Latest news with #MouseHouse
Hindustan Times
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
When irony loses its superpower
'Welcome to the MCU. You're joining at a bit of a low point,' Ryan Reynolds' quipaholic mercenary greets Hugh Jackman's rageaholic mutant in Deadpool & Wolverine, a corporate alliance bulletin in the guise of a superhero team-up romp. Fox's Marvel properties are welcomed into Disney's fold not with the red carpet rolled out, but with a snarky dig. If you thought the franchise had hit rock bottom already, there are phases yet to come in its business cycle, by the end of which you may forget if there ever were any peaks to begin with. Self referential comedy when it's done right: Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr (1924) (Courtesy iMDB) A corporate alliance bulletin in the guise of a superhero team-up romp. (Publicity material) For a movie about IP integration amid company-wide restructuring, the villain is a fitting one: a corporate bureaucrat by the name of Mr Paradox (Matthew MacFadyen) who has been tasked with cleaning up loose timelines across the multiverse. When Deadpool finds out his timeline is going to be 'pruned' from existence, he seeks out Wolverine for help. Their battle for survival stands in for Fox's battle against erasure upon being gobbled up by the Mouse House. From the very opening moments of Shawn Levy's movie, Deadpool goofs on the business acquisition that greased the wheels for the franchise crossover, a building block for grander crossovers in the future. The movie even pokes fun at the Disney-owned Marvel for persisting with the multiverse despite diminishing returns, while being a glaring example of why the returns keep diminishing. If the MCU has grown into a monster devouring itself into a void of nothingness, the Deadpool movies have become the ouroboros in reverse: a franchise with its head up its own ass. Not that there's anything wrong with self-referential comedy. Many a filmmaker has directed our attention to the artifice of their creation for laughs. In Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. (1924), a projectionist dreams of entering the very film he's projecting; once inside the film, he is subject to the whimsical rules of continuity editing; each cut leaves him stumbling and unmoored in one of the most enterprising sight gags. Mel Brooks took aim at the whitewashed myths of the Old West and the absurdity of racism in Blazing Saddles (1974), a satirical Western that has a brawl break out of the set, spread through the Warner Bros studios, pour into the streets and end at a theatre premiering Blazing Saddles. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) finds the monster Freddy Krueger has grown beyond folklore; out of his creator's control, he trespasses into the real world to haunt the actor who defeated him on screen. Two years later, with Scream, Craven established the rules of a slasher only to break them. Charlie Kaufman re-energised the modern book-to-film adaptation with a decidedly post-modern approach in Adaptation (2002); on being assigned to adapt Susan Orlean's nonfiction book The Orchid Thief, Kaufman wrote himself into the film; as he dramatized his own struggles to adapt said book, he confronted the self-doubts, the anxieties, the chaos that can paralyse the creative process. Ocean's Twelve (2004) had less serious intentions when it had Julia Roberts play a character who must pretend to be Julia Roberts. Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles (1974). (Film still) It is no surprise that some of the funniest shows on TV in the 21st century similarly took the self-referential route. The metamoments in Arrested Development were like annotated jokes in the margins of its episodes. But the show was also loaded with all sorts of running gags, callbacks and double entendres. Being a situational comedy, it had a good nose for inventing the most absurd situations without the need for a laughter track to punctuate its punchlines. What made the comedy of Community so refreshing was its pop culture references were intertwined with its identity as a sitcom. The nods to movies and shows never once felt out of place. In 20-odd-minute episodes, Dan Harmon's series encapsulated how it feels to live and nerd out in a world saturated by mass media. Community laid the groundwork for another Harmon creation with a flair for the meta: the animated series Rick & Morty. The meta-layers provide Rick, an alcoholic jerk of a superscientist, the necessary distance to confront his cynicism, his failures as a parent and a grandparent, and the consequences of his selfish actions. Its most meta episodes evoke the feeling of living inside an MC Escher lithograph. In Fleabag, creator-writer-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge's quizzical side-eyes to the camera gave the audience an intimate glimpse into her character's inner life. We as the audience became her confidante, her coping mechanism, her emergency escape to dissociate when she felt overwhelmed, nervous, embarrassed, guilty or witty. What was for her a way of taking a breather shaped not only how we saw her but how we engaged with her story. In Season 2, Waller-Bridge broke the very device of breaking the fourth wall. As Fleabag's emotional bond with Andrew Scott's Hot Priest deepens, he begins to clock her asides — a sign of just how much he truly sees her. There is nothing quite as clever or thoughtful about Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick's approach to metacomedy. Their execution is tantamount to a gag being slapped in the face again and again instead of organically kneaded in. Sure, it might grab your attention by sheer force. But you are left feeling bruised. And not from spasms of laughter. Listening to Reynolds' endless asides is like watching a movie with its built-in commentary track on — and an exhausting one at that. The fourth wall has been flattened to dust. Irony loses its inherent superpower once writers begin to resort to flippant asides as a rhetorical device by default. Deadpool's fourth-wall-breaking antics is a device carried over from the comics (Amazon) Bear in mind Deadpool's fourth-wall-breaking antics aren't a character quirk created exclusively for the movies. It is a device that carries over from the comics. Deadpool, alter ego of one Wade Wilson, was a comic book character aware he was in a comic book. When he is being tortured in a Joe Kelly issue, he reasons, 'None of this is really happening. There is a man. With a typewriter. This is all part of his crazy imagination.' Gail Simone's run saw Deadpool refer to his not-so-inner monologue as his 'little yellow boxes.' Sometimes, the references were about things outside the confines of the comic book medium. In one issue, he cues an action movie montage, instructing the reader to play Pantera's Five Minutes Alone, as he gets ready to kill 10 zombie presidents and their henchmen in about six pages. In another, he shoots a guy in the head for even suggesting he preferred the Star Wars prequels to the original trilogy — years before Lucasfilm and Fox became Disney properties. When the first Deadpool movie came out, Reese and Wernick didn't dial down the references. In one scene, a handcuffed Deadpool pulls out a knife, winks to the camera, says 'Ever see 127 Hours? Spoiler alert' before severing his hand. David Leitch, the director who replaced Miller for the sequel, billed himself in the playful opening credits as 'one of the guys who killed the dog in John Wick' (a piece of trivia that feels a lot less amusing when the end credits dedicate the movie to the memory of Sequana Harris, the stuntwoman who was killed while filming the movie). Deadpool & Wolverine repackages a lot of the same tired routines in a slightly different context. In its crosshairs are more or less the same targets. Ever so often, there might be a dick joke just to say 'Yeah, we went there if you can believe it.' Dress it up in postmodern regalia or undress it with a wink, a dick joke is still a dick joke. 'In Fleabag, creator-writer-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge's quizzical side-eyes to the camera gave the audience an intimate glimpse into her character's inner life.' (IMDB) On page, Deadpool and Wolverine have enough in common (two violent men capable of healing themselves from any wound, haunted by the past and seeking redemption) and enough differences (a glib merc who won't shut up vs a grumpy loner who sulks in silence) to make for a watchable pair with testy dynamics. But their collisions barely draw a laugh. When Deadpool quips, 'That is a shit ton of exposition for a three-quel' or 'Big CG fight coming up!', don't mistake it for satire. Acknowledgement isn't commentary. It is a cynical ploy to vindicate a movie for perpetuating the very tropes it is mocking. It is the writers getting ahead of the punch line of any joke the audiences might make at its expense. The writers are essentially saying 'Hey, we know everyone's grown tired of these same old conventions. But look, we are pointing them out for you this time. Please laugh so as to grant us an automatic free pass.' This kind of self-referential comedy is facile. There are no set-ups to the punchline. Sometimes no punchlines even. Just throwaway lines. Why bother earning our laughter with a fresh well-written joke when you can simply piggyback on the coattails of old material? 'It's a superhero movie that doesn't take itself too seriously' has become an excuse for not putting in the work. This consolidation project and all the Disney properties by themselves provide Deadpool & Wolverine a broad cultural ground to cover. While the movie takes a wild swing at the stakes, the milestones and the characters, it never really has anything interesting to say for itself. About the erasure of a past legacy to create a future one. About bureaucratic meddling. About the superhero monoculture. About our consumption patterns. About fan service. About the state of the entertainment industry. About the annoyingly snarky characters Reynolds always seems to play. The movie wants to have it both ways: to mock MCU while ultimately conforming to its vision. Deadpool is after all a Disney-sanctioned disruptor. A scene from She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (IMDb) In the season finale of the Marvel series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) finds herself in the middle of a chaotic conclusion. 'What is even happening here? This is a mess. None of these storylines make any sense,' she complains, looking straight at the camera. Jennifer then literally breaks out of the She-Hulk thumbnail on the Disney+ page to scold the writers, who blame it all on their boss Kevin. Not Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, but an AI bot named K.E.V.I.N. (Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus) wearing a similar kind of baseball cap. Calling itself 'the most advanced entertainment algorithm in the world,' K.E.V.I.N. claims to 'produce near-perfect products.' It takes some persuasion on Jennifer's part before K.E.V.I.N. tweaks the ending as she wants it. This turn of events could be seen as a Marvel-approved self-critique for churning out algorithmic trash as well as a warning about a future where AI could replace writers. But it also gets at the core of the problem when self-referential comedy is used as a get-out-of-jail-free card. There is a similar moment in Deadpool 2 where a plot complication is branded as 'lazy writing' — an apt epigraph indeed for formulaic meta-comedy. Prahlad Srihari is a film and pop culture writer. He lives in Bangalore.
USA Today
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
We ❤️ Chuck
We ❤️ Chuck If the thought of a Stephen King movie makes you want to get up and dance … hoo boy, do I have the flick for you. 'The Life of Chuck,' based on the brilliant King novella, may surprise you if you're used to stuff like 'The Shining' and 'It,' but it's the kind of story that'll lift your spirits rather than scare the stuffing out of you. Along those same lines, a new live-action version of 'How to Train Your Dragon' gives extra dimension to the story of a boy and his adorable scary flying friend. So check out those heartwarming flicks at the cinema but don't forget to stream some TV: Peacock's 'Poker Face' is doing quirky mysteries-of-the-week like a champ these days. Now on to the good stuff: See the best movie of the year (so far), Stephen King adaptation 'The Life of Chuck' Let's face it, y'all. There have been a lot of terrible Stephen King movies – more than you might think, given how talented that guy is. Much of it comes down to the filmmaker, and with 'Life of Chuck,' director Mike Flanagan proves he understands King like no other. 'He's not writing horror even when he is writing horror,' Flanagan told me of how he tackles King as a reader and a filmmaker. 'He's an optimistic humanist and he's writing about love and humanity.' Also check out my video interview with star Tom Hiddleston where he talks about the importance of those 'Chuck' themes. By the way, 'Life of Chuck' is the best movie of the year so far, the story of a life told backward and a soulful exploration of humanity and grand existential questions. (Peep my ★★★★ review.) Soar with the live-action characters of new 'How to Train Your Dragon' While Pixar and Disney take up most of the conversation when it comes to animated movies, one movie outside the Mouse House that has a deep fandom is 'How to Train Your Dragon.' The original 2010 adventure is a spectacular tale of Viking teen Hiccup and his best dragon friend Toothless. I was a little miffed when I heard there was going to be a live-action remake, and even while it still wasn't necessary, I am happy to report that the take feels as vital as the original. (Peep my ★★★½ review.) I also put together a parent's guide for the redo and chatted with director Dean DeBlois and cast members about what's different from the first flick, such as teen appeal and an expanded role for Hiccup's friend Astrid. 'The original wasn't broken, so you can't fix it,' says Mason Thames, who plays the live-action Hiccup. 'All we could do was elevate it.' Stream 'Poker Face,' Natasha Lyonne's starry, standout sleuth show The second season of the Rian Johnson mystery show 'Poker Face' has featured an endless supply line of guest stars, from Cynthia Erivo and John Mulaney to Kumail Nanjiani and John Cho. And Natasha Lyonne, who plays amateur detective Charlie Cale, wears almost as many hats: actress, director, writer and producer. My bud Patrick Ryan visited the set and chatted with Lyonne, who likens her many roles to being a musician and identified with Jughead from the 'Archie' comic books. 'He was a one-man band, but also a friend of the gang,' she says. 'He just kind of hung out and had instruments around." "Poker Face" didn't make TV critic Kelly Lawler's list of the best TV shows so far this year, but some pretty good stuff did like "Andor," "The Pitt" and "Overcompensating" – all of which get the Brian Seal of Approval. Even more goodness to check out! Got thoughts, questions, ideas, concerns, compliments or maybe even some recs for me? Email btruitt@ and follow me on the socials: I'm @briantruitt on Bluesky, Instagram and Threads.
Irish Independent
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
How to Train Your Dragon review: How to nail a remake
They're called 'live-action remakes', and in the hands of the Mouse House they have been some of the most abominable productions ever committed to the big screen. Aside from the fact that these outings are tired, barrel-scraping facsimiles of animated classics, ones that never asked to be produced in the first place, they often simply don't work as concepts. A cartoon crab singing a calypso song is cute. An actual crab doing so is weird and unsettling. Cartoon lions and meerkats cavorting in the Savannah is fun and compelling. Anatomically precise fauna doing so looks like a David Attenborough documentary during a bad trip. With the Snow White retread earlier this year, the response from critics and viewers was so galling that the media circus surrounding the film paled in comparison. The casting, the reconfigured politics, the unnecessary tweaks to the plot, the hideous CGI dwarves – everything about it was a miscue. If anything was to spell the death knell of the live-action remake, Snow White was it. And yet, just a few months later, one has arrived that persuasively argues a stay of execution. DreamWorks – not Disney, tellingly – scored a hit in 2010 with How to Train Your Dragon, an impeccable blend of medieval fantasy and action-adventure for younger constitutions. Inspired by Cressida Cowell's books, it told of a Viking boy who ends generations of enmity with marauding dragons when he forms a bond with an injured fire-breather. It was smart and witty, filled with marvellous names like 'Snotlout' and 'Gobber the Belch'. Children were helplessly rapt by the sight of a mounted dragon swooping and diving. In the relationship between young Hiccup and cat-like dragon Toothless, meanwhile, the entire franchise was imbued with an irresistible sweet-centre. Best Animated Oscar nominations greeted all three instalments. ADVERTISEMENT Franchise linchpin Dean DeBlois – who co-directed that first chapter with Chris Sanders – writes, directs and produces this live-action revisit, with the handsome coast of Ulster ably filling in for the Isle of Berk. Hiccup (Mason Thames) is inventive and determined but hasn't the warrior chops to win the pride of chieftain father Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his role from the animated voice cast). In a full-throttle intro, the dragons have raided the livestock and Stoick is baying for blood. During that skirmish, Hiccup trialled a new weapon that ended up scuppering a much-feared dragon, the mysterious Night Fury. When he tracks down the beast with the intention of dispatching it and winning favour with Stoick, mercy wins over and a trust is established with the injured creature, who he names Toothless. It gives Hiccup an edge as he and a hodge-podge of young recruits are put through their paces as trainee dragon-slayers (tutored by Nick Frost's droll amputee). The trainees come in all shapes and sizes, but the star of the show is Astrid (Nico Parker), a fierce warrioress who Hiccup knows is way out of his league. As they are pitted against a selection of various dragon sub-categories, however, Hiccup wields some of the insider know-how gleaned from time spent with Toothless and his stock value rises. All the while, he's getting closer and closer to taking flight with his new dragon friend, a feat unthinkable among his community. Tart enough for adults, bold enough for young ones, and tempering elaborate action sequences with succinct passages of character development, you could do a lot worse than bring your own small monsters to this. Our seven-year-old has a low threshold for jeopardy, but the thrills kept a balance of fun amid the high stakes, which suited him down to the ground. Top Gun for kids, with dragons, if you will. Frost is commander-in-chief of the comedy relief, but the big cast revelation – and these are not words I pictured myself ever uttering in these pages – was Butler. Often consigned to something of a schlocky punchline in genre cinema, the bulging Scot does the right thing and hits the 'caps lock' button as the snarling but paternal Viking lord. By seamlessly flipping a one-time animated role into the live-action arena, he sums up so much of what this film gets right. Four stars
Metropolis Japan
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metropolis Japan
Lilo & Stitch Movie Review Metropolis Japan
A mad scientist on a planet far, far away creates an indestructible yet highly destructive little monster, which escapes and heads toward Earth. It splashes down in Hawaii and is adopted by Lilo, a lonely young girl who thinks it's a puppy, or at least a koala, and names it 'Stitch.' Madcap antics and naughtiness evil, creatively barren film execs in Southern California are on a decades-long crusade to churn out soulless and bloated live-action remakes of Disney's renowned catalogue of animated classics. The suits in the Magic Kingdom have never understood that just because you have the technology to do something, it doesn't mean you should do it. Because higher tech often takes the magic away. I vaguely remembered the 2002 Lilo & Stitch and the general plot line. But nothing stood out, so I wouldn't really call it 'memorable.' Seeking an angle on this new cash grab, I watched it again. It was fun for this kind of thing, even heartwarming in spots. This retread alternates between annoying, cloying, and frantic. Didn't crack a smile. Not once. I chalk up the movie's good box office to parents desperate to find something to divert their kids for a while. Oh, and the Mouse House wants me to remind you to buy the plushies and other merch. It's what they do. (108 min) Out in theatres now. Are you curious to read more reviews of new films from Disney? Head to Don Morton's review of Snow White and Moana 2.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
YouTube Disputes Disney Lawsuit's Claims Over Justin Connolly Hiring, Alleges Disney Is Using Exec as ‘Pawn' in License Talks
YouTube has fired back at Disney, opposing Disney's lawsuit attempting to block the video giant's hiring of Justin Connolly, a former high-level media distribution exec for the Mouse House. Last month, Connolly — after more than two decades at Disney and ESPN — quit to join YouTube as global VP of media and sports partnerships. Disney responded with a lawsuit against YouTube and Connolly, filed May 21 in California state court, alleging breach of contract, tortious interference in a contractual relationship and unfair competition. More from Variety Disney Layoffs Cut Across TV, Film, Corporate Finance Affecting Hundreds of Employees 'Doctor Odyssey' Crewmembers Sue Disney for Alleged Sexual Harassment on Set, 'Blacklisting' Them After Filing Complaint With Disney's New 'Lilo & Stitch' in Theaters, Here's How to Get the Original Animated Film on DVD/4K Ultra HD YouTube now has filed its opposition to Disney's lawsuit. 'Disney asks this Court to specifically enforce defendant Justin Connolly's purported 'fixed term' employment agreement, to issue a restraining order that would place Mr. Connolly out of work, and to preclude Mr. Connolly from working for the employer of his choice for years,' YouTube said in its reply, filed June 2 with the Superior Court of the State of California in the County of Los Angeles. In its filing, YouTube took issue with several of Disney's allegations. According to the Disney lawsuit, Connolly had signed a three-year contract in November 2024, which his move to YouTube allegedly violates (as Connolly had a one-time right to terminate it for any reason effective March 1, 2027). However, according to YouTube, Disney employed Connolly on an at-will basis. 'Disney kept for itself (unilaterally) the absolute and unfettered right to fire Mr. Connolly at any time and for any reason without any obligation to Mr. Connolly,' YouTube said. An order requiring Connolly to either 'return to Disney to work against his will and/or to quit his new position at YouTube' is 'expressly prohibited by statute and other controlling California law,' according to YouTube's filing. YouTube also said Disney's request for 'emergency relief' is bogus because 'Disney has known for over six weeks that Mr. Connolly intended to leave Disney and join YouTube.' Connolly, who most recently was president of Disney Platform Distribution, oversaw all third-party media sales efforts for distribution, affiliate marketing and affiliate-related business operations — including with YouTube. In a declaration filed with the court, Connolly said that in April 2025 — after disclosing to Disney his intent to accept YouTube's offer — he stopped 'leading or participating materially' in any of the current negotiations on the license renewal between Disney and YouTube. At the time, another Disney executive replaced him as the lead negotiator for the YouTube license (and other Disney executives have already taken over other ongoing negotiations for the company), per court filings. In early April 2025, Google and Disney exchanged communications regarding Google's desire to hire Connolly for the YouTube role, according to the YouTube filing. Disney asked for its renewal negotiations with YouTube — which would normally not begin until around August 2025 — to be 'prioritized' by YouTube, according to the internet company. Rather than invoking Connolly's contract that purportedly prevented him from exiting Disney to join YouTube, according to YouTube, 'Disney made clear that it intends to use Mr. Connolly as a pawn to advance the renegotiation of its license renewal with YouTube.' Google told Disney that it would be willing to move up the YouTube license renewal negotiations with Disney, but 'could only do so if Mr. Connolly joined YouTube sooner rather than later' (because, Google said, the earlier Connolly joined YouTube and took over negotiations on contract agreements with other companies, the sooner YouTube would be able to free up its other employees to focus on Disney's license renewal). According to YouTube, Disney did not respond to Google's last communication and 'did not offer Mr. Connolly any meaningful path to exit with Disney's support.' YouTube, in its reply to Disney's lawsuit, essentially said Connolly is not the equivalent of a rock star or pro athlete. YouTube argued that Connolly's 'work for Disney did not involve services that are special, unique or extraordinary,' the one area where a court may be permitted to enforce personal service contracts. Per the YouTube filing, the narrow exception for services of 'special, unique, unusual, extraordinary or intellectual character' has been applied only to 'contracts for the services of notable artists, performers and professional athletes.' Regarding Connolly's knowledge of Disney information, YouTube said that is 'irrelevant.' 'Google/YouTube has made it clear to Disney that Mr. Connolly will not be involved in any capacity with YouTube's license agreement negotiations with Disney,' YouTube said. In addition, YouTube's offer letter to Connolly 'demands that he continue to adhere to his confidentiality obligations to Disney, and confirms he cannot bring, use or disclose any of Disney's confidential or proprietary information during his work at YouTube,' the YouTube filing said. YouTube called the provision of Connolly's employment agreement that purports to prohibit him from leaving Disney 'unconscionable.' Per YouTube, that's because 'Disney demanded that Mr. Connolly sign it, Mr. Connolly was not represented by counsel, and Disney had overwhelming bargaining power as compared to Mr. Connolly.' In addition, Connolly's employment agreement is 'unconscionable' because 'it purports to bind only Mr. Connolly to work for a period of time, while allowing Disney unfettered discretion to terminate Mr. Connolly's employment for any reason at any time. Furthermore, there is no justification for the one-sided nature of the termination right in the Employment Agreement.' The California state court hearing the case, which is captioned Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution LLC vs. YouTube LLC et al., has scheduled a June 4 hearing on Disney's application for a temporary restraining order to block Connolly's hiring by YouTube. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
