Month: June 2019

In the crowded annals of superhero television, Legion is in a league of its own. Less cape-and-cowl crusading and more art house thought experiment, the FX original series has just kicked off its third and final season, paving the way for one last unapologetically unhinged romp through the mind of David Haller, a mentally disturbed mutant telepath who will, supposedly, one day destroy the world.

From the jump, fans will recognize that a lot has changed in the space between season 2’s finale and this season’s premiere. Episode 1, “Chapter 20,” opens with an entirely new focus: a brand new character named Switch (Lauren Tsai) who seems locked in a sort of Wes Anderson flavored isolation. She lives with her father, present only as a face on a bulky vintage television set, in a maze-like apartment, and spends her time listening to a sort of guided self-help cassette tape giving “lessons” for time travelers. We never get any real indication of where the tapes came from or why she has them, but it’s a good thing she does because as it turns out, Switch is a mutant, and time travel is her power.

In any other show, it would seem completely incomprehensible to withhold any familiar cast members from a season premiere for almost half the episode. We don’t see a single character we’ve met before for a full 20 minutes. But in Legion, it somehow works completely, thanks largely to the show’s completely magnetic self-confidence. Switch may be a completely new character, but she feels precisely like she belongs in Legion’s eclectic blender of sensibilities and styles. What’s more, Legion creator Noah Hawley correctly assumes that if you’ve stuck with the madness for two seasons already, you’ve become pretty familiar with the rules of the game here, so not even the impromptu musical number that crops up midway through the episode seems even the slightest bit out of place.

That aforementioned self-confidence is what carries the episode through the eventual reveal payoff–don’t worry, no spoilers, but we do eventually get to see what David’s been up to since we last saw him. It’s a moment that seamlessly dovetails into an explanation as to why Switch is important in the bigger picture, and why David is interested in time travel in the first place. This episode never quite goes back to “business as usual” (what would “business as usual” even be for Legion, anyway?) but it does glide smoothly back into feeling more familiar with the added bonus of one new main character and a whole slew of new problems.

As with all “avant-garde” shows–especially genre-benders like Legion–there’s the temptation to write off the surreality and quirkiness as weirdness for the sake of weirdness, but if anything, “Chapter 20” proves that there really is a plan in play here. Sure, it’s a plan dripping in eccentricities and camp, but it’s a plan nonetheless. This episode epitomizes Legion’s strengths: the ability to weave actual throughlines and stories in between disco ball smattered psychedelia and psychological horror, all while deftly staying out of its own way. Once things start happening, they start happening fast. They never get any less trippy–not that we’d want them to–but they do start moving at a healthy clip. By the time the credits on this episode roll, the plan for the final season is not only immediately and abundantly clear, but well on its way forward. All we have to do now is try and keep up.

Netflix has attracted yet another Hollywood star to make a movie for the streaming service. The company has announced that George Clooney, who has won two Oscars, will direct and star in a new Netflix movie. The untitled film is based on the novel Good Morning, Midnight that was written by Lily Brooks-Dalton. Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) wrote the screenplay for the film, which is in pre-production.

Clooney plays the character Augustine, “a lonely scientist in the Arctic,” in the post-apocalyptic film that follows two parallel threads. Here is the full plot description:

“This post-apocalyptic tale follows the parallel stories of Augustine (Clooney), a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to make contact with the crew of the Aether spacecraft as they try to return home to Earth.”

Production on the film is scheduled to begin in October. No release date has been set, and there is no word on who will star in the movie alongside Clooney.

“Having known and worked with George for over two decades, I can’t think of anyone better to bring this amazing story to life,” Netflix movie boss Scott Stuber said in a statement. “The book is powerful and moving, and Mark’s adaptation is beautifully written. At its core, this is a story about human nature, and one that I know our global audiences will fall in love with, just like I did when I read it.”

The untitled Good Morning, Midnight movie is being produced by Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures, which produced the Oscar winning movie Argo, as well as films like Good Night and Good Luck, Leatherheads, and The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Clooney also worked on and appeared in the Hulu series Catch-22, but the new Good Morning, Midnight movie is his first feature film for a streaming service.

Space Jam 2 is coming, and it appears filming is starting soon (if it hasn’t already). Star LeBron James, who plays the lead, wrote on Twitter today to talk about how he’s really very excited that the movie has finally come together.

“Man this really just hit me! I’m really shooting Space Jam 2!! This is so surreal and doesn’t even make sense to me! Where I come from man and what I saw growing up this doesn’t add up to me! I’m truly grateful and beyond blessed. This is CRAZINESS,” he wrote.

Just recently, it was reported that Space Jam 2 will also feature Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson alongside WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike, and Chiney Ogwumike. “Several more” NBA and WNBA players will reportedly have roles in the film, but Steph Curry won’t be among them.

Curry told The New York Times that he couldn’t appear in the film due to scheduling conflicts. Some had speculated that Curry wasn’t contractually able to appear in the film due to his sponsorship deal with Under Armour, while James is with Nike. But it appears it was instead a scheduling issue.

The 1996 original Space Jam featured the world’s biggest basketball star at the time, Michael Jordan, in the lead role. The original film featured numerous famous basketball players of the time, with Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and others joining Jordan. They teamed up with Looney Tunes characters in a very high-stakes basketball game. Bill Murray was also in the movie.

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is set to produce Space Jam 2, with Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness) on board to direct. The movie opens in July 2021.

The director of the original Space Jam, Joe Pytka, doesn’t think a sequel is a good idea; he thinks it’s “doomed.”