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:

Clerks III Back on Schedule

Yesssssssss!!!!!!!!! Round out the View Askewniverse with the one that started it all (assuming Mallrats 2 isn't happening) by bringing in Randal and Dante and so on the way it should go down. So awesome to hear that this is back in the works.

Birds of Prey Official Trailer #1

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooddddd this looks like shit. I don't like anything about this. Even Harley Quinn seems like they've taken her in the wrong direction and she shouldn't be the focal point and her look is so off and ugh. Screw this "quirky for the sake of quirky, girl power will give us the inability to be criticized even though we have Black Mask without a goddamn black mask" film.

Just look at this image. Tell me if this superhero movie looks like it fits more in the early 2000s X-Men era where studio executives felt like they couldn't actually embrace who these characters are and had to "ground" them into "reality" by making them "dark" and "gritty" or if Warner Bros have learned ANYTHING from the massive success of a series like the MCU, which isn't perfect, but knocks it out of the park 90% of the time. Meanwhile, 90% of the time when a DC film is announced, we have to assume it isn't even happening at all, or if it does, it'll be crap like this.

Terrible.

Disney Will No Longer Run Commercials for Netflix

A lot of buzz is going around about Disney refusing to show ads for Netflix material on properties like ABC, Freeform and so on. To me, this just makes sense from a business perspective. They're the competition when it comes to Disney+ and the streaming platforms. Why would they want to advertise shows that people will want to subscribe to the alternative service to see? That's like USA running commercials for AEW on TNT during the WWE NXT program. Oh wait, they did that? Yeah, they were stupid enough to do that and that might have hurt their ratings. Duh!

The Infinity Saga Box Set is $550

You've got to be kidding me. There's no way in hell that's worth that much. It has 23 movies, sure, and some bonus extra stuff that nobody really needs, but good lord, $600 after taxes? Nope. Nope. Nope. Noooooooooooooope. But I do still want it, even though I'm not going to buy it.

No Time to Die Poster

A generic poster for the next James Bond film, No Time to Die, was released. It's just Daniel Craig in a suit looking off to the side. There's really nothing to it. I hate posters like this that are just an actor. We know he's in it. Sell me on the movie by giving me something other than "Yup, it's a Bond film."

General Swanwick Was Supposed to be Martian Manhunter

Zack Snyder confirmed that in Man of Steel, the character of General Swanwick was supposed to be revealed at some point in Justice League to be Martian Manhunter. I knew it.

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

Failed comedian Arthur Fleck encounters violent thugs while wandering the streets of Gotham City dressed as a clown. Disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow dissent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

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 October 2019?

Joker

Synopsis: An original standalone origin story of the iconic villain not seen before on the big screen, it's a gritty character study of Arthur Fleck, a man disregarded by society, and a broader cautionary tale.

Will I watch? = Yes

Pain and Glory

Synopsis: A film director reflects on the choices he's made in life as past and present come crashing down around him.

Will I watch? = No

War

Synopsis: Two secret agents, a mentor & his protege on opposite ends of the spectrum, lock horns with the security of the nation on the line.

Will I watch? = No

Roger Waters: Us + Them

Synopsis: A look at Roger Waters' 2017-2018 concert tour.

Will I watch? = No


Gemini Man

Synopsis: An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Addams Family

Synopsis: An animated version of Charles Addams' series of cartoons about a peculiar, ghoulish family.

Will I watch? = No

Parasite

Synopsis: All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Will I watch? = No


Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Synopsis: Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.

Will I watch? = No

Zombieland: Double Tap

Synopsis: Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family.

Will I watch? = Yes

Jojo Rabbit

Synopsis: A young boy in Hitler's army finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.

Will I watch? = No

The Lighthouse

Synopsis: The story of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

Will I watch? = No

Greener Grass

Synopsis: Suburban soccer moms find themselves constantly competing against each other in their personal lives as their kids settle their differences on the field.

Will I watch? = No


Black and Blue

Synopsis: 'Black and Blue' is an action thriller about a rookie cop (Naomie Harris) who inadvertently captures the murder of a young drug dealer on her body cam. After realizing that the murder was committed by corrupt cops, she teams up with the one person from her community who is willing to help her (Tyrese Gibson) as she tries to escape both the criminals out for revenge and the police who are desperate to destroy the incriminating footage.

Will I watch? = No

Countdown

Synopsis: When a nurse downloads an app that claims to predict exactly when a person is going to die, it tells her she only has three days to live. With time ticking away and a figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out.

Will I watch? = No

The Last Full Measure

Synopsis: Thirty-four years after his death, Airman William H. Pitsenbarger, Jr. ("Pits") is awarded the nation's highest military honor, for his actions on the battlefield.

Will I watch? = No

The Aeronauts

Synopsis: Pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) and scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) find themselves in an epic fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a hot air balloon.

Will I watch? = No

Frankie

Synopsis: Three generations grappling with a life-changing experience during one day of a vacation in Sintra, Portugal, a historic town known for its dense gardens and fairy-tale villas and palaces.

Will I watch? = No


Which films make the cut? Well, this is a month with not a lot going on. There are only three movies I actually plan on seeing and the other three picks are stretching it.

6. Black and Blue — Countdown sounds more interesting, but I can't find a single trailer for it, so it had to get bumped. Black and Blue feels like someone just wanted to tap into the #BlackLivesMatter vs. #BlueLivesMatter argument and there might not be more substance beyond that. But maybe the performances are good, as the cast seems well-rounded.

5. The Addams Family — This looks awful. I hate the animation and the jokes haven't made me laugh except for the one about the tree. But I liked the two movies as a kid, so it gets a pass, even if I know I'm not actually going to see it.

4. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil — I saw the first. I guess I'd see the second on this weak month.

3. Zombieland: Double Tap — I enjoyed the first one far more than I thought I would, so I'll definitely check this out.

2. Gemini Man — Interesting premise. Fun trailer. Cool song. Good cast. Yup. I'm in.

1. Joker — It's a movie about my favorite villain in all of fiction. Of course I'm seeing this. I feel like it'll either be a masterpiece Elseworlds tale or the biggest masturbatory waste of potential, but so far, it looks beyond interesting, and I'm pumped.

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:

Jeffrey Wright for Commissioner Gordon in The Batman

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm a big fan of Wright and I think he'd be a great actor in a lot of things, but I don't know if that's how I picture Jim Gordon. Of course, the first obvious thing is the race change, which I'm sure is the one and only thing upsetting some people. I've always thought that there's some flexibility with some characters and that I'm open to the idea of changing a race or gender of a character if it can work out, but it seems like there was specifically a play to do that no matter what, with the rumors of the casting decisions all being in that direction. That, to me, is kind of strange, but whatever—if you're just 100% vehemently against even entertaining that idea, I'll never convince you that you should maybe hear out the concept, and if you're 100% saying it has to be done, I'll never be able to convince you that maybe going in that direction "just to be different" might not be the best "change for the sake of change" argument.

More so, I don't think Wright tends to play as over the top as I think of Gordon. That's what throws me off about this. When I think Gordon, I think that he can't be as gruff and low-energy as Batman is when they're talking and that he needs to be a little more lively, and I haven't seen that from Wright. He tends to speak quietly and come off cool, and Gordon isn't "cool" to me. That's what is throwing me off, more so than the race change that will be the bigger part of this discussion for most people. But I do like Wright and for now, I have to just see how they go. This could be the best thing in the movie, and I do think it's a step up from Mahershala Ali, who I just could not see in that role the more I thought about it.

Jonah Hill in The Batman

Rumor has it he might be The Riddler? Pft...come on. He's not The Riddler. In no way do I look at Jonah Hill and think "Yup, Edward Nygma." That's just making me nervous now about everything. I'm starting to get the feeling the casting director or Matt Reeves himself has some wacky ideas that are risks similar to Jesse Eisenberg for Lex Luthor, and we all see how that worked out poorly.

George Lucas Hates The Force Awakens

In Bob Iger's new book, he talked about how George Lucas thought they would use his outline for the next films and was really hurt that they decided not to. Then, he criticized The Force Awakens, saying that there wasn't anything different in the movie from what he had done before.

He's right.

For all the gruff Lucas gets when it comes to some of the mistakes from the six films he did, like how it's weird that they did the Luke and Leia kiss only to reveal they're brother and sister, or how stupid Jar Jar Binks is, or the bad acting in the prequels, there are some seriously amazing things about those movies and the overall story is wonderful, with some big technological advancements and a different feel to the eras. None of that happened with this new group, at all. They've proven themselves to be a cover band who ruins the lyrics and melody of what they're trying to copy and want to write off the predecessors as not being as good as themselves while being unable to do anything on their own without that foundation.

No More Ghost Rider TV Series

It was previously reported that Ghost Rider would be getting a TV show spin-off. Now, that's no longer going forward, due to so-called creative differences of some kind that we naturally don't know the specifics behind.

Good. I don't think this could sustain itself as a television series. The budget would be crazy or the CGI would be awful, and there are only so many stories you can tell that don't run the concept into the ground. I'd rather see a Ghost Rider film in the MCU, or, better yet, a team-up movie of darker characters by bringing Blade, Ghost Rider and others into one film than doing separate things.

Spider-Man Staying in the MCU!!!

YESSSSS! I have a handful of major gripes with the way these two movies have happened (namely the way they've wasted characters just for the sake of throwing their name out there, like how MJ is not at all MJ and I hate Zendaya's snarky emo girl character, or how it's a shame we don't have a single reference to Uncle Ben, etc) but there was no way I wanted to see Tom Holland's Spider-Man leave the MCU.

I wish Disney just bought out all the rights to the whole network of characters, as I still think Sony's films are going to be awful and I wish they could do things like have Beetle pop up in Thunderbolts for the MCU and such, but hey, I'll take what I can get for now. Very cool!

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

Stay tuned for updates on the list of the winners and results from 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)

WINNER: Fleabag (Amazon)

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)

WINNER: Game of Thrones (HBO)

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)

WINNER: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

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)

WINNER: Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Limited Series

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

WINNER: Chernobyl (HBO)

Outstanding Television Movie

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

WINNER: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix)

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)

WINNER: RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1)


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)

WINNER: Bill Hader as Barry Berkman / Barry Block on Barry (HBO)

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)

WINNER: 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)

WINNER: Billy Porter as Pray Tell on Pose (FX)

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)

WINNER: Jodie Comer as Oksana Astankova / Villanelle on Killing Eve (BBC America)

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)

WINNER: Jharrel Jerome as Korey Wise in When They See Us (Netflix)

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)

WINNER: 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)

WINNER: Tony Shalhoub as Abe Weissman in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

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)

WINNER: Alex Borstein as Susie Myerson in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

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)

WINNER: Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones (HBO)

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)

WINNER: Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore in Ozark (Netflix)

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)

WINNER: Ben Whishaw as Norman Josiffe / Norman Scott in A Very English Scandal (Amazon)

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)

WINNER: Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee Blanchard on The Act (Hulu)


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)

WINNER: Fleabag (Episode: "Episode 1"), directed by Harry Bradbeer (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)

WINNER: Ozark (Episode: "Reparations"), directed by Jason Bateman (Netflix)

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)

WINNER: Springsteen On Broadway, directed by Thom Zimny (Netflix)

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)

WINNER: Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Adam Sandler"), directed by Don Roy King (NBC)

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)

WINNER: Chernobyl, directed by Johan Renck (HBO)


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)

WINNER: Fleabag (Episode: "Episode 1"), written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Amazon)

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)

WINNER: 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)

WINNER: Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, written by Hannah Gadsby (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)

WINNER: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

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)

WINNER: Chernobyl, written by Craig Mazin (HBO)

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:

Tony Stark Will Return (Kind of) in Black Widow

It was revealed in a somewhat casual manner that Robert Downey Jr would be reprising the role of Tony Stark for Black Widow in what we can assume will be a cameo. This is because the movie is set after Civil War and before Infinity War, so he would naturally be alive.

Very cool. I hate the idea that they did this movie now, rather than before Infinity War came out, but if they're going to do it, they at least needed to do it right and not pretend like it's a post-Endgame type scenario, and this will go a long way in reminding people that it's of a different time frame.

Jurassic World: Battle at Big Rock

Very interesting that they decided to do this short. People don't do shorts. Maybe they're looking for an Oscar to drive up interest before the third film? Maybe they just really, really liked this idea and figured "screw it, let's do a short instead of trying to make a whole movie out of this" or something?

Realistically, this couldn't have been a long movie unless they padded out the whole idea of a new family and all, which would have been a little too much like Jurassic World. It isn't worth all that just to set up and pay off a little girl using a crossbow.

But I did like the footage in the credits of the dinosaurs showing up in regular spots throughout the world. Very cool way to ease into the next movie.

Peacock

NBC will (of course) have its own streaming service, which will be named Peacock. They plan on doing reboots of a bunch of shows like Saved By the Bell and The Office, because these past few years have shown that executives have no ideas other than to redo things that were done before.

They also want to rip off the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by trying to tie different TV shows together to make an "NBC Comedy Universe"...which can't possibly work out well. Even though plenty of shows used to be connected by backdoor pilots and everything, and that's worked a lot in the past, that was a different structure than what the MCU brings to the table. They can't just have Brooklyn Nine-Nine cross over with A.P. Bio and say "that'll work, because Captain America and Iron Man did."

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 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 the film Ad Astra.

Ad Astra—directed by James Gray; written by James Gray and Ethan Gross; starring Brad Pitt (Roy McBride), Liv Tyler (Eve McBride), Ruth Negga (Helen Lantos), Tommy Lee Jones (Clifford McBride), Anne McDaniels (Shunga Hologram) and Donald Sutherland (Colonel Pruitt).

STORY: B+

This was simple, yet effective—a three-pronged story of someone dealing with the repressed feelings of losing his father, along with the search for life to justify our existence and the secrecy that goes along with how the government would handle these major issues.

As it isn't super complicated, this isn't something that I feel needs to be broken down and studied by every angle. If you like the sound of those themes, then you get what you're looking for.

CHARACTERS: C–

There really only is one character, who is essentially devoid of emotion. It's hard to really break down the cast that are there for just a handful of scenes. I did like the transition of Roy from entirely mute to someone who can feel again, but that isn't something I can give a B or anything to.

TONE / ATMOSPHERE: A–

ACTION: The lunar chase and other moments are tense (and I'm not a big fan of tension movies). This isn't an "action film" selling itself like a new Fast and Furious film, so this suffices.

COMEDY: There aren't really any jokes here, but it's not a comedy, so...

ROMANCE: For the most part, the "romance" of the film is an underlying soft one and not a focal point the way it normally would be in some other dramas. I think it's still very effective.

Basically, this is a drama that has a bit of mystery and philosophy intertwined, which is what I was looking for, based on the trailers.


ACTING: B–

I bought it. Everyone felt like real people. There are no Oscar-guaranteed performances or anything, but rock solid performances to go around.

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

Wonderful scenery that showed the vast emptiness of space and really made me uncomfortable, yet at the same time, in awe of its beauty. Equal to that, every set felt real and at no point were they on a different ship or in a room that didn't seem logical and functional.

AUDIO (MUSIC / SOUND): A–

Sound design in a space movie is all about using silence. They pulled it off super well.


MARKETING / TRAILERS / POLITICS / SERIES DIRECTION / ETC:

Bonus points for the overall message. We may be alone in the universe (we may not, as only part of it was explored) but even if that's the case, it's not as if love and the human condition isn't already so wonderful that it can't be celebrated. There's something to be said about missing out on what's right in front of you while searching for more.


GRADE: B (Pass)

This is not at all the type of movie I will be begging to sit down and watch again, but that's because of how heavy it is. It's a one-time think piece that I'm very glad to have seen and would recommend to others, but only when they're in the mood for some existential exploration. I can't imagine someone trying to decide on a Saturday night whether they want to pop on an Avengers film, a Judd Apatow movie or Ad Astra, as it's an entirely different animal. But it was certainly good and if you're on the fence about it, check it out!

Welcome to another edition of Predicting the Plot wherein I try my best to guess how an upcoming movie is going to play out from start to finish with as many details as I can possibly give, based entirely on the previews and lead-up material I've seen.

I might be dead wrong. I may get some things right. In any way, I encourage you to give your predictions just the same in the comments below.

For this edition, I'll be tackling my fan theory of what Todd Phillips is bringing us with the upcoming movie Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix as the iconic Clown Prince of Crime...maybe.

It's important to note that I haven't seen The King of Comedy, which I feel this will take some inspiration from. I have seen Taxi Driver, though, many many moons ago.

So let's start with the synopsis we've been given:

Failed comedian Arthur Fleck encounters violent thugs while wandering the streets of Gotham City dressed as a clown. Disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow dissent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

The movie starts with Arthur as a boy. His mom Penny (Frances Conroy) and dad are weird, at best. They could be the argumentative type and his dad could be abusive. Or, perhaps they even skip that and show that he and his mom are alone because his dad left them. Remember this idea and keep in mind the concept of a stepfather.

Penny has ticks or is psychotic or schizophrenic or something that we can attribute to her genetics passing on a predisposition to Arthur that he's going to have to grow up with, and we can already tell that as a boy, he has his social problems and such. This could be when he first manifests his Pseudobulbar affect (ie, how he laughs uncontrollably at random times when stressed).

Arthur is fixated on comedians. That calms him down. One of them is his idol, Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro).

Arthur wants to be a stand-up comic, but he sucks at it. He tries to go on stage, but gets heckled and possibly even abused in some fashion. We know at some point, he's dressed as a clown, spinning a sign and gets picked on and beaten up, so this seems to be a run of the mill type thing. He's a loser, and that's going to weigh on him.

Over the years, Penny got so bad that she had to be transferred to Arkham Asylum, and/or Arthur has to receive check-ups. I don't see a doctor on the cast list, so I don't think Arthur is seeing a physician for a bunch of times in the movie, but we do see "Arkham State Hospital Clerk" played by Brian Tyree Henry. He's a name, so that must mean he's in at least a handful of scenes and is probably the go-to person to talk to when Arthur visits his mom.

Somewhere along the way, Arthur starts flirting with Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz) even if she's not flirting back. Whether it's mutual and he screws it up or it's one-sided and she eventually has to tell him she's not interested, the point is that his love life goals will be shattered toward the breaking point.

Meanwhile, Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen)—who, in this version, instead of being a humanitarian and younger, is an older Donald Trump type playboy asshole politician—is running for office and is all the talk. Arthur gets the idea in his mind that Wayne is his father. He even meets up with Young Bruce Wayne (Dante Pereira-Olson) and that's where we have that scene of the two at the gate of Wayne Manor. Arthur thinks Bruce is his younger brother.

He isn't. Thomas Wayne isn't his father. His mother just made that up to either give him a false sense of value, or she's so deluded that she believed it herself, but it isn't true. None of this is true. Arthur is just a failure and a mistake.

So he snaps. He becomes The Joker and gets on television and kills everyone. This incites revolution and everyone maybe even kills Thomas Wayne, if Arthur hasn't already done that. The end.

If there's anything after that, if we're lucky, it would be really cool for them to show someone in a Batman costume and Joker being arrested or something. Then, there's some sort of tease that none of this was real and he tosses out the line about how if he'd like to have a past, he'd like for it to be multiple choice, and the whole thing is basically bullshit because The Joker doesn't have an origin story and it wouldn't make any sense for him to be 30+ years older than Batman, nor for Bruce to have a father who is 63 around the time Thomas and Martha are killed as they're normally around 30-40 range...50 max.

Either the whole movie is meaningless, or it ends with him becoming The Joker in a metaphorical sense and not obviously actually the character that fights Batman, as there isn't a Batman, and it's just a film about the interesting villain without having to frame it in the context of what makes Joker who he is, similar to how if someone wrote a movie about Edward Nygma being into riddles and becoming a criminal that the GCPD try to stop, but can't, and there's no Batman. Or, if there was a movie about Doomsday destroying the world without a Superman (ie, any monster movie that has ever existed that ends in gloom).

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:

Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop?

Rumor has it the new Hawkeye will be played by Hailee Steinfeld. I'm not really familiar with the Kate Bishop character to say anything about the personality or anything like that, but in theory, this seems like a good pick. Steinfeld is a talented actress, popular enough to bring attention to the role, and young enough to be worth investing in.

Face/Off Reboot

For some reason, they think it's a good idea to reboot Face/Off. I hate producers who get paid to say such simplistic ideas and not actually use their brains. Just because a movie has value to it doesn't mean you can copy and paste and make a billion dollars!

Face/Off is a cult classic because it's ridiculous. It can't work with two random other people than Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. It can't work in 2019. All this is going to be is like the Total Recall reboot, where nobody enjoys it and it doesn't work out well.

Young Avengers / Champions Coming to Disney+

Kate Bishop. Stature. Ms. Marvel. Yup, they're definitely gearing up for Young Avengers, and I'm curious who else they would put in the mix. They can't use Spider-Man. Maybe Shuri? Amadeus Cho? Could they pull something weird out of WandaVision by having Wiccan, Speed and Viv? Will what's his face from Iron Man 3 become Iron Lad or will they have Ironheart come into play here? Patriot could be someone who is inspired by Falcon/Cap. Hulkling probably wouldn't work.

Hayley Atwell Will Be Female Lead in Mission: Impossible 7 and 8

Rebecca Ferguson will be returning, I'm sure, so now I'm left to assume Atwell is actually playing the villain of the next two movies. That could be neat to see her play opposite of how we've seen her as Peggy Carter.

Movie Pass

After dying what seems to be nine different deaths or more, it seems as though Movie Pass is finally done. CEO Mitch Lowe gave what was essentially the "we'd like to continue, but we can't, so don't count us out entirely if you want to be part of this in the future, but yeah, we're suspending everything and going under" speech.

I guess the Director of Barketing didn't work out. Bad dog.

As requested through our Patreon "Pick Your Poison" tier, Fanboys Anonymous is providing you with another edition of the FanTracks podcast, this time for Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

For copyright reasons, we cannot provide the movie itself, but after a short introduction, you will be told when to sync your copy of the film so you can following along with us and listen to our thoughts on the movie as we crack some jokes, expose plot holes, and discuss anything else that comes to our minds for commentary.

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 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:

Bad Boys for Life Trailer

This looks to be pretty much exactly what the other movies are, which is a good thing. That's what fans of the previous two films want to see, as opposed to something super different.

I'll probably check it out. Even though I've never been amazed by the previous ones, they were fine.

It Chapter Two Review

I'm not a big horror person, as I've mentioned many times in the past, but this story works well because it's more of a coming of age tale disguised as a horror flick, in a way. I enjoyed the 1990 cheesy TV version enough to want to see this remake and liked that, too, so I knew I would see this. Thankfully, it kept up its end of the bargain. I got out of it exactly what I was hoping to get and wasn't underwhelmed.

Awesome casting all around. Each actor really felt like the older version of the kids we had seen a few years back.

Possible Jim Gordons

The rumor mill says there are a few people who have met with Matt Reeves for the part of Commissioner Gordon. Mahershala Ali, Giancarlo Esposito and Jamie Foxx are the group. All three could play the role, but I think Ali has enough on his plate with Blade, Esposito seems a little too villainous for my tastes and Foxx I'm just not feeling as having the ability to tone down his coolness factor. Gordon shouldn't be the cool guy.

Slow News Week

Is it just me, or was nothing really going on this week, again? At least, there wasn't much I felt interested in talking about that I came across, that's for sure.

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 September 2019?

It Chapter Two (2019)

Synopsis: Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back.

Will I watch? = Yes

Rapid Response (2019)

Synopsis: In 1966 Medical student and racing fan Stephen Olvey gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is asked to volunteer at the Indianapolis 500 on their medical team. What started as fun insider view of a sport he loved quickly devolves before his eyes as he sees the level of medical support given to the drivers, whom he has befriended, is terrifyingly non-existent. After feeling helpless at the scene of what turns out to be a fatal accident. Dr. Olvey sets off on a mission to build a team to apply science to transform motorsports from the most fatal form of sport to one of the safest. Over the next 30 years they succeed and the science that they develop influences modern trauma medicine and the passenger cars we drive today. This is the story of the most fatal era in Motorsports and the Indy 500 doctors who pioneered safety and helped the drivers to cheat death.

Will I watch? = No

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (2019)

Synopsis: With one of the most memorably stunning voices that has ever hit the airwaves, Linda Ronstadt burst onto the 1960s folk rock music scene in her early twenties.

Will I watch? = No

Blink of an Eye (2019)

Synopsis: An inside look at 2001's Daytona 500 featuring Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Will I watch? = No

Night Hunter (2018)

Synopsis: A weathered Lieutenant, his police force, and a local vigilante are all caught up in a dangerous scheme involving a recently arrested, troubled man who's linked to years of female abductions and murders.

Will I watch? = No


The Goldfinch (2019)

Synopsis: A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy Upper East Side family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Will I watch? = No

Hustlers (2019)

Synopsis: Inspired by the viral New York Magazine article, Hustlers follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.

Will I watch? = No

Monos (2019)

Synopsis: On a faraway mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.

Will I watch? = No

Depraved (2019)

Synopsis: A disillusioned field surgeon suffering from PTSD makes a man out of body parts and brings him to life in a Brooklyn loft.

Will I watch? = No

The Sound of Silence (2019)

Synopsis: A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.

Will I watch? = No

Liam: As It Was (2019)

Synopsis: Documentary following musician Liam Gallagher, as he attempts to make a solo comeback.

Will I watch? = No


Downton Abbey (2019)

Synopsis: The continuing story of the Crawley family, wealthy owners of a large estate in the English countryside in the early 20th century.

Will I watch? = No

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

Synopsis: Rambo must confront his past and unearth his ruthless combat skills to exact revenge in a final mission.

Will I watch? = No

Ad Astra (2019)

Synopsis: An astronaut travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. He uncovers secrets which challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.

Will I watch? = Yes

3 from Hell (2019)

Synopsis: Sequel to The Devil's Rejects.

Will I watch? = No

Where's My Roy Cohn? (2019)

Synopsis: Roy Cohn personified the dark arts of American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues - from Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump. This thriller-like exposé connects the dots, revealing how a deeply troubled master manipulator shaped our current American nightmare.

Will I watch? = No

Diego Maradona (2019)

Synopsis: Constructed from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage, this documentary centers on the career of celebrated football player Diego Armando Maradona, who played for S.S.C. Napoli in the 1980s.

Will I watch? = No

Midnight Traveler (2019)

Synopsis: When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili's head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.

Will I watch? = No

Britt-Marie Was Here (2019)

Synopsis: Britt-Marie, 63 years old, has just left a 40 year old marriage and her long life as a house wife. Being told she is a nagging passive agressive aunt, the new, only job, in small town Borg will be quite challinging. Small town of Borg has no pride left exept the young soccer team, and Britt-Maries new job is to coach them. This is the start of a journery filled with struggles, challenges but also warmth and love.

Will I watch? = No

Promare (2019)

Synopsis: A futuristic firefighting mecha service is created to protect the world.

Will I watch? = No


Abominable (2019)

Synopsis: A magical Yeti must return to his family.

Will I watch? = Maybe

21 Bridges (2019)

Synopsis: A disgraced detective in the NYPD is given a shot at redemption.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Hunt

Synopsis: Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are, or how they got there. They don't know they've been chosen - for a very specific purpose - The Hunt.

Will I watch? = No

Judy (2019)

Synopsis: Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.

Will I watch? = No

First Love (2019)

Synopsis: A young boxer and a call girl get caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo.

Will I watch? = No


Which films make the cut?

6. The Goldfinch — This or Rambo for the last spot, and since I haven't seen the other Rambo movies, I'll just toss this out there, but I'm not actually going to see it.

5. The Hunt — Zero interest in seeing this, but it's a weak month, and I'd rather watch something that the government feels is bad than to watch just some movie about Judy Garland or whatever.

4. Abominable — It might be cute. What's up with all these yeti movies this year, though? This is the third. It's like the only two ideas Hollywood had heading into 2019 were "yeti" and "dog movie" since a new one comes out every other month.

3. 21 Bridges — This legitimately looks good.

2. Ad Astra — This legitimately looks good, too.

1. It: Chapter Two — I saw the Tim Curry edition and the first part of this reboot. Of course I'll see this.

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:

Lady and the Tramp Trailer

I was never the biggest fan of this, but this looks fine. Some people seem to be making a fuss over it. I don't see the big deal.

The Mandalorian Trailer

Man, I would be so much more into this if they hadn't fucked up everything with the series in the past bunch of years.

D23 MCU News

Ms. Marvel TV Series for Disney+ = Not a fan of the character, but also not NOT a fan. I just have no connection to her. I've never seen her in anything and I'm worried she's more of a diversity gimmick than anything with actual substance. If people can sell me on the show without mentioning that she's a Muslim girl, that will be the difference maker. If that's the only selling point, then this is doomed to be lousy.

Moon Knight TV Series for Disney+ = Is this what Keanu Reeves has been in talks for? That is crazy if that's the thing. I'm interested in the character, but admittedly have only a cursory knowledge about Moon Knight and can't point to any specific story arcs I'd like to see.

She Hulk TV Series for Disney+ = Interesting way to get around Hulk with the rights issues. When it comes to Jennifer Walters, I'm not a big fan. I think that character is very much a product of "idk, let's do that person, but make them (a man/woman/child) instead!" syndrome. I'll watch the series, for sure, but this does nothing for me.

Wyatt Russell is John Walker = Not who I would have cast for the part, but he's been good in other things, so sure, I'll go with it.

Kit Harington is Black Knight = I know literally nothing about Black Knight and I've never seen a single episode of Game of Thrones, so I'm at a loss here.

Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo Returning to WandaVision = Uh...I'm starting to get the idea that I'm not going to like this show, because it's going to be "weird for the sake of weird"....

Black Panther II = Kind of bland to just call it "2", but I'm so glad this is official. Hopefully, it's as great as the first one. I love the idea of Namor or Doctor Doom being involved, but none of that is anything but fan fiction scuttlebutt, so we'll see what it actually ends up being.

Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

I've never heard of this in my life. Maybe I'll check out the animated series, but it's not meant for me, I'm sure, so I'll try to keep that in mind, too.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker D23 Special Look

All sizzle. No steak. Don't remind me of the better movies and try to pass off this new set as being on par.

I've learned my lesson from the past about a big buzz moment leading to not much. Rey with a red lightsaber and all is getting everyone yapping about how she's turned heel, and I have ZERO faith that's the case. You're not fooling me, unless it's in how bad The Last Jedi would turn out to be, which is still surprising to me.

Mortal Kombat Casting

Chin Han for Shang Tsung and Hiroyuki Sanada for Scorpion. Nice. I can definitely see them both pulling off those characters.

Jessica McNamee for Sonya is a total unknown for me, as is Josh Lawson for Kano.

Lewis Tan's character hasn't been announced yet. Maybe he's Kung Lao? A younger Raiden?

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:

Sony and Disney No Longer Co-Producing Spider-Man Movies

So Disney wants a better deal and Sony says no, and now, Sony is going to try to make their own Spider-Man movies.

AWFUL. RIDICULOUS. TERRIBLE. Nothing at all good can come out of this.

This means the MCU is going to suffer from not having Spider-Man in the mix, along with his characters more available elsewhere, and the creative direction that the Spider-Man films have received with help from people who know what they're doing will go away.

I've remained firm that the worst aspects of these two Tom Holland films have been ideas I'm pretty sure are implemented from Sony, not Marvel, and with the way the past movies have gone and their atrocious ideas of spin-offs and everything, I'm SO not into this idea.

This is absolutely terrible and when the next movie ends up being a financial success based on the previous two films, but actually is panned by critics, then Sony will realize FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME that they don't know what the hell they're doing.

I'm not in any way a fan of this.

Bond 25 = No Time to Die

I don't remember offhand if this is one of the titles that they had on the backburner like Risico or The Hildebrand Rarity, but I like it nevertheless. I've always been fond of the more flowery soap opera type Bond titles like Tomorrow Never Dies, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia with Love and The World is Not Enough. Thumbs up.

See, this is a good move from Sony...unlike this Spider-Man travesty.

The Matrix 4

Technically, isn't it kind of The Matrix 5 because of the animated film? Anyway, this movie happening strikes me as another example of people saying they can't figure out an original idea, so they just want to capitalize on nostalgia.

But hey, maybe they do have a good idea. I don't know how they can do another film with all the dead characters and all, though.

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:

Amanda Seyfried Turned Down Role of Gamora for Guardians of the Galaxy

Hm. I think she would have probably played the part fine, because she's a solid actress, but there's something to Zoe Saldana that I really like as Gamora, and I don't think Seyfried would have been better.

Loot Crate Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Obviously, I don't know the ins and outs of this whole thing, nor am I a business major, so I can't speak on any specifics. But what I will say is that I feel like everyone I know stopped caring about things like Loot Crate over two years ago, and it seems as though that's when the financial problems started for them.

It's a combination of the high price and the high risk of getting things you don't actually like, which, after a while, makes it hard to justify the cost. If you've paid for 5 Loot Crate boxes in a row and you're not a fan of getting socks or a weird bumper sticker or something, are you going to pay a bunch of money the 6th month?

CBS Corp to Merge with Viacom

ViacomCBS (took you a long time to think of that one, didn't it?) TOTALLY is doing this to set up a more in-depth streaming service than just CBS All Access. This is the next step in the next era of each mega corporation having its own cable network system, essentially, with different "channels" like how Disney will have Hulu and ESPN.

Mark my words, once this is done and the proper time has passed for them to hammer out the details, you'll hear about some Viacom Go or something.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Series Confirmed

Deadline has confirmed that Ewan McGregor has signed on to do a Disney+ series about Kenobi. I really, really hope this matches its potential. McGregor was amazing and arguably the best part of the prequels, and Kenobi is a fascinating character that could have a fantastic story to tell between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

Don't botch this like you've botched everything else with Star Wars...

Ludi Lin May Be Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat

Awesome. I like Ludi Lin and I feel like he has a lot to offer beyond even roles like this, but since he's more than capable of handling the physical aspect of this and looks the part, I see no reason why he wouldn't be perfect for the part.

Krypton Cancelled and Lobo Shelved

Saw that one coming from the description of the show before it even went into production, and once I saw the previews, I knew it wouldn't be good enough to last. I never bothered watching a single episode, because it just reeked of that half-assed attempt that we see from these television shows all the time. Gotham. Pennyworth. They're all just not what they could be.

And they wanted to do a Lobo spin-off with this? With that version of Lobo that I saw from the commercials? YIKES. That was AWFUL.

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:

Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill to Play "Future Bruce Wayne / Joker" in Crisis on Infinite Earths

VERY cool. I haven't been interested in watching any of the shows and cut Flash off mid-way through the last season, but I'll watch the Crisis episodes, if not just for this. As far as I'm concerned, Conroy's voice is how I picture Batman, so this is neat to see him finally get to play a live action version of the character.

And Mark Hamill finally getting to play a live action version of The Joker? SIGN. ME. UP.

"Mostly New" Female Superhero Coming to ABC

Marvel is making a show for ABC that will feature a "mostly new" female lead. Uh....what does that mean? Either it's a new character or it isn't. Does this mean they're taking a character and IP name and then redoing everything with it to the point where it basically isn't the character at all, like having a She-Hulk thing where she's not Jennifer Walters, isn't green or strong, etc?

I keep hearing all this stuff about Ms. Marvel, and I wonder if maybe that's what this is about. Maybe they consider her "mostly new" because she's not had 40 years of being in the comics with this current version?

In any fashion, I don't have a lot of faith in this. It's ABC. The television side of Marvel has been problematic on all fronts, including even the Netflix shows, which were arguably the best. This is the same group of people who were involved in Marvel's Most Wanted, couldn't get Damage Control off the ground, Inhumans was a wreck, Agent Carter wasn't great, AOS has its problems, etc.

New Garfield / U.S. Acres Series in the Works

I loved that cartoon as a kid. Very cool that there might be some sort of spiritual successor of that series coming for today's kids. Here's hoping it's written as well and isn't some obnoxious thing wrapped in a name that people would know.

Bundle Pricing for Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu

$12.99 per month. Now that's a smart deal. All the more reason and proof that Disney is as big as it is because they're making smart decisions, rather than overpricing themselves out of the market.

This is how you get people to drop other services and sign up for your product to the point where they become used to the idea of spending that money, and not signing up for the Apple streaming service or other competitors.

Home Alone, Cheaper by the Dozen, Night at the Museum and Diary of a Wimpy Kid Reboots Coming

Damn it, Disney. I JUST called you smart in the previous paragraph. Why are you trying to reboot Home Alone when you know every film but the first two didn't work? I LOVE the first two. I watch them every Christmas. The only way you'll get people interested is if you have Culkin be the father of the kid, and even then, people will call it a lame cash grab. Why are you doing another Night at the Museum, which seems like it's already done what it can say? I wasn't the absolute biggest fan of those movies, but they were good enough that they stood on their own, and if you don't do a sequel, but a reboot, it will be another pointless thing that people will scoff at.

The other two, I haven't seen, but I have to imagine they're just as lame of an idea to try to reboot, rather than do a follow-up or just something brand new. What the hell? Stop being lazy.

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines Trailer

This just comes off as the Gal Gadot movie redone with a few extra villains tossed in for another action sequence or two. I'm not digging it from the trailer, but I'll check it out, per usual.

Moira MacTaggert is a Mutant

Now, it's been revealed in the comics that Moira has been a mutant all along, with the ability to reincarnate herself in utero after her death and retain her memories.

I like the concept, but I don't think Moira was the right choice for this. I don't necessarily know offhand who I would have chosen instead, as that would take time to look into the catalog of characters, but I always liked the idea of Moira being a non-mutant representative in the story.

Neat concept, though.