Resident Evil Movie Reboot

By: Justin Hopkins 

 In 2002, Paul W.S Anderson, would kick start what would become a six movie saga of Resident Evil. Choosing to focus on new character,  just for the movie universe, Alice, played by Milla Jovovich. First movie acting as a prequel to the wildly acclaimed video game. Bringing in 103 million dollars off a meager budget of 33 million, with mixed reviews. More then enough positive results though to warrant a sequel. Fast forward 15 years later, and five more sequels later.  The series came to a close in January 2017. Despite seeing reviews fall by each passing movie.  They managed to bring in over a billion dollars world wide.  Less then a week after The Final Chapter came out to DVD, they announced a reboot was in the works, and I’m not only excited for it,  but strongly hope it comes out as soon as it can. Since there is plenty of reasons to keep the movies coming,  and plenty of direction to go into. 

 It’s not like these movies will come out tomorrow or next month.  Still going to be little over a year or two even. Resident Evil 7 is still fresh in people’s minds.  The movies,  as bad as some looked at them as, is a billion dollar series.  People still want this world to stay, and would be easy to keep the hype going by casting stories and rumors.

 I did enjoy the movies quite alot actually, and Milla was really entertaining, but the one thing the reboot can rectify, is giving the characters we all wanted to see come to life on the silver screen,  a better going this time around. From Leon and Chris Redfield, to Ada Wong, Jill and Claire ( Simon Roberts was an awesome Albert Wesker) Even great villain and side characters. They got a wealth of great stuff just waiting to be used. That could make a great movie. 

 Resident Evil 7 showed that there is still a market for the beloved series. Every remastered game, lighting that fire right back. Making us nostalgic for when we were introduced to the massive, thriving world. The reboot was almost a foregone conclusion. Why hold off and wait, when the market is here now.

Friday the 13th The Game review

By:Justin Hopkins

 Yesterday was the big day.  The day I have been looking forward to since the day they announced it.  The reason I upgraded from PlayStation 3 to 4. Most excitement I have ever had over a video game in my entire life. The official launch date of Friday the 13th The Game. Woohoo!

 Starting off, this game had to go through quite a bit to simply be made.  Like taking to kickstarter to get funded.  Able to land heavyweights from the movies,  such as Kane Hodder to come and do motion capture for Jason Voorhees,  as well as Thom Matthews to reprise his role as Tommy Jarvis.

As of right now.  It’s multiplayer online only,  with the single player story being a free download in a couple months. One person taking the reigns as Jason.  Given twenty minute time limit to kill as many of your party as you can. Depending on which movie version you are.  There are various tweks to what you can or cannot do. Once you have a grip on the controls, it’s go time.  As this game gives you so many different ways to slaughter the counselors. From bludgeoning to choking or punching their heads, fist through the chest, or breaking their spines. Use the environment around you,  to crush heads in doors, drowned, hang them on a coat rack,  or as I found out when my character got stuck in a bear trap, neutered. When you are Jason Voorhees, it is simply the best part of the game.  As you try to recreate your favorite death scenes or wipe them out as quick as you can.

 Unless you changed you preference though. Odds of being Jason at this interval is slim. More often then not.  Find yourself tasked by having to survive the onslaught. Much like,  Jason, each counselor is different from the next. Depending on who you get. May change how you want to go. Once you’ve armed yourself.  Going to have a few options to decide.  You can win by escape, via repair the car or boat. Which is difficult, since while you are doing this.  You are pretty much defenseless. You can call the police,  but you’ll still have to meet them at the front of the camp, and since they now know where you’re going.  Jason may just be waiting. All of which is still easier then your final two options.

 Calling in for Tommy Jarvis is always something you want to try to gun for. As one of your fallen team members will now return as the gun welding hero. Wish I could say more,  but I just don’t know what all he is capable of during my time as playing the game.  Which leads me to my biggest grief about the game.

 This may well be my inexperience talking,  but the online multiplayer just doesn’t allow me to get as involved into a game as much as I would like to.  Odds are slim that one gets to play as Jason, unless you change your preference,  but with the serves overwhelmed by so many playing at once.  Can end up waiting longer to play. Now,  the plus side is that a single player is right around the corner,  and this was their way of getting the rest of the money they would need for it, but it is a downer at times not having it.

 None of this should stop you from buying this game. Especially if you love the Friday the 13th series.  Often found myself taken back,  as I would stumble onto parts of the camp grounds, that took me right back to my favorite moments, and for those who love online gaming and are looking for a challenge. Spawn as a counselor,  bat up,  and try to survive, or even more difficult then that; try to kill the monster known;  as Jason Voorhees.

She is Back! Roseanne coming

By Paul Anthony

 

There is a new trend that’s been happening regardless if you like it or not, honestly, I don’t know how I feel about it myself. This trend is reviving past shows and giving them updated stories. It was recently announced that one of my favorite shows would be coming back and this one that I am not sure about. In today’s blog, I am going to explain why this is, since after all this was the show I grew up honestly and loved more than any other show.

First let’s talk about where the Connor family have been and what have they been doing. When we last saw them, they just won 108 million dollars and was touring the world and going on crazy adventures, Darlene’s baby nearly died and Dan put his mother in a hospital in California, which then he begun to have affair with her nurse. Then we learn Becky to will be a mom. However, during the two-part series finale it was revealed the events of season 9 never happen and that Dan died from his heart attack in season 8 and the whole series was told from Roseanne view from a book she was writing about her life and how David and Darlene wasn’t together, Mark was with Darlene and David was with Becky. Jackie was the one who was gay and not her mom.

Confusing, right? I know however the early rumor is that the new season will ignore events at the end, so I am guessing what we saw from season 1 to 8 is what we will keep in canon for season 10. I could be wrong but this would make the most sense since those are the seasons that we loved the most. Those seasons are the ones I love the most because the show was one of a few that were truly a blue collar, they went through struggles that the common family went through. Will they do this in season 10? Keep the family as blue collar? Dan last job was building the prison which seemed to be a good source if income.

I now have to ask myself can this show survive in today’s time sure it did well in the 90’s but times have change and there more comedies out there that are big time draws. The recent trend hasn’t been pretty. Look at Girl Meets World canceled after one season and Fuller House had a lot of hype and now its fading after two seasons and rumor is That’s so Raven coming back also but I doubt that will survive since it’s Disney show.

I would love for the show to do well and carry on the legacy however I don’t think this will last long and if it doesn’t then it may taint the legacy that the 9 seasons before left. The new season starts in 2018 and I am sure we will have updates as time goes on.

King Arthur the first big flop

By Paul Anthony

Every year there are movie flops, which is when a movie fails to make a large profit or even gross enough to cover the budget. Having a movie flop is nothing new, but I must wonder do studios ever do research before they jump on an idea that has been used before? It’s no secret Hollywood uses recycled ideas either calling it a reboot or giving it whole new fresh start. Recently A movie was released titled King Arthur, as we all know the story of King Arthur, so with this wasn’t a new idea but Hollywood didn’t care they decided to make another movie.

Back in 2004 A King Arthur film was released now it’s budget was 120 million and it grossed 203 million. This would be on the borderline of a flop since it did make back its budget and a small profit however when a film has high budget over the 100 million mark the goal to make closer to 400 to 500 million. I’m telling you this so you can keep this in mind as we discuss the 2017 King Arthur film which has a much bigger budget. Judging by the numbers it’s clear Hollywood didn’t do their research.

The 2017 King Arthur film has a budget of 175 million not counting Marketing cost which something we don’t factor into the budget. Now a 175-million-dollar budget is no joke, don’t get me wrong there are tons of films that have a higher budget but still it’s a pretty high budget. Many insiders believed that Warner Brothers spent too much money and there no need to for that high of a budget. 60 to 80 million might have been a better budget even so it would still have been a flop. The reviews didn’t help giving it a 28 percent rating and many gave it under 5 stars out of 10. One critic said its modern-day action that took away from the classic story of King Arthur.

Currently the film has made around 95 million dollars worldwide and film has been out for weeks but as we get deeper in the summer more blockbuster films are being released which will hurt King Arthur from making any more money. During it’s opening weekend it only grossed 15 million which was on track with the 2004 film and has grossed 28 million so far in two weeks at the domestic box office and the foreign box office has grossed around 77 million. Even more it had a 52 percent drop from week one to week two at the box office. There a good chance because of this big drop that the film may just barely make it over the 100-million-dollar mark.

Some properties Hollywood thinks are profitable and for the most part they are right but the film has to be done right in order for the film to do good or even great. Studios should take notes when there are previous films of the property, so they can get it right but sadly in this case this case they did not.

Alien: Covenant Review

By: Justin Hopkins

Alien: Covenant hit theaters yesterday, and is performing extremely well in the box office.  The prequel to the originals and sequels to Prometheus.  Taking us further into the story of how the Xenomorphs came to be.  Despite the fact it had to clean up the mess that Prometheus made.  Still had high hopes for Covenant.  In some ways it delivered and other ways; came up short.

The movie starts off with a conversation between Weyland and synthetic robot David. A conversation talking about creations and creators, that plays out later, but largely not needed.  Then it jumps forward to the space ship named covenant. On a journey to a new world.  Fifteen crew, 2000 colonists,  and embryos. All in hyper sleep, except for synthetic bot Walter. When they were hit by a massive flare.  Killing their Captain. Setting up for why the new Captain decided on the change on plans and followed a transmission to a new world instead.  Where two would immediately getting infected and release two early forms of the alien. Getting saved by David. Where he had been creating new species,  and had been waiting for test subjects.

Alien has always been a movie that slowly built the suspense. Growing the tension till the climax, but this movie really pushed it at times. Even after being rescued by David. Can see where the movie is going and just want to get there already.  Kind of ruins it by the time it does pick up, and there is excellent parts to come.

Alien has always been about strong female protagonists. From Sigourney Weaver to Noomi Rapace and now Katherine Waterson. Who did a great job at playing the role of Daniels. From feeling her sorrow at the very beginning at her watching her Husband burn to death, and watching her grow to be a strong captain and fight two Xenomorphs. Her performance made the twist all that much more meaningful.

Then came the part I was waiting for. Sure it was fun seeing the early breeds of Alien, but nothing trumps finally seeing the original Xenomorph we all love and terrifies us, in all its glory.  Making it worth while sitting through.

Alien Covenant was a good movie.  Far better then Prometheus was.  Backed by strong performances from Katherine Waterson, Michael Fassbender, and Danny McBride. If your a big fan of the Alien series or horror junkie. Would suggest going to see it in theaters. Otherwise,  make sure to collect it on DVD because it is worth seeing it at least once.

Rise and Fall of Abby Lee Miller

By Paul Anthony

It’s not hard in this world to make a mistake these days, we see stories all the time, people rising to fame and then making mistakes and risking everything which in the end cost them to fall. Recently a Pittsburgh native, who rose to fame is now going to jail for a year and a day. That person would be no other than Abby lee Miller.

I must admit I didn’t know much about her, if it wasn’t for my best friend I would have never even started to watch the show that Miller was involved in, which was Dance Moms. The show was like any other reality show with plenty of drama, which in return made the show become a hit and put dancing back in the spot light and made stars out of everyone, even the dancers most who have started other careers in music and acting. When the show is a hit, the ratings are up and that means people paychecks go up. Now one of those paychecks would be Abby lee Miller herself.

Let’s start from the beginning if you don’t know much about her. Abby lee Miller born in Pittsburgh Pa. She was raised in Penn Hills, a suburb just outside of the city. From that point, she became a dance instructor and in 1986 she became a member of Dance Masters of Pennsylvania and was even certified by Dance Masters of America. She followed in her mother path at the Maryen Lorrain Dance Studio in 1995 and renamed Reign Dance Productions which would be named later the Abby Lee Dance company. By 2011 she had her own show Titled Dance Moms which became a hit and from that point she opened a second studio in Los Angles which most of the filming of the show now takes place. However, after season 7 aired some behind the scene drama made her leave the show and she is going to prison.

Abby lee has faced a lawsuit from a former dance mom and now she lied about her income and creating a bank and there is she put certain earnings and not informing the IRS of the income. So, in the end she finally got in trouble. Now Let’s not get carried away she may be sentenced to over a year but most likely she will get an early release in roughly 9 months.

When she gets released we must wonder what she will do next. Now she can return to being a dance instructor at both her studios which when she posted about leaving the show, she did state that she would continue to teach dancers just not do the show, but with her going away it makes me wonder if parents would still send their children to her studios. If parents remain loyal to her I am sure she will be all right when she comes out and return to her roots in teaching students. However, I do think she will return to television, her drama too good not to get another TV deal.

 

Hellboy getting rebooted

By: Justin Hopkins

It was announced last week,  that Hellboy would be making its long awaited return to theaters… without the big players Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman. This is tough bit of news even for me.  Since I think the first two Hellboy movies are seriously overlooked,  and way underrated.  Perlman’s potential protrail being one of the best of the superhero kind. Had high hopes for a third for so long, and with them dashed, kind of want to eat my words on accepting reboots.  Nevertheless, I admit,  there are some perks to rebooting Hellboy.  Let’s get started with the easiest shall we.

Almost overstated, but Deadpool changed the superhero movie.  Backed by the success of Logan, could almost bet they got allot of studios thumbing through their properties. Searching for more adult oriented comics (Sony returning to Venom) Only a matter of time,  before Hellboy was going to resurface, as it should. There is a great wealth of characters and stories.  Centering around the dark and depraved,  with dark sense of humor. An R Rating will carry it far, and is the right direction.

Guillermo del Toro does seem to want to do a third movie, but when would he have time.  He has a laundry list of movies,  and its been nine years since Hellboy 2. Sequels are challenging after this much time has past, and unless he’d be willing to make it top priority. Who knows how long we’ll be kept waiting.

A major aspect working in the favor of the reboot,  is Mike Mignola is behind it. The creator of Hellboy is helping pen the script.  Making sure it stays true to form. The reason we love Hellboy and having this conversation in the first place,  is because of his hard work. Reason enough to get behind the reboot.

I’m going to close,  not with another pro or con, but with something I hope at least one person can take away from this.  David Harbour is not Ron Perlman. Perlman made a tremendous Hellboy,  and will be missed. Don’t expect David to come in and be a Ron Perlman Hellboy. Instead let’s see what David Harbour’s interpretation on Hellboy can be,  and let’s see how this plays out,  before we judge it.