To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right Dumbo Ticket

To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right Dumbo Ticket

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, and Disney aficionados far and wide! It’s time to step right up and see the latest wonder of the world, the one, the only, the absolutely adorable Dumbo! The latest in Disney’s remake crusade to update the classics, this Tim Burton film is ready to take off into the wild blue yonder, stealing your heart in the process. But, of course, there’s another question pertaining to this circus of delights; one that we find ourselves asking quite often, asides from that one where we wonder what we know about a movie like Dumbo. To 3D, or not to 3D?

If you want to find out how much we enjoyed Dumbo as a movie, take a look at our official review. But if you’re wondering if this particular circus is worth the extra 3D ticket money, or if you should save that money to buy some peanuts, you’ve come to the right place. Step under the big top, and get ready to see if the prince of the skies flies off the big screen!

While there’s certainly a lot of thrills and excitement to see in Dumbo’s finished product, it’s not a perfect 3D fit. For a good piece of the film, what we see on screen is focused on a family drama that plays out in the confines of a circus, and ponders the morals of using live animals in entertainment. But that being said, there’s still a lot of fantastic detail that the 3D conversion to Dumbo adds to the visuals that are presented; and once the higher flying action kicks in, the additional visual flare definitely shines.

There's certainly a lot of work that went into the planning and effort of Dumbo's 3D coat of paint. Quite a lot of detail is drawn in the images shown, and while it's not a total showstopper, there's a lot of panache that's on display. Though as far as 3D movies go, this is a cohesive whole that doesn't stumble on any particular aspect, but rather does a serviceable job of being a good finished product. There's nothing wrong with that, for sure, but it's something to think about in the long run.

There are a couple of flourishes in Dumbo really take advantage of the opportunity to point objects out at the crowd. All are very subtle but important things, like Michael Keaton’s cane, Colin Farrell’s hand, or Eva Green gesturing to the audience as she’s about to engage in her act. There’s even some water splashing that looks like it’s going to come out of the frame and soak you to the bone. But if you’re looking for huge scale eye popping thrills involving items flying out of the screen, then you might be a bit disappointed.

Winning the Before/Beyond The Window tug of war in Dumbo’s 3D conversion, the Beyond factor pulls more of the visual weight this time around. Characters and their environments are properly spaced, and the spacing between characters and each other is exemplary as well. Crowd shots at the circus really sparkle, with the feel of an actual audience being conveyed to a tee. Unfortunately, the background shots for Dumbo aren’t as limitless as one would want, and if they are the eye is drawn more to the close up action throughout the film.

Brightness is a factor that tends to be a common weak point for 3D films, as the greyish tint of the glasses required tends to wash out the colors a bit. Also, there’s some variance depending on how well your local theater tends to their projectors and screens, so Dumbo’s brightness in 3D won’t be consistent across all screens. With those stipulations, I’m happy to report that Dumbo still shines in beautiful color with its 3D conversion. Besides the slight washing of colors, again expected with putting on 3D glasses that correspond with the image on the screen, you’re not going to lose any action in the dark.

Watching a 3D movie, any audience member is going to be tempted to either remove or slide their glasses up at any point during the film. Whether it’s to give your eyes a break, or to see the historic blur that’s always been a part of 3D presentations, you’ll notice that in fact the image in front of you is blurred to varied degrees. Dumbo uses this blur to full effect, with even the closest of closeups taking on nuanced degrees of distortion, with only seconds long moments of 2D appearance in order to help anchor the elements of a particular scene. Backgrounds also get a pretty big dose of blurred wonder, showing just how much manipulation is used to make the film as 3D as it possibly could be.

Possibly the most important factor of a 3D film is how comfortable the audience is with watching it. In terms of Dumbo’s comfort levels, everything is a-ok, as the film doesn’t cause nausea or eye strain of any sort. With a crisp, clear visual intelligence poured into every frame, your eyes won’t burn and your stomach will be clear of nausea. This is particularly comforting if you’re bringing your little ones to see Dumbo, as there won’t be any messy clean-up involved after the show.

Dumbo does a pretty fine job of being a 3D spectacle. It isn’t a full stop must see in the visually enhanced format, but it’s certainly not a waste of time either. Rather, it’s a pretty good example of a middle of the road 3D conversion, which adds some flash but doesn’t go the extra mile to be essential viewing in this premium format. If you're looking for a special flare to your showing of Dumbo, it might be a good idea to check out the IMAX format presentation instead.

Be sure to visit our full To 3D Or Not To 3D Archive.

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Is The DC Universe Officially Dead?

Is The DC Universe Officially Dead?

While we stand on the eve of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s big history making finale that will bring together more than 10 years and more than 20 movies, a lot of questions still remain about the franchise that has come to be known as the DC Extended Universe. The initial trilogy of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League were originally meant to set the stage for a larger interconnected film universe, but as DC superhero movies continue to be produced, we’re seeing less and less focus on them as being part of a whole and more focus given to the idea that each movie is a standalone story. Which has led to one final question. Is the DC Universe already dead?

This question became all the more relevant just in the last few days as people attached to the production of both Wonder Woman 1984 and The Suicide Squad, both followups to existing, and hugely successful, DC movies, tried to separate themselves from the idea that they were, in any way, “sequels.”

The Suicide Squad is being called a “total reboot” by one producer and Wonder Woman 1984 is being called the “next iteration,” whatever that means, by another.

Now, let’s be serious, both of these films are sequels. They are stories that will be about (mostly) the same characters that will follow from events that took place in a previous film. Call them what you want, but they are sequels.

However, the fact that Warner Bros. seems nervous about using the word, even for parts of the franchise that have been successful, is telling to say the least. They want the audience to view them as separate films as much as possible.

This is also clear in the rest of the DC slate that we know is on the way. In addition to The Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman 1984, we have Shazam!, a standalone film which, as far as we know, only makes passing references to the fact that other DC heroes exist, Birds of Prey, a film that will include one popular character that we’ve seen before, but will also introduce several new ones, a Batman movie that won’t include Ben Affleck, and thus could very easily not be part of the existing universe at all, a Joker movie that we know for certain is not connected to the version of the character played by Jared Leto in Suicide Squad, and a sequel to Aquaman, a movie that itself made only a brief reference to the fact that it starred the same character who was in Justice League. One wonders if an Aquaman producer will come out of the woodwork to tell us Aquaman 2 is not a sequel.

Other movies that we think might show up eventually, like the Flash movie, have also seemingly moved away from any focus on the connected universe. While it had previously been announced that we were going to get a Flashpoint movie, and that would almost certainly be a film that would include other DC universe characters, the more recent word is that the Flashpoint idea has been scrapped.

If the DC film universe didn’t exist at all, and there was just a Suicide Squad movie franchise and a Wonder Woman movie franchise that were separate from each other, then, of course, we’d be calling these movies sequels. It would be insane not to do so. I can’t help but wonder if part of the reason Warner Bros. is trying to draw a line between the previous films and the next ones is because both Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad were made when the DC Extended Universe was very much part of the future of the franchise, but as these sequels are being made, it’s not.

Justice League gave us a post-credits sequence that teased the formation of the Legion of Doom, yet, as of now, we don’t have any idea when such a movie might happen. There’s been no official announcement of a Justice League sequel or any sort of a clear road map that would indicate that any of the first three existing movies (and the plotlines they teased) are going, well, anywhere.

To that end, we also know that there are apparently no talks about making another Superman movie at this point. That might be the clearest indication of all that drastic changes have been made. The single most popular comic book character in the history of time and space has no project in the works at a time when comic book movies have never been more popular. Add to that the fact that there’s no guarantee the character will have the same actor if and when a movie does happen, and it seems that the character who was the linchpin of the DC universe to this point might be officially gone.

The DC film universe took something of a gamble when it was first rolling out. Rather than take Marvel’s route and give each major Justice League hero their own film first, they went right for the team up, introducing the entire main squad in only the franchise’s second film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and following that one up in short order with Justice League. Warner Bros. and DC were all about the continuity before, so the fact that they’re not now shows a major change in plans.

With the success that films like Wonder Woman and Aquaman have seen, it’s far from surprising if the plan is to put the breaks on the entire connected universe thing. While both films are technically part of said universe, they’re still largely standalone stories. Even if you haven’t seen any of the other DC films, you can enjoy them, and people did.

Certainly, we don’t need major crossover events for the larger universe to remain persistent, we don’t even need cameos. At the same time, it’s part of what we’ve come to expect from the cinematic universe. It’s also part of what makes the films so successful. We did’t need to see The Incredible Hulk in the most recent Thor movie, but doing that sells tickets, so you’d think DC and Warner Bros. would be seeding the movies with similar things in order to keep fans excited about the universe.

Instead, it just feels like the plan is to take the few parts of the universe that have been strong hits with fans, Batman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, etc, and continue these franchises on their own. Maybe they technically exist in the same universe, but it doesn’t feel like that fact is ever going to be important again.

At this point, DC has films on the release schedule clear through the end of 2022, and none of them, not even the rumored ones, so much as hint at the film universe being part of the story. So, we have to ask, if these characters are supposed to be part of the same world, but we never see what that means, does it even count?

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals How James Cameron Worked On Terminator 6 And The Avatar Sequels At Once

Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals How James Cameron Worked On Terminator 6 And The Avatar Sequels At Once

For the first time since 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron will have a hands-on role in a new Terminator movie with November’s Terminator: Dark Fate, where he serves as producer and creative consultant. But James Cameron is a busy guy, and he is also still working on his long-awaited Avatar sequels. The Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, explained how James Cameron worked on Terminator 6 and Avatar at once, saying:

It was a very interesting film to do with Tim, the dynamic, between him and with Jim Cameron producing. So Jim Cameron is right now directing Avatar films so he’s taken on this enormous challenge and he’s very busy with that BUT he’s a control freak and as you know, Terminator is kind of his baby so he does get involved in the filming so there were interesting discussions about which direction to go with a certain scene or how the dialogue should finish or what the certain look should be of an individual and all that stuff so there was a big collaboration between Jim and Tim Miller. I feel it was in good hands with both of them.

You often hear the names of big Hollywood directors attached to certain movies as producers, but that title doesn’t always mean that person had an active creative role with the film itself. That isn’t the case here. As Arnold Schwarzenegger told TheArnoldFans, James Cameron is a control freak, and the Terminator characters and story are ones he co-created and is attached to. So despite having a lot on his plate filming Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, he still made time for Terminator: Dark Fate.

He didn’t just give a couple of notes either; by the sound of it, James Cameron had an active enough role that Arnold Schwarzenegger actually took note of his influence and collaboration with director Tim Miller. The director and producer had a creative back and forth on this sixth Terminator film, with the franchise’s creator giving his input on its latest entry.

James Cameron discussed big picture stuff like the direction of a scene, down to specific bits of dialogue and the actual design and look of the characters. He and director Tim Miller had a collaborative relationship where they both worked together to form what this film will be and deliver the best possible product.

Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he felt the film was in good hands with Tim Miller and James Cameron, and that pairing is certainly encouraging. Tim Miller’s Deadpool was a smash hit, and the last time this franchise was exceptional (minus the brilliant and cancelled-too-soon Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series, of course) was when James Cameron was last involved with Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He knows this world and these characters, and is two for two in delivering great movies in this universe, so his return is exciting.

How exactly James Cameron made time for his work on Terminator: Dark Fate, while also working on the Avatar sequels in terms of logistics is unclear. But somehow he was directing the Avatar sequels while being a producer on Dark Fate. Perhaps we can just chalk it up to efficiency, excellent time management and that James Cameron is James Cameron. Or some Terminator-esque time travel shenanigans.

The plot for Terminator: Dark Fate is still being kept under wraps, but it is expected to retcon some of the continuity and act as a continuation of the first two films. As such, it will see the return of Linda Hamilton's iconic Sarah Connor and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator. The film also stars Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Diego Boneta and Gabriel Luna.

Terminator: Dark Fate opens in theaters on November 1 and James Cameron’s Avatar 2 is set to hit theaters on December 18, 2020. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies fighting for your attention this year.

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The Best Comedy Movies To Watch When You Need To Cheer Up

The Best Comedy Movies To Watch When You Need To Cheer Up

Let’s be honest with ourselves here: sometimes life is a bit too much for even the hardest of souls. No matter the circumstances, there are just those moments where you want to hole up for a day, drink plenty of fluids, and just take some time to practice the important art of self care. Part of a good afternoon of recovering from whatever life has thrown at you is a good movie or two.

Or, in the case of the list below, several good movies that you can throw on to lighten the mood and help lift your spirits through the healing powers of laughter. Your sampler pack below ranges through the decades, and includes some off-beat selections as well as some fan-favorite titles, because we all could use some unexpected laughter in our lives.

Game Night

Absurdity is a word you’ll probably read a lot reading through this list, and that’s a good thing. Some of the best comedy movies embody that very quality, and last 2018’s Game Night is certainly no exception. The movie’s as absurd as it is laugh-filled, as a simple night of indoor gaming turns into a crime-solving comedy rampant with serious errors.

With an ensemble that includes Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, as well as a couple of surprise appearances, Game Night takes a crime mystery and infuses it with both action and laughter. Also, Jesse Plemons steals the entire damned movie, as a security guard who’s a little friendlier than he should be, and has a big grudge against the Frito-Lay chip company.

Mean Girls

Teen comedies are pretty good at cheering people up as well, as most of the time there’s a positive message of loving oneself and trying to accept others. Though since they’re also comedy movies, there’s also a lot of antics like the ones in Mean Girls involved as well. Based off of a self-help book involving the behavior of cliques, writer/co-star Tina Fey takes a very serious subject, and not only does she give it a teen movie makeover, but she also uses a lot of her own comedic flare to make it a movie only she could have created.

Insanely quotable, and also featuring Rachel McAdams, Mean Girls is the story of Lindsay Lohan’s fish-out-of-water Cady, and her first experience with the school system in the U.S. With McAdams as her mean girl adversary, and Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert as the backup friends, it’s not easy for Cady to win their trust. But the process is extremely funny.

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

We’re now approaching a classic entry in the comedy movie pantheon: It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The flick is certainly a treasure to behold for anyone who has or hasn’t seen it. The movie centers its story around a bunch of cash buried in a California park, and the group of strangers who are racing against time, and each other, to get to it first. A literal who’s who of comedic legends take part in this film, with Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, and Buddy Hackett all taking part in the festivities. So if star power is your thing, look no further.

Perhaps the strongest card this movie plays is the fact that it breaks the cardinal rule of comedy and does it in style, as this almost three-hour film is not a short and simple joke. The cast grows as large as the stunts and jokes do, and by the end of It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the finale is something so amazingly funny, you’ll see why it’s still known as one of the best comedy movies to date.

Monty Python And The Holy Grail

Absurdity. There’s that word again. It’s something that most definitely applies to the legendary comedy troupe of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and doubly so when discussing the group's most well-known film, Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Spinning Arthurian legend into a semi-musical, semi-animated, and very meta quest for the Holy Grail, this comedy movie is a landmark event that helped cement the group’s reputation worldwide.

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin all-star as various members of this classic quest, and what begins as a straight medieval adventure almost instantly turns into one gigantic farce. Camelot has never been this silly, and you’ll be better for watching Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

John Hughes always had a special gift when it came to his unique brand of comedy movies. He knew when to be sweet, he knew when to be bitter, and he always knew how people worked. Yet, perhaps one of his most upbeat products in his entire repertoire was the classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, starring none other than Matthew Broderick.

Chronicling the hijinks of a teenager who skips school one too many times during a calendar year, Matthew Broderick’s Ferris ropes his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) into a whirlwind tour of Chicago--one that includes outrunning his vengeful principal (Jeffrey Jones), and outsmarting his equally angry sister (Jennifer Grey). If you’re looking for a guy who's part spiritual guru and part Bugs Bunny, Ferris Bueller is your righteous dude.

A Night At The Opera

It’s hard to beat The Marx Brothers in the game of comedy, as even in our modern world their antics and shenanigans are still so classic that they hold up among the greats. A Night At The Opera certainly stands out among their collected works, with memorable songs and gags that keep the audience smiling long after the movie has finished. The basic plot sees one of the usual Marx Brothers staples put to good use yet again, as Groucho Marx’s lead prankster tries to win frequent collaborator Margaret Dumont’s money by investing in an opera.

That’s basically all you need to know, as your standard Marx Brothers movies will tend to use a simple plot to hang a string of jokes on. With scenes that see a very crowded stateroom ordering an obscene amount of food, and a gag that suggests that Groucho Marx really was able to bend space and time to his will, A Night At The Opera is a sure fire ticket to excitement.

The Producers (1967)

Comedy legends rarely earn their place on the first go-around, and Mel Brooks is one of those stories of fame and fortune that took a little time to get going. When The Producers was released in 1967, Brooks’ first film was seen as the sick joke to end all sick jokes. Then again, a musical supporting Hitler will always likely be an odd flex. But once the joke behind the musical became apparent to the audience-at-large, the film became one of the most classic comedy movies of all time.

With Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder putting on said musical to defraud almost all the little old ladies in New York, and Hitler being played by Dick Shawn’s hippie beatnik Lorenzo St. DuBois, The Producers was actually a comedic masterpiece that poked fun at outrage culture, cashing in on tragedy, and the insane chemistry between Mostel and Wilder. It doesn’t take long for this one to get going, so make sure you’re ready once you hit play.

Back To The Future

Most people remember Back To The Future as a sci-fi movie, what with its plot revolving around time travel and making sure Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly still exists at the end of the day. What’s also important to remember is this Robert Zemeckis-directed film is still amazingly funny. While Marty does have to make sure he and his siblings make it out of the other end alive, he has to deal with his awkward parents too.

The biggest gag at the center of this comedy movie classic is that history may be written by the generation before us, but that doesn’t mean what they’re telling us is the truth. Michael J. Fox’s charm as Marty and Christopher Lloyd’s eccentric Doc Brown are a pairing for the ages, and the humor plays like a teen movie crossed with a sci-fi epic. If you’re willing to go down this road, go ahead and clear out a whole afternoon and watch the entire trilogy.

Airplane!

Deadpan comedy is an artform that’s just as valuable as flat out funny comedy. If you can land a joke without a smile or a laugh, it can really knock a room dead. Just ask The Zucker Brothers, as that’s what their comedy classic Airplane! did when it took the genre of doomed flight movies like Airport and turned them into comedy gold. It also helped that casting skilled performers like Julie Hagerty and Robert Hays and pitting them against seasoned drama vets Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen was a big part of that old Airplane! charm.

The heart of this comedy movie’s ability to make a crowd erupt with laughter is the fact that its core plot revolving around food poisoning on a late night flight and the traumatized pilot who serves as its only hope of landing safely, is pretty solid as a drama. It’s just all of the comedy that surrounds that drama, disguising itself as more serious material, that makes the film work.

Happy Gilmore

One of the best comedy movies to hit theaters in our modern times is, no question, Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore. His first film after the success of Billy Madison, the film’s story is a tale as old as time, as his titular hockey player loses his temper and gets kicked out of the league, only to become a golf sensation for a very personal cause. Also, a fist fight with Bob Barker occurs, which you may or may not have known about.

Speaking of familiar faces, if you’re a Modern Family fan, you’ll be surprised to see Julie Bowen as Sandler’s comedy partner on the side of good. In fact, an amusing chunk of the movie is the pair trying to keep themselves in the game long enough to pay off Happy's grandmother’s tax debt. If you’re a comedy fan, then appearances by Christopher McDonald, Joe Flaherty, and Ben Stiller will definitely make you smile, as all three present rather interesting challenges for Adam Sandler to move past on his road to fame and security.

Dumb and Dumber

Vintage Jim Carrey is like comedic wine: always good at parties, and never gets old. Dumb and Dumber is quite possibly one of the best comedy movies of the ‘90s, as it’s aged so well it still gets the laughs it did upon its initial launch. Again, simple but agile comedy, and a basic plot, help win the day, no matter its faults.

Pairing Jim Carrey with Jeff Daniels, the film sees the two play complete idiots making their way across the continental United States in the name of love, lost luggage, and a kidnapping. Dumb and Dumber introduced the film world to the comedy stylings of The Farrelly Brothers for the very first time. It was a first impression that would last forever, and it’s waiting for you to pull its finger and watch the madness that ensues.

Step Brothers

It’s hard to have a list of comedy favorites and not include at least one Will Ferrell movie on that list. And no other Ferrell film has made the world laugh more than his collaboration with John C. Reilly in director Adam McKay’s Step Brothers. It’s a comedy movie that’s become a cultural touchstone, reigning as one of the films from the last decade or so of filmmaking that’ll probably see itself become a classic.

While the gags definitely hit some dark notes, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly come at them from an angle of such misguided glee that every joke causes a hearty, mood brightening laugh. It also helps that the supporting cast of heavy hitters like Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins, Kathryn Hahn, and Adam Scott all add to the madness stew that is Step Brothers, with everyone’s unique acts shining through to create a complete puzzle of laughter.

If you’re not feeling any better after watching this list of comedy movies designated to cheer you up, then you may need to call a doctor, or switch to some stronger acting comedies on the market. That being said, the films on this list might cause you to hunt through streaming platforms or rental services to find them. But they are very much worth the time and energy, as each one brings its own brand of comedy movie mayhem in a strong fashion. So take a day off, and let yourself laugh into another world. You'll feel better if you do.

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When You Can Book A Reservation For Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

When You Can Book A Reservation For Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is about to become the hottest ticket in town. The new land will be open at Disneyland in just over a month, but if you want to visit it within the first three weeks, you'll need a special reservation. This morning Disney Parks released new information via press prelease about how to get that reservation. While we already knew that guests staying at a Disneyland Resort hotel will get a reservation for the new land automatically, everybody else will want to be ready on the morning of May 2.

Reservations will be available to those not staying at Disneyland Resort hotels beginning at 10:00 AM Pacific Time on May 2. However, the exact process for how to acquire one won't be revealed until two hours earlier, so those looking to grab one will want to be ready at 8:00 AM to get all the important details.

One key piece of information that was revealed today was that you'll need an account on the Disneyland website, so if you don't currently have one and plan to be going after a reservation, you'll want to setup the account soon so you won't have to worry about it later. Since the Disneyland website will likely be a hub of activity as people try to make reservations, you'll absolutely want to be sure you don't have extra steps you'll need to complete. Also, of course, you'll need to buy valid theme park admission to get into the park at all.

Reservations will be needed to get into Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge beginning on opening day, May 31, and will last for about three weeks until June 22. We've known since opening day was announced that reservations would be needed, and that Disneyland hotel reservations would get you one, but it wasn't clear until now just how available reservations would be to locals who don't need hotels or others who maybe couldn't afford to drop the cash in a Disneyland hotel.

If you want to be absolutely sure you get into Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the hotel room route is still an option. While not every Disneyland Resort hotel is still available for every evening, there are still rooms available, including for the night before and the day of Galaxy's Edge opening. Although, with the reservation process now officially confirmed, one wonders how quickly those rooms might fill up.

Early expectations were that people were going to come out of the woodwork when Galaxy's Edge opened and far more people than the park could handle would show up and try to get in. With the announcement of the reservation system it seems that won't be the case, at least not until the reservation period ends. To that end, showing on opening day might actually be the best idea. It seems likely that crowds will be kept to a level that's manageable for Disneyland.

At a certain point, there's only so much you can be prepared for until crowds start showing up and so the first few days or weeks might actually be the least crowded that the land will be for the foreseeable future, at least until the park is sure that everything in the new land is functioning as it should be.

In addition to offering new attractions based on Star Wars, that would be more than enough to bring a lot of people, Galaxy's Edge is offering a level of world immersion entirely new to Disney, if not theme parks entirely.

Star Wars; Galaxy's Edge is set to open at Walt Disney World, at Disney's Hollywood Studios, on August 29.

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Ron Howard Responds To Solo Sequel Campaigns

Ron Howard Responds To Solo Sequel Campaigns

You may have noticed yesterday that #MakeSolo2Happen was trending on Twitter and wondered what exactly was going on. Well, it all has to do with a fan campaign to get a sequel made to last year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Fans of the film took to social media to express their love for Solo, how deserving it is of a sequel and desire to see that happen. This outpouring of support was so prominent that even director Ron Howard noticed and took the time to respond:

Short and sweet. Ron Howard’s response on Twitter shows that the campaign to make Solo 2 happen spearheaded by Star Wars News Net’s Resistance Broadcast podcast has caught his attention And he can’t help but smile over this show of love for his movie. He doesn’t address whether or not he actually wants to make a sequel himself, but his smiley face response indicates that he supports the campaign and the idea of a sequel overall.

Following Solo: A Star Wars Story’s disappointing box office, Ron Howard said things that made it seem like he was disappointed that more people didn’t see the film in theaters that his cast and crew worked so hard on. He expressed a belief that if more people gave it a chance, they would find that they liked it. It was the kind of thing that made you feel bad for him, whether you liked Solo or not.

It can’t feel good to have audiences not respond to your work, especially if it's not even give it a chance. So this has to make the director proud, seeing that despite what the box office returns might tell you, people did see Solo and many that did really loved it. Solo connected with people in such a way that many are actively supporting the idea of it getting a sequel.

Unfortunately, while this is a cool thing and it’s nice for Ron Howard to get to see how much people loved his movie, the campaign’s hopes for success seem slim.

Ron Howard made the best of a bad situation, taking a production with many behind-the-scenes woes and made a watchable, entertaining movie out of it. Many of the things working against Solo, like marketing, release date and fan discontent over Star Wars: The Last Jedi, were not Solo’s fault, nor Ron Howard’s. It probably deserved a fairer shake. Nevertheless, Disney is a business and Solo underperformed.

A sequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story would presumably be way cheaper and have far fewer troubles, but Lucasfilm seems to be moving away from these kind of solo character stories. The future seems to be in fewer films, spread further apart and separate trilogies, versus the Marvel approach of character solo movies.

You can never say never though. Alden Ehrenreich was signed on for more than one movie and the upcoming Disney+ platform would theoretically open up another avenue for this story to continue. Although I still cringe over how Han got his last name, there are still dangling plot threads, like Qi’ra and Darth Maul from Solo: A Star Wars Story that I would be onboard to see explored in a sequel. There is clearly some fan interest, but is it enough?

The next film in a galaxy far, far away is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in theaters on December 20. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all of this year’s biggest movies and let us know in the poll below if you want a sequel to Solo.

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Chinese Censors Banned These Bohemian Rhapsody LGBTQ Moments

Chinese Censors Banned These Bohemian Rhapsody LGBTQ Moments

It's only been a couple of days since Bohemian Rhapsody was released into Chinese theaters, and it was a long road to even get there. This week, word is coming out as to what's been cut from the film. We knew that Bohemian Rhapsody was going to have some issues as it was cleared for a Chinese release and would endure some omissions due to Chinese restrictions and censors. Now we have a specific rundown of just what's been cut, and the trimmed material ranges from the mere usage of the word “gay” to crucial scenes involving the arc of Freddie Mercury's eventual acceptance of his sexuality.

The specific moments trimmed from Bohemian Rhapsody include the comedic beat during Queen's early Top of the Pops performance where Freddie's crotch is in full view of the camera, a couple of kisses between the Queen front man and his lovers, and even a moment where band mate Roger Taylor tells Freddie that his haircut makes him look “gayer.”

But perhaps the biggest cuts to Bohemian Rhapsody are two scenes that most help nail down the film's identity. The first is the moment with Freddie Mercury and his wife Mary, played by Lucy Boynton, who eventually outs her husband as gay; and the second is the recreation of the “I Want To Break Free” music video, which led to an MTV ban on the song's music video back in 1984. Both are lynchpin moments for the twin narratives of both Freddie's and the band's evolutions, and yet both were dropped.

In total, six sequences were cited as removed in an analysis provided to CNN by documentarian Fan Popo, a Chinese-born filmmaker. Also known as an LGBTQ activist in his home country, Popo revealed this list of cut moments as an antithesis to the viewpoint that Bohemian Rhapsody's mere release in the country should be seen as a win. Further driving his point home, he provided the following feelings about these moments being excised from Bohemian Rhapsody:

Rather than homophobic, I think (China's censors) are sexphobic. They are probably the most conservative people in China, that's why they are chosen for this job.

It was highly unexpected that Bohemian Rhapsody would hit Chinese theaters at all due to the country's strict LGBTQ media stance, so even the fact a trimmed down version of the movie made it to theaters is news.  Should a potential sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody that's been bandied about as of late ever get off the ground, it would be interesting to see if rather than pushing the envelope and trimming the film to fit a specific release, the next picture would just avoid those sorts of moments at the script level. Not only would such an approach save time and money on cutting two different versions of the film, it would potentially give this hypothetical blockbuster a means to break even more records than its predecessor. At the same time, it wouldn't be super accurate to Freddie Mercury's life.

While Bohemian Rhapsody didn't suffer the fate of being banned from China, much like Crimson Peak, it did run into some rather sharp editing shears on the way to its release. Which begs the question, which is the better fate: to have your film's message altered or to not be shown at all in a particular market? That something that the (now) Fox-owned Disney will need to figure out movie forward.  It's also something you can think about as you watch Bohemian Rhapsody, which is already available on Digital HD, as well as home video.

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