Actress Marilyn Eastman has passed away aged 87. She was known for playing Helen Cooper in George A Romero’s zombie classic, Night Of The Living Dead. 
BluRay Review: ‘The Father’ starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman – out August 30th
Double Academy Award® and BAFTA winning film The Father stars Anthony Hopkins in the eponymous role of a mischievous and highly independent man who, as he ages, refuses all assistance from his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman). Yet, such help has become essential following Anne’s decision to move to Paris with her partner. As Anne’s father tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
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Review: Phillip Hinchcliffe Presents – The God Of Phantoms
Review by Jacob Licklider
Philip Hinchcliffe Presents is a Big Finish range that is tangentially related to The Lost Stories in that it is a range from the mind of a previous writer doing stories that fit in line with that era of the television show, but not actual ideas which were ever proposed. Philip Hinchcliffe, enjoying the work done adapting his lost story The Valley of Death, began to work with Marc Platt to produce his ideas, alternating a six and four part story. Four stories were released across three releases between 2014 and 2017, so imagine the surprise when a fourth release was announced for August 2021. As described in the behind the scenes interviews, The God of Phantoms is a story that just came to Hinchcliffe and has been in development at Big Finish for a while as Platt worked and reworked the outline into a usable form. Recording actually happened in February of this year, not too long before it was officially announced, and like any Philip Hinchcliffe Presents release is one focused squarely on mixing gothic horror and science fiction. While the range itself has been incredibly varied with stories like The Ghosts of Gralstead and The Devil’s Armada being classic horror and The Genesis Chamber being more straight science fiction, The God of Phantoms actually most feels like a story produced by Hinchcliffe’s successor Graham Williams in The Stones of Blood.
Superman rumoured to come out as LGBT in new DC Comics series
According to unconfirmed reports DC Comics is preparing to make Superman gay. The claim was made during a YouTube livestream by former DC Comics artist Ethan Van Sciver who is often considered to be in-the-know when it comes to the direction of future comic books.
Review: Doctor Who – Early Adventures (Series 7)
Review by Jacob Licklider
It is always a special day when Big Finish Productions revives a range previously thought ended. The Lost Stories easily come to mind over the past few years having two series of previously unseen stories released over the last three years, and after another near two year break The Early Adventures returns for a seventh series of two releases celebrating the William Hartnell era of the show. This year also perhaps went in a different direction in connecting both stories as a sequel and a prequel to 1960s stories, the first giving the audience an idea of what happened to Susan immediately after The Dalek Invasion of Earth while the other shows just how the Doctor acquired the Holy Ghanta seen in The Abominable Snowmen. Like Series 6 of The Early Adventures each story is told at different ends of the First Doctor’s life, the first being right near the beginning of his travels while the second being right near the end with his last regular TARDIS team, both focusing deeply on the companions and their time with the Doctor and just what it means to be a companion in these early days of Doctor Who and how that role has changed over the years.
The first release is After the Daleks by Roland Moore and is odd for a release in that it doesn’t feature the Doctor. Set in the immediate aftermath of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, just as the TARDIS has dematerialised and Susan has dropped her key to the TARDIS. As the title implies it’s all about how humanity can pick up the pieces after the Dalek forces have all been defeated, and despite having a Dalek emblazoned on the cover, they don’t actually play an active role in the plot. The entire story is focused directly on humanity and what the Daleks have left behind: Susan is finding her equilibrium in the decision that her grandfather made for her, Jenny Chaplin has found her robotised brother and is attempting to save his life, and David is trying to get some sort of government. The Daleks are a threat which could always be coming back and there is a single Dalek left alive, immobilised, planning and scheming to find a way to retake the Earth.
‘Kill Bill’ actor Sonny Chiba passes away aged 82
Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor and martial artist has died at the age of 82 from Covid complications, according to Japan’s Oricon News.
“An actor’s body should be full of emotions, whether it is happiness or sorrow, pain or joy, enraged or elated. You have to express yourself with your whole body. Japanese actors don’t normally do this. What I’m doing as an action star is what every actor should be doing. Action is drama. If we cannot make the audience laugh, smile or cry with us, we are not actors. That may be idealistic–but it’s true.”
Sonny Chiba (1939-2021)
Anthony Mackie to play ‘Captain America’ in MCU movie
Deadline is reporting that Anthony Mackie has closed a deal to star in Captain America 4, after taking up the mantle of Captain America in Disney+ limited series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, sources said.
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Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League Trilogy’ getting 4K BluRay release
DC are releasing a new 4K/BluRay set of all 3 DC movies created by the acclaimed director Zack Snyder titled ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League Trilogy‘. The set includes 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray versions of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
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First look at Kevin Smith’s ‘Clerks III’
Vanity Fair has shared the first official image for the set of Clerks III, which is currently in production in Leonardo, New Jersey; the same town where the original film was made in 1993. Lionsgate has acquired worldwide rights.
Paramount Pictures to rerelease The Addams Family in 4K Ultra HD format
1991’s The Addams Family is making its 4K Ultra HD debut.
Paramount Pictures have announces today:
“It’s time to pay a visit to everyone’s favourite kooky, spooky and all-together ooky family! Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, The Addams Family will be released for the first time on Digital 4K Ultra HD just in time for Halloween on October 19, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.”
