Pope Francis, Superstar

We’ve seen plenty of crossover stars in the year’s biggest films already: Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman and Danai Gurira are featured in Avengers: Infinity War. Infinity War’s Paul Bettany (Vision) has a big role in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Josh Brolin is doing double dastardly duty as both Thanos (in Infinity War) and […]

13 Reasons Provides a Teachable Moment (for Netflix)

When Netflix unveiled the first season of 13 Reasons Why last spring, the streaming service knew the show would be buzzy. It might not have understood the show’s sting. Based on the book by Jay Asher and produced in part by singer/actress Selena Gomez, the show’s first season revolved around the suicide of a young […]

Infinity War Spends Infinity at No. 1

I’m beginning to wonder whether Disney somehow snagged an Infinity Stone—perhaps Doctor Strange’s Time Stone. After all, Avengers: Infinity War seems to be repeating history every week: another weekend, another record or two, another win. The weekend’s two major newcomers couldn’t come close to topping Disney/Marvel’s purple-tinged titan. It earned an estimated $61.8 million, pushing […]

Put Down That Remote! Binge-Watching Can Be Bad for You

On May 18, Netflix will roll out the second season of one of its buzziest, most controversial and, let’s face it, most bingeable shows: 13 Reasons Why. We wrote quite a bit about the show’s first season, beginning with our review and spiraling out from there. (Our parents’ guide to the series will be updated […]

Another First for Infinity War

Disney and Marvel’s latest superhero story was reportedly a hard movie for its makers to make. It was unquestionably a hard movie for me to watch. But when it comes to money, the earnings couldn’t be easier. To perhaps only Thanos’ surprise, Avengers: Infinity War won again, and once again did so in stellar fashion. […]

Vodcast: Digging Deep Into Avengers: Infinity War

So, how ’bout Avengers: Infinity War, huh? Remember that one scene? And then when that other thing happened … wow. Just … wow. Obviously, we can’t get too specific about what actually happened in Infinity War here. Don’t want to spoil anything in print. But you know what? There’s a whole lot to talk about […]

Avengers: To Infinity and the Box Office!

It came bent on utter domination. Once it was through, it left smoldering ruins in its wake. Try as its adversaries might, nothing could stop this awe-inducing, terrifying, world-destroying juggernaut. Are we talking Thanos, perhaps? Galactus? Darkseid, maybe? Nope. Try Avengers: Infinity War. Disney/Marvel’s latest superhero flick didn’t just win the box office this weekend: […]

Avengers: The Spirituality Behind the Superheroes

This weekend, Avengers: Infinity War will roll into theaters worldwide. It’s kind of a big deal. Infinity War, wherein an array of Marvel superheroes will try to prevent the evil Thanos from collecting super-powerful galactic artifacts known as Infinity Stones, is the culmination (along with next year’s untitled fourth Avengers flick) of a decade-long journey […]

A Quiet Place Re-Takes First Place

Forget about those gigantic gorillas. Never mind those super troopers. Let’s not even worry about Amy Schumer. A Quiet Place made another loud impression on the box office this weekend. The tense, if strangely bucolic, horror film directed by John Krasinski and starring himself and his wife, Emily Blunt, reclaimed the top spot after a […]