Awards Season 2024: Razzies Nominations

So, here they are. The nominees for the 44th Golden Raspberry Awards, a.k.a. the Razzies. You'll be pleased to know (possibly?) that some things never change with the Razzies voters and a couple of expected names are present and correct.

WORST PICTURE

The Exorcist: Believer

Expend4bles

Meg 2: The Trench

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods

Winnie the Pooh: Blood And Honey

WORST ACTRESS

Ana de Armas (Ghosted)

Megan Fox (Johnny & Clyde)

Salma Hayek (Magic Mike's Last Dance)

Jennifer Lopez (The Mother)

Helen Mirren (Shazam! Fury Of The Gods)

WORST ACTOR

Russell Crowe (The Pope's Exorcist)

Vin Diesel (Fast X)

Chris Evans (Ghosted)

Jason Statham (Meg 2: The Trench)

Jon Voight (Mercy)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Michael Douglas (Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania)

Mel Gibson (Confidential Informant)

Bill Murray (Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania)

Franco Nero (as "The Pope") (The Pope's Exorcist)

Sylvester Stallone (Expend4ables)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Kim Cattrall (About My Father)

Megan Fox (Expend4bles)

Bai Ling (Johnny & Clyde)

Lucy Liu (Shazam! Fury Of The Gods)

Mary Stuart Masterson (Five Nights At Freddy's)

WORST SCREEN COUPLE

Any 2 "Merciless Mercenaries" (Expend4bles)

Any 2 Money-Grubbing Investors Who Donated to the $400 Million for Remake Rights to The Exorcist

Ana de Armas and Chris Evans (Ghosted)

Salma Hayek and Channing Tatum (Magic Mike's Last Dance)

Pooh and Piglet as Blood-Thirsty Slasher/Killers (Winnie the Pooh: Blood And Honey)

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

The Exorcist: Believer

Expend4bles

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny

Winnie the Pooh: Blood And Honey

WORST DIRECTOR

Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey)

David Gordon Green (The Exorcist: Believer)

Peyton Reed (Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania)

Scott Waugh (Expend4bles)

Ben Wheatley (Meg 2: The Trench)

WORST SCREENPLAY

The Exorcist: Believer

Expend4bles

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods

Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 

So, with very little surprise, Expend4bles leads the pack with seven nominations, with The Exorcist: Believer and Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey tying for second with five each. Comicbook duds Shazam! Fury Of The Gods and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania have four apiece. 

As is usual with the Razzies nominations, there are a couple of films I've never heard of (Johnny & Clyde, Confidential Informant, The Mother) and I certainly won't be racing to check them out.

The "winners" will be handed out in a ceremony on Saturday 9th March, the day before the Oscars. 

Having already posted my Oscar predictions earlier this morning (the world has indeed been turned upside down), my next post will be the official Oscar nominations tomorrow. 

Comic Book Movie Round-Up: March 2021

It's been a while since there was news enough to warrant doing one of these, but I figured it would be nice to have a look at what's going on in the world of comic-book movies (and to give people a respite from awards stuff left, right, and centre). 

So let's take a look at what we've got.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

Yesterday, our proverbial cup runneth over with a veritable slew of posters and a suitably raucous and NSFW red-band trailer for The Suicide Squad.

Just me, or is anyone else getting some real Dirty Dozen vibes from these posters? Here's the trailer (like I said above, NSFW):

 

In addition to all of this, a dozen character posters were also released!

So, from top left to bottom right, we have: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Savant (Michael Rooker), Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Peacemaker (John Cena), Thinker (Peter Capaldi), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Weasel (Sean Gunn), and King Shark (performed by Steve Agee [who also plays John Economos] and voiced by... Sylvester Stallone!)

The trailer also gives brief glimpses of Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Flula Borg as Javelin, Mayling Ng as Mongal and Nathan Fillion (enjoying some Mr Pibb) as TDK, with Alice Braga's Sol Soria (leader of the Corto Maltese resistance) who- I'm assuming reluctantly?-  teams up with Task Force X. 

The Suicide Squad (written and directed by James Gunn) will be released in cinemas [where possible] and on HBO Max on August 6 2021.

Bring on the carnage!

And since we're talking about carnage...

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE

In a list of "sequels nobody asked for or wanted", a sequel to the execrable Venom would be on that list. Despite not much going for it, it made over $856m at the box office. When a movie makes this much bank, a sequel is all-but guaranteed (especially if, as Venom did, you cynically include a mid-credits scene teasing a well-known character who's itching to cross swords with the symbiote). 

Either way, we have Venom: Let There Be Carnage on the way. Carnage being the alter ego of serial killer Cletus Kasady (played by Woody Harrelson at the end of Venom in what looked like a truly dreadful hairpiece). So, he'll be causing some kind of havoc for Eddie Brock in this film, which is being directed by Andy Serkis. 

Along with Harrelson, Tom Hardy is, of course, reprising his role as Eddie Brock/Venom, as is Michelle Williams (playing Annie Weying, Brock's ex-fiancee). New cast members include Stephen Graham and Oscar-nominated actress Naomie Harris (Moonlight, SPECTRE), who is tipped to be playing Kasady's lover who goes by the name Shriek. 

After a couple of COVID-related delays, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is due on September 17 2021. 

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS

Whilst Shazam! Fury Of The Gods might still be a few years away (it's not due to drop til 2023) but this week saw some interesting casting news: the movie's villain has reportedly been cast. In the role of the villainous Hespera (daughter of Atlas) is none other... than Helen Mirren! The Oscar-winning actress will be squaring up against Zachary Levi in the David F. Sandberg-directed sequel. 

You might do a bit of a double-take that an actress of Mirren's calibre will be slumming it in a comic-book movie- but don't forget, she's also been in Fast And Furious 8, the RED movies, and she's voiced a dragon in Monsters University, so it's all fair game.  

BLACK ADAM

There still isn't a concrete release date for Black Adam as yet; however, a recent Instagram post by Dwayne Johnson confirmed that filming was "approximately three weeks away" from starting. 

Not only that, but this week saw some more interesting casting news which means that the Justice Society of America is now complete. Because joining Johnson and the previously announced Noah Centineo (Atom Smasher), Aldis Hodge (Hawkman), and Quintessa Swindell (Cyclone) is... Pierce Brosnan, who'll be playing Dr. Fate! 

Black Adam will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (House Of Wax, Orphan, Jungle Cruise)

THE FLASH

Finally, there's two bits of news for Andy Muschietti's Flash movie. The first is that, due to scheduling conflicts with Apple TV show The Morning Show, Billy Crudup will not be reprising his role as Henry Allen; the role will now be taken by Ron Livingston (Office Space, The Conjuring). 

He'll be joining Sasha Calle (The Young And The Restless), Maribel Verdú (Y Tu Mamá También, Pan's Labyrinth), and Kiersey Clemons (Bad Neighbours 2, Antebellum) who are playing Supergirl, Nora Allen, and Iris West respectively. Clemons was originally cast as Iris for Justice League but was one of the characters dropped when Zack Snyder left the project; she does however appear in the Snyder Cut.

It's been also widely reported that Michael Keaton is due to get back in the Batsuit for this film, appearing alongside Ben Affleck as different iterations of the Caped Crusader. However, this week Keaton has given a word of caution saying that his participation is not guaranteed, due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. An internet rumour has suggested that Christian Bale may be potentially tapped to replace Keaton's Batman if he's unable to commit to the role, but we shall see... 

The film is still currently set for a November 2022 release.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

In February, the title of the third Sony/MCU Spider-Man movie was announced. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home. Not Phone Home. Not Home-Wrecker. And certainly not Home Slice.

In a cute little vid, Tom Holland (Peter Parker), Jacob Batalon (Ned), and Zendaya (MJ) are exasperated that they've all been given- and have given out- fake titles. This, Jacob and Zendaya claim, is squarely down to Tom and his penchant for spoilers. "Name me one thing I've actually spoiled", he asks to which Zendaya responds "the last movie title". She ain't wrong...

So, we know the title. We know that the three main teen characters are back. We know Marisa Tomei and Tony Revolori will be back as Aunt May and Flash Thompson respectively. We know Jon Watts (who's directed both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home) is back in the director chair. What else do we know?

We know that Benedict Cumberbatch is appearing in the film as Dr. Stephen Strange, before his own sequel in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness. Strange will likely take the role of Parker's mentor figure (in the same way Tony Stark did in Homecoming and Nick Fury did in Far From Home). 

We know that Alfred Molina is reprising his role as Dr. Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2. I was tremendously excited by this news as Molina is not only a fantastic actor, but his Doc Ock is the best portrayal of a live-action Spider-Man villain on film to date. Don't @ me.  

We also know that Jamie Foxx will be reprising his role as Max Dillon/Electro from Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Less thrilled about this, if I'm honest. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tried to cram in so much to its run time that Foxx didn't get to make the impact he should have. Maybe he will here (if the role isn't a glorified cameo?)

There's been speculation that this might set up the Sinister Six- the half-dozen cabal of Spidey's most notorious villains, which traditionally includes Doctor Octopus, Electro, Mysterio, Vulture, and Sandman, along with a number of other villains such as Kraven The Hunter, Green Goblin, Shocker, Lizard, Black Cat, Rhino, and Venom. It's worth noting that all bar Kraven, Hobgoblin and Black Cat (whilst it seems clear that Felicity Jones' character Felicia in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was meant to reference her, it's not canon; again, don't @ me) have appeared on screen in some iteration or other. A Sinister Six movie has long been in the pipeline, so this might be the kick up the exhaust it needs.

There's been massive rumours that both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire definitely are/might be/possibly/potentially reprising their roles as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Other rumours say Garfield yes, Maguire no. Others say it's the villains only. Tom Holland's officially denied it, but- in the immortal words of Mandy Rice-Davies - "well, he would, wouldn't he?"

As it stands at the moment, Spider-Man: No Way Home is due to hit cinemas December 17 2021. 

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

Filming for the Thorquel, directed by Taika Waititi and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and Christian Bale, has been taking place in Australia. Set photos have revealed the presence of several of the Guardians of the Galaxy (including Star-Lord, Nebula, and Kraglin; no surprise as Thor headed off with them at the end of Avengers: Endgame).

It also looks like Loki's penchant for putting on plays to dramatise Asgardian history has rubbed off on someone, as Matt Damon and Liam Hemsworth have been seen on set, playing Actor Loki and Actor Thor from Thor: Ragnarok - with a surprise addition of Melissa McCarthy as Actress Hela! Clearly keeping up the goofy vibe from Ragnarok then...

Thor: Love And Thunder is currently due for release on May 6 2022.

Well, that's quite enough to be going on with, I think. Hope you enjoyed it!

News from DC FanDome

Yesterday (August 22nd) saw the first DC FanDome- a DC-themed "immersive virtual fan experience" discussing all things comic books, TV shows, video games, and- of course- movies. When this year's Comic-Con was cancelled, DC announced their own online convention. At the Hall of Heroes, there were various panels and discussions on all things DC.

There's a lot of news that has come out of the event, so here's a round-up of what's coming up in the DC Movies Universe.

WONDER WOMAN 1984

Director Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster) was joined by Gal Gadot (Diana Prince/Wonder Woman), Kristen Wiig (Barbara Minerva/Cheetah), Pedro Pascal (Maxwell Lord), and Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) to kick off the FanDome by chatting about Wonder Woman 1984.

Sharing a couple of behind-the-scenes stories, Chris Pine revealed that the production was able to shut down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington to film a particular scene, whilst Kristen Wiig shared that- during one of the big fight scenes she has with Gadot- her Cheetah wig got torn off her head when it got caught in one of Gadot's bracelets. There was also a lovely appearance at the panel by OG Wonder Woman Lynda Carter. I really hope they get her a cameo in WW84.

The panel ended with a superb new trailer for the film, in which (among other things) we get to see more of Kristen Wiig's transformation into Cheetah:

Later in the event, several other cast members of WW84 came to join the main cast and crew for a game of Werewolf: Connie Nielsen (Hippolyta), Robin Wright (Antiope), Jessie Graff (Amazon Competitor), Jonathan Ayaji (Emerson), Ravi Patel (Babajide), and Kelvin Yu (Jake).

WW84 is due for release in October 2020.

THE FLASH

In a very brief panel, the main crew of The Flash movie- director Andy Muschietti (Mama, It), producer Barbara Muschietti, and screenwriter Christina Hodson- joined star Ezra Miller for a quick blast through the history of the Scarlet Speedster and dropped some intriguing hints about what to expect from the film.

As well as sharing some badass concept art of the Flash's new suit, hints were dropped that it will be a time-travel story which will open up the DC Multiverse. So, Flashpoint in all but name then?

Andy also dropped an interesting hint about the Flash's new garb- it was made for him by Bruce Wayne. But I guess the question is: which one? Will it be Michael Keaton's iteration... or Ben Affleck's? It was confirmed this week that Affleck will don the Batsuit for (probably) the last time to reprise his role as the Dark Knight in The Flash movie.

All very intriguing...

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

James Gunn headed an absolutely raucous panel for The Suicide Squad, which not only confirmed who a lot of the cast will be playing but also dropped a couple of interesting little teasers as to what to expect from the film, still currently slated for release on August 6th 2021.

First up, joining returning cast members Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), and Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) are a veritable smorgasboard of wrong'uns.

In no particular order, some of the new members of the Squad are:

• Michael Rooker as Savant
• Flula Borg as Javelin
• David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man
• Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2
• Idris Elba as Bloodsport
• Steve Agee (and John Economos) as King Shark
• Mayling Ng as Mongal
• Peter Capaldi as The Thinker
• Alice Braga as Sol Soria
• Pete Davidson as Blackguard
• Nathan Fillion as TDK
• Sean Gunn as Weasel, and
• John Cena as Peacemaker

Also cast in the film are:

• Juan Diego Botto as El Presidente General Silvio Luna
• Joaquín Cosío as General Mateo Suarez
• Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, and
• Storm Reid as Tyla (Bloodsport's daughter)

As for what to expect? It's been likened to a 1970s war movie, will be a huge special effects extravaganza (according to Gunn) who has also said the studio is "overwhelmingly happy" with the film. He also made some comments about this being the best film he's worked on, so make of that what you will...

I'm excited to see how Gunn balances so many new characters, plus I can't wait to see Peter Capaldi, Nathan Fillion and John Cena in action! Here's the poster, by the way. It's definitely got a Dirty Dozen kind of vibe to it...

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE SNYDER CUT

The saga of the Snyder Cut has been rumbling on since Justice League's release. Snyder had to step away from Justice League due to a terrible family tragedy, and the highers-up at DC brought Joss Whedon in to complete the film. Ever since then, there's been a fan movement to see Snyder's vision for the film (which, it's fair to say, is very different to what actually got released).

Fans signed petitions, started fundraisers, and even took out a billboard in Times Square to ask for the Snyder Cut. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that HBO had struck a deal and what was once the fever-dream of the Internet is now very much a reality.

In the panel, Snyder took some questions from the Justice League cast, and then spoke to two fans- Fiona Zheng and Dexter Washington - who were instrumental in getting the Snyder Cut movement started.

So, what do we know about The Snyder Cut so far? Well, Snyder has stated that there'll be "something" involving Flash's abilities which will be something new. He's also going to be fleshing out Cyborg's role. It's initially going to be released in four one-hour parts with a later option to watch it as a whole. They are also looking for an international distribution deal so people outside the US and those who don't have HBOMax can get to see it.

The panel ended with a trailer for the new cut:

"He's never fought us. Not us united." I defy anyone not to get chills after watching that.

Justice League: The Snyder Cut is due in 2021.

BLACK ADAM

There was a fantastic animated teaser (made by Jim Lee, Boss Logic, and Dwayne Johnson) to introduce and explain a little about who Black Adam is, before Johnson took to the virtual stage to discuss the film.

The pitch was light on details- as Johnson said, things are still in the early processes- but he could share a few things about the character and the film. It's going to be Adam's origin story and it will stay true to his anti-hero nature: Adam believes in an eye for an eye and will still be the "ruthless keeper of justice" he's been in the past.

Johnson also spoke with his co-star Noah Centineo, who is playing Atom Smasher, and got a couple of details about that character's journey; he has something to prove because of his lineage, he has a spirit to help, and this will be his first mission. It's also handy that he can transform into the size of the Empire State Building!

One of the main things that was confirmed is that Black Adam will show the Justice Society of America (JSA) for the first time in the DC Film Universe. Atom Smasher is one of the members, with other confirmed members being Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Cyclone. No casting has been announced for anyone else as yet. 

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (House Of Wax, Orphan, The Commuter), principal photography is expected to begin in early 2021 for a scheduled release date of December 22nd 2021.

SHAZAM!: FURY OF THE GODS

There was a short panel about Shazam!'s "bonkers, awesome sequel", with Zachary Levi (Shazam), director David F. Sandberg, Asher Angel (Billy Batson), Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman), Faithe Herman (Darla Dudley), Meagan Good (Super Hero Darla) and Adam Brody (Super Hero Freddy).

There wasn't a lot of information they could give, but there was one thing they could share: the title of the sequel is Shazam! Fury Of The Gods. Originally scheduled to release in April 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it's been pushed to November 2022.

THE BATMAN

The final panel of the event was all about The Batman. Director Matt Reeves was interviewed by Aisha Tyler to discuss the film.

Reeves confirmed that the film takes place in Year Two of Batman's career. He's in the early days of being the Caped Crusader- so it won't be an origin story (let's face it, we don't NEED to see that again). The series of murders which happen brings to light the whole world of corruption within Gotham and the history of the city, and where the Wayne family sits within that. It's also a detective story and mystery, and will focus on the World's Greatest Detective aspect of the character.

The film also deals with the nascent development of several members of the Rogues' Gallery, with The Riddler (Paul Dano), The Penguin (Colin Farrell), and Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) at the beginnings of their own trajectories. Reeves cited Chinatown, The French Connection, and Taxi Driver as influences on the style of the film and confirmed that it will link to the Gotham PD TV series currently being developed (which will be set in Year One and dive into the corruption within the police). He also confirmed that they had shot approximately 25%-30% of the film before the COVID-19 pandemic shut them down.

They also shared the first teaser trailer:

And in case you're wondering, this is the Penguin:

I think the make-up team might be getting an Oscar nomination for this film, just sayin'. The Batman will be released in 2021.



All said, the DC FanDome event was a real success. It was slick, interesting, and a lot of fun and they really whetted the appetite for future DC properties (given current circumstances, that was a very canny move). 

No panel lasted longer than 30 minutes- meaning they could clip through various properties and genres without ever getting too bogged down, and people who weren't interested in, say, the games or the TV series didn't have to wait too long until something that did appeal. 

Having a mix of things, like the cast of WW84 playing Werewolf, or a music set by Chris Daughtrey, or a panel discussing females of colour in the DC Universe was also a good thing. The rolling programme was repeated throughout the 24 hours, so you could also get to see it at a reasonable time.

I'd definitely take the time to watch another one of these in the future. Which is lucky because DC FanDome: Explore The Multiverse is coming on September 12th! Should be worth checking out!