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With the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios did the unthinkable: it recreated the shared continuity of superhero comics on the big screen. Just like in the source material upon which it’s based, the MCU feels like a cohesive reality, complete with a rich history. Unfortunately, the MCU also has something else in common with the comics: namely, the timeline is a bit of a mess. It’s easy to see how this has happened – thanks to the growing number of films and TV shows in the franchise, it’s virtually impossible to make these competing stories fit together neatly....

The Lord of the Rings trilogy introduced millions of people to the concept of Middle-earth. In addition, it also allowed longtime fans to see the characters, situations, and locations they’d envisioned for so long come to life on the big screen. Continued with three movies based on The Hobbit, these new entries in the series were not so well received, but also have a great deal of merit. No matter how good the movies are, the fact of the matter is that most films have problems with consistency....

The winners of the 2018 Oscars ceremony have been revealed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Jimmy Kimmel returned to host the 90th iteration of the awards show following his stint as host for last year’s ceremony, which infamously concluded with La La Land being announced as Best Picture before Moonlight was revealed to be the true winner. 2018’s Oscar ceremony caps off what has been a tumultuous year in Hollywood, but also one that began to usher in long overdue changes within the industry....

Roland Emmerich’s 1998 Godzilla is one of the most prolific bad movies of the 1990s. It serves as an example of what not to do when adapting a pre-existing story, and still gets ridiculed to this day. “Zilla,” the new name of the film’s version of Godzilla following Toho’s disapproval, was essentially just an oversized iguana that could breathe fire. Not Godzilla whatsoever. Zilla hosted the extraordinary power of disappearing in Manhattan, one of the most densely populated places in the world, and hosted the weaknesses of a real iguana, like tanks and jets....

When we talk about situational comedies, or “sitcoms,” we’re talking about shows designed to make us laugh. Iconic sitcoms contain equal parts stellar casting, memorable characters, laugh out loud writing, and high energy physical humor. Technically, all sitcoms follow a very similar formula “Sitcoms… are typically 22 minutes long [with] a script of 25-40 pages. Every sitcom episode has a main plot (story A), as well as one or two subplots (stories B and C)… There are three main acts… with 3-5 scenes per act....

Stories discussed in this episode: Reuters reports zero-click iPhone exploit was also used by another Israeli surveillance firm, in addition to NSO Group Can you spot the CarPlay influence in Google’s upcoming Android Auto redesign? iOS 15.4 reveals new ‘Trade-In Tool’ for scanning cosmetic details with your iPhone camera Follow Chance: Twitter: @ChanceHMiller Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Overcast RSS Stitcher TuneIn Google Play Share your thoughts! Drop us a line at happyhour@9to5mac....

A Dog’s Way Home is a fine family-friendly adventure about man’s best friend, hitting the same emotional chords as (better) movies that came before. A Dog’s Way Home, like 2017’s A Dog’s Purpose before it, is based on the same-named novel by W. Bruce Cameron. Released in 2012, A Dog’s Way Home features a straightforward narrative about a lost dog finding her way home. This type of storyline has been explored on the big screen before, perhaps most notably in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (itself adapted from the novel The Incredible Journey written by Sheila Burnford)....

An analysis of 150 police reports shows that Apple’s AirTag stalking protections are working around a third of the time. While AirTags can and have been used by stalkers, examining reports from eight police departments reveals that exactly one-third of the victims were alerted by notifications on their phones … Background Ever since the launch of AirTags, there have been numerous reports of the tracking devices being misused by abusive partners, other stalkers, and thieves....

Even though The Legend of Korra – the sequel to the massively popular Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender – has always been overshadowed by the success of its predecessor, it still does a lot to expand the Avatar canon. It has also been criticized for not being as awesome as the original, though that may just be because A:TLA was too good to top. It did, admittedly, have its problems, as anyone who’s seen the original would be able to make out....

In 1968 Dr. Richard Hornberger and W.C. Heinz published MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors under the name Richard Hooker (no relation to TJ Hooker), detailing the live’s of surgeons during the Korean War. When not operating on injured soldiers, the characters alleviated their extreme boredom through pranks and hijinks that would have landed them in jail if they weren’t all such talented doctors. In 1970, a feature film adaptation of the book came out, directed by Robert Altman and starring Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould....

With the eleventh season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia currently airing on FXX, we’ve been thinking a lot about our favorite moments from the series. Many viewers have already hopped on board the crazy train that is the show, but if you haven’t yet, we’ve put together a little background information that should make the transition as easy as a game of Chardee MacDennis. Your guides on this debaucherous tour are Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), and Frank (Danny DeVito), who are collectively known as The Gang, who own (to some extent) and operate (to some extent) Paddy’s Pub in Philadelphia....

What’s not to love about Joss Whedon? The man has been a fandom legend since the days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He’s behind amazing shows like Dollhouse and Firefly, and movies like The Avengers. And while there were apparently some challenges for him when it came to Avengers: Age of Ultron, the movie was, overall, a success in our opinion. In a recent interview with The Wrap, Whedon was asked if he’d return to Marvel to helm a female-led movie....

The box office success of Deadpool proves there’s a market out there for superhero spoofs. Hollywood immediately took notice: Suicide Squad is rumored to be going through re-shoots to make it lighter and funnier (or not?). But there’s another superhero parody firmly entrenched in pop culture for almost half a century. We’re talking, of course, about the 1966 Batman TV show. People often dismiss 1966 Batman as being too campy. However, as goofy as the show is, it is often genuinely entertaining precisely because it doesn’t take itself too seriously....

Though he wouldn’t become known to many fans of the Marvel films until his appearance in the second Captain America solo adventure, the Winter Soldier has had a long and somewhat complicated history in the comic world. Originally known as Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers’ World War II-era best friend and sidekick, he would be thought dead for decades before reemerging as the mysterious Winter Soldier. The decades between Bucky and the Winter Soldier would be explored in various comic storylines, helping to bridge the gaps between the two big periods of the character’s life....

Superhero movies and TV shows aren’t all flashy costumes and shiny special effects. Their creators have to go through a lot to get them there, and the process isn’t always pretty. Just like sausage, the creation of any project involves a bunch of processes that you either don’t care about or shouldn’t see. The reasons are several. Usually it’s because it would be super boring to see something like the assistants who had to spend countless hours hand-linking the chainmail for the Lord of the Rings movies....

If there’s one thing Family Guy knows better than what it feels like to be cancelled by Fox, it’s movies. From their reverential full-length Star Wars treatments to the blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em cutaways, the show is littered with so many movie references that they’re impossible to count. With a not-necessarily-respectful nod to everything from The Sound of Music to Debbie Does Dallas, Rhode Island’s edgiest family rarely take the moral high ground and occasionally walk the thinnest of lines between questionable and downright obscene....

And of course, fans take the time to create funny memes blasting or praising their favorite characters. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) has been the center of some mild controversy, as fans decide whether he’s a hardcore bad guy worthy of the Darth Vader mantle, or a petulant brat with a chip on his shoulder. In their own ways, both Vader and Ren are overly pessimistic and selfish. But with Vader, audiences got to see his story through to the end....

In the most recent trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming film Justice League, after seeing Batman alongside Aquaman and Wonder Woman, JK Simmons’ Commissionet Gordon notes, “It’s good to see you playing well with others again." We can only assume that’s a reference to the deceased Robin hinted at in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it’s a fun line leveled at a character who is widely known as an introverted loner with a singular obsession....

When Avengers: Infinity War comes to theaters later this month, we’ll see moments that Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have been awaiting for years. Yes, we’re finally getting the payoff for that Thanos teaser during the credits for the first Avengers movie back in 2012. However, even more importantly, we’re going to see what happens when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes meet the Guardians of the Galaxy. We’re already predicting that they won’t get along right away with the other heroes but will ultimately manage to pull it together just in time for it to matter most because that’s how every comic book team-up goes....

Many films are adapted from books, particularly in the fantasy genre. Films have the opportunity to bring fantasy’s visual spectacle, magic, and breathtaking creatures to life. With many fantasy books part of a larger series and boasting a dedicated fandom, the right adaptation can spark a wildly popular and successful film franchise. Despite these benefits, many fantasy books have been poorly adapted to the big screen. The general assumption is that the book is always superior to the movie....