With Game of Thrones preseason in full swing the ToB Crew is running at full capacity pushing out content. Unfortunately, that means keeping up with the latest in film and television news becomes that much more difficult. Fear not though, Julian, Dan, and Jeremy are back with an ALL NEWS EXTRAVAGANZA! From Detective Pickachu to True Detective ,and Suicide Squad sequels to Star Wars trilogies, the guys delve into the biggest stories from the last several weeks. Including a more recent news bit; that Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series is confirmed to be set during “The Second Age of Middle Earth” (Which is something that really got Dan’s blood pumpin’). PLUS, a look back at this year’s Oscars and reveal who nailed the most predictions. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

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Show Notes

Movies

Trailers:
- Dark Phoenix Trailer #2
- Detective Pikachu Trailer #2
Captain Marvel Box Office
- $153 million domestically and an additional $302 million internationally for a worldwide total of $455 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
- The $153 million opening weekend is the seventh highest for a Marvel film.
James Gunn hired for Suicide Squad 2.
Idris Elba is replacing Will Smith as Deadshot in Suicide Squad 2.
Matt Reeves Batman set to open June 25, 2021.
Ben Affleck officially retired from Batman role.
Rami Malek is in final negotiations to the play the villain in the next Bond film.
Warner Bros. wants more Matrix and Mad Max movies.
Edge of Tomorrow sequel in the works with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt expected to return.
Steven Spielberg is petitioning the Academy to change rules to disallow future Netflix films.
Zack Snyders Watchemen film is 10 years old.
Gundam is coming to the big screen. A Gundam film is being written by “Y The Last Man” creator Brian K Vaughan.
Disney+ will contain the entire Disney motion picture library, including films in the Disney Vault.
Bumblebee is officially being confirmed as the first film in a rebooted Transformers franchise.
Batman TMNT animated movie coming this spring.
Game of Thrones showrunners, Benioff and Weiss, are confirmed to be working on a trilogy of films for Star Wars.
2019 Oscars winners and discussion.

TV

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series will be set during “The Second Age of Middle Earth”.
Brooklyn 99 renewed for S7 at NBC
CW’s Arrow is coming to an end with season 8 this fall. The final season will have 12 episodes.
Star Trek Discovery renewed by CBS for third season.
True Detective S3 finale
Punisher cancelled at Netflix.

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 131 - The Second Age

Show Notes

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