Incredibles 2 Review, Movie Remakes – in the Works/Better than Original, Movie News, Movie Trivia Answers, and Ninjabread Cookies

The Incredibles 2 Review

This sequel picks up not long after the first one ended. Supers are outlawed and The Incredibles aren’t to use their powers. But a wealthy man and his sister entice them to let Elastic Girl try to change the public’s perspective.
The story was a bit slow in the first half. By the second half, it really picked up and went all out. Jack-Jack has some of the funniest scenes.
Animation is amazing of course, especially in 3D.
It was a fun film but not as good as the first one. You’ll guess the twist and ending really early in the film. Plus the trope of leaving dad at home alone to bumble his way through with the kids is a tired one.
Lucious (Frozone) gets a bigger role and they introduce a lot of other Supers. Since they are all forced into hiding though, it does have an X-Men feel about it.
The voice talent all returns – Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson. Plus Winston the wealthy man is voiced by Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul).
It’s a fun way to kill two hours although not the most memorable. Most of the fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes echo that thought. Recommended.

Movie News

JoBlo had several articles regarding Aquaman, including this one:
At long last Entertainment Weekly has given us our first look at the deep sea pirate and mercenary David Kane, a.k.a. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II)
The movie is getting a lot of buzz and great response from early viewers, so I’m really stoked. Aquaman is my favorite super hero and it’s good to know they are doing it right.

This article on JoBlo amused me - Top 10 Types of Movie Fans That Need To Chill The F*ck Out (Sorry, their words, not mine.)
Movie fans can be some of the most accepting and interesting people you will ever meet. A true movie fan can talk intelligently for hours about any type of movie. But, there is a darker side to fandom. There are fans out there who are so full of vitriol and hate that they ruin it for everyone else.
The groups included DC Fans Who Hate Marvel and Marvel Fans Who Hate DC, Franchise Haters (Who Have Never Seen The Films They Hate), and Extreme Conservatives AND Liberals. (Nice to see some fair play on that last one.)

Michael Dougherty's Godzilla: King of Monsters is set to come out next May. Staring Vera Farmiga Millie Bobby Brown Kyle Chandler, and Ken Watanabe, it features not only Godzilla, but Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah as well. Remake of Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster? We’ll find out!

Sony and Entertainment One are now backing The Chronicles Of Narnia series, taking over from 20th Century Fox. Mark Gordon is producing, along with Douglas Gresham (C S Lewis’ stepson), Vincent Sieber and Melvin Adams. David Magee will pen the script for The Silver Chair, which will reboot the franchise with a whole new cast.
Good! Not cool to leave this series unfinished. It deserves the same royal treatment as Lord of the Rings.

Movie Remakes in the Works

Yes, more movie remakes! Your favorite film from the past is about to become history. Here are some you might not know were coming soon.

Aladdin – Releasing May 2019, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Will Smith (as Genie), and Marwan Kenzari.

Big Trouble in Little China – starring Dwayne Johnson, no release date set.

The Blob – Coming January 2019 and directed by Simon West (Con Air, Expendables II), it will star Samuel L. Jackson and Halle Berry.

Dune – Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049), this will likely become two films instead of one.

Hellboy – Releasing January 2019 with Neil Marshall (The Descent) directing. David Harbour (Stranger Things) is Hellboy and he’s joined by Ian McShane and Milla Jovovich.

The Lion King – Release date July 2019 and directed by Jon Favreau. This live action piece will star Donald Glover, Seth Rogan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa.
Teaser trailer here.

Pet Cemetery – Releasing April 2019, directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmeyer. It will star Amy Seimetz, Jason Clarke, and John Lithgow.

Shaft – Written by Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow, the release date is June 2019. Directed by Tim Story (The Fantastic Four), it stars Samuel L. Jackson as Shaft.

Movie Remakes That Work

Most remakes result in a crappy, cash-grab film. They are easy money since the script is already written and already needs minor adjustments. Or maybe a studio just wants a reboot. (Spiderman, anyone?) Or they just want to swap things around. The results are mediocre at best.

Sometimes though, we get a gem. A film equal to or even better than the original. I’m going to list a few I think of as good or even better than the original.

The Fly – The original featured Vincent Price and came out in 1958. As with most films of that time, it became dated quickly. The remake starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis was brilliantly directed by David Cronenberg. Not only are the special effects better, but the film takes on a far deeper meaning.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Original came out in 1956 and had a lot of political overtones. The first remake in 1978 starred Donald Sutherland and really drove home the fear of an invasion we couldn’t fight. It also featured a bleaker ending. (Another version, Body Snatchers, came out in 1994. While not memorable, it reimagined the setting and placed it on a military base.)

The Thing – The original came out in 1951 and deviated from the source material, a book by John W. Campbell, Who Goes There? The remake in 1982 by John Carpenter followed the story closer and is a masterpiece of horror and suspense. Not to mention the amazing creature effects, done before the days of CGI..

Movie Trivia Answers

Movies featuring artificial intelligence answers:

1 – 1982, Jeff Bridges – Tron
2 – 2014, Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
3 – 1982, Harrison Ford – Blade Runner
4 – 2002, Milla Jovovich – Resident Evil
5 – 1927, Brigitte Helm – Metropolis
6 – 1986, Ally Sheedy – Short Circuit
7 – 2016, Felicity Jones – Rogue One
8 – 1983, Matthew Broderick – War Games
9 – 1996, Patrick Stewart – Star Trek: First Contact
10 – 1986, Sigourney Weaver – Aliens

Ninjabread!

When looking for something in the pantry, we discovered a kit for making Christmas Ninjabread Cookies that we’d forgotten. So we went ahead and made them. Merry Christmas in June!

Here they come to snuff the rooster... (Name that tune!)

Did you catch The Incredibles 2? Ready for Aquaman, Godzilla, and Narnia? Any of those remakes make you cringe or are there some in need of a remake? What remakes can you think of that were equal to or better than the original? Want a Ninjabread cookie? And how many trivia answers did you get right?

New Rogue One Trailer, Self-Help by L.G. Keltner, Rio Olympics, CassaStar Audio Book Winners, and News

Movie News

New Rogue One Trailer!

JoBlo posted this picture of Aquaman wielding a guitar on set for Justice League. Aquaman just got even cooler in my eyes!

Last week, Blastr confirmed – there will be a fourth Chronicles of Narnia film. Producers are in place and someone is working on the script of The Silver Chair. The first three films made $1.6 billion, so it’s about time they worked on finishing the series.

Self-Help by L.G. Keltner

Thanks for letting me stop by your blog, Alex! It’s great to be here!

Writing the Self-Help 101 series has been an enjoyable experience. The first novella Self-Help 101 or: How I Learned to Take Over the World Through Tolerating My Family takes place during Christmas. This latest novella Self-Help 101 or: How to Survive a Bombardment With Minimal Injury focuses on the 4th of July. The third novella is coming out late next month. The last one is in the planning stages, and I hope to have it out before the end of the year.

After writing these books, I thought it would be fun to share with you some books you can rest assured I will never sit down to write.

Self-Help 101 or: How to Do Your Taxes at the Last Minute (I’d be so out of my depth and bored trying to write such a thing I fear it would kill my love for writing.)

Self-Help 101 or: How to Say the Right Thing in Any Social Situation (I am such a socially awkward person that any advice I attempted to offer would be disastrous.)

Self-Help 101 or: How to Quit Drinking Caffeine With Minimal Human Suffering (I could not write such a book, nor could the main character Dani from this series. We’re both too dependent.)

Self-Help 101 or: How to Remain Calm When Someone Tells You Science Fiction is Stupid (I’ve had people tell me this before, and no, I wasn’t able to remain calm.)

What self-help book could you never write?

Find L.G. at her blog
Find Self-Help 101 or: How to Survive a Bombardment With Minimal Injury at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, CreateSpace and Goodreads

Rio Olympics

We’ve been enjoying the Olympics this past week. Watching athletes who are the best of the best stretch to do even better is inspiring. I do the row machine at the gym, so watching the women race and the pace they set was just amazing. Track and field is in full swing now, with another week of awesome events. Some of the highlights for me this past week:

Michael Phelps has now won twenty-eight medals, twenty-three of them Gold. That is just mind-blowing. We'll never see another athlete like that in our time.

Swimmer Katie Ledecky – they say she is the greatest swimmer right now. The woman beat her own world record for the Gold in the women’s 800m freestyle, coming in ahead of the Silver medalist by twelve seconds. Twelve! Just think how great she’ll be in four years.

Our women’s gymnastic team obliterating the competition for the Gold. (They said their team score was the equivalent of a dozen touchdowns ahead.) Then Simone and Aly securing Gold and Silver in the individual all-around was icing on the cake. I still swear those girls have springs in their feet.

Women’s beach volleyball. Need I say more? (But I will, because it’s impressive that Kerri Walsh Jennings just might win her fourth Gold medal.)

Swimmer Simone Manuel winning a Gold and breaking the World Record, a historic moment. There are just so few African-American swimmers.

Our men’s team is struggling a bit, but our women’s basketball team is killing it and should sweep for the Gold. They also scored over a hundred points in their first three games, the first time any basketball team has done that at the Olympics.

Ninja News 

Pat Hatt had no book release last week. The writing community was shocked and Amazon’s stocks dropped. The Cat could not be reached for comment.
However – Pat has been doing a series poking fun and featuring his blogger buddies. And he got me last week, right down to my own blog post format. Visit Pat Hatt and prepare to be amused!

New Release-
Cruising for Murder by Elizabeth S. Craig
Find it on Amazon, iTunes, and Kobo

And the winners of a CassaStar audio book are…

Jess Haight @DMS Files

and

Bish Denham

Congratulations!

Excited for Rogue One? What about another Narnia movie? What self-help book couldn’t you write? And what highlights of the Olympic games have you enjoyed?