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Kim A. Snyder’s The Librarians is a comprehensive documentary that maps well-funded, right-wing political groups’ nationwide mission to ban books and those standing up to this movement in the name of anti-censorship. And though there are expected touches throughout this film surprises in its thorough research and succinct storytelling. If you’ve wondered how exactly we got here, The Librarians has your answer.

Women librarians are the heroes of this story, Amanda Jones among them. Jones has become a public figure after speaking out against book-banning in Louisiana libraries, founding the Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship in 2022 and suffering significant harassment as a result. There’s also Suzette Baker, a Texas librarian who was fired after refusing to remove books from the library.

There’s cleverly deployed archival footage of libraries past that both underline the importance of librarians and the precariousness of our current political situation. In a world...

“The Librarians” begins with a quote: “It was a pleasure to see things burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.”

Filmmaker Kim A. Snyder’s illuminating documentary — premiering at the Sundance Film Festival — offers a rattling look at coordinated efforts to ban books. More importantly, it introduces viewers to the everyday and increasingly vital heroes pushing back: the librarians who sound the alarm to both legislative and grassroots attempts to pull books from school and public libraries.

The opening quote comes by way of “Fahrenheit 451,” Ray Bradbury’s dystopian classic about the ways that book burning and censorship are instruments of authoritarianism. The scene that follows that incendiary opener features a woman sitting in a chair, her back to a window, her face in the shadows. She’s the spitting image of an endangered whistleblower or a witness against a cartel.

How Much Did Mel Gibson’s 2009 Divorce Cost Him? (Photo Credit – Facebook)

In 2009, Mel Gibson’s 28-year marriage ended dramatically with a billion-dollar divorce, redefining Hollywood’s priciest breakups. As celebrity divorce lawyer Raoul Felder said, “It’s a billion-dollar divorce!” With no prenuptial agreement in sight, Robyn Moore was entitled to half of Gibson’s massive fortune. His net worth was around $1B at the time, largely thanks to his blockbuster hit The Passion of the Christ, which raked in $600M alone.

The math wasn’t hard. According to Entertainment Weekly, Robyn walked away with an astounding $500M, making this split the costliest celebrity divorce ever. For context, Michael Jordan’s 2006 divorce cost him $168M. Steven Spielberg gave $100M in 1989, and Paul McCartney’s stuff with Heather Mills in 2008 tallied up to $48.6M. Gibson’s split? It made those numbers look quaint.

The financial hit wasn’t Gibson’s only problem.

The banning of books in school libraries, an especially hot topic in 2022/23 news cycles, may not feature high in the headlines recently given the new presidential administration’s tsunami of rights-snuffing, Constitution-flouting executive orders. But it’s still going on. That makes the debut at Sundance of The Librarians, a scrupulously assembled feature documentary by esteemed, Peabody-winning director Kim A. Snyder, all the more welcome. (It’s extra timely given since Snyder was just Oscar-nominated, alongside producer Janique L. Robillard, for her documentary short Death By Numbers, which concerns a school-shooting survivor.)

Seamlessly assembling a wide variety of material, including vintage film snippets mixed in with the archival and original footage, The Librarians observes a clutch of educators, almost all women, fighting on the culture-war frontlines. Their opponents are legion: conservative school boards, members of the recently scandal-ridden right-wing organization Moms for Liberty and publicity-hungry Republican politicians, among others.

Snyder...

Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2 is undoubtedly one of the most popular games in the world right now. In the game, players play as Super Earth’s strongest soldiers, known as Helldivers, and fight against three deadly factions: Terminid, Automaton, and Illuminate. The game’s concept is one of the main reasons behind its success, but what inspired Arrowhead to develop a game like this?

Helldivers 2 is also inspired by classics like Starship Troopers and Robocop (Image via Arrowhead Game Studios)

The lead writer of the game once revealed that he is a fan of classic dystopian films that inspired the game, but no one expected him to name a critical and commercial failure like Equilibrium. The movie featured some heavy hitters but turned out to be a complete disappointment.

The lead writer of Helldivers 2 revealed that 2002’s Equilibrium was the inspiration behind the game

Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2, one of...

Putting a dystopian future on the big screen was nothing new in the early 2000s, especially when set in the realm of science-fiction. But making it work also within the action genre is a monumental ask. Really, how often did an all-out action flick want to make its viewers think…especially when the plot revolves around thinking be illegal.

But Kurt Wimmer gave it a go with Equilibrium, which wondered what the world might look like under a totalitarian rule…if there was a lot of gunplay involved. Brushed aside by the studio, critics and moviegoers, Equilibrium has gone on to become a minor cult favorite (including here on JoBlo), something Wimmer could have never seen coming…Just don’t go comparing it to The Matrix in front of him…

So, take off your thinking cap and load up your pistols as we find out: Wtf Happened to This Movie?...

This post contains spoilers for "Equilibrium."

In 2002's "Equilibrium," the dystopian megapolis of Libria encourages its citizens to keep their emotions in check. This mandate for emotional regulation is one among many acts of censorship enforced by this totalitarian regime, which views emotional excess as the catalyst for conflict. Here, natural flora is consciously overwritten with sleek concrete edifices and all art is banned, lest it provokes powerful sentiments. To suppress humanity's naturalistic urge to feel intensely, the Tetragrammaton Council — who govern the city and is led by a man named "Father" — administers a mandatory drug to the populace to subdue these impulses. Every dose of this drug, Prozium II, is closely monitored, and failure to comply with these rules will earn you the brand of a Sense Offender, which is considered a crime punishable by death.

The only way to offset such a bleak, oppressive world is to introduce...

While Andy Serkis has appeared on The Simpsons once before, the iconic actor played dual roles in season 36’s latest outing. The Simpsons season 37’s renewal hasn’t been announced yet and, by the looks of things, the long-running series is pulling out all the stops to ensure its continued survival. It might be hard to imagine a world without The Simpsons, but recent seasons have seen the series inject new life and creativity into the world of Springfield and the town’s most famous family. According to Vulture and many others, The Simpsons is finally good again.

Related All 9 The Simpsons Characters Played By Pamela Hayden, Milhouse's Voice Actor

Milhouse's voice actor Pamela Hayden recently announced her retirement from The Simpsons, but Bart's best friend isn't her only memorable character.

While the Simpsons never age , the show’s comedy did decline critically in the years since 2000. Seasons 30-...

Warning: This article contains Spoilers for The Simpsons season 36, episode 7, "Treehouse of Horror Presents Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes"

Although The Simpsons has mined thirty years of drama and comedy from one recurring feud, season 36 ended this storyline with a hilariously unexpected twist. The Simpsons season 37’s renewal might not have been announced yet, but the show’s future still seems pretty positive. From Vulture to YouTube, critics across the Internet have dubbed The Simpsons “Good again” thanks to the uptick in writing quality found throughout seasons 34 and 35. While The Simpsons’ worst changes saw the show’s decline begin as far back as season 11, seasons 34-36 have earned praise for their renowned focus on character.

Related The Simpsons Season 36’s Parody Of Margot Robbie's Barbie Repeats An Annoying Problem

The Simpsons season 36 parodied Margot Robbie's blockbuster Barbie, but the show's spoof of the huge hit ran into an all too familiar problem.

Warning: This article contains Spoilers for The Simpsons season 36, episode 7, "Treehouse of Horror Presents Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes"

While The Simpsons and Family Guy haven’t acknowledged the rivalry between the two long-running shows in a while, season 36, episode 7 proved the older show hasn’t forgotten about it entirely. Although The Simpsons season 37’s renewal hasn’t been announced yet, the show’s future seems secure. The Simpsons has enjoyed a critical renaissance since season 33, with critics claiming that the series has begun to resemble its old self after years of languishing in mediocrity. The Simpsons may not age but their series was starting to show its age, so this change came as a welcome surprise.

Related The Simpsons' 10 Scariest Treehouse Of Horror Stories

The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials are hilarious horror parodies, but some segments cross the line and become oddly creepy.

Ever since The Simpsons...

The Simpsons returned this week for a post-Halloween “Treehouse of Horror”-branded episode celebrating legendary science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. “Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” featured three stories inspired by Bradbury’s work, the third of which was a parody of the classic book Fahrenheit 451.

The original novel is about a chilling dystopia in which the written word is outlawed, and a legion of “firemen” are responsible for burning any and all remaining books. In The Simpsons version, it’s “lowbrow entertainment” that’s been banned, forcing citizens to watch only prestige TV that’s been approved by critics of the future, like Alan Sepinwall the The Third — which seemingly came as a shock to the real Alan Sepinwall.

That means that TV’s dumbest shows are illegal, including America’s Funniest Home Videos and Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Homer eventually tracks down an underground group of rebels, led by Krusty the Clown,...

Stars: Chelsea Clark, Daniel Gravelle, Damian Romeo, Kate Corbett, Ryan McDonald | Written and Directed by James Villeneuve

Making its debut at this year’s edition of the Blood In The Snow Film Festival, Pins and Needles is the first feature directed by James Villeneuve. While he had only directed one short, The Ticket, before this, Villeneuve has plenty of experience with genre film. He has a long list of credits as an editor on films such as 5ive Girls and Silent But Deadly, and more recently wrote the horror comedy Vicious Fun.

For Pins & Needles, he’s dispensed with most of the comedy in favour of a straight thriller about Max a diabetic biology grad student who’s getting a ride home from a class project with Harold. Things start to go wrong after he stops to pick up his sketchy-looking friend and they end up having to take a detour.

With the UK streaming release of South of Hope Street this week, writer/director Jane Spencer talks about exploring ‘the big questions’, working with Michael Madsen, black shoes and shunning the Hollywood system.

Your latest film, the visually arresting dystopian drama South of Hope Street, depicts an oppressed society surrounded by wars. As Writer. Director what inspired you to make it?

I have always been very much interested in ‘the Big Questions’: Why do we exist? What, exactly, Are we? Why are we here? A great way to pose these questions is to place us against the forces that do not allow free thought, and to think about these questions.

I wanted t to explore this in an allegory, a sci-film film, with all the characters representing forces in our world: forces of repression, forces of peace, mystery, poetry. Films like this are films that are inspiring to me,...

A new stage adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is in development, with Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok attached as the playwright.

Glass Half Full Productions (Potus, Betrayal) and Aaron Glick (Kimberly Akimbo, What the Constitution Means to Me) are producing the adaptation, which is in early stages of development and aiming for Broadway. Majok comes to the project after winning the 2018 Pulitzer prize for drama for her Broadway play, Cost of Living.

In addition to writing Sanctuary City, Queens, and Ironbound, Majok wrote the libretto for the new musical Gatsby: An American Myth, with music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett, which premiered last summer at the American Repertory Theater.

“The relevancy of mind domination and the end of the world in our current age needs no words; what struck me most in Fahrenheit 451 was its lens on our loneliness. How our yearning for connection and...

As audiences await the next Jurassic Park movie, a forgotten classic of dinosaur horror awaits rediscovery. Dinosaurs have captivated humankind's imagination and influenced their stories since civilization's infancy. Whether taking the form of a fire-breathing dragon or a rampaging T.Rex, the fossils of the past have always shaped humankind's nightmares. However, famed author Ray Bradbury took it to new heights when he wrote "A Sound of Thunder." While by no means the first dinosaur horror story nor the last, Bradbury's twisted tale of time travel represented a masterpiece within the genre. The Jurassic Park of its day, "A Sound of Thunder," draws many parallels but also raises the question of what happened to this story and how Jurassic Park managed to overshadow it in the decades gone by.

Considered one of the great authors of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, Ray Bradbury produced numerous noted novels, including Something Wicked This Way Comes,...

Although The Simpsons season 36 promises plenty of new surprises, one of the most exciting elements of the long-running shows next outing is a throwback. The Simpsons season 36 is not resting on its laurels. Despite spending more than 35 years on the air, the anarchic animated sitcom will be doing all that it can to innovate in season 36. The Simpsons season 36 promises a two-part, online exclusive Christmas special, a Disney+ Halloween short, and not one, but two Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials. The Simpsons season 36s storytelling tricks ensure the upcoming outing will remain exciting.

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Related The Simpsons Season 36 Faces A Growing Problem That Could Change Its Future As Disney Change Looms

The Simpsons season 36 may enjoy a positive critical reception like season 35, but this won't necessarily be enough to change a worrying series trend.

However, it is a return to some of the shows oldest traditions that make this lineup sound truly inspired.

Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler have reunited for Sinners, a vampire horror story that features an impressive cast. Jordan and Coogler collaborated on numerous occasions prior to Sinners. Their first partnership was in Coogler's directorial feature film debut Fruitvale Station, in which Jordan played the leading role. He worked with Coogler again on Creed, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with these films being among the most well-regarded in the actor and director's respective careers.

Given the critical acclaim and widespread popularity of their past projects, their reunion in Sinners has been highly anticipated. The anticipation has been further built by the secrecy surrounding the film as the plot and even most of the characters' names have remained under wraps, even after the first trailer was released. This makes the original vampire movie even more compelling leading up to its 2025 theatrical release, when Jordan and the rest of the...

Like other dystopian novels before it, Scott Westerfeld's Uglies features a society in which books are banned. Although Netflix's movie adaptation makes changes to the Uglies book, it does retain this interesting detail. The dystopian genre's typical tropes, like censorship and conformity, are alive and well in the Uglies' society, which hinges on the notion that all people receive government-mandated cosmetic surgery when they turn 16 years old, transforming them from so-called "Uglies" into vapid-yet-perfect "Pretties." Uglies' Dr. Nyah Cable (Laverne Cox), who also serves as District Governor in the film, ensures that this policy endures.

The movie's protagonist, Tally (Joey King), wants nothing more than to undergo Uglies' Transformation and cosmetic procedure, which will allow Tally to join her best friend Peris (Chase Stokes), a newly minted Pretty, in the City. Tally's newfound friend, Shay (Brianne Tju), has a much different feeling on the matter. Inspired by legends...

Exclusive: Oscar, BAFTA, WGA and Emmy nominee Ramin Bahrani has signed with Grandview.

Bahrani is the writer, director and producer of such films as Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo, 99 Homes and The White Tiger. His films have all premiered at the Venice or Cannes film festivals and additionally screened at Telluride and Toronto. His debut feature documentary, 2nd Chance, premiered at Sundance and was released by Showtime.

Additionally, Bahrani has directed TV pilots for Universal Studios and Apple, and he won the PGA Award in 2019 for his work on the HBO movie Fahrenheit 451.

Bahrani’s films also include Alex Camilleri’s Sundance- and Spirit Award-winning feature Luzzu (2020) and his forthcoming Zejtune; and Alexandre Moratto’s Spirit Award-winning Brazilian debut feature Socrates (2018, and his Venice-winning 7 Prisoners (2021), Saim Sadiq’s Cannes-winning Pakistani debut Joyland (2022), Angus MacLachlan’s Sundance premiere A Little Prayer (2023) and Joshua Oppenheimer’s forthcoming debut feature The End.

Max has shared a curated list of films available to stream on the service in Summer 2024. Max is home to Warner Bros. Pictures films, classics and new favorites from A24, the Studio Ghibli library, and award-winning films spanning multiple genres.

The platform is showcasing its vast film library with curated summer watch lists of blockbusters, horror, family-friendly films, and more.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Dune: Part Two, the groundbreaking sequel to Dune, is now available to stream on the platform along with recent hits like Wonka and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which also has an American Sign Language (Asl) version of the film available to stream.

Viewers can also find summer favorites like Mamma Mia!, Meg 2: The Trench, A Night at the Roxbury, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Dune: Part Two

Horror fans can look to Max for their summer scares and favorite films from franchises,...

As Helldivers 2 grows and develops, it continues to set an example for what live-service titles should deliver to its players. However, what truly sets Helldivers 2 apart is how actively its community participates in the game’s future developments.

Seeing the unity and loyalty this game has cultivated, one has to stop at some point and ask what inspirations led to its creation. As it turns out, one prominent inspiration may have come from the unlikeliest of places.

Christian Bale’s Equilibrium Was One of Helldivers 2’s Inspirations Imagine if Helldivers 2 featured the Gun Kata action from Equilibrium.

From presenting the craziest of Stratagems to working hand-in-hand with Arrowhead to ensure the game’s continued success, Helldivers 2‘s community has been riding the high wave for the past few weeks.

Suggested“The longer dev cycle has allowed us to be very…”: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has a Huge Advantage,...

The long-awaited film 28 Years Later has just added its latest stellar cast member, Jack OConnell. The actor is coming in hot off the heels of a highly successful year, including starring in the Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black.

Per Deadline, OConnell has boarded the project, which is being helmed by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. Boyle is the director behind films like Trainspotting, Yesterday, and the film that started it all, 28 Days Later which Garland wrote the script for. The films confirmed cast includes Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes. There has been much speculation about Cillian Murphys reprisal of his 28 Days Later role in the sequel. The film has already landed Murphy, who played the protagonist, Jim, in the first film, as an executive producer. It remains to be seen whether he will also star in the movie.

Related 'I'll Be There':...

It takes The Matrix about three minutes to become the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. That’s when Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) evades a cop by breaking his arm, punching his throat, and then freezing mid-air so the camera can whip around her before she unleashes a kick that sends him across the room. Three minutes. And everything changed.

But the most impressive part may be the fact that the amazing stuff doesn’t stop there. For the 117 minutes that follow, The Matrix directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski offer an improbable mix of kung fu action, Continental philosophy, and fin de siècle cool. It’s no wonder their movie became a hit in theaters and on video. Nor is it any wonder that so, so many movies and TV shows borrowed from The Matrix, at once cementing the original film’s legacy while also cheapening its effect. In immediate years...

The graphic novel adaptations of classic literature breathe new life into timeless stories, making them more accessible and visually appealing. Each adaptation stays faithful to the source material while adding unique elements that enhance the reader's understanding and appreciation of the original work. The use of stunning artwork in these adaptations helps capture the essence and themes of the classic novels, enriching the reader's experience and bringing them into a new medium.

There have been some amazing comic adaptations of classic novels, like Dracula, 1984 and To Kill a Mockingbird, over the years. Stories from some of history's most well-known novelists continue to stand the test of time because of how they use the literary space to create thoughtful commentary, characters and plots. Whether it's Bram Stoker or George Orwell, these authors' most well-known classics have held up for a reason, and a surge in adaptations have made them more popular than ever for new readers.

The studio behind the John Wick franchise, Thunder Road Films, is shooting for the stars as they have acquired the rights to Ray Bradbury’s short story “Frost and Fire.”

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the film adaptation was written by Doug Simon and will be directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper. The film follows “the intrepid young pilot of a space mining mission who finds himself scrambling to survive after crash-landing on a mysterious planet where life moves at a frighteningly accelerated pace,” which differs from the original short story. This also marks the first live-action adaptation for "Frost and Fire," which was previously adapted as a graphic novel in 1985.

Related 10 Best Sci-Fi Epics, Ranked Sci-fi is a genre that has transformed entertainment time and again. But from Metropolis to Star Wars, which movies are the most epic?

“Frost and Fire” was first published by Bradbury in 1946 in Planet...

“Creed III” cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau knew Michael B. Jordan had the mind of a filmmaker from their first collaboration together, the 2018 HBO film “Fahrenheit 451.”

“Even back then he had a very strong interest in the camera and cinematography and filmmaking,” Morgenthau tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview.

But after working together as cinematographer and actor on “Creed 2,” the pair took their collaborative relationship to the next level with “Creed III.” The boxing drama was Jordan’s directorial debut, and he enlisted Morgenthau to expand not just on the visual language the director of photography helped establish in “Creed 2” but also the “Rocky” franchise as a whole.

See‘Creed III’ trailer: Michael B. Jordan gets back in the ring to fight Jonathan Majors

“That was the challenge,” Morgenthau says. “Here is a franchise that is almost 50 years old. It’s a genre, or sub-genre [in terms of a boxing film], that everybody has seen before.

Christopher Nolan made headlines earlier this month when he took a playful jab at streaming platforms while discussing the upcoming home release of “Oppenheimer.” The atomic bomb drama, which grossed a staggering $950 million in theaters worldwide, is hitting Blu-ray and other digital platforms this month. Nolan said at a recent “Oppenheimer” screening that it’s important to own the film on Blu-ray so that “no evil streaming service can come steal it from you.”

“It was a joke when I said it. But nothing’s a joke when it’s transcribed onto the internet,” Nolan recently told The Washington Post in a follow-up interview.

“There is a danger, these days, that if things only exist in the streaming version they do get taken down, they come and go,” the director added.

Streamers have become notoriously known in the last year for pulling original titles from their platforms in order to...

“Nothing is what it seems.” A seemingly offhand remark made early in Don’t Look Now is slowly revealed to be the theme around which the film revolves.

Nicolas Roeg’s directorial efforts may not have always connected with audiences immediately, but his impressionistic approach has aged like fine wine. Don’t Look Now, in particular, was decades ahead of its time upon its release in 1973.

The screenplay — written by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant (The Awakening), based on a 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurier — analyzes the psychological effects of trauma through a horror lens; a motif we’ve seen explored many times over in recent years, from Ari Aster’s filmography to David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy.

Following the tragic drowning of their young daughter, architect John Baxter and bereaved wife Laura travel from their English country home to Venice to oversee the restoration of a church. After a...

Whether you love or hate him, no one can deny that Zack Snyder always goes big. His director’s cut of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice ran three hours, while his complete vision of Justice League clocked in at four. Both movies had huge, sprawling stories and big personalities and were teeming with grim visuals and special effects. Snyder is an ambitious filmmaker with a brevity problem, but overall, he makes an entertaining movie.

Snyder’s follow-up to the sprawling opus of Justice League and his zombie romp Army of the Dead is Rebel Moon. The film is described in short as an “epic space opera,” not dissimilar to the label of a certain galaxy far, far away. A Netflix production, Rebel Moon boasts an impressive ensemble cast of notable actors and actresses. It is now shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the holiday season.

The 400 Blows' ambiguous ending leaves viewers without clear answers, mirroring Antoine's uncertain future and Truffaut's artistic journey without his mentor. The iconic freeze-frame ending signifies that Antoine's story is just a chapter in his life. Viewers wondering what happened to Antoine after The 400 Blows can follow his story in sequels and anthology movies, where he navigates various relationships and experiences.

While François Truffaut's The 400 Blows is a famous addition to the French New Wave, its ambiguous ending leaves viewers without any clear answers. Truffaut was one of the leading voices of the French New Wave movement, and the director helped shape the aesthetic of independent cinema with movies like Jules et Jim, Shoot the Piano Player, and Fahrenheit 451. However, before any of those projects made him an icon, Truffaut made a name for himself with his 1959 feature directorial debut, the coming-of-age drama The 400 Blows.

Director Zack Snyder is opting out of a long-term theatrical release for Rebel Moon: Part One due to the energy-draining nature of the model and the differences between PG-13 and extended cuts. Netflix has high hopes for Rebel Moon, considering the streaming platform's success in science fiction and fantasy franchises and Snyder's fan base. Snyder's artistic vision for Rebel Moon, which includes R-rated elements, will remain intact with Netflix's limited theatrical release, allowing the movies to stay true to his vision.

There's a reason that director Zack Snyder is opting out of a long-term theatrical release for Rebel Moon: Part One — A Child of Fire. The first of two Rebel Moon entries, A Child of Fire features an ensemble cast that includes Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs), Sofia Boutella (Fahrenheit 451), Djimon Hounsou (Aquaman), as well as numerous other stars. Inspired by Star Wars, Rebel Moon is a...

Death in the Garden: Chebbi Debuts Eerie, Nuanced Murder Mystery

In a supremely frightening sense, the events transpiring in Ashkal (which means ‘shapes’ in Arabic) recalls both the ideas outlined in James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time and the opening line of Fahrenheit 451; “It was a pleasure to burn.” Only, where Ray Bradbury was referring to books, Youssef Chebbi’s film concerns the burning of humans via self-immolation. Tying his narrative to the overthrow of Tunisia’s dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2010, instigated by the self-immolation of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi (which catalyzed the larger scale events termed the Arab Spring), Chebbi paints a picture of a new but troubled democracy overshadowed by the recent past, as evidenced by the ongoing political crises involving President Kais Said’s various actions some have regarded as a self coup.…...

Dystopia. A concept that anybody who took a literature class should be more than a little familiar with. To put it simply for those who are unfamiliar with the term, a dystopia is the antithesis of a utopia. Where a utopia is a perfect society where every problem has been solved, a dystopia is a perfect society that is operated by those problems, often creating an oppressive environment for the less fortunate. The concept is omnipresent in stories like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and more. Given that those three examples alone are some of the most influential pieces in modern storytelling, it's no surprise that many movies have taken inspiration from dystopic stories.

This article contains spoilers for the Black Mirror episode “Beyond the Sea” and the books mentioned.

Black Mirror’s darkest, bleakest episode yet is stuffed to the brim with references to film, television, and music. From the obvious visual references to 2001: A Space Odyssey as well as the key name “David” taken from that film, to the romantic dance around a car in a barn taken from Witness, to the highly appropriate lyrics of the featured song “Beyond the Sea,” heard only in French in the episode, to the perhaps surprising plot similarities to Red Dwarf’s “Bodyswap,” in which Rimmer tries to convince Lister to lend him his body repeatedly, this episode is steeped in pop culture history.

But there is another set of pop culture references that really stand out in this episode. The books that come to form part of the plot are all carefully chosen...

Exclusive: Daniel Zolghadri (Y2K), Shane Paul McGhie (Poker Face), Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World) and Michael Imperioli (The White Lotus) are attached to star in Last Days of Basic Cable, a new film from renowned, rising director Max Winkler (Flower).

Written by Adam Wilson and Justin Taylor, the indie set toward the end of the 1990s watches as four twenty-somethings navigate romance and life in a small New England college town. Zolghadri will play aspiring writer Aaron, with McGhie as his roommate Jason, Barden as Jason’s girlfriend Jessica, and Imperioli as Bob, a drugged out taxi driver who befriends Aaron.

Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger will produce the film via their Bona Fide Productions banner. No word yet on when production might kick off.

Best known for his starring role in the A24 coming-of-age film Funny Pages, produced by Josh and Benny Safdie,...

At the top of this week’s streaming heap is a movie from one of Hollywood’s renegades, someone whose blunt Facebook posts prompt the studios distributing his films to ask him to please shut the hell up. I’m talking, of course, about the one and only Paul Schrader. He’s not the only A-list director with a new release available, though. This list is loaded with them.

The contender to watch this week: “Master Gardener”

It’s hard to believe that Paul Schrader’s nearly 50-year career has only netted him one Oscar nomination (for writing 2017’s “First Reformed”). He still has time. “Master Gardener” is Schrader’s latest provocation, starring Joel Edgerton as a former white supremacist having an affair with the widow (Sigourney Weaver) whose immaculate garden he maintains. The film doesn’t rise to the heights of the director’s best work, but it nonetheless...

Goodbye HBO Max, hello Max. Warner Bros. Discovery announced several weeks back that the company was dropping the "HBO" from the name of its flagship streaming service, and that day has come. What does that mean for you, the subscriber? For one, it means a lot more movies and TV shows will be streaming in 4K, and the list of initial titles is pretty impressive. There are, however, a few caveats.

Those who wish to watch movies like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Argo" in Ultra HD will need to be subscribed to the new tier offered by Max called "Ultimate Ad-Free." This goes for $19.99 per month and includes access to the service's library of 4K movies and TV shows. There is also a plan with ads for $9.99 per month and a regular ad-free plan for $15.99 per month. Sudheer Sirivara, Global Technology Platform for Warner Bros. Discovery, had this to...

HBO Max is dead. Long live Max.

The new combined streaming service launched on Tuesday, and in addition to housing all of HBO Max and Discovery+’s content in one place, Max also plays host to a robust library of movies and TV shows streaming in 4K Uhd. At launch, more than 1,000 hours of programming are available in 4K, and Max says more will be added in the coming months.

Right now, you can stream all the “Harry Potter” movies, the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies, the “Dark Knight” trilogy, the “Matrix” films, “Dune,” “Joker” and even “The Wizard of Oz” and “Goodfellas” in 4K. Additionally, acclaimed (and cinematic) HBO series like “House of the Dragon,” “Barry” and “Succession” are also streaming in 4K, with additional shows (and seasons) to come.

Plus, all Warner Bros. movies released this year and going forward will be streaming in 4K Uhd...

As HBO Max fades in favor of its revamped cousin — Max — subscribers with a little extra cash to spend can get a sharper image. Subscribers to the “ultimate” tier ($19.99/month) will have access to more than 1,000 4K Uhd titles.

7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com

Get 20% Off Your Next Year of Max When Pre-Paid Annually

The 4K library will include “The Last of Us,” “Game of Thrones,” “The House of the Dragon,” the Harry Potter films, “Dune,” The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight trilogy, and more. Strangely, the list includes “Superman,” but not the beloved “Superman II.” You can stream “It: Chapter Two” in 4K, but not the original. Only half of “Barry” is available in 4K. The company reports it plans to add more 4K titles each month.

The ultimate tier also offers four concurrent streams, up to 100 offline downloads and Dolby Atmos and Vision...

With HBO Max turning into Max, Warner Bros. Discovery is introducing a higher-priced plan — $19.99 per month — with an expanded bouquet of 4K Ultra HD content aimed at pushing customers to the pricier package.

On Monday, the company announced that the 4K tier will feature more than 1,000 films and episodes in 4K Uhd, an increase of nearly eightfold over what has been available in HBO Max.

The 4K Uhd content on Max will include “Game of Thrones,” “The House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us,” the Harry Potter films, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight trilogy, the Matrix films and more. Additionally, all Warner Bros. movies released this year and going forward will be available in 4K Uhd when they arrive on Max following their theatrical windows.

Max’s new Ultimate Ad-Free tier also will offer four concurrent streams, up to 100 offline downloads and Dolby Atmos and...

May 23 is, according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, “our rendezvous with destiny.” That’s because the company has finally dropped the HBO from streaming service HBO Max and become just Max.

For those of us just figuring that out, below is a rundown of pricing, programs, how the service differs from sister streamer Discovery+ and also what to do if you’re an HBO cable subscriber to wants to access Max.

What Is Max, Exactly?

Max combines programming from HBO Max and Discovery. It is the streaming destination for Max and HBO originals, Warner Bros. films, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and kids content, along with programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from leading brands including HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more. You can find it at Max.com.

See the list of programming discussed today and Max product features below.

Monica Barbaro, who was part of Tom Cruise’s flight team in Top Gun: Maverick, is in final negotiations to join Timothée Chalamet in Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

James Mangold is directing the drama for Searchlight Pictures, with production to begin this summer in New York.

With a script by Jay Cocks (Gangs of New York) and Mangold, Unknown focuses on a transformative moment for Dylan, the legendary singer-songwriter who made his mark during the civil rights and counter-culture upheaval of the 1960s.

Set at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, the story sees a young Dylan, played by Chalamet, shaking up his act on the folk music scene by going electric. The move divided his fans and the music scene but set him on the path to record some of this greatest albums and songs.

Barbaro will portray Joan Baez, the folk singer and activist who performed “Blowin...

Based on the novels of the same name, the show Silo is set in a dystopian future where a community lives in a giant silo underground meant to protect them. Tim Robbins, Rebecca Ferguson, David Oyelowo, Iain Glen and Rashida Jones star in the show.

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Robbins discussed the political message in Silo.

“Don’t go here,” Robbins laughed. “Don’t act as a society in a way that would lead you to live in a silo underground for 300 years. If you see any behavior that’s leading that way, resist it because it’s not in your best interest. Things got out of hand and people did terrible things and in order to survive we’re in this silo and, you know, I look at as a cautionary tale as well you know much like 1984 and Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 are cautionary tales.

Technology versus religion is an age-old debate, and one that won’t be solved any time soon. That is, unless Sister Simone has something to say about it. You can find out exactly what this nun-turned-technology-hater plans to do about the encroachment of technology in our lives in “Mrs. Davis,” the newest series debuting on Peacock on Thursday, April 20. Starring Betty Gilpin and from Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof, this off-the-wall thriller will be one of the most talked-about shows this spring. You can watch Mrs. Davis: Season 1 with a subscription to Peacock.

How to Watch ‘Mrs. Davis’ Series Premiere When: Thursday, April 20, 2023 Where: Peacock Stream: Watch with a subscription to Peacock. Sign Up$4.99+ / month peacocktv.com About ‘Mrs. Davis’ Series Premiere

Betty Gilpin stars alongside Jake McDorman and Andy McQueen as Simone, a nun who goes to battle against an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence known as “Mrs. Davis.” McDorman plays Gilpin’s rebellious ex,...

Julie Christie is an Oscar-winning actress who has been largely absent from movie screens this century, enjoying a semi-retirement that finds her returning for the odd performance here and there. Yet she’s always finding new fans as younger generations discover her cinematic classics. Let’s take a look at 20 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born on April 14, 1940, Christie rose to prominence for her work in London, starting with a breakthrough performance in John Schlesinger‘s “Billy Liar” (1963). She won the Oscar as Best Actress just two years later for Schlesinger’s “Darling” (1965), playing a fashion model who sleeps her way to the top. That same year, she shot to stardom thanks to David Lean‘s romantic epic “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), which casts her as a political activist’s wife who falls in love with a physician (Omar Sharif) during the Russian Revolution.

She earned a second Best...

In the latest installment of the Rocky series, Creed III star Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with the next chapter of Adonis Creed. To continue this legacy, Jordan enlisted cinematographer, Kramer Morgenthau, the man behind the lens of Creed II and Fahrenheit 451, to team up once again and capture an all-new feel to the franchise that has spanned half a century. In an interview with Collider's Nate Richard, the Dp speaks on his working partnership with Jordan, saying the experience on Creed III was “one of the great director/Dp relationships of [his] career."...

It's nothing short of astounding that the "Rocky" and "Creed" series is nearly 50 years old, and not only is it still going, but it's still going strong. The intergenerational saga of iconic underdog boxers — first Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone, now Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan — continues to inspire new audiences, wow the most jaded critics, and make truckloads of money, and "Creed III" is no exception.

Michael B. Jordan has taken over the director's chair of the latest, powerful installment, and he's brought his "Creed II" and "Fahrenheit 451" cinematographer with him. Kramer Morgenthau's credits include acclaimed independent films like Jon Favreau's "Chef," blockbuster superhero movies like "Thor: The Dark World," and hit TV series like "Game of Thrones" and "Boardwalk Empire." We sat down with him to discuss keeping the legacy of the "Rocky" and "Creed" movies alive, bringing anime storytelling into a classic boxing series,...

Michael B. Jordan‘s first foray into directing with “Creed III” has done quite well at the box office, and been generally enjoyed by critics and fans alike. Maybe it’s too early to consider its awards potential, but maybe not, because there seems to be more room for movies like “Creed III” now than when Jordan first played the title role in Ryan Coogler‘s “Creed” back in 2015.

What’s particularly interesting about that initial release is that it did get Sylvester Stallone nominated for his third Oscar, nearly 40 years after his first two Oscar noms for writing and starring in the original “Rocky” (1976). That iconic boxing drama led to a full-on franchise that was more about box office than awards, but “Creed” came at a time when people started taking Coogler more and more seriously following his acclaimed debut feature “Fruitvale Station.”

SEERay Richmond: Thirty years later, it...

Mrs. Davis -Pictured: Betty Gilpin as Simone — (Photo by: Sophie Kohler/Peacock) From the Creative Minds of Tara Hernandez and Emmy Award Winner Damon Lindelof, and Starring Emmy Award-Nominated Betty Gilpin, the Series will Premiere Exclusively on Peacock with Four Episodes on April 20 Followed by New Episodes Airing Weekly on Thursdays “Mrs. Davis” is the world’s most powerful Artificial Intelligence. Simone is the nun devoted to destroying Her. Who ya got? Betty Gilpin stars alongside Jake McDorman and Andy McQueen as Simone, a nun who goes to battle against an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence known as “Mrs. Davis.” McDorman plays Gilpin’s rebellious ex, who also has a personal vendetta against the Algorithm.

The post Peacock Releases Trailer For New Series ‘Mrs. Davis’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Peacock has released the official trailer for “Mrs. Davis,” a new eight-episode science fiction drama from Emmy Award winner Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez.

The show follows a nun named Simone on an epic quest to destroy the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence known as “Mrs. Davis,” and the first trailer previews her teaming up with other members of the resistance set to a soundtrack of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

“Everyone you meet is only trying to push you into doing what it wants,” Simone is warned. “It’s just a matter of time before every person on Earth does whatever it asks them to.”

The series stars Emmy Award-nominated actress Betty Gilpin as Simone, alongside Jake McDorman (“Dopesick,” “The Right Stuff”) and Andy McQueen (“Station Eleven,” “Fahrenheit 451”).

Other recurring cast members include Ben Chaplin, Margo Martindale, David Arquette, Elizabeth Marvel, Katja Herbers, Chris Diamantopoulos,...