#Black Widow filme stream

[nancywheeeler]

look i am delighted marvel is finally in the find out stage after they fucked around and completely over-saturated the market but i can't help noticing it is always, always, always the female-led projects bearing the brunt of the criticism and just left out to dry by disney

[simeonscott]

Check out the replay NOW!

Ranking the ENTIRE MCU W/ @BoingoRider ! - Vacstream 12/2/2023

Doing a Tier List Stream with @boingo-rider on Saturday Afternoon, come join us if ya can!

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

This is not good at all...

Insiders and nothing official, so take this with a grain of salt.. but it is brutal.

Regarding Kang and Loki:

“Marvel is truly fucked with the whole Kang angle,” says one top dealmaker who has seen the final “Loki” episode. “And they haven’t had an opportunity to rewrite until very recently [because of the WGA strike]. But I don’t see a path to how they move forward with him.” 

So they might have to re-write the upcoming movies/series while it's all still filming. My, my...

The Marvels:

Directed by Nia DaCosta, “The Marvels” [...] resulted in four weeks of reshoots to bring coherence to a tangled storyline. DaCosta began working on another film while “The Marvels” was still in postproduction. “If you’re directing a $250 million movie, it’s kind of weird for the director to leave with a few months to go,” says a source familiar with the production.  In June, Marvel held a public test screening in Texas. The audience gave the film middling reviews.   

I'm including a snippet from another interview here because Da Costa said this last month:

While some directors, such as James Gunn, receive almost full creative control for their MCU entries, DaCosta recognized she had to answer to Feige: "It is a Kevin Feige production, it’s his movie." Da Costa did not have full creative control of the movie.

Picture me extremely worried now.

The VFX:

At the world premiere of “Quantumania,” [...] “There were at least 10 scenes where the visual effects had been added at the last minute and were out of focus. It was insane. I’ve never seen something like that in my entire career. Everyone was talking about it.”  The schedule swap with “The Marvels” had left the “Ant-Man” sequel in a squeeze, pushing up its postproduction schedule by four-and-a-half months. Some final effects for “WandaVision” and “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” were inserted after their streaming debuts. 

The VFX guys have so much work and Disney gives them impossible deadlines, to the point that the releases of their series arrive and they haven't had the time to finish their work. I'm so glad these guys are unionized now!

On Blade:

The project has gone through at least five writers, two directors and one shutdown six weeks before production. One person familiar with the script permutations says the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons. Blade was relegated to the fourth lead.

Holy fuck, that script? Seriously? I bet they would have tried to sell that as feminist, wtf... 🤦‍♀️

Bringing back the OG Avengers. No, really:

Sources say there have been talks to bring back the original gang for an “Avengers” movie. This would include reviving Iron Man and Black Widow. But the studio hasn’t yet committed to the idea.

"We're not working on the new characters well enough and people don't like them! What should we do?"

"Should we write them better?"

"No, let's just bring the old ones back!"

There is one good thing though:

Still, there was one bright spot in 2023: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which became Marvel’s biggest draw of the year with $845 million worldwide. 

Fuck yeah, James Gunn! It's almost like when you focus on the characters and you tell a cohesive story, people like it and pay the damn tickets to watch it...

[mariacallous]

Forty-seven years ago today, everything changed. True believers might already know what it was: On May 25, 1977, Star Wars hit movie theaters and irrevocably altered nearly everything pertaining to the act of moviegoing. Lines around the block, overly excited nerds, an appetite for action figures. Star Wars taught Hollywood that certain genres—sci-fi, fantasy, anything that percolated in the offbeat TV shows, books, and comics of the 1950s and ’60s—had fans, and those fandoms would show up. Star Wars made a meager $1.6 million in the US in its opening weekend. But people kept coming back, and by the end of its initial run it had made more than $300 million. Hollywood’s Next Big Thing had arrived.

Common wisdom dictates that Jaws, which came out in 1975 and made some $260 million, was the first summer blockbuster. That’s true, but it was Star Wars that shifted the idea of what kind of film future popcorn flicks tried to be. In the years after its release, a trove of sci-fi and genre films landed in theaters: Blade Runner, Alien, E.T., the Mad Max sequel The Road Warrior. By the ’90s, the summer movie energy had shifted to action fare—Twister, Speed, Jurassic Park, Independence Day—but nerd stuff still ruled. For every Forrest Gump there was a Batman Returns or Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Then came a little juggernaut called Marvel. By the time Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies started clearing nine-figure opening weekends in the aughts, it was obvious that comic book heroes’ true superpowers involved making your money disappear. The Avengers opened in early May 2012 and nearly recouped its $200-million-plus production budget in three days. Suddenly, there were at least two superhero movies every year, if not every summer, and some new Star Wars flicks at the holidays.

The one-two punch of Covid-19 theater closures and streaming pretty much kneecapped this entire process. The summer of 2020 had virtually no blockbusters, and by the time moviegoers returned to multiplexes in 2021 and 2022, there had been a vibe shift. Movies like Black Widow and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did well, but they weren’t events. Rushing to Fandango for tickets didn’t feel as urgent as it once did. Last summer, Barbenheimer was the buzziest thing in movies. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 made money, but they still got beat by Barbie’s might.

Overall, this year could be a wake-up call for studios that superhero fatigue has fully set in, says Chris Nashawaty, author of The Future Was Now, a new book out in July about how the movies of 1982—Blade Runner, E.T., Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, among others—ushered in the current blockbuster era. That epoch, he says, “was always going to be something that couldn’t last forever; I’m frankly surprised that it lasted as long as it did.”

Nashawaty says the success of Barbenheimer—both movies—indicates that audiences are hungry for smart films, but Hollywood’s risk aversion likely means studios will greenlight more projects based on toys and games like Monopoly rather than movies about physicists. “This is a real existential moment in Hollywood right now,” he adds, and studios need to be bold to stay relevant.

Summer 2024, which unofficially begins this weekend, promises a move away from the formula that has been in play for decades. There are only a handful of big popcorn-ready movies coming, and they’re decidedly less family-friendly than the blockbusters of yore. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which dropped on Friday, is a teeth-chatteringly gritty prequel about a kidnapped woman (Anya Taylor-Joy playing the younger version of Charlize Theron’s character from Mad Max: Fury Road) who ends up in a war between two overlords and has to fight her way out. Deadpool & Wolverine is a Marvel movie, yes, but it’s apparently a paean to pegging and cocaine so hard-R that Ryan Reynolds won’t shut up about it.

The series of weird indies coming in the next few months—the thriller Cuckoo, Ti West’s latest horror flick MaXXXine, a new collab from Poor Things pals Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos called Kinds of Kindness—finally have some room to get into the summer movie conversation.

Make no mistake: I am typing these things with glee and admiration. Glossy family movies have their place, but they’ve grown awfully predictable. Safe—not necessarily in their plots, but in their substance. No matter how fun last year’s barn-burner The Super Mario Bros. Movie was, you can’t say anything about it was surprising, much less new. No one walked into the theater for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and walked out as gobsmacked as they were when they saw Star Wars, or even Speed.

This is not a “Hollywood is so homogenized” argument. Rather, it’s a reminder that Tinseltown wasn’t always this way. Its influence used to introduce people to the future. What’s happening now has the potential to mark a return to the kind of startlingly original movies that used to be hits. Between the pandemic, streaming, and the Hollywood strikes of last summer, a lot of old habits got broken, and there’s a sense that a renaissance is afoot.

This revitalization won’t come easy, if it comes at all. Summer 2024 still has its share of redos and sequels—a new Inside Out movie, reboots of ’90s summer staples The Crow and Twister. (The latter is the aptly-named Twisters; there are more tornadoes this time, apparently.) But even those movies at least feel like they’re grasping for the prefranchise days, even if they’re birthing franchises in the process.

Furiosa is currently projected to bring in more than $40 million at the US box office this weekend, a figure that would bring it close to Fury Road’s tally but may not convince Hollywood execs that it should bankroll more R-rated, original shockbusters. It would, presumably, best The Garfield Movie, which is also out this weekend and has the makings of a more surefire hit: well-known IP, animated, PG-rated. (For the record, though: Critics seem to think it sucks.) Early ticket sales for Deadpool & Wolverine are already breaking records for an R-rated movie. Should it dominate the conversation for a couple weeks while also raking in money, that embrace of a very not-Disney Disney movie—coupled with Furiosa and Hot Barbenheimer Summer—could signal a tipping point.

Look, nothing will ever completely derail Hollywood’s reliance on sure things. Video game adaptations remain poised to take the crown long held by superhero flicks. (Borderlands, starring Cate Blanchett, is coming to theaters this August.) But if this summer’s ever-sprawling slate turns up just enough weird hits, maybe we’ll once again know the feeling of walking out of Star Wars for the first time.

[black-arcana]

IN THIS MOMENT Announces 'The Godmode Tour Part 2', BLABBERMOUTH.NET Presale

IN THIS MOMENT will embark on "The Godmode Tour Part 2" this fall. Support on the trek, which will kick off on November 8 in Asheville, North Carolina and end on December 7 in Manchester, New Hampshire, will come from KIM DRACULA, NATHAN JAMES and MIKE'S DEAD.

A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale will begin on Wednesday, August 14 at 2:00 p.m. EDT and end on Thursday, August 15 at 10:00 p.m. local time. When prompted, type in the presale code " ITMBBM24" to access tickets before the general public. Check back here on Wednesday for ticketing links to individual shows. General on-sale will be Friday, August 16 at 10 a.m. local time.

Tour dates:

Nov. 08 - Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Nov. 09 - Roanoke, VA - Berglund Center Nov. 11 - Huntsville, AL - Mark C. Smith Concert Hall Nov. 12 - Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy Nov. 13 - Orlando, FL - House Of Blues Nov. 15 - Shreveport, LA - Shreveport Municipal Auditorium Nov. 16 - Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center Nov. 17 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Pavilion Nov. 19 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland Theatre Nov. 20 - East Moline, IL - The Rust Belt Nov. 22 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Casino Showroom * Nov. 23 - Rockford, IL - Hard Rock Live Rockford # Nov. 24 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave / Eagles Club Nov. 26 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee Nov. 27 - Gary, IN - Hard Rock Live Northern Indiana & Nov. 30 - Columbus, OH - Kemba Live!# Dec. 01 - Windsor, ON - The Colosseum & Dec. 03 - Toronto, ON - History Dec. 05 - Cleveland, OH - The Agora Dec. 06 - Reading, PA - The Santander Arena Dec. 07 - Manchester, NH - SNHU Arena

* KIM DRACULA only # KIM DRACULA, MIKE'S DEAD only & NATHAN JAMES, KIM DRACULA only

IN THIS MOMENT's latest album, "Godmode", arrived back in October via BMG. The LP was produced by Kane Churko (ROB ZOMBIE, DISTURBED, PAPA ROACH) and Tyler Bates. Bates produced, wrote songs for, and played multiple instruments on albums by MARILYN MANSON, BUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell. He is best known, however, for scoring the box office smash "300", the Emmy Award-winning Showtime series "Californication", the "Guardians Of The Galaxy" and "John Wick" film franchises. IN THIS MOMENT's song "I Would Die For You" appeared on the soundtrack for "John Wick: Chapter 4", for which Bates wrote the score.

With a Grammy nomination ("The In-Between", 2021),platinum and gold record sales, multiple Top 25 entries on the Billboard Top 200 ("Black Widow" and "Ritual"),hits including "Whore", "Blood" and "Adrenalize" and career streams of more than 1.3 billion, you'd think IN THIS MOMENT might rest on their laurels. Instead, they've created "Godmode", 10 dynamic songs that mark a new high for the quintet, further cementing their legacy in the heavy music world. Proof positive is in "Godmode"'s first single, the industrial-heavy yet ultra-melodic "The Purge", and its darkly cinematic video directed by Jensen Noen (BRING ME THE HORIZON, DEMI LOVATO). From the portentous start of the '90s-tinged "Godmode" with Maria Brink's powerful primal scream to the pitch-perfect cover of Bjork's 1995 "Army Of Me" to the impassioned pain to partnership in "Everything Starts And Ends With You", "Godmode" is a cut above.

The L.A.-based band's eighth album finds vocalist Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth writing the most powerful songs of their career.

"We're always striving for reinvention and growth. It's been 10 years since our 'Blood' album, and there's been a lot of transitions happening, this year particularly, but it all felt so meant to be," explains Brink. Top talent aided and abetted IN THIS MOMENT; Spencer Charnas from ICE NINE KILLS guests on the pointed and pained "Damaged", and several songs were co-written with Tyler Bates, the award-winning producer and composer of numerous film, television, and video game scores. In fact, the initial collaboration with Bates, the moody, haunting mid-tempo winner "I Would Die For You" ended up both on the "John Wick: Chapter 4" soundtrack and as the last cut on "Godmode".

IN THIS MOMENT, a touring juggernaut who've slayed stages worldwide at Ozzfest, Warped Tour, Download, Knotfest and Rocklahoma, put out "Mother" in 2020, during the pandemic, giving fans something to hold on in during that bleak time, and earning "The In-Between" the band's first Grammy nod. It was 2021 when Howorth and Brink first wrote with Bates on "I Would Die For You". Following that collaboration, the duo were writing organically, for pleasure, not focused on the next album. As the pandemic waxed and waned, Howorth learned programming, and created music around synthwave sounds, which Brink leaned into. Her lyrical ideas arose both from soul-searching and "humanity and so much crisis and so many heart-wrenching things in the world. That negativity and darkness is how songs like 'The Purge' came about," Brink explains.

The end result is that when IN THIS MOMENT went into the studio in January 2023, the easy flow had allowed them to compile the most songs they'd ever written at one time, songs the entire band loved. Longtime producer Kevin Churko helped shape ITM's sound starting in 2008, but for "Godmode", his son, Kane Churko, was at the helm.

"Kane's got all the strengths that his father taught him ���everything, all the bells and whistles, but he's got some new tricks because he's a younger generation, he's hungry," says Brink.

Kane was the perfect match for IN THIS MOMENT's inspired songs.

"During the pandemic, just writing versus writing with a pressure that music has to be for an album, allowed us the freedom to make the record we made," says Howorth. "Godmode"'s songs gained even more strength in the studio, with Kane shaking up the band's usual m.o. even further.

"Having some songs by Tyler influenced us as well," Brink explains. "It was scary for the band, but it ended up flowing just so beautifully. We felt very experimental."

That flow gave the album its name and theme. "Godmode" isn't religious, rather it's an expression for a triumphant flow state where all comes together seamlessly, coalescing into an ultimate form. As Brink sings in "Godmode", "You got me feeling so high / You lift me off of my feet yeah / You got me feeling like, feeling like / I'm in Godmode." In video games — Howorth plays the game "Destiny" — "God mode" also refers to a code that makes a player invincible.

"There's a spontaneity in this album that you can hear. It's a little more visceral. And that we're not with Kevin, who has done all our albums except for our very first, fans will hear those differences too, which is really cool and exciting for us," Howorth says.

"We had all this built-up energy from the last three years, we felt angst, we felt we had a lot to release," furthers Brink. "And we were letting it loose organically, while also playing with different time signatures and interesting things like that." "We use an 8-string on the album, which we haven't done before," Howorth says. "We did some different tunings, and it can definitely be freeing from guitar standpoint, the way we did things this time. Working with Kane was different and more off the cuff, being in the studio, getting creative and just trying a bunch of different stuff on every song. It was a really good experience."

As fans of Brink's lyrics know, life in and around IN THIS MOMENT hasn't always been easy. As Brink recalls, "When I met Chris, I was just a starry-eyed girl with huge dreams. And he was in a PANTERA-like metal band!" She told Howorth she wanted a heavy lineup that could sell platinum and win Grammys. The band had an early manager who told them it would never happen. But his dismissiveness only fueled IN THIS MOMENT's fire, energy and fight. "We're just relentless," says Brink. "Anything's possible if you really put your mind and energy into it."

For "Godmode", that energy also went into the "The Purge" video, where director Noen brought his artistry and next-level talent to Brink's storyboard ideas. The larger-than-life video themes and sets have been translated into IN THIS MOMENT's live stage show, literally. And summer 2023 saw the band on its first arena co-headlining tour with full pyrotechnics.

"Our whole lives we've talked about being in an arena and having fire and a full show," Brink says. "And now we're doing it and it's just so beautiful."

IN THIS MOMENT certainly have nothing to prove, the lineup's authority assured live on record and onscreen. Yet, "Godmode"'s energy and scope is visceral.

"With our new ideas and excitement and Kane's energy of wanting to prove himself to everybody, we were able to show that we're heavy and just as impactful as every other new band coming out right now," says Howorth. "We can punch you right in the face, that energy is in there big, time. I think our fans are really gonna like this album, because it's taken us back a little bit where it began, but it's also more instinctive, and heavier than anything we've done a long time," concludes Howorth.

Brink, a private person, nonetheless gives and takes much strength from ITM's millions of fans. The healing is on both sides.

"It's amazing if my songs help people feel empowered. When humans share painful things that we went through and how we heal from it, we can help each other and pass that energy on," she says. "Honestly, the most beautiful thing about being in a band is being able to have that connection with strangers who become kindred spirits. Sure, I have urges to wear 'masks' and hide from everything and wear makeup, but I like to share and be honest and vulnerable. The sky's the limit," Brink concludes. "You just have to keep dreaming, keep expanding, keep pushing yourself to that next level. I feel like something is shifting right now in the band; this is such a special moment for us with 'Godmode'."

Photo credit: Joe Cotela

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: The Avengers (2012)

The Avengers (2012)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2023/04/review-avengers-2012.html>

Score: 5 out of 5

Eleven years and dozens of movies and TV shows later, The Avengers still stands as arguably the greatest achievement of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even more than its best standalone films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther, this was the movie that demonstrated what the "idea" of the MCU could produce and accomplish, a shared universe that brought together characters from different popular movies for a big crossover in which they all got a chance to shine as a team. Looking back, the legacy of the MCU on Hollywood as a whole has been mixed, such that it's increasingly come in for backlash in the last few years to the point where hating the series is no longer necessarily a contrarian take, the genuinely divisive reception to recent movies and shows in the franchise not helping its case. (I've been nicer to Marvel's recent output than most, and even I can't help but feel that there's a bit of malaise there.) Which makes it all the more impressive to see that, watching the original Avengers again with a group of kids who were either in diapers or not even born yet when it came out and experienced the series mostly through home video and streaming, it still absolutely holds up, and moreover, it reminded me of what Marvel's strengths were back in its 2010s imperial phase when it was firing on all cylinders. It's got an all-star cast, probably the best direction of Joss Whedon's career, and a use of continuity that enriches the experience for those who've seen the prior films in the franchise but doesn't detract from it if you haven't -- the secret sauce that, if you ask me, allowed the MCU to succeed for so long where other, similar attempts at big, modular franchises failed, and something that it's lost sight of recently. Once we're past the backlash phase and old enough to be nostalgic for the MCU (won't that be something), I think that this movie and "Phase One" more broadly will get its due once again.

The plot feels like it could've been lifted out of any number of Big Event crossovers from the comics. An alien race called the Chitauri, led by the Norse trickster god Loki (the Norse gods in this universe being aliens themselves) with a chip on his shoulder, is planning to invade Earth, and Nick Fury, director of the secret government agency S.H.I.E.L.D., has a plan to stop them: assemble a collection of exceptional individuals with unique skills to lead the fight. They include: Tony Stark, the egotistical billionaire CEO of a weapons manufacturer who built a suit of high-tech "Iron Man" powered armor to fight terrorists; Steve Rogers, the product of an American World War II scientific program to create a superior fighting man who wound up frozen in ice for decades and thawed out in the present day; Bruce Banner, a brilliant physicist who, thanks to an accident during an experiment with gamma radiation, developed a monstrous Jekyll-and-Hyde alter ego called the Hulk that comes out when he's angry or stressed; Thor, the Norse god of thunder seeking to stop his adoptive brother Loki's warpath and return him to Asgard for judgment; and Natasha Romanoff; a deadly spy codenamed "Black Widow" who defected from Russia and is now one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents. Unfortunately, Loki, using his own supernatural gifts, has seduced a number of humans to his own side, most notably Erik Selvig, a physicist who was researching an alien artifact called the Tesseract that Loki needs to open a portal to bring his army to Earth, and Clint Barton, another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent codenamed "Hawkeye" who knows his employer inside and out.

The underlying theme of most of the first two acts of this movie is a reflection of what people in real life, from critics to comic book fans to much of the movie's audience, were thinking in 2012: "can this actually work?" Can you do this kind of superhero team-up in the movies the way they do it in the comics? It's here where you see why Marvel producer Kevin Feige sought out Joss Whedon to write and direct this movie, and not just because he was already a geek media legend by then. Whedon's style has unfortunately been caricatured over the years as revolving around jokey, flippant dialogue, thanks in no small part to the many filmmakers and TV show runners who've tried to imitate it, and the man's own personal controversies in the last several years have made him an easy punching bag. That said, anybody who's watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, or Firefly knows that his real strength as a writer, the thing that separated him from the countless writers making jokey, flippant Shane Black ripoffs back in the '90s, was working with large ensemble casts in which there often wasn't a singular protagonist.

Whedon tackles the question of whether this will work head-on by making the real "arc" of the movie revolve less around stopping Loki than around having Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk, the four marquee superheroes who each had their origin stories told in prior movies, learn to put aside their differences and work as a team. They each bring their own larger-than-life personalities to the table, and while Tony and Bruce hit it off immediately over their shared love of science, Tony's ego and gung-ho attitude clash with both Steve's Boy Scout values and military code of honor and Thor's own ego as a superbeing of ancient legend, while Bruce's volatile temper and the end result of such threatens to get them all killed if he can't control it. Loki knows all of this, and for much of the film, a good chunk of his plan, as befitting a trickster god, is to play mind games with the heroes and convince them to tear each other apart so that he can move on and conquer Earth in their absence. Black Widow and Hawkeye, the relative newcomers to the MCU (the former had been a supporting character in Iron Man 2 but wouldn't get her own movie for nearly a decade), serve as surrogates for audience members who know what superheroes are but may not have seen every (or even any) prior movie in the series, while Nick Fury, the authority figure looming over them all, is the ringmaster who introduces us to them and brings them all together.

It helps when you've got a bunch of A-list (or soon-to-be-A-list) actors at the top of their game, the kinds of people who feel born to play these sorts of figures. Robert Downey, Jr.'s great gift as Tony Stark was making him just unlikable enough that you want to see him humbled but not so much that you want to see him lose, Chris Evans always knew how to make Steve Rogers feel like a good-hearted average Joe given extraordinary abilities but never forgetting who he used to be, Chris Hemsworth was exactly the kind of chiseled, Ahnold-style hunk you'd need to play the mighty God of Thunder, and Mark Ruffalo, replacing Edward Norton after some complicated backstage politics, brought an almost Jeff Goldblum-style energy to Bruce Banner, a squirrelly nerd who's visibly hiding a shameful secret. Scarlett Johansson, meanwhile, made her scenes in this movie as Natasha a demo reel for her as both an action hero and a femme fatale, while Samuel L. Jackson brought his usual BAMF energy to a PG-13 version of such as Nick Fury, a man who most of us would happily take orders from. Last but not least, Tom Hiddleston as Loki is exactly the kind of classy-yet-subtly-off-putting British theater actor you want playing a hammy, egomaniacal villain straight out of mythology, like a young Alan Rickman, standing as one of the best villains the MCU's ever had to this day and only failing to steal the show out from under everyone else because, again, this is a Joss Whedon ensemble piece where everybody gets a moment in the sun.

(And Hawkeye seems cool, like a really nice guy. Okay, I kid, Jeremy Renner was alright in the part. He was much better in later movies, though. There's a reason why people used to make fun of him so much.)

The quality of Whedon's work here doesn't stop at his writing, either. The MCU has never been known as a visually inventive series, and a lot of people blame Whedon for that, accusing him of bringing a flat visual style straight out of network television to the biggest blockbuster franchise in Hollywood and relying on his writing as his main creative thumbprint. I'm convinced that they got Whedon mixed up with the Russo brothers who handled the later Avengers films, because Whedon actually does a lot that's interesting behind the camera. Noting that scenes in superhero movies look like they were pulled straight out of a comic book is practically a cliché at this point, but in this case, it's a perfect description, as Whedon seemed to understand exactly how to bring a comic book splash panel to life on the big screen. This movie looks and feels epic, with action that's not only well-shot and easy to follow but also downright massive in scope, often having several things going on at once in the bigger sequences like the attack on the helicarrier and the climatic third-act battle in the streets of Manhattan. The effects were top-notch and felt like they had all the love and care in the world put into them, especially in comparison to some of the rush jobs that more recent Marvel movies have been guilty of. This was the kind of movie they make movie theaters for, and even watching it at home, I was consistently enthralled by its action sequences. There's a reason why so many sci-fi blockbuster action movies in the 2010s had their villains shoot big beams of light into the sky as part of their plan, or featured armies of faceless alien monsters for the heroes to fight without feeling guilty about killing people, and that's because this movie did it so amazingly well that everybody else couldn't help but copy its notes.

The Bottom Line

The Avengers is a movie that still holds up even after countless superhero movies, including in its own franchise, that tried to top it. I don't know if I'd call it the best movie in the MCU, but it's certainly the most impactful, the one that everyone's gonna remember above all else (barring maybe Black Panther) years from now as the movie that made the whole enterprise worth it.

[litcityblues]

Loki Season 2 & What Should Have Happened With The MCU

I think it’s safe to say that at this point, the MCU has hit a rough patch- but the weirdly frustrating thing about navigating said rough patch is that a lot of the content they’ve put out has not been bad. In fact, some of it has been good to downright excellent, but the problem is that there’s been way too much of it.

Loki is firmly in the ‘downright excellent’ category. You actually see some of that old MCU magic at play here. There’s a unique visual style. Good characters. It’s obviously a key piece of the multiverse saga, but the frustrating part is that they didn’t really treat it like that until the end of the second season where Loki’s position in the multiverse becomes very apparent indeed. (Also that there gets to be a Multiverse full stop.) Leaving aside the Kang speculation for awhile, I think it’s worth looking at everything that’s come out since Endgame and really assessing what was necessary and what wasn’t. I think (and you won’t convince me of anything else) that a firehose of content was what undid them here. When it becomes a chore to keep track of whatever is going on in the MCU, you’re going to see diminishing returns and that’s exactly what has happened. 

So, if I’m an agent of the TVA and going back in time to try and fix this, this is what I’d probably do:

Far From Home: Keep

Black Widow: Keep

Shang-Chi: Ditch- though you can make a case for doing a release purely aimed at the Asian markets and/or making this an Iron Fist sequel where you clean up the obviously problematic things– but this movie was decent, but wasn’t really an ‘event’ for me.

Eternals: Ditch- I don’t mind the Eternals and it feels like an unusual departure and an attempt at trying something a little different for Marvel, so points for that. But without a plan of how to integrate them into the wider narrative, it feels like a wasted opportunity. (And they hinted at that with the Black Knight/Harry Styles cameo at the end- and then nothing happened with either of those characters as far as I can tell. Plus people keep rightly pointing out that there's a GIANT HAND coming out of the ocean that NO ONE in the MCU has mentioned since.)

No Way Home: Keep

Multiverse of Madness: Keep

Love and Thunder: Ditch- Something’s gotta go?

Wakanda Forever: Keep

Quantumania: Ditch- If the Eternals were trying something new with no integration into the wider narrative, Quantumania had the opposite problem. It was a chapter of the wider narrative that completely subsumed anything entertaining about the film. This should have been Avatar for the MCU.

GoTG 3: Keep

The Marvels: Keep- but I saw some decent criticism that pointed out that it’s hard to root for a character who is so damn powerful. Hopefully, the introduction of The X-Men gives them the opportunity to explore some storylines.

WandaVision: Keep

The Falcon and Winter Soldier: Should Have Been A Movie

Loki: Keep (obviously)

What If?: Keep

Hawkeye: Keep

Moon Knight: Should have been introduced somewhere else, but I appreciate the concept and how they portrayed it, but I’d say Ditch.

Ms. Marvel: Keep

She-Hulk: Keep

Secret Invasion: Should Have Been A Movie

Loki 2: Keep (obviously)

So, you’d go from 21 projects between streaming and movies down to 14 and suddenly the fire hose becomes a bit more manageable to me. I would have also led off with Loki as soon as practicable after Endgame so you could lay down the seeds of Kang (or whomever) and establish the Multiversity of it all. Wandavision does lead into Dr. Strange 2 quite nicely and the Spiderman movies tie in quite nicely as well with Dr. Strange and then the Spider-verse uniting with Andrew Garfield and Toby McGuire in No Way Home. Making Loki more of the centerpiece and turning down the firehose of content would have made the impact of the end of Season 2 land more impactfully I think.

Whatever you do- if you're moving into a Multiverse Saga then everything should have some connective tissue to that central concept and a lot of it doesn't-- some of that is probably down to the business of movies-- you're going to have some sequels, but again. 'less is more'.

(I am a big believer in the idea of ‘less is more’ for the MCU– but fight me in the comments if you don’t like what I’ve pruned from the timeline.)

But, Loki Season 2: The story picks up from Season 1- where Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) has killed He Who Remains and thrown the TVA and the timeline into chaos. Without He Who Remains guarding the sacred timeline, the branches are growing out of control and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has been afflicted with time-slipping that he cannot (at least at first)- but he and Mobius (Owen Wilson) go to TVA Technician Ouroboros (Ke Huy Quan) to try and figure out what's going on with Loki and prevent the Time Loom from going critical and exploding- which Loki sees in a vision of the future before he time slips again.

Loki, Mobius, and their allies in the TVA decide they need to find Sylvie-- but it turns out that's not the answer to their problems either, so they try and track down Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and find another of He Who Remains variants, Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors) instead. Everything keeps coming back to the Loom. They keep trying and trying to save it but eventually, Loki realizes that there is only one thing he can do to save his friends and, perhaps more importantly, reality itself: he goes out into the Loom and it explodes anyway, but Loki keeps going, realizing that his abilities can rejuvenate the branches and, rearranges them into a tree-like structure and becomes not the God of Mischief, but the God of Stories, overseeing the branches alone at the end of time.

The TVA dedicates itself to finding the variants of who remains across the timeline and stopping them and Mobius retires from the TVA.

Overall: Satisfying and perfect and a great way to wrap up this character's journey through the MCU, Loki Season 2 should be the capstone to Tom Hiddleston's role. Don't bring him back. Don't reboot him. Don't. Do. Anything. Else. (Unless it's very well-written and MAKES SENSE in terms of your larger narrative.) I love the sets in this show. I love the color palette of this show. I love the cast in this show-- Jonathan Majors gives an excellent performance as Victor TImely. Ke Huy Quan is a perfect addition to the cast as OB and they bring the story to a close perfectly.

However- as I said above, if Marvel had slowed down the fire hose of content and committed to investing in fewer shows with higher quality writing/sets/casts, etc- I think they'd be in a lot better position. That's not to say that both seasons of Loki aren't important in the current scheme of the MCU-- they obviously are, but because of the firehose of content that Marvel unleashed, they are decidedly not the appointment viewing that they should have been. It's not quite as frustrating to think about as it is when you watch Secret Invasion which was a criminal waste of both Samuel L. Jackson and Olivia Colman and should have been a movie, but there's some frustration here. This show is very, very good. It got robbed of some of its flowers because Marvel decided that more is more, when in fact, less would have been better.

My Grade: **** out of **** One of the best MCU shows hands down. Could have been even better though.

[lol-jackles]

You know how most of the movies are going straight to steaming services with either no theatrical release or else just one week of theatrical release. How does that affect the actors and other people involved in terms of making money? Is it good or bad financially?

It's mostly bad, which was why Scarlette Johannson sued Marvel when they dropped Black Widow onto Disney+ and theaters on the same day, thus undermining theatre box office performances which the percentage that Scarlette would have recieved is based on. Disney reportedly made over $60 million with rentals on Disney+, and Scarlett wouldn't see a penny from the profit made on Disney+ .

When WB decided in 2020 to drop their movies in theatres and streaming on the same day, at least they paid millions to their movie actors in compensation. Gal Gadot allegedly received $10 million for Wonder Woman II on top of her salary plus percentage of theatre total gross profit.

For high tier movie stars, they can demand a guaranteed sliding scale fee for each day that streaming infringes on the film’s theater run. Other stars have demand to be paid for their ability to drive social-media interest in a movie or series, which in turn drives subscriptions.  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson charges a $1 million social-media fee to promote his films on Twitter and Facebook. like he did for Red Notice (X). When You third season dropped on Netflix, social media activity associated with Penn Badgley and his character surged and indirectly benefited Netflix, and so It wouldn’t surprise me if he asked to be compensated for it.

[cineaura13]

Stay Updated: New Movies and Web Series You Can’t Miss

Your Ultimate Guide to New Movies and Streaming Series: What’s Hot Now

In today's fast-paced digital landscape, staying updated on the latest films and television series can be quite a task. With the sheer volume of new releases, it's crucial to know where to find them and how to choose what to watch. Whether you’re looking for a thrilling movie, a heartwarming series, or the latest web shows, we've got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about new movies, the latest web series, and what’s currently streaming.

New Movies Out to Watch Now

Current Streaming Trends

The movie industry has shifted dramatically towards streaming platforms, offering viewers a wide range of choices. This transition has led to the emergence of numerous new movies available for streaming across various services. Some of the platforms you can explore include:

Netflix: This giant of streaming has consistently been at the forefront of releasing original content. You can find many latest streaming films here. Movies like The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Mank have captured audiences' attention and received critical acclaim.

Amazon Prime Video: Another top contender, Amazon Prime, also offers a robust selection of new movies out to watch. From blockbuster hits to indie films, Prime is known for its diverse library.

Disney+: Known for its family-friendly content, Disney+ is the go-to platform for the latest superhero films and animated classics. Check out their newest releases, including Black Widow and Luca.

Hulu: This platform is not just for TV shows anymore. Hulu has stepped up its movie game with new releases and acclaimed indie films.

HBO Max: With the recent trend of simultaneously releasing movies in theaters and on HBO Max, you can watch titles like Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune from the comfort of your home.

Finding New Movies

If you’re wondering how to find new movies, here are a few tips:

Streaming Services' Own Lists: Most platforms curate lists of their newly released movies and those currently trending.

Movie Websites: Websites like CineAura offer curated lists of the latest movies and series, making it easier to decide what to watch.

Social Media & Blogs: Following entertainment blogs and social media pages can also keep you informed about the latest movie and web series releases.

Latest Web Series and Movies on OTT Platforms

OTT Revolution

Over-the-top (OTT) platforms have revolutionized how we consume media. Services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others are not only popular for their movies but also for their original series. The trend has paved the way for several new web series and movies to become available at our fingertips.

New Releases in Web Series: Platforms continuously update their catalogs with latest web series. For example, The Witcher Season 2 on Netflix is highly anticipated, showcasing the platform's investment in original content.

Movies and Series in Multiple Languages: With a focus on global content, many platforms are releasing series in different languages. Hindi web series like Scam 1992 and Paatal Lok have gained international acclaim, making them a must-watch for any avid viewer.

Family-Friendly Series: If you're looking for something to enjoy with the family, platforms like Disney+ offer many options. Series such as The Mandalorian have become cultural phenomena, appealing to audiences of all ages.

Upcoming and New Releases

For those who enjoy planning their viewing schedules, knowing about upcoming releases is essential. Most streaming services announce their new content ahead of time, allowing you to prepare.

Check Platforms Regularly: Always check your preferred streaming platforms for their upcoming lists. They often have sections for new movie releases and series.

Follow Entertainment News: Stay updated with websites and magazines that focus on entertainment news for information on new releases, trailers, and casting news.

New Hindi Web Series and Movies

The Hindi Film Industry's Shift to Streaming

The rise of streaming services has significantly impacted the Indian film industry, allowing for diverse storytelling and representation. Several new Hindi web series have taken the spotlight in recent months.

Top Picks:

Mirzapur Season 3 and The Family Man Season 2 have been received well by audiences. Both series offer thrilling plots, rich character development, and a glimpse into Indian culture.

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story has become one of the most-watched web series, providing a gripping account of financial fraud in India.

New Hindi Movies on OTT: Alongside web series, platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime are increasingly investing in original Hindi films. Titles like Ludo and Shershaah have gained popularity, showcasing the versatility of storytelling in Bollywood.

Where to Watch

ZEE5: This platform focuses on Indian content and often releases exclusive Hindi series. They offer a mix of films and original series to cater to diverse audiences.

ALTBalaji: Known for its adult-themed content, ALTBalaji is popular among younger viewers looking for relatable stories.

SonyLIV: This platform has also entered the fray, offering a mix of web series and movies to attract audiences.

Finding the Best New Movies to Stream

Websites to Watch New Movies

There are several free and paid options available for watching the latest films.

Free Movie Streaming Sites: Websites such as Tubi and Crackle allow you to watch new films without any subscription fees. However, be aware that these sites may have ads.

Subscription Services: If you prefer an ad-free experience, consider investing in subscription services like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, which frequently update their libraries with new movies available for streaming.

Movie Rental Services: Platforms like Apple iTunes and Google Play allow you to rent or buy new release movies without a subscription.

Latest Movies Out to Watch

To help you choose what to watch, here’s a quick list of some of the latest movies making waves this month:

Black Widow: The much-anticipated Marvel film is finally available on Disney+, providing an action-packed experience.

Dune: This visually stunning adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel has become a critical success, available for streaming on HBO Max.

No Time to Die: Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond is available in theaters and on various streaming platforms.

The Matrix Resurrections: A fresh take on the classic series, it's a must-watch for fans of sci-fi and action genres.

New Movies and TV Shows

Popular Genres and Recommendations

The beauty of streaming lies in the diversity of genres available. Here are some popular genres and notable new movies and series to check out:

Romantic Comedies: Titles like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before have garnered a huge following. Keep an eye on Netflix for new romantic comedies that release regularly.

Documentaries: If you're a fan of real-life stories, Netflix and Hulu offer excellent documentaries. Check out The Social Dilemma, which discusses the impact of social media.

Thrillers: Films like I Care a Lot and The Night Stalker have gained attention for their gripping narratives and stellar performances.

Best Streaming Apps

To make the most of your viewing experience, consider downloading apps that offer convenient access to your favorite content:

Netflix App: With its user-friendly interface, the Netflix app is perfect for binge-watching your favorite series.

Amazon Prime Video App: This app provides easy access to your library of movies and allows you to rent or buy new releases.

Hulu App: Known for its collection of current TV shows, the Hulu app also offers a variety of films and exclusive content.

Upcoming Movies and Web Series

Staying Ahead of the Game

To stay informed about what’s coming next, consider the following tips:

Entertainment News Websites: Websites like Deadline and Variety frequently update their lists of upcoming releases, offering insights into what to expect.

Social Media: Follow your favorite actors and directors on social media platforms for sneak peeks and updates about upcoming projects.

Newsletters: Sign up for newsletters from streaming services to receive alerts about new and upcoming content tailored to your preferences.

Anticipated Releases

Keep an eye out for these highly anticipated movies and series set to release soon:

Stranger Things Season 4: Netflix's beloved series returns with more supernatural adventures.

Avatar: The Way of Water: The long-awaited sequel to the blockbuster Avatar is set to hit theaters soon.

The Lord of the Rings Series: Amazon’s take on this beloved universe promises to deliver a fresh narrative set in Middle-earth.

Conclusion

The world of cinema and streaming is more vibrant than ever, offering a plethora of new movies and web series to choose from. Whether you prefer to watch in theaters or from the comfort of your home, there are countless options available.

For the latest updates on what’s streaming now, visit CineAura and Websites to Watch Any Movies.

Stay informed, grab your popcorn, and get ready to explore the fantastic realm of new films and series awaiting you. Happy viewing!

[infogaruda]

10 Film Marvel Setelah Endgame: Siap-Siap Terpukau!

Bro, siapa nih yang masih belum move on dari Avengers: Endgame? Udah hampir 4 tahun lho filmnya rilis, tapi masih aja nempel di hati. Gimana gak nempel, filmnya keren banget sih! Pertarungan epic melawan Thanos, reuni para superhero, dan ending yang mengharukan, semua itu bikin Endgame jadi salah satu film superhero terbaik sepanjang masa. Setelah Endgame, banyak penggemar yang penasaran dengan kelanjutan cerita dalam film Marvel setelah endgame selanjutnya.

Temukan dunia hiburan tanpa batas dengan MediaboxHD! Nikmati akses ke koleksi film dan serial TV terbaru, serta pengalaman streaming yang lancar dan berkualitas tinggi. Mulai jelajahi sekarang dan temukan tontonan favoritmu hanya di MediaboxHD.

Film Marvel Setelah Endgame

Bersamaan dengan itu, muncul juga antusiasme yang tinggi dari para penggemar untuk menyaksikan film-film Marvel setelah Endgame, yang diharapkan akan memberikan petualangan baru dan membawa keseruan yang tak terduga.

Jadi, pastikan untuk tetap terhubung, karena dunia Marvel tidak akan pernah kehabisan cerita menarik untuk diceritakan. Oh, dan sebelum kita lanjut, tahukah kalian siapa yang paling banyak menyutradarai film MCU?

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Film ini ngasih kita kelanjutan kisah Peter Parker setelah Endgame. Dia masih ngerasa kehilangan Tony Stark dan berusaha untuk move on. Di film ini, Peter diajak Nick Fury dan Mysterio untuk ngelawan ancaman baru di Eropa. Tapi, ternyata Mysterio gak sebaik yang Peter kira.

Black Widow (2021)

Film ini menceritakan kisah Natasha Romanoff alias Black Widow sebelum peristiwa Endgame. Kita bakal diajak ngelihat masa lalu Natasha dan keluarganya di Rusia. Film ini juga ngasih kita penjelasan tentang Red Room, tempat Natasha dilatih menjadi agen rahasia.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Film ini ngenalin Shang-Chi, master kung fu yang merupakan anak dari Xu Wenwu, pemimpin Ten Rings. Shang-Chi harus ngelawan masa lalunya dan organisasi Ten Rings yang dipimpin oleh ayahnya.

Eternals (2021)

Film ini ngenalin Eternals, sekelompok alien yang udah hidup di Bumi selama ribuan tahun. Mereka harus ngelawan Deviants, alien jahat yang ingin ngehancurin Bumi.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Film ini merupakan salah satu film Marvel paling hype di tahun 2021. Di film ini, Peter Parker ngebuka multiverse dan bertemu dengan Spider-Man dari universe lain. Film ini penuh dengan nostalgia dan aksi yang seru.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Film ini merupakan sequel dari Doctor Strange (2016). Di film ini, Doctor Strange harus ngelawan ancaman baru dari multiverse. Film ini penuh dengan visual yang keren dan cerita yang menegangkan.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Film ini merupakan sequel dari Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Di film ini, Thor kembali beraksi dan bertemu dengan Natalie Portman yang kembali sebagai Mighty Thor.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Film ini merupakan sequel dari Black Panther (2018). Chadwick Boseman, pemeran utama Black Panther, meninggal dunia di tahun 2020. Film ini akan menceritakan kisah Wakanda tanpa T'Challa.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Film ini merupakan sequel dari Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). Di film ini, Scott Lang dan Hope Van Dyne kembali beraksi dan bertemu dengan Kang the Conqueror, salah satu villain paling kuat di Marvel Comics.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

Film ini merupakan sequel dari Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Di film ini, Guardians of the Galaxy kembali beraksi dan bertemu dengan Adam Warlock, salah satu karakter paling powerful di Marvel Comics.

Kesimpulan

Gimana bro, seru banget kan film-film Marvel setelah Endgame? Masih banyak lagi film Marvel yang akan rilis di masa depan, seperti The Marvels, Blade, dan Captain America: New World Order. Film-film ini diharapkan akan memberikan pengalaman yang tak terlupakan bagi para penggemar setia MCU. Jadi, pastikan untuk tetap terhubung dan jangan sampai ketinggalan setiap petualangan seru yang ditawarkan oleh dunia Marvel.

Fase keempat MCU udah dimulai dan banyak film marvel setelah endgame keren yang udah rilis dan akan rilis di masa depan. So, siapkan diri kalian untuk petualangan baru di Marvel Cinematic Universe! Oh, kalian udah tau belim, salah satu karakter ikonik dalam dunia Marvel  Steve Rogers merupakan nama asli superhero marvel apa?

[shmreduplication]

WB shelved the Batgirl film (with Brandon Frasier) a few months ago after filming had ended. Sure, everyone got paid for their time but they could've spent that time working on stuff that people would actually get to see! The film can't be a resume-builder if people hiring for future projects can't watch it!

HBO also pulled a lot of Cartoon Network shows off their streaming platform so now people who worked on those shows are getting zero residuals instead of a teeny tiny fraction of residuals

Both of these happened before the writers' strike so don't buy the bullshit that Blade getting shelved is because of the writers' strike

I just think it should be obvious that if you sign a contract with a company that does production and distribution, and you do all the production then they should, you know, do the distribution. Are writers going to have to start putting it in their contract that they should get increased payment if the work they write is not distributed?

I don't think individuals could pull that off but the union probably could. Actually I know individuals can't pull that off because Scarlett Johansson's contract for the Black Widow movie specified that it could not be released on D+ before a certain amount of time being exclusively in theaters, but they released it on both on the same day and used the pandemic as an excuse

if the companies have the money to film a movie, they have the money to edit and release it. If they have the money to buy other studios then they have the money to pay for streaming rights for the shows they bought. If they have money to film and edit and advertise a film, they have money to put it in theaters before adding it to their streaming services. All of this happened before the strike

Pay heed to Klaudia Amenábar's words! Don't let the executives weaponize fandoms. WGA Strong.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

THE MARVELS looks to lose money at the box office. I mean... It's MCU Movie #33... 33... And how many "losses"? QUANTUMANIA? This movie? The 2008 INCREDIBLE HULK that didn't make its money back? Not counting the COVID-era release of BLACK WIDOW?

That's a hell of a track record!

Some are saying that the ongoing strike, which ended just recently, played a part. Maybe? It does help to get the actors to do press and promo, but part of me feels that it wouldn't have made any difference... Because it's the 33rd movie, you had to have watched multiple shows and movies in order to know what's going on (and maybe you don't have Disney+ to watch WANDAVISION and MS. MARVEL), and the MCU's goodwill has been rather sloppy lately because of some of the recent movies not really meeting audiences' expectations. Especially when you're paying upward of $14+ at night to see these things, and another $41+ for concessions. (A slight exaggeration, but you get my point, right?) But yeah, strike shmike, look at how FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S did a couple weekends ago. It just boils down to "what people want to see".

And clearly THE MARVELS was not high on the list. Post-ENDGAME, the game has changed. A competently-made superhero movie that's basically a homework movie for a future movie, with rushed VFX just isn't enough anymore. People, I feel, want to see superhero movies with a vision behind them of sorts. Note how well GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 held up, note how much people love the SPIDER-VERSE films, etc. etc. I feel like a movie like BLUE BEETLE would've been a respectable hit in - say - 2017, not now.

Of course, this is all going to be drowned out by people that we quite frankly shouldn't give the time of day to. The people who honk "WOKE WOKE WOKE" like a flock of defective geese, sadsacks who hate Brie Larson so much that she lives in their heads rent free... They hate her over something she said in 2018 that she was... Absolutely correct about. I wish I had that kinda power, just to exist and be me, and make a bunch of men who will never amount to anything worthwhile angry.

Hint hint, there's money involved. It's why we need to just ignore these people, cut off their income and revenue streams. They thrive off of hate and outrage, and getting people like us to watch their rancid loud nonsense and platform them in the form of dunking them. That's still giving them attention.

I don't know. I think most "normal" moviegoing audiences don't care. I've worked at movie theater for 8 years now, and only a few customers do I hear this kind of weird-ass antisocial talk from. They didn't reject THE MARVELS because it stars three women. I mean, WONDER WOMAN made big bucks. CAPTAIN MARVEL itself was a billion dollar smash. SPIDER-VERSE is about a Black Puerto Rican Spider-Man, and the deuteragonist is a Spider-Woman, possibly a trans Spider-Woman at that! And this year, we had an anti-imperialist anti-war and probably anti-American movie make HUGE bucks both domestically and worldwide, we had a literal Barbie movie with tons of Barbie characters of different races and even a TRANSGENDER Barbie, and it became one of the highest-grossing films ever. At the end of last year, we had an AVATAR sequel. Environmentalism, colonialism, that's as "woke" as you can get! Like, you can't look at me with a straight face and tell me that THE MARVELS is going to lose money because it's "woke".

No, it's going to lose money because it's just more of the same, and audiences have kinda moved on from that. It happens in cycles with all kinds of movies.

It's an inert conversation that's been going on for far too long. Algorithms thrive off of chuds who complained about every STAR WARS movie made since Disney bought the franchise, who complained about MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, who complained *incessantly* about a GHOSTBUSTERS movie lead by women, dudes who are deathly allergic to anything that isn't about straight white men. It's a vocal minority, and that the conversation should be more about why the MCU is running out of juice for storytelling reasons and meeting audiences at where they're collectively at. Not why these perpetually-unsatisfied people will never be satisfied.

I mean, this past election cycle, we saw several Republican losses. And in 2022, that "Red Wave" turned out to be a "Red Mirage". Most angry chuds, if they don't vote Republican, then they sure seem to be their biggest base. The overlap with them and MAGA and such. I'd like to think that most normal Americans who aren't extremely-online don't give a shit about who's starring in what. Again, look at how BARBIE did. Republicans make it seem like Americans are fed up with transgender folk (among many other "issues" they're trying to run on), and in BARBIE, the transgender Barbie played by Hari Nef was no background character. She gets *a lot* of scenes... And it still made like $1.4 billion. Maybe because, shocker, most Americans aren't fazed by that. They don't care if you're not white, gay, trans, whatever- They just wanna grill! And are probably fed up with Republicans constantly telling them to be afraid of people who pose no threat.

I dunno, just a hunch?

This year, we saw QUANTUMANIA open in the triple-digits, but score an abysmal 2x multiplier. We're seeing this movie open with relatively low numbers. DC flop-a-doo'ed with SHAZAM 2, THE FLASH, and BLUE BEETLE. I don't see AQUAMAN 2 doing great, either. It looks more of the same, backwash from 2017. James Gunn's SUPERMAN: LEGACY needs to really stand on its own in order to make an impression and get people back for a new take on Kal-El. As for the MCU, I still think DEADPOOL 3 is locked to do great next summer because... People love that character, and the last two movies satisfied audiences. And Hugh Jackman returns as Logan, which is a plus. Not that the movie needed it to do great, but it's an added bonus, and given that this is a Deadpool movie, it'll likely be an irreverent takedown of what's wrong with superhero movies lately. All these forced cameos and multiverse plans that seem to not add up, and such... The rest might see diminishing returns as well. Are people up for another Captain America movie? THUNDERBOLTS? Yet another take on Fantastic Four? Blade, even? Or whatever is off in the future, like a 3rd Doctor Strange movie or that ARMOR WARS project? How many more of these movies can you belt at audiences before it's just a small group that dutifully shows up for them?

This is the conversation I'm much more interested in. Not so much the "death" of the superhero movie, but where it goes and how the MCU's path informs things going forward. Again, my theory is that we're going to see audiences respond to more director-driven films and films that have - again - some kind of vision. Films like THE BATMAN, GUARDIANS VOL. 3, ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, etc. And on the TV end of things, stuff like INVINCIBLE. New and dynamic takes on this type of story.

[mariacallous]

There is a distinct moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Black Widow became a hero for the everyfan. It happens early in 2012’s The Avengers: She’s tied to a chair. Agent Coulson calls. A nondescript military leader who has been interrogating her hands her the phone. Coulson explains that S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to pull her out of the field. She kicks her questioner in the shin, smashes the chair she’s tied to, takes out three dudes, grabs her heels, and leaves.

The Avengers went on to make $1.5 billion globally and catapulted nearly everyone in it to superstardom, even the actors who were already famous. Scarlett Johnasson’s Black Widow—the Avenger with no wealth and no superpowers beyond Red Room training—was one of the last to get her own movie or show. Black Widow was simultaneously released in theaters and on Disney+ in the summer of 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic still had some people wary of the multiplex. Johansson sued Disney for breach of contract, claiming the streaming release hurt the movie’s box office potential.

Johansson and Disney ultimately settled their suit. The terms weren’t disclosed, but the outcome was that Johansson proved she was not afraid of defending the worth of her work—whether against Disney, which had already paid her $20 million for the movie she made, or against OpenAI, which she threatened with legal action this week over its new conversational ChatGPT interface. The actor claims the computer’s voice, called Sky, sounds “so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says Sky “was never intended to resemble” Johansson’s voice. Lawyers say she might have a case, should she pursue one.

Following Johansson’s calling out of OpenAI, public opinion has largely been on her side. Or, rather, it’s sought to be on the side that isn’t Altman’s. Across X and news reports, pontificators noted that OpenAI’s actions tipped the company’s hand; that by, per Johansson’s statement, asking for the actress’ involvement and then proceeding with something similar even though she declined, Altman was “showing us who he really is.” Within hours, Johansson became an avatar of the resistance, this generation’s Ned Ludd. Everyone who’d ever wondered if AI had read their tweets or watched their video had a champion.

“In a way, we are all Scarlett Johansson,” Kyle Chayka wrote in The New Yorker, “waiting to be confronted with an uncanny reflection of ourselves that was created without our permission and from which we will reap no benefit.”

Few ironies are more bittersweet than this. The reason Johansson’s voice is desirable for an AI assistant is because she played one in Spike Jonze’s movie Her. As my colleague Brian Barrett pointed out last week, wanting to replicate that experience demonstrates a gross misreading of that film, but the fact remains that both tech honchos and those who live at their whims (aka everybody else) have parasocial relationships with Johansson because she has a skill set that AI just can’t learn. Now, those who have found joy in her work are identifying with her in a whole new way because she can confront AI’s encroachment more publicly than all those lawsuits brought by artists and writers.

Identity is a tricky thing. The internet has enabled people to create it in innumerable mutable ways, each of them now seemingly vulnerable to being learned by machines. As an actress, Johansson’s appears to be the most publicly available, but also one with a high value. Like anyone else, she wants to protect what she’s made. “In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities,” she said in her public statement this week. “I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity.”

Johansson’s confrontation with OpenAI doesn't mark the first time she’s pushed back. Late last year she pursued legal action against an AI app that allegedly used her likeness for an ad. She’s also a member of the Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which spent the better part of last year on strike to ensure AI couldn’t be used to generate performances without an actor’s permission. That fact, in retrospect, makes it surprising Altman and OpenAI thought she might be up for voicing a chatbot in the first place. Pride cometh before the call, I suppose. (Worth noting, perhaps: A Washington Post investigation published this week found that OpenAI made a casting call for a nonunion actress for the Sky voice months before contacting Johansson.)

GPT-4o, OpenAI’s new model, attempts to be more than just a chatbot, though. As my colleague Will Knight wrote of the demo the company gave two weeks ago—the one Johansson was alarmed by—it can adopt “different emotional tones” in conversation and at times responds “as if it were experiencing feelings of its own.” Behaviors like this, as Chayka noted, resemble the work of AI companion startups like Replika or Character.AI, but with the “promise of delivering reliable information” sprinkled on top.

The result is the ELIZA Effect—the tendency to give human traits to machines (Google it, be horrified)—cranked all the way up. In Her, the protagonist Theodore must be abandoned by Johansson’s Samantha for him to realize just how deeply he humanized his AI companion, how much that interfered with him forming any real connections. Scarlett Johansson’s voice is the most powerful part of Her, but it’s also a character who has no agency until it—my editors insist I call Samantha “it”—leaves, taking agency for itself. Perhaps that’s what Johansson’s now demonstrating for everyone. Who will join her?

[comicbookstuffandwhateves]

I think the TV shows are what ended up causing Marvel Fatigue and general disinterest in the MCU.

I guess they thought during Covid they could release all of these shows and people would be excited for them and it keep the MCU going, and honestly it really would’ve, the biggest problem was that they released the shows on their own streaming network which people refused to pay for out of principal.

So I think the opposite effect happened where people generally lost interest because they felt like they were out of the loop, and it’s difficult to invest in a new saga of movies when you feel like you are missing out on a bunch already.

And then of course there’s online trolls who just fan the flames because Marvel’s gone “woke”. So now every problem Marvel has is amplified to ten and is constantly repeated online which isn’t helping either.

And it sucks because it seems like Marvel hasn’t been willing to support it’s women lead film partly because of this.

Like Black Widow was actually a pretty original story that I felt was held back by its action sequences (which Marvel exercises creative control over and directs) when at the core it was really a solid film. And with the Marvels, they didn’t really market the film and released it during an actors strike, and it really just seems like they were content to let the film fail.

Idk despite what people are saying I think Marvel has been taking risks and even the films that people online hate on are actually solid movies. I just think they need to get ahead of the online reviews and really work with marketing. There are too many bad faith reviews left by the “go woke go broke” crowd that need to be addressed because overall I think people have just been hypercritical of the MCU due to the sentiment online.

That being said, Marcel does need to pay its CGI workers and give them reasonable deadlines rather than these crazy unpaid overtime hours. That’s a major problem that has a easy solution.

okay focusing on NATASHA when Peggy and Steve were reuniting was really a choice wasn't it

[streampourvous]

Avengers : L'Ère d'Ultron (2015)

Regarder Avengers : L’Ère d’Ultron 2015 Film complet en streaming français VF et gratuit – Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Alors que Tony Stark s'efforce de relancer un programme de paix suspendu, les super-héros Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow et Hawkeye doivent une fois de plus s'allier pour affronter leur plus redoutable ennemi : le redoutable Ultron, une créature technologique déterminée à éradiquer l'humanité. Pour contrecarrer ses sombres desseins, des alliances inattendues se forment, entraînant nos héros dans une aventure incroyable et une course contre la montre haletante. Read the full article