Movies

It takes real courage for actors to play themselves on TV, especially when they exaggerate their own personality. Some, like the late James Van Der Beek in Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23, do it for an extended period. Others make quick, funny cameos as themselves, often playfully mocking how the public sees them. These kinds of guest appearances, where actors poke fun at their own image, have often been surprisingly satisfying to watch in recent years.

Directed by David Leitch and inspired by the graphic novel The Coldest City, Atomic Blonde features Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton, a top MI6 spy. She’s sent to Berlin near the end of the Cold War with a dangerous mission: to retrieve a crucial list of intelligence and expose a mole. The film combines the excitement of spy stories with intense, realistic fight scenes, and was celebrated for its distinctive, vibrant visual style and creatively choreographed action.

The Star Wars sequel trilogy had more than just a few issues. The overall story felt disjointed, largely because there wasn’t a clear plan from the beginning. J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens raised many questions but didn’t provide satisfying answers. Rian Johnson was then brought in to try and resolve these issues with The Last Jedi. However, when Abrams returned for The Rise of Skywalker, he dramatically changed Johnson’s direction, most notably by suddenly making Rey a Palpatine – a twist that felt unearned and surprising.

It’s hard to beat the classic Western Tombstone, but a handful of films manage to do so, often by offering a grander scope or more compelling characters. These movies predate the peak popularity of Western stars like Kurt Russell, Clint Eastwood, and John Wayne, yet they prove how timeless and captivating gunslinger stories can be. They’re all essential viewing and, arguably, even better than the already excellent Tombstone.

The new fantasy series Witch Hat Atelier, which premiered in Spring 2026, has received almost perfect ratings across all major platforms. Many viewers have compared its storytelling to the emotional and sweeping narrative of the Star Wars prequels, particularly the story of young Anakin Skywalker.

Often called “The Original Series,” Star Trek is a landmark achievement in American television and heavily influenced countless science fiction shows that came after it. Its hopeful message of peace and acceptance resonated deeply with audiences during the challenging 1960s. Although it only lasted three seasons, Star Trek created a substantial collection of episodes that might seem overwhelming to those discovering it today.

As a longtime fan, I’ve always been fascinated by how filmmakers tackle Philip K. Dick’s work – it’s notoriously tricky to bring his ideas to the screen! We’ve seen a few successful adaptations over the years. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner took inspiration from Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but Steven Spielberg and Richard Linklater went further, directly adapting Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly, respectively. It’s always interesting to see these visions realized, and sometimes, a little changed, for the big screen.

While many famous actors – including Glenn Ford, Joel McCrea, Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, and James Stewart – appeared in several excellent Westerns, they weren’t defined by the genre. Actors like Randolph Scott, Charles Bronson, and Sam Elliott, however, will always be strongly associated with Westerns. John Wayne and Robert Mitchum both became known for two types of films: Wayne for Westerns and war movies, and Mitchum for Westerns and classic film noir.

Like Widow’s Bay, the show Stan Against Evil – which ran for three seasons and stars John C. McGinley – is set in a small New England town and features monsters and curses. Both shows are funny and have a main character who’s in over their head. However, Stan Against Evil stands out with a distinctly New England sensibility, including surprisingly strong language used in clever and cutting insults.

The movie Target Number One, also known as Most Wanted in the US, is becoming increasingly popular on streaming services. According to FlixPatrol, it’s now among the top 10 most-watched films in the United States this week. The film is a Canadian crime drama based on the real-life story of Alain Olivier, a man battling addiction who was falsely accused of a crime while in Thailand.