By George Robbins
This pandemic has been a massive drain on people all over the world, but not everyone is necessarily suffering because of it. They have simply had to re-think the way that they do things because they can’t just do what they want like before. Those in the entertainment industry have had the most fun trying to figure out exactly how to move things forward, but there are some among the industry who aren’t having many issues. These people would be the writers, because who would benefit from having nothing better to do than sit down and write while stuck indoors. Among those writers is one who has written and directed his own works for years and that would be Kevin Smith.
Smith came to prominence in the 90’s when he released his first film ‘Clerks,’ which he had written and directed himself. Although it was really just an indie movie, its interesting look at the daily lives of two convenience store clerks drew a lot of attention. This attention is what allowed him to continue making movies that were unique to this style and we got interesting and sort of out-of-this-world films. Although a lot of things were added for the sake of comedy, most of what happened in his films focused on aspects of daily life. One of his earlier films was ‘Mallrats’ which followed a day in the lives of two slackers, who both broke up with their girlfriends, while they were at a mall.
‘Mallrats‘ had some moments in it that were highly memorable but some parts of the film were still a bit outside the realm of an ordinary day. That aside, it looked at various situations that the two men were put into as they spent time in the mall that day. One of those situations involved a character, played by Ben Affleck, who started dating the ex-girlfriend of one of the two main characters. His character was seen as one of the antagonists in the film and by the end of the film, his character ended up being arrested. Kevin Smith revealed within the past couple of months that he has managed to finish a script for ‘Mallrats 2’ and he wanted Affleck to return for the film. Now, he has confirmed that Affleck will in fact return for the new film, so that is something to look forward to as we wait for the film to release.
By George Robbins
The ‘Scream‘ movies have become something of a lasting reminder of the work done by the director Wes Craven and they have a devoted fan base. These films were made with the thought in mind that they would be something of a parody of slasher films and this is what made them so popular. They are unlike other films in the genre because they are meant to make fun of it in some way while also telling an interesting story. ‘Scream’ movie stories are actually important rather than just being there as a plot device to get from one kill to another. The late Wes Craven was very particular about the way he made his movies and what was portrayed in them.
Craven put a lot of effort into his movies and wanted people to know that they were really a series of parody films. This is a fact many people may not have realized because of the stories told throughout all of the movies. He made them to be a parody of the slasher genre where every movie saw the same characters coming back to fight an entity that just doesn’t go away. This level of satire was very nuanced but it drew in a large following that saw the films getting a lot of attention. This would carry on through a total of four films made between the years of 1996-2011 and unfortunately Wes Craven passed away after the fourth film was made.
Although Craven is no longer around, his legacy has continued on and although the world around us is pretty much burning down, some people have been trying to get a fifth ‘Scream’ made. ‘Scream 5’ will be making its way back to the screen in the not too distant future, but there was initially some concern from both the fans and actors. People were not sure if another movie should be made, but the new directors have assured everyone that the film will be made in the same way Craven’s were made. This drew more attention to the project and actors from the series like David Arquette will be making their return for the film. Arquette has even said recently that he would be interested in returning for any future sequels in the series.
By George Robbins
Comic-Con is a series of conventions held throughout the year to celebrate comic books and all other forms of media related to them. Even though it is a comic convention, all different kinds of companies come in to show off whatever products they have. Any pop culture merchandise would usually be found at a Comic-Con, but mainly it focuses on comics and heroes of some degree. These conventions are usually host to thousands of people and they draw people in from all over the world with different Cons having different announcements and merchandise. Unfortunately, this year has been forced to be a little different than all years prior as we are currently dealing with a pandemic. All hope is not lost, however, as they have figured out an alternative way to hold the event.
In an effort to prevent the further spread of disease, all conventions through the end of the year, and even some for next year, have all been cancelled. One of those conventions just happened to be San Diego Comic-Con, which is the West Coast equivalent to New York Comic-Con. They found an alternative way to hold the convention in a way that would end up working out for all Comic-Con fans and the general public as well. The organizers decided to host the first ever Comic Con @ Home, which was essentially a live stream event where many panels were held online. On top of this, they had a digital marketplace set up in order to allow companies to continue selling their merchandise online.
New York Comic-Con was formed in 2006 as a way for people on the East Coast to easily go to a Comic-Con and not have to go across the country. This convention is just like the other Comic-Cons in the fact that they host thousands of people and all kinds of announcements end up being made during the event. New York Comic-Con’s venue allows for even more people than San Diego Comic-Con does and in 2014, the convention surpassed the total number of visitors that the San Diego convention had. Last year, in 2019, they had the largest celebrity-guest list that convention has seen in its entire history. This made it all the more eventful, but this year, just like San Diego Comic-Con, they have had to cancel the live event due to the pandemic.
Fortunately, also like San Diego Comic-Con, they will be doing an online event to draw people in and give them something to look forward to. SDCC went about doing things online by conducting panels over zoom and doing live Q&A’s that anybody could go on and watch during the weekend of the event. ReedPop, the company behind NYCC, revealed that they will be setting up an exclusive partnership with YouTube in order to live-stream all of their panels. Among the panels this year are ‘American Gods,’ ‘Star Trek’s’ expanded universe, Dreamworks Animation, along with various shows from Hulu and FX. Just like with SDCC, they will also have a “virtual marketplace” to allow new, and old, merchandise to be sold to fans. So although we can’t be there in person, come October 8th- October 11th, the Con is still on.
By George Robbins
Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, has become a massive multi-media franchise within the past 12 years. The original ‘Iron Man’ film started something that no one knew would be as successful as it is and that the series would have so many movies in it. It isn’t just difficult for a franchise to tie things together as it is very difficult to make sure every hero has their own time in the limelight. There have been a massive number of heroes shown off in the MCU and they have all had their fair share of interesting introductions and stories. They even managed to get Spider-Man involved in the MCU because of a deal made with Sony that allows for the character to have his place in the MCU. One of the most asked questions though, is just when will the X-Men be introduced.
For many years, the X-Men franchise has been the property of Fox Studios but after last year, Disney acquired a vast majority of Fox. When they acquired most of them, they also acquired their intellectual properties, namely the X-Men franchise. When they got their hands on the property, fans immediately knew that they would some day be seeing some of their favorite characters come over to the MCU. The question is how they will be introduced, because in the comics, mutants just exist in everyday life, but I’m sure they can find some easy way of seamlessly including them into the universe. When they do end up getting into the universe, ordinary fans will not be the only ones looking forward to it.
Many people know Colton Haynes who played Green Arrow in the CW’s ‘The Arrow’ and they also know that his character is no longer in the Arrowverse. With no other commitments, it seems that he wants to try his hand at being a part of the MCU instead of the DC universe. Haynes has said that whenever the X-Men actually do make their way into the MCU, he wants to play the character of Iceman who is a well known member of the superhero team. Haynes is one of many different actors who wish to be a part of that universe and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he did end up in that universe. Many different actors have found their way in somehow and it would be interesting to see if he can as well after playing a DC hero.
By George Robbins
Not too long ago we heard news that was kind of unexpected in that we would be graced with a new ‘TRON’ movie. Some time in the near future production will begin for a new movie for the ‘TRON’ franchise and it will hopefully be what fans are hoping for. The ‘TRON’ movies are known for their futuristic art style and the fact that they have the unique story of taking place inside of technology. The original film released back in the early 1980’s and its follow-up sequel ‘TRON: Legacy‘ released in 2010. By the time the second film released, there was already a relatively active fandom for the original movie. Thus, the sequel wasn’t a failure in theaters, but it was met with mixed criticism.
Overall, the ‘TRON’ movies didn’t do bad all things considered and it was wondered whether there would be another entry into the film’s universe. For the following five years after the sequel’s release, fans wondered as to whether a third entry would actually come into existence or not. Following the bomb that was ‘Tomorrowland,’ Disney said that they would not be working on any more live-action science fiction movies which included ‘TRON.’ This meant that there would not be a third installment for the franchise like people had hoped and for years, this is how things stayed. Recently, however, the project has picked up steam again as Jared Leto was officially cast as a main role for a third installment.
Being known for choosing his movie roles carefully, this resulted in renewed interest from the general public and the film has started gaining more traction within the past month or so. Not much is known about the upcoming new installment, but we are slowly starting to get more and more details in regards to the film. The project now has a director attached to it with director Garth Davis taking the reins to make sure that the movie gets made. Even though more and more work is being done for the film, it has still not received the green light to go headlong into development. Whatever happens during the development process over the next few months will be determined by Disney based upon how much they can expect to make off of the film.
By George Robbins
Approximately one month ago, Disney World reopened its doors to the public and people were allowed to re-enter the parks. Though people were able to re-enter the parks, there were rules that had been put in place in order to accommodate for the pandemic. Among those rules was a restriction placed on the number of people who would be allowed to enter the parks at any given time. Although this rule- along with a few others- was put in place, employees of the parks have still been worried about working under conditions where it could be very likely that they could contract the virus. This worry has resulted in Disney cracking down even more on people who haven’t been listening to the rules.
One of the first things to be announced after the reopening of Disney World was the simple rule that people who don’t wear their masks on rides wouldn’t be allowed to purchase their souvenir photos. Small things like this wouldn’t appear to be effective, but for those going to the parks, this has some weight to it. Those who are going to the parks are going for a reason and they don’t want their experience to be ruined just because they couldn’t listen to a simple rule. Although, this did result in some interesting, but mildly infuriating loopholes to come to fruition. These loopholes would then be exploited by park guests in order to allow themselves movement around the park without their faces being covered. Needless to say, Disney very quickly too action.
Disney Parks put a new rule in place not too long after reopening to the public which stated that people were not allowed to move while eating or drinking. The loophole that was being exploited was one where people were freely moving around without their masks covering their face. Clearly, when guests are eating or drinking, they have to take their masks off, but some guests took it too far when they used it to their advantage. Disney quickly caught on to this and changed their policies so that people would not be allowed to move around while they were eating or drinking. This was a ban that was put in place across all of their parks and has been strictly upheld like their other rules that are in place to prevent the further spread of disease.
Recently, Disney announced just how much of a hit they had taken with the parks being shut down for a total of $3.5 Billion just from the parks. The surge of virus cases in Florida have caused a lot of different cancellations to their parks and the limitations on things like park hoppers removed a lot of incentive for guests to go to the parks. In an effort to cut down on costs, starting September 8th, Disney World parks will be closing 1-2 hours earlier each day and this will carry through October. They have been receiving nothing but flak since reopening because people have felt that they reopened too early. To them, this is an effort to save costs and maybe even save some face with the public by also claiming it is for the health of their guests.
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