James Earl Jones, who died at age 93, is a cultural icon. He is internationally loved for roles in The Lion King, Coming to America, Roots, Field of Dreams, and the Star Wars and Jack Ryan movie franchises. The Mississippi-born actor won three Tony Awards, two Emmys, a Grammy, several Academy Award nominations, and the 2011 Honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar. However, some of his most potent performances are not in heavy rotation at easily accessible media outlets and streamers. This is a shame because Jones leaves behind a vast and versatile artistic portfolio, and some of his finest characterizations came…

It’s a boastfulness so outrageous, so overblown, that we cannot help but immediately recognize it as an echo of the braggart who has dominated the world stage for nearly a decade. An actor clearly made up to resemble Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) sits in the back of a limousine and claims his latest construction effort is “going to be the finest building in the city, maybe the country.” But then there’s an awkward pause. The budding real estate mogul realizes his exaggerations haven’t crossed into the realm of cartoonish bravado. So he hastily adds on “[the biggest] in the world!”…

Ever since Peter Parker launched himself from a dingy New York apartment at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, dressed in a familiar costume he made himself, people have wondered what was next for our favorite wall-crawler. Now that Shang-Chi‘s Destin Daniel Cretton has been reportedly tapped to direct the fourth MCU Spider-Man film, the first without John Watts at the helm, and star Tom Holland is set to reprise his role, we can make some educated guesses about the direction of the franchise. The Evolution of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Tom Holland’s Peter Parker entered the MCU in Captain…

Even though it’s been 20 years since Spider-Man 2 was released, the film still holds a soft spot in the hearts of fans thanks to its story, cast, and characters, in addition to Sam Raimi’s incredible filmmaking skills of course. One character who has managed to withstand the test of time and develop a small following of his own over the years is none other than Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maguire) boss at Joe’s Pizza, Mr. Aziz. Played by the incredibly talented Aasif Mandvi, Mr. Aziz has become an icon in his own right, despite his limited screen time. Talking with…

Jim Carrey might have been a familiar face to fans of the sketch comedy series In Living Color and anyone who stumbled upon future cult favorites like Once Bitten and Earth Girls Are Easy, but to most regular moviegoers he was a virtual unknown. That all changed in 1994 with a trio of hits built on his dizzying array of facial expressions, catchphrases, and impeccable comedic timing. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective might have been his first big hit, and Dumb and Dumber is an enduring favorite, but The Mask represents the oddity in the pack. It’s a big, colorful comic…

It begins with just a chair. The first thing a smiling Scotsman takes from the ever so accommodating Americans is a swimming pool chair which their daughter left a towel on. She’s in the water, technically, and there’s only a handful of items on it, but surely James McAvoy’s grinning Paddy sees that when he asks milquetoast father Ben (Scoot McNairy) if he can take it—right? The wash cloth is clearly visible, but the smile is so friendly, and his charm so ingratiating, you’re tempted to simply write it off as benign obliviousness. Plus, he’s James McAvoy! That is the…

When Saturday Night Live (or just “Saturday Night” in its first season) debuted in 1975, it was like an atom bomb went off in the American zeitgeist. It is hard to remember half a century later with the series still going strong as a landmark piece of institutional broadcast television, but back in ’75 it was as if the counterculture had invaded TV. That was its appeal to younger Baby Boomer viewers of its era, and that is the excitement which Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night looks eager to rekindle next month. The new backstage dramedy is set on the evening…

David Lynch‘s 1984 film version of Frank Herbert’s legendary sci-fi novel Dune has been a perpetual black sheep of the surrealist director’s filmography, with his later neo-noir projects like Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive held in much higher regard by cineastes. While the failure of Dune dissuaded Lynch from making further big budget movies, it had a major downstream effect on his later works especially when it came to casting. (Think: Kyle MacLachlan, Everett McGill, Brad Dourif, Alicia Witt, etc.) What many of his fans do not realize (and which I wrote about briefly in my book A…

It’s not terribly often that a movie actually warrants a TV spinoff or retelling. Aside from franchises, sequels, trilogies, and the like, movies are generally made to tell a story from start to finish in a few hours or less. However, there are occasionally stories, characters, or premises that benefit from the additional time that television provides. Television gives storytellers the ability to dive deeper into a characters’ psyche or explore an aspect of worldbuilding that could only be briefly touched upon in the limited runtime of a movie. It gives creatives more room to play in and craft compelling…

“I myself am strange and unusual.” Those words, spoken by Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice, captured the appeal of Winona Ryder during the late 1980s and ’90s. After supporting parts in Lucas (1986) and Square Dance (1987), Ryder broke out with Beetlejuice, cornering the market on young misfits who have no place in established society. Since then Ryder’s been a constant presence in film and television, even after her heyday or so-called “Winona4Ever” era. But with director Shawn Levy casting her as distraught mother Joyce Byers in Stranger Things, and Tim Burton bringing her back for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as Lydia, now…

Warner Bros.’ hotly anticipated sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sees the star Michael Keaton and director Tim Burton reunite to give us more of “the ghost with the most,” but to introduce said ghost to Gen Alpha, the pair have recruited Burton’s Wednesday series lead Jenna Ortega as the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz.  When we spoke with Ortega last month, she told us that one aspect of making the sequel which she found cool was the multiple musical numbers both she and co-star Catherine O’Hara participated in. We will not spoil either standout sequence here, although you can see glimpses…

Being optioned for a screen adaptation is part of the life cycle of any hit novel. Most of the time, the options expire before the coffee has cooled on the many development meetings, and nothing happens, but not for the books below – they’re the lucky ones. Or…the unlucky ones, depending on how some of these movies and TV shows turn out. There’s no reason for pessimism, especially considering the people involved. Guillermo del Toro, Bong Joon-Ho, the Russo Brothers and more are behind the movie and TV adaptations of these new and classic sci-fi and fantasy books. Netflix and…

Sorry, fans of Golden Age Hawkman comics — the news is out. Director Matt Reeves has confirmed that the Gentleman Ghost will not appear in The Batman 2. “What was important to me was to find a way to take these pop icons, these mythical characters that everybody knows, and translate it so that Gotham feels like a place in our world,” Reeves told Deadline. “We might push to the edge of the fantastical but we would never go into full fantastical. It’s meant to feel quite grounded.” For that reason, Reeves continued, “Gentleman Ghost is probably pushed a bit…

An aged and beloved star back in their signature role; a young bright-eyed ingénue ready to carry the torch (and IP) forward into the next generation; and a sequel that arrives about 20 years after most folks stopped seriously hoping it would ever come. Yes, we are acutely familiar with the“legacy sequel” in all its nostalgic ebullience and emptiness (sometimes in the same film). And at a glance Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Winona Ryder returning to the ink black well for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice seems like it would be more of the same: a chance for old favorites to retread…

Which of these titular movie planets is in our solar system?Planet of the Apes (1968)Treasure Planet (2002)Solaris (1972)The Forbidden Planet (1956)Which planet does the Death Star destroy in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope?AlderaanTatooineYavinHothAccording to the John Carpenter movie, which of these planets has ghosts?MarsVenusJupiterSaturnWhich of these planets has not been completely destroyed?Miranda (Serenity, 2005)Krypton (Superman, 1978)Earth (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 2005)Vulcan (Star Trek, 2009)In Pitch Black (2000), when do the predatory aliens attack?During a solar eclipseAt nightDuring a volcanic eruptionDuring winterWhat is the name of the musical planet in The Marvels?AladnaHalaAakonSakaarIn The Hitchhiker's Guide to the…

“Crossing the path of the Batman, most feared of all crime-fighters, waddles the strange, almost ludicrous, figure of the Penguin… the umbrella man! The jovial face of the Penguin seems to radiate good will toward all men… but behind that smiling mask lurks an evil mind!” This loquacious introduction to Detective Comics #58 (1941) captured the tone of the Penguin, even as it fails to sound like the first appearance of one of the most enduring villains in popular culture. Throughout the story “One of the Most Perfect Frame-Ups” (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson, and George Roussos), the…

Last week it was reported that Eon Productions is at last taking meetings with potential directors for the next James Bond movie—a film currently without a title or, for that matter, a Bond. British newspaper The Telegraph even broke the news with the faintly disapproving headline of “why it’s taking so long to find the next James Bond.” It is indeed a surprise that almost three years after Daniel Craig’s interpretation of 007 took a final and fiery bow in No Time to Die, there still hasn’t been an heir apparent sized up for the tuxedo. Even before Craig’s Bond…

Exploration. Discovery. Evolution. These core concepts are not just at the center of Starfleet, but of Star Trek itself. The Original Series harnessed the optimism of the 1960s and projected it on screen. That ethos has allowed Star Trek to explore many new ideas through different series, films, spinoffs, and even a reboot on the big screen. But as vast as the world of Star Trek already is, it could have been so much bigger. The story of Star Trek is, in part, the story of fits and starts. For every project that makes it to screen, there are two…

You know Beetlejuice. Beej. The Ghost With the Most. An enthusiastic watcher of The Exorcist. As portrayed by Michael Keaton in the 1988 Tim Burton comedy classic, Beetlejuice, as well as the upcoming sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, our favorite bioexorcist is a regular demonic trickster. He does some nasty things like trying to force teen Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) to marry him. But his exploits rarely rise beyond pranks. While that subtle distinction is probably what made the character a beloved household name—even winning him cartoon shows and Broadway musicals—that perception definitely wasn’t part of the original vision of the film.…

Hulu is honoring its network TV roots with a list of new releases packed with Fall television. September 2024 sees the arrival of several Hulu originals like Tell Me Lies season 2 on September 4, reality series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on September 6, and How to Die Alone on September 13. The streamer’s relationship with Disney-mate FX bears much fruit this month as well as Hulu will be the exclusive streaming home for series English Teacher (September 3), The Old Man Season 2 (September 13) and a Ryan Murphy double feature of American Sports Story (September 18)…