The Week That Was

Well, we had a lot of interesting movie and TV news break last week, and here I am, just chilling out at home, alone, on a long weekend and getting bored, so I may as well take to the blog and blog about it!

First up, the big movie news of the past week, they released the first picture of Ben Affleck as Batman!

He is standing next to the new Batmobile.  The new Batmobile looks like a beefed up version of the Tim Burton Batmobile....like if the Tumbler and the Tim Burton Batmobile had a baby.

So what do I think of the suit?  It's very heavily influenced by Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, as evident in the gigantic bat on his chest and the short stubby bat ears on the cowl.  I don't know if Affleck actually got that ripped, or if those muscles are sculpted into the suit.  Either way, this is an iteration of the Batman suit we haven't seen on the big screen yet.

Zack Snyder, the director of Man of Steel and this currently untitled Batman vs. Superman sequel, did say that this a B&W photo, so I'm wondering what the final colour scheme is.  If they keep with the Dark Knight Returns influence, probably grey and black.

I like it.  It's a new look for Batman, at least on the big screen, but I'm still hoping to see it in motion.  And hear what voice that Affleck adopts for Batman.

What else caught my eye?  We had the season finale of Arrow, and alongside that, came this magnificent 5-minute preview for their upcoming spinoff, The Flash.




I've been enjoying Arrow in its first two seasons, and since this is from the same creative minds, I'm optimistic.  I'm liking what I'm seeing.  I've always had a soft spot for The Flash, mainly because I adored the original live-action show from 1990.  And watching this, it does feel a lot like the pilot episode for the 1990 show.

The big similarity I'm seeing between this and the 1990 pilot is the fact that, after Barry Allen's lab accident, STAR Labs swoops in to start studying Barry Allen to find out why he did not die.  And then, when his powers start manifesting, the STAR Labs scientists start becoming his support team.  On the original show, though, it was just one STAR Labs scientist, who evolved into Barry Allen's love interest.  This time, though, it looks like he does have a whole team.

The big difference, though, is right away, they're starting with the Flash's rogues gallery.  Based on the glimpses we see, the Weather Wizard is going to be the villain in the pilot.  And that is a good thing.  The main criticism of the 1990 show is they waited until about 2/3rds through their first and only season to start introducing the rogues.  Looks like they've learned their lessons.

Looks like their going with Barry Allen's New 52 origin.  Originally, Barry Allen had no defining tragedy in his past.  In the New 52, his mother was murdered by that mysterious yellow blur, and his father was framed for the murder.  SPOILER WARNING:  The murder is the Reverse-Flash, who, in his demented mind has the ultimate Flash fanboy, decided to go back in time and murder Barry's mother and make the Flash a better hero by giving him a defining tragedy. 

My one complaint:  not sold on the Flash costume.  It's kind of baggy.

Speaking of trailers, we got the new trailer for Transformers: Age of Extinction.




I don't know...I think I'm done with this franchise.  When we got our first glimpse of Dinobots in the SuperBowl spot, I geeked out.  But as I see more and more in these trailers, I'm just seeing more the same.  Big robots, big explosions.  The novelty is gone.  My childhood nostalgia is satisfied.  I'm very indifferent towards this.

And lastly, this caught my eye.  Did you know Disney is doing a new live-action movie version of Cinderella?  Kenneth Branagh is directing it, Lily James from Downton Abbey is Cinderella, Cate Blanchett is the wicked stepmother, and Helena Bonham Carter is the Fairy Godmother.

They released the first teaser and the teaser poster this week, and I really like the teaser poster.

I like this poster.  We usually get bad Photoshop jobs of the actors, but we don't get posters like this anymore:  just a single, iconic image from the film.  The icon here:  the glass slipper, although here, it looks more like it's carved from crystal. 

I won't bother posting the teaser, because it's pretty much just the poster, with the camera shooting some loving close-ups and whipping all around it.  But still...I just like this poster.

Cinderella comes out in March.