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22 Aug

Rebel Moon Trailer Promises Most Zack Snyder Movie Ever

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From the very first shot of Rebel Moon’s new trailer, you are clued into the idea that this is a Zack Snyder movie. Technically the image of a warrior’s hand drifting through fields of grain recalls another filmmaker entirely—with the imagery not-so-subtly echoing the first seconds of Ridley Scott’s own blood-soaked opera, Gladiator. However, Snyder already repurposed it once before in 300, and 16 years later he adds even more gravity to it in Rebel Moon, with the hand now gloved in severe-looking sci-fi armor (and helpfully juxtaposed with actor Djimon Hounsou). We are once again at the intersection of…

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22 Aug

The Most Disturbing AI Characters in Sci-Fi Movie History

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Artificial intelligence is everywhere. Well, perhaps not literally, but AI is certainly expanding its reach, its power, and its uses. Its potential – both good and bad – is on the minds of anyone who works in technology, communications, journalism, and just about every other walk of life. Of course, science fiction saw all this coming, just as it foretold the arrival of nuclear deterrence, bioweapons, superflus, climate change, the internet, mobile communications, and so much more. Artificial intelligence, whether embedded in the bowels of a supercomputer or ensconced in the head of an android, has been part of the…

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21 Aug

T.I.M. Cast: Meet the Actors Behind Netflix’s Sci-Fi Thriller

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Netflix’s new techno chiller T.I.M. follows a career-conscious woman called Abi as she moves into a new smart home with her seemingly not-very-trustworthy husband Paul. Even as she tries to make an impact with her new employer, he decides to gift her a “Technologically Integrated Manservant” (T.I.M.) to fuss around the house and help her out while she’s busy at work. T.I.M. might be the creepiest robot version of Alexa possible! It’s not long before T.I.M. is taking it upon himself to do more than re-up groceries and sweep the floors, becoming obsessed with Abi and having a marked distaste…

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21 Aug

Blue Beetle Just Set Up the Return of a Major Justice League Hero

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This Blue Beetle article contains spoilers. James Gunn and Peter Safran have taken the reins of the new DC Universe of movies and TV series, the new cinematic univese born from the ashes of the DCEU that began with 2013’s Man of Steel. Interestingly, the new DCU will also kick off with the Last Son of Krypton, this time in Gunn’s upcoming Superman: Legacy, starring David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan. But although Superman: Legacy is set to be the DCU’s first official installment, Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle has been confirmed to be the “first” DCU character. Ángel Manuel Soto’s Blue…

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21 Aug

Star Trek Producers Reveal Film Series Idea

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Six seasons and a movie! Before Community made that phrase its mantra, it belonged to Star Trek… sorta. The release of The Motion Picture vindicated fans of The Original Series, who only grew in number after the show’s cancellation after three seasons in 1969. So successful were those films that the Star Trek: The Next Generation films were a foregone conclusion, with Star Trek: Generations going into production before the seventh and final season finished airing. Outside of TOS and TNG, no other Trek series has gone onto the big screen, and Star Trek: Prodigy seems the least likely to…

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18 Aug

The Greatest Sci-Fi Directors of All Time

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Science fiction on film has been around almost as long as cinema itself. Starting in 1895 when the first public showings of motion pictures commenced in France and the United States, and as filmmakers began to realize that they could string scenes together to tell a complete, coherent story, the genres of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy were part of the equation. Celluloid offered ambitious storytellers the chance to put images on the screen—crude at the time, but still groundbreaking—that had only been glimpsed in the pages of novels, short stories, and later, comic books and pulp magazines. And as filmmaking…

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17 Aug

The Return of The Who’s Great Unfinished Rock Opera May Spark a New Sci-fi Classic

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Nothing looms larger in The Who’s artistic mythology than Pete Townshend’s unfinished “Lifehouse” project, a science fiction rock opera motion picture guaranteed to rock the world. Granted, we wouldn’t have Who’s Next (1971) if he completed it, but we can only imagine what the final product might have been on the big screen. Fortunately, there will soon be a way to see for ourselves in a new format. Image Comics will publish Life House as a graphic novel on Dec. 6, and a vinyl-shaped hardcover will be part of its musical accompaniment: the Who’s Next/Life House box sets, dropping on…

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17 Aug

Blue Beetle Review: DC’s Latest Superhero Movie Has Real Heart

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Even a little heart goes a long way, and Blue Beetle has more than enough. Based on a DC comic book with origins stretching back to 1939, the film follows Jaime Reyes (the third incarnation of Blue Beetle in the comics), a young Mexican man who returns to his family’s home after college, only to learn his family is losing their house, their auto shop has shut down, and his father is not well. But he’s about to have his life changed even more significantly by the Scarab, a biotechnological alien artifact which can create a powerful exoskeletal armor/flight suit…

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17 Aug

The Many Ways Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon Changed Martial Arts Movies Forever

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The greatest tragedy of Bruce Lee’s all too short life was that he didn’t live to see the premiere of Enter the Dragon. Lee died on July 20, 1973. Enter the Dragon was released six days later.  Four years prior, Lee made a vow to himself that he titled “My Definite Chief Aim.” Handwritten in cursive with his characteristic flair, he wrote “I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor.” Throughout his career…

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16 Aug

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’s Original Title Was a Total Accident

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The finer details of George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy were anything but set in stone when the Maker first outlined his grand space fantasy saga back in the ’70s. Take the shifting relationship between Luke and Leia in across all three installments, for example, or the differences between the Emperor in the movies and his backstory in the novelization of A New Hope. In the rough draft of The Empire Strikes Back by Leigh Brackett, Lando was a clone, a veteran of the mythical Clone Wars, instead of Han’s smooth-talking counterpart. Then there all the ways Return of the…

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16 Aug

The Pope’s Exorcist: The Real Life Story of Father Gabriele Amorth

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The Pope’s Exorcist was a surprise hit when it was released early in 2023, but the entertaining horror movie, starring Russell Crowe, was just the latest in an endless string of glossy exorcism tales churned out by filmmakers over the decades. Public interest in the process of exorcisms first skyrocketed when director William Friedkin and writer William Peter Blatty launched The Exorcist upon an unsuspecting world back in 1973, having based the iconic film on Blatty’s novel. Friedkin admits that he was inspired to the point of obsession when he was making the movie, but it wasn’t until much later…

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16 Aug

Why Freddy vs. Jason Is the Most Faithful Nightmare on Elm Street Sequel

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Freddy Krueger has a choice to make. On one side is Lori (Monica Keena), the woman he had been antagonizing throughout the movie Freddy vs. Jason, along with her wounded boyfriend Will (Jason Ritter). On the other is Kia (Kelly Rowland), Lori’s grouchy friend.  After dithering for a moment, Freddy (Robert Englund) looks at the Kia and smiles. “How sweet,” he says to the Black woman. “Dark meat.” Remembering seeing the movie when it was released 20 years ago, Kumail Nanjiani described the audience’s groans at that line. “People were disappointed in Freddy Krueger,” Nanjiani recalled. “We’re okay with you…

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15 Aug

Why Shang-Chi Deserves to Lead Avengers 5

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In the pantheon of the best superheroes of all time, Shang-Chi probably doesn’t rank high on anybody’s list. A superhero best described as “basically Bruce Lee,” Shang-Chi’s street cred is recognized only to readers of his original Marvel Comics series, Master of Kung Fu, when it was published during a widespread kung fu fad that dominated the American zeitgeist.  Despite a modest hit movie in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings with sitcom star Simu Liu, Shang-Chi doesn’t have nearly the same recognition as the MVPs of the Avengers, either. It’s why rumors that Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi may…

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14 Aug

The Case For and Against Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman 3

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Gal Gadot will return as Wonder Woman. Or maybe… not? That’s what it felt like after the last week of whiplash-inducing headlines which involved the Israeli actress and her signature role as Diana of Themyscira. Infamously, the big screen future for the current lineup of DC actors started to crumble when Warner Bros. Pictures parted ways with writer-director Patty Jenkins, who helmed both Wonder Woman (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). At the time, creative differences separating a director from producers was nothing new, although a bit eyebrow-raising since Jenkins shattered industry conventions when she became the first woman to…

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12 Aug

The Most Underrated Crime Movies of the 1970s

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When you consider the evidence, the 1970s was the greatest crime movie period since the 1930s. Maybe it’s because of the grim film stock, but those 10 years were so filled with the criminal element even a highly-rated political journalism feature like All the President’s Men (1976) is really an investigation into indictable acts. The decade is defined by Francis Ford Coppola’s first two The Godfather movies, but those tell the story of the dons who live in compounds on Long Island. Most illicit infractions are committed on the street, and so many fall between the cracks. Crime and gangster…

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11 Aug

To Live and Die in L.A. Is William Friedkin’s Most Underrated Masterpiece

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William Friedkin was an inherently well-informed filmmaker. He started out in television at age 18, directing live news reports and documentaries for WGN-TV in Chicago. He knew how to get to the bottom of any story, best frame the narrative to capture attention, and inform the viewer. He brought that sense of assured knowledge to movies. There is never any doubt about the veracity of The French Connection (1971). The Exorcist (1973), meanwhile, invites the audience to medical diagnoses and a realistic portrayal of demonic possession. It is the emphasis on the medical that makes the demonic seem plausible. Similarly,…

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11 Aug

Red, White & Royal Blue Cast: Meet the Actors Behind Prime Video’s Latest Romance

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Based on the book of the same name, the Prime Video original movie Red, White & Royal Blue follows the enemies-to-lovers romance of Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the current U.S. president, and Prince Henry, heir to the British throne. After a physical altercation at a royal wedding causes a media firestorm, the two are forced to spend time together in public to try and convince the world that they don’t actually hate each other. As they actually get to know each other, they discover that they have a lot more in common than they realized. The cast of Red,…

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11 Aug

Red, White & Royal Blue Review: American Nonsense That’s Unexpectedly Adorable

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Did you ever meet someone who at first seems objectionable, but with time finds a place in your heart? That’s both the plot and the viewing experience for Red, White & Royal Blue, an Amazon production based on the well-loved novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston. In it, the son of the American president and an English prince begin as rivals but quickly fall in love and have to keep their relationship a secret for the sake of their respective countries. Packed with national cliches, intermittently stunted dialogue, and an early cake-based bit of slapstick, you’d be forgiven…

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11 Aug

Bull Ending Explained: How Did Bull Survive the Caravan Fire?

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This article contains spoilers Kill List star Neil Maskell delivers an astounding performance in the 2021 low budget movie Bull, which has been a smash hit on streaming since Netflix acquired it. The bloody crime thriller, directed by Paul Andrew Williams, follows Maskell’s vicious enforcer as he returns to his old stomping ground ten years after some deadly and mysterious events have transpired between him and his fellow gang members. The gang, headed up by Bull’s horrible father-in-law, Norm (David Hayman), are still kicking around – but not for long. Bull is determined to mete out vengeance upon those who…

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11 Aug

The Last Voyage of the Demeter Fails to Realize What Makes Dracula Scary

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This LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER article contains spoilers. Anyone who has read Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, or seen almost any movies which have been adapted from it, knows the ending to director André Øvredal’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter. It is one chapter, and an early one at that, which ultimately provides its titular vampire with a change of scenery. It has a full arc, and no one survives. It’s all in “The Captain’s Log,” with additional information cut from the outside perspective of a character who was never onboard. It really is the most frightening chapter…

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