Weird Mind News Room Episode 33: October 9th- 15th

 *play the music (Sam version)*

Well hello to each and everyone of you to another edition of my long running series of mine with Weird Mind News Room and we have quite the mixed array of content this week in terms of the New Releases, the trailers and from the news as well too, so lets not waste your time and lets get on with the show.

New Releases (Sam Version)

Movies

Taylor Swift: The Eras tour concert film

So I am going to start with the big film of the week and that is coming with a concert film in particular as Swiftogeddon hits the big screen as the film release of the week is the concert film of Taylor Swift the Era Tour. This is a recorded version of one of the concerts from her US leg of the tour and will provide an idea of everyone in Europe and other parts of the world will experience next year but whos to say to not catch a concert film version (if they are not going to be sold out quickly and then price gouged online). Now reception for this concert film has been very highly praised similar to most TS concerts so if you want to check it out yourself then you can do so in cinemas

TV Shows

Fall of the House of Usher

Now on the TV side of things we return to the streaming giant of Netflix and in particular from the creative mind of Mike Flanagan, creator of Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor and Midnight Mass with a new limited series with The Fall of the House of Usher. Now this series is surprisingly not about ushers that work in some forms of job establishments or even about music superstar of Usher (so to me this seems like false advertising) and is based on a short story and other works of Edger Allen Poe, this new limited series follows the CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company who must face his questionable past when his children start dying in mysterious and Brutal ways. Now this limited series like his other works have been highly praised from its cast and tone to it creepiness factor and if you want to check it out for yourself the full series is available to view on Netflix.

Frasier Reboot

Now from one streamer to another as we head over to Paramount+ for the revival to a series that started as a spin off to a popular series from the 80s/90s and whose Spin off is one of the best, we have gotten the release of the all new reboot of Frasier. Now this will see Frasier return back to his home town of Boston from Seattle and try to start a new chapter of his life and try to be their more for his son and I am sure their will be some form of hijinks and hilarity mixed in there as well. Now the reception seems to be a little mixed to modestly recieved with Praise to Kelsey Grammer helping to make it entertaining and some good moments mixed in there. Sure it was not going to be on the reception level of the original but it was a hard challenge to do so but if you want to see the next chapter of DR Frasier then you catch the first 2 episodes now with a new episode every week on Paramount+

Goosebumps

Viewer beware you are in for a scare with this last new series of the week as we have an all new form of telling some creepy tales from R.L Stine with a new series of Goosebumps. Now this new series will follow five high schoolers embarking on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the tragic passing three decades earlier of a teen named Harold Biddle, while also unearthing dark secrets from their parents' past which will lead to the spooks that come from any Goosebumps story. Now the reception for this series has been well recieved and seems to be on par with the first film with Jack Black and if you are for a scare this Halloween then you can check this series out on Disney+  

Loki Season 2 episode 2

While you are on Disney+ then you can head into more timeline and Time Slipping hijinks with the God of mischief with the newest episode of LOKI with the continuing aspect after LOKI and Mobius stopping some form of time being destroyed and Sylvie finding herself in some odd new location but I am sure we will learn more and more as the season continues over the next few weeks.

Video Games

Forza Motorsport

Now onto the only game of this week, we are getting behind the wheel with an all new entry of the Forza Motorsport series and will have you feeling the need for speed and the rush of going fast across vast locations and iconic cars too. Now the reception for this game has been very strong in its accuracy and feel and if you want to get behind the wheel then you play this new entry now on Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Music

Skyhill: Out in the Moonlight

and now for one that is a rarity to appear on this series is with some music or albums and this is with the all new Album from the early band of NSP lead of Dan Avidan with Skyhill and their new album of Out in the Moonlight that will have a mix of genre and tone to their tracks and is something that I am going to be listening to for a good bit of time over the next little while (been needing some new music for myself) and you can listen to the album on wherever you listen to your music.

Are you Trailer for it

The Iron Claw

So we start with the new trailer from A24 and if you have been seeing some images online over the last few months where you have seen Zac Efron looking very Swole then this trailer will explain why as he is playing the role of Kevin Von Erich in the film of The Iron Claw. This new film is based on the tragic true story of the Von Erich Brothers who made history in the intensely Populated world of professional wresting in the 1980s and through tragedy and triumph under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sport. Now the true story of this film is quite tragic to say the least as they experienced the Von Erich curse and the film is focused more from the perspective of Efron's character, the last surviving member of the family. Now this does look really great and I am sure this will be an awards contender film when this releases just in time for Christmas on December 22nd 

The Crown Final Season

So the next trailer is with the date announcement to the final season of a long running series based on the monarchy of the UK with the crown. Now this season will be tackling some aspects, including of course the tragic death of Princess Diana (wonder if it will go into the conspiracy side that followed) the marriage of Charles and Camilla and the early relationship of William and Kate. Now it is unknown if this series will go all the way up to the passing of Queen Elizabeth last September but we have no idea (also strange their is no mention of Harry so what's going on there) but I am sure we'll find out when this series releases in its 2 parts with the first 4 episodes out On November 16th and the last 6 out a month later on December 14th.

Wonka

Now for a new film that will hopefully serve up a sweet treat as we have gotten an all new trailer for the upcoming film of Wonka. Now this film of course will focus on the younger version of Willy Wonka himself as he goes from a small kid with a dream and build his way up with his creativity and wonder to become the world famous candy maker as with the help of a strange small man named Lofty or as he is known as an Oompa Loompa and they will go against the Candy mafia and prove who is the greatest candy maker. Now I think this looks very wholesome and charming and something that will give that warm feeling and given this is directed by the man who made the very wholesome Paddington films I do hope it will be the same and you can check this film out when it releases on December 8th. 

The Curse?

Now for a new series with 2 big names in something with a bit of a thriller comedy with the Curse. This new series created by Nathan Fielder and starring himself and Oscar Winner Emma Stone as a newly married couple who has been working on creating an all new home improvement renovation show, but when a simple good deed is caught wrong, it will lead to a possible curse that causes strange and eerie events. Now the series seems to be quite the interesting idea and concept and it doesn't look too bad and I may give this a look when the series projects to premiere on Paramount+ on November 10th.

Leo

Now for some animation from Netflix and from a new film starting Adam Sandler is an all new film known simply as Leo. This new animated film will see Sandler play Leo, a lizard in a 5th grade class who is desperate to escape from his confines after one of the students calls him old and when the opportunity arises with a take home assignment for the class, but soon trouble arises when one of the students discovers he can talk and soon discovers that while he has a lot to discover in the world, he soon becomes the guide for many of the students in the class of how to deal with the worries of growing up and find the good in everything. Now initially it looked ok but after getting more of the story, it sounds like a very wholesome story and you can check out the film for yourself when it releases to Netflix on November 21st.

Monarch Legacy of Monsters

and now for the last of the trailers for the week is taking us deep into a conspiracy of a titan sized scale as we have recieved a new trailer for the upcoming Apple tv series of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Now this film is set after the event of 2014s Godzilla and span across 5 decades as we follow 2 siblings who discover their father has been part of a shady corporation known as Monarch and soon leads them down a rabbit hole of titans living amongst us for eons and leads them to army officer Lee Shaw that seems to know a lot more then they are telling them. Now this series does look really cool and from what I have seen as of writing some early reception has started to drop for the series and it has a really strong positive reception so far from the first few episode and you can check it out yourself when the series premieres on November 17th. 

Look What you made me News

The Gollum Development studio has been everything but precious to its developers

so we start the news part of the week with some behind the scenes drama that something that released this year with quite the mixed response. Now back in Late May (and in my very first video episode of this on my YouTube) one of the games that released this year was Lord of the Rings Gollum, a new stealth based platformer like game where you played as Smeagol as you tried to find your way back to obtaining you precious that was stolen from you. Well as many remebered it was panned by many critics and audiences and labelled as one of the worst games of the year, up there with the likes of Crime Boss: Rockabay city, Redfall and Forspoken and caused quite a change in the company output. Well it seems there was a lot more going on that may have caused the state that it ended up in as a story broke from German publication Game Two that 32 developers who worked on the game have alleged that Daedalic and Nacon, the studio that made the game, have talked that the company leadership have been very abusive with enforcing uncompensated overtime, allegedly trying to pay the staff below minimum wage and made it a very toxic work environment. It also came to point out that the apology letter they posted to their social was not written by them but rather it was put through ChatGPT to write it which shows they really seem to be a really bad work place and that they overblew this game expectation of making it seem like a triple A game even if it was way below the budget pricing to be one which saw a lot of it being cut. 

Now this is not a new thing of course as we have seen a lot of video game companies have similar accusations of toxic work environments like Activision, Ubisoft, and many other big names so it is bound to be a continuing thing unless something is done about it but what has happened to these developers that wanted to make this game the best they could be belittled makes a lot more sense for its output and to those heads of that company, do better and don't be dicks.

But what do you think of all of this and do you see this continue to be a thing with many more studios in the future and currently? let me know what you think down below in the comments.

Mamoa going from Fish man to Space Biker and The drama from the kingdom

Now we are going from gaming to the world of Superheroes and in particular to the DC universe as we have 2 separate stories that both revolve around the king of Atlantis himself of Jason Mamoa with one for the future and one with some info of behind the scenes on the upcoming sequel. Starting with the first news it was confirmed that earlier this week that none of the original Justice league cast group will be returning in the new DCU from Gunn and I think this was already expected with Cavill, Affleck and Fisher already confirmed not wanting to come back anyway and Gadot's 3rd Wonder Woman was not going ahead, the only ones we expected still to be left was Mamoa and Miller but it looks like Miller is also out and it just leaves Mamoa but will now not be the King of Atlantis but rather as an interstellar Bounty Hunter as it has been rumoured that Mamoa will now be playing the DC character of Lobo, a bounty hunter from Space and that his first appearance will possibly be in the upcoming Superman Legacy film. Now I think he would fit the bill well for the character and I am sure we'll learn more about any confirmation as it continues.

Now the other news is with some Aquaman 2 drama and it all comes down to a certain actress that even after the court trail last year is still in the new film and some info from those document have appeared from Variety that have emphasized that according to Heard's Therapist that working on the set was very hostile which included Mamoa showing up late, intoxicated and to a level of dressing up like Johnny to scare her and apparently wanted her fired from the film but someone apparently kept her on and that someone *groan sigh* was Elon Musk who wrote a threatening letter to Warner to keep her on the film (so it shows that this man will keep someone who was accused of abusing someone and foreced to pay a large sum of money for a film but can't run a social media company or keep a marraige). Now it is hard to say if this is accurate or not going off some of her own claims but it seems like it adds to the messy production that this film has already been through, but I am sure we will probably get the full story of the drama by the time the film releases in December.

But what do you think, do you feel Mamoa will be a great choice for Lobo and do you feel that all of this drama on Aquaman 2 is true or not? Let me know what you think of it all down below in the comments.

The PlayStation 5 has lost some weight but may not have any games still

And now for some tech news and this is with the company of Playstation yet again and with their current console of The PlayStation 5, which has been since late 2020 been a hot key console item for the gamers (even if many people on the internet complain that the PS5 has no games, which I am saying here, sure if you are going off exclusives buts what's the problem with sharing the exclusives to PC or other consoles for more inclusivity). Well it looks like just at the 3rd anniversary of the console we are seeing an all new version of the console hitting the market as we are getting an all new slimline version of the console. Now not much is really new with this as it will have the same specs as the original, its costing the same as the current options of 550 for the one with a disc drive and 450 for digital but it will provide a new odd design of a line split across the middle, a metal ring stand and for an extra 120 euro you can by the add on disc drive for the digital version that will attach to that one (will have to see if that will work for the older version of the digital version). Now they have confirmed once the launch design has sold out fully this will be the one they'll sell from then on and right now its only confirmed for a release in the US in November with other territories to follow soon after (similar to the new PSP with no confirmed date for that yet either).

But what are your thoughts on this, do you think they could've done more to the slim version and do you expect a pro version coming later? Let me know your thoughts of it down below.

Man Without Fear will be longer to be born again as will all the other shows

Now for some of the MCU news that dropped this week with the focus in particular to the TV side of the MCU and with the Man without fear of Daredevil Born Again. Now we have known this series was in the works since May 2022 but it has just been announced earlier this week that the director and writers of the show have been fired and is planned to be fully rebooted again . Now the reason for this comes from Kevin Feige himself who has stated the reason was that he wanted to make it feel close to the original beloved Netflix series and this new one so far was feeling more like a legal procedural based show and that he wouldn't have suited up in the 18 episode series until the 4th episode (which would make it feel a little more like a 2nd season of She-Hulk as that was also a lawyer based show) and they are now looking for those that will make it more close in style to the original vision (best bet is to get those that worked on the original 3 seasons and blend it into the MCU smoothly). This has also seen the case of his desire to do so with the other MCU shows going forward of wanting to get the show headed up by those that specialize in TV shows that would create pilots and show bibles and for these series to be more then simply limited series of 1 season and as more of multiple, so it could see some of the others like Agatha Harkness, Iron Heart and other Live action ones getting the reboot treatment but we'll have to see as time progresses.

But what do you think of this news and do you hope Daredevil will be as good as the original Netflix series and what is your favourite Marvel tv series in general. Let me known down below in the comments.

The Actors strike will go on and CEO's still seem like assholes

Now I will make this a brief story as we have a small update with the Hollywood strikes. Now we saw in the last 2 weeks that the Writers strike has reached a conclusion and that many of them have returned to work with a fair deal and many presumed that the actors strike would be concluding soon after but with news from this week it seems the strikes will be continuing. It seemed that after 8 days of negotiations they have left the deal table and will be still on the picket line due to poor deals from the greedy CEO's with the first one being so much lower then the deal that was first purposed that led to the strikes itself. Now I do hope that they will strike up a deal soon and they actually get a fair deal and a good form of living wage for all their hard work and for CEO's to realize not to be greedy bastards (also to the CEO of Netflix that wants to raise the price on the streaming service once this ends, F**k you for that stupid idea)

But what do you think of this and do you feel this strike will go on for a good while longer or will a deal arrive very shortly (and a good one at that)? Lets discuss it down in the comments.

Spiderwick has a new home and 2 companies may have one too possibly?

So initially this was a focus on one change announcement for a series planned for release to Dinsey+ but their was 2 other extra planned rumoured announcements coming along with it from this week that I felt it was best to lump them together in one so I will go through them all now

So first with the series and this was with a planned tv series based on the Spiderwick Chronicles books. Now we have seen an adaption of this already back in 2005/6 with Paramount and it was confirmed for Disney+ but it was announced back in August that it was silently cancelled on the service but it was not fully ending there as it was being shopped around until just this week that it got a new home on Roku. Now we have no idea yet when this series will release but when we do I will update in a later episode.

Next on the rumour side of things we are going over to Warner Bros pictures and their is some talks that the studio may soon be being bought by another big corporation and that is with Universal Pictures. Now it is just some rumoured speculation from the companies but we'll have to see if something like this will happen or is just a wild idea from the staff (I have also seen those that think if Universal buys Warner then it will see the Snyderverse finally happen and I think it is time for them to let it go as Snyder has no interest, except for maybe making a film based on Rick and Morty)

and lastly this one I have seen only pop up a few hours as of writing this but it seems that Disney may be on the market to buy another company but this time it is not a movie company but rather a gaming one as it has been discussed that Disney may be interested in buying Electronic Arts or EA. Now this does seem reasonable as they both have their fans and haters, both play a monopoly and both just really love money. Now this one like the other company one is currently speculation but as soon as I hear any confirmed info I will update in a later episode.

But what do you think of all of these rumoured purchases and confirmed new streaming home for one of those series and do you see these happening in the future. Let me know your thoughts and opinions down below.  

Barbie and Ken are are about to plot a heist

Now for some discussion of a bit of casting news of a collective group we have all idolized this summer in the biggest film of the year and that is of course with Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie who were the iconic Barbie and Ken in this years Barbie movie and everyone loved their performance (unless you go off the weird personality choice that Ben Shapiro has been acting like since the movie released). Well it seems like this is not the end of this team up of these 2 stars as it looks like we may be seeing them teaming up again for a heist as it seems they will be the main leads of an all new film in the Ocean's franchise. This new film is supposedly going to be a prequel to Oceans 11 and set as a love story/ adventure heist during the Monaco Grand Prix in 1962. Now it will be seen if they will be joined by an even bigger all star cast like the other films in the series as well as wondering if any of them are connected to the Ocean family but I am sure we will learn more as the film gets developed overtime.

But what are your thought to this announcement and who else do you think will be in this Ocean's film with these 2? Let me know what you think of it all down below in the comments

Chicken Run 2: Is it a cracking good time or best served with Chips

And for the final story that has come in from this week that has been on my notes for the last few weeks but finally has come around now and we are talking about Poultry in motion as just as I finish writing this weeks episode, the newest animated film from Aardman of Chicken Run Dawn of the Nugget has had its official world premiere at the BFI London film festival on Saturday afternoon and with that has also brought with it some first reviews and reactions for the film and it seems to be getting some decently positive reviews from the publications that have seen it that praise its humour, production and performances (even if some have critiqued the decision to change the 2 main leads voice cast), some critiques seem to see it as having a slightly odd tone of visuals over character depth and some say the opening act has been compared as if it was run through AI but picks up very quickly afterwards. Now I am very excited for this film and I do hope that this gets a cinema release for like 2 weeks next month or before its release on Netflix in December but if not this will be part of my holiday viewings when this does release.

But what are your thoughts on this film and these reviews and are you excited to see this new Chicken run film, let me know your thoughts on it down below in the comments

But with that, that is all of the new content for this weeks episode of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope that you enjoyed my written ramblings about some of the big content of the week that released in what I thought would be a very quiet week. Let me know your thoughts on all that was discussed today and lets start a conversation about it in the comments down below and as always I hope that you have a great day everyday and stay being wonderful people.

Signing off

Sam H