Former French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot has slammed the film industry in her new book ‘682 Jours – Le Bal Des Hypocrites’ which translates to ‘682 Days – The Hypocrites’ Ball.’ The book is slamming filmmakers and celebrities for continuing to make money during the Covid-19 pandemic when France had some of the strictest lockdowns. She specifically targeted the French government giving movie companies subsidies for what she referred to as “flops.”
Deadline reports that she wrote, “The famous ‘Cultural Exception’ in fact allows very many French films ‘not to find their public’, to put it politely, or more explicitly, to be flops.”
“This system also guarantees lead actors to secure extraordinary fees, three or four times superior to actors in American independent cinema,” she said. “Public subsidies, advance on receipts, tax breaks, intermittence (the support scheme for freelance entertainment workers) have created an assisted economy that hardly cares about the tastes of spectators and is even contemptuous of popular, profitable films.”
“You may tell me that some of these flops are perhaps essential works that we will discover later with a sense of guilt for having missed their genius. It’s always staggering to see how people of the ‘left’ are contemptuous of ‘the people’ who, for them, have crap tastes,” the French bureaucrat continued.
Asked to clarify if she thought France should stop paying the film industry altogether, she replied, “Ah non! It makes perfect sense to continue to do so. If France is the only European country to have a cinema industry, which in turn feeds into an industry on the platforms, it’s because of the policies we’ve had in place since 1946, since the creation of the National Cinema Centre.”
She added, “We need to maintain it.”
Bachelot has served in several key positions within the government of France. A member of the UMP party, she served as Minister for the Environment, Minister for Health and Sports, and Minister of Social Affairs before becoming the Minister of Culture in 2020, a role that ended in 2022. She briefly served in the European Union parliament representing the West of France (2004-2007).
‘Get Out’ star Allison Williams is set to appear in ‘M3GAN,’ a film about a roboticist who adopts her orphaned niece. Unable to connect with her, she uses her latest project M3GAN, a robot designed to protect its owner, to help the young girl, but the robot soon turns violent. The movie’s teaser trailers have gone viral on several social media platforms, including TikTok and Twitter.
Williams, who is also an executive producer on the movie, commented on this development and how she is excited to see the film’s killer robot turn into an “icon.”
“I just thought, ‘If there’s a chance we can make M3GAN iconic, this is going to be so much fun,” she told NME in an interview. “And when I saw her for the first time, I was like, ‘Chef’s kiss! She’s just unreal.’”
“Everyone has that friend who’s like, ‘If he’s meant to you, I’ll kill him,’” Williams continued. “But M3GAN’s like, ‘I actually will kill anyone who’s mean to you. She’s fierce, fully confident and bursts into song or dance occasionally – who doesn’t love that?”
Speaking of her own inventor character, she noted, “When I first read the script, I thought Gemma was awesome.”
“I love the idea of this very career-driven, genius roboticist who is kind of focused on that to the exclusion of everything else,” she said. “And then as I carried on reading the script.”
Williams added, “I was sweating and panicking because I didn’t know who I was rooting for and I didn’t know what was going to happen. That’s always a good sign in this genre.”
‘M3GAN’ is directed by Gerard Johnstone and written by Akela Cooper who came up with the story along with James Wan, who serves as a producer for the movie. Besides Williams, it also stars Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, and Brian Jordan Alvarez.
It is set to hit theaters on January 6, 2023, where it will join the horror subgenre of killer toys including ‘Child’s Play,’ ‘Puppet Master,’ and ‘Demonic Toys.’
This week LG revealed at CES 2023 the world’s first wireless OLED television. With three HDMI inputs being beamed to the TV via a box up to 30′ away, this could be the ideal solution for those who find cable management a significant hassle.
PC Mag covered the LG booth at this year’s CES, and the TV does look impressive. Although this new display does solve the annoying issue of cable management for multiple devices, what about performance? According to PC Mag, the M3 will support Nvidia’s G-Sync, which helps to cut down on screen tearing. But what about lag? That’s not mentioned anywhere, nor is it shown how the display performs while a 120fps game at 4K.
The LG M3 display will connect to its transmitter box via a proprietary signal rather than WiFi. LG told PC Mag that this secret signal is 3X faster than WiFi 6. The linkrates for WiFi 6/E are between 574 to 9608 Mbits per second. However, the box needs to have a line-of-sight connection to the TV. It’s unclear if the transmitter must be in front of the TV or if it can sit below it on an entertainment center.
This sounds great on paper, but I need to see it in action and a price tag.
A full breakdown of technical specs was not readily available. However, here is what we can gain from the CES 2023 coverage:
HDMI Ports: 3 (including one with eARC support)
Coax connection: 1
Optical Audio-In: 1
Ethernet Port: 1
USB Ports: 2 (unknown type)
Supported Audio: Dolby Atmos and unnamed others
Available sizes: 77″, 83″, and 97″
Transmitter Operating Distance: Up to 30′
Connectivity: Proprietary
Release Date: Q3-Q4 2023
“LG SIGNATURE OLED M is the world’s first wireless OLED TV with a separate AV transmission solution – Zero Connect Box that can send video and audio signal to this impressive, 97-inch display wirelessly at up to 4K 120Hz.”
More TMNT news! Mezco just announced a Deluxe Boxed Set of One:12 Collective scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! All four brothers in one set … and it’s $400.
Yeah, that price point is a bit painful, but given the level of detail and amount of accessories that come with these 6″ tall figures, it evens out. Thankfully, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo are modeled to look more like their Mirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic counterparts. Had Mezco gone with anything more cartoony, this box set would have been a pass for me.
The Turtles are expected to ship sometime during the last quarter of this year. Check out the images below and the list of everything included in the $400 price tag to see if it’s worth adding to your collection.
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
Photo Credit: Mezco
As far as accessories go, there’s no shortage of them. Along with classic weapons found in the original Playmates line, the heroes in a half-shell also come with soft goods disguises and more. Check out the complete list below:
One (1) pair of goggles
One (1) bo staff
One (1) bo staff swing FX
One (1) bo staff impact FX
One (1) thrown sai FX
One (1) cassette player
Two (2) katanas with sheaths
Two (2) katana slash FX
Two (2) kyoketsu-shoge
Two (2) sai
Two (2) climbing claws
Two (2) nunchaku with real metal chain
Two (2) spinning nunchaku FX
Two (2) sai impact FX
Two (2) tonfas
Three (3) push daggers
Three (3) shuriken
Three (3) throwing darts
Four (4) slices of pizza
Four (4) communication devices
Four (4) climbing ropes
Six (6) kunai
Four (4) One:12 Collective display bases with logo
Four (4) One:12 Collective adjustable display posts
Each Turtle will have the following:
Interchangeable colored bandana
Elbow pads
Utility belt with weapon storage
Knee pads
Three (3) head portraits
There are also interchangeable parts that are specific to each Turtle:
The fighting game community is having a rough start to the new year with one of their oldest community personalities deep into controversy. Arturo “NYCFurby” Sanchez has built up a decorated reputation within the FGC, helping organize big tournaments and play various fighting games for over a decade. Part of that time Arturo was a representative for a company called Matcherino, which gives sponsors a service to put together events and players to join tournaments with big payouts. However, this came to a sudden change right at the start of the new year, which has many within the fighting game community shocked and angry.
On December 30th, 2022 the official Matcherino Twitter account put out a statement severing their working relationship with Arturo Sanchez. The company cited a breaking of terms of service by Arturo and went further to emphasize how he mishandled prize pool funds for events. “… They are no longer associated with Matcherino and will not be allowed to organize events on Matcherino in the future…”
The statement by Matcherino went on to say that they paid out players who were affected by the situation. The claims being made, by many within the FGC who were close to the situation, were how Arturo took money from prize pots that were reserved for players to be paid for competing in various tournaments. While the specific amounts for events that Arturo worked with haven’t been declared, a number of statements from various sources shared numbers that ranged in the thousands of dollars that were not paid out.
Arturo Sanchez afterward made a statement about the situation following the post by the official Matcherino account on Twitter. Arturo tried to explain that everything was an unfortunate mix-up and that payments to players were late on a number of occasions. The reason for that happening was because of a developing family emergency that came up and through everything off schedule. Arturo put out a text statement on his Twitter page, with hopes that Matcherino would clear his name. Despite calls from others within the fighting game community to see it, no evidence or details were given by Arturo to support his story.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Arturo then went onto a live stream on his Twitch channel to discuss the situation and get the facts straight. While the stream itself was deleted following the broadcast, a number of community members saved an archive of the live stream and shared it on other platforms.
On the stream, Arturo tried to give his side of the story and go through some of the statements and accusations being made about him, including conversations on Twitter Spaces by fellow fighting game community member D-Nice. Details of that Twitter Spaces conversation were shared online for others who missed out on it. The stream lasted nearly two hours, with a friend of Arturo entering the conversation with him to ask questions and urge Arturo to share more info that could clear his name within the fighting game community. Arturo unfortunately declined.
“The reason why the payouts were late, I 100% take responsibility for this. I’ve had so many things going on, not only in my personal life, streams, and PC optimization for fighting games, that I did get overwhelmed…” Arturo said during the live stream while addressing comments from his chat.
I am releasing Arturo 'Nycfurby' Sanchez from Team Spooky. I wish him luck in his future endeavors.
While players, tournament organizers, and fans of the fighting game community reacted to everything that happened, the biggest news came the next day from Team Spooky on Twitter. The group announced on their page that they would be removing Arturo “NYCFurby” Sanchez from Team Spooky, and wish him luck in his future endeavors. For many, this felt like a confirmation of their worst fears about the situation. Not only was Matcherino making an official statement on Arturo, but one of the biggest groups in the fighting game scene that were associated with him was also doing so.
Since this announcement, there has been no other official word from Matcherino, Team Spooky, or Arturo himself on any platform. While more info could come to light in the coming days following everything that has happened, a lot of damage has been done to Arturo Sanchez’s reputation within the fighting game community. Many figureheads and popular players reacted to all of the news as it came out, with some sharing stories and perspectives on what came out. According to Arturo, Matcherino is still doing an audit on all of the funds and making sure everyone that needed to get paid received their money. For all we know, this controversy may still not be over yet.
Are you shocked by what happened with Matcherino? Have you been part of the fighting game community and participated in tournaments? Share your thoughts on the news down below in the comments!
The red band trailer for this year’s Evil Dead Rise is here, along with the first poster! Come get some!
“Moving the action out of the woods and into the city, ‘Evil Dead Rise’ tells a twisted tale of two estranged sisters, played by Sutherland and Sullivan, whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Evil Dead Rise will hit international theatres on April 19th and the U.S. market on April 21st, 2023.
This latest version of Evil Dead is written and directed by Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin. His only previous feature-length film was The Hold in the Ground, which debuted in 2019. It was an atmospheric and pretty decent horror flick, but not something that makes one think of classic Evil Dead. However, considering the rebooted theatrical version from 2013 went for a more serious tone, I guess his work will fit right in.
Although the description says that the horror of the Evil Dead is moving into the city and out of the woods, there still appears to be a bit of action happening in the wilderness, with a great shot of Alyssa Sutherland hovering above a lake. In addition, the film’s tone appears to be on par with Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reboot of Evil Dead. The fun silliness of Sam Raimi’s work is toned down, but the Deadites are still playing with their victims in sinisterly childish ways.
Considering Bruce Campbell cameoed at the end of 2013’s Evil Dead, could he be making an appearance here? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Marvel Comics announces that the X-Men, Avengers, Shang-Chi, Star Wars, and several of their iconic titles are getting some new releases in their upcoming pull list. Captain America is also getting a strange new ally in former villain Emma Frost.
“And don’t miss the long march towards CAPTAIN AMERICA: COLD WAR in CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY (2022) #8 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Carmen Carnero. When Captain America’s allies find themselves scattered across the country with no recollection of how they got there, Steve calls in a favor with the one person he knows can help: mutant telepath Emma Frost! But what Emma finds, chills Steve Rogers to the bone…As Steve and his allies race to save a city under siege by A.I.M., the Outer Circle’s ultimate assassin is revealed: Introducing M.O.D.O.C., the Mental Organism Designed Only for Control,” Marvel said on their website.
Marvel announced the pull list as follows:
New Comics
AVENGERS (2018) #64
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY (2022) #8
CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019) #45
FANTASTIC FOUR (2022) #3
GOLD GOBLIN (2022) #3
JOE FIXIT (2023) #1
MARAUDERS (2022) #10
PLANET HULK: WORLDBREAKER (2022) #3
SCARLET WITCH (2023) #1
SECRET INVASION (2022) #3
SHANG-CHI: MASTER OF THE TEN RINGS (2023) #1
SPIDER-MAN (2022) #4
STAR WARS (2020) #30
ULTRAMAN: THE MYSTERY OF ULTRASEVEN (2022) #5
X-FORCE (2019) #36
X-MEN LEGENDS (2022) #5
X-MEN RED (2022) #10
New Collections
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN EPIC COLLECTION: INVASION OF THE SPIDER-SLAYERS TPB
ANT-MAN: ANT-IVERSARY TPB
AVENGERS BY BUSIEK & PEREZ OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC PEREZ FIRST ISSUE COVER [NEW PRINTING]
CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THE ORIGINAL MARVEL YEARS OMNIBUS VOL. 10 HC MCFARLANE COVER
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: SPIDER-WOMAN VOL. 3 HC
NEW FANTASTIC FOUR: HELL IN A HANDBASKET TPB
WOLVERINE: ORIGIN DELUXE EDITION TPB
Marvel Unlimited
A.X.E.: AVENGERS #1 [AXE]
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10 [AXE]
ANT-MAN #3
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SYMBOL OF TRUTH #5
DAMAGE CONTROL #2
DEFENDERS: BEYOND #3
GAMBIT #3
GENIS-VELL: CAPTAIN MARVEL #3
MARVEL’S VOICES: COMMUNITY #1
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #42
SHANG-CHI AND THE TEN RINGS #3
STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #24
STAR WARS: HAN SOLO & CHEWBACCA #6
THOR #27
THUNDERBOLTS #2
WILD CARDS: THE DRAWING OF CARDS #3
X-MEN #15
The titles are available for print and digital downloads.
An installment of the “Braves” mecha anime franchise ‘The King of Braves GaoGaiGar’ is getting a Blu-ray release in the United States through Discotek Media.
It will be released on January 31st, 2023, and will feature all forty-nine episodes of the show in high definition plus the English dubbed version of the first twenty-five. It is currently available for pre-order on the Right Stuf Anime website.
“On a winter night, a mysterious mechanical lion came flying in front of a married couple, carrying a mysterious baby with it. As they took the baby in, the lion left them in confusion. About 7 years later, the space shuttle Spirits, in which high school astronaut Guy Shishioh is a passenger, collides with an unknown object bound to Earth. Despite being mortally wounded, he is rescued by the same mysterious lion and returns to Earth. In his hand, he holds a mysterious green jewel as Leo Shishioh uses it to revive Gai into a cyborg.
Two years later in 2005, the mysterious baby under the care of the Amami couple, now named Mamoru, is living his life normally. This is until the mysterious group known as Zonders begins their invasion of Earth. As a response, the Earth Defense Brigade Gutsy Geoid Guard, or GGG, was organized to fight against the Zonders. In an attack by the Zonders, the mysterious boy encountered Guy, who is now a member of GGG. Equipped with the green jewel, known as G-Stone, he becomes the pilot of the lion robot that saved him. Named Galeon, he fuses with it alongside 3 assist vehicles created by GGG to become the giant robot GaoGaiGar. After the battle against one of the Zonders, GGG discovered that Mamoru can purify people who became Zonders and wondered about his origins and how it was linked to the appearance of the Zonders.”
The sci-fi anime was the eighth installment of the “Braves” franchise. It was directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani and was produced by Sunrise.
UPDATE: The images have been removed due to a request from a lawyer representing Paramount Pictures Corp. However, we’re sure they’re still floating around… somewhere.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will debut in the US on August 4th, 2023, but where are the toys? Usually, by now, we would have seen a number of previews or possibly some early releases to get collectors and kids excited for a new TMNT movie. But, unfortunately, the toys and the movie have been largely absent from the press. Until recently, anyway.
Over the past week, we’ve seen stories pop up showing pictures of not only a few planned toys for the Jeff Rowe-directed and Seth Rogen-produced TMNT animated adventure but an entire list of figures. The notable thing about this upcoming action figure line is that it is produced by McFarlane Toys rather than Playmates or Hasbro. Considering that McFarlane’s company sticks to more collector-friendly products, it will be interesting to see how it handles a toy line for kids.
The Turtles look more in line with their late 1980s cartoon counterparts than the two recent Nickelodeon series. Radio-controlled skateboarding Ninja Turtles doesn’t sound like something McFarlane would get into, so the licensing for the movie may be spread across multiple toy manufacturers. No McFarlane Toys branding is shown on the boxes, but the images are not high-def enough to make out names or the QR codes.
Regarding what we can expect from McFarlane Toys, Geek Tyrant posted a list of product names from retailers and distributors. Check out what the company is planning on shipping sometime this year:
TMNT – DONATELLO BASIC FIGURE
TMNT – DONATELLO TRANSFORMING BO STAFF
TMNT – DRIVE N KICK CYCLE W/ FIGURE
TMNT – LEATHERHEAD BASIC FIGURE
TMNT – LEONARDO BASIC FIGURE
TMNT – LEONARDO TRANSFORMING KATANA SWORD
TMNT – MICHELANGELO BASIC FIGURE
TMNT – MICHELANGELO TRANSFORMING NUNCHUK
TMNT – NINJA SHOUTS DONATELLO
TMNT – NINJA SHOUTS LEONARDO
TMNT – NINJA SHOUTS MICHELANGELO
TMNT – NINJA SHOUTS RAPHAEL
TMNT – RAPHAEL BASIC FIGURE
TMNT – RAPHAEL TRANSFORMING SAI
TMNT – ROCKSTEADY BASIC FIGURE
TMNT – SPLINTER BASIC FIGURE
TMNT – TURTLE CYCLE W/ SIDECAR & FIGURE
TMNT – VAN
TMNT MOVIE BASIC FIGURES ASSORTMENT- OTHERS
TMNT MOVIE BASIC ROLE PLAY (BOX)
TMNT MOVIE DELUXE FIGURES ASSORTMENT
TMNT MOVIE FIGURES ASSORTMENT – TURTLES
TMNT MOVIE GIANT FIGURE ASSORTMENT
TMNT MOVIE LAIR PLAYSET
TMNT MOVIE VEHICLE WITH FIGURES ASSORTMENT
The toys are about what you expect from a kids’ movie: basic figures, deluxe figures, playsets, and vehicles. I believe the “Van” referred to in the list above may be the garbage truck we see in the Twitter post. The new Party Wagon may be a converted garbage truck. The Ninja Shouts line could be interesting. I wonder if McFarlane Toys will go old school with the ripcord “voices” we say in the classic Playmates run?
The world of NFTs doesn’t look too wonderful if you’re an outsider. Over the past couple of years, there have been horror stories about pump-and-dump or rug-pull scams. Investors are left penniless after NFT and cryptocurrency projects go belly up because one or all of the creators yank money out of the blockchain wallet following an initial surge in value. Often those people vanish into the ether or ignore all the bad press. In the case of Logan Paul’s CryptoZoo, he’s threatening action against the person who investigated the celeb’s latest cryptocurrency venture.
In December, a YouTuber called Coffeezilla (Stephen Findeisen) published multiple videos about Paul’s project called CryptoZoo. Findeisen’s investigation covered not just Paul’s involvement but all of the key players in a project that has been put on hold since its initial launch. While it’s not uncommon for cryptos to flounder, CryptoZoo launched took investors’ money, and, according to some investors, nothing worked like it was supposed to.
CryptoZoo acts as an NFT “game,” from what I understand. You buy “eggs,” and they hatch, giving you animals that are allegedly just stock photos. Users can breed two different animal species to create “unique” animal NFTs. Based on the video I’ve seen, the program smashes two creatures together to create a hybrid, resulting in a new NFT image that looks like it is the result of fundamental Photoshop edits, in my opinion. This isn’t entirely bad, except Logan Paul advertised the “art” as “handmade.” This could be true, like saying I “handmade” the header image by poorly putting two images on one canvas.
There was a market for this sort of pay-to-earn game because investors Coffeezilla interviewed stated they lost around $15k-$50k after getting into CryptoZoo. Why? According to one person who appeared in Coffeezilla’s exposé, the game does not work, and eggs cannot be hatched. This could be because the programmer was holding the code hostage, possibly because he allegedly never got paid for his work.
Logan Paul’s response video, where he threatens legal action, accuses Findeisen of clout chasing and making “very real errors with very real repercussions.” During the seven-minute video, Paul attacks Findeisen’s reputation and previous attempts to work with law enforcement. Paul, unfortunately, does not link to articles backing up the claim that Stephen Findeisen’s previous investigations were described as “not anchored to truth and often speculative.”
However, the WWE star does go on to provide better evidence. After a few ad hominem attacks, Paul pulls up information that the allegedly unpaid programmer who took off with the CryptoZoo code is no saint. When Coffeezilla interviewed the developer, he tried to keep him anonymous for some reason. Paul, however, comes out and gives his name: Zach Kelling. Paul then shows a screenshot of Kelling’s prior felony conviction. This guilty plea was from 2002, though. Logan also places the blame on CryptoZoo’s former lead developer Eddie Ibanez, who he says conned not only him but also “fooled” multiple people, including the Mormon Church.
Logan Paul does not exactly counterpoint much of Stephen Findeisen’s investigation, so much as digging up the dark side of the people he has interviewed. One vital point Paul does bring up is that Findeisen may have recorded a phone call with his manager Jeff Levin without Jeff being aware. If the manager resides in California, a State with two-party recording consent, that means Coffeezilla would have needed to inform “Jeff” that the line was being recorded at the start of the call. It’s unclear if this happened because Findeisen did not release the entirety of the phone conversation.
It can be verified that Logan Paul and his manager Jeff Levin have never sold any of the CryptoZoo coins, meaning they haven’t performed what is commonly referred to as a rug pull. Luckily the blockchain is pretty transparent regarding transactions and wallet holdings, which works in Paul’s favor here.
This entire thing is a giant machine with several moving parts, and because of the number of crypto and NFT scams we’ve seen over the past two years, it’s impossible to know who is to blame. It’s entirely possible that every single person involved shares some blame, but with Logan Paul being the most visible person attached to it, he is weathering most of the storm. Of course, this does not absolve him of the controversy and threatening a lawsuit against the person who investigated the ordeal isn’t doing him any favors. However, he may have enough grounds to keep the suit circulating in the courts for years.
