Dan Van Winkle, Author at The Mary Sue

The Internet Is Having a Moment Over Chris Pratt’s Mario Voice in the ‘Mario Bros. Movie’ Trailer

Dan Van Winkle — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 20:10:06 +0000

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Holy Crap! Ryan Reynolds Confirms Hugh Jackman Will Play Wolverine Again—Alongside Deadpool!

Dan Van Winkle — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 21:25:51 +0000

Well, after a few teases of the X-Men, mutants, and even Wolverine himself in the Marvel Cinematic Universe lately, we finally know where to expect to see the character first, but that’s not all! Ryan Reynolds dropped a video confirming that Hugh Jackman himself will return to the role! Check out the tweet for yourself:

Hard keeping my mouth sewn shut about this one. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/OdV7JmAkEu
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7 Lord of the Rings Characters Who Should’ve Been Nicolas Cage

Dan Van Winkle — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 16:24:00 +0000

We would watch 25+ hours of Nic Cage's Lord of the Rings.

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Things We Saw Today: Chloë Grace Moretz Fights the Robot Apocalypse in Mother/Android Trailer

Dan Van Winkle — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 23:00:12 +0000

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Jared Leto on a Suicide Squad “Ayer Cut”: “Why Not?”

Dan Van Winkle — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 19:00:23 +0000

Fans of Zack Snyder’s version of DC’s cinematic uni(multi?)verse scored a big win when Warner Bros. eventually released Zack Snyder’s Justice League—the famed “Snyder Cut” of the movie that was decidedly not what replacement director Joss Whedon gave us in theaters—on HBO Max. Now, there’s a push for similar treatment of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad film with an “Ayer Cut,” and the movie’s Joker himself, Jared Leto, has now joined in. While I was glad to see Snyder finally get to release his version of Justice League after the theatrical one was thoroughly, deservedly panned, it still didn’t do much, at least for me, in terms of making Justice League actually a good movie. However, one thing it definitely did do was embolden unhappy fans—and those behind the scenes. Ayer has been increasingly vocal about how the theatrical cut of the film is “not [his] movie,” saying that he has his own cut actually finished (unlike Snyder’s expensive updates to Justice League) and recently praising Jared Leto’s portrayal of the Joker and posting new images. That all brings us to the present, where Leto has thrown his support behind the release of Ayer’s version of the movie in an interview with Variety:

Jared Leto says #ReleaseTheAyerCut: “Absolutely. Why not? Why wouldn’t they? That’s what streaming’s for, right?” https://t.co/zxbXC1Mklo pic.twitter.com/QLMVtysfaf
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The Downton Abbey: A New Era Trailer Really Knows We All Need a ****ing Break

Dan Van Winkle — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 21:09:43 +0000

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Things We Saw Today: Melissa McCarthy Reflects on Ghostbusters Backlash

Dan Van Winkle — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 23:30:17 +0000

Later this month, a new Ghostbusters movie is on the way that will continue the story of the original movies in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but as that approaches, it’s hard not to think about the modern Ghostbusters sequel we already got—in part because of the toxic fandom uproar around it. It’s now been over five years since then, and in a recent interview, star Melissa McCarthy briefly discussed the backlash. Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, McCarthy said,

There’s no end to stories we can tell, and there’s so many reboots and relaunches and different interpretations, and to say any of them are wrong, I just don’t get it. I don’t get the fight to see who can be the most negative and the most hate-filled. Everybody should be able to tell the story they want to tell. If you don’t want to see it, you don’t have to see it.
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I Can’t Believe Marvel Managed to Get Me Excited to See Spider-Man’s Origin Story AGAIN

Dan Van Winkle — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 20:25:38 +0000

Yesterday was Disney’s “Disney+ Day” event, where the company announced its plans to continue the monopolization of entertainment with an onslaught of content on its dedicated streaming service. And, of course, they announced many things we’re excited about that are new and different, but for me, possibly the biggest surprise of the event was that I’m actually excited to watch Spider-Man’s origin story again in the animated series Spider-Man: Freshman Year. Marvel’s description of the series is brief, mostly saying that this origin will be different than what we’ve seen before: “The animated series follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man in the MCU, with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots.” This isn’t the first time Marvel has done things I thought to be impossible through the MCU—like actually making me like Thor, against my will—but this is one I found particularly unlikely. Like most people, I was happy to see them skip the origin when introducing Spider-Man, instead jumping right into Spider-Man doing Spider-Man things, which is all I really want to see. It’s frustrating to want to see your favorite heroes hit the big screen and then, when you do, you basically have to wait for—at the very least—the first sequel to see them actually be the character you know and love. While I haven’t particularly loved either of the MCU Spider-Man movies we’ve seen so far, they’ve at least struck a pretty good balance of letting Peter still be in the process of coming into his own while not going completely back to the beginning. Along the way, I’ve come to like this version of the character himself more than the movies he’s been in, and it’s that connection that has me actually looking forward to seeing more of him in an animated series. Well, that and the fact that I really like what Marvel is doing with animation in general—that is to say that I’ve really enjoyed What If…? What If…? has been a ton of fun in taking the MCU versions of the characters that we’ve come to care about and repurposing them in fun (and, sometimes, pointedly not-so-fun) ways, and while the multiversal conceit is definitely an unfair advantage in terms of consequence-free creativity, it’s been a breath of fresh air to see storylines that play it much less safe than the sometimes-boring mainline MCU. Not only that, but seeing this Spider-Man’s reaction to the zombie apocalypse is enough to make me want to see what else Marvel does with him in animated form. (image: Marvel Entertainment) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

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Now Anti-Vaxxers Forced by Mandates Are Trying to “Undo” Their COVID Shots

Dan Van Winkle — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 19:00:52 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has been politicized in many upsetting ways, but perhaps the worst part of it all is the way it’s turbocharged the already frustrating anti-vaccine movement. That politicization has also led to some pretty wild “miracle cure” fads among the science-averse, but the latest home remedy takes things in an unexpected new direction: “undoing” vaccination. See, some anti-vaxxers have been compelled to get the shot for one reason or another, mostly because they’d rather not lose their jobs, and like Scientologists and thetans, they now believe they need to rid their body of imaginary, harmful things. How does one do this? Anti-vaxx communities have suggested a variety of methods, as NBC News reports, from familiar pseudoscientific remedies like “cupping” to an elaborate bath topped off with the cleaning agent borax. These are undertaken with the familiar goal of drawing out the same “toxins” that anti-science factions are always encourage you to rid yourself of through various nonsense “detoxes.” Not only should it go without saying that none of this is going to accomplish any of its supposed purposes, including the removal of “radiation” and a “liquified computing system,” but they’re not going to undo anything about the injections. “Once you’re injected, the lifesaving vaccination process has already begun. You can’t unring a bell. It’s just not physically possible,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, told NBC with some truly wonderful comedic bluntness. “The transaction process for the mRNA vaccine is fairly quick. Basically, by the time you get out to your car, sorry, the magic has already started,” continued, saying of the bath method, “Take the bath and kick back and relax with a glass of wine, knowing that I’m safe from a potentially lethal viral infection.” I think I have a new favorite virologist. But really, that’s the good news: At least these people have found a way to convince themselves that they can get vaccinated and still also not have gotten vaccinated, so they can stop endangering themselves and others out of sheer stubbornness in sticking to unfounded fears about vaccines.

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I Am Not Encouraged by Early Cowboy Bebop Live-Action Impressions

Dan Van Winkle — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 17:30:37 +0000

When what you’re adapting isn’t just popular but regarded as an absolute classic work of art, as is the case with Cowboy Bebop and Netflix’s attempt at a live-action version, there’s vanishingly little room for error. The concern about Netflix’s remake isn’t necessarily that it’ll be bad, but that it’s been set up for failure if it’s anything but perfect, and early reactions online don’t exactly sound like it is. Live-action anime adaptations are perhaps the only onscreen endeavors that rival video game adaptations in sheer odds against success—and in the incredibly thin tightrope they must walk. Stray too far from the source material in an effort to set it apart, and you alienate people who just want to see their favorite thing in the “real” world. Stay too faithful, and you’re all but guaranteed to wind up a pale imitation of the original. Cowboy Bebop’s highly regarded status alone is enough to have anyone worried about how an adaptation would fare, and Netflix certainly seems to be erring on the “stick too close to the source material” side—right down to near-complete mimicry of the the title sequence, reuse of music, and bringing original series composer Yoko Kanno back for the score. For some, that’s been reassuring and fun to see, and I truly do hope that feeling carries through the final product for them when we finally see it. For me—and, I stress, so far, as I’d love to be proven wrong—it’s felt like an object lesson in the fact that animation is a very different art than live-action and people ignore that at their own peril. (Not to mention that a lack of respect for animation as a medium, despite the incredible artistry that goes into the best of it, often feels like the direct root of live-action adaptations, but that’s its whole own subject.) All that said, when first reactions about the new series hit social media, despite the wide range of opinion from positive to negative, they didn’t exactly do anything to ease my nerves.

A sampling of Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop Reactions:

3, 2, 1, let’s jam (lol sorry) .. so hey, #CowboyBebop is good. John Cho is a perfect Spike Spiegel. without him, this would not work. It does take awhile for the show to hit its stride, and still slips in some places even after that. my biggest issue with it is how they pic.twitter.com/dY5yaIgySt
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Challenger Approaching: Are We Getting a Super Smash Warner Bros.?

Dan Van Winkle — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 21:43:39 +0000

Now that the final character has been added to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, we’ve apparently moved on from theorizing which characters would join the roster to theorizing which companies would be making their own platform fighter. Next up … Warner Bros.? The genre started by Nintendo’s smash hit crossover fighting game has seen plenty of entries already, but with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl entering the ring and marking a major brand taking direct aim at Nintendo’s franchise—including well-known competitive Smash Bros. techniques and the rollback netcode Ultimate is sorely lacking—it seems like we may be entering a new phase of competition. Now, it seems that Warner Bros., which made its crossover ambitions more than clear in Space Jam: A New Legacy, may be getting in on the fun. Rumors began to fly earlier this week that the entertainment giant that owns properties from DC Comics to the Looney Tunes is already well underway with their own spin on the platform fighter concept. That started with a Reddit post claiming the game was coming, alongside a trademark for a game called “Multiversus,” and that it would feature a tag-team mechanic. (So … like a Mario Kart: Double Dash!! version of Smash Bros.?) Then, what appeared to be a character select screen for the title was purportedly leaked, although EventHubs reports that it was quickly removed by copyright takedowns. While we’ve all seen our fair share of fake Smash Bros. leaks over the years that lead me to caution believing this image was real, if it’s true that it was subjected to copyright claims, well …

Who are the characters in this alleged Warner Smash Bros.?

The most important thing for most games in this genre is … who will appear as a playable fighter? That’s half the fun, and the supposed leak named Scooby Doo’s Shaggy, Gandalf, Tom and Jerry, Batman, Fred Flinstone, Mad Max, and Johnny Bravo. It also mentioned Harry and Ron but said they might not actually be in it, which we’d prefer at this point. Other characters depicted on the selection screen include Adventure Time’s Finn and Jake the dog, Harley Quinn, Superman, Wonder Woman, Steven Universe, Rick of Rick and Morty, and Bugs Bunny, However, whether or not the rumored game is real, the question that remains is … will it be any good? Despite the competitive community’s arguments over the various finer points of the series, Smash Bros. remains the undisputed champion of the genre in terms of overall quality, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, for all the promise of its developers’ experience, is hampered by some pretty glaring rough spots, including a complete lack of voice acting for the characters and iconic music from their respective properties. As much promise as there is in the concept for many different companies’ stables of franchises, the genre practically begs for licensed cash grabs, and so far, there’s not much reason to think we’ll get something better. (via EventHubs, image: Hulu) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

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Wait, Where Are We Going to See Marvel’s What If…? Characters Pop Up?

Dan Van Winkle — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:27:36 +0000

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Every Smash Bros. Game From 64 to Ultimate, Ranked

Dan Van Winkle — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 20:54:59 +0000

The latest installment in Nintendo’s Smash Bros. crossover fighting franchise, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, will reveal its final downloadable fighter tomorrow, bringing its new additions to a close, and with that comes a sense of the game finally nearing completion despite launching almost 3 years ago. With the development team going to such great lengths to make this entry live up to its name as the perfect version of the series—packed with an absolutely mind boggling amount of characters, stages, music tracks, and more—that feels like a good time to look back and see how far we’ve come. However, while Ultimate is the undisputed winner of the title of biggest character lineup in a game series where new roster additions are one of the biggest focal points of the fanbase, arguments about which game is best, regardless of the number of playable fighters, have become just as much of a pastime. That probably dates back to the release of the third game in the series, the Wii’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which wasn’t nearly the clear step forward that the GameCube’s Smash Bros. Melee was from its predecessor. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a look at the series from—in my opinion—worst to best: 6. Super Smash Bros. I should kick this off by saying that “worst” is relative with Super Smash Bros.—a series so beloved that it spawned its own genre—and even though the Nintendo 64 version of the game (the first in the series) is ranked lowest, it’s still a great game that I love and have played endlessly. However, despite the fact that it’s still played in fierce competition today, it just can’t compete with the series’ later entries on any front. At 12 characters in total, with 8 to start and 4 unlockable, it has the smallest roster of fighters by far (along with the smallest number of pretty much everything else, from items to stages), the least impressive graphics, and the most limited gameplay, lacking many staples of later games like air dodging, spot dodging, an entire extra special move per character, and the ability to influence the direction your character is launched in when hit, which introduced the series’ unique level of interactivity during combos. Again, that’s all in comparison. On its own, the game—developed largely by series creator by Masahiro Sakurai and former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, before it was even officially approved by Nintendo—deserved its status as a breakout hit and expertly leveraged some of the Nintendo 64’s best assets, like built-in 4-player support and the analog joystick. It was a solid blueprint that was improved upon in every way by the bigger budget, next-gen (at the time) sequel that resulted from its success. 5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl Before we talk about the series-defining GameCube entry Super Smash Bros. Melee, though, we have to take a detour to that game’s divisive direct sequel, the Wii’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Yes, despite its massive popularity and position as the second best-selling game in the series, I have to put Brawl down here near the bottom of the ranking. With its high sales and the breakout popularity of the console it was released on, Brawl was the Smash game of an entire generation, but it divided the fanbase between those who felt that its gameplay was a downgrade from Melee and those who viewed that as solely the opinion of elitist Melee tournament players. There was such outcry that the game received several extensive fan mods that are still played today, geared towards improving how it played. Personally, I don’t think just the gameplay should be the deciding factor, especially considering that your mileage may vary on that depending on how much you’re into the competitive side of the game. While I’m not a fan of some changes Brawl made in the gameplay department, Melee absolutely had some rough edges and clunkiness that Brawl smoothed out, and it was, as usual, a clear upgrade in character variety and other aspects you’d expect to get bigger and better with every iteration. It also boasted the series’ most expansive single-player mode, “The Subspace Emissary,” with a whole convoluted storyline and side-scrolling stages befitting its characters’ platform gaming feel. However, that single-player mode had its own pitfalls, especially in not making nearly enough use of all the source material at its disposal from the fighters’ various games. Not only that, but while it was great to have a full single-player experience, that’s not really what Smash is all about, and you could feel that while playing it. Brawl also added online play in a series first, but unless you were playing with friends, the options were extremely limited. However, aside from a small increase in input delay, it also introduced possibly one of the worst gameplay mechanics of all time: random tripping. Many of Brawl’s changes from Melee worked to make it even more accessible to less experienced players, which was a great idea with the Wii’s broad popularity, but tripping went a bit far. If you’re not familiar—or you successfully blocked out the memory—characters would randomly “trip” and fall down mid-battle, through no fault of the player. It was just there to add some extra randomness to the game to level the playing field, and it’s no coincidence that it didn’t return in any subsequent titles. Without tripping, I might have to place Brawl above Melee, but it’s incredibly hard to defend as a gameplay mechanic, giving Melee an clear edge in a heated debate. 4. Super Smash Bros. Melee That brings us to Smash Bros. Melee, which may have just as many players crying foul to see it placed in the bottom half of any ranking. Melee has a history of an incredibly vibrant and resilient tournament scene that has continued on long after Brawl’s release, with many Smash Bros. fans agreeing that it’s the most competitively-geared, mechanically deep entry in the series, even if that’s not what they’re personally interested in. If I were rating on that basis alone, Melee may indeed get the top spot, but taking in the game as a whole, considering the experience for players of all skill levels, this is where I think Melee sits. As previously discussed, it introduced many of the series’ defining gameplay mechanics and, in some ways, controls better than any of the later games in the series, but outside of the best of the best players, its sequels have made some definite improvements. One thing that encapsulates this is Melee’s (almost) complete lack of “buffer,” meaning that, in Melee, if you press a button while your character is still busy with a different action, that button press won’t do anything at all. In later games, a generous buffer (10 frames, or 1/6 of a second, in Brawl) helps players with a less precise knowledge of the timing of each character’s moves by allowing them to press buttons before their current action fully finishes, with the next action then executing as soon as it’s allowed. Effectively, it greatly reduces how precise players have to be with timing their moves, so newer players aren’t left wondering why pressing a button didn’t do anything just because they pressed it slightly too early. For most players, it takes place entirely behind the scenes but goes a long way towards making the game feel more immediately accessible by lowering the precision needed just to perform the game’s most basic techniques. Personally, I prefer Melee’s lack of buffer and the extra layer of proficiency it requires (or at least I think later games’ buffers should be considerably less forgiving), but it’s hard to argue that later games in the series just feel smoother to play, and that at least some buffer is preferable for most players. I’m not hanging its place on the list entire on that one gameplay mechanic, but it’s a big part of what may make Melee feel dated, clunky, and unfriendly compared to newer games. 3. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U This part of the list is a bit odd, because the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game are identical in character selection and gameplay (except for the Wii U version’s higher input delay). After Brawl, these two games were a return to form, with less emphasis placed on single-player modes and gameplay improvements and changes made in a clear effort to satisfy fans who thought Brawl was overall less competitively-geared than Melee. They were both improvements on Brawl in pretty much every way, from improved online modes to gameplay mechanics, decisively supplanting their direct predecessor in a majority of players’ minds in a way Brawl never quite did. Even when it comes to single-player modes, they may not have had the vast story mode of Brawl, but the 3DS version’s “Smash Run” mode and its inclusion of enemies from Smash fighters’ various game series was an excellent demonstration of exactly how Brawl’s single-player mode left so much untapped potential. Without some of Brawl’s more glaring shortcomings, it’s hard not to rank these entries above Melee, as well, with their incredible amount of content and satisfying gameplay. However, it’s also hard (and maybe even unnecessary) to rank them against each other, considering they’re almost identical in the multiplayer modes that matter most to the series. Many may even be surprised to see the Wii U version ranked lower when the 3DS faced complaints that multiplayer games were marred by lag due to the fact that there was no way to play with multiple players on a single console. While that’s certainly true for the most serious players, the 3DS version also has lower native input delay, which made its online play—despite the lack of the option of a wired internet connection—feel more reliably smooth to me than Ultimate’s and comparable to the Wii U’s. 2. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS Again, these two games are essentially identical, though I do think the 3DS’s exclusive single-player mode is better than the Wii U’s, leaving me confused about why it wasn’t included in both. The 3DS just barely edges out the Wii U version for me for reasons explained above. 1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate It may seem obvious, but Ultimate’s position in the #1 spot is far from the sure bet it may seem. Yes, it has a mind-boggling amount of content that makes it a veritable playable museum of video games—and every playable fighter from every past Smash game—but it has its own drawbacks, like some weird control issues that are far too complicated to explain here and the highest offline input delay in the series., which only makes its mediocre online play feel much worse. The input delay alone made it a difficult decision to put the game at the top of the list and leaves me feeling like we still don’t have the “ultimate” Smash game when the controls feel sluggish compared to a 20-year-old predecessor. I just don’t think any of the past entries were as perfect as their biggest advocates make them out to be, although they may individually excel in specific areas that appeal to different people. Frankly, it may seem like the series may as well be ranked in chronological order, but making choices on these rankings felt so close that I think there could be arguments made to put any of them in any order, including first place. Since I forced myself to choose, I think Ultimate’s balance of pros and cons is the most favorable to the widest range of players, but you’re certainly welcome to make those very arguments in the comments. (images: Nintendo) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

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Nintendo Already Expanding Mario Theme Park With Donkey Kong Addition

Dan Van Winkle — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 20:48:13 +0000

No matter how many gamers want to feel like Mario is too kid-oriented for them, the childlike joy his games harness is exactly what makes them worth playing—and such an obvious choice for an entire theme-park, especially considering he’s one of the world’s most recognizable fictional characters in any medium. Now, the Super Nintendo World that made gamers’ dreams come true at Universal Studios Japan is growing, with a planned Donkey Kong Expansion. This was kind of inevitable, given the park’s name—only a matter of time before more of Nintendo’s characters joined the Mario crew. Donkey Kong is also a pretty obvious choice for the first park expansion, given his shared history with Mario and status as one of Nintendo’s longest-running franchises, which Nintendo of course touted in the press release:

Nintendo’s Donkey Kong franchise started with an arcade game in 1981 and quickly captured the hearts of fans around the world. Since then, the Donkey Kong game series has continually delivered more games on Nintendo video game systems, such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Wii, and Nintendo Switch. The series has sold over 65 million units (as of March 2021) worldwide to generations of fans.
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Netflix’s Top 10 Most Popular Movies and TV Shows, According to Their Data

Dan Van Winkle — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 20:21:15 +0000

Netflix is known nearly as well for its secrecy around how many people are actually watching its shows as it is for being the streaming service to beat as the competition heats up. Whether it’s to figure out why your favorite show was inexplicably canceled in its second season or just to help decide what’s a safe bet to watch tonight, viewership data can be helpful, and we recently got a new look into that information. Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos, at Vox Media’s Code Conference at the Beverly Hilton today, explained that the company is looking to be more forthcoming with that data. He told journalist Kara Swisher, “We’re trying to be more transparent with the market, and with talent, with everybody,” which makes me wonder if that has anything to do with the frequent outcry over which shows, in particular, the streamer cancels before their time. Viewership data isn’t everything, of course, as the company has often faced accusations of setting certain properties up to fail in the first place with a lack of marketing, in a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to actually finding an audience for them, and there’s something to be said for prioritizing things other than the bottom line when deciding what art gets made. Still, the company’s executives would no doubt find it easier to push back against accusations of bad decisions if the public had some idea of the data they were supposedly basing them on. Of course, there’s also the matter of what exactly your metrics should be when measuring viewership, and Netflix is apparently partial to the number of accounts that watch at least two minutes of a show or movie within its first 28 days of release. That sounds a bit too much like Facebook’s sketchy video viewership data that led a lot of our industry off a video-fueled cliff for me, but I digress. Sarandos also presented the most popular by overall viewing time. Here’s the data you’ve been waiting for, starting with those two-minute views: Top 10 Series Bridgerton, 82 million accounts Lupin: Part 1, 76 million The Witcher: Season 1, 76 million Sex/Life: Season 1, 67 million Stranger Things 3, 67 million Money Heist: Part 4, 65 million Tiger King: Season 1, 64 million The Queen’s Gambit, 62 million Sweet Tooth: Season 1, 60 million Emily in Paris: Season 1, 58 million Top 10 Movies Extraction, 88 million accounts Bird Box, 89 million Spenser Confidential, 85 million 6 Underground, 83 million Murder Mystery, 83 million The Old Guard, 78 million Enola Holmes, 77 million Project Power, 75 million Army of the Dead, 75 million Fatherhood, 74 million And now, here’s the list by total minutes watched: Top 10 Series Bridgerton: Season 1, 625 million minutes Money Heist: Part 4, 619 million Stranger Things 3, 582 million The Witcher: Season 1, 541 million 13 Reasons Why: Season 2, 496 million 13 Reasons Why: Season 1, 476 million You: Season 2, 457 million Stranger Things 2, 427 million Money Heist: Part 3, 426 million Ginny & Georgia, Season 1, 381 million Top 10 Movies Bird Box, 282 million minutes Extraction, 231 million The Irishman, 215 million The Kissing Booth 2, 209 million 6 Underground, 205 million Spenser Confidential, 197 million Enola Holmes, 190 million Army of the Dead, 187 million The Old Guard, 186 million Murder Mystery, 170 million Surely, no one is surprised to see Bridgerton dominate both charts for series and Bird Box come in at or near the top of movies, nor to see Stranger Things pop up, but there are some things worth noting—first off, that Netflix’s 2-minute rule is apparently how things like Emily in Paris get made and haunt our online lives indefinitely. However, I guess it’s not all bad when using “minutes watched” would favor The Kissing Booth 2 and 13 Reasons Why, which we would definitely trade in to save any number of better shows Netflix has canceled. Still, it’s nice to see Money Heist show up twice in total minutes, as well as the extra boost for Stranger Things and just a general feeling of more fan favorites than things like, say, Tiger King—to be expected when we’re talking about a metric more suited to dedicated watching. If there’s anything that’s a bit disappointing about the data, it’s the predictability. Spenser Confidential is the only one that really leaves me scratching my head. A top 10 list is fine, but we could have guessed most of it. A top 25 or 50 ranking would be a lot more interesting, but it seems Netflix isn’t quite ready to give us that much insight just yet. (via Variety, featured image: Netflix) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

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Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Sticking to Theaters-Only Release, According to Disney’s Bob Chapek

Dan Van Winkle — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 21:14:55 +0000

As the COVID-19 pandemic worsens once again, at an alarming rate, with the new Delta variant of the virus, we’ve all been thrown into confusion as to how that will affect the entertainment industry. Apparently, for Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, set to release on the rapidly approaching date of September 3, the answer is … not at all. The movie is sticking to its movie theater exclusivity. That news comes straight from Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who revealed it on the company’s most recent earnings call, according to io9. As for the reason behind the decision to release a movie exclusively in theaters when going to movie theaters is a terrible idea for many people, Chapek reportedly indicated that contractual obligations in distribution deals and logistical issues would make a change of plans impossible at this point, so there’s really no other option. Marvel has already run into contractual issues with releasing movies on Disney+ at the same time as theaters, with Scarlett Johansson suing the company over how Black Widow’s streaming release will affect the portion of her pay set to come from box office earnings, but this sounds like they’re also worried about obligations to movie theaters. However, the movie is not entirely getting a normal “only in theaters” release, either. Shang-Chi will land on some form of home streaming after only 45 days in theaters—a much smaller theatrical window than movies generally got before the pandemic, though the industry had already been grappling with shortening that window and shaking things up due to the popularity of streaming services. Whether that “interesting experiment,” as Chapek called it, is good news for movies, the movie theater industry, or the earning potential of Shang-Chi specifically remains to be seen, but it’s at least a bit of good news for anyone who’s looking forward to this movie but understandably doesn’t think it’s safe to go to a movie theater right now. There won’t be quite as long a wait to see the movie at home, even if you do miss the experience of seeing it and discussing with the first wave of viewers and have to spend the next 45 days dodging spoilers. (Sorry.) Although, at this point, I’m not entirely convinced the movie is actually coming out on September 3, especially if it’s sticking to movie theaters only. Chapek didn’t say anything to indicate a delay, and keeping the September 3 date would certainly fit in with seemingly everyone consistently overestimating just how much we have moved past the need for strict pandemic safety measures, but I also wouldn’t exactly be surprised if we were suddenly hit with a new wave of movie delays. (via io9, image: Marvel Entertainment) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

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Smash Bros. x Nickelodeon Was Practically Designed for Its Instant Meme Status

Dan Van Winkle — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 21:32:37 +0000

Earlier this week, Nickelodeon announced that its characters would get their own crossover fighting game in the vein of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. franchise—a bunch wildly different characters coming together to knock each other into the abyss below floating platforms. Whether the game winds up as more than just a cheap copy and paste attempt is very much up in the air at this point (although it reportedly has “rollback” online play, which gives it a solid chance at improving on Smash Bros. Ultimate’s poor online experience), but the internet has already run wild with the idea, to hilarious effect. That is, if you’re squarely in what is clearly Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl’s meme-happy target audience of Smash Bros. fans and Nickelodeon cartoon viewers who spend too much time online. The immediate reaction was a natural transition from the constant speculation, wishful thinking, and outright mockery and memes that often surround actual Smash Bros. games. Everyone was already primed for joking about their favorite characters making it into the cast (and everything else about the game and its sub-genre). So far, that officially includes (via IGN):

Nigel Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys) Powdered Toast Man (Ren & Stimpy) SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob SquarePants) Sandy Cheeks (SpongeBob SquarePants) Patrick Star (SpongeBob SquarePants) Oblina (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters) Lucy Loud (The Loud House) Lincoln Loud (The Loud House) Helga (Hey Arnold!) Reptar (Rugrats) Zim (Invader Zim) Danny Phantom (Danny Phantom) Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
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How to Watch the Perseid Meteor Shower, One of the Year’s Best

Dan Van Winkle — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 16:08:29 +0000

If you live somewhere particularly dark, or at least have access to somewhere like that relatively nearby, it’s much easier to catch sight of some meteors throughout the year, but for many of us, as light pollution continually increases, it’s mostly the big meteor showers when we catch our chance, and that’s why the start of this year’s Perseid meteor shower is so exciting. Still, for those of us in the brightest areas, our best chance, with the peak of the Perseids, won’t come until later in August (with the meteor shower overall lasting all the way until August 24), but it never hurts to be prepared! You may already be able to see some meteors as early as tonight. Though the best time for the most frequent meteor sightings is closer to dawn, you can head out to your favorite stargazing spot (a thing everyone has, right? Not just me?) as early as 10PM and keep your eyes glued to the sky. The Perseids are so named because the point in the sky their trails appear to trace back to is in the constellation Perseus, but you’ll see them all over the sky, so pick a place with as much unobstructed view as possible to give yourself a nice, big patch of sky to stake out. Those trails are also part of what makes the Perseids such a great show, being known not just for a high volume of meteors overall, but for producing fireballs that leave long streaks across the sky, making them not only more visually impressive but less easy to miss. NASA says,

The Perseids, which peak during mid-August, are considered the best meteor shower of the year. With very fast and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long “wakes” of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth’s atmosphere. The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers (50-100 meteors seen per hour) and occur with warm summer nighttime weather, allowing sky watchers to easily view them. Perseids are also known for their fireballs. Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak. This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material. Fireballs are also brighter, with apparent magnitudes greater than -3.
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Nickelodeon Cartoons Are Getting Their Own Smash Bros. With Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl

Dan Van Winkle — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 21:30:17 +0000

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Full List of 2021 Emmy Nominations: I May Destroy You, WandaVision, The Mandalorian, Pose and More!

Dan Van Winkle — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 17:29:33 +0000

The 2021 Emmy nominations are here, and while we’ll certainly have more to say on the upsetting snubs—like Small Axe and the cast of Underground Railroad—a lot of our favorites are present. There’s recognition for Michaela Coel’s tour de force I May Destroy You (overdue after the Golden Globes’ snub), Pose, and more, as well as genre fare we’re particularly fond of around here, like Marvel’s WandaVision, Amazon’s adult-themed superhero series The Boys, and Star Wars’ foray into live-action TV with The Mandalorian. That’s not all, with the cast of Lovecraft Country getting their due including nominations for lead actors Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors (despite some issues we may have had with the show overall, Smollett and Majors are brilliant), both Anya Taylor-Joy and Moses Ingram landing acting nominations for their work in The Queen’s Gambit, Regé-Jean Page for Bridgerton, Mj Rodriguez making history as the first trans woman nominated in a lead acting category for Pose, and even Mary Sue staff favorite Ted Lasso picking up a lot of attention. In a year when a lot of our means of entertaining ourselves ground to a halt, TV was one of our saving graces, with a surprising amount of great new content to enjoy despite pandemic struggles. Below, you can find the full list of nominations, and the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will air on Sunday, September 19 on CBS.

Drama Series “The Boys” (Amazon Prime Video) “Bridgerton” (Netflix) “The Crown” (Netflix) “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu) “Lovecraft Country” (HBO) “The Mandalorian” (Disney Plus) “Pose” (FX) “This Is Us” (NBC) Comedy Series “Black-ish” (ABC) “Cobra Kai” (Netflix) “Emily in Paris” (Netflix) “Hacks” (HBO Max) “The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max) “The Kominsky Method” (Netflix) “Pen15” (Hulu) “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus) Limited Series “I May Destroy You” (HBO) “Mare of Easttown” (HBO) “The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix) “The Underground Railroad” (Amazon Prime Video) “WandaVision” (Disney Plus) Lead Actor in a Drama Series Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”) Jonathan Majors (“Lovecraft Country”) Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) Regé-Jean Page (“Bridgerton”) Billy Porter (“Pose”) Matthew Rhys (“Perry Mason”) Lead Actress in a Drama Series Uzo Aduba (“In Treatment”) Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) Emma Corrin (“The Crown”) Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Mj Rodriguez (“Pose”) Jurnee Smollett (“Lovecraft Country”) Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”) Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”) William H. Macy (“Shameless”) Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”) Kenan Thompson (“Kenan”) Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Aidy Bryant (“Shrill”) Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”) Allison Janney (“Mom”) Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”) Jean Smart (“Hacks”) Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Paul Bettany (“WandaVision”) Hugh Grant (“The Undoing”) Ewan McGregor (“Halston”) Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”) Leslie Odom Jr. (“Hamilton”) Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Michaela Coel (“I May Destroy You”) Cynthia Erivo (“Genius: Aretha”) Elizabeth Olsen (“WandaVision”) Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) Kate Winslet (“Mare of Easttown”) Variety Talk Series “Conan” “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” Competition Program “The Amazing Race” “Nailed It!” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” “Top Chef” “The Voice” Television Movie “Dolly Parton’s Christmas On The Square” “Oslo” “Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia” “Sylvie’s Love” “Uncle Frank” Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Giancarlo Esposito (“The Mandalorian”) O-T Fagbenie (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) John Lithgow (“Perry Mason”) Tobias Menzies (“The Crown”) Max Minghella (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Chris Sullivan (“This Is Us”) Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Michael K. Williams (“Lovecraft Country”) Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Gillian Anderson (“The Crown”) Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”) Madeline Brewer (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Ann Dowd (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Aunjanue Ellis (“Lovecraft Country”) Emerald Fennell (“The Crown”) Yvonne Strahovski (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Samira Wiley (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Carl Clemons-Hopkins (“Hacks”) Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”) Brendan Hunt (“Ted Lasso”) Nick Mohammed (“Ted Lasso”) Paul Reiser (“The Kominsky Method”) Jeremy Swift (“Ted Lasso”) Kenan Thompson (“Saturday Night Live”) Bowen Yang (“Saturday Night Live”) Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Aidy Bryant (“Saturday Night Live”) Hannah Einbinder (“Hacks”) Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live”) Rosie Perez (“The Flight Attendant”) Cecily Strong (“Saturday Night Live”) Juno Temple (“Ted Lasso”) Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”) Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Thomas Brodie Sangster (“The Queen’s Gambit”) Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”) Paapa Essiedu (“I May Destroy You”) Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton”) Evan Peters (“Mare Of Easttown”) Anthony Ramos (“Hamilton”) Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Renée Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton”) Kathryn Hahn (“WandaVision”) Moses Ingram (“The Queen’s Gambit”) Julianne Nicholson (“Mare Of Easttown”) Jean Smart (“Mare Of Easttown”) Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”) Guest Actor in a Drama Series Don Cheadle (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”) Charles Dance (“The Crown”) Timothy Olyphant (“The Mandalorian”) Courtney B. Vance (“Lovecraft Country”) Carl Weathers (“The Mandalorian”) Guest Actress in a Drama Series Alexis Bledel (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Claire Foy (“The Crown”) McKenna Grace (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) Sophie Okonedo (“Ratched”) Phylicia Rashad (“This Is Us”) Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Alec Baldwin (“Saturday Night Live”) Dave Chappelle (“Saturday Night Live”) Morgan Freeman (“The Kominsky Method”) Daniel Kaluuya (“Saturday Night Live”) Daniel Levy (“Saturday Night Live”) Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Jane Adams (“Hacks”) Yvette Nicole Brown (“A Black Lady Sketch Show”) Bernadette Peters (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”) Issa Rae (“A Black Lady Sketch Show”) Maya Rudolph (“Saturday Night Live”) Kristen Wiig (“Saturday Night Live”) Variety Sketch Series “A Black Lady Sketch Show” “Saturday Night Live” Variety Special (Live) Celebrating America – An Inauguration Night Special (Multiple Platforms) The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (CBS) The Oscars (ABC) The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd (CBS) Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 (Showtime) Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix) David Byrne’s American Utopia (HBO) 8:46 – Dave Chappelle (Netflix) Friends: The Reunion (HBO Max) Hamilton (Disney Plus) A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (HBO Max) Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (Netflix) Oprah with Megan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special (CBS) Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy (CNN) United Shades Of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN) VICE (Showtime) Host For a Reality or Competition Program Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness (“Queer Eye”) Nicole Byer (“Nailed It!”) Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary (“Shark Tank”) Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Gail Simmons (“Top Chef”) RuPaul (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) Animated Program “Big Mouth” (Netflix) “Bob’s Burgers” (Fox) “Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal” (Adult Swim) “The Simpsons” (Fox) “South Park: The Pandemic Special” (HBO Max) Short Form Animated Program “Love, Death + Robots” (Netflix)
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