The world of pop culture is still feeling the after effects of the DC Fandome and our favorite villainous squad are jumping from the page to the screen to the next generation of video game consoles.
The Nowhere California team will be diving deep into the first images from “The Suicide Squad” movie, but we have to take a look at the next game from the creative minds behind the legendary Arkham City franchise, Rocksteady Studios.
The members of Task Force X have entered the battle damage city limits of Metropolis, they have one mission and one goal. The mission is to eliminate a target and their goal is to get time erased from their prison sentences, but there is one huge problem and that is the target. Harley Quinn (voiced by Tara Strong), Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and King Shark (voiced by WWE superstar Samoa Joe) have to take down Superman. Will the goal outweigh the mission? Also, from the title of the game, we can only imagine that the team will have a lot more on their plates.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League will not hit stores until 2022, but this first look has given the world something to be excited for and is given me a reason to possibly upgrade my current video game system.
The DC Animated Universe has set the bench mark with every release and they are ready for another beginning. As “Justice League Dark: Apokolips War” finishes the timeline that began with the 2013 “Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox”, Warner Bros. and DC are ready to hit the reset button. It’s time to check out the Man of Steel’s origins… again.
“Superman: Man Of Tomorrow” brings a new slant to one of the great comic book orgin of all-time, but before we dive into the trailer, I feel the need to point out the #MeToo elephant in the room. This story might look a little familiar to the trained eye, as this film is rumored to be loosely based on the comic “Superman:American Alien” and that book was written by a scumbag that I will not waste my breath to name, but through a little research and multiple source checks, that name in question is not linked to this project.
Now, with that out of the way, we return to the positive at hand and take a look at this preview of Kal-El’s younger years. In this film, as the official synopsis puts it…
Daily Planet intern Clark Kent takes learning-on-the-job to new extremes when Lobo and Parasite set their sights on Metropolis.
As the trailer and synopsis shows, we are heading from the farm and Metropolis with Clark Kent (voiced by Darren Criss). He is young and he is learning some new powers, but things are different this time around as Lobo makes a grand entrance into the Superman theatrical mythos.
The Cosmic Bounty Hunter (voiced by The Walking Dead’s Beta, Ryan Hurst) is ready to put Superman to the test and he is not alone, as Parasite is added into the mix. Before you wonder if Superman will be standing alone, he will not and he will get an assist from the legendary Martian Man Hunter.
“Superman: Man of Tomorrow” was written by Tim Sheridan, who co-wrote “Reign of the Supermen”, and directed by Chris Palmer. This production has gathered some big names to bring this world to life and takes the viewers on a familiar journey. This story has been told a few times, but this trailer peaks some interest on the return trip.
Superman: Man of Tomorrow Will Be Released August 2020
Bond, James Bond is back. This time he is no longer 007 and has retired from Mi6 to live out his days with his true love Madeline played by Lea Seydoux. In an art imitating life situation Bond is thrust back into the dangers of Mi6, just like star Daniel Craig had been thrust back into the Bond universe. During the press junket for James Bond 24 know more specifically as Spectre, Craig had said that it was his final Bond. But, with the fans maintaining the stance of 1 more film with Craig, and a script that enticed Craig to return to the role, Columbia announced James Bond 25: No Time to Die with Craig returning for shaken Martinis one more time. Now don’t get the notion that he is now back for more; during an interview this week Craig has confirmed that this is definitively his final Bond.
After a small sizzle reel was released online, fans speculated a trailer would be released in November as it seems 6 months before release seems to be the standard timeline for a trailer. Columbia pushed the release of the first trailer to December 4, 2019.
Premiering in the morning tandemly with 5 character posters the trailer came in at 2 minutes 38 seconds. The trailer did not bury the lead, with the opening showing Bond being chased, fired at by henchman on motorcycles and finding out he had been betrayed by Madeline. Now in the world of deception and misdirection this could be a different scene just taken out of context, but with what the trailer furthered showed us, it is very obvious Bond will have to fight one more time in order to survive. This time he will not be 007, as that title has been given to a new Mi6 agent: Nomi, a no nonsense, paid her dues, Mi6 agent.
The most anticipated character to arrive with this movie is the new villain: Safin. Safin is being played by Academy award winner, and a much loved actor of our show, Rami Malek. With Rami’s sky rocket to fame after Bohemian Rhapsody, and his titular role as Elliot Alderson on Mr. Robot coming to an end fans were wondering what he would be doing next. Taking on the role of the facially scarred Safin, put Rami in a position to be one of the top Bond villains, behind Christoph Waltz and his portrayal of Bloefield, whom coincidently also makes a return in this film.
Also returning to the movie are: Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomi Harris as Moneypenny, and Ben Whishaw as Q, a character who Bond expresses his emotions for by claiming he missed Q. I don’t want to give much of the trailer away, as I feel it needs to be seen rather that read about, but there the Bond staples in this trailer, and a lovely homage to the infamous Bond opening credits. The only remaining staple to be announced by Columbia is what famous singer or band will take on the opening credits song whos past songs have been performed by the late Chris Cornell, Jack White and Alicia Keys, Adelle, and Sam Smith.
No Time to Die the 25th Bond film will be released to theatres on April 8th, 2020.
Now that Mister J is away, Harley is ready to play and there will be some heavy collateral damage. As theaters prepare for the Joker’s solo screen outing, the clown prince’s better half has a new trailer of her own and she has brought some new friends along for the ride.
The ladies of Gotham have united and DC continues to think outside of the box. Margot Robbie is back as Harley Quinn, she is swinging a mallet and looking to move on from the dysfunctional fractured relationship that the world witnessed in 2016 “Suicide Squad”. As you can tell from the trailer, she is ready to make friends and the comic book masses can look forward to some of Gotham’s most dangerous women, such as Huntress and Black Canary. Also, “Birds Of Prey” has brought to life the villain known as Black Mask and Ewan McGregor will step into those tailored evil shoes.
“Birds Of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn” looks to continue a new path for the DC cinematic universe and hits theaters 02.07.2020
Sid Haig was the most intimidating interview I had ever had the pleasure of conducting, mind you that I am using intimidating in the most positive meaning of the word. During the early days of Nowhere California, we crossed paths with Sid at the 2013 Days of the Dead Convention and my anxiety stepped forward as I tried to figure out how to approach this larger than life presence.
As a fan, I knew I wanted to simply shake the man’s hand and thank him for his talents. As a rookie podcaster, I needed to figure out the best way to approach this icon and hope to pick his brain, even for a few moments. It would be easy to say that his role as Captain Spaulding was the nerves inducing factor, but that would be partially true, it was the over 6 decades of film work that would make some of the most seasoned journalist speechless and I’m standing there hoping that I would remember how my mouth works.
“Josh and I were very lucky to meet this man at one of our first cons, The Days of the Dead Con. He was very generous with his time, a true gentleman. He gave us a very funny and wonderful interview. Sid has left a beautiful body of work and another bright shining star appears in the heavens,” Philip Morgan, one of the original guys from Nowhere, commenting on the passing of Sid.
As you can hear from that conversation and Phil’s comments, Sid treated us like this was second nature for us and helped us feel like we belonged. That is a trait that could be considered rare in any aspect, let alone a convention, but Sid was definitely a rare individual.
Sid Haig’s first film credit is listed in 1960 and the most recent Rob Zombie’s “3 From Hell” could be one of his last completed film roles, it was his recent work with Rob Zombie that brought him into a new generation and let a new breed of film nerds dive into his past work, which could be looked at as a visual history/evolution of Hollywood.
Rob and Sid first worked together for the music video for “Feel So Numb” off of Zombie’s 2001 album “The Sinister Urge”, this lead to Rob casting Sid in the iconic role of Captain Spaulding in the “House of 1,000 Corpses” Captain Spaulding and the entire Firefly clan became a new generation’s horror icons, this spotlight led Sid into becoming a convention staple and gave fans the ability to hold court with the man behind the clown make-up.
“I remember running into Sid Haig at San Diego Comic Con as he was exiting the autograph upper level. I didn’t want to jam a camera in his face so I opted to simply say “I loved your work with Rob”. Sid simply said “Hey thanks man!” in that southern drawl of his. He turned and asked my name and we chat for bit as we caught an elevator down. His last words to me were “Did you wanna grab a pic or something before I split?” I thanked him and said the conversation was better than any photo. He shook my hand and I left genuinely impressed with how personable and human the fearsome Captain Spaulding turned out to be. Gonna miss ya Sid,” these are the words of Nicholas Dye. He wanted to share this memory of Sid and this is a memory that rang throughout the night and into this morning.
It was an understatement that the fans loved Sid and the lucky fans that would get a chance to talk to Sid knew he loved us back. The floors at most conventions could be a slow moving cattle call, but there are always must visit tables and Sid’s was one of those. Sid was ready for any fan and it seemed like money never was that important as he was ready to take pictures with anyone for free and has donated some of his money earned at conventions to charities.
“Whenever a legend in any capacity is taken from us, it’s hard to put the words together that express just how heartbroken we are. Sid was not only a Horror icon but a Hollywood icon in his own right. Sid saw a second resurgence in his career after “House of 1000 Corpses” and being thrust back into the spotlight showed people this man who’d been in the acting game longer than most of his fan base had been alive. Sid was a staple in the Horror convention circuit, and that is where I was first able to meet this wonderful man. The one aspect of Sid’s appearances that set him apart from others was he only charged for his autograph. If you wanted to come up and say hi, he was very welcoming. Wanted to take a picture with him using your own camera, absolutely free, so long as you didn’t make him stand up. Sid was always a great conversationalist and had the ability to enthrall all those around him with great stories. I remember my 3rd Days of the Dead convention I approached his table to discuss having him do a small interview for our convention coverage. “Don’t ask me for a fucking interview anymore,” was his response. I felt utterly defeated. I had finally annoyed the man himself and I will forever be on his bad side. “Just hit the damn button and we will do an interview, I like you guys so you don’t need to ask anymore,” he said in the same tone as someone who tells a college student they don’t need to ask to go to the restroom anymore. It was at that moment I knew we had become a memorable presence at the Horror convention scene, cause if Sid Haig liked us, then everyone else can fuck off! I will always have a spot in my heart for Sid, and I am happy he is finally at peace. I wish his family well, and if there is some kind of an afterlife, I know Sid is up there asking someone to go to lunch with him,” these are the words of Douglas Porter and his thoughts on this icon that we were lucky enough to cross paths with.
The 2016 Days of the Dead convention was the last time I crossed paths with the man, there was a signing event at Dark Delicacies for the Holliston Season 2 Blu-Ray, but the convention was our last conversation with the man and my last chance to pick the brain of a true Hollywood legend.
The conversation might have been brief, but I enjoyed every moment of it and I still was in awe by that moment in my podcasting life and the reality of Sid Haig liking us, let alone remembering us is still an absolute honor. In 2013, we stepped on that convention floor as nobodies and left feeling like we belonged. In 2016, we entered that convention as an actual force and still felt like fans that could hold court with the captain.
In Hollywood, the label of legend can be stuck to a lot of people and there are some names that do not deserve that honor, Sid sure as hell deserved that status. He has his DNA attached in almost 7 decades of filmmaking and the film nerds of the world should consider ourselves lucky to have that vault to look through.
Thank you Sid for sharing your talents with the world. Oh Captain, Our Fucking Captain.
This weekend, Anaheim CA was the host to the annual D23 Disney Expo. Sprawled across the Anaheim Convention Center D23 is the Comic Con of Disney Studios. The 3 day event covers many aspects of the ins and outs happening within Disney. It has also become a showcase for many of the Disney properties and has become the host of many award ceremonies that Disney uses to honor what they have termed as “Disney Legends”. Much like Hall H in San Diego, Disney uses a large part of the convention halls, to
premier upcoming Disney Films, TV shows, and Documentaries. The main focuses of this year’s D23 were the launch of the new Disney streaming service, Disney+. The service will be launching November 12 th and will be the home of the past and future Disney media. New and Past movies, and TV shows will be hosted on the service, and subscribers to the service will also be able to add-on packages, unlocking things like ESPN, and other Disney owned subsidiaries. The other focus of D23 was the ever growing universe that is Star Wars.
Disney purchased the hibernating giant that is Lucasfilm from George Lucas on October 30 th , 2012 for the sum of $4.05 Billion dollars. Since the purchase Disney has begun to put Lucasfilm in hyperdrive.
They have created 4 movies (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Rogue One, Solo: A Star Wars story) with the 5 th movie, The Rise of Skywalker premiering December 20 th . They have produced 2 television shows
(Star Wars: Rebels, and Star Wars: Resistance), as well as countless web shorts. They retconned all current novels and comics to bring the “expanded universe” to a close, so that they could keep a linear story continuity in place to help control the new Disney narrative of Star Wars.
Disney begun their Star Wars announcements on Friday with Kathleen Kennedy (CEO, Lucasfilm) presenting the upcoming projects in a very Steve Job like format to the audience. The first announcement was for the 3 rd television series by Disney titled, The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian is a story set 5 years after the events of The Return of the Jedi. The story will follow the title character, simply dubbed “The Mandalorian”, played by veteran actor Pedro Pascal as a bounty hunter traversing the galaxy far from the reaches of the “New Republic”. This new show, written and produced by newly
awarded “Disney Legend” Jon Favearu will be more of a “a version of a show that took place after Return of the Jedi, after the revolution, after everybody’s done celebrating because the Empire is gone,” he said. “And then chaos reigns because there’s no central government in the galaxy and so it degrades into a world where, like the old Samurai movies and the old Westerns, where the gunfighters are roaming and people are fighting for their own safety.”
Rounding out the cast is former UFC fighter turned action movie starlet Gina Carano, veteran action movie actor Carl Weathers, actor/filmmaker Werner Herzohg, Breaking Bad villain Giancarlo Espisito, and New Zelander actor/filmmaker Taika Waititi who will be providing the voice of fellow bounty hunter, IG-11. Disney/Lucasfilm have been very selective of what they have shared in regards to the
show in the past, but they debuted a poster for Season 1 of the show:
They also premiered the first trailer for season 1:
Following on the tails of The Madalorian, Kennedy brought out actors Alan Tudyk and Diego Luna, 2 of the stars of the Star Wars standalone film Rogue One. Disney had previously announced a series following the adventures of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) but details have always been very scarce. Sadly, details were not abundant on Friday, as the only pieces of information that were given is that its definitive place in the canon timeline is concurrent with the timeline of other post
Revenge of the Sith stories known as “The age of Rebellion”, and that the series will begin shooting in London next year. Alan Tuydk did offer up what he felt was a great title for the show: “Kay-Too Fast, Kay-Too Furious: A Cassian Andor Story.”
The biggest news to come out of Friday was the confirmation of a rumor that has been floating around the Star Wars community in one fashion or another since the completion of the prequel trilogy in 2005. News this week reinvigorated the rumors of an Obi-Wan Kenobi story, with such industry papers as The Hollywood Reporter, and Vanity Fair picking up the story as well. Kennedy doing her best to be settle, set up the audience to bring out one more actor, although by the amount of cheers that occurred before
she even mentioned the actors name, the audience was pretty clued into what was happening. That actor of course was young Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor. McGregor asked Kennedy to, infront of all the witnesses in the building, ask him if he is playing Obi-Wan Kenobi again. With resounding applause Kennedy asked this question to McGregor, who followed up with a simple yet Star Wars history defining, YES!
The story is now being touted as a Disney+ series, as compared to the long rumored movie trilogy, and there were no details given at the panel other than the confirmation of McGregor’s attachment and that the series which has its entire first season fully written will begin filming next year. The new current timeline was tweeted by Ryan Penagos, Vice President and Creative Executive of Marvel New Media.
This new timeline also confirms the official titles for each era of the series. Prequel stories, such as the trilogy films and the Clone Wars TV show, take place during the “Age of Republic” Stories between Solo: A Star Wars Story and Return of the Jedi take place at the “Age of Rebellion” Rounding out the end of the timeline everything from post Return of the Jedi which ends with The Rise of Skywalker exist within the “Age of Resistance”.
Disney also teased some episode 9 news with the release of the first “official” poster. There has been a teaser poster released previously but this is one is the first main poster to be made. This will be the poster that begins being placed in prominent locations in theatres nationwide.
Saturday was the big episode 9 day with the main panel stage being taken over for The Rise of Skywalker. Kathleen Kennedy, and J.J. Abrams were joined by cast members: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Keri Russell, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Naomi Ackie. However, much like the Cassian/K-2SO announcement, there was not much in the way of details shared beyond what we already now. J.J. told a very heartwarming story about Carrie Fisher,
which included him discussing her influence on him making the decision to return to helm The Rise of Skywalker. New cast member Keri Rusell the star of the J.J. Abrams tv show Felicity, shared some of her excitement of being part of the Star Wars saga. Hitting the point home with a nice quip about her son now finding her cool. The panel completed with a First-Look “sizzle” reel of footage from The Rise of Skywalker. Many news outlets broke the story of the footage, going into great detail of what was seen,
as Disney did a great job preventing this footage from leaking online. Disney, ever the media buzz generator did upload the footage to the official Star Wars YouTube channel early Monday morning.
The footage does a great job in furthering the point that this film will be the conclusion of the multi-generational story of the Skywalker saga. Disney announced earlier this year that The Rise of Skywalker will be the definitive conclusion to the 9 movie series, as they have no intention of further telling the Skywalker story. But instead intend to move the series outside the Skywalker saga and being to tell new stories occurring in all parts of the timeline. Disney did not include Star Wars media in their Sunday programming, but focused more on the theme park and upcoming hotel’s future. A trailer for the 2 nd
ride for Galaxy’s Edge, The Rise of the Resistance was shown and subsequently leaked online. At the time of writing this article, Disney has not released the trailer on any official source, and has not made movements to have the leaked footage removed from YouTube.
As the release date approaches, we here at Nowhere California will be sitting down once more to discuss all of what has been released prior to the premier of the movie, and give our opinions, theories, and emotional stories that are tied to the youth defining franchise. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiers in theatres nationwide December 20th,2019 with early bird screenings beginning on December 19th,2019.
The world of children’s television was an interesting landscape in the late 60s to 70, there was Sesame Street at the top of the mountain and there were the strange, off-beat offerings. The list of off-beat creators can run a mile long, but two individuals were prominent on this list and they were the Krofft Brothers.
Sid and Marty Krofft were the creative minds behind a lot of classic television, from H.R. Pufnstuf to Wonderbug and the memorable group known as The Banana Splits, if you might have forgotten or you are too young to remember, here is the opening to their television series that ran from 1968-1970..
“No drugs involved. You can’t do drug when you’re making a show. Maybe after, but not during. We’re bizarre, that’s all,” Marty Krofft said that in a 2005 USA Today interview and that statement rings true all these years later and one of their creations is getting the hard R rated horror treatment.
If the original wasn’t insane enough, Jeff Elinoff and Scott Thomas poured some blood all over it. Elinoff and Thomas are the writer’s behind this creation, with Danishka Esterhazy in the director’s helm and Blue Ribbon Content is the studio unleashing this film onto the world.
This movie does not have a set release date, but is expect to be released this year. As more is revealed on the “What The Fuck” level production, stay locked into NowhereCalifornia.com for any new information.
As the saga continues, the first teaser trailer of the episode 9 has been revealed to the world and, with some time passing, the debates are still at a fever pitch and the legion of Star Wars loyalists continue to replay our first taste of “The Rise Of Skywalker.”
The Christmas gift that keeps on giving and a continuing pattern for this leg of the Star Wars universe, this trailer gives our first look into the conclusion of the “Skywalker Saga” and the cinematic aftermath of “The Last Jedi”.
The time frame from episode 8 to 9 hasn’t been set in stone, but in this trailer we get a glimpse of where our favorite characters are at and a quick vision of the legendary Carrie Fisher getting to appear in this finale. JJ Abrams and the Fisher family decide to use unused footage to bring our princess and general to the screen one more time.
The trailer for “Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker” brings us many moments from both sides of the force, as no one can deny their excitement from seeing Lando back in the pilot’s seat of the Millennium Falcon to the goose bump inducing shock of hearing that all too familiar laugh of the emperor.
There is still a long road ahead for the movie going public and the guys from Nowhere recently gathered to discuss this trailer. Also, they take a look back at this recent trilogy in the unforgettable franchise.
In what seemed a hopeless dream, Universal announced plans that they were no longer going to pursue their remakes of the original monster movies. But news broke today that Universal is handing the reigns over to horror juggernaut Blumhouse Productions. With a plethora of options to choose from Blumhouse announced they were beginning with the 1933 classic The Invisible Man.
Further detailing the announcement Leight Whannel will be directing the production. Whannel the co-creator of the Saw, and Insidious franchise. Recently breaking out solo with the film Upgrade, Whannel will also be overseeing as a producer. Previously Johnny Depp was attached to star, but with this transition Depp is no longer attached to the project. Other attached talent to the remakes include Javier Bordem, and Russel Crowe.
No release date has been announced, we will report further details as they break.
In the comic book work, the term is commonly known as retcon and the movie going public, we are treated to the repeated trend of reboots. Now, these world cross paths again and the world will receive another retelling of the Dark Phoenix saga, as the trailer for next year’s “X-Men:Dark Phoenix” has been released.
Now, for anyone new to this world, the first time this story arch hit the big screen was in the 2006 movie “X-Men:The Last Stand” In “The Last Stand” the Dark Phoenix was a part of a larger story that revolved around the possible mutant cure, but some of the more hardcore X-Men followers knew this was a type of story that could hold its own in a full feature film.
After watching the trailer, it is easy to see that this story line stands front and center in all of its glory. This movie continues the evolution of the current X-Men era with a harsher edge, as loyalties are in question and, in true blockbuster movie form, humanity is threatened.
As with recent high profiled releases, this film had its original release date changed and reshoots were ordered by the studio. The question could be asked about if this will be an issue with the public view and I will not fall into that debate. This film will probably close the X-Men book for 20th Century Fox, before these mutants fall into the Disney fold and we can only hope this last stand will be one to remember.
X-Men:Dark Phoenix Will Rise Into Theaters Feb.14,2019
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