As a franchise about human progress and the values of cooperation instead of competition, Star Trek is more about its heroes than its villains. We tune in to see how Kirk will inspire his crew or to watch Picard call upon logic and empathy to solve problems. That focus might be why Trek has had some awful villains over the decades, stinkers like the Ferengi in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Armus, or the Kazon. But when Star Trek does introduce a character who truly challenges our heroes, not in terms of might or even cunning, but in terms of…

Waning: contains spoilers for Deep Impact, Moon and Ex Machina. We may be dropping out of the Golden Age of Prestige Television (1999 – 2023, RIP), but while we may mourn the slow decline of mega-budget peak TV, take comfort – there is beauty in lower-budget productions. You might think science fiction would be particularly hard hit by a reduction in the amount of money available for VFX, sets, models, and so on, but over the years there have been plenty of examples of extraordinary science fiction films and television series that have been produced on low (or lower than…

Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor Commodus from the original Gladiator movie remains one of the most memorable depictions of onscreen villainy this century. A portrait of what happens when immense insecurity meets unchecked power—plus a twisted riff on an Oedipal complex by way of his older sister and the father who never loved him—it was a thrill when this fiend finally entered the arena and faced Maximus. We wanted to see Russell Crowe bloody his toga. Now 24 years later, Gladiator II promises to have its own epic showdown between Paul Mescal as Lucius, our heroic and insubordinate gladiator champion, and Pedro…

Sometimes stars are “born” in the gauzy Hollywood daydream of the word, with a big-time producer or director played by Warner Baxter grabbing you by the shoulders and promising, “You’re going out there a youngster but coming back a star!” Sometimes though—more often, in fact—it isn’t nearly so glamorous. Sometimes you’ve got to audition, scrape, claw… and still not get the part. … But then fate steps in! And whoever was offered the role over you, or whoever was cast before you, ends up dropping out at the last minute. In those instances, it would seem that providence itself lends…

Despite sharing a vehicle with three veteran journalists, young aspiring war photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) cannot help but break down into tears. The quartet just drove away from a gas station held by attendants who may, or may not, be combatants in a conflict that’s gripped the entire United States. They’re certainly armed when they show Jessie and her more experienced hero Lee (Kirsten Dunst) three looters they captured and have been beating for days. In that moment, the gunman also gave Jessie a choice, offering to either kill the looters now or let them go after a few more…

In October 2019, master filmmaker Martin Scorsese famously opined that movie theaters had become diluted. With the rise of franchise films and a heavy emphasis by Hollywood studios on intellectual property, the director of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull lamented that cinemas “have become amusement parks.” He made the comments while speaking of his new four-hour epic, The Irishman, which was then playing at the BFI London Film Festival before premiering where most people would be able to see it: on Netflix. It should be noted that while he is obviously not a fan of superhero movies and the like,…

Lee Hoi-Sang is a venerated star of classic Hong Kong action cinema, but only hardcore fans of the genre know him by name. With well over a hundred roles to his credit, he’s easily recognized despite never being a leading man. Typically, he was the lead’s adversary. To make a strong hero, you need a strong villain, and Lee was perfect for that role.  Lee was a genuine master of Wing Chun Kung Fu, which earned him the title of “the King of Fighters.” He was a direct pupil of Grandmaster Ip Man, the same mentor who taught Bruce Lee…

Only Murders in the Building season 4 is proving to be a particularly dark one for Charles Haden-Savage, Steve Martin’s lovably tone deaf TV star of yesteryear. Of course things have always been somewhat grim for the character. In the first season, his girlfriend tried to kill him, and in the third his big Broadway break went up in smoke. Still, Martin usually plays Charles’ missteps as a source of comedy. But when the first episode this year ended on an unshakably tragic note, with Charles holding the ashes of his best friend of 30-odd years, it hit differently this…

This article contains spoilers for Transformers One. As a cartoon series designed to sell toys to kids in the 1980s, there was a time when the lore featured in Transformers was a simple one. The good guys were called Autobots and helped humans. The bad guys were called Decepticons and did not. Easy. However, in the new prequel film Transformers One, it turns out that those names have more than meets the eye. Written by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari, and directed by Josh Cooley, Transformers One takes place three billion years in the past when the robots…

There is a wonderful scene midway through Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie. In one of the quieter moments between the soaring action and groundbreaking VFX, the most impressive effect occurs as Christopher Reeve’s nebbish and hunched Clark Kent decides, briefly, to unmask himself before Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). It’s a beat that would be echoed in a million other superhero movies in the following century, but unlike those caped do-gooders, Reeve didn’t need to remove a mask or garment, a cape or cowl. Instead the posture of Reeve’s Clark simply changes, his voice drops, and his very presence in the…

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, which movie song is the best-selling single of all time?White Christmas by Bing Crosby(Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan AdamsI Will Always Love You by Whitney HoustonYou’re the One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton John“Laura’s Theme” by Angelo Badalamenti features on the soundtrack of which US TV show?Twin PeaksBattlestar GalacticaLittle House on the PrairieInvitation to LoveFour animated Disney movies won the Oscar for Best Original Score between 1990 and 1995. Which of these movies did NOT win it?PocahontasThe Little MermaidBeauty and the BeastAladdin Before…

When the credits rolled on Star Trek Generations back in November 1994, some fans (including this writer) breathed a sigh of relief. While we respected William Shatner and his central role in making Star Trek happen, we also felt his time had passed. After Generations, we could finally move on from an aging The Original Series cast and focus on the continuing film adventures of Captain Picard and The Next Generation. But there were also of course some fans (including one named William Shatner) who weren’t too happy. After all, James T. Kirk had died after falling from a rusty…

Imagine James Bond without a car. It’s not easy. Even in Ian Fleming’s early 007 novels, beginning with Casino Royale in 1953, Bond is obsessed with his supercharged Bentley and is constantly thinking about who is a good driver and who isn’t, and just how fast he or other people go—from allies like Felix Leiter to enemies in SMERSH and SPECTRE. Bond isn’t exactly the original fast-and-furious action hero driver, but when we think of the most famous suave secret agent, we have to imagine him behind the wheel of some kind of amazing car, one which almost always has…

This article contains spoilers for Uglies and the novels Pretties and Specials. In the world of the new sci-fi dystopian movie Uglies, people fall into two categories. There are the Pretties, the people who have been altered according to a surgical procedure, and the Uglies, people who have not undergone the procedure. At the start of Uglies, 15-year-old Tally Youngblood (Joey King) wants nothing more than to be a Pretty. At the end of the film, Tally has achieved her dream. But like everything else in Uglies, the surface doesn’t tell the whole story. Here’s what happened at the end…

The last time I remember really noticing Demi Moore in a movie was in Margin Call. The film was an excellent (and unfortunately still timely) portrait of the type of Wall Street backbiting and greed that precipitated the 2007 housing collapse. It’s also an ensemble where Moore stands out while still being positioned in support of male co-stars like Jeremy Irons and Kevin Spacey, one of whom scapegoats Moore’s character in her biggest scene. Before that film, it was The Joneses and Mr. Brooks, where Moore twice played “the wife,” which often is Hollywood code for the most underwritten character…

The definition of a “Baby Boomer” has always been a tenuous thing. Offically the term refers to the giant uptick in birthrates after the end of World War II. When American G.I.s (as well as victors and survivors in every other part of the globe) got home, many were eager to marry, settle down, and start producing nuclear families. Even so, the Baby Boomer label applies to anyone born between the years 1946 and 1964. Consider that while Kamala Harris reads as a significantly younger individual than her political rival today, she is still technically a Boomer (albeit by less…

There’s been a murduh! There have been multiple murders, in fact, between the pages of these crime novels, all of which are on their way to the screen. Featuring Nordic noir, dark comedy, secret-infested thrillers, literary detective novels and cosy crime, this little bunch of books have all been optioned, and will, industry-willing, be seen in cinemas and on TV before too long. If you want to get ahead of the curve when they blast onto Netflix and the like, then get reading. After all, these mysteries won’t solve themselves… Dark Pines by Will Dean (2018) The first in Will…

A venomized horse. Rhys Ifans as a guitar playing hippie. Tom Hardy‘s Eddie and Venom in Vegas. The latest trailer for Venom: The Last Dance features several over the top elements. But the most compelling may be the white-haired figure glimpsed throughout the clip, a figure sitting on a throne. That, is Knull — God of the Abyss, God of the Symbiotes. Check out the trailer below: Knull only lasted a few years in the pages of Marvel Comics, but he had an immediate impact. Created by writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman, Knull debuted in 2018’s Venom #3…

Like millions of other people around the world, the announcement Monday of James Earl Jones’ passing hit me particularly hard. A mountain of a man and a talent, Jones carved out a stunning career on stage and screen. Yet for many children of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and later, his very voice symbolized something profound, whether it was used for operatic villainy in the Star Wars films or nigh divinity in The Lion King. It’s all the more impressive, too, when you know Jones developed that rich and ultimately generation-shaping baritone out of serious hardship. As a boy, Jones grew up…

This article contains Rebel Ridge spoilers. There is plenty of action in Jeremy Sauliner’s Rebel Ridge, which is streaming today on Netflix. Of course this is something of a given for the director of Green Room and Hold the Dark. Sauliner is nothing if not a filmmaker who knows how to suffuse spartan rural settings with massive amounts of tension—and then often bloody action to release the dread. Yet the scene that got me on my feet wanting to cheer, even in a living room, is not when Aaron Pierre’s righteously vindicated Terry Richmond physically manhandles a podunk police chief…