“Pacific Rim” Sequel Gets New Title

It doesn’t seem that long ago that John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Attack the Block, 24: Live Another Day) posted on his Instagram that the Pacific Rim sequel would be titled “Pacific Rim: Maelstrom.” However, it seems this title has been dropped in favour of a new one.

The robots vs. monsters sequel will now officially be titled “Pacific Rim: Uprising.” It’s a rather cryptic title, considering the first movie left us at the wormhole between the Kaiju and planet earth being completely destroyed by a nuclear reactive Jager, alongside what looked like the entire alien species who were breeding the Kaiju. Could it be the uprising of the Kaiju army once more? Or is there a new threat that the Jager programme will have to rise up against?

Not many other details have been revealed about the sequel – all we know so far is that it definitely takes place after the events of Pacific Rim, that John Boyega will have a role in the film as the son of Stacker Pentacost (Idris Elba – Luther, The Losers, The Jungle Book), and that Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, Green Street, Children of Men) will not be returning to reprise his role as Raleigh Beckett.

Overall, it looks like an entirely new movie at this stage, with new characters and challenges. Considering the scope of the world Guillermo Del Toro built in the first movie, there’s a lot of room for new stories and characters to carry the torch.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is currently schedule for release on February 23rd 2018. The movie will be directed by Steven S. DeKnight and written by DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder and T.S. Nowlin from the story by Guillermo del Toro.

 

The ‘Survivor: Millennials Vs Gen-X’ Review – “I’m Going For A Million Bucks”

After 14 weeks of blindsides, rock-draws and excellent gameplay, Survivor: Millennials Vs Gen-X reached its blistering finale where the final 6 contestants of Adam, Hannah, Ken, David, Bret and Jay fought to become the sole Survivor and the winner of the Million Dollar prize.

Unfortunately for Jay, Bret and David it wasn’t to be but that didn’t stop them from causing mayhem on their way out.

Damn you Jay!

It’s true that this A* cast has given me a number of favourites over the past weeks but Jay occupied the elite echelon on my list. From side-splitting confessionals to All-Star quality moments such as Michaela’s “What!” Blindside, I’m sure he is kicking his butt for not covering that combination lock puzzle and playing David’s fake Immunity Idol tonight but he really shouldn’t. In a modern game of Survivor if you’re not going to win then you best play for a Second Chance which Jay has more than secured during his first time out, with Idol Shenanigans and trolling Probst with that “Jeffrey” comment on the way out.

Be sure to see Jay in a future season.

For as strong a season as Millennials Vs Gen-X was, we still got players like Rachel, Lucy, Jessica, Sunday and Bret whose story wasn’t really shown to great effect. Even for Bret, who makes the Final Five, was often portrayed as the number two guy to both Chris and Zeke at certain points in the game with the rare instances of visibility spikes coming at Tribal Council with angry outburst or that ‘coming out‘ moment. So to see Bret make it so close to end only to leave in fifth was predictable given that the editors had shown us no reason to think he could win at the end, perhaps unfaithfully so considering that Bret was well liked amongst the cast as the Reunion showed.

Another well-liked cast member (and new Fan Favourite) is David, whose personal-growth narrative was well documented on the show but also made him a target with the Meta-Savvy players on this season. With Ken ultimately serving as the axe-man for Dave’s exit from the game at the Final Four, it leaves me feeling as-if the Producers hid Ken’s awareness that David should never make to the Final three. I can consider that it is possible that the least strategic player left in the Final Four might have only realised at this point that Dave needed to go. And maybe the twisted Survivor Fan in me would’ve loved to have seen Adam and Dave go to a fire making tie-breaker no matter Ken’s choice. But if Ken was more self-aware of his position in the game, I would’ve like to have seen.

With David gone at Final Four however we got see Adam, Hannah and Ken battle it out at the Final Tribal Council – well – at least two of them did. With Ken sitting back and somewhat resting on the fact that he had ‘loyalty‘ and ‘integrity‘ on his side to win, it was left to Adam and Hannah to sling mud at each other. With Hannah’s arguments that she orchestrated many of the moves that Adam was given credit for, I couldn’t help but feel as if Hannah was criminal underrated for the game she played, a fact that was pointed out for the jury when Michelle pressed Hannah to reveal that she was only ever on the wrong side of the numbers once. A strong argument that Adam couldn’t make himself but for as visible a target as Adam was towards the end it also didn’t help that Hannah was practically invisible throughout competition as serious threat to win.

As a Survivor character, Adam was a triple threat: great strategic player, confessional gold and a personal story that transcended the game itself. In a season that had an embarrassment of strong characters, gameplay and (Probst’s favourite) ‘Big Moves‘, it took Adam’s eventual win to cement Millennials Vs Gen-X as a worthy addition to the Survivor Brand.

With an All-Star Season of “Game Changers” coming in the new year (stay tuned for more information on that soon). Adams game may be overlooked as recency bias takes hold but Survivor: Millennials Vs Gen-X will be remembered as a Strong season of Survivor for years to come.

Congratulations Adam!

#TheSurvivorReview

For all your Survivor News & Reviews, stick with @mirchrated on Twitter & Skatronixxx.com

We Review Elementary SN05 EP09 -“It Servers You Right to Suffer”

Elementary returned on Sunday night and yes I know I am a bit late getting my review to you all but I hope you will be able to forgive me. Ok, let’s have a look at the recap of  Season 5 Episode 8.

SN05 EP08 – “How The Sausage Is Made”

Watson has a concern, that  Sherlock’s sobriety is at risk when she learns, that he has been lying to her about attending recovery meetings. Sherlock and Watson discover a man’s  death that was caused by ingesting poisoned sausage is connected to a lab working on a breakthrough in the artificial meat industry.

 

SN05 EP09 – “It Servers You Right to Suffer”

Watson (Lucy Liu) is peacefully sleeping and when the first call from Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) goes unanswered, she is woken by screaming, she goes downstairs and finds that the screaming is a ringtone on a cell phone, It is a backup phone that Sherlock has stashed in case Watson ignores his calls. He summons her to a crime scene immediately and stresses that it’s it is urgent.  Once at the scene, Sherlock informs Waston that it isn’t a Major Crimes case, but it had peaked his interest. The victim, Ricky Morales, is a known gang member. Sherlock heard about the case on his police scanner and what peaked his interest was the description of, one of the two men seen fleeing the scene. The description matches Shinwell (Nelson Ellis). This is not looking good for him. Sherlock and Watson notice things are not adding up to your typical gang killing. Sherlock’s suspicions are raised when they learn that the murder weapon is an antique gun. The detective on the case is none too pleased with Sherlock and Watson sticking their noses in, the pair is perplexed as to why one of the men that fled the scene would throw their gun. However, that gun doesn’t match the gun used in the murder? There is something fishy going on here!

Sherlock and Watson drop over to Shinwells, but they only find his mobile phone, Sherlock sends  Watson to check out the local pawn shops while he pays a visit to members of Shinwells old gang SBK. Sherlock uses some wild stories to get the members to confirm their whereabouts and believes it is likely neither of the men were involved and rules them out. Shinwell is waiting at the brownstone to talk to Watson, it turns out that Shinwell was actually at the crime scene but wasn’t the one that killed Morales. Shinwell has been working as an informant for the FBI and since he has no way to contact his handler, he asks for Sherlock and Watson’s help. Watson sets up a meeting with Agent Whitlock, he admits that Shinwell is his informant but flat-out refuses to help Shinwell do you smell a rat? Whitlock had been keeping CI’s off the books so there is no record of Shinwell being a CI for him.

 

 Photo: Michael Parmelee/CBS ©2016 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

 

Shinwell is beyond pissed off over the situation, Sherlock points out that there are two problems, The first being the gun that was found at the crime scene. It will most likely have Shinwell’s prints on it, when the police run the prints they will get a match and he will go directly to jail and will not collect $200. The second issue is that they need to find Ricky Morales’s real killer. With the CSI backlog, they have up to 3 days up their sleeve. Sherlock and Watson set about finding who actually killed the victim. At Ricky’s apartment, they find a prescription for panic attack medication, which leads them to Ricky’s psychiatrist who also tells them that he is a  CI, and his handler was, you guessed it, Agent Whitlock, I told you something fishy was going on. Shinwell gets a call and has to go, but Watson has concerns it is Whitlock using another gang member to set Shinwell up, but lucky it’s not the case, they just require him to accompany them on a job. Shinwell calls Watson, he knows what Whitlock’s motive for killing Ricky was.

 

Photo: Best Possible Screen Grab/CBS ©2016 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

 

 

So it turns out that Whitlock was using his CI’s to find out when and how the different gangs moved their money, once Whitlock had the information, he and two other men would rob the gangs. Watson armed with this information visits the rat Whitlock, she offers him a deal. If he helps Shinwell avoid jail time then she and Sherlock will do what they can to ensure he won’t reside in the general population, I wouldn’t be so nice that for sure. Whitlock says he will do Watson a favour, by not helping Shinwell. Whitlock believes once a gang member always a gang member, but people in who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Whitlock waits for Watson to leave then uses the gun that he used to kill Ricky to kill himself. Shinwell has all but given up hope. He won’t go down for murder but, the police still have a gun with his prints on it. My heart broke a little for him, he is trying to turn his life around and the poor bloke (Guy – Aussie slang) just can’t catch a break. He decides that since that it’s most likely going to be his last day as a free man, he will make the most of it. Sherlock is going over the cases at the precinct, that the duo had missed while away. Bell (Jon Michael Hill) knows something is going on with Sherlock, he brings up Bell’s brother, who has had his own troubles with the law and Bell demands to know what is going on. Sherlock finds Shinwell on the roof where he is repairing a part of it for his neighbour, Sherlock gives him a cloth, Shinwell is confused, Sherlock tells him it is what he used to wipe Shinwell’s prints off the gun, Sherlock tells him to enjoy his second, second chance. Aww bless Sherlock seems to have a soft spot for Shinwell just as I do, I am really liking his character in the show, it sort of balances Sherlock and Watson out.

 Watch the promo for Season 5 Episode 10 “Pick Your Poison” below

 

Elementary airs Sundays 10/9 on CBS 

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 Presh (@Presh81)

TV Show Recapper at Skatronixxx

Recapping: AHS, Bates Motel, Elementary and Lucifer

Love of Crime, Horror and Mystery TV Shows

Star Trek Discovery Casts ‘The Walking Dead’ Star in Lead Role

‘Star Trek Discovery’, the new series beaming onto CBS All Access in America and Netflix Worldwide, has finally found its lead in actress Sonequa Martin-Green. Known largely for her role as Sasha in ‘The Walking Dead’, the announcement marks the end of a months-long search for the right person. It was reported back in August that the show would feature a female lead, with the show in development a while beforehand, so finding the right actress has proven to be a difficult feat.

Of course, Green has likely been cast for a while now, and these reports haven’t been officially confirmed by CBS, however, it’s possible Green has been negotiating her contract around her time on The Walking Dead. EW who broke the news, report that Green will continue to serve as a series regular on The Walking Dead, where she has played Sasha Williams since Season 3, a character specially created for her after she auditioned for the role of Michonne that eventually went to Danai Gurira. Nevertheless, this will no doubt have fans worrying for her character (case in point:ME!).

Green will play a lieutenant commander on the Discovery, as previous showrunner Bryan Fuller noted: “We’ve seen six series from the captain’s point of view. To see a character from a [new] perspective on the starship — one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates, it gave us richer context.” 

Green has proven throughout her time on ‘The Walking Dead’ that she has what it takes to carry a show, and hopefully her character on Discovery won’t be as hard done to.

The casting announcement today follows a number in recent weeks, after news on the show since Bryan Fuller left as showrunner went eerily quiet. Things seem to be moving at warp speed now however, as it was also announced the other day that Chris Obi (“American Gods”), Shazad Latif (“Penny Dreadful”) and Mary Chieffo have been cast as Klingons.

Obi will play T’Kuvma, the Klingon leader seeking to unite the Klingon houses. Latif is set to portray Kol, commanding officer of the Klingons and protégé of T’Kuvma, whilst Chieffo will play L’Rell, the battle deck commander of the Klingon ship.

Green, Obi, Latif and Chieffo all join previously announced cast members Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp in the series which is garnering some excellent talent.

‘Star Trek Discovery’ will premiere May 2017 on CBS All Access in America and Netflix Worldwide.

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Joe is extremely excited for Star Trek Discovery after this casting news, though he’ll now have a panic attack every time Sonequa Martin-Green appears on The Walking Dead for fear of Sasha getting killed off. To see how he fares, be sure to check him out @resonantrevs over on Twitter.

Daredevil Ep. 23 – “The Man in the Box”

“The Man in the Box” begins with a chilling scene of police investigating the bloody remains from the previous episode. Even the few people still alive are clearly emotionally scarred. This is a precursor to a fairly gruesome episode.

Suspense is built throughout the episode, as Claire needs to take care of the victims of said massacre and sees how they’ve had their fingerprints burnt off. Matt warns Karen and Foggy that they could be next. We see how real his warning is when they have a meeting with DA Samantha Reyes and she is violently gunned down with machine gun fire. Matt is only able to save himself, Karen and Foggy because of his hightened senses. But even with Matt’s interference, Foggy is wounded.

After Matt seemingly becoming smarmier throughout this season, this episode shows the good man is still there with the aforementioned scene of him rescuing his friends. Matt has a great monologue with Claire where he ponders if his presence is harming everyone he cares about. One subtle moment is when he is confronted by Fisk, who threatens to ruin both him and Nelson and Matt offers to bite the bullet for both of them.

Speaking of that scene, the confrontation between Matt and Fisk in prison is the highlight of the episode. The tension between the two is thick enough to be cut with a knife and the cinematography is well done – Wide shots are designed to emphasize distance while closeups are done in low angles – low enough to create subtle tension but not be distracting. Once again, we see how Fisk can go from calm (but still intimidating) to furious and violent without warning. It is a unique look at Fisk’s psychology that Matt’s threat of preventing Vanessa from entering the US is what sets Fisk off.

There are other good highlights – Elektra is involved in a martial arts heavy fight scene where she debuts her trademark sai. The Punisher confronts Karen in her apartment – this is a tense moment where Castle has to defend that he did not attack Reyes. When Karen’s apartment is shot up and Castle protects Karen, she finally believes him. The episode ends on a titanic cliffhanger with Hand Ninjas swarming a building and Daredevil donning his costume, preparing for battle.

Overall, this is a great episode – there is plenty of action. Even the quiet moments in between action and engaging, and every major character does something.

The Big Bang Theory S10E10 ‘The Property Division Collision’

Sheldon and Amy are talking about rearranging the apartment. Sheldon wants to get all of his stuff but Amy tries to temper it. I doubt that Amy will be able to control the house as well Penny does. They bring the portrait of Amy and Penny over to Penny who is disgusted. Which makes sense as it is a terrible painting especially of her.

Sheldon and Leonard look through the things they bought together. Sheldon gets the Long claw sword from Game of Thrones. He then basically gets everything else because he is Sheldon and Leonard doesn’t want to fight him.

Stewart asks to stay with Howardette and is ready to help. Of course they need help, but I doubt they really want to have Stewart around all the time.

Leonard takes the flag of the apartment which upsets Sheldon greatly. Leonard deserves something from the apartment even if Sheldon doesn’t think so. But  Sheldon is a spoiled man-child, of course he won’t let this go without a fight.

Howardette have dinner with Raj and Stewart. It is clear the mood is tense as Stewart and Raj are at each others necks.

Sheldon changes the internet password and Leonard is furious. Leonard wears the flag like a toga and angers Sheldon even more. These two fight humorously, only Sheldon would be upset by a flag being worn like a toga.

Stuart and Raj are at each other’s throats because Stuart wants to help and mooch. Stuart knows that Howardette needs help and with quick work makes Raj understand that another person would make things even easier for the parents to be. They work together to build a baby swing.

Leonard and Penny head into their house and find Sheldon rented out his room. They are shocked that this strange man is in their kitchen. Leonard runs across the hall and demands Sheldon tell him who this man is. Sheldon, the master of his domain informs him he has paid for the month so he can do with his room as he pleases.

Howard is enjoying Raj and Stuart’s help. Bernadette also is but she doesn’t want to totally show it. Sheldon’s insane tenant played by Christopher Lloyd  speaks profoundly for a moment about Sheldon and Leonard’s friendship and that they know they are entering a new world. He then breaks away from this intelligence and shows that he is just a crude old man.

Leonard and Penny hang up the horrid painting from Amy. Bernadette thinks she is in labor and the four of them head to the hospital. Looks like there is going to be a baby in the next episode!

Margot Robbie and David Ayer Working Together on “Gotham City Sirens” Movie

Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street, Suicide Squad, Focus)was already in the works to be reprise her role as Harley Quinn, and produce the standalone movie that would be focussing on her and several other villainesses – however, it’s been officially announced that David Ayer (Suicide Squad) will be reunited with Robbie, but Ayer then went on to post a massive hint to his Twitter that the movie will be based on the Gotham City Sirens comic series.

The comic series (written by Paul Dini and art by Guillem March) featured Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Poison Ivy. Original rumours suggested that the movie was going to be called Birds of Prey, which was the name of a superheroine team led by Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle), which occasionally featured Catwoman. However, if Ayers does go ahead with the Gotham City Sirens title and use the original graphic novel series stories, it will give him more of a chance to showcase Quinn.

The script is currently being worked on by Geneva Robertson-Dworet, who is known for her work on the Tomb Raider remake and Sherlock Holmes 3. 

Despite some mixed and pretty critical reviews, Suicide Squad was a box office success – so it’s not a surprise that Warner Bros. would look into developing the movie as it’s own franchise, and have some spin-off characters and movies interlinking to it.

The DC Cinematic Universe is starting to grow considerably, and with Robbie and Ayer at the helm, fans are in for a wild ride.

Last Man on Earth S3 E8 ‘Whitney Houston, we have a problem’

Gail is trapped in an elevator and Melissa is gone when this episode begins. Tandy tries to figure out what he thinks is a clue and they head out on the road to find her. 

Gail is trapped and the gang has no idea whatsoever. The gang leaves Todd to try and find Melissa as he won’t give up. Gail works to break herself out. Though it doesn’t look like she has much of a chance.

Tandy dresses up in a dinosaur costume not feeling like searching. Tandy’s insanity is the driving force of the show in a lot of ways and is always great. Tandy thinks you find crazy with crazy and ends up scaring Todd.

They go off to find Melissa with Tandy still wearing the dinosaur suit. The insanity of Tandy is something that really should be praised. If I were looking for someone I’d sure want to dress as a dinosaur.

Todd smashes into a wall and drives off being found the next morning sleeping in the shower. Tandy decides to help him and Todd realizes Melissa must be in Zihuatanejo. He comes to this conclusion as before she left she was trying to initiate a sexual encounter using Shawshank Roleplaying. That is just a little too weird.

Todd and Tandy are about to go when Carol begs Tandy to find Gail with her. Todd freaks out and tells Carol she annoyed Gail so much she left. Todd is definitely right about this but shouldn’t have been so mad at Carol. Tandy talks to Carol and makes her feel better. Carol and Tandy join Todd on his 35 hour drive. They find Gail’s car and drive back thinking it’s Melissa’s.

They go to find where the car is usually parked and are about to search a building. Melissa soon appears and Gail’s gunshot is heard. Tandy thinks the gunshot was inside the building behind them but follows the group. If he had followed his instinct he probably would have found Gail. Will she ever be free from this elevator?

American Dad S12 E6 ‘Roger’s Baby’

Jeff and Haley are struggling to have a baby due to Jeff being an Alien. Though neither of them know this.  Roger finally let’s them know what is going on. He brings Stan in because Stan also knew. The family is rightfully upset with Stan for not telling them but he says he only did it because he is a great secret keeper.

Roger is a birthing alien and could help but he is not going to do it. Haley goes to see Roger to ask him to do it as he is the only one who can do it. Though it is definitely also because he has always wanted bigger breasts. Roger agrees to make Jeff human again even if it is a 10% chance.

Snot is given 3 happy days for being poor. This is going to go bad I can feel it.

Jeff is successfully implanted in Roger. They even show the terrible doctor from a previous episode where he almost made Steve taller by inserting animal bones into him.

Snot hates being treated so well for being poor. He is not happy with Steve and doesn’t let him take part in the trip to a water park he is gifted. On the third day Steve hides Snot but they are eventually found. The proceed to run from the two hosts of “Morning Mimosas”.

Haley throws Roger a baby shower which he at first is happy about. The gifts he recieves are all about Jeff except for baby clothes from Klaus. Roger loses it and runs away with Jeff as he wants to raise him as his own. Roger sings a song about how he doesn’t need Haley to birth the baby.

Roger gives birth to the baby as Steve and Snot run. Humorously Jeff is born all shriveled up and will only grow to his original size when he is put in water like those spongy dinosaurs.

Steve and Snot make up when Snot realizes running from the ladies was a great equalizer. If only for a moment these two are just two friends on the run. Snot loves Steve and sometimes it seems Steve feels the same way but Steve rebuffs him.

This episode was certainly quite nice and I’m glad things worked out well in the end. I am curious what Jeff and Haley’s baby will be like, and when it will become a character on the show.

Alan Thicke passes away at age 69

The world is saddened with the loss of a TV father icon, Alan Thicke. Known best for his role on the hit TV show of the 80s, Growing Pains, he was the father we all looked up to.

Born March 1, 1947 in Ontario, Canada, he first landed his spot in the TV industry as a game show host called First Impressions. He and his Wife Gloria Loring were successful theme song writers for popular TV shows like Different Strokes, The Facts of Life and so on. He landed his part on the TV show Growing Pains, which aired in 1985, playing the role of Jason Seaver, psychiatrist and father. The show was long running lasting until 1992, and also had its own movie that debuted in 2000 called Growing Pains the movie, followed by the sequel Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers in 2004.This man has done so much from movies to hosting pageants, celebrity cooking shows and more. Alan Thicke has 3 sons; which you all may have heard of his son Robin Thicke who fallowed in his fathers musical carrier.

On December 13^th, 2016 Alan Thicke suffered from a heart attack while playing hockey with his son Carter and passed away at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in California. Sad to see a legends and icon once again be taken from us, and at such an early age is truly heart breaking. He will be missed dearly and always remembered as the father with the best support and wisdom of any TV father out there.