Monthly Archives: May 2022

A CRINGE TRAILER FOR SORRY NEW ‘GOTHAM KNIGHTS’ SERIES

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THE CW killed off The Batman for this?  I mean, the premise for this new Gotham Knights series sounds bad, but this trailer goes that extra mile to crap town…

The synopsis…

“Batman is dead, and a powder keg has ignited Gotham City without the Dark Knight to protect it. In the wake of Bruce Wayne’s murder, his adopted son Turner Hayes (Oscar Morgan, ‘De Son Vivant”) is framed for killing the Caped Crusader, along with the children of some of Batman’s enemies: Duela (Olivia Rose Keegan, “Days of Our Lives”), an unpredictable fighter and skilled thief who was born in Arkham Asylum and abandoned by her father, Harper Row (Fallon Smythe, “grown-ish”), a streetwise and acerbic engineer who can fix anything, and her brother Cullen Row (Tyler DiChiara, “The Virgin of Highland Park”), a clever transgender teen who is tired of being polite and agreeable. With the charismatic and hard-charging District Attorney Harvey Dent (Misha Collins, “Supernatural”) and the GCPD hot on their trail, Turner will rely on allies including his best friend and formidable coder Stephanie Brown (Anna Lore, “All American”), and unlikely Batman sidekick Carrie Kelley (Navia Robinson, “Raven’s Home”). But our Knights will soon learn there is a larger, more nefarious force at work within Gotham City. This team of mismatched fugitives must band together to become its next generation of saviors known as the GOTHAM KNIGHTS.”

 

https://youtu.be/FnUkN3h9yQw

 

The Untouchables 4K UHD Review: The Chicago Way in 4K

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I missed The Untouchables in theaters in 1987, not because it was rated R but because I was just a tad too young to have interest in it yet. For most of my life, I’d only seen it on cable, DVD or Blu-ray, though I was finally able to see it at the New Beverly here in L.A. That was a rewarding theatrical experience, but the new 4K UHD Paramount Home Entertainment released today takes even the film print to the next level. 

The 4K UHD maintains the film grain so it still looks like The Untouchables. The 4K clarity and detail highlights the period details of Chicago streets, cars and wardrobe. The low angles Brian De Palma favors also gives you a good look at the ceilings of those locations. 

There are several distinct looks on display in The Untouchables. Al Capone (Robert De Niro)’s hotel suites turn brown polished wood into colorful tapestries. Elliott Ness (Kevin Costner)’s home and the police stations are stark white.  

4K really highlights the shadows, especially when Ness leads back alley raids and sits in a darkened police car at night. But the middle section with the raid on a bridge gives the film a burst of open nature. Of course, in the train station set-piece, blood explodes against teh cold stone columns and stairs. 

The Untouchables has a good surround sound mix too, for a film that likely had a much simpler theatrical mix in 1987. Knocks on the door, police clatter during the raid and of course gunshots ring out in the rear speakers. Even booze leaking from a shot barrel pours right into your ear. Ennio Morricone’s score also fills the room, not just the front channels. 

The Unjust Fall and Redemption of Popcorned Planet’s Andy Signore

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The Unjust Fall and Redemption of Popcorned Planet’s Andy Signore – By Stefania Amore

As we all consign ourselves to “Verdict Watch”, the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial has put into sharp focus the #MeToo era and the pitfalls of society’s default stance to believe all victims. This has given birth to the hashtags #JusticeForJohnnyDepp and the more universal #MenToo social justice campaigns. And just as we have seen in public support the fall and redemption of Johnny Depp, so too has Andy Signore experienced the same trajectory over on the wildly successful YouTube Channel, Popcorned Planet. Continue reading →

DISNEY+: THE ‘PINOCCHIO’ TEASER TRAILER FEELS WOODEN

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DISNEY+:  This looks like a shot for shot remake of the animated tale, and for me therein lies the problem. I was expecting  more of a live-action interpretation of the animated classic, and not just a Disney-redo. This feels more like what they did for The Lion King, which I was not a fan of.  But who knows, this is only a teaser, maybe there is more to PINOCCHIO’S NOSE than the nostalgia factor. That’s going to be my wish when this drops on September 8th…

 

Double Indemnity Criterion Collection 4K Review: Film Noir Fred Approves

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The Criterion Collection upgrades this classic to 4K and it is a nostalgic black and white tour of LA in the 40s. The print is immaculately clean, except for occasional scratches in an exterior shot or the beer and bowling montage.

While a bit softer than black and white 4Ks like Schindler’s List or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (it’s also older by decades so on less advanced film stock), the shadows work and get more intense the deeper Neff (Fred MacMurray) gets in the scheme. The train station scene has a lot of examples of emerging from the shadows.

New bonus features show there’s no end to the new perspectives one could offer on Double Indemnity. Noah Isenberg shares the Wilder family history and how Billy emigrated from Poland/Austria. Family still in the Holocaust weighed on Double Indemnity.

Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith focus on genre while addressing adapting the book and toning down screenwriter Raymond Chandler for the production code, explain subtle digs at the studio brass, and alternate endings. 

Among the historical extras of note are two editions of a Double Indemnity radio play starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. At 30 or 56 minutes, both adaptations include dialogue verbatim from the film, and the original radio ads.

JUDE LAW JUMPS FRANCHISES – FROM WIZARDING WORLD TO STAR WARS

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STAR WARS CELEBRATION:  Breaking News y’all; director Jon Watts, from Spiderman: No Way Home, will create a new Star Wars Series for  Disney+ starring Jude Law (Now playing Dumbledore) … The show will be called Skeleton Crew, and as previously revealed, the series will take place in the post-Return of the Jedi era alongside The Mandalorian.

According to a Vanity Fair report earlier this month, the new Disney+ series will be ” a galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s.” While Law will have a leading role, a casting call is currently out “for four children, around 11 to 12 years old.”