Even if you haven’t read the Lord of the Rings, you’ve likely seen the movie trilogy. And if you haven’t seen the movies, you’re still familiar with the basic premise of the whole thing because, let’s be honest, you most likely have a friend that loves The Lord of the Rings. If you know slightly more than the title of the books, you know Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (who were great friends) realized England didn’t have its own mythology. So they took it upon themselves to write one, which is how the epic Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia series were created.

While both series are brilliant, Tolkien went much further in creating an enchanting, mythological world that is immensely more detailed and rich than Lewis’s more didactic approach to the task in The Chronicles of Narnia. However, Tolkien did incorporate his views on the Industrial Revolution, the changing world of England, and the First World War. Through his love of languages, interest in Celtic and Norse histories, awareness of his changing world, and an exceptional imagination, Tolkien created a trilogy that changed the world of fantasy forever. If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, you already know all this (if you know a Lord of the Rings fan, you probably also know all this), but if you are a through and through, genuine, authentic LOTR nerd, you:

1.) Have the books memorized

You grew up with LOTR being read to you as your bedtime story. You still read them as your bedtime story. You plan on reading them to your children as a bedtime story. In fact, you’ve read the books so many times that whole phrases have become part of your everyday vernacular, and some even find their way into homework assignments and job applications. You may secretly feel that you could have written a better screenplay for the movies, but your loyalty to anything LOTR trumps the thought that it could be even better.

2.) Also have the movies memorized

You have an annual marathon of the LOTR extended edition movies (why do they even sell any other edition?), which you can quote all the way through. You love it anyway. You usually watch them dressed up as your favorite character. You may also reminisce about the night you went to each movie premiere, also dressed up.

3.) Don’t need the subtitled translations

Aside from the fact that you have almost every line memorized, you still wouldn’t need the subtitled translations because you are fluent in the elvish language. You may even have a preference language — Quenya or Sindarian. If you are made fun of for speaking Elvish, you are quick to defend yourself by reminding your critics that those are both academically studied languages. You may have even gotten caught in school for passing notes, but never went to the principal’s office because the teacher either couldn’t read it, or could read it and you both became instant friends.

4.) Profile LOTR Style

Depending on whom you identify with in the book, you may profile all the people around you in relation to your character. You may have accidentally called your best friend “Sam,” your nemesis “Legolas,” or your next door neighbor “Gollum” (it’s not your fault he treats his ’71 Mustang like his prrreeecccioussss…). You also tend to treat whomever you are in a relationship with as only a true LOTR nerd would. Sure, you can give away jewelry to signify a love that would surpass even the desire for immortality, but you would never consider a proposal with a ring.

5.) Have “the voice”

You know what it is and you can imitate it. Perfffeeecctttllyyyy.

6.) Live happily ever after

However, your happily ever after isn’t tinted by rose-colored glasses. You get that there are hard things in life, that there are some things you have to fight for, and there are some things you lose, but that, in the end, everything will work out. You don’t see life as a journey to an end; you see it as an ongoing journey that you have the choice to embrace. And perhaps most important of all, you realize “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”

By Katie Bullock

Finally! I've been waiting to see a trailer pop up for Sleight since I first saw the movie at Sundance earlier this year. This was one of my favorite movies at the film festival, and I've been looking forward to seeing it again. Now all of you get your first look at it thanks to a fun little teaser trailer that was released. 

When Bo (Jacob Latimore), a handsome and gifted high school student, suddenly becomes the sole caretaker for his little sister, Tina, he foregoes college to dedicate his talents to the craft of magic. He wows audiences as a street magician but still has to make ends meet, so he cleverly uses his skills to peddle drugs for the local dealer, Angelo. However when Bo falls for Holly, an adorable teenager in need of support, he decides to get out of the drug business, causing Angelo to threaten his family. Bo must now rely on his sleight of hand and brilliant mind to save the day.

This is what we had to say about it in our review for the film:

What really stood out to me, however, was that this movie kind of played out as a superhero movie with elements of a thriller that made it realistic. Bo used his sleight of hand and knowledge of street magic to help him outsmart cops, criminals, and anyone out to get him. But what this movie did right was his power wasn’t fighting. It was his wits. There was a fight scene in the movie, and it was awesome, and it didn’t require saving the world, and it wasn't overly orchestrated. As I watched this movie, I was reminded of the last few Marvel movies I’ve seen.  Now I loved them, but one issue I’ve had is that the world is always in jeopardy in them. In this movie, this kid develops a type of superpower that he uses for criminal ways but turns it around without the world being in jeopardy. The last few scenes of the film were very intense, but because of an internal struggle and different kinds of stakes than world destruction. This movie was more intense than any DC or Marvel superhero movie I’ve seen and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Sleight is truly a fantastic movie worth checking out when it's released in theaters on April 7, 2017.

Oasis, the latest new map to come to Overwatch's "PTR" is now getting it's first round of matches as players are testing out the new level prior to its official release...read more on Gametyrant

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James Gunn has released a full red-band trailer for The Belko Experiment, which he wrote and produced. I've been looking forward to seeing more footage from this movie, and it looks like it's going to deliver some crazy violent thrills wrapped in a story that involves an intense and twisted situation that no one would want to find themselves in. 

The story centers on an American company called Belko that is located in South America. The high-rise building that they work in is mysteriously sealed off at the beginning of a workday, and the 80 employees are ordered to kill each other or be killed themselves. As the violence escalates, the true nature of every Belko employee will be revealed.

The film has a solid cast that includes Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Adria Arjona, John Gallagher Jr., John C. McGinley, David Dastmalchian, Melonie Diaz, and more.

The movie was directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) and is scheduled to be released in theaters on March 17, 2017.

The BBC has released a new teaser promo for the upcoming fourth series of Sherlock. It's called "It's Not A Game Anymore," and it features Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) sitting in Sherlock’s 221B Baker Street apartment. The promo has a very unsettling and eerie vibe as we see that the apartment is flooded with water. All we really know about the upcoming season is from this vague plot summary:

Sherlock Season 4 begins with the mercurial Sherlock Holmes (Cumberbatch), back once more on British soil as Doctor Watson (Freeman) and his wife Mary (Amanda Abbington) prepare for their biggest challenge yet: becoming parents.

We don't know any story details yet, but it's been said that this upcoming season will tell a dark story that will have consequences and that it will leave fans desperate for a fifth season. Sherlock season four is set to be released on January 1st, 2017! I can't wait to see the journey of these two characters continue! 

Marvel has released an entertaining Funko animated short film called "Spellbound" in which the Funko Pop! versions of Spider-Man and Iron Man take on Loki. As they fight the villain, he casts a spell on them and the two heroes end up fighting each other. 

Short films like this are great marketing for these kinds of products! I've been seeing more and more of them recently, and it's a trend that I hope continues. It's good entertainment! According to EW, "Spellbound" is the first of three shorts that will be released in a series. The next two are titled "Bait N Switch" and "Chimichangas."

"Bait N Switch" centers on Rocket Raccoon as he breaks into the Collector's museum to rescue Groot. Then "Chimichangas" obviously focuses on Deadpool battling Venom. Stay tuned for those, and in the meantime enjoy the first short below!

Legendary Pictures has hired Goosebumps director Rob Letterman to direct the feature film adaptation of the Pokemon-themed game Detective Pikachu. I really didn't care for Goosebumps. I thought it was a complete mess, but a surprising amount of people did enjoy it. 

With Letterman directing the film, I'm not really expecting much. Remember, the guy also directed Gulliver's Travels. Does this mean that Jack Black will end up in Detective Pikachu? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Who knows, maybe his filmmaking style is exactly what the movie needs. 

The script is being written by Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls). Detective Pikachu will be the first film in a planned franchise centering on the character. The story for the game is described as follows:

The game follows a peculiar talking Pikachu who, despite not being as powerful and nimble as other Pikachu of his kind, is rather intelligent and claims to be a great detective. One day, Pikachu encounters a boy named Tim Goodman, who is able to understand what he is saying. Thus, the two begin working together to solve various mysteries revolving around Pokémon in the city.

Legendary has fast-tracked the project for production, and they are looking to start shooting in 2017. Regardless of not being a fan of the director, I do hope the movie turns out well. 

Source: THR

The anticipation of finally seeing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story later this month is killing me! We're almost there! While we wait, I've got a bunch of new photos for you to check out featuring new stuff we haven't seen before. Also, director Gareth Edwards revealed one of the Easter eggs that is in the film. Don't worry, they aren't spoilers, it's just something to keep an eye out for. He says:

"There's some Easter Eggs. In Saw's [Gerrera, played by Forest Whitaker] cave, there are some cave paintings. One of them is of the creatures that were in my first film, called Monsters, and then there's a Godzilla. I didn't ask for it, I just came in one day and saw it."

That's pretty cool. Just in case you need a reminder, Edwards directed both of those films. He went on to talk about working with visual effects supervisor John Knoll on the film, saying:

"John Knoll is our visual effect supervisor on Rogue One. He was a massive hero of mine - my background was in visual effects. I sat for ten years in my bedroom, trying to make computer graphics, and I'd put on the making of Star Wars to keep me motivated. You'd hear John Knoll talking to George and things like this. Sometimes, accidentally, I'd end up in this situation where I'd hear that voice and think, 'oh there's that guy from Making of Star Wars.' Then I realize that I'm that other guy now, talking about what a ship should look like, what a shot should be."

Making this movie was obviously an incredibly cool experience for Edwards! The film was recently 100% completed and is now ready to go! When talking about what it's like for him to watch the final cut of the film, he said:

"It is the curse of filmmaking, I think. You never get to watch your film the way the audience watches it. With the Original trilogy, George went back and made the special edition. You think, 'Why? It was perfect!' But as a filmmaker he felt like 'no no no, there were these things that weren't quite right, I do them.' As a filmmaker, you always feel that way, or I do, at least, about the work I've done. You always see little things you want to tinker with."

Don't worry, I seriously doubt that Disney will let him go back and tinker with anything after the movie is released. You can check the new high res images from the film below. 

Via: CB

Universal Pictures has released the first poster and teaser trailer for their upcoming reboot of The Mummy, which is the first film in their slate of new movies based on their classic monster series. The brief amount of footage they've released in the teaser is interesting. It definitely doesn't have the magic and eeriness that the original movie had. This version has more of an action-adventure kind of feel to it. This could end up being a fun movie, but we'll just have to wait and see more footage. Let us know what you think after you watch the teaser.

Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: The Mummy. 

Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

The movie was directed by Alex Kurtzman and also stars Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Courtney B. Vance (American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson), and Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

The Mummy will be released on June 9th, 2017, and it will be followed by modern day reboots of The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, and Van Helsing, which are all in various stages of development.

A PC hit of the early 2000's is now free on GOG. For the next 48 hours you can download Neverwinter Nights:Diamond Edition for FREE on GOG! Based on the third edition of Dungeons and Dragons, Neverwinter Knights was created by Bioware and Obsidian back in 2001...read more on Gametyrant

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Director Jon Favreau wowed audiences with his feature film adaptation of Disney's animated classic The Jungle Book. The director is now set to recapture that magic with an adaptation of The Lion King, and this time he will be using VR technology to help in the development on the film. During an interview with Comingsoon, the director said:

“A lot of the simulcam and motion capture technology that we use here, a lot of it was innovated around the making of Avatar, and hasn’t really changed much, because there’s just not a lot of consumers. There are a lot of people who watch, but not a lot of people who use the technology. So we were finding ourselves building around technology that hadn’t changed a lot in the last 10 years. But now as we’re exploring what is being developed for VR, and game engine technology, a lot of that was used to some extent in Jungle Book, but as I look forward to developing this process further, there’s a lot over overlap.”

Favreau explained that he got into VR tech after working on a VR project called Gnomes and Goblins and watching an impressive demo for a project called The Blue, which is a virtual-reality blue whale encounter. He was really trying to figure out how to use VR in film development. When asked how the technology would be used in the creation of The Lion King, the director explained:

“Being able to scout–and some of this we were doing with ‘Jungle Book’ as well, but the ability to actually design an environment virtually, and then to walk around in it with your crew, doing a scout. And to be able set shots and to be able to choreograph movement, and move set pieces around before you do the heavy versions of it. Because there’s a lot of really light files, again, the processing is getting better and the coding is very specific to game engines now, so that the files remain light, so you can experience them in real time, so you can move assets around in real time, and start to rough in what you want to do as a filmmaker. And finally, when you deliver it to the point where you’re actually turning it over, and rendering the stuff in a very expensive, time-consuming way, you’ve already made all your creative decisions using technologies that are more geared towards gaming.”

Walking around in a digital CGI film environment with a crew of people and planning out your shots in this digital world? That sounds pretty damn cool! It looks like the development of The Jungle Book is going to take filmmaking tech to a whole new level! I can't wait to see what Favreau does with the film, and the "making of" featurettes are sure to be fascinating. 

Burger King recently released a funny commercial that reunites Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) and Pedro (Efrain Ramírez). The video recreates the cafeteria scene from the film as they try the fast food chain's new Cheesy Tots. It's kinda fun to see these characters together again. It makes me wonder if we'll ever see a follow-up movie showing what the characters are up to years after they graduated high school. It could be called Napoleon Dynamite: Legacy or Napoleon Dynamite: Resurrection. You know... one of those generic sequel titles. Anyway, enjoy the commercial! 

In my opinion, John Goodman gave one of the best performances of his career in the J.J. Abrams-produced sci-fi thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was released earlier this year. I'd love to see him get an Oscar nomination for it! The actor is about to jump back into the genre with a new film being developed by director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) called Captive State.

Wyatt wrote the script with his wife Erica Beeney, and unfortunately, there are no plot details to share with you at this time. It's just said that it will have a sci-fi angle. There's also no word on who Goodman will be playing in the film.

Apparently, there was a heavy bidding war for the script that was eventually won by FilmNation Entertainment. Whatever the story entails it must be good, especially if a respected, high-profile actor like Goodman decided to sign up to star in it. 

Goodman will next be seen in Peter Berg's Boston Marathon bombing film Patriots Day and Legendary Pictures' Kong: Skull Island.

Source: Variety

The first clip from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story debuted last night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Fallon had the opportunity to talk to star Felicity Jones about working on the film and then showed the clip featuring her character Jyn Erso kicking some major Stormtrooper ass. The actress learned to do so from her Kung Fu training, which she talks about in the interview. The clip also reminds us that Stormtroopers are still incredibly bad shots. I swear, they must get the worst blaster training in the galaxy. You can watch the clip at the 3:10 mark.

I also included another IMAX poster above and a new international TV spot below for you to watch if you want. The movie comes out on December 16, and tickets are on sale! I've got mine, do you have yours?!

If you're a fan of the Gremlins film franchise, you've gotta check out these two pieces of poster art that were created for Mondo. Gremlins is always a great film to watch during the Christmas season! 

The print above was created by artist Matt Ryan Tobin. It's a 24×36 hand numbered screen print with an edition of 275 that will cost you $45. 

The piece below for Gremlins 2: The New Batch comes from Glen Brogan. It's a 18×24 hand numbered screen print with an edition of 150 that will cost you $40.

The posters won't be shipped until January of next year, so unfortunately you won't get them before Christmas if you decide to order one. The posters go on sale at a random time today, December 1st. Make sure to follow @MondoNews to find out when they go up for sale!

Pokemon Sun and Moon has become the fastest selling Nintendo game of all time in the United States. Nintendo jumped on Twitter yesterday afternoon to share the announcement with the world...read more on Gametyrant

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Earlier this week a got our first few glimpses of Game of Thrones, season seven. In an interview with EW, Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on the show, teased a few broad details about Sansa's future power struggle.

"She’s seemingly in control for the first time – and it really suits her.
 
"She’s kind of having a bit of a power trip. But she’s also becoming more insecure, because there are threats to the power that she holds."

Most of Sansa's life she's held little or no control over her life. With the events at the end of season six, she's now a power player and acts independently and in some cases cunningly. It's been interesting to see this character's development from a teenage girl who's a bit of an airhead into a woman who is a guileful manipulator.

"What overall excites me about this season is that main characters are coming together and it feels like things are ramping up.

"It’s really exciting and all feels like it’s coming to a big conclusion."

With the final seasons having shorter episode count,s we really are charging forward to the series end game. Season seven starts summer of 2017 on HBO.

I intentionally skipped seeing The Secret Life Of Pets, and I'm still not sure if I'm going to. While they first pulled me in by playing System of a Down's "Pogo" in one of their trailers, Comcast went on this weird promotion stint of the film and it made me uneasy about watching it. Why does Comcast want me to watch it so bad? Is there some subtext that says I should become a lifelong subscriber to their cable network? It's dumb, but it skeeved me out just enough to miss it when it was in theaters... Plus, I don't have kids so I can get away with not seeing this one. 

For that reason those who have seen the film will have to validate Screen Junkies' Honest Trailer of the film in the comments. Even though I haven't seen the film, I still chuckled at this one!

I super duper love Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, but that is for some reason a somewhat controversial position. (I also kind of hate the 10th Doctor, so I am used to holding a minority opinion.) There is rampant speculation that the upcoming, long-awaited tenth season of Doctor Who will be Capaldi’s last, that he will exit the show with showrunner Steven Moffat and the new boss will start with a clean slate.

There are also very loud whispers that the BBC wants another hot young thing in the titular role instead of the mature Capaldi. So now it is time to speculate on which hot young British actor will fill the police box. 

Apparently, there is a fan petition calling for Eddie Redmayne to be cast in the role. When he was told about it during an interview on Radio One, Redmayne didn’t say no. In fact he sort of said yes (I didn’t hear the entire interview, so I don’t know why he’s talking about the Doctor’s similarities to Newt Scamander, other than that he is really good that the publicity game):

“Would I do it? Yeah! It’s a great show. I do see the resemblance. I see the scarf, I see the coat, I see the bow tie. I’m also a huge fan of those actors, I love Matt Smith. I suppose the briefcase [in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them] has a TARDIS vibe to it – so yeah!”

(He forgot to mention that the sonic screwdriver is basically a magic wand at this point.)

While I appreciate his enthusiasm for the show, I will eat my hat if Eddie Redmayne signs on to play the Doctor. First of all, he’s an Oscar winner, and while they may pop up on TV in prestige miniseries from time to time, they don’t usually sign on to lowish budget sci fi family shows. The other major impediment is that he is signed on to play Newt Scamander in four more movies, which means that he won’t have a ton of time to film a series, and when he does have time between films, he seems likely to use it to make more prestige dramas to keep up his serious actor cred.

He would be an unbelievable get for the BBC, though, so I’m sure someone at the network is placing a few calls to Redmayne’s agent. I am very interested to see who will be the next incarnation of the Doctor. A year ago, rumor was that the former King in the North himself, Richard Madden, was the BBC’s top choice, but I am sure that new showrunner Chris Chibnail will have his own ideas.

Doctor Who will return with a new Christmas special this, well, Christmas, and the tenth season is expected to hit our screens in April 2017.

Source: Screen Rant

Chris Pratt says Guardians of the Galaxy 2 helped him cope with the death of his father, Daniel Pratt, who suffered from multiple sclerosis. Pratt tells GQ that the film, which focuses on Star-Lord finding his own father, reopened some old wounds...

"The truth is I ripped open some wounds that had been healing for some time. And I didn’t want to. But I knew it was right for the moment... There are wounds that are never going to be totally healed. It would probably make for a better story if it was some emotional thing that I hadn’t dealt with... When we face the death of a parent, you sometimes feel regret that you didn’t fully embrace what you had."

Having lost grandparents in the past couple years, I can see the toll it took on my parents. Death is never an easy thing to deal with, and I can only imagine how hard it is to cope with someone who has literally been there with you since birth. Good to know Pratt was able to reach some sort of closure in playing the role.