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Hello, Dark Winds season 3, and Hello David Bowie! Episode 1, "Ye’iitsoh," on AMC starts similar to last season in a flash forward where we see Joe Leaphorn in another life-and-death predicament. Joe is lying on the ground in a countdown as Space Odyssey plays in the background. He wakes up in a gasp with an arrow in his neck.

It’s unclear if this arrow is laced with something, or punctured Leaphorn in a weak spot. After he pulls the arrow out he calls back at the station to Natalie, but the reception is going in and out. “It’s not enough, send everyone. Now.” Joe exclaims over the radio. Spoilers Ahead.

Photo Credit: Michael Moriatis/AMC

Leaphorn crawls with little use of control in the dark desert. Whistling surrounds him as he tries to inch away to safety or freedom. Joe thinks it’s his monster after him because...

It's been just over a month since Donald Trump's second US presidency began, but James Cameron has already had enough. The Academy- Award-winning filmmaker recently appeared on an episode of The F—ing News, where he shared that he was very displeased with the political climate in the United States and that he felt the country was losing its core values. Cameron was asked how he felt about the new administration, which he likened to "watching a car crash over and over."

"I think it's horrific, I think it's horrifying." He added: "I see a turn away from everything decent. America doesn't stand for anything if it doesn't stand for what it has historically stood for. It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they're hollowing it out as fast as they can for their own benefit."

The Titanic and Avatar director is, in fact, so unimpressed with the...

Today, most audiences know the villainous Hannibal Lecter as the charming, suave version depicted by Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal. The NBC thriller series quickly embedded itself in modern minds; however, Mads Mikkelsen was far from the first to play the infamous killer. Slightly over two decades before the television series, Anthony Hopkins offered a different, more spine-chilling take on Hannibal Lecter.

Silence of the Lambshas yet to lose any of its psychological charm, and its hair-raising thrills remain a staple of modern Hannibal tales. It is considered by many to be one of the world’s most influential films, and its visual iconography is now a pillar for many horrific works. The film also spawned multiple sequels, including Ridley Scott’s Hannibal in 2001. However, one face was conspicuously absent from the sequel’s roster; Jodie Foster did not return as FBI Agent Clarice Starling.

Who Is Clarice Starling? Image via...

If you're looking for the perfect games to play on Valentine's Day, Crunchyroll Game Vault 's extensive library of over 40 titles has you covered. From dating action game Eternights to the newly-added Sweet Sins 2 and beyond, here are just a few of the games Mega and Ultimate Fan members can check out to make the day a little sweeter. Eternights Studio Sai A dating action-game set during the apocalypse, where you must make the most of your time. Monday: Go on a date. Tuesday: tackle a dungeon. Friday: Panic! The clock is ticking! Intuitive touch screen controls as well as support for game controllers Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Simplified and Traditional Chinese River City Girls WayForward, Arc System Works There's trouble once again on the mean streets of River City! Hard-hitting heroines Misako and Kyoko are tearing up the town to rescue their boyfriends,...

Danny Boyle is a filmmaker who thrives on unpredictability, creating unforgettable stories that span an impressive variety of genres. From zombie apocalypses to sci-fi epics, and even musical love letters to The Beatles, Boyle has never been one to stick to a formula. His ability to jump between genres and deliver cinematic gems each time is a testament to his storytelling genius.

Not content with just films, Boyle has left his mark on theater and even orchestrated the breathtaking opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Every project he touches becomes an experience, one that lingers in the mind long after the credits roll. It’s this fearlessness in storytelling that cements Boyle’s place among the greats of modern cinema.

Danny Boyle directing Steve Jobs (Credits- Universal Pictures)

And now, the highly anticipated sequel to his iconic zombie masterpiece is officially on its way. 28 Years Later is set to...

Ever since George Melies shot a rocket into the eye of the Man in the Moon or when Protazanov entertained the possibility of a proletarian uprising on Mars, and Fritz Lang spellbindingly dramatized the space travel, cinema has started gazing into the outer space and speculating about the mysteries lying beyond the reaches of Earth. Subsequently, the space race between the 1950 and 1970s encouraged the craving for space-set sci-fi narratives. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) might not be the greatest blockbuster hit like the later-era space operas like Star Wars and Star Trek franchise. Yet, it was one of the earlier films to offer a deeply perceptive look at humans’ existence in the universe.

The more we learned about the cosmos, our feelings of wonderment were mixed with feelings of dread. The question of what’s out there continues to haunt these creators. But the problem with most...

Director Ridley Scott has a long and diverse filmography with several critical and commercial hits. However, historical epics and sci-fi are the director’s go-to genres. Scott made his feature film debut with the historical drama The Duelists and followed it up with two sci-fi movies. As a result, fans might be surprised to learn that the director wasn’t an avid fan of the genre growing up.

Ridley Scott did not like sci-fi as a child (Credit: Paramount Pictures | YouTube).

During an interview, Scott opened up about directing the cult classic sci-fi film Blade Runner during the earlier portions of his career. Scott revealed that while he wasn’t interested in the genre watching one of the best sci-fi movies of all time completely shifted his perspective. Here is what Scott had to say about the sci-fi film that impacted him the most.

Ridley Scott only made Blade Runner...

Avast ye! The season finale of Skeleton Crew is now streaming on Disney+.

Lucasfilm's latest live-action Star Wars series concluded its first season with an exciting (if somewhat rushed) episode, which finally revealed the backstory of the Force-sensitive pirate known as Jod Na Nawood, aka Captain Silvo, aka Crimson Jack.

Major spoilers ahead.

"The Real Good Guys" picks up immediately after the events of last week's episode, with Jod igniting his lightsaber as he approaches our young heroes and their parents. No, he wasn't planning to re-enact Anakin Skywalker's youngling murder spree from Revenge of the Sith, and was simply using the weapon to convince At Attin's Caretaker Droids that he's a Republic Emissary and a Jedi.

Despite his odd request that the kids be confined to their quarters, the adults buy his story - but Nawood is not so lucky with the mysterious Supervisor.

There was speculation...

Warning! This post contains Spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew episode 8

Skeleton Crew episode 8 is the finale for this brand-new Star Wars series, featuring some very exciting Easter eggs. Featuring exciting action sequences as the kid crew of The Onyx Cinder fight to save their home world from Jude Law's Jod Na Nawood and his band of pirates, some really cool connections and references are made to the wider Star Wars galaxy and timeline. This includes some fascinating ties to the events of Order 66 itself.

As seen in the previous Skeleton Crew episode 7, Jod convinces At Attin's security droids that he's a Republic emissary on official business to offload credits from the Republic Mint held beneath the planet with over 1,000 vaults packed with dataries. As such, Wim, Fern, Neel, and Kb work together to get a message out to the New Republic for assistance, all while Jod's history as a Force-user is finally revealed.

Everyone's a critic, art's subjective, and everyone has their own personal favorites, so saying "the best of all time" is relative at best or even pointless. When Rotten Tomatoes applies that label to a film, though, it has a bit more weight, considering it's an aggregate site that usually represents a wide range of critics' opinions. In their list of the 150 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time, the absolute essentials, Rotten Tomatoes has placed 2001: A Space Odyssey at the very top. And it just so happens to be streaming for free as of New Year's Day; watch it on Tubi here.

Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece marks a kind of evolution in the science-fiction genre, which is ironic considering the film is pretty much all about evolution. There's before 2001, and there's after 2001. That's because of the level of intellectual complexity, sophistication, production design, ambition, and artistry, which was galaxies away...

The groundbreaking science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is heading to streaming.

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, Tubi subscribers can experience the cinematic epic that has captivated audiences for decades. Widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a visual and narrative journey that explores themes of human evolution, artificial intelligence, and the mysteries of the universe. Featuring revolutionary visual effects, an iconic score, and a meticulously crafted story, the film has inspired countless filmmakers and remains a touchstone in the sci-fi genre.

Related A Rare Stanley Kubrick Interview Explains 2001: A Space Odyssey's Ending

Decades after its release, 2001: A Space Odyssey's ending still confuses many, yet a rare interview with director Stanley Kubrick explains it all.

The Legacy of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Released in 1968, Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey redefined what science fiction could achieve on the big screen.

The greatest movies continue to inspire filmmakers years after their release, featuring an idea that immediately draws viewers in. Some of the most notable films have moments that are endlessly quoted by audiences who fondly recall watching these spectacular creations. Several films such as Interstellar and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy have been returning to theaters this year, reminding viewers of some of their favorite pieces of cinema. This has prompted moviegoers to share which movie scenes they consider the most iconic.

Releases like Jaws and Toy Story have included some unforgettable sequences that bring a smile to viewers across the globe. These incredible scenes from iconic movies continue to linger in the minds of moviegoers due to their extremely strong writing and direction. Some of these pieces of cinematic history are more famous than others, proving to have left a lasting impression on many viewers.

Updated on December 22, 2024, by...

One of popular culture's most beloved and successful brands of cinema, Sci-Fi boasts some of the best movies of all time. A key element of this is the diverse array of memorable and compelling villains that the genre has produced over the years. Featuring iconic characters in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey's Hal 9000, The Matrix's Agent Smith, or Star Wars' Darth Vader, the best sci-fi movie villains of all time feature prominently on any list of wider cinema's finest antagonists.

However, for every celebrated bad guy that the genre has to offer, there's at least one tragically underrated sci-fi movie villain who doesn't get enough recognition from mainstream audiences. Whether the character in question is overshadowed by more prominent antagonists who appear in their parent franchise or simply ends up getting lost in the shuffle with an array of broadly similar competitors, science fiction plays host...

Hal 9000, the primary antagonist of the classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, is reimagined as a glitchy artificial intelligence in a video that serves as a commentary on modern-day society. 2001: A Space Odyssey was a revolutionary science fiction film released in 1968, and is one of the best movies directed by Stanley Kubrick. 2001: A Space Odyssey follows David Bowman and a crew of astronauts who are sent on a mission through space. However, while on their mission, their spacecraft's computer system, Hal 9000, turns evil and orchestrates the deaths of several characters.

Instagram user Paul Morrison posted a video inspired by Hal 9000's behavior in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the video, the eerie voice of Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey is replaced by the voice of Siri that many Apple product users are so accustomed to. David Bowman is asking Hal to perform tasks, such as opening the pod bay doors,...

Stanley Kubrick's films were the antithesis of conventional Hollywood storytelling. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Shining and A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick's attention to detail and obsessive need for perfectionism left behind a collection of cinematic achievements that many consider far ahead of anything that's been made before or since and is synonymous with depth and complexity. It's been 25 years since the release of his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, and discussion regarding the film's content still exists among scholars, critics, and cinephiles, all of whom have their own unique interpretations.

Eyes Wide Shut, starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise and featuring a supporting role from acclaimed director Sydney Pollack, thrives on the most basic task assigned to the viewing audience of any film: perception. It combines the tumultuous relationship of a wealthy doctor and his wife, who project outward appearances to cloak what occurs behind closed doors,...

William Shatner appears in 765874 – Unification: a quietly moving tribute to 1994’s Star Trek: Generations and the late Leonard Nimoy.

You know that late sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey where Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) sees different versions of himself at varying stages of his life? There’s a touch of that cosmic eeriness to 765874 – Unification, a short film released to mark the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: Generations.

That 1994 film was, of course, the last big-screen appearance from William Shatner’s James T Kirk, and the new short is a tribute to both his work throughout the franchise and those who co-starred with him, not least the great, dearly-missed Leonard Nimoy. This is an official film, too, not a fan-made piece – meaning Shatner himself appears, albeit digitally de-aged, as well as the likeness of Nimoy, with permission from his family’s estate. You’ll also find Robin Kurtis as Saavik,...

Director Ridley Scott lauds 2001: A Space Odyssey as a remarkable feat, calling director Stanley Kubricks innovative portrayal of artificial intelligence both visionary and cautionary. Scott, a renowned director known for influential sci-fi films like Blade Runner and Alien, and the upcoming Gladiator II, has long been a fan of 2001. It is known for its groundbreaking visual effects and often considered one of the greatest achievements in cinematic history. 2001 explores humanitys relationship with technology, centering on Hal 9000, an AI who goes rogue and risks the livelihood of its space crew on a harrowing journey towards Jupiter.

In a recent interview with Collider, Scott elaborated on his admiration for one of his all-time favorite movies, particularly noting how 2001 predicts the complex role AI could play in society. Kubrick's depiction of AI foreshadows a future in which advanced artificial intelligence could potentially seize control in ways humanity might struggle to prevent.

Disney's new documentary covering the life and work of composer John Williams, Music by John Williams, is a detailed homage to one of screen music's most loved icons. John Williams' film scores are known throughout the movie-going world for their orchestral sophistication and emotional complexity, making the New York City native the go-to musical inspiration for directors such as Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Oliver Stone, and Ron Howard. While Star Wars is arguably John Williams' best-known score, his credits read like a who's-who of blockbuster movies: Jaws, Close Encounters, Jurassic Park, and many others. His four Best Original Score Oscars are unmatched.

But, again, it is his celebrated score for the Star Wars franchise that Williams is most remembered for. Music by John Williams notes that, in 1977 when Williams composed the theme for the first Star Wars film, the sci-fi genre was in its relative infancy. Accompanying sci-fi music at...

The great thing about sci-fi is its willingness to ask big questions. With so many of the genre's premises involving extreme life-or-death situations like, say, the end of the world, a mysterious plague, or even an alien invasion (to name but a few), these stories often posit questions of an earth-shattering nature, which, in turn, allows them to explore existential spaces in a manner other movie genres simply can't.

Sometimes, those questions can lead to confusing moments for audiences. Not everyone in a movie theater is on the same wavelength at all times, and it isn't a given that they're all necessarily interested in pondering the meaning of life. In such cases, a sci-fi movie's attempt to reach for the stars (so to speak) by thinking outside the box during its third and final act isn't always appreciated or even easily understood.

Related 10 Underrated Sci-Fi Movies That Are Flawless From...

From the makers of From Bedrooms To Billions comes The Rubber-Keyed Wonder, a documentary about the Zx Spectrum and its inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair. Our review:

There was a time when the games industry was almost alarmingly casual about its own legacy – it’s only relatively recently that the preservation of videogames, hardware, and the stories of the people that make them have been considered important enough to set down for posterity.

The latest documentary from filmmaking couple Anthony and Nicola Caulfield (From Bedrooms To Billions), The Rubber-Keyed Wonder steps in to capture the recollections of the people who developed and programmed the Sinclair Zx Spectrum – an 8-bit computer that, arguably more than any other, helped ignite the British videogaming scene back in the early 1980s.

It sadly arrives too late to interview its inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair – he passed away in 2021 – but through conversations with family members and former colleagues who worked with him,...

Some movies are tailor-made for the big screen, especially sci-fi movies. While streaming has changed the landscape of cinema, there are still some movies which deserve to be watched on the biggest screen possible. Movie theaters offer an immersive experience that very few people are able to replicate at home. Streaming robs some movies of their scale and spectacle.

Sci-fi movies often rely on eye-popping visuals, which makes them uniquely suited to a big screen experience. Action and horror movies also tend to benefit from being watched in theaters, while some other genres aren't impacted as severely. Although streaming is more convenient and often much cheaper, it hasn't been able to replace the feeling of watching a sci-fi masterpiece unfolding in a theater.

Related 10 Best Epic Sci-Fi Movies Of All Time, Ranked

Sci-fi is already one of the most intriguing genres in cinema, but when a sci-fi epic creates a vast world,...

2001: A Space Odyssey is a beloved classic of science fiction and Hal 9000 is the movie's most iconic character. Hal is the closest thing to an antagonist in the film and the focus of its second act. While he ultimately becomes a sinister and terrifying force, the truth of why he malfunctioned and what prompted his betrayal is much more complicated than some fans may believe. Indeed, Hal is actually a tragic character, arguably a victim and not responsible for his own actions.

It's ironic that, in a story about extraterrestrial intervention and human evolution, a computer became the biggest star. Hal often appears to possess just as much humanity as the crew of Discovery One, making his murderous actions and his cold, calculating nature all the more horrifying. However, despite having sentience and many human qualities, Hal was still a machine and bound by his programming. This, unfortunately, created...

Quick Links Ad Astra's Practical Effects Brad Pitt's Role in Ad Astra The Different Purposes of Ad Astra and 2001: A Space Odyssey

Brad Pitt occupies a space in Hollywood that is mostly untouched. He's the definition of a transitory movie star, one of the last in this generation where they're becoming harder to find. Apart from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney, Brad Pitt is one of the last stars still working at the top level. In recent years, his career has taken him to the front lines of World War 2 more than once and made him the last line of defense against Charles Manson's murderous cult. However, it's the movie that sent him up into space that gave him perhaps his hardest acting challenge not being Brad Pitt.

James Gray's Ad Astra is one of the more underrated films in Pitt's filmography.

Science fiction productions dont come better than 2001: A Space Odyssey. Premiering in 1968, the flick is a triumph all around and a perfect introduction to Stanley Kubricks oeuvre.

Steven Spielberg accurately described it as the "big bang" of the post-Golden Age era, while George Lucas labeled it "hugely inspirational," adding that Kubrick was "the filmmaker's filmmaker." Martin Scorsese proudly included it among his cherished films of all time and Sydney Pollack called it "groundbreaking." William Friedkin gave an opinion too, calling it "the grandfather of all such films," whereas Ridley Scott declared that no one could match what Kubrick had done.

2001: A Space Odyssey AdventureMystery Sci-Fi Release Date April 2, 1968Director Stanley KubrickCast Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret TyzackRuntime 141

It isnt by accident or luck that the film sparkles with entrancing touches of serendipity. Kubrick snatched renowned sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke for screenplay duties.

While the world easily knows the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, or the Hulk, the Avengers have featured over 120 official members across several different named teams. Across the teams 81 years of publication history, the Avengers have been Marvels most influential and long-standing source of stories and comic titles of all time. However, not all members of the titular team are as publicly notable, often because the Avengers rotating cast of heroes tend to frequently shift. That said, the Avengers have strict standards for admittance, so here are the ten most underrated Avengers in Marvel history.

Swordsman

Jacques Duquesne is a morally ambiguous master of bladed combat and one of the Avengers earliest members. Debuting on the team in 1965, only two years after the teams founding, Swordsman has bounced back and forth between villain-for-hire and a noble hero when needed. Despite not having any powers, Duquesne is an Olympic-level athlete...

An artificial intelligence researcher analyzes Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey for accurate AI depictions. The 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and Daniel Richter is based on a short story by sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. The movie follows Dr. Dave Bowman (Dullea) and other astronauts as they embark on a mysterious mission. As time goes on, their ships computer system, Hal, begins to exhibit increasingly strange behavior.

Sasha Luccioni is an AI researcher at Hugging Face, a global startup that works on responsible AI. In a recent video for Insider, Luccioni rated Kubricks 1968 film for AI accuracy. Overall, she gave it a 2/10. One of the scenes Luccioni analyzed was the lip-reading scene. While there are applications of AI that do lip-reading, they are more often for assistance than surveillance, according to the AI researcher. Additionally, for the lip-reading to be successful, the person speaking...

Since its release in 1968, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey has been revered by many as one of the most influential movies ever made. The special effects, depiction of space travel, and manner of storytelling were way ahead of their time. More importantly, the movie showed that science fiction filmmaking could be an art form, revealing the genre's potential and permanently demolishing the myth that it was strictly for kids. It painted a vision of humanity both wondrous and bleak while providing a long, dark stare into the mysteries of the cosmos.

Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that decades after its release, movie-goers still debate back and forth about the true meaning of the iconic sci-fi movie's infamously ambiguous ending. 2001: A Space Odyssey's ending reveals its answers obliquely at best, running against the time-honored Hollywood tradition of being as clear to the audience as possible. Its deliberate...

Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, seemed to have owed a lot to the marriage of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, the two leads of a film that revolved around the themes of infidelity and unfaithfulness.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) [Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]

While there has been a lot of discourse around the film’s completion and the changes that it made to the source material, Nicole Kidman revealed to the Hollywood Reporter how Kubrick was quite concerned with how the relationship looked on screen.

Stanley Kubrick was ‘mining’ Tom Cruise’s marriage to Nicole Kidman Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 Eyes Wide Shut | Warner Bros.

Nicole Kidman, in a conversation with the Los Angeles Times, revealed how Stanley Kubrick handled dealing with their marriage and depicting them as a couple with designs for an affair out of wedlock. Kubrick was very attentive to the...

Last year, discourse about film runtimes reached a peak when Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon clocked in at 206 minutes. For him, that was a slight edit after 2019’s The Irishman came in at 209. But for a segment of the moviegoing audiences, it was too long to sit through in one showing,...

After the massive success of Shudder’s original program 101 Greatest Horror Moments of All Time, comes the newest original program Horror’s Greatest.

Horror’s Greatest through its five episodes, “Tropes & Cliches”, “Giant Monsters”, “Japanese Horror”, “Horror Comedies”, and “Stephen King Adaptations”, showrunner Kurt Sayenga uses a unique format through deep dives with a vast variety of on-screen interviewees, including myself, to bring new perspectives on the horror films you love, while also bringing attention to the lesser-known gems for horror fans to discover.

Sayenga made a name for himself in the horror documentary world with Eli Roth’s History of Horror and 101 Greatest Horror Moments of All Time. In this interview, Sayenga shares about what inspired the show, the significance of highlighting the wide spectrum of horror, how Godzilla influenced his career, and what he hopes horror fans to take away from this show.

Bonilla: You have an extensive history with television documentaries.

Director Ridley Scott's short list of favorite films includes three sci-fi classics. He revealed how his first two picks heavily inspired Alien's premise.

Ridley Scott was pressed to name four of his favorite films in an interview with Letterboxed. His first two choices were seminal to the development of Alien, which was inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Scott confirmed the parallel plots of Alien and Kubrick's 1968 sci-fi classic; he described that film's AI antagonist Hal 9000 as "The computer knows that the mission is more important than the people. We copied that in Alien." All of the mainline Alien films featured different iterations of humanoid synthetics issued by the Weyland-Yutani company, one of many mega-corporations running colonies beyond the solar system. Ash (played by Ian Holm) was an android ordered to ensure the Xenomorph survives in Alien.

Many iconic sci-fi movies, like Star Wars, Interstellar, and Contact, have been heavily influenced by Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The themes and visuals of 2001, such as the monoliths and Hal's red light, have shaped the way sci-fi movies explore humanity's place in the universe. Kubrick's film has set a lasting standard for abstract storytelling in the genre, pushing filmmakers to create thought-provoking narratives.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most influential sci-fi movies ever made, so it's no surprise that many other classics of the genre have taken inspiration from it. Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece represented a massive leap forward in terms of the technical side of sci-fi filmmaking, but it has also influenced the kinds of themes and stories that sci-fi movies attempt to tackle.

So many images from 2001: A Space Odyssey are now iconic - the towering monoliths, Hal's intense red light,...

Batman: Caped Crusader, the latest animated interpretation of DC’s Dark Knight, embraces the pulpy horror theatrics of EC Comics.

“And you don’t know how to catch a ghost.”

“Before today, I didn’t believe they existed.”

One of superhero media’s greatest luxuries is that it’s an exaggerated genre that frequently toes the line with other styles of story. It’s not unusual for a superhero series to become a political thriller, fantastical rom-com, or epic spaghetti western based on the specific characters who are in play. Batman, in particular, is a classic DC Comics character who’s frequently steeped in dark ideas and he’s someone who’s a natural fit for the horror genre. Each cinematic Batman offering features some degree of horror, even the neon-colored Joel Schumacher entries, and there is no shortage of horror-blending comic stories between Batman: Night Cries, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth,...

Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is at its most visually sumptuous when immersing us in Riley’s (Kensington Tallman) burgeoning belief systems, a new addition to her mind that’s portrayed as an enormous, beautifully rendered chamber full of fluorescent strands of light, culminating in a single blossom above representing her sense of self. But once Riley’s fragile teenage emotions take the wheel, though, that blossom becomes frayed, the product of a toxic pool infected with intrusive thoughts. Sadly, that visual complexity isn’t matched by the actual journey the core emotions take back to the forefront of Riley’s mind. It can’t help but feel like a more convoluted retread of the first Inside Out’s abstract buddy comedy, but without the poignancy of the Bing Bong storyline or the subtle realization of the role of Sadness in our lives. Instead, the plot is still trying to...

The first trailer for the Ssu's upcoming Venom: The Last Dance has been released, featuring "Space Oddity" by David Bowie. "Space Oddity" was inspired by 2001: A Space Oddity and Bowie's own alienation and loneliness following a break-up, hinting at intense emotions and themes in Venom: The Last Dance. Since "Space Oddity's" Major Tom says his goodbyes before his death in the song, Venom: The Last Dance is implied to be Eddie Brock and Venom's final adventure together.

The first official trailer for Sony's Venom: The Last Dance has been released, featuring an iconic song that could reveal new details about the upcoming sequel. Set outside the MCU, though perhaps with connections to the Marvel Studios franchise after 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, Venom: The Last Dance is scheduled to premiere in October 2024, marking the most recent addition to Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Venom: The Last Dance...

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds return as Wolverine and Deadpool in the highly anticipated MCU debut. Get ready for a hilariously designed popcorn bucket featuring Wolverine's mask and a unique buttery twist. The film brings the beloved characters into the MCU to face off against a powerful mutant and more familiar faces.

Deadpool & Wolverine has so much for audiences to be excited about. Hugh Jackman is returning as Wolverine. The titular heroes are finally coming to the MCU. And... a questionable popcorn bucket? Following the release of Dune 2, which saw AMC release an unintentionally naughty popcorn bucket, Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) quickly announced that the popcorn bucket for Deadpool & Wolverine would make Dune's sexy sandworm feel tame by comparison. Well, Deadpool & Wolverine's exclusive popcorn bucket has finally been revealed and Reynolds was absolutely right.

Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) revealed the popcorn bucket on X/Twitter. Set to the iconic sound...

Have you ever dreamed about being a better version of yourself? With her second film, Coralie Fargeat not only addresses this question but takes aim at ageism and sexism in the entertainment industry with a riotous, dreamlike horror-thriller that ends in a delirious symphony of blood, guts and otherwise undefinable viscera. Imagine David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive fused in a telepod with David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, add the unbelievably dynamic pairing of Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, process it through the ultra-vivid color palette that is Fargeat’s hyper-saturated imagination, sprinkle a bit of J.G. Ballard on top, and you have the perfect breakout genre movie of the year.

If you had “Demi Moore to make a hagsploitation body horror splatter movie” on your 2024 bingo card, you stand to make a fortune, but, come on, it’s not very likely; there’s been nothing in her filmography so far...

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

That famous line from 2001: A Space Odyssey computer Hal is becoming an uncomfortable reminder for many that AI needs a firm hand. And recent developments along those lines are not encouraging.

A shake-up at OpenAI that has seen the exit of its safety department and two key executives has observers worried about the corporate turmoil.

The OpenAI chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, announced on X that he was leaving on Tuesday. Later that same day, his colleague, Jan Leike, also departed.

Sutskever and Leike led OpenAI’s super alignment team, focusing on developing AI systems compatible with human interests.

“I have been disagreeing with OpenAI leadership about the company’s core priorities for quite some time, until we finally reached a breaking point,” Leike wrote on X on Friday.

Cofounder Sam Altman called Sutskever “one of the greatest...

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered if any film could capture the awe-inspiring vastness of the cosmos? Many directors have soared through the stars in science fiction, but one visionary’s belief is as enduring as the galaxy itself. George Lucas, the renowned creator of the epic Star Wars, has a deep appreciation for a cinematic masterpiece that even his own galactic saga cannot match: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

George Lucas [Photo: Joey Gannon/Wikimedia Commons]Lucas made cinematic history in 1977 with Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, an instant classic that catapulted science fiction to the forefront of popular culture. Despite his phenomenal success, he remains convinced that Kubrick’s 1968 magnum opus is an unmatched masterpiece, a celestial pinnacle that no filmmaker in the near future can hope to surpass.

The film starred Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood in the leading roles.

Doctor Strange director, Scott Derrickson, is known for two things: horror and Marvel. His epic vision and style shine through in films like Sinister and The Day the Earth Stood Still. And yet, fans weep over the scandal-ridden production of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness.

An IP that should have remained in the hands of Derrickson, the changing of the old guard to bring in Sam Raimi was a decision praised by many. However, with time, regrets surface, and missed opportunities are realized as fans grasp the true scale of Scott Derrickson’s vision.

Doctor Strange (2016) [Credit: Marvel Studios]

Doctor Strange Was Always Destined for Greatness

There are truly one or two things in this world that are worthy of being called the stuff of legends. Among monuments, it’s the Giza Necropolis; in literature, Homer’s Iliad; and, of course, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey when it comes to film.

Jesse Eisenberg and Christophe Zajac-Denek Photo: Bleeker Street Sasquatch Sunset has more in common with a nature documentary than a narrative film: 89 minutes of wordless, but not silent, footage of a bigfoot family, which, at first, is only discernable by height. Even Sunset’s most recognizable star, Jesse Eisenberg, is...

Many dream of meeting their idols, but for filmmakers, encountering a legend like Stanley Kubrick (the genius behind classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining) is whole lot of a different experience. Well, that’s what happened to James Cameron, the visionary director behind Avatar and Titanic.

James Cameron on the sets of Titanic

Once, Cameron decided to surprise Kubrick with a visit, hoping to chat about filmmaking and maybe get some tips. However, upon arriving, he discovered that the big-shot director was actually interested in his own work!

James Cameron’s 1994 Flick Captivated Stanley Kubrick’s Curiosity

James Cameron with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis on the sets of True Lies

James Cameron, who has always been vocal about his admiration for Stanley Kubrick‘s masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, wanted to make his 40th birthday truly special. So, he took a bold step and decided...

No other film explores the questions of life's existence and the evolution of humankind quite like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Portraying the past, present, and future of life in every sense of the word from the perspective of the 1960s, Stanley Kubrick's iconic feature naturally explores the rise of technology and includes one of the most impactful and unsettling portrayals of artificial intelligence in film history. This particular A.I., called Hal (voiced by Douglas Rain), is complex and threatening, not only because of its harmful behavior and actions in the film but also because of how this threat still endures to this day. With a lot of people's lives being affected by the quick and recent rise of A.I., the Hal 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey hits closer to home than ever before.

Old black and white sci-fi movies shaped the genre as we know it today, paving the way for modern blockbusters. The legacy of iconic black and white movies like Metropolis and Godzilla can be seen in many of sci-fi's most revered classics. Some old sci-fi movies are just as entertaining today as they were almost 100 years ago.

Old black and white movies are usually seen as outdated these days, but many of them helped shape the future of sci-fi. The genre simply wouldn't be where it is today without the legacy of sci-fi movies from before color film became widespread. Some of the first movies ever ventured into sci-fi, showing that the history of film and the history of sci-fi are inextricably linked. Some black and white movies never grow old, no matter how many decades pass. Looking back at some influential sci-fi classics shows that they have more in...

V'Ger, the unique villain in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, was a sentient machine seeking answers about humanity's purpose. The movie's cerebral tone and sluggish pace didn't resonate with audiences as well as the action-packed Wrath of Khan storyline. Kirk and Spock's cinematic adventure faced criticism but set the stage for future Star Trek villains to be more tangible and relatable.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture pitted Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the USS Enterprise against V'Ger, a unique villain in the history of the Star Trek: The Original Series movies. Released in 1979, The Motion Picture was the first live action adventure for Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in a decade, following the cancelation of Tos in 1969. Directed by The Andromeda Strain's Robert Wise, with visual effects from 2001: A Space Odyssey's Douglas Trumbull, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a suitably cinematic spectacle.

George Lucas’ Star Wars has undoubtedly been one of the biggest franchises ever while being a beloved and significant pop culture element of all time. Influencing many sci-fi and space fantasy projects over time, Star Wars is known for personally taking inspiration from several acclaimed literary sources.

George Lucas’ fan-favorite franchise

Being an amalgamation of many things that came before, Star Wars is now making headlines for taking inspiration from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune. As Herbert’s novel turned out to be one of the biggest pieces of media to impact Star Wars, we made a list of every major inspiration George Lucas borrowed from Dune.

Spoilers Ahead!

1. Location of Star Wars and Dune

Beginning the list with the location of the two sci-fi thrillers Star Wars and Dune, we get to see that George Lucas’ franchise indeed got influenced by Frank Herbert’s novels. Therefore, the most obvious...

If a certain kind of sci-fi film is anything to go on, what humanity is most likely to discover, as we venture out on our second space race, is some aspect of ourselves. In Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey falls into a black hole only to find a multidimensional mirror into his own failures as a father. In James Gray’s Ad Astra, Brad Pitt goes to Jupiter and beyond to find peace with his dad. As far back as Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, an alien planet manifests the memories of the astronauts who discover it. Even the cosmic trip of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey stages a return to origins of sorts.

In Johan Renck’s Spaceman, Adam Sandler becomes just the latest lonely spacefarer to have the abyss confront him with an uncanny reflection of himself. This story of an existentialist voyage to the stars,...

Imagine a movie akin to a sad David Bowie song about an astronaut drifting alone into the dark abyss of space, contemplating his life, his lost love, his past, and an uncertain, perhaps soon-to-be-shortly doomed future. Sing the wistfully estranged and reflective “Space Odyssey” tune and the lamenting iconic line, “Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows!” That’s Swedish filmmaker Johan Renck’s “Spaceman” in a nutshell, which makes for possibly the weirdest, most existentially lonely movie Adam Sandler has ever starred in.

Continue reading ‘Spaceman’ Review: Adam Sandler Confronts The Galaxy’s Sad Loneliness In Johan Renck’s Existential Cosmonaut Film [Berlinale] at The Playlist.

Prehistoric movies often portray prehistoric life with a comedic slant and focus on sensational aspects like encounters with dinosaurs. These movies offer valuable commentary on present-day issues and pop culture, exploring human evolution and the significant strides humanity has made over time. Despite vast changes in environment and technology, many human concerns and behaviors remain constant through the ages, as these films demonstrate.

There are many great movies set in prehistoric times, all exploring fascinating elements from the early days of human evolution to the first early men. However, movies may not be the best source for accurate portrayals of prehistoric times. On-screen, prehistoric life is often depicted with a comedic slant. Some even choose to focus on sensational aspects like encounters with dinosaurs, as seen in One Million Years B.C., despite these creatures having been extinct long before the first humans.

These prehistoric settings often offer valuable commentary on present-day issues and pop culture.

When thinking of the last era of practical visual effects that preceded the CGI revolution in Hollywood, no name is more ubiquitous in that development than Richard Edlund, A.S.C. (American Society of Cinematographers). He was a founding member of the famous company Industrial Light & Magic along with Star Wars honcho George Lucas.

Early in his SFX career, Edlund won an Oscar for both Lucas' original space opera and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Edlund's credentials in the world of practical and early-cgi movie effects and the development of cinematography technology are unmatched. He's had a hand in many of the most-famous action film franchises of the '70s-'90s, including Ghostbusters, Die Hard, Poltergeist, Star Trek and Alien.

Along with his colleague Stan Winston, Edlund created the modern visual blueprint for the greatest era of action films, from the motion-controlled miniature sets made in monumental sizes in the 1970s, to...