News

Today we have a series tip for you. And this one doesn't lead us to the usual streaming suspects, but to the ARD media library. You heard right! Real treasures can also be discovered on public broadcasts. Our TV tax was well spent on the 8-part »Oderbruch« series.

The first scene already makes it clear that we are not in Kansas anymore and this is definitely not a »Tatort« Krimi. The story, directed by »Sløborn« creators Christian Alvart and Adolfo J. Kolmerer, begins with a whole mountain of corpses and animal cadavers. The German inspector Roland Voit (Felix Kramer) is sent to his home village of Krewlow as a local to investigate with his Polish colleague Stanisław Zajak (Lucas Gregorowicz). The former police officer and Roland Voit's childhood sweetheart Magdalena “Maggie” Kring (Karoline Schuch) also returns to this place from her past and investigates out of private interest.

The series cleverly links historical events from the Oderbruch, such as the Battle of the Seelow Heights in World War II and the Oder flood catastrophe of 1997, with the plot. Maggie's brother Kai (Julius Gause) supposedly died in the flooding. Maggie's memories flash back again and again and throw spotlights on the events of that time. The puzzle slowly comes together and in the fourth episode there is a revelation that takes us into completely different genre realms ...

»Oderbruch« has exciting story-telling, great acting and superb cinematography - a refreshingly dark series that goes beyond the usual old comedy and crime stories for which Germany's film and television landscape is otherwise so notorious. A clear recommendation from us!

And here's the trailer to give you a taste:
https://youtu.be/22mJQshDteA

Honestly, we've been lurking for the last two weeks for the first full trailer for »Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire« - and it just dropped a moment ago:
https://youtu.be/HpOBXh02rVc

With the teaser back in November, we weren't quite sure if the sequel directed by Gil Kenan will hit. But after the trailer, we have just this one thing to say:
Bustin' makes me feel goooood 🎶😁!

From March 21, an army of ghosts and the second ice ace will come over us 🥶😱...

We'd like to present to you episode 10 of 💫 NEUES AUS DEM FIGUREN UNIVERSUM 💫! After the last special episode, we once again want to show you the most exciting new arrivals and hottest pre-orders of the recent days. We have some amazing collectibles for you - whether you're a fan of MOTU, DC, Star Wars, Fantasy or Horror. And some real icons of cinema are in the mix as well - don't miss out!

Check it out - now on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Jz084RqZlAM

Did you know that »The Holdovers« is in cinemas right now? The title might ring a bell because of our coverage of the Oscar nominations yesterday, as it received quite a few of them - including "Best Picture"! But what is it about?

After the cranky, strict and extremely unpopular teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) upsets one of the financial backers of the boarding school where he teaches, he is forced to stay at school over the Christmas holidays. He is supposed to look after the students who cannot spend the holidays at home. In the end, only he, the cook Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) and the 17-year-old student Angus (Dominic Sessa) remain on campus - an explosive mixture, because Angus repeatedly attracts attention for his bad and rebellious behavior. But during the two snowy weeks, the three outsiders get to know each other better and form a small community.

The film is not only described by critics as touching, melancholic and funny, the actors are also highly praised and have already won several awards. And although it would probably have fit better in the run-up to Christmas, we are now looking forward to finally being able to see »The Holdovers« on the big screen!

Yesterday the Oscar nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards were announced. The gala will take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, where the coveted film trophy will be awarded in 23 categories.

Highly favored is »Oppenheimer« which enters the race with a total of 13 nominations, followed by »Poor Things« with 11 nominations and »Killers of the Flower Moon« with 10 nominations. »Barbie«, the most successful film of the year, received 8 nominations and »Maestro« got 7. »American Fiction«, »Anatomy of a Fall«, »The Holdovers« and »The Zone of Interest« are in the running with 5 nominations each. »Past Lives« , nominated for two awards, completes the list of 10 films competing against each other in the premier class of "Best Picture". »Oppenheimer« is considered the most promising candidate, although the Oscars can sometimes be good for a surprise.

"Best Directing" - »Oppenheimer« is also highly regarded here. Christopher Nolan has already previously been nominated for an Oscar five times, but has never won so far. It would definitely be about time. Nolan competes against veteran Martin Scorsese (»Killers of the Flower Moon«), Giorgos Lanthimos (»Poor Things«), Jonathan Glazer (»The Zone of Interest«) and Justine Triet (»Anatomy of a Fall«). And here's the first surprise: Greta Gerwig (»Barbie«) was not nominated for the directing Oscar.

"Best Actor in a Leading Role" - Here too, »Oppenheimer« is ahead with Cillian Murphy but Paul Giamatti could certainly be competition with his role in »The Holdovers«. We don't really see Bradley Cooper, rightfully nominated for »Maestro«, as the winner. Before the nominations, we didn’t have Colman Domingo (»Rustin«) and Jeffrey Wright (»American Fiction«) on our radar yet. We were a bit surprised that Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't nominated for »Killers of the Flower Moon«.

"Best Actress in a Leading Role" - Among the nominees, Emma Stone is considered the overwhelming favorite as Bella in »Poor Things«. The only one that could pose a threat to her is Lily Gladstone in »Killers of the Flower Moon«. We were particularly pleased that Sandra Hüller was nominated for »Anatomy of a Fall« - she’s the 3rd German actress in history to receive this honor. Annette Bening was nominated for her performance in »Nyad« as well as Carey Mulligan for »Maestro«. There was no nomination for Margot Robbie as the stereotypical Barbie.

"Best Actor in a Supporting Role" - We can't say anything about Sterling K. Brown since we haven't seen »American Fiction« yet. If you look at the Golden Globes and other previous awards ceremonies, Robert Downey Jr. is clearly leading the field with his performance in »Oppenheimer« although we would also be happy to see Ryan Gosling win for his role as Ken in »Barbie« or Mark Ruffalo, who proved in »Poor Things« there is more to him than just the Hulk (by the way, Gosling is also up for "Best Original Song" with »I’m Just Ken«). Another nomination went to Hollywood legend and two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro for »Killers of the Flower Moon«.

"Best Actress in a Supporting Role" - Almost everyone is betting on a win for Da’Vine Joy Randolph as the cook Mary in »The Holdovers«. Emily Blunt in »Oppenheimer« certainly has a chance as well. The other nominees are two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster for »Nyad« as well as Danielle Brooks for »The Color Purple« and America Ferrera for »Barbie«.

Of course, we are very happy to see that a German entry, »The Teachers' Lounge«, is in the running for the Oscar in the "Best International Feature Film" category.

You can find the list of all nominations here:
https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024

We are already looking forward to an exciting Oscar night with many top-class films. What are your favorites?

As the first STAR WARS highlight of the year, Disney will serve us the third and final season of »The Bad Batch« on February 21 - kicking off with even three episodes!

The trailer was dropped yesterday evening - and heck yeah, this is a blast! Would you have expected that the Bad Batch will encounter .... 😱? Nope, we're not spoiling 😊:
https://youtu.be/Oa5zeHdSwdQ

Avatar goes Netflix! No, we're not talking about the blue Na'vi that were created by James Cameron but about »The Last Airbender«.

The American animated series has long had a big fanbase and we'd love to see a good live action adaptation. There was a previous attempt in 2010 which failed horribly. Now, Netflix ventures into adapting Aang and his legend and has just published the first trailer for the series which will start streaming in February:
https://youtu.be/ByAn8DF8Ykk

What are your thoughts? Do you think the series will be better than the previous live action adaptation? We're excited!

This year, once again, there are many movies in the starting blocks – and streaming is going to have a lot to offer in 2024 as well! Today, the S.P.A.C.E Crew presents their personal highlights:

SVEN:
What GHOSTBUSTERS "FIREHOUSE" would have been for me in 2023, is now my movie highlight for 2024: GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE 🙂. At the end of March, it’s going to get really frosty ... Of course, I’m also very excited for DEADPOOL 3! As for shows, I’m looking forward to THE ACOLYTE since I’m really curious to see what we can expect from this never before shown era of the Star Wars universe.

SABINE:
I’m excited to watch BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE because his music brings back childhood memories for me. A new adaptation and reflection upon his life’s work could surely be good in this current state of the world. One Love for all!

TOBI:
My highlight for 2024 is THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM - Anime (ok, not 100% Anime, since it’s an American production) meets Middle-earth. This has to be good 🙂. I’m also looking forward to the second half of season 2 of MUSHOKU TENSEI. The Anime has captivated me in every way.

ANDREA:
This year, I’m most excited for a reunion with my faves - the Minions! I definitely won’t miss DESPICABLE ME 4 in the cinema 😀.

MICK:
2024, there are quite a few movies I’m looking forward to. Just to name two of them: I was already excited for DUNE: PART 2 last year, which has been postponed to 2024 due to the strikes in Hollywood. Of course, I’m still thrilled to watch Denis Villeneuve’s film but I’m almost more excited for MICKEY 17, Bong Joon Ho’s new movie! There are also a few series that interest me. I’m very curious to see the fifth and final season of STRANGER THINGS and I can’t wait for season 4 of THE BOYS. I think both are going to be amazing.

DANIEL:
I’m especially excited to watch NOSFERATU by Robert Eggers. With his previous works, Eggers has proven that he can frame gloomy pictures in an atmospheric way like no other. The promising cast (Skarsgård, Dafoe) raises my hopes further. Aside from that, there are a few sequels I’m definitely going to watch, like BEETLEJUICE 2 and TERRIFIER 3. I know that most (all!) people expect Beetlejuice to be a failure but they are wrong … surely … yes 😉.

EVA:
There are two movies I don’t want to miss this year. The first is WICKED LITTLE LETTERS. As a fan of British black comedies, this is a must-see and Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are always a convincing argument for me. I’m also looking forward to watching LISA FRANKENSTEIN, a weird (in the best way) horror rom-com with an 80s look written by Diablo Cody - I’m really excited!

These were our highlights - which movie or series are you looking forward to this year?

The time has come! »Poor Things«, the new film by Giorgos Lanthimos, is hitting cinemas. The frankensteinesque story of emancipation promises to be one of the best films of the year. The trailers already gave us a cinematic feast for the eyes:
https://youtu.be/vjm0udI77KU

A film by Giorgos Lanthimos is always a special experience anyway. And with the very adored Emma Stone in the lead role and the charismatic character actor Willem Dafoe, two acting heavyweights lead the hand-picked cast.

The current awards season also makes the film look extremely good. It has won 62 awards so far and currently has 322 nominations. And not all of the prizes have been awarded yet, so the final balance may be even better. When it premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, »Poor Things« was awarded the Golden Lion for best film. Lead actress Emma Stone has already been named best actress four times, including a Golden Globe and most recently the Critics' Choice Movie Award. It's only logical that she’s also considered a contender for an Oscar for best actress.

There are also many exuberantly good reviews and when we look at the top 10 lists for 2023, many critics who were able to see the film last year put »Poor Things« in first place.

We actually tend to be a little cautious when it comes to hyped films, but in the case of »Poor Things« we don't have to fear disappointment thanks to the backing of many awards and positive reviews. We are even sure that the film will end up high on our best list for 2024. Now we're looking forward to the end of the day because we're going to the cinema tonight!

For a long time, very little was known about Universal's new, unnamed vampire film. Now it finally has a title as well as a first trailer:
https://youtu.be/3PsP8MFH8p0

A group of criminals follows an assignment and abducts the titular »Abigail«, a 12-year-old ballerina. The kidnappers take her to a remote house where they are supposed to wait for the ransom. But they quickly realize that they are trapped there and that the little ballerina is anything but a sweet child …

The trailer looks quite appealing, has a good dose of meta-humor, a few nice gory moments and a badass Abigail including a TikTok-esque dance routine. Behind the film is the directing and writing team that previously brought us the very entertaining »Ready or Not« and the two latest »Scream« parts. We think this definitely has potential! The film is expected to hit theaters in April.

In contrast, we're a bit undecided about »Lisa Frankenstein«, Zelda Williams' directorial debut. The script comes from Diablo Cody, who wrote the screenplay for »Juno« and the underrated »Jennifer's Body«:
https://youtu.be/POOeA3zCuUY

At the end of the 1980s, high school student Lisa accidentally brings a beautiful Victorian corpse to life during a thunderstorm and begins to transform it into her prince charming.

Coming-of-age story meets »Warm Bodies« meets »Edward Scissorhands«. We will find out whether this combination works when it opens in cinemas in February.

As for our third trailer, we're not entirely sure: Will it be total crap or perhaps an amusing trashy guilty pleasure?
https://youtu.be/e1k1PC0TtmE

»No Way Up« is about a plane crash in the middle of the ocean. The plane sinks and some surviving passengers including Colm Meaney, Chief O'Brien from »Star Trek: The Next Generation« and »Deep Space Nine«, are trapped in an air bubble inside the cabin. To make matters worse, the wreck lies on the edge of an abyss and is in danger of slipping into the depths. And that's not all - to really spoil the travelers’ days, they face “Sharks on a Plane”.

The film taps into a whole range of our primal fears. At least the screenwriter, Andy Mayson, is no stranger to us. He penned »The Girl with All the Gifts« and »Guns Akimbo«. We are curious to see whether the film is any good, in the hope that the flick also finds its way into German cinemas or to a streaming provider.

Every year in the second half of January, the renowned Sundance Film Festival takes place in Utah. The careers of many independent filmmakers began here. We're taking this year's festival as an opportunity to celebrate a few film anniversaries that had their world premieres at the Sundance Festival.

»Clerks« had its premiere here 30 years ago. Back then, Kevin Smith was celebrated as the new great hope of independent film. Even if that didn't quite come true and it's now a side note of film events, »Clerks« was still a promising start back then.

We congratulate »The Blair Witch Project« on its 25th anniversary. Even though there had already been a found footage film with »Cannibal Holocaust«, the clever advertising campaign and the great success of the inexpensively produced film made the found footage method popular and we unfortunately became also inundated with a wave of poorly produced shaky camera films.

Speaking of 1999, that year, »Run Lola Run«, a German film, won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and made filmmaker Tom Tykwer and leading actress Franka Potente known to a larger audience.

On January 19, 2004, »Saw« premiered at the festival and helped launch an unprecedented career for James Wan. The »Saw« franchise already entered its 10th round last year.

It's hard to believe, but »The Butterfly Effect« is already turning 20 years old as well. We still remember the time in the early 2000s when »The Butterfly Effect« was one of those films that you simply had to see back then.

Last but not least, we’d like to mention three films that Sundance put on the cinematographic map 10 years ago and founded the careers of their makers.

The musical drama »Whiplash« hit like a grenade and we knew we would be hearing more from Damien Chazelle.

»The Babadook« by the Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent is one of those films that are now often referred to as elevated horror and have almost become their own subgenre.

»What We Do in the Shadows« was a hit as well. The equally funny and knowledgeable vampire mockumentary by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi introduced us to the wonderfully weird humor of the two New Zealanders for the first time.

We hope our Sundance birthday wishes have made you want to visit these films again or perhaps even for the first time!

Are you looking for something that you can easily binge on a weekend? Then we recommend to you the six-part Paramount+ miniseries »The Burning Girls« based on the novel by C. J. Tudor.

The series goes a long way and begins with a flashback to a dramatic event in 1556. The next scene almost jumps to the present and exudes pleasant folk horror vibes. It ends with the suicide of a priest and a hint to two girls who disappeared without a trace 30 years ago. The third scene then takes us to the present three months later and introduces Vicar Jack Brooks (Samantha Morton), who arrives at the small village Chapel Croft with her 15-year-old daughter Flo (Ruby Stokes) to succeed the deceased priest. We soon learn that there are some dark events in the vicar's past as well.

As the first scenes make clear, there are a lot of events and secrets that are linked thematically, sometimes just loosely associated, but sometimes also causally connected. At times it seems like there are a few ingredients too many, but the stories are told in an exciting way and there are a whole series of suspenseful, unexpected twists. A clear recommendation for mystery fans!

Finally, 💫 NEUES AUS DEM FIGUREN UNIVERSUM 💫 is back - in episode 9 we are starting the new year with a special! In the course of their »12 Days of Sideshow« the manufacturer Sideshow Collectibles announced a new statue everyday during the holidays - Sven and Tobi present to you these brand-new figures, chat about the details that were shown so far and discuss their personal highlights 🤩.

Check it out - now on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/XIS4irbGciw

Our January postcard is reaching you from the dark side of the force and is presented very proudly by none other than Darth Vader ⚫!

Hansi captured him trudging through the snow - of course never without his light saber! The picture shows the great Hot Toys figure which was released for the 40th anniversary of »Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back« 😁.

As always, you get a free copy of this iconic card with every package we send to you this January 📦.

More than 2 years ago already, this show was announced - today it has been released on Disney+. We're speaking of »Echo«!

This spin-off of the Marvel series »Hawkeye« focuses on Maya Lopez a.k.a. Echo, who is again played by Alaqua Cox. The story takes place after the events of »Hawkeye«. Maya wants to leave her criminal past behind and returns home. But her former mentor Kingpin doesn't want to accept her betrayal ...

The trailer looks exciting and makes us hope for more violence and bloodshed than we are used to from other Marvel series on Disney+:
https://youtu.be/AFUKnherhuw

All 5 episodes were released today. Will you give »Echo« a try?

Netflix released the first long trailer for »3 Body Problem« last night. The series is based on the first book »The Three Body Problem« of the »Trisolaris« trilogy by Chinese science fiction master Cixin Liu. The novel won the prestigious Hugo Award in 2015 and is considered a milestone of the genre.

Behind the series are the »Game of Thrones« showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and the Emmy-nominated author Alexander Woo. We are curious to see whether Benioff and Weiss will redeem themselves with their new work after the unfortunately rather inglorious ending to their »Game of Thrones« series. In any case, the trailer looks damn good:
https://youtu.be/mogSbMD6EcY

We have noted the series premiere on the 21st of March in bold in our calendars and the novels have also been ordered.

Dear hunters and gatherers, how was your past year of collectibles? Has your collection grown? Did your dreams come true? What did you particularly enjoy? And did something bother you?

Our Mick is a passionate 1/6 collector and kitbasher. He took a look back at this past year - at developments in the 1/6 brand world, at new highlights in his collection and at everything else that has happened in his hobby cosmos. From his thoughts, memories and many pictures he has made a colorful article for the Action Figure District. Check it out:
https://action-figure-district.de/jahrrueckblick-2023/

Last night the 81st Golden Globe Awards took place in Beverly Hills. The big winner of the evening was »Oppenheimer«, which was nominated for 8 Golden Globes and won 5 of the coveted awards. The film won "Best Motion Picture – Drama", Christopher Nolan won "Best Director", Cillian Murphy won "Best Actor - Drama", Robert Downey Jr. won "Best Supporting Actor" and Ludwig Göransson won "Best Original Score".

»Barbie« was nominated in 7 categories and won 2 awards: the newly created blockbuster category "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement" and "Best Original Song" for »What Was I Made For?« by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell.

The seven-time nominated »Poor Things« was awarded "Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical". On top of that, Emma Stone won "Best Actress - Comedy/Musical".

Lily Gladstone won "Best Actress - Drama" in »Killers of the Flower Moon«.

The Golden Globes are always seen as a benchmark for the Oscars - the winners can usually hope for a golden boy as well. But since there are no separate categories for dramas and comedies at the Oscars, we are curious to see which of the leading ladies honored yesterday will win the race.

"Best Actor - Comedy/Musical" went to Paul Giamatti for »The Holdovers«. Da’Vine Joy Randolph also won "Best Supporting Actress" for »The Holdovers«.

»The Boy and the Heron« became the "Best Motion Picture - Animated" and the award for the "Best Motion Picture - Non-English Language" went to »Anatomy of a Fall«, which also received the award for "Best Screenplay". When it came to TV series, »Succession« won "Best Television Series - Drama" as well as 3 other awards, »The Bear« was awarded 3 times, including "Best Television Series - Musical/Comedy" and »Beef« as the "Best Limited Series" won 3 Globes overall as well.

You can find a list of all winners and nominations here: 
https://goldenglobes.com/nominations/2024

Shortly before the holidays, Santa Claus drove his reindeer onto our parking lot and packed a large box with an order from our Mick onto his sleigh before setting course for the S.P.A.C.E outpost in the Ruhr area. Hence, Mick had a lot to unpack just in time for Christmas and then used the time between the holidays to take photos and write a few reviews.

You can read here in the Action Figure District how he likes his new preciouuusssss, the Asmus Toys Luxury Edition of Gollum & Sméagol from »The Lord of the Rings«:
https://action-figure-district.de/asmus-toys-gollum-smeagol-lord-of-the-rings/

This edition is also still in stock in our shop:
https://www.space-figuren.de/Filme/Der-Herr-der-Ringe/1-6-Scale-Gollum-Luxury-Edition-Lord-of-the-Rings::22302.html

There are further reviews for the magnificent, unfortunately already sold out Count Orlok from »Nosferatu« by Kaustic Plastik and Infinite Statue & Collectibles (https://action-figure-district.de/kaustic-plastik-infinite-statue-collectibles-nosferatu/) and for Sideshow’s The Dude alias Jeffrey Lebowski from the iconic Coen Brothers movie »The Big Lebowski« (https://action-figure-district.de/sideshow-the-dude-the-big-lebowski-2/), of which we still have a few pieces in stock:
https://www.space-figuren.de/Filme/The-Big-Lebowski/1-6-Scale-The-Dude-The-Big-Lebowski::21847.html

You can also look forward to a review of the threezero Sandor »The Hound« Clegane figure from the 7th season of »Game of Thrones«, which will be published next week :).

This year of cinema starts off great for anime fans with »The Boy and the Heron«. The film is the latest work by director Hayao Miyazaki and the Japanese animation forge Studio Ghibli, known for amazing anime productions like »Spirited Away« and »Princess Mononoke«.

The premise promises a moving, fantastical film:
After his mother dies during an air strike in World War II, 11-year-old Mahito is forced to leave Tokyo. He moves in with his father and step-mother into an old manor on a big estate. Isolated from the world, Mahito starts to explore the enchanted landscapes surrounding his new home and meets a mysterious heron that stays by his side. Gradually, the heron becomes his leader and helps him to better understand the world around him and to unveil the secrets of life.

The movie seems to have been a matter of the heart for Miyazaki, who came back from his retirement as a filmmaker after 10 years. It doesn’t just have autobiographical elements but is also based on a young adult novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, which was very formative for Miyazaki’s childhood. After already seeing its Japanese release in the summer and being shown at several film festivals since September, »The Boy and the Heron« is finally hitting our cinemas.