After taking a week off for Canadian Thanksgiving the ToB Crew returns to unpack the latest in geek news. The big story this week being the release and subsequent box office flop of Blade Runner 2049. Julian and Jeremy discuss why it might not have resonated with main stream audiences and give a spoiler free review. The guys also discuss the new Star Wars: Episode VII The Last Jedi trailer, Adam West's last Batman performance and break down a few stories from New York Comic Con. All this and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

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Show Notes

Trailers

Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
Justice League
New Mutants
Pacific Rim Uprising

Movies

Blade Runner 2049 released last week to underwhelming box office numbers, only making $31.5 million on opening weekend. We give a spoiler free review as well as discuss Julian's piece examining the possible reasons it flopped.
Mark Ruffalo, who plays Bruce Banner/The Hulk told IGN that Thor Ragnarok is the beginning of a 3 part story arc for his character that will span another 2 movies.
The Fast and Furious franchise is officially getting a spin-off movie. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the Rock (Luke Hobbs) and Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw) will get their own film set to premiere July 26 2019.
According to Arnold himself, the next Terminator will ignore the events of Genisys.
James Cameron and Tim Miller have also offered a few details of their own: they are going to continue to play with the idea that the organic components of the Terminator age normally with Miller adding that he preferred grounded stories.
Production on the 4 sequels to Avatar have now officially begun.
The term "DCEU" apparently started as a joke and is not officially used at WB in any way.
We're getting a new Men in Black movie. Sony has fast tracked a spin-off film for May 17, 2019 that according to Deadline would not feature Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones.
Rumour has it that Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve is in talks to direct a bio pic of Cleopatra, according to Variety.
Hey Arnold! Is getting a new movie that is supposed to answer some unanswered questions from the series.
Batman vs Two Face might not be Adam West’s last performance as Batman. At least according to Burt Ward, who plays Robin.
It looks like the Gambit movie is back on track. Deadline is reporting that Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) is in talks to helm the movie set to release February 14, 2019.
Looks like the movie ticket business is shrinking again. Fandango, who own a massive part of the market already, has announced a deal to buy MovieTIckets.com.
Fox has announced that they are working on a Bob’s Burgers movie.

TV

Fall TV is back and Julian briefly touches on some of his favourite (and not so favourite) series that have premiered so far. Check out the full written piece HERE.
- Star Trek: Discovery
- The Deuce
- The Gifted
- Inhumans
Netflix and Marvel are apparently pushing back the premiere of The Punisher to a later date.
The NYCC panel was cancelled last minute after the tragic events in Las Vegas.
Rick and Morty had a record setting season finale.
The DC CW shows are back and here's what we think of The Flash season premiere.
Batman The Animated Series is coming to Blu Ray next year.
Another fun DC Blu Ray announcement came out of NYCC. DC announced a box set with EVERY DC animated original film for their 10th anniversary.
- This leads to a great comic book discussion to close out the show.

May 22, 2025

SSSW/ToB Film Club - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

It's hard to believe that 'Rogue One' premiered nearly a decade ago. At the time, it was fairly well received, considered to be a decent first step into the standalone Star Wars movies, if not a bit messy. As the years passed, we learned more about the production. Gareth Edwards, who retained sole directing credit, was assisted by Tony Gilroy to "fix" the project. Tony went so far as to call it a "corpse" when he came aboard for rewrites and reshoots. It was Tony's inclusion that brought us some of the movies most memorable moments, and ultimately led him to leading the charge on 'Andor', a prequel project that flew under the radar as hits like 'The Mandalorian' hogged the spotlight. With 'Andor' now complete, considered by many to be a masterpiece in storytelling, not just in Star Wars but on television in general, now is the most appropriate time to reexamine the movie that spawned the Cassian-centered prequel series with fresh eyes. 'Andor', which leads directly into the events of 'Rogue One' recontextualizes much of the film, creating a unique viewing experience that pays off a multitude of threads that are brilliantly laid over the two seasons of 'Andor'. It takes the movie, which was already pretty good, and makes it great. Now existing as part of a whole that weaves a cohesive narrative from the nascent moments of the Rebellion all the way through to the destruction of the Death Star in 1977 (the seed that begat ALL Star Wars, and what we appropriately align our Star Wars BBY calendars to). It all feels wholistic and considered when viewed from the broader perspective - an accomplishment that should set a shining example of what Star Wars can and should aspire to.

May 15, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 Finale

After only 4 weeks - the blink of an eye - it's all over. The best Star Wars story since the Original Trilogy has graced our screens and left us in awe. These final three episodes weren't able to reach the emotional highs of last week's arc, but that wasn't the goal. Instead, it provides time to look back at what brought us here, and sets the stage for the climax of the story to take place not in this moment, but within the now recontextualized film that birthed all of this in the first place, 'Rogue One'. And while the show may carry Cassian's name on the title screen, it's been the cast of characters we've met along the way that truly elevated this experience. Not to pick favourites, but in particular, Luthen and Kleya, who get an episode all to themselves this week are the standouts. And what an episode it was, as their story which shepherded much of the series came to an end, as we all expected it would have to. Embracing those feelings of closure, in the final moments of the series, as Cassian flies off into 'Rogue One', we are treated to our last glimpses of our heroes and villains. From Dedra to Vel and even Perrin, we are left to consider their fates as the story marches with inevitability into what begat all of this way back in 1977. Will we ever see Kleya, Vel, Wilmon, or Bix again? One can only hope - and rebellions? Well, they're built on hope.

May 9, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E7 - 9

When dealing in the world of prequels, it’s impossible to escape the inevitable - Anakin will fall, Han will win the Falcon, Cassian will die on Scarif. Somehow, in the midst of some of the most thrilling episodes of television ever put to screen, Tony Gilroy and his team found a way to address that impending doom and weaponize it against the audience to induce some of the most gut wrenching and heart breaking moments we’ve yet to see on ‘Andor’ - “There’s some place he needs to be”. At a larger scale, the show continues to outdo itself on a weekly basis, proving that the Star Wars galaxy provides a colour pallet of some of the richest hues from which to paint bold and personal stories. Proving you can go beyond the larger than life stories of heroics and grandeur to human stories of loss and pain and everything in between. That’s without mentioning the deft touch in pulling in themes that resonates with the contemporary while remaining timeless - a feeling that is a staple of Star Wars. Every detail is considered, every character is deep and interesting. There isn’t much more that can be said about such a powerful piece of art, except that not even the audience can escape the inevitable - only one week remains of this masterpiece.

May 2, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E4 - 6

I'm sorry to tell you all, but we're already halfway through this final season of 'Andor'. Fortunately, the quality hasn't dipped one bit as we accelerate into the finish. Join Julian and Rachel as they savour every minute of this 3-episode arch that takes us to Ghorman for the first time on screen. Tony Gilroy and the team at Lucasfilm outdid themselves yet again in crafting every detail. The size of the set alone is impressive, but they take it a step further by developing a unique culture and even language different from anything we've seen in Star Wars before. It all fits seamlessly into this next chapter of the story that has a heavy emphasis on spycraft as the pressure ramps up for both the Rebellion and the Empire.

Episode 103 - Blade Runner 2049

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