Welcome to The Weekender. A compilation of stories we didn’t get a chance to touch on earlier and a collection of some of our favorite piece from the week.
This week we’re discussing the latest from all of great childhood staples, both past and present . Nintendo, ‘Friends’ & John Carpenter.
Nintendo Announces Switch Lite
Nintendo is masking a new push into the handheld video game market. This move is sure to eat into sales of the current market leader, Nintendo. The Japanese video game maker accounted that this fall they will be launching a slightly stripped down, handheld only version of their switch console. The Switch lite will retail for $199, feature a smaller 5.5 inch screen, and lack some of the key features of the original Switch. This all sounds like a good idea to get younger kids or boost international sales. However, I don’t see a ton of us current switch owners lining up to have a Day 1 version of this. Unless they can master cloud saves and allow for me to switch seamlessly between devices. Then, I will gladly Pay Nintendo more money for the pleasure and opportunity to but Mario Kart one more time.
‘Friends’ is leaving Netflix and heading to HBO Max
All good (and highly profitable) things must come to an end. Warner Media’s long awaited streaming service was announced this week. The new ‘HBO Max’ will arrive spring 2020 and appears to be incredibly focused on Warner’s television properties. The new service will be the exclusive home of all the episodes of the CW DC shows, The entire Fresh Prince library, and it will eventually be the only place on the internet you can legally go to catch up with Chandler, Joey, Phoebe and the rest of the gang. This announcement was sad for me on two fronts. One, Friends is such a great comfort food of a show. You can always put it on for an hour or two and forget the world burning around you. To see that leave Netflix is a bummer. You might be saying “Why not subscribe to HBO Max then?” That brings me to my second point. When Warner killed FilmStruck last year they talked about the Turner Classic library coming to their new streaming library. However, there was nothing about the wonderful library of classic films in this week’s press release. They made sure to cover ‘Pretty Little Liars’ & and ‘Perry Mason’ remake though. So I guess it wasn’t all bad.
John Carpenter Writing a Joker Comic Book for DC
We don’t have enough John Carpenter news in this world, so I am pleased to write that this October the ‘Halloween‘ icon will be co-writing a new Joker one shot. The issue is called ‘The Joker: Year of the Villain #1′ and will be a part of DC’s larger Year of the Villain crossover story line. Carpenter will be co-writing this issue with Anthony Burch. He called the joker “The greatest villain in comics” so I would venture to say the horror legend is excited to be involved in adding to the clown prince of crime’s mythology. Between this and Todd Phillip’s new film. October is going to be a big month for the Man who Laughs.
And now for some of our own best stories, you might have missed earlier this week…
Sherlock Holmes 3 has a New Director
Guy Richie is out and Dexter Fletcher is in. The ‘Rocketman’ film maker is taking over as director in the latest installment in the Sherlock Holmes Trilogy. I have enjoyed his work thus far and he has solid connections to Richie and Vaughn. I think he could be a solid replacement
‘Fast & Furious 9’ Bringing Back Mirren and Theron
They’re coming back. I don’t care. You shouldn’t either. But if you do, we can still be friends. Please click the link, either way.
Several A24 Films are Coming to a Highway Near You
A24 announced their ‘Public Access’ summer road show this week. They will be playing many of their greatest hits on billboards around the country. Many of these pairings are inspired, but my favorite has to be the idea of watching ‘Good Time’ next to a subway station, in Queens.
What do you think was the biggest story this past week? Was there something we missed? Let us know in the comments and remember to get your quick news every Saturday & Sunday with The Weekender. Remember to check back with Boom Howdy for more up-to-date news, reviews & podcasts and be sure to follow us on Facebook & Twitter.
