26
May
Batman Begins was a curiosity before it became known as the launcher of director Christopher Nolan’s genre-transformative trilogy. After all, it arrived in the ignominious aftermath of 1997’s Batman & Robin, making it a reboot for which few were asking. Of course, the film proved to be a solid foundation for a franchise off the dualistic performance of lead Christian Bale and—no less significantly—the villainous, literally-gaslighting performance of Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. the Scarecrow. Interestingly, Murphy was close to donning the cape and cowl himself; a process he now looks back upon. Murphy has fielded a successful…
10
May
This article is presented by: How do you bring a comic book to life? It’s a question that studios have been struggling with since they first began making live-action superhero serials in the 1940s. Netflix’s newest comic book series adapts Image Comics’ metatext on the medium, Jupiter’s Legacy. Created by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely, the story centers on two generations of heroes. In its quest to bring this story to life, Netflix has enlisted costume designer Lizz Wolf. Though she’s new to the superhero genre, she has plenty of experience with massive actioners—including Rambo, The Expendables, and Pacific Rim:…
07
May
This Shadow and Bone article contains major spoilers for Episodes 5 & 6. As the director behind Episode 5, “Show Me Who You Are,” and 6, “The Heart is An Arrow,” of Shadow and Bone, Mairzee Almas was behind the camera for some of the major turning points of Season 1. These episodes see Alina and General Kirigan’s romantic interlude, Baghra’s reveal that Aleksander is actually the Black Heretic, and the coming together of the Crows and Alina for the first time. It’s when the season really kicks into a higher gear. Den of Geek talked to Almas—whose work you…
26
Apr
Movie chains across the U.S. are screening all eight Fast and Furious movies for free ahead of F9‘s premiere. “Fans of the Fast and Furious on ‘Fast Fridays’ can watch all eight films leading up to the summer release of F9 for free! Starting Friday, April 30, 2021, and every subsequent until June 18, theaters will show the Fast and Furious movies in chronological order. Movie chains like AMC, Regal, and Cinemark are participating along with 500 theaters across the country.” Read more at Gizmodo. From Stephen King’s Rage to the Encyclopædia Britannica, here are five books that are unlikely…
16
Feb
The first movie I recall seeing in theaters is Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Not that Christopher Columbus’ sequel about pratfalls and questionable parenting was my maiden voyage to a multiplex. There were Ninja Turtles and Disney animations before that. Apparently. But within the halcyon days of a five-year-old’s memory, the inaugural trip to the cinema at night is an event of singular importance. Just as easily as Kevin McCallister’s Manhattan weekend, I can still see the actual theater, smell the aroma of popcorn, and sense the significance in a ritual common to modern childhood: going to the…
12
Feb
The recent Stardew Valley 1.54 update isn’t just a great excuse to dive back into one of the best indie games ever made (or just slowly walk away from your Animal Crossing addiction). It’s a chance to finally play the addictive RPG/farming tile with a couch co-op friend thanks to the game’s new split-screen mode. While PC players have been enjoying Stardew‘s new split-screen co-op update for a few months now, the update’s recent release on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch means that everyone can get in on the fun and finally share a farm (and a couch) with…
09
Jan
If any living actor knows how to prepare for a death scene, it’s probably Sean Bean. From The Lord of the Rings to GoldenEye, Patriot Games or Clarissa, the man has learned his away around simulating that last breath. But probably his most famous death scene, at least this side of Gondor, was also one of the most brutally sudden: when Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell gets beheaded on the steps of Baelor in Game of Thrones. The sequence, which occurs during the ninth episode of Game of Thrones’ first season, ominously titled “Baelor,” is the one that came to…
18
Dec
The new Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman in his final screen role, is a searing drama set in 1920s Chicago, based on a Tony-winning play by legendary playwright August Wilson. The 1982 show is part of Wilson’s 10-play “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a series of plays mostly set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, each in a different decade, that use families in that neighborhood (where Wilson himself was born) as the lens through which Wilson examines the Black experience in America throughout the 20th century. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the exception. Set in…
15
Oct
The classic space opera hero Buck Rogers is coming back, according to The Wrap. Legendary Entertainment (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) has snagged the movie rights to the 92-year-old character, with producers Don Murphy (Transformers) and Susan Montford set to steer the project through Murphy’s Angry Films production company. Buck Rogers brought sci-fi elements like ray guns, rocket ships, lasers and jet packs into popular culture, with the property’s vision of the future and emphasis on action and adventure influencing everything from Disney’s Tomorrowland attraction to George Lucas’ original concept for Star Wars. The movie will bring Buck all the…
18
Sep
“Anchors, rigging, shackles,” lists Katy Wix down the phone, “poop deck, wheelhouse, three sheets to the wind…” The comedian and writer has had a productive year. Filming wrapped on Ghosts series two just as UK lockdown began. Since then, she’s finished one book – Delicacy: A Memoir – due out next April, is pitching another, writing a TV show, and thanks to a new-found obsession with Netflix yacht-based reality show Below Deck, has also managed to acquire an enviable grasp of nautical terminology. Wix is an established UK comic actor, with credits across the board, starting with cult hit Time Trumpet and going mainstream as witless,…
28
Jul
Now that Xbox and 343 Industries have unveiled some gameplay from the upcoming Halo Infinite, the developers behind the Xbox Series X‘s flagship title are opening up a bit more about the game. The latest update comes from 343 creative director Chris Lee, who has revealed that the Halo ring where the game is set is Installation 07, which is also known as “Zeta Halo” in Halo lore. Installation 07 is actually one of the rings that have yet to appear in the games besides a few brief mentions, although it has appeared in some of the tie-in books. It’s…
27
Jul
Olivia de Havilland, one of the last remaining actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the last surviving star of Gone With the Wind, died July 26 of natural causes at her residence in Paris, where she lived for more than six decades, according to Variety. De Havilland was 104. De Havilland turned 104 on July 1. She was the older sister of Joan Fontaine, who died in 2013 at 96. The two Academy Award-winning actresses were estranged for most of their lives. Olivia Mary de Havilland was born in Tokyo on July 1, 1916. Her parents, Walter de Havilland, an…
23
Jul
We finally got a better look at previously teased Xbox horror title The Medium, and what we’ve seen so far certainly has us intrigued. As we’ve talked about before, The Medium sees you play as a medium named Marianne who exists in two distinct worlds: a human world (wave everybody, that’s us) and a spirit world. She’ll need to navigate and investigate both of these worlds in order to solve the mystery of a young girl who was murdered in an abandoned hotel. Plot-wise, it seems pretty clear that The Medium developer Bloober Team (the studio behind Layers of Fear,…
02
Mar
The Invisible Man is an update of the classic tale penned more than 100 years ago by pioneering science fiction writer H.G. Wells, and most memorably brought to the screen before this by director James Whale in 1933. In the new version from writer/director Leigh Whannell (Upgrade), the central character of Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) has just escaped from an abusive relationship at the hands of the narcissistic and sociopathic Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Even though Adrian apparently commits suicide following Cecilia’s escape, she soon begins to suspect that her former lover–who was doing groundbreaking work in optic technology before his alleged death–is…
02
Mar
It is a truth universally acknowledged that every Jane Austen novel must be adapted an infinite amount of times and we will be grateful for all of them. (Yes, even the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies film, the best part of which was not the movie itself but a supercut of Matt Smith as Mr. Collins eating scones.) There have been a lot of adaptations of Jane Austen’s six major novels and some of her other works, including the recently-released Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy. These are the ones we recommend watching. Best Pride and Prejudice Adaptations Easily the most adapted of Jane Austen’s works, Pride and Prejudice is a foundational work…
29
Oct
How Stephen King's IT gripped the small screen “Swear to me. Swear to me that if it isn’t dead, we’ll all come back.” Sponsored Oct 29, 2018 From https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/61466/how-stephen-kings-it-gripped-the-small-screen
