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This post was originally published in 2015. We have updated it to include Split. A well-executed plot twist is a neat trick, employed by wily directors eager to give an audience that’s seen it all something new. M. Night Shyamalan has made his career on the plot twist. Aside for a few notable exceptions, his body of work is full of gotcha moments, laboring heavily under their own ambitions, trying in vain to surprise a jaded audience, and, more often than not, failing miserably. [Read More]

Macklemore. Say what you will about Macklemore, but he will rage against the machine. In the middle of the nastiest, and perhaps most unserious, rap beef of the decade, the Seattle MC directed his animus toward Israel’s “apartheid system” against Palestine. Macklemore released the anti-genocide, Palestine-solidarity track “Hind’s Hall” on May 6, the same day Israel seized a border crossing at Rafah, the city where 1.3 million displaced Palestinians have crammed for refuge, cutting off a vital aid route. [Read More]

Just weeks after leaving Netflix, Mad Men has found a new (old) home for subscription-based viewing: AMC Networks. The company, whose AMC cable network green-lit Matt Weiner’s period drama and aired it for its full seven-season run, has struck a deal with production studio Lionsgate Television, giving it broad U.S. rights to the show on multiple platforms, including linear cable networks and subscription video on demand services. But AMC will share custody of the Sterling Cooper gang: Amazon’s free, ad-supported IMDb TV service has also snagged a piece of Mad Men, part of a complex, multi-platform (and almost certainly lucrative) licensing agreement that replaces a streaming deal Lionsgate and Netflix struck back in 2011. [Read More]

Madonna. Earlier this month, TMZ got hold of a revealing letter Tupac wrote in 1995 to his former girlfriend Madonna from prison explaining that their breakup was race-related. The letter is set to go up for sale Wednesday via online auction site Gotta Have Rock and Roll, but if Madge has her way, that won’t happen. TMZ reports that Madonna filed an emergency court order in New York City on Tuesday to block the auction. [Read More]

This review was originally published on September 2, 2023. On January 23, 2024, Maestro was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Carey Mulligan gets first billing in Bradley Cooper’s film about the life of conductor Leonard Bernstein (played by Bradley Cooper). And she deserves it. As Bernstein’s wife Felicia Montealegre, she has to absorb, attract, shield, and parry every loving embrace and slight from her brilliant husband. It’s a reactive performance, and Mulligan plays it with a heartbreaking universality. [Read More]

Spoilers ahead! Perhaps like you, when Maisie Williams realized her Game of Thrones character Arya was about to have sex for the first time with her longtime friend Gendry, played by Joe Dempsie, during Sunday night’s season-eight episode “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” she assumed the scene was a practical joke. “At first, I thought it was a prank,” the actress told Entertainment Weekly, “I was like, ‘Yo, good one. [Read More]

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Heterosexual Caucasian male Andrew Garfield. How strict are the restrictions that Marvel places on cinematic depictions of Spider-Man? This strict: According to a 2011 contract between Marvel and Sony that was discovered by Gawker as part of the Sony hack, Spider-Man films are prohibited from portraying their titular web-slinger, Peter Parker, as anything but a straight white male. These restrictions are part of a set of “mandatory character traits” the comics giant set in advance of 2012’s Andrew Garfield–starring The Amazing Spider-Man; other perhaps more reasonable restrictions prevent Spider-Man from being depicted as a drug dealer or a pedophile. [Read More]

Mary and George The Hunt Season 1 Episode 2 Editor’s Rating 5 stars ***** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » Mary and George The Hunt Season 1 Episode 2 Editor’s Rating 5 stars ***** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » Tens! Tens across the board for this show! Admittedly, a lot happened in this episode without advancing the plot very much, but I assume that is because we are moving pieces into play. [Read More]

It is the royal mashup of our dreams. Mary Berry, Duchess of Cakes, and Prince William and Kate Middleton, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are teaming up to film a BBC special, A Berry Royal Christmas, in December. The special will feature the three preparing a holiday feast for volunteer workers, and, according to the Instagram announcement, will take place “across four engagements.” Nadiya Hussain, winner of The Great British Bake Off season six, will also guest star. [Read More]