Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland recently posted this photo of himself as Spider-Man lurking in the shadows. The photo was posted as a way to honor the stuntmen who helped bring his character of Spider-Man to life and make Holland look like a badass. The photo came with the following caption:
"Thank you to @georgejcottle and his amazing team for making me look like a badass. #spidermanhomecoming #stunts"
This is definitely Spider-Man's best Batman impression, but I'd like to imagine that Batman is crouched down in the shadows on the rooftops above looking down on Spider-Man, ready to swoop in and help if needed.
Spider-Man: Homecoming will hit theaters on July 7th, 2017.
The Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things series wasn't just inspired by classic films of the '80s that we all love. It was also inspired by wild stories and conspiracy theories involving secret U.S. government experiments involving the supernatural. Some of these things include tales of time-traveling battleships, recovered memories, psychic powers, kids being kidnapped and sent through portals into other dimensions, conjuring monsters, and more. Seriously, these stories are pretty crazy, but awesome to hear!
According to Thrillist, Stranger Things was originally titled Montauk, which is based on the real-life experiment conducted by the U.S. government known as the "Montauk Project." The first season was also originally going to take place on the eastern end of Long Island, but that obviously all ended up changing.
There's a long detailed list of things that the government supposedly did in these experiments, and a lot of the information on the Montauk Project comes from several books and interviews by Preston B. Nichols. In 1982, he released a book called The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time.
Below you'll find a list of events surrounding the Montauk Project that are pointed out on Thrillist. These points are mostly direct quotes. As you read through the list you'll be able to see the similarities with Stranger Things.
In the 1980s Nichols recovered repressed memories about his stint as a subject in a mysterious experiment; soon, others involved with the Montauk Project came forward to corroborate some of Nichols' seemingly outlandish claims.
In October 1943, the US military supposedly conducted secret experiments in the naval shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in an effort to discover a way to foil Nazi radar so that they could safely transport supplies to the Allies in Europe. According to conspiracy theorists as far back as 1955, it not only succeeded in uncovering how to make its ships invisible to radar, but they accidentally managed to cause a battleship to travel to another time or to a different dimension. The ship went somewhere, and after the military learned about the negative effects overexposure to their version of the Upside Down had on the crew, it shut the project down.
In 1988 a man named Al Bielek uncovered repressed memories on his time that he worked on the Montauk Project. He learnedhis name wasn't really Al Bielek, his real name was Edward Cameron and that he had been de-aged, had his memory wiped, and had been forced to live out the rest of his life as "Al Bielek."
Bielek claimed that, sometime in the 1940s, Nikola Tesla figured out how to make the U.S.S. Eldridge invisible and, in the process, opened up a time wormhole into the future that sucked in the ship.
According to Bielek and his brother were on board the ship, and they ended up at Montauk's Camp Hero on August 12th, 1983. The military ended up sending them back through the wormhole with a mission to destroy the equipment on the Eldridge. Bielek says he completed their mission, but that didn't stop the government from doing more experiments on building portals into the future.
In the 1970s there were experiments with a chair called the "Montauk Chair," which was a piece of furniture that used electromagnetics to amplify psychic powers.
Bielek's brother Duncan Cameron was found to have psychic powers in 1963, and became the focus of many of the Montauk Chair experiments. Apparently, Duncan could manifest objects just by thinking about them while in the Montauk Chair.
One of the first experiments was called "The Seeing Eye." With a lock of person's hair or other appropriate object in his hand, Duncan could concentrate on the person and be able to see as if he was seeing through their eyes, hearing through their ears, and feeling through their body. He could actually see through other people anywhere on the planet.
Nichols also writes of other boys being brought in and experimented on. Some were sent through a portal into the unknown of spacetime. These abductees are known as the "Montauk Boys," and since Nichols and Bielek started speaking about their regained memories, other Long Island men have rediscovered that they were frequently abducted from their homes by Camp Hero scientists who wanted to "break" them psychologically so that they could implant subconscious commands.
Nichols claims that they could reliably travel to other times and places (even to Mars).
At one point they conjured a monster! Duncan recals, "We finally decided we'd had enough of the whole experiment. The contingency program was activated by someone approaching Duncan while he was in the chair and simply whispering "The time is now." At this moment, he let loose a monster from his subconscious. And the transmitter actually portrayed a hairy monster. It was big, hairy, hungry and nasty. But it didn't appear underground in the null point. It showed up somewhere on the base. It would eat anything it could find. And it smashed everything in sight. Several different people saw it, but almost everyone described a different beast."
Nichols ended up destroying the equipment that powered the Montauk Chair before the beast disappeared. They claim that the employees were then brainwashed and, in 1984, the lower levels of the base were filled in with cement.
This is some seriously intense stuff that obviously made for an amazing story for a series! Whether you believe in this kind of stuff or not, you can't deny that those stories are freakin' fascinating. There's even more that you can read about over on Thrillist. How crazy would it be if these things were actually real!?
I've included an interesting video below of Al Bielek giving a lecture on his experiences. Check it out!
When I was growing up I loved reading the horror comics/magazines Eerie and Creepy. I have very fond memories of staying up late at night and reading them with a flashlight. Marvel kind of had their own version of a horror comic from 1973 to 1975. It was an 11-issue black and white horror anthology magazine published by Marvel imprint Curtis Magazines called Monsters Unleashed. I've never read those, but Marvel is bringing back the title!
They've announced Monsters Unleashed! for 2017. A couple of teaser images have been released that you can see below, and as you can see, writer Cullen Bunn is attached to the project along with multiple artists.
As of right now there is no information on what the comic series will entail other than the title and who is involved. I imagine it will continue the tradition of an anthology series, though. At least, I hope it does!
I'm a big fan of monsters and monster magazines, so I'm excited to see what comes of this.
We all know what Darth Vader looks like, but there's something exciting about seeing the iconic villain being brought back for a new Star Wars film. He will appear in director Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. There's no word on how big of a part he will play in the story, but it's big enough to get fans excited by including him in the full trailer for the film.
Thanks toStarWarsNews.net we have a new promo image of Vader from the film to share with you. The image is included in a part of a deck of Rogue One-themed playing cards. Like I said, we all know what the villain looks like, but I know die hard fans will appreciate seeing a new look at the character.
James Earl Jones will reprise his role as the voice of Darth Vader in the film, and I can't wait to see the evil sith lord back in action trying to rule the galaxy.
Oh! In case you missed it, there were some really cool new details revealed about some of the characters in Rogue One and their relationships with each other that you can read about here. The info comes from an upcoming prequel book called Catalyst: A Rogue One Story.
It looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger's son, Joseph Baena, wants to get in on the family Terminator business. Schwarzenegger played the T-800 Terminator in four films over the course of 30 years. Now his son takes on the character in a recreation of a classic scene from James Cameron's 1991 film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The recreation of the scene was directed by Ben Hess, and it starts right after the Terminator beats the living hell out of a bunch of bar patrons and takes the clothes from one of them. Baena may not be as huge and muscular as his dad was, but he's definitely got his dad's look. I included the original scene from the movie below the recreation so you can compare the two if you want.
When it comes to the upcoming big screen adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, I'm beside myself with excitement. I'm constantly giving myself high-fives whenever a see a new piece of news regarding the project.
Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer tried to get this film project off the ground for ten years. Sony Pictures eventually gave the project their support, and right at this moment the film is in production being directed by Nikolaj Arcel. I wish Howard would have been the one to take it on, but I still think the movie is going to turn out great because at least he's helping steer it in the right direction.
Howard and Grazer recently sat down for an interview with Deadline in which they offer up details behind bringing this story to the big screen. The long journey started when J.J. Abrams dropped out of adapting the book series. At that point, Howard, Grazer, and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman jumped in and grabbed the rights. Howard explains their plan for bringing the story to life:
"Akiva Goldsman first pitched it to me while we were making A Beautiful Mind and the rights weren’t available. JJ Abrams was working on it at first and then Akiva told me JJ was involved in so many projects he let it go. We started talking about what it could be. I read all the novels and we broke them down. He presented this idea to Stephen King, and this is insider material you might not get, but it was about introducing the Horn of Eld into the very first story. He knew it would allow us to use elements of the novels in a new combination that would give us the latitude to be true to the essence of the novels, but also re-balance and refocus the narrative in a cinematic way. That was the jumping off point that began this process. When MRC [Media Rights Capital] and Modi Wiczyk became involved, that discussion deepened and we focused more on the Jake Chambers-Roland relationship at the very center of the first movie as a way of launching the universe. We simplified the story line, made it less expensive as a result, but we still utilized a lot of those important structural adjustments that Akiva and I had devised going back years ago. One of the things we did was put together a team of Dark Tower researchers, devotees of the books. We wanted to restructure the novels to be most cinematic and Stephen King agreed completely and understood the journey we were on immediately and supported it. We used this group to inspire our thinking and stay in the universe of Dark Tower."
From what we've heard of the new film, it seems like they stuck with that plan of restructuring the novels to fit a cinematic experience. It's good to know that King himself backs that idea. I like the fact they are doing that because it will keep fans of the book series guessing as to what will happen. After years of trying to get the film off the ground, Howard says they were about to give up until Arcel jumped on board. He really liked what the filmmaker could bring to the table.
"Just about the time Akiva, Modi, Brian and I we were going to give up, Tom Rothman at Sony came aboard and that was an important turning point and that led to Nik. He grew up on the books and always loved them. He really was a great choice to approach the story in the most humanistic and cool way, focusing a lot on the Jake-Roland relationship. He understood the importance of that and connected with both characters. He’s also a strong original filmmaker with great taste. He and his writing partner tackled a rewrite and Nic has done a terrific job staging it."
Hearing that definitely raises my confidence level in Arcel, who has directed a handful of films I haven't seen. Howard goes on to talk about the casting of The Gunslinger, Roland Deschain and why they ended up casting Idris Elba:
"Back then, we came close to making it with Javier Bardem at one point. I’ve always felt that the essence of Roland was not necessarily the carbon copy of Clint Eastwood, even though that was what they used as the model on a lot of the book covers. The existential Western hero, played by Clint in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Hang ‘em High and those Sergio Leone Westerns, that was what inspired young Stephen King to begin with. But I never felt it was necessarily a look as much as an essence. So did Stephen. In this iteration, when we began thinking about candidates, Idris just felt like a really exciting and dynamic possibility. Idris brings this crucial combination of coiled danger, quiet charisma, undercurrents of complexity and nobility, and a kind of timeless cool. These are the elemental qualities of Roland, in my mind, and I think Idris carries it incredibly well. Then there is McConaughey. I had always thought he would be a tremendous Walter."
I think Elba and McConaughey are going to be ridiculously awesome in this movie! I really hope that we get to see Howard and Grazer's vision of the adaptation fully realized. If you've been following the news, then you know there is a TV series that is supposed to bridge the gap between three films. When asked if the TV series was still happening, Howard said:
"We’re developing the television part, now. We don’t know what platform it will be on at this point, but we’re developing the content in hopes for more movies that will cover the epic and the characters involved."
While the hair of Disney princesses is magically perfect at all times in the movies, real hair is not so cooperative. C. Cassandra, who in her comic strips documents her many hair woes, has created a series of art that gives Disney princesse more realistic hair. I hope Cassandra continues the series; there are a lot of long-haired princesses left.
If you've seen the trailers for Toho's Godzilla: Resurgence, a.k.a. Shin Godzilla, you know the movie looks completely awesome. Not long ago we learned that Funimation Films picked up the North American distribution rights, and today they've announced that Godzilla: Resurgence will roar into theaters for a limited run from October 11th to the 18th.
According to the press release, the movie will screen in more than 440 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. Tickets are available for pre-purchase on the official film website beginning on September 9th. Gen Fukunaga, CEO and President of Funimation had this to say in a statement:
“We are thrilled to bring ‘Shin Godzilla’ to theaters across North America this October. Toho established Godzilla as one of the most iconic monsters in science fiction history and we’re honored to now be a part of that history with the theatrical release of this new movie. Fans will not want to miss this limited theatrical event.”
Mike DuBoise , EVP and COO of Funimation added:
“Movie audiences can look forward to a great time watching ‘Shin Godzilla’ this October. A larger than life monster like Godzilla has to be experienced on the big screen. And we expect this movie to sellout in numerous theaters so we encourage fans to purchase tickets in advance.”
I wish the film was getting a long theatrical release, but I guess fans will have to take what we can get!
The movie was co-directed by Hideaki Anno (creator of Evangelion) and Shinji Higuchi (director of Toho’s 2015 Attack on Titan live action movies). This is the 29th Godzilla film produced by Toho and represents a brand new chapter in the 62-year history of this celebrated movie monster. The film stars Hiroki Hasegawa and Satomi Ishihara, who are both from the Attack on Titan live action movies – as well as Yutaka Takenouchi. According to the press release:
Shin Godzilla has been a big hit in Japan since its opening on July 29, 2016 , which garnered a box office of ¥ 845,675,500 and total audience of 564,332 during its first three days. To date in Japan, the movie has grossed ¥ 5,302,014,700 at the box office and 3,637,748 in total attendance.
In advance of the movie’s opening, Funimation will be hosting two premieres of the film – on October 3rd in Los Angeles and on October 5th in New York before opening day of New York Comic Con 2016.
Hot Toys has unveiled their 1/6th scale Death Trooper collectible action figure from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and this thing is freakin' badass! When I first saw this Death Trooper during the early marketing for the film, I thought it was the coolest damn thing, and it's exciting seeing it in action figure form! As always, the attention to detail and care that Hot Toys puts into their creations is amazing. This is a must-own figure for any Star Wars fan!
Coming this December, the highly anticipated Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will take fans on an all-new epic adventure where a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction during a time of conflict.
Today Hot Toys is thrilled to firstly introduce one of the most striking new troopers from the film – the 1/6th scale Death Trooper (Specialist) collectible figure!
The highly-accurate collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of Death Trooper in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It stands approximately 32.5cm tall featuring a finely crafted black colored armor, helmet with LED light-up function, highly detailed Death Trooper blaster rifle and pistol, and a specially designed figure stand!
Star Wars fans shouldn’t miss the opportunity to have this incredible Death Trooper (Specialist) to jump start your Rogue One: A Star Wars Story collection as this collectible figure will be firstly available on September 30 in selected markets. It is time to #GoRogue!
If you're excited about Star Wars Rebels season three, you don't want to miss this latest promo spot for the series. It focuses on Grand Admiral Thrawn and how calmly menacing he is. This guy is going to make a great villain, and it looks like they are going to handle the character perfectly for this show. The spot builds the tension as Thrawn plots the destruction of the Ghost crew and the growing rebellion. Thrawn is brilliantly voiced by Lars Mikkelsen (House of Cards).
Having established a secret base on Atollon, the Ghost crew, now led by a more powerful Ezra, strengthens the rebel fleet by acquiring new resources and recruits eager to stand against the Empire. However, the Imperial efforts to eliminate the rebellion are now being led by the coldly analytical Grand Admiral Thrawn, whose strategic, tactical and cultural insights make him a threat unlike any they have faced before. In season three, Ezra and Sabine take on new roles and challenges as the rebels prepare for their biggest mission yet – a direct assault on the Empire.
Star Wars Rebels season three premieres on Saturday, September 24th!
Mortal Kombat is coming to the PC. NetherRealm studios will be bringing Mortal Kombat XL to the platform beginning October 4th. The XL version will contain the following...read more on Gametyrant
Nerdwriter has created another great video essay. This time it focuses on the stylish, noir-inspired violence of Shane Black and how he twists and subverts action films in general. From Lethal Weapon to the recent Nice Guys, Nerdwriter breaks down great examples how Black takes cliche moments and makes them fresh. While many geeks out there didn't like Iron Man 3, what he gave us was something unexpected and original. We all know originality is something Hollywood desperately needs.
As you all know by now, Dwayne Johnson is set to play Black Adam in WB’s big screen adaptation of Shazam. I’ve seen a lot of fan art done for the character since that has happened, but nothing as good as this piece from artist Juan Hugo Martinez. This is a great imagining of the character, and it shows us a design that wonderfully fits the visual esthetic of the DCEU that Zack Snyder and his team have developed.
Those of you who are familiar with George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire book series know that that the Iron Throne in the book is extremely different than what we see in the Game of Thrones TV series.
Above is an illustration created by artist Marc Simonetti and it shows us the true look of the Iron Throne. A fan by the name of D. Schuyler Burks took the Iron Throne design even further by building a miniature version model of it and as you’ll see… it’s awesome! Below the image you will find a video showing it off.
I’ve got a crazy fun series of custom-made Nike sneakers that were created by Instagram user @pokemonnikeid. Each design is based on a different Pokemon, and he is even taking requests for designs that he’ll create for you using Nike ID. It’s pretty awesome seeing how well the designs of these shoes match up with the corresponding Pokemon characters. Of course, you can always just go to Nike ID and create your own.
I'll never forget the moment I was sitting in a movie theater watch Transformers: The Movie 30 years ago and witnessing the deaths of some of my favorite characters, including Optimus Prime. I was completely heartbroken, but I still loved the hell out of the movie! Just in case you forgot, before Prime died he removed the Matrix of Leadership from his chest and dropped it. That's the moment Hot Rod caught it and gave it to Ultra Magnus. Little did Hot Rod know at the time that he would be the next leader of the Autobots. You can watch that whole depressing scene below.
But first, I have a video for you to watch that takes you through the steps of creating your very own real life Matrix of Leadership! The replica prop was created by Bob Clagett of OBGrollout, and as you'll see, it turned out really cool.
Beatdown Boogie has released two videos featuring some insanely cool cosplay from Russia’s Starcon 2016. I’d never heard of Starcon before, but it sounds pretty freakin’ cool! It’s like a multi-genre convention with all sorts of fun stuff to see and do. It takes place in St Petersburg, and this is a description from Beatdown Boogie:
Fans not only dress in cosplay but build backdrops and sets based on their favorite franchises. There are various physical games and stunts going on throughout the convention, including laser tag, a ropes course, and VR games. Skaters and bmx bikers were jumping over cosplayers. A pole-dance competition resulted in a PS4 prize. Attendees were shooting arrows at a volunteer batman. There was a cosplay fitness competition where cosplayers showed of their costumes and muscles. And there were 3 cosmonauts in attendance. Starcon was pretty crazy and pretty cool.
A trailer has been released for an unsettling Japanese psychological thriller called Creepy. This movie looks great, and it features one of the most insanely creepy smiles I've ever seen outside of The Joker. The movie looks like it will tell a very dark and twisted tale.
In comes from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and it's based on a novel written by Yutaka Maekawa. The story follows "ex-police detective and criminal psychologist Takakura, who moves to a quiet suburban town seeking peace and quiet, but soon begins to suspect that his neighbour is a psychopath who comes into people’s households and takes over their lives."
The following details about the film were offered in the synopsis:
Kiyoshi KUROSAWA, who won Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival 2015 for his elegiac drama “Journey to the Shore”, returns to genre in which he made his name with this “creepy” psychological thriller. Bringing in a great ensemble cast of leading Japanese actors & actresses, Kiyoshi KUROSAWA who also co-wrote the screenplay, has been quoted as saying: “Each actor exudes a mysterious delicacy and ferocity, which the camera has somehow been able to capture. The end result is this breath-taking thriller.”
With its gripping suspense and riveting story, “Creepy” marks Kiyoshi KUROSAWA’s return to the horror genre with a horrific thriller so intense that audiences around the world will shiver in fear.
Creepy will be released in theaters in New York on October 21st, then in the UK and Ireland on November 25th, along with a VOD release on the same date.
I’d have to say that this is definitely one of the most impressive Wonder Woman cosplay costumes that I’ve seen, and the fact that it’s a little girl wearing it makes it even more awesome. She looks spectacularly adorable. I love the look on her face and attitude that says, “You don’t want to mess with me.” The photo was taken Knighthawk Photography and posted on Twitter.
Ouija: Origin of Evil looks like a great horror movie that will terrify audiences. This is my kind of horror film, and there's a new extended promo spot that's been released for it that offers up some new footage. I'm genuinely excited about seeing this movie, especially with the people that I'll be dragging to the movie theater with me that don't want to see it because it looks too scary. Their reactions are all part of the fun of going to horror films like this.
It was never just a game. Inviting audiences again into the lore of the spirit board, Ouija: Origin of Evil tells a terrifying new tale as the follow-up to 2014’s sleeper hit that opened at number one. In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
The movie is set to be released in theaters on October 21st.
