Just when you thought the last of the streaming services had launched, Discovery has announced the launch of yet another in January 2021.
The new streaming service is called discovery+, and it will come with the largest-ever content library for a new streaming service at launch. The library will feature over 55,000 episodes from over 2,500 shows from across Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, and Animal Planet, not to mention programs from A&E, History Channel and Lifetime, as well as BBC’s Natural History collection. That’s a hell of a lot of non-fiction programing. Read More »
The Mandalorian made Star Wars history as the first live-action TV series. Now you can find out how the project came together at Lucasfilm as one of the first original programs on Disney+ thanks to The Art of The Mandalorian. The book not only features ample amounts of concept art that show off the developmental evolution of the characters, settings, weapons, aliens, and more from the first season of The Mandalorian, but it also digs into the inception of the series and behind-the-scenes details from each of the first eight episodes. Read More »
Even though we’re on the verge of a coronavirus vaccine being released, the early months of 2021 still aren’t looking great for movie theaters getting back to normal operations. Some movies originally intended for release early next year have already shifted to later in the year, such as Ghostbusters: Afterlife and the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, but studios are considering sending some releases from the first quarter of 2021 to streaming, such as the live-action/animated hybrid Tom and Jerry and the previously delayed Kingsman franchise prequel The King’s Man. Read More »
Disney cannot resist cannibalizing itself, even after it’s had a good helping. The existence of Disney+ allows the larger company to continue remaking its animated films in live-action form, or rebooting them, or re-imagining them, or re-whatever-ing them. The new Disney+ film Godmothered would fall into the “re-imagining” camp; it’s not officially a remake of Cinderella, the 1950 film that made the concept of the fairy godmother feel like an iconic Disney creation. Instead, Godmothered is merely inspired by that film. But this movie is just as inspired by fish-out-of-water high-concept family comedies like Enchanted and Elf, both of which are a) not streaming on Disney+ and b) much, much, much funnier, smarter, and more heartwarming.
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Following Elliot Page‘s announcement that he is transgender, Netflix confirmed that the actor will continue to play the role of Vanya Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy. The character, one of the lead roles in Netflix’s major superhero series hit, will reportedly remain a cisgender woman.
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(Welcome to The Movies That Made Star Wars, a series where we explore the films and television properties that inspired George Lucas’s iconic universe. In this edition:Princess Mononoke.)
George Lucas often spoke about how anime inspired his decision to create Star Wars: The Clone Wars. During a Q&A at the Siggraph convention, he said about the creation of the animation facility in Singapore that was responsible for a lot of the work on that show: “A lot of (Asia) is still trying to move into the 3D age. I set up a plan to speed up the process and to build up the community there. I also look at this as a way to get my foot into anime.”
One of the chief anime influences on The Clone Wars was Hayao Miyazaki’s landmark animated fantasy film Princess Mononoke. Roger Ebert called it one of the best films of 1999—the year it was released in the United States. The New York Post’s reviewer actually called it “the Star Wars of animated features.”
So, how did this film influence not only The Clone Wars, but serve as a pattern for the recently released thirteenth chapter of The Mandalorian? Let’s dive in.
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi is back in the news again. The divisive eighth installment in the Skywalker Saga has a few new fun facts for you, unveiled by none other than writer/director Rian Johnson, who engaged in an informal Q&A of sorts on Twitter about the 2017 Star Wars movie. Per Johnson, he nearly included an appearance from the tragic central figure of the prequels, Anakin Skywalker, but decided against it.
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(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The Movie: Eyes Wide Shut
Where You Can Stream It: Hulu
The Pitch: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are an upper-class married couple who have a fight about infidelity that never actually happened, leading Cruise’s severely cucked character to stalk out into New York City looking to reclaim his manhood. He ends up at the world’s worst/best Christmas party.
Why It’s Essential Quarantine Viewing: At this point, it’s safe to say that Eyes Wide Shut has become an alternative Christmas classic. The film opened in theaters in July, but it’s wall-to-wall Christmas paraphernalia mixed with existential dread give off serious holiday season vibes.
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Over the summer, new LEGO Art sets were revealed that allow fans to build pop culture portraits of characters like Iron Man and Darth Vader. Now the next wave of LEGO Art building sets has been revealed, and it’s inspired by the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Coming in January, there will be Harry Potter LEGO Art sets that will let fans build tile mosaics of all for of the houses in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin can all be built from a single Harry Potter LEGO Art set. However, if you buy four of them, you’ll be able to make one mega LEGO Art set of the entire Hogwarts school crest. Read More »
Cool Posts From Around the Web:
The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.
In this edition, watch a supercut of movie moments that probably scared the hell out of you as a kid, including clips from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Dark Crystal, and more. Plus, take a close look at the model miniatures used to make Moon, and watch the first full episode of Syfy’s new comedy series The Movie Show. Read More »
