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When it comes to video game adaptations, extremely interesting developments can currently be observed in Hollywood: while in the 1990s the studios primarily focused on the rather undemanding and supposedly mass-market video games for screen adaptation, such as the fighting games "Double Dragon" and "Mortal Kombat". , they now also resort to works that are characterized by a dense plot, complex characters and ambivalent messages. For example, Francis Lawrence ("Constantine") is working on a Netflix film adaptation of "BioShock", a series on "Fallout" is being created on Amazon and the film adaptation of the award-winning and successful films will soon start on HBO Max, in Germany with the streaming partner Wow PlayStation Series The Last of Us.

The first full trailer for the ambitious series adaptation by showrunners Craig Mazin ("Chernobyl") and Neil Druckmann, co-creator of the video game template, has now been released at the Comic-Con Experience (CCXP) in São Paulo:

Just breathtaking: This real trailer shows the effort that went into the major project. You wouldn't expect anything else from the company that has produced series like "House of the Dragon", "Euphoria" and "Station Eleven". Fans of the template should immediately recognize the different locations and the all-too-familiar setting and, with the characters shown, have in mind the sometimes terrible fates that have happened and/or will happen to them.

This trailer makes it perfectly clear, even to audiences unfamiliar with the fantastic video games developed by developer Naughty Dog, that The Last of Us will be a deeply nihilistic, at times melancholy, experience. One that will not let go of you for a long time - as is the case with the template. And: The scary factor will definitely not be neglected, just the sight of the bloater at the end gives you goosebumps. This will be a scary fight for the survivors. Also interesting for connoisseurs of video games: Apparently story elements from the DLC "Left Behind" were integrated here. Ashley Johnson, who played Ellie in the video games, will also be seen as her mother, Anna.

"The Last of Us": This is the plot of the first season
The world isn't the same anymore: the outbreak of a mysterious pandemic involving the parasitic cordyceps fungus has thrown it into chaos. Those infected tend to behave highly aggressively, in turn biting and infecting others while the fungus causes a horrific metamorphosis within them. The clickers and bloaters, as the survivors call them, are no longer human, they are completely consumed by the fungus and, unless destroyed, end up as spore carcasses that continue to infest the area with the dangerous parasite.

In this inhospitable world, the survivors can only really survive in fortified quarantine zones. Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) is one of them, who hires himself out as a smuggler. Then he gets a job from the Fireflies to bring a human cargo from Boston to Salt Lake City: the girl Ellie (Bella Ramsey). She is said to be immune to the fungus and could be of utmost importance in the development of an antidote. What begins as a normal assignment for Joel eventually becomes a way for the embittered man to put an end to his past and find a new purpose in life.

The first season will contain a total of nine episodes and will start on January 15, 2023. Now that the long-lived zombie series "The Walking Dead" has come to an end, this series should be considered a welcome spiritual successor.

Actor Bjarne Mädel (54) recently celebrated great success with "Delivered" and "Sörensen is afraid". He was awarded Grimme prizes for both films. Now he can be seen in the sequel to the satirical improv series "Kranitz - in the case of separation, money back" by screenwriter and director Jan Georg Schütte (59), which was also nominated for a Grimme Prize. Once again Mädel slips into the role of the criminal buddy Manni, who wants to find himself with the help of the unconventional therapist Klaus Kranitz (Schuette). The four new episodes of the second season will be broadcast on NDR starting today (30 November, Wednesdays, 10:30/10:45 p.m.).

In an interview with the news agency spot on news, Bjarne Mädel gives an insight into the fine art of improvisation, in which the actors and actresses are only given their role profiles beforehand, but no worked out sentences and dialogues.

What do you think privately of couples therapists?
Bjarne Mädel: I think the professional help from outside makes sense. If you are stuck as a couple or alone in a situation that makes you unhappy and from which you cannot free yourself, then a good therapist can ask the right questions to solve the tension and knots in the relationship or in your own head contribute.

Have you personally ever had anything to do with this professional group?
Mädel: Only as a player in the film "Wellness for couples" and there the therapist, played by Jörg Pannenbäcker, asked extremely great questions that triggered a suitable emotionality in our game.

What is the magic of improvising for you?
Mädel: It's a happy event for me when, like now, as happened during the shooting of "Kranitz" in the scenes with Aleksandar Jovanovic, Jan Georg Schütte and me, a rhythm emerges that I also describe in terms of content, in modern German, as " flow" would denote. You tell a story together and one retort forces the next, or individual sentences build upon and intertwine in a way that makes the moment feel organic and light.

You step onto the ice together and then slide together wide awake and joyfully in one direction. The "magic" is then that everything fits together and you can feel it at the same time when developing and inventing. You are in the best sense: in the moment, in the here and now.

Can you practice improvising?
Girl: Yes. There are certain rules that must be followed in order to move forward together.

What characterizes good improv artists?
Girl: That he or she knows these rules. Firstly, the artists think ahead and secondly, they not only think of themselves, but also provide templates that their colleagues can use to do something. That's a lot of the fun for me. Giving and receiving game templates. For me, improvisation in acting is comparable to football. It's a team sport. Of course you can also improvise a monologue, but I find the double pass more exciting.

You played in the improv "crime scene: the team" and perhaps also heard the discussion about the improv "crime scenes" in Ludwigshafen. The latter did not go over well at all. As a specialist, what do you think of the criticism?
Girl: I didn't hear the discussion, nor did I see the films. With our improvised "Tatort: The Team" we clearly reached our limits. I believe that the crime genre - especially with existing detective figures from other formats - was not suitable for group improvisation. You really needed a team that had worked well together over the years and "The Team" wasn't that.

What can your fans look forward to next?
Girl: To more interviews. And the audio book "I'm next door - monologues for home" by Ingrid Lausund (57), which I produced together with Speak Low and with incredibly great colleagues such as Matthias Brandt (61), Lina Beckmann (41), Bastian Pastewka ( 50), Fritzi Haberlandt (47). Also, I'm shooting a second "Sörensen" film right now, which I'm extremely excited about myself.

Zoe Saldana credit:Bang Showbiz

Zoë Saldana felt "stuck" in her roles in big films.

The 44-year-old actress - who has starred in 'Star Trek' (Uhura), 'Avatar' (Neytiri) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Gamora) over the past decade - admitted she's grateful for those films , but her commitments to the franchises also mean she hasn't been able to challenge herself as much as an actress as she had hoped.

She told Women's Wear Daily magazine: "I feel like I've just been stuck for the last 10 years of my life. I've felt like I've been stuck with these franchises. I'm very grateful for the opportunities they have offered me, from working with amazing directors, to meeting cast members who I consider friends, to being able to play a role that fans, especially kids, love." She added, "But it also meant that I felt artistically stuck in my craft because I wasn't able to expand or grow or challenge myself by playing different types of genres and different roles. "

Saldana has wanted to develop her talents "for a long time". Now she's finally been able to do so in Netflix drama 'From Scratch' and upcoming project 'Lioness'.

Her current approach to work is otherwise the same as when she started her career: "I give 120 percent, do my homework, go to bed early and concentrate on my work."

This year's European Film Awards will be presented in Reykjavik on December 10th. Until then, award-winning European films can be seen in 35 cities, as a sort of prelude to the big festival. In Greece, the Athens Trianon, one of the most famous art cinemas in the city, is the official organizer of the film marathon organized by the European Film Academy.

The Trianon is just one of the many members of the Europa Cinemas film theater network that is accompanying the European Film Month with a series of special programmes, explains Michael Zeis, who is responsible for sales and communication. "We are very keen to promote the European film industry.

All events and actions are aimed at: promoting European cinema. We have organized screenings with directors who have been invited here as part of the European Film Month."

Award-winning films in cinemas and on MUBI
Among other things, the Trianon programmed the highly acclaimed animation film "Flee", which was nominated three times for an Oscar and won the Grand Prix at the Annecy Animation Film Festival. Also on screen is the French abortion drama "L'Evenement", awarded the Golden Lion of Venice in 2021.

And in line with Film Month, the global streaming platform MUBI places a special focus on European films so that film fans all over the world can get their money's worth. Euronews reporter Frédéric Ponsard says: "The 'European Film Month' takes place in the best European cinemas, from Greece to Portugal, from Bosnia to Sweden.

It ends on December 10th with the presentation of the European Film Awards in Reykjavik. At the gala will be the best European films.

A brand new trailer has been unveiled for the upcoming "Super Mario Bros. Movie", which for the first time not only gives a glimpse of popular characters.

© Universal Pictures

Actually, everything was right when the very first trailer was unveiled: "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" from Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment has exceeded the expectations of millions of fans in terms of animation quality, with the typical humor of the makers of successful animated films such as "I - Despicable You" and "Minions" really came into their own in the few snippets of the first trailer.

Even the selection of the (US) voices was applauded in the end, after some fans were initially skeptical. But just with the most important role of Mario Mario, fans fear that those responsible for Nintendo's star designer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto could have backed the wrong person. In fact, Marvel star Chris Pratt's first words as an Italian-born plumber from Brooklyn sounded less than convincing. To many, he just sounded like himself — and that's after promising something very special that he says he's "worked very hard" on. So it's no wonder that many fans went on the barricades.

Now, as part of a "Nintendo Direct" presentation, a brand new trailer has been unveiled (the comment function on YouTube has been deactivated as a precaution), which gives a deeper look into the upcoming animated film and Pratt's Mario his typical sayings and calls like "Let's-a-go !", "Wohoo!"

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is pure fan service
One thing has to be said in advance: What the inclined fan is offered surpasses everything that one could have hoped for after the first trailer. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, is set to feature plenty of Easter eggs and cameo appearances. There's the nod to the most well-known spin-off video game series in the form of the infamous Rainbow Road from Super Mario Kart. Then fans should have recognized the level design of the good old 2D days including question mark blocks. Not to mention Kugelwilli and the raccoon costume.

Since there was a look at the two Nintendo characters Donkey Kong and Princess Peach for the first time, their US voices also had their say. She couldn't be more excited, says Anya Taylor-Joy, who is basically the perfect live-action version of Princess Peach. She said she had a lot of fun working on the animated film and she hopes audiences and fans will feel the same way. Seth Rogen, who says he's been a Shigeru Miyamoto fan for as long as he can remember, even named his dog after Zelda, a princess from Miyamoto's action-adventure series The Legend of Zelda:

"Even back when I was playing the PlayChoice-10 as a kid, with Mario Bros I was like, 'If they ever make a movie out of this, I have to be there.' I'm happy to say that this dream has come true.”

And one thing becomes clear: Chris Pratt's Mario voice doesn't sound that bad anymore once he's allowed to say more words. Sure, he won't be able to match Charles Martinet, Mario's original voice, any time soon. But he doesn't really have to. In Germany, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" will start in cinemas on March 23, 2023.