Weird Mind News Room Episode 80: Sept 2nd - 8th

 *Daylight come and a the music for a ghost*

Hello again to all of you wonderful people to the 80th edition of the newest weekly series of Weird Mind News Room where this week we have a few new releases, somes trailers and a few odd news stories of the week but let us not waste too much time and let us get to the newest content for this week of all things media.

The New Release juice is loose

Movies

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

Starting off this week with the big release of this month (from where I am from anyway) as after 36 years since they first graced the big screen, the ghost with the most is back once again for more chaos and mayhem as we have the newest film of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The film will see 3 generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River after after an unexpected family tragedy. Still haunted from the demon of Beetlejuice, Lydia's life soon gets turned upside down again after her rebellious teenage daughter discoers a mysterious portal to the afterlife and ends up getting trapped. Soon Lydia will have to summon the ghost with the most once again in order to help rescue her daughter and cause some mischief and chaos along the way. Reception to this legacy sequel has been well recieved with praise to the classic tone and respect to the original Tim Burton classic and expanding on the fun of the original, though some themes and story can be a little hit or miss with it going all over the place, but if you want to see the juice loose again then you can catch this new film out now in cinemas.

Games

Harry Potter Quidditch Champions

Brooms at the ready as a challenging game of sports, flying and possible friendly competition is about to take to the skies as we have an all new game based on the wizarding world with Harry Potter Quidditch champions. This new game will have you play as your own new character as well as some familiar faces from the expansive series as you duke it out in high stakes Quidditch matches in some familiar locales and prove who is the ultimate champion of the wizarding pastime. Reception to this game has been a bit more of a mixed side of things that while praise has been given to the gameplay and visuals, the minimal amount of content and appeal has seen a bit of a snag in the enjoyment of the game, but if you want some new form of sports game that is now the usual fare from 2K then you get this game on PS4/5, XBOne/ Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC in digital form with a physical version releasing this November.

Astro Bot

Are you looking for a new platformer on a console that has had the whole jokes the console has no games (just cause they are not exclusives does not mean it has no games, nothing wrong with sharing) then you will be in luck as a somewhat mascot for the last 2 consoles is off on a massive new intergalactic adventure with the new game of Astro Bot. This new title with see the titular little robot go on a massive space quest to recover his lost crew and restore the mothership that is strikingly similar looking to the PS5 console and all its parts while taking on the Evil Green alien of Space Bully Nebulax and his army of goofy followers and restoring peace to the cosmos. Reception to the game has been universally praised with praise to the gameplay, simple story, fun platforming and puzzles galore in this love letter to PlayStation and platformers of the past and if you are up for a fun new adventure then you can play this new game now on PS5.

Ace Attorney Investigations collection

Court is now in session for the final new release for this week as while we are know for playing as a well dressed spiky haired defense attorney, we are moving to the other side of the courtroom as we will be playing in the role of the Prosecution (and supposed secret lover of the defense attorney) as we have the new bundle collection of Ace Attorney Investigations. This new collection will consist of the 2 titles of the spin off game where you play as Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth as you travel around to check out scenes of crimes that had taken place across the lands and put your mind, wit and patience to the test in order to solve the case and bring the criminal to justice. The bundle reception has recieved some strong positive reviews with priase to the visual upgrade and for having a chance to play a new side of the beloved series (and the case of playing the 2nd game for the first time in English as it was just a Japan exclusive for over a decade) and if you are ready to reach a verdict then you can play this new title now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Trailers for the gamers

Smile 2

On the first of the trailers for this week is bringing a sense that doing this form is contagious and it can also be unsettling and deadly to a whole new meaning as we have a new trailer for the upcoming surprise sequel to the short film turned surprise horror hit with a new look at Smile 2. This new entry will follow Skye Riley, a pop star who is about to embark on a massive world tour begins to start experiencing some increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and pressures of Fame, she must face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control. Now the likes of this film was that I initially thought the original was not the most appealing looking (though how they marketed the film was somewhat genius and unsettling) and in all fairness I think this one does not look too bad though I do hope that they will not milk this concept too much and we will see how this will turn out when it releases into cinemas on October 18th.

A Minecraft Movie

Another week and another new trailer for a video game adaptation and this one was one that for a moment in time I actually forgot was coming out (which is surprising as I have been forgetting a lot of things recently and I am unsure if I may be experiencing some condition or else my mental state has not been great) but we are heading to a very cubic world of danger and creativity where the only limit is your imagination as we have a trailer for the new live action adaptation of A Minecraft Movie. The film follows four misfits of Garett "Garbage Man" Garrison, Henry, Natalie and Dawn, 4 different people struggling with ordinary problems, all get suddenly sucked through a mysterious portal to The Overworld: a bizarre cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. In order to get back home they will have to master this world (and save it from evil) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter named Steve. So this trailer has caused quite a divide online (and is unsure if I can talk without getting a possible strike from the video version) as I think from the world shown looks visually nice and close to the game with the cubic nature, the likes of it being live action and the visual design of the creatures and enemies has been the big debate (and the likes of the outfit for Steve and the humans). Now in all sense of the word I think that so far it looks fine but I would need to see more and hopefully like it how it initially was for me with the original Sonic movie design that I got used to it overtime of the realism of the animals but I am sure we will see how this turns out overtime when the film crafts its way into cinemas on April 4th next year.

Arcane Season 2

It was not the only Video game adaptation trailer that we have gotten for this week as also dropping this week is a return to a series that came out of nowhere and was a massive hit and the followup has been eagerly waited for as we have a new trailer for the upcoming 2nd and final season of Arcane: League of Legends. This season will see the affects of Jinx's attack on the council and will soon set the stage of estaranged sisters as well as the dire escalation of the conflict between Piltover and Zaun. SO the likes of this series looks even more visually appealing and I do hope that this season will land just as great and as entertaining as the first season and will probably give a rewatch of the first season before the new season airs on the streaming service. We have yet to get an official date (most case we will at Geek Week in 2 weeks time) but will be dropping onto Netflix sometime this November.

Wicked Part 1

The Next trailer for this week is taking us to another strange and colourful land, a place that is just a twister away and beyond a Yellow brick road to the tale of once friends that become set in stone of different paths as we have another new trailer for the upcoming "musical" of Wicked Part 1. This film will tell the story of Elphaba, a young woman who was ostracized and misunderstood because of her Green skin enrolls in Schiz academy, a school for student with unique gifts and powers where she soon forms an unlikely but profound friendship with Glinda, a student with an unflinching desire for popularity. Soon following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroads and as their lives soon begin to take very different paths. Right so this film I can see the likes of the love and effort that is put into the film but there is something about it that seems a little off on the basis that yes this is supposed to be a 2 part film, they are not really sounding like it is and then the likes as well, they are not showing the case much that this is going to be a musical either and in all sense the only thing I know for this film is the whole drama that saw the breakup of 2 marraiges of an affair with a lead star and a co-star in this as much of the discussion most of the time, but I hope I am wrong and the film is good and hopefully will be a lot more love and focus to Cynthia Ervio for this film but I guess we will find out when the film releases into cinemas on November 22nd.

Wolf Man

The most recent trailer to come out of this week as of writing and the one that feels close to the upcoming spooky season, this new trailer will have you howling for the moon as we have recieved the first teaser trailer for the upcoming film of Wolf Man. The film will follow Blake, a family man who seeks to protect himself and his family from a dangerous werewolf at night during a full moon that may be more difficult then first expected as he feels he may not be fully in control of himself. So the teaser for the film is a bit cryptic and does not really show the likes of what the wolf creature looks like, however the form of the wolf man was leaked from the ongoing Halloween Horror Nights in Universal Studios and his design is looking less Wolf Man and a bit more deranged Goblin to me but it could be a form of it and the final version could look a lot different but I guess we will see how it turns out when the film releases into cinemas on January 17th next year.

Will & Harper

The final trailer for the week is a bit different to the other trailers as it is more in the realm of a documentary piece as we have an iconic comedic actor go on a journey with a lifelong friend who has had a change in life and learning about it all as we have the new documentary of Will and Harper. The documentary will tell the story of the lifelong friendship Between Will Ferrell and Harper Steele from working on SNL to lifelong collaborations, where in 2021 during the Covid Pandemic, Harper sent out emails to close friends and family that they were transitioning from a man to a woman and the film will follow a cross country road trip that the 2 will go on and learn about things along the way and find themselves in the process. So the likes of this was that I had heard elements of this from the likes of a few film festivals and it has recieved a massive critical praise overall so far. Now I know the case the topic at hand will not be an appeal for everyone that people will have their own opinions on the likes of this treatment and I respect the case that people have their own opinions and I respect them in all case that it will not appeal to all, but I got the sense of this being a thought provoking and quite humorous story that will unfold and I feel it will be worth a watch when it releases onto Netflix from the 27th of September.

News that packs some form of appeal

Lanterns, bats and strange creatures galore

The first of the news stories of this week is taking us on the realm of talking a little on Superheroes of all varying power levels and aesthetics as this week we are focusing not on the massive franchise of the MCU but rather the side that had a few different elements in the works all in the form of the project of the upcoming DCU and of the the elements to their Elseworlds canonicity as we have a few stories that come from this side of the comic book sphere and I will be giving a little rundown on some stories for a few of its projects for you to check out below and what this could mean for the series.

The first of the stories based on the world of DC comics is taking us beyond the cosmos through the power of Light energy and a nifty little ring as we talk on the powerful group of the Lanterns as we have gotten a little word on the update of the planned tv series of Lanterns. So far what we know is that it is in early concept stages of a tv series for Max and the only confirmed casting of a lantern in the DCU is with Nathan Fillion playing Guy Gardener who will first appear in the upcoming Superman film next year. The likes of which known with these characters is that the most known of these cosmic heroes is Gardener, Jon Stewart and the main focus of this one being Hal Jordan. Now we have seen Hal Jordan in a live action form already with the always joked about 2011 film starring Ryan Reynolds but now this new take will be a much more older and mature form with a bit of a gruff edge to them as they have been starting to cast this hero and the rumoured casting is with actor Josh Brolin.. Now Brolin of course is not new to the Comic verse as he has played his share of comic characters including the big bad Thanos for the MCU, Cable in the 2nd Deadpool film, Jonah Hex and Sin City 2 so jumping from Marvel to DC seems like a likely story. Now it has not been set in stone and confirmed just yet as he has not agreed to it but there is 2 other choices that they have considered and approached if it falls through and that is with Matthew McConaughey and Ewan McGregor in the role, so it all sounds like a good choice casting all the same. In my opinion the likes of a more mature Hal Jordan sounds a bit more reasonable and seeing early concepts from the an himself of Bosslogic, it could work but I guess we will have to see how that comes along.

The 2nd of the stories for DC is taking the elseworlds approach as we are talking about the upcoming sequel to the 2022 adaptation of The Batman with the long awaited follow up. So most we know right now is that the next in the series is with the new limited series of The Penguin releasing in 2 weeks time and we know Part 2 will be another 2 years away at this point but it is a case we have some slight update to the project itself. According to Matt Reeves, the project script is near completion and it has also been confirmed in the approach that the film will be another Mystery film similar to the previous entry which I think works best cause the way he implemented the whole detective aspect of the character worked so well (one concept they have not worked out in the previous films) and it gets me speculating as to who will be the primarily focus villains for this sequel. He has mentioned as well that the likes of the villains will not go overly into the realm of the fantastical and be more in the realm of grounded but have that element of fantastical form so likes of characters you would see from the connected universe may seem out of the question and my guess from this approach could be the likes of Hush, Two-Face, Mr Freeze and the furthest I can suggest from the likes of this is the Court of Owls or League of Assassins and I feel he can work them well into a narrative. I am sure once we start to see the production begin in 2025 and his scope for the sequel where we will get the confirmed villains but either way I am all for this sequel and will be checking it out when it releases in 2 years time (and bringing someone else along with me if they are interested in the 2nd part).

Lastly this will combine 2 stories as we have gotten a release date for a new project and the response for another project in the upcoming few weeks and we will start with a release date as it has been confirmed now that the upcoming animated series of creature commandos now has a release date in December and will be Dropping from December 5th in the US and most likely over here as well but the jury is still out on that aspect but I say it will be out by the end of that month or the start of 2025. as for the 2nd part of it, The 2nd film based on the character of Joker with Folie a Deux has had its world premiere at Venice international film festival and the results of the early reception seems to be a little more mixed compared to the first even if the film recieved a 11-12 ovation. Most of the praise for the film so far is towards the main leads, even if the likes of Lady Gaga is kind of underused in the film and there is some pacing with the first half being in the asylum and other half a courtroom drama with some odd choices on the musical aesthetic of it all but it seems to be a small percentage of issues for some and I am sure more and more reviews will start to come in by the release of the project in October.

But what are your thoughts on all of the DC News, who would you cast as the lanterns, who do you think will be the villains for this next Batman film and are you excited for any of the projects in particular? Let me know your thoughts and opinions on everything down below in the comments.

Vampires, heists and possible Ice Queens abound

This next batch of stories were more of smaller stories in particular and may not fully match but they provide some elements of announcements to some franchises or IP's that either has speculation or some confirmed or announced projects and I will give a rundown to it here.

First we start with some new news concerning the announced of a rumoured series that was first brought up over a year ago and that was there was talks of a new series based on the popular book series of Twilight that was initially thought to be a focus of a remake of the books with plenty of more faithfulness to the novel series but it seems now to be the likes of it taken a new approach with the series as it was announced that it will now be an animated series with Netflix and it will focus on the recently released book of Midnight Sun. This of course for those unaware is the book that will focus on the Original novel but is told from the perspective of Edward. I guess it makes sense to do a version of the book that has not been adapted and it is a question if it will have the cast back from the film of Stewart and Pattinson but I guess we will have to find out more as the series begins development but I will update when more comes in.

Next on the new block is with some more new news from the Venice Film Festival as while the big films stars of Brad Pitt and George Clooney are there promoting their new film of Wolfs, it seems it is not the only project that will be seeing these 2 team up for again as it has been discussed and possibly announced that their is a planned 4th mainline film in the oceans series with the 2 back for another heist. Now it does not have a full director yet but it seems to be eying Edward Berger who directed the Oscar winning All Quiet on the Western Front so it sounds it could have some big star power and bring appeal back after 12 and 13 were underwhelming in reception. This does also however bring in some possible canonicity issues from the 2018 film of Oceans 8 as there is some fate's for characters based on the leads of some of that film, and also the discussion of where that rumoured Oceans film with Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie were going to be set in but I guess all of that can either be separate canon or is set after the new film if it does happen but I can see the likes of a new oceans film can work in this day and I am sure we will see how it all comes together.

The last part of this story in particular was a discussion of the usual aspect to come from the industry and that is of course with Live action Remakes and from the big company that make it a yearly tradition with Disney. So we know that there is 3 things,1. The rewatchathon from my end is coming along real soon, 2. We know there is a planned release for 4 with Mufasa out in December, Snow White in March, Lilo and Stitch next Summer and Moana in 2026 and 3. is that somewhere down the line there will be a few remakes we know of happening with no date yet and that down the line it will happen that there will be a eventual live action remake of the frozen films. I am sure within the next year or 2 they will announce a live action remake of the box office hit films (probably after the next 2 entries) but it seems like there is one actress eyeing to get her chance in the ring of that eventual release and that is with the actress that looks like someone I care a real deep amount for and that is with Anya Taylor Joy. She has expressed interest in wanting to play the Ice Queen in an enevitable live action Frozen adaptation and in all sense I can see her play the part well enough that she has the look, she has the singing capabilities and I do think that she is a great actress and I think she could play the role well enough. Now granted it is likely a bit of time out before that eventually happens but in all sense I feel that it is likely Disney will not listen to the likes of agreeing the live action remakes are unnecessary cause they make money but in all sense if they were to choose someone I can see her play the role well enough.

But what are your opinions on the content presented here, are you excited for a new Twilight series, Would you be interested in a new Oceans film and who would you cast in a live action Frozen? Let me know your thoughts down below and lets discuss them there

Space scoundrels have been captured

the next story from this week is a little more of a short update and it is an update to a game's future and it seems a little dim for this project when there was potential. So if you recall back to about 2 weeks ago, I talked about a new released game that hit the PlayStation and PC in the form of a 5v5 battle game that garnered a mixed appeal and that project was known as Concord and it had the basis of being a long service game but it seems that is no longer the case as it was announced earlier this week that the game itself will now be shutting down 2 weeks after launching and shut it servers on the 6th of September. There seemed to be a lot of factors that went against it with it mainly being in the low player numbers, which is a common thing with most live service games this year, some whole response from one of the developers on social media that is locking responses or fixes behind a $8 fee on Twitter and some of the known people online that will complain about the new games online in general cause its the norm (or following a hivemind a lot of the time) when I feel like it had potential to work out in the long run. My whole approach that I was briefly discussed with someone about a few days ago was that they could've done the whole Overwatch approach where they make it go free to play, constant updates and events and other features that would've worked to bring more people into the game for a new multiplayer affair but I don't know how well it would pan out from it cause I can sense there was a lot of love and care and dedication that went into its supposed 8 years of development. But I hope for the best for all of those that worked on it and they can go on to big successful careers and maybe a chance that this could be revived in the future in some form but I guess we will have to find out down the line.

But what are your thoughts on this, are you disappointed to see this game being shut down so quickly and if you have played the game in the short window of time, what were your thoughts on it? Let me know what you thought of it all down below.

The author has spoken

The final story for this week is bringing a bit of drama and gossip from the world of television and adaptations as it is coming from the realm of high fantasy and a lot of dragons and the father of said series is making his thoughts know. If you are aware one of the biggest series to hit television and streaming services in the last 2 decades is the series of Game of Thrones based on the books from longtime 7th book writing author George R.R Martin whos original series was made over the 2010s up from greatness to a messy conclusion and everyone thought the series was done for there. About 3 years after the original series ended came the first of many spin offs on the way with the prequel of House of the Dragon who's first season was well regarded and a return to form for the franchise and even an appealing 2nd season that just wrapped up at the beginning of last month to some similar acclaim.... however, not everyone was praising the recent season and that person that had their issues was the author himself who had a few things to say about the adaptation of this season of his story. According to a blog that he posted earlier this week, The author who is an executive producer on these shows apparently had a creative difference with the showrunner for this season involving the young children of one of the couples in the series as it was missing one of the kids. In the books there was a pair of twins and a 3rd child for the couple and it was the basis about the end of the first episode of the new season that saw what was described as a "butterfly effect" that will cause issues with the remaining 2 seasons as in the original book telling it was a choice between 3 of the kids of who the hired thugs would kill where the mother chose the youngest to be killed and save the older twins and in the show it is the son that gets killed which makes it feel a little bit of some simple method become a much bigger problem. Now I am sure there has been many other issues from the previous 2 seasons that eh has not addressed or even from the main series as I can sense something about this season felt lacking compared to season 1 (I liked the first season more then this one as it was a bit weak to me personally) but I feel there is probably some insider issues with HBO about what can be said right now but I guess we will see how this will affect the other spin offs in the works as well as the following 2 seasons that will wrap up this story of Fire and Blood.

But what do you think of this whole ordeal that those who read the novel, do you think this is a detrement to the later seasons and what are your opinions on the show in general and its recent season and do you think there was other issues overall? Let me know what you think of it all down below.

And with all of that this brings us to the end of the busy packed 80th edition of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope that you have enjoyed listening to the ramblings once more of all things media. Let Me know about all that was discussed and your thoughts on anything down below in the comments and we can discuss them there. As always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day every day and I will see you all in the next blog :)

Take care, keep being you, signing off 

Sam H :)