Category: Mainstream Entertainment

I don’t follow the entertainment world all that much unless it involves a few specific franchises or unless it concerns something that piqued my interest, but apparently, I’ve been oblivious to the news that people have been considering or are in the process of producing legacy sequels to TV shows from the turn of the century.

Apparently, there’s a Buffy continuation in the works. Malcolm In The Middle is also another show… this trend isn’t new. There was the recent Fraiser show that was cancelled, there was the Fuller House sequel to Full House show, there was the Roseanne show that lasted a season before they got rid of her and redubbed it The Conners, there’s That 90s Show, which is a follow-up to That 70s Show… because nobody gave a rat’s ass about That 80s Show.

So I just have to ask…. who is clamoring for these sequel shows to be made? Is there a fan base that saw all the Star Trek stuff that was coming out and went “Yeah, we’d like some of that for our own show that’s 30 years old and long past the point of relevancy.”

Yes, let’s make a sequel show that’s nowhere near as good as the original and feels even more out of place than the existing stuff does. Why do we need another Buffy show? Why do we need another Malcolm show? Quite frankly, why do we need ANY of these things? All they’re gonna do is ruin the thing you liked as a kid and it’s going to suck on its own merits.

The good news is that both Malcolm and presumably Buffy as well, will be debuting on Disney+. And since I don’t have Disney+, I have no need to watch either show… but then again, I had no reason to see either show in the first place. I’ve only seen a handful of episodes from either show and never got deeper than that in terms of my viewingship or something.

Hey, you know what? If you’re looking forward to these, I wish you all the best and hope these turn out good for your sake… but I’ve got other things to do in the meantime.

Source: https://filmstories.co.uk/news/us-bill-seeks-to-force-cinemas-to-publish-actual-film-start-times/

A U.S. Senator wants to push a bill compelling movies theaters to publish what time the movie actually starts and not just what time they start screening commercials and trailers… you know, the stuff people don’t care about.

One of the problems with the moviegoing experience is whenever you go watch a movie and you arrive “on time” according to the listing, the movie doesn’t start right away, but rather, you’re bombarded with commercials for products that you’re never going to use and more often than not, movie trailers for films you’re probably never going to watch. Back in the day, when we went to a theater, we’d get a couple trailers somewhat related to the feature in question (similar genre and such) before we get the feature presentation. This lasts about a few minutes before the actual movie starts. Now it’s almost fifteen minutes of commercials, PSAs, and months-old teaser trailers that you’ve probably already saw on Youtube hundreds of times.

So what this bill proposes is you have two times list; one being the time where the commercials play and the second time being when the movie actually starts. On paper, it’s not a bad idea. In practice… well, who the hell knows? Each show, I’d imagine, would be different. I can recall watching a movie or two a couple times and each time, they had different trailers. Could be that one specific theater that I went to, but it could also apply elsewhere as well.

It’s an intriguing bill and a pressure for movie houses to be more honest with their actual start times, but I doubt it’ll actually come to pass. After all, if paying customers can simply walk in during the commercials, that means they’re not watching the commercials and god forbid someone misses that Kia commercial you’ve seen play on Youtube eleventy billion fucking times already?

Source: https://press.oscars.org/news/conan-obrien-host-97th-oscarsr

So the Oscars are around the corner and former Late Night host Conan O’Brien is this year’s host. Good for him, I suppose. I hear the pay is good for that gig. It’s not going to get me interested in this garbage, but the question that comes up now is… how long before “Big Jaw” comes along and steals his gig?

For those unaware, once upon a time, there was this fella named Jay “Big Jaw” Leno who hosted the Tonight Show and one day, he said that he would step down for the next guy to take over. You might assume that “next guy” would be Jimmy Fallon and… yes, that was true. But I’m going further than that. Leno would step down from the Tonight Show and the hosting duties would go to Conan O’Brien.

So Conan would get the Tonight Show while Jay Leno stuck around in the NBC lobby until they gave him a 10 o’clock show that tanked ratings and then NBC decided that we’ll move Jay to 11:35 (the Tonight Show time), move Conan’s show to 12:05 and everyone would be happy… except Conan wasn’t happy, made a big stink out of it, and after all that, Conan would leave the Tonight Show to eventually host his own TBS 11:30 show while Jay “Big Jaw” Leno slithered his way back to the Tonight Show, where he’d stay for another few years before passing the reigns to Jimmy Fallon, who has stayed put ever since.

So Conan is now doing the Oscars and Big Jaw is nowhere to be found… or is he? Will he make a play at stealing Conan’s role mere weeks before the event is to take place? Will this goad former late night rival David Letterman back into the spotlight so he can make more silly jokes at Big Jaw’s expense? Will Jimmy Kimmel bring back his famous Leno impersonations? Is Johnny Carson still rolling in his grave?

Well, it doesn’t really matter, because I don’t foresee any of this happening in real life… but imagine if it did. It would surely make the Oscars more interested and I’d almost be inclined to watch…

Almost…

But not quite…

Whenever someone puts out a trailer for a new movie – particularly a new sequel, remake, reboot, redux, or whatever the case may be – there will be a number of websites and influencers who will put out these generic lists of x number of things you need to know about the upcoming movie. These things usually entail “What is this? When is this coming out? What it’s about?” and other basic bits and pieces.

Well, that’s all well and good, but it seems like every time I read or watch one of these lists of things that I absolutely, positively NEED TO KNOW about the movie in question, there is always one thing that I need to know about a movie that is never touched upon. One key thing that will sell me on a movie more than anything. One thing that I absolutely, positively, honest-to-goodness truly NEED TO KNOW in order to ascertain whether this is a movie that I’m going to pay attention for the next few months until release day or is it something that I can safely ignore and move on to something else.

And so, dear writers of these puff pieces that are clearly designed to sell you on this movie in the most softball manner possible in hopes of getting invited to a premiere or early screening… when you assholes can somehow manage to grow a pair, do me a favor and address the one thing that I really do need to know about this upcoming latest feature in a franchise that is long past its prime.

“Why?”

As in “Why does this exist?”

As in “Why does this NEED to exist?”

As in “Why does this HAVE to exist?”

As in “Why can’t you dipshits come up with something fresh and original?”

Now THAT’s a list of things I need to know about this movie.

Give me an article addressing these hard-hitting questions, possibly providing sufficiently adequate answers to these queries, and I may possibly consider subscribing to your social media accounts.

Until then, get off my space lawn.

Source: https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/v-uk-visitation-3180?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=VUK01

Worth a mention is this Big Finish audio drama released last month. Essentially an audio remake of the original V miniseries from 1983, except the whole cast is comprised of Brits and hey, at least this one has the blessing of creator Kenneth Johnson, who even provided some new material to the program.

For those unfamiliar, V was a 1983 television miniseries in which a group of aliens come to Earth with promises of a better life, but all is not what it seems and it isn’t long before the visitors’ true goals are eventually revealed. It was a superb television event with a smart plot, some superb performances, and a look into a world that, now more than ever, almost mirrors that of our own. So the timing of this thing couldn’t have come out at a much better time.

As someone who watched all the V series as a kid – and yes, that includes the follow-up Final Battle and subsequent short-lived TV series; neither of which is acknowledged in this series – I thought this was a pretty good remake of V. Stayed true to the original story while updating it somewhat to modern standards and sensibilities. Mind you, I wasn’t entirely sold on an all-Brit cast, but everyone played their roles wonderfully and there were enough changes here and there that this feels somewhat refreshed while also still familiar.

I’m sure there are those who wished that we had gotten a continuation of the old show with the original cast and honestly, if that ever happens, I’m all for it… but this new take on V is also pretty good and I’m looking forward to the next series when it comes out in August. Definitely worth checking out if you’re into the old V show.