"Fantastic Four: First Steps," Has Dropped its First Teaser Trailer

"Fantastic Four: First Steps," is coming this July from Marvel and released a teaser trailer. It looks fun and appears to be set in a retro-futuristic 1960s. I'm not sure how it can take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for that reason (the main MCU is more like the real world we live in...minus the superheroes), but I imagine it is in a different dimension that will end up in the, "Main," Marvel World during the upcoming, "Avengers: Doomsday," or, "Avengers: Secret Wars." Give it a look:

This is a teaser trailer so only so much is being revealed to us, obviously. It seems the team has been in action for a bit and already has a base of operations. Also, we get a peak at what looks to be a big baddie in the form of Galactus (OG costume as opposed to the Fox iteration of, "Fantastic Four," which made him a weird cloud). I'm intrigued for sure and almost anything that has Pedro Pascal in it at least is watchable, so I'm eager for July 2025 when this hits theaters!

Sean Gunn Playing Maxwell Lord Could be Snazzy

Sean Gunn is a solid actor who has appeared in several films including, yes, ones directed by his brother, James Gunn. Sean is a good actor and his brother likes to cast him, which one can say involves nepotism but if the man is skilled in a role I don't have an issue with it. Hence, I'm not surprised that for the DC Film Universe which James Gunn is now helming (with Peter Safran), how Sean Gunn has been cast as a character. The interesting thing is that it is Maxwell Lord.

Lord is a fascinating person when written well. A man with a shrewd mind who also seems to think steps ahead of others, Lord was kind of a good guy before taking a villainous route in the 2000s and then being killed by Wonder Woman (it was a whole thing). He got better from being dead in, "Brightest Day," and erased the memories of others he ever existed and then there were reboots, and it's complicated. Anyways, before his heel turn Lord helped create the Justice League International and otherwise had some cool adventures. He was portrayed by the superb Pedro Pascal in, "Wonder Woman 1984," which I have not yet seen (I have a long backlog of stuff to watch) but I heard he was good in it even if the movie faced a somewhat cold reception overall from viewers. Now Sean Gunn shall be Maxwell Lord in the latest DC Cinematic realm/universe/whatever.

James Gunn seemed to confirm on social media his take on Maxwell Lord will not be especially villainous, so if Sean will be giving us the multilayered and clever Lord I'm all for that. Now we just wait as DC's film plans finally start to coalesce together with various pieces of casting news and projects getting moving as the writing and acting strikes are over. Once Sean Gunn graces our silver screens as Maxwell Lord we'll be able to draw our final conclusions!

Film Friday: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a Stupendously Good Time

I was able to catch a showing of Nicholas Cage's latest movie, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." It stars Nick Cage as, well, Nick Cage. He plays a (slightly) exaggerated version of himself who is equally eager to work and exhausted with Hollywood. As the trailer for the film shows, to pay off some debt he goes to the birthday party of an eccentric rich guy who loves Cage's work and supposedly has made a fortune in agriculture but might be hiding some secrets. Pedro Pascal plays this fellow and is an absolute hoot. Pascal and Cage just being zany and off the wall is the main draw of this film and they deliver the goods. 

Watching Nicholas Cage poke fun at himself in such a self-aware manner while also actually making a convincing argument for himself as deserving of a little more respect as an actor gives the whole movie a surreal metafictional air. How much is drawn from real life and how much is exaggerated, one is left to wonder? Plus, it helps that this film is hilarious. Everyone in the supporting cast is terrific from Neil Patrick Harris as Cage's agent to Sharon Horgan as Cage's latest ex-wife and Lily Sheen as Cage's very annoyed teenage daughter. Plus, we get Ike Barinholtz and Tiffany Haddish as CIA agents who riff off of each other deliciously. At just over an hour and a half, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," is the perfect length, never wearing out its welcome but instead leaving us wanting more. This is definitely worth watching.

5 out of 5 stars.

Film Friday: "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," Looks Like a Hoot

Nicholas Cage plays himself, or a version of himself, in the new movie, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." Cage is an exhausted actor ready to call it quits until an enigmatic rich guy (played deliciously by Pedro Pascal) offers to pay 1 million dollars for Cage to hang out with him at his birthday party. They become good friends but it turns out Pascal's character is a dangerous crime lord resulting in some FBI agents (Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz) recruiting Cage to help take him down. It sounds utterly insane and the trailer is quite funny with Neil Patrick Harris almost threatening to steal the show from Cage as his agent. Observe:

That looks quite funny and very meta. I think I'd like to see it!