Weird Mind News Room Episode 143: Nov 17th - 23rd
*Music that may change me for good?*
Well hello to all of you fine people and who you want to be and see yourself as, My name is Sam and I welcome you all back once again to the newest episode of Weird Mind News Room where for this week once again we have a selection of New Releases, Trailers and some news stories of all parts of the Entertainment industry that we have gotten over the last few days that you may have missed or forgot were coming out, so lets dive in and discuss about all things media that this week has to offer.
New Releases that may defy a form of Gravity
Movies
Wicked For Good
Coming in with our first new release of the week is for all of those theater Kids at Heart and for those that like to be weirded out at the very strange and unsettling press tour of these 2 lead stars (You can't tell me their interviews are normal and just make the appeal of the project a little less) but where the case that we had the chance to fly original but what if those that are judged for unseen reasons can really be shown they can be changed for the better, but that is what we will see as we now have the release of the all new 2nd half of the overstretched adaptation with Wicked for Good. The film follows on from Part 1 with Elphaba now demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West, now lives exiled in the Ozian forest continuing the fight for the silenced Animals and show the corruption of the Wizard. Meanwhile Galinda is living as the symbol of goodness (?) in the emerald city and taking the perks of fame and popularity and under the instruction of Madam Morrible to try and be seen as a comfort for the realm of concern to the citizens of the land. Haunted by the separation of her close friend and her planned wedding to Fiyero with her trying to find a way to broker a deal between the opposing sides but possibly driving them further apart but will need to come together for one more time to change things for good against the lies of the Wizard, the rising mob and change of some fellow Ozians before a girl from Kansas comes crashing into the lives of everyone. Now reception to this 2nd half is a bit more underwhelming compared to the acclaim of part one though its still decently recieved with praise on the 2 leading ladies once again, the sets and attire and music take on the original songs from the stage play and the new additions, though most feel its a lot more messier in some scenes, editing, pacing and lighting (though that is the consensus with the 2nd half of the musical in general), and if there is all talks recently of possibly a part 3 or another project in this universe, those weird interviews will never end, but besides all that if you are looking to hopefully be changed for good then you can do so now in cinemas.
Sisu Road to Revenge
But if a pair of Witches is not really your interest and you would much prefer something that is a bit more over the top and action packed that originally was a bit more of a sleeper hit, then you are thankfully in luck as a surprise sequel to the 2023 Finnish WW2 action film has garnered itself another over the top action flick as we have the release of the sequel to Sisu with Road to Revenge. Set in 1946 in soviet occupied Karelia, we see Aatami Korpi, or the man that refuses to die, dismantle the home of his family that were killed in the war, load it onto his truck and become determined to rebuild it somewhere more safe in their honor. However when the Red Army discover Korpi's arrival on their soil, Igor Draganov, the man responsible for killing his family, comes back hellbent on a mission to kill the legendary solider by any means necessary. Now reception on this follow up like the original has seen some very strong acclaim with praise for its all out bloody action and entertaining kills that will leave you hungry for more if the likes of recent action film affair did not appeal to you too much and if you want to see this one man machine against an army, then you can watch this new film also out now in cinemas.
TV Shows
The Mighty Nein
Moving onto television and for the films of the tabletop RPG's then you may be in for something good and special as while the original story of campaign one may be still working away to completion (Just like any good game of DND that it takes some time to complete and finding the time for good schedules will be the big question), it looks like we are jumping into the future and about to dive into the lore and story of the 2nd campaign based on the games and legacy of Critical Role as we have the release of the series that is known as the Mighty Nein. Set 20 years after the events of Vox Machina, the series takes place on Wildermount and follow a group of Misfits with troubled pasts and secrets who find them drawn to one another in some strange circumstances, where they will soon become entangled in a larger conflict and must work together to save the realm after a powerful Arcane Relic known as the Beacon falls into the wrong hands. Reception on this new series has seen some great acclaim with praise to the retelling of the popular story campaign from Critical role, the appealing animation and designs and for new characters and appealing stories to root for over this new series and if you want to check it out for yourself then you can catch the first 3 episodes now on Amazon Prime with a new episode releasing every Wednesday.
Video Games
Kirby Air Riders
Now for games and it will be now time to start your engines and prepare to do battle as you will be soon gliding across the sky in fast paced battles on strange shaped devices as everyone's favourite Round Pink creature with a powerful consumption is looking to race and prove who is the best as we have the release of a long awaited sequel to this classic racing game with the release of Kirby Airriders. Now this will be essentially a long awaited sequel to the original entry released back on the GameCube that will show it is much more bigger, faster, crazier and a possible lot more fun in terms of new modes, challenges and characters to play across this fast paced new form of racing game. Reception on this new entry of the series has seen some very well recieved reception with praise on the gameplay, controls, modes, story and for being a unexpected appealing racing title in the series that I am sure may put the other big racer of this new hardware into competition and if you want to play it for yourself now, it is available to play now on Nintendo Switch 2.
SpongeBob: Titans of the Tide
The 2nd game title of the week will be going from a fast paced racing adventure, to a more underwater sea faring adventure as everyone's favourite Sea Sponge and Starfish are about to go on an adventure that is on more of a titan sized scale as we have the release of an all new somewhat follow up to the Cosmic Shake with the release of SpongeBob SquarePants Titans of the tide. Seen as a spiritual sequel to Cosmic Shake, the game will see the clashing of the oceans 2 biggest egos as King Neptune and the Flying Dutchman have started to clash and fight against one another causing an unleashing of Ghostly Mayhem all across Bikini Bottom. It will soon be up to SpongeBob and Patrick to gather all of their skills, bravery and -- dare I say -- Wit, in order to resolve the conflict and return life back to Bikini Bottom for what passes as normal in their undersea Home. Reception to this new SpongeBob adventure has seen some well recieved reception with praise on the gameplay, story and setting of the world with it being a well faithful follow-up to Cosmic shake and the Battle for Bikini Bottom Remake and if you want to play it for yourself then its available to play now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2 and PC.
Deadpool VR
As for the final new release of the week, have you ever want to be put into the mind and see through the eyes and hear the thoughts of an unhinged superhero (well the superhero part may be new for me), well in this last title you may get just that, as its time for the Merc with a Mouth to get himself another game into his toolbelt, but probably not in the form that you expected as we have been given the release of Deadpool VR. The game will see you be put into the role of this unhinged hero who after a fight with Flag-Smasher, DP falls through a Portal into Mojo World, where he is enlisted by Mojo to kidnap several villains, including Lady Deathstrike, Mephisto, Omega Red and Ultimo for his new reality show. Reception on this title seems to be well recieved with praise on the controls, humour and story of the title, though some feel it would be appealing to play the title when it is not stuck as a VR only game, and if you want to play it for yourself then you can play it now on the Meta Quest 3 and 3S.
Trailers of how far I'll Go
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Now for trailers and starting off in the focus on this week is to delve into a mystery, one that seems confusing and elaborate to figure out what or who is responsible for the death of a person, let alone a very holy man where everyone seems to have a clear motive to take them out but only one is responsible and when all hope seems a bit messy it will take one very dashing detective with quite the southern twang of a voice to do it once more as we have the release of the 2nd and final trailer for the 3rd film of the popular Knives Out series with Wake Up Dead Man. The new film will see Benoit Blanc find himself in his darkest case yet as he find himself investigating and sifting through a series of suspect when he learns of a Monsignor who turns up dead under mysterious circumstances in his Church. I feel around the time the original film for this dropped that it saw a lot more of an appeal and interest in the murder mystery with an array of a star studded cast at the helm to this mystery and its a case a lot of these films have proven to be an entertaining outcome to observe and enjoy, which was the first project from the man that people say was the sole reason downfall of Star Wars (Which I feel is a bit harsh and seems to be said about most projects in this franchise since being acquired by Disney) but besides that point I can say from my enjoyment of the first 2 that I am excited to see this trilogy capper (and maybe for some time until a reported 4th title is in the works that was reported earlier this week) especially with the strong reception and its a case its not too long away as the film will be getting a limited cinema release in some locations from November 26th before releasing onto Netflix from December 12th.
Moana Live Action
Now this 2nd trailer technically goes in the form of the mini comp of teasers I talked on last week as the focus went into the rules I have against short trailers (Must be longer then 70 seconds, be an official release, not be mostly footage of the original film or series and released before my deadline of 2 weeks for before a film comes out) but in this case I will be giving a focus to this and any other planned teasers in the future will go the approach of last week if it only appeals my interest more in the outcome but its time once more for at this rate the annual turning a animated film into Live action from Disney and it just seems the release between the versions are getting shorter as this one is very slim but we will question how far this company will go as we have the release for the teaser for the live action take on Moana. Now this is of course based on the film from 2016 that follows the titular character who is a Polynesian Princess who destines to travel across the vast oceans to see what lies beyond her home. Soon that chance come to pass when her home begins to show signs of decay and despair from the removal of the Heart of Te Fiti and will soon go on a journey to locate the Demi God Maui and restore the heart to its rightful place before the world turns to Ruin. So I have been a case more of a benefit of the doubt when it comes to these remakes (which you may see from my eventual Rewatchathon of those remakes), but with this one it feels this was done mainly more by the demand of the Rock himself (who reprises his role from the animated original) to be remade due to his recent affair of films not doing so well financially ad just being released when the original is not even 10 years old (or will be by is release) concerns me in a form of how long it will be before the animated film comes out and then the live action remake comes out within like 6 months of its release (or even a remake of the remake). Besides a focus on the new actresses performance which I will say she does well, this is one I am a bit more mixed on but I guess I'll give ir a look and see what comes of it all when the film releases into cinemas from July 10th next year.
Project Hail Mary
Then from the high seas to the cosmos for the next trailer, its a focus of discussion that when the world is on the verge of possible decline and destruction, it will take a genius mind, a steady team and a possible hail Mary to find a chance to restore the universe from collapse, but it may come down to the only person we have with a possible chance to do so as its time for a new look at the new cosmic journey with Ryan Gosling at the helm with the release of the 2nd trailer for the new film adaptation of Project Hail Mary. The film will follow Ryland Grace, a school professor who awakens on a spacecraft with no memory of himself or of his mission. When his memory slowly returns, he deduces that he is the sole survivor of a crew sent to the Tau Ceti Solar system in search of a solution of a soon to be a catastrophic event heading for Earth. Now in the search for Answers, he must soon rely on his vast array of scientific knowledge, sheer ingenuity, and human will - but he may soon realize that he will not have to search alone. I have heard a lot of differing opinions on this project with some that read the novel feeling that they missed the opportunity in some elements of the book or characters and some that see it as being as far as say the greatest film of next year (amongst other films being the greatest films of next year that interchange constantly). To me this does look like it has some interesting concept and output to the whole project in terms of the concept and visuals that give a bit of a style similar to the take on the Martian (makes sense given the book author also wrote both of these books) and there is a sense to me that maybe Lord and Miller may work it out well in terms of making the concept like this work but at the moment it will be hard to say. Hopefully I will have the time to read the novel and compare when I can but I guess we will see by the films release into cinemas from the 20th of March.
Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping
Now for a trailer that I was not really expecting to see release this early, but it seems they may be deeper into development or finished the filming already for this, buts hard to say but we have another adaptation of a novel that released earlier this year that will see the games begin once more, but in this case, this may be the sign of where they changed forever as this week we got the first official trailer for the adaptation of the Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping. Taking place 24 years before the events of the original novel and film, this new story follows a young Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) who is selected to compete in the 50th Hunger Games, or known as the second Quarter Quell, where for this special edition of the games will see each district of Panem send twice the number of tributes to the capitol, who will all battle to the death in the annual games. So in the case of this, as one that has not seen any of the projects in the series, I can't really say much in the likes of my thoughts on this take if its good or not, but it seems most fans of this series are excited for it to be released and become part of their watch of the stories and novels over the years to follow. My main concern about this is the release of this trailer given that the film is still a year out from release and feel that releasing it too early will be too overly long and if its constantly advertised the appeal will wear off, so unless the case is that the film gets an earlier release it is hard to say, but I guess we will see overtime if it gets any form of change by the time the film releases on November 20th next year.
Pixar's Hoppers
The next trailer is bringing us back to a bit of animation and from a favourite studio of mine as well as in this instance the connection between humans and animals are about to become a whole lot stronger and the results of this new connection may be about to become a whole lot more crazier then expected as we have recieved a new trailer for the upcoming new Original from Pixar with Hoppers. The film will see a group of Scientists from a university create a revolutionary machine that will invent a way for human brains to inhabit mechanical bodies and we will follow Mabel Tanaka, an animal loving girl who will use their technology to put their mind into a robotic mechanical beaver and use it to communicate with the animals and help to stop a construction companies plot to destroy the local animal habitat. I have made a mention about this before in all the case that while people say that the studio has lost a sense of appeal and many say they are not as good as they once were, I will be one to say that I am still a big fan of this studio and are always interested in how they come about with some fun and wacky ideas from follow ups and originals that may be some similar stories we have heard before but have some unique energy and design and given this new project is made by the creator of We Bare Bears, I feel it will be well worth checking out in due time and thankfully it is not too far away from release as the film will be linking its way into cinemas from March 6th.
Return to Silent Hill
For one final trailer for this week came in as I was writing this episode, but in this focus of things the opinion of how this one is approached seems a little all over the place and a bit of a mystery like the town that is of the focus to this project but its a focus to a new video game adaptation coming to us from the world of an acclaimed horror title as we have recieved a trailer for the release of the new film of Return to Silent Hill. Taking inspiration from Silent Hill 2, the film follows James Sunderland who is devastated after the loss of his soulmate until one day he receives a letter that leads him back to a mysterious town of Silent Hill. However, he soon discovers that the town has been changed by some unknown malevolent force and as he delves deeper into the town, he finds terrifying figures, both familiar and unfamiliar. Doubting his mental stability, he tries to comprehend reality and hopes to stay strong enough to rescue his beloved. So the case of this project has been announced for well over 3 years ago where I remember seeing this announcement after coming in from a event with someone I care a lot about and both of being intrigued about it as it seemed like their was some hope it could work out. Seeing it now in focus, I feel this trailer was a little better then the small teaser that came out a few weeks ago, though from the footage shown it feels a little hollow but maybe the marketing could be a bit messy compared to other forms and could end up being appealing but its hard to say. I don't fully hate it and it has some sense of love put into the title and maybe the appeal of a film version of the beloved sequel may still be present given the recent remake of the game but I guess we will have to see in due time as the film will be released into cinemas in 2 months time on January 23rd.
News contained in a bubble
Its Gamer Time: Game Award Nominations revealed
Well we starting off the news for this week with the case that it is that time of year again, its getting colder, the days are shorter and we are coming up to the last month of the year and you know what that means, it is time to talk on the annual nominations for this years game awards that is of course hosted every year by Geoff Keighley. Now in this instance I am not going to go too deep on the nominations or over every category as that will be saved for my upcoming predictions on the winners and for some of the titles I can see get unveiled at the Awards (as well as mention on some fixes that need to happen) but I will get some highlights and opinions on some of them, so lets delve into it.
So in this case I will talk first on what are the big titles that have garnered the biggest award nomination for this year as another 6 titles have garnered a well earned spot on the game of the year award and those six are: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2: on the Beach, Donkey Kong Bananza, Hades 2, Hollow Knight Silksong and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Now all six of these have some solid choices and appeal and if there is anything I can see it going in a 3 way tie that is mainly going to be a possible indie win this year for that title. Going off some opinions from some friends of mine a few are against anything Nintendo as it seems to be a sudden thing this year because of all the price things and other stuff they do (which I find it odd given its only this year when Nintendo has been like this for a very very long time as some people have pointed out) and seems to be mainly in the agreement on the choices winning that awards. I See a bit of a case as well that it could be that but also see a pattern of recent years that it mainly goes to the game with the highest score on Metacritic which was seen the last 2 years with Astro Bot last year and Baldur's Gate 3 2 years ago so maybe it could be it again this year or could break the trend. Now one I was surprised with the nomination is Kingdom Come as I though it would be to another earlier title this year of Split Fiction but in all sense I was fine with either of them overall.
As for the games with the most nominations, the highest nominated and most of any of these Game Awards went to E33 with 12 nominations leading the charge this year, followed by in 2nd with both Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yótei nominated for 7 Awards each, this then was followed with Hades 2 garnering 6 nominations and rounding out the top 5 with Hollow Knight Silksong with 5 nominations which I see as being some solid choices. Now there has been some debate and issue of some titles being overlooked for a few categories or deserving of a couple of awards with one of the big debates I have seen was with the title of Dispatch as some were seeing it should've gotten a few more then 1 nomination for Debut Indie game. This is also seen with some of the other games that were snubbed for any nominations or for some categories that it had a chance in with other titles like South of Midnight, Keeper, Silent Hill F, Blue Prince and even in the case of Game Adaptation for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with that last one losing a spot to Minecraft, Last of Us season 2, Devil May Cry, Splinter Cell and Until Dawn, but maybe it could be added in last minute if possible but who knows. Now I may go into those games more in my predictions but I see it as being a solid outcome for these titles and I will be delving into my predictions and seeing how many I am accurate with winning for another year but stay tuned for that blog piece.
But what do you make of this years Game Awards, do you think the choices are solid and what would you pick as the winners for each category and what would you have nominated in some of the roles places? Let me know what you think down below.
The wonderous World of Announcements dates, delays and project fates
As for our 2nd story of the week is more of a roundup that mainly is the focus of consisting of release date changes, announcements, project updates and rumours that come about over the last week which will be quite the array to talk on but let us delve into what was shown off or unveiled from the week.
But what do you think or make of all of these stories, which games or stories will they tackle in the Zelda Film, are you excited for Reanimal, would you watch sequels to Alita, F1 and Puss in Boots, would you be down for a 4th season of Mandalorian, will the change of showrunner for Twisted Metal work in its favour, are you excited for the Lanterns series and do you see both Poker face and Last Ronin have a chance to be made and continue? Let me know what you think down below and we can discuss all about them there.
And with all of that, this brings us to the end of the 143rd edition of Weird Mind News Room and I hope you enjoy the everlong rambles I do for another week. Let me know your thoughts on all that was 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 episode :)
Take Care Keep being you, signing off
Sam H :)















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