Spider-Man in the MCU has seemingly always been a rollercoaster ride. From his first underoos appearance in 'Civil War', through to his dusting in 'Infinity War', and more. The ride continued off the off the screen as well, with Sony and Disney doing the impossible (working together) to keep it all going. And now here we are, at the end of his very own MCU trilogy. We all remember how the last Spidey trilogy ended (existential crises indeed), and the fact that the 'Amazing Spider-Man' series didn't even get it's 3rd movie. Combined with the bonkers premise the marketing was pitching for this entry, it's understandable if you were concerned if they'd be able to pull it all together. Well allow me to be the first to put those concerns to rest. 'No Way Home' is able to stick the landing with all the grace of the web-head himself. It's able to balance complex and emotional storytelling masterfully, while still being super fun and funny. Despite it's nearly 3-hour run time, it never feels long, and will make you want to jump right back in when it's over. This is a true event film that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Run, don't walk, to your nearest theatre.
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Episode 171 - Game of Thrones Blunders, Star Wars Shakeups, Resident Evil
After a month long hiatus (sorry about that, but Costa Rica was splendid. Thank you for asking), Julian and Jeremy return to the show to catch up on the biggest film and TV stories that were missed. Not the least of which being the Spider-Man shaped roller-coaster we’ve all been on as the release of ‘No Way Home’ rapidly approaches. With speculation that Tom Holland may be done as the web-slinger swirling, it came as a bit of a shock as Marvel and Sony announced that Tom be sticking around for at least another 3 movies, as their corporate partnership looks to continue for the foreseeable future. Sigh of relief. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Disney machine, the “creative differences” continue to pile up at Lucasfilm and Star Wars. Patty Jenkins fighter pilot film, ‘Rogue Squadron’, has been put on the backburner (as opposed to the afterburner), along with ‘Rangers of the New Republic’ on the TV side. It also doesn’t look like we’ll be getting Rian Johnson’s trilogy any time soon as that is also shelved (damn!). Plus, with the release of a new behind the scenes book at HBO, details on the failed 'Game of Thrones' spin-off series, ‘The Long Night’, have come to light. And finally, as part of an extended “What We’ve Been Watching” segment, Jeremy dives deep into his thoughts on ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast.
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Episode 170 - Lightyear, Book of Boba Fett, and Uncharted
It's been some time since we've had a chance to do a full news episode, and what with all the exciting trailers dropping these days, it felt like the right time to jump back into the news stream. Starting with Pixar's space-epic, 'Lightyear', a movie that seems to confound people more than excite them. At least it looks very pretty! Moving onto 'The Book of Boba Fett', which has had Star Wars fans waiting with bated breath. It was nice to finally get a glimpse into what looks like an exploration of the Star Wars underworld as Fett and his team vie for power in the wake of Jabba. Next is 'Uncharted', a movie that has been a loooong time in the making, and despite our very serious concerns, it's at least nice to see that it's actually coming out. Finally, 'Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City', which has Jeremy VERY excited, as this movie seems to finally explore the intricate story that the games originally laid out decades ago. Plus some news on 'Dune 2', 'John Wick' spinoffs and much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!
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ToB Interlude - No Time to Die & Venom 2
Jeremy and Julian got together over the weekend to take in DC Fandome (find our coverage in the podcast feed), and they used some of that time to sit down and discuss the two biggest movies of the last few weeks; 'James Bond: No Time to Die' and 'Venom: Let There be Carnage'. As a huge Bond fan, Julian spills his guts raving about how Craig's final outing as the character brings back some of the more "fun" Bond elements that have been missing for a decade. On the 'Venom' side of things, the guys grapple with accepting the movie for what it is (a romcom with an alien symbiote) and their history with the character from other mediums. The consensus? It's bad? But it's also good? Either way, the real question is; what's up with that final scene?!?!
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Episode 169 - DC Fandome 2021
Last year’s DC Fandome set the gold standard for web events in the entertainment space. At that time we were hopeful that we’d be able to “get back to normal” by this time in 2021. Unfortunately, that’s turned out not to be the case, and with San Diego Comic-Con being a digital shell of it’s in-person self, coupled with every other entertainment companies own digital events all seemingly landing with a thud, it felt like there was little to look forward to this year for fan events. DC Fandome seemed to be the one exception. With not a peep from DC since last year’s Fandome on their major projects we here at ToB were amping up for some big reveals. Unfortunately, that is not really what we got. In a bit of a change of formats from their multi-channel approach last year, DC paired things down to one 4-hour stream. This meant everything from a new Justice League mobile game, to the ‘Super Pets’ movie and everything in between had equal representation next to the big tent pole film and game franchises we’ve all been waiting for, like namely ‘The Batman’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’ and ‘Black Adam’. This made for a more muddied affair, especially as there were not many new surprises and A LOT of time spent speaking to their CW franchises (we don’t need a tour of the Kent family farm). Overall though, the things that hit, really hit (hello ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’), and the rest can largely be forgotten until they come up again at next year’s event. Join Julian and Jeremy as they discuss all the major stories from this year’s DC Fandome in this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!
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SSSW - Star Wars: Visions
Julian and Rachel reconvene to discuss 'Star Wars: Visions'. The anime anthology series that brings together some of the biggest studios in Japan to tell Star Wars inspired stories. From the Kurosawa inspired "The Duel" that opens the series with dramatic fashion, to the more eclectic and fun "T0-B1", there's a lot to love here for Star Wars and anime fans alike. Everyone will have their favourites, and the ones they don't particularly care for, but that comes with the territory when you're dealing with such a wide variety of styles and themes. Listen as your hosts break down each short and rank their favourites.
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Episode 168 - Nolan's Demands and Disney+ Day
The repercussions of every studio continuing to turn it’s gaze towards the streaming future can be felt all throughout Hollywood. Disney seems to be leading the charge as it’s doubling down on Disney+, with CEO Bob Chapek announcing that they will be doing an annual “Disney+ Day” to celebrate the service (really just a big add day). Meanwhile, you have acclaimed filmmaker, and traditionalist, Christopher Nolan, leaving his longtime studio, Warner Brothers, in the wake of the HBO Max debacle, to take his next film to Universal. Of course this comes with a steep list of demands that insures it’s theatrical window. Over on the TV front, The Emmy awards were handed out, with ‘Ted Lasso’ and ‘The Crown’ taking home most of the hardware. Julian and Jeremy discuss this and so much more on the week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!
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Episode 167 - Long Anticipated Trailers
The movie industry is in a strange place these days. What with release dates changing on a regular basis and more and more projects moving to streaming. Among those projects are a few few movies we KNOW are coming soon, but we still knew nothing about. Both 'The Matrix Resurrections' and 'Spider-Man: No Way Home", are looking like locks to hit their release dates at the end of this year. Fortunately, we can start ramping into the hype with earnest as both movies recently dropped their first trailers. Julian and Jeremy break down each one and gage our levels of excitement for them before moving on to a discussion about the new 'Injustice' animated movie that was just announced (which also dropped a trailer). All that and so much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!
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ToB Interlude - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Although Shang-Chi as a comic book character may be fairly obscure, the pressure to deliver on a film for the character is immense. Bringing the first Asian lead to MCU is no small feat, and the path is laid with many traps, but Feige and team were undeterred, and managed to deliver yet another winner. The film is fast, fun, and the action is stunningly choreographed, all of which is executed with precision and style. The fight scenes, which are heightened by amazing scores, are worth the price of admission alone. But most of all, ‘Shang-Chi’ tells a compelling story about family and what it means to grow up, all while mixing in the fantastical. It feels right at home in the MC.
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SSSW - The Bad Batch S1E16 "Kamino Lost"
Picking up only moments after last week's episode, the season finale of 'The Bad Batch' spent much of its 28 minute runtime alternating between action set pieces, as the squad works to stay alive as Tapoka City sinks into the Kaminoan sea, and hard hitting dialogue scenes as the show unpacks Crosshair's emotional turmoil. For my money, it's the those dialogue scenes that really hit home and make this finale work. Where as I wasn't as concerned for the squads survival during the set pieces, knowing a season 2 was on the way. We are treated to continued exchanges between Hunter and Crosshair that dive deep into Crosshair's damaged psyche and make you feel genuine pity and sadness for the character. To me it's another sign that the show is willing, and capable, of tell complex stories and sets up a fascinating season 2. Overall, the first season of 'The Bad Batch' has to be considered a success. The animation quality took another step forward (the water effects alone in this episode are enough to blow me away) and the storytelling was generally consistent across the season (looking at you "Infested"). It's by far the best first season of any Lucasfilm Animation series, and as a season finale it holds its own against some of the absolute bests in Star Wars.
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