All World News Catch: May 2018

Thursday 31 May 2018

What You Might Say

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In a First for Germany, Hamburg Bans Diesel Engines. On 2 Roads.

By AMIE TSANG and CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE from NYT Business Day https://ift.tt/2smgXtv

Italy, Arkady Babchenko, Whales: Your Thursday Briefing

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‘The Americans,’ at Last, Lets Us Exhale

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The End of ‘The Americans’: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys on the ‘Devastating’ Finale

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Grilled Vegetable Pasta with Romesco

Superhero Bits: ‘Swamp Thing’ Character Details, Abandoned ‘Infinity War’ Viral Stunt & More

Ant-Man and the Wasp Promo Art

When does the third season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow arrive on Blu-ray and DVD? What special gift did some fans bring Tom Holland at Comicpalooza? What Avengers: Infinity War viral marketing stunt never came to be thanks to Disney? What do we know about the lead characters in DC’s Swamp Thing series? Want to make a trash omelette that Rocket Raccoon would love? All that and more in this edition of Superhero Bits.

On this latest episode of Marvel Eat the Universe, find out how to make Rocket Raccoon‘s Trash Omelette.

Disney is lining up financing for the 20th Century Fox deal in case Comcast‘s all-cash bid poses a threat.

Rehearsal is important. Commitment is key. Having both legs surgically removed before this scene was regrettable. #deadpool2 #FullWinnieThePooh pic.twitter.com/TkblwMibzZ

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) May 28, 2018

Ryan Reynolds posted this rehearsal photo from one of the more disturbing but funnier scenes in Deadpool 2.

James Gunn has complimented another Guardians of the Galaxy Easter egg, but it’s not the big missing one.

Some genius took footage from the DC Extended Universe and made a Bohemian Rhapsody trailer mash-up.

Deadpool 2 has already passed $500 million at the worldwide box office, and it’s only been a week and a half.

New Ant-Man and the Wasp Promo Art! from marvelstudios

A new promo image of Ant-Man and the Wasp has surfaced featuring our heroes and their insect pals.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow season three will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD this fall on September 25.

Continue Reading Superhero Bits

Due to the amount of graphics and images included in Superhero Bits, we have to split this post over THREE pages. Click the link above to continue to the next page of Superhero Bits.

The post Superhero Bits: ‘Swamp Thing’ Character Details, Abandoned ‘Infinity War’ Viral Stunt & More appeared first on /Film.

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Water Cooler Discussion: What We Did/Watched/Played/Read Over The Memorial Day Weekend

On the May 30, 2018 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film managing editor Jacob Hall, weekend editor Brad Oman, senior writer Ben Pearson, and writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to talk about what we’ve been watching and what we’ve been up to in an extended but delayed edition of Water Cooler Monday.

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes, Google Play, Overcast, Spotify and all the popular podcast apps (here is the RSS URL if you need it).

At The Water Cooler:

- What we’ve been doing:
  - Peter visited Orlando Florida for a wedding, and went to EPCOT for the Flower and Garden Festival and is realizing he might be too old or out of shape for a full day of theme parking.
  - HT went to Bethany Beach in Delaware for Memorial Day with her family
  - Chris went to the Ocean’s 8 press day in THE BIG APPLE
  - Jacob has been battling black widow spiders in his garage
  - Brad went out on a pontoon boat with his friends, bought a WALL-E print he’s wanted for years
- What we’ve been eating:
  - Peter ate his favorite appetizer of all time, Pizza Skins
  - Brad tried Nilla Banana Pudding cereal and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pebbles

Ben crushed Memorial Day weekend with BBQ brisket, green beans, and amazing cornbread

- What we’ve been watching:
  - Peter attended David Blaine Live at the Dolby Theatre
  - Jacob revisited Rob Reiner’s Misery, and experienced Demon Wind.
  - Brad watched the first season of AP Bio on NBC, rewatched Game Night
  - HT watched (and obsessed over) the just-released part 2 of Terrace House

Ben watched Paddington 2, Columbus, and Hearts Beat Loud

What we’ve been playing:
- Jacob has been playing Dark Souls Remastered on the PS4 and Star Wars: Rebellion and Azul on his table
- Brad has been “playing” Weezer’s cover of “Africa” by Toto over and over again
What we’ve been reading:
- Chris has been reading The Art Of Solo: A Star Wars Story & You All Grow Up And Leave Me
- Jacob has been reading Dave Itzkoff’s Robin
- HT read Of Mice and Men for the first time
- Ben is reading The House on the Strand

Woody Harrelson Confirms He’ll Appear in ‘Venom’ and ‘Venom 2’

Woody Harrelson Venom

Despite the fact that we’ve seen two trailers for it already, I’m still having trouble believing that Sony Pictures’ Venom is a real movie. But as baffling as it is for Sony to create an entirely separate Marvel cinematic universe centered on Spider-Man’s supporting characters while not featuring the web-slinger himself, that’s exactly what they’re doing. But at least they’ve pulled together a great cast to kick things off.

We’ve known for a while that Woody Harrelson would appear in this movie, but now we have confirmation from the man himself, plus a hint at what we can expect from him in Venom and when he returns for…uh, Venom 2?

Collider sat down with Harrelson, who confirmed last year’s report that he would have a role in Venom. Harrelson cited the reunion with his Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer as part of the reason he decided to come on board the superhero film, as well as working with star Tom Hardy, who’s playing the lead role of Venom/Eddie Brock in this film. But he also said Venom has “a really wonderful script,” and explained the size of his role in the movie while confirming that he’ll show up in the inevitable sequel:

“I’m in a little fraction of this movie, but I’ll be in the next one, you know? So I haven’t read that script, but anyways, just rolled the dice.”

Initial reports said he’d be playing a henchman, but earlier this year, a rumor circulated saying Harrelson would actually be playing the comic book villain Carnage, a serial killer named Cletus Kasady who is infected with the same alien symbiote as Eddie Brock. Harrelson’s comment about barely showing up in Venom but teasing a much larger role in Venom 2 seems to indicate that he’s playing a bigger character than just a random henchman, so the Carnage option is looking more and more likely here. If that turns out to be the case, that’s a fun piece of casting – Harrelson can be manic and wild with the best of ’em, and it might be cool to see him turned loose in an uncontrolled part like Carnage.

For me, the most interesting thing about this is the behind-the-scenes component. Did Harrelson agree to appear in Venom and Venom 2 movie because he thinks Ruben Fleischer is directing both films? Would Sony keep Fleischer on as the director of a sequel if the first movie underperforms at the box office? But I suppose all of this is putting the cart before the horse, and this particular horse pulls into theaters on October 5, 2018.

Here’s Venom’s official synopsis:

One of Marvel’s most enigmatic, complex and badass characters comes to the big screen, starring Academy Award® nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector Venom.

The post Woody Harrelson Confirms He’ll Appear in ‘Venom’ and ‘Venom 2’ appeared first on /Film.

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This ‘The Meg’ TV Spot is Pleased to Eat You

Even if most summer movies turn out to disappoint this year, we can all take solace in knowing that, as the summer winds down, Jason Statham will battle a giant shark in The Meg. A new The Meg TV spot offers up some new footage, and confirms that this movie will probably be very dumb and very entertaining.

The Meg TV Spot

August is the dumping ground for summer movies. It’s where studios deposit the films they’re not entirely confident about, with the hopes that a mostly barren movie landscape will yield surprising results. It’s a month that’s perfect for a movie like The Meg, a big, dumb monster flick in which Jason Statham has to outrun a giant prehistoric shark.

This is the type of movie that practically screams, “THIS PROBABLY WON’T BE VERY GOOD BUT YOU’LL LIKE IT ANYWAY!” As this new The Meg TV spot shows, the film features Statham and company cruising around the high seas, dealing with a big-ass shark that keeps smashing into shit. There’s some humor – none of it that funny – and there’s some shots of Statham scowling. But most of all, there’s The Meg, that big ol’ shark ready to open its giant jaws and devour hapless humans whole.

National Treasure filmmaker Jon Turteltaub helms The Meg, but the shark flick has stormed some bumpy seas on its way to the big screen. The movie is based on Steve Alten’s novel Meg, published in 1997. Film rights to the book were purchased the year the book hit shelves, but the adaptation swam its way right into development hell. Over the years, both Jan de Bont and Guillermo Del Toro were attached to direct. Then in 2015, Cabin Fever filmmaker Eli Roth was officially announced as director. Roth ended up leaving the project as well. That’s when the movie ended up in Turtletaub’s hands. And here we are.

In addition to Statham, The Meg stars Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis. And Daniel Day-Lewis came out of retirement to play the shark via motion capture (note: this isn’t true).

The Meg opens on August 10, 2018.

A massive creature attacks a deep-sea submersible, leaving it disabled and trapping the crew at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. With time running out, rescue diver Jonas Taylor must save the crew and the ocean itself from an unimaginable threat — a 75-foot-long prehistoric shark known as the Megalodon.

The post This ‘The Meg’ TV Spot is Pleased to Eat You appeared first on /Film.

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New ‘Forces of Destiny’ Short Features Qi’ra Facing Off Against a Famous Bounty Hunter (No, Not That One)

forces of destiny qira

If Solo: A Star Wars Story proves anything, it’s that we can’t get enough of brunette British ladies kicking butt and taking names — all while wearing some fabulous capes. Unfortunately, Qi’ra isn’t wearing her glamorous wardrobe in this new Forces of Destiny animated short, but she is kicking quite a bit of bounty hunter butt.

Forces of Destiny Qira Short

The latest Forces of Destiny short gives us even more of Emilia Clarke‘s character Qi’ra, as well as a certain bounty hunter that first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. No, it’s not the inexplicably beloved Boba Fett (we’ll see plenty of him in the future), but the robot IG-88.

The short shows Qi’ra on the run from the notorious Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka, who for some reason, has his sights set on Qi’ra and the bounty on her head. Hondo has teamed up with IG-88 to capture Qi’ra, but both of them are outsmarted by the wily Qi’Ra and trudge off in chains to be turned in for the hefty bounties on their heads.

Here is the synopsis for the Forces of Destiny Qi’ra short:

Hondo teams up with bounty hunter droid IG-88 to capture Qi’ra, but she outsmarts both her pursuers by pitting them against each other so that she can collect the bounty on them.

My favorite thing about this short is that, in an effort to differentiate her from three other brunette women who have headlined the Star Wars films, this short gives Qi’ra heavy eyeshadow and a serious case of Dreamworks face. At least her eyebrows are true to Clarke’s impressively bushy brows.

Like many Forces of Destiny shorts, the short itself has little to do with Qi’ra’s Solo storyline and probably won’t feature any major developments in the Star Wars saga. But it’s still pretty darn fun.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is currently playing in theaters.

Young Han Solo finds adventure when he joins a gang of galactic smugglers, including a 196-year-old Wookie named Chewbacca. Indebted to the gangster Dryden Vos, the crew devises a daring plan to travel to the mining planet Kessel to steal a batch of valuable coaxium. In need of a fast ship, Solo meets Lando Calrissian, the suave owner of the perfect vessel for the dangerous mission — the Millennium Falcon.

The post New ‘Forces of Destiny’ Short Features Qi’ra Facing Off Against a Famous Bounty Hunter (No, Not That One) appeared first on /Film.

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James Cameron is Still Dedicated to Making 3D Movies for the Foreseeable Future

james cameron 3d

3D may be rapidly losing popularity and theaters, but James Cameron is still convinced that this technology is the future of cinema. The director helped revive 3D technology with his groundbreaking, lavish 2009 sci-fi film Avatar, but unfortunately, few films has lived up to the potential of 3D since then.

Which is why Cameron is flying the flag for 3D with all four of his Avatar sequels — and possibly with all of his films for the foreseeable future.

The Avatar director spoke at a Vivid event in Sydney this weekend, where he broached a variety of topics, including his continued commitment to 3D technology, and the possibility of the long-awaited Terminator commentary track.

In the talk, reported by VFX Blog, he expressed hope that 3D would become “commonplace,” which he believes the industry has achieved, to an extent. “At the time that Avatar was released there were about three or four thousand theatres worldwide that were digital 3D enabled projection systems,” Cameron said. “We now have on the order of 65,000 or 70,000 3D enabled screens. It’s become ubiquitous. It’s become commonplace, and therefore not remarkable, which is why a lot of people attributed such a climb with 3D or the failure of 3D. I think going from 3,000 to 70,000 theatres is far from failure.”

However, 3D’s popularity is starting to slip. IMAX theaters have begun dropping 3D screens, and reports show a dramatic decline in 3D box office sales. Most of us would breathe a sigh of relief at the downfall of the 3D trend, but not Cameron. He says that the unpopularity of 3D is because of Hollywood’s gross mishandling of 3D conversion. He added:

“I think that Hollywood has done 3D a disservice by embracing post-conversion, which to me is the wrong track. We should do native photography because if we’re ever going to incorporate 3D into broad content production, which most of which is live or near realtime or short turnaround TV production, we have to use the native production tools. Native production technology has basically stalled as of about three or four years ago. We need to re-embrace native production. My hopeful prediction is we’ll get 4K out of our system from a broadcast perspective. When that becomes utterly commonplace and 100 percent saturated, everyone will look around for the next big thing.”

Cameron is currently in the midst of the intensive production of his Avatar sequels, which are being shot concurrently with the aim of releasing the films in 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. The $1 billion production includes a brand spanking new underwater motion-capture technology that Cameron has been tinkering with for years, and, of course, 3D. Unlike the ugly and clumsy 3D conversions we’ve seen in numerous blockbuster films, Cameron intends to film all four of his Avatar sequels in native 3D.

But audiences will expect more with Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5. After all, Cameron gave them an incredible, immersive experience with the first Avatar — something so unique that the film shattered all-time box office records and still holds the title of highest-grossing movie ever. And Cameron has an answer for that. “The next big thing will be staring them in the face when they look in the mirror, which is, you’ve got two eyes. We perceive the world stereoscopically,” Cameron said.

No more glasses, Cameron says. “We just want the screens to be all 3D and a good 3D.” Cameron is working with Dolby Cinema for his Avatar sequels to develop a technology “high dynamic range projection” that could put “16 foot-lamberts of light on a 3D screen through the glasses.” He added:

“We need to see the roll out of these laser projection systems, so that we can fully appreciate 3D through glasses in cinemas. Then, we need the roll out of autostereoscopic screens – large panel displays, where you don’t need glasses at all. You have multiple discreet viewing angles and all that sort of thing. Anybody that’s geeking out on 3D knows what I’m talking about. It’s all possible. It’s just a question of will it happen or not.”

It sounds a little far-fetched for now, but Cameron is nothing if not ambitious. The man has his hands in many pots outside of Avatar, including a new Terminator film starring Diego Luna. Speaking of Terminator, what about that long-awaited director commentary track for the original 1984 film, an audience member asked. “Okay, fair enough, I’ll do it, how does that sound?” Cameron answered.

Just one more Cameron project to look forward to.

The post James Cameron is Still Dedicated to Making 3D Movies for the Foreseeable Future appeared first on /Film.

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‘The Magic Order’ Trailer: Netflix’s First Comic Gets a Preview

The Magic Order trailer

Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for The Magic Order, the streaming service’s first foray into publishing original comic books.

Last year the company acquired Millarworld, the company belonging to famed comic writer Mark Millar, and now they’re seeing the first fruit of that transaction with this The Magic Order trailer, which teases the story of a group of magicians who are being killed off one by one. Check it out below.

The Magic Order Trailer

The Magic Order was written by Millar and has art by Marvel veteran Olivier Coipel (Thor, The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man). In the past, Millar’s work has leaned hard toward being edgy and controversial, and it’s worked to varying degrees in stories like Kick-Ass, Wanted, and Kingsman. He’s a big picture guy with a knack for creating premises that instantly hook readers, and though he’s hit some creative stumbles here and there, he’s undeniably talented.

The Magic Order looks like his version of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter mixed with Alan Moore’s Watchmen, which, again, is a pretty damn compelling premise. I mean, just this image of a group of magicians banding together to face down a huge and very Watchmen-esque Lovecraftian creature has me interested in seeing where this story goes:

Magic Order

That said: I’m still not entirely convinced Netflix getting into publication business is the smartest move. I mean, a news story recently came out that said Netflix’s market cap was bigger than Disney’s, so they’re clearly doing something right, but this seems like an unnecessary risk, doesn’t it? And as much as I like comics, am I alone in saying that I think I’d prefer to see The Magic Order as an animated series that looks just like this trailer? Maybe it’s just me, but I’d absolutely watch it if they adapted this into a show with that visual style.

Here’s the comic’s official synopsis:

We live in a world where we’ve never seen a monster and these people are the reason we sleep safely in our beds. Magic meets the mob in The Magic Order, as five families of magicians sworn to protect our world for generations must battle an enemy who’s picking them off one by one. By day they live among us as our neighbors, friends and co-workers, but by night they are the sorcerers, magicians and wizards that protect us from the forces of darkness…unless the darkness gets them first.

The series will be six issues long and will be available for sale in comic book stores starting on June 13, 2018.

The post ‘The Magic Order’ Trailer: Netflix’s First Comic Gets a Preview appeared first on /Film.

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Here’s Why ‘Clerks 3’ Isn’t Happening

Kevin Smith is set to begin working on a new Jay and Silent Bob film, but don’t expect to see Clerks 3 anytime soon. During a recent podcast, Smith revealed the reason why Clerks 3 is dead.

After Clerks 2 hit theaters in 2006, Kevin Smith was interested in making a third entry in the slacker comedy series. But alas, it was not to be. Smith had a script ready to go, and a budget set, but what ultimately killed Clerks 3 was the disinterest of one of the lead actors. During a recent “Fatman on Batman” Q&A (via CB), Smith confirmed that Jeff Anderson, who played video store clerk Randall in the series, didn’t want to return, which kind of put the final nail in the Clerks coffin.

“You need four people to make a Clerks movie,” Smith says. “For a while, one of the clerks did not want to be involved. I wrote the script, he dug the script, he was just like, ‘Yeah, don’t wanna do it.’ It took me years to get him to a place where, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll do this.’ And then it looked like we were moving forward. We had loot for it. $8 million. That was the budget.” Smith goes on to say:

“One of the four main characters did not want to be involved. It quickly spiraled out of control in a big, bad way, and wound up not happening and probably could never happen after the stream of events that hit a wall, and sometimes that’s a wall you can’t get over…So, yeah, sadly, that gets put to the side.”

To Smith’s credit, he didn’t decide to soldier on and replace Anderson with another actor:

“I want it so badly but I can’t do it without him, it was written for him. But the Randal part is the whole movie, like it’s Randal’s flick. So unless he changes his mind — if and when he changes his mind, I doubt that’ll happen — then we can kind of move forward. I could never recast it, he is Randal, Jeff Anderson.”

Perhaps this is ultimately for the best. When I was younger, the first Clerks was the gold-standard for indie filmmaking for me. As I got older, however, the film lost much of its charm. And yet, I enjoyed most of Clerks 2, which was surprisingly charming. But you can only go back to the same well so many times before it runs dry. The time of Clerks is at an end.

But that doesn’t mean the universe Clerks inhabits is over and done with. Smith is set to start filming a new Jay and Silent Bob film – titled Jay and Silent Bob Reboot – this summer. Per The Huffington Post, “the new film will again follow Jay and Silent Bob across country as they try to stop Hollywood from making a reboot of the film they originally made in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back.”

“It’s literally the same fucking movie all over again,” Smith says. “It’s a movie that makes fun of sequels and remakes and reboots while being all three at the same time.”

The post Here’s Why ‘Clerks 3’ Isn’t Happening appeared first on /Film.

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