I'm Alex Sigsworth. Basically… run.
“Watts is in talks to return for the sequel to the hit Spidey film”
The Hollywood Reporter
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts is amidst talks to direct what’s currently informally titled Spider-Man: Homecoming 2.
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 is to be released after Phase Three on 5th July 2019, starring Tom Holland as Spider-Man.
Also wishing a happy 41st birthday to Benedict Cumberbatch AKA Stephen Strange.
Marvel Phase Three: “Ant-Man & the Wasp”
Ant-Man & the Wasp is to feature Walton Goggins in an as-yet unnamed role, according to Deadline.
Ant-Man & the Wasp is part of Marvel Phase Three, opening 6th July 2018, starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Dyne.
Also wishing a happy 41st birthday to Benedict Cumberbatch AKA Stephen Strange.
Here, Thursday 20th July 11:00 Pacific Daylight Time:
Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two: “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017)
After its second weekend in the domestic box office, Spider-Man: Homecoming has grossed $45M, a 61% decline from its opening weekend’s $117M, to a total domestic gross of $208M, already higher than the lifetime domestic gross of previous Spider-Man film The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Worldwide lifetime gross so far is $469M.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is part of Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is now in cinemas.
I watched this back to remind myself of what I love about Adam West’s Batman. If you love the series as much as I do, other things worth checking out are Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016), its animated continuation, and Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003), a semi-biographical comedy about the making of the series told through flashbacks of the real Adam and Burt as they embark on a crime-fighting adventure of their own (I defy you to guess who the villain is).
What I love about Batman (1966) is the way that the source material’s distance from reality allows for a story that is about contemporary political concerns. There are things in here about the United States Navy being irresponsible and incompetent, the importance of local policing, and the way that the world’s nations must come to understand each other if there’s to be solidarity against the united underworld. Bruce Wayne describes himself as a capitalist, but in a purely descriptive way, which isn’t a condemnation of “Kitka”’s Russian attitudes – like her interpretation of the Riddler as a bourgeoisie that prays on America’s workers – but as a point-of-view (which is what it is). It’s surprising that there was no controversy around the acceptance of Western and Eastern values equally, or the accusation of the film promoting communist sympathy. But that’s because it’s hidden behind something which was otherwise a cash-grab for a popular property. I feel like the filmmakers had intellectuals in mind, who can see beneath the surface of popular art to find the philosophy and analysis. When Batman says “Some days, you just get rid of a bomb”, it was only a joke in execution; otherwise, it’s an accurate statement that is about the way there will always be collateral casualties and innocent bystanders, no matter what measures you try to take. And yet, none of it is inconsistent with the comics of the period, and it’s still an enjoyable film to the viewers that only see that surface. It’s amazing that this even managed to work; to be a legitimate political thriller grafted onto a live-action cartoon. It deserves applause that two so opposed genres were combined but remained true to what they’re meant to be, and that nothing like it has come along again – and that for a Batman film, it remains as relevant today as later adaptations. They’re all about the problem of evil (Batman, I’ve often thought, is a self-appointed saviour figure), it’s just that this one responds to it more optimistically. It’s a great zeitgeist and historical document of how America felt about the world in 1966, and how little things have changed.
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 has come and gone, leaving trailers and gameplay previews of upcoming driving games for this year and next, and consoles new and old. Driving games are my genre of choice, so let’s have a look at which driving games were previewed this year.
The trailer, called Soul of Motorsport, feels like more of a teaser that promotes the game based on genre, rather than anything specific, like a unique selling point. People who’ve already played Project CARS are probably their target market for now, until more universal promotional content is unveiled closer to the release date.
Project CARS 2 is released 22nd September 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One.
It’s the story of a legend climbing back to the top. I’m not sure whether to describe it as Rocky with cars or Cars with people. I grew up in the era when the Need for Speed series had begun to use narratives, and it’s reassuring, for nostalgia’s sake, to see that it hasn’t given-up on that. It’s a lot more over-the-top than it used to be, but in a fun way. It’s not a problem that it looks like Fast Five, because the Fast and Furious films are what inspired my favourite era of Need for Speed anyway. This instalment looks like a combination of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit with Burnout 3: Takedown – two other great games – if they were directed by Michael Bay, for better or for worse. The cutscenes do at least look cool, but it would be better if they were playable. Hopefully, the police pursuit system will be up to standard with Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005), which has set the series bar.
Need for Speed Payback is released 10th November 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One.
This is available in 4K, and looks stunning and beautiful. Not only is it photorealistic, but the environments alone are an artform in themselves. The question is, what else? It definitely looks to be a good to play for fans of the genre, but apart from the realistic graphics and the way the environments look, is there nothing else to say? Or are those factors enough? If it’s a good game within the genre – and it does look that way – those things are likely to only add something. Microsoft’s conference revealed that there are more real cars in this game than any other.
Forza Motorsport 7 is released 3rd October 2017 for Windows and Xbox One.
Polyphony Digital always remember that if a game’s worth developing, it’s worth doing so as a piece of art, regardless of genre. Yet, the entire presentation of this first trailer is in how fun it’s trying to be, and if the gameplay reflects that, then Gran Turismo will have added what’s missing from an otherwise excellent series: the enjoyability. The series is popular for being the world’s most accurate driving simulator-game, but if it can now be made fun at the same time, we could be onto something almost unbeatable. This trailer alone is like a short film that represents everything that’s fun about driving, and a celebration of the whole automobile concept, rather than of driving games – which is great, because videogames should be about more than playing them. It’s interesting how a series popular for simulating cars is reducing how many cars are in it, and focusing more on racing those cars instead of collecting them. Essentially, this is a tonal reboot of Gran Turismo, and the developer in the behind the scenes video describes it as the beginning of a second generation of Gran Turismo games (though what this means will probably only become apparent in hindsight after several more of them in the future). But the most important thing about this trailer is the way that I felt something I haven’t felt in any Gran Turismo game: that I’m being invited to become part of a global player-base, instead of playing the game on my own. That matters, because the knowledge that the other cars are other players adds to the experience and makes the game more authentic because it’s not only a driving simulator but a simulator of racing and racing culture. To do so with the same amount of accuracy as before, while also being entertaining, is what I’m predicting will make this latest instalment the most popular so far (the most recent three instalments have felt like the same game with the quality of graphics being all that changes). Which is not to say that there’s less application of video-games as art here – because there definitely is, which is shown by the featurette that demonstrates the level of detail being applied in order to transpose certain elements of reality onto a disc. Each member of the development team is irreplaceable, possessing a unique skill; it’s this kind of respect for teamwork that has given Polyphony Digital their reputation as a collaboration of disciplines. And… the International Automobile Association is to recognise the Gran Turismo Online Championship as an official sport.
Gran Turismo Sport is released this autumn for PlayStation 4.
A driving game, set in San Francisco, released by Ubisoft? Sound familiar? For some reason, this doesn’t appeal. Maybe it was the developer’s commentary of an action-packed racing game sounding like a relaxing tour guide, maybe it’s the weird Inception effects used for the fancy transitions, maybe it’s the open world being boring without an apparent objective, or the the main attraction being GTA Online if it only had the arcade races, maybe it’s how goofy it is and sugarcoated it is. Naturally, the addition of boats and planes is due to video game sequels usually having more features than the previous one, but couldn’t that have been more cars? Or a different location than the continental United States, again. Or maybe I’m bitter that Ubisoft had the chance to develop Driver 6 but didn’t.
The Crew 2 is released in Spring for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
