This article appears in the new issue of DEN OF GEEK magazine. You can read all of our magazine stories here. Nobody could forget the Battle of Helm’s Deep, the doomed bloodbath that became a surprise victory in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. But who remembers the king who gave the setting its name? King Helm Hammerhand was a legendary ruler of the horse-loving kingdom of Rohan, whose story was outlined briefly in J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices to The Lord of the Rings. This December’s The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim casts Succession’s Brian Cox…

When folks think of James Bond, a lot of things can come to mind: a finely tailored tuxedo complete with cuffs; a vodka martini shaken, not stirred, and with a lemon twist if you’re a literary purist; or sometimes just beautiful women in an exotic locale. Whatever vice or trapping you imagine for the character, chances are all of the above involves excitement. Action! It’s been the appeal of the character from the very beginning when he sprang from author Ian Fleming’s typewriter. Yet the literary James Bond, it should be noted, is not the cinematic superhero he inspired. Fleming’s…

“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.” So speaks Zuzu Bailey in Frank Capra’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). While we cannot attest to her theological assertion, it might surprise you to know that much of the emotional truth of that film, and its story of an optimistic man finding himself down and out, and existentially stressed in postwar America, is partially drawn from James Stewart’s own life. “It’s a Wonderful Life has become synonymous with the holidays and with spiritual rebirth and perseverance, all those things that really embodied Jim were infused into this picture…

Happy holidays! Whether you’re a staunch believer that the holiday season shouldn’t start until December 1st or the type of person who keeps their decorations up year-round, there’s no denying that we could all probably use a little extra magic this time of year. Thankfully, between cable and streaming service there’s plenty of holiday cheer to go around with an impressive number of holiday movies and TV shows available to watch throughout November and December 2024. No matter when you might catch the festive bug this season, you’re bound to find something that will spark the good tidings and joy…

While 2024 is not entirely over, it’s certainly winding down on some cold notes as the nights grow longer and the weather brisker. The holiday season leaves some relieved, others restless. For us, it’s a chance to take stock of the year that’s been and to count whatever blessings you can find. And even in a year as marked by upheaval and post-strike fallout as 2024, there have been more than a few occasions in film and television to get us grinning. So without further ado, here are some of the movie and TV moments to be thankful for in…

The most important scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t when Tony Stark tells a crowd, “I am Iron Man.” It isn’t when Black Panther first exclaims, “Wakanda Forever!” It isn’t when Thanos snaps his fingers. It’s when the Avengers slump down after the Battle of New York and enjoy some much deserved shawarma. The heroes don’t do anything spectacular. They have their costumes undone and they slouch instead of stand. They don’t even speak with one another. At that moment, the MCU crystalized into a franchise less about superheroes using their fantastic powers to save the world, and more…

Where is the Batman? Lately, that’s a question asked not just by Gotham City criminals, but by superhero movie fans as well. With The Batman and The Penguin winning over fans to Matt Reeves‘s realistic take on the world of the Dark Knight and DC Studios relaunching their universe, expectations for the Caped Crusader have never been higher. While speaking with Collider, DC Studios co-head James Gunn provided an update about the future of the Batman in the revamped DCU. “There’s no set timeline for anything,” Gunn said. “The one thing that I’ve tried to make clear to people from…

This article contains Gladiator II spoilers. “Filling the Colosseum with water looks silly,” one friend said months ago after the first trailer for Gladiator II dropped. “Why are there battleships in the arena?” asked another while watching the scene where Paul Mescal’s Lucius manned an oar and dodged arrows before the mob of Rome. Yet as you have likely heard by now, the Romans really did stage miniature naval battles for the citizenry’s amusement and distraction—including probably inside the Colosseum (though some still dispute the claim). Even so, there is one element in Gladiator II that does strain incredulity: the…

When it comes to climactic finales, a great sword fight can put an action movie over the top. From the classic swashbucklers of the 1950s to the global genres of samurai dramas and Kung Fu flicks—not to mention the occasional fantasy or comedy—sword fights are the cutting edge of fight choreography.  The best sword fights fuse emotionally charged conflicts with precisely choreographed action. The stakes must be big for characters to want to cut each other so deeply. And there are so many levels of great sword fights. As absurd as it seems, the hilarious fight between King Arthur (Graham…

“It’s like being inside joy.” That’s how Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) describes the experience of entering the Nexus, the strange phenomenon that drives the plot in Star Trek: Generations. When one enters the Nexus, their deepest desires, their deepest needs, come to life. Which is why the scientist Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell) will do anything he can to get back to it after he’s ripped away during a Starfleet rescue mission. The Nexus provides more or less what you’d expect for William Shatner’s James T. Kirk, including a ranch with horses, the promise of adventure around the corner, and a (probably)…

Would 2021 be the year “the movie musical took its last bow?” Like many others, The Guardian posited exactly such doom and gloom after Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights flopped (as did the Dear Evan Hansen movie, but that one was less surprising…). Meanwhile Ridley Scott himself lamented the movie diets of Millennials when he complained in the same year that younger filmgoers didn’t show up for The Last Duel.  Had movie tastes permanently changed for the worse after the pandemic? We’ll admit that even we entertained some of this, as did The…

When Wicked opened on Broadway 21 years ago, famed New York Times critic Ben Brantley provided the musical with one of his typically backhanded notices. While giving high marks for Kristin Chenoweth’s undeniable talent in creating Galinda, as well as specific elements of the production like Eugene Lee’s sets, the Times arbiter remained cool toward the musical’s songs, book, and even its allegorical ambitions. “As a parable of fascism and freedom, Wicked so overplays its hand that it seriously dilutes its power to disturb,” Brantley wrote when comparing the show’s vividly technicolor subtexts to the more opaque leanings of L.…

This article contains major Gladiator II spoilers. Ridley Scott has made a triumphant return to the arena with Gladiator II, a piece of cinema with a capital “C” that has all the spectacle you would want from a sequel to his 2000 masterpiece. But just as with the Russell Crowe-starring original, Gladiator II doesn’t simply coast on its epic military campaigns and brutal Colosseum battles. It wants to say something too. It’s also clear that Sir Ridley is a fan of the classics—a fact you might’ve picked up on in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. And in Gladiator II, he and…

If you have the slightest familiarity with Wicked, you know Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation had to shatter the roof off when it came time to bring Stephen Schwartz’s iconic song, “Defying Gravity,” to the screen. Marketing is supposed to sell you on a film, of course, but every trailer that featured the number in some teasing capacity undersold it—as if hoping not to get expectations up. Yet for some fans, the choice left a sour taste in the mouth due to incomplete visuals and Cynthia Erivo’s voice not being as theatrical as the Ephabas who came before her. Now…

This article contains major Gladiator II spoilers. Denzel Washington is one of those truly gifted actors. The kind where watching him read from a tax return could be amusing. So witnessing him devour the scenery of Ancient Rome as the ambiguous, and ultimately sinister, Macrinus is nothing less than pure joy. Over the course of 148 minutes, Washington’s double-dealing social climber is able to manipulate every other character in the film and dominate each scene, right up until the end of the film where we learn Macrinus has nothing less than the throne in his sights. During Gladiator II’s third…

Toward the end of Star Trek: First Contact‘s first act, an away team from the USS Enterprise describes their world. “Mankind [starts] exploring the galaxy,” LeVar Burton’s Geordi La Forge declares. Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) continues, “It unites humanity in a way that no one ever thought possible. When they realize they’re not alone in the universe, poverty, disease, war—they’ll all be gone within the next 50 years.” These descriptions ring true to anyone who has seen Star Trek before. Ever since Gene Roddenberry created the first episodes back in 1966, the franchise harnessed a Kennedy era optimism while building…

The term “stagebound” is familiar to anyone who’s seen enough Hollywood adaptations of Broadway musicals. In the desire to get everything people like about a stage show into the movie, producers move heaven and boards to squeeze it all onto the screen, no matter how antithetical it might be to another medium. Jon M. Chu and Universal Pictures’ extravagant transfer of Stephen Schwartz’s beloved Wicked musical is the opposite of that. It’s something new. Not in terms of fidelity. Wicked the Movie is slavishly faithful about duplicating your favorite moments from Wicked the Show—but only half of that show. Aye,…

Even the grouchiest viewer of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law swooned a bit when Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters asks the robot K.E.V.I.N. the question on everyone’s mind: “When are we getting the X-Men?” While the robot Kevin dodged the question, the real Kevin Feige finally provided a more serious timeline during the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore. “I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize,” Feige told attendees (via Deadline) while talking about bringing more characters together in future MCU films. “Right after that, the whole story of Secret…

Live-action adaptations of beloved animated movies are nothing new. Disney has been creating such films for three decades. However, they didn’t hit their stride until the last 10 years or so. After the immense success of Alice in Wonderland (2010), Maelficent (2014), The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), and many others, Disney has delved deep into their vault, seemingly remaking every popular animated property they have at their disposal.  It was only a matter of time before another animation powerhouse dipped their toes in these waters, and DreamWorks Animation has unsurprisingly become the first to bite. The…

About half a year ago, I had a disagreement with a colleague about the prospects for Wicked. Admittedly, I am the more agreeable when it comes to musicals, but even as someone who never loved the Wicked stage show, I got a shiver of excitement when I heard the first teaser end with Cynthia Erivo’s voice warming up a “Defying Gravity” crescendo. It was like a vocalized mic drop. Even so, my musically-allergic friend seemed less impressed about Wicked’s box office future. After all, didn’t the In the Heights movie, which like Wicked was directed by Jon M. Chu, and…