Chucky lives. The world’s most famous killer doll hasn’t been seen since 2004, but he’s set to return in the upcoming Curse of Chucky.
As reported by Moviehole, Curse will be a made for DVD sequel from Universal Home Entertainment. Fans may be wary of the series being demoted from a theatrical run, but the good news is Chucky is still going to be in familiar hands. Don Mancini, who has written every single film in the series since it began in 1988 (and directed Seed of Chucky), will once again write and direct. And yes, Brad Dourif will return to voice the iconic character.
This installment sounds very self-contained. Chucky’s family, Tiffany and Glen, have been left behind, with Moviehole saying, “the film completely skips over the last couple of sequels, essentially taking place after Child’s Play 3.” It’s not clear how literal we should take the "skipping over the last couple of sequels" thing though and I’m curious to see what design for Chucky they go with – his original look, or the stitched-together, Frankenstein-style he sported in Bride and Seed.
Non-stitchy Chucky or Stitchy Chucky: Which do you prefer? This is an important issue, people!
Moviehole describes Curse of Chucky’s plot in the following way:
Chucky arrives to wreck havoc within a family that’s regrouped for a funeral. In the wake of her mother’s passing, a young woman – in a wheelchair since birth – is forced to put up with her sister, brother-in-law, niece and their nanny as they say their goodbyes to mother. When people start turning up dead, the fearless Nica discovers the culprit might be a “strange doll” she was sent a couple of days earlier.
Moviehole also says that Curse won’t be nearly as comedic as the series became with Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky, and that while humor will be included, there will be, “a lot more emphasis here on making the series scary again.”
There has been talk of a straight up reboot of the Child’s Play / Chucky series for years (also involving Mancini and Dourif), but that has remained on the backburner.
No release date has been set yet for Curse of Chucky, which will begin production in September in Winnipeg, Canada.
In 1976, world renowned filmmaker Sidney Lumet made a film called Network, with Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and William Holden. In the film's most famous sequence, a news anchor named Howard Beale (Finch) has a mental breakdown on camera. He engages his audience directly and rants for several minutes about the nature of journalism and humanity's failings, culminating in one of cinema's greatest lines,"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
I bring this up because of a scene early on in HBO's latest series, The Newsroom (premiering Sunday, 7/24 at 10pm PST/EST), where Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) has a similar outburst after being asked why America is the best country on the planet. While he's nothing but calm, jovial and humorous in the moments preceding his rant, you can feel the inner turmoil and tension itching and clawing at his soul, and finally it becomes too much for him to bare.
While McAvoy's anti-American outburst is perceived as ugly by the public and his peers, the rant is nothing more than an angry follow-up to Beale's "Mad as hell" rant from more than 30 years ago. As though the two are connected, McAvoy's rant seems to indicate his anger and frustration that everyone did, in fact, get angry, but no one really listened to each other and fixed the problems that made Beale angry in the first place.
The Newsroom is Aaron Sorkin's much-anticipated return to TV. It's a sharp, biting sociopolitical drama set within the walls of a TV news journalism, a world rife with intense competition, slanted ideals and compromised moral values. In other words, it's a proverbial playground for Sorkin's razor-sharp commentary, token wit and lightning-quick dialogue.
At the center of the series is McAvoy, a mean-spirited, burnt-out TV anchor who's loved by his fans and loathed by his co-workers. He fears his outburst may well spell the end of his career, but he also doesn't seem to care about perception anymore, either. In an effort to bring the show back to its glory, producers bring on some new blood, specifically Mackenzie MacHale, played by Emily Mortimer. Before McAvoy really has a chance to react to the startling news, his team is thrust head-first into the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (the show is set in 2010). Together, they attempt to make a difficult call -- do they report the news or, with the evidence they have, begin pointing fingers at who's to blame.
With any Sorkin series, casting is absolutely everything, and The Newsroom delivers one of the single best cast rosters out there. Jeff Daniels, an actor whose never fully hit his stride, is absolutely outstanding here as the old dog TV anchorman, poised to tell the world what it doesn't want to hear. His "average joe" nice-guy appeal comes off extraordinarily well, but it's easy to see that it's nothing more than a sugar-coated layer designed to protect a very cynical, tired interior. This is a breakout role for Daniels that should keep him working well into retirement years.
Daniels is perfectly complemented by Mortimer, who plays a brave, seasoned journalist who might just challenge him to rise to the occasion. She's quick-witted, savvy, and seemingly fearless. The two boast remarkable chemistry together, charmingly nipping at one another, creating a humorous tone to their otherwise venomous relationship and complicated past.
The supporting cast includes the ever-dependable Sam Waterston, relative newcomers John Gallagher Jr. and Thomas Sadoski, up-and-comer Olivia Munn, the always-likable Allison Pill, and Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel. Though their screen time is brief in comparison to Daniels and Mortimer, every character is well introduced and surprisingly complex. In just a few brief scenes, we get a strong sense of who these characters are, and what they could become -- good or bad.
The first episode does drag a bit in the middle, running a padded 75-minutes. Oddly enough, considering this is a Sorkin series, pacing was just a touch off. The show spent a little too much time introducing the characters without biting into the meat of the narrative. Still, the time spent wasn't really wasted as it did help establish the show's supporting cast, and establish the show's sometimes silly sense of humor. Regardless, it's a lull that might deter some viewers, or have them reaching for the remote.
Direction, from director Greg Mottola (Paul, Superbad), is quite great. It's clear that he gets down to the nitty-gritty with his cast, and he manages to make everyone shine, even those with minimal screen time. He also adds a touch of indie flare to the look of the series, giving it a theatrical appearance.
Naturally, The Newsroom does feature the usual left-of-center commentary from Sorkin, but for those who've long fallen in love with the writer's ideals, cynical take on politics and hope for a better future, there's much to adore about this new series. And Sorkin does his best to keep things refreshing, despite having played in similar sandboxes in past, with shows like Sports Night and The West Wing, and with movies like Charlie Wilson's War and even The Social Network.
In some ways, The Newsroom should ultimately play as a sort of snappy sequel to both Sports Night and The West Wing, melding the world of TV journalism with the hot-headed sociopolitical arena – two places forged in chaos, and in dire need of repair. To be honest, this is Sorkin's home, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
The Newsroom debuts Sunday, June 24th at 10pm ET/PT on HBO.
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For IGN's review of the first half of the one-hour season finale of The Legend of Korra, "Skeletons in the Closet," Click Here.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode to follow.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Republic City, the rest of Team Avatar was making a mad dash to take down Hiroshi's air field. Unfortunately, they were quickly dispatched and promptly put behind bars. But who needs metalbending when you've got a giant polar bear dog to spring you free? ("We got Nagaaaa, YEAH!") Following that, it was time to get serious. While General Iroh was off being all Iron Man ("Irohn Man?") and taking out the Equalist warplanes, Asami was forced to confront her father... BattleBots-style! It was unfortunate that Hiroshi couldn't be convinced to pull back, but it was nice that Bolin stepped in to help out Asami -- his pair up with Naga between the two mecha tanks was pretty great.
Back in Republic City, however, things weren't going so hot. After unsuccessfully outing Amon as a bender, Korra and Mako had to free Tenzin and his children from captivity, giving Amon another chance to escape and go toe-to-toe with the Avatar. But it wasn't until Amon started bloodbending Korra that we were positive Tarrlok was telling the truth about him. And when Amon poised his thumb to remove the Avatar's bending, I was utterly shocked to see him actually accomplish his goal. Even more incredible was Mako's electrifying defense against Amon. At last, we got to see what a truly talented bender he really was.
Of course, it was mere moments later when Korra returned the favor in a big, big way. I think I literally cheered when she threw that first airbending punch at Amon. It was seriously one of the most exhilarating moments of the entire season. Blow after blow, I was slack-jawed, all the way up until that blood-defying final knockout: "No... you... DON'T!" In that moment, I didn't even care if Korra got her other bending abilities back. So what if she only had one element at her disposal? All that mattered was that Korra had overcome her greatest obstacle, living up to the season's demanding title: Air.
Back at the Southern Water Tribe, it seemed as though all hope was lost for Korra and her stolen bending abilities. However, in an unexpected turn, Korra finally made a spiritual connection with Avatar Aang, who, along with all the other Avatars, was able to fully restore her powers. It was this scene in particular that had me absolutely floored. Between Korra's awesome display of elemental bending and Aang's theme playing in the background, I was emotionally overwhelmed. Just those few shots gave me chills beyond words and made me realize how rewarding it was to see Korra tap into her true potential. Never before had we seen such an iconic image of the ideal Avatar. This was easily the highlight of the entire episode.
On a more somber note, I still think one of the most interesting scenes in the finale was Tarrlok and Amon's escape. I wasn't sure what to expect, but Tarrlok's final redeeming gesture was very powerful. And the way Amon's eye teared up just before the explosion, it was almost as if he knew what had to be done. Unless the creators have a very good reason, I actually hope that Amon and Tarrlok stay gone because I think this would be a satisfying end for both of them. As much as I love the voices of Steve Blum and Dee Bradley Baker, I don't think you could give these characters a better sendoff. Behind the whole show there's this great underlying story arc about two estranged brothers striving to carry out their father's quest for vengeance, only to realize that it was a fool's errand all along. It's really a touching concealed narrative, one that I think could be interpreted in a number of different ways.
I doubt that many viewers were expecting such a rounded conclusion for the season finale. Not only is the main villain presumed dead, but Korra is now a fully realized Avatar. For all intents and purposes, this could have been a series finale. On the one hand, it lends itself to the standalone appeal of Season 1, but on the other, it would have been interesting to see Korra struggle with just one element, at least for a time. That said, there could still be some residual conflicts stemming from the Sato family: Hiroshi, while out of commission, still lives; and Asami, well, she kind of got the shaft on all fronts, particularly with Mako -- the dude straight up cheated on her. This again brings up the awkward execution of Mako and Korra's romance, but I suppose that's an issue better left alone until Season 2, where it will hopefully have more time to breathe and develop naturally. (Hey, we still have Bolin, right?)
Cumbersome love triangle aside, this was a masterfully crafted season finale, not just for a Nickelodeon cartoon but for a television series in general. And given the season's decidedly optimistic finish, I can't wait to see what's in store for these characters next.
Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN. Oh, and long live Lin!
There's a definite theme of violence in this week's edition of 'Best Games Quotes' as the fallout from E3 continues. This week there have been half-a-dozen editorials on the number of graphically violent games on display at E3 and a wide spectrum of opinions on why this should be so.
We've also selected opinions on new and future hardware, game-design, free-to-play games, digital downloads and, just to keep things lively, the nature of religion.
As always, add your opinions on any of these issues in the Comments section. The best one will be featured in next week's column. Please also get in touch directly with tips and opinions. The best way to reach me is via Twitter.
Terrified Girl
“Don’t show a trailer where a dude pushes a terrified girl against a wall and tries to grab her ass while slobbering all over her neck… and then tell us “sexual assault of any kind” isn’t in the game.”
“Sometimes I get worried about the continued reliance on making games that are so centered around guns, and that there are so many of these games. I have a hard time imagining – particularly for young generations of gamers – how they sit down and play and interact with that.”
“Who would have thought a game about an abused child fighting off his mother with his tears could ever sell 700k copies in less than a year? Not me, that’s for ****ing sure.”
"Sony and Microsoft are going to fight over gigaflops and teraflops and GPUs. In the end, it won't make that much difference. Nintendo brought motion into the gaming sphere and while only having a tenth of the processing power was able to outsell all of them. I think someone has an opportunity to do this here."
“I put everything in my name in this company. I believed in it. I believed in what we built. I never took a penny in salary. I never took a penny for anything...the money I saved and earned playing baseball was probably all gone... life is going to be different.”
“Typically my ideas come to me in the most inane ways possible. I had the initial idea for Quantum Conundrum while I was walking down the street to get breakfast. People are like, 'whoa, what's your inspiration, is it something amazing?' No, I was just really hungry.”
Kim Swift on Quantum Conundrum’s really freaky beginnings.
“Because we have the Vita, I think we can do a lot of special things. And remember, that Wii U tablet doesn’t have a processor in it, so it’s got to be fueled by that box sitting under your TV. We can do some pretty special things…and you’ll see more over the upcoming months about what you can do when you actually have a processor in the thing that’s in your hand as well.”
Sony Worldwide Studios vice president Scott Rohd on the PlayStation’s second-screen strategy.
“It feels like in this current console generation that we’ve taken a lot of steps to grow the audience and what I think has happened is that the games have become more linear and easier, so it feels like a lot of quick-time-events. The more I play games like that the more I turned off to them and just want to get back to interacting with systems. When was the last time a game really challenged you and asked something of you? There’s a reason why Demon Souls and Dark Souls have taken off lately. It’s because they really require you actually try.”
Cliff Bleszinski who also made it clear that he included his own work in his critique of the status quo.
"From my perspective I do not understand the public's concerns that the Wii U is weaker than PS3 and 360. That I cannot see. From my perspective the Wii U is minimum as powerful as Xbox 360.”
“We are facing the spectre of the stuff that we've enjoyed selling at a decent gross revenue line, that in the future we'll have to go and give away for free. It's no different from you and I having to go to work and not get paid, but then at the end of the day, we've found a way to make a hundred bucks through five dollars here and ten dollars there. That is the future of what we as a company have to figure out. Otherwise we're gone.”
“Free-to-play isn’t a business model. Free-to-play is a marketing strategy. It’s a way to get people over the hump of trying out your game. It gets rid of the friction that happens when you charge an upfront fee.”
Venture capitalist and former Jamdat boss Mitch Lasky.
“If MySpace had stayed the one answer in social networking and no one switched to Facebook, then we’d all be stuck on MySpace right now. There are better mousetraps that ultimately get built out of this innovation and the only way you get to the innovation is to have other people try and do a better version. And that’s what we’re attempting to do on Origin.”
Is EA and Origin’s VP of global ecommerce David DeMartini comparing Steam to MySpace?
“I love religion. Not any one in particular, mind you, just how they interact with one another, influencing individuals, cultures and nations in times of peace and war. Religion is just so uniquely human – a force for good and terror, and one of the biggest factors in shaping the remarkable and bloody history of mankind.”
IGN’s Anthony Gallegos reviews the new Civilization V expansion, Gods & Kings.
