Movies

One of the side effects of CGI is our inability to appreciate the effort that goes into a good movie scene. A few decades ago, you could look at a shot from a movie and instinctively know how much time and energy went into it. You could see the production design, the costumes, the makeup, the lighting, all of which required people to make real things with their hands and put them in front of the camera. These days, we just chalk everything up to computers without thinking much about what that means.

Now that March is officially part of the summer movie season, the deluge of blockbuster marketing has started earlier than ever. We used to be able to wait until the summer to comb through a batch of brand new television spots for new footage from upcoming releases; instead, with Ghost in the Shell landing at the end of this month, we’re being treated to the same escalating series of theatrical trailers and short television spots. No wonder the climate seems to be changing so rapidly: if Mother Nature gets her news from basic cable, she’d be forgiven for thinking it’s almost Fourth of July weekend.

While much has been made of Hugh Jackman’s last turn as Wolverine, as those who have seen the film can attest, many of Logan’s most haunting moments belong to Patrick Stewart’s elderly Charles Xavier. For nearly two decades, Stewart’s character has been synonymous with both control and wisdom, making his weakened state hard to watch. We’re used to watching our superheroes fight off every enemy, but seeing them eaten away from within? That’s a powerful reflection of our own mortality.

Isn’t it just like Ryan Reynolds to upstage a colleague? After listening to critics sing the praises of Logan for the past few weeks, fans around the country took their seats on Friday night ready to watch Hugh Jackman strap on his metal claws one last time. And so it came as quite a surprise when the first superhero to appear onscreen wasn’t Wolverine but Deadpool, everyone’s favorite violent and profane superhero — and, if we’re being honest with each other, the entire reason an R-rated Wolverine movie was greenlit by 20th Century Fox.

Hey girl, how would you like to watch a movie about someone going crazy underwater? Fresh off the success of La La Land, the internet’s boyfriend  —  or the internet’s ex-boyfriend, I really struggle to stay on top of these things — has turned to comic books for his next project. According to IDW Entertainment (via iO9), Ryan Gosling will produce a film adaptation of The Underwater Welder, a 2012 graphic novel by renowned comic book author Jeff Lemire.

The new, non-MCU Spider-Man movie will be animated and will not focus on Peter Parker at all — rather, it’s Miles Morales’ turn in the spotlight, and the Internet has been buzzing about this since it was announced. There was a hashtag a while back that campaigned for Donald Glover to audition to voice Miles, and while he seems to have his hands full with a couple other franchises, we might know of another star lending his voice to a character. According to a new rumor, Ice Cube might voice Miles’ father.

Logan is the end of an era for two actors’ portrayal of two beloved characters: We’ve known for a while that Hugh Jackman was bowing out after this movie, and last week Patrick Stewart also announced that he was done playing Charles Xavier after the send-off he gets in the final Wolverine movie. These decisions obviously aren’t reckless larks made after one too many drinks, but maaaybe Stewart is thinking he spoke too soon.

The internet’s movie rumormongers did get a few things right about Logan, Hugh Jackman’s third and supposedly final solo Wolverine movie. They did correctly predict that Logan’ female clone, X-23, would co-star in the film. They also anticipated that the movie would be loosely based on a Marvel Comics storyline called “Old Man Logan.” Of course, after that rumor was initially posted, it was also publicly debunked by one site. You win some, you lose some.

It boggles my mind that it’s been almost 17 years since the very first X-Men opened in theaters. Where did that time go? There was one X-Men movie, I blinked, and then there were 10. It’s like some crazy time paradox; maybe when I wasn’t paying attention Hugh Jackman went back in time and stopped Jennifer Lawrence from killing Peter Dinklage.

Q: Given the premise of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the studio's intent to launch Justice League from it, was the movie doomed from the start? — @CrookedKnight A: That movie has Some Problems, friends.