3 Lists of 3 Movies

Published on November 5, 2018September 8, 2024 by KyraLeave a comment

Your uncle Geekly kicked off these 3 Lists of 3 with TV so it’s only fair that we cover a few movies as well. Uncle Geekly doesn’t agree with critics most of the time and it might be a good idea to put on my psychic cap and see which upcoming movies will be better or worse than most critics think.

Upcoming movies that’ll be better than critics think they’ll be

Dark Phoenix (February 14, 2019)

I’m most likely wrong with this one. Heck, I may be wrong for countless reasons and if I am, I’ll owe Jim a lap dance from Jean Gray—How’s that for passing the buck to a fictional character? You’re welcome, Jim—but I want a well-done Dark Phoenix Saga live action film. It’s one of the X-Men’s most iconic storylines and X-Men: The Last Stand did a poor job of adapting it. Who knows what critics will think of this one? We’ll have to see what happens with Dark Phoenix, but I’m sure I’ll watch it no matter what and hope for the best.

Dumbo (March 29, 2019)

The Disney live-action movies are mixed bag and Tim Burton has been in a slump for some time, so Dumbo may or may not receive favorable reviews. I’m leaning toward fewer favorable reviews, since Burton tends to go odd with his interpretations. Even so, Dumbo has me intrigued. If there was any live-action Disney film Burton was perfect for, it’d be Dumbo and the director is reunited with Eva Green and Michael Keaton. This is the first time Burton and Keaton will have worked together since Batman Returns. I’m in.

Shazam! (April 5, 2019)

I could go with Aquaman here because critics typically dock movies 10-15% on Rotten Tomatoes when they see DC is attached to a project, but I’m not as confident with Aquaman—something about a live action movie under the sea that may not land—so I’m going with the action-comedy Shazam!. About the only thing I know at this point is that Dawyne “The Rock” Johnson’s Black Adam won’t be the antagonist of this film, his movie should be even better, but I have faith that Shazam! will build on the momentum of Justice League’s second half—and I hope Aquaman does the same.

Upcoming movies that’ll won’t be as good than critics think they’ll be

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (November 16, 2018)

The first movie of this series was an abomination and it received 76% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and while I believe the sequel can mostly go up from the first film, I don’t think it’ll be much better than a 40-50% and I won’t be surprised if it receives higher than the previous 76%. If you can’t tell, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a hard pass for me.

Captain Marvel (March 8, 2019)

This one might be a little surprising. I like the Marvel cinematic universe, and this film should build on the events of Infinity War, even though it’s set in the 1990s. I also like the 90s, many of my formative years were spent in the 90s, but Captain Marvel reeks of a film dangerous with replacing many characters with Skrulls. If half of the characters have been Skrulls all along, Disney-Marvel can easily recast those characters to keep the universe going and that irritates me. Even if Disney-Marvel doesn’t do that, Captain Marvel is a prequel and I downgrade prequels because they seldom push a story forward.

Untitled Joker Origin Movie (October 4, 2019)

While I think DC movies receive too much hate, something tells me that the Untitled Joker Origin Movie will get plenty of high marks by critics, based on the involvement of Martin Scorsese and Joaquin Phoenix. I have heard that the movie plans to use The Killing Joke as source material, too, but DC Animation didn’t do a good job with the story a few years ago. The early trailers look promising, but The Joker tends to work best when no one knows much about him: case in point Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Surprise hit movies

Welcome to Marwen (December 21, 2018)

This Steve Carrell engine deals with a man overcoming a traumatic experience. Welcome to Marwen is being released at the time when Oscar darlings tend to get released and while I’m sure the academy may consider the film, the direction of Robert Zemeckis usually leads to a well-received hit.

Glass (January 18, 2019)

The third movie of the surprising Unbreakable trilogy should make more money than the previous two films. The first set up the world, the second shocked many, and the third Glass should receive enough buzz to put M. Night Shyamalan back in the limelight—at least for a while. I’m not sure if Glass will be any good, but it should make plenty of money and should be intriguing.

Chaos Walking (March 1, 2019)

Dystopian worlds are overdone, but the premise of Chaos Walking is interesting (every living creature can hear each other’s’ thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise) and the stars (Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley) make this one interesting and a possible hit. I’m the least confident about Chaos Walking, but I’m hoping it delivers on some of its promise.

Are there any movies we missed with our lists? What do you think will be a surprise hit or a movie that’ll be better or worse than critics think? Let us know in the comments.

Geekly News: October 12, 2018

Published on October 12, 2018October 12, 2018 by KyraLeave a comment

There aren’t as many big headlines this week in Geekly News, so we’ll go with some short news blurbs followed by new releases. Let’s kickoff this ball game with a New York Comic Con panel and a trailer.

Good Omens

Principal photography on the upcoming Amazon series Good Omens (based on the collaborative novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) began over a year ago, but audiences didn’t catch a glimpse of any video until a panel at last week’s New York Comic Con. This series should be another solid one for Amazon who has slowly garnered a fine collection of native programming.

With American Gods and an upcoming Sandman movie, Neil Gaiman has been on a role with his creations finding their way on the silver and small screens. Is a Books of Magic or a Black Orchid movie far behind?

Batwoman Costume Revealed

The CW’s annual crossover event won’t occur until December 9^th, but that didn’t stop the network from leaking its first glimpse of Ruby Rose as Batwoman. Like many other heroes in the Arrowverse, Batwoman will make her first appearance this year during the crossover event, but she’s scheduled to have her own series beginning next season.

The Arrowverse has dabbled with an LGBT superhero, Mr. Terrific, in the past, but Batwoman will mark the first take that an LGBT superhero will take center stage.

Video Games

Friday, October 12, 2018

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

The latest Call of Duty has picked up a few tricks from the popular Fortnite. Previous installments of Call of Duty had player respawn (or have players’ characters revive) shortly after dying. This led to gun combat being fast paced and devalued long-distance shooting or snippers. We’ll have to see how this latest Call of Duty fares.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Switch, PS4, Xbox One)

This is another wait and see title. Starlink takes the failing “toys-to-life” video game genre (games like Skylanders that have players buy real-life toys and use them in video games) and makes it new and exciting by adding an open-world—or open-universe—element. The toy spaceships and pilots look interesting, but I prefer the Switch copy for this game, as characters from Nintendo’s Star Fox series will make an appearance. Heck, with Star Fox as part of the cast, I’d do a barrel roll.

Movies

First Man

This film has received critical acclaim for Ryan Gosling’s performance of the first man on the moon Neil Armstrong and Clair Foy’s as his wife Janet Shearon. It’s also been at the center of an American flag controversy. First Man looks to be a lightning rod of buzz.

That was bad. First Man does intrigue me, and I’ll probably watch it at some point.

Bad Times at the El Royale

The premise may sound familiar (seven strangers who each hide dark secrets manage to stay at the same shady hotel), but the cast make this neo-noir mystery thriller sound like it’ll be fun if nothing else. Bad Times at the El Royale is another one I wouldn’t mind seeing.

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

I never watched the first Goosebumps movie, but I heard it was a modest success. Jack Black makes another appearance as R. L. Stine. That’s something, I guess.

TV

Friday, October 12, 2018

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW)

The fourth and final season of this stellar comedy musical begins tonight. Don’t try to text, message, or call me. I’ll be washing my hair—which is code for watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)

Shirley Jackson knew how to write horror of all kinds. The short story that first garnered her attention and put her on the map was “The Lottery” and it’s a great psychological horror story. “The Haunting of Hill House” is a supernatural horror classic that Stephen King cited as the best horror story written in the 20^th century. I’ll go with that and I’ll definitely see if this Netflix offering measures up.

The Romanoffs (Amazon)

I’ve talked about The Romanoffs last week in our 3 Lists of 3. The stellar cast and odd premise (several people believe they’re part of the Russian royal family) has piques my interest.

Titans (DCU)

Titans, as in the adult versions of Teen Titans, was supposed to air on various cable networks before landing on the DCU’s new streaming service. Every company wanting their own streaming service burns my corn, but if DCU streaming can make enough quality programming, I may consider it. I’m most likely to download the app for a free trial and binge everything in a weekend.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Charmed (CW)

Truth time: I watched the original. I even watched the original Charmed not that long ago and got embarrassed for ever having watched it. Charmed was a CW (then WB) mainstay and a lot of the tropes and clichés one can find in CW shows today pretty much originated with Charmed. I may watch an episode or two and catch a glimpse of this trio of witchy sisters.

Monday, October 15, 2018

Arrow (CW)

Yep, the Arrowverse is still at it. I lost interest in these shows for some time, but like Charmed, I may tune in once or twice for old times’ sake.

Constantine: The Legend Continues (CW Seed)

It feels like yesterday when I lamented NBC cancelling the live-action TV show Constantine. Did it have its issues? Sure, but the series picked up steam and got canned before reaching full strength. Fans of the series were ticked, and the CW has brought back Matt Ryan (who played John Constantine) for this upcoming animated series. I think the CW Seed app offers free streaming for certain episodes. I’ll have to check on Monday or Tuesday. Or I could always wait for another free trial period.

Board Games

Solenia

Belgian publisher Pearl Games originally intended to release this game as Sun-Moon but settled on the name Solenia. The game consists of 16 rounds where players play cards with holes in the middle of them onto a modular board. The holes reveal a resource that players are trying to pick up or deliver and players gain points for delivering goods.

All of this is fairly standard for gamers, specifically Euro-style gamers, but the most interesting aspect of Solenia—besides the see-through cards—is its modular board. The tiles are double-sided with day and night scenes. These tiles cycle between day and night throughout the game, so players must plan their moves based on when they can perform actions. I’ll try to demo this game before long.

That’s all we have for this week. Be kind to each other and stay geeky.

Geekly News: October 5, 2018

Published on October 5, 2018October 5, 2018 by KyraLeave a comment

Another day and another new content type. We’re trying our hat at Geekly News today. Even though your uncle Geekly could scour the internet for any type of Geek News, most weeks this post type will list new releases for the coming week. We’re lucky this first week features a major movie announcement and a leak at Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax.

Elder Scrolls VI

People have been debating for years which Tamriel province will host the sixth entry in the Elder Scrolls main series, and ZeniMax may have given players their first concrete evidence. Sure, some internet sleuths found evidence in the short teaser trailer, but that’s more in the realm of speculation.

And this new information could be filed as that too, but there’s a more compelling argument to be made. The attorney who registered a copyright for Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim years before each game’s release just registered a copyright for a single-player game set in the Elder Scrolls universe entitled Redfall.

This development suggests that Elder Scrolls VI will be set in part or entirely in Hammerfell (home of the Redguards) and will feature a questline involving Redguards.

Why not call it Hammerfell? Many Elder Scrolls games aren’t named by the province in which they occur, Morrowind and Skyrim are the exception, not the rule, they’re named based on the game’s storyline. Sure, Redfall could pertain to something other than Redguards and the contested Hammerfell/High Rock border, but it’s likely that Redguards and Hammerfell will factor into this latest installment.

There’s still no release date for Elder Scrolls VI. If your uncle Geekly were to place a bet for when Redfall will be released, he’d go with a post Playstation 5, X-Box 2 (who knows if Microsoft will stick with this naming convention, but to the best of my knowledge it’ll be X-Box 2) release.

It could also be that ZeniMax wants fans to talk about Elder Scrolls VI more. If so, mission accomplished.

Mega Man Live Action Movie

Capcom has announced that its Mega Man franchise is going to get the live-action Hollywood treatment. The press release came one day after Mega Man 11’s release and the movie celebrates the franchise’s 30^th anniversary.

The film is tentatively titled MEGA MAN (in all caps) and has writer/directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish, Paranormal Activity 3) attached to the project. Capcom says it aims to “appeal to a diverse audience, including not only game players but action movie fans as well, with an adaptation that maintains the world of the Mega Man games, while incorporating the grand production and entertainment value that Hollywood movies are known for.”

Video game movies don’t have the best track record, but I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed with this title. It’s a safe bet that your uncle Geekly will be watching this film on opening weekend. There’s no release date set for this project as of this write-up.

And now for some new releases for the upcoming Week.

Video Games

Friday, October 5, 2018

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

This is the latest of the Assassin’s Creed games and it’s set in ancient Greece. Be ready for a lot of “This…Is…Sparta!.”

Super Mario Party (Switch)

My family and I have had some fun with this title in the past. It blends roll, spin and move (roll dice to see how far you can go in a turn: for example, Monopoly) of tabletop games with minigames one might find in other Mario titles.

Movies

Venom

This one troubles me. Based on the trailers, the special effects are dated and that’s not a good thing for a comic book movie. I’m also concerned with how they pronounced symbiote.

A Star is Born

Lady Gaga (first major acting role) and Bradley Cooper (first time director) recreate this Barbara Streisand classic. I may not see this one in theaters, but I’ll probably see it when it’s out on video or streaming.

TV

Friday, October 5, 2018

Big Mouth (Netflix)

I’ve heard good things about this one. It’s a raunchy cartoon series centered around puberty. I haven’t gotten around to watching it because there are a lot of raunchy cartoon series to choose from.

Into the Dark (Hulu)

This one confused me a bit. Netflix recently released a movie entitled Hold the Dark. Hulu’s Into the Dark is an American horror anthology series for those who think American Horror Story isn’t enough. I’ll give it a chance.

The Man in the High Castle (Amazon)

I’ll have to finish the second season before starting the upcoming third. The Man in the High Castle is easily one of Amazon Prime’s best series.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Doctor Who (BBC America)

The adventures of the first female Doctor Who begins today. Yes! Bring it on.

Star Wars Resistance (Disney)

There have been several successful Star Wars cartoons. The franchise almost redeemed the prequels with all the work Star Wars animated series put in. Resistance is set in the sequel’s timeline. It’ll interesting to see how this series builds Poe Dameron’s character.

The Walking Dead (AMC)

I wonder how long people can survive in a world with zombies. The Walking Dead endeavors to answer that question with nine years and counting. This year has the distinction of Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) leaving the series.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

The Flash (CW)

Ah, the Arrowverse. I might watch an episode or two just for old time’s sake. These shows are no longer appointment television for me, but it can be fun to watch certain DC comics characters grace the small screen.

Black Lightning (CW)

I never got into Black Lightning because I had all but given up on the Arrowverse by the time it was released, but Black Lightning is one of the first live-action superhero TV shows to feature an African-American protagonist (Netflix’s Luke Cage beat it by a half year), and from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t intertwine as much with the rest of the Arrowverse. I’ll probably give it a shot. Looks like I have some binging to do.

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Riverdale (CW)

I never got into Riverdale, but I know that many folks think of it as something more than a fusion of Dawson’s Creek and Archie Comics. This may be one of those series I watch well into the show’s run.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Supernatural (CW)

This CW standard enters its 14^th season today. Talk about your long-running television shows.

That’s all we have for Geekly News this week. May the geek with you and be kind to one another.