End Credits - April 17, 2019 (Shazam!)

To listen to this week's End Credits, all you have to do is say the magic word, "please". Actually, you don't even need to do that, just tune in to CFRU and listen as we review that other magic word-based movie, Shazam! Before that though, we'll talk about a cinematic universe's comeback, how we watch movies, Canadian Film Day, and this week in Disney news. (Yes, this is its own category now.)

This Wednesday, April 17, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:

Plus One. Disney had a busy week of marketing itself. On the one hand, they announced the initial line-up of Disney+, the new streaming service that's going to be all Disney, all the time. Yes, it will have new Marvel, Star Wars, and assorted other projects plus the vaunted Disney vault at its finger tips, so that's great, right? Elsewhere, Disney revealed a new trailer for a small project they've been working on for a while that absolutely no one has any investment in at all...

Call It a Comeback! The box office success of Shazam! following up on the billion-dollar-blockbuster Aquaman has suggested the impossible, the DCEU is now good! Although Man of Steel, Batman V. Superman, and Suicide Squad all made some money, they didn't exactly make fans anxious to see more from their dark and dreary universe. So has the DC Comics movies universe turned a corner, or is this just what happens when good directors are at play?

Do We Stream or Do We Go? It's meant to be the monumental media question of our age: with so many streaming options how do we still encourage people to go to the movies? It turns out, you don't have to choose. A newly published study says that people who stream more, also go to the movies more too, which suggests the friction is between people who like movies, and people who don't like movies as much. So are we surprised by this suggestion?

Own Canada. Today is Canadian Film Day. Yes, today! So we're going to take a moment before our main review, maybe a couple of moments, to acknowledge that we've made some darn good movies here in Canada. Now you may think we've done this before, and you'd be partially right, but we definitely want to prove that Canada is a hot bed for really great stories and filmmaking, and not just a place where famous people come from.

REVIEW: Shazam! (2019). It's the story about a boy that wishes he can be big. And strong. And bulletproof. And can fly. Yes, there's a lot in Shazam! that will remind you of the Tom Hanks classic, as well as another well-known DC hero in red, but the latest entry in the DC Extended Universe is about as far as one can get tone-wise from the latest works featuring Superman. That suits fans because Shazam! is a real crowd pleaser, and it's all thanks to its light-hearted approach and some very kid friendly themes about truth, justice, and taking money for selfies.

End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.