Weird Mind News Room Episode 113: April 21st - 27th
*music to survive until dawn or for filing taxes*
Hello again to all of you wonderful and fine people to the newest edition of my annual weekly series of the Weird Mind News Room where of course for this week we have a fair few new releases to discuss, a couple of trailers too and an odd News Story to talk on and discuss about, so lets head into the information superhighway and talk about all things media for this week.
New releases of untold horrors
Movies
The Accountant 2
In the first of all of our hefty amount of new releases for the week is taking us back to a film that was a sleeper hit action Thriller from the mid 2010s that brought some action, drama and a whole lot of numbers in the process and after nearly a decade since its original release, we have recieved a surprise release follow up with a sequel to The Accountant. The film will see Forensic Accountant Christian Wolff teaming up with a federal agent and his estranged but highly lethal brother to track down mysterious assassins and get revenge for their former associate who was killed by them. Reception on this new film has gotten some well recieved reviews with praise for its continued story as well as its action and performances of the main leads of Ben Affleck and Jon Berenthall and if you want to see how this story continues on in from the original, then you can catch this new film out now in cinemas.
Until Dawn (Film)
The 2nd film for this week is on that has a sense of mystery, a bit of a getaway with friends and of course a mysterious unseen force or entity that unleashes unimaginable horrors and creatures on the group.... you know the usual affair when going on mate holidays, as we have recieved the final video game adaptation for this month with a film that feels a little loose in name with the new adaptation of Until Dawn. The film follows Clover and a group of her friends who head off to a remote valley in search of her sister who had disappeared there a year ago. They are soon trapped in this location of a small cabin where they are horrifically murdered , only to find themselves back alive at the beginning of the same evening where it all began. Trapped in the valley they are forced to relive the nightmares over and over again with a different threat each time and more terrifying then the last and must try and survive until dawn to escape the horrors. Reception on this film take has been a bit more of a mixed reception that while praise on the performances and concepts have been praised for its approach, the film gets a little lost in throwing so many different forms and genres and can get a little complicated and also has a bit of a vague connection to the game it is based on but if you want to see how these terrors unfold through the night, you can also catch this new title out now in cinemas.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Now for the last of the films for this week is one that similar to another action based film from a workhorse director last year, is a new title that got a surprise sequel nearly a decade later, released a couple of months ago in the US with no indication of a release in the UK and Ireland and suddenly just shadow dropping in a release announcement a few days ago is a film of once looking to take each other down will team up to settle a score as we have a recieved a sequel to the 2018 action thriller of Den of Thieves with Pantera. The film will follow returning lawman "Big Nick" O'Brien will find himself getting embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of Diamond thieves as he pursues career Criminal Donnie Wilson to Europe and soon teams up with them to plan a heist in the process. Reception on this new film has been a little mixed but more of a positive outcome with it being an improvement over the original with a more focused story and decent performances but may be a bit too similar to other action films of the past but if you want to catch it for yourself then you see it now on Amazon Prime Video.
TV Shows
Andor Season 2
So moving onto tv for this week, the big series in focus is taking us on a trip to a galaxy far far away, back to a period where a powerful enemy has taken control of the galaxy and rule with an iron fist, but amongst that darkness and despair, a small group of those that plan to go against that has started to form and a possible rebellion and a symbol of hope begins to rise with one of those being an icon that will help in a mission that will turn the tides of the conflict as after a 3 year wait since the original season premiered, we have finally gotten the beginning of the 2nd and final season of the popular Star Wars Series of Andor. This upcoming season will carry on the story of Cassian Andor and the emerging Rebel Alliance as it tells this season over the course of its next 4 years leading up to the discovery of the super Weapon of the Death Star and the events of Rogue One. Reception on this new season has recieved near critical acclaim with it being called the best piece of Star Wars media in a long time with its more serious tone and setting, performances, story and action all being highlights and if you want to check it out for yourself, then you can catch the first 3 episodes now on Disney+ with another batch of 3 episodes every Wednesday.
Video Games
Clair Obscur Expedition 33
Moving onto games for this week is taking us on a journey full of vast fantasy, a grand adventure and a few big name voices present in this all new epic of a game title as we have recieved the release of the all new RPG adventure of Clair Obscur Expedition 33. The game is set in a dark fantasy setting of the Belle Époque where every year for the last 67 years, the inhabitants of an isolated island known as Lumiére experience an event called the Grommage where a goddess known as the Paintress paints an ever decreasing number and any human above that age suddenly disappears. To try and stop this from continuing the affects of this power complex, the people of this island send out an Expedition of volunteers to head to the mainland in order for them to make an effort to slay the paintress before she can paint a new number with this being the 33rd expedition to make it possible. Reception on this games title has recieved universal acclaim and is currently the best reviewed game of the year with praise to its visuals, combat, story and all star cast of characters on this adventure and if you want to play this for yourself, you can play it now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Days Gone Remaster
The next of the game releases for this week is a return to a game that came out a few years ago that combines the world gone to the apocalypse with the moral code from the gang of Sons of anarchy of survival, denim and motorcycles as we have the first of 2 remaster releases for this week with the first being a remaster of the 2019 PS4 title of Days Gone. The game is set 2 years after a pandemic has turned a portion of the human population into zombie like creatures and set in Oregon you play as Outlaw turned Drifter Deacon St. John, going on a quest to find out what happened to his wife who he assumed died back when the epidemic started and learning of some secrets and building bonds along the way. While there has been no reception from critics on this remaster, it seems to have garnered some decent reception from audiences on steam and PS5 with some playing the game for the first time and hoping to have a sequel to a game that didn't get too much of a chance cause of another popular Sony Apocalypse story game, but if you want to play it for yourself again or for the first time, it is still available to play on PS4 and now on PS5 and PC.
Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remaster / Remake
And for the last of the games for this week is one that I expected to talk about in the trailers or even the news stories for this week, but this one was one that just came out of the blue with the biggest shadow drop of the week that was rumoured for a while, had some leaks a couple of days ago and then after the unveiling this week, they shadow dropped a release of a long awaited remaster in the form of the updated take on the Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion. Keeping the story in tact of the original release 20 years ago, the game will take place in the fictional land of Cyrodiil, where your players character will have the focus efforts to thwart and fanatical cult known as the Mystic Dawn that has an evil plan to open vast portals gates to a demonic realm that is known simply as Oblivion. Reception on this surprise release has been getting very strong reviews with many even saying that it is to the level of more of a remake then of a remaster and is a beloved reimaging of the calssic with beautiful visuals, improved elements and gameplay and the beloved story and all the trimmings and if you want to play it for yourself then you can play it now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Music
Dan Avidan & The Super Guitar Bros III
It is not however the release for this week as we also have one more new release in the form of an all new album based on the musicians that I do like myself and this is of course one half of NSP with his magnificent mane teaming up with the bros of acoustic tone as we have the 3rd edition of the Dan Avidan and Super Guitar Bros albums. This of course will be another batch of songs done in a vocal and acoustic tone with the focus of a variety of tracks including the likes of 'The Chain, Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), Teardrop, Burning For You' and many more and while I may not really know any of the songs by name, I am sure with a bit of a listen I will remember who made the song and appeal to the sounds of them and I will for sure be giving this a listen for some all new music and you can too and you can listen to it through how you listen to music or can be purchased on their website in a CD or Vinyl format.
Running the numbers on trailers
Doom the Dark Ages
So on the first of the trailers for this week is with the focus that we have some game trailers for once this week with the first dropping at the very end of last week or the start of this week with the focus that when the terrors of the underworld have risen to the lands above or on a far distant planet, it will take one man in a heavily armoured attire to do one thing and that is to rip and tear as we have recieved an all new full story focused trailer in the realm of the next entry of Doom with the Dark Ages. Set as a prequel to the original 2016 title of the modern series, this new game will follow the Doom Slayer as he becomes the last hope for a kingdom being tormented against the demons and forces from Hell in a more medieval setting to boot. So this series always looks and plays great and functions so well of being a really great shooter and from the looks of things it is going much deeper with its lore and so much more cooler with the new weapons, transport modes and mechs and I do not need to be enticed as I am already locked in for this game and it is not too long away either as the game will be releasing onto PS5, Series X/S and PC from May 13th.
Ghost Of Yotei
As for the 2nd game trailer for this week is making a return to an era of ancient lore, the time of warriors that protected the lands of China, Japan and all the islands of the mainland as after a 5 year wait since the original, we have a new trailer for the upcoming sequel to Ghost of Tsushima with Ghost of Yotei. Set in Hokkaido Japan in 1603, 329 years after the events of the original game, you will take control of Atsu, a female warrior who will adopt the persona of "The Onryó" to exact revenge on the Yotei 6, a group of six masked outlaws who murdered her family in her childhood, consisting of the Snake, Oni, Kitsune, Spider, Dragon and their leader Lord Saito. Going on the footage of the gameplay and the deep lore and plot makes it looks absolutely beautiful and while I have yet to fully finish Tsushima, I can already tell there is so much love and care that goes into this series and I am sure the country will love the respect put into it as well and I am excited to try it out and thankfully with this trailer, we have the confirmation that the game will be releasing on PS5 later this year on October 2nd
Wednesday Season 2
For the next trailer is the only focus of a tv series and one of the big release series still to come from one of the big streaming service as things are getting creepy and kooky, mysterious and Spooky and maybe a little ooky with the focus returning to a specific member of the Addams Family as after a gap of about 3 years for a wait and a new location filming change to my own home country as we have recieved the first trailer for the 2nd season of Wednesday. The new season will see Wednesday's Journey will become more darker and more complex as she will navigate family, friends, new mysteries, and old adversaries all while propelling her headlong into another year at Nevermore Academy. It is an interesting focus and take on the world of these odd characters and giving it the focus to the popular kid of the family and building on the lore established in a previous season and having Tim Burtons odd flair to the game is all worth it for sure and I am intrigued to see how they will build upon the story in this one. I am sure we will find out more and have something exciting to look forward to with the season hitting Netflix with Part 1 on August 6th and Part 2 of the season dropping a month later on September 3rd.
I know what you did last Summer reboot
The first of the 2 film trailers for this week is with a return to a series of horror films that we all have memories of the past that we can look back on fondly from different times of the year, but sometimes those memories or actions may have caused a knock on affect and those consequences have come back for some of these now to deal with as we have a 4th entry in the series of slasher films that is now getting the same name as the original film like other franchises have (making somethings difficult to discuss and confusing sometimes) as we have the trailer for the 2025 version of I know what you did last summer. The film will follow a similar story to the original of five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident and decide to cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret between them instead of facing consequences. But a year later, their past comes back to haunt them as they learn someone does know what they did and now stalked by a mysterious killer, they seek out help of those that survived the original southport massacre of 1997 to help them escape the torment. So its a case I feel that its a fair judgement to revive a series and see how a story could be retold in a modern setting as a legacy sequel to bring back some familiar faces from the original which we have seen a lot of in the last 5 few years and while I can see the appeal, its one that I can give or take with this series but I am sure people will enjoy this franchise overtime and I am sure it may work out but we will see by the films release into cinemas from July 18th.
Predator Badlands
And the final trailer for this week is with a focus of the franchise that has not 1 but 2 new films coming this year and after talking about the recently surprise animated Anthology entry a few weeks ago, we have a focus on the big screen release film of this series where we are used to seeing the ultimate hunter be the deadly challenge, but it seems in this instance they are the one outnumbered and dealing with a more serious threat in the process as we have recieved the first trailer for upcoming release of Predator Badlands. The film will be set in the distant future and see a young Predator, who has been cast out of his clan and outgunned against human survivors who will find himself an ally in Thia, a young Female Android and will soon embark on a long treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary and to prove his worth. From the small teaser I do like the approach that they are going with this film that it gives off a little bit of the narrative of the Predator working alongside a human like it was seen in AVP and I feel with some elements it is setting up a new one in the franchise but from the small bit shown and knowing it is from the same director who did give us Prey, I have a lot of excitement for it. I know there is a bit of a complaint or mockery of this predators face but I get it probably has some story reasons and helps to make them stand out over the other designed versions of the ultimate hunter but I am still looking forward none the less and you can catch this film when it releases into cinemas from November 7th.
News to tell all of Tamriel
Casting a witch, volunteers for conflict and a bloody game of Hide and Seek
So moving onto the news for this week is the focus and the return to the world of some more casting news as we have a collection of releases of casting that were new additions, adaptations and one that has been updated and confirmed from a recent rumour going about, but lets delve into what those casting are in particular.
So we will start with the film that has had some rumoured casting already over the last few weeks and this is with one confirmed casting for the upcoming new adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia from Greta Gerwig. Now we have had a few names and odd choices already mentioned for this in the rumour field with those being Saoirse Ronan being offered a role, Daniel Craig rumoured for the role of Uncle Andrew and Myrle Streep as the voice of Aslan, and we had one other rumoured role and that was with villain of the Snow Witch that was initially rumoured to be played by musician Charli XCX, but it looks like that has chancged and we have a confirmation of a confirmed actress for this role. On Friday of this week is was announced that Actress Emma Mackey would be cast as the titular antagonist for this adaptation and was one of the final 2 frontrunners for this role with the other being Substance star Margaret Qualley. Now Mackey is not a new face for working with Gerwig as she did appear in her last big film of Barbie and played Physicist Barbie in that movie, so it will be interesting to see how she will play this role that was initially made for screen by Tilda Swinton 20 years ago. I am sure we will start to see more and more of this film getting the announcement of cast additions from some rumoured and some confirmed but I am sure we will see what big name talent will be making an appearance by the time the film starts production and releases by next November.
So the next project in focus is another film based on a popular book series making its debut into cinemas next November as well and that is with the recent release of the newest Hunger Games Prequel book of Sunrise on the Reaping that followed the story of Haymitch's time as a volunteer in the 50th games. Now it has seen a fair few casting announcement for some characters coming out with the main lead also getting confirmed to be played by Total Control and Invisible Boys star Joseph Zada taking on the role previous played by Woody Harrelson. There was a few other additions to the cast as of writing with it confirmed on the same day of Gossip Girl and Hocus Pocus 2 star Whitney Peak playing Haymitch's love interest of Lenore Dove Baird, a day later a 3rd casting confirmed Ghostbusters Afterlife's Mckenna Grace will play fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee Donner and the last confirmed cast on Friday was with Oscar nominated actor Jesse Plemons playing the role of Plutarch Heavensbee rounding out the confirmed casting so far. There was also a rumour floating about that actress Elle Fanning is also being eyed for a role in this film and that is to play a younger version of the character of Effie Trinket but that is not set in stone yet. So far it is not a bad cast selection and that it is some new faces with one or 2 familiar ones as well and I like the approach they are going with it here, and while I haven't read the books or know too much on the films, I can see this having an appeal but I am sure we will see by the time of the full cast reveals for this project and they start filming for their late 2026 release.
And the last of the films in focus with some casting is with a follow up to a surprise hit horror comedy from a few years ago which is with the sequel to the 2019 film of Ready or not and in this instance we have a confirmation on the title and the marketing team actually listened and took the opportunity and named it right by calling the follow up Ready or Not Here I come which makes complete sense. Now this also came with a little round up of the confirmed casting for this follow up with the confirmation that main lead of Samara Weaving will be back for the follow up as her character Grace but we also got a confirmation of a couple of names for this sequel with it confirmed to have this film including Kathryn Newtwon (Abigail, Lisa Frankenstein), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Kevin Durand (KOTPOTA), David Cronenberg (The Fly), Elijah Wood (LOTR), Shawn Hatosy (Southland) and Néstor Carbonell (Lost) and it seems like quite the stacked cast so far and I am interested to see what sort of messed up game will be at play with this follow. At the moment that is all that is known with this film and there is no confirmed release date for this project as of yet but I am sure once I do hear anything, I will update in a later episode.
But what do you think of these casting announcements, who else do you see joining these projects and are you excited for any of these films in particular? Let me know what you think down below.
More High speed animals getting adventures and a man with one mission to take on an army
So the next story is with some focus of updates to a series of film adaptations based on a popular video game character that will be seeing more expansions coming and then one that is a possible surprise reveal that has been announced just a few days ago but lets delve into those projects now.
So we start the focus of discussion with a film series of characters from a game franchise that could've failed hard from the initial first film and its design to where now it has become a billion dollar film franchise from the collective trilogy of films and that is of course with the franchise of Sonic the Hedgehog. We seen over the last 5 years that their has been an array of focus to these beloved characters for the big screen with a trilogy of movies and of course a spin off focused on the echidna warrior that released as of recording exactly 1 year ago today and it seems to be a case that their is no slowing down for this franchise as we already know of a 4th film on the way in early 2027 but we also have some more news to expand on this lore as it seems Paramount is looking to create a collection of spin offs based on the world and characters of this series. Now there has been a case that one that was discussed for a bit of time was with a film spin off for Tails which makes sense to give him a focus project if Sonic and Knuckles both have their own and most likely case because of the characters popularity and introduction in 3 we will likely see a spin off focused on Shadow as well and probably the characters unveiled in the post credits scene of the recent film. I do see a lot of potential with spin offs like this for some of the characters introduced and help even to bring in some familiar faces like a knuckles film that introduces the Chaotix team of Vector, Espio and Charmy among others and provide some difference of genres and style and I am sure it could appeal and work out in the process. Now at the moment they have not established what or when we can expect to see these spin off release but I am sure we will get more info on them in due time and once I do I will update in a later episode.
And as for the surprise reveal, if you remember back 2 years ago and I think I even mentioned in my very first video episode of this series, there was a film that was released that was seen as a John Wick film set during the 2nd World War that proved to be a smash hit and an acclaimed movie to boot and was possibly seen as a one off film, well surprisingly it is not the case as it was announced this week that we are actually getting a sequel to the 2023 film of Sisu and its also coming out this year with a confirmed release for November 21st of this year which was also quite a surprise. It seemed they had filmed this over the course of the last year and they have another story to tell with this and I feel it it is as cool and action packed as the original then I am all for check it out and hopefully we will get an idea of what it will entail soon but another JW style film this year is always an appealing one to me and will look forward to this in November.
But what do you think of these announcement, what characters from the sonic universe would you want to see get a focused spin off on and are you excited for a sequel to Sisu and what did you think of the original? Let me know what you think of them down below and we can talk about it there.
Oscars have made another somewhat decent choice and one that is a bit of a dumb choice too
These last 2 stories I am going to keep short and not go too long on but we first have some updates to more changes being made for the continuing yearly focus of the Academy awards. Now we recently talked about them introducing a long overdue category for the ceremony to praise and award the hard working crew in the stunt performers and while I feel they could use a few extra for the stunt section, starting with one is better overall and build to a few overtime hopefully, but we are not here in the focus of that but rather there is 2 new updates to the overall show that one makes sense though has some issues and one that is a really dumb concept and makes it seem messy to decide upon it. So first is one that was a big issue back in this years awards and that was the case that some of these voters essentially didn't watch all of the films nominated and made some of the voting system a complete mess in concept and it now has been established this week that it will be a requirement for voters to watch all that were nominated to give a fair voting system those in a possible chance of an award. This one does however have a bit of a catch as it seems its mainly for most categories but for some reason not towards animated films which makes no sense not to include it with this method but hopefully have a fix as well to include everything. But as for the one that is a bad move, apparently they are allowing films made with AI to be eligible and I think that this is a really bad idea as it seems in some sense they didn't listen to the reason why there was massive strikes 2 years ago about this for actors and writers (and I believes still ongoing with game studios) and the concept of this ideal when it is tried to be used has seen excessive backlash and makes a sense of creativity be overlooked and lacking, lazy and put out of a job for so many with this choice and the concept of AI being functional is so far off of actually working and hopefully they will resolve this and drop this decision cause it will affect a lot and make a part of the entire strikes pointless.
But I want to know your thoughts on these 2 new additions, and do you see them being a good thing for the awards or a mess of things? Let me know what you think down below.
Don't want to overspend on Switch Game upgrades, there may be some cheaper solutions
And the last of the focus stories is with some updates about a little bit of pricing and even a bit of some rumoured power that I have heard about the initially but still anticipated release of the Nintendo Switch 2 console. Now it has been a bit of a rough month for this long running game company as there was a lot of hype initially for the console and its release but has seen a lot of dwindling appeal and many going against the company after the direct at the beginning of this month and the whole price reveals for everything from the cost of the console on its own, the eye water prices for the games like Mario Kart world an the tech demo showing off everything the console has to offer not being a free install like the Astro Bot title for the PlayStation. But in the focus of this story is that we have gotten some updates and discussions about some confirmed pricing for the updated switch 2 editions of Switch one titles. It was revealed from some retailers and from Best Buy in the States is that some Switch 2 editions of games like both Zelda titles will have an upgrade cost of $10/£10/€10 if you own the original game on the first switch and for the games with added content like Kirby and Mario Party Jamboree, both of those will have an upgrade price of $20/£20/€20 which I see as being a fairly reasonable price and will help in some ways of not spending a fortune to buy the new versions and have a more cheaper cost. Not to say that every game will cost money as it is mentioned from what I have heard is that if you have a Switch online membership that there will be some games that will have free upgrades, with these mainly being Mario titles like 3d World and Odyssey as well as others like Echoes of Wisdom, Pokemon Sword and shield and ARMS to name a few and likely will be updated overtime. I have heard and may ne confirmed if you own the expansion pass version of online these versions that cost money will also be free (so far the Zelda ones are confirmed to be free) but will need to verify on that for the others but I think it will make sense to do a free upgrade with the online like they did for Mario Kart and Animal Crossing DLC. It is still a case that my opinions on it are a bit here and there with this pricing and still hope that Nintendo will fix this mistake and reduce prices to make it more manageable in a time when everything is way too expensive, there is concern of a financial recession on the way and everything is not great and overwhelming and not good for anyones health and even when people in their own company or friendly competitors are saying the same thing (as well as the excessive fans they have) then I feel they will need to have a massive power move and do a price drop before release and fix it all instead of raising prices but we will see over these next few weeks up until its release.
But what do you think of these upgrade prices and methods, do you see them as being manageable or do you still feel that Nintendo is nuts for following other companies trends and should resolve it before launch? Let me know what you think down below.
And now with all of that that ends a bit more of a hefty episode of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope that you enjoyed reading or listening to my ramblings for a bit of time this week. Let me knwo what you think of all that was discussed below and opinions in the comments and as always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday doing many great things and I will see you all in the next episode :)
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