Truly Baffling Way To Handle Marvel Rivals

Marvel RIvals Game Director has been laid off along with his entire Seattle-based development team. pic.twitter.com/c1Kh556HhA

— KAMI (@Okami13_) February 18, 2025

 

As PC Gamer confirms, the game director and the rest of his team have been laid off from what as seen as a very successful video game. Not the greatest news for anyone playing the game and hoping it to work well in the future. Oh, Marvel Rivals, this ain't good.

Even More The Monkey

THE MONKEY. Merch pop up.
Immanuel Presbyterian Church.
Saturday, 1PM until sold out.
Signed screen print with every shirt.
Let’s have some fun. pic.twitter.com/wGvYohqmlt

— NEON (@neonrated) February 17, 2025

I'll give it to NEON, they're behind this monkey.

Here's even more The Monkey marketing with showings around LA this week with director Osgood Perkins.

Local Hype: C'mon Amazon, LAUSD Cellphone Ban, Slamdance LA & The Giant RISObots + More

 

Mandy Moore called out Amazon with the perfect picture of its ineptitude. Near the smoldering remains of her in-laws home sits a perfectly delivered Amazon package. Who do you blame, the contract worker who delivered it or the unflinching mechanism of Amazon. Maybe, just take a second and think before dropping of any mail there. Yeesh. via LA Mag

Woah, they finally...might have done it. The LAUSD Cell Phone Ban starts today, meaning you can't have them on during school and sometimes even in your possession on campus. Each school got to choose for itself how it will implement the ban, either having students stow the phones in lockers, bags or cubbies or just keeping them off and in their backpacks. via LAist

 

We now have Slamdance? Forget the LA Film Festival, tear.

Indie Cinema's Best-Kept Secret Brings 30 Years of Experimental Film to L.A.

So, passes are sold out, but you can still just grab tickets to individual films, looks like it's $21 bucks a ticket.

 

The Giant RISObots is online. What is it? It's a 5 person group exhibition featuring risograph prints from artists Natalie Andrewson, Amy Matsushita-Beal, Nat Center (aka Printed Pony), Arlin Ortiz and John Pham at GR2 Gallery running from February 15th, 2025 to March 4th, 2025.

How LA movie fans created a cult following around RRR screenings via Boing Boing

Nice read on the sold out showings of RRR at Vidiots.

The Gorge & Heart Eyes Reviews: Love Is In The...Get Down...WTF Is That!

 

Was there marketing for this? The only reason I checked it out was because of a headline saying, "Rom-com, Horror, Sci-Fi Movie is Insane," somewhere on social media. Then, I showed a trailer to friends for Valentine's Day and no one had ever heard of it. And, they do watch Severance, part of the same streaming service. So, way to go Apple+, I'm telling people about this, because you sure didn't care to.

 

Didn't expect Scott Derrickson of Black Phone and Doctor Strange to be it's director on top of having hotties Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. 

 

So here's the story of Scott Derrickson's Resident Evil, I mean The Gorge. The hotties are both mercenary assassins good with guns. Best at sharpshooting. One from East, Anya and one from the West, Miles. They slowly fall in love over a secret gorge that might be the doorway to Hell. Wait, what? Yes, the crazy premise is they are on opposite sides of a giant gorge and have to kill whatever comes out of it. They're cut off from the rest of the world. It's sort of like American meets a Russian, even though Anya plays Lithuanian. And, with nothing much else to do, they sort of hook up over time...over a Hell gorge. And, sometimes it's really cute.

 

And other times monsters crawl and want to kill them.

 

The trailer already illuminates they end up in the gorge and without going over what you think it is, it is definitely Resident Evil. I'm not sure if director Scott Derrickson was supposed to direct a film based on the video game our at least come up with a new direction for it, but there's no way it wasn't inspired or isn't some sort of inside f u to whomever dropped him from development of it. So, imagine a competent director making a modern Resident Evil with a big budget movie now with those two leads. Or just watch the second half of the movie.

 

Oddly, a good rom-com,sci-fi horror film as the media click bait said it was.

 

 

Heart Eyes is a perfect rom-com horror comedy. It blends so damn well, it's hard to believe Josh Ruben wrote and directed it. Why am I going after Josh Ruben? Because, I heard him on both Doug Loves Movies and Colors of the Dark podcasts and he made me fall a sleep when he talked on them. Seriously, he did not bring his A game to those podcasts and I think almost made me not want to see this film for his lack of energy and wit on those shows. Drink some coffee before doing those things, Josh

 

Luckily, I really loved him in his other film Scare Me and his other writing works. Oh, and as I said Heart Eyes is great.

 

Taking bits from a Hallmark movie set story with an ad exec in trouble. Her last campaign dying and a knight in shining armor as a new love interest set to help her, you'd think you were watching a regular rom com. That is, if you missed the totally brutal start of the film that, of course, takes place on a beautiful vineyard. And, shows off our brazen slasher, an emoji of heart eyes sickly made real in mask form, taking down a couple you would've wished dead anyway.

 

Our ad execs, played by Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding have great chemistry together, sadly the chemistry tricks the Heart Eyes Killer to go after the non-couple after a fake kiss to look good in front of an ex looks way too convincing.

 

What follows is a Valentine's evening of Hell as Heart Eyes has them in their sights with brutal kills for whomever gets in their way.

 

A perfect mix of brutality with over-the-top kills, cute hook-up moments and dark humor jokes surprised me how well it all came together. So enjoy your champagne with blood and start guessing who has eyes for our lovebirds.

 

*Scene after the credits

 

In theaters now

It's Hard To Tell What's Real Anymore: Lifetime's I'll be Home for National Margarita Day

“I'll be Home for National Margarita Day” premieres Wednesday, February 19th at 10:00 p.m. EST on Lifetime. The 15-minute television event will air again on Lifetime in celebration of the holiday (Feb. 22) at 2pm ET and will be available for streaming on mylifetime.com, the Lifetime app, YouTube, social and VOD platforms starting Feb. 20 for a limited time.

Yes, this isn't fake. Lifetime just doesn't care. It knows what it is and it's a brand that makes a 15-minute movie about margaritas to be paid lots of money by Chili's.

Premiering on Lifetime on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 10pm ET, margaritas aren't the only thing being shaken up in Ferguson Falls, a small town where National Margarita Day is the biggest event of the year, with Chili's at the heart of the festivities. The 15-minute original television event tells the story of Liz (Maria Menounos) and Sam (Taye Diggs), former love interests who are reunited at the local Chili's when Liz returns to her hometown, desperate to escape the big city's overpriced margaritas. Everything seems perfect until a big-city developer's plans to build condos threatens to ruin the town's National Margarita Day traditions. Liz and Sam must work together to stop the developer and save National Margarita Day, rekindling their relationship in the process. Additional cast include Judy Kain, Craig Kolkebeck and Keven Undergaro.

Wtf?

The Monkey Making Some Noise: Q&As with Director Osgood Perkins, Church Screenings & Disney Owned Monkeys

"Batshit insane." - Stephen King

Los Angeles—don't miss in-person Q&As with THE MONKEY director Osgood Perkins during opening weekend. Get tickets now: https://t.co/3lXqFmlc4X pic.twitter.com/YolTLE3VjV

— NEON (@neonrated) February 13, 2025

Absolute bananas that Disney pulled the asshole move of copyrighting the monkey with cymbals (for TOY STORY 3), so no one else can use it, which is why Oz Perkin's The Monkey movie has a monkey with a drum. (learned on The King Cast) pic.twitter.com/STeSPUmMkZ

— Justin Decloux (@DeclouxJ) February 14, 2025

 

Last off, we have the attempt to rile up religious groups with special screenings of The Monkey at churches or other religious sites simultaneously with the release in theaters. So temples and mosques go ahead and apply too. We didn't quite understand the announcement either, but NEON, the studio behind the film is letting religious institutions sign up for screenings of the movie. Not sure if they're even free screenings, but the way you sign up it utterly old school.

 

You have to go to godsbowlingstrikestonight.com to apply, then you'll see a webpage straight from the 90's.

 

 

 

We're guessing NEON is trying to get the church angry for some attention, but I'm not sure if they'll care enough to take the bait. It's kind of weird how they even announced it on social media/online, maybe they needed it explained more like we just did to you. via Bloody Disgusting

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live Is Coming To LA!

The wonderfully Engrish titled show Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live is coming to LA! We held off on telling you about in the states as it was going to ever major city, but LA. Now, the totally awkward titled show added two showings to The Music Center's Ahmanson Theatre for March 22 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm.

Here's all the info on the show and yes, it's the one from Japan, so it's full female cast. It's a thing they do.

Unlike the image up top, tickets will actually be available to the general public  on February 28 with presales beginning on Tuesday, February 25.
 

From press release:

This newly staged version of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live features an all-female Japanese cast: Riko Tanaka (Sailor Moon), Kanon Maekawa (Sailor Mercury), Rei Kobayashi (Sailor Mars), Kisara Matsumura (Sailor Jupiter), Marin Makino (Sailor Venus), Sayaka Okamura (Queen Beryl), Riona Tatemichi (Tuxedo Mask), Ayano Nagasawa (Ensemble), Ayumi Sagisaka (Ensemble), Minami Watanabe (Ensemble), Izumi Niihashi (Ensemble), Kana Yanagihara (Ensemble), Suzuka Osawa (Ensemble).

With a mix of action, heartfelt moments and iconic music, this production sees the Manga characters brought to life on stage in an epic story-telling live show experience guaranteed to wow audiences night after night, creating an unforgettable experience for fans and newcomers alike. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live will be performed in Japanese with English subtitles.

Ticket prices range from $30-$185 (and will vary from city to city) including a VIP package designed to create enchanting fan experiences. VIP packages will include the closest seating to the action on stage; an exclusive special edition Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live poster and VIP lanyard; VIP express lane at the merchandising stand and post-show “high-five” experience with the cast."