Fanboys Anonymous

Welcome to another edition of WEEK IN GEEK here at Fanboys Anonymous—a rundown of some of the events, news and stories that went down over the past few days in the geek culture spectrum.

Here are some of the topics I felt like voicing my opinions about:

Zombieland: Double Tap Trailer

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Zombieland, as I'm not fond of zombie movies. I'll be seeing this movie regardless of how it looks, but it's good to know that it looks funny. In particular, the thing that made me laugh was the copycat Jesse Eisenberg.

Westworld Season 3 Trailer

This looks interesting, but I really hope they've learned their lessons from the last season and don't want to purposely try to make this too complicated for the sake of it. Season 2 was so hard to follow and not as good overall compared to season 1. Let's go with more of season 1 material for season 3.

Lucifer Season 5 Expanded

The next season, which will be the last, will have 16 episodes instead of 10. I'm all for that. The 10-episode arc worked really well, but I'm also down for more episodes of a show that I love.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Trailer

Tom Hanks doesn't look 100% like Fred Rogers if you compare the two side by side, but if anybody was going to symbolize that wholesomeness, Hanks is probably the best one for the job.

Disney Breaks All-Time Global Ticket Sale Record

Five movies from Disney are billion dollar plus films (Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, The Lion King and Toy Story). Already, they've beaten their 2016 record of $7.61 billion by grossing over $7.67 billion, and they still have some MAJOR heavy-hitter films coming out later this year in Maleficent 2, Frozen 2 and The Rise of Skywalker.

Good lord, all that money. Just give me a taste. A small taste. I can

RIP Russi Taylor

The voice actress who portrayed Martin Prince on The Simpsons has passed away at age 75. Obviously, that is very sad to hear, not just for her friends and family, but the Simpsons community as a whole, as it seems another iconic character will be retired.

Welcome to another edition of WEEK IN GEEK here at Fanboys Anonymous—a rundown of some of the events, news and stories that went down over the past few days in the geek culture spectrum.

Here are some of the topics I felt like voicing my opinions about:

The King's Man Trailer

Well, this looks equal parts "the same movie as before" and "totally different from the previous two."

I'll see it. I was really disappointed with the second movie after being an IMMENSE fan of the first one. Let's hope this gets things back on track with another good one.

Lashana Lynch Will Be the Next 007

So reports are saying that Lashana Lynch's character in the next Bond film will be "007" and I have a lot of opinions about this, because there are a lot of different roads they can go, and some of them are awful.

"There is a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M says 'Come in 007' and in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman. It's a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he's been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman."

"Bond, of course, is sexually attracted to the new female 007 and tries his usual seduction tricks, but is baffled when they don't work on a brilliant, young black woman who basically rolls her eyes at him and has no interest in jumping into his bed. Well, certainly not at the beginning."

Okay, so if you're telling me the movie starts with Bond having retired and he's no longer 007, I'm fine with that...to an extent. I've already criticized how this will be the third out of five Daniel Craig movies that revolve around him being too old and washed up. That was a mistake from the onset of Skyfall.

But if he's no longer 007 because he's not in MI6, then yeah, by all means, there should be another 007, because why wouldn't there be? And if you want to make it a black woman, I'm okay with that, too. There's nothing that says the 00 agents can't be female or have to be Caucasian.

However, I do hate that it seems, based on the way this is all phrased, that this is done SPECIFICALLY for the political agenda. It seems like their goal is to just target "woke" audiences as a source of revenue and marketing, and that's not only stupid and poor tactics, it also doesn't serve the purpose of a movie, nor does it show any kind of skill or earnest rapport. It's as annoying as companies acting like they genuinely care about LGBTQ+ mindsets during last month, just to drop it again, because it's hip. This description REEKS of "it'll get people talking, and if anyone doesn't like our movie, we'll call them sexist/racist" like so many things are nowadays.

And I can see them going down a particularly annoying path, where Lynch's character is better than Bond at everything, showing him up, proving herself to be invulnerable (like Rey in Star Wars) just to prove a point. She spurs his flirting, because she's above it. She saves him, because he's not stronger than she is. She gets along better with M, who calls her better than Bond, etc.

That's bullshit, if that happens, because this is a James Bond franchise, and the only way I'll be okay with that is if Lynch's character then dies or it turns out she's the villain, and Bond has to take up the mantle again and come out of retirement and win back his spot as the premiere secret agent.

If the character is great, by all means, give her spin-offs, but don't make her 007 going forward. Make her someone who isn't a 00. If the character is not good enough for her own movies, don't even try to do anything like that at all.

And this could all be blown out of proportion, too, just like how every movie tends to have someone say "My character isn't like all the other Bond girls. She's actually really strong and independent and she rejects Bond's advances." only for most of them to turn out exactly the same, but they're just hitting those marketing buzz phrases and patting themselves on the back.

This could be a train wreck, terrible decision that will backfire and cause nothing but negativity surrounding a movie that has gone through tons of troubles and would really hinder the end of Craig's run as Bond, or it could be just a story of a new 007 temporarily replacing Bond until the status quo is reestablished and we move on to recasting a new "James Bond, Agent 007" for the next film.

I'll reserve some judgment for now, but if they really try to make another person 007 going forward that isn't James Bond (yes, that applies to other men, too, as I don't want "007 - Chet Anderson" as a character to follow), then I'm going to have to stop being a fan of this franchise, the way that I've grown to dislike Star Wars and have no faith in Terminator anymore.

Power Rangers: Legend of the White Dragon

A Kickstarter is out there (with a teaser) for a Power Rangers fan film that actually looks pretty damn interesting. Of course, it has some cheese to it, but hey, the Green/White Ranger is my favorite and this looks like a more mature "what if" future storyline that merges those two together. Tommy's the man.

Could Kraven be from Wakanda?

Take it with a grain of salt, but something is going around that the next Spider-Man movie may have Kraven in it, and his backstory might be that he's from a tribe in Wakanda that was cast aside, which is why we don't see his group in Black Panther.

That sounds pretty cool. I'd be down for that, especially if they go with the thing I've been saying for a long time in that if Kraven is in a movie, we need Scorpion in that movie, too, to be a more physical fight for Peter.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Red Band Trailer

Big fan of Kevin Smith and the Clerks series. Strike Back is my #2 favorite, probably, just behind Clerks and above Mallrats. While this didn't make me crack up, I'm seeing it opening night anyway.

Halloween Kills & Halloween Ends

Two sequels to the most recent Halloween film have been announced. Hey, at least these have actual titles, right? Because it doesn't make any sense that there have been 3 movies called Halloween where one is a reboot (makes sense) and the other one is a sequel to the original one, making it effectively a reboot of Halloween 2, but not called Halloween 2. It really should have been something like "Halloween ___"

Kills? Ends? The titles sound kind of dumb.

Watchmen Trailer

This certainly looks ambitious. I don't know if I'll watch it, but it seems like they're trying, so that's good.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4 Film Slate Announced

Oh boy is there a lot to unpack and talk about and speculate on with this.

Black Widow (May 1, 2020) = Not much new on this front. I'm still disappointed Taskmaster is the villain, as I think he's better suited for another film down the line, but at least Yelena is in it. Mark my words, though...Rachel Weisz is going to turn out to be Taskmaster and they're gender-switching the character. I guarantee it. And if I'm wrong, well, then, that guarantee sure sucked, didn't it?

Eternals (November 6, 2020) = I know almost nothing about The Eternals, so my opinion on this hasn't changed at all. The cast seems huge and I don't know the source material, or the work of director Chloé Zhao. This is basically like how I went into Guardians of the Galaxy the first time, in many ways.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (February 12, 2021) = Whaaaaat? We're getting the real Mandarin? That's awesome!!!!!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 7, 2021) = Did not see that title coming at all, but I like it. Nightmare is confirmed as the villain, although I assume Baron Mordo will still pop up. But Scarlet Witch will be in this, which is very interesting. Maybe they're making her powers develop to the comics hex magic type stuff.

Thor: Love and Thunder (November 5, 2021) = Weird title. Love that Taika is returning. LOVE that they're continuing to do Thor films. I don't know where I stand on Natalie Portman coming back, but I do know that I have zero interest in Jane Foster taking up the powers of Thor. I just do not care about that storyline, and I feel like it's a weak/lame/transparent attempt to cash in on the female empowerment boom that has happened in the past few years with no substance and a hollow escape by saying if you dislike it, you're clearly sexist or something. And let me get this straight by saying if they announced that the film was going to have Eric Masterson take up the role of Thor, I'd dislike that just as much. I want my Thor to be Thor, my 007 to be James Bond, my Batman to be Bruce Wayne, my Spider-Man to be Peter Parker, etc. I would have been interested in so many options for another Thor movie, and not one of them would ever be "Jane becomes Thor."

No release date, or much info, for the following...

Black Panther 2 = I really love the pitch of having this be a war against Atlantis to introduce Namor, or to have Doctor Doom come into play here, or both. But we'll see. In either fashion, this was a must.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 = Necessary. I'm not sure why they don't have much to talk about with this, though, when it should be one of the ones that we're getting sooner than later, right?

Captain Marvel 2 = I dig the idea of the subtitle being "Higher, Further, Faster" if they were to go with that route, but I'm fine with it just being Captain Marvel 2. I think the first film is severely flawed and I hope they fix those issues, like giving Carol some actual personality and not setting it in a time frame for the sake of shits and giggles.

Blade = Really? I know Blade has some value, and people like the Wesley Snipes movies for how bad they are, but I'm disappointed in this. I wanted Midnight Sons and to combine Blade with Ghost Rider and Morbius and all. Also, Mahershala Ali is Blade, even though he was Cottonmouth? Further proof the television shows basically don't count.

Fantastic 4 = If anyone can figure out a way to make this work, it's this group. The MCU has its flaws here and there, but by and large, it's got a success rate of like 95%.

** Where's the next Spider-Man movie? What about X-Men? No Thunderbolts is REALLY surprising to me.

And then there's the television shows...

Loki = They're going with the idea of tracking what he did when he escaped with the tesseract in 2012. I still think that doesn't make much sense, as shouldn't Captain America have gone back in time and replaced the stone from before they ever took it? The time travel stuff in Endgame really doesn't make sense.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier = Cool logo. Glad to hear that Daniel Brühl will return with the iconic mask this time around.

WandaVision = I still hate that title, and I'm still curious why it's rumored to be set in the 1950s, and I'm even more curious now that they've said this will include an adult Monica Rambeau. That just makes no sense to me without having more details, so I'm just bewildered and confused.

Hawkeye = Kate Bishop is confirmed. Neat.

What If? = Jeffrey Wright will voice The Watcher? AWESOME.

Avengers: Endgame Beats Avatar!

Finally!!! I'm so glad that such an awesome and deserving film like Endgame is now at the top of the food chain for the box office. It's so good, and Avatar was an underwhelming film that I really never thought should have been at the top. Hopefully, they don't just re-re-release the movie again and get the record again. If that happens, Endgame needs to be released another time and they can just play around with that.

Young Justice Renewed for Season 4

Overall, I love this series. There are problems with keeping the storyline going in a linear fashion, rather than just jumping to another thing like someone with ADHD, but having this series out there is an awesome thing, because it shows a more adult side to these characters that we don't get to see all that often, and a wide variety of cast members. Seriously, when's the last time you remember a spotlight being given to Tempest?

On the latest edition of the Fanboys Anonymous REVIEWPOINT podcast, host Tony Mango breaks down the hits and misses of Disney's The Lion King 2019 remake by discussing what worked, what didn't, and whether you should see it or skip it.

Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny on the plains of Africa. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub's arrival. Scar, Mufasa's brother -- and former heir to the throne -- has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is soon ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba's exile. Now, with help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba must figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his.

Make sure to subscribe/follow on whatever platform you're listening, leave your comments on the videos or this post, share this with your friends and geek out with us!

The latest in the line of animated DC direct-to-video films is Batman: Hush, based on the comic by the same name. Is it worth the watch, or should it be skipped?

Welcome to the latest edition of Making the Grade—a review format segment here on Fanboys Anonymous where we break down the major components of a movie and give it a score based on the standard report card lineup: A, B, C, D, and F for a total failure.

Batman: Hush
Directed by Justin Copeland
Written by Ernie Altbacker, Jim Lee (comic), Jeph Loeb (comic)

STARRING: Jason O'Mara (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Jennifer Morrison (Selina Kyle / Catwoman), Jerry O'Connell (Clark Kent / Superman), Maury Sterling (Thomas Elliot / Hush), Rainn Wilson (Lex Luthor), Rebecca Romijn (Lois Lane), Geoffrey Arend (Edward Nygma / The Riddler), Sean Maher (Dick Grayson / Nightwing), Peyton List (Barbara Gordon / Batgirl), Vanessa Williams (Amanda Waller), Jason Spisak (The Joker), Hynden Walch (Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn), Bruce Thomas (Commissioner Gordon), Stuart Allan (Damian Wayne / Robin), James Garrett (Alfred Pennyworth), Sachie Alessio (Lady Shiva), Adam Gifford (Bane, Clayface), Tara Strong (Reporter)

STORY: A

Hush is an amazing story. Admittedly, they trimmed this down by cutting some plotlines, like Jason Todd, Two-Face, and making it so Tommy Elliot isn't actually Hush. But you know what? Those things happen in adaptations, and if I wasn't aware of the original story, I would think that this was almost entirely a fully realized story, with the only oddball part of it being The Riddler's nearly random introduction with the Lazarus Pit having virtually no setup ahead of time, rather than Lady Shiva's quick aside. However, I'd argue that in some ways, that's better, because we as a viewing audience shouldn't be aware of all the omniscient aspects of a mystery if we're on the same journey as the protagonist, since that spoils it. There's no way Bruce would know every little thing (even though he's The God Damn Batman), so it's nice to see a mystery that can't be guessed ahead of time because we're lacking information, like every other character would be missing.

It's a great story of Bruce and Selina's relationship and how that works, more than anything else.

CHARACTERS: A+

Look, I've said it a million times before, Batman (Bruce Wayne) is my favorite character of all time in any form of fiction.

Catwoman was sexy and the right balance of villainous and heroic, and the standout of the story.

Even the side characters were translated perfectly, like how Bane wasn't just a mindless brute and they wrote that off as a side effect of the venom. Fantastic characterization for Damian. I loved Barbara having a serious vibe of intelligent sass to her and Dick being cocky and humorous.

Luthor being helpful, but in the most pain in the ass way. Joker being obsessed with Batman and finding humor in a situation where he's getting his ass kicked and he's innocent from killing Elliot, and mentioning that he wants Batman to break his code, but for something he did. Poison Ivy being flirtatious and nasty. All great stuff.

TONE / ATMOSPHERE: A+

This had the right balance of action, comedy and romance for what these movies should have. It was adult enough for a wide target audience wherein kids can take it at face value without looking deeper, while adults can take more out of things like the struggles of relationships and even knowing that friend of yours that would act the way Dick does with Bruce. This was really done well, and it makes me want the team behind this to do more of these.


ACTING: B

Voice acting on these are all pretty much top-notch for the main characters. I'm always going to say that Kevin Conroy would be better, but Jason O'Mara is probably my #2 favorite Batman voice actor by this point.

Vanessa Williams immediately lands as Amanda Waller, for instance, as she commands respect and authority with every syllable.

I'm not fond of Rainn Wilson as Lex Luthor, though, and I think they always downgrade when it comes to The Joker if they don't have Mark Hamill or Troy Baker doing the voice.

VISUALS (FX, MAKEUP, COSTUMES, SETS): A+

This may be the absolute best animation out of any of these films. Perfect. The costumes for all the characters were realistic, the cityscape was fitting. Awesome job.

AUDIO (MUSIC / SOUND): A–

It's hard to give this a really strict grade, as it's just pretty much good enough to be in the background without being distracting. The music wasn't memorable in the slightest bit, nor was any of it distracting. The sound design was rock solid.

• The little kid kicking Bane and calling him an asshole.
• "Okay you crazy plant bitch, it's on." - Catwoman
• Selina's cat is named Eartha. Amazing.
• Vesti La Giubba! Great touch!
• "Who's Robin these days?" - Joker. LOVE IT. Very subtle Jason Todd thing (although where's Tim Drake in all this? It kind of proves to me my theory that Drake is a one-trick pony only useful for getting Batman to stop being upset about Todd's death, and that Damian is almost a better method to do that)
• I absolutely LOVE that Selina asks Batman "Wait, are you sure?" when he's going to reveal his identity. That right there is all you need to know about Catwoman as a character in terms of her alignment.
• "Who's Damian?" / "Robin. His.......son....." - LOL
• Points deducted for the design of Mr. Freeze.
• Wait, so are they implying that Gordon knows Bruce is Batman? I dig it. I always like my Jim Gordon to be a good enough detective in his own right to have figured it out but never wants to officially confirm it because he wants plausible deniability.

GRADE: A+ (Pass)

Amazing. I can't recommend this enough. Definitely see it, don't skip it. This may be my favorite of these animated films yet.

The 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will take place September 22, 2019 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles California, broadcast by Fox.

Here is a list of the nominees in all of the categories.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Barry (HBO)
Fleabag (Amazon)
The Good Place (NBC)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
Schitt's Creek (Pop)
Veep (HBO)

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul (AMC)
Bodyguard (Netflix)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Killing Eve (BBC America)
Ozark (Netflix)
Pose (FX)
Succession (HBO)
This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

At Home with Amy Sedaris (truTV)
Documentary Now! (IFC)
Drunk History (Comedy Central)
I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman (Hulu)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Who Is America? (Showtime)

Outstanding Limited Series

Chernobyl (HBO)
Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)
Fosse/Verdon (FX)
Sharp Objects (HBO)
When They See Us (Netflix)

Outstanding Television Movie

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix)
Brexit (HBO)
Deadwood (HBO)
King Lear (Prime Video)
My Dinner With Hervé (HBO)

Outstanding Competition Program

The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Ninja Warrior (NBC)
Nailed It! (Netflix)
RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)


Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson as Andre "Dre" Johnson, Sr. on Black-ish (ABC)
Don Cheadle as Mo Monroe on Black Monday (Showtime)
Ted Danson as Michael on The Good Place (NBC)
Michael Douglas as Sandy Kominsky on The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
Bill Hader as Barry Berkman / Barry Block on Barry (HBO)
Eugene Levy as Johnny Rose on Schitt's Creek (Pop)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Christina Applegate as Jen Harding on Dead to Me (Netflix)
Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam "Midge" Maisel on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer on Veep (HBO)
Natasha Lyonne as Nadia Vulvokov on Russian Doll (Netflix)
Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose on Schitt's Creek (Pop)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Fleabag on Fleabag (Amazon)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman as Martin "Marty" Byrde on Ozark (Netflix)
Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson on This Is Us (NBC)
Kit Harington as Jon Snow on Game of Thrones (HBO)
Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill / Saul Goodman on Better Call Saul (AMC)
Billy Porter as Pray Tell on Pose (FX)
Milo Ventimiglia as Jack Pearson on This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones (HBO)
Jodie Comer as Oksana Astankova / Villanelle on Killing Eve (BBC America)
Viola Davis as Annalise Keating on How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde on Ozark (Netflix)
Mandy Moore as Rebecca Pearson on This Is Us (NBC)
Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri on Killing Eve (BBC America)
Robin Wright as Claire Underwood on House of Cards (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Mahershala Ali as Wayne Hays on True Detective (HBO)
Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe on A Very English Scandal (Amazon)
Benicio del Toro as Richard Matt in Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)
Jared Harris as Valery Legasov in Chernobyl (HBO)
Jharrel Jerome as Korey Wise in When They See Us (Netflix)
Sam Rockwell as Bob Fosse in Fosse/Verdon (FX)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Amy Adams as Camille Preaker on Sharp Objects (HBO)
Patricia Arquette as Joyce "Tilly" Mitchell on Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)
Aunjanue Ellis as Sharonne Salaam on When They See Us (Netflix)
Joey King as Gypsy Rose Blanchard on The Act (Hulu)
Niecy Nash as Delores Wise on When They See Us (Netflix)
Michelle Williams as Gwen Verdon on Fosse/Verdon (FX)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Alan Arkin as Norman Newlander in The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
Anthony Carrigan as NoHo Hank in Barry (HBO)
Tony Hale as Gary Walsh in Veep (HBO)
Stephen Root as Monroe Fuches in Barry (HBO)
Tony Shalhoub as Abe Weissman in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau in Barry (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein as Susie Myerson in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Anna Chlumsky as Amy Brookheimer in Veep (HBO)
Sian Clifford as Claire in Fleabag (Amazon)
Olivia Colman as Godmother in Fleabag (Amazon)
Betty Gilpin as Debbie Eagan in GLOW (Netflix)
Sarah Goldberg as Sally Reed in Barry (HBO)
Marin Hinkle as Rose Weissman in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Kate McKinnon as various characters in Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones (HBO)
Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut in Better Call Saul (AMC)
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones (HBO)
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones (HBO)
Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring in Better Call Saul (AMC)
Michael Kelly as Doug Stamper in House of Cards (Netflix)
Chris Sullivan as Toby Damon in This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones (HBO)
Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore in Ozark (Netflix)
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones (HBO)
Fiona Shaw as Carolyn Martens in Killing Eve (BBC America)
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones (HBO)
Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Asante Blackk as Kevin Richardson in When They See Us (Netflix)
Paul Dano as David Sweat in Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)
John Leguizamo as Raymond Santana, Sr. in When They See Us (Netflix)
Stellan Skarsgård as Boris Shcherbina in Chernobyl (HBO)
Ben Whishaw as Norman Josiffe / Norman Scott in A Very English Scandal (Amazon)
Michael K. Williams as Bobby McCray in When They See Us (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee Blanchard on The Act (Hulu)
Marsha Stephanie Blake as Linda McCray on When They See Us (Netflix)
Patricia Clarkson as Adora Crellin on Sharp Objects (HBO)
Vera Farmiga as Elizabeth Lederer on When They See Us (Netflix)
Margaret Qualley as Ann Reinking on Fosse/Verdon (FX)
Emily Watson as Ulana Khomyuk on Chernobyl (HBO)


Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Barry (Episode: "The Audition"), directed by Alec Berg (HBO)
Barry (Episode: "ronny/lily"), directed by Bill Hader (HBO)
The Big Bang Theory (Episode: "The Stockholm Syndrome"), directed by Mark Cendrowski (CBS)
Fleabag (Episode: "Episode 1"), directed by Harry Bradbeer (Amazon)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: "All Alone"), directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Amazon)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: "We're Going to the Catskills!"), directed by Daniel Palladino (Amazon)

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

Game of Thrones (Episode: "The Last of the Starks"), directed by David Nutter (HBO)
Game of Thrones (Episode: "The Long Night"), directed by Miguel Sapochnik (HBO)
Game of Thrones (Episode: "The Iron Throne"), directed by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss (HBO)
The Handmaid's Tale (Episode: "Holly"), directed by Daina Reid (Hulu)
Killing Eve (Episode: "Desperate Times"), directed by Lisa Brühlmann (BBC America)
Ozark (Episode: "Reparations"), directed by Jason Bateman (Netflix)
Succession (Episode: "Celebration"), directed by Adam McKay (HBO)

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special

Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney Live From Liverpool, directed by Ben Winston (CBS)
Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé, directed by Ed Burke and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (Netflix)
Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Norman Lear's 'All In The Family' And 'The Jeffersons', directed by James Burrows and Andy Fisher (ABC)
Springsteen On Broadway, directed by Thom Zimny (Netflix)
The Oscars, directed by Glenn Weiss (ABC)

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series

Documentary Now! (Episode: "Waiting for the Artist"), directed by Alex Buono and Rhys Thomas (IFC)
Drunk History (Episode: "Are You Afraid of the Drunk?"), directed by Derek Waters (Comedy Central)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Episode: "Psychics"), directed by Paul Pennolino (HBO)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Episode: "Live Midterm Election Show") directed by Jim Hoskinson (CBS)
Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Adam Sandler"), directed by Don Roy King (NBC)
Who Is America? (Episode: "Episode 102"), directed by Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Daniel Gray Longino, and Dan Mazer (Showtime)

Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special

Chernobyl, directed by Johan Renck (HBO)
Escape at Dannemora, directed by Ben Stiller (Showtime)
Fosse/Verdon (Episode: "Glory"), directed by Jessica Yu (FX)
Fosse/Verdon (Episode: "Who's Got the Pain"), directed by Thomas Kail (FX)
A Very English Scandal, directed by Stephen Frears (Amazon)
When They See Us, directed by Ava DuVernay (Netflix)


Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Barry (Episode: "ronny/lily"), written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader (HBO)
Fleabag (Episode: "Episode 1"), written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Amazon)
PEN15 (Episode: "Anna Ishii-Peters"), written by Maya Erskine & Anna Konkle (Hulu)
Russian Doll (Episode: "Nothing In This World Is Easy"), written by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, & Amy Poehler (Netflix)
Russian Doll (Episode: "A Warm Body"), written by Allison Silverman (Netflix)
The Good Place (Episode: "Janet(s)"), written by Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan (NBC)
Veep (Episode: "Veep"), written by David Mandel (HBO)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

Better Call Saul (Episode: "Winner"), written by Peter Gould & Thomas Schnauz (AMC)
Bodyguard (Episode: "Episode 1"), written by Jed Mercurio (Netflix)
Game of Thrones (Episode: "The Iron Throne"), written by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss (HBO)
The Handmaid's Tale (Episode: "Holly"), written by Bruce Miller & Kira Snyder (Hulu)
Killing Eve (Episode: "Nice and Neat"), written by Emerald Fennell (BBC America)
Succession (Episode: "Nobody Is Ever Missing"), written by Jesse Armstrong (HBO)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special

Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh, written by Adam Sandler (Netflix)
Amy Schumer Growing, written by Amy Schumer (Netflix)
Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney Live From Liverpool (CBS)
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, written by Hannah Gadsby (Netflix)
Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé, written by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (Netflix)
Wanda Sykes: Not Normal, written by Wanda Sykes (Netflix)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series

Documentary Now! (IFC)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)

Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special

Chernobyl, written by Craig Mazin (HBO)
Escape at Dannemora (Episode: "Part 6"), written by Brett Johnson & Michael Tolkin & Jerry Stahl (Showtime)
Escape at Dannemora (Episode: "Part 7"), written by Brett Johnson & Michael Tolkin (Showtime)
Fosse/Verdon (Episode: "Providence"), written by Joel Fields & Steven Levenson (FX)
A Very English Scandal, written by Russell T Davies (Amazon)
When They See Us (Episode: "Part Four"), written by Ava DuVernay & Michael Starrbury (Netflix)

Welcome to another edition of WEEK IN GEEK here at Fanboys Anonymous—a rundown of some of the events, news and stories that went down over the past few days in the geek culture spectrum.

Here are some of the topics I felt like voicing my opinions about:

HBO Max

In the ever-growing trend of people thinking "We should have our own streaming platform!" it's now HBO throwing their name into the hat with HBO Max.

Remember, everybody, this is how cable went, and we're just speeding up the process. There already are too many things out there that nobody can afford to buy all of them, so here's another one that won't be able to fully compete. In no time, this is all going to collapse, and we're going to have people grouping packages together, and then we're back to cable again.

But what's confusing about this is that they are advertising a bunch of other things, like Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, truTV, New Line Cinema, Boomerang, CNN, Adult Swim, TBS and the DC Universe. So is this already HBO making their own cable network that will be like $30 a month and include DC Universe and whatnot rolled into it??

Storm Reid Cast as Idris Elba's Character's Daughter in The Suicide Squad

So he's not playing Deadshot, but he's got a daughter, too? Are they just bullshitting, or did they make him Bronze Tiger and give him a daughter and plan on doing "basically Deadshot again, but let's leave the door open in case Will Smith ever wants to return" by having a copycat character inserted into the same part of the script?

Fishy.

Power Rangers Being Rebooted on Film?

As suspected, it seems like the 2017 film isn't going to get a sequel, but there will be a reboot down the line. I'm equal parts annoyed about that and okay with it. Half the cast was great (Billy in particular was so good) and I liked how they had a more adult tone to things, and how they made Rita a former Green Ranger. But some of the movie just didn't work out perfectly.

Basically, if the reboot is better, then I'll be all thumbs up on this in retrospect. But I don't have the power of hindsight yet, and I'm always afraid things will get worse, and this will turn into a bigger mistake than just carrying on with the previous crew.

Christoph Waltz Returning as Blofeld in Bond 25

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

Mortal Kombat Will Include Fatalities

Of course it needed to be rated R and has to have the fatalities. If not, that would have been the first thing people would have complained about (beyond the possibility of it having horrible acting or a terrible script or awful CGI, because, naturally, that would be the bulk of the complaints on the critic side of things). I still don't know if killing off certain characters makes a ton of sense for future stories with potential sequels, because it would be strange if they just straight-up murdered everybody except for the winner and then had to start fresh with a primarily new cast for a #2, but we'll see how they plan to address that. Zombies?

Welcome to another edition of WEEK IN GEEK here at Fanboys Anonymous—a rundown of some of the events, news and stories that went down over the past few days in the geek culture spectrum.

Here are some of the topics I felt like voicing my opinions about:

Casting for The Little Mermaid

Melissa McCarthy for Ursula = I'm not feeling it. She's over the top, and she's heavy, and she's a name for Hollywood, but I feel like this is fan casting you'd see on a message board, rather than actual great casting. She could be awesome, don't get me wrong, but it screams "obvious and uninspired and bland" to me more than "oh wow, she'd be perfect and nobody else could do it better." If Ursula was supposed to be based on a drag queen, shouldn't they go more for someone in that regard? But hey, if that's true, at least it wouldn't be Lady Gaga, who would be an even worse choice.

Jacob Tremblay for Flounder = Sure. Why not? He looks like the character, funny enough.

Awkwafina for Scuttle = I hate typing out her name. She's everywhere nowadays, isn't she? Maybe that's just bandwagoning rather than perfect casting. Scuttle was a male character, and I can see them switching it up just to add more women into the mix, but whatever, I don't really care as much as other people seem to.

Halle Bailey for Ariel = I don't know the girl outside of her WrestleMania performance, which I don't even remember. I hope she's a good actress for the part and not just stunt casting for being a popular enough name. It's definitely feeling like this movie was set up as a checklist for trying to get media attention and all. But she's a singer, so maybe she'll be good. I'm sure a good number of people are going to flip their lid because of the color of her skin and then the other side of the extreme will be equally as annoying in blind support of that and nobody will pay any attention to whether or not she's a good actress, and that'll make her feel awful as a human being (which is so great, right?) and it'll invalidate anyone who dislikes the movie as "clearly" a racist who is only hating the movie because of that, and anyone who genuinely likes the movie will be "some SJW blah blah" who is only supporting it for political reasons. I hate 2019.

In the grand scheme of things, The Little Mermaid is far from my favorite Disney film, so I might not even bother watching this. Just like Mulan.

Jumanji: The Next Level Title / Trailer

Supposedly, that's the title for the next film. I love it. What a perfect way to allude to it being a sequel while giving it a game-related title and not having to go with something like "Jumanji: Jungle Fever" or "Jumanji: Concrete Jungle" with it set in New York, or "Jumanji: King of the Jungle" or even "Jumanji: Law of the Jungle" which I don't know what it would be, but it would just be kind of meh. I dig "The Next Level" a lot.

Now, as far as the trailer goes, I'm not sure how the structure of the film will work, but switching up the characters is interesting. Danny Glover and Danny DeVito are awesome.

Forky was almost Forkface in Toy Story 4

What?! LMAO

Vanessa Kirby May Be Catwoman

Rumor has it Vanessa Kirby could be the front-runner to be Catwoman in the new Batman film. Frankly, I'm not a fan of it. Kirby doesn't strike me as Selina Kyle and it feels more like stunt casting of "who is popular right now" more than who is best for the role, since she's blown up from Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious.

The Flash Director Situation Changes Again

So now, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are also not directing The Flash, and it's going to Andy Muschietti. Here is my surprised face that this project has changed again. What? You don't see a surprise face? That's because it doesn't exist. Typical DC.

On the latest edition of the Fanboys Anonymous REVIEWPOINT podcast, host Tony Mango breaks down the hits and misses of Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home by discussing what worked, what didn't, and whether you should see it or skip it.

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever.

Make sure to subscribe/follow on whatever platform you're listening, leave your comments on the videos or this post, share this with your friends and geek out with us!

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 July 2019?

Spider-Man: Far from Home

Synopsis: Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever.

Will I watch? = Yes

Midsommar

Synopsis: A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

Will I watch? = No

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

Synopsis: An in-depth look at the relationship between the late musician Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen.

Will I watch? = No

Phil

Synopsis: A depressed dentist in mid life crisis tries to learn why one of his happiest patients suddenly commits suicide, and a dark comedic adventure ensues.

Will I watch? = No


Stuber

Synopsis: A detective recruits his Uber driver into an unexpected night of adventure.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Crawl

Synopsis: A young woman, while attempting to save her father during a Category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.

Will I watch? = No

The Farewell

Synopsis: A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.

Will I watch? = No

The Art of Self-Defense

Synopsis: A man is attacked at random on the street. He enlists at a local dojo, led by a charismatic and mysterious sensei, in an effort to learn how to defend himself.

Will I watch? = No

Super 30

Synopsis: Based on life of Patna-based mathematician Anand Kumar who runs the famed Super 30 program for IIT aspirants in Patna.

Will I watch? = No

Sword of Trust

Synopsis: Cynthia and Mary show up to collect Cynthia's inheritance from her deceased grandfather, but the only item she receives is an antique sword that was believed by her grandfather to be proof that the South won the Civil War.

Will I watch? = No

Summer Night

Synopsis: A coming-of-age story about the complexities of young romantic relationships.

Will I watch? = No

The Cure: Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park

Synopsis: English rock band The Cure honor their 40 years together with a live concert at London's Hyde Park in July 2018.

Will I watch? = No


The Lion King

Synopsis: After the murder of his father, a young lion prince flees his kingdom only to learn the true meaning of responsibility and bravery.

Will I watch? = Yes

David Crosby: Remember My Name

Synopsis: Meet David Crosby in this portrait of a man with everything but an easy retirement on his mind.

Will I watch? = No

Between Me and My Mind

Synopsis: Driven by a constant need to create, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio takes on new projects, including some of his most personal music to date as well as Phish's ambitious New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden.

Will I watch? = No

Into the Ashes

Synopsis: With an honest job and a loving wife, Nick Brenner believed he had safely escaped his violent, criminal history. But his old crew hasn't forgotten about him or the money he stole, and when they take what Nick now values the most - his wife - he has nothing left to lose. Confronted by the town sheriff, who is also his father-in-law, Nick must decide if he will stay on his new path or indulge in his need for revenge and force his enemies to pay for what they have done.

Will I watch? = No


Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Synopsis: A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.

Will I watch? = Yes

Brahms: The Boy II

Synopsis: After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their young son soon makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms.

Will I watch? = No

Mike Wallace Is Here

Synopsis: A look at the career of '60 Minutes' newsman, Mike Wallace.

Will I watch? = No


Which films make the cut?

6. The Art of Self-Defense — At least if I'm seeing a comedy, I might laugh once.

5. Midsommar — No plans to see it, but if I had to pick, at least this one has buzz from Hereditary supposedly being good, but I didn't see that, either.

4. Stuber — Batista. Comedy. Action. Sure.

3. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood — Admittedly, as much as I LOVE Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, I haven't been as impressed by Quentin Tarantino's last bunch of films. But I'll still give it a shot.

2. The Lion King — The Lion King is one of my 3 favorite Disney films (the other two being Aladdin and Toy Story) so of course I'm seeing this.

1. Spider-Man: Far From Home — Bro. C'mon. You know I've had my tickets since they went on sale. Spider-Man is my second favorite superhero.

Welcome to another edition of WEEK IN GEEK here at Fanboys Anonymous—a rundown of some of the events, news and stories that went down over the past few days in the geek culture spectrum.

Here are some of the topics I felt like voicing my opinions about:

DC Consolidating Comics Labels

Rather than having Vertigo Comics and others continue, there will be only 3 labels going forward: "DC Kids", "DC Black Label" and just regular old "DC".

Their goal is to just clean house, essentially. Vertigo had darker themes, but there's no reason that can't just be DC Black Label (a name I'm not fond of, as I think DC Dark would be better)

Basically, what they're doing is just making sure everything has the DC name to it (which is smart), going with an MPAA style age bracket system of sorts by having DC Kids be 8-12, DC be 12+ (rated T for Teen) and Black Label as the R-rating of 17+.

Makes sense. I'm all for it. Now can you please officially call your films Worlds of DC and stop people from using the "DC Extended Universe" name that is abysmal?

Duke Caboom's Cameo in Incredibles 2

Pixar likes to have a character from an upcoming movie make some sort of cameo in another movie, whether it's Nemo showing up in someone's fish tank or whatever. Apparently, Duke Caboom from Toy Story 4 showed up in the background of Incredibles 2 as one of Jack-Jack's toys. Very neat.

Andy Serkis for Penguin?

Rumor mill says that Serkis could have a role in the upcoming Batman film. Obviously, Penguin is the best fit for him, based on the reports of Two-Face, Firefly, Catwoman and Riddler being the other villains. Serkis would be an awesome Penguin, so I really hope that's the case.

Salma Hayek for The Eternals

The Wrap says Hayek has been cast in this film, which is boasting quite the impressive cast so far. No word on who she's playing yet, though. To be honest, even if that was reported, I would have no idea who that character would be, as I'm not familiar with The Eternals. Still, pretty neat that she'll be involved. She's a great actress.

Paul Rudd Joins Cast of Ghostbusters 2020

Disappointed to hear he'll just be a teacher, rather than something more, but at least he's in it. Very cool.

Peter's To-Do List

Apparently, there will be a short film on the Blu-Ray of Spider-Man: Far From Home that tracks Peter gathering his stuff for his trip to Europe, including the scene from the trailers of him taking out the mobsters.

Charlie's Angels Trailer

Nah. It looks as "good" as every other generic action movie. That trailer did nothing to sell me on it, though. Very loud.

Teen Titan's Go! Vs. Teen Titans

Obviously, I'm older than the target audience, so this doesn't play to my strengths quite the same. However, this is still very cool for fans of the franchises, and I'll probably check it out, despite not watching more than a few episodes of both shows.

Toy Story has always been one of my 3 favorite Disney films (the other two being Aladdin and The Lion King—lucky me for this year's film slate, right?) and the trilogy is pretty much one of the only examples I can think of wherein the third wasn't a disappointment, or the series didn't take a dip in the middle, or take the first film to get the ball rolling.

All three films were great, so when Toy Story 4 was announced, I was equal parts hesitant to trust that it was a good idea, and confident they'd be able to pull it off. Now that I've seen the film, though, how does it hold up? What am I thinking about it?

My normal methodology is to do a Reviewpoint podcast for these sorts of things, and I even set up all the templates ahead of time, but I found myself wanting to write a review of this instead, for whatever reason, so we're going to do things a little differently here.

First, I'll hit you with a spoiler-free quick breakdown of my thoughts, followed by the more in-depth analysis that dives into the spoiler territory.

It's not as good as the previous three, but that doesn't mean it's a bad film. It isn't. I just feel like this wasn't all that necessary, and the series ends on a note that I'm less comfortable with than if it had been left alone with Toy Story 3. Some of the characters come off hollow compared to their previous roles in the franchise, to make room for new stars, and I can't shake the feeling that there's a built-in game plan to turn this into something that can result in different spin-offs for Disney+. That in itself isn't a bad idea, but if that happens, I'll feel like it was somewhat cheap to use an underwhelming movie to drive attention to what probably will be the degradation of what was a pretty much perfect franchise. Still, it's not bad, and I enjoyed most of it, so if it looks interesting to you, you should see it.

With that in mind, let's get into some more specifics with the return of a review format called Making the Grade, where we break down the 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.

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang embark on a road trip with Bonnie and a new toy named Forky. The adventurous journey turns into an unexpected reunion as Woody's slight detour leads him to his long-lost friend Bo Peep. As Woody and Bo discuss the old days, they soon start to realize that they're worlds apart when it comes to what they want from life as a toy.

STORY: C–

Realistically, this is always a story of toys that go on an adventure of trying to get back to the rest of the toys. It's happened enough times that it's the basic template. However, this time around, it's mostly a story of Woody going from being a toy that Bonnie enjoyed, to a sideliner, which he can't quite cope with, as he still even misses Andy.

This is good in the sense that it's true to his nature from the first film of wanting to be the star player and feeling jealous of Buzz Lightyear, but also having grown over the years that he isn't feeling vindictive and spiteful toward Jessie or, eventually, Forky.

But here's where things go a little off for me. Forky is introduced as Bonnie's new favorite toy, and Woody wants him to do his job, as he realizes how important he is to Bonnie, which is why he goes to retrieve him when Forky exits the RV. Then, even though the movie is technically supposed to be about "let's get Forky back to Bonnie", it never really feels like that anymore, to me.

There are too many side plots and not enough focus on just a fewer amount of them. We have Forky's struggle in learning he's a toy and not trash (which is brushed aside too quickly, and, I feel, could have been the entire premise of the movie) along with Gabby Gabby playing the villain role of wanting the love and affection of a child so much that she is willing to do terrible things to get it, and Bo Peep being a representation of lost toys making a future for themselves, and Buzz learning about his inner voice (which is SUPER thin), and Bunny and Ducky wanting a kid, all along with Woody's existential crisis. Oh, and the other toys are just there, waiting.

It all feels like setup. It seems like they want to do spin-off shows for Disney+, where Gabby can be followed with her kid, there's a team of Woody/Bo/Ducky/Bunny/Duke/etc who will have their carnival adventures, and Bonnie will have her team of toys, and there will be tons of different stories that they introduced with plotlines that they'll drive into the ground.

Am I somewhat downing the movie based on future predictions? Admittedly, yes. But even if that doesn't happen, that's the impression I got from the film, which means I wasn't fully satisfied with any of those plot elements.

I think I would have rather enjoyed a 30 minute short story of Forky than a feature film about 6 stories that try to get patched together. Again, a short story about Buzz playing with his voice control to act as his inner voice would have been great, and the jokes were funny, but I wanted more. It feels like this was every lingering idea they had for a potential sequel all thrown together like they had to rush a final season of a television show when they found out it wouldn't be renewed for another year.

At the end, having Woody choose to leave Bonnie and go with the others was a downer in a different way from Toy Story 3. I felt like the first Toy Story ends with it just being a good movie about friendship and the world is open. Toy Story 2 ends with a realization that Andy will grow older, but the toys will still be with each other. Tory Story 3 is a logical conclusion of that point and the acknowledgment from Andy that those toys were special to him, but they will mean more to a new kid than sitting in his attic, and the toys understanding that their purpose is to do that.

Even though I know the takeaway from this is that Buzz and Jessie have it covered for watching over Bonnie, and Woody feels he'll be more useful trying to apply his skills to others, my own psychology of it felt like that was more upsetting than hopeful. I don't think you're wrong for loving it, as everyone has their own thoughts and feelings on those types of things depending on their emotional spectrum, but since there's a variety of different opinions on stuff like that, I acknowledge that it didn't resonate with me the way I wanted it to.

For another example, if you liked the movie The Watchmen, and how it ended was amazing to you, I can't say that you're wrong. All I can say is that it felt nihilistic and depressing to me, and like the writer had a different goal in mind than what I would have liked to experience as someone going to be entertained. This sounds super dramatic, and it's certainly not the end of the world, but I almost feel like Toy Story 4 ends in a way that makes me feel sad and less content about the series as a whole now, rather than if it had just ended with Toy Story 3, as I was more than fine with that for the past few years, and I don't think the positives we got out of the film were necessarily worth it. But that's just me.

ACTING: A

The acting is rock solid all around. A+ on that, as expected.

CHARACTERS: A

Basically, if you loved the previous movies, you gotta love the OG gang.

Woody is such a bro, helping out all the time and all. The man.

Buzz has always been a bit blissfully ignorant, and I liked the whole inner voice thing a lot.

Bo Peep was repackaged as "bad ass female warrior chick" and I kind of feel like that was manufactured, but I didn't hate it. At least she was back. Having her missing the previous one felt awkward.

Forky was the star. That little spork was amazing, and again, I think I would have liked this way better if it was just a series of shorts, wherein one of them revolved entirely around Forky and it didn't deal with this antique shop and getting back to Bonnie. Just a story of Woody trying to turn Forky around from being trash to a full-on toy.

Ducky and Bunny were funny, but not the standouts, to me. The same went to Duke Caboom, which was good for a joke or two, but a little lacking.

Gabby Gabby was effective as a villain for like two scenes, and the rest felt rushed.

Giggle McDimples was fun, and I loved some of the random extras like the Combat Carls (particularly the one who didn't get the high-fives until the post-credit scene).

Hamm has always been great. He got nothing here. The same for Mr. Potato Head, but that was understandable, as Don Rickles had passed away. Still, it's a shame, as those are great characters who I wouldn't have been tired of seeing more of. The same for Rex and Slinky Dog.

Jessie, I've never been the biggest fan of. Meh.

Buttercup was a standout, and I think it's crazy how many name actors are in this that I didn't even realize, like Bonnie Hunt, Betty White, Bill Hader, Timothy Dalton and so on.

VISUALS (FX, MAKEUP, COSTUMES, SETS): A

They know what they're doing.

MUSIC & SOUND: C

No memorable song, but you can't get more memorable than "You've Got a Friend in Me". Sound was no problem, though, so I'll give this the middle range to balance it out. Nothing was bad.

TONE (ACTION, ROMANCE, COMEDY): B–

ACTION: Good action, but nowhere near as good as the previous movies. Again, a little hollow.

COMEDY: Forky was the best. I laughed at almost every character at least once, and it did its job there, especially with some surprises like the unicorn. However, the bittersweet nature of it all downgrades this to me.

ROMANCE: I do like that Woody and Bo are still a thing, as that was present from the very very beginning of the first movie.

FINAL GRADE: B–

Ultimately, I liked the movie, but I feel like it was unnecessary. Everything was done better in previous movies, and it felt like too many stories to properly serve any of them. Maybe another pass of the script would have made all the difference of going from a "good" movie to a "great" movie like the other three.

It's still good. There are still positives in it, and I still enjoyed it, but if I'm honest, I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping I would.

Welcome to another edition of WEEK IN GEEK here at Fanboys Anonymous—a rundown of some of the events, news and stories that went down over the past few days in the geek culture spectrum.

Here are some of the topics I felt like voicing my opinions about:

Battletoads E3 Trailer

The music is classic. The animation reminds me of Earthworm Jim (not the biggest fan of that, but at least it's going to stand out). That original game was HARD and I wonder what the difficulty for this one will be in comparison.

Beast X-Men Spin-off Leaked Screenplay

I haven't read it (no time), but the X-Men: Fear the Beast script was put out there and supposedly revolves around Beast fighting Wendigo with Mr. Sinister being a manipulator behind the scenes.

You know what? The movie would have sucked, but the idea is pretty damn neat, especially if someone could tweak the concept some more to include Alpha Flight (Sasquatch) and more like that. It could work as a good episode of a new animated series or something.

Hunger Games Prequels Coming Soon

Basically, the studio was like "Crap! We need another hit, but we don't want to risk anything. Let's just do more Hunger Games stuff, cause that worked."

We don't need it.

Shang-Chi Casting Rumors

Supposedly, Ludi Lin (Zack Taylor from the Power Rangers reboot film) could be Shang-Chi, and Donnie Yen could be a mentor of sorts to him.

I'm certainly not knowledgeable about Shang-Chi, but I think Ludi Lin has a lot to offer, and I like the idea of this casting duo.

1985 Horror-Themed Spider-Man Movie Idea

Apparently, director Tobe Hooper pitched an idea for a Spider-Man film (basically in name only) in 1985 that would have seen Peter Parker (as an ID photographer, for some reason) being experimented on by a Doctor Zork, who bombarded him with radiation to turn him into an eight-armed spider creature (kind of like Man-Spider). Peter would be suicidal after turning into this monster, and he would fight the other creations that Doctor Zork made, rather than being their leader.

This is awful in so many ways. It doesn't even seem like it would come off as a good What If story for a one-shot comic, let alone a film, let alone the first movie adaptation of Spider-Man. It's almost like it was pitched by people who have never once heard of Spider-Man and just assumed that the story, from its name, was about a literal spider man. By that rationale, let's do a Batman film where Bruce Wayne is turned into Man-Bat, and an Iron Man film where Tony Stark is converted into solid iron in robot form or something. Yeesh.

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films weren't perfect (although I maintain the best one was the first one, not Spider-Man 2, which I know is an unpopular opinion) but at least they were like 95% representational of the character and its spirit. The same even goes for the Marc Webb ones. This is just an entirely different level of WTF where, somehow, even the James Cameron idea looks better in comparison.

The King's Man

That will be the title of the Kingsman prequel. I like it a lot. It definitely gives off a vibe of being a foundational sort of thing, like how Johnson as a surname could be derived from "John's son" and whatnot. Very cool. Hopefully, this is as good as the first movie and not underwhelming like the second.

Luke Skywalker is a Force Ghost?

Mark Hamill recently spoke at the premiere for Child's Play, saying he gets to come back for Episode 9 as a Force Ghost, and people are acting like that's in the slightest bit a surprise. Of course that's what will happen. We have tons of previous material that point in that direction. If he said he WASN'T going to be a ghost, then that's what would be news.

Josh Gad is Not The Penguin in New Batman Movie

Of course he isn't. Just because he's heavy doesn't mean he should be Penguin. I hate when people do that with fan casting. It's just like when people say the only candidates to play Lex Luthor are people who are already bald, or Mary Jane Watson can only be played by a redhead instead of someone who just dyes her hair red. Think more on it. Josh Gad never would have been a good Oswald Cobblepot.

Batman Receiving Walk of Fame Star

Among the honorees for the 2020 Walk of Fame, Batman, the fictional character, will be receiving a star. How has that not happened yet???

Ever since it was first announced that there would be spin-off television shows on Disney+ that would deal with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I've been trying to think of what this could all be about and where I'd like to see these different shows going.

I had some ideas heading into Avengers: Endgame, but after seeing that film, some of them changed, and now, I'm more convinced than ever that I have a good idea for at least the Falcon and Winter Soldier series, which I wanted to toss out there in case not only am I right about where they're going, but possibly have an even better idea. Plus, I'm interested in knowing what YOU want in these shows and your thoughts on my concept.

Basically, since Sam Wilson as given the shield from Steve Rogers, who is definitely stepping down from the mantle of Captain America, this show has to be about Sam reinforcing how he's earned the right to fill those shoes. He has Steve's blessing, but it isn't quite the same.

To give him that hurdle that he has to cross, he needs someone standing in the way of that, and that person should definitely be John Walker.

Storyline backstory on Walker: He grew up in Custer's Grove, Georgia. In the comics, he idolized his brother, Mike, who was a helicopter pilot who died in the Vietnam War. We have to change that a bit to work with the times, so for this, Mike either needs to be his father to keep the Vietnam thing going on, or Mike needs to have served in Afghanistan or something like that. (It depends on if you want to keep the idea of his father and mother, Caleb and Emily, getting killed by the Watchdogs, who have appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or if you want to just skip over that). The point needs to be that he idolizes a family member who died during combat, and while he wants to live up to that, he's unable to.

Let's incorporate some different elements by having Ethan Thurm be his manager and/or friend, possibly doing the whole Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation angle, blah blah. He goes by the name of Super-Patriot. Or, maybe, that's just his nickname throughout the hero community with him trying to be the next Captain America.

The point we're getting at is that, through the help of "the Power Broker" Curtiss Jackson, he is given powers that allow him to become the government's choice for the next Captain America replacement, wherein he takes the shield and starts working alongside the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. and so on. This could be The Commission of Superhuman Affairs or Freedom Force, if you want to give them either of those names.

He fights whatever throwaway villains you want him to fight. Maybe it's the Serpent Society. Fabian Stankowicz. Skeleton Crew. I would DEFINITELY suggest Dennis Dunphy, aka Demolition Man for this. For that matter, maybe we can even play around with Grand Director William Burnside being in control of this program and nominating Walker for the role, wherein we find out that Burnside is a white supremacist and his racist attitudes are part of why he didn't want Sam Wilson to be a black Captain America.

But Walker is far more brutal than Steve ever was, and it's causing problems that Sam feels responsible to deal with, as he's disparaging the Captain America name. Maybe his parents are killed by the Watchdogs and that's what makes him snap, or maybe he's just a jerk. That's a more specific story element, whereas I'm giving a general outline here. (Side note: Left-Winger and Right-Winger totally have to be brought in here, too).

Basically, Sam struggles with the Walker situation. But what are we doing with Bucky? Well, his primary villain is Flag-Smasher.

Flag-Smasher has been a few people, so let's play around with that and make them two people, or possibly even a group, but primarily two. These Flag-Smashers are Karl Morgenthau and Guy Thierrault. (Note: toss in a Captain Anarchy reference, if you can). They are anti-nationalism and basically want people to dissolve the idea of countries and so on. Essentially, they're terrorists, so they would absolutely hate the idea of another Captain America.

Bucky is involved in this part of the story because we need someone who seems like a parallel to him, too, and these people come off as the type of evil that Winter Soldier was and could have been, had Bucky not been able to break free from him programming.

Maybe, if you're feeling very bold about the future, the Flag-Smashers could kill a young group of superheroes called the Liberteens. If you don't want to kill them off and save them for a future thing, no biggie.

When push comes to shove, John Walker's Captain America isn't good enough to deal with this threat of the Flag-Smashers and has lost control of his psyche, and it's up to Sam and Bucky to not only restore faith in the Captain America name, but to take down the Flag-Smashers, stop their big evil plan of the madbomb (yeah, we're pulling that out) and to overthrow Grand Director Burnside.

And they do. Sam feels ready for the mantle, and he's given full-on clearance from Nick Fury to be the next real Captain America, Bucky feels a little more vindicated in his quest for redemption and is seen as more of a hero in the community, Grand Director Burnside is replaced by Valerie Cooper, who is not a total racist scumbag, and all is well...sort of.

Thunderbolts are definitely coming, with the government wanting their sanctioned Suicide Squad knockoff version of the Avengers. So at the end of this, we get confirmation that Freedom Force or whatever you called it is still in effect, as just because Burnside was a horrible person doesn't mean they don't still have the same goals in mind. Dr. Valerie Cooper is, in part, in control, as well as General Ross and whomever else you want to steer the ship, but we know some of the other members that are in recruitment can be all sorts of different people (Atlas, Fixer, Beetle, Karla Sofen, Songbird, whoever..maybe even the next Black  Widow, Yelena Belova). We know one of the people in the group, though, is Helmut Zemo.

Walker is approached with joining the team. His head is not in the right place to be the Captain America this world needs, but he still wants to do good, he's still a valuable asset with powers, and he's someone they feel they can control if given the proper missions. He's rechristened USAgent and we're off to the races with basically the person who will be the Rick Flag of Marvel's Suicide Squad story, in a sense.