Monday, September 26, 2016

Weekend Movie News 9-23-16 to 9-25-16

Hello ladies and gentlemen, here is some movie news with some of my thoughts and opinions (which will be in BOLD print). So without further ado...


(NOTE: All of these stories come from comingsoon.net)


        Lionsgate has just revealed, via the film’s official twitter feed, a late addition to the Power Rangers cast. Bill Hader is set to voice the team’s robot, Alpha 5! Hader has some experience bringing life to big-screen robots: his voice was used in part to create Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ roly poly rebel, BB-8. Saban’s Power Rangers follows five ordinary high school kids who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove – and the world – is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover that they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so they will have to overcome their real-life issues and band together as the Power Rangers before it is too late. Hader’s Alpha 5 joins a Power Rangers cast that also includes Dacre Montgomery (A Few Less Men) as Jason the Red Ranger, RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) as Billy the Blue Ranger, Naomi Scott (The 33) as Kimberly the Pink Ranger, Becky G (Empire) as Trini the Yellow Ranger, Ludi Lin (Monster Hunt) as Zack the Black Ranger, and Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect, The Hunger Games franchise) as Rita Repulsa. Directed by Dean Israelite (Project Almanac), Power Rangers is written by John Gatins (Kong: Skull Island, Real Steel), Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (Dracula Untold), Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-Men: First Class, Thor), and Max Landis (Chronicle). Producers are Power Rangers creator Haim Saban, Brian Casentini, Wyck Godfrey, and Marty Bowen (The Twilight Saga, The Fault in Our Stars, The Maze Runner franchise). The new Power Rangers hits the big screen March 24, 2017.

        This is absolutely terrific casting. Bill Hader is a phenomenal actor and his comedic talents are above and beyond everyone else's. With his ability to do some great voice impersonations, I think he his the perfect fit for Alpha 5. I think this just just adds more to the legitimacy of this film now that you have a cast that includes Elisabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston and now Bill Hader. Everything that can be released has been released so far such as cast reveals, suit reveals, zord reveals and even a teaser poster, now it's time for a trailer because as of this current moment, you are 6 months out from the release so I think the trailer will be released very soon. 





        The upcoming Thor: Ragnarok has added another fan-favorite actor to its cast, as Sam Neill reveals that he filmed a small role for the film. “I’m not really allowed to say this and I can’t tell you what it is… I did a couple of days on Thor just before I came over here,” Neill tells Shortlist (via EW). “If I say anything else, Marvel’s secret agents — and they are lethal — will come and get me and probably my children, as well.” Neill’s casting reunites him with director Taika Waititi, who directed him in his previous film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but it also reunites him with his Jurassic Park co-star Jeff Goldblum. Thor: Ragnarok will feature the return of Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder himself, with Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Idris Elba as Heimdall and Sir Anthony Hopkins again portraying Odin. Cate Blanchett plays the mysterious and powerful new villain Hela, Jeff Goldblum stars as the eccentric Grandmaster, Tessa Thompson will bring the classic hero Valkyrie to life on the big screen, and Karl Urban will add his might to the fray as Skurge. Kevin Feige will produce the film, joined by executive producers Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Victoria Alonso, Thomas M. Hammel and Stan Lee. The screenplay hails from Stephany Folsom, Craig Kyle, Eric Pearson and Christopher Yost. Current plans call for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Phase Three” chapter to shoot until October, although production could feasibly continue through the end of the year. Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok will smash its way into theaters on November 3, 2017.

        This is also a terrific casting choice. Sam Neill is a terrific actor and while his most recent films haven't been that great, he himself has been pretty good in them. I like that he joins the MCU be because it just shows the type of seasoned actor Marvel looks for. Now as for who he is playing, I think he might be Ragnarok himself, just follow along with me and you'll understand. As we see Hela (played by Cate Blanchett) throughout the film become stronger and stronger, she uses the power of Ragnarok to create the cyborg villain while using help from Bruce Banner's DNA (instead of Tony Stark's DNA used in the comics), to help create a force to challenge Thor. He would only be in the film for the 3rd act as a minion for Hela and the character would be CGI so Sam Neill wouldn't have to do much in the role. I know it's a bit of a stretch, but I'm dying to see either Ragnarok or Beta Ray Bill show up in this film. 





        Broad Green Pictures and Miramax have released a new Bad Santa 2 green band trailer! Check out the upcoming follow-up to the 2003 hit comedy Bad Santa below. Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade, Simple Plan, Bandits), reprises his Golden Globe-nominated role as Willy Soke alongside the returning Tony Cox as Marcus and Brett Kelly as Thurman Merman. The Bad Santa 2 movie is also set to star Kathy Bates (Misery, Titanic, Dolores Claiborne) as Willy’s tough-as-nails mom Sunny Soke, Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars, 2 Broke Girls) and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men, The Neon Demon) as Regent and Diane Hastings, a married couple who run a charitable organization and Jenny Zigrino (50 Shades of Black) and Jeff Skowron (The Good Shepherd) as security guards Gina and Dorfman, respectively. Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus, to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve. Along for the ride is ‘the kid’ – chubby and cheery Thurman Merman, a 250-pound ray of sunshine who brings out Willie’s sliver of humanity. Mommy issues arise when the pair are joined by Willie’s horror story of a mother, Sunny Soke. A super butch super bitch, Sunny raises the bar for the gang’s ambitions, while somehow lowering the standards of criminal behavior. Willie is further burdened by lusting after the curvaceous and prim Diane, the charity director with a heart of gold and libido of steel. Directed by Mark Waters (Freaky Friday, Mean Girls), the Bad Santa 2 movie will hit the big screen November 23, 2016.



        This was a really funny trailer. Eventhough it was the green band trailer, it still brought a lot of laughs and it shows that this film has a lot of jokes in its arsenal which is both a good and bad thing. It's good because there is a variety out there that way they are showing the same jokes over and over again. It's bad in the sense that with the red band trailer showing a whole different set of jokes, they may have shown all of the jokes in the trailer which doesn't bode well at all. I really loved the first film and I'm looking forward to this film, but I just don't know how it is going to do with showing all of these jokes unless the filmmakers have got something else up their sleeve. 





        Normally, you watch The Ring tape and then have to die seven days later. This year, however, Samara seems to be granting a bit of an extension as Paramount Pictures‘ new release schedule sees Rings delayed four months. Originally set to open in theaters just before Halloween, the continuation of the horror franchise will now debut in theaters February 3, 2017. This marks the third time that updated calendars have seen Rings delayed. In Rings, a young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before… Rings is directed by F. Javier Gutierrez (Before the Fall) from a script by David Loucka, Jacob Estes and Akiva Goldsman. Rings stars Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Aimee Teegarden, Bonnie Morgan and Vincent D’Onofrio. The film is produced by Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. The new release date will see Rings opening opposite Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting sequel. The date was also planned to see the release of Paramount’s Same Kind of Different as Me, although that film is now likely to shift release dates as well. October 28, meanwhile, will now see the arrival of Ron Howard’s third chapter in his series of Tom Hanks led Dan Brown adaptations, Inferno. Meanwhile, there’s The Eagle Huntress, a Sony Pictures Classics documentary narrated by Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ Daisy Ridley.

        This is really disappointing news to hear. If you all know me, then you'll know that I hate it when horror films that don't come out around Halloween because that it is considered the scariest time of year. Now if it were a horror film specifically made for a holiday like My Bloody Valentine, then that's the only exception. The first Ring film was an instant hit and it changed horror films for the foreseeable future. The fact that the film is getting delayed really doesn't help anything especially when your a sequel and you're coming out further and further away from the original film. Hopefully this pays off, but I honestly don't think it will. 





        In addition to delaying the upcoming Rings from an October release date to February 2017, Paramount has also delayed their upcoming Friday the 13th movie from January 13, 2017 to October 13, 2017. Director Breck Eisner (The Crazies, Sahara, The Last Witch Hunter) was hired to direct the film in August. The film features a script by Prisoners and Contraband writer Aaron Guzikowski. Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller spoke earlier this summer about where the script might take the beloved Jason Voorhees, saying: ““Aaron’’s story has great characters. …You kind of have to understand Jason Voorhees, so we go back and we kind of started over and work our way forward. Origin-ish, but it’s an origin that no one has seen before. Obviously Pamela’’s there, but it’’s a little bit different from what you’’ve seen before.”” The Friday the 13th franchise currently consists of the ten original films, the 2003 crossover Freddy vs. Jason, and, most recently, the 2009 reboot. There was also a short-lived television series that, despite its title, was unconnected to the plot of the film franchise. A new Friday the 13th television series was previously in development for The CW but has since been canceled.

        While I honestly don't care about the news, there is a silver lining to it. Look the Friday the 13th franchise is a special franchise that has a huge following and since probably the 3rd film the franchise has really gone down hill and I don't know what to think about a new film. I for one hate the idea of it coming out on Friday the 13th because that is the most cliched idea ever. But going back to the last bit of news, this film is coming out in October which is around the time of Halloween. I'm curious to see which direction the film is going to go, but I'm not to excited for the film itself. 

        So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, which of these stories peaked your interest or was there another story that interested you? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                                         Jonah Sparks

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