Coffee and Irony

So much goodness on Pajiba today summarizing 2015 films –

Avengers: Age of Ultron — The sequel to the third highest grossing film of all time, built inside one of the most successful cinematic universes of all time is obviously a slam dunk. The fact that James Spader — one of the most wry, deadpan actors in Hollywood — is playing the villain, and will voice Whedon’s ultra-wry dialogue only makes it that much more compelling. The addition of Elisabeth Olson (as the Scarlet Witch) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (as Quicksilver) doesn’t hurt, nor does our expectation that Whedon will likely kill off a character. For maximum devastation, it should be Tony Stark, but I suspect cooler heads (and Marvel’s money bags) will prevail, meaning it’ll be someone like Pepper Potts. Bah!

Star Wars VII — Here’s what we know about Star Wars VII: It will be a continuation of the series that will pick up 20 to 40 years after Return of the Jedi. J.J. Abrams will direct. Simon Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan are tasked with screenplay duties. Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill will almost certainly return. Chewbacca is probably in it. Saoirse Ronan has auditioned for a role, but according to her, “so has everyone.” John Williams will compose the score. It will be filmed in the UK.

That’s essentially all we know, and the less we know, the more we will anticipate the return of the most successful sci-fi series of all time under the leadership of a director who is bound to improve upon George Lucas’ last trilogy. RT

Film School Rejects covers the new Star Wars writers more in depth – “Kasdan, by contrast, has moved from mere consultant to lead writer, and that should instill great confidence in anyone interested in a return to form for the Star Wars universe. Sure he co-wrote Dreamcatcher, but in addition to it being a fairly shitty source novel do you know who the other co-writer on the screenplay is? William Fucking Goldman. That’s right. The man behind The Princess Bride, Misery, All the President’s Men, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Marathon Man, and more co-wrote the script for Dreamcatcher.” RT

Really really gorgeous Hook/Emma video starring the couple that has the TV-watching interwebs ablaze.

Brilliant article from Daniel Carlson on modern TV-watching. “I fight every day my desire to have everything be awesome and interesting and delivered on time and flawless and surprising and perfect. (I’m a Willenial.) Everything is go go go, now now now, this must be great and witty and dark or dark-lite or winking and self-reflexive and ready to be chopped into gifs. It has to be totes the best, or I just can’t even. It has to make you feel feels. It has to make you do all sorts of things that look like emotion but are in fact disguised methods of dissection. And God help me, sometimes I fall for it.” RT

And finally, quite a decent introduction to the history and style of Bollywood films from my friends over at LAAF. RT