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Max Schindler

3107 Posts
24 Jun

Marvel Rivals’ Biggest Roster Problem Isn’t Mutants, It’s Role Balance

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Any X-Men fan knows that the team just isn’t complete without a certain optic-blaster. Thankfully, the NetEase Games developers behind Marvel Rivals seem to feel the same way. On June 12, Cyclops made his debut in the team-based hero shooter as part of the game’s season 8.5 update, finally bringing the X-Men’s field leader to the game’s hero roster.  Other than excitement for such a fun character, Cyclops’ arrival ignited a steadily growing debate within the community: is Marvel Rivals adding too many mutants? It’s not an unreasonable concern at first glance…until one takes into account that there are 51…
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24 Jun

Who Remembers That Peter Parker Is Spider-Man in Brand New Day?

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
At the end of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell that ensured no one would remember Peter Parker or that he is the MCU’s friendly neighborhood webslinger, but in Sony’s upcoming fourquel, Brand New Day, there is someone who remembers Spidey’s secret identity. Brand New Day star Tom Holland, who is reprising the role of Spider-Man once more this summer, recently teased to IGN that the real villain of the movie is “still very much a secret” and “unlike anything we’ve seen in one of these movies before”, while also confirming that “one person”…
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24 Jun

Google and A24’s AI Partnership Announcement Is Not Going Down Well

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Earlier this month, Backrooms director Kane Parsons, who helmed the highest-grossing film to date for studio A24, said, “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.” Smash cut to this week, and A24 has inked an AI research partnership deal with Google’s DeepMind outfit to help develop AI-powered tech for filmmakers. A24 Labs head Scott Belsky defended the deal, telling The Wall Street Journal that “We think there are better uses [of AI] that preserve creative control…
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24 Jun

Movie Scenes That Still Give Us the Chills Each Time We Watch Them

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Movie fans will rewatch their favourite films over and over again with a joyful smile, remembering how it felt to watch those moments for the first time. Certain scenes, however, hold the same impact no matter how many times you watch them, making them particularly special. Here, we’ve gathered the scenes that have most impacted audiences in cinema, although it is only a small selection. Even if your standout moment isn’t here, you won’t be able to deny the iconic nature of these moments, what they meant to cinematic history, and the power they still hold over audiences. IMDb For…
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23 Jun

Voicemails for Isabelle is a Love Letter to Healing from Grief

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
This article contains some spoilers for the Netflix film Voicemails for Isabelle. You’re proof that sometimes life rigs things in our favor. In a movie that encapsulates the sometimes silly messiness of grief and the warmth of loving through healing, Netflix’s Voicemails for Isabella is a refreshing, poignant reminder to keep living.  Zoey Deutch stars as Jill, currently a prep cook in San Francisco who aspires to be a baker. As she navigates her life’s challenges, she shares them through a series of phone calls and voicemails with her sister, Isabelle (Ciara Bravo), whose cystic fibrosis has prevented her from…
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23 Jun

Spider-Man’s New Popcorn Bucket Is Getting the Dune Treatment

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Not long ago, film theater merchandise was fairly straightforward. You got a themed popcorn tub, maybe a collectible cup, and went on with your day. Somewhere along the way, however, Hollywood has started to churn out merchandise that has you stop and think, “Did nobody look at this before it went into production?”  This trend arguably (but not really) started with Dune: Part Two’s infamous Arrakis sandworm popcorn bucket, which instantly became an internet sensation for reasons that had very little to do with Denis Villeneuve’s 2024 sci-fi epic. What should have been a relatively standard piece of film merch…
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23 Jun

Leviticus Ending Explained and Unpacked with the Director

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
This article contains major Leviticus spoilers. On the same Friday that first-time feature director Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus is opening nationwide in the U.S., the Australian filmmaker is having lunch in Los Angeles with someone else in the industry. They’re there to discuss work, presumably some prospects for the future, and maybe the SoCal weather. And yet, as Chiarella recounts a few hours later, the most passionate, driving topic of conversation came down to the end of his new horror film and Mia Wasikowska’s portrait of bad parenting decisions in it. “They really wanted to get to the heart of that,”…
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23 Jun

Famke Janssen Thinks Avengers: Doomsday Is Missing an X-Men Staple

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday has promised a truly massive cast, bringing together core groups from across the MCU’s  biggest corners The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts, and the X-Men.  For longtime fans of the Fox X-Men era in particular, the appeal in the upcoming film lies in seeing so many familiar faces return after years away from the franchise. Nearly the entire original cast is set to return, with Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, James Marsden as Cyclops, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, and Kelsey Grammer as Beast.  Three of the franchise’s most…
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23 Jun

Turok: Origins Brings the Dino Hunter Back from the Dead

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Any millennial who had a Nintendo 64 will tell you that one of the staples for the console was Turok, a franchise which began with 1997’s Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and released four games on the N64 alone. Since then, the first-person shooter title has struggled to maintain its relevance and audience over subsequent gaming generations, seemingly coming to an end with 2008’s Turok, published by Disney Interactive Studios of all companies. Saber Interactive has now taken the reins on the series with the upcoming Turok: Origins, which we got to play at Summer Game Fest 2026 as part of their…
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22 Jun

House of the Dragon: Tom Bennett on the Ulf Moment That Explained Everything

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 1. Midway through the House of the Dragon season 3 premiere, Rhaenyra, Alicent, and the Dance of their Dragons all take a back seat for a bucolic moment of peace in the Riverlands where freshly-minted dragonriders Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty), Hugh the Hammer (Kieran Bew), and Ulf (Tom Bennett) are gathered to keep a watchful eye out for Prince Aemond and his dragon Vhagar. The trio is clearly bored with the assignment as, unbeknownst to them, Aemond currently has better things to do than aimlessly fly around…
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22 Jun

House of the Dragon Stars Break Down Season 3’s Battle of the Gullet

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 1. So-named for the narrow stretch of ocean between Driftmark and Dragonstone upon which it’s fought, the Battle of the Gullet is the biggest engagement in the Dance of the Dragons Targaryen civil war and remains one of the bloodiest sea battles ever fought in Westeros. And House of the Dragon has never been shy about making sure we all know it’s coming. The second season finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel put all the relevant players for the battle in motion. The Triarchy ships, led by…
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22 Jun

House of the Dragon Cast Discuss Season 3 Premiere’s Brutal Death

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 1. Rhaenyra Targaryen is no stranger to the vulgarities of war. The Queen in Dragonstone and claimant to the Iron Throne received an education in what war really costs before her war even truly began. Back in the House of the Dragon season 1 finale, Rhaenyra lost her second son Lucerys when he and his dragon Arrax were devoured by his cousin Aemond’s dragon Vhagar on what should have been a relatively safe diplomatic mission. It’s a devastating loss, to be sure. But thankfully Rhaenyra still has a…
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22 Jun

House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 1 Review: Down the Gullet

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
This House of the Dragon review contains spoilers. Am I losing my mind or are the drums in the House of the Dragon opening theme louder this season? It’s possible that the audio on my aging iPad is shot or that the review screener HBO made available to critics was unfinished, but it really does sound to me as though the percussion in composer Ramin Djawadi’s iconic Game of Thrones intro music is faster, fuller, and more insistent. If the usual “duh nuh nuh nuuuhhs” were amplified for season 3, it would certainly make sense. Following a solid but frustratingly…
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22 Jun

My Adventures with Superman Introduces a Very Different Green Lantern

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
This article contains spoilers for My Adventures With Superman season 3 episode 2. Like most installments of the anime-influenced Adult Swim show, the third episode of My Adventures of Superman, “Mobile Toy Gundam,” features lots of DC Universe deep dives. Sure, we get Superman and his cousin Supergirl, as well as revised versions of classic villains Lex Luthor and the Toyman, and the introduction of the season’s big bad Cyborg Superman. We even see cosplayers dressed as members of the Teen Titans and the Challengers of the Unknown. But as far as the My Adventures franchise is concerned, the most…
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20 Jun

Control Resonant Rethinks What’s Possible for Remedy’s Acclaimed Franchise

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
It’s been seven years since the acclaimed 2019 sci-fi game Control and Remedy Entertainment is back with the bold sequel Control Resonant. The sequel follows Dylan Faden, brother of the first game’s protagonist Jesse, who discovers an extradimensional entity has escaped from the secret government facility, the Oldest House, and has created a warped vision of Manhattan. After playing an early build of Control Resonant at Summer Game Fest 2026, we sat down with game director Mikael Kasurinen to talk about the upcoming sequel. “I already knew early on that the first two games were going to be about the…
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19 Jun

15 Actors Who Mastered Both Heroes and Villains

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Playing a great hero is difficult. Playing a great villain can be even harder. But mastering both across a career is a rare skill that only a few actors truly pull off. It takes range, control, and the ability to shift how audiences see you without losing credibility. Some actors become so convincing on one side that it feels shocking to watch them switch. Others move between good and evil so naturally that it becomes part of what makes them unforgettable. Whether leading the story or standing against it, these performers proved they could command both sides of the screen…
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19 Jun

15 Movie Scenes That Were So Expensive They Nearly Got Cut

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Some of the most unforgettable scenes in movie history rarely made it to the screen, not because they were bad, but because they cost too much. Massive practical effects, difficult locations, endless retakes, and ambitious technical demands can turn a single sequence into a financial nightmare. In some cases, studios pushed back hard, questioning whether the cost could ever be justified. But sometimes those risky scenes become the very reason a movie is remembered. They shape the story, define the spectacle, and prove that certain moments are worth every dollar. Here are fifteen famous movie scenes that nearly disappeared because…
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19 Jun

15 People Share the Universally Loved Movies That They Actually Hate

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Not every beloved movie works for everyone. Some films become cultural landmarks, praised by critics, quoted endlessly, and treated like untouchable classics, but that does not mean every viewer connects with them. Sometimes the hype creates expectations that feel impossible to meet. Other times, a movie’s style, pacing, or themes simply miss the mark for certain audiences. That disconnect can be especially strong when the rest of the world seems to adore it. Inspired by movie fans sharing their most unpopular opinions, here are fifteen massively loved films that some people admit they just cannot stand. IMDb La La Land…
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19 Jun

15 Not-So-Golden Facts About the Golden Age of Hollywood

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The Golden Age of Hollywood is often remembered as a glamorous era filled with timeless stars, legendary premieres, and the birth of modern cinema. It created some of the most iconic films ever made and shaped the idea of celebrity as we still know it today. But behind the polished black and white images and elegant red carpets, the reality was often far darker. The studio system controlled nearly every part of an actor’s life, scandals were buried, careers were manipulated, and dangerous working conditions were common. Beneath the shine, the era was far more ruthless than it looked. Here…
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19 Jun

Minecraft Is Becoming Entertainment’s Most Unexpected Storytelling Tool 

Max SchindlerNew DVD release
Do you think about me when you’re not playing? That’s a line spoken by eldritch terror AI character Verity in a two-part horror series by Minecraft content creator ThatMob. Verity, voiced by another Minecraft creator, JustWhispy, has taken the blocky sandbox game’s audience into increasing levels of fandom excitement.  ThatMob, or Mob, plays as himself, as the AI helper he downloaded, Verity, becomes increasingly creepy. Knowing intimate details about Mob’s life and daily routine outside when logged off, Verity isolates Mob from the NPCs in his game and becomes increasingly invested in obtaining all of Mob’s attention. Verity, who appears…
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