Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Welcome to the latest edition of Making the Grade—a review format segment here on Fanboys Anonymous where we break down the five major components of something and give it a score based on the standard report card lineup: A, B, C, D, and F for a total failure.
The next report card is for a film which is getting lots of buzz right now and could potentially win the Academy Award for Best Picture very soon: The Revenant.
The Revenant—directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu; written by Mark L. Smith (screenplay), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (screenplay), Michael Punke (novel); starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Hugh Glass), Tom Hardy (John Fitzgerald), Domhnall Gleeson (Captain Andrew Henry), Will Poulter (Bridger), Forrest Goodluck (Hawk), Paul Anderson (Anderson), Kristoffer Joner (Murphy), and Joshua Burge (Stubby Bill).
WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW
CHARACTERS: C–
Our protagonist Hugh Glass is rather disappointing, not having much to him other than grunts of determination to avenge his son, Hawk, who is nothing much more than just "Glass's son who dies." By far, that's my biggest criticism when it comes to characters, as there should have been more there. In fact, nearly every single character is indistinguishable from the next, even if you look at their IMDB profiles. I can't tell you who Anderson, Murphy, or Stubby Bill were.
Bridger is a worthwhile supporting character and Henry is honorable enough that I liked him, but he didn't do a ton other than looking concerned. Again, underwhelming, even if I thought those characters were okay.
Fitzgerald, on the other hand, is great. He's the only one with more complicated motivations than pure revenge, he has the best dialogue, has the widest range of emotion and if this film weren't half his point of view, it would be a total drag.
ACTING: A
Leonardo DiCaprio does so well with so little in this that I really hope he does win Best Actor. To be fair, though, at this time we don't know who else is going to be nominated and I haven't seen a good number of the films getting attention (like Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs) but I think Leo's competition is going to have to be pretty damn amazing to take this from him.
That being said, Tom Hardy steals the show. I actually think he's the better actor of the two in this movie, and by default, the best actor in the whole film. If he doesn't get at least nominated for Best Supporting Actor, that's a travesty, as he should possibly win it in my book.
Everybody else gets lots of credit for putting up admirable (albeit not memorable) performances in such harsh environments. That's a lot of dedication that I know I wouldn't be able to pull off.
VISUALS (FX, MAKEUP, COSTUMES, SETS): A+
Filming this movie in natural light and coming out with that result is absolutely amazing and worth of the A+ on its own right. This movie is beautiful and it even made me—someone who has no interest in nature and camping and whatnot—kind of wish that I could just sit by one of the streams for a bit, before inevitably wimping out because that's way too damn cold for me.
While the cinematography of the environment is virtually timeless, the makeup and the costumes and sets are all pulling the weight of bringing you into that specific time frame, and they all achieve that goal in spades. People are grimy and dirty and everything seems as harsh as it likely was.
MUSIC & SOUND: B+
There wasn't much music, but in this film, that was okay, as the silence spoke for it. Still, the lack of a memorable theme is a tad disappointing. Sound design is something that I've always said I'm not the most educated about, but I saw (I mean, heard) nothing that stood out to me negative about this movie and nothing that really made me wow. Perhaps that's another instance where it's best that I didn't notice a thing, as it means it was so believable that I just bought into it all happening for real.
TONE (ACTION, ROMANCE, COMEDY): A–
ACTION: If you go into this movie expecting it to be lots of explosions and fast-paced energy, you'll be disappointed, but you'll also be an idiot because it's not advertised like that at all. The level of action in this film is far above what it needed to do to tell the story and I dug it.
COMEDY: I might have chuckled twice or thrice, but I think one of those might have been at something obscure that I wasn't supposed to laugh at, like a random idiosyncrasy or a line delivered in a funny accent. This is definitely not a movie to see if you're looking for a pick-me-up.
ROMANCE: The love story in this movie wasn't so much a romantic one, but the love between a father and son/daughter, which were about as simple as they could get. The next closest thing was between Glass and his wife (or I guess Powaqa and those terrible French guys) and there's not much to say about that.
FINAL GRADE: A
So far, this is one of the best films I've seen in the past 12 months. I don't know if I'll be rooting for it to win Best Picture quite yet, as I need to see what it's up against, but if it did win, I don't think I'd be disappointed. There are definitely some flaws here and there that could be fixed to make this an absolutely amazing movie, but I'm still astonished by a good portion of what I saw. This is long and it's dour, but just because it doesn't wrap itself up in a neat little package to send everyone home smiling doesn't mean that it isn't good, or great. The best parts about this are easily the performances of Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio as well as the cinematography. Those factors alone mean this should get a recommendation to watch.
It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.
This episode, Frank Ward faces off against Dan Raup to debate whether a boy band or Ash would win a battle!
Welcome to The Duel!
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As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course, the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
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There's been a lot of talk lately about the return of a certain science fiction franchise. A lot of talk. Justified? Of course. However, another franchise is returning in just a few weeks, and those of us who grew up on its hypnotizing theme music, its elements of the fantastic and the scientifically extreme, the strong relationships—good and bad—among its key characters, and its myriad catchphrases that have been a part of our vocabularies for more than 20 years are chomping at the bit in anticipation of its arrival.
I speak, of course, of The X-Files, which returns on FOX with a two-part premiere, the first at 10pm EST on Sunday, January 24, and the second at 8pm EST the next night, Monday, January 25. Mondays at 8pm will be the time slot for the remaining four episodes of this six-episode return.
Trust No One. The Truth Is Out There. Apology Is Policy. Deny Everything. These are phrases that, in our 21st-century Internet-fueled world of disbelief and misinformation, ring truer than ever. We live in a world now of Edward Snowdens, where real people risk their lives for the truth. We also live in a world where our every action is recorded, where we can track a bomber at the Boston Marathon with the casual cellphone photos of people who were unknowing witnesses and a thousand different kinds of overhead camera footage. Watch one episode of a show like Person of Interest and you'll realize how truly public our lives really are.
In the time of The X-Files, the paranoia of men like The Lone Gunmen and Fox Mulder was seemingly laughable, even as we knew that the evil, corrupt Cigarette Smoking Man really was watching, listening, and manipulating things behind the scenes. Go back and watch The X-Files now and imagine those same plots, but throw in the Internet as it is today, not the early dialup version that appeared in the show. Imagine it with everyone carrying cellphones that have cameras and microphones the government can access and turn on at will, listening in whenever and wherever they choose. Imagine how many more people would have believed Mulder if he could have brought home a few selfies of himself with some of those aliens he so often came across?
The X-Files was a show ahead of its time in many ways because it foretold so much. Rewatching it is also a good time because of the many, many guest appearances by actors who went on to bigger and better things: Seth Green, Jack Black, Giovanni Ribisi, Ryan Reynolds, Lucy Liu, and B.D. Wong all appeared in just the first few seasons. Other, more well-known actors also made guest appearances, including Jodie Foster, Danny Trejo, Garry Shandling, Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin (who appeared together in "The Ghosts Who Stole Christmas," a must-see episode), Jesse L. Martin, and Bryan Cranston, who went on to star in Breaking Bad. In fact, legend has it that when they were casting Breaking Bad and Cranston's name came up, most of the producers were against him because they knew him only as the dad from Malcolm in the Middle. However, Vince Gilligan, who had worked on The X-Files, showed them "Drive," the episode Cranston guest appeared in, and it was that performance that won him the role of Walter White.
Where would we be today without Mulder and Scully? Think about the shows that populate television. How many shows before The X-Files were built on the premise that a man and a woman could work together and build a friendship and a trust without an ongoing sexual relationship, and how many came after? In the first episode of Bones, one example of just such a working relationship, FBI Agent Booth tells Dr. Brennan: "We're Scully and Mulder." How many involve uncovering conspiracies or government treacheries or supernatural occurrences? Look at the supernatural element of the show. How many shows that came after followed just that aspect? When he tries to debunk her in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode titled, "The Pack," Buffy Summers herself tells Giles, "I can't believe you, of all people, are trying to Scully me!"
The X-Files ended its run in 2002. By then, David Duchovny (Mulder) had been gone from the show as a regular for some time, and Gillian Anderson (Scully), though still a part of the show, had a less active role as the writers tried to build a new team with Agents Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) and John Doggett (Robert Patrick). However, in the post-9/11 America, the idea of government treachery and scheming had fallen out of favor in place of national pride and patriotism. Duchovny returned for the last few episodes and tried to help wrap up the series, but the thing about The X-Files was—and is—that there were always more questions than answers. A second movie, I Want to Believe, was made in 2008 (the first had been released in 1998 during the run of the show) but was generally panned by critics and fans alike; I know I, for one, like to pretend it never existed. I had loved the first film, Fight the Future, but the second? Indiewire described it as "fumbling…, like scrambling for a pen underneath the couch that you're sure should be there because you saw it roll there…six years ago." They had lost the path.
This new season, then, brings with it a great deal of expectation and hope, but it also needs to make up for what was done to our treasured memories in the 14 years since the show ended. I've heard nothing but good things thus far; Fox allowed those who attended New York Comic Con to view the entire first episode, and no one came out stomping and fuming. The few tidbits and soundbites that have been released have been promising, and I enjoy seeing the actors in interviews and behind-the-scenes clips because they seem to have enjoyed the work and the camaraderie. I want to believe, and so I choose to hold out hope not only for this six-episode season but perhaps for future additional seasons, if the truth continues to be out there.
Are you looking for the truth? Do you still believe? You can show your dedication with an "I Still Believe" selfie by going to Doyoustillbelieve.com. Let us know whether you'll be watching with as much anticipation as I will come January 24 and what you're hoping to see in the new season of The X-Files by commenting below!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Monday, January 11, 2016
The 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards took place January 10, 2016 on NBC, hosted by Ricky Gervais. Here are the list of winners for all of the categories.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Idris Elba, Luther
Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Patrick Wilson, Fargo
WINNER: Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
Original Score, Motion Picture
Carter Burwell, Carol
Alexander Desplat, The Danish Girl
Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Daniel Pemberton, Steve Jobs
Ryuchi Sakamoto, The Revanant
WINNER: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language The Brand New Testament The Club The Fencer Mustang Son of Saul
WINNER:Son of Saul
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Joanna Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Regina King, American Crime
Judith Light, Transparent
Moira Tierney, The Affair
WINNER: Moira Tierney, The Affair
Best Television Series, Musical Casual, Hulu Mozart in the Jungle, Amazon Video Orange Is the New Black, Netflix Silicon Valley, HBO Transparent, Amazon Video Veep, HBO
WINNER:Mozart in the Jungle, Amazon Video
Best Motion Picture, Animated Anomalisa The Good Dinosaur Inside Out The Peanuts Movie Shaun the Sheep Movie
WINNER:Inside Out
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
Sarah Hay, Flesh and Bone
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Queen Latifah, Bessie
WINNER: Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Damien Lewis, Wolf Hall
Ben Mendelson, Bloodline
Tobias Menzies, Outlander
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
WINNER: Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
Best Original Song, Motion Picture
"Love Me LIke You Do," Fifty Shades of Grey
"One Kind of Love," Love & Mercy
"See You Again," Furious 7
"Simple Song #3," Youth
"Writing's on the Wall," Spectre
WINNER: "Writing's on the Wall," Spectre
Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television American Crime, ABC American Horror Story: Hotel, FX Fargo, FX Flesh and Bone, Starz Wolf Hall, PBS
WINNER:Wolf Hall, PBS
Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series, Musical, or Comedy
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Gina Rodrgiuez, Jane the Virgin
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
WINNER: Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Emma Donoghue, Room
Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, Spotlight
Charles Randolph & Adam McKay, The Big Short
Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs
Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight
WINNER: Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs
Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series, Musical, or Comedy
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Gael García Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Rob Lowe, The Grinder
Patrick Stewart, Blunt Talk
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
WINNER: Gael García Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Robin Wright, House of Cards
WINNER: Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Best Motion Picture, Musical, or Comedy The Big Short Joy The Martian Spy Trainwreck
WINNER:The Martian
Best Television Series, Drama Empire, Fox Game of Thrones, HBO Mr. Robot, USA Narcos, Netflix Outlander, Starz
WINNER: Mr. Robot, USA
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical, or Comedy
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Steve Carell, The Big Short
Matt Damon, The Martian
Al Pacino, Danny Collins
Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear
WINNER: Matt Damon, The Martian
Best Director, Motion Picture
Todd Haines, Carol
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott, The Martian
WINNER: Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series, Drama
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Wagner Moura, Narcos
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
WINNER:Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Best Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Jane Fonda, Youth
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hateful Eight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
WINNER: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Paul Dano, Love
Idris Elba, Beast of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
WINNER: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Edide Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Will Smith, Concussion
WINNER: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Melissa McCarthy, Spy
Amy Schumer, Trainwreck
Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van
Lily Tomlin, Grandma
WINNER: Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Rooney Mara, Carol
Saiorse Ronin, Brooklyn
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
WINNER: Brie Larson, Room
Best Motion Picture, Drama Carol Mad Max: Fury Road The Revenant Room Spotlight
WINNER:The Revenant
What do you think of the results? Did your favorites win, or were you rooting for other choices? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Sunday, January 10, 2016
The Force Awakens is still super fresh in the world of cinema, but before we know it, Episode 8 will be sneaking up on us, just a few months after the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in December. We all know the end result of that film, but we don't know much of what's in store for us for Episode VIII, because we still don't really know the answers to a lot of the questions from Episode VII, oddly enough.
Despite being kept in the dark about a lot of details, it's up to us as obsessive fans to analyze every little piece of information in front of us and speculate about what's to come. That being said, what's my current assessment of the upcoming continuation of the Skywalker saga? Let's take a look.
Rey and Luke Skywalker
"Rey…these are your first steps." —Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obviously, Rey will be taking her next steps in Episode VIII by training under Luke Skywalker. I imagine there will be some hesitation on his part, similar to how Yoda put up a tiny bit of a fight against training Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, saying he's too old and he doesn't have his head on straight. The opposite will take place this time, though, where instead of Luke saying Rey isn't ready to be trained, he'll say he's not ready to be her trainer.
Luke obviously messed up big time somehow with rebuilding the Jedi Order. We don't know what happened other than that Ben Solo was sent off to train with him, Snoke got involved, turned Ben to the dark side, and after a slaughter, the Knights of Ren were formed.
It's been implied heavily that Rey is Luke's daughter, and I really hope that's the case instead of some kind of bait-and-switch tactic. Rey is just far too powerful in The Force to be a random person, there's no evidence that she's Han and Leia's daughter, and we need to keep the Skywalker lineage going because that family is the heart of the franchise. Kathleen Kennedy has said that the "saga" films do in fact follow the Skywalker story, and before you say Ben Solo fulfills that role, I present you with these points:
1) We've already seen Anakin go from a good young boy to an evil man in his 20s–40s before returning to the light side. Do we really want to see that exact same story take place with Kylo Ren, where we already skipped his years as a good kid? That means it's not only retreading the same ground, but it's doing it in a worse way. Kylo Ren shouldn't be redeemed.
2) Rey's parentage is an issue that needs clarification, and she doesn't have a last name for a reason. I wholeheartedly believe that's because they need to fill in the blank to make it Rey Skywalker.
So what about Rey's mother, if Luke is indeed her father? And why did Luke abandon her? And why does Kylo Ren know about her (and how much does he know, for that matter) but Han and Leia don't?
I'm assuming Luke will carry a lot of exposition with him during his scenes with Rey, where they'll be meditating and we'll see things in flashbacks. We'll establish a Mara Jade type character who will have been Luke's wife that Snoke killed during the initial attack that we partially see. Luke, having witnessed his pupils (particularly his nephew) kill the love of his life and mostly all of his students, will make it seem as though his daughter Rey died as well, but Kylo will be suspicious of it. We know that Kylo Ren has an ability to read minds, so it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that Luke taught him that and could use that ability for other things, such as wiping the minds of others. He could have wiped Han and Leia's mind that Rey exists, similar to how C-3PO's mind gets wiped at the end of Revenge of the Sith. That would explain why Leia and Han feel a connection to her (because that doesn't remove their connection through familial bond and The Force itself) but they don't blatantly talk about the obvious "oh, hey, you're my niece" situation.
I'm hoping we see the ghosts of not only Yoda and Obi-Wan but Anakin as well. They could have advised Luke to do what happened to Luke—abandoning his child on a deserted planet in the hopes that it will keep her safe—because they know that it worked once before.
Kylo Ren
At the end of The Force Awakens, Snoke says that Kylo Ren will undergo more training. This will be a means for us to learn more about the Knights of Ren and the villains that we're dealing with. Some rumors are going around that Benicio Del Toro will be a member of this cult, but I'm not so sold. That seems too obvious, and it seems like if he's to be menacing at all, he needs to seem above Kylo Ren's pay grade, which would undermine why Kylo is the leader of them, as is stated in the film.
I do, however, think there could be some kind of a power struggle involved. If Del Toro does play a member of the Knights of Ren, maybe he's someone who thinks Kylo is not as good as he's made out to be and is trying to usurp his position as leader in order to gain favor underneath Snoke's tutelage. That would likely mean Del Toro's character is just some opposition for Kylo to overcome, kill off, and solidify why he's the man in charge (aka, the crybaby loser in charge)—but doesn't that seem underwhelming? Why bring in Benicio Del Toro just to kill him off in one movie? I'd say that's out of the realm of possibility, but look at what happened with Max von Sydow…
One way or another, Kylo Ren will still be searching for Luke Skywalker and Rey (Skywalker), and I would bet the farm that they reach Ahch-To at some point in the movie. Film logic dictates that someone in hiding will have to be discovered to advance the plot, and we know there needs to be another confrontation between Rey and Ren. Just please don't kill off Luke.
The Resistance / The Republic
I'm going to just start this section off with a bang: Lando is coming back, baby.
Okay, let's backtrack a little to catch up. The Hosnian system was destroyed in The Force Awakens, which was the current location being used as the headquarters of The Republic. Obviously, the galaxy will be in disarray, similar to how it would be if Washington, DC were attacked and the White House and Congress and everyone were wiped out. In the absence of leadership, many people will want to step up to fill that void, and I think that will be one of the central conflicts of this movie. It's even more firmly established as war time than in the previous film, so the National Guard has to take over. This is effectively the role The Resistance takes, so many will look to General Leia to be the new leader in command.
However, there will be opposition from others who will want to take charge. This, in fact, is where I would expect to see Benicio Del Toro's character come into play. I definitely see him being one of the people that has been arguing against her in an attempt to become heir to the throne, so to speak. He might even be revealed to have ties to The First Order as a traitor and a mole who escaped destruction on the Hosnian system because he was given advance warning.
Someone else I think will have escaped certain death from that attack is Lando Calrissian. That guy absolutely can't be written off as just having died between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, and no, I don't think they'll do the convoluted story of having him turn out to be Finn's father. Instead, I think he'll be in a similar climate to Leia. What we saw of Lando in the two films he's been involved in was that he went from being a scoundrel of a smuggler to ruling a mining facility as a somewhat responsible mayor or governor type, and then he acted as a commander in the military strike in the Battle of Endor. Why would we expect anything different from Lando than to have been someone who acts as a go-between for The Resistance military branch and The Republic governing branch? I expect to see him return as a diplomat of sorts who is on Leia's side to help fill in the gap left by Han Solo's absence in the film.
Finn & Poe Dameron vs. Captain Phasma & General Hux
One of my favorite aspects of The Force Awakens was the friendship between Finn and Poe. It doesn't take up much screen time, but it's powerful. Finn helps Poe escape, then carries on his mission. Poe owes him, big time. When Finn has recovered from his injuries, I think we'll see that he's become one of the most trusted members of the fleet and that he and Poe have a full-on Rush Hour buddy cop bromance established. They work well as a team, they know each other in and out, and they argue because they get along so well, which allows for that kind of honesty. This will be replacing the relationship of Chewbacca and Han Solo. (Side note: I have no idea what Chewbacca can do in this movie, which is why I think he should have died during the attack on Starkiller Base.)
Captain Phasma is supposed to still be alive, and she'll want to hunt down FN-2187 just as much as Kylo Ren will want to hunt down Rey. With the help of General Hux and his militia, Phasma has to be leading the search party for Finn. Not only does it make sense in the story, but it also is necessary to redeem her character. She was built up as being something awesome, and she was the exact inverted mess of that. Right now, Phasma looks like a complete joke who needs rehabilitation, and she needs to do that by being a bad ass.
My guess is that to kind of even the odds, while Finn helped Poe in the first film, Poe is going to volunteer to help Finn deal with his hunters in this movie. It's only fair, right? The only thing that I'm worried about, if this were the case, is that we've seen no interaction between Poe and Rey yet, and they can't spend an entire film away from each other again. Rey and Finn seem to have a love story brewing and I think the new female character that will be added to the cast is going to serve as a romantic interest for Poe, so that woman will get involved somewhere along the way. Maybe something happens where Finn gets captured along with Poe's love interest, so Poe has to go to Ahch-To to retrieve Rey to get her help in breaking them out of captivity? That's retreading on some familiar plot points, so I hope it's more complicated than that, but it fits within Star Wars Ring Theory of the movies all having a rhythmic pattern, doesn't it?
One thing that I would love to see them incorporate is an explanation that Finn was able to undo his indoctrination of the Stormtrooper training because he's Force-sensitive. I want him to be a Jedi, damn it, and I want he and Rey to have super strong Skywalker babies for future films.
The Title
I don't think the naming conventions are carrying over as strongly as they did with the previous films, so this is a bit hard to predict. The Phantom Menace and A New Hope both were three-word titles that referred to a specific entity in a somewhat vague way, but The Force Awakens is an action. The action titles were reserved for the middle films before, with Attack of the Clones and The Empire Strikes Back obviously being built around verbs. Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi are obvious parallels talking about the establishment of a Force-based organization.
With the prequels and the original trilogy, there's an inversion. The prequels talk about an evil presence, a heroic action, and a villainous resurgence, while the originals are a heroic presence, an evil action, and a resurgence of good.
When it comes to Episode VIII, I don't think we'll be seeing an action-based title, as we saw that with The Force Awakens, which apparently was originally titled Shadow of the Empire—something that, albeit 4 words, fits in with the rhyme scheme. Because of that difference, I'm expecting to see this second film refer to an organization. That organization has to be either The Resistance or The First Order, although it's possible The Republic could be thrown in the mix.
Order is a word that has a lot of flexibility to it. There could be a play off "restoring order" with The First Order getting back into more power and The Republic/Resistance needing to repair themselves after the big loss of the Starkiller attack. They could even combine their efforts by naming it something like Star Wars: Episode VIII - Resistance of Order although that sounds pretty damn boring, doesn't it? Let's just hope it isn't "rise of" in any capacity.
Those are the ideas I have swimming around my mind right now, but what do you think we'll end up seeing? What are your thoughts on my suggestions above? Leave a comment below!
Prepare yourselves for some poltergeist action. A teaser trailer for the The Conjuring 2 was released today and holy shit, it looks fantastic!
Just as Fanboys reported, James Wan's sequel to the 2013 cinematic success will bring Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) to 1977 England to "help single mom Peggy Hodgson and her four children, particularly daughter Janet (played by Madison Wolfe)."
Wolfe as Janet Hodgson.
Hitting the theaters on June 10, 2016, rumor has it The Conjuring 2 will open with the Warrens investigating the Amityville Horror case (after all, they do mention a Long Island family who needs help in the first movie).
After that, a sequel will tell of the infamous "Enfield Poltergeist," which took place at a house in Brimsdown village, borough of Enfield, England. You can find more details on this fascinating real-life case by clicking here.
The first The Conjuring movie grossed $318 million worldwide, and the sequel is expected to do as well or better.
It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.
This episode Frank Ward faces off against Dan Raup to debate whether a velociraptor or Mothra would win a battle!
Welcome to The Duel!
The Duel is brought to you by Skybound's SuperFight! You can purchase the starter deck and all expansions here: https://www.superfightgame.com/
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course, the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
Listen live to The Dace Man Show every Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST on Mega Powers Radio.
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Wednesday, January 6, 2016
It was recently announced that the Star Wars spinoff film coming to theaters after Episode IX will indeed be the long-rumored movie revolving around Boba Fett. When the concept of the anthology films was first brought up, one of the initial ideas speculated on was something dealing with bounty hunters stealing the plans for the Death Star (which would eventually turn into Rogue One) or a film where Han Solo had interactions with Boba Fett (and we've known for a while that a Han Solo movie is coming after Episode VIII). We're going to have to wait until 2020 to see Boba Fett get his film, but at least there's confirmation that it's happening.
Now that that's out of the way, let's start trying to predict what's going to happen!
The biggest piece of information we need to get before we have any idea what this is about is the time frame. Does this happen after Revenge of the Sith, dealing with the childhood of Fett where he builds up a reputation, or does it take place after Return of the Jedi, wherein it would then become official canon that he survived the Sarlacc Pit?
The Case for Pre-"Death"
If the film is set before A New Hope takes place, there's a chance we could see the actor who plays Han Solo in that film make some sort of an appearance, tying things in together a little more cohesively than if it was a standalone movie with no connection.
Also, it's sad to say it, but we don't really get to see why Boba Fett is a badass. Sure, he looks like one, but aren't you at least a little interested in why Darth Vader makes it abundantly clear that the rule in place is "no disintegrations" in The Empire Strikes Back? Clearly that means Vader must have witnessed firsthand or heard secondhand about Fett having a tendency to do this. While I've always just assumed this was what happened to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, as far as I'm aware, that hasn't been made canon, and if it isn't, then I want to see Boba Fett disintegrate someone, damn it!
After the death of Jango Fett, maybe Boba Fett is even part of the Jedi Purge where he's hunting down the last few that are spread out through the galaxy on various planets. Fett taking down a Jedi or two could be pretty sweet, right?
The Case for Post-"Death"
First off, the most obvious reason why this could be a good idea is to retcon the character's horrible death. It's played for a cheap laugh in a movie that already has stupid little bears that defeat the Empire and proves that George Lucas had some terrible ideas well before the prequels. Being set after the events of that film would help set things right by telling us that Fett did indeed survive, which in itself is an impressive feat.
Second, this could be used as a means to fill us in on some more of the information that we'll undoubtedly still be left in the dark about when it comes to bridging the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. There's so much we don't know, and I'm sure a lot of those questions will be answered in Episode VIII and Episode IX, but there's no way all of them will. Through Fett's story, we could get a better idea of what happened with the power struggle between the remnants of the Empire and the New Republic. What's a bounty hunter's place in this type of world?
Third, and perhaps most interesting, is that if we are making Boba Fett the protagonist, we have to root for him. While by this point in 2020 we'll have already had Deadpool and Suicide Squad where the characters are antiheroes, there still needs to be a certain level of heroism to him. Emerging from certain death and the doom of being tortured for a thousand years could give him a brand new perspective on life and possibly turn him into a reluctant hero.
My Choice
I kind of want to have my cake and eat it too, as I want both. Boba Fett isn't even anywhere close to my favorite character in the franchise (he'd probably rank somewhere in the top 20 though) but I think there's a chance he could have a presence in both timelines. Seeing him as an antagonist in the Han Solo film would be neat and then seeing him change his character later on in life would be a nice twist. If I had to pick, I'd probably opt for the latter of the two, but there's no way in knowing what would be a more interesting direction until we see what we're getting with Rogue One and Han Solo.
Until then, tell us what you'd prefer to see. Who should the villain be if he's our hero? Should he be played by Temuera Morrison or should they figure out some kind of way to recast him? Should we even see his face at all, or would it be better for Boba Fett to go through the film in Master Chief mode with his helmet on the entire time?
Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 133 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Chris "The Dace Man" Dace, Frank Ward, and Gibby!!
::SPORTS NEWS::
The NHL, MLB, NFL, and our favorite: curling!
::WEIRD NEWS WITH GIBBY::
Gibby brings the class to the show with weird things going on in the world!
::FRANK'S CORNER::
Frank-tastic facts for your everyday life
::CELEB NEWS::
Dace is back, and he's packing a punch since he's on some diet pills and Red Bull. Get ready Hollywood!
Plus the occasional game ofWho Said It, the crowning of The Doucebag of The Week,and much, much more, only on The Dace Man Show.
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course,the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a comfy seat in front of your computer—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
Listen live to The Dace Man Show every Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST on Mega Powers Radio.
On episode 27 of the Fanboys Anonymous Group Meeting podcast, the panel has a roundtable discussion recapping 2015 in film and taking a look into the future with the movies set to be released in 2016.
Hosted by Tony Mango, the panel includes Chris Dace, Caroline Oliveira, and Shaun Walker.
Some topics we address:
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens or Jurassic Park, which is better?
The year of the spy film with Kingsman: The Secret Service, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Spectre, Spy, Bridge of Spies, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Superhero-type films like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, and more
Disappointments such as Fifty Shades of Grey, Fantastic Four, Terminator Genisys, Divergent: Insurgent, etc.
What we're looking forward to in 2016 such as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Rogue One, Captain America: Civil War, Gambit, X-Men: Apocalypse, Inferno, and more
You can watch the podcast below. Make sure to subscribe!
It's time to settle the score of some of the greatest battles never to happen in history! What would happen if a bear fought Popeye? How 'bout if Stephen Colbert went toe-to-toe with a mutated slice of pizza? Well the crew at The Dace Man Show are here to discuss the vast potential of such match-ups.
This episode, Frank Ward faces off against Dan Raup to debate whether a wizard or Dr. Horrible would win a battle!
Welcome to The Duel!
The Duel is brought to you by Skybound's SuperFight! You can purchase the starter deck and all expansions here: https://www.superfightgame.com/
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course, the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case your SuperFight! starter deck!—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
Listen live to The Dace Man Show every Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST on Mega Powers Radio.
There are certain movies that certain people simply need to see. For example, if you love baseball, you can't be on this planet if you haven't seen Field of Dreams, The Natural, and perhaps Major League. If you are into boxing, there's Rocky and Raging Bull. If you're big into arm wrestling, there's Over the Top and… well... pretty much just that one. The point is, you can't consider yourself a real fan of something if you don't know the Hollywood vernacular.
The same is true for gambling. If you're an avid game-player—whether you actually go to casinos or just enjoy playing online—there are a few movies you need to know about. If you haven't seen these, find a way to watch them immediately.
Casino
Of course, a movie named Casino has to be included here, as it makes pretty much every list, such as this one. But aside from the obvious connection, this is a terrific film. If you don't know, Casino is based on two real-life guys: Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, played by Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, respectively. If you think of it as Goodfellas in Vegas, you're not far off.
The Cincinnati Kid
If you're a poker player, you'll like this one. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann-Margret, and Steve McQueen as the titular character, the film is about a young hotshot poker player whose trials and tribulations eventually lead to a high-stakes game with a legendary champ.
California Split
If there is such a thing as a buddy-gambler movie, this is it. A down-on-his-luck gambler played by George Segal meets rambunctious Charlie (Elliott Gould) and the two embark on a betting tirade that leads them to a huge poker game in Reno. If you haven't heard of this one (and chances are you haven't), you should read more about it in this review.
The Gambler
A little more somber than the previous examples, The Gambler is still a fine film worth a look. It stars James Caan who, when he's not teaching Dostoyevsky in his college class, can be found at a blackjack table.
Rounders
A guy named Worm has a big debt and he turns to his old friend Mike to help pay it off. Things don't go as planned (they never seem to in the movies) and the only way to save Worm is for Mike to beat a Russian gangster in a high-stakes poker game.
The Cooler
Everybody at one point or another has experienced "that guy" who seems to able to turn a hot streak into a cold one just by walking into a room. Well, Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) is that guy, and he uses his special ability at a Vegas casino. But what happens when love affects his cooling abilities?
Happy New Year, Dacetacular Nation! The Dace Man is back, bringing you the Netflix streaming series set to debut this year!
There has never been a better time to be a fan of television and everything it has to offer. With so many streaming services these days like Amazon, Hulu, and the juggernaut Netflix, there is an ample amount of series to select from for those jonesing to binge on a good 13 hours of drama and/or comedy.
Yours truly has gonna out and compiled the list for you of both returning series and series getting a fresh launch. Check it out below!
Debuting Series:
Luke Cage: Season 1 (TBA)
The Crown: Season 1 (TBA)
Degrassi: The Next Class: Season 1 (January 15, 2016)
Flaked: Season 1 (TBA)
A Series Of Unfortunate Events: Season 1 (TBA)
Love: Season 1 (TBA)
Chelsea Handler's New Talk Show: Season 1 + Chelsea Does (January 26, 2016)
The Get Down: Season 1 (TBA)
The OA: Season 1 (TBA)
Fuller House: Season 1 (February 26, 2016)
The Ranch: Season 1 (TBA)
Lost In Space: Season 1 (TBA)
Lady Dynamite: Season 1 (TBA)
Returning Series:
Between: Season 2 (May 2016)
Arrested Development: Season 5 (Mid-2016)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 2 (March 2016)
Narcos: Season 2 (August 2016)
Black Mirror: Season 3 (TBA)
Bloodline: Season 2 (Spring 2016)
House Of Cards: Season 4 (March 4, 2016)
Grace and Frankie: Season 2 & 3 (Beginning of 2016 and end of 2016 respectively)
Longmire: Season 5 (TBA)
Bojack Horseman: Season 3 (Mid-2016)
Marco Polo: Season 2 (Late 2016)
Sense8: Season 2 (Late 2016)
Trailer Park Boys: Season 10 & 11 (Spring 2016 and end 2016)
Club De Cuervos: Season 2 (TBA)
Orange Is the New Black: Season 4 (June 2016)
Daredevil: Season 2 (Spring 2016)
Stranger Things: Season 2 (TBA)
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course, the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case lots and lots of junk food —and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
Listen live to The Dace Man Show every Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST on Mega Powers Radio.
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Saturday, January 2, 2016
Welcome to another edition of 6 Flicks Picks, wherein I list all of the upcoming films that are scheduled to be released in the United States for the month which is about to begin and break down which ones I'll be watching in theaters, which ones I'll wait to rent at home, and which ones I'll be skipping out on entirely. After going through the list, I'll choose which six films stand out to me as the ones I want to see the most, even if there are more or less than six that interest me.
Note: The list below is based primarily off the expanded nationwide USA release dates on IMDB as well as some other random outlets if possible, so some information may be different. If I am missing some of the limited releases or the dates conflict in some fashion, please let me know in the comments below and any adjustments and corrections will be made!
Without further ado, another new month means another new set of films, so what's coming soon to theaters in January 2016?
RELEASE DATE: January 8, 2016
The Forest
Synopsis: An unexplained horror occurs in a Japanese forest.
Will I watch? = No
The Revenant
Synopsis: In the 1820s, a frontiersman named Hugh Glass sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
Will I watch? = Yes
Anomalisa
Synopsis: A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.
Will I watch? = Maybe
Wazir
Synopsis: 'Wazir' is a tale of two unlikely friends, a wheelchair-bound chess grandmaster and a brave ATS officer. Brought together by grief and a strange twist of fate, the two men decide to help each other win the biggest games of their lives. But there's a mysterious, dangerous opponent lurking in the shadows, who is all set to checkmate them.
Will I watch? = No
Anesthesia
Synopsis: Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.
Will I watch? = Maybe
The Masked Saint
Synopsis:"The Masked Saint" is based on a true story about one pastor's mission to help his community by risking his identity and returns to his former life as a wrestler. The triumphant story follows one man's journey and struggle between helping others and the consequences he faces doing this.
Will I watch? = Maybe
Yosemite
Synopsis: It's the fall of 1985. The intertwining tales of three 5th grade friends, Chris, Joe and Ted, unfold in the suburban paradise of Palo Alto, as the threat of a mountain lion looms over the community.
Will I watch? = No
RELEASE DATE: January 15, 2016
Ride Along 2
Synopsis: As his wedding day approaches, Ben heads to Miami with his soon-to-be brother-in-law James to bring down a drug dealer who's supplying the dealers of Atlanta with product.
Will I watch? = Maybe
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Synopsis: An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.
Will I watch? = Maybe
Norm of the North
Synopsis: Displaced from their Arctic home, a polar bear named Norm and his three lemming friends wind up in New York City, where Norm becomes the mascot of a corporation he soon learns is tied to the fate of his homeland.
Will I watch? = No
Band of Robbers
Synopsis: Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are grown men, still searching for the hidden treasure that has eluded them since childhood.
Will I watch? = Maybe
The Benefactor
Synopsis: A philanthropist meddles in the lives of newly-married couples in an attempt to relive his past.
Will I watch? = Maybe
RELEASE DATE: January 22, 2016
Dirty Grandpa
Synopsis: Right before his wedding, an uptight guy is tricked into driving his grandfather, a perverted former Army general, to Florida for spring break.
Will I watch? = Maybe
The 5th Wave
Synopsis: Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.
Will I watch? = Yes
The Boy
Synopsis: An American nanny is shocked that her new English family's boy is actually a life-sized doll. After violating a list of strict rules, disturbing events make her believe that the doll is really alive.
Will I watch? = No
Ip Man 3
Synopsis: When a band of brutal gangsters led by a crooked property developer make a play to take over the city, Master Ip is forced to take a stand.
Will I watch? = Maybe
Synchronicity
Synopsis: From the creators of The Signal (Sundance 2007) comes Synchronicity, a mind-bending 'Sci-fi Noir' in the tradition of Dark City, Blade Runner, and Alphaville. When physicist Jim Beale invents a machine that can fold space-time, a rare Dahlia appears from the future. He must now find the flower's identical match in the present to prove his machine works. Jim soon discovers that the Dahlia lies in the hands of a mysterious girl, who seduces him into revealing his secrets. Convinced that he's fallen prey to a femme fatale trying to steal his invention, Jim travels back in time to stop her betrayal before it happens. But once in the past, Jim uncovers a surprising truth about the machine, the girl, and his own reality.
Will I watch? = Maybe
Mojave
Synopsis: A suicidal artist goes into the desert, where he finds his doppelgänger, a homicidal drifter.
Will I watch? = No
Aferim!
Synopsis: Set in early 19th century Wallachia, when a local policeman, Costandin, is hired by Iordache, a boyar (local noble), to find Carfin, a Gypsy slave who had run away from the boyar's estate after having an affair with his wife, Sultana. Costandin sets out to find the fugitive, beginning a journey full of adventures. Gypsy slavery lasted from the 14th century up until the middle of the 19th century, a situation which is very little known and almost nonexistent in the public debate today, although its impact continues to influence Romania's social life.
Will I watch? = No
Exposed
Synopsis: After witnessing a miracle, a young Latina woman experiences strange things as a police detective searches for the truth behind his partner's death.
Will I watch? = Maybe
RELEASE DATE: January 29, 2016
The Finest Hours
Synopsis: The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.
Will I watch? = No
Kung Fu Panda 3
Synopsis: Continuing his "legendary adventures of awesomeness", Po must face two hugely epic, but different threats: one supernatural and the other a little closer to his home.
Will I watch? = No
Fifty Shades of Black
Synopsis: A parody of the popular film/novel 50 Shades of Gray.
Will I watch? = No
Lights Out
Synopsis: A woman is haunted by a creature that only appears when the lights go out. A feature adaptation of the 2013 short film, "Lights Out" by David Sandberg.
Will I watch? = No
Jane Got a Gun
Synopsis: A woman asks her ex-lover for help in order to save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him.
Will I watch? = Maybe
6 FLICKS PICKS
January can be a slow month due to weather conditions and the fact that nobody wants to put up a fight against Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but there are still 11 movies that I would check out, with the following being at the top of the list:
6. Band of Robbers — The premise seems interesting, Eric Christian Olsen is a massively underutilized star, and after checking out many of these trailers, this was one of the few that I didn't just wish would end sooner than it did. This strikes me as more of a download than a theater viewing, but in the confines of this segment, it gets bumped up.
5. Synchronicity — It likens itself to Dark City and Blade Runner. To most people, that would be great, but I was actually bored with those movies, which might be a bad sign. I wouldn't be surprised if this fell victim to the indie curse of being more ambitious than its execution could pull off. The pitch of the idea of the film has me intrigued, yet I can imagine being disappointed with the final product.
4. Anesthesia — I enjoy movies about intersecting lives and how the world around us might just be smaller than we really think. That is, of course, if those movies are good. At the very least, I like the idea behind those types of films, so this had me interested just by reading the synopsis.
3. Dirty Grandpa — This movie could be the utter shits, but it could also be pretty damn funny. Robert De Niro has a wide range of being anything from awesome to terrible, so I don't know where this will end up. Zac Efron is pretty reliable, Aubrey Plaza is hot, and I'm game to check this out.
2. The 5th Wave — As far as the young adult genre goes, this trailer didn't strike me as much as some other things did, like The Maze Runner or The Hunger Games or even Divergent (boy did that end up being disappointing overall), but I still think it might be worth investing the time to watch. Reviews are going to play a big factor into whether or not I see this sooner or later, but unless it has a terrible score, I'm fairly certain I'll be giving it a chance.
1. The Revenant — This is either going to be awesome or a massively overrated piece of crap that I have to argue with people about all the time. Here's hoping it's more of the former and less of the latter. I don't want to sit through another The Tree of Life. Yes, I know Alejandro González Iñárritu didn't do that movie, but that's my go-to movie to use as a comparison when I think something might be along the same spectrum. Despite liking Birdman, I wasn't as impressed as most people were, so I don't know where I stand when it comes to this, but at the very least, it's caught my attention quite a bit.
Welcome to a special edition of 6 Flicks Picks to jump-start the year 2016! Since the first Friday of the month is not actually when any new films are being released, I thought I would do something a bit different and do a very generalized breakdown of 2016 overall.
Naturally, this edition won't be listing the releases of every single movie that will be coming out in the year—partially because that's too daunting of a task and partially because even the studios don't know all of those yet—but it will still follow the same format as far as the picks go. This will be much harder, as there are hundreds of films that will be coming out, but it still boils down to the same concept: if I had to pick only six movies that I could watch, which ones would they be?
Without further ado, let's take a look at what makes my cut for 2016!
6 FLICKS PICKS for 2016
This is so difficult, especially because I don't even know how many movies are going to come out that I'm completely unaware of. That being said, there are some huge films coming out, so I ended up sticking to some pretty standard choices. Even still, that in itself made this hard, because when this is based on a monthly list, they aren't in direct competition with one another. I actually got my list down to 10 and then got stuck.
What Didn't Make the List: Sorry Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, you're #10 because I just didn't enjoy the first movie enough to justify putting you higher, even though I loved you as a kid. #9 ended up being Gambit, which I'm really excited for, but I've yet to see anything to base this movie on. The first trailer could look terrible. Star Trek Beyond is #8 and while I very, very much enjoyed both of the previous films, this trailer didn't wow me and I'm not as loyal to the brand as I am to other things. Rounding out the ones that were rejected is Doctor Strange. Yeah…sadly, a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie isn't on here. This is primarily because I don't like magic and Doctor Strange is a character that has never resonated with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm very interested in the movie and it will probably be great and make me have a newfound appreciation for the character, but while I enjoyed stuff about Iron Man and Hulk and whatnot before those movies, the same doesn't apply for Stephen Strange.
6. Deadpool — I'm going on record saying that I don't think this movie will be fantastic. In fact, it even has potential to flat out suck. Then again, it has the potential to be one of the most fun and funny movies of the year. I think the Deadpool character is getting ruined a bit with its popularity because of how watered down a lot of it has become. Chimichangas aren't funny to me just because they have a funny name, for instance, and seeing cosplayers try to act like Deadpool is embarrassing. If we get that quality, it will be a disappointment, but here's hoping we don't, as a well-done movie could kick so much ass.
5. Suicide Squad — Boy does this movie have the ability to go either way as well. I've always loved the concept, but I think DC is rushing into this movie far too quickly. This shouldn't have come out until after Justice League as a sort of piggyback idea of "well, if the heroes could form a team, why not villains?" I'm not loving everything I see, but I'm not hating any of it, either, other than Jared Leto and Margot Robbie having tattoos all over the place. Ugh. This movie could test my patience or it could open me up to a whole new thought process for superhero films.
4. X-Men: Apocalypse — X-Men: Days of Future Past was such a glorious movie in many ways that I feel I have to give this movie a high ranking just out of respect for that, even though there are a lot of flaws that I'm worried about from the trailer. Apocalypse is one of my favorite villains, and I don't know if this story is going to be done with the same amount of attention to detail that DOFP was, which makes me a bit nervous. I'm not expecting it to be as good, so it will be a shame if that ends up being true, but since we haven't had a bad X-Men film since X-Men Origins: Wolverine, maybe history is on its side.
3. Captain America: Civil War — Duh. Right? #ImWithCap
2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — Why do I feel like this movie has the biggest potential on the list both in terms of a positive outlook and a negative possibility? This movie could end up being something I geek out over to a dangerous heart attack level or it could piss me off to oblivion with dumb ideas like Man of Steel did at times. If they ruin this movie, they'll effectively ruin the entire DCEU for me and I don't know what they could do at that point to bring me back. If they nail it and it ends up being super awesome, then suddenly my expectations skyrocket for Justice League to be potentially even better than The Avengers. Don't let me down, guys, cause Batman is my favorite superhero of all time.
1. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — After seeing how good The Force Awakens was, how could I not rank this at the top of the list?
Posted by
The Dace Man
- Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 132 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Chris "The Dace Man" Dace, Frank Ward, and Gibby!!
::SPORTS NEWS::
The NHL, MLB, NFL, and our favorite: curling!
::WEIRD NEWS WITH GIBBY::
Gibby brings the class to the show with weird things going on in the world!
::FRANK'S CORNER::
Frank-tastic facts for your everyday life
::CELEB NEWS::
Dace is back, and he's packing a punch since he's on some diet pills and Red Bull. Get ready Hollywood!
Plus the occasional game ofWho Said It, the crowning of The Doucebag of The Week,and much, much more, only on The Dace Man Show.
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course,the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a comfy seat in front of your computer—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
Listen live to The Dace Man Show every Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST on Mega Powers Radio.
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Piracy tracking firm Excipio, which monitors the activity of torrent users who download films throughout the year, have released their information on the most pirated movies for 2015.
Here is a breakdown of the top 10:
10. Kingsman: The Secret Service = 30.9 million
This movie kind of came out of nowhere. While I had it on my radar, as I'm a big fan of Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2, it wasn't exactly receiving the same buzz as some of the other films on this list. However, word of mouth about how good it is spread around and it ended up being a surprise hit.
I have a feeling this has so many downloads because people were still hesitant to spend the money to see it, but were curious to check it out. Hopefully, they found a way to toss some cash the film's way to help support it, whether it be going to see it afterward (or beforehand, with their download being a second viewing) or through home video sales.
9. Terminator: Genisys = 31 million
If people were skeptical about the quality of Kingsman, they really needed to be when it came to Terminator: Genisys. This is the total opposite spectrum where I actually am pleased that this is on the list because I hope it contributed to the loss of money for the project. The only way to tell people that you want better movies is to vote with your wallets. If you stop seeing trash like this and the Transformers movies, they'll stop making them or they'll try harder.
8. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies = 31.6 million
Every Lord of the Rings movie ends up being on this list, so this is no surprise. The biggest surprise is just how fast they kill the dragon, which was the selling point of the whole movie. Uh oh, retroactive spoiler alert. I just saved you many, many hours. Don't watch this film unless you loved the first two Hobbit movies.
7. Fifty Shades of Grey = 32.1 million
I don't want to know what the people downloading this were doing when they were watching this movie at home.
6. American Sniper = 34 million
Oscar buzz definitely had to have played a big factor into why this is so high up on the list. I have to imagine a portion of the audience didn't catch wind of this until after it had been playing for a while and either couldn't get someone to go with them to see it in theaters or didn't want to risk taking a chance on it potentially sucking and wasting $10. Having not seen it, I don't know whether that's the case, but I do know that I wasn't interested enough to put out my money for it.
5. Mad Max: Fury Road = 36.4 million
Here's a film that exploded in a way I definitely didn't see coming. The reception for this movie has been bonkers and I know quite a few people who loved it, but I also just had it too low on my priority list to make sure I saw it in theaters. Because of that, I've been tempted to watch it through other means, but I still haven't had a chance. Like with Kingsman, I think most of this can be attributed to word of mouth.
4. Jurassic World = 36.9 million
This is one of the top 3 highest grossing films of all time. Of course it's on this list.
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron = 41.6 million
No surprises here. Everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is so popular that if only a fraction of the people that went to see the movie downloaded it once afterward, it would be this high. Noticeably absent from this list is Ant-Man, but that made significantly less money at the box office than this, because this is one of the big guns of the MCU and Ant-Man is, well, Ant-Man.
2. Furious 7 = 44.8 million
Paul Walker's death boosted this movie into a level that I don't think it would have achieved otherwise, even though this franchise has seen a huge resurgence after the previous few films. What was once a laughable, ridiculous film series has turned into a laughable, ridiculous, hugely profitable film series that has a ton of fans. The target audience for this is also something that lends itself to a lot of bootleg copies and such. After all, look at what else is on this list. You don't see romantic comedies, do you? Furious 7 isn't a spectacle that you need to see on opening night with a packed house to be able to enjoy it if this is your type of movie, so downloading it and watching it for free is probably an option a ton of people preferred over spending their hard earned money to see some mindless action.
1. Interstellar = 46.8 million
I never would have expected this to be at the top of the list, but rather around the #20 spot or so, which makes this the biggest surprise as far as I'm concerned. Christopher Nolan has become a household name as a director, with a lot of people being interested in his movies just because his name is attached. Interstellar wasn't the hit that most people were expecting it to be and I think the bad word of mouth hindered it a lot. I know when I got done seeing it, I was telling people that they could wait until it's on Netflix or Redbox, and if that kind of mentality was spread around a lot, that could result in the 46.8 million downloads where those people said they'd rather just pirate it and cut out the middle man.
What do you think of this list?
Which movies did you see in theaters, download or skip?
