Featured News: November 2016

Hello, and welcome to my latest edition of Featured News. Today, we’re going to get into the directorial changes on Deadpool 2 and The Flash, as well as the fan reception to Doctor Strange. So, let’s get into it.

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Okay, first off, we have Tim Miller leaving Deadpool 2 in late October. Sources say that the reason for his departure is that he wanted Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights and Bloodline fame to play the coveted role of Cable in the yet-to-be-officially-scheduled sequel, and FOX apparently wanted otherwise, thus being the creative difference. The main block for Chandler as Cable was actually the movie’s star, Ryan Reynolds. See, Ryan has a couple extra clauses in his contract, as per usual with bankable (or box office draws) stars. One of Ryan’s clauses is special, however; with this clause, he actually has control over who is casted in any Deadpool film he’s in. And if he’s not consulted on who they cast in any main or supporting role, Fox has a breach of contract, Ryan is now able to leave the project (and he probably would, because breach of contract pisses the most calm people off), he can now sue them, and at the best, Fox would need a new Deadpool, which would probably not sit well with fans, so they would probably have to cancel the sequel to their most profitable X-Film to date. Anyways, the situation seems to have been somewhat resolved, as David Leitch has been put at the helm of this film. Leitch, most famous for co-directing John Wick, is no stranger to comic-based films, being a second unit director on Captain America: Civil War, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Wolverine. The first movie he’s going to be directing by himself, The Coldest City, stars Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, and John Goodman, premieres in theaters July 28th, 2017.

Also in directorial news, Rick Famuyiwa has left The Flash. Which really sucks, because I was incredibly excited to see his humorous, yet adventurous tone that he used on Dope cast upon this project. Supposedly the film was supposed to be start pre-production this month, but obviously that fell through. Supposedly, David Yates is being looked to take over for Famuyiwa, due to Yates’ close relationship with Warner Bros after directing the Harry Potter films Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, both parts of The Deathly Hallows, and Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. Famuyiwa is not the first director to leave the project however, as Seth Grahame-Smith exited the project back in April.

And finally I want to talk shortly about the success of Doctor Strange. It’s made $325.8 million at the time I’m writing this, which is Tuesday, The Eighth of November. So, in five days, this movie has made almost twice it’s budget back (the budget was approximately $165 million), which is just astounding. It’s also the fourteenth time Marvel Studios has had a #1 debut, and considering the Marvel Cinematic Universe has only had fourteen films, that is insanely good for any studio. I think it could definitely break the $1 billion mark by the end of the month.

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Okay, thanks for reading, as always, I’ve have fun writing this. Join me Friday when I go over my first character never to appear in a comic, Saw Gerrera, who will be appearing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, as portrayed by Forrest Whittaker. Okay, see you guys later, and remember, have a nerdy day!

My Top Five: Favorite Movies: 5 Through 1

Hello, and welcome back to My Top Five, and today I’ll be finishing up my top ten favorite movies, so let’s get into it.

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5. Suicide Squad

Whoa, but this just came out, like, two and a half months ago, bro? Well, it’s early on the morning of August 27th when I’m writing, and I’ve only seen it once, so that’s a pretty big leap to being in my top five in the course of just over three weeks. I appreciated every single character in that film, except Slipknot. But that’s not the fault of Adam Beach or David Ayer, it’s much more the fault of the editor, but aside from cutting Slipknot’s origin and a lot of Joker’s scene, the editor did do a good job putting together a solid film, a punk rock-esque masterpiece, if you will. And again like BvS, I just don’t get why people hate this film.

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4. Ant-Man

Well, I’ve watched this film about a half a dozen times, so like Last Action Hero, I’ve simply watched it so many times that the flaws have just, faded away for me, and that can be a good and a bad thing, but in this case, I think it’s definitely a good thing. It’s the perfect balance of heist film and superhero movie, and I hope the sequel is just as good.

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3. The Dark Knight

Well, seriously, I don’t know anyone who didn’t like this movie. I’ve watched about 3 times. Ledger, Eckhart, Bale, and Oldman all submitted Pantheon performances. Now, it’s incredibly unlikely to have one Pantheon performance, but this movie has four. FOUR. Good Lord. The only think I didn’t like was Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel. Katie Holmes was perfect, but it’s her own fault because she left for some shit movie about money grannies or something.

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2. Whiplash

When I watched this movie, I just felt something else. I felt like I had my eyes opened to the whole world of film. I know that sounds cliche, but it really made me think about film in a different way. Also, the first time I watched it was in two halves over hour long block periods in my Geometry class on my phone.It was great. I did nothing in that film.Also, the film made me appreciate Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, and I will forever.

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1. Shawshank Redemption

Another film with multiple Pantheon performances, with Freeman and Robbins, and two more great performances from Clancy Brown and Bob Gunton. It’s an American classic. They stored it in vault, in case the world ever gets ravaged by a virus or something. It’s a fantastic idea. Anyways, fantastic movie, and I have nothing bad to say about it. It’s so good, I don’t even know what to say.

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Okay, thanks for reading, I am up way too late before the start of school. Yeah, midnight is late because I wake up at 6. Not that I’m complaining about my wake up time, other people have it way worse, but I’m glad it’s just nine more moneths. Anyways, bye, and have a nerdy day.

Doctor Strange Review

(WARNING: Heavy spoilers for Doctor Strange, as well as definite plot spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok, and possible spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War)

Hello, and welcome to my Doctor Strange review. I really just want to get into this article, because I really loved the movie and just about everything about it. I had a great experience going to watch it on opening night, Thursday the Third. I had to sit next to someone I didn’t know, which isn’t the worst thing ever, but to be honest, it almost never happens to me, so I’m not really used to a random stranger being that close. Plus, I got to sit in the center of the very top row, and the theater had recliners, so it was all pretty cool. So let’s get to it. Oh, and like I said, I recommend not reading this review until you’ve watched the movie, or you just want to see what happens.

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First off, like I said, I beyond loved this movie. The cinematography, the writing, acting, direction, and tone just blended together like a cacophony of cinematic near-perfection. While there were some slow parts at the beginning, meaning probably the first twenty-to-thirty minutes. That was going to be a given, considering it is an origin story. The story really gets good after (And seriously, this is your last chance if you don’t want spoilers. Don’t blame me if your dumb ass keeps reading and you spoil your own shit.) Strange’s car crash, when he starts going crazy about how to heal his hands so that he can become a neurosurgeon again. He basically went crazy nutso trying to find a way to fix himself. Eventually, he comes upon Benjamin Bratt’s character, who tells him about Kamar-Taj. So, like the comics, Strange spends his last bit of money to get to Nepal. There’s a whole ordeal of meeting the Ancient One and then getting rejected, and then eventually getting taken in by Mordo and The Ancient One.

I actually thought Kaecilius, while in the vein of the average “exact opposite of the hero” Marvel villain, was actually a truly brilliant performance by Mads Mikkelsen. To be completely honest, I think the only Marvel villain that I’ve liked more than Kaecilius is probably Bucky Barnes. I think he just exuded confidence like no other villain, and it was a fresh take for me.

My favorite character was by far Wong. He was incredibly serious, and he was the causation for a good portion of the movies’ jokes. I also really enjoyed the character of The Cloak Of Levitation. “Wait, character? The Cloak is an object, not a full on character?” Well, what was the Golden Snitch in Harry Potter, or literally any protective pet in any cinema. The Cloak was essentially an extremely awesome guard dog. He handed Lucien (the male henchman of Kaecilius, played by Scott Adkins) his ass in the physical realm, and left him to get his ass beat in the astral realm by Doctor Strange in an amazing explosion.

I really enjoyed the mid and end credits scene. The mid-credits scene featured Thor coming to Doctor Strange in the Sanctum Sanctorum to try and find Odin on Earth in New York. Now, the scene’s cinematography looked a lot different for Doctor Strange, so my theory is that the mid-credits scene is actually directly from Thor: Ragnarok. The end scene actually showed Mordo become a villain, by killing Benjamin Bratt’s character, saying there are too many sorcerers in the world. I really think that Mordo will be the villain in the next Doctor Strange because of this.

I also found interesting that the guardian of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum before Steven Strange was Daniel Drumm. Daniel Drumm is actually Doctor Voodoo in the comics, and is the twin brother of Jericho Drumm, who’s also known as Brother Voodoo. Now, even though Daniel was killed by Kaecilius, his appearance could signal Brother Voodoo’s introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He could become a side character in the Doctor Strange franchise, who maybe gets a film spinoff after the franchise. Or, and this is the more favorable option, he gets his own Netflix show. His skillset would be ideal for a ‘Phase 2’ in the Netflix shows, and it would be interesting to see if his brother is mentioned in the show, which would probably help a little to bridge the gap between the shows and movies.

My last point is that I really like that this movie didn’t rush Steven into become the actual Sorcerer Supreme after The Ancient One is killed after being stabbed by Kaecilius and thrown hundreds of stories back down into the Physical World. I always have a problem with movies rushing the rookie hero into the master status, because it’s completely illogical to do that. It just makes no sense to take Haywood Jablome from the Bronx, train him in the most basic shit, and then say “Hey, take a fucking black belt and a specter, you’re a wizard, Harry.” Anyways, I appreciate that fact.

Overall, like I said, I absolutely loved this movie, and the only part that I didn’t was the slow part at the beginning, but that was kind of necessary, so I’m not going to dock the movie by much for that. So, I give Doctor Strange 4.9 out of 5 stars.

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Well, thanks for reading, I’ve been waiting a hell of a look time for this movie, and for the ability to write this article. Well, join me next Friday, where I finally reveal my top five favorite films. I’m definitely excited for that. It’s a small break in the Doctor Strange madness, before I post my next edition of Spider-FINITY, which is coincidentally on a possible version of a Doctor Strange movie in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man universe. Anyways, like I said, I really enjoyed writing this article, as always, I’ll see you back here next week, and always remember to have a fantastically nerdy day.

Doctor Strange Theories

Welp, it’s that time, where I theorize about the newest comic book movie, and this time it’s for Doctor Strange, the next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, without further ado, let’s get with this shit.

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Now, the first theory I want to confront is about the identity of The Ancient One. Now, the odds are on that she plays character not fully rooted in the comics, aside from having the title. There is also a chance that she is another character in guise, a la Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. If that were the case, it would most likely be Umar, Dormammu’s sister, or even Clea, Umar’s daughter, who is generally considered as a love intrest for Strange, but hey, Hawkeye and Black Widow are regarded as lovers a lot in comics, but the movies haven’t done that yet, so who really knows. Also, it looks like Rachel McAdams’ character has a much better change of being Strange’s love interest.

Now, regarding Kaecilius (which I said in the last article if I had to spell his name one more time I would put my head through a wall or something), I think concerning his origin, he’s actually a field agent/ operative for Baron Mordo, as he is in the comics. Baron Mordo in turn, works for Dormammu in the comics, who indeed, is rumored to show up in this film, and considering where people get that from, which is some data from one of the writers’ computer screens, it’s very possible it could be faked to taunt fans. The evidence the name of a random Word Document, that shit is very easily faked.

Now for the final category, casting, we still have two actors with major roles in the movie still in unconfirmed spots, Benjamin Bratt and Scott Adkins. Now considering the Dormammu rumor, I really think that Benjamin Bratt would be the voice of the flaming dictator of the Dark Dimension, and Scott Adkins would be doing the CGI. That’s what I hope at least. But it’s much more likely than not they’re two different characters, but it would definitely be amazing to see that.

Overall, two villains in Mordo and Kaecilius would be cool, but is somewhat unlikely. Three villains, including Dormammu, is a pretty huge stretch. I hope my Mordo and Dormammu theory are true, but it is unlikely. Odds are it’s probably going to just be Kaecilius, and maybe a post-credits scene with Mordo being revealed as evil or something.

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Okay, that has been my time. Next week is my Doctor Strange review, which I am incredibly excited for. Odds are I’m going to watch it about 6 or 7 hours after this article posts, considering I do still have school for the time being, and after that I will get right to working. Anyways, thanks a lot for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Doctor Strange Expectations

Hello, and welcome, my friends and fellow comic book movie connoisseurs, to another edition of the Blog Of Hell’s Kitchen. Doctor Strange is almost upon us. In fact, it’s only one more day until the newest installment will be opening nationwide, and it’s also one day before I’ll be seeing the same film. Like before with Luke Cage, and again different from the Theories posts, I just want to voice a little bit of what I think the latest comic media project will do. So, let’s get into it.

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So, let’s get to the Stan Lee cameo and it’s significance. That’s a sentence that I never thought I would ever say, but it’s a fun one. I really tried to focus on a lot of the smaller details for this film that have been realized, Stan The Man’s cameo is one of those details. His cameo is listed as being listed as “a  bus rider reading Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception”. If you don’t know what The Doors Of Perception is, don’t feel bad, I’ll explain it. The Doors Of Perception is philosophical essay based upon Huixley’s taking of mescaline, or as it’s more commonly called, peyote, which is a crazy strong hallucinogenic drug which just messes you up so bad. So bad, apparently, it makes you want to write a 63-page paper about the universe. I kind of liken The Doors Of Perception to a stoner talking about how the multiverse is infinitely unending, and there is a universe somewhere where he is the supreme being over all sheep, shepherds, and related living organisms. In all seriousness, however, The Doors Of Perception and Doctor Strange actually have very similar themes in types of metaphysics, because magic in the Marvel movies is kind of explained as being hyper-advanced technologies. They both have a kind of crazy scientific feel, and I really, really appreciate that Easter egg, for which I needed 239 words to explain my love for it.

Personally, I think this movie’s going to just fine at the box-office, and it’s going to make a decent profit. I’m figuring this movie’s going to be a lot like Ant-Man in terms of critical success, and a lot more successful financially, due to the slightly more high-profile cast, and the better job with advertising this time around)financially, and a relatively slightly bigger budget, due to the probably higher use of CGI. I’m thinking it’ll be on a budget of about $150,000,000, as opposed to Ant-Man‘s $130,000,000. Advertising is generally twice the budget, so there’s $300,000,000 to Ant-Man‘s approximately $260,000,000. I’m really figuring that Doctor Strange will make about $779,100,000, which is one-and-a-half times the total gross of Ant-Man being $519,400,000. Because again, I feel like the advertising is going to get through to viewers more than Ant-Man. And considering studios really only make profit after the advertising and budget, Doctor Strange makes $479,100,000 for Marvel, compared to Ant-Man‘s approximate $259,400,00 profit. And also, I think Doctor Strange will only rank a little higher than Ant-Man among critics, by about two or three percentage points on Rotten Tomatoes.

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As always, I had fun writing this. Alright, that got really in depth. See you Friday for my Doctor Strange Theories. Thanks for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day!