Mainstream Entertainment – Page 3

Try Again In Twenty Years

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/tron-ares-ran-off-grid-140312176.html

So in 1982, Disney put out a movie called TRON. Apparently, people liked it and it made some money, but not enough to warrant a follow-up. I only vaguely remember the movie myself – the special effects are something to admire for its day, but that’s about all it had going for it. Most of my association with TRON was through that one Deadly Discs game on Atari… and a couple others along the way.

Then in 2010 – almost THREE DECADES later – Disney puts out TRON: Legacy, a sequel to the original film that I actually liked better than the first movie. Like the first movie, people seemed to like this one and it made some money… and we even got a short-lived animated series out of it, but not enough to make a new movie out of the gate.

And so here we are again with TRON Ares; a drastic departure from what came before with Jared Leto in the lead and virtually nothing to connect to the previous films beyond a few special effects, a few familiar names, and a token Jeff Bridges cameo. Reaction to this film was a little more mixed and – say it with me – it’s not making enough money to justify an immediate follow-up any time soon.

But then again, this is the new Disney. They’ll milk properties until they’re dry and then continue to beat that dead horse even long after the rot and decay has set in. I wouldn’t be surprised if this TRON is what gets a follow-up in a year or two, but otherwise… I guess we’ll try this shit again in 2048 or something, I don’t know.

Ten Years Since Letterman Retired

I almost regret missing the date because it passed during my trouble recovery and mental anguish, but 2025 marks ten years since late night legend David Letterman aired his final Late Show, bringing a historic career spanning three decades plus to a close.

I missed out on the early Late Night stuff and first watching Letterman about a couple years into his CBS run, though thanks to the wonders of Youtube clips both official and not, I’ve been able to catch up on some of this stuff. But for the longest time, I had always considered myself a Letterman guy. Besides the fact that we both share the same first name, the guy had a brand of humor and gruff personality that appealed to me. He would react to these sorts of ridiculous things in a way that had him question his life choices. Even when he had toned down his rougher patches, he still had an edge to him that hit that nice balance. Leno had jokes and a chin. Conan had zaniness. Dave had a sardonic wit.

Most of all, there was a gravity to Dave in that his words had some weight and meaning to them. Someone who had an air of ambivalence and outright disdain for his surroundings, often reacting in a sarcastic manner, would eventually being the longest tenured performer of his field. His desire to entertain for the masses rather than play cheerleader to whatever political affiliations he had meant that when he talked about serious issues, you were more inclined to take him seriously… before he eventually dropped a wry comment or observation that brought the whole house down.

Just as there will never be another Johnny Carson, there will never be another David Letterman… though you can probably have a bunch of Jay Lenos, Jimmy Fallons, Jimmy Kimmels, Lonnie Donegans, Craig Killborns, Seth Meyers. Those guys are practically interchangeable.

Dave is not.

I miss Dave.

Later.

The Mandalorian Is The Reverse Turbo

In 1995, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie hit theaters; essentially a higher budget version of the Power Rangers television show with a much different tone from the usual fare. Two years later, the franchise got a second theatrical release – Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. This was more in line with the television product and not quite as high end. Minus some bits where a bit more money was spent in places, it could have aired as an extended television episode.

That’s the same feeling I got with the recently announced Mandalorian & Grogu movie that’s due next year… which feels like an extended episode of the Mandalorian show that people really liked (and I was on board with too… until they brought in out-of-shape Boba Fett and CG Luke Skywalker into the mix.) Honestly, there’s nothing about the trailer that has me genuinely excited about this thing… which, I suppose, is par for the course with a modern Disney production.

There used to be a time when a new Star Wars movie felt like an event… something that got people excited to look forward to, even if the final product ended up being less than what came before. Now it’s just a thing that happens and everyone goes “meh.”

How did we get to that point?

Why The Fuck Does The World Need A Call Of Duty Movie?

Source: https://filmstories.co.uk/news/call-of-duty-movie-officially-in-the-works-at-paramount/

Are we really that desperate for movie ideas that we’re going to make a movie about soldiers in a war – a concept that has been developed into movie HUNDREDS OF TIMES before and more than likely inspired this video game concept? And also, how many of these fucking games have they made already? Which one is getting the movie treatment?

That’s like someone getting a license to do an After Burner movie, when someone with a brain can point out that there’s already an “After Burner” movie of sorts; it’s called TOP GUN.

Did people test this shitty licensing deal before they released it?

Obviously not.

Should I Even Care?

So they announce that they’re bringing back Robert Downey Jr. into the MCU fold that he could play not Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man a.k.a. the role he made famous, but rather Doctor Doom – the arch nemesis of the Fantastic Four… a casting choice that was made shortly after their originally intended villain – Kang The Whoever – was dropped because the guy who played him in some Ant-Man movie was dealing with some legal issues.

And then they put out a live stream that had people waiting for a trailer that showed a bunch of chairs with people’s names on it. Apparently, this was enough to get the MCU diehards excited while anyone with a functioning brain would sit back and go… “huh?”

And then as the weeks pass, they announce other possible names added to this already bloated production that apparently doesn’t even have a finished script. Exactly how many people do really need to tell a good story that’s worth telling? What the fuck are we doing here?

The more I hear about this production, the more weary I become over the whole deal. It’s clear that Disney and Marvel wants to lure back some of the folks who dropped on the MCU train after Endgame by bringing back some of these old faces. This implies a severe lack of confidence in this new wave of characters to carry the franchise on their own. It’s also pretty clear that they want this to be the biggest and bestest Marvel movie of all time and… I say “good luck with that, pal. You’re gonna need it.”

It’s been no secret that my feelings towards the current MCU product has been largely ambivalent. I haven’t cared enough about what they’ve been putting out to actually sit down and give these things a watch. However, I can’t help but feel a bit of a perverse interest in the behind the scenes stuff that’s been going on. Sure, there’s some negative noise being bandied about here and there… but it is an Avengers movie. It’s usually a big deal and I’m sure that thing will make some bank and people will praise it to the high heavens.

With that in mind… I actually, sincerely hope that this movie bombs. Like absolutely totally fail at the box office to recoup its massively overblown budget to bring back all these talents that I’m pretty sure didn’t come cheap. I just want to see this thing fail miserably… if only because I’m interested in seeing what the aftermath of that whole deal is going to be. Having a couple smaller things crap out here and there – it’ll be business as usual and there’ll be some words about things changing when nothing actually did… but if an Avengers movie were to bomb – an Avengers movie with a massively bloated budget to account for all those overpriced actors, mind you – what would happen afterwards? Would we see a change in leadership? Would we scrap the whole deal and start anew? Do we give this thing a rest and let absence make the heart grow fonder?

And look, if it ends up being a success – which I’m sure it will be – then you know what? Cool, whatever. We all move on with our lives. But if it ends up being a failure… I don’t know. What happens afterwards? Where do we go from there? That feels like a more intriguing scenario than anything the monkeys writing these things could come up with.

That’s the strange mindset I have with this movie. I don’t care enough to watch it when it comes out in theaters, but I’m fascinated by any potential fallout that would come as a result of the massive failure of a major Avengers event film. That would be the more interesting story and potentially a better narrative than any scripted piece of MCU entertainment scripted in the past decade or so.

Anyway, I’m done. I’m going to get some shawarma.

Later.

Did I Mention That Superman Was A Good Movie?

I feel the need to mention that.

I also feel the need to mention that I had a good time in the movie theater for the first time in a long time.

Is the humor and quip machine getting tiresome? Sure… seems like every movie has it. Sometimes, however, you can almost forgive that if the more wholesome parts of the film are done well… and I feel that’s the case here.

Maybe I’ll revisit the movie at home whenever I can get the chance to see if it holds up… but so far, I want to hold on to the happy memory of Krypto saving the whole movie… not that it really needed saving.

No, Seriously, Superman Is Good…

No full review or anything like that. No deep dive… if I feel like it, we’ll do one towards the end of the year… but I will say this much. It’s nice to have a Superman movie that isn’t ashamed of being a Superman movie. It’s nice to see a comic book movie embrace the absurdity of the universe it’s establishing. It’s nice to see a movie that isn’t five hours long.

Does it have issues? Sure, there are some emotional bits that are undercut by a stray joke here and there. You could make the argument that they may have crammed in too much, but I thought they did a fine job of balancing everything out. You’ve got a good Superman, you’ve got a good Luthor, the side characters have their moments… and then there’s the dog.

The dog is the best part of the movie.

No doubt it’ll be the best part of [REDACTED.]

So, yes, Superman is good.

Gunn With The Superman Ball

Superman is good, everyone. Go watch it.

Superpwn

For those wondering, no, I have not seen the movie yet. We’ll see about doing that later today if there’s time. However, word of mouth has generally been positive… with some reservations. And there’s the usual white noise from certain political circles.

I had a post here that was going to touch on one thing in particular, but decided against actually posting it. That’s veering into territory that I would rather not touch on and also it’s a horrible way to start off a wonderful weekend with some wonderful weather… or so I’m told.

I don’t know… I’m gonna wash the car in the morning and go from there.

Later.

The Street Fighter 2026 Movie Cast… meh.

Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/street-fighter-cast-reboot-1235374639/50-cent-as-balrog-1235374707/

So far, your current cast listing for the upcoming Street Fighter movie.

You have actor Andrew Koji portraying Ryu and will presumably be the main character. There’s also Callina Liang being the third live actor to play Chun Li (following Ming-Na in the 1994 movie and Kristen Kreuk in the best forgotten Legend Of Chun Li flick), Jason Momoa will be playing Blanka (what, you couldn’t get him to play Ken instead of this Noah dude?), Orville Peck is cast as Vega, and Balrog will be played by 50 Cent, who I assume will be try to act like a boxer rather than “generic black tough guy” that was the case for Michael Duncan Clarke when he played Balrog in that Chun Li movie everyone wants to forget. They also cast their Dan, but I forget the guy’s name.

Oh, and playing the role of Akuma?

Your tribal chief, Roman Reigns.

I laughed. That gave me a good chuckle. On the bright side, though, if they can get Roman to do nothing but mean mugs and say nothing, that would probably be the best portrayal of Akuma in a live-action movie.

I can’t help but feel somewhat ambivalent over this one. On the one hand, it’ll probably be nice for Street Fighter to have a live-action movie that’s more closer to the lore of the games than the previous efforts were. On the other hand, just because something is accurate to the source mateial doesn’t automatically make it a good movie. There’s something to be said about the 1994 movie that deviates from what was established in the games (which wasn’t saying much; most of the filler was through supplementary material like mangas and things of that nature), but nonetheless provided an entertaining little flick. On the flip side, I watch something like the recent Mortal Kombat film, which is more true to whatever lore it’s currently following right now, but is a generally dull film as a result. Even Annihilation – a generally bad movie – had its fun moments… for all the wrong reasons, but sometimes, you’ve got to take what you can get, no matter how little it is.

So, as much as I’d like to have a film adaptation that’s the best of both worlds, I’d much rather have a fun and enjoyable movie that deviates from the norm than a deathly dull movie that’s a slave to following lore. Hopefully, this Street Fighter movie strikes that nice balance. It’s been on the cheesy side, it’s been on the dull side… let’s go for somewhere down the middle. Thanks.