TV, Movies & Home Theatre - Page 21

Sony has unveiled its 2020 TV lineup and has announced pricing on the TVs with some of them available to pre-order now via Best Buy and other authorized retailers. Sitting at the top of the line is the Sony Z8H HDR LED TVs with 8K resolution and the Picture Processor X1 capable of upscaling 4K and full HD content to near 8K resolution. The 85-inch version will sell for $9999.99 with the 75-inch selling for $6999.99, both are available this summer.

Sony is offering its A8H Bravia OLED 4K HDR TVs at $3099.99 for the 65-inch version or $2299.99 for the 55-inch version. Both are available for pre-order now. These TVs feature OLED screen technology and the Picture Processor X1. Acoustic Surface Audio produces 2.1 channel sound from the entire screen to create an immersive audio experience.

Sony also has the X950H 4K HDR LED TVs that feature Netflix Calibrated Mode, HDR, Dolby Vision, and more. This line offers a wide range of sizes starting at 49-inch and going up to 85-inch with prices ranging from just under $1000 up to slightly less than $4500. The entire range can be pre-ordered now with the cheapest and most expensive models available to purchase now.

WarnerMedia will be launching its new streaming service HBO Max next month costing $14.99 per month -- and now there's a new Justice League Dark series announced for HBO Max. Now, we just need Zack Snyder's Justice League to be announced as a HBO Max exclusive.

Justice League Dark is being produced by J.J. Abrams under his Bad Robot production label, with WarnerMedia tapping the Star Wars and Star Trek director on adapting Justice League Dark from its comic book origins, into a new HBO Max series. It was only September 2019 where Abrams signed a huge $250 million deal with WarnerMedia.

If you aren't aware of Justice League Dark, it's a comic book series that saw the DC Universe tackling supernatural characters. Justice League Dark is a branch of the Justice League itself, with the characters in JLD focusing on mystical and supernatural threats. Justice League Dark #1 dropped in September 2011, featuring characters that included John Constantine.

AMC was in bad shape before coronavirus forced it to close its doors. But if it remains shuttered past June, it could die completely.

Like thousands of other businesses, the world's largest movie theater chain is teetering on the edge of oblivion. The company had a substantial $149 million loss in 2019 and is being challenged by digital streaming titans like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. Things are dire for AMC, but they may get a whole lot worse if closures continue throughout 2020.

Due to high debt and coronavirus outlook, S&P Global has downgraded AMC's credit rating to a CCC- rating, designating it as a risk for default and unlikely to recover. If AMC stays closed in the critical summer period from June to August, S&P analysts predict AMC would effectively shut down due to debt.

You'll have to get your streaming binge on quick as they're only free for a limited time -- but HBO is offering around 500 hours worth of original and licensed content for free on HBO GO, and HBO NOW.

HBO is offering the free content on its two streaming services starting on Friday, April 3 where it will have its original shows including Ballers, Barry, Silicon Valley, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Succession, True Blood, Veep, and The Wire.

The company also has 10 documentaries and a bunch of theatrical releases from Warner Bros. all for free. There's nearly 500 hours of content here, so if you wanted to watch two of my favorite shows of all time -- Silicon Valley and Veep, I suggest you get your binge on right now.

It has finally happened, Adult Swim has released the launch date for the last five episodes of Rick and Morty Season 4.

The trailer was released onto the official Rick and Morty YouTube Channel and teased the release of the highly-anticipated final five episodes of season 4. If you didn't know, Adult Swim decided to cut Rick and Morty Season 4 into two parts, and after the announcement of the division, the news went quiet on when we would be getting the final five episodes.

In the above trailer, we see multiple never-before-seen scenes of the final five episodes of season 4, and it seems that the end-half of season 4 will be extremely similar to the first half of season 4. What I mean by 'similar' is that the back half of season 4 will have all that fun, random, scientific hilarious stuff that we saw throughout the first half. So, basically, everything you want with Rick and Morty will be there in the final five episodes of season 4.

I don't think you've ever seen Star Trek: Voyager quite like this, in glorious 4K -- and still retaining its 90s feel of 4:3 aspect ratio. AI remastering is an amazing thing when it's used in the right way. Check this out:

Star Trek: Voyager fan Billy Reichard used a machine learning algorithm on the show, upgrading the image quality massively up into 4K. It actually looks really damn good, and while it's not perfect -- it is a huge upgrade on the usual quality of the show. I don't think I've ever seen Captain Janeway looking that good -- short of watching Orange is the New Black in 4K on Netflix.

How long does it take to remaster an episode of Star Trek: Voyager in 4K using the AI-powered machine learning algorithm? Around 6 hours per episode, and the software required isn't cheap -- or easy to use, either. Still, I want to see more -- and other older shows, remastered to 4K like this, pronto.

The creator behind Rick and Morty have teased a brand new show 'Solar Opposites', which will be released on Hulu on the 8th of May.

The above teaser has been released on the official Hulu YouTube channel and introduces viewers to a family of aliens who is attempting to integrate onto a strange new world called 'Earth'. The new Hulu series is from co-creator of Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland, and judging from the trailer, if you like Rick and Morty, you will definitely like Solar Opposites when it releases.

The comedy seems extremely similar, and even some of the characters remind me of Rick, Morty, Summer, Jerry, and Beth. The teaser trailer says that Solar Opposites will include the following; man caves, recreational drugs, bullying, animal rights, zombie teenagers, magicians, black holes, gooblers, and the pupa. All of what was just mentioned feels like its a random channel on inter-dimensional cable in an episode of Rick and Morty. All episodes of Solar Opposites will release on Hulu on the 8th of May.

I'm a huge fan of disaster and end of the world movies, so while the world is on quarantine and country-by-country receiving stay-at-home orders I thought I would compile a list of apocalyptic / end of the world movies.

There are countless movies in these categories, so I've compiled a list of the ones that I've watched over the years but there are so, so many more. I thought I would turn this into a list that will be growing as people comment on this story, so throw in your suggestions in the comments below or on our Facebook page or better yet, my personal Twitter account -- as I'd love to chat about these movies, too!

Contagion and Outbreak are probably the two 'big' ones from this list, but there are plenty of other shows virtually made for these times. Preppers and Doomsdayers will love these movies, but I've also included disaster movies like Armageddon, Independence Day, and Deep Impact to the list.

I'm sorry everyone -- I wish this was an April Fools Day prank because we're close to that day as it is, but this is real -- Marvel have just announced their first non-binary superheroes.

Introducing... Snowflake and Safespace.

Yes. The names of Marvel's new superheroes are Snowflake... and Safespace. I'm not making this up, trust me -- as the new non-binary characters are part of the New Warriors comic series, with Snowflake and Safespace created by Luciano Vecchio and Daniel Kibblesmith.

I was pretty damn hyped for the Friends reunion special on HBO Max, but now according to The Hollywood Reporter, it has been delayed because of the current coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

According to sources of The Hollywood Reporter, the "unscripted special was set to be filmed next Monday and Tuesday on the show's iconic and former home at Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank. Given the current state of the global coronavirus pandemic, production has been delayed until at least May. A formal filming date has not been determined as it's unclear when any programming will be able to resume production".

The CDC has recently reduced its recommendations of large gatherings to less than 50 people, so when you account the hundreds of people involved in a production like a Friends reunion special, it makes sense. Although, it's a major disappointment. It wasn't the first Hollywood-related delay, and it surely won't be the last -- The Matrix 4 production was also recently halted by Warner Bros (which owns HBO Max).

Warner Bros. has not only stopped production of The Batman, but the company has also just announced it has halted production of The Matrix 4.

The Matrix 4 has been shooting in San Francisco recently, where it just ended its required shooting in San Francisco and was going to begin in Berlin. But, because of the current panic over COVID-19 coronavirus, Warner Bros. has pulled the plug on production of The Matrix 4 for now.

The new travel restrictions put in place by the Trump administration between the US and Europe have ended these plans, for safety of all people above all. There's no details on when The Matrix 4 production will begin again, or whether the movie will be able to meet its May 21, 2021 release -- the same day as John Wick 4, which both star Keanu Reeves.

The world is being shutdown over COVID-19 coronavirus, and even the greatest detective ever isn't unaffected -- production on The Batman has been halted.

Warner Bros. announced the news that production on The Batman will go on 'hiatus' effective immediately, with the studio telling Deadline: "Warner Bros. Pictures feature production of The Batman will be on a two-week hiatus starting today. The studio will continue to monitor the situation closely".

Matt Reeves along with Batman himself in this new outing in the franchise in Robert Pattinson had been shooting in London, but was expected to see production shift locations to Liverpool. No one from the cast or crew of The Batman has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

If you didn't know, The Witcher will be getting a prequel film, but it won't be live-action it will be animated. Now, the writer behind the film has dropped some teasers about what we can expect.

The animated prequel is called 'Nightmare of the Wolf', and will hone in on the events of Geralt becoming a Witcher and his relationship with Vesemir. The writer for the prequel, Beau DeMayo, spoke to ComicBook and dropped some major teasers regarding the film's production. According to DeMayo, the prequel film will feature a story in The Witcher universe that just couldn't be told if the producers decided to go down the live-action path, instead of animation.

Here's what DeMayo said, "There's a grace and an art form to animation, and especially anime, that allows a different flavor. So I think from Lauren and I's perspective when we came at it, was what is the type of story we can tell? Which, I can't tell you the story, but what is the type of story that we could tell that we could never tell in our live-action scope?"

HBO Max has a new show in the works and this time around, its going to be focused around the actor Mark Wahlberg and his life.

Variety has reported that HBO Max has ordered an eight-episode series, which is titled "Wahl Street" and will follow Wahlberg and his life as an actor and a businessman. According to the shows official description, "viewers will learn about his successes and failures and glean powerful business and life lessons while also getting to know the cast of colorful characters that make up Wahlberg's real-life entourage."

While the show will be focused around the life of Mark Wahlberg, every episode will feature entrepreneurs pitching business ideas to Wahlberg. Wahlberg also commented on the new show, saying "We're documenting the ups, the downs, the hits, and the misses. It's all the real stuff that's happening while I'm growing my businesses. We're pulling back the curtain, and hopefully, it's an opportunity to inspire other entrepreneurs."

Mortal Kombat fans should be shaking in their boots with excitement for the new animated film called Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge.

This wouldn't be a Mortal Kombat if it wasn't blood-soaked action, and that's exactly what is seen in the latest Red Band trailer that just released. The trailer was released on the official Mortal Kombat Twitter page, and we can see what part of the Mortal Kombat universe the story will surround. If the title of the movie wasn't a dead giveaway, this animated movie will focus on Scorpion's revenge on Sub-Zero for murdering his family.

If you are a Mortal Kombat fan, then you'd probably already know the story between Scorpion and Sub-Zero, but if you aren't, here's a quick breakdown. In the trailer, we see Sub-Zero murder Hanzo's (Scorpion) entire family and almost kill Hanzo. Hanzo is then quickly saved by the sorcerer Quan Chi who then resurrects Hanzo to fight in a "once in a generation" tournament. Hanzo then gives up his name, saying, "Hanzo is dead, call me Scorpion", and will compete in this tournament to get revenge on Sub-Zero.

As society adopts more and more forms of new technology, many people are wondering what the effects all this technology has on us. Sony wants to highlight that in an upcoming kid's film.

The new movie is called 'Connected,' and the story revolves around how much humans are relying on technology, and in particular, how a father is upset about how much his children are relying on technology. The movie is from the minds of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Lego Movie (Christopher Miller and Philip Lord) and is directed by Michael Rianda, who is the director of the hit TV series Gravity Falls.

'Connected' will continue on the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse animation style, which was deemed one of the best parts about Into the Spider-Verse and will no doubt be a highlight for 'Connected'. As for the plot, the movie circles around a family that saves the world, while at the same time highlighting societies reliance on technology. We get a taste for the story in the above trailer where we see the father of the family decide to take a family road trip, but then robots and what seems like technology as a whole begin to turn against humans.

If you are a Rick and Morty fan, then you would no doubt know about how much Rick loves the discontinued Szechuan sauce from McDonald's.

If you didn't even know McDonald's even did Szechuan sauce, here's a quick history lesson for you. Back in 1998, McDonald's did a promotional tie in with Disney's Mulan. Apart of that promotional tie in was a new dipping sauce for McDonald's nuggets hence Szechuan sauce. The sauce was only available for a very brief period of time, and when the promotion for the movie ended, so did the sauce's existence.

Fast-forwarding to 2017, Adult Swim debuts an episode of Rick and Morty where Rick visits the memory of the Szechuan sauce to get a taste of it once again. After this episode aired, many Rick and Morty fans went on a riot asking McDonald's to remake the sauce again so they could try it. After some time, McDonald's was convinced and remade a limited amount of Szechuan sauce, and they sold out almost immediately.

Netflix has got all cylinders firing for the second season of The Witcher, and with only a few main characters yet to be announced, today we get to know who will be playing the influential Vesemir.

Netflix has revealed who will be playing Geralt of Rivia's teacher in the second season of The Witcher. At the end of the first season of The Witcher, we saw Geralt say that he's going to return back to Kaer Morhen to discuss matters with Vesemir, the oldest and most experienced Witcher and also Geralt's mentor. Vesemir will no doubt play a large roll in the second season of The Witcher due to how entangled his life is with Geralt's.

Netflix has chosen Kim Bodnia to play Vesemir, and we can expect to see him on-screen sometime throughout season two. Judging by the events of the first season, I would expect that he will be seen throughout the very first episode of season two, as Geralt should be getting close to Kaer Morhen. If you are after any more Witcher news, here's everything you need to know about season two.

If you have finished the first season of The Witcher, then you are no doubt more than excited for the second season.

Whether or not you think The Witcher had a great first season or not, the show was a massive success de-throning the likes of Disney's 'The Mandalorian' for the most in-demand show. The first season for The Witcher is still raking in viewers even now, and it's still the most in-demand TV series globally across all platforms. Netflix wants to ride this wave of popularity and is no doubt hoping that The Witcher can create Game of Thrones-level popularity.

Back in late January, Netflix decided to change how they counted how many viewers watched their shows. Originally, a view would only be counted if the user watched 70% of a single episode. Now, Netflix has changed its metrics, and one 'view' is counted when a user watches just two minutes of a show. So why did they do this? To fluff their numbers, of course, but they aren't the only ones that do this. BBC's iPlayer, YouTube and The New York Times also measure viewers the same way.

After being rumored, Warner Bros. have officially confirmed they're going to be hosting a once-off Friends reunion special that will broadcast on the upcoming streaming platform from the company: HBO Max.

Friends star Matthew Perry first teased the news on Twitter by saying "Big news coming..." and now that news is here officially. The Friends reunion special will see original stars from the massive NBC show returning, with the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry.

Not only will the stars of Friends be on the reunion special for HBO Max, but series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman will also be there. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the entire case negotiated the Friends reunion special together, where they will reportedly earn double their usual per-episode fee -- meaning they'll make a nice $2.5 million to $3 million, each, for the special.