Campbell from the Tyrant Nation podcast:

"Saw Suicide Squad last night. The critics are still unnecessarily harsh in my opinion, but to agree with them, there were definitely problems. Overall though, I liked the film. The characters were great! They nailed that realm. Just the execution of the whole film was misplaced in a lot of ways. Regardless, go see it! At the very least see it for the Joker and Harley Quinn — amazing performances."

Dustin Orgill, writer for GameTyrant:

"Suicide Squad is extremely fun (Harley Quinn) but also frustratingly flawed. My only hope is movie directors will start to realize that it's the humor and human elements that resonate, while big cheesy CG villains and encounters do not."

GeekTyrant writer Willard Brannen:

"Suicide Squad is a LOT of things, too many in fact. Despite that, David Ayer seems to have found a spark of some magic in the doom and gloom of DC's cinematic universe. But only a spark."

Wow, what a mixed bag of reviews and lots of different takes on the same film.

Now that you've seen Suicide Squad:

What did you think of the movie going in?
What was the film's greatest weakness?
What did it get right?
Would you watch a sequel?

Everyone has holes in his or her film education. No one has time to see everything, so there are always movies, filmographies, or sometimes entire genres that fall through the cracks. For me, one of those big holes in my film knowledge is missing out on the films of Werner Herzog. So this week I set out to change that by finally carving out time to watch one of his most famous movies, 1982's Fitzcarraldo, for the first time.

If you haven't seen it, I'll give a very brief rundown of the plot. Set in the early 1900s, the movie follows a man named known as Fitzcarraldo (Klaus Kinski) who is driven by a single-minded obsession: to bring the opera to the jungles of Peru. He acquires a parcel of land from the government with the intention of obtaining enough rubber from its trees to fund his dream. The rubber business is booming, so the only available tract of land is located in a section of the jungle that's extremely difficult to get to. Fitzcarraldo realizes that he could conceivably head down one river until he reaches a point where it nearly touches a separate river with only about a mile of mountain in between the two bodies of water, and concocts a plan to pull the ship up and over the mountain into the other river to reach his parcel.

Warning: spoilers for the film ahead.

If you've seen the movie, you know that he miraculously accomplishes that goal, but immediately afterwards, his plan is foiled by the very natives who helped him; they untie the ship on the first night its in the new river as a sacrifice to the gods, and it floats through intense rapids and is very nearly destroyed. Heartbroken, Fitzcarraldo returns to his home with nothing to show for his months of work and sells the boat back to the man he bought it from originally. His dream has been crushed. But in a small triumph, he uses the money from the boat sale to rent a group of traveling singers to come to his city and perform an opera. The film ends with him smoking a cigar with a look of satisfaction on his face, having achieved some small portion of his grand original plan.

A few quick thoughts. First, the movie takes a good while to get to its central Sisyphean metaphor of pulling the ship up the mountain, but once it does, it becomes completely mesmerizing to watch because you can see that there are real stakes involved and real people are involved with actually pulling this behemoth through the jungle. It's a wonderful confluence of dreams between Herzog and his lead character, and the result is astounding to behold.

But mostly, the movie struck me as one of the best metaphors for filmmaking I've ever seen. Talk to any director about making movies, and one of the first things they'll tell you is that the job is all about compromise. Someone (or a group of people) has a shared vision about what a film is going to be, and production is all about overcoming as many obstacles as possible in order to achieve that vision to the best of everyone's abilities. It's extremely rare a film turns out exactly as the director originally intended. Fitzcarraldo centers on one man's big dream, and even though at one point it appears that he achieves it, unexpected circumstances pop up to foil his plans. Left with no other options, the main character (the director in this metaphor) does what he can with what he has left to capture any sense of that original dream and share it with the world.

If you haven't seen the movie and read this far anyway, I'd recommend checking it out and then immediately watching Burden of Dreams, a documentary about the making of the film that features tons of behind the scenes footage and interviews with Herzog and the cast. It gives a bunch of insight into their mindset while making this movie, and some of the footage and stories in that doc are absolutely crazy. I'd put it up there with films like Heart of Darkness (about Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now), Lost in La Mancha (about Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote), and Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's The Island of Dr. Moreau as one of the greatest documentaries about filmmaking ever made.

In the comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Fitzcarraldo, Burden of Dreams, and any Herzog recommendations you have for which of his films I should watch next.

Before Geoff Johns became the clear guiding voice behind Warner Bros.' DC Comics adaptations, that unofficial position belonged to Man of Steel and Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder. He has his hands in the next few movies in the DC Extended Universe in one way or another, and he executive produced David Ayer's Suicide Squad, which is in theaters now. But now, thanks to an interview with Collider, we know that Snyder did more than that: he actually directed one scene in the movie.

Spoilers ahead.

If you've seen the film, you'll remember that in a flashback scene, it's Ezra Miller's The Flash who brings Captain Boomerang to justice during a bank robbery.

“Flash was always in the movie, we just got lucky because Justice League was happening and they had the uniform, they had the assets, so we were able to get that photography.”

As a follow-up, Collider asked if Snyder was the one who actually directed that scene, and Ayer confirmed it. I'm not sure if I believe the claim that Flash was "always in the movie," especially considering the stories about the troubles behind the scenes and the fact that we just heard about The Flash's inclusion for the first time last week, and something that big would have likely leaked out a long time before that if it indeed was in the script from the start. Ayer said the scene was shot while they were in post-production on the movie, and it was quick enough to just save everyone some time and money and have Snyder do it while he had Miller on the Justice League set in costume rather than arrange schedules to allow Ayer to direct that scene.

This week, Luke reviews Jason Bourne, we discuss Avengers: Infinity War, Suicide Squad critic reviews being harsh, and No Man's Sky player exposes the game length. All of this and more on TNP! Listen on PodTyrant

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Vintage Works is behind the creation of this amazing Star Wars speeder bike motorcycle, a fully functional recreation of the iconic movie vehicle. How sweet would it be to cruise down the highway on this thing — especially when the sound system has been enabled to play movie-accurate blaster noises? So cool. Check it out below!

Via: io9

If you enjoy the art of comic artist Scottie Young, you’ve got to check out the fan sketches that he whipped up for the Netflix series Stranger Things.

There are pieces of art featuring the characters Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Eleven, and Barb. It's fun to see these characters brought to life in Young’s signature style. Check out his site to see all of them.

If you are interested in learning a little bit more about the history of Hollywood and making movies, I’ve got a great video essay called The Rise (and Fall) of Hollywood. It was created by the YouTube channel Now You See it, and it does a fantastic job explaining how filmmakers were driven to Hollywood to escape Thomas Edison’s assholery; how Hollywood started as a rebellious greedy movement; how it turned into a monopoly of studios; and how the rise of the internet and affordable filmmaking technique could finally bring Hollywood to its knees.

Hollywood history is full of stealing, failure, and deceit. Let's take a look at the conditions filmmakers had to suffer through to get their movies made.