Dont Tell NetflixDont Tell Netflix

by Emily Nagle

Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for President’s Day Weekend 2022
5. Jackass Forever ($6.1 million)
4. Death on the Nile ($7.5 million)
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home ($8.5 million)
2. Dog ($18 million)
1. Uncharted ($51 million)

The long weekend saw “Uncharted” dominating ticket sales across the country. Based on the video game series by Naughty Dog, this action-adventure follows treasure hunter Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) when he recruits street-smart Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) to assist him in unearthing a 500-year-old mystery that is worth billions. While it ruled the box office this weekend, it’s received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Holland’s performance and the action sequences, but found issues with the screenplay. Critics found “Uncharted” to be watered down and less developed compared to other action films like “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or the “Fast & Furious” series. Despite this, director Ruben Fleischer has already expressed openness to a sequel in the future.

Another new release this weekend was road trip dramedy “Dog”. Although its numbers came nowhere close to those of “Uncharted”, it still beat out “Spider-Man: No Way Home” for second place. “Dog” is directed by and stars Channing Tatum as U.S. Army Ranger Jackson Briggs, who escorts Lulu, a military dog, from a military base in Washington to her handler’s funeral in Arizona. The trip ends up being a healing experience for Briggs as well as Lulu, as both of them are still grappling with trauma from their past. With mostly positive reviews from critics, who have praised Tatum’s direction and the execution of the film’s heartfelt plot.

by Emily Nagle

Good news, everyone – for the first time in nearly a decade, new episodes of Futurama will be arriving on Hulu.

Fans of the sci-fi comedy were initially thrilled to hear of the show’s return until Variety announced that while much of the original cast would be reprising their roles, John DiMaggio is not currently signed to return as alcoholic robot Bender. Now they’re protesting the show and lobbying for DiMaggio’s return, leading to #BenderGate trending on Twitter.

John DiMaggio thanked fans for the support on Twitter, writing, “Thanks for the concern and the props, everyone. I really appreciate it,” he posted Wednesday night. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted, but until then… CHEESE IT! #bendergate”.

The reason for DiMaggio’s absence from the credits? According to Entertainment Weekly, last year when 20th Television Animation and Hulu reached out to him, Katey Sagal, and Billy West to negotiate pay for the revival series, DiMaggio was dissatisfied with the pay, finding it to be inadequate relative to the success of the show. As the studio does not want to pay him more than Sagal and West, the casting for Bender is ongoing.

Although DiMaggio is not currently on board to return to “Futurama”, there is still hope for his return. He’s still willing to return as Bender, so long as his team and the studio can come to an agreement regarding his pay.

Production for the “Futurama” revival is set to begin this month, with a projected release date of 2023. Hulu ordered 20 episodes of the series revolving around pizza delivery boy Philip J. Fry, who tumbles into a cryogenic freezer and emerges 1,000 years later. From there, he works for his distant nephew Professor Hubert Farnsworth’s interplanetary delivery crew, where he meets quirky characters, which, in addition to Leela and Bender, include the crustacean-like Doctor Zoidberg and ditzy intern Amy.

by Emily Nagle

The long-discussed WarnerMedia-Discovery merger is one step closer to becoming a reality after being approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, Discovery announced on Wednesday.

After being approved by the IRS and the European Commission back in December, this legal approval was the final hurdle to pass needed before the deal gets finalized.

Expected to pass in the second quarter of 2022, the $43 billion deal will consolidate the assets of WarnerMedia – which include the Warner Bros. movie studio and channels such as HBO, CNN, and TBS – with those of Discovery, which is known for channels like TLC, Animal Planet, and HGTV.

On March 11, Discovery will hold a virtual shareholder meeting to vote on the acquisition. AT&T shareholders will not be voting.

The conglomerate resulting from the deal will be known as Warner Bros. Discovery; the new moniker and logo were unveiled on Twitter last summer. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will oversee the company, in addition to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfuls.

by Emily Nagle

Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of February 4-6, 2022
5. Sing 2 ($4.2 million)
4. Scream ($4.7 million)
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home ($9.5 million)
2. Moonfall ($9.8 million)
1. Jackass Forever ($23.1 million)

The first weekend of February saw the release of several new films, two of which ended up dominating ticket sales across the United States. “Jackass Forever” made $9.6 million on opening night Friday, and had raked in a total of $23.1 million by the end of Sunday. A followup to “Jackass 3D“, the fifth and most likely final installment in the slapstick comedy series’ box office performance surpassed predictions.

Although it came in second place this weekend, “Moonfall” is already a box office bomb. With a production budget of over $130 million – making it one of the most expensive independent films ever produced – it made a little under $10 million during its opening weekend. While some of this can be attributed to it being released during a destructive winter storm that knocked out power and shuttered theaters for thousands across the country, “Moonfall” has received poor reviews from critics, with some of them comparing the film to B-movies. The movie follows NASA executive Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) as they figure out how to stop the moon from colliding with the Earth, destroying life as they know it.

by Emily Nagle

[usr 4.5]

Netflix dropped the third and final season of his latest animated series “Kid Cosmic” on Thursday, a day after its premiere’s one-year anniversary.

When we last left off in season 2, the motley crew of heroes finally got the hang of their powers, and just in time to save the world from the infamous Erodius the Planet Killer. While the first season appropriately focused on Kid’s character development as he learned that being a hero isn’t all about flying around and defeating the bad guys, and the sophomore season focused on Jo as she figures out how to lead the team, the final season wraps up the story.

Season 3, subtitled “The Global Heroes!”, focuses on the aftermath of Erodius’ defeat. Now that they’ve saved the world from the notorious planet killer, they’re real heroes, complete with special suits, a giant mecha robot, and a super-vehicle. Kid and the Global Heroes are living out their wildest dreams…except Papa G and Jo, who think it’s all too good to be true.

Just like in the previous seasons, the colorful animation remains one of my favorite parts of this entire show. It differs from the art style I’ve seen in other animated series recently, and is actually one of the major factors that keeps me watching. There’s also moments in the show (such as parts of the fight sequences, vehicles, and shots of the record player at Mo’s Oasis) where the animation will briefly turn 3D, which made the cartoony superhero show more lifelike.

The show’s final season is a quick watch, only consisting of six episodes (the first season contains 10, while the second season has 8). Clocking in about two hours, it was the perfect binge-watch for the snow day I had recently.

Although it’s not very long, season 3 is definitely the heaviest emotionally, as the team figures out that things aren’t always what they seem. At the beginning of the show, it’s fairly lighthearted and just pure fun. Now that we’re at the end of our journey with the Global Heroes, things are getting pretty intense. This season features several episodes zeroing in on Papa G, particularly his relationship with Kid and what he’s willing to sacrifice to make his last living relative happy.

In an interview with TheWrap, creator Craig McCracken told sources that it was his choice to end the series after three seasons, because that’s how much time he needed to tell the his story. “I didn’t want to do a show that could kind of last forever and make six, seven seasons of it,” McCracken explained. “I wanted to do something kind of short and sweet.”

And short and sweet it was. Because it’s a limited series, every episode and every line of dialogue has a purpose in the story. It’s compact and very to-the-point – no filler episodes in this show! – but it’s also really funny and has a lot of heart.

The way McCracken ended the series felt just right. After the Global Heroes’ work defending the planet from intergalactic evil is finished, Kid isn’t ready to leave their space adventures behind (and honestly, me neither. I just wanna experience it all again!). To remedy this, Mo’s Oasis Cafe – which has been rebuilt by the team following its destruction by Erodius – re-opens to serve the entire galaxy, staying true to its new slogan: “Mo’s Oasis: Like no other place in space is.” It’s not like everything went back to the way it was before they saved the world – all the characters, even 4-year-old Rosa, have grown so much since their debut last year. The ending was comforting, and reminded me of a hot cup of coffee after eating a filling meal at a restaurant (and not just because that’s where the show ended).

All three seasons of “Kid Cosmic” are available to stream on Netflix.

by Emily Nagle

The sophomore season of Disney+’s Marvel series “Loki” is set to begin production this summer.

After its premiere last summer, Disney confirmed that the show would be returning for a second season, making it the first show on their streaming platform to do so. However, until recently, Marvel fans weren’t exactly sure when they would get to see more of the show.

Backstage confirmed in a Monday report that season 2 of “Loki” will begin shooting this summer at Pinewood Studios in the UK – the first season of the show was shot at Pinewood’s Atlanta, GA location, which has since rebranded as Trilith Studios.

Although pre-production is clearly further along than fans may have initially suspected, the storylines and content to be explored in the upcoming season are still unknown. All of Marvel’s 2021 films disregarded the events of “Loki”; therefore, it is likely that “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Thor: Love and Thunder”, both announced for release this year, will play with the storylines established in season 2.

“Loki” takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame“, and follows an alternate version of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) on a time-traveling adventure as he clashes with the Time Variance Authority due to being from a different timeline. Accompanying the God of Mischief on his misadventures are his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), as well as TVA members Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku). The full main cast list for the second season is still unknown.