Weird Mind News Room Episode 67: June 3rd - 9th

 *watching music is needed*

Hello there everyone to the newest edition of Weird Mind News Room where we will be delving into the discussions of the week talking about all of the new releases, the trailers of the week and some of the news stories that have come my way in appearance, so let us not waste too much time and lets get to talk about it all.

New releases: joy or pain

Movies

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Starting off this week with the question of what are you gonna do when they come for you? As after 4 years, delays and even a slap heard round the world, the 2 detectives are back with the 4th entry in the Bad Boys Franchise with Ride or Die. The new entry will see Mike and Marcus having to team up once again to go undercover and soon on the run to clear the name of their late captain who has been posthumously linked to drug cartels while also clearing their own name in the process. Reception for this film like the previous entry has been recieved well with praise for the main leads of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence and providing some energy and life in this series still to this day, even when some of the plot aspects may make it a little muddled, but if you want some entertaining action then you catch the new film now out in cinemas.

The Watchers (not the Watched)

Next on the release is a film that for some reason had a sudden name change where I'm from that makes it very confusing given the concept and all the marketing saying otherwise and for benefit I am keeping it to the normal name as the daughter of the director known for the twist endings has made their film debut with Ishana Night Shyamalan's new horror thriller of The Watchers (not the Watched). This film will follow Mina, a young woman from Galway who is assigned a job to deliver a pet bird to a client in Belfast but in the process ends up getting lost in the vast dense forests of Ireland. Soon she finds herself trapped in a concrete container with 3 other strangers who are there to be observed by strange creatures lurking in the woods at night and will soon lead to figuring out what they are and how they can escape. Now reception for this has not been that well recieved and in the mixed to low category as the concept, atmosphere and tension and the cast has been praised but gets convoluted in twist upon twist and its mythology aspects in the 2nd half that drag it down. (also small nitpick but I find it odd that when there has been films shot here but never get much of a big press or premiere here which is just dumb). But if you want to find out why you should avoid the deep forests then you can catch this new film out now in cinemas.

The Hit Man

The last of the new films for this week will be taking a form of someone presumably being a killer but its hard to see if it is true and also comes to a list where you say the title of this film and think you are talking about a popular game series or the adaptations of said series as we are talking on the new film of Hit Man. This film follows a Part time New Orleans Police officer who poses undercover as a reliable hitman who always arrests those that hire him. This soon becomes a case when he is hired by a woman to kill her abusive husband and soo finds himself become infatuated with her while dealing with all sorts of other issues. While the plot for this may not be the most engaging, reception for this film has been universally praised for the dark tone and balance with great laughs and the performance of Glen Powell in the lead role and if you want to catch this new film then you can check it out now on Netflix.

TV Shows

Star Wars: The Acolyte

On the tv side of things, we are heading to a galaxy far far away once again and going over a century before the events of the 9 film saga as we explore the age of the Jedi with the new series of Star Wars the Acolyte. This series is set 100 years before the events of Phantom Menace and during the High Republic era and will follow a respected Jedi master investigating a series of crimes that brings him into contact with a former padawan learner and reveal sinister forces. Reception for this series from critics has been so far well recieved for the setting, cast and action scenes though like most projects in this saga lately (and most fandoms) the audience reception has been hit with reviews bombs (even hours before the series even premiered) saying the series has gone "woke" or cause it was created by a woman or the female characters could be Mary Sue's or something or too diverse or whatever else they will say about any series at this point when I think some may be jumping too conclusions, but if you want to catch the new space adventure, you can watch the first 2 episodes now on Disney+ with a new episode out every Wednesday.

Video Games

Destiny The Final Shape

The final new release is with a new expansion to the growing saga that will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and bring the end of the first saga to the game as we have the new expansion for Destiny 2 with The Final Shape. This new expansion will see your guardian seeking out the major franchise villain of the Witness after their escape at the end of Lightfall and stop them from creating the titular final shape that could cause the full destruction of all life in the universe and end the war between Light and Darkness. Reception for this expansion has been decently recieved with all the ambition and build up over the years is presenting itself well in this concluding chapter for this saga and if you want to check this out you can play this on PC, PS4/5 and Xbox One and Series X/S.

Trailers built for being watched

Venom: the Last Dance

Starting off the trailer for the week is returning to the universe of characters from a gallery of characters that the main character is not a part of (that we know of at the moment) as we are returning to the popular buddy duo that has a bit of a romcom approach of man and symbiote as we've recieved the first trailer for the concluding film in the trilogy of Venom with the Last Dance. The plot from what I can gather from the vagueness of the interwebs, is that this film will see Eddie Brock and Venom become fugitives who are on the run from the law after the end of the last film as well as having to deal with the threat of the impending invasion of Venom's homeworld coming after them as well. This series is one that I feel even in the mixed array of Sony Spider-Man films, I do say that I enjoy the Venom films for just being that bit of entertaining fix I need and from the look at the trailer for this it so far does not look that bad, from some set pieces, visuals don't look that awful and the concept of the symbiote Horse looked cool. There is one or 2 questions I have where there is one scene involving the actor that played Mordo in Doctor Strange is here and also the case of reading the actor that plays the Lizard in Amazing Spider-Man and No Way Home is also in this making me wonder will we see this being a part of the MCU or Andrews Peter Parker appearing as well (cause I've heard some rumours and they are wild) but I guess we'll find out more about it by the time the film releases on October 25th.

Alien Romulus

Speaking of alien species, we are heading into the deep vast regions of space where no one will hear you scream as we return to the series that has been a mixed array of opinion with the newest film of Alien Romulus. This new film will be set between the original and sequel to Alien as it follows a group of young space colonists who, while scavenging a rural space station, come face to face with the most terrifying life form in space. So it has been seen that the Alien series has had a mixed array of opinion with the last well liked film being Aliens back in the 80s with the following 2 being mixed, Prometheus being anticipated but coming out underwhelming to many and the same can be said about Covenant that got bogged down in concepts that it fell apart. The only Alien piece that most see as a proper successor so far is one I bring up all the time is the Alien Isolation game (a game I blame IGN for the reason there has not been a sequel for) and not I have gotten from this film makes me feel like it is a new perspective adaptation of said game and if it is then I am excited if its revealed to be but we'll see what it turns out like when the film floats into cinemas on August 16th.

Maxxxine

The next trailer is giving us one more new look at the concluding part of a trilogy of Horror thrillers that has seen mass appeal as we have recieved a new trailer for the X trilogy concluder of MaXXXine. This will follow the life of Maxine who after escaping from a deadly massacre in Texas will see her move to the golden coast of LA to become a massive star in anyway she can. But evil is never far away as she must make it through the industry while also protecting herself against the grisly killings of the Night Stalker in the 1980s. Now I can see the mass appeal of how well made, well concepted and how fucked up the series so far has been and I am sure this one will hopefully also be met with great praise but I am sure we will find out real soon as it releases into cinemas in just under a month's time on July 5th.

Piece by Piece

So it might seem crazy what I am about to say for this final trailer for the week but we are about to get an all new biographical film for an artist that has been present in the industry for years telling their story but being told in a unique way with it being on show in the trailer for the new film of piece by piece. This film will be following the life of famous musician and producer of Pharrell Williams as he tells his story of feeling seen as weird and odd as a child and finding his creativity and world change through the power of music. Now you are probably wondering what's so different about it and that is to do with the film all being done in Lego's. Yes this technically counts as a LEGO film and I for one think that it looks interesting and something I will check out in due time when the film builds its way into cinemas on November 15th.

News of multiple levels

Creepers, Birds, Yakuza and Tomb explorers all have something in common

So most of the stories initially this week were about Video Games before a few other rumours and discussion made their way into the mix so I decided for the mixed appeal of the first story will be to lump some announcements relating to the world of game announcements of different media formats.

So first of the announcements was one I initially planned to include in the last episode (with the following news story) but felt it was best to delay for another week but the first was a brief tease announcement for the unveiling of a new animated series based on Minecraft. Now it is unclear if this will be connected to the Story Mode series or even the upcoming film coming out next year but we will have to see how it comes along when the series eventually premieres onto Netflix.

Next on the announcements is the confirmation that has slingshot its way onto the internet just at the end of this week as it was announced by Sega, Sony and Rovio that we will be getting a 3rd Angry Birds movie on the way and has so far confirmed that Red and Chuck's voice actors of Jason Sudekis and Josh Gad have been confirmed to be returning. Not sure what the plot of this one will be about and if the Pigs will be enemies in this or if any of the other cast are coming back but I am sure we will learn more about the film as production gets well underway soon (and hopefully will be as enjoyable as the last 2 imo).

Next on the announcements was a surprise drop reveal that we will be receiving a new series based on the popular game series of Yakuza coming out this October with the first half coming out on Oct 24th and the 2nd batch the week later. Now I have not much knowledge in the series but I am sure it will be worth a look into come the release this fall.

Also confirmed for release tis fall is the confirmation release date for the new anime animated inspired Tomb Raider series getting a confirmed release date. The series will now be dropping from the 10th of October and will star Haley Atwell as the voice of Lara with the series set after the events of the recent reboot trilogy. I'll need to get back and finish the last 2 games of that series before I jump into the series come this October.

The final bit of news in terms of updates will relate to the new season of The Last of Us as while season 2 is on the way in the new year, it has been confirmed that the 2nd season will be shorter then season 1, where season 2 will have 2 less episodes then season 1 with a confirmed 7 episodes for the season, but there is a caveat that some of these episode will be much longer in length. This has not ruled out that the follow up will be the same as likely with this series is that Season 2 will follow Ellies story, Season 3 will probably be Abby's story and the Epilogue of Part 2 and if not then a rumoured 4th season could be the epilogue or the start of the plot for a presumed 3rd and final chapter in the series but I guess we will learn as production of the show continues and the next season drops onto our screens.

But what are your own thoughts on all of these announcements and updates and is there any in particular you are looking forward to checking out yourself? Let me know your thoughts below in the comments section.

These residents may be a little too evil and looking back on memories

As for the other story from last week that I didn't have time to fit into the stories of last week, we are continuing with the 2nd Video game based story for this week and that is with talking on the popular horror series of Resident Evil. Many were left surprised by the lack of an announcement last week to a new entry in the series at last week State of Play but I am sure we may hear something about 2 different aspects with one on return to the past and looking to the future about some possible discussions of the next entry in the series.

Starting off on the ones of the past, it is no secret that this series has seen a slew of remakes and remasters in the series mainly in their numbered titled games with the most recent being the beloved RE4 last year and many had wondered what may be the next game in the series to get that 4k upgrade? There has been a discussion about some getting new remakes but there has been 2 that have garnered the most discussion as of late and seems to be a possible massive requested title and a often overlooked game getting that chance as the current speculation is that their is a planned remake in the works for both resident Evil 0 and Code Veronica. The Code Veronica one has been a highly requested remake for years as it has not seen any form of remaster or remake and they have only ever released the game back when it came out for the PS2 / Xbox era so the likes of a massive upgraded remake of a beloved game in the series seems like a no brainer. As for 0 while I do know that their was a HD remaster back in 2016, I think it can be fine with a remake to that one as it is often overlooked in this series as well but released after the original trilogy came out I believe but we will see on that. However this was not the only remakes that had been discussed but have seen may have been debunked of happening and this is with a full remake to the original game and the next numbered game in the series with RE5 as the likes of 1 remake may be planned for a 30th anniversary release, I feel it is unnecessary and as for 5, it may have more trouble in the basis of the discussion on its possible racial concerns that popped up back when the game first came out 15 years ago but I am sure that it may see some form of a remake down the line but we will have to see.

As on the side of the newer entries, it has been a little over 3 years since the release of Village and many have wondered when will we hear any word on the next title in the franchise of RE9 and that question may have allegedly been answered by a possible leak. Sometime last week around the release of the State of Play, a game shop website of GameAsia uploaded a possible placeholder cover for a 9th Resident evil game with some elements of some rumoured aspects from the last few weeks being mentioned on the site, including the elements of it being based on an island town off of Japan or Korea, it is a planned open world game and has a rumoured release date of 2025. This is when it starts to go a little overboard as some other elements it talks about is that it will be titled Revenant Shadows and will also include this cast of characters such as Leon Kennedy, Chris and Jill Redfield, Claire, Carlos and possibly many more from the series past as well as some new characters with the only character not confirmed is with Rose Winters. The concern about it comes to the basis that this could end up being a Resident Evil 6 situation where there is too many storylines happening at once, becomes too convoluted and can make the game feel overstuffed and lacking at the same time. Now nothing has been confirmed as of yet with this title or any of the remakes as of yet, but if there is any word in the upcoming weeks about the projects from the remakes to the sequel, I will update when the time comes.

But what are your own thoughts on everything that was discussed with this series, would you be up for playing any of those remakes and do you think those points of the new entry are true? Let me know your opinions of them down below.

Just go North of Normal and West of Weird to find the shack again

This next story is taking us into the realm of television and on the side of animated TV in that instance as we are talking about the discussion of a revival that I have some mixed opinions about. So for many there has been a lot of excellent stories and tales woven from the world of animation over the last few years and one of them that I absolutely adore was a series from Disney known as Gravity Falls, a series about 2 siblings being sent to a mysterious town in Oregon to stay with their con man uncle who runs a tourist attraction known as the Mystery Shack and soon these 2 kids, their Uncle Stan, repair man Soos and worker Wendy discover some of the strange and wacky things throughout the town and the secrets hidden within. This series was engaging from the interesting story, colourful concepts and settings of the newest episode and some great and likeable characters that was present across its 2 seasons with the series literally ending with them stopping what was labelled as Weirdmageddon or the Oddpocalypse. The series creator of Alex Hirsch created this from some inspiration of his childhood and some of this concept series can be seen with another series that he worked on with someone else from this show and that was with Inside Job (a series that got wrongfully cancelled so quick eve when a 2nd season was confirmed and am still salty about it) and has dabbled back into this series with the release of the logbook Journal 3 as well as the book of Bill coming out sometime this summer, but it seems that may not be the only return to this franchise. According to Disney Television executive Meredith, it seems to be the case that they have been in constant talks with Alex about the new book as well as some shorts in the works but they have not confirmed nor denied a possible revival series of the show. Now while I can agree returning to the world would be really interesting and I would not have much of an issue with it, there is the concern that it could be a bit of a mess in terms of coming back when it is unneeded or goes on too long. An example that I see a lot and in some degree I agree with for some elements is the series of Star vs The Forces of evil where most people believed that it should've ended with the end of the 2 part premiere special of season 3 as some see elements of the 3rd season and especially the final season as a bit of a mess in terms of its narrative and choices. But I can give good faith with Alex Hirsch as he has made some great content in the past and maybe they could work it in somehow to make this series canon with Inside job so we can get a bit of a continuation for that series but I guess we will have to see what comes from this whole ordeal.

But what are your own opinions on this, would you be interested in a possible continuation for Gravity Falls or do you see it as being too good to need a revival? Let me know what you think of this down below.

Bringing the band together and another member of a murder mystery

The next story for this week is going to be another brief update about some casting news and some rumours for casting or directing for 4 different projects and it will be a case I will go through them here

First I will start with the confirmed casting and this is one more new addition to the upcoming release of the 3rd entry in the Knives Out series and this comes with Dune and Marvel actor of Josh Brolin. This has been the one only new cast addition to the 3rd film that has come from this week after the extensive list from last week and it is unclear if this is the last one being added to the film but I am sure we will see if any more cast gets added overtime.

Next on the list is with a bit of news relating to the upcoming planned release of the 4 films based on the Beatles from Sam Mendes. We know it is a case that many have wondered who are we going to be seeing playing the roles of each member of the band and now near the end of this week some rumoured cast has been floating around about who is playing who with the rumoured group being Harris Dickinson playing John Lennon, Paul Mescal will take on the role of Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan has been tapped for Ringo Star and Charlie Rowe rounds out the rumours with him playing George Harrison. All of the choices are interesting and I would be up for seeing 2 big Irish talent making headlines as some big names faces in the music industry but I am sure we will learn of who will play the group members in due time.

The next story piece relate to the first of 2 pieces about directors for the MCU and one of them that seems to have been in talks with the studio is with oscar winning director of Jordan Peele who has been reporedly in talks this week with the studio. It is unclear exactly of what he may have been in discussion about in terms of film or series he could take on but some predictions seem to be in the realm of a possible Midnight Suns film or series, the X-Men reboot or even some possible assistance with the upcoming Blade film but so far nothing has been confirmed as of yet or if he has accepted any of them but it could also be in relation to another project.

And this comes with the discussion of the next big upcoming project of Avengers 5 and relates to the final story as it has been discussed that Deadpool & Wolverine Director of Shawn Levy has been approached by the studio to direct the massive ensemble film coming out that could also be with the possible project that Peele could've been considered for given Levy has not finalized anything yet. I feel for the moment that he would be a good choice for this film and will have to see how the new Deadpool does before I decide on any opinion for the choice of director but I feel any option is a good choice in my book.

But what are your thoughts on these announcements and rumours and which do you see as being a possible outcome for any of the rumoured ones? Let me know what you think of it all down below.

Fighting to alleviate hunger again and consuming a hunger for cheese

The last story from this week is with the announcement of a simple name change and the announcement of a new edition in a series and an adaptation of said new editions and we will get into that here.

Firstly, if you remember a few years ago the follow up to the beloved series of novels about people from districts being chosen to fight to the death for spectacle was released that followed the story of the young dictator of how he would become that character and that was with the edition of the novel of the Hunger Games The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Now the film adaptation for that had released a couple of months ago to a bit of a mixed appeal and a somewhat ok box office but was the weakest in terms of earnings in the franchise but it seemed to have been a success for fans and it looks like the momentum of the series is not ending there is there is now plans for another book for the series as it was announced we are getting a new entry in the form of Sunrise on the Reaping and will follow the story of the character of Haymitch on the year he won the hunger games (which would be the 50th edition). It was not the only reaction as it was also announced that it is getting a film adaptation a year after the book releases early next year with the film planned for release in November 2026. So truth be told, I have not seen or read any of these books but I am sure I may give a look into them in due time but I am sure they will be a worth a look into them overtime

The 2nd aspect was that for some of you may know and some may see this as a surprise to you but we are actually getting a 2nd full length movie on Wallace and Gromit and it is coming out this year, this title was announced at the same time as the sequel to last years Chicken Run Sequel (a film I will get to reviewing in due time) that was initially titled Gnome Alone and is now going off the title of Vengeance Most Fowl. Not much has been shared so far besides some brief first look images and a small teaser in the Netflix animation round up trailer as well as a small promo unveiling the return of a face from a long time ago. Yes the main antagonist of the oscar winning Wrong Trousers of feathers McGraw or the Penguin is back for a 3rd time (if you count the obscure project zoo game from the early 2000s or the brief cameo easter egg at dawn of the nugget) and will be the one causing some trouble for the cheese loving inventor and his faithful canine companion. Not much else has been shown but it has been confirmed for release this year with it releasing at Christmas here on the BBC and internationally this winter on Netflix and I for one am very excited to see this new film.

But I would like to know your thoughts about another entry for the Hunger games series and if you are also excited for a 2nd Wallace and Gromit film? Let me know your opinions down below and lets discuss them there. 

And with all of that this bring us all to the end of episode 67 of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope that you enjoy all that was presented to you all. Let me know your thoughts and opinions of everything discussed down below and 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 :)