Us Reviews: What CinemaBlend Thought Of The New Jordan Peele Horror Movie

Us Reviews: What CinemaBlend Thought Of The New Jordan Peele Horror Movie

Jordan Peele's first movie was as big a success as any writer/director could have possibly hoped for. It was a massive box office success, it got audiences talking, and it won him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. That's a tough act to follow, but now Peele is back with his brand new movie. Us hit theaters today and it had a lot to live up to. However, in the opinion of most of us here at CinemaBlend, Peele has another huge winner.

I wrote the official review and there really wasn't enough good that I could say about Us, I gave the movie 4.5 stars out of five. It is a chilling horror movie while being an equally chilling allegory. Much like Get Out, it's a movie that leaves you questioning not only the world around you, but also yourself.

Once again, as in Get Out, Jordan Peele finds the greatest way to scare the hell out of you is to make you take a good hard look at yourself.

Us follows a family of four on vacation in Santa Cruz when their peaceful time together is interrupted by another family of four, a quartet of twisted doppelgangers who have arrived to torture and torment their opposites. The who and the why of it all is the stuff of serious spoilers, but needless to say it's all pretty terrifying.

But there's also so much more to it than that. There's a lot to potentially dissect about Us. While the movie works as a straight forward horror movie if that's all you're looking for, there are many layers to what Jordan Peele has put in front of us. Some are obvious, others less so. This makes it the sort of movie you'll want to run out and talk to people about as soon as you see it. CinemaBlend Managing Director Sean O'Connell recommends that you not only see Us, but you see it with friends...twice...

Us proves that Jordan Peele isn't a one-hit wonder. It also proves that, after only two films, he's already operating on a higher level than most seasoned storytellers. Going more "horror" than the socio-political commentary of Get Out, Us tells a twisted tale of doppelgängers and home invasions, suggesting that the enemies who should scare us the most might just be ourselves. See it with a group, because you're going to want to discuss this with people immediately after you see it... and then go see it again.

Is there anything that can even be said about Jordan Peele that hasn't already been said? The man had already proven himself to be one of the smartest comedians out there, and he shows how closely comedy and horror are truly linked by proving he's the best working today when it comes to horror movies. As the creative force behind, now, two of the best movies of the last two years, We know Jordan Peele is everything he appears to be.

Sr. Movie Contributor Mike Reyes is another who sings the praises of Jordan Peele, but is also sure to give a shout out to the real MVP of Us, star Lupita Nyong'o.

With Us, writer/director Jordan Peele only further cements his position as a storyteller and satirist of the highest order. His story of doppelgangers out for revenge dives deep into some dark waters of paranoia and social commentary, but does so in such a manner that it never forgets to entertain its audience. Furthermore, Lupita N'yongo delivers a masterclass of acting, as her dual role is the centerpiece of a complex film that's only going to get better with age and repeated views.

Jordan Peele's previous directorial effort Get Out, was one of those films that many have a tough time classifying. While most would certainly call it a horror movie, it was one made without some of the elements that many would closely associate with the genre. Us, is a much more straight forward horror movie, as it has monsters and more on-screen violence, but that doesn't mean it's an easier movie to categorize. CinemaBlend's Braden Roberts loved the way Us was able to be more than one thing, and be all of them so well.

Jordan Peele’s Us is a trapeze act that manages to juggle horror, thriller and even comedic elements on an increasingly intense scale. To place a single genre on the film would be wrong as it’s a harmonious amalgam of fear and delight. Not to mention Luipta Nyong’o, whose performance alone is reason enough to get out and see Us in theaters.

Of course, while most of us who saw Us loved it, there is rarely complete agreement when it comes to art, especially here at CinemaBlend. Product Manager Cody Beck just wasn't able to connect with Us in the way that the rest of us were. While he certainly appreciated various elements of the film, he felt those elements just weren't able to come together in a satisfying way.

Us definitely did a beautiful job of telling a story, it was just a story that never fully pulled me in. Peele’s sophomore film was intense and brutal, yet also funny and full of great pop culture references spanning decades and while the story itself was unique and clearly symbolic of real-world issues, it was also just a bit too bizarre for me to fully accept. I still recommend horror fans check it out and I’m still just as eager to see his upcoming reboot of The Twilight Zone.

While the praise might not be universal, it is largely positive. Jordan Peele certainly has another thrilling movie on his hands that is going to get audiences talking. If the box office estimates are any indication, it will also be a huge financial success as well. If we all run out to see it more than once, as many are suggesting is worth doing, that's only going to make it that much more of a success. This is the one everybody is going to be talking about, and it's one you're going to want to ask everybody about after you see it.

Us is in theaters now.

Netflix's Wine Country Trailer Reunites SNL's Funniest Ladies For Day Drinking

Netflix's Wine Country Trailer Reunites SNL's Funniest Ladies For Day Drinking

Whenever you get together with a group of friends for a day of drinking, there are bound to be some laughs. In Netflix’s new original movie Wine Country, those friends just happen to be played by some of the funniest women in showbiz, so the laughs are going to flow even more freely than the alcohol. The trailer for Wine Country reunites Saturday Night Live’s funniest ladies for some day drinking in Amy Poehler’s directorial debut. Take a look:

With a cast like this, you would expect to find a lot of laughs in Wine Country, and fortunately this first trailer provides just that. The basic premise of a group of old friends coming together to celebrate one of their own turning 50 by planning a trip to Napa is ripe with comedic possibility. We quickly see that you don’t have to be in your 20s to be a sloppy and entertaining drunk.

In addition to the physical comedy, which actresses like Maya Rudolph do so well, on display in this trailer, it also has some really funny lines. The bit about the “lavender popping corn” is great and really highlights some of the absurdity and pretentiousness that you might find at a fancy restaurant. With a script from SNL writer Emily Spivey and The Last Man on Earth writer Liz Cackowski, there should be plenty of smart comedy in this movie.

It was also a fun wink (intentional or not) to Parks and Recreation fans to see Amy Poehler’s character in this film, Abby, handing out itineraries for the wine country trip. They were just folders, but you can’t help but think of Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope, who was a huge fan of planning everything out and micro-managing with massive binders full of information.

While there will clearly be plenty of great humor from this cast, it is evident from this trailer that Wine Country will also have plenty of heart. The drunken falling down, wine-fueled shenanigans and debauchery is only the surface level stuff, and as Tina Fey’s blunt Tammy warns, the alcohol will let out plenty of truthful confessions and that will put a strain on their friendships.

The characters in Wine Country are enjoying a vacation, but they are also dealing with some of the real issues people encounter as they get older and discover how old friendships are both difficult to maintain, but also hugely important. Those emotional beats should help give Wine Country something heartfelt to say in addition to the good laughs.

Amy Poehler has assembled many of her old friends and put together a positively stacked cast of actresses for Wine Country. Joining SNL actresses Ana Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler onscreen are two SNL writers that have helped make everyone so funny over the years, Paula Pell and Emily Spivey. Naturally these two writers have some of the trailer’s funniest lines. Plus, former SNL writer and cast member Tina Fey is briefly in the trailer, but looks to have a fun role.

Wine Country arrives on Netflix and in select theaters (Netflix may soon have its own!) on May 10. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the biggest movies headed to theaters this year, and for all the joys of day drinking with none of the consequences, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

Oscar Isaac Hints That C-3PO Will Have A Larger Role In Star Wars Episode IX

Oscar Isaac Hints That C-3PO Will Have A Larger Role In Star Wars Episode IX

The past few years have been a very exciting time to be a Star Wars fan. Once Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the studio started pumping out new and exciting installments to the galaxy far, far away. 2019 will be no exception, although the stakes for the upcoming release of J.J. Abrams' Episode IX are exceedingly high. Because in addition to ending the current trilogy, the next blockbuster will also wrap up the Skywalker Saga forever.

J.J. Abrams will have to bring nine movies and decades of filmmaking to a satisfying conclusion while also servicing all the beloved characters one last time. Some of the original heroes have been regulated to the background during the current trilogy, including Lando Calrissian, R2-D2, and C-3PO. The latter will be played by Anthony Daniels for his final run as the droid. And Oscar Isaac recently teased that 3PO will have more to do in the new movie, saying:

He was super emotional about it. And hanging up the golden cowl. And I think, really, and I mean this, this time he kept saying like, this is the most fun he had. Cause he has, actually, you know, had so much fun things to do, and we got to work a lot together. And yeah, it was amazing to see that, to see that piece of history close.

Well, this is exciting. While C-3PO has been a tertiary presence in the past few Star Wars movies, it looks like Episode IX will bring the chrome dome back to the forefront, and involved in the film's main narrative. And he'll be sharing some scenes with Poe Dameron in the upcoming sequel.

Oscar Isaac's comments come from his recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was publicizing his new Netflix movie Triple Frontier. When chatting with Jimmy Fallon, Isaac spoke to wrapping Episode IX, and what an emotional experience it was for everyone-- especially Anthony Daniels. He's been with the franchise since A New Hope, so his final bow has been decades in the making.

Star Wars fans will be very happy to hear that C-3PO will have a meatier role in Episode IX, as he's been mostly absent from the two most recent additions to the franchise. 3PO is usually seen with the Resistance forces and General Leia, as he worries and gives the good guys plenty of bad news and bad odds for their victory.

C-3PO had arguably a bigger role in The Force Awakens, including the debut of his mysterious red arm. But when Rian Johnson took over for The Last Jedi, 3PO was kept in the background. But now that J.J. Abrams has returned to the director's chair, it looks like he's making up for lost time and putting the droid back in the spotlight.

All will be revealed when Episode IX arrives in theaters on December 20th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

A Timeline For The Conjuring Universe

A Timeline For The Conjuring Universe

We’ve seen many film franchises try to launch cinematic universes in the last decade, but few have been as immensely successful as what has been built with The Conjuring Universe. The ball started rolling in 2013 with the massively successful James Wan film that gave the brand its name, and while there weren’t really initial ambitions to create something bigger, everything changed when John Leonetti’s Annabelle turned into a $250 million global hit one year later. Since then the spooky world has grown and grown, and by the end of 2019 it will have seven titles in canon.

With all that growth can come a little confusion, however, as each new release is set in a different time period and has specific connections to previous stories. It’s in aim of eliminating that confusion that we’ve built this feature. In hopes of helping fans fully grasp the breadth of The Conjuring Universe, we’ve put together this timeline to both linearly illustrate the events we’ve seen so far, and show how the titles link to one another. So without further ado, let’s start at the start by taking a step back in time to the 1950s…

The Nun

Setting: 1952

While there are scenes in other Conjuring Universe titles that take place before it, Corin Hardy’s The Nun is featured first on the timeline because the primary events in the story take place before all of the other narratives in the franchise – specifically taking us back to the year 1952. It was at this time that Father Burke (Demian Bichir) and Sister Irene (Tessa Farmiga) were sent by the Vatican to Romania in hopes of uncovering the details behind the mysterious suicide of a nun. Unfortunately for them, it led to a direct confrontation with the demon known as Valek (Bonnie Aarons), and while they were ultimately able to escape with their lives, the events also saw the horrifically evil entity let loose on the world.

Being set so early on the timeline and taking place in Eastern Europe, The Nun isn’t as directly tied into the events of The Conjuring Universe as many of the other movies, but it does feature some key details. Not only does it show us the origins of the main villain from The Conjuring 2, but it also provides an interesting link to one of the Warrens’ most dangerous cases, as seen in The Conjuring.

Annabelle: Creation

Setting: 1955

As the name of the film implies, David F. Sandberg’s Annabelle: Creation is designed as an origin story for its titular character, literally showing how the seriously creepy porcelain toy came into existence. Technically it all kicks off in 1943, as that was when doll maker Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) first designed Annabelle for his daughter (Samara Lee), but the majority of the story takes place in 1955 – which is when Samuel and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto) agreed to take in the children from a shuttered orphanage, as well as their caretaker Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman). It was at this time that the doll not only started to get stronger, but also took its first victims.

This is obviously a table-setter for all of Annabelle’s adventures in The Conjuring Universe so far, showing how she first became possessed and the initial efforts that were taken to contain her power. And while those efforts were successful for a while, it took about 12 years for her special brand of chaos to be one again unleashed upon the world…

Annabelle

Setting: 1967

Despite Annabelle’s very small role in The Conjuring, audiences quickly fell in love with her, and Warner Bros. acted quickly to take advantage of that affection. But with the movie having already established how she ended up in the possession of Ed and Loraine Warren, the first Annabelle spin-off had to find a different story to tell, which is why it wound up being set in 1967. Inspired by the cult murders of the era – specifically the actions of the Manson family – it tells a rather self-contained tale about the terrors that the titular doll can induce, specifically torturing a couple of new parents (Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton) who wind up with her in their possession.

Despite being the first of its own series, John Leonetti’s Annabelle is arguably best seen as a middle chapter sandwiched between Annabelle: Creation and Annabelle Comes Home. Its connections to the rest of the Conjuring Universe are minimal, but it does fill a key gap in the timeline between Annabelle’s “birth” and her time in the hands of the Warrens.

Annabelle Comes Home

Setting: 1970

Although Gary Dauberman’s Annabelle Comes Home hasn’t actually been released or even screened just yet, we know a lot about the movie’s setting simply because the central premise is very much tied into where it takes place on The Conjuring Universe timeline. Specifically, the story is told on the night that Ed and Loraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) bring the titular doll back to their house so that it can be contained in their occult museum. With what we already know about the Warrens relationship with Annabelle, this pins it right before the main events of The Conjuring, hence its placement here in this feature.

Taking things a step further, it’s even easier to specifically place Annabelle Comes Home because it’s apparently a story that doesn’t exactly stretch out for weeks/months on end. Instead, the action will be taking place over the course of one night, as young Judy Warren (Mckenna Grace), her babysitter (Madison Iseman), and her babysitter’s friend (Katie Sarife) try and survive the terror that Annabelle is able to unleash while being surrounded by the Warrens’ huge collection of terrifying objects.

The Conjuring

Setting: 1971

Finally we get to the film that started it all – and it’s a pretty easy one to explain timeline-wise. James Wan’s The Conjuring is a straight-forward horror flick when it comes to narrative, as while there are references to events in the past, as well as the aforementioned introduction of Annabelle, most of the movie takes place within a few weeks of the year 1971.

As for its relationship with the rest of The Conjuring Universe, there aren’t many connections to mention that haven’t already been established – though it is worth recognizing that Ed and Loraine Warren aren’t exactly amateurs at the start of this story. As a result, it’s entirely possible that future chapters of this franchise could be set both before and after the events in this movie – it all just depends on the stories that the filmmakers are interested in telling.

The Curse Of La Llorona

Setting: 1973

Because of the period storytelling that The Conjuring Universe employs, most of the titles have been very specific in establishing exactly when it is that each of the stories take place (hence why we’ve been able to tag specific years for each movie). Michael Chaves’ The Curse Of La Llorona is a bit different, though. While we know that it definitely takes place after the events of Annabelle, specifically because of the involvement of Father Perez (Tony Amendola), the upcoming movie recently revealed it's setting to be 1973, which puts it smack dab in the middle of the Conjuring franchise.

It almost makes sense that there would be a bit of vagueness surrounding The Curse Of La Llorona, as it’s also The Conjuring Universe movie with the fewest connections to the rest of the franchise. It’s not a spin-off from any specific title, and with the exception of the presence of Father Perez is doesn’t actually have any other Easter eggs. If you’re watching these films chronologically, you can really watch this one any time after Annabelle and not get confused by how it fits into the grand scheme of things.

The Conjuring 2

Setting: 1977

Because of the inspiration taken from the lives of Ed and Loraine Warren, it may be a minute before we get to see a contemporary movie set in The Conjuring Universe, so right now the last title on the franchise timeline is James Wan’s The Conjuring 2. The film opens in 1976, specifically with the paranormal investigating duo looking into the notorious events in Amityville, New York, but the majority of the narrative takes them to 1977 England where they look into the case of the Enfield Poltergeist.

Much like its direct predecessor, elements of The Conjuring 2 have been expanded through spin-offs, most notably The Nun, and it makes for an interesting viewing experience knowing the background material provided by the other titles. So if you’re planning on doing a chronological run through The Conjuring Universe the next time you decide to revisit the franchise, you may find that certain details come across a bit differently by the time you get to the end of the timeline.

This covers everything that we’ve seen from The Conjuring Universe so far, but there is still a bright future ahead for the demon-filled series, with announced projects like The Conjuring 3, The Nun 2, and The Crooked Man. You can be sure that we here on CinemaBlend will be following them all very closely, so be sure to stay tuned for all the latest details.

The 10 Most Thrilling Monster Movies Ever

The 10 Most Thrilling Monster Movies Ever

The monster movie: it's a genre that goes back to the beginning of Hollywood. Classic monsters like King Kong and Godzilla never really go away; they always come back. Plus, there is a whole slew of classic b-movies like Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Blob that helped define movies of their era.

Today, the monsters are bigger and scarier than ever, but many of those classics still remain among the best. There is a really an art to making a scary monster. They don’t have to just be larger than life, as sometimes the scariest thing about them is when you don’t even see them.

So here is our list of the best of the best, in no particular order, starting with one of the greatest movies of them all, and it's not just as a monster movie either.

Jaws (1975)

This is the movie that made Steven Spielberg famous. Jaws remains just as terrifying and incredible as it was almost 45 years ago when it was first released. It scared people out of the water then, and it’s still doing it today. No one goes swimming in the ocean without thinking about what could be lurking in the dark under them, and that’s all thanks to the shark in Jaws.

One of the scariest things about Jaws is how you actually very rarely see the shark in the film. The very THOUGHT of a killer Great White like the one in Jaws is enough to scare the wits out of most people. By the time Roy Schieder, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw do finally track down the shark, audiences are so on edge about it, the payoff of finally getting a good look at the shark is incredible, even if the special effects and the robot shark seem a little dated. It’s still one of the scariest monsters in movie history.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Pacific Rim, directed by the always brilliant Guillermo del Toro, is a modern riff on the classic Godzilla flick. A rift in the ocean floor has opened up and with it, monsters from the middle of the Earth are emerging and destroying cities on the Pacific.

With an all-star cast led by Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, and Ron Pearlman, the beautifully shot movie, as you'd expect from del Toro, is a pure joy to watch. It has everything anyone would want in a Godzilla-like movie. Even the names of the monsters, “Kaijus,” are a tribute to the classic Japanese giant monster movies from the '50s and '60s. As to be expected, Pacific Rim has a sequel, though it didn't live up to the original.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park came in the middle of an incredible run by director Steven Spielberg and it immediately ranked among his best work when it was released in 1993. The original that spawned an enormous franchise and still has us holding on to our butts a quarter of a century later remains one of the best.

Jurassic Park changed the game when it came to special effects in monster movies. Even today, when you watch the movie, it’s amazing how life-like and realistic the dinosaurs look. The days of cheesy looking giant lizards and gorillas were definitely over. Just like when the original Star Wars rewrote the book on special effects in science fiction, so too did Jurassic Park in monster movies.

Predator (1987)

In the 1980s, a decade packed with larger-than-life action stars, one name rose way above the rest: Arnold Schwarzenegger. With a run of hits like the Conan movies, Terminator, Commando, The Running Man, and, of course, his classic monster movie, Predator, Ah-nold was king of the box office musclemen.

Predator is everything anyone would ever want in a monster movie, filled with action, bad acting, accidentally hilarious dialogue and one awesome monster, that, like the dinos in Jurassic Park, would launch an enduring franchise that audiences still love today. That monster, The Predator, is as scary as they come. An alien from an unknown planet that can make itself almost completely invisible, but don’t worry, if it bleeds, they can kill it.

Aliens (1986)

Yet another classic monster movie franchise, one that eventually cross-pollinated with the Predator series, really got its start with 1986’s Aliens. Of course, it’s not the first in the series (that would be Ridley Scott’s Alien), but it is the one that turned the franchise into a box office smashing behemoth. While James Cameron takes a hard time from series film buffs these days, there is no question that he was on top his game in this one.

Set 57 years after the first Alien movie, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is discovered floating in her ship in stasis by a mining crew. After a series of events force Ripley to accompany a crew of tough marines to a colony in space, all hell breaks loose as the alien and its offspring reek havoc down on everything, killing almost everything, except Ripley, of course, in its way. Aliens is scary and filled with silly (but still awesome) dialogue just like a good monster movie should be.

Cloverfield (2008)

Cloverfield is a very 21st century kind of monster movie. Using the “found footage” approach to show the attacks and, more often, the reaction to the attacks, Cloverfield does one thing really well, it keeps the monster hidden, with just enough teases to having us begging to finally see it. Shaky, blurring footage is all any really sees for much of the movie. It’s also a classic Kaiju-type monster that destroys everything in its path, including the Brooklyn Bridge and much of Lower Manhattan.

Like a lot of other movies on this list, this one also launched a successful franchise. It may not be on the level of some of the others, but it has spawned two sequels, though it may be a while before there is another one, as the most recent Cloverfield film, The Cloverfield Paradox, wasn’t well received. But don’t worry about that, the original is still epic.

Gremlins (1986)

Gremlins is a different kind of monster movie, as this list goes, because it’s not one giant monster like so many on here, but instead it’s a whole mess of nightmarish lizard-like evil little jerks that run rampant all over town terrorizing the citizens of Kingston Falls. It’s also a black comedy set at Christmas, which could put it on a couple other “best of” lists as well.

The monsters start as cute furry mogwais, of course, but once they multiply after getting wet and turning into the malicious Gremlins upon eating after midnight, the destruction is on! Plus, the movie is filled with creative cameos and a cast made up of some actors that go back to the some of the classic '60s monster movies, like Jackie Joseph and Dick Miller, who starred in the original Little Shop Of Horrors plus lots more, and Belinda Balaski, who was in The Howling and the cult classic Piranha.

The Fly (1986)

Director David Cronenberg is mostly known for doing weird, small and quirky movies like Naked Lunch and Scanners. 1986’s The Fly ended being his biggest commercial success to date and it spawned a sequel, a comic book and even an opera, though Cronenberg wasn’t involved in the sequel or the comic book.

Based on a short story by George Langelaan, which also inspired a version of the story on film in 1958, The Fly stars Jeff Goldblum as a scientist that accidently genetically merges with a fly. The movie is more of a psychological thriller than pure monster movie, as Goldblum tries to figure how to reverse his DNA curse, but only continues to make things worse for himself until there is almost nothing left of the man and he is almost all fly.

Tremors (1990)

The original Tremors, starring Kevin Bacon and Reba McEntire, was a bit of a bomb at the box office when it was released in 1990, but over the years, the movie cultivated a huge cult following because of its humor and it’s over the top, ridiculous action. Because of its enormous success on video, a straight-to-video franchise was born.

In the original, the members of a small desert town in Nevada are terrorized by an underground monsters, called Graboids, that, like the best monsters movies, are unseen for most of the movie. It’s almost like a Jaws set in the desert with the terrifying monster lurking below the rock and dirt instead of the water. It causes the same helpless feeling that shark did, like, you’re in ITS territory now, so watch out for cracks in the desert and large tongues emerging from them.

King Kong (1933)

We end the list where the genre arguably began, with the king of them all, King Kong. There is no more iconic scene than the one in King Kong when the giant ape is climbing up the Empire State Building searching for safe place for Ann, played by the one and only Fay Wray, the human he has fallen for.

While that scene is the most remember, the rest of the movie is also filled with monsters. Kong is discovered on “Skull Island” where he rules over the few human inhabitants and a number of huge dinosaurs that confront the search party looking for Kong, to bring back to New York as a circus attraction.

King Kong has since taken a spot among the greatest movies of all time and not only created a franchise that has lasted almost a century, but was also at the nexus of the whole monster movie genre and for that it, and Kong, will forever be on lists like this.

You can be sure that until there will be many more monster movies in the future and for that we are grateful, because the genre is one of the true classics, with a shapeshifting ability to fit into any generation.

You Can Still Be Part Of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Opening at Disneyland, But You Better Hurry

You Can Still Be Part Of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Opening at Disneyland, But You Better Hurry

We're just over two months away from the most anticipated addition to Disneyland since the park was built in 1955. Start Wars; Galaxy's Edge is almost ready for the public. When the attraction opens on May 31, you can be sure a lot of Star Wars fans are going to be ready to check out everything the new land has to offer. If you want to be among the first to see the new land, you still have a chance. but it looks like time may be running out

Last week, Polygon reported that all three of the Disneyland Resort hotels, the Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel, and Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, were sold out for the night before the opening of Galaxy's Edge, the night of May 30. However, as of this writing, there are actually some rooms available at both the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian for that night. It's possible that some cancellations have taken place, or that rooms that were not expected to be available, due to refurbishments or whatever, have now opened up. Either way, if they were sold out before, you can be sure there aren't many rooms left right now.

These rooms are important because if you have a reservation at a Disneyland Resort hotel between May 31 and June 23, you'll also get a reservation to get into Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. While the exact way the reservation process will work has not been revealed, it would seem that the only way to ensure getting into the new land is to book a hotel room.

Of course, since we don't know how the reservation system works, it's not entirely clear if having a room booked the night before the new land opens will get you a reservation. If you're checking out on the first day, does that still work? Still, for some it may not even be a question of getting into Galaxy's Edge. Many fans will just want to be at Disneyland when the new land opens. It's sure to be a historic day in the park and one that will never be repeated.

Initial estimates were that Disneyland could see crowds of 150,000-200,000 people on opening day of Galaxy's Edge. It's hard to tell at this point if that's still the case. The fact that reservations will be required to get into Galaxy's Edge for the first three weeks means that many who don't have those reservations might stay away, waiting for the reservation period to end. Initially, it seemed that those looking to avoid the insane crowds might not show up on opening day, but thanks to the reservation requirement, opening day looks perhaps a bit more inviting.

The other thing that could limit some crowds is that not all of Galaxy's Edge will be up and running on day one. The new land boasts two E-ticket attractions, but only one of them will be running on May 31.

Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run will be available to guests, but the Rise of the Resistance attraction will not be. No official opening date has been announced for that ride, but it will arrive later this year.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will be opening at Walt Disney World at the end of August, with the same missing attraction but without the reservation requirement. Both lands are actually opening earlier than anticipated, which may be the reason one attraction won't be available.  Of course, for the serious Disneyland or Star Wars fan, it's not like going back to Batuu more than once was ever really a question.

Plot Twist, Detective Pikachu Could Have Starred Danny Devito

Plot Twist, Detective Pikachu Could Have Starred Danny Devito

The upcoming film Detective Pikachu is based on an unusual video game in the Pokemon franchise. When the game was first announced, a grassroots campaign sprung up around the idea of having Danny DeVito voice the little yellow fuzzball for the English language version of the game. When fans learned a movie based on the game was also being made, the demand for DeVito only increased. While the role ended up going to Ryan Reynolds, it turns out that the idea of casting DeVito was at least briefly considered by the filmmakers. According to producer Cale Boyter...

We definitely thought about it and how it might inform the spirit of it. Danny is incredible by the way. I am a huge fan of Danny DeVito.

Danny DeVito's gruff voice is probably the last one that you'd expect to come from the cute little Pokemon, but, of course, that's the joke. He has the perfect voice for a gravely noir detective character, and Detective Pikachu is certainly meant to be having fun with that concept. A Pikachu that sounded like DeVito would certainly come across as something out of a Raymond Chandler novel. Also, hearing Danny DeVito say "pika, pika" would be pure comedy.

How close Danny DeVito actually came to being cast is far from clear, but we do know that this wasn't simply a brief consideration that was discarded quickly. VFX Producer Greg Baxter told GameInformer that his team actually went as far as to add dialogue from several different potential voice actors to an early version of Pikachu in order to get an idea what it would look like. It turns out DeVito was one of the voices used. According to Baxter...

It was really very funny, so I couldn’t speak to all the reasons why it wasn’t Danny DeVito cast. I love Danny and some point maybe after the movie comes about, we can share those early tests. It’s absolutely hilarious.

It would be great to get those tests as part of the special features on a future Detective Pikachu Blu-ray. There were probably several other great actors used as tests that would sound hilarious coming from Pikachu. Until then, we can get an idea what DeVito might have sounded like thanks to fans who added the actor's voice to the character back when the Detective Pikachu video game was coming out. Check it out.

Why Danny DeVito ultimately wasn't chosen for the role we don't really know, though the producer says that the "spirit of Danny DeVito" is still part of the character, whatever that means. I suppose we'll find out when Detective Pikachu hits theaters in May.