Negromancer News Bits and Bites from April 12th to 18th, 2020 - Update #24

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

Support Leroy on Patreon:

CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS - Hollywood and Beyond:

From YahooNews:  Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?

From YahooNews:  Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.

From Deadline:  The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.

From TheNewYorker:  The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.

From YahooNews:  Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?

From YahooSports:   Brian Allen, the starting center for the Los Angeles Rams, announced that he has twice tested positive for COVID-19.  He is the first known NFL player to test positive for the virus.

From NBCSports:  Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller of the Denver Broncos has tested positive for COVID-19. 

From Deadline:  "Saturday Night Live" performer, Michael Che, is paying one month's rent for residents of the New York house complex where his late grandmother lived.  Che's grandmother, Martha, recently died of complications of COVID-19.

From NJHerald:  An investigation has been launched into an elder care facility after 17 bodies are found piled into a small morgue at the facility.

From Variety:  Thanks to a COVID-19 surge in orders, shares of Amazon's stock hits an all-time high.  The company is currently valued at 1.1 trillion dollars.

From CNN:  Actress and film producer, Rita Wilson (and wife of Tom Hanks), describes her experience with COVID-19 in her first interview

From YahooNews:  President Donald once wanted to let COVID-19 "wash over the country."

From Deadline:  Disney World to furlough 43,000 due to COVID-19 disruptions.

COVID-19 STIMULUS CHECK NEWS:

From YahooNews:  Deceased people are getting stimulus check... and the heirs and spouses may be able to keep them.

From YahooNews:  This article updates information on COVID-19 stimulus checks, including the introduction of a web tool that will let people track their checks.

According to the Washington Post, here is the timetable for when the IRS will start issuing checks to those who will receive their checks by mail:

Taxpayers with income up to $10,000: April 24

Taxpayers with income up to $20,000: May 1

Taxpayers with income up to $40,000: May 15.

The article has information about mailing dates after May 15th,

COVID-19 OBIT:

From Deadline:  The legendary celebrity, film and TV hairstylist, Charles Gregory Ross, died Wednesday, April 8, 2020 due to complications of COVID-19.  He worked on numerous film and TV productions over a nearly 30-year career.  Ross worked on many Tyler Perry productions and he received a 2005 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on the 2005 HBO movie, "Lackawanna Blues."

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REGULAR ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

MOVIES - From BET:  Halle Berry debuts her chiseled abs and hard new body as she preps for the martial arts drama, "Bruised," which she is directing.

TRAILER - From Variety:  Actor Tom Hardy and director Josh Trank's Al Capone biopic, "Capone," will hit video-on-demand (VOD) on May 12th.

MOVIES-CHARITY - From Deadline:  Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro offer a chance to win a walk-on role in Martin Scorsese's film, "Killers of the Flower Moon."

TELEVISION - From THR:  The site offers a review of "The Last Dance," ESPN's 10-part documentary TV series about Michael Jordan and the NBA's Chicago Bulls.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  CBS has cancelled its Sunday night TV series, "God Friended Me" after two seasons.  The two-hour series finale will be broadcast Sunday, April 26th.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:  Universal Pictures is still collecting data, but it expects a record-setting digital rental weekend for "Trolls: World Tour."  The DreamWorks Animation film was #1 on all on-demand platforms.

MOVIES - From VanityFair:  The magazine has a first look at Oscar-nominated actor Timothee Chalamet as "Paul Atreides" in director Denis Villeneuve's upcoming "Dune."

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Disney is in early development of a live-action/CG-hybrid of its animated film, "Robin Hood" (1973).  Carlos Lopez Estrada ("Blindspotting") will direct.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Dwayne Johnson talks about a "Hobbs & Shaw" sequel and about losing out of "Jack Reacher" to Tom Cruise.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  Award-winning film, television, and stage actor, Brian Dennehy, has died at the age of 81, Wednesday, April 15, 2020, of cardiac arrest.  Dennehy is best known for his appearances in such films as "First Blood" (1982) and "Tommy Boy" (1995).  He won the Tony Award for "Best Actor in a Play," including for 1999 revival of the play, "Death of a Salesman."

From Heavy:  Prolific Japanese voice actor Keiji Fujiwara has died at the age of 55, Sunday, April 12, 2020 of cancer.  Fujiwara was a voice actor in numerous Japanese anime film ("Crayon Shin-chan" franchise) and television series ("Fullmetal Alchemist," "Kingdom Hearts") and video games ("Final Fantasy" franchise).  He also provided the Japanese dub for numerous English-language live-action movies.  He was most notably the Japanese voice dub for actor Robert Downey, Jr., providing the Japanese voice for Downey's "Tony Stark/Iron Man" and "Sherlock Holmes."

From CNN:  American actor and animation voice actor, Danny Goldman, has died at the age of 80, Monday, April 12, 2020, has died from complications of two strokes he suffered earlier this year.  Goldman is best known for being the voice of "Brainy Smurf" on NBC's Saturday morning animation series, "The Smurfs" (1981 to 1989).  His most memorable scene in a movie was as an annoying medical student vexing Gene Wilder in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" (1974).

From BleacherReport:  Former NFL quarterback Tarvaris Jackson has died at the age of 36, Sunday, April 12, 2020 in a single-car crash.  Jackson played in the NFL from 2006 to 2015.  It was during his second stint with the Seattle Seahawks (2013-2015) that he was a member of the Seahawks' Super Bowl XLVIII (#48 held on Feb. 2nd, 2014) championship team.  Since 2019, he had been a quarterbacks coach with Tennessee State University.

From CNN:   American entrepreneur, publisher, businessman, philanthropist, and advocate of African-American businesses, Earl G. Graves, Sr., has died at the age of 85, Monday, April 6, 2020 of complications from Alzheimer's disease.  Graves was best known for founding "Black Enterprise" magazine, which was founded to focus on Black entrepreneurs and Black businesses.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 16th to 22nd, 2019 - Update #22

Support Leroy on Patreon:

MOVIES - From YahooEW:  Some believe that the movie poster for the 1992 Kevin Costner-Whitney Houston film, "The Bodyguard," is an iconic image.  But Costner says the woman he is holding in the image is not Whitney Houston, but is her body double.

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Tyler Perry's first TV series for BET (part of his multi-year content deal with Viacom) is a White House drama called "The Oval."

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COMICS-FILM - From Deadline:  "Transparent" creator, Jill Soloway, will write and direct Millennium Films' "Red Sonja" film, based on the comic book character inspired by a Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian) character.  Soloway is replacing the disgraced Bryan Singer.

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BUSINESS - From Bloomberg:  The toy store chain, Toys "R" Us, is looking to make a come book in the United States for Christmas 2019, by opening six new stores.

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SCANDAL - From YahooNews:  There is a new twist in Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey's sexual assault case - text messages from the alleged victim.

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MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment:  There has reportedly been a stabbing on the Warner Bros. Studios U.K. set of "The Witches."  The film is remake of the previous film version of Roald Dahl's book of the same title.  News is describing the films as "a new Anne Hathaway movie."

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Screen Gems is eyeing a spinoff of its 210 hit film, "Easy A."  They hired Bert Royal, who wrote the first film, to write and direct the new one.

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MOVIES - From TheRinger:  "The Problem With IMDb’s Rating System" by Alyssa Bereznak

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Jermaine Fowler is set to be one of Eddie Murphy's co-stars in the "Coming to America" sequel, "Coming 2 America," which is set to be directed by Craig Brewer ("Hustle & Flow").

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SCANDAL - From TheDailyBeast:  Eight women have come forward to accuse Hollywood screenwriter, Max Landis ("Chronicle," "Bright") of various forms of abuse.

From IndieWire:  An analysis: "Max Landis should have been thrown out of Hollywood years ago."

From IndieWire:  Apparently, director Josh Trank banned Max Landis from the set of "Chronicle," a film Landis wrote and created with Trank.

From IndieWire:  Chloe Grace Moretz says her World War II horror film, "Shadow in the Cloud," has distanced itself from writer Max Landis and has been rewritten without him.

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AWARDS - From Deadline:  If you care, here are the "MTV Movie and TV Awards" winners.  "Avengers: Endgame" named "Best Movie" and "Game of Thrones" named "Best Show."

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MOVIES-TV - From Deadline:  WarnerMedia is reportedly closing in on a "megadeal," worth as much as $500 million, with J.J. Abrams to produce content for them.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  "Hunger Games" author, Suzanne Collins, is working on a "Hunger Games" prequel novel and Lionsgate is in talks to develop it into a film.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 6/14 to 6/16/2019 weekend box office is "Men in Black: International" with an estimated take of 28.5 million dollars.

From Patreon:  Leroy Douresseaux's review of "Men in Black: International."

From Deadline:  "The Dead Don't Die" and "The Last Black Man in San Francisco" lead specialty box office.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Former child actor, Danny Lloyd ("The Shining"), now a college professor, reacta to the trailer for "Doctor Sleep," the sequel to "The Shining."  The trailer includes footage of Lloyd as child playing Danny Torrance in "The Shining," which was directed by the late Stanley Kubrick.

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ANIMATION - From Variety:  This is a piece on Warner Bros.' "Scoob," the upcoming reboot film of the "Scooby-Doo" movie series.  A "work-in-progress" version of the film was shown at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France.

OBITS:

From Variety:  Model and socialite, Gloria Vanderbilt, has died at the age of 95, Monday, June 17, 2019.  Vanderbilt may be best known for three things.  First, she was the subject of a high-profile custody case when she was a minor.  Secondly, as a fashion designer, she introduced a line of popular designer jeans.  Thirdly, she was the mother of CNN television anchor, Anderson Cooper.

From THR:  Legendary Italian filmmaker and director, Franco Zeffirelli, has died at the age of 96, Saturday, June 15, 2019.  Zeffirelli was best known for his lavish film adaptations of the works of William Shakespeare.  The most famous of those was his 1968 film, Romeo and Juliet, which received 4 Oscar nominations (including one for Zeffirelli as best director) and won two.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from March 25th to 31st, 2018 - Update #16

Support Leroy on Patreon:

ANIMATION-SCANDAL - From BuzzFeed:  John Kricfalusi, creator of "Ren and Stimpy," has been accused of preying on underage girls who wanted animation careers

MUSIC-SCANDAL - From HuffPostBlog:  While crazy rock musician Ted Nugent criticizes the #ParklandShooting survivors, let's look at his pedophile and statutory rape issues.

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POLITICS - From TheDailyBeast:  Neil Young Sounds Off on Trump: ‘He Has No Balls’

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STREAMING - From JoBlo:  Comic book luminary Frank Miller (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) and Tom Wheeler will develop a TV series for Netflix.  It is (another) take on King Arthur based on Miller and Wheeler's upcoming YA book.

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MOVIES - From TheVillageVoice:  The magazine's Bilge Ebiri talks to eccentric actor, Joaquin Phoenix.

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ANIMATION - From TheWrap:  In the wake of the cancellation of his "Deadpool" animated series for FX, Donald Glover posts a fake episodic script he wrote for "Deadpool" (for an imagined finale) and he wonders if the series was cancelled because it was too black...

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COMICS-FILM - From DenofGeek:  Fox's next "X-Men" franchise films get more release changes.  "The New Mutants was moved from Spring 2018 to February 2019 and now it's new release date is August 2, 2019.  "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" has also been moved, from Nov. 2, 2018 to Feb. 14th, 2019.

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#MarchForOurLives - From TheDailyBeast: Paul McCartney Honors John Lennon at NYC March for Our Lives

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 3/23 to 3/25/2018 weekend box office is "Pacific Rim: Uprising" with an estimated take of $28 million.

From Variety:  After five weekends at the top of the box office, "Black Panther" is finally dethroned.

From Deadline:  "Pacific Rim: Uprising" opens at $65 mil in China for a possible worldwide box of about $150 million.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Steven Spielberg says no Oscars for Netflix films.

From Deadline:  Peter Bart and Mike Fleming, Jr. had a similar conversation a few weeks earlier.

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ANIMATION - From THR:  Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, and FX have dropped their involvement in an animated series based on Marvel Comics' "Deadpool."

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From NOLA:  Tom Hardy will star as Al Capone in the biopic, "Fonzo."  The film will reportedly shoot in New Orleans and will be directed by Josh Trank, who shot his superhero film, Fantastic Four, in Louisiana.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Tessa Thompson will reunite with her "Thor: Ragnarok" co-star, Chris Hemsworth, to headline Sony's "Men in Black" reboot.  F. Gary Gray is set to direct the film which is due for release June 14, 2019.

OBIT:

From CJOnline:  Linda Brown has died at the age of 76, Monday, March 26, 2018.  As a child, Linda was at the center of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that ended school segregation in the United States.  Linda's father, Oliver Brown, became the lead plaintiff in the Brown v. Board case after attempting to enroll Linda in 1951 in the all-white Sumner Elementary School near the family’s home in Topeka, Kansas.

Review: New "Fantastic Four" is Fantastically Problematic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

[A version of this review originally appeared on Patreon.]

Fantastic Four (2015)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and language
DIRECTOR:  Josh Trank
WRITERS:  Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater, and Josh Trank (based on characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
PRODUCERS:  Gregory Goodman, Simon Kinberg, Robert Kulzer, Hutch Parker, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Matthew Jensen
EDITORS:  Elliot Greenberg and Stephen E. Rivkin
COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami and Philip Glass

SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring:  Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kata Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson, Owen Judge, Evan Hannemann, Don Yesso, and Dan Castellaneta

Fantastic Four is a 2015 superhero movie and science fiction film from director Josh Trank.  It is the third film in 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four film franchise, and it is also a reboot of that franchise.  Fantastic Four 2015 follows four young people whose physical forms are changed in shocking ways after being exposed to energy from an alternate and dangerous universe.

Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) have been friends since childhood, when Ben started helping Reed build his prototype teleportation device.  It is in high school when they attract the attention of Professor Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), who is the director of the Baxter Foundation, a government-sponsored research institute for young prodigies.

Reed joins the foundation and begins working with Storm's adopted daughter, Susan “Sue” Storm (Kate Mara), and eventually his son, Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan).  Reed also gets to work with Professor Storm's wayward protege, Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell).  Together, this quartet builds a device called the “Quantum Gate,” which opens a way to “Zero,” a planet in an parallel dimension.  Awaiting those who travel to “Zero,” however, is energy that will change them in unimaginable and fantastic ways.

Fantastic Four isn't a good movie, but it isn't a terrible movie.  It is like flavorless chewing gum.  The gum might start with a lot of promise, but pretty soon you're just chewing for the sake of chewing and the flavor is gone.  That is this Fantastic Four reboot.  It starts off with promise, but pretty soon, the story seems to be just going through the motions, and I was simply watching it out of habit, waiting for the end credits to roll.

Fantastic Four 2015 is mostly build-up.  In some ways, it is like a long teaser for another movie, the real Fantastic Four (or “FF”) movie that is “coming soon.”  What we get with this new movie is something akin to a prologue or an overly long introductory act.  In fact, this film's big villain, called “Doom,” rather than Doctor Doom, does not show up until the last 10 or 15 minutes of the movie.

I think that there are a kernel or two of good ideas in this new Fantastic Four that could become something good... in a second movie... produced by an entirely different group of people.  I think that the special effects for Reed Richards' (Mr. Fantastic) stretching powers is much better than it was in the 2005 and 2007 Fantastic Four films.  Ben Grimm (The Thing) looks better in this reboot than in the earlier films.  Hard as it is to believe, Kate Mara as Sue Storm  is worse than Jessica Alba as Sue in the first two films.  I like Michael B. Jordan, but his Johnny Storm (Human Torch) is stiff compared to Chris Evans' rascally Human Torch from the earlier films.

Overall, director Josh Trank has made a Fantastic Four film that is actually less entertaining than Tim Story's uneven 2005 and 2007 FF films.  I wouldn't recommend this even to comic book fans.  It is so mediocre and uninspiring that it isn't even awful enough to be an enjoyable “bad movie.”  It is like the ultimate average and bland film.  This Fantastic Four makes it clear that 20th Century Fox should just stop making Fantastic Four movies.

4 of 10
C

Saturday, August 8, 2015


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of June 1st to 6th, 2015 - Update #15

Posted by Leroy Douresseaux - support on Patreon.

NEWS:

From Vulture:  "Degrassi" is coming to an end after 14 seasons.

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From EOnline:  Disney's Tangled is coming back as an animated TV series on the Disney Channel.

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From TheWrap:  Turns out that the woman killed in the recent lion attack in South Africa was an editor on "Game of Thrones."

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From Vulture:  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson reportedly considering starring in and producing a remake of John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China.

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From Variety:  Prepare for a battle royale to capture the distribution rights to James Bond films.

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From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 5/29 to 5/31/2015 box office is San Andreas with an estimated take of $53 million.  That is higher than the early estimates of a $40 million bow.  The films stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

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From Variety:  Tracy Morgan cries in first interview.


COMICS - Movies and Books:

From Mashable:  More on Marvel's reboot this fall.

From Mashable:  Marvel rebooting its universe/comic book line.

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From YahooMovies:  Samuel L. Jackson not in "Captain America: Civil War."


STAR WARS:

From LATimes:  Josh Trank speaks on leaving Star Wars spinoff.


TRAILERS & Reviews:

From Spy:  Melissa McCarthy finally plays the heroine in Spy.

From TheVillageVoice:  A review of the Brian Wilson biopic, Love & Mercy.

From YouTube:  New trailer for 20th Century Fox's Paper Towns.


OBITS:

From Variety:  The actress Betsy Palmer died at the age of 88 on Friday, May 29, 2015.  Palmer was best known for playing "Mrs. Voorhees," the killer in the original Friday the 13th and therefore, the mother of Jason Voorhees.


MISC:

From YahooSports:  First "Triple Crown" winner in horse racing in 37 years.

From YahooSports:  With her win at the 2015 French Open, Serena Williams wins her 20th women's grand slam single tournament.

From YahooParenting:  Too cute - Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites for May 1st to 9th, 2015 - Update #16

NEWS:

From TheWrap:  First look at three characters from Quentin Tarantino's "Hateful Eight."

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From RollingStone:  Lucasfilm talking about a new Indiana Jones movie.

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From TheWrap:  The winner of the 5/1 to 5/3/2015 box office is Avengers: Age of Ultron with an estimated haul of $187.7 million.  The speculation is that the sequel did not surpass the 2012 film because of the Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match.

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From YahooTV:  Deadline says big sports weekend could slow down Age of Ultron numbers.

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From Newsweek:  Morgan Freeman on "the terrorism we suffer from the police."


STAR WARS:

From YahooMovies:  A few more details about the un-produced versions of George Lucas' ideas for Star Wars 7, 8, and 9.

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From TheWrap:  Article claims that second Star Wars anthology film will focus on Boba Fett.  The first is "Rogue One," which is due in Dec. 2016.

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From YahooMovies:  The Hollywood Reporter gives details about Josh Trank's departure from Star Wars Anthology film.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Josh Tranks will not direct the second Star Wars standalone film.


COMICS - Books and Movies:

From FlickeringMyth:  First promo art from "Captain America: Civil War."

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From YahooMovies:  Photo of the cast of "Suicide Squad" in costume.

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From CinemaBlend:  "Saturday Night Live" offers a fake "Black Widow" romantic-comedy trailer.

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From ScreenRant:  Rumors say that it is down to Asa Butterfield and Tom Holland to be the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

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From Variety:  Avengers: Age of Ultron has massive opening Friday.

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From Instagram:  A look at the young actresses who will play Jubilee and Jean Gray in X-Men Apocalypse, via Bryan Singer's Instagram account.

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From YahooGames:  New Fantastic Four character posters.

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From TheVillageVoice:  Amy Nicholson reviews Avengers: Age of Ultron.


TRAILERS:

From YouTube:  From 20th Century Fox, a Mother's Day-theme trailer for the upcoming Peanuts movie.


OBITS:

From TheWrap: The singer and songwriter, Ben E. King, is dead at the age 76.  King is known as the singer and co-writer of one of the most popular songs of all time, "Stand By Me," which was originally recorded in 1960 and first released in 1961.

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From TheWrap:  The actress, Suzanne Crough, has died.  She played "Tracy Partridge" on the 1970s sitcom, "The Partridge Family.  Crough was 52.

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From Vulture:  The author and screenwriter, Michael Blake, has died.  Black wrote the novel, Dances with Wolves, and the screenplay adaptation of Kevin Costner's film adaptation.  Blake won an Oscarn for his screenplay.  Blake was 69.

Josh Trank Departs (is Fired from) "Star Wars" Anthology Film

Josh Trank Departs Star Wars Anthology Film
Josh Trank, who was attached to direct the second Star Wars Anthology film, has decided to depart the project.

Trank said, “After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I’m making a personal decision to move forward on a different path. I’ve put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and I know deep down in my heart that I want to pursue some original creative opportunities. That said, the Star Wars universe has always been one of my biggest influences, and I couldn’t be more excited to witness its future alongside my millions of fellow Star Wars fans. I want to thank my friends Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart, Simon Kinberg, and everyone at Lucasfilm and Disney for the amazing opportunity to have been a part of this. May the Force be with you all.”

Lucasfilm VP of Development Kiri Hart said “It was a privilege to collaborate with Josh.  We are grateful for the energy and love of Star Wars that he brought to the process, and we wish him all the best.”

The Star Wars team is continuing to develop the project.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of March 1st to March 7th, 2015 - Update #13

NEWS:

From YahooMovies:  Why should Sean Penn apologize for a joke aimed at a close friend, even if it was at the Oscars?

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From HuffPost:  Neill Blomkamp reveals concept art for his in-development "Alien" film, and says what he does not want to happen to that film.

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From THR:  Disney is producing a live-action Beauty and the Beast... running out of ideas.

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From YahooMovies:  Chris Rock is highly critical of the 2013 Jackie Robinson biopic, 42.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  The winner of the Feb. 27th to March 1st, 2015 box office is Focus, starring Will Smith, with an estimated take of $19.1 million.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Leonardo DiCaprio moves ahead with "The Crowded Room."  This is an old project.  I remember when the late Premiere magazine described it as James Cameron's "next project" back in the 1990s.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Michelle Rodriguez doesn't know better, since she has been one of the more privileged Latina actresses.  I wonder if she was also drunk when she made this statement.


COMIC BOOKS:

From YahooTV:  Jada Pinkett Smith is leaving "Gotham."

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From YahooTV:  CBS's Supergirl's costume is revealed.

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From CinemaBlend:  CBS keeps adding to cast of its "Supergirl" show.

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From Comicvine:  A new trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

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From YahooGames:  Drew Goddard will writer and direct Spider-Man reboot... or not.

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From IGN:  Josh Trank explains casting Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm and the darker tone of his Fantastic Four movie.


STAR WARS:

From ScreenRant:  Rumors about the second Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer.

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From io9: What Ahsoka's appearance in Star Wars Rebels means.

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From FlickeringMyth:  New rumors about Luke Skywalker's role in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens.


OBITS:

From THR:  The actress, Lynn Borden, had died at the age of 77.  Borden was known for playing the young wife and mother, Barbara Baxter, on the fifth and final season of the 1960s sitcom, "Hazel."  We send our condolences to her family.

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From THR:  The actor, Daniel von Bargen, died at the age of 64.  He was best known for his role as Mr. Kruger, George Costanza's imbecile of a boss, on the last season of "Seinfeld."  I remember him for his role as the super-scary, Nix, in Clive Barker's Lord of Illusionx.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of January 25th to 31st, 2015 - Updated #19

NEWS:

From DenofGeek:  The simple reason why there was no "Tangled 2."

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From YahooNews:  First Lady Michelle Obama defends American Sniper at launch of "6 Certified."

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From YahooBeauty:  Disney introduces first Latina Disney Princess.

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From Grantland:  A really fine article about retired actor, Oscar-winner Gene Hackman.

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From Vulture:  Liam Hemsworth reportedly has been offered the lead in the Independence Day follow-up.

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From People:  Alex Gibney, a great director of great documentary films, has a shocking new film about Scientology.

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From Vulture:  Guardians of the Galaxy star, Chris Pratt, is rumored to be the new Indiana Jones.

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From ThePlaylist:  The leads in Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot are Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon & Leslie Jones.  Or these are the four who are in contract talks to star in the film.

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From Alternet:  Seven things about Chris Kyle not in American Sniper.

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From YahooMovies:  The winner of the box office for the weekend of 1/23 to 1/25/2015 is American Sniper with an estimated take of $64.4 million.  The film is a repeat winner, and this is one of the best second weekends ever.

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From Variety:  Kaya Scodelario has been named as the female lead in "Pirates of the Caribbean 5."

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From YahooMovies:  Oscar winner Dianne Wiest is struggling to pay her rent.


COMICS BOOKS:

From NerdReactor:  Jason Momoa likes the idea of a brown-skinned Aquaman.

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From YahooGames:  An article about TV shows based on comic books.

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From Variety:  Melissa Benoist is CBS' Supergirl.

From Variety:  Mehcad Brooks is the love interest of CBS' Supergirl.

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From Newsarama:  10 things worth noticing in the Fantastic Four trailer.

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From YahooTV:  The first teaser for the Fantastic Four reboot, and I think it looks great.  Now, will the movie be good...

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From CinemaBlend:  How the costumes in the Fantastic Four reboot film might look.

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From IGN:  Fox wants to develop a live action X-Men television series.


TRAILERS:

From 20th Century Fox:  The first teaser trailer for this year's Fantastic Four reboot.


MISC.:

From YahooSports:  Serena Williams wins her 6th Australian open title.  It is also her 19th major title (Grand Slam tournament) win, which is second all-time behind Stefi Graf's 22 (in the Open era).

Josh Trank, Director of "Chronicle," to Helm Star Wars Stand-Alone Movie

Josh Trank To Direct Stand-Alone Star Wars Film

June 04, 2014 - In addition to the episodes of a new Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm and Disney continue development of multiple stand-alone movies that will offer new stories beyond the core Saga. The newest director to come on board is Josh Trank.

"We're thrilled to welcome Josh into the family," says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. "He is such an incredible talent and has a great imagination and sense of innovation. That makes him perfectly suited to Star Wars, and for this new slate of movies that reach beyond the core characters and storylines of Episodes I through IX."

Trank states, "The magic of the Star Wars Universe defined my entire childhood. The opportunity to expand on that experience for future generations is the most incredible dream of all time."

Trank captured imaginations worldwide with his critically lauded directorial debut Chronicle, a fresh and engaging take on the superhero genre. Trank is currently at work on The Fantastic Four for 20th Century Fox.

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Boys Gone Wild in Furious "Chronicle"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Chronicle (2012)
Running time: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense action and violence, thematic material, some language, sexual content and teen drinking
DIRECTOR: Josh Trank
WRITERS: Max Landis; from a story by Max Landis and Josh Trank
PRODUCERS: John Davis and Adam Schroeder
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew Jensen
EDITORS: Elliot Greenberg

SCI-FI/THRILLER with elements of horror

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw, and Bo Petersen

Chronicle is a 2012 science fiction thriller and teen drama. The film follows three high school friends who gain superpowers and how those powers change them.

Seattle teenager Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) is a loner who starts videotaping his life. His mother, Karen (Bo Petersen), is dying of cancer, and his father, Richard (Michael Kelly), is an abusive alcoholic. Although Andrew is unpopular at school, he does have one friend, his cousin, Matt Garetty (Alex Russell).

Matt invites Andrew to a rave in a bid to help him meet people. However, Andrew ends up taking a trip into the nearby woods with Matt and popular student, Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan). There, they make an incredible discovery that gives them superpowers. At first, they have fun with the new powers, but when they begin to embrace the darker aspects of those powers, their lives begin to spin out of control.

Chronicle reminds me of Carrie, the 1976 Brian De Palma film based upon Stephen King’s 1974 novel of the same name (King’s debut novel). Carrie freaked me out when I first saw it as a child, and I have not been able to watch it since then. Chronicle doesn’t freak me out; it is much slicker than the edgy, odd, and dark Carrie. Chronicle is a shiny bauble structured to make its self-absorbed characters seem thoughtful and self-analytical to its self-absorbed target audience.

Director Josh Trank and screenwriter Max Landis are good at capturing the fun and hijinks of the teenaged boys as they experiment with their powers. I do believe that it is realistic to depict these youngsters as careless enough to test their powers out in public and also to think nothing of filming themselves using those powers. I think that Trank and Landis’ best idea is that when things start to get out of control, they really get out of control. As these young men become more reckless, the story turns wild and unbound. The movie embraces the dark side that is these young fools acting like demigods.

I didn’t know what to expect of Chronicle, but I did want to see it. Now, that I’ve seen it, I want more. It ia great science fiction thriller, but it is also something of a horror movie. When the young men start to embrace the darker aspects of what their powers can do, it is mesmerizing. It is also very scary, because for all that is cool about Chronicle, the film is also about the predatory side in each person.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, June 16, 2012