A lot has been said about The Odyssey and the language style used in its trailers World-building is often associated with maps, costumes, architecture, and lore. Writers spend countless hours designing civilizations, magic systems, political structures, and histories...
Disney’s daytime platform The View hit a new low this week when it welcomed former disgraced criminal Congressman Anthony Weiner back into the spotlight — not with accountability, but applause.
The season finale of what Disney+ is insistently calling the second season of Doctor Who has shown the regeneration of the 15th Doctor into his new form, revealed to be played by Billie Piper. The long remaining fan of the series who still watched was treated to the surprise when in a brilliant flash of gold light, the 9th Doctor’s companion, Rose Tyler, was standing in his place.
Jeff Sneider, a well-connected Hollywood insider, recently speculated that J.K. Rowling will inevitably sell the rights to Harry Potter to Warner Bros. Discovery. He cites precedents like George Lucas selling Star Wars to Disney and Barbara Broccoli handing off James Bond to Amazon.
His prediction? It’s not a question of if Rowling will sell Harry Potter—just when.
Protecting kids online is a goal we all support. Nobody wants young players harassed, bullied, or exposed to toxic behavior in games like Minecraft or Fortnite. That’s why tools like muting, blocking, and reporting exist—and they’re essential. But a new Sony “bad actor” detection patent floats an approach that goes far beyond moderation.
Marvel Studios may be steering into the storm once again. New leaks and rumors suggest that Mark Ruffalo will appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, possibly in the form of a villainous and unstoppable “Savage Hulk.”
Amazon is at it again—just days after canceling the much maligned Wheel of Time, the company is trying to convince the world that The Rings of Power is still worth its weight in mithril. After burning through more than $1 billion and facing a mountain of critical and audience indifference, the company has now decided the best way to salvage their beleaguered Tolkien spin-off… is to bring The Rings of Power to syndication.
I dunno about you folks, but I’m into language, words, and meaning. And THAT means that I get constantly po’d about how words are either abused or over-used or just plain stupidly employed online, in particular in YouTube videos.
As the nation pauses to honor its fallen defenders this Memorial Day, we at That Park Place want to take a moment to reflect—not only on the sacrifices made by those who served, but on the stories we tell about them, and what it means when those stories begin to fade.
We’ve seen a lot of talk about AI and the effect it will have on entertainment in general and actors in particular. We hear about, for just one of many examples, James Earl Jones and his family making the deal to AI his voice resulting in some more-than-interesting stuff going on in Fortnite if you ask the right (or is it wrong?) questions. And we’ve seen the SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Actors as they once were and merged) efforts to enforce their contracts get represented as affecting those bigshot players and their deals.
At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Gladiator 2 actor Paul Mescal might have given the most unintentionally revealing quote of the week when commenting on Hollywood and the “alpha male” characters that once defined it. While promoting The History of Sound, a period romance between two men in which Mescal stars alongside Josh O’Connor, the Irish actor confidently proclaimed that cinema is “moving away from the traditional, alpha, leading male characters.”
An image circulating online this week has left fans scratching their heads and critics raising eyebrows. It’s an embargo notice for Ballerina, the upcoming Lionsgate John Wick spin-off starring Ana de Armas, and it has one baffling clause: you can start posting your “spoiler-free enthusiasm” on May 22nd—but if your reaction isn’t positive, you’re not allowed to say anything at all until June 4, two days before the movie releases.
Rian Johnson has finally spoken out about the long-disappeared Star Wars trilogy he was supposed to helm after directing the much reviled Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.
And his explanation? He just really, really got into directing mysteries…