Cartoon Network has evolved a weird alternative brand of humor since the late 90’s with it’s Adult Swim block which now has a ferocious fan mob behind it with ‘Rick & Morty’ but back in the early 2000’s, the awkward whatever-happens ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ with a floating box of fries, a wad of meat, and a foul-mouthed milkshake with a middle-aged junk-food fanatic neighbor. The show ran from 2001 to 2015, and even got a movie in 2007.
Cinemassacre does a joyously entertaining retrospective in this video on the show’s wild take on 2000’s pop culture and how it became one of the most unique dark comedic shows in TV history.
Muppets Statler and Waldorf gave James Corden a hard time over a Zoom monologue last night. It was a little cringey, but we tend to cut Muppet-related content some slack.
Cubs fan may be able to see this year’s Opening Day at Wrigley Field in person, except it will be across the street on rooftops. NBC Sports Chicago is reporting today that in a radio interview with Crane Keney, the team’s president clarified how the team hopes to work with local government officials and health experts to have a safe 2020 season. The rooftops will be implementing limited capacity and encourage social distancing.
“Even now with the mayor’s phasing of the city’s reopening, we would be allowed to open the rooftops,” Kenney said.
“We’re fortunate to have some of the best medical professionals in our city helping us — both from Advocate and Northwestern — and I’ll give credit to the city and the city’s health department as well. And there was always a path to bring fans back into Wrigley, obviously a much smaller group that would normally attend games.”
There is some conflict on attending sports with new Illinois state with new COVID-19 regulations kicking in today with Governor JB Pritzker’s new plan allowing 20 percent capacity for live sports, but the city of Chicago will not yet allow stadiums to open.
“And we’re working with the city, having great conversations with the mayor’s staff on this topic. We know our fans, if safe and if it can be done with the right precautions, would love to come back to the ballpark, and so we do see that happening this year.” said Kenney in the interview.
Kenney also noted that masks would have to be worn at the hypothetical games with limited capacity inside Wrigley.
Spin that wheel and roll the dice… Illinois casinos are opening back up on Wednesday July 1, as part of the Phase 4 reopening.
Casinos and gaming have been on hold since mid-March, but the Illinois Gaming Board has given the green light to put it all on red next week. If that’s your thing.
It’s no secret that the classic concept of the American drive-in is having its greatest year in decades. Welcome to the new reality of pandemic life, where social distancing is the rule and is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. We’ve been taking advantage of the drive-in Renaissance, with plans to spend more summer nights in our cars.
Here’s what it looked like at Chicago Drive-In last week in Bridgeview. Also: For a family movie, The Addams Family still has plenty of dark humor laughs.
Chicago rock heroes Local H kicked off two sold-out nights at Harvest Moon drive-in last night in Gibson City, Illinois. Words can’t properly describe how great it was to see live music again (while keeping a safe distance from others). And sitting in the car listening to the feed on the radio with the AC cranked? That was kind of amazing.
Block Club Chicago is reported that the beloved Northside mecca for movie fans, the Music Box Theatre will reopen with screenings on it’s garden patio with limited capacity 20-30. The long-running theatre may not be able to open it’s expansive screening rooms indoors with hundreds of seats, but this alternative option is a pretty clever work around that brings the open-air experience to seeing movies. Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ will be featured in the garden screenings starting today through Sunday.
On July 3rd, the theater will reopen it’s indoor portion with capped audiences of 50 to comply with state guidelines, even though it has enough space to maintain a crowd of 250 people with at least six feet of distance. The anticipated sci-fi epic ‘Tenet’ will screen at the Music Box in late July. You can find out more here at Music Box’s website.
This marks a huge move for independent movie theaters, meanwhile the massive cinema chains like AMC are revving up for a return with a lot of regulations demanded by fans who want to return to see the big summer movies that have been delayed. Read about that here.
Disney is making a massive change to one of the biggest attractions at their theme parks as they announced yesterday they would be doing away with the long-running Splash Mountain, and giving it a fresh theme with the 2009 film, ‘The Princess and the Frog’. This will change the ride which has been in the Disney World and DisneyLand parks for decades, and has played off the themes from the ‘Song of the South’, a 1946 controversial live-action/animated film which has long been criticized for it’s depictions of black people. Petitions from Disney fans have gained steam, and now the company has responded with the changes.
Offhand Disney produced this video of how fans of the ride are responding.
In a post on their blog, they say the new ride will be a “musical adventure” that plays the final scene of ‘the Princess and the Frog’ to the culminating kiss. They also released concept art that shows how the new characters will be integrated into the yet-to-be-made new ride.
Defunctland did a really in-depth documentary on YouTube that goes into the questionable intellectual property tied to the ride and how it became such a big success as a ride in Disney World and Disneyland.
After sending the clique on a code scavenger hunt puzzle twenty one pilots have revealed their master plan; for the first time in history creating a never-ending music video for our quarantine anthem Level Of Concern thanks to you! The video is streaming live on youtube and every 3 minutes and 40 seconds an all new never-ending Level of Concern plays with videos you submit. They want you to dance, animate, dress up, get creative, be weird, have fun and submit your videos at loc.twentyonepilots.com
And if you missed it, here is my chat with Tyler mid-quarantine and post-Ro <3 Lauren
‘Hamilton’ has been THE hottest ticket in live theater for years, and now it’s coming to our screens at home on the very fitting holiday of July 4th pn Disney+. The hip hop musical playing off historical figures sold out Broadway, reeling in millions, and ticket prices soaring through the roof so this may be the cheapest and safest way to see the beloved show. The musical was filmed with the original cast in 2016, and was originally supposed to come to movie theaters but obviously the pandemic changed all that.
Henry Cavill seemed like he was never going to dawn the cape of Superman again after the lackluster response to ‘Justice League’ and the behind-the-scenes struggles with awkward CGI being used to cover up his mustache in re-shoots. That could be changing.
The word going around Hollywood for a while was that Warner Bros would likely not have Cavill reprise the role that he had portrayed in ‘Man of Steel’, ‘Batman vs Superman’ and ‘Justice League’. Then we got the news a few weeks ago, that Cavill was not done playing the last son of Krypton and he would have small cameos in more DC Cinematic Universe films as the famed hero, but would he come back for more?
“I’ve always been a fan of Superman,” said Cavill, in a special Variety’Actors on Actors’ episode this week. “With a character like that, you carry the mantle with you off set. And it becomes part of your public representation. When you meet children, children don’t necessarily see me as Henry Cavill, but they might see Superman, and there’s a responsibility which comes with that. Because it’s such a wonderful character, it’s actually a responsibility I’m happy to have, and I hope that I get to play more of Superman in years to come.”
This came out during Cavill’s discussion with fellow beloved actor Patrick Stewart.
Now this does not mean we will get more full movies with Cavill’s Superman, but it certainly seems like the 37 yeard old actor is still down to punch some bad guys to the Moon.
(Update, 11:30am): The “Herd Immunity Fest” is no longer going by that name and Nonpoint will no longer be part of it. Here’s the latest from event host Q&Z Expo Center:
__
Concert organizers in Ringle, Wisconsin (NW of Green Bay, about 4.25 hours from Chicago) are putting together a three-day rock festival that flies in the face of what health experts have been recommending during the pandemic.
According to the CDC, “herd,” or “community,” immunity is “a situation in which a sufficient proportion of a population is immune to an infectious disease (through vaccination and/or prior illness) to make its spread from person to person unlikely. Even individuals not vaccinated (such as newborns and those with chronic illnesses) are offered some protection because the disease has little opportunity to spread within the community.”
The line-up is focused on heavier bands, including Static-X, Nonpoint and Dope. (Update) The initial social post from organizers has been deleted.
It’s easily one of the weirdest shows you’ll ever see… “Doom Patrol” is back for Season Two starting Thursday on HBO Max and DC Universe. Leading up to that, the first three episodes of Season One are streaming for free as one YouTube file:
Michael Keaton has had amazing career for decades, but his defining role will always be his portrayal of Batman in the blockbuster Tim Burton directed films from 1989 and 1992, but today brings the news that Keaton could take on the Caped Crusader one more time. The news caused ‘Batman’ to trend worldwide for hours yesterday on social media. Beyond the Trailer has the whole story here.
As Beyond the Trailer breaks down all the details, Keaton could play a critical role in an upcoming DC Cinematic Universer movie focusing on the Flash with a time-bending flip of the origin story of the Dark Knight. It’s worth noting now that Keaton has not been confirmed for the role.
You can watch the video for some big spoilers. It does play off a concept implemented in DC Comics known as a multiverse, which sees several timeline coexisting to explaining contradictions in story lines, creating multiple versions of the same characters, and much more.
Harry Caray had a lovable bouncy way of talking about baseball when he called Cubs baseball for decades, and his odder moments became quite the character for comedy titan Will Ferrell to play out on ‘Saturday Night Live’. So as we wait to see whether or not there will even be any MLB this year, let’s have a laugh at this comedy sports highlight reel.
Ferrell riffs as Caray’s non-stop consumption of hot dogs, observations that make no sense, and has nothing to do with baseball. It’s just some of the funniest stuff I have ever seen on TV. Enjoy this best of Harry at the desk of ‘Weekend Update’ and the original sketch with Jeff Goldblum has to somehow deal with Caray talking about outer space and science.
A piece of pre-quarantine life is coming back next month with AMC announcing their plans to start reopening 450 cinemas on July 15th. They hope to have all of their theaters open by July 24th with the upcoming blockbuster releases of Disney’s live-action ‘Mulan’ and the anticipated Christopher Nolan sci-fi epic ‘Tenet’. So how exactly is this movie-going experience going to be different with safety in mind due to COVID-19?
Initially AMC said on Friday they would not require guests to wear face masks but the backlash on social media was massive, they reversed course and will now require masks in their theaters when not eating or drinking. You can buy a mask at the theater for $1. Those who do not wear a mask will not be let in or allowed to stay. Other theater companies like Regal and Cinemark who are also reopening soon,are going to require masks as well.
AMC employees will undergo regular temperature checks, and will be required to wear masks. If they get sick, they will still get paid.
According to comingsoon.net, here are the regulations in AMC theaters going forward:
–Every auditorium will be cleaned between each showtime with enhanced hard surface disinfection including doors, handrails, recliner buttons, and tray tables. There will be extra time allocated between showtimes to allow a full, thorough cleaning of each auditorium.
–Auditorium fixtures and seating areas will be disinfected nightly using electrostatic sprayers.
–All high-touch areas including door handles, stanchions, service counters, handrails, escalator rails, benches, and restroom fixtures will be routinely disinfected. Self-service Freestyle machines will be sanitized routinely, and sanitation stations with sanitizing wipes and/or hand sanitizer will be provided immediately nearby for guest use.
–Disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer will be found throughout theatres for guests.
–Products used for sanitation and disinfection at AMC are EPA approved for use against viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens including COVID-19.
–FDA approved hand-sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the theatre for associate and guest use.
–The circuit is recommending that guests use AMC’s online ticketing and mobile app for ticketless entry. For guests who would like to purchase their tickets at the theatre, AMC has Automated Box Office machines.
Batman does not need super-powers, he needs ‘gadgets’ which became very important this week with this story from UPI. So when ‘Batman” does not to need to specify his gadgets, he becomes closer to an actual life crime fighter as a cosplayer ? How do you feel about this this record-breaking presentation ? This video will help explain all of it.
