Jumanji Wins Another
Let me start with a confession: I just didn’t see the juggernaut that is the new Jumanji coming. Oh, sure. I knew the pedigree. The original Jumanji starred Robin Williams and made a healthy run at the box office way back in 1995, collecting $100.4 million in North America (a lot of money back then). […]
Culture Clips: A Window Into the World of Teens
It’s not easy being a teen. Never has been, never will be. How are today’s adolescents navigating that vast pubescent wasteland? Both teens and the scientists who observe ’em like lab rats have offered some thoughts on that over the last several days. First, some good news: High schoolers aren’t having sex as much as […]
Finding Truth at the Golden Globes
The Golden Globes this year offered a lot of what awards shows typically offer: lots of awards, lots of star power, lots of sometimes awkward acceptance speeches. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri escaped the awards show with four Globes. HBO’s miniseries Big Little Lies scampered away with three. But this year, hardly anyone was talking […]
Jumanji Hikes to Top of Box Office
What does it take to knock the biggest hit of 2017 off the box office’s top perch? A big Rock, apparently. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle—starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson—welcomed itself into first place this weekend. It earned an estimated $36 million in North America and claimed its first box office victory after three weeks […]
Culture Clips: A Good Year for the Bad Guys
We’re three whole days into 2018 now, but it’s still wholly appropriate to look back at the year that was. Researchers have weighed the data to determine the year’s most popular books, movies and videos. Pundits have opined on the year’s biggest entertainment stories. But one thing’s clear, at least to the Los Angeles Times’ […]
The Last Jedi is 2017’s Last Word
We’ve put away our tiny hats and paper horns. We’ve stopped pondering what “Auld Lang Syne” means for another year. Yes, we’ve opened the book on a shiny new anum. But while old 2017 may be ready to leave, old Luke Skywalker seems bent on hanging around. Star Wars: The Last Jedi closed out 2017 […]
Pop Culture’s Top 10 Movers and Shakers (2017 Edition)
The outgoing year is often depicted as an old, tired man with a beard down to his knees. But this year, that depiction felt all too true. With all the natural disasters and political unrest and international crises afoot, 2017 probably made us all feel older than we should. Back in the day, many folks […]
Star Wars Takes Two
During a busy holiday weekend, the Force once again reigned supreme. Star Wars: The Last Jedi pocketed an estimated $100.7 million over the four-day weekend (including Christmas Day). (It made $68.5 million in the traditional three-day, Friday-through-Sunday run.) Sure, it’s a hefty drop from last weekend’s superlative figures, but still: $100 million its second week […]
Vodcast: How The Last Jedi Is a Religious Movie
Star Wars has long been a cultural powerhouse, but the saga itself is powered by a strange, supernatural element that undergirds its universe: the Force. The Force, in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s words, “surrounds us and penetrates us” and “binds the galaxy together.” It’s been a central tenant of every Star Wars movie, and the very concept […]
Culture Clips: The Force is Grouchy With This One
Our newsfeeds have been filled with a lot of serious news as of late. And we here at Culture Clips Central have dutifully reported much of it, from sexual harassment scandals to teen depression to accidents caused by Pokémon Go. But today, we want to delve into something really critical: whether the new Star Wars […]