Weekly Weblinks: Masters and Minions

It’s Friday morning once again, and so that means it’s time for the Weekly Weblinks. There’s a good chunk of variety in the blog posts, with some new reviews, some vintage reviews, and some previews. And the news section is almost bloated, with twice the usual tidbits.

So rather than having me natter on for a bit, let’s just get right to it!

Blog Posts:

It’s always nice to feature a review of a film that is brand new. Or in this case, one that’s not even out yet. Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master won’t be out until September 21, but Eric at the Warning Sign was able to attend a special screening and has his review for us.

ParaNorman hit theatres this past week, and the guys at 3 Guys, 1 Movie give their triple take on the macabre clay-animation feature.

Do you like B movies? What about movies that don’t even quite achieve that level, but are proud of it? Will at Silver Emulsion frequently takes a look at such films, and he has recently reviewed the 1989 film Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death. With a title like that, you have to check it out.

Everybody’s been talking about Batman and The Dark Knight Rises lately, but Darren at The m0vie Blog has an interesting examination on how that film further develops the character of Ra’s Al Ghul from the first movie in the trilogy, while not even really featuring the character. It’s well worth the read.

I’ve mentioned before that I love John Candy as a comedic actor, and it seems I’m not alone in that. Andy, of Andy Watches Movies, takes a look back at Uncle Buck.

And last but certainly not least, the summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more movies coming on the horizon. Fogs provides his fall movie preview in two parts, August/September and October/November.

News Blurbs:

Science fiction author Harry Harrison has passed away at the age of 87. Harrison was known for the Stainless Steel Rat series, featuring a thief and con artist in the distant future, as well as for the short story that was eventually adapted into Soylent Green.

Additionally, comedienne Phyllis Diller has passed away at age 95. A frequent guest star on television until the later years of her life, she had her own series in 1966, and was the voice of Queen in A Bug’s Life.

News about Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby keeps looking a little bit darker. Now there’s a rumor that Luhrman is seeking outside funds to help complete the film.

NBC had a big hit with Heroes for a couple seasons… how about some villains? Deadline reports that NBC has picked up Hench based on the comic book by Adam Beechen and Manny Bello, about a guy who makes his living working for supervillains to support his family. Alexandra Cunningham is writing the series.

Also on NBC, a new comedy with an old familiar face. Michael J. Fox is coming back to television. The series, which does not yet have a title, will star Fox as a father of three struggling with the usual life challenges, plus Parkinson’s disease. Scheduled to debut in Fall 2013, this will be Fox’s first series since he was diagnosed.

Are you ready for a Rocketeer reboot? Disney might be. I enjoyed the original, and thought it was a shame it didn’t get more attention… I wouldn’t want to see any big changes in the premise, but a new movie could be a lot of fun.

Speaking of remakes, and aren’t we always, Universal has tapped Adam Berg to direct their remake of Videodrome. The original was directed by David Cronenberg and became a cult classic; Cronenberg fans, do you think non-Cronen-Berg can measure up?

Thor: The Dark World will apparently be going to Svartalfheim, and with that comes a few casting tidbits. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje will play Kurse, a.k.a. Algrim, while Christopher Eccleston will play Malekith the Accursed, ruler of the Dark Elves.

Despicable Me 2 isn’t even out yet, but Universal already thinks the series is primed for a spinoff. A movie focused on the minions themselves has been penciled in for 2014. So far it has not been given a title, though personally I think Despicable Minions would be the logical way to go.

Finally, a “how did I miss this?” bit of belated news. Last month, DreamWorks bought out Classic Media. That might not sound like much on the surface, until you hear who Classic Media are… or rather, what they own. They’re a company that has been buying up the rights to numerous animated properties over the last few years, including the catalogs of the Jay Ward productions, Harvey cartoons, Rankin-Bass (at least the animated specials; the series may have been bought by someone else), and Filmation. When somebody wants to make a movie based on those properties, they have to license it from Classic Media — which means they now have to license it from DreamWorks (who probably won’t license them out further at this point). Some of those properties have already been licensed; Voltron is on its way from Relativity Media. E.W. says Disney had to license The Lone Ranger from Classic Media, which I’m not so sure about (Classic Media has the cartoon rights, but the character predates those and may be covered under a different company), but it’s funny if true, given DreamWorks’ nature as a competitor. It is likely that any new movies coming out of the properties will now be coming out of DreamWorks themselves; and given that there is now no longer any need to split the profits three ways (Mattel, Classic Media, and a movie studio), it is now more likely than ever that we’ll see a new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe movie.

Just For Fun:

It’s time to feel old again (well, at least if you’re not an incoming college student or younger). Beloit College has released their annual mindset list, describing various things that the incoming freshman class, the class of 2016, will never have experienced, or have always experienced. Can you believe these kids have never seen tan M&M’s in the standard assortment? Or are too young to have seen Romper Room? Or even that they’re the same age as Pulp Fiction?