Author: Matthew Neale

NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

Gail Simone, the legendary comic book writer behind the original Birds of Prey story, has questioned one of the character portrayals in the new film adaptation.

• Read more: Birds of Prey review: Harley Quinn ditches the Joker in DC’s most violent comic book movie yet

Despite being a spin-off from David Ayer’s critically reviled Suicide Squad, the new DC film focusing on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn has received mostly positive reviews.

While Simone says she “loved it” on the whole, the writer posted a lengthy Twitter thread today (February 7) detailing where she feels Birds of Prey could have done better.

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Okay, I want to have a talk about one aspect of the @birdsofpreywb movie that I was withholding judgment on, that did bug me. I think it’s pretty obvious I loved it, but I do have a sizable gripe.

However, that is only meaningful in a larger context.

So mute this, maybe.

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) February 7, 2020

Simone wrote: “I have held back commenting on this, mostly, because I wanted to see for myself. But essentially, this Cassandra Cain is a new character.

“I like her, she’s fun to watch, the actress is adorable (Ella Jay Basco) is great in the role. But she bears no resemblance to Cass.”

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I have held back commenting on this, mostly, because I wanted to see for myself. But essentially, this Cassandra Cain is a new character.

I like her, she’s fun to watch, the actress is adorable (Ella Jay Basco) is great in the role. But she bears no resemblance to Cass.

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) February 7, 2020

“I don’t think of it as an insult so much as a missed opportunity,” Simone added, explaining that the character’s “struggles with speech and reading and socialisation” were a “hugely meaningful” part of the story for many fans.

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But she became so much more. She was also one of the first truly successful solo Asian heroes at either company. Her struggles with speech and reading and socialization were hugely meaningful to so many people. I love Cass dearly, and this is not a Cass I recognize.

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) February 7, 2020

The writer also had a suggestion for how the issue could have been easily avoided.

“Just give her a different name,” she wrote towards the end of the thread. “It’s possible that they didn’t want another voiceless Asian flawless goddess assassin, and that’s perfectly fair, but it would have been the same movie character if they had named her Nancy Floogenbottom, not Cass.”

In a four-star review of the Cathy Yan-directed film, NME said: “Birds Of Prey might not be DC’s first female-led comic book movie, but it certainly is its goriest and most violent. If bloody brawls and faces being sliced off on camera are good enough for the boys, they’re most definitely good enough for the women too.

“Most of all, Birds Of Prey is riotous fun, peppered with moments of warmth and light amidst the brutality, and a breakneck race for survival with some of Gotham’s most badass broads.”

The post ‘Birds of Prey’ comics writer Gail Simone criticises “missed opportunity” in film appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.

NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

Gail Simone, the legendary comic book writer behind the original Birds of Prey story, has questioned one of the character portrayals in the new film adaptation.

• Read more: Birds of Prey review: Harley Quinn ditches the Joker in DC’s most violent comic book movie yet

Despite being a spin-off from David Ayer’s critically reviled Suicide Squad, the new DC film focusing on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn has received mostly positive reviews.

While Simone says she “loved it” on the whole, the writer posted a lengthy Twitter thread today (February 7) detailing where she feels Birds of Prey could have done better.

See more

Okay, I want to have a talk about one aspect of the @birdsofpreywb movie that I was withholding judgment on, that did bug me. I think it’s pretty obvious I loved it, but I do have a sizable gripe.

However, that is only meaningful in a larger context.

So mute this, maybe.

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) February 7, 2020

Simone wrote: “I have held back commenting on this, mostly, because I wanted to see for myself. But essentially, this Cassandra Cain is a new character.

“I like her, she’s fun to watch, the actress is adorable (Ella Jay Basco) is great in the role. But she bears no resemblance to Cass.”

See more

I have held back commenting on this, mostly, because I wanted to see for myself. But essentially, this Cassandra Cain is a new character.

I like her, she’s fun to watch, the actress is adorable (Ella Jay Basco) is great in the role. But she bears no resemblance to Cass.

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) February 7, 2020

“I don’t think of it as an insult so much as a missed opportunity,” Simone added, explaining that the character’s “struggles with speech and reading and socialisation” were a “hugely meaningful” part of the story for many fans.

See more

But she became so much more. She was also one of the first truly successful solo Asian heroes at either company. Her struggles with speech and reading and socialization were hugely meaningful to so many people. I love Cass dearly, and this is not a Cass I recognize.

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) February 7, 2020

The writer also had a suggestion for how the issue could have been easily avoided.

“Just give her a different name,” she wrote towards the end of the thread. “It’s possible that they didn’t want another voiceless Asian flawless goddess assassin, and that’s perfectly fair, but it would have been the same movie character if they had named her Nancy Floogenbottom, not Cass.”

In a four-star review of the Cathy Yan-directed film, NME said: “Birds Of Prey might not be DC’s first female-led comic book movie, but it certainly is its goriest and most violent. If bloody brawls and faces being sliced off on camera are good enough for the boys, they’re most definitely good enough for the women too.

“Most of all, Birds Of Prey is riotous fun, peppered with moments of warmth and light amidst the brutality, and a breakneck race for survival with some of Gotham’s most badass broads.”

The post ‘Birds of Prey’ comics writer Gail Simone criticises “missed opportunity” in film appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.

NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

Tame Impala‘s Kevin Parker has admitted to experiencing “creative strain” while making the band’s albums, calling it the hardest part of his career.

• Read more: Tame Impala – ‘The Slow Rush’ review: a 57-minute flex of every musical muscle in Kevin Parker’s body

In a new interview with Mojo, Parker talked specifically about the difficulty he faced during the recording of the band’s 2015 album ‘Currents’.

When asked if there were times he wanted to give up, the singer responded: “Yeah, of course. The times when I wanted to get off the wave were really just when there was a creative strain.”

The frontman admitted that he felt most under pressure when it came to the artist element of the process. “Finishing an album is by far the hardest thing I have to go through because everything else is just work, you know?

“It’s actually the creative side when I have the times where I’m like, ‘Oh fuck, I can’t do this’ or ‘I’m never going to get to a point where I’m happy with this album.’ Even though that creative side’s what I’m best at, that’s the only time where I’m like, ‘Aargh! Fuck this!'”

Parker also stated he had an idea of what I wanted the new Tame Impala record to sound like, though it didn’t pan out the way he’d imagined. “I knew I wanted the music to be more free-flowing and more stream-of-consciousness, which is a quality I think I ended up getting,” he said. “But my desire is always to make minimal music, music that’s as bare-bones as possible.

“To me, the greatest piece of music in the world is just dead simple. So I like to be minimal, but I always end up just going so deep.”

Last week (January 30) Parker, who has worked with the likes of Mark Ronson, Camilla Cabello and Lady Gaga, spoke to Billboard about his love of working with popstars – and his desire to emulate the success of some of the world’s best pop songwriters.

“It’s the yin to the yang of psychedelic rock — writing a catchy, sugary pop song that’s like, three minutes long. I want to be a Max Martin,” he said of his work outside Tame Impala. “I’ve only scratched the surface with [collaborating].”

The post Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker opens up about “creative strain” appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.

NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

New images released ahead of The Walking Dead‘s mid-season return appear to have revealed another survivor, following the cliffhanger that saw the team cornered by the undead in a cave.

• Read more: ‘The Walking Dead’: five burning questions season 10 part two needs to answer

In the mid-season finale, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Magna (Nadia Hilker) and sisters Kelly (Angel Theory) and Connie (Lauren Ridloff) were all surrounded after attempting to locate the walker horde.

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#TheWalkingDead returns! Feb 23 9pm ET/PT I was told this is an exclusive pic! Is it? Have you seen it anywhere else yet? #TWD #AMC pic.twitter.com/wQEa3qVaNx

— Melissa McBride (@mcbridemelissa) February 5, 2020

Recent stills from the second half of the current season, however, showed certain characters taking part in the Hilltop Battle – seemingly confirming that that Daryl, Carol, Aaron and Kelly will survive the cave.

Now newly-released images show Jerry also participating in the battle, meaning Magna and Connie are now the only characters whose safety is potentially at risk.

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Grab your plates because we're serving more fresh looks from #TheWalkingDead 10B pic.twitter.com/xk8xvbPcqh

— The Walking Dead (@TheWalkingDead) February 5, 2020

In December, it emerged that the family of a late stuntman for the show, who died following an accident while filming an episode of The Walking Dead, have been awarded $8.6m (£6.6m) by a US jury.

John Bernecker suffered serious head injuries when he fell onto a concrete floor while filming a stunt in 2017. He died two days later in hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

Broadcasters AMC confirmed the news: “We are saddened to report that John Bernecker, a talented stuntman for The Walking Dead and numerous other television shows and films, suffered serious injuries from a tragic accident on set.”

Jeff Harris, the lawyer representing Bernecker’s parents, claimed their son’s death was “entirely preventable.”

“There are a zillion different ways that this stunt could have been thrown off, but there just wasn’t any planning for it,” he said, according to Deadline.

The post ‘The Walking Dead’ reveals another cave survivor in new season 10 images appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.

NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

Mark Ruffalo has discussed whether ‘Avengers: Endgame’ could be his last appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Appearing on this evening’s (February 7) Graham Norton Show, Ruffalo was asked whether he could star in another edition of the popular franchise.

• Read more: Marvel Cinematic Universe phase four: everything we know so far

“I don’t know,” the actor responded, before dramatically covering his mouth. “Who knows really? It is supposed to be over and that was supposed to be the end.”

In December last year, the actor revealed he had been discussing the possibility of a Hulk spin-off movie with Marvel boss Kevin Feige.

Ruffalo has played the character of Bruce Banner since 2012’s The Avengers.

The last standalone Hulk film was over a decade ago – 2008’s The Incredible Hulk – but Ruffalo said talks are in process for a new movie.

“Kevin Feige just asked me last week if I had any more ideas or stories for the Hulk. And I said, ‘Yeah, I think there’s still some stories to tell,’” he revealed during a panel at Tokyo Comic-Con.

He continued: “And (Feige) said, ‘Well why don’t you come in and tell me about them and we’ll see if we can find a place for you in the Marvel universe?’ Hulk vs. Wolverine. I’d like to see that.”

In other Marvel news, it was reported yesterday (February 6) that Sam Raimi is in talks to direct the upcoming sequel to Doctor Strange.

The post Mark Ruffalo unsure whether ‘Avengers: Endgame’ could be his last Marvel film appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.

NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

Kesha‘s legal team have announced their plans to fight today’s legal ruling that she defamed music producer Dr Luke.

Earlier today (February 7), a judge at New York’s Supreme Court ruled that Kesha defamed Dr Luke, after she sent a text to Lady Gaga claiming that he raped Katy Perry.

The 32-year-old singer was ordered to pay the producer, real name Lukasz Gottwald, $374,000 in late royalty fees.

In response, Kesha’s legal team has announced that they plan to fight the ruling, according to Variety.

“Judge Schecter issued rulings today on motions for summary judgment in the Dr. Luke litigation,” the singer’s lawyers said in a statement. “We disagree with the Court’s rulings. We plan to immediately appeal.”

The news marks the latest development in their ongoing legal feud, which began when Kesha initially sued Gottwald in 2014 and claimed he had sexually assaulted and emotionally abused her.

Gottwald then subsequently filed his own suit against the singer in 2017, alleging that she had breached their contract and made up false rape allegations in an effort to get out of the deal.

Kesha also accused Gottwald of sexually assaulting both her and Katy Perry, an allegation which Perry subsequently denied in a deposition.

In her ruling, New York Judge Jennifer G. Schecter said that Perry’s testimony, and a lack of evidence led to the conclusion that Kesha had defamed Dr Luke.

Judge Schechter said: “Perry unequivocally testified that Gottwald did not [rape her]. In response, Kesha has not raised a triable issue. There is no evidence whatsoever that Gottwald raped Katy Perry, or that Katy Perry, whose sworn testimony is unrefuted, must not be believed.”

But Schecter stressed that the ruling did not provide a definitive answer to whether Gottwald had sexually assaulted Kesha, which will be determined by a jury in a separate trial.

The post Kesha set to appeal Dr Luke defamation verdict appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.