Weird Mind News Room Episode 167: May 4th - 10th

 *Some Music to test your Might and for the Tournament of Champions*

Well hello again to all of you very fine and lovely people, My name is Sam and I would like to welcome you all to the newest edition of the weekly series of Weird Mind News Room where for another week, we will be back to focus and discuss the ideals of all the new releases, Trailers and News that we have from this week of content, so let us not waste too much time on the usual introductions and lets get to talking on all things media for another week.

Yes sir, Yes Sir, New Releases Full

Movies 

Mortal Kombat II

SO on the first of the new releases is once again seeing the greatest fighters of the universe come together all in the name of testing your might and proving who is the best and it looks like we have an array of all new challengers in the mix and this can be seen with another mortal from earthrealm who may be ready to take a punch but that could be just someone he plays in movies but will be down to prove his worth in the bloody fight to the death as after a long wait and initial delay we now have the release of the all new video game adaption sequel to Mortal Kombat. The film will follow on from the first reboot film and follow the fan favourite champions, which now includes them recruiting the legendary action film star Johnny Cage, as they are pitted against one another in the ultimate battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders. Reception on this new take of the series has been well recieved with praise to the action, fights, performances (particularly with Karl Urban's Johnny Cage) and for being a more fun and focused adaption compared to the previous attempts before it and if you are ready for the 2nd round of fights, then you can check this film out now in cinemas.

The Sheep Detectives

The 2nd film for this week will be quite the unexpected sense of mystery, where we are used to the likes of the detective coming along, gather the suspects and solve the crime, but in this case these detectives are a lot more harey then we expect them to be as a new breed of mystery is about to unfold as we have the release of the all new film of The Sheep Detectives. The film follows a shepard named George (Hugh Jackman) who loves to read murder mysteries to his flock of sheep, never suspecting that they can understand him. However when George is found dead under mysterious circumstances, the sheep decide to solve the crime themselves, even if it means leaving their meadow for the first time and facing the fact that the human world isn't as simple as it appears in books. Reception on this film has been very well recieved with praise on the concept, adaption from the original book, the all star cast and for having a lot of heart and humor sprinkled throughout and could be seen as one of this years best reviewed films and if you want to check it out for yourself it is also available now in cinemas.

Billie Eilish: Hit me Hard and Soft the 3D Concert Experience

The last of the films for this week is more of an experience and possibly a way to see an artist for a more affordable price (cause have you seen Ticketmaster prices, unbelievable) as it looks like this famous artist and one of the pioneers of filming technology is bringing an all new concert experience as we have the release of Hit me Hard and Soft: The Tour Live in 3D. Now this concert movie will see the focus on music superstar Billie Eilish as she takes the audience on an immersive concert experience across her most recent tour from developing the show, set list, interaction with fans and all the other good bits from the event itself. Now reception on this concert film has also been very well recieved with praise on its focus to some other concert based film projects of recent memory, the deeper look to the creation of this concert and the 3D effects implemented for this film and if you want to check it out for yourself then you can check it out now in cinemas.

TV Shows

Citadel Season 2

On the tv series for this week, it will be time for a sense of a high end mission, a group with a plan and all in the focus to save the world and looking good while doing so, as after about a 3 year gap between seasons, the most expensive tv series of espionage has returned as we have the release of the 2nd season of Citadel. The new season sees a terrifying new threat emerge and will see Nadia, Mason, and Bernard being pulled back into action and must recruit an unlikely team of skilled new operatives and launch a global spanning mission to stop a conspiracy that could reshape humanity. Reception on this new season may not have a lot of reviews currently but for a few that have seems to be mixed to modest that seems to be a case that while it seems to have shown a sense of improvement from the first season, it still has a mixed opinion about the multitude of narratives happening at once that may not always be properly connective to a full story overall and if you want to check it out for yourself and report for a new mission then you can check out the new season now on Amazon Prime.

Video Games

Mixtape

The last of the new releases for this week is in the focus of the ideals about the concept of growing up, protecting that bond and finding the music that will keep you together, even if they are far apart as we have the release of the all new title from Annapurna studio games with the release of their coming of age title of Mixtape. The game inspired by 1980s coming of age films will follow teens Stacy Rockford, Van Slater and Cassandra Morino as they make their way to a party on their last night of High School as they reminisce about their teenage years together growing up in North California and learn of their hopes and aspirations like Rockford wanting to be a Music supervisor. Reception on this title has been very well recieved with praise on its visuals, narrative, characters, gameplay and having its coming of age inspiration proudly on its sleeve and seen as one of this years best titles currently and if you want to play it for yourself then you can play it now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2 and PC.

Trailer Kombat

The Odyssey

On the trailers side of this week, we start with a title that will be what I see as one of the big releases of the summer that has had a bit of a debate on the outcome overall but it will be time for a new take on one of the most acclaimed pieces of written literature as a tale to defy the gods will begin to unfold and done from the form of a director that can prove his worth as we have the release of the 2nd trailer for the all new adaption from Christopher Nolan with a new look at 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 I may have been noticing a bit of a discourse about this project that their seems to be a bit of an issue to some people (or maybe it is just a case that people have a to complain on a lot of things lately without really giving something a chance) and I can say that sure there is some elements to this I can say I have a bit of a mixed appeal on from some delivery of dialogue that sounds a little bit goofy but I think for a fair bit of it may be just out of context for the moment and for the most case I do feel that Nolan can make something interesting and I am very interested to see his take on an epic like the Odyssey as most other bits I have seen really showing more of the mythical aspects, the unique approach of the practical approach of the creatures like the cyclops and some seas creatures and personally I will give this a chance and see by the full final product overall before really judging it all but I guess we will see when this epic journey arrives in cinemas from the 17th of July.

Evil Dead Burn

On the likes of the 2nd trailer for this week is more moving from the massive blockbuster to more of the ordeal of the horrors abound that will see the case that sometimes, something as simple as finding a mysterious book to help in a tragedy can lead to the unleashing of untold horrors and a massive bloody affair as we have the release of the 2nd and full length trailer for the upcoming new entry of this long running horror series with Evil Dead Burn. The new film will follow a woman who will look to seek comfort at her in-laws in their remote house after losing her husband in a tragic car accident. However, after the discovery of an ancient book, the family reunion will soon become a form of a hellish nightmare. so while I remember that first teaser that dropped a week or 2 ago was one that I felt was bit more tame compared to how the series had been for a fair bit of time, this one felt more in line to those previous entries and I will say went really all in on the graphic gore and horror imagery in this trailer (well they had a Red band trailer and then a cleaner version a day or 2 later) and it seemed like they want to go all in on the horrors about from the unleashed aspects of the Necronomicon. Now in the case of this would be if I watched this film, more then likely it would be from the floor after fainting from my affects of Hemophobia and even from some elements of this trailer from the first character in focus covered in Blood or to the focus of the Dishwasher I felt I could not handle this and I hope this will have a focus and plan to it all and not overdo this series but I guess we will find out soon enough with these Deadites of horror being unleashed into cinemas from the 24th of July.

Star Fox

Our 3rd trailer for this week and for the sole video game trailer we have for this week is one that I was not expecting to see suddenly drop online but I will have to say the shadow drop reveal of it was unexpected but felt it was going to be a thing eventually but it is time to get the crew ready, fuel up the Ar-Wings and prepare to engage targets as we have recieved a trailer for a reveal of an all new take (well reboot remake) of the popular Nintendo IP of Star Fox. Seen as the 2nd remake to the original SNES version of the game, you will take on the role of Fox McCloud, the leader of the Star Fox team with alongside Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi will take the battle across vast locations and planets and do so to stop the reign of Andross and from the destruction of the Lylat system with this new take getting some new features, expansion of levels and narrative elements too. So it has been quite the absence for this series as the last title for this series was in 2016, so seeing this return after a decade is quite a feat, even if I had hoped for a little more of an all new entry besides telling the exact same story for a 5th time (which rivals the amount of times The Last of Us Part 1 and Resident Evil 4 have had remasters or remakes of said game) but in this case I will say the visuals and crisp gameplay and new features do look fantastic. But we must also talk the big elephant in the room and that is the debate of the all new designs of the characters as they have gone in a more real animal aesthetic that has a bit of a divide with the likes of Peppy and Slippy looking properly accurate, Fox being a little off but still likable, but most come with the issue of Falco's design feeling a little weird but that maybe from the more high def visuals, but from what I hope will be this brings an appeal back to the series and we get another proper Star Fox akin to Assault or Adventures but I guess we will see in due course and surprisingly its not too long away from release either as they will be taking off onto the Switch 2 from June 25th.

Minions and Monsters

And the last of the trailers for this week is one that will have a bit more of a connection in some ways to the previous trailer but from the animation studio that has been making money with their big IP of Mario and will be turning to their essentially cash cow franchise of the small creatures that want to find a master to be their henchmen for, but in this case will be focused to a story before their years of hiding and seeing the realm and focus to their time in the industry of Hollywood that has some monsterous outcomes as we have the release of the 2nd and final trailer for the 3rd film of this spin off with Minions and Monsters. Set as a Prequel to the original Despicable me series and of the first 2 Minions films, the new entry will see the Minions in 1920s Hollywood, with some Minions of James, Henry and Ed looking to get into the industry and create their own Monster film. Through the power of some spiritual incantation they summon a small form of Cthulhu who will help them to find some real monsters for their monster movie and I am sure everything will work out in the process... Right? So to tell you the truth, this was probably not the route I expected these films and spin off to go in as I thought it would continue the approach of the previous film with the Minions as Henchmen to a more teenaged Gru but I guess they probably hit a snag and going as a prequel to the prequel and see the period of them making a presence in Hollywood and focus on the appeal and love of filmmaking is an interesting one that I am sure could bring a sense of chaos and mischief that only the Minions can provide (I mean I question the choice that happened at the very end of this trailer cause that may be quite the dark bit of imagery) but I will give this a bit of a chance with this film creation being unleashed into cinemas from July 1st.

News to hit you Hard and Soft

Projects for release and updates to come

Its another week once again and another round of all the forms of you serving of the hodge podge of content that will consist and give an insight into all forms of content on the way from Release date announcements, casting and production shakeups and maybe an announcement or 2 in the mix as well, but lets actually see what their is for us to look forward to in the future.

So on the first of the focus will be some release date announcements and it seems that while the mainline DCU will be bringing us a new take on a popular Kryptonian, it looks like the animation side of things will also be getting something as well as it was announced that the 3rd season of the popular series of My Adventures with Superman has gotten themselves an official release date with the new season set to premiere from the 13th of June. Now from the poster that is shown, it looks like their is a sense of dread of Superman being controlled by a form of Red Kryptonite, or could be a form of a droid created by Lex Luthor as a sort of Bizarro Superman approach but it does seem like they will be giving a bit of a sense of dread for our heroes. Now the show as I have seen over the last little while has proven to be a success and was the bit of freshness this character needed after the more darker tone of the Snyderverse take that we were focused on over the last decade but I am interested to see how they will work this new season of content. I am sure we will get an idea of the look of the season with a trailer in due time before its eventual release in about a months time. 

Then from superhero tales to serving up a 5 course meal, we are heading back over to Chicago for a fine bit of cuisine for one last serving as it was announced that the 5th and final season of the bear has gotten a last orders call with the servings beginning from the 25th of June. Now in all case of things I need to get back to watching this series with my mom as we were well into the show for at least up to the middle of season 2 or maybe the start of 3 but I can see the show having its appeal in the beginning before I heard some say it started to lose the appeal and focus after the 3rd season possibly, but will need to confirm on that, but I feel it is best to bring it to a fairly rounded conclusion and serve your finest dish for the final round but I am sure we can see what will come of it all when it releases at the end of next month.

The last of the release dates in focus for this week will be bringing us to the realm of suburbia where we will be checking in with a few familiar faces once again and to see if that boy is right once more as it was unveiled that the 2nd season to the King of the Hill revival is on the way with this season confirmed to be releasing now from July 20th this year. After the surprise revival success and appeal of the previous season, it seems they have a few more stories in mind for this adult animated sitcom and could provide even more elements to the narrative for Hank, Peggy, Bobby and the rest of the residents of Arlen, Texas and I am sure it could be a case that once they don't overdo it and have a direction for the series then I am sure it will work out overall but I am sure we will see by its release in about 2 months time. 

Now on the likes of some announcements of projects and it seems this first one is quite the overall far out announcement and found from the many corners and points of the underworld below where I am sure it may be a bit more of a happy day in hell as it was announced about a week or 2 ago that the animated series of Hazbin Hotel has been renewed for a 5th season, but also in the case that the 5th season will be the final one in the series. Now this is quite the stretch of the announcement given as of writing for this visual mediocre video podcast of sorts that only 2 seasons have released so far (and don't worry, this creative that can dress himself for the occasion will be getting around to that season in due course to give him rambling thoughts on soon) and its unclear of when we will expect those other 2 previous seasons, let out this grand conclusion of a narrative saga, but I am sure they have a plan and will likely see the next 2 lead to a conclusion and as long as we get some antagonists who have as big an ego as the one from last season with his shiny screen display then I am all for this conclusion, but for now dear listeners, we have not much else in discussion and if there is any new updates to that I will provide it in a later story so stay tuned.

As for the focus of an all new announcement, it seems something more wicked this way comes for another go around and seems to be a much quicker follow up to as it was announced this week that a third film based on the disney classic of Hocus Pocus is now in development for Disney+. Now this seems to be going off the surprise success of the long awaited sequel to the original cult classic from the 90s that will see the return of the Sanderson sisters who will be back to cause some mischief and mayhem and spellbinding outcomes as well too. Now this seems to be a success of being made after the success and viewership numbers of the last entry, that despite the more mixed positive reception by critics, audiences seemed to be a little more underwhelmed or disappointed by this follow up that may be from the lack of the other cast members returning for this film but maybe they can make up for it in this 3rd entry in the series (and I may need to give a proper rewatch as I can't recall if I ever finished the 2nd one). Now at the moment besides the main trio of witches, we have no idea on who else will be joining the cast and on the case of when we can expect this to release but once I hear about any of that I will provide it in a later episode.

But speaking of fantasy and witchcraft, this was probably expected but they seem to be confident in this outcome as it was announced earlier this week that the HBO tv series of Harry Potter will be getting a 2nd season in the focus of the narrative to Chamber of secrets and will be starting development of that story come the fall of this year, even before the first season has even aired a single episode. Now I have made it time and time again clear that I really don't see much of the appeal as to why this needed to be made into a tv series when I feel the films did it justice, cause most have said that the trailer looks fine but lacks any sense of colour of whimsy that the films worked so well with and the case that supporting this title will be just giving money to an author with very terrible opinions about people and transgender communities when those people are people and can be who they want to be. I just hope if anything that will allow the actors of this to have a better chance of a different career in the future besides this cause I hope its not going to affect them overall but I guess we will see what comes of this production in due time and if there is any change to all of this I will provide it in a later episode.

Now on the last section of some production shakeups and confirmations, we will be heading over to a series of films and franchise that seems to have found a placement and solid direction from a recent reboot and it looks like they have the next person taking on the role of building on the world run by humanoid hominoids, as it was announced this week that Fantastic 4 First steps and Wandavision director Matt Shakman will be taking the reigns on the newest film based on the Planet of the Apes franchise. Now it seems he will be taking over from previous director of Wes Ball as he is currently busy deep into post production on the first of the film adaptions of the Legend of Zelda series that it was probably going to be a bit of time before he would've been working on that follow up to Kingdom in particular. Now the thing about this is a little uncertain as to what the approach will be as some reports I have heard about this will be that its not going to follow on from Kingdom and may be in own separate story, essentially making it another reboot in the franchise but this could be misconstrued and could be a continuation. I have hope with his project as I felt with Shakman that he had a clear eye for some genre settings and pieces from the work of Wandavision and Fantastic 4 that it could work out (though this also brings with it that if he does this, he may not be back to direct the eventual sequel to First steps but nothing has been made official on that side of things). Now at the moment we have no word on when exactly we will see this follow up but if I hear anything new about it I will provide it in a later episode as well.

 

And for the last of the stories and the one focused casting of this week, it looks like it will be a focus in the realm of some superhero news for this story as it looks like we have the first of the Marvel and DC crossover of the new era making a focus and it seems that the Man of Steel will have someone new making an appearance as it was reported on Friday that actor Matthew Lillard has been casted in the upcoming sequel to last years Superman. Now Lillard has had his presence in some hero based projects as he was recently just in the recent season of Daredevil Born Again as the character of Mr Charles, and he has had his share of working with director James Gunn before in the past as least we forget he worked with him on the production of the early 2000s Scooby Doo films where Matt played Shaggy (and gunn was a writer on both of those films). Now at the moment it is unclear on who he will be portraying but some sources seem to be pointing to a possible introduction of another new hero into this sequel, similar how in the original film had Guy Gardener Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, Mr Metamorpho and Mr Terrific just to name a few and some are possible pointing to Lillard playing the DCU version of Plastic Man (either Patrick O'Brien or Ralph Johns) which I can see but maybe its going from initial talks of them making that a film back in the early 2000s but I guess we will find out of who he will be playing with the new additions of Brainiac and others in this sequel as production continues and once I hear anything about it I will provide that in a later episode as well.

But what are your thoughts on all of these stories, Will you be checking out this new season of My adventures with Superman and what are your thoughts of the first 2 seasons, will the Bear stick the landing for the final season or do you feel it has lost its appeal overtime, will King of the Hill's newest season be good and do you see it continue for a few more seasons, what are your thoughts of Hazbin getting a 5th season and what do you think the plot will entail (and of your thoughts of the first 2 seasons so far), is the likes of a 3rd Hocus Pocus appeal to you or do you see it as unnecessary, will the HBO Harry Potter series work out and improve over the films or is it all a lost cause and just a cash pull, do you think Shakman will do well with a planet of the Apes film and will it connect to the recent films or be its own thing and who do you think Lillard is playing in the Superman sequel? Let me know what you think of it all down below in the comments.

And with all of that, this brings us to the end of the newest edition of Weird Mind News room and I hope you continue as always to enjoy the constant ramblings on Media. Let me know your thoughts on all that was discussed this week down below and as always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday and will see you all in the next episode :)

Take care, keep being you, signing off

Sam H :)