Weird Mind News Room Episode 61: April 22nd - 28th

 *creating a playlist for a fair bit of tennis*

Hello there fair people and will like to welcome to you all once again to all of the newest edition of the Weekly media discussion series of Weird Mind News Room where we shall once again delve into talking on all of the newest releases, some trailers to appeal of your interest and some news stories with a varying amount of content per section. So lets not waste time and lets serve up some discussion of what released this week.

The court of new releases

Movies

Challengers

So let us serve up the first of the new releases for this week and that is seeing us hit the courts for a film about relationships, drama and a lot of Grunting (probably in both on and off the Tennis court) as we have newest sports drama from Luca Guadagnino with Challengers. This film follows the story of Tashi, a once former tennis pro who after a bad injury has turned to becoming a coach for her husband Art from a simple college player to a professional pro who after a string of bad performances and losses, she signs him up for a challenger event of playing against some lower level players on the tournament. Tensions will soon run high when they soon find themselves standing across the net from Patrick, Art's former friend and Tashi's old partner and will bring about a back and forth tale of friendship, secrets and love triangles. Now the reception on this film has been very well recieved from critics with praise towards the main trio leads, the cinematography, score, story and being one of the best reviewed sports films of recent memory and one of the contenders for best reviewed film of this year. I have also seen the likes of some opinions online from audiences that it is a little bit more divided on that front for varying reasons but everyone has their own opinion to that outcome. But if you want something that will give you a fair match, then you can check this film out now in cinemas.

The American society for magical Negroes

Now for a film that came and went very quickly in the US and a name I am unsure if I can say out loud without some questionable looks but we have a new form of trickery and a dash of magic with the new film of The American Society of Magical Negroes. This film will follow a young man named Aren who is recruited into a secret society of Magical Black People who dedicate their lives to making white peoples lives easier. Although initially enamored by his new powers, he begins to question the value of using supernatural means to do the very thing he's felt obligated to do his whole life. Now the reception on this film has not been very well recieved with the concept of the premise is interesting, it dows not do much with bringing appeal to the outcome and can be quite a questionable topic of discussion, similar in vein to the likes of the Netflix series of Dear White People, but if you want to check it out yourself then you can catch it in cinemas.

I.S.S

Now we shall head above the earths surface and into the vast galaxy of space for a new thriller with a bit of a twist and tension as we have the new film of I.S.S. The film is set aboard the International space station where tensions begin to flair in the near future abroad the station when a worldwide conflict breaks out on the planet below. Soon, The US and Russia astronauts soon recieve orders from the ground below of them to take control of the station by any means necessary. Now the reception on this film has been a little bit mixed to some positive with praise towards the cast and concept, though some see it as a bit of a formulaic concept and plot as well as some mixed opinion on the end of the film, but if you are looking for a film with a bit of stakes about the earth then you can catch this new film now in cinemas.  

Boy Kills World

Now it is time for a bit of a crazy bloodbath to show his presence as we have a new all out action film in the aptly titled film of Boy Kills World. This film will follow Boy, a mayhem machine who's been training to assassinate the bloodthirsty Hilda Van Der Koy and avenge the murder of his family. Guided by the spirit of his mischievous spirit, Boy will soon uncover one stunning revelation after another as he barrels towards Hilda and seek his redemption. Now the reception on this film has been a fair bit decent with praise to the lead performance by Bill Skarsgard that helps to elevate the film from the generic plot and thinly written characters but if you want something with a bit of a violent tone then you can catch this new film in cinemas.

Tv Shows

Knuckles

Now we shall look at the newest big release in terms of TV as we return to the world of the films with the fast blue Hedgehog and delve into the focus of his companion that packs more of a punch as we have the new limited series of Knuckles. Set in between Sonic 2 and 3, we follow on the adventure of the Echidna warrior who has been having trouble adjusting to his new home on earth and soon becomes a mentor for the bumbling deputy of Wade Whipple to teach him the way of the Echidna warrior on a cross country journey towards a bowling tournament while also dealing with some craze inventors and his goons from stealing his power. Now the reception for this series has been very well recieved for its humour, heart and story, with some critiques that the title character is kind of a secondary character to the human character but still works well and if you are up for some more fun with these characters then you can check out this new mini series now on Paramount+

Dead Boy Detectives

Now for something with a mix of horror, some supernatural elements and a touch of LGBTQ+ representation all to the backdrop as a spinoff to the popular adaptation of the Sandman as we have a new series known as Dead Boy Detectives. This series will follow 2 teenage boys who are both deceased but are reincarnated as Ghosts who work with a clairvoyant to solve mysteries for their supernatural Clientele, until a powerful witch complicates their plans. Now the reception on this series has been very well recieved for its supernatural elements, its concept and theme and for the representation and humour mixed into it and if you want to check in with them you can catch this new series now on Netflix.

Video Games

Tales of Kenzara: Zau

And the last of the new releases is taking us to the realm of video games as we have an all new game based on the story from Abubakar Salim (the voice of Bayek from Assassins Creed Origins)with the new game of Tales of Kenzera: Zau. The game follows a young Shaman named Zau, who must capture the spirits of three monsters and offer them to Kalunga, the God of Death, in exchange for his father to be revived from the dead as you run dash and fight your way through a vast world of visual delight. Now the reception on this game has been well recieved for its visuals, story and how it connects to a personal story from the games head creator with some complaints on controls and possible length but if you want a new metroidvania type game then you can play it now on PS5, Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC. 

Trailers to bring people together in odd ways

Deadpool & Wolverine

Now it is time for the trailers and the first of the 2 from this week will be seeing the upcoming return of everyone's favourite 4th wall breaking merc with a Mouth, teaming up with the man with the Adamantium claws as we have recieved a new trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine. Now we get a bit more of a basis of a plot where Deadpool has been out of the game for a bit of time and living a quiet life, but soon word of some of his time travel shenanigans of the previous film get word to the form of the TVA who assigns Deadpool on a mission with a form of Wolverine from a world that he failed and have them on a journey to change the history and future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and while they may not get along, they have have to work together to do so or kill each other in the process. Now I like in this newest trailer that we get to see Logan in action as we only got a glimpse of him in the previous trailer and so far it looks exciting and has been keeping things very vague about what is going on in the film which I can appreciate and soon we will find out how it all plays out when the film will be releasing into cinemas on the 26th of July.

The Watchers

And the 2nd and last trailer for this week (a bit of a slow week with the only option is an overview of a remaster for a 20 year old game) is delving us into the deep dense woods of my home country and going from one Shyamalan to another for a new mysterious and creepy tale as we have the new trailer for The Watchers. The film will follow Mina, a 28 year old artist who gets herself lost and stranded in an expansive, untouched forest of Western Ireland and upon finding shelter will find herself trapped alongside three strangers who are all watched and stalked by mysterious creatures every night. Now I like this form of a supernatural tone and glad to see my home country getting a bit more of a different look to it then the usual tone of film we get from here but it does look interesting and I will check this film out when it releases just a little over a months time on June 14th.

News to add some discussion at half time

Returning back to work in the office with some new faces

So the first of the 3 stories of this week is with the discussion of a a bit of some casting news of the announcement of a new take on a popular series from a decade ago. Now if you have been a part of the entertainment culture of the last few years then you will known that one of the most popular series on television is from the series of The Office where it focused on a fictional paper company of Dunder Miflin and follow the misadventures of the workers in that office from characters like Jim, Pam, Dwight, Micheal Scott and many more. The series proved to be a success that spawned from a successful UK version from Ricky Gervais and saw a long lasting series of 9 seasons ending in a well liked finale back in 2013. Now since then there has been many a discussion similar to the popular series that will play 24/7 on one tv channel of Friends about the likes of a reboot or a revival of the series and things were in talks with a bit of a mixed response, but now it seems like it may be happening and that we will be seeing some new faces joining the workplace. Now the basis from what I know is that it is set in the same universe as the US version but will not be the same company but rather either a different brand or branch of Dunder Miflin, we do know who 2 of the cast will be in this project as according to the Hollywood reporter, we have confirmation that Irish actor Dohmnall Gleeson and actress Sabrina Impacciatore has been casted in this new reboot spin off. NOw it is uncelar if we will see this crossover to the original series or see some of the original cast from the us version appear like Dwight, Pam, Angela, Phillis or who else will be a part of this cast but I am sure we will learn more about the project overtime as it enters into production and releases sometime soon but once I do hear anything I will update in a later piece.

But what are your thoughts about this Office reboot and do you think it is a good idea of a new cast or would you rather have the old crew mixed in there as well? let me know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Time to get a clue

The next story from this week was one that came onto my radar just before I started writing up this piece and it is in relation to bringing a new interpretation of a brand or product. Now as you may know a lot of companies have started to dip their toes into the world of film franchises with the likes of Hasbro and Mattel coming along and deciding they want some big bucks that the likes of the superheroes and space operas have been getting. Now following on from the massive success of Barbie last year, it seems that Hasbro is looking to revive a classic for a new generation of entertainment as it was announced that they will be giving a new universe look for the popular game of Clue. It has been confirmed by Variety that Hasbro has been looking to make a new film and some spin off titles based on the popular whodunit board game about deception, death a killer. Now it is not the first time we have seen the likes of an adaptation of the game as their is a cult classic version from the mid 80s that starred the likes of Eileen Brennan, Christopher Lloyd and Tim Curry that has stood the test of time. Now it would be worth to see how they can provide the appeal given the likes of the Whodunit genre has become a lot more lively in recent memory with the likes of the Poirot films and the Knives Out series being examples of such built upon projects so it will be intriguing to see who will be involved in the project and if it will be worth a watch (it could be the likes that they just make it like the most recent version where everyone wants to bang all the new characters but who knows), ut I guess we will see how this adaptation will unfold overtime.

But what are your thoughts on this project and do you see a new adaptation of the mystery board game doing well in the long term? Let me know what you think of it all down below in the comments and lets discuss it there

The attempt of the streaming boys make a response to some issues

And the final story of this week is in relation to the YouTube story from last week that I talked about which was on the YouTube channel of Watcher. Now to give a brief recap on that news story, Watcher was a channel created by a group of former employees of Buzzfeed that were probably the most liked creators from the company with the likes of Worth it and Buzzfeed Unsolved. They then started this channel where they continued that form of content with the likes of Ghost Hunt, Worth a Shot, Puppet History, Podcasts and Mystery files and shown great success and revenue. Then at the end of last week they announced that they were leaving YouTube and that they would be starting a Streaming service solely on their content and the reactions were not so great with many issues stemming of starting another subscription service in a time where everything is expensive and there are too many services out there to keep track on (not to mention about their other revenue of doing well with YouTube and Patreon) and many wondered if they would respond to all of this backlash. Well it did not take long as on Monday they released a response to the whole ordeal and it seems they have done something most Apology videos on YouTube don't really do and actually say they are sorry and take accountability and not make themselves out to sound like the victim. In response to the whole backlash is that they cleared up and made some changes that has seen some more positive opinion shift back in their favor but announcing that they will release the content first on their new website and will be there for the first month before that content is released on YouTube for free. They have also acknowledged that they will offer full refunds to anyone that has joined up on the service that wish to cancel at not issues and that they have also talked on the likes of their Patreon members that they will receive a code for a free subscription for the service which I think is a really goo incentive. They delved into the basis and explained things more clearly of their reason for making the service and it was not overlong, it got straight to the points and it turned out well in the end.

Now in my opinion I can see they were caught up in maybe this being a bit of a higher up company making this a thing and not seeing the issue but it is appreciative that they took responsibility and acknowledge that they missed some points in hindsight and that they make mistakes. I do hope that they will learn from this and learn to improve themselves overtime and I appreciate that they willing to fix the mess they themselves made.

But what are your thoughts on all of this Watcher drama and do you think that they have made some amends or do you still see this as a complete mess and turning away from that content? Let me knwo what you think of it all down below in the comments.

And with all of that, this brings us to the end of episode 61 of Weird Mind News room and I do hope you enjoyed what may be a more shortened version for this week. But as always I love to hear your thoughts on everything discussed this week if you seen any of the new releases, opinions on the trailers and discuss the news topics of the week down below. As always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday doing many great things and I shall see you all in the next piece. :)

Take care, keep being you, signing off,

Sam H