Weird Mind News Room Episode 89: Nov 4th - 10th

 *some music to go with some delicious marmalade sandwiches*

Hello again to all of you wonderful people to the 89th edition of the weekly round up series of Weird Mind News Room where as per usual on this weekly series, I will be delving into all of the New Releases, the Trailers for the week and some of the range of News Stories to come from the world of Entertainment, so lets not be a spot of bother and lets get to talking about all things media from this week.

New Releasinton adventure

Movies

Paddington in Peru

On the first of the new releases of this week is a film that I have been looking forward to for a long time and it is something that is full of charm and something positive we need in this time as everyone's favourite wholesome Marmalade loving Bear is back on his biggest adventure yet with the new film of Paddington in Peru. In this new film we see Paddington and the Brown family take a trip all the way to deepest darkest Peru to visit Aunt Lucy at the home of retired bears, but when they arrive it is discovered that Aunt Lucy has gone off into the Jungles and will see the Brown's and Paddington on a adventure they will never forget and discover many surprises and secrets along the way. Reception to this 3rd entry like the first 2 has been met with great acclaim that while it may be the lowest scoring of the series so far, it still has the strong charm and humor of the series and it is what everyone in the family will enjoy in these colder months and if you are up for an adventure of something sweet then you can catch this film out now in cinemas with the film dropping in January in the US.

Red One

Coming in a week after the spooks and scares came to a conclusion, we are already onto the next big holiday period that the world is preparing for (and for a certain musician is defrosting as we speak and we should be warned and prepared for the next 6 weeks) as things are becoming prepared for the big day and the big man in red as an adventure is taking flight as we have the new film of Red One. The film will follow a dire situation where Santa Claus has been kidnapped by the Winter Witch who is loking to take the power of Santa's Magic for himself. In this situation, it will see an ELF named Callum (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) who will have to team up with Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans) an Expert Hacker and tracker who will team up and will learn many of the lore and legacy of many holiday moments and while they may not clash with one another, they will have to work together to find Santa and save Christmas. Reception to this film has been hit with the mix to underwhelming reception with while the performances and concept is well recieved, some of the aspects feel too flat and some of the chemistry between the 2 leads seems to be lacking from some reception but if you want something to watch to get in the festive mood, then you can check it out now in cinemas with the film releasing in the US next week.

Piece By Piece

Now it might seem crazy what I am about to say but if you want a bit of something colourful, bright and full of music and told for the focus of a life of one of the biggest creators and producers in music built from the ground up one piece at a time as we have the new biopic film of Piece by Piece. The film will follow the life and career of Musician Pharrell Williams as we tell the focus of the career of how music spoke to him and show how he helped to create some of the most biggest songs and musicians in the industry and all told in the form of LEGO bricks. The reception to the film has been very well recieved with praise to the unique approach to the Biopic genre with great visuals and appeal and some catchy songs to go along with it, though some elements of critiques of feeling it can get a little messy in focus here and there but it can happen a fair bit of time and if you want something colourful and full of life then you can catch this new film now in cinemas.

TV Shows

Arcane Season 2 Vol 1

Now on the only tv series for this week is one that has been a long time coming for a wait and after surprising everyone with a series focus on a game where it may not be the most wholesome of groups, it time for us to return to peak animation as we have the beginning of the end with the first volume of the 2nd and final season of Arcane. The plot will see the focus amid the stark discord of twin cities of Piltover and Zaun and will see the two sisters of Vi and Jinx will be fighting on rival sides of a war between magic technologies and clashing convictions that may end with one rise above or fall to corruption. Reception to the series like the first season has been very highly well recieved with praise for its animation, cast and being a massive improvement over the first excellent season and if you want to check it out for yourself, then you can watch the first 3 episodes now on Netflix, with Vol 2 on Nov 16th and Vol 3 on Nov 23rd.

Video games

Mario and Luigi Brothership

Yo Ho Bro Ho, it is time for the first of the Games for this week with a return to a series that has been dormant for almost a decade at this point as the iconic duo of the Italian Plumber Brothers are back for a High seas adventure with the new game return of the Mario & Luigi series with Brothership. The game will see the Brothers transported to the Ocean world of Concordia where they will take charge of the vessel of the Shipshape Island as you sail across the oceans and must reconnect the world one island at a time after the destruction of the Uni Tree throws the world into disarray. Reception to the game has been very well recieved with praise to the gameplay, combat, world and story and the integration of the first game in the series on a home console, though has seen some critiques on the bloated pacing and the noticeable performance issues, but if you are up for a seafaring adventure, then you can play it now on Nintendo Switch. 

Metro Awakening VR

As for the final new release for this week is delving into the world of nuclear winter, massive underground tunnels and systems and the fight for survival in strange circumstances, as we return to the popular series of the massive train system society under Russia with the new game of Metro Awakening. Set before the events of 2033, you play as Serdar, a personable doctor whose cosy (as cosy as you can be in an apocalypse) existence is disrupted when his wife Yana decides taking the antipsychotics he prescribed her and must find a way to save her from succumbing to her demise by travelling out into the scary world above. Reception to the title has been well recieved with praise to the visuals, controls and story and have been labelled as one of the best VR titles in the present day and if you are up for surviving in a nuclear winter then you can play this now on PSVR and Meta Quest and PC.

Sticky Situation of Trailers

Mufasa the Lion King

So initially this week there was actually no trailers for most of the week until just the end of the week of the surprise event of D23 in Brazil and all the trailers are from that event and we start with the film that is coming out first and seeing the origins of a king, a brother like bond and a tale of an eventual betrayal as we have recieved a final trailer for the upcoming Live Action prequel sequel of Mufasa The Lion King. The film will tell the origins of Mufasa, an orphaned cub who is rescued by a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal Bloodline. This chance meeting soon sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destinies and leading to them becoming the leader of Pride Rock in the future. So I mentioned a few times in the past that I have the Live action rewatchathon on the way and made mention as well that the Lion King remake is one that I was not the biggest fan of being that it was way too much of a shot for shot remake but I think I have a bit more hope with this one just on the likes that it is new and not a retelling of another Disney film (or even one of the straight to DVD sequels it had) and it does not look bad and has some very well done visuals and I will give it a watch when the film releases in a little over a months time on December 20th.

Thunderbolts*

The 2nd trailer for the week is bringing people together in a way that you think may be a bad idea and it may be true (verdict is still out on them working together well) as we have also recieved a trailer for the first of the 2 upcoming Marvel Movies of 2025 in the form of Thunderbolts*. The film will see an unlikely odd team up of Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, Ghost, US Agent, Taskmaster and Bucky Barnes as well as another guy named Bob, being forced to team up together to take on mission for the American Government with it possibly being a ploy that if they are killed on the mission, it would not be a massive affect. Now the likes of seeing a trailer for this around this time makes a lot more sense then initially from about 6 weeks ago but I still think from this trailer and the last that I am starting to have a bit more of an appeal and interest in something that I was having a little concern about but as of now I am looking forward to it, the cast group looks pretty great, nice costumes and outfits and hopefully the action and story will be pretty good but I guess we will have to see how that comes about when the film releases into cinemas from May 2nd.

Captain America Brave New World

The last of the trailers for this week is also coming to us from the realm of the MCU as we see the new star Spangled Man with a plan with things becoming a lot more political and also seeing a lot more aggression in a certain form as we have the newest trailer for the upcoming film of Captain America Brave New World. The film will see the new captain America of Sam Wilson get himself involved in a political interference when Thaddeus Ross is elected as the President of America and see members of congress or sleeper agents look to take down the sense of democracy and it will be up to Captain America and his new Falcon comrade to find the masterminds behind the targeted attack and take them down. So it is a case that people say that this one is a bit of an unnecessary film given that Steve Rogers was Cap and they are trying but I think that it can work if given a chance and so far it does look decently entertaining, I like the element of the political thriller aspect, we are finally addressing the Celestial sized elephant in the room and I like the unveiling of Red Hulk and from some of the scenes they show in this I am looking forward to see how it all plays out and it is not too far away as well as the film will be flying into cinemas from February 14th.

A Hard Stare of News

The cloning system needs a bit more time and the music is not finished yet

Now on the first of the stories for this week is to give a little bit of a focus of some quick updates to 2 projects that have seen some change in their release dates that while not being pushed out of next year, they may be benefitting of releasing in a period of time that might appeal for them more in reception and box office but I will give a rundown here.

So the first of the 2 films that was unveiled to be getting a delay is a film that saw a big delay from earlier this year and that is of course Parasite director Bong Joon Ho's next big sci-fi film of Mickey 17 as it was announced on Thursday that the film had been delayed a 2nd time but its not by much from its January 31st release slot to April 18th instead which may help in its appeal of avoiding the dreaded January bomb season (though given it was out at the very end of the month it may have still worked out). Now it seemed this film has had its share of drama between the director and the studio of Warner who have been meddling with his final cut, which seems to be a common occurrence for them with a lot of projects being meddled with some studio interference, but hopefully it is a case that the film is the clear focused vision of its director and not a push from the studio to say otherwise and hopefully the film will turn out great and maybe even some award buzz for it too. Speaking of Award buzz.

The other film from this week to see a delay in its release is with the upcoming biopic based on the King of Pop of Michael Jackson as it was announced on Monday that it was delayed from its April 18th release by about 6 months and will now release on October 3rd instead. At the time of the announced delay it was unclear as to why it was delayed but it seemed to be the speculation that they wanted it to avoid the summer blockbuster season as they see it as being overlooked by some of the other big titles releasing at the time and on the basis of releasing in Oct, it would find itself in the midst of the award season films as they are hoping for both a massive awards campaign for the following year and the likes of the distribution of Lionsgate saying the release will garner them over a Billion Dollars in box office (and even as far as 2 billion) revenue but I feel it may be a bit of a stretch as while he is popular of a musician, it may be the case of some of the rumours and allegations in the later part of his life may affect the appeal of it but I guess they can see the approach from the film festivals for that year to get the buzz and appeal going but I guess we will see how that comes together.

But what do you think of these delays, do you expect any other films in 2025 to see a similar delay and do you see these films also garner some award buzz? Let me know your thoughts down below.

Space adventures, Giant Lizards and some undercover symbiotes

On the next news story for this week is with a bit of a roundup of some new announcements from a range of products of media that are on the way that was announced at the end of last week and from this week with a few updates and projects in the works that I will be giving a rundown of everything that was announced from the last few days all into one story here.

The first of the announcements from the week was one that was actually from the end of the last one that saw this brief cryptic teaser unveiled. Now if you can cast your mind back to a year ago, we were in the process of getting a new film based on the giant atomic fire breathing lizard of Godzilla with Toho's Minus One which was an absolute top film (and the film in Black and White was cool too) and it was a big success critically and financially even on a film that was lower then 20 million and looked phenomenal and deserved the visual effects Oscar. Well it looks like the studio that worked on that project is not stopping there as it was announced at the end of last week that we are getting a new film from Toho based on Godzilla and may be a possible follow up to Minus One (though how from the ending is unclear). At the moment we have no idea of when the film will release and if it will be a follow up to Minus One or Shin Godzilla but I have good high hopes to return to this franchise form when that time comes cause the last one was amazing (and will do a quick review for that real soon).

The next of the stories for this week is heading to a galaxy far far away as we have 2 new stories coming out from this massive franchise with one just announcing as I am writing the episode which is the one that I will be starting with. Now this was a blink and you'll miss release date announcement but we have the possible confirmation that the 2nd season of Andor will now be releasing from April 22nd 2025 and come in a year and a half after the release of the first seasons conclusion and I am happy to hear that as I have been waiting to see a really good series return to wrap up the series before the events of Rogue One. But with that out of the way, let us delve into the real story for this announcement and that with the case that it is a rumour that we have a new Trilogy of films in the Star Wars series and will be helmed and penned by Simon Kinberg who worked on the recent X-Men Films. As things are currently going, it is aiming to be labelled as Episodes 10-12 but it may be a separate story to the Skywalker saga with the only hint of connection being that the character of Rey is returning for the films and will be seen as a form of Obi Wan Kenobi for said trilogy and the likeliness of it being part of the 9 film saga is unknown or when we can expect and who is involved but I am sure it could be interesting to see, as we have seen attempts of other concepts and projects in this expansive universe so it could work out but I guess we will see how it comes together in due time.

The next story for this week is keeping us in the far reaches of space but in a more story based game concept as we have a new video game adaptation announced to be in development and that is in the form of the announcement of a tv series based on Mass Effect coming to Amazon Prime. Not much has been unveiled of the moment in terms of plot or exactly when we can expect it but we do have the confirmation that the series will be written and executive produced by Daniel Casey who was the writer for the 9th Fast and Furious Movie (the one where most logic went out the window). So the likes of this series could be interesting in the likes of its story based narrative and action and could work out but many are concerned for this space based series after the underwhelming and messy adaptation of the Halo series but the track record for a fair few of the Amazon Video game adaptations has been strong so far so we will see on that end of things.

But speaking of Prime adaptations of games, we have a quick new casting announcement for the upcoming 2nd season of the award winning Fallout series and it is the confirmation of Home Alone Star Macaulay Culkin joining the cast with him playing a crazy scientist or doctor for the new series with that character unknown at this point in time. I feel in some sense given the characters he has played in the past that he would fit the mold for a series like this and I think in some way I can look forward to checking it out in due course. We still don't have confirmation on when we will see a 2nd season of this series yet but I want to say by 2026 at the earlier but we will see as more updates continue for said series.

The 2nd last announcement of this News story is taking us to the realm of the Sony verse for a new addition to the growing roster of Spidey based characters that does not include Spider-Man. Nowe we have recently seen the release of the symbiotic anti-hero's 3rd film outing recently and seems to be a possible final entry for that series but it may look like the concept of the symbiote is not ending that soon as it was announced that we are getting a form of Venom again but not in the way they are showing in this form as it was announced we are getting a new film based on the character of Agent Venom. Now to those uninitiated about this form, this form of Venom would be attached to the character of Flash Thompson, a former classmate and bully to Peter Parker, who after losing his legs in a war in Iraq, gets put into a secret project rebirth program where he bonds with the symbiote that was attached with Eddie Brock and even the scorpion at one point and becomes a high ranking agent and super soldier for the government and even some hero groups like the Avengers and Thunderbolts and could be like a Spider-man version of the Punisher (even if a What-If comic has done that before) and could work itself out in the process. Now I have yet to see how it can link into the Sony-verse of the MCU or even if the likes of the end of the recent Venom can connect to it but I am sure they will work some form out of it and may be worth a check out when it comes along in the future.

And for one last story that has popped up while I was writing this is providing another new sweet treat on the way that will really be a pain to your sweet tooth as it was announced that we are getting a sequel to last years surprise hit of Wonka with the confirmation that Paddington director of Paul King retirning to direct and write the project and most case Chalamet returning as the chocolatier. At the moment it has been discussed that half of a script draft has been made and seems to be in full development and should be coming along nicely with it process (and hopefully a case that King will be around to help with the other confirmed 4th Paddington film and tv series story or elements of writing). Now I did enjoy the first film a lot and will be giving a review for this by around Christmas this year or so (hopefully) but I am interested in seeing what will come of this sequel and what other music numbers will come from this project as well but I guess we will see as time comes along.

But what are your thoughts on all of these announcements this week and what project are you looking forward to the most? Let me know what you are looking forward too down below in the comments. 

The rising star actress with new project and a concern for another

The last of the stories for this week is a mix of 2 stories that may be a little different in discussion but will have a connection with both in the form of one of the actresses that have a connection in both projects in particular but I will not say who it is yet and yet you see from these developing stories.

The first of the stories is a return to a little update to a project that I have mentioned once or twice in these last few weeks and that is with the upcoming project from Oscar winning director of Christopher Nolan with his new film that he has been working on for a July 2026 release and starring both Matt Damon and Tom Holland in some leading roles as either a period piece or as some Helicopter pilots and things were a little quiet for the moment until just on Friday when it was confirmed of 2 new additions to the film (initially it was 3 but one was confirmed to have been inaccurately announced) and that was seeing the new casting of both Anne Hathaway and Zendaya. Now Hathaway is no stranger to Nolan films having played Catwoman in the Dark Knight Rises and one of the space explorers in Interstellar so its nice to see her return to his projects, but this is the first time for Zendaya being a part of his projects and also a coincidence that she is starring with her real life partner of Tom Holland which seems somewhat wholesome and it sounds like Nolan is continuing to add some big name stars and cast to the project as it comes along and we find out more on the likes of its plot as it develops and enters production but so far the cast is pretty strong right now and may be more on track then another project with one of these actresses.

And this project that I am alluding to is with the project of the emmy winning HBO series of Euphoria. So to break this down of this messy rumours and discussions going about these last few hours, we know that one of the most acclaimed series from this network and streaming service in the last few years is the teen based drama series starring Zendaya that won her her 2 Emmy's for her leading role and the discussion of when we can expect the next season of the show that for a bit of time the rumour that was floating around was that the 3rd season was not being shelved and cancelled when it was confirmed a 3rd season was in development. A fair bit of the reasoning for this was due to the likes of delays from the writers and actors strikes last summer, as well as some of the stars (mainly Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney) were having very busy schedules since then and continue to do so, as well as the case of being stuck in the aspect of having to work around the project with the tragic passing of one of the show stars of Angus Cloud and also the elements of some rumours of toxic working environments from the showrunner so the likes of it looked like it may be being shelved from all of this ordeal. But it has been wrapped up now that the studio of HBO has come out and clarified that the series is still going ahead and will start production in 2025, so the elements of worries about said project can now be put at ease and will be coming along real soon, whether in late 2025 or 2026 but I guess we will see how it comes together in the end and hopefully will be another fine edition of television whenever it does come along.

But what are your thoughts on these projects, do you think they are good choices for Nolan's next film and do you see Euphoria continuing or being shelved before it has completed its story? Let me know down below.

And now with all of that, this brings us to the end of Episode 89 of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope that you enjoyed the ramblings for another week. Let me know your thoughts on everything down below and as always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday doing many great things and of course to take care of yourself in these very strange and scary times and know that I will always be a place of comfort and care and all forms of hate and negativity at left at the door. But as always I will see you in the next episode :)

Take Care, Keep being you, signing off.

Sam H :)