This fairy tale about a love story between a dying heiress and a thief who breaks into her house that spans a hundred years was confusing enough in the first trailer, but there’s a lot of talent in this film: Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, Eva Marie Saint and oh….gosh what’s the name of that charming African-American fellow they aren’t putting in any of the marketing, oh yes, WILL SMITH! Continue reading Trailer Time: Winter’s Tale Trailer #2 (2014)
Mark Zuckerberg is going to take on Superman! Jesse Eisenberg’s crazy curly hair is going bye-bye as he has signed on to play Superman’s arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, in Batman vs. Superman. We’ll get back to that in a second because he wasn’t the only Oscar nominee to join the cast today.
Taking over for Michael Caine in the role of Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s butler/confidante/doctor/shrink will be Jeremy Irons. Irons very much reminds me of the Alfred from Geoff Johns’ Batman Earth One. Someone who was a soldier and a mercenary; a field medic and a man of service. These qualities were all alluded to in Caine’s portrayal of Pennyworth, but Caine was clearly a much elderly Alfred (though much younger than HIS predecessor Michael Gough).
Let’s return though to Eisenberg as Luthor. Everyone had been chanting for Bryan Cranston, which I thought was a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, Cranston’s one of the best actors alive, but I wouldn’t have seen LEX LUTHOR on-screen, I’d have seen Walter White. Eisenberg seems a very weird choice at first, but think back to The Social Network in the deposition scenes. How arrogant and dismissive he was of everyone in the room because he knew how much smarter he was than them. There’s also a nervous energy and impatience to Eisenberg that’s very Lex as well. He doesn’t tolerate anything not moving at his speed well. I don’t know how he’ll look bald, but I’ve seen Luthor in Eisenberg before, I just never stopped to think about it until right this second.
We don’t know how many films either actor was signed on to portray their respective characters. I’d be surprised if Irons, at least, was not multiple pictures. That Lex was going to be this movie’s villain was all but a foregone conclusion, but I think we can consider that a lock now. This was director Zack Snyder’s take on the two pivotal roles to the new movie DCU he cast today:
“Lex Luthor is often considered the most notorious of Superman’s rivals, his unsavory reputation preceding him since 1940. What’s great about Lex is that he exists beyond the confines of the stereotypical nefarious villain. He’s a complicated and sophisticated character whose intellect, wealth and prominence position him as one of the few mortals able to challenge the incredible might of Superman. Having Jesse in the role allows us to explore that interesting dynamic, and also take the character in some new and unexpected directions,” explained Snyder.
“As everyone knows, Alfred is Bruce Wayne’s most trusted friend, ally and mentor, a noble guardian and father figure. He is an absolutely critical element in the intricate infrastructure that allows Bruce Wayne to transform himself into Batman. It is an honor to have such an amazingly seasoned and gifted actor as Jeremy taking on the important role of the man who mentors and guides the guarded and nearly impervious façade that encapsulates Bruce Wayne,” the director added.
Irons and Eisenberg join a cast full of fellow Oscar nominees: Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne and Ben Affleck (who has two wins) along with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Henry Cavill returning as the Man of Steel. Batman vs. Superman opens May 6, 2016.
I’ve been getting book recommendation requests, so rather than write a lot of individual book reviews (because I have a backlog of movie reviews to write that’s becoming sentient), I thought I’d take the Top 5 list this week and next and write a quick summary of the five best books I’ve read in the last year. This week we’ll do non-fiction, then graphic novels and prose fiction next week. Continue reading Top 5: Books I’ve Read in the Last Year (Non-Fiction)
As speculation heats up about Captain America 3, let’s all keep in mind that Captain America 2 is only a bit over two months away! Marvel has released three character one-sheets for Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Cap, Nick Fury and Black Widow). All the early buzz on this film is extremely positive. Be there when the second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues on April 4, 2014.
Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.
~Denis Waitely
Welcome back to the normal Killing Time weekly format after we had our Renaissance Film Awards last week. The last time we met was a celebration of the effectiveness of our concerted, community-wide effort to harass the tiny South American country of French Guiana into visiting the site, thus enabling me to fill in the last empty space in my “Conquer South America” map. You may think that this has sated my need for geographical conquest. Perhaps it did for awhile, but then I pulled up my map of all the countries that have ever visited Killing Time:
And I’m thinking….what the heck is Greenland’s problem? Look at it there. Sitting up by Canada all big, white (suspiciously white) and owned by Denmark (to do what with?). I think we need to have some quality time with Greenland. I think we may be talking quite a bit about Greenland in upcoming weeks. I can feel your enthusiasm from here. Just as an interesting note, here are the top 25 countries that visit us here. As a gesture of goodwill and appreciation, a canned ham will be sent to the leaders of each (not really, the finance department of KT has been leaving me increasingly profane voicemails).
KT’s Global Besties
Other Killing Time milestones this week: The site passed 46,000 hits, 1,900 comments and we had our busiest day in the history of the site last week, for reasons I wish I could take credit for somehow. The French Guianans seem to be staying pat with their one pity visit, but we had our first visit from Ethiopia this week, so welcome to them.
The most viewed post of the week, was the newly-released first trailer for the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Books:
Will Grayson/Will Grayson by John Green
Shift: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey
Legacy by Marjorie Lu
The Silmarillion (rereading, third time) by JRR Tolkien
Blu Ray:
Star Trek Into Darkness
TV/HULU:
Arrow Season Two
Brooklyn Ninety-Nine Season One
Helix Season One
The Blacklist Season One
The Following Season Two
Song of the Week: “Once Upon a Dream” by Lana Del Rey
Video Game:
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Pt. 1 DLC
* XBOX Live, gamertag: sleeplessdave; feel free to friend me!
Comics:
X-Men Battle of the Atom by Aaron, Bendis and Wood
Nightwing Vol. 2: Night of the Owls by Kyle Higgins
DC New 52 Villains Omnibus by Various
Killing Time 