Weird Mind News Room Episode 65: May 20th - 26th

 *music for making the Monday blues disappear*

Hello everyone of all different sexes, genders, ethnicities and everything in between to the newest edition of Weird Mind News Room where we will be delving into some of the new releases of the week, some new trailers and a small handful of news stories in the mix, so without wasting too much time, let's get into focus on what has releasing this past week.

New Releases fit for a lazy cat

Movies

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Oh what a lovely day indeed for a bit of revenge as it is time again to return to the wastelands and road warriors with a new prequel based on the popular character from Fury Road as we learn her story with Furiosa: A Mad Max Story. This prequel story will follow a young furiosa (Anya Taylor Joy) who gets taken and kidnapped from a group of mercenaries biker group led by the warlord Dementus as they take on a war with the citadel led by the all powerful Immortan Joe. As the 2 warlords clash for dominance, Furiosa will find herself in a non stop battle to get back home and become a legend in her own right. Reception to this new prequel like the last entry has been highly praised for its performances (especially from the leads of Anya Taylor Joy and Chris Hemsworth), the action, story and setting and another strong hit from the mind of George and if you are up for a top of the line action film, you can catch this new film out now in cinemas.

The Garfield Movie

But if you want some form of action but something that fits more for the whole family then you are in luck as nearly 2 decades since their last big screen appearance, everyone's favorite Lasagna loving, Monday hating, lazy fat cat is back with the new animated film of The Garfield Movie. This new outing will see Garfield enjoying his peaceful life of endless food and dealing with his owner of Jon and dog companion of Odie, but soon they get caught up in a massive adventure in the great outdoors when Garfield ends up being reunited with his long lost father Vic who has got himself caught up in some messy business with a fancy cat that leads them involved in a dastardly heist. Reception for the film has been a bit of a mixed outcome with more of a poor outcome with praise towards the animation and some characters and cast, though some of the story elements and excessive use to product placement has been panned. But if you want some new adventures fit for the whole family, then you can catch the new film out now in cinemas. 

Atlas

Wrapping up the new films for the week is taking an all new sci-fi adventure with the new film of Atlas. This new feature will see a woman named Atlas Shepard, a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust to AI, joins on a mission to capture a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past. But when plans go Awry, her only hope to save humanity from AI is to trust it. Reception on this film has been very much panned with critique to a lack of development to characters and the world building, story and characters and feeling like another messy film from the Netflix vault, but if you want to check out the new sci-fi project you catch the new film now on Netflix.

TV Shows

Smiling Friends Season 2 episode 3

We have more new adventures in the world of Smiling Friends where this week is a full fledged Alan Adventure as he has been assigned by Mr Boss himself to go on a job to obtain some paper clips for the office and its not going to be as simple as that and it is always interesting to see what the adventures from these characters and from the mind of creators will go and I am always up for more new adventures with these colorful characters and who they will come across overtime.

South Park: The End of Obesity

Its time we head back to the small little mountain town for a new special based on South Park in the form of The End of Obesity. This new special will see the focus about the use of some new drugs that will have the people of South Park going nuts to lose weight and will see the boys helping Cartman to obtain the life changing drug or maybe create their own. Now the reception for the special has been well liked of keeping things topical and taking a jab at the basis of drugs, body positivity and so much more in this near hour special and I have watched it myself and it is a fun little story and if you want to check the series out for yourself then you can check out the new special now on Paramount+

Games

System Shock reboot

It's time to jack yourself into the system as it is time for a new version of a return to a classic game of the past with an all new remake of the classic game of System shock. This new game will have the main protagonist set abroad a space ship in a Cyberpunk future of 2072 and its your job to hinder the plans of a malevolent artificial Intelligence named SHODAN. Now the reception on this new remake has been well recieved for the great praise of the upgrade while given the original form a nice callback of one of the classics and if you want to try it out for yourself in full now you can now check out the new game on PS4/5, Xbox One/ Series X/S and PC.

Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga

Now for the new release game of the week that is not a reboot or remake but rather a follow up to a game that was made with such a small team that turned into a cult classic hit of success as Senua is back with the sequel to Hellblade with Senua's Saga. This new game will follow on from Senua's Sacrifice and will see her go on a brutal journey of survival of the myth and torment of Viking Iceland with her intent on saving those who have fallen victim to the horrors of Tyranny while also facing the battle of overcoming the darkness within and without. Reception to this game, like the original game has been praised for its art direction, visuals and sound with some critiques to pacing issues and some issues with the combat system and if you want to try the game out for yourself you can play it now on Xbox Series X/S and PC. 

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake

And the final release of the week is bringing the sense of nostalgia of a journey that is folded together that has stood the test of time for 2 decades as we have recieved an all new remake to the popular game of the series of games with Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. This games plot follows the 2004 Gamecube original sees Mario being requested by Princess Peach to journey to the island of Rogueport in the search of an ancient treasure. But when the princess is captured by a group of aliens known as X-nauts, Mario will team up with new companions including Goombella on a journey to find the secrets of the Thousand Year Door, discover the treasure and save the princess. Reception of this remake has been very well praised with love and respect of what made the original such a popular entry in the series with new fixtures to make it the best way to play (well you can play the original if you have a copy already or a lot of money to splash on a second hand copy) and if you are ready for a new Mario Adventure then you can play the new game now on Nintendo Switch.  

Trailers from the wasteland

Long Legs

We start off trailers this week with a new look at a horror film that has released such enticing and affective marketing that it does not tell you anything and keeps you on edge as we have now a full length trailer for the upcoming horror film of Long Legs. This film will be follow FBI agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unresolved serial killer case that takes an unexpected turn, revealing evidence of the occult, but will soon discover the personal connection of the killer and must stop him before he strikes again. Now I think the whole marketing for the film has been really well established and make it so vague and unsettling from so little and even with this trailer is not even giving a clear idea of what is going on but the early reception has proven it to be a massive success and we can see the horrors abound when the film releases into cinemas on July 12th.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Onto the next trailer for the week is the important element of a 2 word sentence: Git Gud, as we return to the world of Elden Ring with a new story trailer for Shadow of the Erdtree. The plot will see the narrative follow the story of Malenia's twin brother of Miquella as you will travel across the land of shadow to find a way to break the curse that has been placed on you and your brother (though different curses) that keep's Miquella from growing older and staying younger and also take down powerful enemies and possibly defeat the man in red of Mesmar. It has been seen that Elden Ring has proven its appeal and excitement and show that the games from FromSoftware can be some really fantastical pieces and this DLC expansion I am sure will be just as anticipated and hyped when the game releases just under a month time on June 21st on PS4/5, Xbox Series X/S / One and PC.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Now for some magical creativity from an grown up child at heart with a magical stationary piece as they have released a new trailer for the adaptation of Harold and the Purple crayon. Serving as a sequel to the original book, it will follow a grown up Harold as he uses the power of his Purple crayon to travel into the real world and unleash his endless imagination and learn about so much of what the real world has to offer. So I have never read this novel and I can tell it is a nice story of how imagination and creativity is a positive thing and I sure that this will be one of those simple feel good family films that can worth a watch when the film releases into cinemas on August 2nd.

Beverly Hills Cop Axel F

Time to play that funky theme song once again as LA's best dressed and smooth cops is back on the beat to take crime into his own hands as we have recieved a new trailer for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. This 4th entry will see Axel Foley back on the scene as after his daughter is threatened, he must team up with a new partner and some old pals to turn up the heat on a conspiracy. It is to say that the worry of a follow up sequel to a classic series of comedy cop action film would be a worry but so far from the trailer has been very appealing to me and I am excited to check this out as it will be releasing onto Netflix on July 3rd.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

And with the final trailer for the week is about to see the Juice about to become loose once again as we have now recieved an all new look at the sequel to the late 80s classic with Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. This new film will take place years after the original when 3 generations of Deetz women return to winter river after a sudden family tragedy. Still haunted by the affect of Beetlejuice, Lydia's life gets turned upside down once again when her rebellious daughter unleashes the demon after the discovery of a portal to the afterlife and will bring his own brand of mayhem with it. Now so far from what I have seen from the footage it looks like classic Tim Burton style and bringing back a classic character for some more hijinks in the present day may be worth a crazy time (but maybe hopefully not as crazy as a certain politician getting a little touchy feely during the musical version of the original film) but I am sure we will see the wackiness to come when the film releases into cinemas on September 6th.

News to make it epic

The handler of Monsters will not be back for the next installment

so most of the stories of this week are all some small little updates with some news stories of varying aspects and we shall start off with talking about the creatures of a giant scale of the Monsterverse. Now it is not difficult to say that over the course of the last decade that the WB monsterverse has seen massive amounts of success with varying reception across its so far 5 movies and recent Apple Tv+ series of Monarch and it seems that there is no slowing down as it is confirmed of a 2nd season to the tv show is currently in the world and the news story of the week being focused on the follow up to A New Empire and it comes in the affect of the director. For the last 2 films of GVZ and GxZ, both of the films have been helmed by director Adam Wingard, but sources have now confirmed for this week that the director will not be back for the next film due to scheduling conflicts. Now it is unclear of what that film may be (though looking at the filmography it may be that possible live action Death Note sequel so could be a big old oof) and it is unknown of who will take on the mantle of a director, but I am sure they will work something out (and maybe even get the likes of the Monarch series team involved with the film) but I am sure if I do hear anything down the line, I will update in the later piece.

But what are your thoughts on Adam Wingard not returning for the next film and if you could make a choice, who would you get as the director of the next movie? Let me know your opinions of it down below in the comments.

A new leader of the dino pack

Next story will relate in some form of the the giant monsters but more on the smaller size and the ancient gods from 65 million years ago as we have some more new news relating to the upcoming 7th film of the Jurassic Park / world series. What we know so far is that it is being directed by Rogue One and Godzilla director Gareth Edwards and has 2 rumoured castings of Scarlett Johansson and Johnathon Bailey in some of the newest roles for the film, but now we have the confirmation of one more cast member to the mix and this one has now been confirmed to be set in stone as it was announced just on Thursday that Rupert Friend has been cast in the upcoming film. To some that may not know the actor, he has appeared in some popular films or adaptations including as the inquisitor in the Obi Wan series, Agent 47 in the Hitman movie from a decade ago and his most known role in the popular series of Homeland so he has some range of playing character and roles of varying methods. Currently it is unclear if he will be a main protagonist or antagonist for the film and if anyone else from the previous movies will be part of the project but we will learn more as the film goes into production sometime soon for its release in just under 14 months time in early July next year.

But what are your thoughts on the casting for the film and who else do you see getting a role in this new film? Let me know your choices for it all down below in the comments.

The Mutants find their voice and a new showrunner has found their vision

The 3rd story for this week is delving into some more news stories that have spawned for 2 upcoming projects for the ever growing franchise of the MCU as we recieved news for 2 projects that have been hinted at for the last little while that has now been given some minor new updates that will be delved into now.

Starting on the first story of the film approach and this comes in the discussion with the next group of heroes as we have seen earth's mightiest heroes and Marvel's first family coming within next year but one of the discussion of how long will it be before we see the formation of the large group of the Mutants or X-men. Now this group has been seeing a lot of success as of late with the recent conclusion of the animated reboot follow up of X-Man 97 and have seen some mutants be introduced in the MCU so far with Khamala Khan, Namor and later this year with Deadpool and Wolverine (and whoever else gets a cameo in that film) but many wonder when will we see some updates about the actual film adaptation of the team. Well this week we have seen some promising news as it has been confirmed that the X-Man film for Marvel studio has found a writer in the form of Michael Lesslie. You may have seen some of his works as he has written film version for Macbeth and soon to be released version of Hamlet and has written the script for the film adaptation of Assassin's Creed and the recent Hunger Games film of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, so it may be the case that he will work the elements of the fantastical elements and the tone for it and I am intrigued to see what he will bring to the story of the Mutant family and what members will suit up for the first outing.

Jumping now from film to the tv streaming side we are talking about a character that since their last appearance around 3 years ago, there has been a bit of speculation as to when we will see the return of the new version of the character and this comes in the form of the Vision. Last time we saw this character was in the first of the marvel show of Wandavision where a version from Wanda's mind prison and a version made by the company of S.W.O.R.D were having a bit of a philosophical discussion about the concept of The Ship of Theseus before the vision of a memory gave him sentience of everything that vision remembered of the past and then that version flew off somewhere and hasn't been seen since. Following the end of that series, there had been some rumours floating about that we would get a 2nd spinoff to the series besides the Agatha all along series in the form of a series entitled Vision Quest and it now that rumor may have been made true as also this week it was unveiled that the series has a showrunner in the form of Terry Matalas, who's known credits have been for some series of Star Trek with Voyager, Enterprise and Picard as well as the creator of his series of 12 Monkeys so the veil of sci-fi and superheroes of another time is not new to him. Not much else has been shared of what to expect as of yet but they have also given a tentpole of when we can expect to see this series and this is projected for release sometime in 2026, so there is a bit of time to start some work on it but I am sure we will learn more about the project overtime and once I do I will update in a later piece.

But what are your own thoughts on some new stories of the MCU and are you excited for any of these projects in particular. Let me know what you think down below.

A hunt begins with a new hunter and a mystery is afoot real soon

And the final stories of the week are focusing on 2 new announcements that have been presented and shown to us from the streaming giant of Netflix with the first look at a new take for an ongoing series and the other is the confirmation of a follow up to an acclaimed series of films and we will discuss them here below.

The first of 2 pieces was one I was initially going to place in the trailers for the week but felt it better fit into this section as it is more of an announcement first look then full trailer and that is the basis that we have recieved the first glimpse at the new version of Geralt for season 4 of The Witcher. Production on this season had started just a short time ago (within the last 2 months anyways) and there was some BTS snaps taken with mixed quality but earlier this week, Netflix unveiled a small teaser that gives a look at the characters, now being portrayed by Liam Hemsworth. Now so far they do look similar and keeping the same look but there is some noticeable difference and that comes in the form of this version being slightly less bulky but it is very minimal. The teaser does not show much but Geralt with a horse in tow travelling through a wood in the late hours on the hunt for something or someone and I can't give too much of an impression on it for the moment but I am sure we will see more of the full performance come a full proper trailer is released to the public in due time.

The 2nd and final announcement was one I was waiting for and I am so excited to hear any form of an update and this comes in the form of the next installment of films based on a mystery that goes quite deep and created from the mind of Rian Johnston. Now over the last 5 years, Johnston has made 2 excellent film in a series known as Knives out with the original film in 2019 and the excellent sequel of Glass Onion in 2022 that both have a star studded cast and starring an entertaining performance from one Daniel Craig as famous detective Benoit Blanc and it had been a wonder if they are keeping the last film secret to drop for a release later this year and now just on Friday we have gotten that answer, as they unveiled the official title for the conclusion to this little trilogy with the 3rd film now titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery with this being described as Blanc's most dangerous case to date as the film enters into production. The only other information we know is that the film is projected for a release not this year but for 2025 and for my guess, it may be similar for release of around November/December like the first 2, but either way I am excited to see who will be joining the cast this time around and if this one will also hopefully get a theatrical release like the last 2 as well cause I would love to watch that on the big screen, but I guess we have to find out more on this as the film enters deeper into the development.

But what are your own opinions on both of these announcements, what do you think of Hemsworth look as Geralt and are you excited for Wake Up Dead Man and who do you see joining this cast of this threequel? Let me know all of your opinions and choices down below and lets discuss that there.

But with all of that this bring us all to the end of the 65th episode of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope that you enjoyed listening to all that was discussed this week. Let me know your thoughts of everything in the comments below and lets start a conversation down there with everyone. As always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday and I will see you all in the next piece :)

Take Care, Keep being you, Signing off

Sam H :)