Month: November 2015

‘Captain America: Civil War’ gets a new trailer, ‘Fantastic Four 2’ may never be that lucky

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Via: Forbes, Wired

If you’re a fan (willing to admit it or not) of the big budget super hero movies being pumped out by the likes of Disney, Marvel (by way of Fox), Paramount, and Columbia, there’s a fair bit of news for you to get caught up on. Let’s dive in and take a look at all that’s new in the Marvel/D.C. universes, aside from the impending arrival of Batman Vs. Superman.

The upcoming ‘Captain America: Civil War’ movie gets a new trailer as of today, in which we see the feud between Captain America and Iron Man grow even deeper. The plot line from ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’ continues, with the rift between the titular character and Iron Man developing when Captain America wants to protect his old friend, who it appears, the government is now after. Beyond that, the preview doesn’t give away too much other than what characters are involved (there are many, including the introduction of Spiderman in this one). So many in fact, that this continuous plot from the previous movie comes as a welcome source of consistency. Check out the trailer, below.

However, one such movie that may never have the privilege of receiving a multitude of trailers is the potentially doomed ‘Fantastic Four 2’ picture. As was well documented last summer, audiences by no means flocked to this most recent iteration of the ‘Fantastic Four’ franchise, which starred Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan, among others, in a strong ensemble (well, four main characters) cast. The movie was a well defined flop, taking in only $56.1 million domestically on a $125 million budget. There were largely-circulating rumors before the release of tension between director Joshua Trank and the studio, and overall negative reviews seem to have sealed the fate of this reboot-origin story. And now, only a few months later, the sequel to that picture has been officially removed from release calendars.

Is this a warning about an impending fatigue amongst audiences with these super hero movies? Or was this single movie just off the mark? Studios are hoping for the latter, but realistically, it will be audiences themselves who ultimately decide.

Is Netflix’s ‘Making of a Murderer’ the next big documentary event?

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Source: Indiewire

Documentaries are enjoying more popularity than seemingly ever before these days, and a new one from Netflix looks to be the next ‘big event’ in the genre.

Perhaps because they are more accessible than ever before with the likes of Netflix, on-demand services, and other streaming sites, documentaries are having a veritable renaissance at the moment. Films like ‘Blackfish’ and ‘Food Inc.’ have stirred massive discussion around their topics, and even real-world effects, but it is another sub-genre of the documentary altogether that seems to be the most popular these days. And that is the crime documentary.

Popularized by documentaries like ‘Serial’ (which was actually a podcast) and the Robert Durst-profiling ‘The Jinx’, completely true crime series have exploded in popularity. Perhaps feeding an audience that grew up on CSI and Law & Order: SVU, both have posted ratings previously untouched by the non-fiction investigative genre. And an upcoming entry from Netflix is looking to be the next in line for this type of success, while similarly to its genre-predecessors; is looking perhaps to even change the situation it documents.

Titled ‘Making a Murderer’, the series is a 10-episode look at the life and crimes of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man cleared after nearly two decades of imprisonment from one charge, only to be promptly accused of another heinous one. Compiling nearly 10 years of filmmaking into those 10 episodes, the series has been previewed only by a handful of critics, and the feedback is largely positive. The first episode acts a succinct prologue, while the other nine delve deeply into a look at a pair of gruesome crimes, and the small, rural community they consume. Dubbed by some critics as a type of real-life Fargo, it is noted that the characters themselves are perhaps the most compelling element of the series, as their neighborly-midwestern demeanors perhaps underlie far more sinister motives. Ultimately, the series comes down to the question of is Avery a cold-blooded psychopath, a victim of a convoluted and unfair justice system, or both?

Making a Murderer debuts Dec 18 on Netflix.

‘Making a Murderer’ debuts December 18th on Netflix (all 10 episodes, simultaneously); a date which is notably, if only for reasons of somewhat ironic juxtaposition, the same day that ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ debuts in theaters.

Disrupting the business of…breakups?

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Via: Forbes

Some of the fastest growing tech companies these days, the ones that have become darlings of Wall Street, are known as ‘disruptors’. What exactly does that mean, though?

It’s pretty straightforward, actually. When a company is commonly referred to as a disruptor, they are, quite literally, disrupting the industry in which they reside. For instance, Air BnB is a disruptor within the hospitality industry, flipping the traditional hotel business model on its head (although there is now speculation that that company will affect online travel booking sites like Travelocity more than it will hotels). Another disruptor example, and perhaps the best known? Uber. While that company has been criticized recently by some well-known investors as little more than an overvalued app, it is inarguable that Uber has had a huge effect on, has ‘disrupted’, if you will, the taxi cab industry. The sheer amount of resistance those companies receive from lobbyists and governments at both the local and more national levels is evidence enough of their disruptor status.

However, a new company, the aptly named ‘The Breakup Shop’, is looking to disrupt an entirely new, previously untapped industry; the break up.

A new ad from The Break Up Shop (Via Newser)

While the idea might seem silly, or even somewhat mean-spirited at first glance, there might be some substance there, some are now saying. Certainly, break ups are a wide reaching problem. And further more, there must be a portion of the population who finds the whole situation so uncomfortable, so unpleasant; that they might forsake good manners, societal norms, and invoke the chagrin of their friends and family to employ this company that will end their whole relationship situation for them.

In fact, the site’s potential appeal goes even further than that. In a recent round of marketing, they raised the question of what’s worse than being dumped via a brief call, or even worse, a text? Well, The Break Up shop offers multiple levels of courtesy when they do the breaking up for you. A slight price increase over their base break up model includes a nice card, and even pricier versions include coping mechanisms like a copy of the Notebook or Call of Duty.

And while we’re not the first site to reach this conclusion, it is a logical one; The Breakup Shop is hardly the first enterprise seeking to profit off of heartbreak. And you need look no further than Taylor Swift’s career for an example of that. Perhaps the business of heartbreak is an industry ready for some disruption, after all.