How “Stranger Things” Revived the 1980s: From Eggo Waffles to Kate Bush
Most people who lived through the 80s remember the big hair, questionable neon fashion, and analog inconveniences with a mix of fondness and maybe some regret. And yet, somehow, Stranger Things has convinced Gen Z that physical media is cool and mullets should make a comeback. Fashion quickly followed, with people searching for vintage denim jackets and other 80s-inspired clothes.
What started as a supernatural adventure set in 1983 has grown into a cultural force that does far more than reference nostalgia.
The Boy Who Survived: Will Byers’ Journey to the “Stranger Things” Finale
Since returning from the Upside Down in the first season, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has never truly been the same. Haunted by possession, sensing the hive mind and the lingering presence of Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), Will moves through Hawkins with the weight of an entire other world on his shoulders. Some fans believe that Vecna was the force that first pulled Will into the darkness, setting everything in motion.
“Stranger Things” Season 4 Recap: Getting Upside Down From Eddie’s Guitar Solo to Vecna’s Revenge
We took you through the first three seasons of all the supernatural doings in Hawkins, Indiana. It’s not often that a show surges to its peak level of popularity in the fourth season, but that’s precisely what happened with the Duffer Brothers’ juggernaut series. Stranger Things season 4 broke records and the internet. In June 2022, The Credits wrote that season 4 “smashed the record for the best premiere for an English-language series,
“Stranger Things” Seasons 1-3 Summary: What You Need to Know Ahead of Season 5
You may have watched all 35 hours of Stranger Things seasons 1-4, but with those releases spread across the past decade, many viewers are in need of a recap. Season 5 is set to be even more jam-packed and arrives at the speed of a scampering demogorgon on November 26. Volume 1 consists of the first four episodes and runs 4 hours and 31 minutes. Run times for Volume 2, which streams on Netflix on Christmas Day and consists of three episodes and the finale.
“Stranger Things” Unleashes Kinetic Final Trailer for Season 5, Vol. 1
The final trailer for Stranger Things season 5 (volume 1) has arrived, revealing our fearless Hawkins’ heroes have a plan to take the battle to Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and end his reign of terror once and for all. “I want to see Vecna’s heart on a platter,” says the always game Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and his comrades agree.
The new trailer isn’t nearly as long as the bombastic,
C’est La Vie: “The White Lotus” Season 4 Is Going to France
While it seemed like the most likely destination for a while now, HBO and HBO Max Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys finally said oui, Mike White‘s The White Lotus will be heading to France for season 4.
Bloys confirmed France as the destination for White’s perennially buzzy series during Thursday’s HBO Max programming slate presentation in New York.
“It’s going to be in France,” Bloys said at the presentation,
“A House of Dynamite”: How Production Designer Jeremy Hindle Built a Nuclear Crisis in Real Time – Part 2
Filmed primarily in New Jersey with the help of $30 million in production incentives, Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite is a sobering look at how the response to a nuclear attack on U.S. soil might unfold. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s relentlessly compelling and superbly crafted, hallmarks of Bigelow’s distinguished career.
The cortisol-triggering film follows major players in the government during the 20 minutes before an inbound nuclear missile hits a major American city.
How “The Beast in Me” Cinematographer Lyle Vincent Brought ’70s Noir to Netflix’s Claire Danes Thriller
The Beast in Me opens on a tableau of sorrow. Claire Danes, who plays author Aggie Wiggs, is driving her son Cooper (Leonard Gerome) when the unthinkable happens: a car accident takes his life. In the aftermath, her partner Shelly (Natalie Morales) rushes towards her, calling out for him. Drowning in pain, Aggie’s bloodied face can only twist a piercing scream underscored by a cacophonous mix of music and effects. The bleak moment abruptly cuts to a close-up of her against a warm,
Inside Camtec: The Boutique Camera House Behind Films From Damien Chazelle, Denis Villeneuve, Bradley Cooper & More
“We support everything from large-scale blockbusters to high-end commercials to intimate indie films. The scale may change, but our approach doesn’t: we give each production the same level of care, attention, and collaboration,” says Kavon Elhami, the CEO of Camtec, an equipment rental company located in Burbank, California.
For nearly four decades, the boutique shop has been servicing (and collaborating) on countless projects, including Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival,
Netflix Drops the Epic, Nearly 3-Minute Long Trailer for “Stranger Things” Season 5
The official trailer for the 5th and final season of Stranger Things has arrived, opening with a shot of the seemingly immortal Vecna intoning We can begin. At nearly three minutes long, this is the kind of meaty, bombastic look at the final season of what has inarguably been one of the defining shows in Netflix’s history. The trailer gives you a sense of the massive size and scope of the final season,
No Snow, No Cell Service, No Problem: “The Last Frontier” Location Manager Michèle St-Arnaud on Making Apple TV’s Wilderness Thriller
For location manager Michèle St-Arnaud, Apple TV’s espionage thriller The Last Frontier is her swan song. The Montreal native is bringing to a close a remarkable four-decade career defined by her collaborations with top-tier directors, including John Crowley, Paul McGuigan, Roland Emmerich, David Fincher, and Denis Villeneuve. “In French, we say le chant du cynge,” she says with a smile. “I’m still in the business in other ways,
“Stranger Things” Two-Hour Finale To Get Historic Release in Theaters on New Year’s Eve
Stranger Things is going to go out with the biggest possible bang for a television series. The Duffer Brothers’ game-changing Netflix series’ two-hour finale, titled “The Rightside Up,” will have a simultaneous premiere on the streamer and more than 350 movie theaters on December 31st, beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The finale will stay in theaters through January 1, 2026.
It’s an appropriately historic end for a series that has been a phenomenon on Netflix and made stars of many of its cast members,
The Invisible Architects: How Two Visionary Production Designers Launched a Global Movement
If a film’s visuals tickle the eye, scorch the heart, or linger in the consciousness long after the credits roll, you can thank the production designer. Whether the project is a blockbuster or a low-budget indie, the production designer is tasked with creating that elusive “look” of the film and translating the director’s vision into visual reality.
“A complaint often raised with production designers, like other ‘below the line’ [artisans],
“Black Rabbit” Creators Zach Baylin and Kate Susman on Cooking Up Their NYC-Set Thriller
Netflix’s hit series Black Rabbit brings viewers into the vibey, chaotic world of New York City nightlife in a breathless eight-episode sprint that left this viewer spent and satisfied, like after a particularly long and indulgent night in the city it lovingly, if somewhat dementedly, portrays. Starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman as Jake and Vince Friedken, respectively, brothers who try to slough off a particularly rough upbringing by opening the titular Black Rabbit restaurant together,
“The Last Frontier” Showrunner Jon Bokenkamp on Creating Apple TV’s Frigid, Frenetic Thriller
Jon Bokenkamp may have made it in Hollywood, but he hasn’t lost his Midwestern roots. The Nebraska native, best known for creating the spy thriller The Blacklist, is the type of person who still has a letter from George Lucas’s office taped to his wall, saying, “Mr. Lucas is sorry, but he’s unable to attend the screening of your movie.” This was a movie Bokenkamp made when he was a teenager.
The Last Frontier,
“Game of Thrones” Returns With “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Trailer
“I was squired to Sir Arlan of Pennytree,” says Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) in the opening seconds of the first trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a new Game of Thrones spinoff coming to HBO. “He charged me to be a good knight, to defend the weak and the innocent, and I swore that I would.”
It only takes a mere twenty seconds or so to catch a name Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon fans are very familiar with—Targaryen—when a young man asks Ser Dunance whether he’s Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel).
Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Dressing Scorching, Corporate-Controlled Future in “Alien: Earth”
Alien: Earth (streaming on FX) pictures our future here on Earth as a wildly advanced, increasingly grim corporate kleptocracy—a scorching hot planet that doesn’t get any more welcoming after it’s populated with flesh-eating “Xenomorphs” (thanks to a crashed research vessel owned by one of thoes corporate overlords, Weyland-Yutani) that is then pursued by a private army owned by tech genius Boy Kavalier’s company Prodigy. While face-bursting and brain-controlling eyeballs roam the rainforest,
“Alien: Earth” Cinematographer and Director Dana Gonzalez on Bringing Cinema’s Most Iconic Monster to TV
On Earth, everyone can hear you scream. No apologies for the dreadful play on the classic logline for Alien, which continues to reach new, strange heights in FX’s Alien: Earth, created by Fargo‘s Noah Hawley. Cinematographer and director Dana Gonzalez establishes the expressive vision in the pilot, titled “Neverland,” which introduces a young, terminally ill girl named Marcy Hermit (Florence Bensberg) to a future world in which she’ll survive,
From Abbey Road to “Alien: Earth”: Composer Jeff Russo on Bringing Xenomorphs Home Through Music
Alien: Earth doesn’t rehash the familiar, even if it beats with the acid-pumping heart of Ridley Scott’s original Alien. The series expands on the terrifying world Scott first unleashed on audiences on May 25, 1979 by focusing not only on the iconic Xenomorph, one of the most legendary movie monsters of all time, but by imagining what the world might look like decades later when the Xenomorph, and a slew of other captive galactic creatures,
From USC Benchwarmer to Cartel Smuggler: Inside “Cocaine Quarterback” With Director Jody McVeigh-Schultz
If the infamous trope “I know a guy who knows a guy” had a poster child, it should be Owen Hanson. Chronicled in a three-part docuseries, Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel, from director Jody McVeigh-Schultz, the shocking events reveal how the former USC walk-on went from National Champion to convicted drug cartel smuggler.
McVeigh-Schultz, best known for helming the school spying scandal docuseries Spy High,
