No matter how bleak things get, it’s important to remember that right now somewhere in the world a big and good bear is standing on his hind legs and rubbing his back against a tree in a way that makes it look like he is dancing to a classic funk song.
If you think you’ll have trouble remembering this fact, then please bookmark the wonderful video below, which shows a bunch of bears getting down to Kool and the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” in the Canadian Rockies.
The clip comes from the BBC’s spectacular-looking Planet Earth II, which is currently airing in the UK. The series can’t arrive on American shores soon enough.
In addition to the happy dancing bears, Planet Earth II has also given us one of the most insane animal videos we’ve ever seen: A horrifyingly intense two-minute, 11-second clip of dozens of snakes chasing after an iguana in some sort of hell pit filled with rocks. Watch it below:
For more about Planet Earth II, check out the extended trailer here.
At some point you sort of expect it to stop. The investment, mostly, but also personal interest and curiosity. With the ambush now year-round from Marvel and DC and Fox Studios of comic book movie after comic book movie, numbness can occur without one really noticing it. That is, until you’re watching one of these films in theater and it hits you: “Haven’t I seen this before? Like twice?”
Burnout accusations differ between studios. The last installment of Fox’s X-Men franchise, Apocalypse, sighed its boredom, and its characters, once vibrant, were dull and depthless. A franchise that invented the modern comic book movie with X-Men, now produces bloated, tired films. Hugh Jackman ending his decade-plus run as Wolverine with Logan, a trailer raising earned expectations, doesn’t help the brand’s aimlessness. So what happens when a pillar in a house of cards retires?
Reports surfaced that stars Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Nicolaus Hoult reached the end of their three-picture contracts and remained unsigned. Those price tags won’t be cheap, which is why, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox is eyeing a reboot of X-Men, a franchise that’s already been rebooted. You’ll remember Fox already tried this approach with its other comic book property: the dumpster fire Fantastic Four reboot.
Those aren’t the only wheels churning in quicksand. The Channing Tatum-attached Gambit project lost director Doug Liman in August and is stuck in development. Deadpool 2 also lost director Tim Miller, who helmed the original, over creative differences with Ryan Reynolds. With the studio already promising a Deadpool 3, it needs Reynolds, who made the sarcastic, deliriously immature superhero relatable to casual audiences. Without him and Deadpool, it’s a studio possessing a bunch of rickety vehicles with no one to currently drive them.
Warner Brothers’ DC properties and its extended universe…do we really need to discuss this? The results couldn’t trend worse. Through his masterpiece Batman trilogy, Christopher Nolan engendered great support for DC. But like the Golden State Warriors, they blew that 3-1 lead.
We could nitpick the individual movies—honestly: Batman V. Superman didn’t deserve its critical bashing; Suicide Squad did—but a general distrust permeates DC’s properties. Its “filmmaker-driven” approach, while admirable, hasn’t produced anything stellar. Its hire-five-noncollaborating-screenwriters-for-one-script approach, not admirable, created the messiness of its world.
Can it reverse course? The Wonder Woman film’s trailer teases a promising WWI, old-timey epic, though it’s too heavy on the Chris Pine. It doesn’t help the movie’s director Patty Jenkins—pro: first female helming a comic book movie, possibly offering fresh perspective; con: kind of unproven, huge leap from her primarily TV background into a giant studio tentpole—has already faced allegations the film’s “a mess” from a former WB employee, forcing a public response otherwise.
Meanwhile, The Flash has lost two directors over creative differences and Bret Easton Ellis provoked rumors over Ben Affleck’s The Batman script, stating it has “serious problems” but executives remained largely apathetic over fixing them. He’s since backtracked those comments, though it hasn’t swayed the prevailing image surrounding WB’s DC movie universe—super rich kids crashing daddy’s Ferraris, knowing the foreign market’s insurance claims will pay for the mess. (Hold that thought.)
Perhaps Warner Bros. have learned from their mistakes if Aquaman, of all movies,is any indication. Casting Game of Thrones’ Jason Momoa dispels the negative wiener association of the character. Hiring horror savant James Wan, who also directed Furious 7, and allegedly promising him control, will (hopefully) ensure a competent product. His description of a “swashbuckling action adventure…in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Romancing the Stone” sounds what no DC movie has been yet: fun.
Which is sort of the mission statement of Marvel. Change the context if you want. America vs. Nazi period piece, sci-fi buddy squad flick with talking raccoons, Norse mythology, sure. But ruthless fun is what you’ll have.
If the above summary of Fox and Warner Bros. properties seems less than inspiring, Marvel’s future plans sounds just tiring. An onslaught of films manifested like a machine army, so massive, so powerful, so everywhere. Even the most stringent and proud critics have given up arguing against their existence. Acceptance was inevitable. What hope does an individual battling a tidal wave?
This is the point for a necessary pause. This article is not meant as complaint or enraged criticism. This is a top-down view of where we’re at with it. As frustrating and messy as things seem, most of these films are exciting. The scope of these enterprises are incredible. Plus, they make billions of dollars. Yeah with a damn b. Whatever opinions you or I hold—casual moviegoer, cinephile, enthusiast—are sort of irrelevant. Suicide Squad sits at a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes; it made close to $750 million worldwide, making over 50 percent of its gross overseas.
It just doesn’t matter, you want to think (or you’re Bill Murray). These studios don’t care, you can’t help but believe. But that’s cynical and only half of the truth. Or maybe I’m still too high from Doctor Strange.
Probably because of other (important) events in this country, Doctor Strange didn’t generate giant buzz preceding its release, but has owned the box office (close to half a billion already). This is stunning. Why? This movie shouldn’t work. It’s about a mystical, dimension-bending sorcerer who protects Earth from magical, cosmological threats. A hippie “head” characterized the comic’s early readers because they experienced similar perceptions tripping on psychedelics. Oh, and they liked the colors. This was a *tokes once* druggie comic, man. He battles demons “normal folk” can’t and will never see. To repeat: None of this should function into a mainstream movie.
Yet it’s a bona fide smash. Critics adore it to the point some label that praise overhyped. Doctor Strange doesn’t break Marvel’s hero journey origin stories as much as bend and push that concept to its limits. The film’s storytelling efficiency astounds, even if they probably chopped off too much character fat. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Steven Strange is typical Marvel superhero: punky, egotistical, in his own way, until he becomes a hero. Brainy and relentless, Cumberbatch finds some room to make Strange his own, and not “new superhero Y.”
The film also remains true to the comics’ ethos: Two to three sequences really make you wonder if you’re tripping. It may steal from Nolan’s Inception and M.C. Escher’s perspective-twisting artwork, but it wears those influences proudly. It knows you know.
What’s so encouraging, then, is that Marvel allowed Scott Derrickson, another director emerging from horror, to execute this off-color vision, albeit within their restricted palette. And goodness is it relieving to see some color. Marvel’s machine earns deserved flack for its drab, muted aesthetic for its film universe. Even in Strange, the dialogue is shot in the least imaginative way possible and a sense of place remains sorely lacking. So when Derrickson has room to detour and awe, using some new toys and effects within the Marvel universe, it’s probably more rewarding than it should be. This loosening-up possibly hints at a new structure from Marvel: Include some Easter Eggs, follow the road map to larger Marvel universe narratives, then make whatever film you want.
This was a *tokes once* druggie comic, man. He battles demons “normal folk” can’t and will never see. To repeat: None of this should function into a mainstream movie..
This largely hasn’t been the case. When Edgar Wright and Ava DuVernay both quit different Marvel movies, questions of a commitment to filmmaking surrounded the studio. During Joss Whedon’s press tour with Avengers: Age of Ultron, he labeled his experiences as “really unpleasant” and overall sounded like he had PTSD. It made Marvel resemble some totalitarian regime from their own source material.
Ryan Coogler stands out as one of the most exciting young voices in Hollywood. His signing-on to direct Black Panther follows the procedure for many of these existing IP behemoths, which is to snatch up talent while they’re hot and available. For example, Colin Trevorrow directed the indie favorite Safety Not Guaranteed and was rewarded with keys to the Spielberg kingdom, helming Jurassic World last year and he’ll direct Star Wars: Episode IX (no pressure, dude). Similar pattern occurred for Josh Trank: created the cult hit Chronicle, and earned himself Fantastic Four duties. And we all know how that went! What most don’t know: That misfire cost him the Star Wars: Episode VIII job.
Anytime a fresh talent enters these colossal franchise waters, it’s difficult not to worry they’ll lose something precious in the process: their confidence, their career, their voice. What happened to Trank is tragic. The worry: Will that happen to someone as talented and vital as Coogler? Another one: What other personal vision could he be creating instead of playing director-for-hire?
Derrickson and Doctor Strange should give us hope. He was allowed to play. The money on display in the film’s visual effects just aren’t seen outside these franchises. For movie fans, these films stand as one of the final bastions to find what a real budget can do. Derrickson didn’t waste his shot—those moments are mesmerizing. He also was given room to tell a worthwhile story of a man learning self-sacrifice and letting go his ego. An optimist might view the film as a neat character drama dressed in superhero clothes.
But maybe Doctor Strange is just fool’s gold. Maybe this is a case of director and studio sharing similar visions, as Derrickson has indicated. Maybe we’re headed to a seven-vehicle, Heaven’s Gatepileup with one of these projects eventually.
Hopefully not. This country has enough destruction right now as it is. No wonder we keep watching these superhero tales, no matter what the studios provide. We’re all just wishing someone will save us.
Earlier this week, GoPro announced that it was recalling its GoPro Karma drones because they kept falling from the sky. What would it look like to be on the ground when a drone suddenly crashed at your feet? Everyone’s response would probably be a little different, but odds are they’d be similar enough to the guy’s reaction in the video below.
After approximately 12 seconds of standing completely still in stunned silence, the crashed drone and its camera resting at his feet, the man finally said something.
“What the fuck?” he said, before pausing for another 10 seconds. “What happened?”
After this week, we could all use a break from constant bombardment of election talk from cable news and the internet. Why not change the channel or fire up your Roku or–best of all–go to an actual movie theater, where you will be guaranteed at least 90 minutes free of any discussion of republicans or democrats. So whether you’re looking something to mindlessly watch while blazed or something more serious, The Fresh Toast is here to help choose what to watch this week.
Morris From America
Morris From America is great little movie. It’s essentially a coming of age dramedy about an American teenage boy who is struggling to adapt socially to life in Germany, where he and his father moved. The Office and Hot Tub Time Machine‘s Craig Robinson is great in his first serious role, but the real standout is Markees Christmas, who shines as the 13-year-old Morris. Available for free on Amazon Prime.
The Fall
The third season of excellent BBC series recently debuted on Netflix. Gillian Anderson is fantastic as the eccentric, determined detective trying to catch a serial killer (a good and creepy Jamie Dorman) who is attacking women throughout Belfast. All three seasons are available now on Netflix.
Doctor Strange
The first Marvel movie since Iron Man that seems to have harnessed the creativity and fun that made comic book adaptions appealing in the first place. Here’s hoping that Doctor Strange‘s quality carries over into the next Avengers flick.
Arrival
The Amy Adams science fiction flick is getting fantastic reviews. If it’s similar at all to director Denis Villeneuve’s previous movies, like Sicario and Prisoners, it’ll be a smart, intense drama, though early reviews have also compared it to the earlier work of Steven Spielberg. It’s out in theaters everywhere today.
Even if you only eat them from the mini bar in hotel rooms, you can recognize a Toblerone bar from a mile away. Those chocolate triangles lined up in formation, presenting themselves for consumption. The shape is iconic. And now, it kind of sucks.
Toblerone recently unveiled a new, less chocolatey version of some of their UK bars as part of a cost-cutting effort. The trademark zipper design has been replaced with less peaks and more valleys; something that looks like a candy thief ate half your snack.
…like many other companies, we are experiencing higher costs for numerous ingredients. We carry these costs for as long as possible, but to ensure Toblerone remains on-shelf, is affordable and retains the triangular shape, we have had to reduce the weight of just two of our bars in the UK, from the wider range of available Toblerone products.
Toblerone goes on to say that they either had to decrease the size or increase the price. They chose the former, but still charge the same. Of course, this sparked some online drama from UK customers who felt like they’d been duped.
It looks like a really underhanded thing to do. You buy a bar expecting a normal bar and it looks like you are getting half the chocolate.
Dear Toblerone, you had to make a choice between raising the price, reducing the size or becoming a laughing-stock, for some outtatouch reason you chose the latter?
You idiots could have just taken off one piece off the bar and retained the shape. That is, unless there is something even more fishy behind this change than just dropping 10-15 % of the chocolate. This new shape looks ridiculous and appalling.
Ricky Gervais offers this sobering conspiracy theory:
Don’t be fooled people.
All this stuff in America is just to bury the news about the new Toblerone.
This is the first time Toblerone has changed the shape of its bar since its inception in 1908.
Toblerone is a Swiss chocolate brand owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods). Produced in Bern, Switzerland, sometimes manufactured elsewhere in the past, and planned to be made in Slovakia from the end of 2023. Toblerone is known for its distinctive shape, a series of joined triangular prisms and lettering engraved in the chocolate.
What a week! Between the election and Leonard Cohen, we could all use a break. Thankfully, there are still some good things in the world, like the Mannequin Challenge, and some great things, like the little kids in the video below who are trying their best to do the Mannequin Challenge.
What a week! No matter who you voted for, I’m sure a good cocktail is in order. Might I suggest something in pink? How about a well made Clover Club — a frothy pink drink that has a history dating back to at least 1911. Though this cocktail is pretty in pink, it was actually created for the gentlemen at the Philadelphia club of the same name. (See? Men do like pink!) The classic recipe called for grenadine or raspberry syrup, which gives it that beautiful pink color. My version gets an update with hand-crafted raspberry syrup. I think tossing back a few of these before this holiday shopping season begins sounds like a great idea right about now….
Clover Club
Makes 1 drink
2 ounces gin
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce Housemade Raspberry Syrup (recipe below)
¾ ounce pasteurized egg white or 1 small organic egg white
Garnish: fresh raspberry on a pick
Measure in the gin, lemon, Housemade Raspberry syrup and egg white into a mixing glass. Fill the glass with ice, cap and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a raspberry on a pick.
Housemade Raspberry Syrup
Makes enough for about 16 cocktails
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup water
1½ cups sugar
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain, bottle and refrigerate for up to two weeks.
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Kathy Casey is a chef, mixologist, and is known as the Original Bar Chef. Her newest book is D’Llish Deviled Eggs, which is a great accompaniment to any cocktail. Follow Kathy on Twitter and Instagram. For more great cocktail recipes, visit www.LiquidKitchen.com.
Acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog is best known for his obsessions with the monumental issues of human existence: technology, art, beauty, death, the unforgiving brutality of nature, and the exploration of the unknown. But he also considers—and complains about—the banality of everyday life and the minutia of current events. Here is the German artist’s take* on being stuck on an interminable corporate conference call:
Am I in the wrong place here, or in the wrong life? Did I not recognize, as I sat in a train that raced past a station and did not stop, that I was on the wrong train, and did I not learn from the conductor that the train would not stop at the next station, either, a hundred kilometers away, and did he not also admit to me, whispering with his hand shielding his mouth, that the train would not stop again at all?
This has been Werner Herzog’s Hot Take of the Day.
*Technically a quote about the making of his 1982 film, Fitzcarraldo.
Music may run in the blood, but in this case it’s rooted soul deep. Made up of Troy Baker and Dale “Dizzle” Virgo, DizTroy is a production group that’s born and bred in Jamaica, and infused with British and American musical influences. UK-based producer Troy and Jamaican sound specialist Dizzle create songs that are rooted in Jamaican sound system culture and accented by various subgenres including hip-hop, EDM, and Brit pop, placing them at the forefront of the emerging electronic music scene. They bring ample amounts of attitude alongside an electric mash-up of music that is as creatively exciting as it is it technically complex. The self-taught duo’s music plays like an addictive flow that delves into EDM-inflected beats, reggae and dancehall infused hooks and a genre-eluding take on electro soul. They claim to draw inspiration from New York’s early hip-hop scene blended with Jamaican dancehall and the British R&B/Pop wave.
California has had an eventful week to say the least. Many voters debated on issues of federal importance like taxes on tobacco, the legalization of marijuana (yay!), gun control, the death penalty and… condoms in porn?
That’s right. Prop 60 would have required porn performers to use condoms while filming movies. Proponents of the law argued for the safety of the stars, backed up by substantial evidence that claims that they’re in a much larger risk of contracting STDs than the general population. Duh.
The road for this proposition had been paved for a long time, with rulings in 2013 that forced the industry to be more strict with their testing due to complaints filed by several people regarding the industry’s lax guidelines and poor treatment. Presented as a healthcare and workplace safety measure, Proposition 60 appeared to be necessary and beneficial, even going as far as to make the studios pay for all the STD-related tests, vaccinations and countermeasures. Who wouldn’t want protection from STDs right? Wrong, or that’s what porn stars like Ela Darling and Jesse Jackman argue.
Proposition 60 would have given any resident of California watching the porn the ability to sue the producers or studios if they suspected the actors weren’t using condoms. The government would reward these national heroes with 25 percent of the collected fines if the lawsuit was successful. This whole process would leave the performer’s name on public record, exposing their address and personal information. Obviously, some porn stars were not too keep on this, claiming that in their line of work anonymity is a treasured privilege that protects them from stalkers or from extreme conservatives who’d want to harm them due to the way in which they make a living.
Ela Darling, a producer and performer, believes that the industry’s current STD testing system is a good enough protective measure and that the proposition would do more harm than good, punishing workers instead of protecting them. She insists that the industry wants to protect their workers on their own terms and that the government shouldn’t get involved with the way in which they handle their work.
Proposition 60 was defeated on November 8th with 53 percent of votes in their favor.
