Movie News Roundup: Into The Tom Hollandverse

I like Tom Holland. While he's not my first choice for white British male actor to stan, he is a firm #2 and seems like a good kid.

Friday, September 27th, was probably a very exciting day for this young man.

First, and possibly least exciting, there was a new trailer for the long-awaited Blue Sky Studios feature SPIES IN DISGUISE.

'Disguise'....'The skies'...get it?

Super spy Lance Sterling (Will Smith) and scientist Walter Beckett (Tom Holland) are almost exact opposites. Lance is smooth, suave and debonair. Walter is … not. But when events take an unexpected turn, this unlikely duo are forced to team up for the ultimate mission that will require an almost impossible disguise – transforming Lance into the brave, fierce, majestic… pigeon. Walter and Lance suddenly have to work as a team, or the whole world is in peril. “Spies in Disguise” flies into theaters this Christmas.

It's not something I kept a close eye on, but it seems fine. Will it be the late-year animated stunner like last year's INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE? Probably not. I do like those music choices!

#28: Ad Astra

What was the last Brad Pitt movie I saw?
Probably "12 Years A Slave" in 2013. But my god, I was not going to miss the opportunity to miss a space movie on the big screen.

 Especially one with Ruth Negga! What was the last movie with her I saw? Probably "Warcraft".

Ooh.

Last year, I caught "2001: A Space Odyssey" In IMAX by myself and it was glorious. This is no "2001", of course, but that doesn't mean it's not good!

It's just a little...unemotional? Extremely conventional?

Despite having such a strong storyline that's purely set up to be emotional. Then again, this is a culture where men are just now being re-allowed to air their feelings out in nonviolent ways, so maybe this will be the film to encourage them to do that. Hell, one of Roy's (The lead, Brad Pitt) big hang ups is that he's so great and accomplished and so much like his father but can't connect to people or, basically, function as a human being, not out of arrogance, but out of deep-seated issues. He's even trained himself with a mantra to not be emotional.

That sounds like a mighty big portion of our population, huh. Except that bit of the population usually leans heavily on the arrogance.

The film looks gorgeous, but it's 2019. That doesn't mean shit anymore. It's the cinematography choices that really stand out, that and the score.

It's such a loaded year on the award front that I think this will even fall flat with Academy voters outside of (well deserved) technicals. Though the sound mixing at points was pretty one-sided toward the ambience and not towards the dialogue.

Spoilers follow.

Regal And Cinemark To Play Even More Commercials Before Movie Starts

#27: Steven Universe: The Movie

Beware a court jester spurned.

It's going to be hard to watch season 6 for several reasons;

1: Cartoon Network will do a poor job advertising it and sticking it to a consistent schedule. After all, it's not "Teen Titans Go!" (which has its good qualities).

2: Returning to simpler animation after how fluid and amazing this looked will be hard. This would have been amazing to see. This would have been astonishing to see on the big screen, but the time of television cartoons to cartoon theatrical movies has long ended.

The closest thing was Nickelodeon / Viacom's intended theatrical adaptation of "The Loud House", which has now been pushed to Netflix for...eventually.

"Steven Universe: The Movie" is not hiding how its a rehash of the first 5 seasons of the show and how the main characters relearn their lessons within about an hour. It's trodding old ground, but the introduction of new villain Spinel in all her wacky, malevolent, Harley Quinn-esque fighting is incredible.

I'm not sure who Sarah Stiles is, but good lord, this was the best voice acting I have heard on a show in an insanely long time. The edge of madness, the weight of sadness, that was so impressive.

And they let Steven grow up. I'm happy to see and hear it.

I glance-listened to some of the songs out of context and wasn't terribly impressed until I saw and heard them in the movie. I love "Other Friends" and "Independent Together". Some of the other songs have really interesting instrumental pieces that jump in halfway though, but sadly it doesn't warrant listening to the entire song.

Then there's pieces like "Drift Away" and "Found" that are nothing without the visuals.

Book Look: David Liss' Randoms series - "Randoms", "Rebels", "Renegades"

 A science fiction superfan finds himself on his very own space adventure when he s randomly selected to join an alien confederacy in this exhilarating middle grade debut novel. [..]To evaluate humanity s worthiness, the Confederation of United Planets has hand picked three of Earth s most talented young people and then there s Zeke. He s the random. Unfortunately, Zeke finds life in space more challenging than he d hoped. When he saves his transport ship from a treacherous enemy attack, he s labeled a war criminal. Now despised by the Confederation, rejected by his fellow humans, and pursued by a ruthless enemy, Zeke befriends the alien randoms: rejected by their own species, but loyal to each other. But their presence in the Confederation may not be so random after all, and as the danger increases, Zack s knowledge of science fiction might be the only thing that can save himself, his friends, and Earth itself."

The books are just as verbose as that description - and that's me cutting it down.

TLDR: Know it all sci-fi geek kid is hated on earth and in his new world, but gets the girl eventually. And the girl is a cat-girl hacker.  There's also a Cockney lizard guy who steals vehicles and is terribly underused, talented non-white kids, and a society of bad guys that I'm still not sure what their plan is.