Could Beyonce Play Storm in 'Black Panther 2'?

Okay Avengers, now let's get in formation...   

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth in the movie industry. Characters like Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow have become house-hold names and, according to a recent poll by Fandango, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War are the top two anticipated films of 2018.

On top of this, though, is the Disney-Fox acquisition that shook the industry trades earlier this month. While this has dire creative consequences for the film industry going forward, one silver lining to Disney's monopolization of Hollywood is the re-grouped Marvel assets now available to Marvel Studios. With Fox come the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, and with the X-Men comes Storm.

How 'Love, Simon' Could Change Hollywood LGBTQ Representation Forever

Why is straight the default?

For decades, the 'Teen Movie' genre has been a Hollywood mainstay. 10 Things I Hate About You, The Fault in Our Stars and The Breakfast Club - all coming under this pseudo-category - took their time to dig in to adolescent issues and infuse heartache with comedy to create classic coming of age tales. One community, however, has been almost completely left out of the spotlight, with LGBTQ+ characters only really ever attaining a supporting role (Easy A, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, etc). Greg Berlanti's adaptation of the best-selling book 'Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda', though, could change everything in terms of LGBTQ representation in mainstream Hollywood film.

Justice League Movie Review | Mild Spoilers

Zack Snyder is a controversial film-maker at best. 

As the visionary behind the 300 franchise and the cult-hit Watchmen, he was assigned by the Warner Bros. DC division to boot up their own cinematic universe à la Marvel Studios. With the recent success of The Dark Knight, Snyder was signed on to bring a 'dark and gritty' tone to Superman in Man of Steel. The reception was split. I myself adored the film, but those already with an idea of who and what the Superman character should be were in outrage at it's bleak and depressing tone. What followed was a bit of a train wreck. Batman V Superman was, while enjoyable to hardcore comic fans, utterly inaccessible to the larger audience, and multiple creative choices (such as a cringe-inducing take on Lex Luthor and a final cut that literally makes no coherent sense) left the film DOA. 

Despite a phenomenal advertisement campaign, Suicide Squad was, as critic Grace Randolph put it, more "Snapchat: The Movie" than the thrilling, dark heist we were promised, and its only success was its spectacular character design which it won an Oscar for. Thankfully, Wonder Woman earlier this year was a great installment to the series, with talks now of its own Oscar chances. With the wonderful Gal Gadot seemingly taking a lead role in Justice League, the hope was that DC's rocky road may finally become more stable. But did it succeed in providing the course correction that the DC Universe desperately needs? 

The 2018 Oscar Front Runners So Far

Stay up to date on the best critically-acclaimed films of the year so far.

As the summer movie season fades into memory and a biting chill arrives in the wind, we mere mortals can be assured of two things: loads of white people in America are about to complain about seasonal Starbucks cups, and the Oscar movie season is about to restart. While completely unrelated (unless you enjoy a take-away coffee as an accompaniment to independent film), it's these subtle signals that mark the start of a long, long race towards the 2018 Academy Awards. If, then, like me, you find it hard to keep up with the tidal wave of Oscar-hopefuls, take some comfort in the fact that this little post has you completely covered. Granted, there are always surprises, but these are the films out now (or in the near future) that are creating the largest amounts of buzz as we head towards awards season this year...

Murder on the Orient Express Review

Can Branagh's self-indulgent, cinematic, twisted tale stay on track?

As a joint honours student studying both English and Film Studies, it is with some degree of guilt that I admit I have failed to experience Murder on the Orient Express in either it's original, literary form, or its acclaimed 1974 adaptation. When it comes to reviewing this film, however, I feel this comes to my advantage. There have been muted but noticeable rumblings surrounding Express for some time.  Many labelled it as Kenneth Branagh's self-indulgent attempt at awards bait and, more recently, critics after seeing the film have dismissed it as a re-make lacking the prowess and power of its '74 predecessor.

'IT' Movie Review

"...and now I have to kill this fucking clown."

IT was, in every sense of the word, a very timely movie, and an important one at that. Summer 2017 saw the lowest grossing Box Office in over a decade; the last time summer-time movie going was this low was in the 1980's. Many in the industry were left with questions. How can the movie-going season that brought us tent-pole flicks like Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Despicable Me 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming and the surprise hit Baby Driver be such a failure for Hollywood? One idea was that the state of movie-going itself (noisy audience members, dirty theaters, expensive tickets etc.) had began to outweigh the benefits of going to the cinema. Some more hopeful analysts, though, pondered a second curiosity.

Will Cersei Die in Game of Thrones' Final Season?

Valar Morgulis

Game of Thrones Season 7 may have just wrapped up, but that doesn't mean we still can't have fun in the world of Westeros. In a new JG Review series I will be exploring the most popular fan theories and predictions for the upcoming Season 8! While no one actually knows what will happen in the next season, there is a chance these theories could be accurate, so read at your own risk...

Loose Cannon Theatre's 'Cherry' Review | What's On @ The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017

Nobody really likes talking about virginity, do they. Sure, people talk about what comes after almost all the time. The notion of sex is bombarded to us whenever we turn on the radio or switch on the television, even books aren't safe (thanks a bunch, E. L. James). 

Virginity, though, acts as this mystical shroud of shame that compels us to make crazy decisions or put ourselves in vulnerable situations just so we can say we've overcome it. It's a bit messed up, right? At least, that's what the Bristol based 'Loose Cannon Theatre' seems to have decided, as it brings one of western culture's most taboo topics to this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Cherry, and I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse.

Is "Captain Marvel" Setting Up 'Secret Invasion' After "Avengers: Infinity War"?

It's not just bad fashion that went into hiding in the 90's...

UPDATE: This was written before Infinity War was released. For my discussion of the Infinity War after credits scene, click here!

At last weekend's San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Studios revealed concept art of Academy Award winning Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, the new superhero on the block. The costume looked amazing, serving a perfect balance between the established MCU style and the comics' colourful original design. Captain Marvel, though, doesn't just offer a well-dressed hero, but a refreshingly unique world for her to fly around in; in fact, it's the story details announced alongside Captain Marvel's concept art that hint that Carol Danvers's on-screen debut might just end up being the most important movie Marvel has ever made. 

Beyond Infinity War: Where can the MCU take the Avengers after 2019?

Since 2008’s Iron Man, Kevin Feige (President of Disney’s Marvel Studios) has been painstakingly crafting a never before attempted cinematic universe in the vain of Marvel Comics. 

While we didn’t know it yet, the smash-hit Downey Jr. film laid the foundations of an empire, and in the nine years that followed, movie-goers have slowly been raised further and further into the comic book consciousness, with characters such as Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch and Black Panther cementing themselves as household names. With 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s untitled sequel, movie-goers around the globe will rejoice at the chance to see the Guardians of the Galaxy team up with Earth’s mightiest heroes in the effort to defeat the deadly Thanos in what is sure to be a spectacular climax to one of the most painstakingly crafted movie franchises ever made.

Disney's First Gay Character: Why Is This News? | Beauty and the Beast, LeFou and Howard Ashman

An exploration of the real reason Disney's reinterpretation of Beauty and the Beast as LGBTQ inclusive should be acknowledged, not pushed aside...

Last week, Disney announced their first openly gay character in the form of LeFou, the villainous side-kick to Gaston in their upcoming Beauty and the Beast re-interpretation starring Emma Watson, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson. While Disney is no stranger to the ‘coded-gay’ character, a phrase which refers to a character presenting overt characteristics associated with an LGBTQ stereotype without actually acknowledging their sexual orientation (see The Lion King’s Scar, Hercules’ Hades or High School Musical’s Ryan, for example), LeFou will be the first character in Disney’s history to not only be LGBTQ, but openly and clearly acknowledge so in the film.

Top 7 Superhero Films You Need To See in 2017 | Wonder Woman, Batman, Spider-Man and More!

Holy smokes, Batman! The second of our three Top Ten lists is now up! 

As was previously explained in our list of the top 4 animated films you simply cannot miss in 2017, this year brings us so many anticipated films that they simply cannot be fit into a singular Top Ten list. For this reason, we have split them up into 3 different lists, with the final, explosive finale of our Top Ten trilogy being released on Sunday! But enough of the future, let's focus on the list at hand- but, hang on now...what's that? A bird? A plane?

Jackie Movie Review

There will never be another Camelot.

As an almost-19 year old English undergraduate, I cannot claim to be an expert on the events portrayed within this film, nor to be any more than mildly familiar with the circumstances surrounding the events detailed within, and yet despite this Pablo Larrain has crafted a film so powerful, so shocking, so moving with Jackie that I simply can not claim to deny its majesty.

The Top 4 Animated Films You Need To See in 2017 | Pixar, Disney and More!

Ka-chow!

Here it is! My first run down of the films you need to see in 2017! As I explained in yesterday's reveal (click here if you haven't read it yet), 2017 sees so many exciting films headed to our silver screens that I simply cannot fit them all into my normal Top Ten format. For that reason, the list has been split into three, with the first installment being the Top 4 Animated Films that you need to see this year! Read on to find out what made the cut...

Top Twenty-One!? 2017 Movie Breakdown | Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Beauty and the Beast and More!

Money, money, money, must be funny, in Holly-wood's wo-o-orld...

2017 will see Hollywood suffer from a true embarrassment of riches. In the coming months, famous franchises will expand and continue in sequels galore while many-a-movie hoping to kick start their own craze will stumble their way onto your cinema screens. In true JG Review tradition, January will see our annual "Top Ten Movies To Watch in 201X" list published, but this year sees too many exciting movies to simply cram into ten spots. It is for this reason that I have a special announcement...

La La Land Movie Review

It's another day of sun, just another day of sun...

Damien Chazelle, the director and writer of La La Land, first hit the film festival circuit in 2013 with his critically acclaimed short film Whiplash. Though a well-received, feature length version of the script (penned by Chazelle himself) was making the rounds to excited studio heads, the film was never actually green-lit by a studio until the short was nominated for an Academy Award. The next year, Whiplash (the version lasting 107 minutes) took the globe by storm, with stunning performances from both Miles Teller and J.K.Simmons. It was then that Chazelle was 'allowed' to start production on La La Land, the film having been very loosely based on his debut (entitled Guy and Madeleine on a Park Bench, also a musical) and inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood's stars and stories. It is the symbol of the star which best encompasses La La Land I suppose, with not only the musical's breakout number alluding to their glamour ('City of Stars'), but almost every reviewer awarding the film five of them.