‘Snake Eyes’ Carves Out a Dull Origin That’s an Insult to Ninja Cinema

From action figures to cartoons, the world of G.I. Joe has been one powered by simple characters, elaborate hardware, and imagination. A pair of big-budget, live-action blockbusters followed their lead with both G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) delivering over the top action and exaggerated personalities. Unlike Hasbro’s...

3h

The Ending of M. Night Shymalan’s ‘Old’ Explained

Ending Explained is a recurring series in which we explore the finales, secrets, and themes of interesting movies and shows, both new and old. This time, we look at the ending of M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie, Old. Yes, prepare for spoilers. Before one steps into an M. Night Shyamalan movie, they’re already anticipating the twist ending. The writer/director’s...

17h

The Most Notorious Mobsters in ‘Star Wars’ Arrive in ‘The Bad Batch’

Welcome to The Bad Batch Explained, our weekly column dedicated to those rough and tumble Clone Wars leftovers and their march through a bold, new galaxy far, far away. In this entry, we’re charging into Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 13 (“Infested”) and confronting the franchise’s most notorious crime syndicate as they deal with Roland Durand. So...

18h

M. Night Shyamalan Doesn’t Make Horror Movies

M. Night Shyamalan’s Old grapples with a common aspect of life (and death) through a horrific lens. The movie follows a vacationing family that winds up on a secluded beach where everyone starts aging rapidly. Shyamalan doesn’t want to just tell a story about getting old, though. He wants to illustrate the absolute terror of that experience. ...

21h

Mediation, Artifice, and the Anxious Digital Format of ‘Bo Burnham: Inside’

Welcome to The Queue — your daily distraction of curated video content sourced from across the web. Today, we’re watching a video essay on the format and structure of Bo Burnham’s comedy special Inside. However you feel about Bo Burnham: Inside, you must admit: the acclaimed Netflix comedy special definitely feels like the most significant piece...

23h

The Real Stories Behind Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’

Real Stories is an ongoing column about the true stories behind movies and TV shows. It’s that simple. This installment focuses on the true New Yorker stories, editors, and reporters that inspired Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Wes Anderson is an admirer of The New Yorker. A fascination with the kind...

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What to Expect from Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’

Welcome to Great Expectations, a recurring series in which we break down the most essential information about an upcoming movie or show. In this edition, we look at what you can expect from — and where you can watch — the new movie adaptation of Dune. To say that adapting Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel Dune into a movie has been a difficult...

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‘Old’ Sees M. Night Shyamalan Fall and Struggle to Get Back Up

M. Night Shyamalan isn’t the only filmmaker to have scaled great heights, fallen out of critical favor, and then climbed his way back up again, but he’s one of the very few to continue delivering hits all along the way. His genre debut with The Sixth Sense (1999) resulted in his highest-grossing and most acclaimed film to date (although we all agree...

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‘Ted Lasso’ is Not Trying to Be Your Comfort Show

Welcome to Previously On, a column that gives you the rundown on the latest TV. This week, Valerie Ettenhofer reviews Ted Lasso Season 2. For the better part of the past year, audiences have been talking about Ted Lasso with the kind of reverence reserved only for the best that humanity has to offer. Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is the hero we need...

2d

What to Expect from ‘The Suicide Squad’

Welcome to Great Expectations, a recurring series in which we break down the most essential information about an upcoming movie or show. In this edition, we look at what you can expect from — and where you can watch — The Suicide Squad. DC Comics fans rejoice: your favorite oddball cast of superheroes is back with a vengeance. While the 2016 movie...

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