News

Movies that deal with filmmaking and the studios have always had our attention. From DAY FOR NIGHT to LIVING IN OBLIVION to ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD, we've always enjoyed it when the film takes up the topic itself.

Now we can add another chapter to this illustrious line, because as from today, BABYLON by Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash) is in cinemas and takes us back to the Hollywood of the roaring 20's with Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt to the time when the sound film replaced the silent film.

Anyone who thinks of Kenneth Anger's book »Hollywood Babylon« when hearing the film title is probably not even on the wrong track.

For the movie buffs among us, the picture frenzy is a must, even if a running time of 3 hours and 9 minutes demands a lot of staying power from us.

After the release of »M3GAN« we are currently getting our next horror hype of 2023. The movie is called »Skinamarink«, the feature film debut of Kyle Edward Ball. With an astonishing budget of only 15.000 $ the experimental horror movie deals with the topic of childhood fears.

About the story: A four-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister wake up in the middle of the night. It seems like their parents aren't there and even stranger than that: all doors and windows of the house are gone! The viewer will witness how they handle that strange and surreal situation.

We already mentioned that experimental character: »Skinamarink« works with very unusal and static camera shots while being at the same time totally grainy. These features are surely a downer for many movie buffs. If you can handle that kind of style, then maybe »Skinamarink« can be a worthy title this year. A little hint: This seems like the type of movie that you need to watch alone!

Since the 13th of January »Skinamarink« can be seen in American and Canadian movie theaters. Later that year it is planned to be released on Shudder. With that kind of hype we are sure that it won't take too long until we get a German and European release, too. Here is a little apetizer:
https://youtu.be/APQqilSTxz0

WE ALL are going to Mandalore, from March 1st! This is the way 😉:

https://youtu.be/Znsa4Deavgg

Once again our good friend Patrick (@wonderbunk) has contributed to our POSTCARD COLLECTION. This time he has sent the mighty Witcher Geralt of Rivia himself on a quest to find his Blood Origins. But take a look yourself and check out what he has found in the dark woods of Novigrad.

Just like before, Patrick showed his technical and artistic skills for the creation of this highly atmospheric work. On the cover of our current postcard we have a depiction of 12" Geralt by McFarlane Toys, based on his appearance in »The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt«. A real cool figure - and an absolutely great postcard! Get your free copy, only in January in each of our packages.

»The Last of Us« has launched on HBO Max or WOW/SKY today. The nine-part series is broadcast on a weekly basis. A new episode will be added every night from Sunday to Monday.

Unfortunately, adaptations of video games have disappointed all too often - but HBO seems to have done everything right here, because the first reviews are full of praise and some reviewers are already talking about the best game adaptation to date. The IMDb score is also a whopping 9.6 out of 10. That really makes you want to watch the series!

A second season based on the second game is planned. After that it should be over, because that's the end of the story. So no artificial inflation and lengthening like »The Walking Dead«...

We think that this is just the right approach and we're looking forward to the end of the day now so that we can watch the first episode right away 😃!

Last week, IRON STUDIOS revealed some of their new licenses. As connaisseurs of collectibles we have to give you a short overview on their upcoming projects!

The line-up gives the impression that they want to continue the legacy of their very various assortment. These are the new additions:
- RoboCop
- The Godfather
- The Witcher (Netflix)
- Stranger Things
- Disney 100 - 100 Years of Wonder

At the moment there isn't more information available. We will of course monitor any developments and inform you as soon as any products will be shown.

On social media we found at least a little hint: At their DISNEY posting IRON STUDIOS used the hastag #lionking. As there weren't any more detailed specifications on the other postings, we assume that there is a big chance that they are actually working on some Lion King collectibles 🦁.

By the way: The slogan "100 Years of Wonder" is related to Disney's 100th anniversary. On October 23th 1923, »The Walt Disney Company« was founded. We are eager to learn what kind of surprises the manufacturers want to drop for that birthday. Besides our Brazilians there are some other well known manufacturers that work with the franchises of Disney, like for example Beast Kingdom or Sideshow. One thing is for sure: Fans of Mickey, Simba & Co. should already clear some space for potentially new collectibles 😉!

What do you think about the new licenses of IRON STUDIOS? Which Disney character definately needs a new collectible?

With »M3GAN« and its theatrical release we have the first horror highlight of the year. No question that »Avatar: The Way of Water« will lead box office charts for the next time. In the US, »M3GAN« was ranked on the second place after the first weekend. We can assume that the same will happen in Germany/Europe.

About the story: Eight year old Cady has an aunt who is an expert in the research of robotics. As a gift the young girl gets an AI-driven doll named M3GAN. This doll should help Cady getting through the day and support her especially with some emotional issues, after the loss of her beloved parents. If you've seen some of the »Chucky« movies you can guess what will happen soon. Creepy dolls with consciousness can give you quite a rid 😉.

M3GAN with her Uncanny Valley charms seems to hit a sweet spot with the audience. In a time where AI tools like ChatGPT or Midjourney are available to the public this doesn't surprise. Witnessing the results of the mentioned tools we can guess, that it won't take too long before we can acutally purchase a realistic doll with integrated artificial intelligence.

This can be one reason for the hype that movie already created on TikTok and social media. And this has some unwanted consequences: screenwriter Akeela Cooper revealed in an interview that the original cut contained more blood and violence. This was reduced considering the attention the movie got by the young audience. Not the kind of information horror fans like to hear. The uncut version will be awaited for release on an later occasion.

What do you think about »M3GAN« and the questionable TikTok-cut?

Last night, the 80th GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS ceremony was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills to recognize and honor the year's top American and foreign film and television productions and artists.

As always when we talk about these kinds of occasions, there are award winners that we are happy about and others that we would definitely have given a prize, but didn't win (including films like AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, series like BETTER CALL SAUL and WEDNESDAY, performers like BOB ODENKIRK and DIEGO LUNA, actresses like ANYA TAYLOR-JOY and MARGOT ROBBIE to name a few).

The film with the most nominations was THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN. It was nominated eight times and won three times, winning Best Comedy, MARTIN MCDONAGH winning Best Screenplay and COLIN FARRELL winning Best Actor. THE FABELMANS by STEVEN SPIELBERG won the race for best drama and also received an award for best director.

One of our favorites was EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, which received a total of six nominations and two Best Actor Awards. They went to MICHELLE YEOH (Best Actress, Comedy) and KE HUY QUAN (Best Supporting Actor). ANGELA BASSETT won Best Supporting Actress for BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. In the drama category, votes went to CATE BLANCHETT for TÁR and to AUSTIN BUTLER for ELVIS.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO's PINOCCHIO received the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature.

In the category Best Foreign Language Film, the German entry IM WESTEN NICHTS NEUES was also in the running, but the prize went to Argentina for ARGENTINA, 1985.

It was also pleasing that "Naatu Naatu" from RRR was awarded the best film song which will certainly bring the film more international attention.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON won the drama series. KEVIN COSTNER for YELLOWSTONE and ZENDAYA for EUPHORIA were honored for their leading roles.

Best Comedy series was ABBOTT ELEMENTARY. The series received five nominations and three coveted awards. QUINTA BRUNSON won Best Actress and TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS won Supporting Actor.

THE WHITE LOTUS received the award for the best miniseries. Among the miniseries, anthology series or television films, EVAN PETERS was awarded for his leading role in DAHMER.

We haven't seen all of the award-winning films and series yet, but winners and nominations piqued our interest and brought a few titles onto our watchlists. All award winners and nominations can be found here:
https://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees

What about you? Did your favorites win the race or did they get nothing?

The first MCU blockbuster in the new year will be »Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania« which will hit cinemas mid February. To shorten the waiting-time a bit, Marvel Studios just dropped a new trailer for it - and this is a blast:
https://youtu.be/5WfTEZJnv_8

Perhaps the clip is giving away a bit too much already...? Because we not only see that Kang definately will play a big role, but also that he is an unpredictable and really mean dude. So in the 3rd Ant-Man part we probably will face more than just some cool gags - we probably can expect a certain portion of drama. We are really excited about what Peyton Reed will show and especially tell us! Are you excited, too?

After a short theatrical release, »The Pale Blue Eye«, an adaptation based on the novel by Louis Bayard, will be released tomorrow.

Christian Bale plays world-weary detective Augustus Landor, who is hired to investigate the murder of an West Point cadet. Hampered by the cadets' code of silence, he hires one of their own to help solve the case - a young man the world will know as Edgar Allan Poe.

The trailer has a nice wintry, morbid gothic vibe to it. And Christian Bale's performances are always a pleasure. Harry Melling in the role of the young Edgar Allan Poe also seems to be a good match visually. We are looking forward to an atmospheric experience.

The first trailer for »Evil Dead Rise«, the fifth film in the EVIL DEAD franchise, was released yesterday. The film breaks new ground and tells its own story in which many things are different. So this time it's not a lonely cabin in the woods, but an apartment building in Los Angeles that is the scene of events. Also, Ash, the protagonist of the first three films and the TV series, does not appear.

Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi serve as executive producers only. But not everything is new: Again the demonic book Necronomicon Ex-Mortis plays a central role! This time it finds its way to LA in said apartment building. Directed by Lee Cronin, who made his debut in the horror genre in 2019 with »The Hole in the Ground«.

Make sure to check out the English Red Band trailer - it gave us the chills. This looks promising and we're ready to let the darkness take over our poor souls!

In Germany we await the theatrical release on April 20th this year. Then you can step on the path of the Necronomicon! And you know, if you ever find a strange book in the basement, it is not a good idea to read it aloud...

If you are sad, cause good old Ash is missing. We have a little goodie for you in our shop!

With the beginning of the new year, we want to take a brief look at the film and series highlights of 2022. Due to a growing range of streaming services, it has become increasingly difficult to keep track. In any case, our watch lists are getting longer and longer. In addition to many series, there are even cinema highlights such as »Avatar«, which we definitely want to see on the big screen. So it's clear that we can only put in the spotlight what we've actually seen.

Phase 4 came to an end in the MCU and 2022 brought us not much that really flashed us. »Morbius« was forgettable, »Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness« wasn't what the title promised us and it turned out that »Everything Everywhere All at Once« was clearly the much better Multiverse film and one of the biggest highlights of the year. »Thor: Love and Thunder« also left us a bit perplexed. »Black Panther: Wakanda Forever« did it better, but it wasn't the revelation we hoped for. The same issue we had with the TV series. »Ms. Marvel« was nice but nothing more, »Moon Knight« started great only to lose us after a few episodes, and »She-Hulk« didn't catch us at all. The competitor DC has done things a lot better. Because here »The Batman« made a good impression, especially with its film noir detective story.

When it comes to superheroes, we had the most fun watching »The Boys« season 3 on Amazon Prime. Netflix also had a lot of rubbish in 2022, but also some great shows. Season 4 of »Stranger Things« really took off and Jenna Ortega won our hearts as »Wednesday«. On HBO/Sky, »House of the Dragon« reignited our love for »Game of Thrones«. At the same time, Amazon sent »The Rings of Power« into the race for the favor of fantasy fans. A fight that was clearly won by the George RR Martin prequel.

Disney+ brought us two new Star Wars series last year. We were really looking forward to »Obi Wan Kenobi« and the mini-series certainly had its moments, but unfortunately also a few outrageous weaknesses. On the other hand, we didn't expect anything from »Andor« and were surprised by the quality it achieved.

Finally, let's get to the horror genre we adore so much. »Scream 5« was able to give us hope for future endeavours of the franchise. »Halloween Ends«, on the other hand wasn't the highlight we were hoping for. In the end, »Terrifier 2« was the better (albeit a bit too long) slasher. The horror highlights for us were the smaller movies like »The Innocents«, »Hatching«, »X« and »Barbarian«.

Other titles worth mentioning for us are »The Northman«, »Bones And All«, »Licorice Pizza« and »Massive Talent«.

What were your highlights in 2022?

»Barbarian« has been available on Disney+ since December 28th. The film triggered a real hype in the summer. We also couldn't resist and were awaiting that flick eagerly.

If that hype was justified, you have to decide for yourself. We would advise to settle your high expectations, as hard as it is.
With »Barbarian« you will get solid horror entertainment which is worth checking out.

Little lifehack as closer:
You have the greatest experience if you know absolutely nothing about the film beforehand and just get involved with it.

 

Fans of »The Mandalorian« couldn't await the new year, cause it will bring another season filled with the adventures of the charismatic bounty hunter Din Djarin.

The anticipation of the new season was almost enough reason for us, declaring the impressive Legacy Replica statue for our first product of the new year.
Then we have seen the final results and were blown away: The amount of details, the sculpting and that fantastic paintjob! There was no more question: This must be our first product of 2023.

The 1/4 statue by the brazilian manufacturer IRON STUDIOS depicts Mando posing like an epic space cowboy in league with his companion Grogu. If you havn't already picked up a »The Mandalorian« collectible in the high-class segment, then this is our recommendation.

In other words: This is the way!

Welcome to 2023, dear S.P.A.C.E Community 🌟!

We from the S.P.A.C.E Crew wish you all a happy, healthy and joyful new year - and we wish for a more normal and especially peaceful world!

Let us all believe hard, as Indy says:
"It's not so much what you believe, but how hard you believe it!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR 🍀🕊️✌️!!!

Dear steady, rarely and future customers (meaning those of you who FINALLY wanna/should/may/must become our customers in the new year 😉)!

For the end of this year, we want to thank each and every single one of you who supported us in this crazy, really demanding and stirring year 2022! You can be sure that we will be there for you with passion and hard work also in the new year and to share the joy of collecting with you 😀.

WE BELIEVE IN PASSION
HARD WORK
AND
2023

Sven & the S.P.A.C.E Crew

Dear customers, dear friends and supporters, suppliers, network partners, service partners and dear delivery drivers!

The whole S.P.A.C.E Crew wished you MERRY CHRISTMAS and some wonderful, relaxing hours in which you can treat yourselves really well! For the end of such a demanding year, we all deserve this for sure...

For the next two weeks, we will turn off the super pursuit mode to be able to refill our batteries up to 1.21 gigawatts. Of course we will be on duty and reachable for you - but not as usual in lightning speed and 25 hours per day.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light ...
Happy Holidays!

The S.P.A.C.E Santa Claus was wandering around in our warehouse eagerly, dear customers - and so this is Christmas, and so we can offer you our ho ho holly jolly Christmas deals starting today for the next ten days!

Every day, you will find a very special offer in our SALE section. Until January 1st, every day another deal will be added - so you better watch out 😆.

All deals are valid until supply lasts. If you follow us on Instagram, you will get an update for breakfast every morning in our stories 😀. Have fun with our 10 DAYS OF 🎄 HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS DEALS 🎁!

Despite a wave of illness and extremely stressy days, we of course couldn't get around to shoot a 🚀 ABGESPACED 🚀 Christmas episode for you! And of course there was a lot of chatting - but Sven and his guest Marcel activated their last remaining power resources to round up the year 2022 "live on tape".

The result is not only a lot of new stuff from the figure universe, but also some anecdotes, interesting "best of" facts, a great retrospective on our Postcard Collection, a curious First Look on the cheeky Red Riding Hood statue from Sideshow AND - most important - a huge THANKS for the conclusion of the show and the year!

https://youtu.be/85x0pRWj4Gw

Take some relaxing time over the holidays and tune in - we would love to welcome you 😄!

The four-part miniseries »The Witcher: Blood Origin« will be available on Netflix from Christmas Day. With a running time of less than four hours, you can easily binge it away over the holidays. Set in an elven world some 1,200 years before the original series, the prequel to the Netflix series »The Witcher« explores the origins of the very first witcher.

The trailer looked promising at first, breathtaking landscapes, great costumes and a good cast with Michelle Yeoh in a leading role gave us confidence. However, after the first reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of just 39%, we are lowering our expectations a bit. Although the series is credited with rushing action without wasting a lot of time, the character development would unfortunately fall by the wayside and the series missed the chance for a great epic. The work is also not really up to date in terms of CGI technology.

Nevertheless, we remain curious and will find the time to get our own picture over the hollydays. And having no or low expectations can, at best, lead to being positively surprised.