Peter Cushing to star in Rogue One?

Now, I hate referencing the daily mail. But according to them, director Gareth Edwards and Lucasfilm might be digitally resurrecting Peter Cushing for Rogue One. Peter Cushing originally played Grand Moff Tarkin, in Star Wars:A New Hope.

Rogue One revolves around the heist of the Death Star plans for the Rebel Alliance.

Tarkin was a high-ranking officer, whom played a pivotal part in the construction of the Death Star. He was also the only person on board that could mouth-off to Darth Vader. So it does make sense to include him.

The report states that Peter Cushing would be brought back to life via mo-cap technology, so presumably we’ll have another actor, with Peter Cushing digitally pasted on top. Much like they did with Paul Walker in Fast and Furious 7.

A source said:

“This is one of the most complex and costly CGI re-creations ever. Cushing is a pivotal plot line as he was the one to create Darth Vader and there’s a whole back story that will come out.”

Obviously, this is a news story from The Daily Fail Mail, so take it with a pinch of salt.

I think it would be interesting to see Tarkin back on the big screen, Mo-Cap technology has come a long way in the past fifteen years. It won’t be long until every working actor submit’s a digital copy of themselves to a database.

Whilst they’re bringing back Peter Cushing, maybe we could finally get the third Dr.Who movie.

Big Finish Review-Doctor Who: The Warehouse

Online shopping is a goldmine for satirical material, it’s surprising the main show hasn’t done it yet. However, “The Warehouse” takes this concept to a new level with its depiction of a massive warehouse in the sky staffed by clones, while a catastrophe on the planet reduces the populace to primitive religion, worshipping those who reside in the warehouse. The idea for the story may not be entirely original, but it is true to the era in which it is set – the Seventh Doctor and Mel era.

The story takes a while to gain momentum, with the first two episodes featuring a lot of running around the aisles of the Great Warehouse In The Sky, but not much else. However, Dillie Keane and Sylvester McCoy deliver standout performances, with Keane bringing nuance to her role as High Priestess of the Catalogue, and McCoy excelling in his portrayal of the Doctor.

As the truth of the situation on the planet is revealed, the story gains momentum, culminating in a gripping coup de grace that subverts the latest planned delivery methods of a leading online retailer. Keane’s performance once again shines in the story’s final act, lending it solid gravitas.

Overall, “The Warehouse” delivers exactly what it promises – a stolid, eighties-era Doctor Who story. While it may not be the most imaginative or memorable entry in the franchise, fans of the era will likely find it enjoyable.

Ronda Rousey wants to play Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is still years away from making her debut appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they haven’t cast anybody yet, but there were rumours that they’ve been in talks with Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Yvonne Strahovski.

During a recent Reddit (I don’t understand Reddit) Ask Me Anything, Mixed Martial Arts fighting champion Ronda Rousey was asked, “If you were to be in a superhero movie, which hero would you play?”

She replied:

“A lot of the good ones have been taken, but I’d like to vie for Miss Marvel.”

I think she would be an interesting choice, but her acting skills really aren’t quite there yet, she’s been in a few films but has been quite wooden in most. Her most realistic performance was in Entourage, as herself.

I doubt Marvel would cast her. However, I do think she would make a great Sarah Connor, get her some acting lessons and let’s see her detsroying killer robots.

Constantine to appear in Arrow

The Constantine series may have been canceled by US Network NBC, but thanks to Warner Brothers insisting that all their TV properties take place in the same universe, regardless of the Network they’re on, actor Matt Ryan is going to reprise his role as John Constantine in the fourth series of Arrow.

The Constantine star took to Twitter to confirm the details, in the video below.

Constantine will appear in episode 5 of the upcoming fourth series.

Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim added:
“We are thrilled to have Matt Ryan reprise the role of John Constantine on an upcoming episode of Arrow. Matt is an incredibly talented actor and his portrayal of this beloved character was always something we admired. The introduction of magic and mysticism on the show this season has provided a truly organic opportunity for us to bring John Constantine to Arrow and the CW’s DC universe. It will be a well-deserved tip of the hat to all the Constantine fans who were so incredibly supportive of that series.”

I’m excited by this news, I feel that Constantine had a great first series. Hopefully his apperance will cause the CW to green light a spin-off.

Review-Fantastic Four 

By now you will have already read every other review available for this movie. In all honesty, it’s taken me over a week to construct this. The film isn’t bad per-say, it’s just very disappointing. 

Fantastic Four filmed from May-August last year, but Fox ordered re-shoots in January after they were dissatisfied with the film. This leads to a combination of continuity errors and atrocious ADR (additional dialogue replacement). Sue Storm’s hair changes colour and length between shots and, mouths that say “Von Doom” are in fact mouthing “Domnichev”. 

You may remember last year that Toby Kebbel revealed he was playing a computer hacker named Victor Domnichev, the Internet exploded which has resulted in him being very badly re-dubbed Victor Von Doom. It’s also abundantly clear that his computer hacker subplot has been hastily cut out. 

The movie starts out promisingly enough, albeit slow. We meet Reed Richards and Ben Grimm as kids, we them jump to ‘7 years later’ meet the rest of the team, watch them build a machine, go to planet Zero before jumping to ‘One year later’. 
This is where things go a wry we get a quick altercation with Doom and the team find themselves with their own headquarters. 

Fox allowed Josh Trank to make an unconventional superhero movie with a property they needed to be a hit, they got cold feet and re-cut to try to make it conventional. This results in the story feeling half, rather than whole. 

Review-Man From U.N.C.L.E

I’m a child of the ’80s and ’90s, so I grew up on a steady staple of repeats from the 1960s, I’ve since been a fan of the man from UNCLE.
The show originally ran from 1964-1968 and revolved around a network of spies who worked for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, (UNCLE). UNCLE polices the globe from the threat of T.H.R.U.S.H. An organisation, which is erm absent from this iteration.

Henry Cavill stars as Napoleon Solo opposite Armie Hammer as Illya Kuryakin in Guy Ritchie’s and Lionel Wigram’s film adaptation.

Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” centres on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin. Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two teams up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organisation, which is bent on destabilising the fragile balance of power the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology.

This is a fast-paced, action-packed, sexy and stylish international adventure, shot through with humour that is as much about the rocky relationship between two sparring super spies, as it about the job they have to do.

The cinematography is breathtaking and details everything that made the 1960s cool – from its art, fashion music and cars. Lionel Wigram and Richie once again prove to be a great team.

The one thing that always bugged me about the series, is that we never really knew how Solo and Kuryakin, became partners, or how U.N.C.L.E. was formed, Ritchie and Wigram fill in the blanks.

Overall, I enjoyed this film, however, I feel they missed a trick not having a cameo from Robert Vaughn or David McCallum.

I look forward to a sequel.

Benedict Cumberbatch urges fans not to use cameras during Hamlet

Benedict Cumberbatch has made an impassioned pleas to fans, not to use cameras during the performance of Hamlet.
He told fans gathered outside the stage door on Saturday that spotting the little red camera lights, whilst he was performing was “mortifying.”
He then urged fans to spread his message through social media. He also warned that the theatre is having camera detecting technolgy installed on Monday, so future offenders would be evicted from the show.

As someone who has acted in the theatre, I have to say that I completely understand where he is coming from.

Cumberbatch made his Hamlet debut last Wednesday, receiving mixed reviews from critics.

DVD Review-Get Hard

What do you get if you put Trading Places, 48hrs, Tower Heist and some prison rape jokes in a blender? The answer is something like Get Hard, which stars Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart.

Ferrell plays millionaire, James King who is wrongfully convicted on 76 counts of fraud and embezzlement.

James assumes most black men have spent time in jail, so when the judge gives him 30 days to get his affairs in order, he turns to the only black guy he knows, Darnell (Hart) and offers him money to get him ready for prison.

In fact Darnell is a loving family man and small business-owner, who only accepts the job because he wants to expand his business and buy a better house for his wife and daughter.

After getting a few tips from his criminal cousin, Darrnell then takes on the role of a bullying sergeant major and starts initiating James with the ways of prison.

Get Hard misses more than it hits, it isn’t entirely unfunny and would have done really well in the 1980’s. Will you laugh? Probably. Could this have been a better film? Definitely.

Criticisms of the film aside, Ferrell and Hart have excellent chemistry and I would love to see them work together on another project.