Vampire Diaries SN8 E1 – Hello, Brother

The first episode of the final season started with a couple driving down the road discussing movies.  When suddenly, there’s a guy standing in the middle of the road.  Tires screech, the guy swerves and complains, “Who was that guy?”… then says “What was he doing in the middle of the road?”  I responded, “Oh, no worries.  It’s just Damon, that’s what he does.”  I thought Lucy was going to choke, she was laughing so hard.  We almost missed the car hitting Enzo, because we were giggling hysterically.

After Enzo goes flying over the car, we learn what Damon and Enzo have been up to on their summer vacation.  They’ve been feeding evil people to the monster.  What do you mean “what monster?”… The monster that was in the vault.  Jeebus, do I have to explain everything to you?  Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan are continuing with the “Letters to Elena” bit.  Bonnie takes the pen first, and that’s how we learn what’s in her head and get memories of Bonzo’s Greatest Hits.  Or, at least their discussion of The Odyssey and sirens.

We find out that Ric has been running The Armory for the last few months, and he’s got several interns helping to excavate and look for all  the secrets that The Armory has been hiding for generations… including the mysterious vault.

And, because of a funny conversation between Damon and Enzo, we find out that the monster is controlling them and can get into their minds.  We also learn that Damon has flipped his switch and is on “cruise control”.  Which brings me to the best line/gag of the episode.  This whole discussion has been taking place while Damon is sitting holding a book that he was reading before Enzo started the conversation.  What book is he reading?  50 Shades of Grey!  Enzo says, “So you really have nothing left inside?”  To which Damon quips, “Just my winning sense of humor and a renewed appreciation for chick lit.”

As the episode goes on we learn that Enzo dumped the body of the girl from the car wreck with clues.  Clues that would lead Bonnie to him.  He’s hoping for a rescue, but when Stefan (and Damon gets to say “Hello, brother” again!) and then Bonnie show up, the monster controls Damon and Enzo making them leave.  Shortly after that, we get to hear the siren sing.  Oh wait, did I forget to mention that’s what the monster in the vault was?  Oh sorry, my bad.

Meanwhile at the Caroline/Ric ranch, we learn that they’ve been living apart, but the kids are living with Caroline and being taken care of by a nanny.  Virginia St. John shows up and tries to kill said nanny and the twins.  Caroline shows up just in time (thank you Super Vamp Speed) to save the kids and the nanny.  Virginia then bites off her own tongue and bleeds out rather than answer questions.  Creepy and gross, I know.

They’ve set us up nicely for a great final season.  I can’t wait for the daring rescue of Enzo and Damon, and the subsequent re-flipping of Damon’s humanity switch.  He’s reliving the first time he met Elena over and over in a small portion of his mind so that he’s not completely losing himself.  Bring on next week’s episode!

Tim Miller Leaves Production of “Deadpool” Sequel

Since it’s release on Valentines Day 2016, Deadpool is the super hero movie that’s delighted all comic book fans. Despite it’s low budget and R-Rating, Deadpool successfully reigned in over $782 million worldwide and broke numerous box office records, including becoming the seventh highest-grossing film of 2016, the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (when un-adjusted for inflation), and the highest-grossing X-Men film. It’s a hell of an achievement for a movie that began production in 2004 and kept being placed in Production Hell.

So it’s understandable that fans were shocked and upset when Tim Miller, director of this highly overachieving movie, announced he’d be leaving the production on Deadpool 2.

Tim Miller cited his reasons for leaving as creative differences with leading man Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal, Buried, R.I.P.D). This split was said to be a very mutual and amicable split between the two, but of course this comes to a massive blow to fans of the original hilarious, fourth-wall-breaking, R-Rated fest that was Deadpool.

Fans have been quick to share their reactions across Twitter;

Including Guardian’s of the Galaxy director James Gunn;

However, Deadpool fans should remain optimistic. While Tim Miller may no longer be directing, Ryan Reynolds is still very much on board production-wise, as he was last time. He loves and understands the character extremely well, and clearly has a lot of passion for the movies he’s creating for Deadpool. Hopefully soon, he will find a director who he agrees with on the direction of Wade Wilson’s story, and there will be crisp high-five’s all around.

Deadpool 2 is currently in production, and on schedule for release in 2018 at this time.

Regular Show In Space S8 E15 ‘Space Escape’

The park members have been working hard and now graduate the program. They are able to travel in space freely to terraform or create new livable planets. They are stoked to go to the graduation party. They head to the store to stock up on more snacks. In the store they see a helmeted man who needs to leave the store or his boss will kill him. His boss floats in and it is evil Pops of course, he freezes the clerk as Mordecai and Rigby run outside.

The enemy ship docks and the villains board just before the crew is supposed to leave. The leader tells them to keep Pops safe, they ask why but there is no time. The leader tries to stall Evil Pops and is successful, they crawl through the vents and drop the vent on some of the villains.

Pops refuses to leave and they charge back in because that is what a real hero would do. Pops really is coming into his own in this season. In the past he has had moments of bravery but this season really is putting him in the spotlight. They send the ship flying and put a balloon in the driver’s seat to distract Evil Pops for  a moment. The domes fly out of the space tree and Evil Pops wants them all destroyed, except of course for Pops. How hard can it be to destroy maybe 100 domes without destroying one?

They initiate warp drive and as it warms up their new friends hold off the enemies. Mordecai and Rigby fly out in their own ships to aid their space friends. The dome and the duo end up in front of Evil Pops’ ship. Their space friend Sure Shot destroys the tractor beam sacrificing himself as he jumps into the vacuum of space. I am curious if he really is gone, only time will tell. The gang warps to who knows where.

Regular Show never disappoints me and these space episodes are a good send off to this amazing show. Always excited for more even though their really isn’t too many left.

Bob’s Burgers S7 E3’Teen-A-Witch’

The kids are stoked for Halloween and the Belcher kids are talking about what they should wear. Tammie steals Tina’s costume idea of being a hot mess and getting ahead of her she signs up for the costume contest. Tina’s always wanted to win but always ends up losing though her costumes are clearly the best.

Looking for information on witches to become a “sand-witch” the librarian  tells her to become a real witch. She takes his spell book and tries to practice dark arts to win the contest. As the kids cast spell after spell Bob finds out someone took his prized pumpkin.

The next day everything that the kids magicked happens. That night Tina attempts more magic and the next day she comes in dressed like a goth.

Tina attempts to curse a semi nemesis the crossing guard but is soon cursed herself. She is toying with forces out of her control.

Bob is freaking out about who is taking his pumpkins and soon blames his rival Jimmy Pesto. Tina has a nightmare about the crossing guard. She talks to the librarian and he says the crossing guard really is a witch. It looks like Tina may not win again. Tina begins to freak out about the curse when she is in the costume contest.

She apologizes to the crossing guard on the cat walk in a poignant speech. When Tammie comes up behind her for her turn they end up falling off the cat walk. Tina loses once more but she feels better about herself anyway.

It turns out Mr.Fishoeder has taken all of the Jack-o-lanterns and created a large pumpkin display. Kevin Kline really does add just another layer of greatness to this show, and I think that is a good thing.

Another good episode of Bob’s Burgers, this show always proves that grossness doesn’t need to be in every show. It is oddly realistic yet still wildly cartoonish. Can’t wait for more of the Belcher’s adventures!

MacGyver SN1 E5 – Toothpick

This week’s opening gambit is just Mac and Jack on a “loooooooong stake out”.  Nikki has been tracked to an apartment in Lisbon, and the guys are watching it, hoping to finally catch her.  However, once they see movement in the window and rush in, they find out that Nikki’s made them and has sent a messenger with a key for Mac.  Nikki’s gonna be a problem for a while I’m sure.

There are a few things about this remake that bug me:

• Mac never goes on cases alone.  In the original, Mac very seldom had “back up” or a partner on a case.  That was one of the things that made him so bad ass.  It was sort of like the saying about the Texas Rangers … “One riot, one ranger”.  In the original, they didn’t have to send a whole army (or team).  All they needed was MacGyver.
• In the original, Mac never told anyone his first name.  Only the hard core fans knew his first name was Angus, and we didn’t learn that til like the final episode.  I remember how big a deal it was to finally find out Mac’s first name!  They hyped it in the promos for an entire week… that we were finally going to find out the big mystery.  Now, he introduces himself as Angus MacGyver.
• And, of course, that RDA is not involved in the show.  But, I’ve sorta harped on that one enough.  Don’t ya think?

In this week’s episode, Team Mac is in Germany trying to save a witness that can finally put her boss behind bars.  Her boss sends a team of eight guys (that get dropped off by helicopter) after her on a non-stop train to Frankfurt.  Team Mac take them out one at a time until the bad guys get wise and just sabotage the train and kill the conductor.  So, with the driver dead and the train speeding up, Jack asks Riley if she can hack it.  With the computer jerked from its hole leaving just wires sticking out, Riley responds, “It’s a hole Jack.  I can’t hack a hole.”  So, Mac announces he has a plan…. Plan A, but it will get everyone on the train killed.  Jack tells him that they should move on to Plan B.

Plan B means they get all the passengers into the last few cars and decouple them from the runaway train.  Spoiler alert, but Plan B doesn’t work.  Mac’s homemade cutting torch runs out of fuel before it cuts all the way through the metal.  That’s when we get the best line of the episode when Mac says, “We have to move on to Plan C.” And Jack responds, “Plan C?  Plan C went out the window eight operatives and a helicopter ago.  We’re on like Plan F now, Dude.”

Mac manages to stop the train and save the girl…. even manages a bit of romance too.  At least that part seemed reminiscent of the original show.

George Eads’ Jack Dalton totally makes this show.  I know I’ve said that before, but I wouldn’t like this show nearly as much without him.

Jessica Jones Season 2 will have All Female Directors

Variety has reported that Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg recently revealed that all of the directors for season 2 will be women. Speaking at the Transforming Hollywood 7: Diversifying Entertainment conference on Friday, Rosenberg explained that she had wanted to increase the number of female directors working on the show, and one of the team had floated booking only female directors for the entire 13 episode run. Rosenberg stated that she hadn’t even contemplated the idea of an all female director roster before it was suggested to her, however it was an idea that both she and Marvel were firmly behind.

She told the audience at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that hiring an inclusive array of people was “a conscious decision and it’s very important that showrunners do that” This is great to hear, as Marvel has been criticised for a long time about its lack of diversity and inclusion for a long time. Their focus until very recently has been heterosexual white male characters (such as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man etc) and only recently have female characters like Jessica Jones and Captain Marvel, or black characters like Luke Cage or Black Panther been placed front and center. (At this point, I searched Google to try and remind myself of any LGBTQA leads in MCU – sorry, I’ve drawn a blank). Perhaps this will be a great test for Marvel to think about how they can introduce more diversity and speak to the experience of a wider range of the fandom.

Rosenberg didn’t give away anything else about the second season. The show doesn’t have a release date yet and no details have been given yet about the story arc, however she previously revealed that Jessica won’t be ‘healed’ following season 1. You’ll be able to catch Jessica Jones in The Defenders, which is due to land on Netflix next year.

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Joss Whedon Weighs in on Marvel vs DC and Directing Star Wars

Joss Whedon has been very quiet recently. Avengers: Age of Ultron was his last outing and, well, it all kind of ended in tears. It received mixed reviews from press and fans, and met with controversy regarding a joke made by Tony Stark and Black Widow apparently claiming to be a monster because she’s unable to have children – and the result was Whedon had to quit Twitter due to the abuse he received on the social media platform. He’s recently popped back up to promote his online video for Save The Day, uniting some of his favourite famous faces to stand up against real life supervillain Donald Trump. To promote the video, Whedon talked to Complex. During the interview he revealed that he was a fan of the Great British Bake Off and that he’s a Buffy/Spike shipper, and also spoke about Marvel vs DC, the Wonder Woman movie, and how he’d love to join the Star Wars family.

On Marvel vs DC: “I did not see Suicide Squad. I saw Batman vs. Superman. Everybody’s got their own method. I think Marvel has been more successful systematically. DC has been more cinematic—their stuff looks amazing—but I feel like Kevin [Feige, President of Marvel Studios] is a really good storyteller. He really cares about coherence, and I feel like style never defeats substance at Marvel, but a little style creeps in. Ant-Man had some, Doctor Strange might be funky, and they are doing very fun things on TV. The Marvel-Netflix thing is working really well. DC’s decision to have their shows on TV with different actors playing the same characters at the same time as their movies, is a little interesting.”

On the Wonder Woman movie (which Whedon was attached to a while back): “I want it to be good. The trailer was just wonderful. I’ll probably be disappointed, me more than anybody else, because I’ll be like, “Wow, my version…” or whatever, but I can still get myself up for it. The trailer had her shield and her fire hammer and yep, I’m good, this will be fine, everything is good. Such an image.”

On returning to a franchise: “I mean, it’s a fun thing to do, to put yourself in the service of something if you think you can add an interpretation. It’s no different than any other storytelling. There are some times when you get micro-managed to death but with Marvel, they let me make two movies that were very much mine. So do I want to make James Bond movie? Yeah. Anne Hathaway does Catwoman again? Sure, I’m in. Do I want to make a Star Wars movie? Yeah. I was like, “I don’t want to make a Star Wars movie. Like, god dammit, why?” But I saw the trailer for Rogue One awhile ago and I was like, “I want to do that.” To make a Star Wars movie and not be wed to the bigger picture.”

I would love to see a Joss Whedon helmed Star Wars spin off movie, but whatever he does, I hope he gets back to work soon!

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James Gunn Wants a Nebula solo movie as much as we do!

James Gunn has had quite a week this week. Not only has he delighted fans with an awesome new poster and a cool sneak peek at the eagerly awaited Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, but he also stated on Twitter that he’d be up for doing a Nebula solo project in the future. The film maker, who regularly communicates with fans via social media, agreed with a comment made on Twitter by a fan who said Nebula was his favourite character and should have her own movie.

I have a few favorites myself, but I agree that Nebula should lead her own film – it's something I've thought about from the beginning. https://t.co/lyPAA6Hyxw

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 16, 2016

But before you start pre-ordering your Nebula movie t-shirt and tweeting Karen Gillan messages off congratulations (though she did reply to his tweet supporting the idea!), this may be easier said than done. The GotG franchise is very much built on an ensemble, and Marvel hasn’t yet made any moves to give the characters solo projects. Also, Marvel has their movie calendar filled up until 2020, so unless Nebula becomes a massive break out success in vol 2, it’s unlikely she’ll pull a Spider-Man and get her own film snuck in before then.

However, it’s not entirely hopeless. We do know that Nebula will have a significant role in GotG vol 2, which is great news, as in my opinion she was hideously underused in the first film! Also, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has suggested that Nebula will be round for a while. “If people know the comic lore, Nebula has a lot of varying different roles to play over the course of a lot of different titles in the comics,” he said. “We have somebody like Karen, and you have a look that is so weird and so great. I think that’s something we’d all like to see again.” It’s not yet confirmed if former Doctor Who star Karen Gillan has been cast in Avengers: Infinity War, but certainly it’s what the fans are hoping for.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 is released in the UK on 28th April and 5th May in the USA

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Krampus Screenwriters to tackle Godzilla 2

It seems that Legendary films is stocking up their team for the workings of Godzilla 2. They are taking on some powerful writers such as Michael Doughtery and Zach Shields for this project.

Doughtery is known for his hand in such movies as Krampus, X-Men 2, X-men: Apocalypse and Superman Returns. This man has done some fantastic work and I am sure will do a wonderful job in the Godzilla universe. Though it may be some time before we see Godzilla 2 hit the movies theaters, it seems that Legendary films are bulking up to make this movie one for the history books. And further more, they are getting a writers room to help with development of their Godzilla vs. King Kong movie to come out in 2020. (That is fantastic!!)

If you have not seen the Krampus movie yet, do yourself a favor and go rent it now. That movie is awesome. If you don’t like scary movies, don’t worry; the creep factor is actually low in this one. It’s more funny than creepy, (and trust me, I don’t do creepy well.) ^_^

Daredevil Ep. 19 – “Regrets Only”

After the decent but not great, “Kinbaku,” and after four slam dunk episodes before that, expectations were a little mixed for the next episode. “Regrets Only” picks up exactly where “Kinbaku” left off. Elektra and Daredevil fight off members of the Japanese mafia – so right off the bat, we get some solid action.

We also pick up on the Punisher storyline. Not only is Castle in the hospital, but his series of slayings have him in deep legal trouble, even facing the death penalty. Knowing the things he’s done, but also knowing that he’s a force for good, Foggy and Murdock decide to represent the Punisher so they can at least save him from the electric chair.

Castle spends the entire episode in a hospital bed, but it is still effective. We’re past the point of suspense, we already know what this man is capable of. Waiting for him to snap and go violent is surprisingly suspenseful. He never does anything physically violent, but there is a great moment at the end: After spending the entire episode calmly agreeing that he’ll plead guilty to ensure a lighter sentence, Castle snaps and declares himself not guilty. It’s a great moment that shows how volatile Castle is while showing Karen and Foggy’s disappointment as they realize everything they’ve worked for has been lost. Castle does the talking, but the other characters’ disappointment is evident.

Elektra and Daredvil continue chasing members of the Japanese Mafia. There are some good action scenes where Murdock rescues someone and the pair have to evade security – out of costume. We see how well these two work as a team, even if their personalities are beginning to conflict.

Overall, this is what one would want from a “transitional” episode. There aren’t too many major breakthroughs, but it keeps the story going with enough action, enough drama and enough character development to keep us on our toes. Plus after a brief absence, it’s good to see the Punisher again.