Bleeding Fool |
- Home Video Review: Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
- Sam Raimi Explains John Krasinski’s Casting as Reed Richards
- Is Disney Courting Johnny Depp for more Pirates of the Caribbean?
- LGBTQ Politics: Congresswoman on Drag Queens – ‘What America is ALL About’
- Flopyear: Disney Has Become It’s Own Worst Enemy
- Get Woke, Go Broke: How Disney Lost Half Its Stock Value in a Year
- ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Joins Billion-Dollar Box Office – a First for Tom Cruise
- Will Titan Comics Avoid Marvel’s Recent Mistakes with Conan?
- ‘Game of Thrones’ Creator Reveals Working Title for HBO’s Jon Snow Prequel
- Never Go Full Ezra Miller: Flash Star’s Break-Down Just Got Worse
| Home Video Review: Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) Posted: 27 Jun 2022 03:25 PM PDT
This is a brief review of DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA, and strong a recommendation to go see it, for those of us who watched the television series and first movie. I would not attempt this movie were I not already familiar with the wide cast of characters, and their situations. No point in walking into a play halfway through the final act.
This film makes a perfect finale to a beloved, well-acted, extraordinarily well-written historical melodrama concerning a British aristocratic family and their domestics in the early years of the Twentieth Century.
The film showcases Maggie Smith's impressive talents as an actress, and is frankly refreshing in its ability to give good parts to professionals with a few years of experience.
My compliments to Julian Fellows, who wrote the screenplays for two films and six seasons. His work is masterful.
It is always difficult to write a sequel, particularly one set in an historical background, doubly so for an era whose virtues contrast so sharply with fashionable modern vices. The writer here, Mr. Fellows, exercised an admirable ingenuity in finding and consummating plotlines even for otherwise minor characters.
The sets and costumes were all accurate to their period and beautiful to see on the screen. This is a well photographed film and lovely to look at.
Little historical details crop up that show when a writer does his homework: such as the name of the first talkie (hint: it was not THE JAZZ SINGER) and when a box camera was introduced that allowed the photographer to see an image from the lens before taking the shot.
The plot is twofold. The first concern an inheritance of a villa in the south of France, and a mystery and perhaps a scandal surrounding it.
The second concerns a film company filming on location in the manor house. In a trifle of self-referential irony, the actors and actresses of DOWNTON ABBEY get to scoff at the idea of mere theater people being allowed in their handsome, palatial estate to film. This plotline follows in the footsteps of the classic music SINGING IN THE RAIN, complete with young actress blessed with elegant, high-class looks cursed by outrageous low class accents.
This being a romantic melodrama, of course, there is romantic allure between the glamorous and the rich, and perhaps some untoward temptation.
It is not a spoiler to mention that one of the beloved characters passes away, because this was in the promotional material: but not which one. I should also mention that the great cycle of life ushers in a baby to another well beloved character, so both melancholy and joy is here.
At the risk of giving away the shocking surprise ending, I must say how pleased I was there was at least one suspected scandals the two plots toy with turns out, in the end, to be baseless: the woman is portrayed as resisting the temptation that no woman loyal to the modern world would resist, and for the sake of her family honor and dignity, a motive no one loyal to the modern world even has a word to express.
Nor will I spoil the sorrowful ending or say who passes away. I will say only that this film is the only time in the whole long oeuvre of Downton Abbey that I recall Lord Grantham being reduced to tears.
In an era when propaganda is ubiquitous and honest, workmanlike art is as rare to find as a hippogriff, a story touching on politically correct topics which is not politically correct is a relief.
Honesty requires I admit that the one homosexual character who flirts with another, while handled as tastefully as possible — no kisses or whatnot shown on screen — was a drawback. The character was portrayed as likable and sympathetic, but the sin, which in real life is an abomination, is here portrayed merely as a harmless eccentricity.
The character is likeable, and the audience would like to see him pursue a happy ending, albeit such an ending is not in the cards.
No character on stage expresses any disapproval of the sin, albeit the writer is honest enough to have one say that, in this cruel world, not much happiness will be allowed to such a one. That seems a little too broadminded, considering that such things, in those more honest days, were against the law.
On the other hand, the British aristocracy in the days of Oscar Wilde often winked at such lapses, so long as no scandal became public, so perhaps the lack of disapproval was historically accurate.
However, unlike every other portrayal of sexual abnormality in modern films or shows, this was not blatant propaganda. It was not heavy-handed, and did not necessarily betray any opinion of the author. If the author has a rhetorical intent, it is well enough hidden beneath the artistic intent as to be invisible, at least to this viewer.
Which is how a story should be told.
As much as I adored this whole series, and would gladly purchase and watch anything else written by the accomplished Mr. Fellows, I do hope this is the last visit to Downton Abbey, since the historical period central to the setting, along with a main character, has passed away.
*** Downton Abbey: A New Era is now available on home video
Originally published here. The post Home Video Review: Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| Sam Raimi Explains John Krasinski’s Casting as Reed Richards Posted: 27 Jun 2022 01:15 PM PDT
New info regarding the Reed Richards cameo has been revealed in the “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” commentary track. Fans have been clamoring for John Krasinski to play Mister Fantastic when the Fantastic Four appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years. Since Krasinski’s part in Doctor Strange 2 was not previously known, it goes without saying that many people were overjoyed to meet him in person.
There is a new audio commentary track included in the movie’s current digital release. The commentary includes director Sam Raimi discussing how the Krasinski cameo came to be, according to The Direct. Marvel had properly predicted that it would make for a pleasing, albeit exceedingly brief, cameo after observing the fan clamor for the casting.
The screenwriter Michael Waldron was honored to write the legacy character’s introduction to the MCU proper while praising Krasinski in his work bringing that role to life.
There are plans for a new Fantastic Four movie, which will wrap up Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it has been announced. For that film, no cast has been revealed as of yet. Following his role as a Variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, many fans may be hoping that Krasinski would also play Reed Richards in the MCU. The could happen, but Krasinski hasn’t been formally confirmed as a part of that movie as of yet.
In fact, he still isn’t listed on the leaked casting sheet, while other actors are. The post Sam Raimi Explains John Krasinski’s Casting as Reed Richards appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| Is Disney Courting Johnny Depp for more Pirates of the Caribbean? Posted: 27 Jun 2022 10:55 AM PDT
Pirates of the Caribbean was illuminated and included in a musical fireworks display at the castle in Disneyland Paris. Johnny Depp played Jack Sparrow. On June 19, Sunday, it took place. The castle was illuminated with scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean, some of which featured the rambunctious Sparrow engaging in his preferred kind of piracy.
A Twitter user shared a video that unmistakably resembled Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.
Something is allegedly brewing in Disney’s camp, according to several commenters. Is it possible that they have plans in place for Johnny Depp to rejoin the franchise? More significantly, is it possible that Johnny Depp would rethink his sworn statements? You know, where he vowed not to return to, not even for a $300 million deal and a million alpacas? How about $301 million?
Although some people support Johnny Depp’s comeback, there are also those who are opposed to it. One, a lot of people say that before doing anything else, Disney needs to apologize. The mere fact that Johnny Depp’s image is being used in any way is unethical. They abandoned him just when he needed them the most. However, they joined in on his resurgence in popularity with the light display now that he had personally prevailed in the defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
The Daily Record is reporting that Johnny Depp is indeed set for Pirates of the Caribbean ‘return’ after winning defamation trial against Amber Heard. They allege that the Hollywood actor is said to be in talks with Disney about a $300 million deal which also includes another project for Disney Plus. However, friend of the site, Yellow Flash is dubious, but hopeful, that Disney may actually be trying to seduce Depp back into the fold.
Mr. H isn’t quite sure what to think of the rumors that Disney may be willing to apologize and offer Depp MORE than $300M to return. He insists that Disney can’t afford Depp.
There are two Pirates of the Caribbean projects currently in the works, one starring Margot Robbie and the other starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. According to rumors, Johnny Depp will actually star in the third film that completes this new trilogy. We shall toast with rum once the formal news appears online, as awesome as that sounds.
In the meantime, I will have to be content to daydream about the Captain’s upcoming adventures. The post Is Disney Courting Johnny Depp for more Pirates of the Caribbean? appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| LGBTQ Politics: Congresswoman on Drag Queens – ‘What America is ALL About’ Posted: 27 Jun 2022 08:25 AM PDT
During an appearance on the reality TV program “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat Congresswoman who has been in the House for decades, asserted that drag queens are “what America is all about.”
Based on the following story, let’s hope no else agrees with her, because this is CERTAINLY not what “America is all about”.
Pelosi, a representative for San Francisco’s LGBT community, tweeted a clip of her participation on the fifth episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7”. She emphasized that she was “inspired by the contestants because they realized their power” in her essay, which stated that it was “an honor” to compete on the reality TV program. In her post, Pelosi also used the hashtag #PrideMonth.
Pelosi welcomed the contestants and said it was an honor to be there to tell them how glad everyone was of them during the show’s livestream on Paramount+. She continued, “I am grateful for the joy and beauty you provide to the world. America is all about your freedom of expression, including your enjoyment of yourself in drag. I frequently tell my drag buddies that.”
Pelosi was requested to offer “words of wisdom” by the show’s host and chief judge, drag artist RuPaul. The most crucial recommendation I can make is to vote, Pelosi said in response. Pelosi stated that it was crucial for voters to cast their ballots and be heard during the upcoming midterm elections.
Less than a month ago, Pelosi made an appearance on “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7,” which was held in Los Angeles, where kids shared the stage with drag artists. Children could be seen dancing with the drag queens as they solicited donations from the audience in video footage from the event. Similar occasions included “Drag Queen Story Time” in a Massachusetts preschool and “Drag the Kids to Pride – A Family Friendly Drag Show” at a gay bar in Dallas, Texas, both throughout the month of June.
After the Dallas drag event received a lot of backlash, one Texas state representative has vowed to pursue legislation to combat the “disturbing trend in which perverse adults are fascinated with sexualizing young children” by prohibiting drag performances in front of children as soon as the state’s next legislative session gets going. In response to Slaton’s proposed legislation, California state senator Scott Wiener, an openly gay Democrat who serves San Francisco like Pelosi, suggested that schools in his state offer “Drag Queen 101” as part of the K–12 curriculum, noting that “Drag Queen Story Time will satisfy the requirement.”
In a Fox News interview later, Wiener backtracked and insisted that his plan to introduce Drag Queen 101 into California’s public schools was a joke. The post LGBTQ Politics: Congresswoman on Drag Queens – ‘What America is ALL About’ appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| Flopyear: Disney Has Become It’s Own Worst Enemy Posted: 27 Jun 2022 06:15 AM PDT
On a busy weekend at the box office, Pixar’s Lightyear dropped to fifth place, earning only $17.7 million, suffering a 65% drop in its second weekend in theaters.
The Federalist reports that the latest installment in the Toy Story cartoon series, Lightyear, has fumbled at the box office because the wokeness now becoming prevalent at Disney corporation affected the receipts at movie theaters:
And that’s pretty low for a movie that surely cost a lot based on the animation technology it employed. Somewhere in the range of $200 million, and likely more when you consider the marketing/promotion going into investment along with it.
After learning what Evans did, it makes me glad I never spent money at the theaters to see his performances as Captain America in the Marvel movies in the past several years. At this point, it’ll be difficult to overlook the moral damage Evans’ contributed to with his statements. But, this does give an idea why Evans replaced comedian Allen as the voice of Buzz Lightyear: right-wingers today are taboo in Hollywood, and voice performance is no exception.
This cartoon is reason enough to end the whole Toy Story franchise before more woke damage can be done to it, but alas, if Disney’s modern politics are any suggestion, they may continue this worthless charade for a lot longer before they really lose money on it.
Originally published here. The post Flopyear: Disney Has Become It’s Own Worst Enemy appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| Get Woke, Go Broke: How Disney Lost Half Its Stock Value in a Year Posted: 27 Jun 2022 04:45 AM PDT This time last year, a share of Walt Disney Co. stock was worth nearly $180. Today, it's worth almost half that amount, around $97.
Red State says that conservative audiences are finally turning away:
Get woke, go broke. No doubt the higher-ups at Disney heard that phrase at some point, likely reading it from people tweeting it at them in their Twitter feeds. It was a warning from would-be viewers and fans, but it was likely scoffed at. Disney was too big to truly feel the pain of any political activism. It's Disney, after all. Now, over the course of just a year, Disney stock has plummeted nearly 50 percent as their political-infused productions continue to turn away audiences and garner angry fan reactions. Disney might be surprised but fans aren't. Their mishandling of popular brands like Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar has caused fans to shrug them off. Entire YouTube channels have created popular videos dissecting the failure of each, and while each of them may reach various conclusions as to how it got there the ultimate consensus is that the story writing has suffered greatly It has, but those paying attention will know that the reason the stories have suffered is that leftist politics has infected everyone from Disney's brass to their writing staff.
As we’ve been reporting, Lightyear has been a disaster of epic proportions for Pixar, due to both its unnecessary lesbian kiss, and star Chris Evans calling anyone critical of LGBTQ+ displays of affection in children’s films "idiots." But perhaps Red State and our friends at Bounding Into Comics don’t go far enough in getting to the real problem with this movie. As the Ace of Spades blog points out, the “gay kiss” in the movie is pretty incidental.
It wouldn’t have mattered if they deleted the gay kiss or not; the fact that two women meet, have sex, have a baby together (how, it is unclear), and grow old together is a key plot point in the movie, which could not easily be excised from the film. The Gay Kiss just confirmed what was obvious: the two were in a long, long-term lesbian relationship. Furthermore — spoiler alert for a children’s movie you’re not going to see anyway — the villain of the movie turns out to be Buzz Lightyear himself, a future version of himself anyway, who has come back in time and wants to go even further back in time to undo the mistake he made that caused them to all become stranded on the alien planet where the movie takes place. But undoing everything would also break up this lesbian couple and erase their baby, which presents a moral dilemma presented to the younger version of Buzz — is undoing a mistake worth it if it also wipes out the good that subsequently occurred in overcoming that mistake? That sounds okay but I can’t help but notice what we have here is a case of Deranged white straight man wants to break up non-white gay relationship. Oh, did I forget to mention the lesbians are, of course, non-white? This is why the movie has been banned by so many countries — not just because of the kiss, but featuring a lesbian relationship so centrally, and kinda-sorta suggesting that men — fathers — weren’t necessary in a family. And were maybe a threat to them. So that is the film Pixar made, and the next film they have in the tube is Strange World, featuring the first teen boy-boy romance. (Buzz Lightyear featured an adult female-female romance.)
ThatParkPlace.com reports that this is not going to fly with Disney CEO Bob Chapek, now that Disney’s lost half its share value.
And now, after to weekends, it barely made $79 million, still less than half its production costs, and not even touching its marketing costs.
Chapek had wanted to cut the lesbian kiss, at least, but Pixar rebelled, wanting to use the lesbian kiss to fight Ron DeSantis. Yes, it’s that stupid.
I believe this issue with Turning Red is that it’s all about a girl’s first period, which is not at all hinted at in the advertising. The title is a punny nod to the subject matter but you wouldn’t guess “Oh Disney made a menstruation movie.” Parents left the theater now having to have an Uncomfortable Talk with their little daughters they were not prepared to have.
He notes that Chapek will be emboldened to tell Pixar to make cuts to their next Woke project, and that Pixar will not have much of an argument to make in response — short of quitting. Which they just might do. But which other studio is going to gobble up a bunch of animators who quit their last job over the principle that their last boss wouldn’t let them indulge their Grooming itch to the fullest?
And it’s not just the fundamentalists or the conservatives who have a problem with the identity politics. It turns out the movie just isn’t very good on its own merits.
Breitbart’s John Nolte sums it up pretty well. Disney is now toxic, is now harmful to your children, a danger to your kids, a grooming outfit backed by billions of dollars looking to twist your child into a psychologically-damaged sexual being it can exploit and abuse. And now Disney is worth about half of what it was worth a year ago.
Americans are spurning Disney and the studio only has itself to blame. The post Get Woke, Go Broke: How Disney Lost Half Its Stock Value in a Year appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Joins Billion-Dollar Box Office – a First for Tom Cruise Posted: 26 Jun 2022 02:45 PM PDT Top Gun: Maverick has joined the billion-dollar club at the global box office. It's the first Tom Cruise film to achieve the milestone, and the 50th Hollywood movie overall, not adjusted for inflation.
Director Joseph Kosinski's film passed the barrier after finishing Sunday with an estimated domestic total of $521.7 million and $484.7 million overseas for a global cume just north of $1 billion.
Top Gun: Maverick enjoyed a boost in its fifth weekend thanks to being rereleased in select Imax and premium large-format screens. The Paramount and Skydance release grossed $30.5 million domestically and $44.5 million overseas for a weekend total.
The sequel is only the second Hollywood title of the pandemic era to cross $1 billion behind Sony and Disney's Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.89 billion).
According to Paramount, more than 16 percent of Top Gun 2′s audience has seen the film more than once in theaters, while 4 percent have seen it four times or more.
Cruise's previous biggest film worldwide was Mission: Impossible — Fallout, which grossed $791 million in 2018, not adjusted for inflation.
via THR The post 'Top Gun: Maverick' Joins Billion-Dollar Box Office – a First for Tom Cruise appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| Will Titan Comics Avoid Marvel’s Recent Mistakes with Conan? Posted: 26 Jun 2022 12:55 PM PDT
The Hollywood Reporter announced that the newest licensee taking up oversight of comics based on Robert E. Howard’s Conan is the UK-based Titan, which has already dealt with at least a few more licensed adaptations over the years:
Does this mean Marvel will have to stop their own archiving program for the stories published during 1969-95? Well, it’s probably for the best, and hey, they did make the mistake of appeasing SJWs a few months ago, effectively making clear they were no longer good stewards if they couldn’t avoid political correctness.
Umm, if Netflix is the designated channel for live action adaptations, no thanks. They may have toned down their wokeness, but it’s still an awfully leftist channel, and not worth the price of subscription.
When Giant Freakin’ Robot commented on the news, they said:
I think the question is whether Titan’s going to pay any attention to social media users who make petty issues. If they avoid doing that, they’ll be acting wisely. And let’s hope GFR’s writers don’t intend to lash out at them for taking directions that defy PC. Otherwise, what’s the point of even commenting on this news to begin with?
Originally published here. The post Will Titan Comics Avoid Marvel’s Recent Mistakes with Conan? appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| ‘Game of Thrones’ Creator Reveals Working Title for HBO’s Jon Snow Prequel Posted: 26 Jun 2022 10:25 AM PDT
The Game of Thrones sequel starring Kit Harington will be called Snow, and it has all been instigated by the actor, author George R.R. Martin says.
"Yes, there is a Jon Snow show in development," Martin wrote on his personal blog. "Our working title for the show is SNOW."
In the entry on his blog, the author on whose books the award-winning HBO blockbuster was based, teased out a few more details of the potential series, which seems to be much further along than previously presumed.
For one thing, reiterating what GoT star Emilia Clarke has told the BBC, Martin says that it was Harington himself who initiated the idea for the new show. The scribe once called the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine also revealed that Snow is partially staffed up.
"Yes, it was Kit Harrington (sic) who brought the idea to us," the self-described "way too busy" Martin wrote. "I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet… but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific."
"SNOW has been in development almost as long as the other three, but for whatever reason it was never announced and it never leaked… until now," Martin noted.
HBO had no response to Martin's blog post.
via Deadline The post ‘Game of Thrones’ Creator Reveals Working Title for HBO’s Jon Snow Prequel appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
| Never Go Full Ezra Miller: Flash Star’s Break-Down Just Got Worse Posted: 26 Jun 2022 07:55 AM PDT
The Flash actor Ezra Miller is now being accused of harboring three young children and their mother at his farm in Stamford, Vermont which is reportedly littered with drugs, firearms, and ammunition. Miller had already been accused of grooming a teenager when she was 12 years old and acting improperly with a different youngster.
According to a Rolling Stone investigative report, Miller has been hosting a 25-year-old woman and her three small children at his Vermont property, which has the father of the children concerned as well as two other people with knowledge of the situation.
According to the two other people with intimate knowledge of the situation, the actor’s home is scattered with unattended firearms, making it a dangerous place for kids to be. The one-year-old girl allegedly picked up a loose bullet and put it in her mouth in an event, according to one of the anonymous sources. Both individuals asserted that marijuana has been consumed frequently and heavily in front of the kids.
Meanwhile the mother claims Miller “helped me finally — have a safe environment for my three very young children,” the actor is credited for assisting her in leaving a “violent and abusive ex,” and the mother called Miller's farm "a healing haven for us," telling Rolling Stone, the actor "may have firearms for self-defense purposes and they are stored in a part of the house that the children never go in."
The parents of a different child also recently sought a protective order against Miller, alleging that the actor has been grooming their teenager since she was 12 years old and has “physically and emotionally abused” her. Miller has been detained twice in Hawaii this year, once in March after police responded to a report of a rowdy bar patron, and once in April for an alleged assault, in addition to the most recent grooming charges.
Warner Bros / Discovery have a very bad situation on their hands. The Flash film marks the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, leads into the new Batgirl movie, introduces Supergirl, and is so heavily featured in the film, in multiple iterations, that it will be nearly impossible to replace him with another actor.
The post Never Go Full Ezra Miller: Flash Star’s Break-Down Just Got Worse appeared first on Bleeding Fool. |
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