For all of its dream demons and trans-dimensional government plots, Stranger Things does feature one completely realistic story element. In the six years since the first season premiered on Netflix, we have watched the four main boys grow up and grow apart. Fissures between the primary friend group were already present in the series’ third season, as Mike, Dustin, and Lucas all had girlfriends that consumed their time more than the Dungeons & Dragons they loved to play....

Still, through three seasons of nostalgia-tinged spookies, Stranger Things has mostly stayed in the realm of monsters. Whether it was the Demogorgon, its “Demo-dogs”, or the skyscraper-sized Mind Flayer, Stranger Things’ big bads have been more Dungeons & Dragons style creatures from the Upside Down rather than your traditional things-that-go-bump-in-the-night spirits. Perhaps, however, that is all set to change with Stranger Things season 4. During Netflix’s global fan event, TUDUM, Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers and actors Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson) and Joe Keery (Steve Harrington) unveiled the latest sneak peek at the upcoming season set to premiere in 2022....

cough Well, it feels fair to say that we didn’t hear many fans begging for Steve (from Minecraft) to be added to the game. Leading up to the reveal, some of the top requests we heard were Crash Bandicoot, Geno from Super Mario RPG, and Sora from Kingdom Hearts. Steve (whose domain largely includes, but is no longer limited to, the realm of Minecraft) wasn’t exactly a chart-topper. As such, there are currently man Smash fans voicing their displeasure across the internet....

Superman & Lois Episode 11 If you just tuned in to Superman & Lois episode 11, “A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events” a few minutes in, and perhaps without having seen the previous episodes, you might be forgiven for thinking that this is in fact the pilot episode for a brand new show about the Man of Steel. While every other Arrowverse superhero began life with a fairly detailed origin story episode (or season!...

Even on TV, at least in live action, it seemed like telling a “Superman story” wasn’t enough. 1993’s Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman fancied itself a high concept take on the legend, leaning heavily into newsroom drama (at least in its first season) and romantic comedy. Even the wildly successful Smallville proudly touted a “no tights, no flights” policy as it told its tale of a young Clark Kent who wanted anything other than to be a hero....

Karen Macdonald in Coronation Street The Street’s where it all started for Jones, playing the mouthy, ambitious Karen McDonald (née Philips) to audiences of almost 20 million four nights a week. Jones won two ‘Most Popular Actress’ National Television Awards on the bounce for Karen, a dynamic Manc who dressed like she was in a girl band, always stood her ground and wouldn’t think twice about throwing her pint over you/threaten you with a stiletto heel if you crossed her....

The suit. The ‘tache. The smile. The preternatural speed with which he’s able to snatch a marshmallow from an opponent using a pair of kitchen tongs. There’s a great deal to admire about Taskmaster series 11 contestant Mike Wozniak, so admire him we will. Right here. Starting now. Tick tock: it’s Wozniak o’clock. Who is Mike Wozniak? He’s an absolute bloody milk guzzler, that’s who. Like Harry Hill, Graham Chapman, Graeme Garden and Paul Sinha before him, Mike Wozniak trained and worked as a doctor before becoming a stand-up....

So, what went wrong? While Bale might say it has something to do with a production assistant messing up lighting, Salvation director McG recently offered his own thoughts. “We got so close to nailing that thing right,” McG told The Hollywood Reporter. “I got a lot right in that movie but didn’t quite stick the landing.” The ending that they didn’t stick finds Connor mortally wounded in a resistance attack that destroys Skynet’s supply of weapons, including the newly-designed T-800s....

The Adam and Joe Show Back in the mid-1990s, before the onslaught of Star Wars nostalgia, before YouTube and before George Lucas did something unmentionable to most people’s childhoods by creating episodes 1-3, Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish were still messing about in their toy box. Dusting off and setting up their old Kenner Star Wars figures, Adam and Joe produced numerous parodies, routinely casting R2D2 and C3P0 as a gay couple and Obi-Wan as a drunken Geordie....

Those are the terrifying words delivered by The Batman star Robert Pattinson after beating a very brave gang leader’s face into mush during one of the movie’s most buzzed about scenes. Since its debut in the film’s very first trailer, the “I’m vengeance” scene has become the subject of countless social posts, memes, and gifs. For some fans, it’s also the moment that finally sold them on the idea that Pattinson could embody a character as dark as Batman....

Without further ado, here are our favourite horrors based on real events. Dead Ringers (1988) Arguably the last flat-out masterpiece of David Cronenberg’s exceptional mid-1970s/late-1980s run of films, Dead Ringers also marked a transitional moment for the filmmaker as he ventured beyond the visceral body horror he was best known for into realms of psychological exploration and dislocation. Starring Jeremy Irons in a stunning dual performance (for which he was ridiculously overlooked at Oscar time) as twin gynaecologists who descend into madness and addiction, the film’s screenplay was loosely adapted by Cronenberg and Norman Snider from a novel called Twins by Bari Wood....

Ok, who saw that coming? The Boys waited until the very last moments of its Season 2 finale, ‘What I Know’, to finally reveal the identity of its mysterious head-popper after quickly dismissing the leading prime suspect, Vought International CEO Stan Edgar, and now we know whodunnit – Victoria Neuman, the show’s whip smart Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-esque Congresswoman and Butcher gang ally. In a cracking, extremely satisfying finale that brought us a huge helping of delightful moments – Billy’s parting advice to Ryan!...

So I have to say, I’m a little surprised by The Defenders. While the show is an excellent return to form for Marvel’s stable of Netflix shows, it’s surprisingly light on Marvel Comics mythology. That’s not necessarily a bad thing (we don’t need easter eggs in every single scene), but given how jam-packed every other season of the Marvel Netflix shows was, I expected a little more. Then again, with all the world building they did in five other seasons of TV, I guess I can kind of understand why this is the way it is....

Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 has finally arrived on Disney+. Now, those of you hoping for mystery box storytelling and surreal weirdness the likes of which we got from WandaVision may be a little disappointed. But those of you looking for some gritty street-and-spy-level action with a deeper look at life in the post-Snap/Blip MCU, well, you’re in luck. Oh? But you’re here for Marvel Comics and MCU Easter eggs, you say?...

The Flash Season 4 Episode 18 The past few weeks on The Flash have been pretty entertaining but not exactly seismic when it comes to story progression. Last week, we got a fluffy but fun Cisco episode along with a look at the burgeoning friendship between Ralph Dibny and Barry Allen. While Cisco’s promotion to full-fledged Breacher isn’t explored at all this week, the bond between Flash and Elongated Man takes center stage....

Anyone who’s ever worked in a newsroom can feel seen by a throwaway line like that. Which is of course by design since Anderson’s new film exceeds being simply a love letter to the press; it’s a fawning portrait of adoration for the printed word in general, and The New Yorker in particular. Because in spite of the film’s intentionally embellished setting in Anderson’s current home of France, The French Dispatch, as both a fictional periodical and a film, is a painstaking recreation of the real wit and urbane conviviality we associate with that magazine....

Antonie Fuqua’s The Guilty, a remake of 2018 Danish hit Den Skyldige written by True Detective scribe Nic Pizzolatto, is certainly a quarantine film. While the cast includes Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Bill Burr, Eli Goree, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, you mostly only see leading man Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal plays Joe Baylor, a police officer working a shift at a 911 emergency response center in Los Angeles....

As the film opens we see little Chris (James Quinn Markey) and his mom Sarah (Seana Kerslake) driving in their aging car through a vast swath of Irish forest, the two of them are immediately made to seem small and powerless amidst the large, unknowable surroundings. It’s heavily implied that Sarah and Chris’ dad are estranged, if not divorced (she also hides a scar under her hair that hints strongly at the relationship being abusive), and that the young woman and her child are heading off to a rural village in Ireland to restart their lives in a calmer setting....

Those days are long gone, as the latest The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer just reminded us. The movie is a virtual who’s who of movie star talent circa the early 2020s: Jack Black as Bowser, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi… and Chris Pratt as Mario. With the exception of Black, none of the hired actors are doing much to disguise their recognizable cadences in the new trailer, but only one has earned the ire of the internet: and it’s once again Chris Pratt....

The Magicians Season 2 Episode 9 It was a week of self-realization for several characters in this week’s episode of The Magicians, and there was a sense of discovery as personality shortcomings came to light and introduced new conflicts to come. Alas, some narrative flaws left the story feeling a bit slapdash, but as is usual with episodes like this, the push forward for the central story arc overrides any misgivings arising from the weaker aspects....