How Chilling Adventures of Sabrina‘s Production Designer Creates the Occult
Based on the “Archie” comic book series “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa cast another spell with Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The series takes the source material from the comics and infuses them with equal parts horror and humor. Here Sabrina (played by Mad Men‘s Kiernan Shipka) struggles with trying to reconcile her two very distinct natures—she is half mortal, half witch. She’s buffeted by occult forces that threaten both her and her family...
Rey’s Parents Will be Revealed in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The reveal that Rey (Daisy Ridley)’s parents were nobodies in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi was astonishing. Some fans were apocalyptic (for muddled reasons, if you ask me), while we found the twist satisfying in all the right ways. It meant that her uniqueness and abilities weren’t born from some royal, Jedi lineage. The film positioned her strength of character and emerging abilities as a product of who she was,...
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s Ending Tweaked During Production
We waited a long time to find out anything about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. We were parsing comments made by J.J. Abrams around his initial hesitation about rejoining the franchise looking for clues. Then, tanks to the Star Wars Celebration, we now have a bounty of details to sift through. There is, of course, that enigmatic title. And all the juicy details revealed during that thrilling teaser. There’s the unexpected return of Emperor Palpatine...
The Final Avengers: Endgame Trailer is Emotional & Epic
“Heroes. It’s an old fashioned notion.”
These words come from the late Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who perished in the post-credits scene in Avengers: Infinity War in the midst of sending one very important message. The final trailer for Avengers: Endgame is a chills-inducing epic for any fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It connects the marquee films in the MCU’s decade-long, 22-film arc, building to the emotional—and for some characters possibly final—fight of their lives...
Samwell Tarly vs. Daenerys Targaryen is Game of Thrones Most Intriguing Battle
Game of Thrones is, among many other things, a show about the price of intolerance. Most of the show’s characters and the majority of those who want to rule the Seven Kingdoms are more or less intolerant. They see an unbending will as strength and punishing would-be usurpers and run-of-the-mill rebels as a necessity of good governance. The Stark’s high moral codes, so infamously self-defeating, also required a level of intolerance, too. Ned Stark taught his sons that not only did leaders need to order executions from time to time,...
Emperor Palpatine’s Mysterious Return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The most shocking revelation in the trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker came at the very end. While we were in the midst of digesting the title (!!) and the shots of Rey flipping backward over Kylo Ren’s customized TIE-Fighter, the trailer ended with a very familiar laugh—that of Emperor Palpatine. The long-dead–or so we thought—Palpatine was last seen, chronologically speaking, getting thrown down a shaft to his by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. ...
It’s a Wrap: New Photo Celebrates End of Birds of Prey Principal Photography
We’ve got a fresh photo from the set of director Cathy Han and star Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Producer and star Robbie is reprising her role as everyone’s favorite psychopath, Harley Quinn. It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with Birds of Prey. The new photo posted on Instagram by Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment celebrates the film wrapping principal photography.
A quick refresher on Birds of Prey‘s focus...
Unpacking the Game of Thrones Episode 2 Trailer
So you watched the premiere, “Winterfell,” and are still working through its many twists and turns. We wrote this lengthy recap where we did our level best to sort out all that we learned—and all that was presaged—in the premiere. There were reunions, revelations, and tasty rebuttals (the Stark sisters had the episodes best lines.) Somehow, we only have five episodes left for all of these characters and their various issues, ambitions, and desires to coalesce. It seems impossible to accomplish that in 5 episodes,...
A Visit to Theaterkunst, Germany’s Oldest and Biggest Costume Design House
What do Metropolis, Ben-Hur, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay all have in common? Their actors were outfitted, in full or in part, by a costume house in Berlin. And not just any costume house, but one that survived two world wars and Germany’s partitioning. It is now the country’s largest collection of historic and contemporary garments and accessories. With 10 million items (a single item can be a loincloth,...
Game of Thrones Season 8 Premiere Recap
The season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones offered a number of long-awaited reunions. For most of its 54-minutes, “Winterfell” was a satisfying if stately table setter, with a double dragon ride and some zesty clap backs. Then the episode went into overdrive for its final few minutes, ending with a reveal many years in the coming, a grisly scene that felt inspired by David Fincher’s Se7en, and a face-to-face that brought us all the way back to the pilot...
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Title & Teaser Revealed
And there it is, folks. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the official title for the 9th and final film in the Skywalker Saga. What’s more—we’ve got our first look at J.J. Abrams’ Skywalker capper with a compelling, crackerjack teaser. The title and teaser were revealed during the Episode IX panel at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago. The Rise of Skywalker is, needless to say, a very interesting title considering this is supposed to be the end of the Skywalker saga...
Watch the Star Wars: Episode IX Panel Live
Stephen Colbert just burst onto the stage at the Star Wars celebration, folks. He’s excited. We’re excited. Are you excited? If you’re reading this then we bet you are!
There’s been a lot of Disney-related news lately. There was the historic acquisition of Fox, and yesterday’s in-depth reveal of their upcoming streaming service, Disney + news yesterday (read our breakdown of the Mouse House’s new streaming service here). The Star Wars Celebration promises to deliver even more news—with the two things everyone is curious about;...
What you Need to Know About Disney +
The featured image is from the set of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, the upcoming live-action Star Wars series that’s coming to Disney +. Now we finally know when. The Mouse House revealed the details about their upcoming streaming service, and there’s a lot to parse. We’ve put together this brief fact sheet to help you wrap your head around what Disney + is offering, how much it costs, and when it’s coming.
When does it launch?...
Here’s the Interestingly Weird Title for Marvel’s Scarlet Witch & Vision Series
Disney has now fully revealed their new streaming service Disney + yesterday. Disney + will offer a huge trove of titles. Disney’s historic acquisition of 20th Century Fox included a majority stake in Hulu, which will be bundled in the new Disney + service alongside ESPN+. Then, of course, there’s the Mouse House’s massive catalog of old Disney, Pixar, and National Geographic films. And, in case you’d forgotten—Disney also owns Lucasfilm—home of Star Wars—and Marvel Studios...
Rocket Suits up in new Avengers: Endgame Spot
Have you heard about this little movie coming out on April 26? It includes a feisty, weaponry-loving space raccoon and a bunch of superheroes banding together to fight a sociopathic purple alien and resurrect their dead friends and a few billion other people. Not ringing any bells? Well, it’s called Avengers: Endgame and comes from a scrappy little studio named Marvel. Scarlett Johansson’s in it. So is Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. Still nothing?...
The Dirt‘s Production Designer on Recreating Mötley Crüe’s Wild Ride
Netflix‘s The Dirt focuses on the wild, often sordid and ultimately stratospheric rise of the seminal heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. Directed by Jeff Tremaine, The Dirt is based on the band’s 2001 New York Times best-selling autobiography, which detailed how they managed to go from sharing a truly disgusting apartment and booking gigs on the Sunset Strip to selling out stadiums and becoming one of the most infamous acts in the world...
Robert Pattinson on High Life & Working With Claire Denis
The career arc that took actor Robert Pattinson from teen heartthrob vampire Edward Cullen in five Twilight movies to one of independent cinema’s most adventurous actors has few parallels — except perhaps for his Twilight costar Kristen Stewart.
Like Stewart, Pattinson has reinvented himself since the blockbuster Twilight franchise as a go-to actor for ambitious indie projects, ranging from David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis (2012) to the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time (2017)...
New Avengers: Endgame International Teaser Brings us Back to the Snap
It would be a lie to say it feels like yesterday when Thanos (Josh Brolin) shocked the world by beating the Avengers and destroying half of life in the universe. The Thanos snap, of course, was the somber ending to in the Russo Brother’s Avengers: Infinity War. Time has not exactly flown since then, yet the effects of that snap still feel fresh. It’s been almost a year since that game-changing conclusion, and soon enough we’ll see both the fallout from the snap and what comes next...
Jeremy Renner-led Hawkeye Series in Works for Disney +
From Infinity War no-show to potentially starring in his own Disney + series, figuring out where Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye may or may not pop up is a fun game. Variety reports that the sharpshooting Avenger will likely have his own limited series on the upcoming streaming service Disney +. We know Hawkeye—with his fresh new haircut—has a role to play in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame. Does this mean we can be sure that Renner’s Cliff Barton will survive Endgame? ...
J.J. Abrams on his Initial Fears & Current Excitement About Star Wars: Episode IX
When it was announced that J.J. Abrams was returning to co-write and direct Star Wars: Episode IX, little did we know how initially apprehensive he was. Abrams had already successfully relaunched a new era of Star Wars with 2015’s A Force Awakens. The pressure and stress of taking on the most iconic film franchise in history was significant, to say the least. Abrams helped usher in a new era of stars and continued a saga begun by George Lucas in 1977...
