The Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration Marks 60 Years Since Walt Disney First Opened the Gates to Disneyland and Transformed the Entertainment Industry Worldwide
Walt Disney, one of the ultimate dreamers, used his uninhibited imagination and determination to create what became the springboard for all of the Walt Disney Company’s spirited and wildly successful creativity that followed — his crowning achievement: Disneyland. ABC will celebrate the inventiveness and inspiration of Disney’s big, bold creation with a glamorous, star-studded Diamond Anniversary event, both in the heart of Hollywood at the Dolby Theater and throughout some of the most iconic locations at Disneyland Park, including Sleeping Beauty Castle and Main Street U.S.A., and Cars Land, a themed area of Disney California Adventure Park. The special will also showcase two dazzling displays of technology – the ”Paint the Night” Parade and “World of Color–Celebrate! The Wonderful World of WaltDisney” in Disney California Adventure Park, along with many more, on “The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60,” SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21 (8:00–10:00 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY: DISNEYLAND 60 – Tony Award-winning star of stage, film, television and music Idina Menzel to perform on “The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60.” Menzel will sing “Let It Go” the multi-platinum, Grammy and Oscar(r)-winning song from Walt Disney Pictures’ global box office smash-hit “Frozen.” Menzel provided the voice of Elsa in the instant classic film with one of the most memorable soundtracks of the decade. Menzel performed in Disney California Adventure Park against the backdrop of “World of Color,” the one-of-a-kind nighttime extravaganza.
Walt Disney’s legacy lives on through the Disneyland Resort, but even he might not have been able to imagine how big his idea would become at Disneyland and at Disney parks that span the globe. He launched an entirely new concept for family entertainment that remains as relevant today as the day it opened, July 17, 1955, for guests of all ages.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY: DISNEYLAND 60 – On location at Cars Land in Disney California Adventure Park, Grammy Award-winning country music vocal group Little Big Town sings “Steve McQueen.”
The Disneyland Resort will continue its 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration through Summer 2016, extending the three spectacular after-dark shows created for the special anniversary – the “Paint the Night” parade, the immersive “Disneyland Forever” fireworks show and the all-new “World of Color–Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney.” The exciting celebration, which also features sparkling décor, themed food and merchandise, will conclude on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 2016.
The absolutely ridiculous cult-classic from over 15 years ago has made its triumphant return in an even more outlandish and absurd sequel… and I loved every minute of it! No one should be expecting anything less than that was expected from the first silly-humored Stiller/Wilson genre film of 1999. The majority of the cast has come back in exact form never skipping a beat. While much time has passed, ZOOLANDER 2 feels organic and natural even with the apparent age differences in the actors. The movie is nothing more, nothing less, than exactly what any fan of the original should be anticipating. ZOOLANDER 2 is zany, outrageous, unbelievable, damn right immature, and yet nothing that it should be faulted for being.
ZOOLANDER wasn’t a film I gravitated to when it came out. I was probably in the perfect age bracket at that time, but found its Naked Gun style humor at times to be nonsensical. It was as if I was past that humor, but after multiple viewings I have fallen in love with just that! This genre isn’t for everyone, and can be a huge miss much of the time for people that like this sort of thing. However, ZOOLANDER 2 and its numerous writers have succeeded on providing the right amount of ridiculousness, nostalgia, and true laugh-out-loud humor that the movie never felt stale.
We begin with an odd opening chase sequence featuring on of the many cameos of the film. Here a celebrity death will lead the intelligence agency Interpol into a new investigation with Derick Zoolander at the heart of it. After an over-budgeted title sequence, the audience is treated to a montage of events via fake newscasts taking off from where the last movie left off. Here the audience gets a quick reminder of who Derick Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is and what has happened mainly with is character ever since. It’s a perfect reminder of how much time has actually past and places a timeline true to real time. There are many very important and hilarious events that take place in this made up timeframe, many of which I want to say and are probably available on other reviews, but I don’t want to ruin any of it. Fortunately Derick Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good from this first film plays an integral part to the sequels plot.
Zoolander has been in hiding in a remote cabin; his former friend and fashion icon Hansel (Ownen Wilson) has also disappeared due to a “tragic” accident to his face blamed on Zoolander to the uninhabitable, uncharted Malibu, depicted as a desert wasteland. Both wind up receiving an invitation to Rome’s biggest fashion show by today’s biggest fashion sensation NAME (Kristen Wig) via a Princess Leia hologram type message and end up running into each other and rekindling their friendship. While there an Interpol agent played by the hotter than ever Penelope Cruz into a new ludicrous mission. Once made a fooled of, the washed up fashion models must come together to stop the evil Mugatu (Will Ferrell) from killing Zoolander’s teenage son who is possibly the last descendant of “Steve”, an unknown brother of Adam and Eve in a quest for everlasting life. Yep, you have read correctly. And this only scratches the surface of the downright absurdity in this movie.
The movie does start a bit ‘laggish’ and perhaps even awkward. It definitely took a bit of warming up and several unfunny jokes before I found myself getting into it or even trusting the movie could be a solid flick. The film seems to become more comfortable with itself once we meet new hipster fashion designer Don Atari (Kyle Mooney) where the movie begins to deliver endless one-liners and comedic gold.
ZOOLANDER 2 focuses a great deal of its time with how Zoolander and Hansel have become washed up and near forgotten in the fashion world where they are quickly teased of their old styles and 90’s slang. It’s definitely a subplot that has been done countless times before, but it never felt repetitive here as the filmmakers and writers went about it correctly. It’s not the focus of the film and feels entirely appropriate for where we find the main characters at the beginning of the movie. The film benefits from featuring these two within our world as if they have built a folklore of these two being factual fashion super models.
Stiller and Wilson are at their best, though their best being how they were in the first ZOOLANDER. Will Ferrell is more delightful than ever who I think really shines in this one. Kristen Wig was probably the most annoying with purposely done ugly aging makeup and a terribly stupid accent that I found no one laughing at. Good idea, but I feel fell flat. Penelope is herself and is complimented well due to the lack of Zoolander’s real-life wife Christine Taylor. Cameos are abundant and are clearly seen as bigger support from the top-class actors of Hollywood.
I found myself truly enjoying my trip down memory lane with an all new storyline and superior line-up of comedic scenes. I realize a movie that creates such a cult following such as ZOOLANDER can never deliver a sequel with the same stamina, but ZOOLANDER 2 is a perfect compliment to the first film. Never should one go in expecting the greatest movie of the year, whilst hilarious, it’s still outrageous, though outrageously fun. Fans of the original shouldn’t be disappointed and those not as familiar should still be entertained.
Excitement was in the air on Monday, February 8th as the Porto Family and City Council gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of the newest location for Porto’s Bakery & Cafe. To add to the enthusiasm, Porto’s was just ranked No. 1 Restaurant in the country on Yelp’s Top 100 list.
Every year Yelp compiles a list of the highest rated dining experiences based on an analysis of reviews from their site. This year, Porto’s Bakery & Café in Burbank earned the number one spot on Yelp’s list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. for 2016 and the status of must try restaurant within this lifetime. “As a mom-and-pop organization we focus on staying humble, treating everyone like family and serving the best quality product,” explains Betty Porto, Vice President of Community Relations. “We are so blessed to be able to share our food with the world and that they continue to share what we do with their friends and family on Yelp.”
The Cuban bakery serves up delectable pastries, savory sandwiches, specialty beverages and more. But Porto’s is more than just a delicious bakery, it’s a family business that is rich in its history that dates back to the 1960’s when the Porto family moved from Cuba to California. Rosa Porto began to sell her delicious cakes and pasties in a 300 square foot location in Los Angeles and the one woman operation quickly blossomed into a successful family run business. Porto’s has gained a huge following over the last few decades at their current locations in Downey, Glendale, Burbank, and now, clearly, the nation at large.
Porto’s reach will soon extend into Buena Park, as the city has been chosen as the fourth location for the bakery and the first in Orange County. “Buena Park will be our biggest bakery to date,” stated Margarita Porto-Navarro. “And it’s going to have a completely different look and feel than our other locations.” The café will be located in the heart of the entertainment zone at 7640 Beach Boulevard and is expected to open Fall of 2016.
It seems like yesterday that I awoke to a beautiful morning fog drifting along the beach in front of my room in Cambria. And as I close my eyes the memories of the recent escape to the seaside village are all coming back to me.
My getaway began at the FogCatcher Inn, located across the street from the ocean and breathtaking Moonstone Beach. Highlighted by rounded thatched- roof, flower-lined brick paths and fireplaces in every room, the Fog Catcher boasts an Old English feel with modern comforts. The room came with two queen beds for me and my photographer who was with me, a 37″ flat screen TV, mini-fridge, microwave, coffee maker, free wireless Internet and an incredible views of the ocean.
The FogCatcher Inn sits on Moonstone Beach
The FogCatcher views are so great, the second we looked out our window we threw down our luggage and walked across the street to explore. It was a gorgeous afternoon, with the sun peeping through a layer of fog, exposing the outlines of surfers and people walking along the sand. Moonstone Beach is one of the area’s most romantic and unspoiled beaches. It’s also a great place to go tide pooling or see elephant seals and migrating whales from one of many coves.
After wondering along the beach and wooden boardwalk we drove a mile to Downtown Cambria for a gourmet dinner at Robin’s Restaurant (www.robinsrestaurant.com).
Located in an historic adobe house, surrounded by gardens and rustic nooks, Robin’s serves a unique and delectable array of curries, seafood, meat and vegetarian dishes. Our meal started out with two tasty appetizers: Crispy Vietnamese Spring Rolls with kim-chee, chili oil, sweet chili sauce; and spice roasted pork belly with marinated summer beans and tomato jam.
Robin’s Restaurant serves tasty curries and more
For the main course I had the heavenly Malaysian Chicken with spicy yellow coconut curry, toasted coconut, sugar snap peas and cucumber salad. My friend went with the Slipper Tail Lobster Enchiladas, with lime crèma, avocado, white cheddar, tomatillo salsa verde, cumin black beans, and brown basmati rice.
Back at the hotel, we soaked in the Jacuzzi, while listening to the waves crash on Moonstone Beach. In the morning, we hit the FogCatcher’s free bountiful buffet breakfast of sausage, eggs, toast, cereals, juices, coffee and more.
We then drove a few miles up the coast to San Simeon, where we found a large rookery of elephant seals sunbathing on the beach and posing for pictures. Weighing between 900 and 5,000 pounds, the seals are the city’s biggest attraction – aside from Hearst Castle of course.
Continuing up the coast we past fields of cattle, reindeer and a even a few zebras, until we reached majestic Ragged Point. Sitting on a cliff 400 ft above the ocean, Ragged Point offers one of the finest ocean vistas in the world. It also boasts a restaurant, hotel, gift shop, rest area, and an incredible hike down to the water.
The hike is a little tricky going down, but the rewards at the bottom are definitely worth it. They include a tall waterfall, a secluded beach with hidden coves, tide pools and lots of serenity.
For more information on visiting California’s Central Coast Wine Country, visit: WineCoastCountry.com. For more information on the FogCather Inn, visit www.fogcatcherinn.com.
Frozen, a new musical based on Disney’s Academy Award® winning musical film, is slated to join Disney hits Aladdin and The Lion King on Broadway at a theatre to be announced in spring 2018, Disney Theatrical Productions announced today on Twitter @FrozenBroadway. Sign up for email alerts at FrozenTheMusical.com.
Frozen will play its out of town tryout beginning in summer 2017 at a theatre to be announced.
As previously announced, Frozen features music and lyrics by creators of the film score Kristen Anderson Lopez (In Transit, Up Here) and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, Up Here) and a book by Jennifer Lee (Wreck It Ralph), the film’s screenwriter and director (with Chris Buck). Frozen won 2014 Oscars® for Best Song (“Let It Go”) and Best Animated Feature.
Golden Globe Award and Obie winner and two time Tony Award® nominee Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher, Here Lies Love, Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle) is Frozen’s director and Tony winner Peter Darling (Billy Elliot, Matilda) is choreographer.
The design team for Frozen includes scenic and costume design by seven time Tony Award winner Bob Crowley (Mary Poppins, The Coast of Utopia, An American in Paris), lighting design by five time Tony Award winner Natasha KaK (Aladdin, An American in Paris, The Glass Menagerie) and sound design by four time Tony nominee Peter Hylenski (The ScoLsboro Boys, Motown, After Midnight).
Two time Tony Award winner Stephen Oremus (Avenue Q, Wicked, The Book of Mormon) is music supervisor and creates vocal and incidental arrangements.
Casting and Broadway dates and theatre will be announced at a future date.
Frozen is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, under the direction of Thomas Schumacher.
Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.
Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, “The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray).
Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire. The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. “The Jungle Book” seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world. The wild adventure swings into theaters in 3D on April 15, 2016.
A brand new look at MARVEL’S CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR aired just prior to kick-off in the Big Game. In celebration, custom Twitter emojis showcasing Team Cap and Team Iron Man are now revealed.
As part of an exciting new Twitter campaign, 11 new character emojis are now available, and fans are encouraged to Tweet using #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan to declare their allegiance to their favorite Marvel characters. In addition, fans can create their own super team using the Captain America emojis and #TeamCapSweepstakes or #TeamIronManSweepstakes for a chance to win a walk-on role in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War – Part I.
Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.
Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Emily VanCamp, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd and Frank Grillo, with William Hurt and Daniel Brühl.
Anthony & Joe Russo are directing with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Patricia Whitcher, Nate Moore and Stan Lee are the executive producers. The screenplay is by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. Get ready to pick a side and join the nonstop action playing out on two fronts when Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” opens in U.S. theaters on May 6, 2016.
Pixar Animation Studios was the big winner at the 43rd Annual Annie Awards, Saturday evening at UCLA’s Royce Hall. ‘Inside Out’ received Best Animated Feature along with 11 other categories, including Outstanding Music – Michael Giacchino; Outstanding Editing – Kevin Nolting; Outstanding Production Design – Ralph Eggleston; Outstanding Voice Acting – Phyllis Smith as ‘Sadness’; Outstanding Writing – Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley; and Best Directing – Pete Docter. This year was the first for the new category Best Animated Feature-Independent with Filme de Papel’s ‘Boy and the World’ taking this top honor.
The Best Animated Special Production was awarded to ‘He Named Me Malala’ (Parkes-MacDonald/Little Door); Best Animated Short Subject ‘World of Tomorrow’ (Don Hertzfeldt); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Commercial ‘Man and Dog’ (Psyop); Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Preschool Children ‘Tumble Leaf’ – Mirror (Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Children ‘Wander Over Yonder’ – The Breakfast (Disney Television Animation); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for a General Audience ‘The Simpsons’ – Halloween of Horror (Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox Television); Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production: ‘The Revenant’ – The Bear (Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Anonymous Content, M Productions, Appian Way, RatPac-Dune Entertainment; and Best Student Film ‘ed’ (Sheridan College – Taha Neyestani).
“The Annies are drawing more attention from both our industry and the general motion picture industry,” said ASIFA-Hollywood Executive Director, Frank Gladstone. “We wait all year for this event and it never disappoints! It was a fun evening looking back at our history and celebrating what we have accomplished over this past year.”
Presenting the coveted Annie trophies this year were actor, producer & director Edward James Olmos with actress Rita Moreno; actor & writer Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) with actress Laraine Newman (Dawn Of The Croods); actors Alexander Garfin and Hadley Belle Miller (“Linus and Lucy” from The Peanuts Movie) & Snoopy via Video; actress Kristen Schaal (Bob’s Burgers), composer Christophe Beck (Frozen); Phyllis Smith (voice of ‘Sadness’ from Inside Out) with Bing Bong (Richard Kind) via video; Anomalisa co-directors Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, John Musker and ASIFA-Hollywood President, Jerry Beck and Executive Director, Frank Gladstone.
This year’s Juried Award recipients included Winsor McCay lifetime achievement award – Joe Ranft (posthumously), Phil Roman and Isao Takahata. The Winsor McCay Award is one of the highest honors given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation. Don Hahn was this year’s June Foray award recipient which honors an individual who has given significant and benevolent contributions to the art and industry of animation.
The Annie Awards™ honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories from best feature, best feature – independent, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting, and have often been a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. A complete list of winners can be viewed at www.annieawards.org and highlights of the ceremony will be uploaded to the Annies website in the next few weeks.
School is in session! Marvel and TinyCo are proud to announce the release of MARVEL Avengers Academy on the App Store® and Google Play™. Featuring a reimagined Avengers universe which finds prominent Marvel heroes and villains in their college years – MARVEL Avengers Academy lets players explore aspects of the Super Hero journey unlike anything ever experienced before in the Marvel Universe. MARVEL Avengers Academy is now available to download for free on the App Store® and Google Play™.
In MARVEL Avengers Academy, players will enroll, build, and run Avengers Academy – the ultimate Super Hero school for a very exclusive group of gifted students. At the Academy, players will discover their favorite Avengers Super Heroes and Super Villains reimagined as students developing their superpowers. Players will upgrade the abilities of their characters by enrolling in combat training, attending classes, and joining sports teams. For the first time in a Marvel game, players will also experience a social side to the campus by confronting rival cliques, navigating the social ups and downs of their characters’ lives, and even going on dates. MARVEL Avengers Academy will be an adventure of an entirely new variety that will appeal to both core and casual Marvel fans alike.
Featuring all of the world-famous Avengers characters such as Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, Falcon, Ant-Man, War Machine, Winter Soldier and Iron Man, the full roster of MARVEL Avengers Academy will also introduce players to longtime fan favorites such as Spider-Woman, Tigra, the Enchantress, and Taskmaster, as well as rising stars such as Black Panther, Wasp, Captain Marvel, and Ms. Marvel.
To build upon this fresh new Avengers experience, TinyCo has tapped some of the biggest names in entertainment to lend their voices to these iconic characters. Whether its watching the Hulk (voiced by John Cena) smash through homework, joining the entourage of suave Tony Stark (Dave Franco), or joining cynical rebel spy Black Widow (Alison Brie) on secret missions, you’ll be taking part in all new adventures developed by an experienced team of artists and writers working in conjunction with Marvel to create a brand new twist on the Avengers universe. Among others that are lending their voice to cast of Avengers students are Priyanka Chopra (Ms. Marvel), A$AP Rocky (Falcon), Alexandra Daddario (Wasp), Colton Haynes (Thor), Bella Thorne (Tigra), Kiernan Shipka (Spider-Woman), and more.
“Whether you’re voting Cap for class president, fan-girling out with Ms. Marvel, or going on a date with Loki, you’re going to have a blast at MARVEL Avengers Academy. By embracing everything we all love about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and giving them a fresh spin, we’ve reimagined fan and cult faves alike as powerful and complex young adults with that magic mix of action, drama and romance that is Marvel,” said Bill Rosemann, Marvel Games Creative Director. “By digging deep into the Marvel vault to celebrate all things Avengers, we’ve created an exciting, mysterious and vibrant campus, complete with an ever-expanding roster of students, faculty, backstory and secrets. Class is in session…do you have what it takes to become an Avenger?”
“We’ve been very fortunate to work closely with Marvel on this fresh take of the Avengers franchise.” said Suli Ali, Founder and CEO of TinyCo. “With the amazing voice talent we’ve brought aboard for this game, and a best-in-class production team, we know that we’ve created an authentic Avengers experience that can stand proudly alongside the best of the Marvel Universe — one that will continue to evolve as we support the title with big content updates featuring new characters and new exciting adventures.”
Reynolds was meant to play Deadpool, and Deadpool was meant to have his own film this good.
Comic books coming to the big screen are nothing new. In fact, they’re just about as common as any other genre these days, with Marvel being at the forefront. And while you probably won’t see him joining the Avengers in an expanded universe any time soon, the important thing for fans of the “Merc with a Mouth” is that he finally got the film he deserved. And it is nearly perfect.
Created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool’s first appeared in The New Mutants in 1991. The character evolved over time from villain to antihero, to sort of kind of being a hero in his own right, depending on your own definition of what it means to be a hero, per se.
Since his debut in comics, Deadpool has become a fan favorite for his absurd antics, random shenanigans, and constantly breaking the fourth wall (meaning he recognizes he is in a comic book and a fictional character) in multiple animated series, video game appearances, and Wolverine Origins (ugh).
Perhaps his most recognizable trait, his lack of sanity, stems from his origins whereas Wade Wilson, later known as Deadpool, was subject to human experimentation leaving Wade horribly disfigured (described as Freddy Krueger f*cked a topographical map of Utah), and thus losing his mind through the experiments. His powers are not unlike Wolverine, in that Wade has an incredibly fast-acting healing factor and unparalleled combat skills. In fact, Deadpool’s healing factor is so intense, it has even been demonstrated to re-attach and heal Wade after decapitation.
Of course, Wade Wilson appeared in the 2009 X-Men Origins film, much to wide critical backlash, specifically for the Deadpool character, among many other cinematic blunders. In that film, Wade Wilson was subject to experimentation where multiple mutant powers were combined into Wade’s body, even including Adamantium blades in each arm. For whatever reason, the writers and or producers thought it necessary to literally sew his mouth shut and remove the “Merc with a Mouth” phrase from the character entirely. We all saw the movie, we were all disappointed. Let’s move on.
This time around, we get a far more accurate origin story featuring Wade Wilson, a mercenary for hire who is diagnosed with a terminally ill disease leading Wade to no other option other than volunteering for a program that promises him a cure to his disease, and super soldier-like powers. In the process, Wade is betrayed and horribly disfigured and sets out for revenge against those who wronged him, particularly the mutants known as Ajax (Ed Skrein) and his partner Angel Dust (Gina Carano).
Along the way, Wade, now Deadpool, is constantly followed and pressured into joining the X-Men by Colossus (Stefan Kapičić), much to Deadpool’s dismay and frequent irritation. Along side Colossus is Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) an angsty teenager with incredible mutant power. The three of them are constantly bickering and bantering with one another, most often during heated gun battles, with Deadpool irritating Colossus with his “language” and desire to kill everyone and everything in his way to obtaining vengeance.
Now, this is a spoiler-free review, so there will be little in the ways of specifics regarding plot or cameos, but what I can tell you as a huge Deadpool fan (I am wearing a Deadpool t-shirt as I write this), Deadpool is damn near perfect. If Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool. In my humble opinion, there is no other actor to date that could have pulled off the role of Wade Wilson/Deadpool like Ryan Reynolds. The quick-witted one-liners, the snappy, clever expressions, the timing of the jokes, were all so well done, it would be hard for me to find a single issue with the delivery, even watching the movie and trying to find something I did not like. And I liked– loved it all. Every minute.
From the breaking of the fourth wall, the nods to X-Men, Spider-Man, DC comics, Hello Kitty, and that “snikt” guy, writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese could not have captured the character more perfectly. I may even go so far as to say that this is quite possibly the best comic book character adaptation I have ever seen. It was as if they literally ripped the character from the comic book pages, and let him run amok on the streets blowing things up and cutting bad guys in half. I laughed until I cried, I was on the edge of my seat with excitement of what would happen next, and I was thoroughly pleased with the origin story and the small tidbits of romance here and there. I would have liked to see a little more of Negasonic, but since this movie is about Deadpool, you won’t mind seeing her pop in and pop out every once in a while.
When Deadpool comes out on Friday, Feb 12 you better believe I will be in the theater opening night, through closing box office weekend. Fan of comic books or not, there is plenty of humor, gore, and gratuitous violence to make this your most refreshing experience at the movies for quite some time.
Directed by Tim Miller, starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T. J. Miller, Gina Caranom, and Brianna Hildebrand.
Stereophonic, the highest Tony-nominated play of all time, has finally opened in Los Angeles. I went into this one entirely blind, only having heard...
