Weird Mind News Room Episode 153: Jan 26th - Feb 1st
*Music for a descent into the Blood Lake
Well hello to all of you fine, fancy and very fashionable people and who you want to be, My name is Sam and I would like to welcome you all once again to the newest installment of the weekly series of Weird Mind News Room where this week we will give a focus on discussion of the many New releases, some trailers and a News Story or 2, so lets not waste the time on all the intro's and lets get to discussing all things media for another week.
New Releases for my routine
Movies
Is This Thing On?
On the first of the new releases of this week is one that is taking a new perspective take of someone's life but given a new reworked focus to it all will be one hell of an interesting set for some stand up as we have the release of the new film of Is This Thing On? Based on the life of comedian John Bishop, the film follows Alex (Will Arnett), a man facing both middle age and an impending divorce will soon find new purpose in the New York Comedy Scene, while his Wife, Tess (Amy Sedaris), confronts the sacrifices she made for their family. Reception on this film has been very well recieved with praise on the lead performances of Arnett and Dern and for the directing of Bradley Cooper and for telling a well established take on the life on one of Britains and the world's famous comedians and if you want a good laugh and watch then you can catch this new film out now in cinemas.
Primate
Now for the first of the Horror titles for this week is one that will take the perspective of the concept of evolution where we may have seen the concept of this species becoming the dominant creature that ruled the planet in a franchise of films, but in this case it will be more of something that could've been seen as a simple equal take a turn for the worse and a lot more deadly as we have the release of a new film focused on a certain animal going deadly with the release of Primate. The film will see Lucy's tropical Island homecoming turn deadly when her family's clever Chimpanzee, Ben, becomes rabid. With her Father away and no help coming, paradise becomes a prison as Lucy and her friends fight for survival against a pet they once trusted. Reception on the new horror has been well recieved with praise on the simple yet effective horror and interesting kills, though the film can be seen as a little basic to reach the fullest of potentials, though if you want to see what happened to Ben then you can check this new film out now in cinemas.
Iron Lung
As for the 2nd Horror based title of this week and the 2nd video game based adaption of the year, it is time we take a look at a project that has been in development for the better part of 3 years and for the take on the creative project prowess of the community on YouTube to take their step into a full film creation as when the world goes silent and mysterious anomolies appear in the bloody ocean depths, it begs the question if this mission is really has a sense of purpose or a sacrifice, as YouTube sensation Markiplier brings us his directorial and self financed adaption of Iron Lung. The film will be set in a post-apocalyptic future after an event known as "The Quiet Rapture" caused all stars and habitable planets in the universe to disappear and will see a convict (Markiplier) is sent to explore an ocean of blood discovered a desolate moon using a poorly constructed midget submarine nicknamed the "Iron Lung". Reception on this adaption has seen some mixed but modest reception from critics and praise from audiences with praise on the performance of the lead and for the direction of Markiplier in his directing debut, though some critiques seem to push some the first half as being a little slow and could've done with a little runtime reduction but still seen as a strong start in the directing field and if you want to become part of the expedition to the blood moon ocean then you can check it now as well in cinemas.
Shelter
For the 4th release of this week is bringing us the first action based film of this week and it starts the action man with the gruff voice that will take action and all forms of a job into his own hands as its the annual Jason Statham led film (and the first of them for this year from what I believe) as we have the release of the new film known as Shelter. Set on a remote Coastal island, a former assassin (Statham) living in self-imposed exile rescues a young girl from a deadly storm. As their lives start to intertwine, he must protect the orphan while battling enemies from the past. Reception on this film seems to be well recieved with praise on its enjoyable action and narrative, even if the concept and narrative itself may be a little generic or basic like it was heard from the past but sometimes simplistic can be still overly enjoyable and if you want to check it out for yourself then you can also check this out in cinemas.
Wrecking Crew
The last of the films for this week is in the focus of another all out action film with 2 heavy hitters at the helm, all out chaos, action, mystery and some possible heart mixed all together for this new endeavor as we have the release of the all new film known simply as Wrecking Crew. The Film follows two Half-brothers (Jason Mamoa and Dave Bautista) a Loose cannon cop and a disciplined Navy Seal, must work together to unravel a conspiracy behind their fathers murder in Hawaii. Reception on this film has seen some decent reception as well with praise on the leads of Bautista and Mamoa and for its all out action and for its sense of heart sprinkled in there too and if you want to check it out for yourself the you can catch this new film out now on Amazon Prime.
Tv Shows
Marvel's Wonderman
Moving over to the TV side of things, the first of the big shows for this week is taking us to the realm of superheroes and the first of many of this year itself as this is taking a little bit more of a meta based outcome to this overall project where in a world of heroes, gods and powerful beings, sometimes we have to wonder if people that live in this world and want to play them in fiction, is there also a sense of fatigue in this universe and for those that want to get their name in the industry, will some underlying secret affect those chances, well that is what we are about to find out with this overall project as we have the release of the first of the MCU projects of this year with the new series of Wonder Man. The series will be a form of a Hollywood satire about the superhero genre and will follow Simon Williams, an actor who gains superpowers after a lab accident and finds himself embroiled in a criminal conspiracy and teaming up with former disgraced actor Trevor Slattery to investigate the company and its connections to ionic radiation, which may be a threat to others and also explore elements of his family relationships as well as his career struggles in a world where real superheroes exist as he auditions for a role of a remake to a classic superhero film. Reception on this new series seems to be very well recieved with praise on its more grounded story and performances, especially the dynamic of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley and for its unique take on the world of the Marvel universe and the industry of film and television in the acting space and also seen as continuing the recent trend of Marvel getting back on the right track and if you want to check it out for yourself then you can catch the full 8 episode series now on Disney+
Bridgerton Season 4 Vol.1
As for the 2nd of the Tv Shows for this week is going from Superheroes to more in the realm of Class, grace, elegance, scandal, gossip and even as far as a little steamy (or in some cases Fucking) as its time we return to this high societal location and family and follow another story of love being made and formed in strange and mysterious ways as we have the release of the 1st Part of the 4th season 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. Reception on this new seasons first part is so far well recieved with praise on its characters in focus this season and its fairytale that is sweet, steamy and engrossing as ever, even if the narrative and concept can come off as the usual case of predictable and if you want to check it out for yourself then you can catch volume 1 now on Netflix with the 2nd Volume dropping in a months time on February 26th.
Video Games
High Guard
On the side of Games for this week, this first one has been in a bit of a conversation for the better half of nearly 2 months now since it was first unveiled at the Game Awards and for the reason so being the final game announcement as the event that has been a lot of debate and discussion of its placement and concept but it looks like it is time to suit up, gear up, Mount up and prepare for battle when possible as we have the release of the all new battle 3v3 title of High Guard. In this new PvP based raid shooter game, you will take control of a Warden, characters who as seen as Arcane Gunslingers as you fight for control over a mythical continent where you must battle to prove victorious from methods of shieldbreaking and other forms of battle modes to become victorious. Now reception on this title itself has seen some mixed reception that while the blending of familiar tropes across over looter and raid shooters are present, the mix of them has provided a nice sense of freshness and appeal and seems to work well, though the game seems to suffer from long load times as well as some performance issues and seen a bit more of a heated debate across the opinion of players on the internet (but that is expected to happen or just to hate cause some say its bad to think they are smart or cause negativity gets more views and clicks) but if you want to try it out for yourself the game is free to play now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Code vein 2
The last of the New Releases of this week and the last of the games for this week is seeing us return to the world and battle against the concept of the gods and slaying the all powerful for the protection of the mortal realm and for your own kind in general as we have the release of the all new entry in this RPG franchise with Code Vein II. In this title you will take on the role of the Revenant Hunter, an undead Human with a form of Vampiric abilities as you fight against Horrors, beings corrupted by a mysterious entity known as the Luna Rapacis. The Hunter is accompanied by a girl named Lou, who can manipulate time and will help to travel to the past to alter events in the present and future. Reception on this follow up seems to also be mixed to modest at best that while the story and visuals are well praised, the games open world nature and gameplay qualities left much to be desired and some sense of inconsistencies occouring throughout, but if you want to play it for yourself then you can play it now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Trailers of different species
Invincible Season 4
ON the first of the 2 trailers for this week is one that was accidentally overlooked from last week and I want to just make a quick fix to that and put it in for this week and it seems to be a theme in the world of superheroes for this trailer section as its time for a return to a world of heroes outside of the usual Marvel and DC affair and rather focus on the titles from other studios and in this case of the past trauma and trying to do better then their former heroes once did, how far will one push themselves to do better then how they left it being as we have been given the trailer for the 4th season to the popular animated superhero series of Invincible. This season will be focused on the narrative of the Viltrumite War storyline from the comics and following the global catastrophe from the end of last season, a changed Mark struggles with Guilt as he struggles to fight and protect his home and the people he loves, setting him on a collision course with a power new threat known as Thragg that could alter the fate of humanity forever. So in most case I do need to get a bit of a catch up to this series as it seems like it has been showing great potential and a strong focus in making the jump from comics to adaption done successfully and I can see its appeal and action looks solid (even with some minor tweaks and issues people point to needing a little work on (and avoiding another dumb mid season break for 3 months as well)) but I can see this being a big all out battle that I have to wonder if this will be the final season or if there is more of the comics to adapt before it runs its course, but I guess we will find out in due time with it all as the new season will be premiering on Amazon Prime from the 18th of March.
Daredevil Born Again Season 2
As for the 2nd trailer, we are jumping back over to the MCU and in this case we are going back to more of the gritty and darker reality and seeing the affects of a corrupt system looming over a world taking form but in the shadows a resistance will rise to dismantle it, as the Man without fear is back once again to take the fight into his own hand as we have the release of the trailer for the 2nd season of Daredevil Born Again. The new Season will see Daredevil or Matt Murdock gathering a team of allies to resist against Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, who has become the Mayor of New York and take down his Anti Vigilante Task Force (AVTF) while Matt faces against intense violent action in a city plagued by corruption and Martial Law. So I had seen from this series that there is a bit of a divide with the first season as some seemed to find some enjoyment while others say it pails in comparison to the original series from Netflix and I can see both sides but I enjoyed my time with it and felt it was bound to go much bigger with this MCU based establishment and it looks like more from that era will be making a jump over as well as good old private investigator of Jessica Jones has returned and joining in on the fight and while some have complained about the music choice of this teaser and having a bit more of a upbeat tone, its still giving much of the heavy gritty violence this series is known for and I am sure they are about to go all in and making it like the original Netflix trilogy of seasons and bring those a little uncertain from Season 1 back and I am looking forward to this and its not too long away either as the new season will appear from the shadows on Disney+ from the 24th of March.
News to wrap up the January Blues
The Hodge Podge of All forms
So this weeks news stories were a bit quieter in terms of stories so you know what that means, its time for the hodge Podge with a selection of stories that may not be the most connective in ways but all have some semblance of focus to them all with a bit of first looks, release dates, castings and some more announcements on items or projects in the future but lets get into all of the discussions that have been presented.
So we'll start with one that may be a bit of a weekly one as well (Possibly) but we are talking once more on LEGO. If you can't tell at this point, I do love this brand in general and it seems to be a case that its nearly every week we have been given more and more reasons to buy the product and also more and more reasons for why my wallet is possibly screaming at me, but they know I am good for it in general and it seems to be a case that over the last few days we have seen a lot of big new sets unveiled which include some more additions to the soon released Smart Brick range with more on Star Wars including a small Millenium Falcon, the Mos Eisley Cantina, A speeder bike and AT-ST on Endor and Yoda's Swamp cabin and training grounds to name a few, as well as some more rumoured sets confirmed including a now giant build Winnie the Pooh and his Pot of Honey set for release at the start of Next Month at €150 (and I will say it will be within a few days or hours of that set release for it to have been altered to be built into a Millenium Falcon and reworked to the design of the version from the Poohniverse and Blood and Honey Movies) as well as a smaller affordable Piglet build for €40 and lastly is a guild build minifig of the original Blue Spaceman coming out on the same day (that with some slight modding could make him Benny from the LEGO Movie). However this is not the focus ones I had in mind as we are more talking on another rumoured set in the works that is possibly on the way later in the year and it involves an iconic character in pop culture, as according to some rumours on the interwebs, we may be getting both a Minifig line and possible large build based on the popular green Ogre of Shrek. Now the Minifig range is not the most surprising given that many brand have had the collectible versions of characters from Marvel, Disney, the LEGO films and their long running series as well so one based on Shrek seems like a likely one with plenty of options to have for a full 12-16 minifig range to choose from across the currently 4 released films (and maybe even the 2 Puss in Boots titles as well) and will be the usual price these mystery box figs would cost. It is not the only only one that is part of this rumour as it looks like there is another one in mind as it looks like there will be a large build set releasing around the same time that will be of a large build of Shrek and Donkey coming out at the same time from the reports, with it also including possible minifigs of them and one of Puss in Boots and cost wise it seems to be aiming for around €140-150 from the reports but it could be a lot different. Now this is not the first time a Shrek set has been considered as on the LEGO Ideas page, there was a set floating around of Shreks Swamp that passed the ideas goal of 10K interests but whether it was knocked out in another review stage is unclear but a set based on the swamp with Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss, the triplets and others could be an interesting idea concept to still get one in the future but I guess we will find out in due time, plus with the upcoming film in a year we may see some more smaller based sets on the movies to come from it as well. Now currently as things stand this is all in the realm of rumour and speculation for the moment but as soon as I hear anything about it being a real thing, I will let you know in a later episode.
Now this next one is a piece I haven't really done properly in a focus for a while and this in the case of the first Look aspect for an upcoming project (I know there was the one for Sophie Turner as Lara Croft but in all sense it was more in the video version) and this is to do with a group of upcoming projects in the works and the focus of some famous faces as this week we have been given our official first look at the 4 main leads of the upcoming biopics based on the members of the Beatles. Initially it was a leaked image from a set of special postcards given to some performers or attendees at a London festival earlier in the week, but it was officially uploaded on Tuesday or Wednesday or this week with a more cleaner upscaled look at the four members, which you may recall will see Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon and with Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and it seems like the choices of the 4 chosen actors really fit the tone and it is interesting to see them in their look and form (plus it is a case that Keoghan has been spotted out and about with his new hairpiece for this project and I guess it makes sense in all forms with the 4 films being filmed back to back). It is interesting to see this overall approach they are going to be doing with the 4 separate films for each member of the group and if there will be much in the likes of overlap or if at a point these films will just be seen as too much hassle and become one focal film altogether cause it seems like quite the ambitious approach to a biopic on a 4 person band, but in all case I guess we will find out how it will all come about by the release of these 4 films in the spring of 2028.
Now on the focus of the only casting based news that I can provide with some confirmation and that is the return to the focus of some new additions for some upcoming video game adaptation and its once again over to Amazon with their God of War Series. Now so far with that first cast round up about 2 or 3 weeks ago we were given the official casting of Kratos, Thor, Sif and initially it was for the antagonist of Baldur from the 2018 title, but it turned out to be a casting for the character of Heimdall with one for Baldur set for focus another time and it was the question if they were skipping the first reboot title and going straight into Ragnarok? Well it looks like from the additions (well at least one of them) it may be more confirmed in that aspect as it was announced on Wednesday that Princess Bride and Homeland star Mandy Patinkin has been cast as the all father Odin in the series, who is alluded to in the first title but makes more of a presence and is seen as an antagonist in this follow up title and from the look and tone I have a good hope that he will work really well for the role that we have seen versions of over the years. But it was not the only characters cast from the titles as we have also seen another trio of characters confirmed with a few hours or a day or so later, they had cast actors Danny Woodburn (Seinfeld) and Jeff Gulka (X-Files) cast as the Dwarfen Blacksmiths of Brok and Sindri who will help Kratos and Atreus on their travels in upgrading Kratos Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos and for Atreus Hidden Knife and Bow and I am sure they may be of assistance in the series (as well as provide some playful jabs to one another). As for one other confirmed casting is one of the only other game voices confirmed for the series and keeping it the same without change as it was confirmed that Alastair Duncan was retuning back to portray the role of Mimir, the smartest man in all the nine realms, who will mainly be a reanimated disembodied head but he tells many stories and has some good jokes when he can and I feel it makes perfect sense to have him back for this title in some capacity. So far the casting on this series has been really strong and I am giving it good hope they know what they are doing, even if they are going all the way to the most recent game itself and possibly skipping the 2018 title but I have no idea yet on their plan. So it seems we are down to a few big characters left and 2 from the previous game to be cast with Freya and Atreus still to have some casting, and in some sense I hope the voice of Kratos of Christopher Judge makes an appearance in this series somewhere as well but I guess we will see what will come of these additions and if there is anything new or additional castings made, I will provide it in a later episode.
For the last of the 2 mini stories are the only ones with much of a connection and they are in the focus of some release dates and we start with the film that will be releasing first as it was confirmed that the new true story title of I Play Rocky has gotten an official release date for November 13th 2026. Now this film will be telling the story of the very tumultuous development process that went into the development of the original Rocky movie in the mid 70s and how through all that uncertainty and commitment would make it one of the most well known and iconic movies in cinema with the young actor of Anthony Ippolito taking the reigns of a young Stallone (post the Italian Stallion of course) and I am sure it will be well worth a look into it as I have seen some small element to the films development but getting a new look will not be too much of a problem to me anyway. I am sure we will get the first bit of footage in due time but I will give this a look by its release come this November.
And the 2nd and last of the stories is one that will be going a quarter mile at a time all in the name of family, as it seems after all the uncertainty, elaborate ideas that seem a bit excessive coming from the main star and possible financial issues resolved, we have not gotten the official release date for the 11th and final entry of the Fast and Furious Saga as on Friday, it was announced the film, now entitled Fast Forever will be releasing on St Patrick's Day in 2028. So it seems like there has been a lot of Behind the scenes or deal for this project as it was initially set to be out I believe either this year or last year but then the Actor and Writers strikes occoured (and reports of another real soon allegedly), then there was all cases about the film now being a possible 3 part finale, which was quickly debunked, then there was all this uncertain release windows and crazy concepts that Vin Diesel kept suggesting from Ronaldo getting a role in this to trying to bring back Paul Walker from the dead, in amongst him being busy with more music, a film on Rock'm Sock'm Robots and returns of XXX and Riddick and then on inflated budgets with underwhelming returns that it has taken itself a while to finally make it a proper release but I guess half a decade to release the 2nd part of that finale film after the cliffhanger will have to do. To say I am intrigued is there though I hope its at least a solid conclusion of more of Furious 7 then a messy F9 style film but I guess we can see by its release in about 2 years time.
But what do you make of all of these stories, are you getting of those new sets that are unveiled and do you see a LEGO Shrek set in the future, what are your thoughts on the first look at the four actors as the Beatles, do you think the choices for the God of War series is solid and who would you cast for the rest of the remaining figures, are you excited for this Rocky biopic film and will you be checking out this final Fast and Furious film and do you see it being any good? Let me know your thoughts down below.
And now with all of that sorted out of the way, this brings us to the end of Episode 153 of Weird Mind News Room and I hope you enjoy these ramblings for another week as always. 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 :)
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