For her directorial debut, Kate Winslet made a star-studded family drama, in which she was one of the actors, over just seven weeks, securing star Helen Mirren for only 16 days.
The schedule and Winslet’s dual roles were just some of the many challenges she faced helming Goodbye June.
“We were constantly trying to make sure that we were all making our days. I never wanted to drop anything, and I didn’t. I was very proud of that,” Winslet recently told The Hollywood Reporter at a special screening of the Netflix movie in New York, speaking of the shortened filming schedule. “We had seven children in the film as well as all of our adult actors, so just the constant juggle of that and being in front of the camera as well as behind it, just the juggle of it all we had to adapt to very quickly.”
Still, she “loved” the experience, she said, unprovoked, adding, when asked if she wants to direct again, “I really hope I do. I would love to direct again.”
And Winslet’s extensive acting career, including the bonds she’d developed with others in the industry through her 30 years in front of the camera, was key to this endeavor.
“Being able to really lean on great relationships that I’ve developed over the years, that was very meaningful, because we needed to have that sense of goodwill around us,” Winslet said, adding that it was imperative to have people who were “good humored, really willing and supportive of one another.”
“I knew that she was a very special person and a very special actress,” Spall told THR of Winslet at the Goodbye June screening. “When I read the script, I said I wouldn’t be able to do it because I was working too hard. But I read it the following day and told her I wanted to do it because it’s so fantastic. And she, I knew, would be all over it because of the way she spoke about it. It was so close to her and such a sense of what it was going to be about. Given her brilliance as an actress and what she’s experienced as an actress, I knew she’d be absolutely perfect. It was time for her to direct.”
And as a director, Winslet lived up to Spall’s expectations, with him calling her “one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with” and praising her for doing “a massive amount of preparation” but making the process “feel completely natural.”
“She did all the work, all the amazing work it takes. She covered every department; she cast it so well; she chose the people to be behind the camera and in front of the camera,” Spall explained. “She was so brilliant about being in charge of things and making you feel as though it’s all happening at the same time. That takes a bit of genius. That takes a very good heart, massive intelligence, a lot of confidence and a lot of openness, and she’s got all of those things. It’s not an easy thing to direct a movie because it’s like being the president or the prime minister. You’ve got a lot of things to take into consideration.”
Co-star Toni Collette, who plays one of Winslet’s character’s sisters and June’s daughter, echoed this praise of the low-key set.
“It was just easy. It was like a totally natural progression for her, having worked in film for 30 years and worked with so many wonderful directors,” Collette told THR. “She creates an incredible atmosphere of freedom. It just felt very grounded, very accepting, very relaxed and free.”
The Wayward star also spoke about how Winslet’s experience as an actress helped her behind the camera.
“The one thing I think we have on our side as actors is we get to work with a lot of different directors. Directors don’t get to do that,” Collette told THR. “So they get to see how other people work. She could obviously have her own intelligence and intuition but also take from all of the wonderful people she’d worked with.”
And for Collette personally, working with Winslet was the fulfillment of a decades-long desire to collaborate.
“I have wanted to work with Kate for decades. I have been a fan. There’s so much in her that I admire as a person, her work, her career, everything, what she stands for, what she fights for,” Collette said. “I got a call out of the blue saying she wanted to talk to me about a project. Then I heard that she was directing. I mean, I would have been happy acting, but when someone chooses you to be in their directorial debut, it’s such an honor. I spoke to her within 48 hours. She took me through the story. I was like, sign me up.”
She continued, “When I read [the script], it was completely heartbreaking and also made my heart soar in the best possible way because it’s such a realistic, gorgeous story about this average, dysfunctional family going through something really, really challenging. I just think it’s a really special story. And she just put the most incredible group of people together on and offscreen. It was such a magical experience, one of the best.”
Netflix‘s plans for movies after its projected acquisition of Warner Bros. still remains up in the air, but a new report suggests that the streamer has plans for some very small theatrical windows.
What are Netflix’s reported plans for WB movies’ theatrical windows?
In a new report from Deadline on the theatrical return for the Stranger Things finale, it’s noted that those in Hollywood remain wary of Netflix’s plans for WB movies once they acquire the company. Deadline notes that, although Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has said nothing will change, sources note that Netflix have been “proponents of a 17-day” theatrical window for films.
The move, should it come to fruition, is one that Deadline notes would “steamroll the theatrical business,” with the report mentioning that companies like AMC believe a 45-day window is a line that cannot be crossed. While no confirmation of any theatrical window exists, Deadline has reportedmultipletimes through December that Sarandos is a big fan of the 17-day window structure.
Although rumors suggest Netflix will be shrinking the theatrical windows for films if and when it acquires WB, Sarandos himself has said otherwise. Following backlash on the idea of a shorter window and concerns about Netflix’s proposed acquisition of WB, Sarandos has said that it’ll be business as usual when it comes to how WB works.
“There’s been a lot of talk about theatrical distribution, so we want to set the record straight: we are 100% committed to releasing Warner Bros. films in theaters with industry-standard windows,” said Sarandos when Netflix announced the acquisition.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for this week’s edition of Screen Time. Come back every week to get more TV and movie recommendations, find out which celebs we’re working with, and so much more!
Have a question for me, or want to tell me what you’re watching right now, or have a suggestion of what I should watch next? Send it to me now at screentime@buzzfeed.com, in this Google form, or in the comments below!
Time Flies, the captivating Argentinian dramedy series that premiered on Netflix, is making a buzz online. The new year release’s intriguing plot, complex characters, and stellar performances have left viewers eager for more. With all episodes of Season 1 already out, a pressing question lingers. Is the streaming platform renewing Time Flies for a second season, or is it getting canceled?
Is Time Flies canceled or renewed for Season 2?
Time Flies recently premiered on Netflix on January 1, 2026. The Argentinian dramedy series has viewers hooked, leaving them wondering if a Season 2 is in the works.
For those curious about Netflix’s new six-episode series, Time Flies follows Manca and Ines, two women on society’s fringes, navigating the gritty reality of life post-prison. As pest control operators, they scrape by, juggling unstable work, suffocating bills, and the constant weight of their pasts.
Hence, when a tempting offer comes knocking, the duo plunges into the opportunity. However, the initial practical solution later entwines their lives with secrets, power struggles, and the dark allure of desperation.
As of now, Time Flies’ fate hangs in the balance, with no word on a Season 2 renewal yet. Netflix typically scrutinizes various metrics like initial viewership, drop-off rates, and completion rates before announcing the renewal of a show. While some of Netflix’s renewal decisions are made quickly, others linger for months.
Critics and audiences reacted positively to the show, and the absence of a “Limited Series” label has sparked hope for a second installment. However, the series’ views and completion rates will be the ultimate deciding factors. Moreover, Time Flies’ format and satisfying ending leave the door ajar for a return. If renewed, viewers can expect more of Claudia Piñeiro’s adaptations or a bold new narrative twist.
If Netflix greenlights Season 2, viewers might witness Manca and Ines’s bond deepen or leap forward in time. While possibilities are many, fans will have to wait until the streaming giant drops an official confirmation about Time Flies’ renewal or cancellation.
Stranger Things 5bid goodbye to Eleven and all her friends this week. A lot of viewers, and prospective viewers, are wondering if Millie Bobby Brown’s signature character met her end in the popular Netflix series.
Well, the answer is complicated. It sure seems like Eleven died as she went down with the ship. (In this case, chose to stay behind in the Upside Down to make sure that the military could not use her blood to make more child experiments.) But, the final picture isn’t quite as black and white as that noble sacrifice would have you believe.
Vecna, and The Mind Flayer, have been thorns in the Hawkins kids’ sides for multiple seasons at this point. Stranger Things 5’s final episode, “The Rightside Up,” decides to ditch all the talking we’ve been doing in this final season of the show and get right to the fight. The kids managed to catch Vecna off guard long enough for Joyce buyers to deliver a final blow to the malignant force that’s been plaguing them. (With one really choice f-bomb in there for good measure!) However, that is not the end of this episode. Not really close when you think about it.
Kali, Eleven’s sister from earlier in the series, made it a point to stress that both super powered young ladies should remain behind in the Upside Down as it closes to make sure that their fate doesn’t befall anymore children. (Also, it’s worth noting that the same weird experiments created Vecna inadvertently. Probably smart to avoid that too.)
Eleven “dies,” but Mike doesn’t seem to think so…
After successfully defeating the big bad, the Hawkins kids try to make their escape back into their reality. But, Eleven decides to remain behind. What follows is a tearful farewell to Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and his piercing scream at Eleven disappearing was frankly hard to watch! Yet and still, when the gang is having their adorable little final D&D game before they leave their childhood behind, Mike still thinks Eleven is out there. For the creators of Stranger Things, they want you to believe too.
There was always going to be a frankly irresponsible amount of lore to unpack with the end of Stranger Things. Matt and Ross Duffer did their best to put a bow on lingering questions about this series in an interview with Tudum. This is always where the road was gonna end for Eleven, and really for the group at large.
Ross Duffer said, “There was never a version of the story where Eleven was hanging out with the gang at the end. For us and our writers, we didn’t want to take her powers away. She represents magic in a lot of ways and the magic of childhood. For our characters to move on and for the story of Hawkins and the Upside Down to come to a close, Eleven had to go away.”
“We thought it would be beautiful if our characters continued to believe in that happier ending even if we didn’t give them a clear answer to whether that’s true or not,” he continued. “The fact that they’re believing in it, we just thought it was such a better way to end the story and a better way to represent the closure of this journey and their journey from children to adults.”
Stranger Things 5 keeps things open to interpretation
(Netflix)
The end of Stranger Things 5might feel a little cloudy for some viewers. But the Duffers want fans to embrace that ambivalence. There wasn’t any real way to give the kids a complete happy ending. The show does go as close to that line as possible in the final entry. Being that their tethers to childhood have been severed for good, Eleven lives on as a reminder of the magic from those years. In a satisfying way, similar to how all of the Hawkins kids will live on inside of the viewers watching at home.
“And the reality is, if Eleven is out there, the most that they could hope for is a belief that it’s true because they can’t be in contact with her. Everything falls apart if that were the case,” Ross Duffer observed. “So if that’s the narrative, this is really the best way to keep her alive. And it’s about Mike and everyone finding a way to move past what’s happened.”
Teresia Gray (She/Her) is a writer here at the Mary Sue. She’s been writing professionally since 2016, but felt the allure of a TV screen for her entire upbringing. As a sponge for Cable Television debate shows and a survivor of “Peak Thinkpiece,” she has interests across the entire geek spectrum. Want to know why that politician you saw on TV said that thing, and why it matters? She’s got it for you. Yes, mainlining that much news probably isn’t healthy. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes political news, breaking stories, and general analysis of current events.
Netflix viewers who tuned into Run Away, the eight-part mystery thriller starring Gavin & Stacey‘s Ruth Jones and Midsomer Murders‘ Annette Badland, are hooked after all eight episodes landed on the streamer on New Year’s Day.
The new series, which is based on Harlan Coben’s 2019 novel, follows a father called Simon, whose world turns upside down when his eldest daughter Paige (Ellie de Lange) runs away from home.
You know you’re in for a treat when a project comes from Harlan Coben, whose novels have inspired major on-screen hits like Netflix’s Fool Me Once and The Stranger, as well as Prime Video’s Lazarus.
Having seen the first two episodes ahead of launch, I can say that fans of twisty mystery thrillers with a clever sleuth will find plenty to enjoy. The show fits neatly into Netflix’s growing catalogue of Coben thrillers, which tend to favour twisty narratives and morally complex characters. Plus, with a cast including James Nesbitt, Ruth Jones, Minnie Driver and Alfred Enoch, how can you resist?
WATCH: Run Away Official Trailer
Keep reading to find out what fans are saying about the new series…
The show has gone down a treat with viewers, who have hailed it as “excellent” and are bingeing multiple episodes in one go in true Harlan Coben style.
“Going on to episode 6, it’s brilliant!!” penned one viewer on Instagram, while another wrote: “We’re on episode two and we’re hooked.” A third added: “Watched three episodes so far… so gripping.”
While it’s still early days, the show is currently sitting at an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
In its four-star review, The Standard wrote: “James Nesbitt just about manages to hang onto our sympathies as Simon, and the sheer amount of camp melodrama we get delivered will go down nicely with a glass of Pepto-Bismol. Ahh… remember to keep those eyelids open.”
Meanwhile, Variety wrote: “Full of shocking twists and turns and gruesome violence, which are par for the course with all of Coben’s works, the show is an entertaining maze from its opening scene until the close.”
The series follows multiple interconnecting plotlines, but first centres on Simon, who was living a perfect life before his eldest daughter Paige ran away and everything fell apart.
The synopsis continues: “So now when he finds her, vulnerable and strung out on drugs in a city park, he finally has the chance to bring his little girl home. But it turns out she’s not alone, and an argument escalates into shocking violence.
“In the aftermath, Simon loses his daughter all over again, and his search to find her will take him into a dangerous underworld, revealing deep secrets that could tear his family apart forever.”
Speaking to press ahead of its release, James Nesbitt said: “To play this part, and the relentlessness of it, was a privilege, but also to then have the relationship that Simon has with Elena [Ruth Jones’s character] was very important. And it kind of came, I think, at a good time for both of us, not only in terms of finding the parts that you were playing, but also because you just need to have a bit of enjoyment in it.”
When asked what it was like to work with James, Ruth added: “I hadn’t worked with Jimmy before and I was a little trepidatious about it because I’ve always been a big admirer of his work and think he’s a brilliant actor and I felt slightly fraudulent.
“But instantly we just seemed to click and I think it’s a really lovely on-screen relationship because, spoiler alert, it’s not a romance, but I think that’s quite refreshing.”
All eight episodes of Run Away are available to watch on Netflix
After nearly 10 years, five seasons, several growth spurts, a surprise Kate Bush revival, and enough tie-in merch to fill the entire Upside Down, Stranger Things has ended. The occasion was so monumental the last episode got a theatrical release—though Netflix dropped the feature-length finale on its streamer, of course, for fans who’d rather finish the show exactly how they started it: on their couch.
So now that the finale is out there in the world—what are your thoughts? Unlike every other part of season five (and all other previous seasons), Netflix did not release a screener ahead of time for reviewing press. Everyone got their eyeballs on all those juicy spoilers at the same time. So we want to know: what did you think?
Share your reaction to how it all went down below. We can kind of assume the world was saved in the end, but should we? And along the way, who lived and who died?
What new needle drops seem poised to catapult another retro artist to fresh chart-topping success? Were there any surprise cameos from Stranger Things seasons past? What questions did the Duffer Brothers finally answer—and were there any plot threads left dangling? Did Netflix stick the landing this time, or do we have another Squid Game situation on our hands? Did Vickie and Robin ever make it to Enzo’s and order dessert?
Weigh in below, but if you haven’t yet watched “The Rightside Up,” be warned. Spoilers!
The “Stranger Things” series finale is shaping up to be a major theatrical event.
1.1 million people have RSVP’d to watch the final episode of the Netflix sci-fi series in theaters on New Year’s Eve, according to an Instagram post from co-creator Ross Duffer, who also said that 3,500 showtimes across more than 620 theaters are completely sold out.
Duffer teased that he and his brother Matt Duffer, his co-creator, would be attending a screening or two. “What a way to close out a ten-year journey—together,” Duffer wrote. “Maybe we’ll see some of you in LA.”
Volume 1 of Season 5 premiered with four episodes on Thanksgiving Day, and Volume 2 followed with three more episodes on Christmas Day. Along with the theatrical release, the series finale will be concurrently released on Netflix on Dec. 31.
The finale will bring to a close what has been one of Netflix’s most important ventures ever. As exclusively reported by Variety, “Stranger Things” recently crossed 1.2 billion views, and has contributed more than $1.4 billion to the U.S. GDP. Season 4, which was released in 2023, still stands as Netflix’s No. 2 most popular English-language TV title of all time, and it’s expected that Season 5 will enter that list soon after its eligibility window opens in January, after the release of the finale.
James Cameron made waves when he called Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer a “moral cop-out” for not depicting the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
So what does he think of the ending of Netflix‘s A House of Dynamite, which — spoilers follow — stops just shy of showing potential nuclear destruction in America?
The riveting thriller’s ending divided viewers when it was released in October, with some feeling the film pulled a punch by wrapping on a cliffhanger, leaving the audience unsure if a rogue ICBM destroyed Chicago, and how the film’s president (Idris Elba) responded.
A House of Dynamite was directed by Kathryn Bigelow — Cameron’s friend, former spouse and frequent collaborator — and the Avatar filmmaker tells TheHollywood Reporter that he had dinner with Bigelow just a few weeks ago and they discussed the ending.
“I said to her, ‘I utterly defend that ending,’” he says. “It’s really the only possible ending. You don’t get to the end of [the classic short story] ‘The Lady or the Tiger?‘ and know what’s behind which door.”
Continued Cameron: “But that’s not even really the point. The point is: From the moment the scenerio began at minute zero when the missile was launched and detected, the outcome already sucked. There was no good outcome, and the movie spent two hours showing you there is no good outcome. We cannot countenance these weapons existing at all. And it all boils down to one guy in the American system, the president, who is the only person allowed to launch a nuclear strike, either offensively or defensively, and the lives of every person on the planet revolve around that one person. That’s the world we live in and we need to remember that when we vote next time.”
Concluded the filmmaker: “So the end of that movie was the only way that movie could have ended because — as the computer says at the end of War Games — ‘the only way to win is not to play.’”
Cameron has used his work to warn about the threat of nuclear war going back to his 1984 feature debut, The Terminator. His films Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Abyss and True Lies also revolved around nuclear threats.
The director has obtained the rights to the Charles Pellegrino’s book Ghosts of Hiroshima, which chronicles the true story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who in 1945 survived the nuclear blasts at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Cameron promised Yamaguchi on his deathbed in 2010 that he’d make the film.
On the subject of Oppenheimer, Cameron previously told Deadline, “it’s interesting what he stayed away from. Look, I love the filmmaking, but I did feel that it was a bit of a moral cop out. Because it’s not like Oppenheimer didn’t know the effects [of the bomb]. He’s got one brief scene in the film where we see — and I don’t like to criticize another filmmaker’s film – but there’s only one brief moment where he sees some charred bodies in the audience and then the film goes on to show how it deeply moved him. But I felt that it dodged the subject. I don’t know whether the studio or Chris felt that that was a third rail that they didn’t want to touch, but I want to go straight at the third rail. I’m just stupid that way.”
2025 didn’t just bring new shows. It brought the kind of shows that swallowed timelines whole, sparked late night debates in group chats, and reminded everyone that TV is still one of the best places for big feelings and bigger storytelling. Whether you love satire, sci-fi, dark drama, or animated chaos, this year delivered something unforgettable! And while plenty of series made noise, these six stood out for the way they pulled us in and refused to let go.
Let’s talk about the shows that defined 2025 viewing.
1. Dear X – The Antiheroine Who Owned 2025
Every once in a while a show drops that instantly hijacks the cultural conversation. Dear X did exactly that. This K-drama gave us a leading lady unlike anything else on TV this year: Baek Ah Jin, a glamorous starlet whose soft smile hides a razor sharp agenda. She’s manipulative, brilliant, and terrifying in a way that makes you lean in instead of pulling back.
People loved talking about how the series flips the idea of a sympathetic heroine upside down. Ah Jin isn’t here to be redeemed. She’s here to win, and she’ll scorch whatever she needs to along the way. The result is addictive in a way that makes you say “just one more episode” even though it’s already 3 AM. The show blends melodrama and thriller energy with a polished, cinematic look that matches its ambition. It’s messy, dramatic, stylish, and honestly a little unsettling, which is exactly why it dominated 2025!
2. The Studio – Hollywood Chaos With A Soft Center
If Dear X ruled the drama corner, The Studio owned the comedy lane. This series drops us inside the daily disasters of a fictional movie studio where everything is crumbling but somehow everyone keeps showing up anyway. It’s chaotic in the most charming way!
Seth Rogen leads the cast as Matt Remick, a studio head who’s equal parts stressed and optimistic. Every episode throws something new at him: an impossible actor, a public meltdown, a script disaster, or a meeting that goes spectacularly wrong. What makes the show work is that beneath the punchlines, it’s also oddly heartfelt. These characters care too much, mess up a lot, and keep trying again. It feels human in a way Hollywood comedies don’t always allow.
The writing is sharp, the ensemble is stacked, and the jokes land without trying too hard. By midseason, it wasn’t just a hit, it became the comedy everyone told their friends to watch.
3. Murderbot – Sci Fi With Sass And Soul
If you’ve ever wished a robot would represent the socially exhausted among us, Murderbot is the answer. This show is funny, fast moving, and surprisingly emotional, anchored by a lead character who would prefer to avoid humans entirely yet keeps saving them anyway.
Based on the beloved books, the series follows a self aware robotic security unit that hacked its governor module and now spends most of its time watching entertainment feeds and complaining about humans. It’s the kind of humor that hits instantly because who hasn’t wanted to hide from the world and binge their comfort shows instead?
But here’s the thing: beneath the sarcasm, the story has real heart. The missions are intense, the mysteries land, and the relationships are handled with more tenderness than you’d expect from a show led by a metal bodyguard who wants everyone to leave it alone. We connected to the humor and stayed for the vulnerability tucked inside the chaos. It’s one of the most charming sci-fi debuts in years.
4. Common Side Effects – Animated Absurdity With Sharp Social Bite
Adult Swim has always loved strange concepts, but Common Side Effects takes weird, throws it into a blender, and somehow creates something meaningful out of the madness. The show follows two former classmates who discover a mushroom that can cure every disease, which immediately puts them on the radar of pharmaceutical forces who will do anything to hide the cure.
The plot alone tells you things are about to get strange. And yes, the show includes surreal moments, bizarre villains, and a level of cartoon chaos that feels designed to make your brain vibrate. But it’s also shockingly thoughtful. The humor never takes away from the emotional beats, and the satire lands hard without feeling heavy. It’s funny, smart, and surprisingly heartfelt: a combination we didn’t expect but absolutely loved!
5. Adolescence – A Quiet Series That Hit Loudly
Not every big show in 2025 was flashy. Some were quiet and devastating, and Adolescence is the perfect example. This four part miniseries became one of the year’s most praised dramas by telling a story that felt painfully real and deeply human!
The show centers on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a classmate. Instead of turning the story into a twist filled mystery, the series focuses on the emotional wreckage surrounding the crime: the parents trying to understand what went wrong, the investigators trying to piece together the truth, and the community trying to make sense of something so monstrous yet so familiar.
Shot in long, uninterrupted takes, the show feels almost too intimate at times. We didn’t just watch the tension… we sat in it. The performances are raw, the writing is restrained, and the emotional impact stays with you long after the credits roll. It’s the kind of series we pressed our friends to watch because talking about it became almost necessary.
6. King of the Hill (Season 14) – A Revival That Actually Worked
Reboots come and go, but very few return stronger. King of the Hill did exactly that. The 2025 revival dropped older versions of the beloved characters into present day Arlen, and it was instantly clear that the creative team understood exactly what made the original series special.
Hank is still baffled by half the things his son says. Peggy still carries an unearned confidence that would intimidate an army. Bobby is older and even funnier. And the show still balances warmth and humor without ever trying too hard. Instead of chasing nostalgia, it expands it. We loved getting new stories that respected the past while feeling completely right for 2025!
It’s both comfort TV and sharp modern comedy, and that’s a tough balance to pull off. This revival did it with ease.
What has been your favorite new TV show this year? Let us know by commenting below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP! We’re also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!
The penultimate batch of Stranger Things episodes dropped over Christmas, and a lot went down in that trio. Along with big revelations about the Upside Down, audiences also got to see the characters reach some closure before the series finale.
Specifically, Jonathan and Nancy broke up and Will came out as gay to the core cast. In a big spoiler-heavy interview with Variety, creators Matt and Ross Duffer said they wanted to ensure everyone “really resolved those tensions or conflicts” ahead of the big fight with Vecna. “If the party’s actually going to be able to defeat this great evil, they have to be all working at the best of their ability,” said Ross Duffer. “Whether those conflicts are external with others, or internal with themselves, they all have to be on the same page.”
For Will’s scene, Matt Duffer called it the longest scene the pair worked on of the entire season. After cutting the scene in season four because there wasn’t space for it, they were “so concerned” about nailing it and ensuring it was “resonating and truthful” for Will’s actor Noah Schnapp. Duffer said he was brought to tears after reading it, and it came time to shoot, he “seemed to access something incredibly truthful. It didn’t feel like Noah was acting. I think he completely lost himself in that scene, and that take is what wound up in the show.”
As for Nancy and Jon, one of the longer relationship threads across Stranger Things, Matt said that was also something they’d wanted to wrap up for a while. To the Duffers, the two “needed” to break up and be their own people. “They do love each other very much,” he noted, “but at the same time, there’s a very real conflict in the sense that they have gone through something very unique and challenging. Can they ever form a connection with someone that is as meaningful as this? But also, how do you grow as a person on your own? You need that independence.”
The only character thread left hanging is Eleven’s and whether she can live without putting the world in danger. And the answer to that question will come in the final episode of Stranger Things, hitting Netflix on New Years Eve.
Toni Collette (center) in Goodbye JuneCredit: courtesy of Netflix
Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 24:
Goodbye June — Family members gather around the bedside of their dying mother (Helen Mirren) in a film Kate Winslet directed from a script by her son, Joe Anders. Boy, wonder what she thought when he handed her that one. Did it go straight onto the refrigerator, or did she get the hint? (Netflix)
Tom Segura: Teacher — The dudebro comic performs in a special that’s reaching streaming in record time, considering it was filmed in front of a live audience just last month. But that’s how you have to do it if you want to make room for timely routines like “Dems Will Never Cave on the Shutdown.” (Netflix)
Premieres Thursday, Dec. 25:
Christmas Gameday — The options for avoiding your family are copious this year, with Netflix streaming the Cowboys versus the Commanders at 1 p.m. and the Lions versus the Vikings at 4:30, followed by Prime Video getting into the act with the Broncos versus the Chiefs at 8:15. And if that doesn’t do the trick, there’s always a long ride in the country with Christopher Walken.
Premieres Friday, Dec. 26:
Cover Up — Retrace the career of crusading investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who exposed our military’s atrocities in Vietnam and Iraq. Critics have derided his reliance on anonymous sources — in case you were wondering why the film ends with Susie Wiles singing “The Man That Got Away.” (Netflix)
Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton in Stranger Things: Season 5Credit: courtesy of Netflix
Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 — The run-up to the big series finale on New Year’s Eve consists of three episodes that pick up on Vecna’s threats to use children to transform the world. Which might explain why the leading market on Polymarket for the last month has been “Is Vecna Whitney Houston?” (Netflix)
Premieres Saturday, Dec. 27:
The Copenhagen Test — Old Shang-Chi himself, Simu Liu, plays a Chinese-American intelligence analyst whose brain gets hacked, affording our enemies a ringside seat to his daily experiences. Bet they ask for their money back when they find out about Signal. (Peacock)
Premieres Monday, Dec. 29:
Members Only: Palm Beach — The latest reality opulence fest is set in Florida’s very own Palm Beach County, where common sense and good taste take a back seat to obscene wealth. And remember, these are the people we’re fighting redistricting to hold onto. (Netflix)
Premieres Tuesday, Dec. 30:
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story — There’s already been a Hulu series about Ruby Franke, the parenting expert who was found guilty of horrifically abusing her own children. So now we get a documentary about her professional partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, who is doing time as her accomplice. Franke was brought up on six charges of aggravated child abuse, but Hildebrandt faced only four — I guess because she merely tortured someone else’s offspring. And if that seems unfair to you, you must not have done much of your shopping in physical stores this Christmas. (Netflix)
Ricky Gervais: Mortality — In his latest stand-up special, the gleeful provocateur continues his recent focus on the inevitability of his eventual demise. Just try not to be distracted by the picture-in-picture of a trans woman eating popcorn. (Netflix)
Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 31:
Stranger Things — Numerous Greater Orlando multiplexes are showing this two-hour series finale tonight, but you can just stay home and watch it the old-fashioned way if you don’t want the experience ruined by a bunch of chatty drunks. OK, by a bunch of chatty drunks you don’t know! (Netflix)
Minnie Driver and James Nesbitt in Run AwayCredit: courtesy of Netflix
Premieres Thursday, Jan. 1:
Run Away — And in a reassuring bit of continuity, the new year begins with — what else — a Harlan Coben adaptation. This one focuses on a dad who fights to retrieve his daughter from a shadowy drug underworld. And just in time too, because I hear you can come down with a serious case of TDS in those places. (Netflix)
Orlando’s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.
Related Stories
Plus a Kate Winslet Christmas tearjerker and a new Ricky Gervais stand-up special
Plus Season 5 of ‘Emily in Paris,’ ‘Breakdown: 1975’ and everything else debuting on streaming
Everything debuting this week for your winter binge-watch
Can You Identify These Iconic Comedy Movie Quotes? Quiz
Part of what makes the best comedy movies so damn good is the unforgettable (and insanely quotable) lines. Whether it’s a classic comedy like Monty Python and the Holy Grail or a newer niche choice like Palm Springs, quotes from these movies creep into your everyday vernacular until you find yourself mindlessly quoting them in random scenarios.
Think you’re an expert when it comes to funny movie quotes? Prove it by matching these iconic lines from both old and new comedy films to the movie they’re from:
How’d you do? Be sure to let us know your score and your favorite comedy movie quote in the comments!
The year 2025 was jam-packed with must-see genre entertainment. io9 covered an extensive range of pop culture across film and television, including major releases from Marvel Studios, DC Studios’ big Superman arrival, Netflix heavy hitters like Stranger Things, and awesome anime.
Beyond the screen, io9 kept you updated on the latest in theme parks and immersive experiences, as well as the latest in collectibles, toys, books, games, and comics.
To close out 2025, we’ve compiled our staff picks, highlighting our most treasured stories and sharp coverage that defined the world of genre entertainment this year.
The Director of Good Boy on Creating Horror From a Dog’s Point of View
By Cheryl Eddy
Most dog owners can recall at least one instance where their pup has reacted to a seemingly invisible presence. Are they picking up a sound pitched higher than our hearing? Sniffing out the memory of a dropped piece of food? Or perhaps… using their canine super-senses to detect something supernatural?
Good Boy, the feature debut of director and co-writer Ben Leonberg, takes that idea and runs with it, following Indy (played by Leonberg’s own dog) and his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), as they move into the former home of Todd’s late grandfather. It’s a gloomy, dark, isolated place, and—as Indy soon realizes—it appears to be teeming with unquiet spirits. [Read more]
The Superman We Need Right Now: A Report From the Set of James Gunn’s New DC Film
By Germain Lussier
When Superman started kissing the football on a stick, it all clicked together. The day was June 24, 2024, and io9 was in Cleveland to watch the filming of James Gunn’s Superman. At the end of a giant battle over the streets of Metropolis, the Man of Steel knelt down to kiss and profess his love to an inanimate object that special effects would later transform into his dog, Krypto. That little dash of heartfelt weirdness, in the middle of a massive action scene, did a near-perfect job of showing what the film’s cast and crew had been trying to articulate all day: this is not just a unique, new Superman, it’s James Gunn’s Superman. [Read more]
In Sinners, Honesty Leads to Freedom
By Justin Carter
Sinners is the type of movie where nearly every scene could be considered a standout moment on a technical, writing, or performance level. For me, there’s two moments—one utterly sincere and raunchy, the other delightfully meta—that speak to one of the film’s core themes.
In the first, burgeoning blues guitarist Sammie (Miles Caton) is getting intimate with singer Pealine (Jayme Lawson) and proceeds to get on his knees. He’s about to employ the advice his older cousin Stack (Michael B. Jordan) gave to him about pleasuring a woman earlier in the film, and just as Pearline’s about to politely decline, Sammie looks up at her and says: “You’re beautiful, and I want to taste it.” He’s clearly taken with her, and says this with the earnestness of someone who believes in what he’s saying. [Read more]
What’s the Story Behind Tron: Ares? Our Report From the Set
By Germain Lussier
“I have to ride a lightcycle.” That was my first thought last year when the invite arrived to visit the set of Disney’s new sequel, Tron: Ares. It seemed like a logical request. When you think of Tron, you think of lightcycles. They’re a huge part of both 2010’s Tron: Legacy and 1982’s Tron. And yet, I had to wonder, were there even lightcycles in this movie? What exactly WAS this movie? Coming out 15 years after the last one, with basically a whole new cast, it seemed any concept of what the film could or would be was entirely up in the air. I had questions. I wanted answers. And, perhaps, a ride on that lightcycle. [Read more]
I Love the Moment That Everything Changes in Gundam GQuuuuuuX
By James Whitbrook
The latest entry in the Gundam franchise, GQuuuuuuX, is built around one of the most fascinating premises a mainline Gundam show has had in years. To get there, we’re asked to cast our minds back over 45 years to the original 1979 anime—and in doing so, we’re also asked to consider a pretty hilarious idea.
The vast majority of Gundam GQuuuuuuX—as covered in its prequel/compilation movie GQuuuuuuX Beginning, out in American theaters today for a limited run—is predicated around the fact that the show is in fact set in an alternate version of Gundam‘s “Universal Century” timeline. The primary timeline of the original Gundam and its direct successor series, among others in the franchise, GQuuuuuuX‘s version of events asks us to consider another outcome. What if the antagonistic forces of the original series, the secessionist space colony Zeon, actually managed to win the war against Earth? [Read more]
7 Reasons Why The Nightmare Before Christmas Is Not a Halloween Movie, 4 Reasons Why It Is
By Sabina Graves
Every year, it seems that Halloween creeps in earlier than before, and with it, its Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington.
Take the Haunted Mansion Holiday at Disneyland; it’s a haunted house with ghosts that, as soon as Halloweentime arrives at the Disneyland resort at the end of summer, becomes inhabited by Jack and the people of Halloweentown. However, they’re not there for Halloween; they’re there to make Christmas. There’s the rub, because the once cult and now very mainstream holiday staple from the mind of Tim Burton and director Henry Selick is about one holiday taking over another. [Read more]
Bryan Fuller Reveals the Inspirations for His Dark Fairytale Feature Debut
By Sabina Graves
He’s best known for his acclaimed genre TV shows, but Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) is making his feature film directorial debut with Dust Bunny, a coming-of-age storybook fantasy with his signature twist.
The film reunites the Hannibal series creator with star Mads Mikkelsen. He plays a hitman hired by a young girl named Aurora (Sophie Sloan), who wants his help to hunt the mysterious and monstrous Dust Bunny tormenting her apartment.
In a recent conversation with io9, Fuller talked about how the feature got the big screen treatment after previously being pitched as an episode of the Steven Spielberg-produced Amazing Stories series for Apple TV, and what it was like working on it with genre great Sigourney Weaver. The cult-fave creative mind also opened up about how he feels in regards to some of the projects he’s been attached to that have fallen through—as well as his excitement for a project yet to be announced. And yes, we even got a few details about his potential Silence of the Lambs limited series. [Read more]
Birds of Prey Deserved Its Full, Chaotic 15 Minutes of Fame
By Justin Carter
It always sucks when something that’s pretty good and was clearly well made just doesn’t hit the way it seems like it should’ve. This is particularly true when it comes to movies; think of a film you saw that was surprisingly enjoyable and how it didn’t really get a fair shake for whatever reason.
Plenty of examples come to mind for me, but one of the first is Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Originally released on February 7, 2020, under its initial (and funnier) title, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the film’s a bit of a tangled knot. You may remember it first seemed like a solo vehicle for Margot Robbie’s Harley post-Suicide Squad 2016, then somewhere along the line, it also may have become something for the popular, usually women-starring B-list superhero team, and then ended up being… kind of both? [Read more]
Castlevania: Nocturne Writers Talk Religion, Revolution, and Black Representation
By Isaiah Colbert
Castlevania: Nocturne returns with its second season on Netflix, sparking online discussions about video game references, animation enthusiasts sharing their favorite action clips, and Alucard babygirl posts in its wake. However, a new season also brings the resurgence of pearl-clutching and Gamergate-adjacent rhetoric concerning Black representation, which should be celebrated in the Powerhouse Animation series instead.
To address and preempt criticisms from those who deride the inclusion of Black characters in the video game series as “woke,” we talked to Black Castlevania: Nocturne writers Testament and Zodwa Nyoni, and executive producer Clive Bradley, about how they enriched Konami’s fantastical source material setting with real-world events and the Black experience. [Read more]
How Fionna and Cake Reflects the Legacy of Adventure Time
By Sabina Graves
Season two of Fionna and Cake has arrived on HBO Max, taking Adventure Time fans into a new world—and it’s one that’s finally established as its own universe, thanks to Prismo breaking the rules and making the Ice King’s fan fiction real.
The first season’s ending metatextually had Fionna and friends fight to make their world canon, and there’s now more to explore in its earned existence and how it might cross over into Adventure Time‘s Land of Ooo.
But don’t get the premise twisted, Fionna and Cake isn’t just fan service to sneak back into Adventure Time territory completely. In a conversation io9 had with producer Adam Muto, we discussed how the creative teams aim to make their beloved character variants stand on their own and, yes, sometimes stand with the legacy faces to take on new interdimensional threats. [Read more]
A Love Letter to Cobra Kai, One of the Greatest Sequels Ever
By Germain Lussier
When I first watched Cobra Kai, I stopped it five minutes in. This is a true story. I started the first episode and was so absolutely blown away by what I was seeing, I almost didn’t believe it was real. Since I was about five years old, I’d been a massive fan of The Karate Kid franchise, and here I was in my 30s watching the same actors from those movies tell this dynamic, awesome, follow-up story. There was no way this show was this good. It was impossible. [Read more]
Tony Gilroy Looks Back on Taking Shit Seriously in Andor
By James Whitbrook
Tony Gilroy is a man with a vision. That vision guided him from the extensive reshoots of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story all the way to a Disney+ series about one of that film’s heroes, Cassian Andor—and finding in it a critical acclaim unlike anything the galaxy far, far away had seen in a generation.
He’s also a very frank man who knows when that vision can potentially turn on a dime—as it did one day while filming the series in Scotland, when the writer, director, and showrunner realized that his grand plan for Andor wasn’t going to work. [Read more]
Andor‘s Tony Gilroy and Genevieve O’Reilly Break Down Mon Mothma’s Pivotal Dance
By Sabina Graves
During io9’s interview with showrunner Tony Gilroy and star Genevieve O’Reilly, who plays Mon Mothma, the duo broke down the last moments of the third episode of this week’s drop. Gilroy also discussed how framing these pivotal years as three-episode mini-movies came about. [Read more]
Andor‘s Finest Hours Just Delivered a Huge Gut Punch
By Sabina Graves
What it takes to sustain a rebellion is brought into question in this week’s episode arc of Andor, which covers what happens two years before the main events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the original Star Wars saga. Thematically it’s time for the rebels to figure out if they want to just fight or actually win, as tensions come to a head on Ghorman in what’s probably the most gut-wrenching watch of the series, and perhaps even Star Wars as a whole. [Read more]
Who Was Syril Karn?
By James Whitbrook
“Who are you?” is the question that haunts Syril Karn for his entire life. From the moment we met him, prim and proper security uniform modified to be just so, a sense of purpose in a vast and uncaring universe has been at the core of understanding what makes Syril tick. The journey that took him across the galaxy reached a climactic moment in Andor‘s penultimate arc this week, and raised that haunting question once more. But the answer is more complicated than mere villain in Andor‘s narrative, doubting or otherwise. Because even as the hero of his own story, the man we know Syril to be, until the very end, is shaped less by himself and more by the systems and structures that made a tool of him. [Read more]
They Just Gave Kleya a Goddamn Gun
By James Whitbrook
There’s a scene in the ninth episode of Andor‘s second season where Vel Sartha, inspecting a table full of requisitioned weaponry at the Rebellion’s Yavin base, picks up a blaster and asks whose it is. Except, that’s not what she asks, raising the pistol into the air in front of a crowd of new recruits. What she actually says is “Who belongs to this?”
I was thinking a lot about that line an episode later, when, as she infiltrates a hospital in a desperate attempt to end the life of the man who saved hers as a child, Kleya Marki, one of Andor‘s standout characters, slips a tiny blaster with one hell of a kick out of her purloined nurse’s scrubs and calmly executes an ISB tactical officer. And then does it again. And again. It’s the climactic, tense moment of an episode that builds up to this singular moment of emotional and dramatic release as she tearfully turns off Luthen’s life support. In many ways, Kleya’s whole life, one torn apart by the Empire, and rebuilt out of her hatred of it, is leading to this moment, and this moment of infiltration and execution is just the final flourish. [Read more]
Vinland Saga Creator Makoto Yukimura Looks Back on Writing His Pacifist Viking Epic
By Isaiah Colbert
Anime and, by proxy, manga are typically viewed through a lens where violence begets violence, and the only hero is one with attention-grabbing hairdos, the ability to power up, and the capacity to punch things even more brilliantly. Very rarely is the traditional hero’s journey, whether in shonen or its older brother genre, seinen, predicated on having its hero question the nature of violence as a catch-all solution, rather than a spoke that keeps the cycle spinning. Then again, not every manga series challenges that notion so brilliantly as Vinland Saga. [Read more]
Revolutionary Girl Utena Is as Lynchian as Shojo Anime Has Ever Been
By Isaiah Colbert
Over the years, critics and everyday people have come to identify media as “Lynchian,” in reverence for how video games, movies, and TV shows evoke the dream-like quality of the late auteur David Lynch. Although most media described as Lynchian takes its inspiration from seminal works like Twin Peaks through referential nods, no show completely embodies the ephemeral vibe of Lynch’s opaque-yet-piercing style of storytelling quite like the similarly influential shojo anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena. [Read more]
Deep Space Nine Understood the Fantasy of Spies—and Their Reality
By James Whitbrook
In just under a week, the next Star Trek project arrives in the form of Section 31, a streaming movie starring Michelle Yeoh diving into the titular black ops organization—one that, at least in all the footage we’ve seen so far, puts an emphasis on the glitz and glam of secret agent work. There’s action, there’s dazzling costumes, there’s even, perhaps most surprisingly in the context of it all, direct Federation oversight, like a co-worker with a stick up their ass who’s here to stop you from having fun. [Read more]
The Leftovers Is Still One of TV’s Great Miracles
By Cheryl Eddy
Losing a loved one brings pain no matter the circumstances. Not knowing what happened to them only adds more agony. That grief and confusion is what propels The Leftovers, but on a global scale—leading to three fascinating, thought-provoking, audacious, cigarette-filled, and often miraculous seasons of TV.
At the start of the first episode, it happens: two percent of the world’s population vanishes into thin air. The amount of missing isn’t huge, but it’s significant. The people who lost someone dear are personally wounded, but nobody escapes being touched in some way by the event, which leaves humanity with an infuriating array of mystical questions. Why did those who left get “chosen”—and why were those who didn’t go get left behind? Was God or some other cosmic being involved? Where did they go? Will they ever come back? And will it happen again? [Read more]
The 6 Biggest Moments in the Shocking Foundation Season 3 Finale
By Cheryl Eddy
Foundation season three has come to an end, but it still feels like there’s so much story left to tell. Thank goodness Apple TV+ confirmed just yesterday that season four is on the way! But before we ponder what’s next, we must discuss the season finale.
“The Darkness” was… well, a lot sure did happen, didn’t it? [Read more]
Stranger Things Lets It Rip to Kick Off Its Final Season
By Sabina Graves
The conclusion to Netflix and the Duffer Brothers’ pop culture phenomenon Stranger Things begins with an epic first volume that’s now streaming for your binging pleasure.
Action and horror propel the return to Hawkins in volume one as our heroes race to find Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), hoping to vanquish him once and for all. In the time since the Upside Down ripped open in season four, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has been training with Hopper (David Harbour) to strengthen her powers. Seeing Eleven’s growth into a strong as hell young woman from her early days throwing bullies off her friends is such a joy. Clearly, that’s thanks to Eggo waffles. [Read more]
Why Gainax’s Gunbuster Pose Is More Than Anime Rule of Cool Reference Fodder
By Isaiah Colbert
Anime of the late ’80s has an undeniable impact that extends beyond the medium into movies, TV shows, and video games. Many of the homages are to 1988’s Akira, which existed before Western culture had a grasp of what anime really was or could be. The “Akira slide”—an iconic shot of Kaneda sliding sideways on his bike in the 1988 movie adaptation of Akira—has become an icon of anime culture, referenced over and over in numerous cartoons and films, western and Japanese, ever since, including Jordan Peele’s Nope, Tron: Ares, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, amid an ocean of other Akira nods.
While Akira references are rife in new media like Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic, letting fans know that the creators are aware of its rule of cool, it’s hard not to feel a bit like the buck stopped at aping aesthetics for easy internet referential brownie points over carrying over its core narrative themes. Although most pop culture nods (Scavengers Reign aside) borrow Akira‘s surface style without echoing its thematic depth, every homage to fellow 1988 anime film Gunbuster‘s iconic arm-cross pose endures as a timeless gesture of steeled resolve wrapped in a badass stance. [Read more]
Meet Freddy Fazbear and Friends at Halloween Horror Nights’ Five Nights at Freddy’s House
By Sabina Graves
Take a look inside the Five Nights at Freddy’s house at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. It looks like a real Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza location right out of the mind of game creator Scott Cawthon and Emma Tammi’s cinematic adaptation.
io9 was invited to a behind-the-scenes walkthrough of the Hollywood attraction based on the video game and Blumhouse film franchise, opening at HHN ahead of December’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. Creative director John Murdy took us through to highlight the incredible work done between Horror Nights, Cawthon, and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. [Read more]
How Science Fiction Became the Key to This Year’s Most Buzzed About Concert
By Germain Lussier
2001: A Space Odyssey. Star Wars. Star Trek. Tron. Blade Runner. Akira. The Fifth Element. Interstellar. Superman. Flash Gordon. The Matrix. That sounds like a list of the greatest sci-fi films of all time, but actually, it’s a list of the films mentioned during a discussion about the inspirations behind the Backstreet Boys’ popular new residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This past July, one of the biggest boy bands of all time celebrated 20 years of their iconic album, Millennium, at the technologically advanced venue, with two months of sold-out shows that generated a ton of buzz and interest. As a result, two more months of shows were recently added, and io9 spoke to Baz Halpin, CEO and founder of Silent House, about it. [Read more]
KPop Demon Hunters and Expedition 33 Are Having a Moment
By Justin Carter
Have you watched KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix or played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?
Chances are the answer is “yes,” and if not, you’ve certainly heard of them: both were released earlier this year to fairly glowing reviews (if not outright critical acclaim) and performed very well commercially. The latter, a turn-based RPG from newcomer Sandfall Interactive, will likely pick up some awards at year’s end, while Netflix is planning to go all in on KPop. Along with talks of sequels and an ever-growing wave of merchandise, the streamer submitted the mid-movie song “Golden” for Academy Award consideration. Both may also wind up jumping to live-action; Expedition had a movie announced months before the game’s release, while Netflix is reportedly mulling over a remake with human actors. [Read more]
Epic Universe’s Monster Lore Gives Us the Best Possible Dark Universe
By Sabina Graves
When you visit Epic Universe’s Dark Universe, you get hints of a story that’s so mysterious you’ll want to keep coming back to learn more. In Darkmoor Village, where monsters and humans co-exist—barely—the relationship between the villagers, the mad scientist in her castle with her monsters, and the vampires below is a very fragile menagerie of the macabre.
When io9 visited Darkmoor during Epic Universe’s opening week, we couldn’t help but wonder if the dense canon introduced would offer some insight into Universal’s abandoned Dark Universe film franchise. It turns out that some elements in the attractions, details in the land offerings, and immersive interactions echo what was once supposed to herald an Avengers-like assembly of the Universal Monsters on the big screen. [Read more]
Death Stranding 2 Is Hideo Kojima’s Most Refined and Relentless Vision Yet
By Isaiah Colbert
When Hideo Kojima—the man fashioned into a video game auteur out of his work on Metal Gear Solid—launched his debut title under the newly formed Kojima Productions in 2019, Death Stranding arrived shrouded in mystery and hype. Every Death Stranding trailer was full of cryptic imagery and spectral apparitions, and its stacked cast featuring Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and Mads Mikkelsen set expectations sky-high. It was also the first title to come from the creator following a messy and public exodus from Konami. Would Kojima once again rewrite the rules of game design?
Upon release, Death Stranding didn’t disappoint so much as it defied prediction. At its core, it was an immersive, slow-burning post-apocalyptic courier simulator. Players took control of Sam Porter Bridges, a pulp comics-esque naming convention of a protagonist suffering from aphenphosmphobia, an extreme fear of being touched, tasked with completing a herculean cross country trek across haunted landscapes by plagued eldritch horrors with the help of a baby in a container on his chest—avoiding environmental hazards and balancing parcels on every available piece of real estate on his body to “reconnect America.” Reductively, Death Stranding is regarded in gaming circles as a “triple-A” indie game, with a weird (but not overly confusingly dense) world-building serving as the connective tissue propelling every careful footstep on Sam’s odyssey. What Death Stranding lacks in conventional thrills, it made up for with sheer conceptual weight. [Read more]
Walt Disney Returns as a Surreal Animatronic for Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary
By Sabina Graves
As of this week, Walt Disney returns to his original Magic Kingdom, with a little help from the magic-makers at Imagineering.
Through the audio-animatronics technology Walt Disney introduced when he opened Disneyland 70 years ago, the evolution of the show robots has gone from static positioning with some movements, as first seen on the singing birds in the Enchanted Tiki Room, to a roaming animatronic of Uncle Walt. Stationed in the Main Street Opera House, the (m)animatronic is the crown jewel of the Walt Disney – A Magical Life show, where he, along with the help of Disney CEO Bob Iger as the program’s narrator, gets to sit and stand front and center to share his story in his words. [Read more]
Ghost of Yotei Is a Stronger, Self-Assured Sequel
By Justin Carter
There was a moment early on in Ghost of Yotei where I knew it’d won me over. As Atsu, I wasn’t hunting down the Yotei Six who killed my family and left me for dead back in my youth; I was taking on a simple bounty who’d managed to get the better of me. I was all set to watch him plunge his katana in my back and restart the swordfight. Instead, a wolf jumped in out of nowhere, biting him and granting me full health so I could get back up and resume the fight and get my bounty. [Read more]
The Best Disney Park Ride Overlays, and Where to Find Them
By Sabina Graves
Seasonal and promotional ride overlays are now ways to draw in more people to revisit beloved attractions at Disney’s parks or give passholders a reason to come back over and over. Over time some have had more longevity than others, as the most popular overlay continues to be Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday, which has Jack Skellington and friends take over the West Coast haunt with his spooky Christmas shenanigans. Meanwhile, the haunted version of Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy seems to have exorcised its spirit—it just might have been a tad too scary, while Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain stays beating out the rest. [Read more]
Mass Effect 2 Helped Change What Being an RPG Meant
By Justin Carter
The Mass Effect series has always held a special, and often divisive spot in fans’ hearts. BioWare’s sci-fi RPG saga blew up with its first game back in 2007, and its sequel took the franchise to bigger, more mainstream heights. In the years since that game’s release, it’s cast a long shadow—not just over its own franchise and creator, but the larger RPG space, particularly those from western developers. [Read more]
Back to the Future Returns to Universal Studios Hollywood With an Incredible Immersive Experience
By Sabina Graves
With Back to the Future: Destination Hill Valley, Universal delivers on the promise of bringing you into the movies in a new, impactful way. The immersive experience is a triumph and you won’t want to leave.
You get on the studio tour and it becomes a time traveling tram that drops you into the moment that Marty McFly arrives and through the events of Back to the Future on the courthouse square where the Robert Zemeckis film was shot. Through roaming actors portraying George, Lorraine, Biff, and Doc, we get to see iconic moments recreated and be a part of them. I got to chat with my childhood crush George McFly and turned into a total shy mess as he asked if I was going to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. The storytelling propels forward as you are able to encourage him to ask Lorraine to go with him and help with his writing before we see the hilarious hijinks of Lorraine hitting on Marty, her future son who she wants to go to the dance with. Biff shows up and causes mayhem while fans spectate and quote along. [Read more]
Deus Ex Did Good Work, and I Wish It Could Do More
By Justin Carter
For as many long-running franchises were born during the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era—your Assassin’s Creeds and Borderlands, to name a few—some old series tried making a return. Among those was Deus Ex, a series of cyberpunk role-playing games which just turned 20 years old and had an unfortunately short-lived return with a duology that under better circumstances, would’ve been a trilogy. [Read more]
Books, Art, and Toys
The full package – Regal Reobot
The Story Behind the Funniest Indiana Jones Prop Replica You’ve Ever Seen
By Germain Lussier
Indiana Jones is always on the hunt for rare antiquities. He’s found the Golden Idol, Ark of the Covenant, Holy Grail, and so much more. All of which makes prop replicas of those things rather obvious. But, for the Indiana Jones fan who wants to be like their favorite adventuring archaeologist and get something more rare and specific, how about a clothes hanger? [Read more]
For Sale: One Book of the Dead, Slightly Used
By Cheryl Eddy
That little getaway in the woods sure would have been much less eventful if Ash Williams and his pals hadn’t decided to read passages out of that creepy old book someone left behind. But we’re so glad they did—thereby awakening the forces of darkness, sparking the events of The Evil Dead and its sequels, launching Bruce Campbell into the goofy action hero pantheon, and giving horror fans endless delights over the past 40-plus years. And now, you can own the actual prop that started it all! [Read more]
You Have to Check Out These Insanely Detailed Pop Culture Sculptures
By Germain Lussier
Play-Doh is not generally considered a pathway to a career in art, but it was exactly that for Brad Hill. Years ago, the aspiring artist was gifted the popular children’s toy and, as a thank you, molded some of it into a head. “I was like, ‘Oh wait. That’s kind of fun,’” Hill said. “Every day, I’d just wake up and sculpt a head out of Play-Doh. And I thought, ‘Well, this isn’t sustainable.’” He was wrong. Fifteen years later, Hill’s work has gone all over the internet, and this week he’s having a retrospective art show featuring not just brand new work, but pieces from throughout his still blossoming career. [Read more]
Being a Manga Letterer Is More Than Having a Fun Job
By Isaiah Colbert
When people read manga, they often focus on the Instagram caption-worthy one-liners and larger-than-life illustrations that fill their pages. What usually goes unnoticed in picking up a manga is the work that goes into its lettering and graphic design, done by the folks who pour their craftsmanship into typesetting popular Japanese manga for Western audiences.
We spoke with professional letterers Brandon Bovia (The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All, Dragon Ball Super, Kaiju No. 8), Evan Hayden (Battle Angel Alita, Land of Lustrous, Akira), Sara Linsley (Kamudo), Aidan Clarke (Otaku Elf, Neo Faust, Les Miserable), Barri Shrager (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?), Kyla Aiko (Dandadan, Gokurakugai, RuriDragon), and Finn K. (Shinobi Undercover, Dear Anemone) about the challenges of typesetting the best manga in the world. [Read more]
How the Grinch Stole Modern Christmas
By Sabina Graves
He’s a meme one, Mr. Grinch, or at least that’s the current pop culture identity of the iconic Dr. Seuss creation.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the beloved illustrated Seuss book that many of us first experienced as a story read to us as children, initially became a cultural phenomenon thanks to its timeless themes about how Christmas can be found not only in gifts but also in the hearts of all—even the grumpiest of green meanies. [Read more]
Amazon Prime Video is the exclusive home for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football games, including this week’s game. On top of Amazon Prime Video, an Amazon Prime subscription includes free shipping, exclusive deals, access to the Prime Day sales events, Amazon Music, a year of free GrubHub+ and more.
A standard Amazon Prime subscription is $15 monthly or $139 annually, but discounts are available for students and those on qualified government assistance. You can try Amazon Prime free for 30 days. You can also just subscribe directly to Prime Video and forego all the other Prime Benefits. A Prime Video subscription costs $9 monthly.
Week 17 of the NFL starts on Christmas Day, and Thursday Night Football is going to be a whole day of football.
The Holiday games are set to feature big guest stars throughout the day, including Kelly Clarkson, Snoop Dogg, Lainey Wilson, the voices of Netflix‘s KPOP Demon Hunters, and more.
What time will the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders start on Christmas Day?
The first NFL game on Christmas Day will be the Dallas Cowboys (6-8-1) vs. the Washington Commanders (4-11) at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The game will begin at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT and stream on Netflix.
Kelly Clarkson will be the show opener and the Army will perform the anthem. Ian Eagle is doing the play-by-play, Matt Ryan and Nate Burleson will analyze the game, and Melanie Collins and Sara Walsh will be sideline reporters. Comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura are set to guest star.
What time will the game between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings start on Christmas Day?
The second game of the day will be between the Detroit Lions (8-7) and the Minnesota Vikings (7-8) from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT and stream on Netflix.
Kelly Clarkson is set to open the show with SZN4 performing the anthem. Snoop Dogg will perform during the Holiday Halftime Party and feature the singing voices of Netflix’s KPOP Demon Hunters, as well as country music star Lainey Wilson. Noah Eagle will do the play-by-play, Drew Brees will analyze the game, and AJ Ross and Dianna Russini will be featured as sideline reporters. Seth Rollins is set to guest star.
What time will the game between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs start on Christmas Day?
The primetime NFL game of Thursday Night Football between the Denver Broncos (12-3) and the Kansas City Chiefs (6-9) will be played at Geha Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The game is set to start at 8:15 p.m. ET and 5:15 p.m. PT, streaming on Prime Video.
How to stream all Christmas Day games on mobile devices?
Netflix and Prime Video are the streaming services NFL fans will need to be subscribed to to livestream the games on mobile devices. However, if you’re not a subscriber to any of those services, the NFL offers the NFL+ streaming service, which lets users live stream all games on their mobile devices. NFL+ provides fans with access to stream all NFL games on their phones or tablets for $6.99 a month.
Amazon Prime Video is the exclusive home for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football games, including this week’s game. On top of Amazon Prime Video, an Amazon Prime subscription includes free shipping, exclusive deals, access to the Prime Day sales events, Amazon Music, a year of free GrubHub+ and more.
A standard Amazon Prime subscription is $15 monthly or $139 annually, but discounts are available for students and those on qualified government assistance. You can try Amazon Prime free for 30 days. You can also just subscribe directly to Prime Video and forego all the other Prime Benefits. A Prime Video subscription costs $9 monthly.
By the order of the Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy‘s Tommy Shelby and his crew of Birmingham mobsters are back in this teaser-trailer for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Netflix dropped the new footage for the upcoming film, the first big screen chapter following a six-season TV run, on Christmas Eve. Driven by the vibes and atmosphere Peaky Blinders fans know and love, Murphy’s Shelby is seen wondering a forest, graveyard and home as a voice ponders, “Whatever happened to Tommy Shelby?”
As a phone ring echoes, a series of scenes — some violent, bloody or alluding to the presence of Nazis — rapidly flash on screen. As Shelby responds, “I’m not that man anymore,” another series of images flash, this time of a massive building explosion, a red scarf draped over a headstone and a spinning coin. That’s when another voice tells Shelby, “You gotta come back,” as he slams his hands down on a table.
The move triggers even more scenes, this time with a rapid machine gun, a pocket watch, burning photos and a glimpse of cast member Barry Keoghan.
The minute-long teaser trailer, while sparse on narrative, is chock full of imagery fans of the series might recognize — and speculate about. The film itself is set in 1940 Birmingham amid WWII, with Shelby driven out of the self-imposed exile he chose at the end of season six. With both his family and country at stake, the equally brutal and charismatic gang leader will face his biggest and most destruction reckoning, taking on his own demons as he decides whether to confront his legacy or burn it down.
In a conversation with Netflix’s Tudum, Murphy discussed his decision to return to Shelby, after his character garnered a well-received series ending. “It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn’t finished with me,” Murphy told Netflix. “It is very gratifying to be re-collaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the film version of Peaky Blinders. This is one for the fans.”
Series creator Knight added: “The country is at war, and so, of course, are our Peaky Blinders,” Knight told Netflix. “It will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. No holds barred. Full-on Peaky Blinders at war.”
Returning alongside Knight is director Tom Harper, with cast members including Murphy, Keoghan, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee, Ian Peck, Jay Lycurgo, and Stephen Graham.
In December, Netflix announced that the return of Peaky Blinders would come in two forms — a two-week theatrical release on March 6, and then its streaming release, beginning March 20.
Detroit Lions fans won’t have to jump through streaming hoops to catch their team on Christmas Day.
While the Lions’ matchup against the Minnesota Vikings will be carried nationally on Netflix, marking the platform’s first-ever live NFL broadcast, local viewers in metro Detroit have an easier option. The game will also air on CBS Detroit, meaning fans with access to CBS 62 can watch the 4:30 p.m. ET kickoff without signing up for another streaming service.
That’s welcome news during a busy holiday, especially for fans who may be traveling, visiting family, or simply don’t want to worry about logging into yet another app. As long as you’re in the local broadcast area and can get CBS, you’re covered.
So whether you’re watching from the couch, a family gathering, or sneaking a peek during Christmas dinner prep, Lions fans have a straightforward way to tune in, no Netflix password required.
