I have to give Joe Manganiello credit because he’s come a long way from playing the affable bro you got brunch with back on How I Met Your Mother.
Dude climbed the ladder from dumb jock (he was Flash Thompson in the original Spider-Man) to juiced up eye candy in Magic Mike, to locking down Sofia Vergara and eventually action movie star. Although, he did kinda get screwed after his portrayal of Deathstroke was teased at the very end of Justice League only for the entire DC Universe to collapse on itself before he had a chance to shine.
Anyways, “Archenemy” is an interesting idea that sort of seems like a cross between Will Smith’s homeless man turned superhero “Hancock” and a spin on when Superman loses his powers on Krypton due to the Red Sun. Here’s the official synopsis from IMDB.
Max Fist, who claims to be a hero from another dimension who fell through time and space to earth, where he has no powers.No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster.
Okay, now that we got that out of the way we can get to the real star of “Archenemy,” which is easily Dennis Reynolds AKA Glenn Howerton in a role that he seems to have been lusting after for years. It basically looks like Dennis Reynolds’ peak insanity playing out in the form of a violent gangster of sorts.
What do we have here??
Becoming more and more unhinged over the years in Always Sunny, Howerton turned Dennis from a self absorbed narcissist into a legitimate sociopath.
Hell they even did a Making a Murderer mockumentary where they implied he killed his ex-wife. Only Always Sunny could make something as dark as that legitimately hilarious.
My point being, this movie looked fine, something I would catch on HBO or Netflix at some point and be sufficiently entertained. That is until I saw a bleach blonde Glenn Howerton unleashing his rage. As Rob McElhenney has pointed out in podcasts over the years, Howerton is a legitimately classically trained actor, which is why he kills it every time he gets a wild storyline in Always Sunny.
I didn't get to ask Ben Affleck about his Dunkin' Donuts order, but he went deep with me on the making of THE TOWN. With input from Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Chris Cooper, Titus Welliver, and more. https://t.co/PynjK5Z4N6
There are two sides to the coin of being from the Boston area. On one side you have the small city, one-for-all, all-for-one camaraderie, the fact that we win sports a ton, and I don’t know, leaves changing? Sure. On the other side, for almost the same reasons as previously stated as a positive, you are naturally inclined to become almost violently territorial and also protective of your city, it’s culture, and, in this case, it’s many, many portrayals.
So needless to say when I signed onto the bird app today and not only stumbled upon some disagreement with “The Town” being the “ultimate Boston movie” based solely on a few extremely questionable alternatives, but actually found people hating on the movie, I was ripshit. No clever wordplay. No exposition. I was pissed. Work is really busy. We can’t find a tee time within 100 miles of our general area without waking up to make it 5am Monday morning. The Celtics can’t close out a game even with adorable Deuce Tatum practically BEGGING them to from the sidelines. I don’t. Need. This. Shit. Right. Now. But this is my job. I take this seriously. I’ve sacrificed too much to be at this keyboard to let this asinine debate rage on without me yelling at clouds about it.
First of all lets get some bias out of the way: To summarize things a bit I would not be here if it was not for “The Town.” As stated before Red and I met working the door at a bar in town and spent many an early morning/late night after our shift getting hammered watching “The Town.” It arguably could be called one of the catalysts to this very blog. We like “The Town,” ok?
But let’s start there in earnest. After all there are two parts to this debate: 1.) Is “The Town” good? 2.) What is The Ultimate “Boston Movie”?
Addressing number one, with my bias dragging me down like Randy Marsh’s engorged ballsack, it’s honestly hard to find a ton of flaws in the Chahlestown-based caper. The easiest thing to point out would be the bad Boston accents, particularly in the case of Blake Lively and Jon Hamm’s number two – you could also add Hamm simply leaving his out to that list. However that is the risk of any “Boston” movie so I don’t think you can really even judge such a movie based on the accents anymore. It’s not quantifiable enough. Everyone is going to have different opinions. Plot-wise, to oversimplify things, “The Town” took a classically conflicted character (Ben Affleck, a bank robber), who is waking up to the possibility of better things in life, including a love interest (who happens to be one of his latest robbery victims) but is trapped by his past (literally the guy running his robbery gang threatens to kill the girl if he leaves). Add in some time and location-sensitive details (the opioid epidemic) and you really do have a great story. There is a fantastic car chase scene, a couple of “The Italian Job”-esque misdirections, and some great acting. What the fuck is the issue? I’ll tell you what the issue is.
::Clears throat::
People who are either FROM (as in born/raised inside the area codes of) this city or think they know it best find some sort of validation in hating on its portrayals. Its like when people come out of the woodwork defending celebrity, athlete, or just random defendant XYZ when they are charged with a crime. “I knew them in high school they wouldn’t do that.” O you mean your buddy saw him at 7/11 once? Fuck off. No one is impressed. But that’s the thing. Every time a new Boston movie comes out you get eye rolls, not always without reason, from its citizens because that is not the EXACT Boston they have experienced, which would be an IMPOSSIBLE thing to portray. Sheesh.
Now onto our second topic.
What IS the ultimate Boston movie? What, as Sean McGuire would put it, encapsulates the city that invented America? What are even the criterion? I guess I could name a few, not to pass myself off as the expert, but just to set some sort of parameters when evaluating our options. These don’t make or break a movie’s chances mind you, as shitty movies can contain all of the below. But it can help us to validate our choices.
-Some amount of smug, dry, and/or dark humor. Have to have it. We are a miserable people and we are proud of it. -Fisticuffs. Whoever said fighting solves nothing never left Oregon. -A difficult friendship. Whether it involves growing apart or the inability to do so, there are people we’d throw down for that we wish we wouldn’t. -Coffee/beer. This one seems dumb but if I don’t see someone getting their morning Joe or after work beverage on in a Boston movie it’s weird. -An implication of local pride. There are a couple of good movies based here that don’t really mention it and quite frankly, could be set anywhere. “Boston” movies have to have characters that bleed boycotted tea. -At least one reference to different classes. Nothing says 617, from when the Orange Line was elevated through now, when Seaport apartments cost more than two Brockton houses, than people from different income brackets being at odds.
So there we are. Cool? Cool.
One movie I am going to address riiiight the fuck away because I saw it nominated for the top spot was “Spotlight.” “Spotlight” was a well made movie featuring a terrific cast that told the story of the Boston Globes’ uncovering of the catholic church sex abuse scandal, arguably the most important local story of our time this side of the marathon bombing. With that said, it’s, well, predictable. And I’m sorry but true stories just don’t do it for me because, ya know, you know what happens? “Spotlight” also is INCREDIBLY boring. And again, I hate to say that about such a well made movie, but it’s literally two hours of people doing research and conducting interviews. Nope, not for me. So if you think “Spotlight” is the ultimate Boston movie you simply lack enough excitement in your life.
“The Town” indeed should be again mentioned as a contender. It’s up there. It has all the criteria as listed above. It really doesn’t have a ton of holes. I guess being such a “genre” movie (bank robbery/heist) sort of pigeon holes it and does not allow it to explore other elements (addiction, etc.) but that’s just fine.
“Fever Pitch” was god awful. Shut up. Next.
“Good Will Hunting” is an obvious choice for the top spot. Looking back at our categories, there are fisticuffs aplenty, including a notably avoided scrap with some rich kid Hahvid students that checks another box. There’s a probably unhealthy loyalty to South Boston. Will has a complicated friendship/relationship with just about everyone. There’s a pervasive dark humor about never rising above the status quo, except maybe to be a shepherd of all things. Almost every scene features one of the guys handing another either a coffee or more commonly, a beer. Including a lunch break on a demolition job which I always found odd.
Beyond that, well, I refer to “Good Will Hunting” as God’s movie. I watch it every other month. It brings you all the way down and build you back up to a peak of optimism on the back of an incredible performance by Robin Williams.
“The Departed” is another movie to give serious thought to. Which is to say, you have to give serious thought to a Boston movie centered around organized crime, moreso one that includes a loose portrayal of Whitey Bulger. For as much as we don’t talk or think about it much organized crime, be it Irish, Italian or a mix of the two, has been woven into the fabric of our fair city for probably forever. That is however, as we agreed, bonus points. In “The Departed” we know Billy (Leo) skews booze in favor of cranberry juice but we saw other characters imbibe. Billy Costigan also drank a fateful cup of coffee before finally sleeping with his shrink. Fisticuffs? Of course. Local pride? Well the dark, self-deprecating humor we’ve alluded to allows the characters to hate where they are from while also loving it. Also featured are possibly the two most complicated friendships of all, where Billy and Colin both love and loathe Frank Costello, the Whitey Bulger stand-in played by Jack (no last name needed).
It’s become en vogue to hate on The Departed’s flaws (HOW DID THEY NOT KNOW THE NEW GUY WAS THE RAT?!). And I can get that, to a point (hey fuckos he was supposed to be undercover for like, years.) But overall it holds up as a solid mob movie and a riveting tale of betrayal, deceit, and loyalty.
“My Best Friend’s Girl” is an underrated comedy but could have literally been set in any city that hosts a marathon and allows Dane Cook within its city limits.
“Mystic River” is another entry, albeit another that has been criticized in hindsight. I for one long considered Clint Eastwood’s saga of love, loss, and revenge as my favorite movie. It checks the boxes of all our categories, including a quintuple check in the “complicated friendship” box. There maybe not be a more fucked up group of friends than Dave, Sean, and Jimmy, as much as it was none of their fault.
“Gone Baby, Gone” is a personal favorite but one I can’t consider because a lot of people hate it. It again checks all the boxes but I guess was considered forced when it came to the actual “Boston movie” category.
“Boondock Saints” is a fun shoot-em-up that one would think was made by aliens after a brief explanation of the Irish/Irish-American experience in Boston. There is literally nothing complicated about it. Sorry.
“Southie” is a solid, old Donnie Wahlberg outing that never quite delivers on its promise. Same goes for “Bluehill Avenue”.
Finally, “Black Irish” is a truly great movie I again can’t push for the top spot because not enough people have seen it, which does matter. That and a couple of details that don’t make sense time-period wise (a girl getting sent away to have an abortion and a guy shining shoes for a living in modern South Boston) make this a non-factor. You should still ABSOLUTELY see this one.
The Verdict: “Good Will Hunting”
Penned by then-up and comers Affleck and Damon and directed by Gus Van Sant, the emotional tale of aimless, brawling, but genius Will finding some purpose in life with the help of a shrink (Williams) that shares some of the same pain is about as Boston as it gets.
RIP to Olenna Tyrell, one of the great TV characters of our time. She was a real one. She understood that you didn’t have to be the greatest swordsman in the world to wield power.
Beyond Thrones though, Rigg was a superstar for several decades starring in The Avengers, the Bond flick On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and even The Great Muppet Caper! Diana Rigg was also a FOX back in the day. An absolute weapon in the 1960s.
I’ll be the first to admit this, and it will come as zero surprise to my colleagues here: I’m not the biggest fan of the comic book movie craze. To put it as simply as possible, there just isn’t enough there for me. All I see are a bunch of explosions, some cringe-inducing attempts at witty dialogue, and these “universes” featuring beings with “superpowers” that I can’t seem to care about. I also acknowledge as a Harry Potter fanatic that this comes off as highly contradictory. I get that. I guess that a.) I started my life as a “Potterhead” via the books a longgggggg time ago and b.) That world puts an emphasis on consisting of normal people with normal feelings who happen to have extraordinary abilities, as opposed to extraordinary beings…and a couple rich guys I guess? I don’t know, but you get it.
The line in the sand for my abstention from comic book movies ends at Batman, or should I say for the purposes of this blog, Batman-focused movies. Like most blue-blooded males, I’ve always been a big fan of Gotham’s brooding hero. There was just enough real world villainy mixed with a sort of pseudo-science-con-steam punk evil that in my formative years I couldn’t help but love the ::Cillian Murphy voice:: Bat Man.
It started with the cartoon obviously. To this day I’ll say the old Batman and Batman Beyond cartoon that aired on the WB andddd Cartoon Network(?) were always fire. Episode after episode they delivered just enough kid-appropriate action to have me wanting more.
Then came the late 80’s to mid-90’s run of Batman movies. Everyone has a different opinion of which were great, which were good, which sucked, etc. But unless you have a giant dump in your pants, they were all entertaining. Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney all did a great job in their own, odd way. Schumacher and Burton created a strange noir-dream land mix of a Gotham that fit the mood of all four films. They were jussst kid friendly enough so that my Dad could show them to me in full and either it wasn’t anything i hadn’t seen before or what I shouldn’t have seen went right over my head. They were great
Then 2005 came along. And it changed everything. I wouldn’t call Christian Bale “relatively unknown at the time”. They wouldn’t be true or fair. I think “often forgotten about” would be more accurate. It probably didn’t help his case that the highlights of his resume so far were playing a suave serial killer in “American Psycho” and starving himself almost to death to play an insomniac in “The Machinist”. So ya, while he had been insanely impressive to that point his performances weren’t widely talked about in unhushed tones. Think the quiet book clubs of soccer moms when 50 Shades came out. That type of thing.
But Bale was the perfect Batman. From beginning to end of “Batman Begins” we see every side of Bruce Wayne: conflicted, vengeful, lustful, brooding, violent, and sometimes a bit snarky. Bale looked the part, talked the part, and quite frankly acted the shit out of the part. He could have done a scene with a sink and we would have lauded the sink’s performance. It was that good.
We know the story after that. The legend that is “The Dark Knight”, which served as both Heath Leger’s coming out party as well as his tragic “what if?” swan song. But Bale was back as well, as a Bruce Wayne torn between the life he wanted and the life he knew he needed to live. How he could play the role so well that people could see themselves in a billionaire-playboy-recluse-super hero I don’t know. But he did.
“The Dark Knight Rises” ended the Bale trilogy in 2012 (I’m old). Like Leger before him Tom Hardy announced himself as a real one, playing the physically and intellectually dominant villain Bane. But it was still the Christian Bale show. At every turn in both his “professional” and personal life there was a trapdoor for Bruce Wayne to fall in. And he either did or almost did fall in it every time. But as Alfred Pennyworth once said, we only fall to get back up again. Christian Bale got back up again for three movies over seven years that grossed about $2.5b and resulted in numerous Academy Awards nominations (mahalo, Heath). It was an almost unparalleled three film run aside from the YA-based movie series that we’d seen/were seeing in that time. The super hero movies of course came later, but they are almost more of a genre unto themselves than a couple of different “series”.
Then 2016 came. As I said and you know, the comic book movies were tearing up box offices. DC and Marvel were printing money. ADHD medication companies profits were probably at an all-time high. I guess it was decided it was time. Time to dust off the Dark Knight. Time to bring back one of the world’s most beloved characters. Time for that inner conflict, turmoil, and pain to bring some sort of catharsis the the masses all over again. They even brought in my guy Affleck, who was in the midst of a late-career resurgence with “The Town”, “Argo”, and “Gone Girl”. I couldn’t bear to go see it. It didn’t feel right. It was going to be a letdown (I’ve been told it kind of was). There just wasn’t enough there.
Now it’s Late Q3 of 2020 (and as I’ve discussed, Q2 of quarantine) and we have a new Batman trailer. A SUPER DARK Batman trailer. Think of “The Crow” but Batman. And this time we have Robert Pattinson dawning the cape. Now, it’d be easy to hate him for being in Twilight. I’d kind of respect you if you did. But he was also briefly in the HP movies (we stan) and has churned out some spectacular mature performances such as the lead role in “Good Times”, a Saffdie Brothers creation(watch it). Reading the name and watching the trailer I was…intrigued. There’s some other parts there too. Andy Serkis, a little weird British guy who played Smeagol, as Alfred. Paul Dano, who has had a 15+ year career of being excellent playing kind of a weird fuck, as the Riddler, who indeed is a weird fuck. Colin Farrell, one of my “if he’s in it I’ll see it” guys, will play the Penguin under a shit ton of prosthesis. I’ve already mentioned to Red I’m not hyped on seeing Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman. It’s not that I’m not a Kravitz fan. I almost wrote a whole blog pissed about the fact that they cancelled High Fidelity. But this seems like the studio trying to sell a few more tickets by casting the current hotness. Overall however, a very solid supporting cast.
It all comes down to Pattinson though. And for the life of me I can’t find a reason to hate on this choice or to throw any of my usual pessimistic predictions for his portrayal out there. He can obviously brood with the best of them. Ask any Twilight memer, let alone fan. “Good Times” showed he can evoke desperation and frustration with the best of them. The action scenes or any scene he has to do anything physical will be interesting. So far the Triwizard Tournament is all I have to go on there. He did well I guess? So here I am, without a reason to hate on the Pattinson choice.
So I guess, for just 2.5 hours (probably something like that) maybe it’s time to let go. Maybe it’s time to move on from Christian Bale and the impossibly high bar he set. He played Batman perfectly. But maybe that doesn’t mean someone else can’t play him differently? Maybe the greatness of Bale’s Batman will allow us to see the subtleties in Pattinson’s. Maybe the bleak, eroded Gotham the trailer seems to imply is going to suit the new Dark Knight perfectly and allow him to thrive like a basketball player in a perfect offense. I think I can actually say “I hope so”.
With everyone either remote or part-time, we know you’ve got some time on your hands so The 300s is looking for interns and part-timers to blog about Boston sports, national sports, golf, TV, movies, video games etc. We’ll give writers a platform, promotion on social media, and the opportunity to write about what you like.
If you’re interested send an email to Red@The300s.com and let us know what you want to write about and any samples you might have.
So DC had its long awaited hype fest DC FanDome on Saturday and teased a ton of new projects coming down the pipeline like The Batman, The Justice League Snyder Cut, Wonder Woman 1984, Suicide Squad 2, Black Adam and more. Where my fellow comic book nerds at??
The Batman
My oh my oh my. This first teaser of The Batman looks *excellent* which is so exciting because this movie has been shrouded in mystery for years. Matt Reeves’ The Batman stars Robert Pattinson who is just now poking his head up to star in some blockbusters (Tenet) after a decade spent working on his acting chops doing indies (Cosmopolis, The Lighthouse, Good Time etc). The Battinson will focus on Year 2 of Bruce Wayne as the Caped Crusader so it will be a much younger Batman than we’re used to seeing on the big screen.
The cast of The Batman is absolutely stacked with Andy Serkis playing Alfred, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright, who I’ve loved playing intelligent, soft spoken, unsettling characters since Boardwalk Empire, playing Commissioner Gordon, and a legitimately unrecognizable Colin Farrell playing the Penguin.
This brings us to the fascinating casting choice of Klitz AKA Paul Dano as The Riddler. I think Dano is going to either hit this out of the ballpark or bomb like we’ve never seen; there’s not a lot of middle ground here.
But Dano just feels like a perfect choice for such a bizarre character that most people only associate with Jim Carey. I just hope this movie doesn’t suffer from villain overload similar to how Spider-Man 3 simply had too many bad guys in one movie.
Oh and this Bruce Wayne is a VIOLENT crime fighter.
The Batman is set to release at some point in 2021.
Justice League: The Snyder Cut
A lot of new footage here giving us a sneak peak at what Snyder Cut will do differently from the original Justice League. IGN broke it down thoroughly, but expect more Darkseid, more Knightmare, more Aquaman and Cyborg, and yes BLACK SUIT SUPERMAN.
Snyder has been anything but subtle about how much he hated Joss Whedon’s finished version of the movie, going so far as to say he would burn the movie to the ground before he used any footage he didn’t shoot himself. He called the Whedon version “Frankenstein’s monster” and claims to have never even watched it. So expect quite the different movie here.
It’s a good thing this is going to be a digital release you can watch from your couch too because the run time is a brisk 4 hours.
The Snyder Cut will drop sometime in 2021 on HBO Max.
The Suicide Squad AKA Suicide Squad 2
This actually looks fun as fuck, which is exactly what Suicide Squad should be. No more no less. DC finally learned after the disappointing box office of Batman vs Superman and the bombing of Justice League that not every comic book movie has to be a dark, gritty noir film, they can also be fun. This looks to take a lot of what the first Suicide Squad did well (Margot Robbie, slick action, witty dialogue) and build off of it. Oh and even though Will Smith will not be returning, they did add Idris Alba, which is a huge win in of itself, and a seemingly tongue in cheek parody of Captain America played by John Cena. If thats not enough, Pete Davidson is in this too so expect a lot of deadpan humor in this not quite direct sequel. Oh and they brought Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn on board (post-cancelling by the internet) to helm the entire thing. So this looks like it could be closer to what we expected from the original, which is an exciting proposition. The Suicide Squad is slated for an Aug. 6th, 2021 release.
Wonder Woman 1984
But seriously how is Chris Pine alive again? I’ve been pretty down on the Kristen Wiig casting as the main villain pretty much since Day 1, but anything with Pedro Pascal in it cannot be bad. The release of Wonder Woman 1984 has been pushed back a few times because of COVID and the current projected release date is now Oct. 2nd. With a budget of nearly $200 million I wouldn’t expect this one to go straight to digital as the studio will hold out as long as possible to claw together a solid profit during this disaster of a year.
Black Adam
This is a choose your own adventure of expectations for The Rock as Black Adam. This has been in the works for years so its good to finally see *something* even if its only some 300s (the movie) style animated graphics. I blame the lack of any real footage on COVID. Now I love The Rock, he’s the man, but I honestly don’t know what to expect out of this. I do worry it becomes a movie where all you can think is hey its The Rock playing a comic book character rather than focusing on just enjoying the movie, but Dwayne never half asses anything so I will remain cautiously optimistic on this one. Black Adam is currently slated for a Dec. 22, 2021 release.
Gotham Knights
I’m more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy so I don’t know a ton about Red Hood or Nightwing, but I know people are jacked up for these guys being playable characters in a video game. It’s also made by the team that created Batman: Arkham Origins so that is promising. Another non-specific 2021 release date here.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Not a ton of actual gameplay shown here, but again Suicide Squad looks fun, which is all I ask of the anti-hero supergroup. The trailer shows the Suicide Squad fighting a version of Superman who seemingly has gone absolutely mental so that is intriguing on its own. This game is being created by Rocksteady Studios, who made the Batman: Arkham series so theres a lot of great track record here. Unfortunately this won’t hit game systems til 2022.
What are you most excited for after the DC Fandome event? Tweet us @the300sboston and let us know.
The Batfleck is back! All hail Ana de Armas for saving the DC cinematic universe.
But seriously what a bombshell to drop the night before DC’s long awaited virtual conference, Fandome, that kicks off on Friday. We all thought Ben Affleck was hanging up his cowl forever when he retired from the role last year and walked away from his own standalone film. But it seems like he might have just been going through a shitty time in his life and didn’t want to do anything, which is something we can all relate to. I mean his best/only role the last couple of years has been as the alcoholic Coach Carter. Plus an A+ heartwarming cameo in the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
But it seems like it was less about being done with Batman than it was about just taking some time to mentally recharge.
According to Barbara Muschietti, Ben Affleck was open to coming back as Batman. Affleck’s been happy for some time now and it sounds like he’s in a better place to return at Batman. pic.twitter.com/wdm5jxYb1k
And for that I think we all need to declare Ana de Armas our new queen. If nothing else she is on deck to become the First Lady of Boston as her and Affleck have been globetrotting together with puppy dog eyes of love. Through it all, Affleck refuses to ever change though. I mean he’s in exotic locations with one of the most beautiful women in the world and he’s still wearing $10 Boston t-shirts like he’s me working from the spare bedroom in sweatpants.
What an absolute meteoric rise de Armas has had the past couple of years. She was obviously in movies before (Blade Runner, War Dogs), but it’s safe to say she blew up with her role in Knives Out where she stole every scene she was in. Then she linked up with Daniel Craig again to become the next Bond girl in a movie that looks awesome, yet I still haven’t seen because of the goddamn coronavirus.
And now she has singlehandedly rejuvenated Ben Affleck and saved the DC cinematic universe.
Granted it’s not a standalone film and is all but likely just a cameo in The Flash, it’s great to have Batfleck back in our lives. Even better, this movie is going to be an absolute wet dream of weird storylines since it’s going to delve into the Multiverse. I blogged about this a couple months back, but we’re going to see both Affleck and Michael Keaton playing the Batman in the same movie and I don’t know what the hell to expect. It’ll be great to see Affleck and Ezra Miller’s Flash back on screen together because their banter was the highlight of a pretty meh Justice League. At least until the Snyder Cut drops next year.
I just hope Matt Damon doesn’t feel left out with all of this Ana de Armas talk.
The Loop – According to We Got This Covered (the same site that correctly first reported a She-Hulk show at Disney Plus and a live-action Robin Hood remake at Disney), Marvel is hoping to land LaBeouf to play Iceman in their new X-Men reboot. Previously, MCU was supposedly considering LaBeouf to breathe life into Moon Knight (a rich vigilante character similar to Batman), and while the site reports that LaBeouf is still in the running for that role, the powers-that-be are supposedly more interested in his take on the X-Men character. And, considering LaBeouf’s previous criticism with doing big-budget studio films, this could be a nice way for him to ease back into things without having the pressure as a lead.
Yes, 100 times yes. Count me in. I stan for Shia LaBeouf because he has the makings of a truly elite actor. He’s got action chops (Transformers, Indiana Jones), he’s got Indie chops (Honey Boy, Peanut Butter Falcon), he’s handsome but not overly good looking, he’s already gone off the rails and been to rehab, and he is just generally a weird dude. Not to mention the man can tell one HELL of a drinking story.
LaBeouf is a more of an artist than a traditional actor, which is why I am fascinated by just watching what the guy does. He’s just as likely to be chopping it up on late night TV as he is going to yoga in the outfit of a homeless man.
In all seriousness though the dude is yoked these days and should have no problem convincing people he is an all powerful mutant.
Disney needs to nail this reboot and they know it. I am a huge X-Men fan and I enjoy all of the movies over the last 20 years, some of which were excellent (X-Men 2, Logan, First Class) whereas others were an unmitigated disaster (X-Men 3, Apocalypse). So in this reboot they have to do it right.
I know it’s going to be a massive popcorn flick as the next Marvel tentpole franchise, but all of the best Marvel movies had excellent actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans anchoring them in reality. X-Men in particular needs great actors because the source material is so much more than just people with super powers; it’s outcasts kicked to the fringe of society because of their biological differences. Stan Lee was not afraid to paint the obvious parallels between the X-Men and the battles of similarly ostracized groups fighting for justice like the Civil Rights movement, LGBTQ etc. And this wasn’t just Stan Lee being a woke social justice warrior on Twitter, he was a vocal supporter of these issues dating back to the 60s.
“Let’s lay it right on the line. Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today,” he wrote in December 1968. “[I]t’s totally irrational, patently insane to condemn an entire race—to despise an entire nation—to vilify an entire religion. Sooner or later, we must learn to judge each other on our own merits. Sooner or later, if a man is ever to be worthy of his destiny, we must fill our hearts with tolerance.”
So Disney cannot just make another action flick here, they need legit actors who can tackle the breadth of the source material.
As you probably know Iceman has appeared in several X-Men movies already because he is a sick character with a truly awesome power, but he was such a puss in the original movies. He was portrayed like a mopey Abercrombie model pining over his girlfriend rather than the Ice God that he is. He was finally a bit more badass in Days of Future Past in 2014, which the beard probably helped to be honest.
He finally used his iconic ice surfing powers in that movie too.
Buttttttt only got about 90 seconds of screen time before (spoiler alert) biting the big one.
It’s probably going to be a few years before we get any new X-Men movies anyways, maybe even longer before someone attempts to fill the massive shoes of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. But rumors like this are encouraging because it shows you Disney and Marvel are taking this reboot seriously. The X-Men movies always had a ton of potential, but were undone by poor direction or shitty storytelling or continuity issues, most of which should be righted by the MCU.
The Wrap – After nearly 30 years, Michael Keaton is in talks to return to the role of Batman, to appear alongside Ezra Miller in Warner Bros.’ upcoming movie “The Flash,” TheWrap has learned exclusively. Talks with Keaton are in the very early stages, it is far from a sure thing, and can go either way. No details are currently available about how big or small Keaton’s role is.
That plot will introduce general audiences to the idea of the multiverse, one of the of core concepts underpinning DC Comics. For the non fanboy set, the multiverse refers to a shifting number of alternate universes that coexist within the larger reality depicted in DC comics. Originally created to explain various contradictory changes the company’s characters experienced over decades, it allows several different versions of the same characters to simultaneously exist and, occasionally, interact. Matt Reeves upcoming “The Batman” will not be affected and Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is still viewed as the future of the franchise.
In my head I imagine the head of the DC Comics movie studio as a high school kid just inhaling Adderall and Mountain Dew because these movies are ALL over the place. Ben Affleck is the Batfleck! Batfleck is writing and directing a standalone film! Batfleck retired! Robert Pattinson is now Batman! Hey what about bringing back 1989 Batman Michael Keaton to star alongside Ezra Miller, who literally just played the Flash next to Affleck’s Batman in two movies!
Before the fanboys jump down my throat, yes I understand the concept of the multiverse. I watched an episode of the Crisis on Infinite Earths episode just to see my dude Tom Welling reprise his role in Smallville one more time. It was a disappointingly short 90 seconds of screen time for the old WB’s Clark Kent, but that disappointment gave way to a crying fit of laughter when I saw who they had playing Lex Luthor.
What, was Michael Rosenbaum busy with a set at the Comedy Store that night? Ah, but I digress.
I think the entire concept of the multiverse (which not surprisingly was originally introduced to cover up inconsistencies over the years) opens up a world of possibilities. But its hard to feel good about anything DC does these days because they’ve already mucked up so many movies and planned universes. With that being said a multiverse allows DC to punt on the idea of a shared universe across multiple movies like Marvel and focus on self contained stories while plugging and playing our favorite characters and actors without the need to explain a ton of backstory. Whether that works with an audience outside of a hardcore comics fanbase is unclear, but I know I’d be pumped to see Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern pop into a movie with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn as it’s revealed that The Joker is actually Mark Hammil’s version. Thats basically a 10 year old’s dream, just mixing and matching whatever toys you have and mashing em all together.
Or really any reason at all to bring my girl and Smallville legend Kristen Kreuk out of the Disney Vault.
But if we wanna get nuts then lets get nuts and do the Batman Beyond movie with Keaton as the old Bat.
Now THAT is a movie that would put asses in seats. I’d like to say Pattinson’s movie and this multiverse news with Keaton are just a giant smokescreen to distract us from a Batman Beyond movie secretly in the works, but I think that is giving the DCEU far too much credit. I’ve already written thousands of words about this nerdgasm of a movie so I won’t go down that rabbit hole again.
Either way I am fully on board with DC just throwing shit against the wall and seeing what sticks. Oh people love Wonder Woman and Aquaman Jason Mamoa? They’re in! People hate Jared Leto and the Batfleck retired? Out! Give me the Flash and the guy that played Batman 31 years ago and maybe another out of place character to see if we can catch lightning in a bottle with the mutliverse. That or yet another DC movie bombs and Jon Taffer just shuts it down.
Granted it came out a month after I was born so I’ve only seen it once or twice and I know it was the first comic book movie to play it serious, but I was never overly fond of Batman 1989 or Jack Nicholson, as Big Jim Murray put it, playing Jack Nicholson with makeup. With that being said I’ll have to go back and give it a rewatch because it sure sounds like Keaton could be coming out of retirement to don the black cowl once again.
After catching an old episode of Family Matters the other day and rewatching Speed last night, a dark and insidious question came over me: Did Speed rip off Family Matters??
We all know the plot of the wildly popular 1994 action thriller Speed starring Keanu Reeves:
But I feel like a lot of people forget about a suspiciously similar plot of a 1991 episode of Family Matters. Here’s the synopsis of “Boom!” the Season 3 premiere of Family Matters.
Urkel befriends Lowell, an orangutan who has been abused through a series of laboratory experiments. At the precinct, Carl is exercising on a treadmill when he discovers it has been booby-trapped by a revenge seeker; the bomb hidden inside will go off should he step off the treadmill. He must rely on Lt. Murtaugh – and a little bit of luck – to disconnect the bomb’s wiring before it explodes.
Just watch this clip from Family Matters and tell me this isn’t the exact plot of Speed, except on a treadmill.
Compare that to the focal point of Speed:
I mean that looks pretty damn close to me. My wife told me to do some research before slandering the good name of Speed, but I mean come on. I tried to do a little digging to see what the rest of the internet thought, but it seems nobody is asking the tough questions. All I got from my Google search was a story about Eddie Winslow getting arrested for failing to pay child support.
I am merely here to ask thought provoking questions and let you come to your own conclusions, but if you ask me Speed 100% ripped off Family Matters. Reginald VelJohnson put up with too much shit on Family Matters to not get the credit he deserves for indirectly creating one of the biggest blockbusters in movie history.
With that being said, Speed is still one of the most rewatchable action movies ever made despite just how dumb it truly is. Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels, and Sandra Bullock are all great, but I am a Keanu Reeves stan and he is in the middle of a HEATER here. Just a decade plus of dominance starting with Bill & Ted in ’89, Point Break in ’91, Speed in ’94, The Devil’s Advocate (with Pacino!) in ’97, my favorite movie of all-time The Matrix in ’99, The Replacements in ’00, and Hardball in ’01. Keanu has always been a stoic, sometimes mistaken for stilted, actor which is why he absolutely kills it in some roles (Neo) and whiffs on others (Dracula) before landing a career defining role in yet another blockbuster action franchise, John Wick.
Did I just turn a blog accusing a movie of plagiarizing Family Matters into a Keanu Reeves stan session? I guess I did.
PS – Heres how the episode of Family Matters ended in case you weren’t watching it at 9 am on a weekday like me.
The 300s 