Fanboys Anonymous

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

Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future.

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:

Rami Malek's Character in No Time to Die

The next James Bond villain has been named and he will be called Safin. So how is that pronounced? SAY-fin? Sah-FIN? SA-fin like satin? Soften?

Original Deadpool 2 Plans from Tim Miller

Vanessa would have become Copycat, Juggernaut would have been The Thing and Miller really wanted a 6 ft 7 inch tall actor to be Cable.

I'm curious about the Copycat stuff and how that would have worked out. Swapping Juggernaut for The Thing is a downgrade, to me. I've never been a big fan of The Thing. As far as Cable, I think Josh Brolin did a good enough job, but he isn't irreplaceable and they could have found someone taller to do it without it being a problem.

Lucifer Final Season to be Split

Apparently, the next and final season of Lucifer will be split between two sections with 8 episodes, then a break, then another 8.

I like this. It's almost like getting two seasons without them having to try to stretch one specific story arc into 16 episodes. They can cover a lot of ground and not overload everyone. Good call!

Jumanji: The Next Level Final Trailer

Admittedly, this one looked less interesting than the original.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Sequel Announced for 2022

Woo. What else to say? Curious what it'll be about.

Ant-Man 3 for 2022

Woo. What else to say? I'm curious what they call it. Maybe "Ant-Men and the Wasps" with both Hank and Janet in the mix? What about Stature? I keep thinking they need to do Black Ant and/or Slaying Mantis as villains, most likely along with some other people. The more people on the team, the more villains you need.

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 November 2019?

Terminator: Dark Fate

Synopsis: Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Irishman

Synopsis: A mob hitman recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.

Will I watch? = Yes

Harriet

Synopsis: The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

Will I watch? = No

Motherless Brooklyn

Synopsis: In 1950s New York, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend.

Will I watch? = No

Arctic Dogs

Synopsis: An Arctic fox works in the mailroom of a package delivery service, but wants to be doing the deliveries.

Will I watch? = No

Inside Game

Synopsis: In 2007, when NBA referee Tim Donaghy (Eric Mabius) got caught betting on games he worked, he said two men associated with the Gambino crime family - a bookie named Baba Battista (Will Sasso) and a drug dealer named Tommy Martino (Scott Wolf) - threatened to kill his family if he didn't give them gambling picks. That's what Donaghy told the FBI, that's what he told 60 Minutes, and that's what he testified in court. But that's not what really happened. That's not even close. INSIDE GAME is the untold true story of one of the biggest scandals in sports history.

Will I watch? = No

The Portal

Synopsis: It follows six people (and a robot) who transform their lives using stillness and mindfulness, providing inspiration as we embark on the next phase of evolution.

Will I watch? = No


Doctor Sleep

Synopsis: Years following the events of "The Shining," a now-adult Dan Torrance must protect a young girl with similar powers from a cult known as The True Knot, who prey on children with powers to remain immortal.

Will I watch? = Yes

Last Christmas

Synopsis: Kate is a young woman subscribed to bad decisions. Her last date with disaster? That of having accepted to work as Santa's elf for a department store. However, she meets Tom there. Her life takes a new turn. For Kate, it seems too good to be true.

Will I watch? = No

Midway

Synopsis: The story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.

Will I watch? = No

Honey Boy

Synopsis: A young actor's stormy childhood and early adult years as he struggles to reconcile with his father and deal with his mental health.

Will I watch? = No

The Kingmaker

Synopsis: Documentary centering on the controversial political career of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines whose behind-the-scenes influence of her husband Ferdinand's presidency rocketed her to the global political stage.

Will I watch? = No

Playing with Fire

Synopsis: A crew of rugged firefighters meet their match when attempting to rescue three rambunctious kids.

Will I watch? = No

Mr. Toilet: The World's #2 Man

Synopsis: Jack Sim, aka "Mr. Toilet," is a crusader for global sanitation. Born in the Singapore slums, Sim knows firsthand the agonies of not having a proper loo. Now he's dedicating his life to a crisis no one dares talk about.

Will I watch? = No

Better Days

Synopsis: A bullied teenage girl forms an unlikely friendship with a mysterious young man who protects her from her assailants, all while she copes with the pressures of her final examinations.

Will I watch? = No


Charlie's Angels

Synopsis: When a young systems engineer blows the whistle on a dangerous technology, Charlie's Angels are called into action, putting their lives on the line to protect us all.

Will I watch? = Maybe...probably not

Ford v Ferrari

Synopsis: American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

Will I watch? = Maybe...probably not

The Good Liar

Synopsis: Consummate con man Roy Courtnay has set his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Waves

Synopsis: Traces the journey of a suburban family - led by a well-intentioned but domineering father - as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.

Will I watch? = No

Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer

Synopsis: 'Scandalous' is the sensational true story of The National Enquirer, the infamous tabloid with a prescient grasp of its readers' darkest curiosities.

Will I watch? = No

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi

Synopsis: A tale of women's empowerment, The Warrior Queen of Jhansi tells the true story of Lakshmibai, the historic Queen of Jhansi who fiercely led her army against the British East India Company in the infamous mutiny of 1857.

Will I watch? = No

Mickey and the Bear

Synopsis: Faced with the responsibility to take care of her addict, veteran father, headstrong teen Mickey Peck keeps her household afloat.

Will I watch? = No


Frozen II

Synopsis: Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest of an enchanted land. They set out to find the origin of Elsa's powers in order to save their kingdom.

Will I watch? = Maybe

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Synopsis: Based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.

Will I watch? = Yes

21 Bridges

Synopsis: An embattled NYPD detective is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy.

Will I watch? = Yes

Dark Waters

Synopsis: A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.

Will I watch? = No

Citizen K

Synopsis: The strange case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, who rocketed to prosperity and prominence in the 1990s, served a decade in prison, and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement.

Will I watch? = No

Hala

Synopsis: Muslim teenager Hala copes with the unraveling of her family as she comes into her own.

Will I watch? = No

Shooting the Mafia

Synopsis: Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia spends her career documenting the life and crimes of the Mafia.

Will I watch? = No


Knives Out

Synopsis: A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Will I watch? = Yes

Queen & Slim

Synopsis: A couple's first date takes an unexpected turn when a police officer pulls them over.

Will I watch? = No


Which films make the cut?

Honorable Mentions — Charlie's Angels is a Netflix at best. Ford v Ferrari doesn't make the cut because I'm not at all interested in racing or cars. Frozen II, I'm sure I'll see at some point, but not in theaters. The Good Liar, I'm waiting on reviews.

6. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood — I was never the biggest fan of Mr. Rogers, but this seems like something we could all use right now.

5. 21 Bridges — Something about this film, whether it's the Russos and/or Boseman just makes me think it's worth a watch.

4. Knives Out — Big cast. Could be fun.

3. Doctor Sleep — I'm not even a big Shining fan like with the MCU or something, but this has me very intrigued.

2. The Irishman — It's Scorsese and with that cast. C'mon. Goodfellas is awesome.

1. Terminator: Dark Fate — This is going to be disgusting, but of course I'm going to see it. T2 is my favorite movie of all time. It's going to crap all over that, but I have to at least try to give it a chance.

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:

Francis Ford Coppola Calls Marvel Movies "Despicable"

Martin Scorsese recently said the MCU doesn't qualify as cinema. Funny, it's a motion picture in the cinema, isn't it? Now, Coppola doubles down and says they're despicable and that you can't take anything away from them.

And here is where you insert your "old man yells at cloud" image. Jeez. Talk about someone who is too old to keep himself from getting swept up into what his previous generation did to him and just doesn't get it. That's what is happening—these two are from a different era and don't get it.

Many superhero films are garbage, just like comedies, action flicks, romance films, dramas, etc. Any movie can be great or terrible. Remember Godfather III?

Robert Zemeckis Will Helm Live-Action Pinocchio Film

No thanks.

Final Trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Great visuals. The others had those, too. Based on my disappointment of the previous films, I have zero faith I'll love this and it will undo all the problems.

Vice President Rhodes

Apparently one of the dropped ideas from Avengers: Endgame was that Rhodey would have become the Vice President in the five year gap. To be honest, I love that idea and I wish they would have gone with it. Maybe, if they have this War Machine Disney+ show on the bubble, they could explore that.

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 one of the many sequels to my favorite movie of all time (Terminator 2: Judgment Day), which is the upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate.

Oh boy...you're not going to like this one, and neither am I...

The movie starts with either the typical recap of the Skynet future or we jump right into T2.

A terminator (Carl) kills John Connor. Mabye they show that he was a senator like in the other ending (the GOOD ending of this franchise). Maybe he's a junkie loser like in Rise of the Machines. More likely, though, knowing that there's a little kid in this film for reference, it'll probably be the young John from right after T2.

The point is, they're totally going to kill off John because this entire movie is going to be about beating you over the head with this concept of female empowerment and a "changing of the guard" like The Force Awakens / The Last Jedi where everything is a copycat of what it was before, but this time, they make the original character that was the savior a waste of space because they want to bring in a new character as the real savior.

Sarah spends the rest of her life not knowing what to do. John's dead. No Judgment Day. She has no purpose, other than hunting down terminators. Maybe Carl is the one that killed John and he has no purpose, either, and they see eye to eye like that. It'll be stupid, but this movie is going to be stupid, so I'm not counting anything out.

We're introduced to Dani Ramos. She's either a spitfire and TOTES TOUGH and can handle herself and has no real progression throughout the film because they're too afraid of making her appear weak, or she's a carbon copy of the Sarah Connor treatment in that she's the one at first who is screaming and needs protection until she bucks up.

She has a brother. Who cares?

She's attacked by Gabriel Luna's character. Surprise, he's a terminator. What the fuck is a terminator? Well, to explain that, here's the new modified cyborg woman Grace to explain the new future and how things have changed.

They "only postponed" Judgment Day, like before, and changed the details. Now, it's not Skynet, it's something else. With John dead, Dani is the new savior. Skynet 2.0 is SO MUCH WORSE YOU GUYS because they tell us it is.

Note: This is when everyone should realize that they just want to reskin the previous thing and say that their idea is even better, exactly like Star Wars has.

What is fundamentally the difference between John and the new protagonist? She's new, younger and a Latina woman. What's different between Skynet 2.0 and Skynet? Nothing, just like how The First Order is 100% the Empire. What's the difference between Grace and Arnold's T2 terminator? At its core, nothing, because both are just "robot thing that protects the hero". But Grace is a woman, so there's a sisterhood going on with her, Dani and Sarah. I wouldn't even be surprised if they say something about how in the future, they don't need men. At least they do have one difference in that one is an enhanced human and the other is an android, but that alone is like saying we should make a whole movie around remaking Terminator 3 and keep all the details the same except this time, Kate Brewster can be a human doctor instead of a vet. WHOLE DIFFERENT MOVIE GUYS, SERIOUSLY...

Anyway, back on track.

So they fight and fight and fight. Arnold's terminator sacrifices himself I guess, or Sarah does. Or both. Probably Arnold, because that way, they don't kill off one of the female characters and they can keep Sarah for another film if they're able to do another one. It's easier to kill Arnold because they can always have another and bring him back if they want, but they've killed Sarah multiple times before, too, and whatever. She's the one that makes the most sense as far as having it hit the audience harder, so let's predict that she's bites the bullet.

They kill the Gabriel Luna.

Ominous thing about how the future isn't certain but with the new savior of humanity now all tough and determined, she'll be ready to fight.

MAYBE if they want to backtrack on this, they tease something about John Connor still possibly being alive so that they can have a sequel where he's taking on Sarah's spot as the guide to help them out and possibly die. That's if they didn't do something blatant like have Carl take a shotgun and blow his head off.

Terminator theme plays in the credits, if we're lucky. Maybe not anywhere else in the movie.

Everyone watching goes "ugh...well, it wasn't as bad as that Genisys title or T3, but it still sucks compared to T1 and T2" and we continue the cycle of bad Terminator films and I die a little more inside, and if you complain about it, you're clearly only hating it because you obviously hate women—not that you could ever be opposed to the idea of taking a movie and going against its whole purpose to copy and paste it purely for the sake of unoriginality and trying to appeal to "woke culture" stuff and mask your negative reviews with a shield of #feminism.

There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. It's a shame this franchise was perfect and chose to take a dark fate of bad sequels to ruin it and make the ratio more bad films than good ones.

I'll say it right now: if this movie is nothing but a thinly-veiled excuse to say "the future is female" and literally serves no purpose but to replace John Connor with Dani Ramos because she happens to be Latina, I don't think I'll even bother doing a Reviewpoint.

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 Zombieland: Double Tap—the sequel to the 2009 zombie comedy that I surprisingly enjoyed quite a bit, despite not being a fan of the zombie genre.

Zombieland: Double Tap
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Written by Dave Callaham, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick

STARRING: Woody Harrelson (Tallahassee), Jesse Eisenberg (Columbus), Emma Stone (Wichita), Abigail Breslin (Little Rock), Zoey Deutch (Madison), Avan Jogia (Berkeley), Luke Wilson (Albuquerque), Thomas Middleditch (Flagstaff) and Rosario Dawson (Nevada)

STORY: B+

Simple and effective. Let's progress the relationship between Columbus and Wichita, give Little Rock the position of the child Tallahassee lost in a way, and advance the zombies to a more threatening level while still poking fun at how some of them are Homers.

CHARACTERS: A

The four lead characters from the last time are all the same, which is exactly what I (and I'm sure most people) were hoping to see. They didn't deviate from the formula that worked before, which allowed this movie to be a true sequel and not something different.

HUUUUGE fan of Zoey Deutch's Madison. She was such a pleasant surprise for this movie and a great extra character to throw into the group to test their reactions. It was also fun to see her kind of replace Little Rock, as she's the worst part of both movies, and putting her on the sidelines to make room for Madison was a big step in the right direction.

I also loved Flagstaff and Albuquerque as the doppelganger versions of Tallahassee and Columbus. That was a true highlight part of the movie.

TONE / ATMOSPHERE: A

ACTION: Rock solid. The zombie killing scenes were over the top, frenetic and fun.

COMEDY: My girlfriend and I seemed to be the only ones to really seem to get all the jokes in our theater, for whatever reason. I laughed. She laughed. Lots of other people seemed to just sit there. Thumbs up in my book.

ROMANCE: There isn't really "romance" per say, but the love interest aspects of the movie are what they're supposed to be for this type of film.


ACTING: B+

Zoey Deutch kills it. She's the best of the bunch. Everyone else reports and does their job perfectly well for what is fitting. Nobody will get an Oscar nomination, but that's totally okay.

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

The zombies look realistic and there's a consistent look throughout both movies. All the scenery seems justifiably beaten down. Everyone's grungy enough (minus Madison, which is the point). Solid.

AUDIO (MUSIC / SOUND): Satisfactory

I don't really know how to grade this, as for some reason, I'm drawing a blank on any specifics. I know Elvis was a part of the film with the plot and all, but I'm not a fan of Elvis, although that's not necessary or should weigh into the whole grade. Since I don't remember anything bad nor anything great, I'll just say that this was a satisfactory thing, without an actual grade to tie it down into something more specific.


MARKETING / TRAILERS / POLITICS / SERIES DIRECTION / ETC:

+ Nice choice in naming the film Double Tap.
+ LOVED how Flagstaff had commandments instead of rules. That whole bit was one of my favorite parts of the film.
+ Big fan of how they didn't kill anybody off. Had they done that, I think it would have been a mistake. Who knows if they'll make a third one of these or not, but at least now they have the option.


GRADE: B+ (Pass)

Exactly what I was hoping for. If you're a fan of the first film, you're going to enjoy this one, too. In an era where lots of sequels can be massively disappointing and go in the direct opposite of what they should be, it's nice to see someone wait 10 years and actually deliver.

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:

Zoe Kravitz Cast as Catwoman

They wanted her. They got her. She wouldn't have been my first choice out of everyone in Hollywood, but hey, she might be able to pull it off.

Naomie Harris Cast as Shriek for Venom 2

Supposedly, Shriek is going to be another villain in Venom 2, played by Naomie Harris. That makes sense. She was part of the Maximum Carnage deal and they could use her as someone that he tracks down at the start of the film while Carnage break out or something like that. Harris will play the part well, too. Thumbs up.

Kevin Feige is Chief Creative Officer of ALL of Marvel

WOW. Credit where it's due, as this guy knows what he's doing. Good on Marvel for letting him take control over every little aspect. I hope this doesn't overwhelm him and take him out of commission for paying attention to the littler details by being bogged down on smaller projects that build up, but I trust he'll do a great job.

Inhumans Being Recast?

Vin Diesel as Black Bolt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson returning, but not as Quicksilver, as Maximus. Hm. Very interesting. Ignoring the television show is the right move, for sure. But I don't know if Johnson for Maximus would be the best thing, as people can still associate him with Quicksilver. Plus, why wouldn't WandaVision include a reference to him?

No More Jonah Hill for Batman / Seth Rogen for Penguin? / Paul Dano Cast as Riddler

Apparently, Hill is no longer in negotiation to play Penguin or Riddler, but Seth Rogen might be looked at for Penguin. I still think this is a bad idea. Having people who are on the more comedic side makes me think they aren't taking that character seriously enough. I also just don't picture Rogen as Penguin.

But now, they've reported that Paul Dano will be Riddler. THIS is good. I think he'll do a great job.

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:

Rumor: Disney Offers $4-5 billion for Spider-Man Rights

Take it, Sony. Just take it. Your movie ideas are garbage and there's no way you'll be able to survive screwing things up. Your reputation will be TRASHED if you take Tom Holland and Spider-Man away from the MCU just to put out your crappy Sinister Six film you've been wanting to do. It's not going to work. With these rumors that Apple may buy Sony, now is the time to sell, too. If that happens, the rights revert back to Disney anyway, for free. Sell now while you can get billions of dollars outright for it and a lot of good faith from the public that you can then bargain for more money from Apple.

Barack Panther Deep Fake

Check this out. Very well done.


I feel like deep fake stuff is equally super dangerous for fraud purposes as well as incredibly awesome to do things that we'd never have seen before. This wouldn't have been at the top of my list, haha, but it's still very cool. Now someone needs to get on something like Clint Eastwood as Batman and Tom Cruise as Superman and Jake Gyllenhaal as Spider-Man.

How is Titans Season 2 SO Much Better Than Season 1?

I've been sleeping on mentioning this, but goddamn, season 2 of Titans is a VASTLY superior show to the first season. It's like night and day. Conner, the most recent episode, was great. The one before that was even better. It's like they finally decided to be a Titans show instead of some weird offshoot horror thing.

Betty Ross May Return to She-Hulk TV Series

Liv Tyler could be returning as Betty Ross on the She-Hulk show, which is just awesome. I thought she was a great choice for the role and did well in The Incredible Hulk, and since that's still in continuity, they should have been referencing it here and there. Now that Natasha is gone and Bruce has come to terms with Hulk, they really should revisit the idea of him getting back together with Betty for good. He deserves to be happy.

As requested through our Patreon "Pick Your Poison" tier by Guest Five, Fanboys Anonymous is providing you with another edition of the FanTracks podcast, this time for the classic animated spin-off film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm from Batman: The Animated Series.

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!

The latest in the line of animated DC direct-to-video films is Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. 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 something and give it a score based on the standard report card lineup: A, B, C, D, and F for a total failure.

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines
Directed by Justin Copeland and Sam Liu
Written by William Moulton Marston (Wonder Woman created by) and Mairghread Scott (screenplay)

STARRING: Rosario Dawson (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Jeffrey Donovan (Steve Trevor), Marie Avgeropoulos (Vanessa Kapatelis / Silver Swan), Adrienne C. Moore (Etta Candy), Kimberly Brooks (Cheetah, Giganta), Courtenay Taylor (Doctor Poison), Constance Zimmer (Veronica Cale), Nia Vardalos (Julia Kapatelis), Cree Summer (Hippolyta), Ray Chase (Lead Bandit), Mozhan Marnò (Doctor Cyber) and Michael Dorn (Ferdinand the Minotaur)

STORY: C–

This started out great, but quickly turned into something I couldn't get invested in. Trying to track the journey of Vanessa Kapatelis as a side character for such a generic plot that has nothing to sink your teeth into just wasn't enough for me.

CHARACTERS: C

Diana was great. No complaints there at all.

Steve Trevor was good, but maybe a little bit too jokey.

Etta completely stole the show, although there were times where I felt as though they went over the top with making her the one with all the great beats.

Cheetah, Giganta...do-nothing. Ferdinand felt like an odd inclusion just for the sake of it.

Doctor Poison and Doctor Cyber were awful. They were more like G.I. Joe villains from the cartoon series and way too over the top.

I was never familiar with Silver Swan and I guess her arc was okay, albeit contrived and forced to an eye-rolling level.

TONE / ATMOSPHERE: B–

ACTION: Solid action. The best part about this.

COMEDY: Etta and Steve had some lines. This isn't supposed to be a comedy, so that was good enough.

ROMANCE: For the most part, Diana and Steve are only a couple because they're a couple. There isn't much chemistry to build on, beyond just knowing the source material.


ACTING: C

All of these things can be earnest or over the top. For Rosario Dawson, for instance, she was great. For the whole Doctor Poison character, it was too campy for my tastes.

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

For an animated film like this, it's pretty much the art style. Every movie in this DC universe from the past few years that follows the same continuity is all pretty much perfect as far as character designs go, so I'm a big fan of that presentation.

AUDIO (MUSIC / SOUND): C+

Nothing memorable, but no complaints.

• I loved Diana's steadfast heroism in the opening. All too often, she has to take a backseat to Superman in Justice League material and by default, must be somewhat of an antagonist who is rough around the edges compared to his boy scout attitude. Here, she's 100% full-force hero. Very good.
• It took 18 minutes to get to the credits? Points deducted.
• I think there's something to this version of Etta, where she's more capable and has more agency. I do think they went over the top in some regards, though, so if they toned that down a bit, I think it would be a pretty fantastic new iteration of a character I've never had much fondness for.

GRADE: C (Pass)

This film was fine, but I'm never going to watch it again, nor would I recommend it as anything close to something like Batman: Hush or some of the better ones. It needed more meat on its bones and a better overall story.

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."