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Be aware some minor spoilers are necessary to discuss the episodes, but I tried to avoid any major reveals and all the endings. That said, if you want to go in 100% clean, circle back to this review after you’ve seen Season 5! For almost ten years,Black Mirrorhas been the benchmark for tech-fuelled anxiety. Series creatorCharlie Brookerand longtime collaborator/EPAnnabel Jonesfilled audience imaginations with dreadful ideas of skewed reality, perverted consciousness, broken families, and brutalized bodies; all brought about by rapid technological advancements that often bring out the worst in humanity, leaving empathy and intimacy in their wake....

Squid Game: The Challengehas recently premiered, and the series has drawn inSquid Gameand non-Squid Gameviewers alike. With 456 people competing in the competition, it’s surprising to see a player become a target within the first few games.That is precisely what happened to Bryton, whose bold personality rubbed many of the other players the wrong way.He was the first player to essentially be labeled public enemy number oneto his other players, a title that Bryton takes little stock in....

Hulu has officially ordered a second season ofCastle Rock, the streamer’s horror anthology series based on the various manglings and stranglings ofStephen King. The series' first season—coming up on its sixth episode—has been one heck of a gorygood time, telling the story of a devil with an above-average looking butt played by perennial boogeymanBill Skarsgardwho seemingly brings death and despair to the fictional ill-fated town of Castle Rock. (It’s a hop, skip, and a jump-scare away from clown demon-infested Derry and vampire playground Jerusalem’s Lot....

[Editor’s Note: Spoilers for theWatchmenfinale follow below.] When it was first announced thatLostandThe Leftoversco-creatorDamon Lindelofwould be tackling an adaptation ofWatchmenfor HBO, most assumed this was his next big TV project. He spent six seasons runningLostand three seasons running the supremely underratedThe Leftovers, so why wouldWatchmenbe any different? As it turns out, however, Lindelof and his team ofWatchmenwriters approached the adaptation as a close-ended story. They left nothing in the tank as they crafted a compelling and extremely poignant story about race in America built on the foundational structure of the originalWatchmengraphic novel....

David BenioffandD.B. Weiss, two creators who very quickly went from toast of the town to the walking embodiment of a Scooby-Doo “ruh roh”, have lined up their first project afterdeparting aStar Warstrilogy over a Netflix deal. The project, which is…not for Netflix, but for Warner Bros, is an untitled thriller inspired by the graphic novelLovecraftbyKeith Giffen. Benioff and Weiss will direct whilePhil Hay&Matt Manfredi(Aeon Flux,Ride Along) have been hired to write the script....

Everyday, no matter where, I see The Minions, their googly eyes stalking me around Los Angeles – in shops, behind buildings, in my apartment, heck, even on my computer. They’re such a phenomena – I wouldn’t be surprised if Merriam-Webster replaced the definition of ‘minion’ with their oval, yellow visage. This is ‘The Minions’ world. I just take up space. The Minions are so culturally omnipresent, they even have their own language – a loose jumble of Korean, Spanish, Chinese, French and, well, just gibberish....

Spoilers forFantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwaldfollow below. If you haven’t seen the film, turn back now. The sequelFantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwaldis full of twists, turns, and shocking reveals. For the second in a planned five-film franchise, screenwriterJ.K. Rowlingopted to raise the stakes in an interesting way with a few key developments towards the end of the film. The backbone of the story is Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) attempting to lure the very powerful Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) to his side, in an incredibly patient manner....

TheFast & Furiousfamily has gained a new member, as none other thanBrie Larson(Captain Marvel,Room) has joined the cast ofFast 10, in an undisclosed role.Vin Dieselmade the announcement on his Instagram, with a caption that makes it sound as if Larson may be taking on an antagonistic role. The smiling image of Diesel and Larson suggests this could be a match made in heaven, though Diesel said “the love and laughter” present in the image is not correlative with her character in the film....

20th Century Fox is doing something genuinely interesting with their adaptation ofR.L. Stine’s beloved teen horrorFear Streetbooks. The studio has recruitedHoneymoondirectorLeigh Janiakto re-write and directFear Street, but in a compelling shake-up of the standard distribution model, Fox has set a deal that calls for her to write three different scripts that could be not only shot back-to-back but also released back-to-back theatrically, each film hitting theaters one month apart. The news comes fromTHR, who sources tell that Fox is looking to create a “binge-ing” model for movies, and now that someone came up with it, I can’t believe it took this long....

When directorRupert Wyattdeparted the director’s chair of Fox’sGambitpicture last month, the adaptation of the Marvel comic character’s story was left without anyone at the helm. To fill that vacancy, recent reports have suggested that starChanning Tatumhas been courting directorDoug Liman(Edge of Tomorrow). However, it’s looking like more directors are of interest for the chair, which is unsurprising considering how popular and successful the majority of comic book movies have been in recent years....

There is an unspoken (or, sometimes, very loudly spoken) hierarchy in fandoms for TV shows likeGame of Thrones: book readers trump non-book readers every time. The implication is that “real” fans read the source material, while casual fans merely watch the show. This judgment trickles down into Reddit threads, water cooler discussions, and recap comments section everywhere, becoming the subject that is too often talked about and around (Especially since theGame of Thronesin particularly has moved so far past the last published book)....

Giant Pictures is the new owner of Drafthouse Films. The company has announced the acquisition of the film label, along with Drafthouse Film’s acquisition of two films. Drafthouse Films began in 2010 and was originally the distribution arm of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas before being spun-off. The film label focuses on releasing what it describes as “provocative, visionary, and artfully unusual” films from around the world. Releases from the label include 2011’sBullhead, 2013’sBorgman, and 2015’sThe Invitation....

Leave it to the Google Doodle crew to go all out when it comes to their craft. To celebrate the beginning of the Tokyo Olympic Games, the team created an entire RPG within the Google browser that’s completely free to play for the entirety of the games. With the help of Japanese artists, they’ve releasedDoodle Champion Island Games, a love letter to classic pixel JRPGs based around the Olympics and Japanese culture....