Oscars Reverse Decision on Not Airing 4 Categories Following Backlash
UPDATE, Feb. 15: The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has reversed its stance to not air four categories from airing during this year's Oscars broadcast following an industry-wide outcry.
“The Academy has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards – Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling. All Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format. We look forward to Oscar Sunday, February 24,” the Academy said in a statement.
Conan the Barbarian Joins New Avengers Team
Conan the Barbarian has joined a new team of Avengers for an upcoming comic series.
Conan will join the Savage Avengers alongside the likes of Wolverine, Venom, Punisher, Elektra, and Brother Voodoo. The series will hit shelves May 1, and a 10-page story will be available for interested readers on Free Comic Book Day.
Be sure to check out the first issue cover below:
Savage Avengers #1, written by Gerry Duggan, with art by Mike Deodato. Cover by David Finch.
Ken, Daisy, and Young Link Amiibo Out Now
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The next wave of Smash amiibo are out today, and they haven't sold out yet (note: that could change at any second). If you've been out of the amiibo game for a while, you should know the quality of amiibo now, versus when they were first introduced, is night and day. The newer ones are more detailed, with better sculpts, paint, and poses, and zero weird yellow translucent stands.
If you were hoping to add a Piranha Plant amiibo to your collection from the last release wave, you're out of luck. For the time being, the plucky plant is sold out at all the major online retailers. That doesn't mean you should plunk down a sum of money to get one on the grey market just yet. There's a good chance Nintendo will release more. Trust me. I paid... more than asking... for a Japanese ROB last time around.
Batman & Ninja Turtles Animated Movie Crossover On the Way
An animated movie based on the 2016 Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic miniseries is being released on 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital later this spring.
SyFy reports that the film will feature the vocal talent of Troy Baker, known for many voice roles including The Last of Us' Joel, Infamous Second Son's Deslin, and Uncharted 4's Sam Drake.
Baker will be playing both the Joker and Batman. He's no stranger to either character, having portrayed Batman in LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes and Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins, to name a few.
Parks and Recreation’s Cast Still Celebrates Galentine’s Day Together
A small portion of the Parks & Recreation cast got together this year for Galentine’s Day - a holiday invented for the show that takes place on February 13 and is all about celebrating female friends in your life.
This year, former cast mates Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza and Rashida Jones got together for a meal. Plaza posted a photo of the occasion on Instagram, nearly four years after the final episode of Parks & Rec aired. Not only did these women of Parks & Rec celebrate their friendship yesterday, they’ve made a reoccurring date of it, getting together last year along with featured cast member Kathryn Hahn - this too was commemorated on Instagram.
Killer Sopranos Blu-ray Deal Available Now
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As you may have heard, a little mob show called The Sopranos came out 20 years ago and kicked off the golden age of TV that we're currently enjoying. What you might not know is that this show holds up incredibly well, even compared to the shows it inspired. You can get your hands on the Blu-ray set of the entire series right now for $49.99 - the lowest price we've ever seen. That's down from an MSRP of $134.05, for a savings of $85 off the best TV show ever made.
Jared Leto’s Joker Followups Reportedly Shelved
Fans of Jared Leto's portrayal of The Joker in Suicide Squad may be in for some disappointing news, as it appears Leto's solo Joker film may no longer be happening.
According to Forbes, Leto's Joker film has "fallen by the wayside" along with the "Mad Love-type Joker and Harley Quinn film." Suicide Squad, itself, will reportedly move forward with a sort of "soft reboot," and Forbes reports Margot Robbie's Harley is not expected to return for the sequel.
"The Suicide Squad sequel...is expected to have a new cast of characters and avoid direct tie-in to the first film's events," Forbes reports. "Harley Quinn is not expected to return, and James Gunn's script will be a new approach and rethinking of the property."
Why Link’s Awakening Is Secretly the Darkest Zelda Game
Ask any Zelda fan which Zelda game is the “darkest” and they’ll immediately tell you Majora’s Mask. It’s an obvious choice, of course, and a seemingly correct one. Majora’s Mask is a game about a world drenched in shadows, centered on an increasingly paranoid town full of obtuse characters, all dealing with the oncoming apocalypse in their own ways. Warbled, strange, music drifts in the background and a gigantic, nightmarish moon slowly descends over the land, threatening to obliterate everything in it. Even the box art itself is dark, ditching the usual triumphant gold foil or heroic Link pose in favor of the titular Majora’s Mask itself; a terrifying, threatening thing with bug-eyes and spikes. And it’s only one of several horrible veils you can wear during the game’s seemingly hopeless story. Yes, Majora’s Mask is a grim story right down to its overworld named “Termina” which is a title that just reeks of death and despair.
Nickelodeon Reviving Are You Afraid of the Dark and All That
Nickelodeon has announced a new Are You Afraid of the Dark? TV miniseries that will be coming to the network in October 2019.
The series will coincide with the upcoming feature film of the same name, that will premiere on October 4, 2019, from Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players, and Nickelodeon Movies.
Are You Afraid of the Dark? will follow the format of the classic anthology that first premiered in 1990. New members of the Midnight Society will gather around a campfire and tell their scary stories among the woods and darkness.
One of the other popular 90s' pop-culture hits, All That, will be returning as well. The series will be a weekly sketch-comedy, showcasing a new cast of kids – but old cast members are said to make appearances throughout the season.
14 of the Best (and Worst) CG Movie Characters
Alita: Battle Angel features an unfamiliar face. It’s not the lead actress, since audiences have seen Rosa Salazar in Bird Box and the Maze Runner movies. It’s literally the face of Salazar’s character that’s unfamiliar -- the giant-eyed CG construct that is the title character of the new film.
Alita may be a bit off-putting at first, but moviegoers have been getting used to this sort of thing for some time now. Developments in visual effects filmmaking have allowed humans to be altered or entirely created via CGI, and the result has almost always been a little off. The feeling this “offness” creates in the viewer is what is known as the uncanny valley.
The uncanny valley occurs when an observer is supposed to recognize a humanoid object as real, but said object comes off as out-of-place and creepy. In the case of Alita, she’s supposed to look somewhat inhuman, but Hollywood has been attempting to create completely realistic people for some time now. Middle-aged actors have been brought back to their twenties while long-dead performers have risen from the grave. “Photorealistic” humans have been created in the computer, and the uncanny valley has often troubled viewers everywhere as a result.