If you’re a regular Pokémon GO player, there’s a good chance in recent days that you’ve wondered if something’s wrong with your phone or your fingers. As you spin the Poké ball ready for a curveball, it suddenly pops back to the bottom of the screen right as you attempt to throw. I’m relieved to tell you, it’s not…
If you’re a regular Pokémon GO player, there’s a good chance in recent days that you’ve wondered if something’s wrong with your phone or your fingers. As you spin the Poké ball ready for a curveball, it suddenly pops back to the bottom of the screen right as you attempt to throw. I’m relieved to tell you, it’s not…
The loss of actor Chance Perdomo in March from a motorcycle accident was devastating to fans. Such a young talent Perdomo was, the impact of his death was felt throughout the industry. It, too, brought up the question of what would become of his character on The Boys spin-off Gen V. Now, a decision has been made over Perdomo and Gen V, and it’s probably just what fans were expecting and hoping.
Producers posted the following statement on the official Gen V Instagram: “As we continue to navigate the tragic loss of Chance Perdomo, everyone at Gen V is determined to find the best way to pay respect to his memory. We won’t be recasting the role, because no one can replace Chance. Instead, we have been taking the time and space to refract our Season 2 storylines as we begin production in May. We will honor Chance and his legacy this season.”
Gen V was renewed back in October 2023 while the first season was still being released on Amazon Prime Video. Surely we were all looking forward to having the entire core cast return, but with Perdomo’s tragic death just a few months later, we all anticipated that serious changes would have to take place on Gen V. Really, this is the most respectful way to go about the character of Andre Anderson.
Dying at just 27, Perdomo no doubt had a prospective acting career ahead of him. Outside of Gen V, Perdomo had made his mark on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, playing her cousin Ambrose. There, too, was a fantastic BAFTA-nominated performance in Killed by My Debt. On the movie front, he had a supporting role in the trilogy of After We Fell, After Ever Happy and After Everything.
With Gen V now crossing over with The Boys, it could have eventually given Chance Perdomo an opportunity to develop his character even more. Unfortunately, we will never see just where Andre Anderson could have gone, although it is ultimately probably the right decision to retire the character at this point.
Do you think not recasting Chance Perdomo’s character on Gen V is a good idea? What were you hoping to see the late actor do in the future?
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Gore Verbinski would seem to have hit a snag in his big-budget blockbuster career after his Lone Ranger movie for Disney became a notoriously bloated flop. However, he was able to return with a smaller directorial effort after that, with the suspense film A Cure for Wellness. It has been eight years since the release of A Cure for Wellness, and Verbinski returns from his hiatus to helm an action-adventure film with the humorous title Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. The movie sports an impressive cast, including Sam Rockwell, Michael Peña, Haley Lu Richardson, Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple. The film has just started production on location in South Africa.
The description of the movie’s plot, according to Deadline, reads, “The film, written by Matthew Robinson (Love & Monsters), centers on a man from the future (Rockwell) who arrives at a diner in Los Angeles where he must recruit the precise combination of eclectic patrons (Richardson, Peña, Beetz, Temple) to join in him on a one-night quest to save the world.” The production of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die comes from the studio Constantin Film, whose projects include Resident Evil, Fantastic Four and The Three Musketeers. Robert Kulzer is on board serving as producer. Meanwhile, Verbinski’s Blind Wink Production and 3 Arts Entertainment are also producing the movie with casting Director Denise Chaian, Erwin Stoff (known for projects like I Am Legend), and Oly Obst on board.
Gore Verbinski is best known for helming the first three installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, as well as the American remake of The Ring and the excellent animated movie Rango before he and Johnny Depp failed to recapture the Pirates of the Caribbean success with The Lone Ranger. The director may have been out of the spotlight for some time. However, his break was not for the lack of trying to manifest new work, as he’s had numerous projects in the works that have fallen apart. He was attached to a live-action adaptation of Bioshock for many years before the project was shelved and was also in talks to direct the Gambit movie starring Channing Tatum. One of the last projects Verbinski was said to be working on was an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s The Sandkings for Netflix, but there haven’t been any updates on the project for quite some time.
The post Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die: Gore Verbinski’s action film starring Sam Rockwell, Michael Peña and Haley Lu Richardson starts filming in South Africa appeared first on JoBlo.
PlayStation has announced that, after about three days of online yelling and reviewing bombing, it will no longer require Helldivers 2 players on PC to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account in order to continue accessing the popular sci-fi co-op shooter.
As The Phantom Menace marks 25 years since its release, we’re given the chance to reevaluate it. Is it as bad as it seemed back in 1999 or was there just too much anticipation that it couldn’t have possibly lived up to our fantasies? More importantly, what do we make of Jar Jar Binks a quarter-century on? A character mocked and loathed by the bulk of the fanbase for being terribly obnoxious and perhaps racist, Jar Jar Binks became a cultural phenomenon for all the wrong reasons. But he may have had a greater impact than we think…at least according to his portrayer.
Ahmed Best, the guy behind Jar Jar Binks, took a lot of flak for the character, saying the constant criticism “took almost a mortal toll on me. It was too much. It was the first time in my life where I couldn’t see the future. I didn’t see any hope. Here I was at 26 years old, living my dream, and my dream was over.” But today, he thinks that Jar Jar Binks was a groundbreaking character in the world of digital technology. “I’m in there. You can’t have Gollum without Jar Jar. You can’t have the Na’vi in ‘Avatar’ without Jar Jar. You can’t have Thanos or the Hulk without Jar Jar. I was the signal for the rest of this art form, and I’m proud of Jar Jar for that, and I’m proud to be a part of that. I’m in there!”
That’s an interesting point. While Jar Jar Binks was far from being the first fully computer-generated character – that’s believed to be the stained glass knight in 1985’s Young Sherlock Holmes – his more prominent presence showed just what CG could do. But maybe just for laughs we can get a Jar Jar / Thanos showdown?
Jar Jar Binks has a bit of a cult following now, showing time might just have been all that lanky Gungan needed. There has been massive support in later years for The Phantom Menace star Jake Lloyd as well, who it was revealed suffered serious mental health problems due to the severe attacks in the press and from Star Wars fans he received at the time. That said, none of our modern perspectives can change the fact that The Phantom Menace as a whole has very few strong qualities…
What do you make of Ahmed Best’s thoughts on Jar Jar Binks’s significance? Does he have a good point or is he giving him too much credit?
The post Jar Jar Binks actor: Gollum, Thanos, more don’t exist without meesa appeared first on JoBlo.
PlayStation has announced that, after about three days of online yelling and reviewing bombing, it will no longer require Helldivers 2 players on PC to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account in order to continue accessing the popular sci-fi co-op shooter.
By the time Kirsten Dunst appeared in Interview with the Vampire, she had already worked with the likes of Woody Allen and Brian De Palma. But her performance as Claudia in Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire was her true breakout, marking her as one of the most promising newcomers in Hollywood. And between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, she pretty much had any pre-teen girl’s idea of dreamboat co-stars. Thirty years on, however, Kirsten Dunst doesn’t just see the men as hunks but rather truly giving and protective souls.
Tom Cruise may have already been a superstar and Brad Pitt right on the cusp of being Brad f*ckin’ Pitt, but Kirsten Dunst remembered that they were as down to earth as any vampires could be. “I was very protected on set. I don’t think I even watched the whole movie. I sat there and my mom would cover my eyes for a lot of that film. I felt like Brad’s little sister and Tom made me feel like a princess. I mean, at Christmas time, he put this gorgeous tree in my dressing room and they just spoiled me in a really sweet way.” None of this should really be a surprise considering Cruise is known to be one of the most generous guys in Hollywood, especially with his younger co-stars.
Outside of her connection to Cruise and Pitt on Interview with the Vampire, Kirsten Dunst had an overall great experience shooting the 1994 film, noting that it’s something she’ll never get to relive. “To shoot in New Orleans and Paris and London in one production…it’s just, those times of making movies like that, they just don’t exist anymore.” Expounding on her time on the numerous sets, she said, “It was such a long process getting that role. I was like a race horse ready to go…And I wasn’t afraid to, you know, go there. When I think about that movie…We literally were vampires. We lived at night. We shot at night, always.”
Kirsten Dunst received widespread acclaim for Interview with the Vampire, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress and winning both Best Breakthrough Performance from the MTV Movie Awards and the Saturn Awards’ Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
Interview with the Vampire has since been adapted into a TV series, with the character of Claudia having been played by Bailey Bass in season one and Delainey Hayles taking over the role for the second season, which will premiere next month.
Where does Kirsten Dunst’s performance in Interview with the Vampire rank in her filmography?
The post Kirsten Dunst felt “protected” by Cruise & Pitt on Interview with the Vampire appeared first on JoBlo.
City of stars, there’s so much that I can’t see…But unfortunately for Ryan Gosling, there’s one thing he can’t unsee from La La Land: his hand. No matter how much 2016’s La La Land did for Gosling’s reputation and awards prestige, he is forever embarrassed by one frame from the near-Best Picture winner; and unfortunately, that image became the most famous from the movie, even being selected for the poster.
As Ryan Gosling recently revealed, his hand positioning in the “A Lovely Night” sequence – in which Sebastian (Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) dance at the Griffith Observatory in an enchanting single shot – has haunted him ever since the movie’s marketing campaign. “There’s a moment that haunts me where we’re dancing, Emma and I. I didn’t know this would become the poster for the movie. But I thought we were supposed to have our hands up and I thought it’d be cool to put my hand like that.” At the time of filming, he thought it all looked so classy but “now when I look at it — and I have to see it all the time — you know what would have been cooler than this?” The answer? The more elegant positioning of Emma Stone’s hand. “It just killed the energy that way. It was sort of like, all leading to what? Just like a lazy…I call it La La Hand.” Poor Ryan Gosling: all those good looks ruined by a wayward hand!
For his turn as Sebastian in La La Land, Gosling earned his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor (after Half Nelson; he’d get a supporting nod for Barbie). That helped La La Land earn a total of 14 nods, tying it with prestige All About Eve and Titanic. Unlike those films, however, La La Land did not end up taking home Best Picture, although it did get a couple minutes to celebrate before Moonlight was crowned the ultimate winner. Even still, it would be that night’s big winner with six Oscars.
While Gosling continues to be ashamed of his pose on the La La Land poster, in complete honesty, I never noticed anything strange about it. It just seemed like a still shot of a beautiful scene. Of course, now it’s almost impossible to look away!
Did you notice Ryan Gosling’s weird hand on the La La Land poster?
The post Why Ryan Gosling is haunted by the La La Land poster appeared first on JoBlo.
Star Wars has been, and still is, a massive part of this particular writer’s life. Unfortunately, I wasn’t around to catch A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back in cinemas when they were first released, but I did manage to sneak in to see those cuddly Ewoks lay waste to the Empire in Return of the Jedi back in 1983. The franchise inspired me to work in the industry, and I had the thrill of watching and re-watching the original trilogy countless times with friends and family. As we all know, the series evolved into a cultural behemoth and, unlike nowadays, where I think the amount of Star Wars content that is available to consume is actually to the detriment of the series’ quality, we only had the original movies to cling to.
Mostly…
In a galaxy not too far, far away, on May 19th, 1999, the world got to see the hugely overhyped first installment in George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. The legendary filmmaker first announced his plans to produce more Star Wars films to Variety in October 1993, and the world went Star Wars mad, with fan anticipation at a fever pitch to see the story of how exactly a nine-year-old boy would eventually become the fearsome Darth Vader. They weren’t expecting a tale of trade disputes, myth-busting midi-chlorians and…Jar Jar Binks. Has there ever been a bigger mis-calculation in terms of character development in any movie franchise than the creation of Binks, who swiftly became one of the most hated characters in movie history?
I remember going to see David Cronenbrg’s eXistenZ months prior to the release of Episode I, not just because his movies are great, but because the theatrical trailer for The Phantom Menace was playing beforehand. I wasn’t alone as, bizarrely, a number of people got up and left the theater straight after the trailer played. It looked awesome on the big screen, and to be fair, it is a great trailer. However, when I first saw The Phantom Menace on opening day (at a midnight screening naturally) the excitement and anticipation for the movie was beyond ridiculous. People had lined the streets, lightsabers in hand, after having camped out to see just exactly what Lucas had in store for eager Star Wars fans the world over. I enjoyed the movie back then, and while I completely understand the hatred towards Jar Jar, he never really bothered me that much. I figured because the movie was aimed at twelve-year-olds, it wasn’t necessarily a deal breaker when it came to my enjoyment of the first prequel.
With the movie now playing in cinemas to celebrate its 25th year anniversary (it ended up making a lot of money this weekend), I’ve had the opportunity to revisit what was, for me at least, a hugely enjoyable, if badly scripted movie, the first time around. Watching it again on the big screen for its anniversary with more mature eyes was not only strangely nostalgic, but I had a ton of fun with it. Sure, the script is terrible, and the performances from most of the cast suffer because of this, but the two-hour and eleven-minute runtime flew by. I guess I’m one of those Star Wars fans who have found a greater appreciation for the prequel series since Disney bought Lucasfilm in December 2012, and while I’ve enjoyed some of the output from the House of Mouse, the prequels at least have a clear narrative, plus a sense of wonder that’s been sorely missing lately, at least for me.
I think we all know the plot of The Phantom Menace by now: Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi attempt to protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo in the hope of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary trade dispute. Not exactly a riveting synopsis for sure, and the famous opening scroll at the very beginning of the movie does little to whet the appetite for what’s to come. But you know what? I like the movie and enjoyed it tremendously on the big screen again. Despite having that awful clunky dialogue to work with, Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor do their level best to bring their Jedi Knights to life, and you can really tell they had a blast learning the fight choreography for the movie’s standout saber duels. Natalie Portman looks stunning as Queen Amidala and apparently studied Japanese Kabuki Theatre for the mannerisms of the character. Her voice is stilted at times, but she has at least put some thought into her performance.
What works so well about the film is its standout set-pieces, namely the pod race and the climactic battles that rage across the ground, in space and, of course, in the Theed hangar and power generator based three-way lightsaber battle. George Lucas has always been a fan of high octane speed sequences, and the Ben Hur inspired Pod Race is a hugely fun, thrilling sequence that sees ‘little Ani’ beat the odds to win his freedom from the awesome junk dealer, Watto. However, where the movie really comes to life is with its main bad guy, Darth Maul; the whirling dervish may have limited screen time, but his impact is massive when he first appears from behind the hanger doors on Theed. British martial artist and stuntman Ray Park clearly loved being a part of the franchise, and the choreography in the final fight is stunning.
Of course, The Phantom Menace is one of the most hated Star Wars movies for a lot of people, and while I may be a fan of the movie, I can completely see why it’s not held in the highest regard (editor’s note – it’s performing well in our Star Wars poll this weekend). However, if you haven’t had a chance to revisit it on the big screen for its 25th-year anniversary, why not treat yourself to a flawed, if fun spectacle that, for me at least, still holds up well enough all these years later? May the force be with you…Always.
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