ReelBlend #66: Our Avengers: Endgame Spoiler-Free Review

ReelBlend #66: Our Avengers: Endgame Spoiler-Free Review

We are down one man this week. And it’s Avengers: Endgame week, of all weeks. So let’s stand up and salute Sean O’Connell and Kevin McCarthy, as these true American heroes showed up to ReelBlend, and review quite possibly the most anticipated movie of our collective lifetimes… without spoiling anything!

That’s right. You guys can listen to ReelBlend episode #66 whether you have seen Avengers: Endgame or not. And by the time you read this, some of you likely have seen Endgame, as the movie is selling out at a record pace.

But Sean and Kevin review the movie without giving away a single detail, so listen away. Not only do you get their reaction to the blockbuster, you will get to hear Kevin’s stories about seeing Avengers: Endgame at the premiere, where he rubbed elbows with Kevin Smith, took a photo with Chris Evans, and got two bear hugs from Thanos himself, Josh Brolin.

Before the guys tackle Endgame this week, they get into the Academy’s decision not to penalize movies that are made by Netflix for Oscar consideration. They also read Steven Spielberg’s statement on the controversy, and give the legendary filmmaker a pass for his opinions.

The guys also play #ScarJoBlend, and avoid picking a Marvel movie when naming their favorite Scarlett Johansson movies!

And yes, Jake Hamilton gets to weigh in on Avengers: Endgame, even though he is on assignment this week. Dig into this week’s episode to hear what Jake thought of the new MCU movie.

ReelBlend is a weekly podcast that we do on CinemaBlend. You can download the latest episode (and all of our past episodes) for FREE on our iTunes page! Visit. Subscribe. Like and comment. Review! Apple loves when you have star ratings and reviews, so if you listened, and you liked it (or even if you didn't), let us know. We also are on Spotify. And Google Play. And basically everywhere that you download podcasts. So download us.

Meanwhile, follow the guys on Social Media! We have an official Twitter feed for the show, so follow @ReelBlend. In addition, follow the guys at @Sean_OConnell, @JakesTakesand @KevinMcCarthyTV.

The Goldfinch Trailer Puts Ansel Elgort Through Emotional Hell

The Goldfinch Trailer Puts Ansel Elgort Through Emotional Hell

After Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch became a literary hit in 2014, which included it winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Andrew Carnegie Medal, it seemed like only a matter of time before a film version would come. Warner Bros swiftly struck a deal shortly after it was published and an adaptation is coming to the big screen this fall, with Baby Driver’s Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson leading the drama.

Check out the intriguing and emotional first look at The Goldfinch with its trailer below:

As a good trailer should, this establishes the tone and interest in the movie without giving too much away about what audiences are in for. Ansel Elgort leads The Goldfinch as Theo Decker, a young man haunted by the day his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City while he was was 13 years old.

The film’s title references the priceless painting the mother and son gaze upon right before the bombing which Theo takes and keeps with him throughout his life journey chronicled in the film.

The Goldfinch trailer flashes between Theo’s past and present, carefully unraveling his personal tragedy and how it alters his life. He comes across various characters, including a childhood friend named Boris, played by Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard as a kid and replaced by Dunkirk’s Aneurin Barnard as they grow older.

The cast also includes Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Barbour, who is his caretaker for sometime, along with Luke Wilson, who plays his problematic dad who has a girlfriend named Xandra (Sarah Paulson). Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright appears as Hobie, an unlikely friend to Theo during his time of loss.

Along with The Goldfinch having an impressive cast, behind the scenes is John Crowley as director, who previously helmed the Oscar-nominated drama Brooklyn. The script was written by Peter Straughan, whose other credits include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frank and The Snowman. The movie was also produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, who worked on Crazy Rich Asians, American Crime Story and Ben is Back together.

The Goldfinch novel was over 700 pages long, so the movie is tackling a ton of material for one film. It was previously considered for a miniseries, but the project ultimately landed with Warner Bros and Amazon Studios.

The Goldfinch certainly looks to showcase an especially good performance for Ansel Elgort, who broke out in 2014 with his Fault in Our Stars and Divergent roles. The 25-year-old actor will also star in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake coming in December 2020.

The drama is opening alongside crime comedy Hustlers, starring Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles and Lili Reinhart, about a group of former strippers who band together to steal from their Wall Street clients on September 13. Both films will go up against IT Chapter 2’s second weekend at the box office.

Are you excited to see The Goldfinch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Avengers: Endgame's Metacritic Score Is Lower Than You'd Think

Avengers: Endgame's Metacritic Score Is Lower Than You'd Think

Part of the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that it consistently churns out blockbusters that are enjoyed by both audiences and critics alike and this weekend’s Avengers: Endgame looks to be no different. While we won’t know what audiences think until it opens tonight, the film currently enjoys a great certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating that the large majority of critics gave it a positive review. On Metacritic however, Avengers: Endgame’s score is lower than you’d think.

Avengers: Endgame currently has a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 47 reviews of the film. That indicates that those 47 reviews of Avengers: Endgame incorporated into the Metascore were generally favorable. However, “Generally favorable” and a C+ level score are a bit lower than you might expect for this movie. It didn’t even attain Metacritic’s “Must-See” award designation.

At a glance this certainly seems too low, especially given some of the positively gushing reviews out there. So what gives?

First, it is important to understand how Metacritic comes up with its score. Many people misunderstand what Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer percentage actually represents, but Metacritic’s Metascore can be even more difficult to interpret. Metacritic curates reviews from only select critics, and not all reviewer’s opinions about a film are weighted equally. And reviews that don’t come with a numerical or letter grade score to translate are assigned one from Metacritic based on the reviewer’s qualitative opinion of the film.

For Avengers: Endgame, of those 47 reviews, only one is negative, two are mixed and the rest are positive. But not all of those positive reviews were 100 scores so Endgame ended up at a “generally favorable” 78. To put that into perspective, some movies in the past year or so that scored higher than Endgame and earned the “Must-See” designation are Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Mission: Impossible Fallout and A Quiet Place.

It might not be what you’d expect for Avengers: Endgame or what you think it deserves, but the film’s Metascore is actually pretty high in relation to the rest of its MCU stable mates. In fact, the only MCU movies with higher scores on Metacritic are Iron Man with a 79 and last year’s Black Panther with an 88. For the most part the MCU films are between 60-75 with Thor: The Dark World taking last place with a 54.

So while Avengers: Endgame’s Metacritic score is lower than you’d think it would be, it is still pretty good. Ultimately, professional reviews and sites like Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes are tools you can use to make informed decisions about what movies are worth your money as a consumer. But something tells me just about everyone decided they would be seeing Avengers: Endgame long ago.

Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters this weekend. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all our coverage of the film and check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed your way as we enter the summer movie season.

Rocky IV's Final Fight Apparently Had An Entirely Separate Script

Rocky IV's Final Fight Apparently Had An Entirely Separate Script

While Rocky IV may not be the greatest of Rocky movies, it's a film that a lot of people are fans of. The cold war battle between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago was an iconic moment for the Rocky franchise. Part of the reason the film may be so well remembered may be because Sylvester Stallone apparently put an amazing amount of effort into the final boxing match. According to co-star Dolph Lundgren, Sly had the entire fight scene, and its music, worked out in advance...

When I showed up to start training with Sly for Rocky IV, he handed me a script. And it wasn't a script of the movie, it was a script of the fight. It was about 30 pages of just, 'Round 1, Left, Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Left Hook,' and I had to memorize that on the page. And, he had the music already written for the fight, so we kind of choreographed the fight to the music. So, it was quite clever the way he did that

Fight scenes can be difficult sequences to film and for something like a boxing movie, where the final fight sequence is the culmination of the entire story, they're all the more important. It seems that in order to be sure that the Rocky IV fight scene worked as well as it could, Sylvester Stallone choreographed the entire thing before hand. Every punch, every step, even how those punches and steps woulds work to the music that was going to play. Because it's not a Rocky movie without a solid montage.

A separate 30 page script just to lay out the fight scene is sort of insane, but that what Dolph Lundgren says he received in one of the special features attached to Creed II. There's attention to detail and then there's whatever that is. At the same time, there's little argument that it didn't work. The final fight between Drago and Rocky feels incredibly epic and in a franchise that has a lot of great fight sequences, the one in Rocky IV may be the best. If you don't believe me, check it out.

If there's one thing that the Rocky movies were always great at, it was putting some great music up along with the matches. The music waits a few minutes for the audience to get invested in the fight, then comes in and makes the battle feel that much bigger. It's easy to assume the music was written to match the fight, and that's true, but the music wasn't created after the fight was over. The actors could actually time their swings to match the fight.

Rocky IV was a huge part of the franchise, so big that it brought Dolph Lundgren back for Creed II which you can find on Blu-ray and Digital HD now.

6 Things The Sonic The Hedgehog Movie Needs To Include From The Video Games

6 Things The Sonic The Hedgehog Movie Needs To Include From The Video Games

Sega’s mascot Sonic The Hedgehog is finally getting his own movie, and it’s safe to say there are quite a few folks worried about it. Granted, it sounds like things are on the right track with Ben Schwartz voicing Sonic and Jim Carrey portraying Dr. Robotnik, but it takes more than great casting to make a good video game movie. If it didn’t, Doom may be remembered as a masterpiece, and it’s almost universally not.

So what makes a great video game movie? There’s no explicit formula, but it’s fair to say sticking to the source material more often than not will make people happy. That’s a bit complicated considering the Sonic franchise has changed quite a bit since its first game, and not always in ways consumers have appreciated. In spite of that, should the movie contain these types of references to the franchise, Sonic The Hedgehog fans will be satisfied.

Music From The Sega Genesis Era

The early Sonic The Hedgehog games feature some of the best videogame music of the '90s. Green Hill Zone, Emerald Hill Zone, basically all the "Zones" from the first and second games have iconic songs the movie should include. Whether it’s a phone ringtone, a song on the radio or an orchestral track doesn’t matter. We may get something even better as the prolific Junkie XL could craft quite the homage to Sonic's tracks.

Of all the things the Sonic The Hedgehog movie should include from the video games, this is definitely the most important. It’s fair to assume many ticket holders will show up for the nostalgia factor, and what better way than to hit them with the ear-worms they jammed out to while playing their Sega Genesis and blasting through bottles of Kool-aid Jammers? Did we get older, or was there always never enough juice in those things?

Sonic's Friends

Sonic The Hedgehog may be the most important character of the franchise, but he's not the only one folks love. There's his sidekick Tails, who's been with Sonic since Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and other iconic characters like Knuckles and Amy. That just scratches the surface of this universe really, and doesn't even get into the Chao, Blaze or the gun-wielding anti-hero Shadow The Hedgehog. If Shadow doesn't get introduced, how can we have a gritty spin off?

I kid, mainly, although it will be a bit weird if Sonic The Hedgehog only has Sonic as the sole speedy thing rushing around. So far, there's been no mention of any other of Sonic's friends, so this may just be a solo adventure where friends could come into the picture in latter installments. Or, this could be a case where the film pulls a Super Mario Bros. and make bastardizations of the iconic characters. We just don't know yet!

Smart-Ass Dialogue

Sonic didn't speak in his first set of video game adventures, but his television show and games that followed have made him out to be a bit of a smart-ass. Not so much that he's some massive douchebag, but kind of in a way that feels very reminiscent of Bart Simpson. If Sonic The Hedgehog wants to stay true to Sonic's character, there needs to be some overconfidence and smart-ass behavior incorporated.

It appears there will be some of that, at least if one interprets comments by Jim Carrey about the film that way. He assured there will be some edgy moments that appeal to all audiences, although was speaking primarily to his character. He also mentioned the family group the movie is catered to, which speaks to the PG rating. Honestly, that's a good wheelhouse for the character, and he can have that "edge" without it being too cringe-inducing.

Massive And Elaborate Robots

Dr. Ivo Robotnik is known for robots and fights Sonic with them throughout the franchise. The creations he pilots may not be the best quality, but they're certainly big, elaborate and fun to look at. Typically Sonic can destroy these with a handful of jumps, or via some weak spot on the robot. He has the design methods of Star Wars: Rogue One's Galen Erso, except he's not secretly wishing Sonic destroys his evil machines.

The ideal creation is some robot that has Robotnik chilling in a glass dome and some form of retractable drills. Robotnik really loves the massive drills, almost as much as he loves loading up every machine with an escape pod that always keeps him out of Sonic's clutches once the fight is over. If one mega robot shows up with either or both of these attributes, I know I'll be a happy camper.

Gold Rings

Gold rings are perhaps the only thing as synonymous with Sonic The Hedgehog than the character himself. They're the game's form of health, and Sonic collects them throughout levels in order to stay alive after being hit. Should he be hit without any rings on him, he loses a life. Will Sonic The Hedgehog pay homage to this vital game mechanic in some way?

If it does, I'm reasonably certain it won't be shown in a way in which Sonic is collecting a bunch of rings randomly floating around. Perhaps rings are the currency of this world, and we'll see them in some micro form being exchanged for goods. If that were the case, it'd be cool to see Sonic obsessively collect these and then lose them all when he takes a big hit.

Cute And Furry Animals

The casual video gamer may not have known or cared why there were so many cute and furry little animals locked away at the end of each classic Sonic The Hedgehog game, but knowing why explains a lot of the tension between Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. Dr. Robotnik uses the little animals to fuel his robots he creates, which is why they also pop out of enemies when Sonic smashes them.

We have no idea of whether or not that plot thread will be used in Sonic The Hedgehog, but it would be the traditional way to establish Dr. Robotnik as a villain in the movie. After all, who is going to side with a guy enslaving adorable animals within machines for energy? It's actually way more twisted than the games led on the longer one thinks about it, so hopefully the movie uses this plot point in some way.

Sonic The Hedgehog is due to release Friday, November 8. Those interested in the movie can feel free to share their suggestions for what should be in the movie below, or chime in on how they think this movie will be received by audiences.

Pirates Of The Caribbean Fans Petition For Johnny Depp's Return

Pirates Of The Caribbean Fans Petition For Johnny Depp's Return

The world has gone petition mad lately, but the point just seems to be like-minded people gathering to join their voices in one loud chorus: We want THIS. Now thousands of Pirates of the Caribbean fans have joined their voices for the reinstatement of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Game of Thrones fans shook the ground with their viral petition, saying they want (but won't get) a new final Season 8. Robert Pattinson critics want (but won't get) a different Batman. Star Wars fans want (but won't get) new filmmakers, but they can't agree on which filmmakers because that fandom is a whole other galaxy of mess.

Will these petitions go anywhere? Probably not. Or if they are successful -- like the one for James Gunn -- it probably wouldn't be due to a Change.org petition. For every petitioner, there's probably someone who disagrees, they just don't need a petition to make the point because they are likely already getting their way.

There are petitions out there for almost anything, and more than one for Johnny Depp to return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise -- which has stalled out after the fifth movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and whatever is or is not now happening with the reboot.

Bounding Into Comics recently found a couple of Change.org petitions in Johnny Depp's favor, including one that kept things simple with "KEEP JOHNNY DEPP AS JACK SPARROW!!!!" That one has more than 13,400 signatures as of June 1. There's also another petition with a longer message on why Depp should return; that one has under 5,000 signatures at this point.

In terms of the Johnny Depp petitions, there are conflicting reports about what happened in Depp's marriage to Amber Heard. That may not sound like it should be relevant, but it might be. His legal team claims Heard's op-ed piece alleging abuse cost Depp his job as Captain Jack Sparrow. Disney hasn't officially said anything about Pirates of the Caribbean 6, with or without Depp, the whole franchise just seems to be in limbo after the relative disappointment of Dead Men Tell No Tales.

The petitions don't openly take sides in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard battle that is still playing out through multiple lawsuits, although one of the petitions does note "personal issues" as a reason for Depp appearing to be out as Jack Sparrow. The petitions just note that they can't imagine anyone else leading the franchise, threatening "They have to bring him back to rule the seas again or we will never watch any Pirates of the Caribbean movie without our Captain."

Pirates of the Caribbean is a hugely lucrative franchise for Disney, and it's amazing to think this all started with the theme park ride. (Speaking of theme parks, apparently Jack Sparrow was key to building Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge too.) Johnny Depp was quite rightly given a lot of credit for the franchise's success, but it's very expensive to make the movies and the last one didn't seem to please too many people. It only came out two years ago in 2017, so it's understandable if everyone just wants a break. Besides, Johnny Depp still has the Fantastic Beasts franchise (as far as we know) and smaller films like Minamata.

Where would you like to see the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise go from here, with or without Johnny Depp? A sixth movie? A reboot? Should it die off? Just take a long break?

Will Goose The Cat Be In Avengers: Endgame? Captain Marvel Hero Is Everywhere Else

Will Goose The Cat Be In Avengers: Endgame? Captain Marvel Hero Is Everywhere Else

We have tons of burning questions in anticipation of Avengers: Endgame next month, but an unexpected one has recently been considered by fans of the MCU. Will Captain Marvel scene-stealer Goose the cat make a comeback in the upcoming film? The adorable Flerken did prove himself to have a "high threat level" in the recent release, and the universe could probably use all the help it can get after Thanos' snap.

Goose was already stealing hearts prior to the Captain Marvel release, as he showed his star power on massive character posters in movie theaters and billboards just about everywhere. Since the movie opened, the Flerken has been the talk of the film and Twitter town too, as the character received infectious smiles and "awws" during showings.

Goose turned out to be quite important to Captain Marvel as well. SPOILER ALERT Not only is the Flerken feline responsible for Nick Fury donning his iconic eyepatch in the future, but Goose also kept the Tesseract safe from harm in his mouth in the final act of the movie, before coughing it up on Fury’s desk during the end credits scene.

Goose has led fans to place the cat in Endgame themselves. Take a look at this marvelous piece of Photoshop work from Twitter user @andyvenom which has gone viral:

There he is looking cute as ever, replacing all the faces of the Avengers stars in the most recent Endgame poster. Cats have quite the track record of playing well on the internet, so Goose being the star of memes following his introduction to the MCU isn't too surprising. But following Nick Fury's hilarious eye reveal, fans aren’t discounting the Flerken’s potential impact in Endgame if he does return.

Will he take on Thanos in Endgame? Maybe…. Here’s an idea from Twitter user @209Andres_:

This is some startling evidence, Marvel fans. Could it be? Do Thanos and Goose have a history? It would certainly be hilarious if Marvel decided to give Goose a larger role or backstory like this in the established universe. Since Captain Marvel is set to lead the MCU moving forward, why wouldn’t her Flerken friend also make some big moves? Here’s another gem from Twitter concerning Goose and Endgame:

Marvel Studios is even highlighting Goose in their marketing for the movie, still in theaters. Check it out:

What could be telling is the studio’s decision to use the quote "Goose deserves a franchise." Will they cash in on giving audiences what they are publicizing that the cat deserves? Hopefully the character will at least get a spinoff (animated?) series in the future, perhaps on the upcoming Disney+ streaming service.

Goose is a character from the Captain Marvel comics named Chewie, though the filmmakers decided to change it to feel more distinctly from the ‘90s era. Flerkens can devour prey with their tentacle-like open mouths, which also contain pocket dimensions.

Do you think Goose will have a role in Avengers: Endgame to meet the rest of the team? Tell us in the comments below.