Righteous Kill
The prospect of seeing Al Pacino and Robert De Niro shoot up the screen together still generated enough box office heat in 2008 to earn them a Righteous Kill. Now the iconic duo work side-by-side as police detectives on the trail of a demented poet who targets the crooks they weren’t able to put behind bars. Could a movie with this much acting talent be without virtue? Donate Today to hear Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie perform the autopsy on this final installment of the Platinum Level Pacino Series.
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Before it became one of the most beloved movies of all time, The Godfather was a blockbuster novel with characters and plot points that never made it to the screen. Join long lost podcaster Stuart as he comes home to his Books & Nachos family and parses out all the changes made to Mario Puzo’s classic.
Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge (Movie Review)
Because the first Tekken movie didn’t prove fatal, podcasters Arnie, Justin, and Stuart must now survive Kazuya’s Revenge! But could the emotionless amnesiac drifting through this low budget prequel be the same Kazuya who so rashly seized control of the Iron Fist Tournament last time? And what good could possibly come from partnering with future champ Bryan Fury (Gary Daniels) to take down the assassin school that trained them? Things are gonna get messy, even with a crazed janitor mopping up the arena. Assume a defensive position and Listen Now!
Donnie Brasco
Johnny Depp stars as a real life FBI agent who spent six years infiltrating the New York mafia as Donnie Brasco. Will a close friendship with veteran gangster “Lucky” Ruggiero, played by veteran actor Al Pacino, convince the fresh-faced lawman to fuhgetabout his wife, daughters, and Uncle Sam and switch allegiances to The Family? Or will suspicious new capo Michael Madsen find out Depp is really a fugazi and whack that mole? You’ll find out, and be a “friend of ours,” when you donate for this final installment of Now Playing’s 2018 Gold Level series.
Bad Man by Dathan Auerbach
Ben’s three-year-old brother Eric disappeared five years ago, but Ben continues to search. When Ben takes a job at the store where Eric vanished things are not all that they seem. Join Brock for his spoiler-free review of Bad Man to see if this is the perfect thriller to cap off your summer reading list!
Tekken (2009) Movie Review
Arnie, Justin, and Stuart climb into yet another arcade arena for a round with Tekken – the classic 1996 fighting game that inspired a not-so-classic 2010 science fiction flick. Can lowly thief Jin Kazama (John Foo) hold his own in a “kill or be killed” cage match with eight corporately-sponsored gladiators? Or will he take the fight to the evil organizers of the Iron Fist Tournament, and expose reigning champ Bryan Fury (Gary Daniels) to be a cyborg? Find out if the most damaging blows to the head are delivered to the audience when you Listen Now!
Heat – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $50 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro both appeared in Godfather Part 2, but they never had a scene together until they faced off in Heat. Michael Mann’s 1995 heist epic finds the iconic Italian actors giving it all they’ve got – Al is an LAPD detective better at catching bad guys than holding on to good women, while Bobby is a thief who prides himself on being able to walk away from everything he steals. Find out who scores with podcasters Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob when you Donate for Now Playing’s Platinum Pacino Series!
Heat – A Podcast Preview
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro both appeared in Godfather Part 2, but they never had a scene together until they faced off in Heat. Michael Mann’s 1995 heist epic finds the iconic Italian actors giving it all they’ve got – Al is an LAPD detective better at catching bad guys than holding on to good women, while Bobby is a thief who prides himself on being able to walk away from everything he steals. Find out who scores with podcasters Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob when you Donate for Now Playing’s Platinum Pacino Series!
Heat – Donation Bonus
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro both appeared in Godfather Part 2, but they never had a scene together until they faced off in Heat. Michael Mann’s 1995 heist epic finds the iconic Italian actors giving it all they’ve got – Al is an LAPD detective better at catching bad guys than holding on to good women, while Bobby is a thief who prides himself on being able to walk away from everything he steals. Find out who scores with podcasters Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob when you Donate for Now Playing’s Platinum Pacino Series!
Warcraft
The 1994 strategy video game Warcraft expanded into the worlds of novels, trading cards, and online multiplayer spin-offs before finally reaching movie screens in 2016. The long awaited battle between orcs, elves, and humans was a massive hit with international audiences, but bombed big time in the States. Will Yank podcasters Arnie, Justin, and Stuart have more success than their fellow countrymen making sense of the cross-dimensional storyline? Grow some tusks and join them as they bite into this Tolkien-sized fantasy.
New Jack City – Patron Exclusive Review
Now Playing is looking for some New Jack patrons to join them for a New Jack gangster flick. Let Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart sex you up this August with an exclusive podcast dedicated to the 1991 hood classic New Jack City! Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) thinks “the world is mine” now that Al Pacino’s Scarface is dead, and he controls New York’s crack cocaine empire. Find out if the bad guy also steals the spotlight away from director/star Mario Van Peebles, rapper Ice-T, Breakfast Club bad boy Judd Nelson, and comedic junkie Chris Rock when you become a patron today.
Carlito’s Way – A Podcast Preview
Al Pacino and director Brian De Palma reunited 10 years after Scarface for another movie about a legendary Latino gangster. But penitent Puerto Rican Carlito Brigante goes a different direction than bloodthirsty Cuban Tony Montana – refusing to deal drugs once he’s sprung from jail on a technicality. Will corrupt lawyer Sean Penn obstruct Carlito’s Way out of a life of crime by involving him in a risky prison break? And do podcasters Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob still want to party with Pacino without the cocaine? Find out when you donate at the Gold Level or higher!
Volume 2, Episode 1: Hasbro and San Diego — Video Podcast
Marvelicious Toys is Back–and LIVE!
Welcome to the All-New, not All-Different Marvelicious Toys collecting show! There’s new music, there’s video content, and it is broadcast LIVE. But it’s still Justin, Arnie, and Marjorie bringing you the news and reviews of Marvel toys, statues, and more. So join them on this first episode as they reflect on Hasbro’s big news from San Diego Comic-Con.
Then join them LIVE August 23, 2018 at 9pm ET/6pm PT for Episode 2 LIVE!
Carlito’s Way – For Annual Subscribers
Al Pacino and director Brian De Palma reunited 10 years after Scarface for another movie about a legendary Latino gangster. But penitent Puerto Rican Carlito Brigante goes a different direction than bloodthirsty Cuban Tony Montana – refusing to deal drugs once he’s sprung from jail on a technicality. Will corrupt lawyer Sean Penn obstruct Carlito’s Way out of a life of crime by involving him in a risky prison break? And do podcasters Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob still want to party with Pacino without the cocaine? Find out when you donate at the Gold Level or higher!
Carlito’s Way – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $50 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
Al Pacino and director Brian De Palma reunited 10 years after Scarface for another movie about a legendary Latino gangster. But penitent Puerto Rican Carlito Brigante goes a different direction than bloodthirsty Cuban Tony Montana – refusing to deal drugs once he’s sprung from jail on a technicality. Will corrupt lawyer Sean Penn obstruct Carlito’s Way out of a life of crime by involving him in a risky prison break? And do podcasters Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob still want to party with Pacino without the cocaine? Find out when you donate at the Gold Level or higher!
Carlito’s Way – Donation Bonus
Al Pacino and director Brian De Palma reunited 10 years after Scarface for another movie about a legendary Latino gangster. But penitent Puerto Rican Carlito Brigante goes a different direction than bloodthirsty Cuban Tony Montana – refusing to deal drugs once he’s sprung from jail on a technicality. Will corrupt lawyer Sean Penn obstruct Carlito’s Way out of a life of crime by involving him in a risky prison break? And do podcasters Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob still want to party with Pacino without the cocaine? Find out when you donate at the Gold Level or higher!
John Carpenter’s “The Fog” Getting a 4K Theatrical Re-Release
As Halloween fans wait patiently for this year’s John Carpenter-endorsed sequel, word comes that a bonafide Carpenter original is coming back to the big screen with a full 4K restoration.
Rialto Pictures will showcase the director’s Halloween follow-up, 1980’s The Fog, in a limited run beginning October 26 at New York’s Metrograph theater, Landmark’s Nuart in Los Angeles, and The Music Box Theatre in Chicago.
For those who missed the film when it first screened in theaters, and for those who only know of the its much-maligned 2005 remake, The Fog stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook, and Janet Leigh as residents of a coastal California town that is besieged by the titular fog, which carries with it a crew of ghosts bent on revenge for a 100-year-old sleight.
Carpenter filmed the picture for $1.1 million, and it grossed more than $21 million in theaters.
Following its October 26 re-release, Rialto Pictures will screen The Fog in select Alamo Drafthouse and other specialty theaters.
The announcement comes on the heels of Now Playing Podcast’s planned Fall 2018 Donation Drive, which includes The Fog as part of Jamie Lee Curtis-centric “Scream Queen” retrospective.
Teen Titans GO! To the Movies
Robin is tired of being Batman’s sidekick, so he and the other Teen Titans are taking their hit Cartoon Network show To The Movies. Trouble is, Hollywood still doesn’t consider the Boy Wonder, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, or Beast Boy to be big screen stars. Does picking a fight with Slade, a “Deadpool rip-off” voiced by Will Arnett, help their box office? And will listeners catch Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart singing along with these goofsters as they crack an egg on the DC Universe? The answers aren’t on the usual Bat Channel. Go! to Now Playing to find out!
Dick Tracy – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $50 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
Al Pacino earned his sixth Oscar nomination playing Big Boy Caprice, the manic mobster who comes down hard on comic strip cop Dick Tracy. Warren Beatty’s big-budget 1990 summer movie was considered a disappointment when its box office didn’t match Tim Burton’s Batman. But will podcasters Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart find it to be the better film? And does Madonna deserve a spanking for her performance as gangster’s moll Breathless Mahoney? Extra Extra! Hear all about it when you donate for the Now Playing Gold Level Al Pacino series.
Dick Tracy
Al Pacino earned his sixth Oscar nomination playing Big Boy Caprice, the manic mobster who comes down hard on comic strip cop Dick Tracy. Warren Beatty’s big-budget 1990 summer movie was considered a disappointment when its box office didn’t match Tim Burton’s Batman. But will podcasters Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart find it to be the better film? And does Madonna deserve a spanking for her performance as gangster’s moll Breathless Mahoney? Extra Extra! Hear all about it when you donate for the Now Playing Gold Level Al Pacino series!
Mission: Impossible — Fallout (Podcast Review)
Tom Cruise recovers from the Fallout of recent flops, and a shattered ankle, by leaping back to the top of the box office with his tried and true Mission: Impossible franchise. The daredevil actor saves the world for the sixth time by once again teaming with techie Benji (Simon Pegg), hacker Luther (Ving Rhames), and markswoman Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) to stop plutonium-wielding terrorists. Listen now to find out if a tagalong CIA superman (Henry Cavill) and captive criminal mastermind (Sean Harris) compromise their mission to entertain.
Sea of Love – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Al Pacino took a four year break from movie stardom before diving into Sea of Love in 1989. The steamy thriller has Detective Frank Keller – Al’s third incarnation as a New York cop – pursuing a female serial killer who stalks men that advertise in singles magazines. Is it poetic justice that the lonely divorcee falls for mysterious MILF Ellen Barkin, or will partner John Goodman convince Al to stop looking at suspects through beer goggles? Qualify for breakfast with the Yankees when you Donate at the Platinum Level this summer.
Sea of Love – A Podcast Preview
Al Pacino took a four year break from movie stardom before diving into Sea of Love in 1989. The steamy thriller has Detective Frank Keller – Al’s third incarnation as a New York cop – pursuing a female serial killer who stalks men that advertise in singles magazines. Is it poetic justice that the lonely divorcee falls for mysterious MILF Ellen Barkin, or will partner John Goodman convince Al to stop looking at suspects through beer goggles? Qualify for breakfast with the Yankees when you Donate at the Platinum Level this summer.
Need For Speed
Electronic Arts was eager to get racing game Need For Speed into multiplexes after watching Vin Diesel’s family of car thieves make bank. But can Aaron Paul break box office records with rapper Kid Cudi, Mr. Robot, and hottie Imogen Poots in his pit crew? They’ll all burn rubber crossing the country in a bid to land a spot in Michael Keaton’s exclusive street race, thereby getting the chance to show up rival driver Dominic Cooper. Find out if this shift in gears in the Now Playing Arcade works for Justin, Stuart, and Arnie when you Listen Now!
The Untouchables – Patron Exclusive Review
Treasury Officer Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) creates an elite task force of axe-wielding Prohibitionists, set on bringing down murderous bootlegger Al Capone (Robert De Niro), in the 1987 blockbuster The Untouchables. Will Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob find director Brian DePalma’s second movie about a hood nicknamed Scarface – now made “the Chicago way” – to be as violent and entertaining as his 1983 Al Pacino cult classic? Become a Now Playing Patron this July and enjoy a podcast that’s much more diverting than accounting.
Scarface – A Podcast Preview
Al Pacino was back in full gangster mode in 1983, starring as Cuban “political refugee” Tony Montana… better known as Scarface! The Brian De Palma cult classic charts the rise and fall of a cocaine kingpin – from his arrival in America and first job burying a Castro commie, to a final standoff with Bolivian guerrillas raiding his lavish Miami mansion. Are viewers f*cking with the best, or do pussycats Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie need to take a chainsaw to all this excess? The podcast is yours when you donate at the Gold Level!
Scarface – For Annual Subscribers
Al Pacino was back in full gangster mode in 1983, starring as Cuban “political refugee” Tony Montana… better known as Scarface! The Brian De Palma cult classic charts the rise and fall of a cocaine kingpin – from his arrival in America and first job burying a Castro commie, to a final standoff with Bolivian guerrillas raiding his lavish Miami mansion. Are viewers f*cking with the best, or do pussycats Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie need to take a chainsaw to all this excess? The podcast is yours when you donate at the Gold Level!
NOTE: This listing is for annual subscribers to our show. You can also get this movie review individually for a small donation.
Every dollar you donate goes to make this show the best it can be. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the podcast!
Scarface
Al Pacino was back in full gangster mode in 1983, starring as Cuban “political refugee” Tony Montana… better known as Scarface! The Brian De Palma cult classic charts the rise and fall of a cocaine kingpin – from his arrival in America and first job burying a Castro commie, to a final standoff with Bolivian guerrillas raiding his lavish Miami mansion. Are viewers f*cking with the best, or do pussycats Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie need to take a chainsaw to all this excess? The podcast is yours when you donate at the Gold Level!
It Came From the Desert (Movie Review)
Cinemaware turned to 1950s monster movies for inspiration when developing a 1989 computer game about giant ants attacking small town America. Now It Came From The Desert comes full circle as a 2018 feature film! An arrogant motocross racer and his shy mechanic must stop genetically modified insects from feasting on friends attending their victory kegger. But have these fanboys seen too many B-flicks to make an original mark on the genre? Listen now to find out if Arnie, Justin, and Stuart must burn down another freak game-adaptation-gone-wrong.
Episode 504: SDCC 2018 Pre-Game Show
San Diego Comic-Con starts tomorrow! So be prepared for a deluge of news and reveals from your favorite toy and collectible companies. Arnie, Marjorie, Justin, Daryl, and Berent will be there bringing you all the Star Wars news there is.
To prepare for the con Marjorie and Arnie bring you this SDCC Pre-Game show. They look at all the Star Wars convention exclusives, discuss the new SDCC lottery system, and provide hands-on reviews of Hasbro’s SDCC exclusives including the Black Series Han Solo and The Vintage Collection Dr. Aphra 3-Pack.
With Brock reviewing the novelization of The Last Jedi and more, it’s all in this brand new episode of the Star Wars Action News podcast!
SDCC 2018 Exclusives:
- IDW
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- Star Wars Adventures 10 comic w/Variant Cover. 500 copies. $10
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- DKE:
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- Baby Fuzzball by Flat Bonnie (Chewbacca — 100 made, $20)
- BunEwok Wall Art by Flat Bonnie (10 made, $100)
- Weekend Dad Trooper 3.75-in figure (25 made, $55)
- Jumbo Art Trooper Andy (12-in figure, 15 made, $165)
- No Toys 4 Us Geoffrey Giraffe Figure (40 made, $65)
- Worst Gift Ever 2-1B (40 made, $45)
- Ewokalypse Now figure (30 made, $55)
- MANY MORE FIGURES
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- Toynk Booths 815, 4437, 5245
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- Super Blitz Plush Chewbacca (2,000 made, $10)
- Super Blitz Plush Chewie with Goggles (2,000 made, $10)
- Super Blitz Lando (2,000 made, $10)
- Super Blitz Qi’ra (2,000 made $10)
- Super Blitz Han Solo (2,000 made $10)
- Star Wars Movie Poster Pins — only $1,000 made. $25
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- Super 7: Booth 4945
- Entertainment Earth: (Pre-order now online, ships after con if stock available)
- LEGO
- Sideshow/Hot Toys: “Dark Side Anakin” (also put online 7/9)
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- Solo Print by Russell Walks – $35
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- Funko:
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- AT-AT Backpack Set $60
- Han Solo Backpack Set $50
- Han Solo Handbag Set (Rebel symbol) $50
- Endor Scout Coach’s Jacket $60
- Endor Commando Coaches Jacket $60
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- Bluefin
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- Jumbo Return of the Jedi Fett on ROTJ card $80
- McQuarrie Yoda Mini-Bust (750 made, $100)
- Jedi Luke Mini-Bust with light-up saber ($120)
- Left Coast Graphics Cantina Adventure Pin Set $24, limited to 1500
- Left Coast Graphics Collector Enamel Pins, blind box. Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Han Solo (small head), Chewbacca and one MYSTERY CHASE character. PG members can buy whole set, including chase for $100.
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- Lando & Lobot Keepsake Ornaments (2,975 made, $35)
- Boba Fett itty bitty on Vintage Card (2,500 made)
- Golden BB-8 Perpetual Calendar (1,200 made)
- PXL8 Boushh and Han in Carbonite Pins
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- Porg mini-backpack (limited to 500, and also shared with Think Geek)
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- Mattel: Booth 2945
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- Porg and Falcon Hot Wheels
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- Egg Attack Boba Fett – 140 sets made. $80
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- No Character Key
- Empire Strikes Back Darkness Shines Metallic Variant : $65
- Other silkscreen pritns
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- Hasbro:
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- Forces of Destiny Porg/Porglings and Chewbacca ($49.99)
- Black Series Centerpiece Rey (Starkiller Base) & Kylo Ren Figure ($109.99)
- Black Series Han Solo & Mynock $34.99
- Vintage Collection Dr. Aphra Comic Set $49.99
- Has Dr. Aphra, Triple Zero, and BT-1
Episode 503: The ORIGINAL Star Wars Collecting Podcast is back!
After a short break, Star Wars Action News is back with Arnie and Marjorie looking at the state of collecting. They discuss why Star Wars sales are down, why Barge sales were up, and what’s coming with SDCC and SWCC! Hear this show to catch up, and then join them TUESDAY July 17th for a SDCC pre-game show!
Issue 189: Is This the Train to San Diego?
Justin, Marjorie, and Arnie are back with a brand new Marvelicious Toys! On this show we recap where we’ve been, and then talk about where we’re going: San Diego! SDCC is next week. What are the must-haves? Listen to find out about all the Marvelicious goodness!
SDCC Exclusives:
- Kotobukiya: Nothing
- Deadpool 2: Booth 3529
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- Exclusive SDCC shirt given to first 1,200 people each day Thurs – Sun
- Deadpool 2 Super Duper Cut pre-order — get SDCC exclusive Trucker Hat! (While supplies last)
- 25 people each day win a set of 18 Fox Blu-rays with the Deadpool box art.
- Deadpool Dream Suite on Saturday evening (modeled after Deadpool’s apartment) — have to enter to win
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- Fox TV
- Marvel Booth: Only announced more pin sets THERE IS A MODOK PIN
- Mondo
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- MCU 10th Anniversary Print – Lotto already over. $70
- Also Souvenir Book Cover
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- Toynk: Booths 815, 4437, 5245
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- Avengers Thanos Gauntlet Pin with Jewel – 1,000 made, $15
- Deadpool on Unicorn Pin – 2,000 made. $10
- Daredevil and Punisher Tiki Cup Set – 400 made, $40
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- NECA
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- Baby Groot Chia Pet – $30
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- Monogram International:
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- Thor Ragnarok Pewter Key Ring 2 Piece Set (300 pieces, $20)
- Thor/Hulk Foam Magnet Set (limited to 300 pices, $10)
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- Entertainment Earth: (Pre-order now online, ships after con if stock available)
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- Push Puppet Deadpool (8.99)
- Infinity Gauntlet Push Puppet (8.99)
- Squirrel Girl Whittles Wooden Doll ($12)
- X-Men Pin Mates 3-Pack ($14.99)
- Scarlet Witch
- Cyclops
- Wolverine
- Infinity Gauntlet Pin Mate 16-pack ($99.99)
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- Ban Dai – booth 3535
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- Scottie Young Deadpool X-Force Finders Keypers – $25
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- Jakks Pacific (Booth 3349)
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- Infinity Gauntlet Tsum Tsum Set – $19.99
- Gauntlet lights up!
- Also giving some away on Twitter week of SDCC
- Infinity Gauntlet Tsum Tsum Set – $19.99
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- LEGO (booth :
- Sheriff Deadpool Minifigure (Saturday. Enter the lotto)
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- Ant-Man & Wasp Set (Saturday, $40. Enter lotto)
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- Funko
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- Also Conan O’Brien Ant-Man POPs
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- Quantum Mechanix Inc. Booth 4145
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- Deadpool Maximum Effort Q-Fig Max ($29.95)
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- Mini Egg Attack Deadpool and Pony (X-Force Version) – 1,000 made, $30
- Life Size Iron man Mk 43 Pewter Finish. Only 30 made! $20,000
- Egg Attack Deadpool (Marvel Comic) – 140 made. $80
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- IDW (Pre-order now for guaranteed pick-up at the show)
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- Jack Kirby’s Marvel Heroes & Monsters Artist’s Edition w/Variant Cover (1,000 copies, $150)
- Joe Jusko’s Marvel Masterpieces Hardcover — SDCC Variant (150 pieces, $75)
- Jack Kirby’s Marvel Heroes & Monsters Artist’s Edition, SDCC Monsters Cover Variant (100 copies, $150)
- Jack Kirby’s Marvel Heroes and Monsters Artist’s Edition Cover Variant (100 made, $150)
- Jim Starlin’s Marvel Cosmic Artifact Edition–Signed and Numbered SDCC Variant (100 copies, $150)
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- Diamond Select Toys
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- Grey Hulk PVC Diorama (11-in tall, 5000 made)
- White Phoenix PVC Statue (10-in tall, 5000 made)
- Unmasked X-23 Wolverine (4000 made)
- Funko POP Teleporting Lockjaw & GITD Black Bolt (15000 made)
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- Avengers PXL8 Ornaments, Cap Iron Man & Thanos (1500 made)
- Dr. Strange PXL8 rnament
- Ant-Man and Wasp PXL8 Pins
- PXL8 Thanos Pin
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- Mattell: Booth 2945
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- Thanos Copter Hot Wheels
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- Gwenpool Animated Statue $64.99
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- Mezco (Booth 3445)
- Essential Sequential (booth 4507, 4606, 4505)
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- Adi Granov Iron Man Giclee – 16×20. Signed. $100
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- Hasbro:
Cruising – A Podcast Preview
Exorcist director William Friedkin pushed the boundaries of what an R-rated movie could show when he ordered cop Al Pacino to start Cruising the leather bars of New York City in this notorious slasher. Will the Serpico star have any better luck earning a detective shield, or keeping a girlfriend, now that he’s posing as a gay S&M enthusiast intent on catching the eye of a like-minded serial killer? Who’s here… Jakob, Stuart and Arnie are here… and you’re here when you donate for the Platinum Level Pacino series!
Cruising – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $10 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
Exorcist director William Friedkin pushed the boundaries of what an R-rated movie could show when he ordered cop Al Pacino to start Cruising the leather bars of New York City in this notorious slasher. Will the Serpico star have any better luck earning a detective shield, or keeping a girlfriend, now that he’s posing as a gay S&M enthusiast intent on catching the eye of a like-minded serial killer? Who’s here… Jakob, Stuart and Arnie are here… and you’re here when you donate for the Platinum Level Pacino series!
Cruising
Exorcist director William Friedkin pushed the boundaries of what an R-rated movie could show when he ordered cop Al Pacino to start Cruising the leather bars of New York City in this notorious slasher. Will the Serpico star have any better luck earning a detective shield, or keeping a girlfriend, now that he’s posing as a gay S&M enthusiast intent on catching the eye of a like-minded serial killer? Who’s here… Jakob, Stuart and Arnie are here… and you’re here when you donate for the Platinum Level Pacino series!
Deep Blue Sea – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $50 or more. This podcast will only be available until December 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
Originally Released April 22, 2011
Arnie, Stuart, and Brock go back into open water for one last shark tale–Deep Blue Sea, a bonus addendum to our Jaws retrospective series. Ostensibly based on an unused plot for Jaws 5 based on Richard Dreyfuss’ Matt Hooper at the Aurora station, the film as made stars LL Cool J and Thomas Jane squaring off against genetically altered “smart sharks”. With such a B-movie plot and directed by Renny Harlin, has Now Playing’s Jaws series sunk to new depths after Jaws: The Revenge? Donate to Now Playing to find out!
Ant-Man And The Wasp
The box office for 2015’s Ant-Man might be considered small in comparison to other Avengers films, but Marvel banks that the second Paul Rudd adventure will make a bigger impact on the big screen thanks to The Wasp. Are the two pint-sized superheroes simply chasing a Ghost when they shrink to a subatomic level and hunt for long lost scientist Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer)? Podcasters Stuart, Arnie, and Justin don’t need truth serum to tell listeners what they really think of the 20th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Listen now!
The First Purge – A Podcast Preview
How do you convince New Yorkers to vote for a chaotic night of mass death, theft, and vandalism? Tell ‘em it only hurts Staten Island. The fourth Purge film traces the origins of the 12-hour “murder holiday” back to the neglected borough. Will shrink Marisa Tomei allow the New Founding Fathers to turn her psychological experiment into sanctioned ethnic cleansing? Can he-man drug dealer Dmitri (Y’lan Noel) protect a public housing highrise from psycho purger Skeletor (Rotimi Paul)? Time is running out to Donate for this Silver Level series!
The First Purge – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $10 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
How do you convince New Yorkers to vote for a chaotic night of mass death, theft, and vandalism? Tell ‘em it only hurts Staten Island. The fourth Purge film traces the origins of the 12-hour “murder holiday” back to the neglected borough. Will shrink Marisa Tomei allow the New Founding Fathers to turn her psychological experiment into sanctioned ethnic cleansing? Can he-man drug dealer Dmitri (Y’lan Noel) protect a public housing highrise from psycho purger Skeletor (Rotimi Paul)? Time is running out to Donate for this Silver Level series!
The First Purge
How do you convince New Yorkers to vote for a chaotic night of mass death, theft, and vandalism? Tell ‘em it only hurts Staten Island. The fourth Purge film traces the origins of the 12-hour “murder holiday” to the neglected borough. Will shrink Marisa Tomei allow the New Founding Fathers to turn her psychological experiment into sanctioned ethnic cleansing? Can he-man drug dealer Dmitri (Y’lan Noel) protect a public housing highrise from psycho purger Skeletor (Rotimi Paul)? Time is running out to Donate for this Silver Level series!
Why Now Is the Best (and Worst) Time to Remake ‘Child’s Play’
Our beloved ‘Friend til the end’
Chucky the killer Good Guys doll is having one helluva third act.
On the heels of two well-received VOD sequels, an announced television series, and the best cameo in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, the iconic Child’s Play villain has seen his stock rise among his 80s-era slasher movie counterparts.
Now, Chucky (a.k.a Charles Lee Ray) is getting the remake treatment, according to The Hollywood Reporter, courtesy of Norwegian director Lars Klevberg.
The announcement surprises for a few reasons, not the least of which is the aforementioned television series conceived by series steward Don Mancini, whose name has appeared in the writing credits of every Child’s Play film and who has directed the last three sequels.
After seven films, there’s a case to be made that it’s time to reboot Child’s Play. However, an examination of how far Chucky has come shows an equally strong case for staying the course.
The Case for a Remake
In his first act, an era that spans 1988’s Child’s Play to 1991’s Child’s Play 3, Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) had charisma but never enjoyed the success – in popularity and box office – of A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees.
The character’s breakout moment finally arrived with 1998’s Bride of Chucky, which debuted a new scarred and stitched facial design for the doll, ditched his pursuit of former owner Andy Barclay, and paired him with Jennifer Tilly’s fan favorite Tiffany.
With its self-referential approach (a must in the era of Scream), Bride at last put Chucky in the conversation with Krueger, Voorhees, Halloween’s Michael Myers, and Texas Chainsaw’s Leatherface – a quintet of modern slashers on par with Universal Studios’ monsters.
While each of those villains saw their respective series’ rebooted in the horror remake craze of the 2000s, Chucky’s comeback came in the form of another sequel, doubling down on meta commentary until the soufflé collapsed with 2005’s Seed of Chucky.
The second act was short-lived. Fans waited nine years for a new film, and while Curse of Chucky and 2017 sequel Cult of Chucky were both well-received, Chucky was now a straight-to-video villain.
Those same fans might be eager to see Chucky back on the big screen, with industry-changing advancements in CGI and motion capture that could bring a more realistic, more agile, and more frightening iteration of the doll to life.
At the same time, Klevberg may be inclined to continue the original film’s commentary on consumer culture.
The Chucky doll that debuted in 1988 was an obvious play on Hasbro’s My Buddy line of dolls, with Mancini and company also satirizing the Cabbage Patch craze years before Jingle All the Way.
A new Child’s Play could see Chucky enter a world in which kid culture has embraced smartphones over dolls, and the Good Guys franchise could be just another failed attempt to compete.
Chucky could find himself fighting not for the thrill of the kill, but for Andy’s love and attention!
Perhaps an introspective Chucky isn’t top of mind for Klevberg and screenwriter Tyler Burton Smith, but Child’s Play works best when the wit and satire is at its sharpest.
What better time for a remake than right now, with Chucky fresh off two acclaimed sequels and enjoying a peak in popularity he hasn’t experienced in 20 years?
The Case Against a Remake
Most arguments against a film’s remake include a reading of the popular “Why can’t Hollywood come up with original ideas?” monologue.
In the case of Chucky and Child’s Play, there’s a much better reason: The last two films are among the best in the series.
Mancini kicked off Chucky’s third act with Curse, which introduced a new protagonist in Fiona Dourif’s Nica and gave the character a personal connection (via retcon) to killer Charles Lee Ray.
Nica went on to appear in Cult, a film that [SPOILER ALERT] sees Chucky posses his new nemesis while being hunted by his old nemesis, Andy (played by original series star Alex Vincent). In the finale, the possessed Nica rides off into the sunset with Tilly’s Tiffany, with the promise that Andy and Child’s Play 2’s Kyle (a returning Christine Elise) would be hot on their trail in the next adventure.
Despite being the sixth and seventh films in a franchise that had faded from the big screen to VOD, Curse and Cult are the most critically lauded entries, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 83 percent and 82 percent, respectively. The next highest rated film in the series is the original Child’s Play, with 69 percent on the review aggregator.
Is it wise to reboot a series just when it’s getting good? Fans hoping to see the next film tie up its various plot threads will now be treated to an entirely new canon, possibly without Tiffany, Nica, Kyle, or even Andy.
And what of the television series? While Child’s Play hasn’t made it to air, genre fans can point to the well-regarded Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as an example of a show that deserved extended life rather than face abrupt cancelation in favor of a subpar theatrical film (in Chronicles case, 2009’s Terminator Salvation).
Fortunately, the fate of Mancini’s Child’s Play show hasn’t been determined, and it’s worth pointing out to worried fans that 2013’s Evil Dead reboot didn’t prevent that series’ original canon from continuing on the small screen with Ash vs. Evil Dead.
While there are arguments for and against a remake, at the end of the day, fans should rejoice that Chucky will live on in some form or another. Perhaps two versions will even grace our theater and television screens simultaneously, and eventually treat us to a “Chucky vs. Chucky” collision of both canons.
That would be a very Child’s Play thing to do.
The Now Playing Podcast Child’s Play Retrospective Series debuted in September 2010, and the reviews can be accessed via the show’s archives.
Alone in the Dark II (Movie Review)
Podcasters Justin, Arnie, and Stuart are still shooting daggers at notorious filmmaker Uwe Boll, this time for making them watch a sequel to reviled video game movie Alone in the Dark. Christian Slater dodged a bullet when he passed off the role of paranormal investigator Edward Carnby to Die Another Day villain Rick Yune. Can the new star muster the strength to leave his sick bed and track down the witch that had him stabbed in a Central Park urinal? And what tricks will occultist veterinarian Lance Henriksen pull from his medicine bag? Listen and find out!
Now Playing needs YOUR help to not become a FALLEN KINGDOM!
Now Playing Podcast is a show without any sponsors or ads. Yet for 10 years we’ve been bringing in-depth movie reviews, and have not missed a free show on Tuesday since 2010! (Yes, that’s 391 weeks of a new show every single Tuesday).
None of this would be possible without our donors and patrons. So listen to this preview of our new bonus review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and then go to http://nowplayingpodcast.com/donate to help keep Now Playing going strong!
Jurassic World – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $50 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
After three failed attempts to open a dinosaur zoo, has Masrani Global Corp finally gotten it right? We find out in Jurassic World–the first new Jurassic Park film in over a decade! With Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt in the lead this film took a record-breaking bite out of the box office. How does it compare to the original trilogy? Donate to Now Playing to find out!
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – Donation Bonus
Three years after the Indominus Rex broke out of its cage and brought down Jurassic World, political activist Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and raptor wrangler Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) return to the Fallen Kingdom to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from an erupting volcano. Can they also protect these dino refugees from a nefarious plot that awaits them? And are Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie sold on director J.A. Bayona, and the new Indo-Raptor? The park is open when you Donate at the Jurassic Level!
Alone in the Dark
Uwe Boll is easily the most prolific creator of video game movies, but does he also deserve his reputation as Worst Filmmaker Ever? The Now Playing Arcade takes up the question with a review of Alone In The Dark, a beloved 1992 supernatural PC game that became a 2005 tax write-off for the hack director. Christian Slater stars as a PI who goes looking for lost 30-year-old orphans, and finds Tara Reid logging Native American artifacts in a museum overrun with monsters. Learn if this box office flop is so bad it’s good, or just bad, when you listen now!
‘Halloween’ 40th Anniversary Convention Announced
Halloween fans crossing off the days until October 19 need to circle a few more dates on their calendars.
Longtime series producer Trancas International Films announced on Monday that the 40th anniversary Halloween convention, “Forty Years of Terror,” is set for Oct. 12-14 at Pasadena Convention Center, just blocks from where John Carpenter’s original film was filmed in 1978.
The fourth official gathering of fans, cast, and crew since 2003, “Forty Years of Terror” is set to be the biggest convention in series history, coming one week before the eleventh film – a direct sequel to Halloween ‘78, and again starring Jamie Lee Curtis – bows in theaters.
Pasadena has hosted the convention – celebrated every five years – since 2003. For the 2018 show, Trancas and fan favorite con promoters HorrorHound will take over an expanded area of the Convention Center for, “more exciting vendors – including notable Halloween licensees – and a number of not-to-be missed events, such as a special Horror’s Hallowed Grounds filming location tour, special gallery offerings, cast Q&As, exclusive H40 and Halloween merchandise offerings” and professional photo ops.
Guest announcements for the 40th anniversary convention will trickle out in the coming weeks, although fans will focused on two names: Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter. While neither appeared at 2013’s “35 Years of Terror,” it would not surprise anyone to see the pair on stage as part of the promotional blitz for the upcoming sequel.
The nine years between 2018’s Halloween and the last film released in the series – Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 – is the largest gap between entries in the 40-year-old franchise. Historically, fans could always count on a new film within five years of the last.
“Forty Years of Terror” marks the first convention held during the year of a new Halloween release. Previous conventions in 2013, 2008, and 2003 occurred in “off” years, but have been well attended by stars of the series.
Ticket prices (including VIP packages) will be announced “within the month,” according to Trancas, on the Halloween 40 website.
SDCC 2018 Exclusive Reveal! Entertainment Earth Deadpool with Baby Cable!
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Entertainment Earth has a huge selection of exclusives at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con International. Now Marvelicious Toys is excited to bring you the exclusive reveal of their next item: The Deadpool with Baby Cable Wooden Push Puppet!
These Push Puppets stand like wooden figures, but when you push the bottom they crumble to the ground. Release the button, they stand back up again. (Pump the button to make them dance!)
This baby Cable/Deadpool combination is a fan favorite from the “House of M” storyline, plus Deadpool popularity is ever-higher thanks to this summer’s Deadpool 2 co-starring Cable!
The Push Puppet is limited to only 1,500 pieces–each one has an individually number holographic sticker. And it is only $8.99
If you’re going to SDCC you can get this at the Entertainment Earth booth #2343. If you’re not going to the show, you can place an order now at Entertainment Earth’s site and, if you’re lucky like Domino (meaning if any are left after SDCC), you may be able to get your hands on one!
The Purge: Election Year — A Podcast Preview
U.S. politicians will worry less about hanging chads in the Election Year 2039, and far more about getting hung from a tree, after Purge Night rules are modified to allow government officials to be hunted. The only way Presidential hopeful Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) will evade assassination, and reach the White House, is to let security guard Frank Grillo, and small business owner Mykelti Williamson, run her campaign for all 12 hours of America’s “murder holiday”. Get full coverage of the race from Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart when you Donate Today!
The Purge: Election Year – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $10 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
U.S. politicians will worry less about hanging chads in the Election Year 2039, and far more about getting hung from a tree, after Purge Night rules are modified to allow government officials to be hunted. The only way Presidential hopeful Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) will evade assassination, and reach the White House, is to let security guard Frank Grillo, and small business owner Mykelti Williamson, run her campaign for all 12 hours of America’s “murder holiday”. Get full coverage of the race from Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart when you Donate Today!
The Purge: Election Year
U.S. politicians will worry less about hanging chads in the Election Year 2039, and far more about getting hung from a tree, after Purge Night rules are modified to allow government officials to be hunted. The only way Presidential hopeful Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) will evade assassination, and reach the White House, is to let security guard Frank Grillo, and small business owner Mykelti Williamson, run her campaign for all 12 hours of America’s “murder holiday”. Get full coverage of the race from Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart when you Donate Today!
Incredibles 2
It took 14 years for Pixar and director Brad Bird to create a sequel for popular superhero family The Parrs. Now mother Helen (Holly Hunter) steps back into the role of Elastigirl to lead a global PR campaign championing superpowers. But how easily can she change minds on the supers ban when new villain Screenslaver uses television to hypnotize and control the masses? And how well does stay-at-home dad Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) do raising Violet, Dash, and baby Jack Jack without her? Listen now as Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart dig into Incredibles 2!
The Incredibles 2 — UNEDITED PODCAST for Patrons Only
Now Playing’s review of The Incredibles 2 will be on our main feed Tuesday, June 19, 2018 — for free, for everyone, forever. But patrons of $25 or more can enjoy this early unedited release.
Being a (mostly) unedited podcast. It will contain background noises, misspeaks, and other errors. Also a couple corrections or “inserts” may be in the final version and not in this release.
But we are releasing this for our Patrons of $25 or more who want the fastest access to the show!
It took 14 years for Pixar and director Brad Bird to create a sequel for popular superhero family The Parrs. Now mother Helen (Holly Hunter) steps back into the role of Elastigirl to lead a global PR campaign championing superpowers. But how easily can she change minds on the supers ban when new villain Screenslaver uses television to hypnotize and control the masses? And how well does stay-at-home dad Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) do raising Violet, Dash, and baby Jack Jack without her? Listen now as Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart dig into Incredibles 2!
The Purge: Anarchy — A Podcast Preview
Writer/director James DeMonaco is takin’ it to the streets for the quickie sequel to his surprise hit The Purge. Tough guy Frank Grillo and poor waitress Carmen Ejogo are among the unlucky folk caught up in the Anarchy of downtown Los Angeles on Purge Night 2023. Do podcasters Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart cleanse their souls, or just empty their bowels, engaging in this second course of social Darwinism? Donate tonight and find out!
The Purge: Anarchy
Writer/director James DeMonaco is takin’ it to the streets for the quickie sequel to his surprise hit The Purge. Tough guy Frank Grillo and poor waitress Carmen Ejogo are among the unlucky folk caught up in the Anarchy of downtown Los Angeles on Purge Night 2023. Do podcasters Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart cleanse their souls, or just empty their bowels, engaging in this second course of social Darwinism? Donate tonight and find out!
Ocean’s 8
George Clooney and his crew are sitting out the latest caper so that little sister Debra (Sandra Bullock) and seven criminally-minded gal pals have a chance to steal the spotlight. Ocean’s 8 finds the girl gang attempting to lift a $150 million diamond necklace, worn to a glitzy red carpet gala by annoying Hollywood starlet Anne Hathaway. But can Debra pull off the sting while also getting revenge on the art dealer ex-boyfriend who put her to jail (Richard Armitage)? And who in the octet walks away with the hearts of hosts Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob? Listen and find out.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
It sure looked like Liu Kang (Robin Shou) won the Mortal Kombat tournament last film, but that’s not stopping his demonic foes from continuing their assault on Earth. Now the only way our heroes can stop mankind’s Annihilation is to challenge Outworld emperor Shao Kahn (Brian Thompson) to a rematch. Is new director John Leonetti up for this fight? And could someone please move the Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge out of the arena? Things are bound to get messy as Justin, Stuart, and Arnie play referee for this contentious sequel. Listen now!
Enter the Dragon – Patron Exclusive Review
Kung Fu films have a storied history, but Americans would likely be unaware of it were it not for one man–Bruce Lee. The martial arts virtuoso and actor brought this Hong Kong style to the United States with his breakout film Enter the Dragon. Sadly, Lee would not live to see his biggest film released, but his legacy lives on to this day. So enter the ring by becoming a Now Playing Patron and spar with the Now Playing hosts as they reflect on this kung fu classic.
Questions for the new ‘Halloween’ and 6 trailer Easter eggs to look for
By eschewing the nine(!) sequels separating John Carpenter’s Halloween from the 2018 follow-up, the latter group of filmmakers (which includes writer/director David Gordon Green, writer Danny McBride, producer Jason Blum, and Carpenter himself in an executive producer role) have freed themselves from four decades of the slasher series’ tangled canon.
Audiences are simply asked to forget the events of Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake (and its lesser sequel), the “Cult of Thorn” arc that link Halloween’s 4-6, and even the well-received 20th anniversary Halloween H20, itself a sequel that ignored the events of four prior films.
That’s not easy to do, though it should be noted that fans have likely erased their memories of H20’s follow-up, Halloween: Resurrection, in which series villain Michael Myers faced off with a karate-kicking Busta Rhymes.
Yet, by making the new Halloween a direct follow-up to the 1978 original, Green and company are raising questions that will deserve answers once the film bows on October 19.
Chief among them: How was Michael Myers captured following his disappearance at the end of the first film? For those who haven’t gone back recently, in the climactic moments of Carpenter’s Halloween, Myers was shot by his psychiatrist, Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance), and fell from the second-floor balcony of a home in which he’d cornered Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode.
However, when Loomis goes to inspect the body he finds Myers gone, setting up the first sequel, which picks up at that very moment.
The 2018 Halloween trailer opens with a pair of investigative journalists visiting Myers in a prison/asylum. How he ended up there? Only the filmmakers know, for now.
On that note, how will the sequel explain Loomis’ fate? Pleasance’s character is referenced in the trailer, and if he wasn’t killed at the end of 1981’s Halloween II (again, it’s been wiped from canon), the new film should reference what became of Loomis.
Judging by the trailer’s approach to Laurie Strode – she’s armed and waiting for Myers to escape – it appears the one-time “final girl” has assumed Loomis’ role as the series’ Van Helsing, the hunter/harbinger, prepared to face her mortal enemy while warning the rest of fictional Haddonfield, Illinois of their approaching doom.
For fans who still hold the sequels (or at least, some of them) close to their hearts, they can take comfort in the fact that this new Halloween is peppered with homages and Easter eggs they’ll surely recognize, if they’re paying attention.
Here are six that stood out from the first trailer:
Courtesy: Universal Pictures
1. Wandering Patients
Myers’ escape in the sequel is the result of a yet-to-be explained bus accident. The trailer shows a family in their car braking suddenly when the killer and his fellow asylum patients are wandering in the road.
The scene bears resemblance to the opening of the 1978 film, in which Pleasance’s Loomis and Nancy Stephens’ Nurse Chambers come upon the escaped patients of Smith’s Grove Sanitarium.
2. Sibling Rivalry
While Laurie Strode’s connection to Michael Myers initially felt forced in the first Halloween sequel – the two are brother and sister, with Laurie put up for adoption after he committed murder as a 6-year-old – the familial bond went on to become a critical thread in chapters 4-8 and Zombie’s films.
In the new trailer, a character hints at the relation between killer and survivor, until Strode’s granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak) responds, “that’s something that people made up.”
Unless there’s a curveball coming in the finished film, this is just another way Halloween’s writers are tipping their caps to the series’ fans.
Courtesy: Universal Pictures
3. Restroom Horror
In the trailer, Myers is seen terrorizing one of the investigative journalists inside a gas station restroom. Fans of the series will immediately be reminded of a scene in Halloween H20 in which Myers stalks a mother and daughter in a restroom, only to steal the keys to their car.
The scene could also be a reference to Zombie’s Halloween, in which Myers acquires his familiar coveralls in a to-the-death fight with Ken Foree’s Joe Grizzly.
4. Watch Where You’re Going
Another trailer callback to the first Halloween occurs when a pair of trick-or-treaters run into Myers on the sidewalk. The scene in the trailer (at 2:00) even makes use of Carpenter’s original score, and mirrors the moment in 1978’s Halloween when young bully Ritchie Castle (Mickey Yablans) runs into Myers.
A similar scene occurs in Halloween II when a young boy carrying a boom box (Lance Warlock) accidentally crosses paths with Myers.
Courtesy: Universal Pictures
5. Ghosting
One of the iconic scenes in Carpenter’s Halloween sees Myers approaching his victim in the guise of her boyfriend, wearing a “ghost sheet” with two eyeholes cut out.
The trailer shows a similarly dressed shape waiting in a chair as Will Patton’s cop surveys a bedroom. We’ll have to wait until October 19 to see who’s under the sheet.
6. Silver Shamrock is Back!
The decision to abandon the Michael Myers character and go with a brand new storyline for 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch is one that flummoxed critics and audiences back in the day.
Those in line to see babysitters stalked by a killer were instead treated to a somewhat incomprehensible plot to murder the children of the world using Silver Shamrock brand Halloween masks fitted with microchips and pieces of Stonehenge.
It’s a Twilight Zone-meets-Body Snatchers plot that never quite comes together and derailed the franchise just as Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street would begin to dominate the 80s slasher scene.
Decades later, Season of the Witch has found its cult audience, and fans looking closely at the just-released trailer will notice — for a split second at 2:07 — children running in fear wearing the classic Silver Shamrock masks.
What other Easter Eggs did you spot in the trailer? Let us know and revisit the series with Now Playing Podcast’s Halloween retrospective.
The Purge — A Podcast Preview
Release The Beast, and let podcasters Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart bring The Purge franchise into your home tonight! Ethan Hawke stars as a security systems specialist who got rich in near-future America when crime became legal for one night a year. He’ll find out just how safe his family really is when a homeless man takes refuge in their mansion on Purge Night 2022, and masked yuppies assault the place looking to murder them all. Your soul will be cleansed when you Donate Today for this Silver Level Series!
The Purge
Release The Beast, and let podcasters Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart bring The Purge franchise into your home tonight! Ethan Hawke stars as a security systems specialist who got rich in near-future America when crime became legal for one night a year. He’ll find out just how safe his family really is when a homeless man takes refuge in their mansion on Purge Night 2022, and masked yuppies assault the place looking to murder them all. Your soul will be cleansed when you Donate Today for this Silver Level Series!
Mortal Kombat
Video games finally broke through at the box office in 1995 with the release of Mortal Kombat – director Paul WS Anderson’s cinematic take on the popular Midway fighting game. Earth will fall under the control of demons unless Thunder god Raiden (Christopher Lambert) can assemble a team of human martial artists that rivals end bosses Goro, Kano, Sub Zero, Scorpion, and Sheng Tsung. Is this next entry in the Now Playing Arcade a winner, or will Justin, Stuart, and Arnie receive another hard blow to the head? Find out when you listen now!
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) – A Podcast Preview
Before creating The Purge franchise, James DeMonaco broke into the home invasion genre by writing a remake of Assault on Precinct 13. Ethan Hawke is now the cop who must protect a condemned Detroit police station – and prisoners Ja Rule, John Leguizamo, and crime boss Laurence Fishburne – from heavily armed mercenaries swarming the doors and windows one snowy New Year’s Eve. Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob have drawn up a full psych evaluation of the 2005 redo. Get the confidential report when you donate today!
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Before creating The Purge franchise, James DeMonaco broke into the home invasion genre by writing a remake of Assault on Precinct 13. Ethan Hawke is now the cop who must protect a condemned Detroit police station – and prisoners Ja Rule, John Leguizamo, and crime boss Laurence Fishburne – from heavily armed mercenaries swarming the doors and windows one snowy New Year’s Eve. Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob have drawn up a full psych evaluation of the 2005 redo. Get the confidential report when you donate today!
Solo: A Star Wars Story
One of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe has gone Solo. Harrison Ford earned fame and fortune playing an irascible space bandit in four sci-fi blockbusters. Now rising star Alden Ehrenreich inherits the iconic role in a prequel that dramatizes Han Solo’s first mission in the Millennium Falcon. He joins Chewie, Lando, and a band of criminals for a hyperfuel heist on planet Kessel, but will longtime fans be the ones feeling ripped off? Assume Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart won’t betray you and you won’t be disappointed in their latest podcast!
Solo: A Star Wars Story — UNEDITED PODCAST for Patrons Only
This is a (mostly) unedited podcast. It will contain background noises, misspeaks, and other errors. Also a couple corrections or “inserts” may be in the final version and not in this release.
But we are releasing this for our Patrons of $25 or more who want the fastest access to the show!
One of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe has gone Solo. Harrison Ford earned fame and fortune playing an irascible space bandit in four sci-fi blockbusters. Now rising star Alden Ehrenreich inherits the iconic role in a prequel that dramatizes Han Solo’s first mission in the Millennium Falcon. He joins Chewie, Lando, and a band of criminals for a hyperfuel heist on planet Kessel, but will longtime fans be the ones feeling ripped off? Assume Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart won’t betray you and you won’t be disappointed in their latest podcast!
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) – A Podcast Preview
Before he was a Master of Horror, Halloween director John Carpenter transplanted the Western genre to South Side Los Angeles for the explosive action flick Assault on Precinct 13. Austin Stoker stars as a newly promoted cop babysitting a condemned police station on its last night of operation. Can he shield the few remaining employees, as well as a Frank Kersey-like vigilante, from the heavily armed street gang besieging their rundown building? Hear Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob break it all down when you donate today!
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Before he was a Master of Horror, Halloween director John Carpenter transplanted the Western genre to South Side Los Angeles for the explosive action flick Assault on Precinct 13. Austin Stoker stars as a newly promoted cop babysitting a condemned police station on its last night of operation. Can he shield the few remaining employees, as well as a Frank Kersey-like vigilante, from the heavily armed street gang besieging their rundown building? Hear Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob break it all down when you donate today!
Deadpool 2
You know who’s big? I am! Not in that way, get your mind out of the gutter! (Okay, I’m big in that way too.) But my first movie was more popular than Jesus! So take that John Lennon!
But even with my healing factor I’m not immune to…performance anxiety. The dreaded sophomore slump can happen to anyone. I’ve got a second movie out and I pulled out the big guns. (Literally. Cable has a ginormous rifle. How does he hold that with those tiny hands?) But even with Cable and X-Force I’m worried– will Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart think it’s as good as the first one? I’m scared…why don’t you listen now and let me know?
Deadpool 2 — UNEDITED PODCAST for Patrons Only
This is a (mostly) unedited podcast. It will contain background noises, misspeaks, and other errors. Also a couple corrections or “inserts” may be in the final version and not in this release.
But we are releasing this for our Patrons of $25 or more who want the fastest access to the show!
Ryan Reynolds made a string of flops before finally finding big screen success as wisecracking mutant mercenary Wade Wilson. So why does the Canadian heartthrob want to commit career suicide and kill off this seemingly invincible superhero in Deadpool 2? Can time-travelling cyborg Cable (Josh Brolin), bullied mutant teenager Firefist (Julian Dennison), or any of the extended X-Men family save this unlucky actor from his self-destructive tendencies? Join Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie as they place their bets on the franchise’s odds for survival.
Serpico – A Podcast Preview
Al Pacino is best known for playing gangsters, but this summer Now Playing Platinum Level donors will discover how explosively the actor administers justice in five major cop roles. The fun starts with the 1973 biopic Serpico. Al stars as a real life New York City police officer who got a bullet in the face instead of a promotion when he blew the whistle on widespread department corruption. Will Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart condemn the system for passing over Pacino for a Best Actor Oscar yet again? It all comes out in the wash when you Donate Today.
Serpico
Al Pacino is best known for playing gangsters, but this summer Now Playing Platinum Level donors will discover how explosively the actor administers justice in five major cop roles. The fun starts with the 1973 biopic Serpico. Al stars as a real life New York City police officer who got a bullet in the face instead of a promotion when he blew the whistle on widespread department corruption. Will Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart condemn the system for passing over Pacino for a Best Actor Oscar yet again? It all comes out in the wash when you Donate Today.
Wing Commander
Game developer Chris Roberts was on course to deliver the first major science fiction film of 1999 when he personally piloted his massively popular flight simulator Wing CommanderPhantom Menace and The Matrix. Do fighter pilots Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard offer a new hope for genre fans as they clean the cat box of feline space invaders The Kilrathi? Or should Arnie, Justin, and Stuart quickly eject from this next entry in the Now Playing Arcade? Listen and find out!
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
20 years after computer programmer Jordan Mechner released Prince of Persia for the Apple IIe, the Disney Company paid the kingly sum of $200 million to launch his video game swashbuckler Dastan on the big screen. A Middle Eastern Jake Gyllenhaal looks for a way to turn back time after he’s framed for the murder of his adoptive royal father. Does the Now Playing Arcade take a gravity-defying leap forward with the acrobatic hero? Or would Stuart, Arnie, and Justin be more entertained by an ostrich race? Place your bets and Listen Now!
Goodfellas – A Patron Podcast Preview
Goodfellas – Patron Exclusive Review
The Godfather Part III – A Podcast Preview
The Now Playing hosts may wish to be out, but Al Pacino pulls them back in for one more Godfather installment. Part III marks the final screen appearance of aging gangster Michael Corleone, now eager to cut a deal with the Vatican and legitimize his family business. Was he wise to to hand the puppet strings to bastard nephew Andy Garcia? And was this the wrong day for director Francis Ford Coppola to take his daughter to work? Receive your ticket to this Gold Level opera when you Donate Now!
The Godfather Part III – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $25 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
The Now Playing hosts may wish to be out, but Al Pacino pulls them back in for one more Godfather installment. Part III marks the final screen appearance of aging gangster Michael Corleone, now eager to cut a deal with the Vatican and legitimize his family business. Was he wise to to hand the puppet strings to bastard nephew Andy Garcia? And was this the wrong day for director Francis Ford Coppola to take his daughter to work? Receive your ticket to this Gold Level opera when you Donate Now!
Every dollar you donate goes to make this show the best it can be. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the podcast!
The Godfather Part III – For Annual Subscribers
The Now Playing hosts may wish to be out, but Al Pacino pulls them back in for one more Godfather installment. Part III marks the final screen appearance of aging gangster Michael Corleone, now eager to cut a deal with the Vatican and legitimize his family business. Was he wise to to hand the puppet strings to bastard nephew Andy Garcia? And was this the wrong day for director Francis Ford Coppola to take his daughter to work? Receive your ticket to this Gold Level opera when you Donate Now!
NOTE: This listing is for annual subscribers to our show. You can also get this movie review individually for a small donation.
Every dollar you donate goes to make this show the best it can be. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the podcast!
The Godfather Part III
The Now Playing hosts may wish to be out, but Al Pacino pulls them back in for one more Godfather installment. Part III marks the final screen appearance of aging gangster Michael Corleone, now eager to cut a deal with the Vatican and legitimize his family business. Was he wise to to hand the puppet strings to bastard nephew Andy Garcia? And was this the wrong day for director Francis Ford Coppola to take his daughter to work? Receive your ticket to this Gold Level opera when you Donate Now!
Avengers: Infinity War
Ten years ago Marvel Comics gambled their entire existence, using all their remaining IP as collateral, on the idea that they could make superhero films better than anyone else. 18 movies later, Marvel Studios makes their biggest bet yet – a billion dollars that audiences will love “the most ambitious crossover event in history” and one gaudy gold glove! Is more the merrier when it comes to superheroes on screen, or are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes set up for an epic fail? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob now as they review Avengers: Infinity War!
Avengers: Infinity War — UNEDITED PODCAST for Patrons Only
This is a (mostly) unedited podcast. It will contain background noises, misspeaks, and other errors. Also a couple corrections or “inserts” may be in the final version and not in this release.
But we are releasing this for our Patrons of $25 or more who want the fastest access to the show!
Ten years ago Marvel Comics gambled their entire existence, using all their remaining IP as collateral, on the idea that they could make superhero movies better than anyone else. Ten years and 18 movies later, not only has their gamble paid off but few would disagree with their hubris. Now Marvel Studios makes another big bet, a billion dollars, that audiences will love what they tout as “the most ambitious crossover event in history.” Is the more the merrier when it comes to superheroes on screen, or is this an overstuffed, overlong, bloated bust? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob now as they review Avengers: Infinity War!
The Godfather Part II – A Podcast Preview
Two years after The Godfather won Oscars and big box office, director Francis Ford Coppola and his loyal star Al Pacino used all their power to create an even more ambitious sequel. Part II retraces the footsteps of father Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) from Sicily to America, contrasting his rise to power with son Michael Corleone losing Family influence with Cuban investments and U.S. Senate investigations. Will Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart pass over the first film and declare its younger brother to be the smart one? Donate Today for Gold and find out!
The Godfather Part II – Limited Time Release for Patrons
Note: This podcast is available to Now Playing Podcast Patrons of $25 or more. This podcast will only be available until August 31, 2018, so be sure to listen (and, if you want to listen after, to download) before that date!
You can also get this podcast through the Now Playing Spring 2018 Donation Drive, or individually for a small donation.
Two years after The Godfather won Oscars and big box office, director Francis Ford Coppola and his loyal star Al Pacino used all their power to create an even more ambitious sequel. Part II retraces the footsteps of father Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) from Sicily to America, contrasting his rise to power with son Michael Corleone losing Family influence with Cuban investments and U.S. Senate investigations. Will Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart pass over the first film and declare its younger brother to be the smart one? Donate for Gold and find out!
Every dollar you donate goes to make this show the best it can be. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the podcast!
The Godfather: Part II – For Annual Subscribers
Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob are making listeners an offer they can’t refuse: a retrospective of Al Pacino’s greatest gangster performances, kicking off with the Francis Ford Coppola classic The Godfather. Did Al have to cut the head off a horse in order to land the star-making role of Michael Corleone? And does Pacino, then an untested New York stage actor, prove to be a contender sharing the screen with heavyweight thespian Marlon Brando? Join the Now Playing Family for this Gold Level discussion when you Donate Today!
NOTE: This listing is for annual subscribers to our show. You can also get this movie review individually for a small donation.
Every dollar you donate goes to make this show the best it can be. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the podcast!
The Godfather Part II
Two years after The Godfather won Oscars and big box office, director Francis Ford Coppola and his loyal star Al Pacino used all their power to create an even more ambitious sequel. Part II retraces the footsteps of father Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) from Sicily to America, contrasting his rise to power with son Michael Corleone losing Family influence with Cuban investments and U.S. Senate investigations. Will Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart pass over the first film and declare its younger brother to be the smart one? Donate for Gold and find out!
NOTE: This Podcast is released as part of Now Playing Podcast’s Spring, 2018 Donation Drive.
Every dollar you donate goes to make this show the best it can be. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the podcast!
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
No one was better suited to convert the role playing mechanics of the best-selling Final Fantasy series into stirring cinema than game creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. But dreams of writing and directing the world’s most photorealistic animated movie crashed to earth like a meteor when The Spirits Within landed in theaters in summer 2001. Gaia only knows what podcasters Justin, Arnie, and Stuart will find inside the wreckage of this poetic tale of parasitic alien invasion! So let down your defense shields and listen now.
The Godfather – A Podcast Preview
Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob are making listeners an offer they can’t refuse: a retrospective of Al Pacino’s greatest gangster performances, kicking off with the Francis Ford Coppola classic The Godfather. Did Al have to cut the head off a horse in order to land the star-making role of Michael Corleone? And does Pacino, then an untested New York stage actor, prove to be a contender sharing the screen with heavyweight thespian Marlon Brando? Join the Now Playing Family for this Gold Level discussion when you Donate Today!
Rampage
32 years after making its debut as a city-leveling coin-op video game, Rampage bursts onto the big screen as a brand new movie. So why are Dwayne Johnson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Joe Manganiello so eager to shut down the Chicago block party being thrown by giant gorilla George, mutant crocodile Lizzie, and massive wolf Ralph? Join podcasters Arnie, Justin, and Stuart as they try to figure out why New Line Pictures plunked so many quarters into this arcade classic.
Beetlejuice – Patron Exclusive Review
It’s showtime once again for Betelgeuse… better known as Beetlejuice. (Just don’t say his name thrice!) The fast-talking “bio-exorcist” made the heads of millions of moviegoers spin when he debuted in theaters 30 years ago this month. Now “co-hosts with the most” Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart dig up this first collaboration between Batman star Michael Keaton and director Tim Burton to see if the zany afterlife comedy still kills. Listeners can join them in the conga line when they become a Now Playing Patron!
Doom (2005)
Long before he took on a Rampage of giant gorillas, wolves and lizards, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson led a squadron of Doom-ed Marines to Mars for another blowout with video game baddies. The 1993 first-person shooter Doom changed the way millions looked at their PCs. So why wasn’t the 2005 movie adaptation a similar success? Join Justin, Arnie, and Stuart as they analyze the DNA of this box office bomb to determine if its the handiwork of angels or demons.
Ready Player One
Get ready to “clan up” with Arnie, Justin, and Stuart for a podcast review of Ready Player One. Steven Spielberg’s latest sci-fi adventure imagines the future of entertainment to be pop culture icons of the past populating a massive cyber playground. Should viewers cough up the coins it takes to slip on a pair of 3D glasses and join gamer Wade Watts (Ty Sheridan) – along with Freddy Krueger, Hello Kitty, Iron Giant, and countless other superstars of the 1980s and 90s – for a virtual reality scavenger hunt? Listen and find out.
Pacific Rim: Uprising — Early Release for Patrons
This show will be available for all listeners Tuesday, March 27th, but Patrons of $25 or more can listen to it now!
Hasbro Q&A — HasLab Sail Barge (and Yakface!) Update
From Left to Right, Steve Evans, Mark Boudreaux, and Joe Ninivaggi
Today Star Wars Action News was privileged to be one of only three fan sites participating in a Q&A with the Star Wars Brand Team at Hasbro. The topic was, of course, their current crowdfunding project for the Khetanna — Jabba the Hutt’s Sail Barge playset that measures 4-feet long.
Participating in the conversation were our long-time friends from Hasbro: Steve Evans (Design Director for Star Wars toys), Mark Boudreaux (Senior Principal Designer for Star Wars toys), and Joe Ninivaggi (Director, Global Brand Strategy & Marketing – Star Wars).
The conversation revealed some new information about the current campaign, and also had a nice video tour of the newly painted Sail Barge.
You can read the transcript of the interview below, but the high points are:
- The Yakface figure included with the Khetanna, on the Power of the Force card with the silver coin, will have the lowest production run of any modern Star Wars figure (assuming the Barge’s numbers don’t end dramatically above 5,000)
- If you live in the US or Canada the crowdfunding is the only way you will ever be able to buy the Barge. If the Barge is backed then Hasbro will make a small quantity of Barges available, but only for those living outside of the US and Canada.
- The paint on the barge took over 200 man-hours. (The design of the barge took over “one thousand” Mark half-joked.)
- The team is looking at only one Star Wars HasLab project per year. HasLab will do multiple projects per year, but the others will be for Marvel, Transformers, and My Little Pony.
- This is the team’s first crowdfunding effort and they’re using it as a learning experience. Future HasLab projects will take current feedback into account regarding payment plans, cost of items, duration of the campaign, etc.
- The Barge is incredibly cool with so many details that can only be seen close-up, including a sink faucet in the galley and a retractable microphone in Jabba’s dais.
- If the Barge is funded the Hasbro team is looking at producing an updated Jabba the Hutt figure with an improved paint application and perhaps facial sculpting from their previous efforts.
Below is an rundown of the conversation.
The team started with a run-down of the Entertainment Weekly reveal of the painted Sail Barge, and the inclusion of the Power of the Force Yakface figure. Steve said the paint job was “200 man and woman hours” of work, to which Mark added “And that’s just to paint it. Not including the work that’s been done since… another 1,000 hours there.” They also noted a pick-up in orders since yesterday’s news, but they still need almost 1,800 orders in 12 days.
Then the Q&A Began
Question: What is your ideal rate for Star Wars campaigns? One per year, two per year, etc?
Answer: Joe said HasLab will likely have multiple initiatives per year across Transformers, My Little Pony, and Marvel, but they are starting with only one Star Wars initiative per year “and take it from there.”
Q: Why was a payment option not made available for the Barge as other companies do for items of similar price.
A: Joe replied, “I think this will answer a number of questions but this is our first time doing this. We’re learning a lot on this. HasbroToyShop, which, of course, is our partner that allows us to sell directly to fans, they’re set up a certain way and we went out with this particular model. There’s always opportunity to learn in the future, we’ve definitely seen that come up as a request and something that would hopefully make the product more accessible to all fans.”
Q: At Toy Fair Steve told Star Wars Action News that if the Barge is funded then there may be opportunities for it to be sold other methods. And on the HasLab FAQ it states “We reserve the rights to make the products (or similar versions of the products) available at other sources, such as online stores and retail locations, but such availability is not guaranteed.”
But in an Instagram post on March 19 Hasbro said the Barge would not be available via traditional retail outlets.
Can you clarify these statements? Is it possible the Barge will be available at retail if it is funded?
A: Steve clarified that if you live in the US and Canada then backing at HasbroLab.com is the only way you will be able to purchase the barge. There are no plans to take this to retail in the US and Canada. However, since only US and Canada can purchase from HasbroLab.com then, if the Barge hits its 5,000 orders, they would make an additional, limited quantity available to international buyers only.
Q: People say there’s not enough time to budget for a $500 item in the time of the Barge. In the future can we get a bit more notice?
Steve said they are getting insights daily and have learned a lot going for future projects like this. Their team read studies indicating 45 days is the optimal time for crowdfunding* and that longer campaigns have lower success rates. For future crowdfunding campaigns they will look at “everything” and see how to adjust timing.
(Note: In my own research I’ve read campaigns over 30 days have a lower success rate. Either way, Steve’s point is valid. -Arnie)
Q: Perhaps in the future could Hasbro announce the campaign at Toy Fair, but launch it at San Diego Comic-Con so collectors have a few months to save up, not just 45 days.
A: Joe said that is a good idea and they may look at doing that next time. They added that projects do not get much more ambitious in terms of size and price than the Sail Barge. They’ve wanted to do it for decades. But they know that price points for future items don’t always have to be this expensive.
Q: The Jabba on display in the published Sail Barge photos looks like the Toys R Us exclusive from a few years ago. Is it an old Jabba or is it a new Jabba?
Mark clarified that Jabba is the same sculpt that came with the Jabba/Rancor set, but they wanted to make a special Jabba for the barge so they’re looking at enhancing his deco. The photos released show more weathering on the body and highlights to the face than the Jabba/Rancor set had. They’ll be looking at techniques, either photo-real or more traditional techniques, to make this new Jabba noticeably different from the older version.
Q: Can Slave Leia be rereleased to pose in the Barge
A: Steve said for characters that enhance the Barge, they’re doing Yakface and Skiff Guard. They’ll look at other background characters from these scenes if the Barge is successful. As for Slave Leia–no plans but they’ll look at it.
Q: If the Barge meets its goal of 5,000, but not much higher, will this carded Yakface with the coin have the lowest production run of any modern Hasbro Star Wars figure?
A: Steve gave an emphatic “yes”. Historically Hasbro does not give production numbers for its products, but Steve compared the Yakface to their San Diego Comic-Con exclusives. For that convention he said they produce more than 5,000 of the exclusives (“not a lot more, but more”).
Steve added that Yakface on the Power of the Force card will not only be a “physical rarity” but also an “emotional rarity” given how Yakface and Blue Snaggletooth are the holy grails to many vintage Star Wars figure collectors.
Q: How will Hasbro handle broken/missing parts, and keep backers informed of progress?
A: Steve said for broken parts the usual Hasbro policy to contact Customer Service applies.
But Joe went on to say that the packaging team has been challenged to make the box secure. Additionally, they hope for the box to have nice presentation, including perhaps trays that slide out when packaged. They hope to make the experience of the unboxing as cool as the item itself. They feel presentation is really important with this, so it needs more than just printed inserts. “This is a vintage item, after all, and we want to make sure to present it,” Mark said.
In regards to communication with buyers, Joe said “It’s not everyday you buy something for $500 and don’t get it for a year afterwards.” As such, if the project is successful, the Hasbro team plans to take backers on a behind-the-scenes journey, keeping them updated with the inner workings of Hasbro on how the Barge is made and shipped.
Q: Will there be tape on the Vintage box?
A: The team asked what we would be interested in, and unanimously the sites requested no tape on the Vintage box, just a flap-fold, and tape the shipping carton.
There was also discussion if the Yakface will be shipped inside the same box as the Barge. Steve said they don’t know for sure–currently it is in the box but that could change.
Q: With less than two weeks away from the end of the campaign, with about 1800 orders needed, what is the mood at Hasbro? How has this impacted you emotionally?
A: Steve said, “We’re on the edge of our seats. The trajectory is what we expected. It spikes, levels off, and spikes in the end.” He said that the released pictures of the painted Sail Barge helped make it real for some people, and adding the exclusive Yakface also helped.
They all agreed the campaign is emotionally draining. “It’s taken up a lot of our time personally and we have invested ourselves greatly on something that doesn’t yet exist,” Steve said. “I feel confident because it’s a great project but it’s up to the fans.”
“You don’t want to see a grown man cry,” Mark added on as the interview came to an end.
Then we were treated to a video tour of the painted Sail Barge and the Hasbro team pointed out many features that have not had much attention from fans:
- The jail in the lower level has a sliding metal door to differentiate from the wood. The Barge will come with two metal chains of different sizes to put different character sizes (perhaps a human and a Wookiee?) in the jail.
- In the galley they wanted to “set a tone for the interiors” and then let fans embellish and fill it out to what they felt their fantasy for Jabba would be. The Barge has a kitchen counter, a couple sinks, faucet, and Chupas hanging from the wall in the back, setting the stage for how fans might like to complete their diorama. That’s one of the reasons they wanted to go with the Sail Barge: it’s awesome to start with, they said. Very iconic, a great movie beat with lots of characters involved, so they wanted something that could really push dioramas to the next level and interact with a lot of your characters both new and old.
And they have some “Work in progress” images of painting that will be coming soon.
- Next to the galley is the armory. Axes are mounted to the wall as decoration. They also have some horn racks on the back wall where you can hang your blasters, staffs, etc. and there’s a table in the back where you can repair your weapons.
There are a couple staffs in the model photographs that were released, but those are not included with the barge. You will need to supply your own weapons and staffs. The axes on the wall are permanently attached decoration.
- Moving into the lounge it’s more about comfort. A lot of wooden surfaces, wooden walls, wooden floors. There are opening and closing shutters on either side, as well as the dais which you can move back and forth a bit to adjust the floor plan.
- You can actually pull the microphone out of the control panel on Jabba’s dias. It’s attached to a cable and for production they’re going to increase the length of the cable so you can have a C-3PO figure hold it.
- One question they had was about foot pegs. They talked about it and, other than 2 foot pegs on the platform on the deck cannon, they’ve elected to not include foot pegs in the vehicle itself. They didn’t want to disrupt the aesthetics by putting traditional foot pegs and they didn’t want to limit character placement.
- They have the rancor trophy mounted to the wall, Ishi Tib heads, a Gammorrean Guard head, and Jabba’s mural mounted to the wall. They wanted to include all the details seen in the film and then let you embellish with your own accessories.
- There is a side hatch with a larger port where the Weequay can come out to surprise Luke (it’s larger as the barge isn’t QUITE to scale with 3.75 in figures).
- They worked closely with Lucasfilm for all the details on the cockpit. They went to the archives and looked at all the reference photos, and also went into the vault to get any inspiration they might need to include other details.
- There is a corridor so a figure can walk from the Cockpit all through the ship.
- There will also be a trap door in the deck above that goes down into the jail. A button on the side will allow you to activate the trap door. “Gotta have some fun right? It can’t be all serious display stuff,” Steve said.
- They’re making a subtle revision to the rail so if you have a Vism with a cannon open stock it will be able to fit onto the rail.
- The sails would be removable so if you wanted to open the deck up for play it’s easy to do. The sails will stay in tact but you’re able to lift them off!
And with that Steve concluded the interview saying “Thank you for all your support. Fingers crossed, trust in the force, #BacktheYak, #BacktheBarge!”
If you want to order, the campaign is open until April 3, 2018. You can back the project now at HasbroLab.com
You can see newly released photos of the Barge and its accessories in the gallery below!
Tomb Raider
It’s been 15 years since Lara Croft last raided movie theaters, but now a new Oscar-winning actress is picking up the controls and racing into action. Tomb Raider 2018 – an origin story for the scrappy video game heroine – finds Danish Girl Alicia Vikander tracking her missing father Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West) to a mythical Japanese island crawling with mercenaries and booby traps. Listen now to find out if survivors Stuart, Arnie, and Justin have reached higher ground in the Now Playing Arcade.
Hellraiser: Judgment
For the last several sequels, the Hellraiser franchise has been chewing through bad scripts and vomiting the pages all over Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart. Now 10th chapter Judgment aims to break this cycle by employing a kooky new collective of Cenobites – including a nebbish Auditor, a glutinous Assessor, a cleaver-wielding Butcher, and a recast Pinhead (Paul T. Taylor). Are they guilty of bearing false witness against Clive Barker by pursuing a serial killer with a Ten Commandments fetish? Donate Now to find out if there’s any soul left to tear apart!
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life — Early Release for Patrons!
Angelina Jolie reprised her role as England’s most scantily clad excavator for her second and final Tomb Raider adventure. Cradle of Life finds Lady Croft diving into sunken ruins with Greek sailors, motorcycling across the Great Wall of China with Gerard Butler, and ascending African peaks with Djimon Hounsou. All in the hopes of beating blackhearted bio-engineer Ciaran Hinds to Pandora’s Box. Listen and find out if this 2003 sequel is plagued by the same problems that made Arnie, Justin, and Stuart deathly ill watching previous video game adaptations.
High Tension (Haute Tension) – Patron Exclusive Review
America wasn’t the only country to produce torture porn this millennium. Piranha 3D director Alexandre Aja first made a name for himself with the 2003 Gaelic slasher Haute Tension. Will Yank audiences be able to translate this ultraviolent tale of a deranged mechanic stalking two college girls in the French countryside? And can Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart make sense of that infamous twist ending?! Find out when you become a Now Playing Patron merci beaucoup!
THE LAST JEDI Comes Home in 4K Ultra HD Mar 27
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| The biggest movie of 2017 comes home this month! Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is available in HD and Ultra HD 4k digitally via Movies Anywhere on March 13. Physical Blu-ray and 4k discs will be released March 27.This marks the first 4k releases of a Star Wars film, and it is Disney’s first title available on 4k Ultra Blu-ray disc in both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio.
Bonus features accompanying this release include*:
* Digital bonus offerings may vary by retailer. |
Death Wish (2018)
Movies with action heroes from the 1980s die pretty hard at the box office these days, but Bruce Willis aims to change all that with a 2018 reboot of Death Wish. The aging tough guy stars as a Chicago surgeon who goes from saving lives in the ER to taking lives on crime-ridden streets, after burglars violate his home and family. Can Bruno take out the bad hombres and make America great again one bullet at a time? Or do hosts Arnie, Jakob and Stuart wish this vigilante died with Bronson? Listen and find out…
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