Weird Mind News Room Episode 148: Dec 22nd - 28th

 *Music for cleaning up secrets and a house*

Twas the blog before new years and..... Yeah I keep doing that I need to stop, but hello again to you one and all and every form you want to me, My name is Same and I welcome you to the newest episode of Weird Mind News Room and to the last edition of this year where of course for this week, we are once again bringing you the selection of new releases, trailers and news stories from the last week and over this festive period before we head into the new year and I go all emotional and probably break down in tears for the support over the last year, but for now we will not dwell on this for the moment and we will dive into the focus of all things media for another week.

New Releases presented as you requested

Movies

The Housemaid

So the first of the new releases is in the focus to a new adaptation of what I sort of see as the Booktok genre, where we start seeing novels and stories that have gotten a bit of a appeal that a lot of people lose their minds over in writing and then just are forgotten quickly after, don't overly stand out or you read them and don't see the major appeal (until you learn its part of a series of novels) but in this case we are focusing on the ideals of a simple job turning a little more deadly with everyone having secrets including the place you find yourself working in as we have the release of the film adaptation of the acclaimed novel of the Housemaid. The film follows Millie (Sydney Sweeney) who looking to get a bot of a fresh start, takes up a job a becomes a live in housemaid for a wealthy couple (Amanda Seyfried, Brandan Sklenar) who may be harbouring some sinister secrets. Reception to this adaptation seems to be modestly recieved with praise on its cast performances (Particularly with Seyfried), production and camera work, though the plot and tone feel a bit too cliché or has been seen too many times to really engage heavily with the audience. But if you want to check it out for yourself, you can catch this film out now in cinemas.

Anaconda

But if the likes of a thriller is not in your interest and you would prefer something that is a little more comedic and a little more meta and you may not like buns unless you like Snakes hun, well you have a bit more of a chance with this one as we are getting a little meta and more in the realm of things getting crazy as we have the release of the somewhat new remake of Anaconda. The film follows Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd), two men going through the stages of a Mid-Life Crisis who decide to head into the Amazon Rainforest to remake their favourite film from their youth of Anaconda, but everything changes when a real giant Anaconda shows up, turning the comically chaotic set into a deadly situation and the movie they are dying to make, might end up killing them. Reception on this new take of the film initially was not the best recieved but has moved itself up to more in the realm of the mixed outcome, as while the performances and some of the humour have been praised, the film is hit with the critiques of feeling they deserve better in comedy, the tropes of the meta seen in the likes of Tropic Thunder are not that present and some of the visuals feel a little messy, but it seems the film is more of a entertaining romp for audiences in general and if you want to check it out for yourself then it is available now in cinemas.

TV Shows

Stranger Things Final Season Vol.2

Our last release of this week (there was one other one but the release date confirmation was a little all over the shop and confirmed more for next week) is taking us back to the realm of turning everything upside down, as we have returned back once more with the 2nd Volume to the final season of Stranger Things. This volume picks up from the major cliffhanger reveal and sees the group from Hawkins recuperate to form a new plan, rescue the group that is in the Upside down and find a way to come together, take down Vecna and save the world before the powerful entity unleashes his new plan to turn the world in his image. Reception to this 2nd volume seems to be a bit more of a mixed outcome compared to volume one where the performances and setting are still well liked, though a lot of moments feel a little messy and it feels the sense of stakes in the series is a little lacking. Now personally I stayed up to watch the 3 episodes for this volume and while there is a small bit that I felt improved on my mixed opinions on volume 1, its still a whole mess of a season that I am hoping the actual finale may fix some of those issues but I am very skeptical that they will and may question was the 3 years really worth that wait (and I may make that Stranger Things video concept I had in my head for a few weeks now) but if you want to check them out for yourself and make your own judgement, then you can catch these 2 volumes now on Netflix with the finale releasing next week.

Trailers of great journey's

The Odyssey

Now we are onto trailers and the first is seen as one of the big blockbuster epics of the new year and once from an acclaimed Filmmaker that is set to take one of the most acclaimed stories of all time and give it his grand scale outcome to it all as early this week we recieved the first official trailer (after it initial teaser in the summer and 6 min prologue in front of that Blue Man Group) of Nolan's new film of The Odyssey. Based on the book and stories of Homer, the film will tell the tale of Odysseus (Matt Damon), the legendary Greek King of Ithaca, on his long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War, chronicling his encounters with mythical creatures such as the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and the witch-goddess Circe, while attempting to reunite with his Wife Penelope. So its a case that it was only announced at Christmas last year that this project was coming and it really seems like if there is anyone that could make this adaption work, it would be with Nolan as he would see the scope and scale of it all and make it a grand spectacle of Cinema and from the looks of this trailer, it seems like their is a big sense of the grand scale and the ideals of some of these creatures (and that they are suppose to be all done practically is very impressive). Now I have seen some discourse about this, but not on much of the film but rather the armour worn by Agamemnon as people see as inaccurate and looks too much like the early stages of the Batsuit but I am sure it was going to have some slight creative liberties but I guess we will see, but either way I am very much interested in seeing how this will all come about when the film will be unleashed into cinemas from the 17th of July

Avengers Doomsday

Our 2nd trailer for this week is one we may be seeing making a bit of a presence these next few weeks in this section as it is time for the countdown to begin, the clock is ticking and soon enough the sense of Doom will arrive as also being first dropped in front of the the Pocahontas in space film, we have recieved the first of the 4 planned teasers for the next big tentpole of the MCU with Avengers Doomsday. The film will be set 14 months after the events of Thunderbolts* and a follow on from Endgame and will consist of different factions including the Avengers led by Sam Wilson's Captain America, The Wakandans, the recently arrived Fantastic 4, The New Avengers and the appearance of the X-Men and will team up together to face a new powerful threat of Doctor Doom who looks a little close to a familiar face from the past. So it is to say that the development of these 2 big team ups has been a bit of a rollercoaster from name changes, villain stories altered and to many that see this saga being all over the place in focus, it can be a sense of worry and this also comes in the form of the surprise reveal with the return of Steve Rogers that this teaser focuses on. Now many are surprised by this reveal but in all case I have known this was happening since last Christmas due to some stories I literally told in this series of weekly episodes and will be back alongside Peggy Carter. How they will tackle this return and if this will mess up the whole symbolism for Sam Wilson is a question I need to know. Now likely case we will be back with more of these for the next few weeks with the next in focus being the god of Thunder and then I heard the one after is on the Mutants or villain but I guess we will see but I am holding out hope that this is a solid outcome and appeal with some of the projects from this recent saga that I have enjoyed a lot of but I guess we will see in due time with the clocking striking Doomsday in about a Years time on December 18th.

Peaky Blinders The Immortal Man

For the 3rd trailer may be slightly pushing my trailer rule but I see as giving it the fair focus and from the orders of this group it makes the complete sense to talk on it as it is the story of finding out whatever happen to one Thomas Shelby as we have the release of the first teaser to the film based on Peaky Blinders with the Immortal Man. Taking place 7 years after the end of the original series, it sees Tommy Shelby driven back from a self imposed exile to face his most destructive reckoning yet. With the future of his family and country at stake, Tommy must face his own demons, and choose whether to confront his legacy, or burn it to the ground. So it is a case that I don't I have watched all of this series to give a full depth in focus opinion on this but I have been meaning to do so (similar to how I was with Breaking Bad and how I will with Better Call Saul) but it is a case I ca see that with anything that this series is one that really has a lot of appeal and the creators know what they are doing and from this small teaser it looks like it could have some potential in the long run and I may give this a look in due time and its not long away from release either as it will have a planned limited cinema release from March 6th before dropping onto Netflix from the 20th of the same month.

Bridgerton Season 4

The last of the trailers for this week is in the focus of a bit more a classy establishment, one that has some grace, elegance and in a lot of was..... steamy hot romance (or in this case fucking) as it is time to return to this fancy region once again as we have recieved the trailer for the 4th season to the popular series of Bridgerton. The season will focus on Benedict Bridgerton's Cinderella Love story with Sophie Beck, a resourceful maid that loosely inspired by an offer from a gentleman which includes masquerade balls, class divides and conflict between Benedict's fantasy of the 'Lady in Silver' and his reality with Sophie, who faces challenges from her cruel stepmother, Lady Araminita Gun, promising fairytale romance and a dose of gritty reality. Its a case of this series where I have not watched much of this one either but I get the appeal and appreciation of this class and romance that I am sure some will appeal to it and overall I can see it working of being more of the usual Cinderella Love story approach that it may have its appeal in general and I am sure it will be well worth a look and the series is not too long away with the new season again releasing in 2 parts with vol.1 dropping on January 29th and Vol.2 a month later on February 26th.

News to help understand from the post Christmas void

The Final Hodge podge for the year

For the focus of the one story for this week is one in the realm of some basis to the usual array of the Hodge Podge of some small stories in focus from the likes of the release date changes and release formats, new names attached to projects and some updates or things that have happened in the last few days so I will see delve into it when I possibly can but let us get into the discussions.

So we start the focus with the most elements of the release dates as there is the most of this weeks focus and the first is a batch of 3 projects that were announced to have gotten a mix around of some release dates changes. These are all from the company of Disney and their subsidiaries as it was announced back on Monday that the sequel of Ready or Not has gotten moved up in release by about 2 weeks where instead of opening on April 10th, it will now release on March 27th makes it seem the studio has some good faith in this follow up (I say it will depend now on the early reactions or else test screenings are solid, which is similar to how the 3rd 28 Years sequel reception did from early social reactions but may need to see the opinion by the critical before jumping on that). 

Now with this new date for this project, it does see the planned release for another project on that day get delayed to a new slot and that is the film of Dog Stars, which is the new project from acclaimed director of Ridley Scott with this film now bowing into cinemas from the 28th of August next year. Not much about this project has been given as of yet but it does have a bit of a solid cast from Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Benedict Wong and seems to be a film set in a bit of a post apocalyptic world which may be an interesting approach to see what comes of this project in due time. 

The last of the films getting a release change is coming to us from the animation sector and this is with Pixar as it was announced their next film after Toy Story 5 of Gatto will be moving up by around 3 months to March 5th 2027 from the initial June 18th Release. This may be in the case of the film having some unique animation style that has it more fast tracked and going much better then expected, but I feel they may want to give it a little more of a chance in a packed month of animation as that film would be given a free weekend before facing against the finale of the Spider-verse trilogy and the 5th film of Shrek a week after that so I can see the angle they went with on that. Now all of these dates are not too bad and see them as reasonable in their placements, with the latter 2 seeing another possible delay in some form but it may stick to where they are but I will be interested to see what comes of them and give them a look when they release in due time.

This next release date is more of an announcement and it comes to us from a small teaser announcement for a voice cast for this project but it was announced this week that the planned 2nd season to the upcoming live action take on the popular anime of One Piece has officially gotten a release date with the new season set for release on March 10th. This seems like a reasonable spot and placement for the project as the series has been in full success mode from the ongoing original anime and the appeal of the first season and merch line as well that I am sure it may have a successful outcome in this follow-up hopefully. I guess we shall see in due time and we can have a full trailer for this project to properly delve into it.

As for one more delay we have a set date for, it looks like our license to kill may be taking a little longer to get verified and processed out to us as it was announced earlier this week that the upcoming game of 007 First Light has been delayed from its initial March 26th release and will now be dropping 2 months Later on May 26th instead, taking the initial spot now of what GTA 6 was supposed to release on next year. This personally I am fine with on its slight delay as this company's turnout has been solid as of late (albeit if you avoid their involvement with one of this years worst rated games) and from what I have seen so far from this game it does look very entertaining and will be well worth to look into this title very soon and I will be giving the license to kill a go when it comes out now in the early summer.

The last of the dates is one of a shake up and the releasing of it is now in the realm of the unclear as it was announced this week that the initially planned animated film based on the popular Avatar The Last Airbender series will now no longer release into cinemas in October of 2026 and will be releasing straight onto Paramount+ instead sometime in the fall. This I feel is really a shame as I feel it is well worth a return of this beloved series to get their proper chance on the big screen and them doing this is showing a bit of a mess going on at the studio (maybe just crashing out cause WB rejected their 108 Billion deal for purchase rights of their studio). I do feel their is a chance this could still release into cinemas if there is enough pushback in that aspect or this maybe just with the US but it is hard to say as of now on what the situation with this new film project will release. At the moment nothing else has been provided and if anything new pops up I will provide it in a later episode.

So this focus on the director or new attachment to a project hurts me so that I wonder did he decide on this himself or was this the studio making him do this, as it was announced last week that Paddington and Wonka director Paul King will now be directing and producing the film based on the Labubu doll trinkets. Now in all sense I do like King as a director as he helped to make 2 of the most heartwarming and wonderful films on that lovable Bear from Peru (and was also involved in the story development of 3 and hopefully that 4th film) and the Wonka film turned out to be surprisingly entertaining (and I need to give reviews to all of those films) but this feels like something he would not be involved with. I am sure the case that he may make it work on the format they go with this on, but I feel by the time the film is released they will already be out of popularity (and even some that may have a bit of a obsession with these have even questioned why there is a film being made on these) but I guess we will see what format, perspective and when this will release at some point in the future and if I hear any updates I will provide them in a later episode.

As for the other new addition to a project that we have involved for this week, we are jumping from a film based on one of this years popular trinkets, to a tv series adaptation of a popular video game franchise as we have some new news in relation to the upcoming series based on Assassins Creed as it was announced this week that creative director of Johan Renck has joined the project and will in most case be a director or producer on the project. Now you may not known the name as much but this man is an acclaimed director as he is known for his work on some acclaimed series including Chernobyl, Bloodlines, Vikings, The Walking Dead and the big one of Breaking Bad so there is some hope and talent of this having some appeal from the fans of these series to take him at face value in the work. How much of a presence he will have with this series and if this spawns a couple of seasons to stick around is currently unknown but I see him having some well done character focus aspects to this series but I guess we will see in due time. Currently there is still no release window set but they will be shooting in the early part of next year so I am sure we will get an idea in due time but if anything comes up I will also provide them in a later episode.

The last of the stories is more of some news and surprise information about a project in focus and it comes in relation to the realm of video games itself and in particular some award wins and that is with the big success title of Clair Obscur and has to do with some elements that have been affected or been revealed about the game that has had some unforeseen consequences on the outcome. So last week the Indie Game awards took place and it was the focus that this title won for game of the year and for Debut Indie at this award show and it was all well and good of its continuing sweep of the awards show, however this outcome was short lived as on Sunday or Monday it was announced that the 2 awards for this game have been revoked from the title and was disavowed from the award show. Now the reason for this sudden change has come down to the reveal that the game had actually used generative AI for some elements of the background or visual display in their title when for a majority of the time that it was all done without the use of the controversial program, but it seems they had used it and not addressed it where the AI assets were used and in the game at launch and were then taken out within the first week of release by a patch update. Now the likes of this lie does make a sense of a bit of a mixed opinion as while yes I am one that is against the overall use of AI in content, I don't think it was a major amount used, it was for one asset of some like small newspaper posters or something but even still not being transparent is a question that needs to be answered. Now this saw the games of Blue Prince winning Game of the Year and then Sorry we're closed now taking the debut title. What I see may come from this is the sudden change in outcome as to what may be justified and the appeal that if games are lying about their programs or other assets that it should be looked at with all forms of scrutiny and see if it can past in general or if the acclaim and awards should be revoked, but I guess we will see going into the new year of what may come of this entertainment media.

But what do you think of these stories, do you see those release dates as solid placements or will any of them move around for Disney, are you excited for the One Piece 2nd season, is the delay for the new Bond game reasonable, do you hope the new Avatar film gets a cinema release instead of just on streaming, will the Labubu film work under King or should he be back making more Paddington and Wonka films, do you see this as a solid choice to work on Assassins Creed and do you see those revoked awards justified or a bit excessive and would you feel the Game Awards may do the same for theirs? Let me know what you think down below in the comments.

And now with all of this, this brings us to the end of the newest Weird Mind News Room and the last of the episodes for 2025. Now I will not sugarcoat it and will say that this year has been a really rough year for me in many ways from personal things, mental issues and for some other stuff that I will not be getting into as its for my own things to deal with or keep, but maybe in the near future I will delve into them but in all seriousness, I want to thank you all for sticking with me on this journey. The near 3 years I have been writing this blog has been helpful mentally when I have spiraled and helped in a bit when I was going through a really really bad time earlier this year (and still am now) has been helpful in the fact that people listen to my work and have been supportive in many forms from these blogs, to my videos on YouTube and socials and I want to thank you for that I really do. I apologize if a majority of the pieces this year have mainly been all normal weekly episodes with a lack of reviews but I have been trying to write them but have been just hitting mental blocks stopping me and I will be getting back to get them done soon as I have a few in development and need to finish, but thank you for bearing with that and I will be trying some new series and more reviews properly into the new year and I hope you will be there to support me as I will need it more then ever (and hope that a person who holds a special place in my life and still in my heart may come back as I need them more then ever). But in all that I want to thank you for helping through this year and I hope you had a happy holidays and I wish you all a very happy new year and sending you all the positive energy and luck of the new year and hope to see you all in 2026. As always let me know what your thoughts on all of the content 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 :)