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A worthwhile endeavor Prime Video We’ve already discussed what makes something Tolkien-esque, but to Rhys-Davies’ point, I think “The Rings of Power” establishes that it does not want to tread familiar ground unless warranted. Focusing on the events of the Second Age previewed in the opening of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the series sets its sights on never-before-seen parts of Middle-earth history. Moreover, it expands on aspects of the canon otherwise not explained by Tolkien without losing the thematic value of his words....

Hemorrhaging viewers HBO The mythology in “Westworld” had become increasingly overwrought as the show went on. The series’ ratings dropped off by half after season 2, sliding from an average of 1.6 to 0.8 viewers as people grew impatient with the convoluted storyline. Like a lot of viewers, I stopped keeping up with “Westworld” after season 3; it was a chore to get through, and the last time I really spent any time watching any part of the show was when the season 4 trailer hit earlier this year....

The Main Star Trek Captains Ranked Worst To Best Paramount+ By Justin McDevitt/July 15, 2022 4:08 pm EST The “Star Trek” universe is as vast and diverse as the galactic adventures the series has chronicled across film and television. The franchise has left an indelible mark on our humble planet since the original series first debuted in 1966. In the intervening years, a unique and talented crop of trailblazers have assumed the helms of various Federation ships, taking us on voyages to new adventures, battles, and shows of diplomacy....

The Peeping Tom Controversy Explained: How Martin Scorsese Helped Save A Forgotten Gem Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors By Devin Meenan/Sept. 11, 2022 7:00 pm EST The act of watching goes hand in hand with cinema, and one filmmaker who examined the mix of voyeurism and violence that makes cinema so enrapturing was Michael Powell. Powell’s 1960 film “Peeping Tom” focuses on Mark Lewis (Karlheinz Boehm), a documentarian serial killer. Mark films his victims, all young women, at their moment of death to capture primal fear in celluloid....

The Stunt Performer Behind Daredevil And Captain America Had An Amazing Encounter With A Martial Arts Legend [Exclusive] Marvel Studios By Drew Tinnin/Oct. 25, 2022 12:54 pm EST The backbreaking work that stunt performers have put into some of our favorite action scenes is finally getting more attention and appreciation, largely due to shows like “Daredevil” and franchises like “John Wick” that have raised the bar to an entirely new level....

Genre appropriation Marvel Studios Michael Giacchino, director and composer of “Werewolf by Night,” has talked about his childhood love for the “Creature Double Feature” and all the horror movies it included. This special in particular is most influenced by Universal Horror, the 1930s through ’40s films which starred horror icons like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Universal Horror’s influence is why the film is shot in black-and-white (that and it allowed more gruesome violence)....

Why Releasing Halloween Ends On Peacock And In Theaters Is A Bad Idea Universal Pictures By Ryan Scott/Aug. 25, 2022 6:00 pm EST In 2018, Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures teamed up to bring Michael Myers back to the big screen after nearly a decade-long absence with “Halloween.” Directed by David Gordon Green, the film served as a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s original 1978 horror classic, ignoring all of the previous sequels and the messy continuity they brought with them....

Andor Episode 10 Gives Andy Serkis An All-Time Great Star Wars Speech Disney+ By Marcos Melendez/Nov. 9, 2022 11:00 am EST Spoilers follow for the 10th episode of “Andor.” In the last episode of “Andor,” it became quite clear that no one is listening to the quiet rebellion brewing in the Imperial prison complex. It wasn’t until the very end that Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) decided to listen for himself, too....

Samurai Champloo Manglobe Shinichiro Watanabe’s follow-up to “Cowboy Bebop,” “Samurai Champloo,” both harmonizes with and diverges from the high-octane space opera. This show tells a very different story, going back to the Edo period of Japanese history instead of the future. However, in spite of the drastically different settings, the series still follows a group of political outcasts who explore a fantastically dangerous world. “Samurai Champloo” tells the stories of Fuu, a tea waitress, Mugen, a rugged outlaw, and Jin, a lone samurai....

Aubrey Plaza Joins The Cast Of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis Roadside Attractions By Eric Vespe/Aug. 22, 2022 8:58 pm EST Big news just hit the trades (specifically Deadline) that adds yet another name to the cast of Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating passion project “Megalopolis.” This movie has been his white whale for decades and Coppola has finally gotten to a point where he can make it, thanks in large part to his own wealth fueled mostly by his winery....

Avatar: The Way Of Water’s Jungle Scenes Were A Challenge For The Film’s VFX Team [Exclusive] 20th Century Studios By Matthew Bilodeau/Dec. 21, 2022 4:30 pm EST James Cameron is a filmmaker who is constantly pushing the boundaries of special effects for the best visual experience possible. A project like “Avatar,” which takes place on an alien planet, could have only come to life through innovation, and it was a massive success....

Avengers: Secret Wars, Blade, And Fantastic Four Get New Release Dates As Disney Shuffles Calendar Marvel Studios By Erin Brady/Oct. 11, 2022 3:15 pm EST We all assumed that “Blade” was not going to make its initial November 2023 release. However, what we likely didn’t expect was that several other Marvel Studios releases were getting pushed back, as well. Disney just updated their upcoming release calendar, and there are quite a few buzzy projects getting delayed....

Barbarian Buries Its Nastiest Twists In The Most Satisfying Way Possible 20th Century Studios By Matthew Bilodeau/Sept. 13, 2022 8:00 am EST This article contains major spoilers for “Barbarian.” When you rent an Airbnb, the most important step of booking the place is making sure everything is on the up and up. You never really know what’s lurking in the corners of someone else’s abode, after all. Once you take the gleefully twisted roller coaster ride that is “Barbarian,” however, you’re going to thoroughly inspect every crevice of the place, if not outright cancel any standing reservations....

Better Call Saul Ending Explained: What Would You Do If You Had A Time Machine? AMC By Hoai-Tran Bui/Aug. 18, 2022 5:14 pm EST What separates a good man and a bad man? It’s a question Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have interrogated across both “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” — the idea of the thin line that divides the legal and illegal, the moral and amoral, and how slippery the slope between them can be....

Bob Odenkirk Hadn’t Seen A Full Breaking Bad Episode Before Stepping Onto Set AMC By Matt Rainis/Dec. 4, 2022 11:59 pm EST Life may seem bleak sometimes, but it’s important to remember how lucky we all are. For example, we’re all blessed enough to be alive and consuming media during what I am hereby dubbing “The Odenkirkaissance” (if anybody has an idea for a better name, you can let me know)....

Frank Darabont Knew He Was Walking A Fine Line With The Shawshank Redemption Columbia Pictures By Michael Boyle/Dec. 13, 2022 4:11 pm EST “The Shawshank Redemption” was Frank Darabont’s feature directorial debut, which makes the fact that it’s widely considered one of the best movies of all time pretty wild to think about. Then again, as we’d later learn from “The Mist” and “The Green Mile,” Darabont and Stephen King is typically a winning combination....

Lady in red 20th Television In another reality, Dana Scully might have been a brunette instead of a redhead. Anderson told Empire in 2008 that her hair was “kind of a mousey brown” when the first “X-Files” pilot was shot. Before too long, however, Anderson received “an executive directive — I don’t know from whom — to make it red.” In hindsight, the directive might have come from “X-Files” creator Chris Carter himself....

Here’s Whoopi Goldberg’s Casting Wish List For Sister Act 3 Buena Vista Pictures Distribution By Matt Rainis/Oct. 14, 2022 3:02 pm EST Sound the horns, set off the fireworks! “Sister Act 3” is approaching! That’s right, everyone’s wildest movie dream seems to finally be coming true: Whoopi Goldberg will don the habit once again. “Sister Act” is the story of a Reno lounge singer who gets put into witness protection in a San Francisco nunnery....

How Ally McBeal And Legally Blonde Helped Influence She-Hulk Disney+ By BJ Colangelo/Aug. 15, 2022 4:07 pm EST When Marvel first announced that Jennifer Walters’ She-Hulk would be getting her own series on Disney+, most assumed the show about the hulking green machine would be another installment of a muscular hero saving the world with feats of super strength. However, as we’ve learned from the new title, “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” and the show’s trailer, this isn’t your typical Marvel show....

No hand-holding, just world-building Disney+/Lucasfilm “Andor” wastes no time before pulling you knee-deep into Cassian’s illicit dealings and shady activities. The show doesn’t hesitate to throw jargon and terminology specific to its setting at you, trusting you to keep up with its world-building rather than holding your hand. It’s a trait it shares with Gilroy’s film work, most of which tosses viewers right into the water rather than going out of its to explain how, say, the law firm in “Michael Clayton” operates or whose job is it to do what in the CIA in the “Bourne” movies....