Category: Movies

The “Snyder Cut” of Justice League is Coming to HBO Max

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ComicBook.com – Warner Bros. announced today that the Snyder Cut version of Justice League will be making its debut on HBO Max. It’s been over two years since Justice League opened in theaters and since then, while the film has largely fallen out of the general cultural conversation, it’s been very much alive with fans. Many of whom have been pleading with and demanding that Warner Bros. release the so-called “Snyder Cut” of the film.

Fans determined to see director Zack Snyder’s version of the DC team-up film have been passionate, online and off in their efforts to get the version brought to screen and now, those efforts have paid off…Earlier this month, a report indicated that Snyder held a private screening of his version of Justice League during the first quarter of 2020 with Warner Bros. executives in attendance. The report indicated that the screening may have gotten the wheels turning for something involving Snyder’s vision for the film – a version that Snyder himself has confirmed exists with at least some completed CGI.

If theres been one positive to this whole dumpster fire coronavirus quarantine is that it’s forced the hands of every entertainment company in the world to get creative with its content. We’ve been hearing about the #SnyderCut for 2+ years after director Zack Snyder left Justice League before finishing it, only to see the project completed (and tweaked) without him and ultimately panned by critics and fans as yet another mixed bag of mediocrity from DC. Well after years of incessant tweeting from DC fan boys with claims of how the #SnyderCut would have been entirely different and made for a better film…this better not suck. Snyder has taken up the mantle of twitter fans, which is a risky endeavor because expectations have long since gone past the point of reasonable. It could be an incredible movie that resurrects Justice League and turns it into what we all hoped it would be…or it could be a gigantic letdown after three years of hype from fans based on blind hope.

It does seem like HBO Max is serious about this though because there is some serious work going into it. Obviously as an unfinished cut of a superhero movie there is likely loads of CGI that needs to be put together. Hollywood Reporter is saying $20-$30 million was put into finishing the project and the #SnyderCut could premiere as a FOUR HOUR director’s cut like he’s Billy Walsh.

“This is my fucking deer hunter.” – Billy Walsh” – Zack Snyder

Probably because I am a gigantic nerd, but I have an affinity for comic book or video game movies gone awry because so often immense potential is wasted and a monumental IP is shelved because of it. Looking at you live action Dragon Ball movie…

How did Emmy Rossum get cast in that piece of crap? And how did it double its original ($30M) budget at the box office? I’m getting off track…

Seriously after all we’ve heard about the #SnyderCut, this better be good or Zack Snyder might just get put in the Disney Vault by Hollywood execs. The DC Universe was one of the most frustrating, up and down collection of movies in recent memory. Man of Steel was pretty good, not amazing, but Henry Cavill was a great Superman and you could see the potential. Batman vs Superman had an absolutely incredible trailer, but ended up being a convoluted mess despite solid performances from Cavill, Ben Affleck as the new Batman, and Gal Gadot in a career making performance as Wonder Woman. Suicide Squad was similar with an awesome trailer and a finished product that left you scratching your head despite solid performances from Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as a perfectly cast Harley Quinn. And after that I think like a lot of people I kind of just lost interest. I have yet to see Aquaman, despite my bro crush on Khal Drogo, Shazam, or Birds of Prey. I’ve heard at least 2/3 of those movies are surprisingly good, but there is zero cohesion between any of these movies as the DC Extended Universe ultimately collapsed on itself.

Affleck is out as Batman and theres been lingering rumors about Cavill exiting sooner than later so the DCEU is basically on life support. Gal Gadot’s mega hit Wonder Woman and the sheer charisma of Margot Robbie are the only thing keeping this whole experiment of the DCEU from getting put on ice.

So now we get the #SnyderCut, which if you believe the internet message boards is an entirely different and much improved film than what we all saw in the final version of Justice League. Granted I watched this movie on a 6 inch screen on a cross country flight, but it was just a mixed bag of forgettable scenes with Joss Whedon quippy dialogue shoehorned in.

**Spoiler Alert*** If you still haven’t seen it after two months of quarantine you might as well just pop it in and give it a go. It’s not terrible, but it is forgettable. The only thing I really remember from this movie was the predictable return of Superman after he was killed at the end of Batman vs Superman. Except because this movie required extensive reshoots, Cavill was already filming Mission Impossible where his character rocks a sweet sweet mustache. Well the studio for MI wouldn’t let him shave it so DC had to digitally remove Cavill’s mustache for some Superman scenes, which left us with one of my favorite images from any superhero flick.

Laugh out loud funny.

If you’re not familiar with the back story, Snyder left Justice League after the tragic death of his daughter so the studio brought in Marvel darling and Avengers director Joss Whedon to finish the movie. Except if you’ve ever seen the Avengers and compare it to literally anything Snyder has done (Superman, Batman vs Superman, Sin City, 300) they have diametrically opposing styles. Whedon’s work is bright and fully of quippy dialogue whereas Snyder has a lot of dark, brooding, gritty tones. So to throw Whedon in for the final leg as he noticeably tries to lighten up the final product, it just doesn’t gel. Hence the outcry for the #SnyderCut.

Now what the hell could possibly be that different about this original cut that would make the movie that much better? I mean Jason Momoa has been beating this drum forever and recently Gadot and Affleck joined in to champion this version of the movie. So it would have to be significantly different right? Well Phil Owen from The Wrap had a pretty interesting theory on how differently things could go in the #SnyderCut based on footage from the original trailer that wasn’t used and/or reworked.

there are items in “Batman v Superman” clearly intended to set up a very specific plot thread that never came to be — and those items are not referenced in “Justice League” at all. I’m talking about Bruce Wayne’s nightmare of an apocalyptic future in which Superman is evil, and the subsequent visit from what seems to be a time-traveling Flash warning Bruce about what Superman will become should Lois Lane be killed…So they at some point assemble the team and resurrect Superman inside the Kryptonian scout ship in Metropolis by some means –the Mother Box may not have been necessary given that the Kryptonians used that pool of amniotic fluid to make babies. After they bring Superman back, he goes crazy in the same way he does in the finished film, but his fight against the Justice League goes on much longer and doesn’t end with him reverting to normal. The government even gets involved, bringing tanks into the fight that Superman of course easily handles. However it ends, Superman does not go visit Kansas with Lois afterward, because that scene in the movie was a reshoot addition.

It’s possible that Lois shows up to try to calm him down and she is killed in the chaos (or something happens that somehow makes him think she’s killed), and it’s likely that Superman continues to be not quite right the rest of the movie and becomes the threat that Batman feared and which the Flash warned him about in “Batman v Superman.”

It would be a very Snyder-esque payoff to the the themes set up in the early goings — the idea that Superman was a beacon who gave the people of Earth a moral center, and whose death threw everyone into disarray. They bring him back but he no longer functions as that beacon of goodness, which in turn makes the moral situation on Earth that much murkier. It would make sense, too, that even an angry Superman would amass followers willing to fight, for him as we saw in Batman’s nightmare.

This would make so much more sense to have a legitimately menacing and dangerous Superman wreaking havoc for more than the 5 minutes he does in the final version of the film. Why all that build up for what amounts to a temper tantrum? I definitely recommend giving Owen’s article a read as a lot of his ideas work a lot better in theory than the final film, which completely punts on Darkseid in favor of hitting the wrap it up box with the undeveloped motivation of a forgettable villain in Steppenwolf.

I don’t know what to expect, but I’ll be checking it out for sure, which is all HBO can ask for with its latest venture HBO Max. If you’re a DirecTV subscriber like me you’ll get HBO Max for free. Otherwise things get kind of confusing based on who your provider is and you may have to pony up for the new streaming channel, even if you already pay for HBO.

While there is no concrete release date, HBO Max says to expect the #SnyderCut of Justice League in 2021 so it could be a while before we see it.

What Are the Top 5 Movie Props of All Time?

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I saw this tweet going around the other day posing an excellent question: What is the greatest movie prop of all time? Maybe you’re going with Marty Mcfly’s self lacing shoes or perhaps George Clooney’s Batsuit with the nipples? Here are hands down the Top 5 movie props of all time.

5. Beatrix Kiddo’s Hattori Hanzo sword

A Hattori Hanzo sword is like a modern day Valyrian Steel sword, which didn’t make the cut because GOT isn’t actually a movie. Goddamn was Kill Bill a great movie though. Watching both 1 and 2 are worth the double feature binge if you’ve never seen them. Basically a Hattori Hanzo is the rarest, sharpest, and best kind of sword ever produced. “If on your journey you should encounter God, God will be cut.”

4. Darth Vader’s Lightsaber

Truly one of the most badass characters in cinematic history. There are dozens of Star Wars characters and their lightsabers to pick from and I almost went with Mace Windu’s purple saber or the double sided Darth Maul version, but it’s hard to beat the original bad guy.

3. Happy Gilmore’s Putter

Maybe it’s the white trash in me, but I’ve always loved the Happy Gilmore hockey stick turned putter. It’s practical too as Adam Sandler had to actually sink putts with it. The putter may not be regulation, but I’m not exactly on the PGA tour so I think I can sneak the extra club in my bag. Nothing would please me more than sinking a birdie putt on 18 after shooting in the three figures on the first 17.

2. Mjolnir

Sure I have the plastic replica and a Mjolnir keychain, but give me the real deal! I don’t expect the hammer to come when called like a Golden Retriever, but this is THE conversation piece to stick up on your mantle. I would be shocked and disappointed if Chris Hemsworth didn’t steal this prop after production on Endgame wrapped.

  1. Vin Diesel’s 67 Pontiac GTO from XXX

Long before Samuel L. Jackson was even a twinkle in Nick Fury’s eye, this Vin Diesel store brand James Bond flick introduced us to the greatest movie prop of all time. XXX came out when I was 13 so obviously I was the exact target demo, but I also saw XXX 3: Return of Xander Cage in theaters with Papa Giorgio when I was 27 sooo…

Say what you want about this (delightful) movie, but if you don’t enjoy XXX you are someone who takes themselves entirely too seriously. Now lets get to the best part of the movie: the 1967 Pontiac GTO. This is just the sweetest ride these eyes have ever seen and I’m not even a car guy. This is the best (and most practical) movie prop of all time. For some reason I couldn’t find the scene where they unveil the GTO on YouTube in English so you’ll just have to make do with Spanish. De nada.

So whats your top movie prop of all time?

Good Guy Chris Hemsworth Gives Autograph to a Dude Chasing Him On a Motorbike While Filming “Extraction”

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As soon as the Patriots trade down yet again tonight I am giving up on watching the draft and turning on Chris Hemsworth’s new Netflix movie that just dropped. Whether Hemsworth can sustain a career outside of the MCU remains to be seen, but this looks like a pretty sweet action flick. Oh and it seems like Thor is a good guy to boot!

“You know, I always thought that Matt Damon was like a Streisand, but…I think he’s rockin’ the shit in this one.”

Tom Brady Just Partnered With the Directors of THE AVENGERS to Launch a New Production Company

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For proper experience, press play on the music below and then read on.

Tom Brady’s first venture into the original content world, Tom vs Time, was excellent as it was an insightful, behind the scenes look at one of the greatest athletes of all time. Hell, even Jets fans enjoyed that mini series. My only complaint was how short the entire thing was. Six episodes that were each about 10 minutes long. By the end of it I was like a junkie looking for his next fix. Well, it seems we only need to chase the dragon for a bit longer as Tom Brady is partnering with the Russo Brothers, the directors of THE AVENGERS, to launch his new company, 199 Productions. You can imagine the excitement from the guys who spent weeks of their lives re-watching and reviewing the entire MCU catalogue last year.

Tom Brady + the architects of the MCU creating new original content together might literally tear a hole in the space time continuum with how good that sounds. With $22 Billion in gross box office sales over the last 13 years, the Russo’s know what their doing in terms of storytelling. The only thing missing from this partnership is Kevin Feige, but I won’t get greedy here. I would watch just about anything 199 Productions puts out there with the Russo Brothers.

I was hoping for a Tom vs Time season 2 at some point, but this seems like it will slide into that slot. Tom Brady’s *other* media production company Religion of Sports, which he co-founded with Gotham Chopra and Michael Strahan, has created a bunch of content, but most of it has been focused on random subjects like Steph Curry or soccer in developing countries. I need more Brady TV if we’re being honest.

Now is it mildly concerning that Tom Brady announced the creation of a new production company just days before his free agency begins? No…not at all.

Binge Prospectus – Q1 2020

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So I’m going to purposely eschew writing a gigantic intro here because I think the blog itself is going to be long enough already. But a few notes:

  • Any titles in Bold I’m giving a must watch label.
  • Just listing movies with no description because this is more about shows and docs.
  • I’m putting all documentaries at the bottom so if you are into non-fiction go there.
  • The timeline might not always add up here. As in, it’s Q1 2020 and I might go all the way back to some times 2019 if I don’t think the show/movie has been addressed on the blog before. Or if a reminder might be warranted.
  • On that note ” ** ” denotes that this is not the first season of a show or that I feel the need to address it possibly out of left field.
  • You’re about to read about a lot of British shit. I know, I’m kind of an anglophile when it comes to T.V. But that doesn’t change the fact that Netflix, Hulu, and the Premiums have dumped a ton of money into UK #content that is often very good.
  • Not all of these are “full” reviews. By this I mean not all of the shows, in particular, that I am going to discuss have been finished by myself or another member of the staff. We however, out of the goodness of our hearts, at least started them in order to offer our take. Your welcome.

Let’s do it.

Streaming
Netflix

“The Witcher” (Series, US)
Red and one of our other buddies have watched this and recommended it. I started and was a bit lost but I’ve been told that could totally be an issue if you haven’t played the game or read the book(s) to some extent. Either way, I think it a good option for anyone who is on the “willing to ‘s’ a ‘d'” end of the spectrum in terms of GOT/fantasy show withdrawals.

“Messiah” (Series, US)
Think “Homeland” meets well, the second coming of Christ. In this kind of bizarre show a CIA agent (Michelle Monaghan) tracks a man from the Middle East who might have some serious terrorism connections but also might be God. It gets almost campy at times but is a good overall watch

“The Society” (Series, US)
An interesting application of Lord of the Flies or possibly more accurate, the Stanford Prison Experiment, theory. A group of High Schoolers get brought home from a field trip before they ever get there to find their town abandoned. They basically have to form their own new “society” (nudge) complete with their own system of government that absolutely has no teenage dramage involved whatsoever. Guilty Pleasure score of 1000000.

“The End of the F***** World” (Series, UK) **Season 2
Season 2 catches us up with James (maybe?) and Alyssa. It is a just as enjoyable, albeit not as fresh, serving of this dry, bleak, British dark comedy about two depressed teenagers.

“The Stranger” (Limited Series, UK)
I think I’ve talked about Harlan Coben’s partnering with Netflix before but I’ll provide some context anyway. Or skip to paragraph two now. Basically, Harlan Coben is an award winning novelist of what is described as “domestic thrillers”. What this means is that unlike a lot of thriller novels, his characters are not, necessarily, cops or private eyes or political figures, etc., trying to catch a bad guy. They could be, for instance, doctors or businessman whose wives/daughters have disappeared, etc.

This is the third time out for Coben and Netflix and again they’ve nailed it. While I would say it is the third best behind the “The Five” and “Safe”, that also just isn’t fair considering how good the first two were. In this offering, A family man is approached by a mysterious “stranger” (nudge) with a cryptic message regarding his wife. Then everything kind of goes to hell.

“Sex Education” (Series, UK) **Season 2
To be perfectly honest I don’t totally remember what happened at the end of S1 except that the whole thing was a really good, very funny at times story about a teenager that takes a page out of his shrink mother’s book and starts making cash giving his classmates sex advice. S2 deals with a lot of the same things as S1 did.

“The OA” (Series, US)**Season 2
The second, and sadly now last, season of this head-fuck of a show takes you on another journey of questioning the meaning of life, death, consciousness, and memory. Absolutely sucks they cancelled it.

Movies

  • “Shotcaller”
  • “The Captive”
  • “Blue Valentine”
  • “In the Shadow of the Moon”

Hulu

“Killing Eve” (Series, UK)**Season 2
Another killer season of the drama based around a American working an admin job for British intelligence (Sandra Oh) who becomes obsessed with catching a psychotic but bemused assassin (Jodie Comer) who develops an affinity for her as well.

“Letterkenny” (Series, Canada)**Lots of seasons
The best way I’ve been able to describe “Letterkenny” is a cross between “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Trailer Park Boys” with a touch of “Rain Man”. Take that for what it’s worth but prepare to laugh your ass off while watching this one about a smarter-than-they-look group of farming friends and the small, cliquey, Canadian town they inhabit

“Top of the Lake”** (Series, Australia/UK)
This is a “late to the party” suggestion as this UK/Australian venture had two seasons released in 2013 and 2017 but is still catching on here in the States. The show follows a police detective (Elisabeth Moss, who won an Emmy for her performance) as she solves a twist-heavy mystery per-season all while keeping her past compartmentalized.

“High Fidelity” (Series, US)
The John Cusack-starring-movie-based-on-the-book-of-the-same-name is adapted now into a show. This time our lead is Zoe Kravitz as Robyn “Rob” Brooks, a record store owner decimated by her last break up and hoping to find out where things went wrong in a semi-“How I Met Your Mother”/”Lovesick” style. The quirky humor and character’s penchant for breaking the fourth wall make this as intoxicating as the whiskey (neat) they drink.

“Four Weddings and a Funeral” (Limited Series, UK)
I’ve never seen the movie this is adapted from but this one-season-only tale of a group of late-20 somethings has just enough of post-college “what the fuck am I doing?”-ness to make it another must watch. Sure it’s mostly a romcom but it’s a cheesy good watch.

“The Accident” (Limited Series, UK)
I’ll admit I’m only one “part” into this four part series from Britain’s Channel 4 (from what I understand they have the BBC and Channel 4 and that’s it?). With that said. It’s insanely gripping. On one hand you have a local tragedy. On another you have a corporate/industrial fuck up of epic proportions that has some degree of cover up forthcoming. And in the middle you have all the emotions pooling together.

Movies

  • “The Party’s Just Beginning”
  • “Drinking Buddies”

PS – PSSSSSSSSSSSSSTT “The O.C” is on Hulu

Amazon
Blogger’s Note: I collected a couple recs for Amazon but don’t have it so this is going to be brief.

“Jack Ryan” (Series, US)**Season 2
If you don’t know who Jack Ryan is he basically is the American answer to James Bond but from humbler beginnings. This show I’m told kicks ass.

“The Boys” (Series, US)
This show is getting a ton of pop right now. It’s a superhero show where the good guys fight back against the bad guys and both sides are superheroes? I’m not too sure from there but I have friends who aren’t even into that shit and love it.

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Series, US)** Season 4?
This one was a hit from the jump. In the wake of her marriage crumbling a woman tries stand up and fucking crushes.

The Premiums

“His Dark Materials” (Series, HBO)
If there were two words in the English language I would grade as impossible to define without a 45 minute thesis defense, it would be 1.) irony and 2.) steam punk. But I’m pretty sure HDM is kind of steam punk, or sort of 19th/18th centurish with insertions of modern to futuristic technology? Right? Fuck man idk but there’s some magic in there too and James McAvoy is dreamy.

“The Dublin Murders” (Limited Series, Starz)
This UK offering was alllllllmost what I needed it to be which was a crime/mystery in the vain of the Coben series’ and “The Missing”. Instead it is sort of like “The Night Of” where instead of fully investing itself in being a whodunit, it examines exactly what the people involved in a whodunit truly go through. While TNO looked at this from the suspects’ POV, TBM looks at it from the victims’ and their families’.

“Chernobyl” (Limited Series, HBO)
A look at what really (possibly?) went on behind the scenes of the infamous nuclear disaster.

Documentaries

“McMillions” (Series, HBO)
The saga of how a group of people were able to basically/kind of defraud McDonald’s of millions based off of the fucking monopoly game. I mean, wow. Seriously interesting though.

“The Devil Next Door” (Series, Netflix)
It is discovered that retired,, blue collar Polish immigrant living in Michigan was a sadistic Nazi death camp guard…..or was he?

“Operation Odessa” (Movie, Showtime)
The story of how a crooked Miami business, honcho for the Cali Cartel, and a Ukranian gangster almost acquired A MOTHAFUCKIN SUBMARINE for the cartel to use to transport product. Insanity.

Deepfakes Are Wild. Check Out Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland IN Back to the Future

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Deepfake videos are an absolute trip and probably will start a war one day. But as we do with all new technology in it’s infancy, we utilize it in utterly ridiculous ways until we figure out what to really do with it. When people truly perfect deepfakes and then combine that with machine learning audio, then we are all truly in some deep shit.

This Obama deepfake from a couple of years ago gets pretty close.

Until then enjoy the harmless fun of seeing the buddy cop duo of Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland dropped into a completely different cinematic universe together.

There is Video of Samuel L. Jackson Asking George Lucas for the Purple Lightsaber and It’s Hilarious

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I’m not sure if this has already circulated around the internet in the past, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it and I laughed out loud. As Star Wars nerds know, every lightsaber has a certain color for a very specific reason. Jedi lightsabers are green and blue, Sith are red because they make the kyber crystals “bleed” to build their lightsabers. Then there’s Samuel L. Jackson. His is purple. No reason was ever given in the prequels and it was just assumed Samuel L. Jackson got a purple lightsaber because he is a Bad Motherfucker.

Well it turns out, thats pretty much exactly how it went down.

Lucas: “Good guys are green and blue. Bad guys are red. Thats just the way it works.”

Jackson: *nodding* No purple lightsaber?

Lucas: “….you might get purple.”

You can literally see the moment George Lucas collapses under the weight of Samuel L. Jackson’s charisma. That or he was afraid of getting MF’d on set by Jules.

Samuel L. Jackson (and Ewan McGregor) were the highlight of a pretty mediocre trilogy of movies so if giving him an unexplained purple lightsaber made for a better Mace Windu so be it. In fact, give me a Mace Windu spinoff and I will continue borrowing my friend’s my subscription to Disney+

The Fast and Furious 9 Trailer is Here and It. Is. Glorious.

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The Fast and Furious 9, or F9 if you want to be official, trailer is here and it. is. glorious. I’m what some may call a bit of a hipster Fast fan as I was an un-ironic diehard of the original. Seriously, I made the mecca to LA to visit Dom Toretto’s house.

2 Fast 2 Furious was fine, but then I also loved watching Tokyo Drift, especially drunk after the bar since Spike TV aired it at 2 am routinely.

A lot of people jumped on the bandwagon with the release of 4 and 5, but I cannot state how excited, albeit skeptical, I was when Vin Diesel revealed the plan to have TEN movies in the Fast-verse. Now No. 9 is up along with another nonsensical title which I have to believe is being done intentionally at this point. Seriously just look at this:

The Fast and the Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Fast & Furious
Fast Five
Fast & Furious 6
Furious 7
The Fate of the Furious
F9

Now lets break down some of the highlights of this Oscar bait.

Dom apparently has a son now?

John Cena Toretto

Charlize Theron has my 6th grade haircut now so there’s that.

Potentially the most absurd stunt to date and thats saying a lot in this franchise.

A Pontiac Fiero with a rocket strapped to it that is apparently faster than a jet.

Also, it seems we are seeking Justice this time around so someone’s been killed, but I can’t imagine they killed off Paul Walker’s character? Then again his wife Jordana Brewster is prominently featured so maybe?

Not to mention the shocking reveal at the end of the trailer. I’ll admit, I gasped. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t watched the trailer yet but it’s a trip.

This bad boy hits theaters on May 22nd and I will be there with bells on.

The 300s Top 10 Movies of the Decade

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It’s starting to feel a lot like the end of Majora’s Mask with the moon about to smash into the earth as we rapidly approach the end of the decade. With the 2010’s hitting the wrap it up box it’s a perfect time to rank the best of the best and today we’re picking the Top 10 Movies of the Decade. As always, we polled the staff on their top 15 movies awarding their favorite flick 15 points all the way down to 1 point for No. 15 and then we aggregated the total points to rank our Top 10.

Time to run it back!

10. Edge of Tomorrow

“One of the best action movies of all-time with a slick, coherent time travel plot that makes it a cross between Back to the Future and Groundhogs Day. Tom Cruise does what Tom Cruise does best in this one; action with a megawatt smile. However, this movie isn’t just a dumb popcorn flick, its actually a pretty thoughtful script that plays with the notion of time travel and using it like a reset button as Cruise, by dying many many times, meticulously levels up from being a joke to a super solider who is singlehandedly bringing an end to the war. Every time I see a mech suit in a movie I cringe because they never look as cool on screen as they sound on paper, but Edge of Tomorrow crushes the look and the actual physics of it. If you’re looking for this movie though you might have to search for the dumbed down title they slapped on it when it hit DVD: Live. Die. Repeat. Because ya know, time travel!” – Red

9. Inception

“Christopher Nolan followed up the wildly successful The Dark Knight just two years later with Inception in 2010, which absolutely blew my mind. A movie that in theory should be an absolute popsicle headache is a gripping heist flick all while messing with time and our perception of reality. I don’t know how Nolan made this into a coherent let alone incredible movie, but he also had the help of an A+, albeit distinctly Nolan, cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Caine. You would think recycling the same handful of actors in all his movies would get tiresome, but it doesn’t, which is a testament to their work.” – Red

8. Sicario

“Sicario plays like an action film on the surface, but if you take a closer look it could be argued it borders on horror. The entire movie has this sense of impending doom that is masterfully brought to the screen by Denis Villeneuve. If I was a college professor, it would mandatory viewing in any film studies class I taught. I dare you to watch this without feeling anxious.” – Papa Giorgio 

7. La La Land

“La La Land was the best musical in decades. La La Land appealed to more than just fans of musicals thanks to brilliant performances from Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Stone won an Oscar and Gosling was nominated for an Oscar for their performances as two artists pursuing their dreams and struggling to make it in Hollywood. Ambitious and poignant, La La Land is a toast to the fools who dream.” – Big Z

6. Hell or High Water

“Chris Pine stars in what is the closest thing we have to a modern day Western. This film flew completely under my radar until it hit the home video market and I gave it a chance on a whim. Turns out it’s a masterpiece of cinema.” – Papa Giorgio

5. Get Out

“One of the most inventive and terrifying movies I’ve ever seen coming from a rookie film director/writer, Jordan Peele. Despite coming from a background of sketch comedy, Peele wrote one of the best horror scripts of all time, boosted by its timing in history where racial tensions are rising in the United States. The movie itself works as an elaborate analogy for being trapped in a society that wants to keep you down. I actually didn’t see this movie until a year after it came out and somehow didn’t have the plot or the twist spoiled for me, which was the best way to go into this anxiety inducing film.” – Red

4. Django Unchained

“I enjoyed this movie so much that I actually went out and bought the Steel Book Blu Ray, only for it to be released on Netflix the next day… This is one of Quentin Tarantino’s finest works led by superb acting from A-list actors in smaller supporting roles, which is where Tarantino’s writing shines. Jamie Foxx plays a freed slave turned bounty hunter alongside Christoph Waltz who in the last several years (Inglorious Basterds, Spectre, Muppets Most Wanted) has become the rare actor who I will literally see anything he’s in. Waltz is that good. Not to mention Leonardio DiCaprio’s gloriously unhinged super racist, Calvin Candie. Django is completely over the top violent, filled with cringeworthy racial epithets, and intelligent witty banter with a tight, stylistic script: everything you come to expect from Tarantino.” – Red

3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

“Tarantino had quite the decade didn’t he? Forget the hot garbage that was The Hateful Eight, because with TWO movies in our top four of the decade Tarantino is on fire. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a movie that I literally had no idea what to expect going into. I wasn’t particularly aware of the Sharon Tate story until hearing about this movie, and the trailers went to painstaking effort to not show anything of real substance. Luckily for Tarantino he is Quentin Tarantino so he could get away with that plus a few shots of Leo and Brad Pitt looking handsome AF, the brief shot of the Bruce Lee inspired character, as well as Margot Robbie and I was IN. This movie is the definition of a slow burn, which is not really what I’ve come to expect from Tarantino. His movies are usually violent from the get go and/or frantically paced, but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood takes you through the winding down careers of DiCaprio (legitimately might win an Oscar) and Pitt amidst one of the best bromances ever put on the big screen. After about 60 minutes I started to wonder where this was all going before of course we start getting introduced to the Manson clan and this impending sense of doom starts to creep. THEN the final 20 minutes of the movie happen and I am literally left in shock wondering what the hell I just watched yet unable to wipe the smile off my face.” – Red

2. The Wolf of Wall Street

“Its easy to see The Wolf of Wall Street simply as an ode to Bros everywhere, but that would be missing the point. The movie is done entirely tongue in cheek, albeit entertaining AF along the way, detailing the fast rise and the cataclysmic fall of Jordan Belfort. The Wolf of Wall Street is a fast talking, incredibly loud, and hypersexualized peek behind the curtain of absolute meat heads scamming people out of their money in the stock market. I think what makes it so entertaining is that this shit actually happened. Before the internet, before your reputation stuck to you like glue, a group of slick talking bros and bro-ettes were able to game the system and get rich off the backs of dummies looking to play the stock market.

A far less critically acclaimed (let alone seen) movie based on the same exact idea called Boiler Room came out in 2000 so its not exactly original source material, but the impeccable character acting is what rocketed this movie all the way up to No. 2 on our list. From Leonardo DiCaprio (this is his 4th time on our list btw) and Jonah Hill playing the ultimate archetype of toxic masculinity to Kyle Chandler’s no bullshit federal agent, Jon Bernthal’s small time drug dealer, Rob Reiner as the absolute lunatic father, and in a smaller self contained role Matthew McConaughey playing…well…Matthew McConaughey. Plus The Wolf of Wall Street also introduced us to Margot Robbie, which in of itself is enough to land this movie on the best of list.” – Red 

1. The Social Network

“Nearly ten years after its release, The Social Network still feels as fresh as it did the day it was released. As someone who was at one of the first schools (not Harvard) to get The Facebook (as it was called in 2004), this film accurately captures that moment in time. It’s the definitive account of the rise of Facebook in particular and social media in general, and is some of Aaron Sorkin’s best work. And nearly ten years later I still can’t forget this absolutely brutal takedown:

‘You’re going to go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.'” – Big Z

All Sorts of DC and Marvel Rumors Are Swirling and I’m Having a Nerdgasm

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I am a nerd when it comes to this stuff so take these casting and movie rumors and inject them into my damn veins.

“[Sources] have informed us that inspired by the success of Joker, WB is now looking to do more standalone, dark and mature DC movies. And one project they’d like to make happen is a live-action Batman Beyond with [Michael] Keaton in the lead role.“

There is a rumor floating around that Michael Keaton could be in line to star as Bruce Wayne in a live action Batman Beyond movie. Batman Beyond was one of the best takes on Batman without rehashing the same old origin story that everyone goes back to. It focused on an old Bruce Wayne who used to be Batman with the mantle of the Dark Knight going to a young Terry McGinnis in the not so distant future. If that doesn’t give you a pants tent, well the internet has already started designing fake posters for this non-existent movie.

Then there are people who are doing the mental gymnastics around how this project could already be in the works. Theres been a TON of mystery and secrecy around Robert Pattinson’s upcoming Batman movie and mostly because nobody knows what its about. Especially after Ben Affleck’s script got thrown in the trash. So some people are theorizing that Pattinson could actually be playing Terry McGinnis with Keaton sliding in to play the older Bruce Wayne.

Sign. Me. Up.

And if you really wanted to fuck with people you could bring back Mark Hammil, who voiced the Joker in Batman the Animated Series and in some of the video games, for the fourth iteration of the Joker in the pasts decade.

Also, unrelated yet hilarious, a picture of Henry Cavill’s mustachioed Superman has finally leaked and it is glorious. Honestly, for all the dark tones these DC movies tried to force down our throats, maybe a man of steel with a flavor savor wouldn’t have been the worst thing.

Now that we’ve gone through DC’s latest rumors, lets head on over to the big kid on the block in the MCU.

In his new role as Creative Czar of Marvel, Kevin Feige is reportedly rebooting all of the Marvel TV shows that had mixed results. This comes as no surprise after each of the Marvel Netflix shows was slowly and methodically cancelled. Some like Daredevil and the Punisher were legitimately great shows and others like Iron Fist I could not make it through the pilot. Now its a real shame that Marvel plans to reboot these shows because it just makes the whole Netflix Marvel era feel like a waste of time. (Ironically enough thats been DC’s fundamental flaw forever) HOWEVER, there are now rumors circulating that while Feige will indeed reboot these shows he wants to keep some of the key actors in these roles.

“Our sources – the same ones who recently brought us accurate scoops such as Wiccan will debut in WandaVision, General Ross will appear in She-Hulk and the Inhumans will show up in Ms. Marvel – say that the Man Without Fear is likely to be played by Charlie Cox again. From what we understand, Feige still wants Cox as Daredevil, Jon Bernthal as the Punisher and a few more actors to reprise their roles, but for the most part, the TV characters will all be recast and whether they’re brought to life by a new performer or not, they’ll all be rebooted, with the super producer basically wanting to wipe Marvel TV’s efforts from continuity/existence.”

That is nothing more than a whisper in the wind, but that would be incredible and not to mention entirely unprecedented. I can’t think of one instance of a show or movie getting rebooted with the same actor returning to the role. That would be like Jared Leto and his weird, hoodrich version of the Joker reprising his role in the Todd Philips’ dark, grounded, gritty standalone film.

Don’t mess with me, internet message boards. These rumors are too good to not be true.