Weekly Weblinks: Moonrise and Marvels

It’s Friday morning (at least if I actually schedule this correctly this week!) and so it’s time once again for the Weekly Weblinks. Every week I select a handful of blog posts that I’ve enjoyed reading, and feature them here to spread the word and help build the community. This week’s selection of blog posts includes a couple reviews of newly-released movies, an in-depth look at Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematography, and more.

Also included are a few tidbits of news, which this week mostly consists of superhero movie rumors, as well as the latest from our favorite corporate nutcases at Hasbro, so read on!

Blog Posts:

Dan the Man reviews Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson’s latest star-studded quirky comedy, and gives it his seal of approval. The movie has had its limited release in the U.S., and is gradually trickling its way into theatres.

U, Me and Films takes a look at the camera work in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious. I watched and reviewed Notorious just a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed this take on the film from someone who really loves the film.

Jessica at The Velvet Café reviews Rock of Ages; she wasn’t very impressed, but wonders if part of that may have been a lack of attachment to the music. She also raises the question of whether there are any (non-documentary) rock movies that have an authentic-feeling concert.

Max at Impassioned Cinema is joined by T. of The Focused Filmographer in a retrospective of the Spider-Man trilogy. With The Amazing Spider-Man coming out in just a few weeks, this is a timely look back at the film franchise, from a guy who was introduced to the franchise through the movies and a guy who is a long-time fan of the comics.

And finally, Alexander Ryan Rhoades wonders just how his life has gone so wrong that he wound up spending an evening watching two terrible reality shows, Take Me Out and The Choice. His suffering is our gain as his deeply sarcastic write-up wrings the only possible entertainment out of these travesties.

News Blurbs:

Latino Review claims that the next Marvel character to be adapted to the big screen is the Black Panther. It’s still wild rumor at this stage, but the nation of Wakanda has been subtly referenced a couple times in the Avengers lead-in movies, and Black Panther has been a part of the Avengers comics in the past. It’s not a big stretch to think he could get a movie and be folded into Avengers 2. On the heels of this speculation, 3 Guys, 1 Movie asks who should play T’Challa if the film does end up being made.

With the Avengers being a big success, it was inevitable that DC would resume trying to get their own superteam off the ground and into the theatres. Variety reports that Will Beall has been tapped to write the Justice League script, and that scripts are also in the works for Wonder Woman and The Flash. I have some thoughts of my own on just what DC needs to do in order to make this a success, which I plan on writing up and sharing at a later date, but it’s good to see they’re working on it.

On the negative side of superhero news, Josh Dallas, who played Fandral in Thor, won’t be reprising the role in Thor 2, due to commitments with his series Once Upon a Time. This isn’t the first time Fandral has had to be recast due to television commitments; the role was originally offered to Zachary Levi, who had to bow out when Chuck was renewed for its fifth and final season. I’ve already seen speculation that Levi could take up the role now that Chuck is out of the picture; I’m not sure how he’d look bleached blonde, but he’s a good actor and would certainly be able to play to Fandral’s personality.

And last and certainly least, Sony and Hasbro are teaming up with Adam Sandler’s company, Happy Madison, to produce a film based on… Tonka trucks. Yes, Tonka trucks. No, I’m not joking. The trio are also collaborating on Candyland, and Sony is working sans-Madison on Risk. To all the parents out there who wind up being dragged to the theatre for Tonka Trucks or Candyland, you have my sympathies, even if I am laughing in my sleeves at your plight. For those who wind up watching Risk, well, let’s just hope that somehow it comes out better than Battleship.

Just For Fun:

This week’s fun link is Akinator, the Web Genius. Akinator is a 20-questions type program, centered entirely on real people and fictional characters. You think of a character, Akinator asks questions and tries to guess. As soon as he’s sure, or 20 questions have passed, he makes his best guess; if he’s wrong, you can let him ask 10 more questions, up to twice (for a maximum of 40). The process is entirely driven by user-input; the more people who play, the better Akinator gets at identifying characters — and he’s gotten pretty good. Every so often I’ll stump him with some obscure character, and his first guess can be pretty iffy, but I’ve been surprised sometimes by just how spot-on he is, such as when he managed to guess Del Griffith of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles after 15 questions, none of which seemed specific to Del. It may be a silly game, but it’s a fun way to waste a little time.