New Mutants Movie Coming!

Before Generation X, or the New X-men, or the All New X-men, there was the original team of kickass teenage mutants. Called simply "The New Mutants," this team was the first group of second generation X-men, and they blazed a trail through the 80s that ultimately ended in them becoming the first X-force. Now, Variety is reporting that Fox has decided to launch the New Mutants to the big screen, with Josh Boone at the helm. Haven't heard of Boone? The biggest film he's known for is teen drama The Fault in Our Stars...which is actually a pretty good pedigree for something like the New Mutants, who were always known for their teenage drama.

We'll give you more news as we know more.

Hollywood's Wave of Nostalgia: Pooh, Mulan...and Play Doh?

Hollywood has gone back to the toy store for it's latest project. We've already got "G.I. Joe," "Ouija," "Clue," and "Battleship." We've got movies based on Saturday morning cartoons ("Josie and the Pussycats," and the upcoming "Jem and the Holograms").

Now we may get another toy-based movie. Deadline is reporting that 20th century Fox studios is in talks with Hasbro to obtain the rights for a live-action Play Doh movie. Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids," "Heat," the new "Ghostbusters") wants to direct, with Jason Micallef writing. Hasbro will produce with Chernin Entertainment and Feig's production company, Feigco.

Capitalizing on the nostalgia wave, movies based on toys and old TV cartoons have been doing fairly well at the box-office - with the exception of "Battleship." But will this Play-Doh movie be able to continue the trend? I don't know about anyone else, but my best and favorite Play-Doh memory is the "Mr. Bill" segments from old SNL episodes. We'll see how this shapes up.

Speaking of live-action movies, Disney has yet another one in the planning stages. This time, it's Winnie-the-Pooh. Christopher Robin is all grown up, and he's going back to the woods. Disney has brought in indie film maker Alex Ross Perry to write the screenplay. Pooh joins "The Jungle Book," "Pete's Dragon," "Dumbo," and "Mulan" for planned live-action movies based on classic characters. Personally, I hope they use Kenny Loggin's song "Return to Pooh Corner" for the theme. Side note: Ming Na Wen's twitter was blown up by fans who want her to be a major character in the live-action "Mulan." Her response was basically (and enthusiastically), "I would love to have a role in it, let's tell Disney!"

Wow, so many tweets to @Disney announcement for a live-action #Mulan. Thank U4 wanting me 2B in the film! Tweet @DisneyPictures about it! xo
— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) March 30, 2015

Is Hollywood running out of original ideas? Or are they taking a financial risk by riding the wave of nostalgia all the way to the money beach? Tell us what you think in the comments!

*Reported by MalKontent Blizzard

Reynolds Gloriously Reveals Glorious Deadpool Movie Costume

After that little sneak peak at Deadpool in the latest X-Men movie, some fans weren't that happy with how the character was presented. Most fans seemed to agree that casting Ryan Reynolds was genius - or a very good casting choice, at least, in spite of the fact that Deadpool as portrayed was devoid of all the things that made him what he was - no disease, no costume - and worst of all, no mouth. But the attitude was there, and sometimes that's all it takes to make some people (okay - maybe just me) happy.

Reynolds was just okay in Green Lantern, but Deadpool is a much better character for him to showcase that smart-ass, out-of-bubblegum-kick-ass, "don't bother giving me your name, I don't care if your mama knows" kind of persona. And if the little peeks he's been teasing us with are any indication, he'll be doing it with his usual panache and aplomb! Especially the glorious reveal he gave us today, of the full official costume from the Deadpool film.

Spoiler alert: It's perfect.

"Ready Player One" Gets Absolutely Perfect Director

If you haven't read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, you're missing one of the greatest stories told in the last decade. Seriously, go read it right now, we'll wait.

Still waiting.

God, how long does it take you to read a book?

Anyway, Cline's fantastic semi-dystopian vision of the future has been optioned into a feature film since pretty much the moment it was published. And while names like Edgar Wright have been bandied about before, Deadline has finally confirmed the choice of director, and it's a doozy.

Morena Baccarin to Play Copycat in Deadpool movie

So much ink is spilled over whether one actress makes a female character strong, or whether one role makes a feminist icon, so let's take a larger look, shall we? Fair warning ths is written by a man.

Morena Baccarin first came on my radar as Inara on Firefly. A "companion," something like historical geisha, a woman who is equally comfortable coaching a client in how to improve their life under a stifling parent as she is with them in bed.

After the movie Serenity I lost track of her until Gotham when she stepped into the role of Leslie Thompkins, a take no prisoners physician who very quietly shatters the preconceptions of a woman's place in any workplace putting herself out front of a murder investigation that stymies the big guns of GCPD homicide.

And now we get to see her as Copycat. For those unfamiliar with Vanessa here's a brief rundown.  This is the woman who made her first appearance shooting Deadpool in the back, backed Cable down while tied to a chair and is generally one of the biggest badasses in the 616. This arc of Ms. Baccarin's career is gearing up to give all geeks another positive female role model.

I Really Wanted To Like Kingsmen...

I truly wanted to like Kingsmen. Adapted from a comic by writer Mark Millar (Kickass, Civil War) and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kickass, X-Men: First Class) it looked like the comic book action flick I've been dying for this winter. True, the movie had gadgets, eccentric villains, an unlikely hero and a secret society... but when it all came together not only did it fall flat, it made me feel gross for watching it.

Why do all the "best" assassins have a thigh gap these days...

For the Love of God, Don't Go See 50 Shades of Grey.

[Trigger warnings for: rape, sexual assault, abuse and kink shaming]

[Please note: the author has not seen Fifty Shades of Grey or read the books. The author is an active member in the BDSM community and any quotes or comments on what the book has done is based off of an article which has been posted near the end.]

So, lets talk about consent. It's the most important part in relationships (casual or not).  Without consent, flirting is harassment. Without consent, touching or grabbing your partner is sexual assault. Without consent, trying to do anything sexual with a friend, partner, one night stand, etc. is rape. Now lets talk about kinks. Most people have a kink or two, ranging from hair pulling, spanking, biting and scratching to breath play, whips or floggers, bondage, rope and so many more. Just like how having consent with someone before you kiss, touch or have sex with someone, it's mandatory to have someones consent before you do anything kinky with anyone. With this being said, we're gonna have a much longer talk about Fifty Shades of Grey.

If you're unfamiliar with the book and movie series, it follows the story of Anastasia "Ana" Steele, a 21 year old college senior. While she and her best friend, Kate Kavanagh, are writing for their student newspaper, Kate asks Ana to cover for her for a meeting with the 27 year old massively successful and wealthy Christian Grey. The two eventually enter a Dominant/submissive (D/s for short) relationship. This is where the book gets bad. Really, really, really bad. This is largely due to the lack of consent on Christian's part, the abusive bullshit that he puts Ana through, the kink shaming that surrounds the book and how he seems to only care about himself and his climax.

Like I said when I started off this article, consent is mandatory. Adding BDSM onto the table of possibilities further cements the importance of it. BDSM can be dangerous if done incorrectly (ever had your circulation cut off by someone who doesn't know how to use rope correctly or who locks you too tightly with handcuffs?) and it requires talking things through beforehand to know what both of you are into, what you're okay with doing and what is totally off limits. Christian, however, doesn't seem to care too much about these things. For example, lets talk about one scene in which he doesn't just ignore Ana's consent, but completely disregards her saying, clear as day, "no."

Before I start, here's some context: Ana and Christian are at a dinner with Christian's family. Earlier in this chapter, Christian stole Ana's panties and teased her ("I bet you wish you had underwear") more then once due to the fact that she was wearing a dress. Even if he did have her consent, Christian decided to do this and what I'm about to quote below during dinner with his family.

"He places his hand on my knee – his fingers traveling up my thigh. My whole body tightens in response. No… not here, not now. I flush and shift, trying to pull away from him. His hands clamp down on my thigh, stilling me. I reach for my wine in desperation."

It gets worse.

"Christian, feigning interest in their conversation, puts his hand once more on my knee, and his fingers travel up my thigh. My breathing hitches and I press my thighs together in a bid to halt his progress. I can see him smirk"

I can't think of any reason why this would be hot. This is a man who is attempting to sexually assault his partner in front of his family after having seriously humiliated her by taking her underwear from her and who continues to be amused at her lack of consent.

A little later, as Christian is showing Ana around his parents house, this happens.


“My heels. I need to take my shoes off.”

“Don’t bother,” he says, and he bends down and scoops me over his shoulder. I squeal loudly with shocked surprise, and he gives me a ringing slap on my behind.

“Keep your voice down,” he growls.

Oh no… this is not good. My subconscious is quaking at the knees. He’s mad about something – could be José, Georgia, no panties, biting my lip. Jeez he’s easy to rile."

This also gets worse.

I hang on his hips as I’m tipped upside down, and he strides purposefully in the moonlight across the lawn.
Why?” I sound breathless, bouncing on his shoulder.
“I need to be alone with you.”
“What for?”
“Because I’m going to spank and then fuck you.”
 “Why?” I whimper softly.
“You know why,” he hisses.
“I thought you were an in-the-moment guy?” I plead breathlessly.
“Anastasia, I’m in the moment, trust me.”

No. No no no no no no no. A thousand times no.

Like the blog that I'm linking to below says, Ana hasn't consented. Not once has she agreed to sex and being spanked. Christian, who is well aware of the fact that Ana is scared, is doing what he's doing anyways.

There is a lot more in these 3 books. A lot more red flags, a lot more sexual assault and rape.

Everything I've mentioned about this can be found in this wonderful (be warned: it's loaded with potential triggers for rape, kink shaming, victim blaming and abuse) blog post.

Please, please don't see this movie. Go see Kingsmen (which looks awesome), rent John Wick (which is awesome and has some of the best action scenes I've seen in a film in a long while) or buy some of the games on sale on Steam right now! (I suggest Cthulhu Saves the World, The BIT.TRIP Collection or, if you're willing to buy it at it's current full price, Darkest Dungeon is a wonderfully dark, creepy and challenging title) The sequels are already confirmed, but if the movie keeps getting negative reviews and we avoid giving any more money to E.L. James and Universal Pictures, we might have a shot of getting those sequels canned.

This article was submitted anonymously by one of our staff writers.

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SELMA's brilliance shines a light on diversity - a light we all need to see.

Selma movie poster

Sunday's 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards were illuminating. For me, primarily because much has changed in the realm of equality, and it was apparent that even with the approximate 80% white attendance and nominations at the show, we are now continuing to see a steady stream of minority representation in the Hollywood & entertainment realms. That steady representation's message is one of continual improvement and change, which was the message behind the nominees. Specifically, that of the movie Selma. Last week I went with some very close friends to see a special pre-screening of Selma. The film took the post 1964 Civil Rights Act which desegregated the south and allowed blacks to vote, events in Selma, Alabama and made it into a gorgeous screenplay told in a docudrama format. Selma, was nothing short of perfectly cast by Aisha Coley, and brilliantly directed by Ava DuVernay. It is unmistakably Oscar worthy.

Witness the First Trailer for Ant-man!

This is it, folks. After the hilarious trolling of releasing an ant-sized Ant Man trailer, Marvel has given us the first real trailer for the film. And boy does it look...well, see for yourself:

Get a First Look at Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

In 2009, Seth Grahame-Smith came up with the idea of taking the original Jane Austen text of Pride and Prejudice, and editing in his own zombie subplots to make something completely new and different. It began a chain reaction that would end with the movie adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Thanks to the folks at  Entertainment Weekly, we now have our first look at the stars of the film, in costume and ready to kick ass. Hit the jump to see it.

Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange! UPDATE: CONFIRMED!

Image by Anne Wu

UPDATE: 12/4/14 - Marvel.com has confirmed Cumberbatch's casting as Doctor Strange! While the press release is light on details we didn't already know, Marvel Studio's Producer Kevin Feige had this to say:

“Stephen Strange’s story requires an actor capable of great depth and sincerity. In 2016, Benedict will show audiences what makes Doctor Strange such a unique and compelling character."

Variety, pretty much the most reliable source for film news you could ask for, is reporting that Marvel has finished it's hunt for the new Sorcerer Supreme, and the man they've chosen is none other than Smaug and Sherlock himself. He's reported as being in "final talks" which usually stands for "done deal" in Hollywood - but something could go horrible wrong at the last second, so cross your fingers.

What do you all think? I'm pretty excited - Cumberbatch has always shown gravitas, but in Sherlock he also shows the vulnerability needed to make Dr. Strange a real person, not just a caricature shouting "BY THE HOARY HOASTS OF HAGGOTH!" all the time.

Although, I'll be a bit sad if he doesn't shout that at least once.

The Maze Runner is "The Event" movie of the Summer.

Personally, I'm really excited by the current state of Young Adult Fiction. Despite the rebirth of the genre coming from series I'm either indifferent to (Twilight) or sort of annoyed by (The Hunger Games), there's a lot of really good and interesting stuff happening in that world, and a lot of fantastic book series, like Mistborn, being rebranded for a new generation to discover. It's great, and I fully support the YA fever that seems to have swept the nation. Anything that leads to more kids reading is great. Anything that leads to more kids reading fantasy and sci-fi, to me, is even better.

So, I was excited to go and check out The Maze Runner. The previews showed a really cool mystery, an interesting location, and some decent acting from the usual twenty year olds pretending to be teenagers. It seemed like Lord of the Flies meets...well, a maze, and that could be really fascinating. When I saw the final movie, the mystery was there. The acting was there. The setting was there. But the movie fell into a deep trap, one we should long ago have learned to avoid. One that is exemplified best by a short-lived television series on NBC known as: The Event. Spoilers for The Maze Runner to follow.

So How Bad Was the New Ninja Turtles?

A few weeks ago, the geek world fell into despair. Guardians of the Galaxy, far and away the best movie of the summer, had been beaten in its second weekend by a movie everyone had been dreading - the Michael Bay-produced adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And with good reason - everything we'd seen in the trailers showed us a bland, humorless world of Bayformers style explosions and giant robots.

This weekend, given two hours or so to see a movie and not able to see Guardians for the fourth time, I finally gave in a purchased a ticket to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Was it bad? Was it really bad? Was it Revenge of the Fallen bad? All these questions and more will be answered, as you read on.

Dawn of IN-Justice?: Zack Snyder's WONDER WOMAN Costume - by Brian J. Patterson

Wonder Woman collage by Phil Jimenez

For a long time now, Warner Bros. has teased audiences with prospects of a Justice League team-up film. This year, the Superman/Batman: Dawn Of Justice project has been on the tips of everyone’s tongues, and recently we were titillated with casting choices. One of the most talked about casting choices was that of Gal Gadot in the role of the iconic original female super heroine Wonder Woman. However, the dust has since settled on that news, and it isn’t the actor in the role which concerns people anymore, it is the costume which said actor will wear. During the Warner Brothers panel last month, at Comic Con 2014, Zack Snyder’s vision was finally unveiled to the public. This is what it looked like:

 The feedback that I’ve seen on this costume has all been very close to an equal 50/50 split of favor vs. disdain. The support of the costume has mostly centered around the fact that the character is overdue for an update, and the criticisms generally boiled down to these three: no originality, no functionality, and no respect for the source material. Having written a previous article  which utilized history as a predictive factor to remind costume designers that a more traditional iconic design for an iconic character has always been more successful (Hence, why the character would be ICONIC...She's easily recognizable!), I’d like to address each of these topics one by one. However, my findings may surprise you.

Guardians of the Galaxy:Come and Get Your Love by Ender

Editor's Note: For a spoiler filled panel discussion of this flick, make sure to check out episode 112 of the podcast. But since I know some of you want to know whether you'll like this movie without having it spoiled, Ender was kind enough to give us a written review as well.

The trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy didn’t completely sell me. I was intrigued, but on the fence about the film. The alluring thing the movie had going for it was the sense of humor. I knew Marvel could pull of extensive action scenes and humor had always been a strong point of their films, but this was different. This was a space opera with a massive sense of humor, and I wasn’t convinced that Marvel would be able to sustain it throughout the course of the film.

Yes, Hercules Lied to You - And That's a GOOD Thing. by Mike Fatum

(Quick warning: This article, by its very nature, spoils the entirety of Hercules. If you still wanted to see this movie, I'd avoid reading this until after.)

Let's begin with what I'm not saying here: The Rock's newest starring action vehicle, Hercules, is not a great movie. It's not even on the level of the Fast and Furious movies that have helped his career so much. I did enjoy myself watching it, but I enjoy most movies on some level unless they insult my moral sensibilities, so take that how you will.

However - in the wake of Hercules' launch, I saw several articles popping up around the internet decrying Hercules for "lying" to the audience. For those of you not in the know, here's the skinny - the trailers portrayed Hercules' twelve labors heavily, promising a take on the classical Hercules myth, with him battling monsters and eventually taking revenge on the God, his mother Hera, who murdered his family.

The Ace of Geeks vs Found in the Alley - Movie Draft Super War Update 5

This image might as well be Bumblebee flipping the AoG off.

After weeks of stalemates and disappointments, the Movie Draft Super War is starting to finally heat up. The universally-reviled, Michael Bay directed, Transformers 4: Please Like Us We've Got a New Lead This Time, was released. Was it enough to change the face of the game? Hit the jump to find out.

There are About To Be Too Many Comic Book Movies. by Kyle Johannessen

I know what you're thinking. This is Ace of Geeks! There can never be too many comic book movies! Well allow me to politely disagree with you, my friends. Don't get me wrong, I love comic book movies. One of my favorite movies of all time is a comic book movie (The Crow) and Marvel's films ever since the original Iron Man have been, at worst, entertaining and, at their best, wonderful to watch and instant classics.

But now DC Comics is revving up its Cinematic Universe. Most of you already know about Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice coming out in 2016, but more information has leaked that will see the number of super hero movies climb astronomically through 2018, with a whopping three DC titles a year. If you haven't seen it yet, here is the lineup:

Found in the Alley vs The Ace of Geeks Movie War Super Draft Update 4!

Welcome back! It's been a shocking and tumultous two weeks in the movie war. We're not even into July yet, but this one might be over for one major competitor. Plus! A surprise hit closes the gap! All this and more in this week's update!

Your favorite podcast, The Ace of Geeks, and their ugly stepsister-podcast, Found in the Alley, have gone to battle over the summer movies. We each had 100 points, and used them to draft films from a list of thirty of the biggest releases coming out this year...and The Protector 2. Listen to the podcast that began the war for all of the rules and prizes, and check out Updates 1, 2 and 3 for everything that's gone down so far! Hit the jump for the details on this week!