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"The Twilight Zone" ran for 156 episodes total, and that's not even counting the extra backlog from the three attempts at rebooting the series. That long, television-defining legacy all began in 1959 with the first aired "Twilight Zone" episode, "Where Is Everybody?"

An amnesiac man (Earl Holliman) awakens in the desert and walks to a seemingly abandoned town. Soon, he's asking the question that gives the episode its title.

The twist? Our lead is actually astronaut Mike Ferris. He's undergoing a training exercise in an isolation chamber to see if he can handle a trip to the Moon by himself. When the episode began, he'd been in the chamber for three weeks. The town was a hallucination because the isolation had finally gotten to him. The episode ends with Ferris being "rescued," still intending to go to the Moon.

"Where Is Everybody?...

Okay, settle down and listen up, because this premise is a doozy. In the near future, religious extremism leads to so many terrorist attacks that all the world’s faiths finally agree to stop killing each other. Instead, they’ll each train one martial artist and hold a big fighting tournament. The faith that wins will take over the world, and all the others will be outlawed.

That’s Lexi Alexander’s “Absolute Dominion,” and if it sounds more like a Patton Oswalt routine than a real movie, Alexander seems to agree. The movie literally begins with Patton Oswalt, playing a very Patton Oswalt-ish influencer, suggesting the religious rumble off the top of his head. He seems just as surprised as anybody that it went viral, let alone got taken seriously. It says a lot about contemporary culture that whereas once our minds boggled trying to imagine how the dystopian...

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There's something about young adult fiction that seems well-suited for dystopian stories, as exemplified by the "Divergent" novels by Veronica Roth. Adapted into a film series starting in 2014, the science fiction story had protagonist Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) rise from humble origins in the face of an authoritarian government. Tris joins and inspires a resistance movement to topple the regime, using her unique gifts to rally her supporters. And while the "Divergent" movies may have ended prematurely, without concluding its story, there are plenty of similar films that do present a complete story.

Many of the movies on this are dystopian science fiction, with the main characters often freedom fighters defying various tyrannies. These often involve a cataclysmic incident that facilitated a dark rise to power, with younger generations saving the day from older despots. On numerous occasions, these films are adaptations of beloved books,...

Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" was a labor of love made possible due to the consistent contribution of competent writers. While Serling wrote a chunk of the episodes himself, authors like Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and Ray Bradbury would often pen stories that challenged what was considered "appropriate" for network television. Some were adaptations of classic tales with a quintessential "Twilight Zone" twist, while others drew from chilling real-life incidents by reinterpreting them for a television audience. No matter where the source of inspiration lay, "The Twilight Zone" rooted scathing social commentary at its forefront, critiquing everything from mass moral hysteria to rampant consumerism in a hyper-capitalist society.

Among the show's contributing writers was sci-fi author George Clayton Johnson ("Logan's Run"), who wrote several notable episodes, including the Robert Redford-starrer "Nothing in the Dark," "A Penny for Your Thoughts," and "A Game of Pool." When he was an up-and-coming writer,...

Cheryl Gates McFadden was a dancer before she was an actress. She studied theater in college (she has a Bachelor of Arts degree) and lived in Paris for a spell, performing with the celebrated movement coach Jacques Lecoq. In New York in the 1970s, she taught dance at various colleges, and formed her own theater troupes and comedy companies. In the 1980s, she landed a few high-profile gigs serving as a choreographer and movement coach on "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "Labyrinth." She can be seen giving her commentary in a making-of documentary on the "Labyrinth" DVD. 

McFadden, however, exploded in popularity in 1987 when she was selected to play Dr. Beverly Crusher, the chief medical officer on board the USS Enterprise on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." McFadden (who was just going by Gates back then) didn't get to do much dancing on "Star Trek," but she was given a mature,...

One of the many peculiarities of recent U.S. cultural trends is the “over-55 community,” gated havens for well-off retirees who embrace the idea of mono-generational living as an all-comforts interlude before Thanatos comes knocking. In Gabriel Mascaro’s The Blue Trail, a gentle blend of delayed self-realization fantasy and dystopian portent, the cutoff age is 77, which in a way is progress (think of Logan’s Run) and the move is involuntary, but resistance is not futile. Mascaro’s fourth feature can be considered a pair with his previous Divine Love, which also imagined a near-future controlled by a repressive state disguised as a caring Big Brother, but his latest is less deliciously elliptical than earlier films, privileging sensorial rewards that come from the natural world rather than the human body.

Set aglow by the earthy force of Denise Weinberg as Tereza, a woman determined not to be put away, The Blue Trail...

"We're not here to judge, Kiah, we're here to witness." An intriguing official trailer is available for a peculiar little indie sci-if film called Can I Get a Witness, the latest film from filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming. This premiered at TIFF 2024 last fall, and should be out in theaters soon. It's more of a utopian sci-fi feature about a future world where humanity seems to have made everyone equal without any class division – but at the cost of people over 50 required to pass on in order to control the population. This is a bit like Logan's Run, of course, but seems more ethereal and charming in its depiction of this possible future. Blending live action & animation, the film is set in a world in which travel & technology are virtually banned, and people who reach the age of 50 have to submit to required death – while young people are tasked with artistically documenting their final moments.

This is our final round-up before the end of 2024, and it’s a good one. There are plenty of gift ideas lurking here––some choices to enjoy during time off, too. Note also that The Film Stage Holiday Gift Guide includes a list of my favorite cinema books from the last 12 months. One of those picks kicks off this column, and it is written by none other than the great Al Pacino.

Sonny Boy by Al Pacino (Penguin Press)

Al Pacino’s memoir, Sonny Boy, is easily one of the most eagerly awaited books of 2024. And for me, this look at the actor’s life and career more than lives up to the hype. Many highlights have already earned some social-media chatter––most notably young Al’s penis trauma (!), a near-death experience after a recent bout with Covid, and the reasons behind his decision to do Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill.

Terror is just beneath the surface in Orca, coming to 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on January 21 via Kino Lorber.

Also known as Orca: The Killer Whale, the 1977 creature feature has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision/Hdr.

Inspired by the success of Jaws, Dino De Laurentiis produced the film with Michael Anderson (Logan’s Run) directing from a script by Luciano Vincenzoni & Sergio Donati (Raw Deal).

Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson, Bo Derek (in her film debut), Keenan Wynn, and Robert Carradine star.

Disc 1 – 4K Uhd:

4K Restoration from the Original Camera Negative Dolby Vision/Hdr Presentation of the Film Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson (new) Audio Commentary by Film Historian Lee Gambin 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio

Disc 2 – Blu-ray:

4K Restoration from the Original Camera Negative Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell,...

Simon Kinberg, the writer of Fox’s “X-Men” movies, is the latest in a long carousel of writers and producers who will try their hand at bringing “Star Wars” back to the big screen.

Kinberg will develop, write, and produce a new trilogy of “Star Wars” films for Lucasfilm, according to a report first in Deadline. Though there’s some difference of opinion in the trades as to whether the series will continue the Skywalker Saga and be Episodes X-xii or will be focused on a new group of characters.

While there have been a plethora of “Star Wars” series on Disney+ in the last five years, there hasn’t been a single theatrical “Star Wars” movie since the Skywalker Saga concluded with “Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker” back in 2019. There have though been a lot of start and stop efforts, with a slew of filmmakers and writers coming and going over the years.

Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.

Black Myth: Wukong by Geeky Ninja

He-Man by Carlos Valenzuela

Kingpin by Bryan Johnson

Logan’s Run by John Dunn

Pan’s Labyrinth by Christopher Higginson

Poor Things by Sarah Atwa

The Shining...

The notion that humanity would be better off if there were just less of us isn't a new one, and science-fiction has been toying with that notion at least as far back as William F. Nolan and George Clayton's novel Logan's Run (and subsequent 1976 movie adaptation), which offered up a futuristic world where equilibrium is achieved simply by culling the population with mandatory killings dictated by age. Canadian writer/director Ann Marie Fleming's new film Can I Get a Witness? takes that basic plot device and runs in the opposite direction from its "hard sci-fi" trappings. Instead, her movie, identified up front as a "fable," is a character-first piece that serves as both a meditation on death and a raging environmental diatribe. It's also unfortunately light on drama, turning away from the hard questions the film's premise raises to tell a simple, almost poetic tale about how drastic...

The Venice Film Festival kicked off this weekend, bringing with it not just a host of new movies getting their premieres, but also interesting conversations with the kinds of directors and creators who gravitate to one of Europe's more out-there film fests. We previously reported on Harmony Korine talking about...

Nicolas Winding Refn, is one of the few directors who deserves the enfant terrible label. The Danish filmmaker, best-known for his neon-drenched tales of sex, violence and revenge — Drive, Only God Forgives, The Neon Demon — is at the Venice Film Festival this year with two works that, he says, represents both his “classic past and the future”: A restored version of his 1996 debut Pusher and Beauty Is Not a Sin, a seven-minute commercial for Italian motorcycle company Mv Agusta. “Whoever said a movie can’t be seven minutes long?” is its irreverent, Refn-esque tagline.

In recent years, Refn has pivoted from cinema towards streaming, bringing his acid Day-Glo aesthetic and digressive narrative style — he typically shoots in sequence, not knowing how his stories will end — to series like Too Old to Die Young for Amazon and Copenhagen Cowboy for Netflix. He also, surprisingly, reimagined Enid Blyton’s beloved kids...

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Wolverine's creation and debut in 1974's "The Incredible Hulk" issue #180. For most of that time, it's been accepted that Wolverine was created by writer Len Wein and artist John Romita Sr. However, Roy Thomas — who was Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief in 1974 — has recently (since Wein's death in 2017) been claiming he should be credited as a co-creator of Wolverine as well. Marvel has obliged him.

The credits of "Deadpool & Wolverine" included the following accreditation: "Wolverine created by Len Wein, John Romita Sr., Herb Trimpe, and Roy Thomas." Thomas subsequently wrote an op-ed in The Hollywood Reporter about finally receiving credit as a creator of Wolverine in a film. The headline quote? "My Name Should Have Come First."

Wein's widow, Christine Valada, has been a vocal opponent of Thomas staking this claim on Logan. (Thomas is the only one of Wolverine's four credited creators who is still alive.

1979's Alien pushed the envelope by providing a unique blend of sci-fi and horror. The story of Alien injected horror tropes into its outer-space narrative to heighten the sense of tension. Horror influences can be seen in virtually every aspect of Alien's production, from its concept art to its practical effects.

Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece Alien is an iconic film that forever changed the landscape of science fiction and the movie industry as a whole. Alien was a groundbreaking and progressive exploration into the crossover between science fiction and horror, something which hadn't really been done before. Horror of the 60s and 70s were geared around the emerging slasher sub-genre with hit features like Psycho (1960), Nightmare (1965), and Halloween (1978). Other landmark films that dominated the horror world include pieces like The Exorcist (1973) and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), which relied heavily on violence and gore for shock value and audience effect.

Science fiction cinema came of age in the 1950s, beginning an ascent out of the drive-in schlock market that culminated in the boldly experimental yet still commercially viable efforts of the 1960s. That fed directly into the next decade, with sci-fi in the 1970s taking on (for the most part) the same subversive attitude as most other movies made during that era.

But sci-fi movies also entered blockbuster territory in the ‘70s as demonstrated by the massive success of films like Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman: The Movie, Logan’s Run, and Alien. The studios realized that sci-fi could be a cash cow, and as the 1980s dawned, decided to ramp up their genre output, not to mention their budgets, with elaborate visual effects, bigger stars, and more action—even if some of the more cerebral concepts espoused in the earlier decades’ films took a bit of a back seat.

Dystopian societies have been a focal point of fiction for decades, dating back to novels that critiqued the rise of tyranny in the twentieth century. Often merged with science fiction, these stories allow creators and audiences to explore a world where people are subjected to inhumane, authoritarian and unjust rule. Many of these films will incorporate concerns over technology into their world, whether it's the potential dangers of artificial intelligence of the use of a surveillance state to enforce conformity.

Dystopia continues to be a popular corner of cinema and fiction overall, and many often heed these films as a warning of what may be in store for the future. Classics like Soylent Green, Logan's Run and Planet of the Apes continue to influence modern cinema, thanks to their nightmarish looks at the fate of humanity. The 2010s proved to be a strong year for dystopian fiction, and the 2020s...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks deserves a modern remake to enhance its engaging story with updated visuals. The Blob, a sci-fi classic, could benefit from modern special effects to create a more terrifying Blob. Air Force One's iconic crash scene could be improved with modern CGI for a more realistic impact.

Special effects have developed and changed over the years, and some great movie titles deserve to be remade for the modern world with a fresh and updated look. The first movie that used special effects was Alfred Clark's 1895 reenactment of the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, and since then, the world of cinema has progressed an incredible amount. Whether they differed from the original or not, plenty of the best movie remakes have also relied on special effects to keep audiences engaged and have transported them to all manner of fictional universes.

For example, some of the best sci-fi movies,...

Dan Goozee, the acclaimed artist who created posters for such films as Clash of the Titans, Superman IV and the James Bond movies Moonraker, Octopussy and A View to a Kill, has died. He was 80.

Goozee died April 7 at West Hills Hospital & Medical Center of an age-related condition he had battled for two years, his son, Rob, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The unassuming Goozee spent years as a Walt Disney Imagineering theme park consultant, crafting conceptual artwork for Disneyland Paris and Tokyo DisneySea, for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder rides, for the Imagination Pavilion and Seas Pavilion at Epcot and for the Tree of Life attraction at Animal Kingdom.

He also handled effects work for Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).

Born in 1943 in Astoria, Oregon, Daniel Goozee worked on weekends at movie theaters that his father and uncle owned and operated in nearby Seaside, then graduated...

Sugar immediately introduced itself as one of the coolest, most stylish, and downright enigmatic series of the year when the first episodes premiered on Apple TV+ on April 5. The Colin Farrell and Amy Ryan series follows a compassionate and reserved private detective returning to Los Angeles from a case in Japan. He specializes in finding missing people, and is contacted by a rich movie producer whose granddaughter has been missing for two weeks. Farrell reports to his secretive handler, played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and is thrust into a world of crime, L.A. style.

Just when you think Sugar is a traditional detective series, the show surprises you with aesthetic flourishes and seemingly unexplainable mysteries. That's fitting when you consider the show is created and written by Mark Protosevich, who created the crime fantasy masterpiece The Cell with Jennifer Lopez and wrote I Am Legend with Will Smith. Sugar is a series you stick with,...

The dystopian sci-fi film "Logan's Run" is set in a supposedly idyllic future society where residents above 30 mysteriously disappear. The hedonistic metropolis is enclosed by a dome, and those who choose to explore the world outside — and the secrets that it holds — are labeled "runners." Michael York stars in the film as the titular protagonist, an undercover police officer who infiltrates the runners only to find that he, too, opposes the laws that he once worked to uphold and helps them lead an uprising.

"Logan's Run" was nominated for its cinematography and set decoration in the 1977 Academy Awards. It even received a special achievement award for its visual effects. The futuristic set and costume design were almost identical to the smash-hit sci-fi adventure film "Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope," which was released the following year. It's possible that "Star Wars" even drew inspiration from the 1976 film. However,...

Frank Grillo heaps praise on 'The Purge 6' script, calling it the final installment in the franchise. Grillo's character Leo Barnes will take a prominent role in the movie, set in a divided America. Creator James DeMonaco will direct 'The Purge 6,' and explore a broken, ideologically divided America.

The Purge: Anarchy star Frank Grillo has offered another positive update on the development of the horror sequel, The Purge 6, revealing to Screen Rant that the script is “done” and that it will be the final installment in the franchise. For real, this time. Grillo, who stars in The Purge series as Leo Barnes, heaped praise on The Purge 6 script, and just hopes that the studio is ready to commit to the project.

“The script is done. It basically centers around Leo Barnes, my character. It would be the last of the last of the last, it's like the guy who keeps retiring.

Viewers of local Fox stations in markets like Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and more will now find their local Fox affiliate on Amazon’s free streaming platform.

Amazon’s free ad-supported streaming service Freevee is continuing to bolster its reputation as a news streaming platform. Freevee carries more than 400 total channels, and has announced that this month it is adding 18 new selections total: 17 local Fox affiliates from as many markets, and [TMZ]’s free ad-supported TV (Fast) channel as well.

Freevee is adding Fox stations from giant markets like Austin, Philadelphia, San Francisco and more. The streamer also carries affiliates of ABC and CBS in select markets. A Freevee subscription never requires a credit card, and viewers will find both live and on-demand content on the service. Watch Now Free amazonfreevee.com Which Channels Are Coming to Freevee?

Freevee is bringing on Fox affiliates from top media markets like Atlanta,...

The episode of The Black Sheep covering The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Brandon Nally, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

I’ve been on a bit of a TV kick lately. You’ll see it coming up in one of the adaptation videos but also in what I’ve been watching. The 2023 season of Creepshow has been a lot of fun and Mike Flanagan’s “Succession mixed with a Giallo” in Fall of the House of Usher has been one of my favorite pieces of media this year. It reminded me a lot of growing up watching the second coming of TV horror movies in the 90s. I hesitate to call it the golden age because I think the 70s still holds that title but the 90s had all manner from Stephen King adaptations,...

"She is a rebel now." A festival promo trailer has debuted for a Turkish indie sci-fi film called Once Upon a Time in the Future: 2121, which is still showing on the fest circuit now after premiering last year. It's actually a major achievement - this is the first sci-fi feature film made by a woman in Turkey, and it's also apparently Turkey's first sustainable film. Set in the future when Earth is uninhabitable due to climate crisis & famine. The few survivors form colonies and live in underground blocks. According to "The Scarcity Laws" of the Young Administration which controls this system, old generations must be destroyed in exchange for new lives. The life of a family that lives in one of the blocks is changed by a new baby they are expecting. A fascinating modern Turkish mashup between Silo and Logan's Run - or so it seems. Starring Selen Öztürk,...

The third-season episode of "The Twilight Zone" called "Nothing in the Dark," which first aired on January 5, 1962, is about an elderly woman living unhappily alone in a grim-looking, brick-walled basement apartment in an empty building. Wanda (Gladys Cooper) has, in recent years, become a recluse, fearing that a sojourn to the outside world will bring her face-to-face with death. By her description, however, this is literal. She once saw a man touch a woman with his finger, killing her instantly, leading her to know with utter certainty that Death is a person. Death, she also knows, can also look like anyone. So she surmises it might be best to stay away from people altogether. 

When a handsome young Robert Redford knocks on her door, however, her idyll is smashed. Redford plays a young cop named Harold who was shot in the line of duty and needs immediate medical care. Wanda refuses to let him in,...

"If you're born in this town, you're cursed." MGM has unveiled an official trailer for a horror movie called Dark Harvest, the latest film project from horror filmmaker David Slade. This was originally set to open in 2022, but was delayed and now the studio is dumping it direct-to-vod to watch at home starting in October during Halloween season. I guess they didn't think a theatrical release is worth it? Adapted from the book of the same name, it's set in a small town where the young men must confront a creature each year in the hopes that they will win a chance to leave. A legendary monster called October Boy terrorizes residents in a small Midwestern town when he rises from the cornfields every Halloween with his butcher knife and makes his way toward those brave enough to confront him. Every year the local boys get ready for the "Run...

According to Hungarian animator duo Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó, we have only a century until the dessicated, infertile dystopia of their animated festival hit “White Plastic Sky” becomes our reality. A few years ago, this grave and wistful film’s 2123 setting would have seemed hyperbolic, but the rapidity with which we seem to be hurtling toward environmental collapse recently makes its parched landscapes — it could be the surface of Mars but for the rusted hulls of ships jutting up like tombstones from arid lakebeds — seem only a mild exaggeration of the wastelands our literal grandchildren might have to call home.

Mirroring an animation style in which the somnolent characters are less expressive than the richly detailed, vanishing-point backgrounds however, it is harder to believe in Bánóczki and Szabó’s vision of transformation undergone in the human psyche in an equivalent time frame. In this 2123, life can only be supported...

The 35th edition of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week is officially underway, marking the return of the annual fan-favorite weeklong shark celebration. Shark Week began in 1988 as a fun means of educating audiences on the aquatic predator, counteracting the negative representations of sharks in popular culture that began with the seminal aquatic horror feature Jaws (now available to stream on Peacock).

Jaws didn’t just make people afraid to go into the water; its massive blockbuster success inspired an enduring wave of “sharksploitation” horror that’s become a summer mainstay. Naturally, in celebration of Shark Week, this week’s streaming picks bring the aquatic terror. Shudder’s new documentary Sharksploitation breaks down this subgenre further, packed with insights from filmmakers and scientists alike, for further viewing to complete your Shark Week watchlists.

Whether you’re in the mood for killer shark horror dripping with cheese or genuinely unsettling Jaws riffs,...

The Purge 6 director James DeMonaco provides story details for the next installment of the franchise. The yet-untitled sixth movie in The Purge franchise will see DeMonaco, who helmed the first three installments while writing all five and creating the spinoff show, return to write and direct the horror series' big screen return. The next installment is said to pick up a decade after The Forever Purge's shocking ending in which the United States is left divided, and two million Americans crossed both the Canadian and Mexican borders.

Nearly two years after the sequel was first announced to be in development, DeMonaco caught up with Collider to share new details on The Purge 6. The writer/director explained how the next installment will pick up from The Forever Purge's devastating ending, with America now undergoing an era of "remapping" as states separate themselves based "on ideology, sexuality, and religion.” See...

Director James DeMonaco has revealed that the sixth outing in The Purge franchise would find America more broken than ever before in the series, with the country now split up into states based on “ideology, sexuality and religion.” Speaking with Collider, the creator of The Purge teased the scope of the sequel and revealed that the sixth movie would see the country forever changed.

“‘Purge 6’ is my way of looking at the country now. I grew up watching ‘Logan's Run’ and ‘Soylent Green’ and John Carpenter and George Romero, whose sociopolitical messaging was within the films. They were smuggling ideas into the film. So for me for 6, I was extrapolating on the discord and taking it to its furthest, as far as you can take that idea of what's going on, I feel, in the country and the political landscape. And it’s a broken America. We’re remapping. [‘The Purge 6’] is...

While the 1970s was known as a wild, bold, experimental time in modern cinema—which extended to all genres, including science fiction—the 1980s were best known for… well, we don’t know what, exactly. The rise of the erotic thriller, the action superstar, and cookie-cutter safe high-concept star vehicles, perhaps? As for sci-fi, the decade was marked by both undisputed blockbusters, including the Star Wars and Star Trek sequels, Aliens, and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, as well as some inarguable classics like The Thing, Tron, and Blade Runner. Intriguingly, the more risky ones needed years to find their audience and critical acclaim.

At the same time, sci-fi began to rely less on literary adaptations of the previous decade and more on crossing its streams with other genres, like horror, the Western, and the action thriller—making somewhat of a turn away from the idea-driven films that had come before.

Quentin Tarantino is certainly one of the most well-regarded filmmakers working today. He has always been outspoken about his opinion, and his deep knowledge of film history has made him an important figure in regard to film studies. His love for film is well known, and his opinion holds weight regarding the greatness of specific projects. On an episode of the ReelBlend podcast, the filmmaker revealed what he believes to be the greatest 'movie' of all time. It should be no surprise it comes from Steven Spielberg.

Update June 13, 2023: If you enjoy the work of Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, or both, you'll be happy to know this article was updated by Micah Bailey with additional context and more information.

The movie in question was, in fact, Jaws. Released in 1975, Jaws launched the career of the beloved director Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a ferocious shark who terrorizes the inhabitants...

Actor George Maharis has passed away. THR reports that the Route 66 star died at his Beverly Hills home on Wednesday, according to his friend and caregiver Marc Bahan. Additional details about Maharis' passing were not revealed. The television star was 94 years old.

Maharis was best known for his role in the classic television show Route 66, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. The series starred Martin Milner alongside Maharis as a pair of pals traveling through the United States in a convertible. Partway through the series, Maharis contracted hepatitis, and because of this diagnosis, he wound up leaving the show during its third season. His final episode appearing in the show was in 1963, and Glenn Corbett came in as his successor to portray a new companion to Milner. The show was canceled the following year.

In 2007, Maharis revisited Route 66 when the show was re-released on DVD. At the time,...

To celebrate the 4k restoration of The Three Musketeers & The Four Musketeers both available from 8th May, we are giving away two pairs of the films on Blu-Ray.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1970s swashbuckling classic, Studiocanal are delighted to announce a brand-new 4K restoration of the star-studded The Three Musketeers. Directed by Richard Lester,the film will be available to own on 4K Uhd for the very first time, on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from May 8. To accompany the release, the equally thrilling sequel, The Four Musketeers, has also enjoyed the same 4k treatmentand will be available to own on the same day.

Starring Oliver Reed (Women in Love), Richard Chamberlain (The Towering Inferno) and Frank Finlay (Othello) as the titular Musketeers with Michael York (Logan’s Run) as D’Artagnan, The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers boast exceptional supporting casts featuring many of the most lauded stars...

Apple TV+ has certainly been making attempts to become a bold voice in the future of science fiction with shows like See, Amazing Stories, Foundation, Invasion, Severance, and Hello Tomorrow! The new upcoming drama Silo, loosely inspired by the popular series of novels by author Hugh Howey, is the latest in these dystopian stories that have the difficult task of creating a version of the future that’s darker than our current reality. Due to a toxic surface environment, the remains of humanity have to travel underground and live in a massive facility where they’re told to put their faith in an unstable system that has true intentions that they’re not aware of. While this sounds like a fairly miserable viewing experience, there’s an older classic Sci-Fi film that took the same concept in a decidedly more interesting way. Logan’s Run certainly has a lot of those same story concepts,...

It's a dystopian tale as old as time: in the post-apocalyptic future, Earth's populace is controlled by an authoritarian leadership that imposes a series of rigid rules that purport to protect them from an inhospitable, perhaps uninhabitable outside world. We've seen many iterations of this, from the hedonistic society of "Logan's Run" to the ramshackle hell of "12 Monkeys." It's an evergreen concept, one that responds to the fears of humans as we barrel forward with blithe disregard to our seemingly inevitable doom.

Hugh Howey's "Silo" series of novels is a fairly familiar take on this premise. In his first installment, which became a self-publishing phenomenon via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing imprint in 2012, we're introduced to a society that exists 144 stories beneath the Earth's surface. While its denizens are being housed for their own protection from the toxic world above, every now and then some curious individual asks to go topside.

When you have an adult animated series that's inspired by the like of Indiana Jones and "National Treasure," it would make sense if classic adventure movies provided a lot of inspiration. When it comes to Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell's new series "Digman!" on Comedy Central, that's certainly the case. But you might be surprised by the hefty helping of sci-fi that's thrown into the mix, and along with that come some unexpected allusions to other classic movies. Even films outside of the adventure and sci-fi arenas couldn't escape the comedic clutches of Rip Digman, a washed up archaeologist living in a world where these adventurers are huge celebrities. 

Leading up to the premiere of "Digman!" on Comedy Central this week, we spoke with series co-creators Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell, who revealed some of the surprising classic movies that inspired their absurd adventure antics in the eight episodes...

14 years ago, we learned that Denis Leary's Apostle production company was developing a television series based on Andrew Niccol's sci-fi drama "Gattaca." It was a vague announcement buried in a story about the conclusion of Leary's FX show "Rescue Me." There wasn't so much as a logline. All we knew was that Gil Grant, a relentlessly mainstream TV writer best known for working on "24" and "NCIS," had been placed in charge of developing this cerebral property for Apostle. Nothing ever came of it, and we all forgot it was ever a thing — until today.

According to Deadline, "Homeland" co-creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa are developing a "Gattaca" series for Showtime via Sony Pictures Television. There's nary a word about Apostle in the trade break, but one of the original film's producers, Danny DeVito, is back in the fold. These are talented folks, but was there a...

"What if everything you know to be true is one big lie?" Apple has revealed a quick teaser for an intriguing new sci-fi series titled Silo, arriving for streaming starting in May. This new title, Silo, is the same title as the book series it's based on - but the project was going with the title Wool initially while in production. Perhaps a reference to the "wool" being pulled over our eyes? "The truth will surface." In a ruined and toxic future, thousands live in a giant silo deep underground. After its sheriff breaks a cardinal rule and residents die mysteriously, engineer Juliette starts to uncover shocking secrets and the truth about the silo. The series stars Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette, with an ensemble cast including Tim Robbins, Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo, Common, Harriet Walter, Avi Nash, Chinaza Uche, & Iain Glen. This looks legit - I dig the entire setup...

A number of great movies are leaving HBO Max at the end of March, so it’s time to prioritize these titles in your queue. Filmmaker James Gunn’s sequel/soft reboot “The Suicide Squad” will depart the streaming service on March 22 after first hitting HBO Max the same day it was released in theaters back in 2021. Similarly, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” was whisked away on March 1 after also getting a day-and-date release in 2021 (sorry/not sorry if you missed it).

You also only have until March 7 to stream “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen,” a short documentary on the making of the Oscar-nominated biopic “Elvis.”

Other noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Contagion,” the extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” “Ghostbusters,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love & Basketball” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

Face Off journeys into the Future for an epic battle: Demolition Man vs. Minority Report!

We’ve seen many different and iconic visions of futuristic societies in film, from the distinctive fire-belching skyline and perpetual rain of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner to the towering chaos of New York in The Fifth Element. There’s the grimy concrete of Dredd’s overcrowded Mega City One, the utopian domes of Logan’s Run, the vibrant cyberpunk metropolis of Akira’s Neo Tokyo, and who could forget the hoverboards and holograms of Back to the Future Part 2’s more pleasant Hill Valley circa 2015. Huh, it’s weird to think that all Back to the Future movies take place in the past now.

But for this episode, we’re going to visit the worlds of two other well-known sci-fi/action movies that, perhaps surprisingly, share a few similarities: Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell,...

Movies That Made Me veteran guest and screenwriter Dan Waters discusses his favorite year of cinema (1989) with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Love At First Bite (1979)

Hudson Hawk (1991)

Demolition Man (1993)

Heathers (1989)

Warlock (1989)

The Matrix (1999)

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Jaws (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Nashville (1975)

Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Field Of Dreams (1989)

My Left Foot (1989)

Crimes And Misdemeanors (1989)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Sex Lies And Videotape (1989)

Easy Rider (1969)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

All That Jazz (1979)

Hair (1979)

Alien (1979)

Fight Club (1999)

Office Space (1999)

Magnolia (1999)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

American Pie (1999)

The Iron Giant (1999)

All About My Mother (1999)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Pretty In Pink (1986)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Say Anything… (1989)

Miracle Mile (1989)

True Love (1989)

Powwow Highway (1989)

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Southside With You...

The first few minutes of White Plastic Sky, the animated feature from Hungarian directors Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó that debuted at the Berlin Film Festival 2023, sketch a future world with echoes of past cinematic dystopias.

The world has been stripped of life, the soil poisoned, and all animals driven to extinction. Humanity survives under a huge geodesic dome (the plastic sky of the title) and has learned to feed on itself. At the age of 50, every citizen gets a special implant that turns them into a food source for the next generation. In a scene resembling the pod farms of the Matrix films, we see how implanted humans are transmogrified into a hybrid plant species, becoming trees that provide oxygen and food for those under the dome.

“There are similarities in our story to Soylent Green or Logan’s Run, similar motifs to other high-concept, or hardcore science fiction,” admits Bánóczki,...

Like many films of its era, Alien was almost saddled with a romantic subplot for a broader appeal, but Director Ridley Scott cut the angle — despite the potential to improve a death scene. Released in 1979 after seminal sci-fi movies like Star Wars and Logan's Run, Alien was a moody sci-fi thriller that sought to buck then-current genre trends by blending body and psychological horror with outstanding visual effects into something completely different. Alien was praised for its bold art direction, practical effects, and strong central characters, one of whom, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, became a pop culture icon.

In the DVD commentary for Alien, Scott discusses the romantic relationship proposed between Ripley and the Nostromo's captain Arthur Dallas that almost made it into the film, thought it was ultimately determined to be unnecessary to both their character development and the plot. Set hundreds of years in the future, Alien remains...

To anyone in their 20s, Michael Anderson's 1976 sci-fi film "Logan's Run" remains a pop culture fulcrum of anxiety. Based on the 1967 novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, "Logan's Run" is set in the distant future of 2274 where the human population has been gathered in high-tech, dome-enclosed living facilities where their every wish is granted by an elaborate computer system. Everyone is young and attractive, and sex partners of any gender identity can be dialed up on a local roulette system.

All citizens are equipped with a crystal in the palm of their hands. When they turn 30, the crystal begins glowing red, and the citizen in question must undergo a bleak ritual called Carousel. No one survives Carousel. If someone attempts to flee when their time is up — if they become a Runner — they are hunted down by local police called Sandmen. The title character, Logan 5 (Michael York...

The sights and sounds we take in growing up often have the power to stick with us well into adulthood. These images can be from film or television and can encompass any tone or genre of storytelling. More often than not, however, it’s the stuff that frightened and disturbed us in those formative years that tends to stick to the walls of memory the hardest.

The Internet is awash with content centered around people sharing those moments across media that scarred their growing psyches, ranging from more well-known media to more obscure stuff. Those moments in film and TV that gave us a shock to the system. Things that, for some reason or another, hit us at just the right moment to carve a lasting memory.

For me personally, one of those things is the 1977 Dino De Laurentiis produced Jaws knock-off, Orca: The Killer Whale.

Directed by Michael Anderson...

Tom “Tommy” McCarthy, executive vice president of post-production facilities, is retiring from his post at Sony Pictures Entertainment after more than three decades. Jon Hookstratten, EVP of Administration & Operations, confirmed the news in a memo adding that Kimberly Jimenez had been promoted to senior vice president of post-production services.

Read the full memo:

Today we are announcing the retirement of Tom “Tommy” McCarthy, executive vice president of post production facilities for Sony Pictures Entertainment. As many of you already know, Tommy is a legend in this business. Over the course of his illustrious 32-year career at Spe he has led the studio’s sound editorial and mixing departments, built Spe’s reputation as The destination for post production services, and created an environment where creative talent could thrive.

Tommy was a sound editor on such classic television shows as How the West was Won, Chips, and Logan’s Run. In 1992, he...

Tom McCarthy, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s executive vice president of postproduction services, is retiring from his role after a career spanning three decades with the studio.

Kimberly Jimenez will now be promoted to fill his shoes in a new role as senior vice president of postproduction services at the studio. The news was shared in a note with staff on Thursday from Jon Hookstratten, EVP of Administration & Operations. McCarthy and Jimenez’s transition period will begin immediately.

“Tommy” McCarthy led Spe’s sound and editorial mixing departments and was an editor on shows such as “How the West Was Won,” “CHiPS” and “Logan’s Run” and in 1992 won an Oscar for Sound Editing for “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” He’s also a BAFTA winner for “Out of Africa.”

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Chris Winfrey Named Charter Communications President and CEO

“Tommy’s contributions to Spe and the impact he’s had on the industry...