End Credits - September 13, 2017

You'll float too! But, you know, in a good way, as End Credits moves to its new old time slot in the morning of the middle of the week to make sure that you kick off your hump day right! How will we do that? With a review of a new movie and a discussion of movie news. This week, we're going to look at the newest advice for making good video game movies, the newest instance of white-washed casting in the films, and the newest Star Wars director to be fired. All that, and a happy clown and the seven kids that love him on this first episode of our fall slate. 

This Wednesday, September 13, at 8 am, Adam A. Donaldson with Candice Lepage will discuss:

1) Bossing Jordan. Since the first video game movie in 1993 (AKA: the live-action Super Mario Bros. movie) there's been a simple adage about films in the genre: they suck. Many Hollywood filmmakers have tried to find the secret to creating a good video game movie, and the newest answer comes from Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who advises directors to find what they like about the video game, and translate that feeling to the big screen. Is it really that simple, or is it going to be a slightly more complicated journey to get quality video game movies?

2) Ed the Shock. Ed Skrein may be most well-known for playing the bad guy in Deadpool, but now he's established himself as the good guy of the Hellboy remake by refusing to take the role of a character portrayed as Japanese-American in the original Hellboy comics. It's the latest example of Hollywood "white washing", the casting of Caucasian actors in parts originally meant to be for people of colour; Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell being the most recent example. Is this recent incident, and the actor's reaction, the one that might finally tip the debate in favour of more diversity in film?

3) Trevorrow Banned. More behind the scenes director drama on Star Wars erupted last week when Colin Trevorrow was suddenly fired by Disney as the director of Episode IX, the final chapter in the new Star Wars trilogy. Trevorrow, the director behind the very successful relaunch of the Jurassic Park franchise, seemed like the right fit for the blockbuster mould of the Star Wars saga, but now he follows Josh Trank and Phil Lord & Chris Miller to the directorial garbage chute. Why is it so difficult for talented directors to be a part of this mega-franchise, and how much longer can Disney attract top talent if this is how they're treated?

4) It (2017). Based on the classic novel by Stephen King, and brought to life in a fondly remembered TV miniseries in 1990, It had a lot of weight and expectation on, well, it. Adapting the part of the novel that focuses on the pre-teen Losers Club, seven kids in 1989 Maine who spend their summer vacation trying to find out who's killing their peers in their small town, and trying to find the source of their own deep-seeded nightmares. A terrific cast of young actors, along will Bill Skarsgard as a much creepier and much more vicious Pennywise the Dancing Clown, have delivered what may be the most popular horror movie of all time, and what may be the best Stephen King adaptation of all time.

End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Thursday at 10 am.