General News
The Amazing Moments of 2020
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Charles Dickens classic “A Tale of Two Cities” begins with the famous line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” As it was in 1859 when Dickens historical novel was first published, so it was in 2020. While this year surely saw the worst of times, 2020 saw some of the best, truly fabulous and most beautiful of moments.
Mankind celebrated the thrilling launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the surprise announcements made by DC and Marvel on both the TV and movie fronts, and “Some Good News” that showed how people throughout the world came together even at the worst of times.
As we leave 2020, here’s a reminder of the inspirational moments of the last twelve months that we all nerded and geeked out to.
“Some Good News”: Actor and director John Krasinski lifted everyone’s spirits with his video montages showing the positive things going on in the world during the Pandemic in a delightful way.
Justice League Director’s Cut: After a grass roots campaign, director Zack Snyder is bringing his vision of the JUSTICE LEAGUE movie to HBO Max in 2021.
The Justice League screenplay is by Chris Terrio, story by Chris Terrio & Zack Snyder, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film’s producers are Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, with executive producers Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Jim Rowe, Ben Affleck, Wesley Coller, Curtis Kanemoto, and Chris Terrio.
DC FanDome: In August Warner Bros. welcomed fans everywhere into the DC FanDome—a free virtual fan experience. The highly anticipated announcements and the latest news, along with exclusive footage, featured the new Batman movie teaser, the cast and characters were revealed at the SUICIDE SQUAD panel, a glimpse At BLACK ADAM including Justice Society members Atom Smasher, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Cyclone and the announcement of SHAZAM 2 FURY OF THE GODS.
HBO Max Movies Release Announcement: Warner Bros. Pictures Group’s 2021 expected* release slate currently includes The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In The Heights, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Reminiscence, Malignant, Dune, The Many Saints of Newark, King Richard, Cry Macho and Matrix 4. HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel, “House of the Dragon”, will debut in 2022. The highly anticipated Warner Bros. film “Wonder Woman 1984”—the first of the slate debuted on Christmas Day in theaters and on HBO Max in the U.S. Warner Bros. Pictures announced that it will fast-track development on the third installment of the Wonder Woman franchise to be written by Patty Jenkins, who is attached to direct, and starring Gal Gadot.
New series on Disney Plus: Fans rejoiced at the announcement in December that over the next few years, Disney+ plans to release approximately 10 Star Wars series and 10 Marvel series, as well as 15 Disney live action, Disney Animation, and Pixar series, as well as 15 Disney live action, Disney Animation, and Pixar features. Kevin Feige, president, Marvel Studios, and chief creative officer, Marvel, revealed the studio will bring one of Marvel’s most iconic families to the big screen with the release of Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four! Spider-Man veteran Jon Watts is on board to direct.
Speaking of Star Wars…
The Mandalorian Season Two: Where to start? Baby Yoda=Grogu, the return of bounty hunter Boba Fett, Master Jedi Luke Skywalker, R2-D2 and the surprise announcement of the new Boba Fett series comprised the amazing second season from creators Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.
Composer Ludwig Göransson’s out of this world score made it a true Star Wars story.
New Star Wars series on DisneyPlus: Lucasfilm announced an impressive number of exciting Disney+ series and new feature films destined to expand the Star Wars galaxy like never before. Among the projects for Disney+ are “Obi-Wan Kenobi,”starring Ewan McGregor with Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader, and two series set in the Mandalorian era from Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni: “Rangers of the New Republic” and “Ahsoka,” a series featuring the fan favorite character Ahsoka Tano.
Additional new titles announced for Disney+ include “Andor,” “Star Wars:The Bad Batch,” “Star Wars: Visions,” “Lando,” “The Acolyte,” and “A Droid Story.”
Twitter watch parties: Bill and Ted 3 was the perfect example of watching a movie with an online audience throughout the world. Filmmakers and actors would join in with the fans to watch old and new movies, supply the start time, show previously unseen images and always give a “press play” countdown of 3… 2… 1.
Drive-in Comebacks: To get out of the house for a movie, people returned in droves to the old pastime of seeing a movie at the local, or not so local, drive-in. Even if it wasn’t an established drive-in, businesses and restaurants succeeded in inventing ones with inflatable screens and a culinary menu to attract moviegoers. For those who saw Russell Crowe in UNHINGED at a drive-in, the sound of applause at the end were honking horns and flashing lights.
Resilence: This was the first NASA-certified commercial human spacecraft system in history. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), into orbit to begin a six-month science mission aboard the space station.
Artemis Moon Missions: It was announced that man would be returning at long last to the moon aboard the Artemis Moon missions. The original trips to the Moon were aboard the Saturn V rockets during the Apollo missions. With the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. They will collaborate with our commercial and international partners and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade. Then, they will use what is learned on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.
THE PHENOMENON UFO Movie: In 2020, UFO fanatics, as well as the casual ones, geeked out with the release of the new documentary THE PHENOMENON, with undeniable proof that we are not alone. (review) http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2020/10/the-phenomenon-2020-review/
Devolution: A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF THE RAINIER SASQUATCH MASSACRE by Max Brooks: Fans of Bigfoot and Sasquatch were elated with a new book about their favorite big furry guy. The author of WORLD WAR Z took on the Bigfoot legend with a tale that blurs the lines between human and beast–and asks what we are capable of in the face of the unimaginable.
CAPTAIN AMERICA TRIBUTE #1 Comicbook: Marvel will honor Cap’ with CAPTAIN AMERICA TRIBUTE #1, a giant-sized special celebrating the character’s 80th anniversary. CAPTAIN AMERICA TRIBUTE #1 hits stands this coming March. https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/marvel-celebrates-80-years-of-captain-america-with-a-giant-sized-tribute-issue
We will leave you with the words of Apollo 8 on December 24, 1968. The tumultuous year which saw the deaths of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. ended on a positive note at least, as three astronauts aboard Apollo 8—Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman—became the first humans to orbit the moon.
“And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
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