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Sir Ian McKellen has played some of the most legendary characters in his decades-long career. From theatre to film, the actor has brought several characters to life with his extraordinary acting prowess. However, one of his most famous characters will forever remain the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and later The Hobbit.

Ian McKellen as Gandalf | Credit: New Line Cinema

While fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world continue to love and cherish the actor’s portrayal, McKellen himself has kept iconic tokens from the franchise. Here is a glimpse into what treasures of the Middle-earth did he keep as souvenirs.

The iconic souvenirs that Sir Ian McKellen took from the Lord of the Rings set Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf | Credit: New Line Cinema

When actors wrap up filming, it is usual for them to nick pieces from the sets as a remembrance of their time spent on the project.

Believe it or not, there was an Oscar buzz around Andy Serkis’ Gollum role in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Serkis played the voice and motion capture for the role. He initially had doubts about the role as he was unsure whether the mo-cap performance would work in the film. However, Peter Jackson believed it to be a relevant acting performance.

Andy Serkis as Gollum in a still from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Credits: New Line Cinema

Jackson compared it to John Hurt’s performance in The Elephant Man, a role that won Hurt a Best Actor nomination. Hurt had to wear heavy prosthetic makeup in the role and never showed his face, which prompted the director to believe that Serkis was eligible for an Oscar. However, he never received the recognition for The Lord of the Rings.

Peter Jackson believed...

Actor Michael Biehn has a podcast called Just Foolin About with Michael Biehn, which can be found on YouTube. Biehn’s latest guest was Veronica Cartwright, who ran into the alien xenomorph in the 1979 film Alien, seven years before Biehn had his own close encounter with the nasty creatures in Aliens. The full, 95 minute episode can be viewed at This Link – but to promote the episode, Biehn has dropped a 13 minute clip that shows Cartwright talking about the experience of working on Alien, including her reaction to the famous chestburster scene. You can check it out in the embed above.

Here’s the clip’s official description: Veronica Cartwright tells Michael Biehn about her time working on and filming Alien. She goes on to shed some light on whether or not the cast was truly unaware of what was about to happen in the iconic chestburster scene, and how genuine her reaction was.

FX has released a new teaser for its all-new Original TV series Alien: Earth, which will premiere this summer on Hulu and with Hulu on Disney+. New key art for the series was also revealed.

When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s Alien: Earth, from creator Noah Hawley.

Alien: Earth is set two years before the events of the 1979 film Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto.

Lead by Chandler, the series showcases an expansive international cast that includes Alex Lawther, Timothy Olyphant, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, David Rysdahl, Adrian Edmondson, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diem Camille and Moe Bar-El.

Shabana Azmi had the rare privilege of playing both wife and daughter to Soumitra Chatterjee. “But then he had the rarest privilege of doing fourteen films with Satyajit Ray. I was in a film group that was honoured at the prestigious George Pompidou Centre in Paris sometime in the 1980s and it was so incredible to watch the adulation showered on him by French fans. In Paris, they called out to him as Apu (from Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar) and Amal (from Ray’s Charulata) and rushed to get photographed with him. Soumitrada seemed to to take it all in his stride and said modestly, ‘It’s because Ray made these characters so memorable that I’m reaping the benefits.’ I was amazed at how lightly he wore his fame.”

Recalling her own experiences of collaborating with Soumitrada as a co-actor Shabana says, “I had the honour of working...

On January 15th, 2025, we lost one of cinema’s most imaginative minds. David Lynch, the man who turned dreams into films and ordinary moments into something extraordinary, passed away at 78. For decades, Lynch showed us the power of storytelling—how it could be raw, emotional, and downright nightmarish, yet still somehow beautiful.

Lynch wasn’t just a filmmaker but an artist and a dreamer—and sometimes just a man reporting the local weather from his office. Born on January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana, Lynch originally studied painting before his fascination with moving images pulled him into filmmaking. His work often straddled the line between dream and reality, crafting worlds that felt deeply personal and moving, all the while confusing the hell out of even his most hardcore fans.

As with our Editor-In-Chief, Chris Bumbray, my introduction to his work came through Lost Highway, a movie that fell into my lap at just the right time.

Sir Ridley Scott was worried that the visual effects in ‘Alien’ wouldn’t be scary enough.The 87-year-old director helmed the 1979 flick that went on to become an iconic example of sci-fi film history, but he has now admitted he was concerned that the practical effects - particularly the rubber Xenomorph suit worn by Bolaji Badejo - may not live up to the frightening nature he was aiming for.In a video with GQ, Scott said: “Don’t forget, we had no digital effects in those days.“Nothing. And so backdrops have to be painted, and I have to find a very tall, thin man to squeeze into a rubber suit.“And therefore, when you do that, you can shoot very little, show as little as possible, because it doesn’t really hold up.”The ‘Gladiator II’ filmmaker emphasised that ’Alien’s success was nearly completely down to the Xenomorph...

David Lynch is a filmmaker whose mere mention will likely remind cinema buffs of a surreal cinematic experience like none other. The veteran director recently passed away leaving a large hole in the world that can never truly be filled. As a result, fans around the world are taking a look back at Lynch’s enigmatic career.

David Lynch recently passed away aged 78 (Credit: Arab News | YouTube).

During his early days as an up-and-coming filmmaker, Lynch clashed with one of his actors while working on the critically acclaimed film The Elephant Man. While working on the movie Marvel star Anthony Hopkins was unsure of Lynch’s capability to helm the project and allegedly tried to get him fired. Here is what happened between Hopkins and Lynch during The Elephant Man‘s production.

Anthony Hopkins allegedly tried to get David Lynch fired from The Elephant Man

Following the success of his debut directorial effort,...

David Lynch, whose death was announced Thursday, was my motion picture lodestar.

When his 1977 movie Eraserhead played at an obscure film festival, now long gone, in Woolwich, London, it was like nirvana for a kid raised on The Sound of Music, Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday and Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence!

It was my kind of weirdness. Thank heavens my sister loved Bob Dylan, otherwise I’d have been really weird.

I was getting high on Lynch’s movies, and the price of admission at the Odeon in Richmond was all it cost me.

A few years later, as a reporter on the London Evening Standard, I was charged with tracking the progress of The Elephant Man, the film Lynch was shooting about John Merrick starring John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft and John Gielgud. They were on location at a crumbling old wing — so dilapidated that it...

Legendary American filmmaker David Lynch has died at the age of 78, it has been confirmed. The beloved director behind some of the most boundary-breaking works of cinema – from Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive to Inland Empire – had previously announced a diagnosis of emphysema that left him unable to leave the house.

The news was confirmed in a Facebook post from Lynch’s family that reads as follows: “It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”

David Keith Lynch was born on 20 January, 1946 in Missoula,...

David Lynch’s passing wasn’t expected, exactly.

In the past few years, he had been battling crippling emphysema after a lifetime of smoking. In November he told People that he could “hardly walk across a room. It’s like you’re walking around with a plastic bag around your head.” He only gave up smoking in 2022 but it was of little help. He was homebound and would do weather reports from inside his home, his gray hair in its usual electric shock state, his now gaunt face adorned with oversized Persol sunglasses. Still, there was idle talk that he’d return to filmmaking, which seemed like a physical impossibility in his current state (even though Lynch would swat down “retirement” talk). Rumors of a possible Netflix project had circulated in recent years.

But his death is still a huge loss – to the film community at large and to the...

One of the all-time greats is gone. That thought went through my head this afternoon when word came down that David Lynch, the incredible mind behind Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and so many more, was no longer with us. The news was a shock as, despite his fragile health, Lynch was still pretty active, teasing potential new projects and also receiving rave reviews for his acting turn as John Ford in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. Of course, with this news, it’s time to take a look back at the master’s work, and lucky for us, he leaves an incredible cinematic legacy behind. We all have our favorite David Lynch movies, but here are my top 5 picks:

Lost Highway (1997):

This was an important movie in my cinematic education. It came out in the late nineties, at a time when I was coming of age as a potential cinephile.

One of Hollywood’s worst weeks in years just got worse. David Lynch, the four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Wild at Heart, The Elephant Man and others who also created the ABC drama series Twin Peaks, died Wednesday. He was 78.

His family posted the news on social media but did not provide a date of death.

Related: Breaking Baz: How David Lynch’s Vivid Imagination Was Sparked By What He Saw Beyond His Bedroom Window As A Kid

Lynch had been diagnosed with emphysema. Sources told Deadline that he was forced to relocate from his house due to the Sunset Fire and then took a turn for the worse. In an interview with Sight & Sound magazine last year, Lynch revealed that due to Covid fears and his emphysema diagnosis, he no longer could leave the house, which meant if he directed again, it would be remotely.

David Lynch—the visionary director of Twin Peaks and films such as Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, and Inland Empire—has died. His family announced the filmmaker's death in a post on his official Facebook page, writing "It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist,...

The following article contains discussions of mental health conditions, violence, and suicide.

While the entertainment industry is notorious for misrepresenting many illnesses, conditions, and disorders, there are many movie characters who accurately portray mental health. Cinema has had a dubious history of portraying mental health in an authentic or even sensitive light. The perceived dramatic nature of a mental illness has notoriously meant it's too often conveyed as a means to broadcast sentimentality or sensationalism. Additionally, "madness" has been used by horror films as a justification for all kinds of unspeakable acts. However, Hollywood also occasionally gets it right, and there are plenty of movie characters with mental disorders that aren't portrayed problematically.

The exploration of mental illness and mental health disorders in movies has improved dramatically over the last few decades, with an emphasis on authenticity and care towards humanization. Depictions that are seen as genuine across myriad genres,...

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This January, Peacock is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the intense biographical thriller series Lockerbie: A Search For Truth to the return of the hit British reality series The Traitors. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Peacock this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the seven best films that are coming to Peacock in January 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Alien (January 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93% Credit – 20th Century Fox

Alien is a sci-fi horror thriller film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Dan O’Bannon. The 1979 film follows the crew of a spacecraft that intercepts a distress signal from a planet. They soon set out to investigate, but they are attacked by an alien entity that invades their ship.

Despite the failure of Doctor Who's 1996 movie, the show's modern era just wouldn't be the same if not for certain contributions from Paul McGann's brief spell leading the franchise as the Eighth Doctor. The show's 2004 revival with Christopher Eccleston marked a strong change in tone when compared with Doctor Who's classic era, despite all existing canon remaining in place. In several ways, McGann's movie falls somewhere between the original run and the version that's around today, but it's certainly more similar to the newer episodes than the older ones.

Of all the actors to play the Doctor, Paul McGann's tenure is among the shortest. The feature-length production in which he starred was a clear attempt to bring the franchise out of dormancy. However, despite McGann's brilliant performance, the movie's divisive script resulted in many fans rejecting it, and Doctor Who didn't come back in any meaningful way for almost another decade.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who's 2024 Christmas special, "Joy to the World."Steven Moffat's return to Doctor Who appears to have been brief, but even if he never writes another script for the long-running British sci-fi show, his last two stories have brilliantly set up a major antagonist for the future of Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor and possibly even every actor to play the Doctor after him. So, Doctor Who season 15 could be a slow-burning continuation of a plot revived by the former showrunner. The best Doctor Who episodes written by Steven Moffat have been sprinkled throughout the show's post-revival history.

The 2024 Christmas special, "Joy to the World," is the 50th episode written by Moffat, and as such, it would be a great time for him to bow out of the franchise for good. His work on the show dates back to Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor's time in the Tardis.

Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat addresses the return of his villainous organization Villengard in the 2024 Christmas special "Joy to the World", and what it means for their plans in the series. The seasonal episode saw Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor and Nicola Coughlan's new companion Joy intercept an experimental energy source made by Villengard through a Time Hotel, pursuing the powerful device through human history. Villengard was first introduced in the revival's season 1 in Moffat's "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances", but made their return in Doctor Who season 14's "Boom".

As Doctor Who's 2024 Christmas special saw the reappearance of Villengard under Russell T Davies' second tenure as showrunner, Moffat addresses whether their involvement is part of a grander scheme to TV Insider. Despite their dual appearances in the current era, Moffat affirms that there isn't a greater plan involving Villengard at the time of writing. Instead, Villengard...

The Alien movies amount to one of the most popular sci-fi franchises of all time, and they have several recurring themes and occurrences in every installment. Starting with Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 film, the Alien franchise has also been helmed by iconic directors like James Cameron and David Fincher, who added to the series lore while leaning into the aspects that made the original such an all-time favorite. With the terrifying Xenomorph as an unstoppable Lovecraftian antagonist, viewers have come to recognize some repeated tropes that recur throughout each entry.

With a rich mythology that brings together action, horror, and sci-fi genres, the Alien movies were far from predictable, although they still had some tenets that tied them all together. From the feminist heroism of protagonists like Ellen Ripley to the terrifying reproduction processes of the Xenomorph, the Alien franchise has carved out an important place in popular culture. As...

Some in the industry have been calling for recognition for years, but motion-capture performances by the likes of Zoe Saldaña have been ignored. Now, though, the Academy must look to the future

Picture the future: it’s the Oscars 2034, and the best actor prizes are no longer split into male and female categories. Instead, there is an award for best performer in a live action role, and another for best actor in a performance capture role. Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks can finally go head-to-head for their epic turns in Sophie’s Choice II and Even Bigger respectively, while Zoe Saldaña and Andy Serkis are up for the latter for their startling performances in Avatar 6 and The Lord of the Rings: What Gollum Did Last Summer.

Some might suggest this is a tantalising vision of a world where the Academy has finally caught up with the realities of modern acting.

There's nothing worse than starting a TV show, getting invested in the rich plot and characters, and having it ruined by a bad final season. Ranging from rushing through the plot to destroying a beloved character's growth in the final seasons, many TV shows fall into the trap of being ruined because of unsatisfying and terrible endings. Sudden cancellations of TV shows and cutting down on the length of the final season are often the culprits behind messy final seasons.

Given more time to flesh out character motivations and intricate plotlines, a lot of shows that suffered a lackluster final season could have been improved with a few more episodes. While the addition of episodes can't fix mischaracterization issues and terrible plot twists, they can potentially make the final season feel more coherent, maintain the storyline's quantity, and provide a meaningful resolution.

Merlin (2008-2012) Season 5

The BBC's Merlin is...

Despite being one of the scariest components of the original movies, the facehuggers in Alien: Romulus proved to be one of its more disappointing elements. The 2024 movie serves as a midquel between Ridley Scott and James Cameron's first two installments, following a group of space colonists looking to escape a Weyland-Yutani work planet and head to the titular space station to salvage cryopods and travel to a new planet, only to inadvertently unleash a whole host of xenomorphs and facehuggers.

Co-written and directed by Fede Álvarez, the same mind behind 2013's Evil Dead reboot-quel, Alien: Romulus quickly became a critical and commercial hit, with many hailing it to be the best since the first two. Even so, while Alien: Romulus found creative ways to better connect the timeline between Scott's prequels and the originals, one element that ultimately should've been the easiest to recreate in terrifying fashion became one of its least.

Peter Jackson's trilogy of The Lord of the Rings films came out in the early 2000s to landmark crossover appeal, thanks in no small part to a phenomenal cast that combined some incredible up-and-coming actors with some of the greatest stars of the silver screen. Nothing helped legitimize fantasy cinema as well as Ian McKellen truly embodying Gandalf as he consoled Frodo —and by extension, the audience — that all we have to decide in life is what to do with the time that is given to us.

In the 21 years since The Return of the King, we have seen huge changes in how films are made. While most of the stars of the trilogy have gone on to phenomenal careers in acting, much of it has been through smaller-scale independent projects or streaming series, such as Sean Astin's acclaimed role in Stranger Things. But quite a few of...

Sophie Okonedo will receive the Richard Harris Award at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), organizers unveiled Monday.

The Richard Harris Award recognizes the outstanding contribution of an actor to British film. Previous recipients of the honor include the likes of Samantha Morton, Riz Ahmed, Kristin Scott Thomas, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent and, last year, Stephen Graham.

“Sophie’s celebrated career has seen her embrace both U.K. independent and Hollywood film and has taken her from the National Theatre to Broadway and back, with a significant body of acclaimed television roles in between,” the BIFAs organizers said in a statement. “Sophie’s work has been recognized by, amongst others, BIFA, BAFTA, the Academy, Tony, Olivier, Screen Actors Guild and Emmy Awards.”

They also highlighted: “Her versatility as a performer has seen her in demand across all film genres,...

Benski Launches Lumina

Thomas Benski, the former Pulse Films boss who recently unveiled Carousel Studios with Omar Sy and Louis Letterier, has launched talent and IP banner Lumina. Based in London, New York, Paris and Los Angeles, the new venture claims to have been “built to support and grow companies in the modern media and consumer landscape where talent, IP and brand are the multipliers,” and comes with a first-round of funding in the “mid-eight figures.”

Lumina says it will focus on talent-driven studios, production, kids and family content, plus consumer brands. Lumina has already partnered with Carrousel Studios, as well as with Yann Demange’s Wayward Films. On the kids and family side, Lumina is backing gaming studio Creators Corp. and the kids IP business Strike. Its consumer division has backed brands including Metie and Daaci, with its Lumina’s will include a “multi-disciplinary” film studio, Magna Studios, headed...

Sophie Okonedo is set to receive the Richard Harris Award at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) on Sunday 8 December.

The prize is given for an outstanding contribution by an actor to British film. Previous recipients include Samantha Morton, Riz Ahmed, Kristin Scott Thomas, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent and in 2023, Stephen Graham.

Stage and screen star Okonedo was Oscar-nominated for Hotel Rwanda in 2005 and won a Tony for A Raisin In The Sun in 2014. She has twice previously been nominated for a BIFA for roles in Skin and Dirty Pretty Things.

She made her way into acting at the Royal Court’s youth theatre in London, before going on to develop her craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada). She made her big-screen debut in Isaac Julien’s enduring 1991 East-end drama Young Soul Rebels.

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Alien: Paradiso #3! John Hurt’s character in 1979’s Alien, Thomas Kane, is a staple in the history of the franchise, as he was the first person to ever get impregnated by a Facehugger, and give life to a Xenomorph. And now, the Kane family name is about to become even more significant in Alien lore, as Alien is ready to redefine the legacy of John Hurt’s iconic character with the introduction of the series’ latest badass heroine, Tsula Kane aka Thomas Kane’s daughter.

In the solicitation for Alien: Paradiso #3 by Steve Foxe, Edgar Salazar, and Peter Nguyen, fans are given a first-look at the upcoming issue’s main cover art (by artist Iban Coello), as well as the official synopsis.

Tsula Kane Faces Her Father’S Fate: Death by Xeno! Decades ago, Weyland-Yutani swept Thomas Kane’s violent death on the Nostromo under the rug,...

The best spy movies of all time range from outlandishly hilarious to being extremely accurate, thanks to the input of a consultant. Though the espionage genre has developed into a niche of filmmaking that typically involves epic action blockbusters like James Bond or Mission: Impossible, there are also quieter, slow-burn additions to the filmography. While fight scenes and fun gadgets make for great props and feature dynamic set pieces, these aspects don't necessarily mean that a movie will stand the test of time. Many of these films are considered classics and have been in the spy thriller rotation for years.

There are war movies that experts have praised for accuracy, and the same can be said for espionage thrillers based on true events. However, historical accuracy isn't typically the metric that former officers, agents, and analysts use to judge these movies. Emotional truths, the appeals to pathos, and the larger...

Westerns generally fall into two categories: all-out action, with gunfights and barroom brawls, or slower-paced, more contemplative works that focus on the characters and narrative. Though there is an obvious allure for the former, a slow-burning Western that doesn't fully rely on action allows the roles, storyline, and visuals to fully bloom and create a film that is dramatic and thought-provoking. Also, just because a Western is described as a slow-burner doesn't mean it will be a slow, dialogue-heavy drama, but rather, it can be an eloquently paced film full of palpable tension, dark atmospheres, and brutal combat.

Some of the best Westerns, like Rio Bravo and No Country for Old Men, are slower and more character-based films that take their time in drawing out the narrative, but the selective action and nuanced chemistry between leads make the runtime fly by. Slow-burn films use a combination of editing, meditative visuals,...

The Western genre has always been synonymous with, sweeping narratives that leave an audience captivated for hours. Some of the best Westerns feature grand cinematography, slow-burning tension, and generational storytelling that can't be wrapped up in a typical 90-minute runtime. From extraordinary Western characters and their development to the complex moral dilemmas that usually form the basis of the plot, longer Westerns can create an immersive experience that goes beyond a simple film.

Westerns like Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves need to break down intense conflicts and show the tentative bonding experience of Native Americans and a Union soldier in a beautiful, contemplative work. Other iconic Westerns, like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, pack in action throughout the film, with moments of contemplation and reflection only heightening the tension. Whether it's a thought-provoking masterpiece or an explosive, epic battle, Westerns over three hours generally mean it's a...

Few spy films delve into the murky waters of human psychology and institutional intrigue as masterfully as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 adaptation of John le Carré’s classic novel remains a towering achievement in the espionage genre, eschewing high-octane action for a meticulous, cerebral dissection of loyalty, betrayal, and the heavy toll of a life lived in shadows. This isn’t just a spy thriller—it’s a character-driven masterpiece that redefined the modern spy film.

The story begins with a chilling premise: there is a mole at the highest levels of British Intelligence, known as “The Circus.” When disgraced operative Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) stumbles upon evidence of the betrayal, retired agent George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is drawn out of forced retirement to root out the double agent. Smiley, a man of few words but piercing intellect, embarks on a methodical investigation that peels back layers...

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This November, Hulu is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the surreal action comedy-drama series Interior Chinatown to the Christmas comedy-drama film Nutcrackers. However, for this article, we only included the films that are coming to Hulu this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 7 best films that are coming to Hulu in November 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Aliens (November 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Credit – 20th Century Fox

Aliens is a sci-fi action thriller drama film written and directed by James Cameron. The 1986 film is set in a dystopian future and it follows Ellen Ripley who is sent back to the planet Lv-426 to establish communication with a terraforming colony but when she gets there she is hunted by an Alien Queen who is out for her life. Aliens stars Sigourney Weaver,...

As he enters his 88th year, Ridley Scott seems to be having more fun than ever. Early on in Gladiator II, for example, during Paul Mescal’s first big showcase scene as ripped fighter Lucius Verus, Sir Ridley throws a whole troop of ravenous, screeching baboons into the arena to attack Lucius and his fellow gladiators. These demented primates look more like evil little CGI aliens than actual monkeys, but this startling Attack Of The Wild Baboons is just the amuse-bouche for the lavish menu of no-holds-barred, giddily entertaining set-pieces to come. One brilliantly executed fight scene involves a giant marauding rhino, and another somehow features… sharks. Yes, there’s a bunch of the blood-thirsty beasts merrily swimming around in the arena during a re-creation of a sea battle, which will have you Googling “Did they really flood the Colosseum?”

Historically accurate or not, the sight of marine predators in...

Doctor Who's 50th-anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor," included three main actors as the Doctor, but Steven Moffat's original pitch to the BBC surprisingly had Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald as the episode's focus. All the best Doctor Who companions have a lasting impact on the show, and Clara fits that description. The Impossible Girl became so interwoven with the Doctor's timeline that she became one of the most important figures in Doctor Who history. If Moffat's first "The Day of the Doctor" idea had been put into production, Clara would have become even more legendary.

2013's "The Day of the Doctor" remains one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time. The proper introduction of John Hurt's War Doctor allowed Moffat to make a brilliant addition to the many Gallifrey destructions and other retcons that have long permeated the franchise. However, Moffat's original pitch...

Doctor Who's 50th-anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor," is one of my favorite episodes of the show, and although John Hurt's War Doctor was a surprisingly good addition to the franchise, I'm still certain a new iteration of the Doctor was unnecessary. Of every actor to play the Doctor, Hurt is at the lower end of the list regarding how many times he stepped into the role. Thankfully, he didn't need long to portray a solid and believable version of the famous Time Lord, but I still wanted someone else to play his part.

Even objectively speaking, I think it's hard to argue that "The Day of the Doctor" isn't one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever. The episode didn't invent the concept of a multi-Doctor story, but it did add something fresh and exciting to the formula by unveiling a previously-unseen regeneration between Paul McGann...

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The Substance is a satirical body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. The 2024 film follows the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a popular star renowned for an aerobics show but on her 50th birthday, she gets fired from her boss for being old. She soon finds a laboratory that offers her a drug that promises to transform her into a better and younger version of herself. The Substance stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in the lead roles with Dennis Quaid, Hugo Diego Garcia, Oscar Lesage, Tiffany Hofstetter, and Alexandra Papoulias Barton starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the body horror, biting commentary, and compelling characters in The Substance here are some similar movies you should check out next.

The Neon Demon (Prime Video) Credit – Amazon Studios

The Neon Demon is a psychological horror film...

Heroism is baked into every version of Doctor Who's main character, but there's an iconic scene from Matt Smith's era as the famous Time Lord that strongly establishes his Eleventh Doctor as the most courageous. The Doctor has saved the day countless times, but the process of regeneration arguably makes heroics a little easier to pull off. However, of every actor to play the Doctor, Smith played the iteration with the most to lose by risking his life as he embarked on some of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time.

During Eleven's era, it's easy to forget that he has run out of regenerations. At the very least, being unaware of his origin as the Timeless Child makes him think he can't regenerate again. Time Lords are traditionally limited to 12 regenerations - in other words; 13 faces. Although Smith is only the Eleventh Doctor, the existence of John Hurt...

The Oscars has added many different award categories across its history, with one being added after the success of a 1980s drama, The Elephant Man. The Academy Awards are easily the most prestigious awards in the movie industry, with the first ceremony taking place in 1929. Across the history of the Academy Awards, there have been many award categories that have been added and retired across the years; most recently the award for Best Sound Editing, which was retired in 2019.

In 2024, the Oscars announced the creation of a new awards category that will recognize a movie's casting decision. The first Academy Award for Best Achievement In Casting will be awarded at the 98th ceremony in 2025; this is the first new award category since the creation of the Best Feature Film category in 2001. Further new categories may be created in the future as seen in the movie industry's campaign for a Best Stunt Award.

Doctor Who said goodbye to David Tennant for the first time in 2009 when the Tenth Doctor regenerated, but his iconic departure stands apart from that of his predecessors in a way that the show never openly acknowledges. Of all the actors to play the Doctor, Tennant's Tenth arguably experienced the most drawn-out version of the regeneration process. While preparing to change his face, he managed to hold off the ordeal long enough to visit all his old friends one last time. However, there's another reason beyond Ten's emotional farewell tour that makes his regeneration so unique.

Every Doctor Who regeneration sequence comes with consequences, but the main one is that the long-running sci-fi show's lead actor is replaced. The phenomenon has contributed massively to the franchise's 60-year history, as no single actor is required for the story to continue. That being said, there was a time when the Doctor's...

As seen from the yearly tradition of re-releasing perennial Halloween favorites The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus, Disney fans and movie fans keep flocking to these horror favorites to liven the season. And as seen from the box office, audiences are surely turning up.

However, the studio has a lot more in their library that can make for great Halloween traditions in the cinema. Imagine these hidden gems and cult classics getting a second life on the big screen, with seats being filled by fans and first-timers.

With that, here are five potential Disney movies that make for great re-releases for every Halloween season:

Frankenweenie (2012)

Tim Burton always knows that his comfort zone is in stories with horror undertones and paying tribute to his horror idols. So, he went for the chance to do both with adapting his 1984 short film and turning it into a black-and-white stop-motion flick.

But...

Universal’s animated newcomer “The Wild Robot” seized control of the U.K. and Ireland box office, launching to a robust £3.2 million ($4.2 million) in its debut frame, according to numbers from Comscore. The family-friendly feature led fresh releases that energized weekend ticket sales.

Paramount’s horror sequel “Smile 2” flashed into second place with £2 million in its opening weekend, while Studiocanal’s Dinald Trump film “The Apprentice” clocked in at third with £749,149.

Paramount’s “Transformers One” demonstrated staying power in its sophomore session, adding £639,554 to reach a cumulative total of £2.7 million. Signature Entertainment’s slasher entry “Terrifier 3” held steady at fifth, collecting £562,616 for a running cume of £2.2 million.

Warner Bros.’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” continued to dance at the box office in its third frame, conducting another £501,000 to waltz past £9.7 million in total receipts. The studio’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” showed remarkable legs in its seventh week, conjuring £469,407 to push its cumulative haul to £24.6 million.

A band of rabbits must leave their warren to find safety in a film that, even in a digital age, still has the bloody force to scare young minds

‘The field … it’s covered in blood!” This is the young visionary rabbit Fiver, voiced by Richard Briers, in the British animation from 1978 by Martin Rosen, based on Richard Adams’s classic children’s book. The rabbits’ warren, quite as important as Tolkien’s shire, is about to be destroyed by a property development, announced by the humans’ heartless wooden sign, which of course none of the rabbits can read, but twitchy, squirming Fiver can sense the disaster it represents.

So his brother Hazel (voiced by John Hurt) leads Fiver and a breakaway gang on a quest for safety to far-off Watership Down, a rumoured place of sanctuary foreseen by Fiver; they include hot-headed Bigwig (Michael Graham Cox) and later the...

Fantasy books, movies, and TV shows are often spun into franchises because of the expansive worlds that the writers and creators of the series develop. While some spinoffs and sequels don't live up to previous books or screen iterations, these franchises have never disappointed me. Returning to the fantastical worlds that lie within the pages or dazzling visuals of these franchises has provided comfort, escape, and thrilling adventures at every turn. Whether it's through additional books, spinoffs, or multiple sequels, these fantasy stories have the potential to go on for a long time.

While there are some movies and fantasy TV shows that go on for too long, there are other franchises that are ever-expanding. World-building is a considerable factor in whether or not a fantasy series has the longevity to continue for many years. Of course, every audience is biased, as my favorite fictional universes that have captured my...

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy earns a perfect realism grade for its portrayal of spycraftk according to a real-life double agent. Released in 2011, the film is directed by Tomas Alfredson and is based on author John le Carr's acclaimed novel of the same name. Starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, and John Hurt, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy tells the story of Oldman's George Smiley as he attempts to uncover a Soviet mole within MI6 during the height of the Cold War. The film was a critical hit and it earned Oldman a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars.

In a recent video for Insider, former double agent Naveed Jamali breaks down a sequence from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in which Strong's character, Jim Prideaux, is involved in a shootout that ends with an innocent woman dead. Jamali praises the movie's general premise and the real-life dangers of a mole in an intelligence service,...

John Wayne is an American institution, and that's kind of a pity. The films he made from the 1930s through the 1970s all presented what many consider the most persistent cinematic archetypes of old-world machismo. Wayne was a symbol of stalwart, unbending manliness, a testament to the power of being gruff and insoluble. It is, however, hard to accept him as a positive role model when one recalls how bigoted he was in life. Every few years, his 1971 interview with Playboy Magazine resurfaces and a new crowd discovers Wayne vaunting the values of white supremacy and flippantly excoriating minorities.

He also, in that interview, talked about the moral righteousness of his old Westerns, saying that Europeans were in the right for stealing American land from the First Nation people. He was pretty despicable.

But he was also one of the biggest movie stars of all time, and cinema lovers have...

Nearly 20 years after the Doctor Who revival, Eighth Doctor actor Paul McGann reflects on not being asked back for the shows 2005 return, despite early speculation that he might reprise his iconic role. McGann's Doctor was initially introduced in the 1996 TV movie and served as the bridge between the classic and modern eras of the iconic sci-fi series. The movie was an attempt to relaunch the series after its cancellation in 1989. However, while McGanns portrayal was generally well-received, the movie did not create enough interest to launch a new TV series.

In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, McGann shared that he had heard rumors of the show's return circulating, and was waiting for the call to be included. McGann reveals he hoped to return to film a regeneration scene into the Ninth Doctor, but was never asked. Read his full quote below:

The rumors began to solidify that the TV series would come back,...

David Lynch’s 1980 biopic “The Elephant Man” had a massive influence on Aaron Schimberg’s black comedy “A Different Man” (A24). Both are explorations of notions around beauty and ugliness tied to Neurofibromatosis, the genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow in the nervous system and skin. This severely afflicts the face and body of John Merrick (John Hurt) in “The Elephant Man” and the face of Edward (Sebastian Stan) in “A Different Man.”

Edward’s an aspiring actor who undergoes experimental facial reconstructive surgery to cure the disease. This turns into a bizarre nightmare when he changes his identity and loses a theater role based on his life to another actor, Oswald.

Serendipity (and a recommendation from Stan) brought prosthetics makeup designer Mike Marino (“The Penguin”) to “A Different Man,” because Christopher Tucker’s pioneering prosthetics on “The Elephant Man” inspired Marino to pursue his profession. In a way,...

While there’s no shortage of films that depict characters grappling with depression, it’s rare to find ones that truly capture the complexity of the condition with empathy and understanding. Too often, it’s portrayed superficially, added merely to heighten the drama. Fortunately, Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” (2011) is a rare exception that seems to understand how painful and debilitating the illness can be.

The film opens with music from Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” accompanying an 8-minute sequence of slow-motion shots that effectively serves as a symbolic summary of the entire narrative. It’s a haunting sequence filled with some of the film’s most memorable shots, like the one where Justine (Kirsten Dunst), in her wedding dress, is floating in a pond, holding flowers, like Ophelia. This dreamlike montage ends with an ominous shot of Earth crashing into a much larger planet. Thus, the movie makes it...

In most movies, it's assumed that the villains will be defeated and the hero will be victorious, but there are some villains who don't deserve this outcome. A good villain should be just as complex and layered as the protagonist, and writers can sometimes create a villain so compelling and intelligent that there seems to be no way for them to lose. In these cases, villains often lose thanks to a stroke of luck, just because this is what the movie requires.

On the surface, this may sound like bad writing, but there are a lot of great movies that dispatch their villains using luck or outside forces. Sometimes, this is used intentionally to highlight the chaos of life, and that luck can often play a bigger role than people like to admit. Many memorable movie villains have done everything right, but since the good guys have to win, they...