In a decision completely independent from, but very coincidental to, the release of Netflix musical comedyEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, my girlfriend and I have been watching every single real life Eurovision Song Contest we can get our musical little hands on. It’s been an eye-opening experience, an outsider’s look directly into a 60-year running tradition in Europe, a musical journey across strange “tropes” (key changes) and “pattern-breakers” (hard rock guitars) that emerge during these runs, a delightful distillation of arcane rules and point distribution, and a genuinely heartwarming form of innocent patriotism....

The term, “movie jail,” refers to the notion that a filmmaker whiffs it so hard that they are, in essence, locked away by the studio where they will either have to relinquish all creative control to make a film, or not make one at all until the bad taste of their last movie has left the cultural zeitgeist. In the history of Hollywood movies gone awry, many filmmakers have done their time in movie jail, but what if the movie was so bad that the director went to federal prison?...

TheDeadpooleffect is in, well, full effect. We’re not three days away from the R-rated superhero pic’s smashing box office success, and we’re already seeingstudios attempting to learn lessons from Fox’s gamble. The first, it appears, is Paramount with itsTransformersfranchise. We learned last week that theTransformers 6that the studio plopped down on a June 2018 release date is, in fact,a spinoff revolving around the character of Bumblebeerather than a fully fledgedTransformerssequel (which makes sense—even with lazy scripts, these crazy expensive movies can’t be madethatfast)....

If you could travel back in time and heal the ancestral wounds responsible for your family’s generational trauma, would you? Hw would that healing influence your relationships going forward? Amazon’s second season ofUndoneexplores these questions and more, all with the snarky sibling squabbles and parent/child ragging we’ve come to know and love fromBojack Horseman’sRaphael Bob-WaksbergandKate Purdy’s animated sci-fi thriller dramedy. Season 1 leaves us with Alma (Rosa Salazar), staring into a cave, certain she’s realigned the timelines and saved her dead father Jacob (Bob Odenkirk) from the horrible fate they’ve spent the entire season desperately training her to help him escape....

Spoilersahead if you haven’t seen Netflix’sVoltronSeason 5 in its entirety. Voltron Legendary Defendermay have just given us the best season yet with the recently arrived Season 5. Though we’re getting the Netflix series in smaller chunks thanks to the decision to break up 13-episode seasons into two smaller seasons (which are released more frequently, thank you very much), what we’realsogetting is story arcs that feel more focused, character development that is honest and engaging, and layers upon layers of mythology that just keep going deeper....

In 1984, the movie industry would be changed forever in a way most of us don’t think about anymore. In a one-month span,Indiana Jones and the Temple of DoomandGremlinswere both released to theaters. They were both massive successes,ending up just behindGhostbustersas the top box office draws of the year.Steven Spielberg, who was the most powerful director in Hollywood during the decade, had a hand in both films, directingTemple of Doomand executive producingGremlins....

Disney, which has the financial security to invest in any movie it wants, had a good weekend at the box office yet again.Black Pantherpulled in another $41 million to bring its domestic total to $562 million. The movie also passed the $1 billion mark and is now the second-biggest superhero movie of all-time behindThe Avengers. While some speculated that the film might not perform in China, the movie also did well in that coveted territory, pulling in $66....

AlthoughThe Empressis primarily defined by the life of Elizabeth (Devrim Lingnau) in the Austrian royal court, the political landscape also remains a crucial subplot in Season 2. Nephew to the famous military leader, Emperor Napoleon III of France (Christophe Favre) serves as the first great rival to Franz Joseph (Philip Froissant) for domination of Europe, having risen to power as an elected populist. From his bond with Maximilian (Johannes Nussbaum) to his support from the Italians, Napoleon represents all that the Austrian monarch hopes to be, yet his fate should serve as a potential warning....

The Academy Awards are undoubtedly Hollywood’s biggest night, routinely filled with snubs and surprises as we recognize the best performances of the year. Over the many decades it’s been on the air, the Oscars have also dealt with their fair share of controversy. Whether it’sWarren Beatty’sLa La Landmix-up, a streaker interruptingDavid Niven’s presentation,Rob Lowe’sduet from the depths of hell, or the recent and bizarreWill Smith/Chris Rockslap, theOscars have no shortage of shocking moments....

If there is one thing that stands out from the decade of the 80sit is the glamorization and romanticization of drug use. It was the halcyon days of Hollywood studios giving the audience as much of the cocaine-fueled drama that was part of the zeitgeist of the time as kilos of the drug poured in from south of the border. You remember Nancy Reagan saying, “Just Say No!” right? As a result, we got a lot of surface-level movies that depicted a binary notion of crack and cocaine abuse with matinée idol stars in the leads playing very superficial parts....

LokiSeason 2 is already coming to an end this week. Through the first five episodes, there have been so many jaw-dropping and emotional moments. However, no moment arguably brought Marvel fans more joy than seeingOwen Wilson’s Mobius finallyunited with a jet-ski. Now, ahead of the finale, Marvel Studios has released an extended version of that monumental occasion which will make anyLokienthusiast smile endlessly. The ten-minute video is literally just a five-second loop of Mobius on a jet-ski looking like a kid in a candy store, but it’s the kind of free-spirited time loop that the world needs right now....

From Tami Taylor inFriday Night Lightsto Nicole Mossbacher inThe White Lotus,Connie Brittonis no stranger to playing moms on screen. Yet, what the actress loves more than anything is being a mom in real life. Although her son Yobi is a teenager now, she has vivid memories of moving across the country as a new mom and having a hard time balancing her busy shooting schedule on the showNashvillewhile taking care of a baby....

AsMufasa: The Lion Kinggets closer and closer to its release date, fans of the franchise start getting more and more information about the anticipated prequel. The new installment will chronicle the early years of Mufasa (voiced byAaron Pierre) before he became the father of Simba (Donald Glover) and the king of the jungle. The blockbuster is set to premiere in theaters on December 20, and todayEntertainment Weeklyrevealed an exclusive new look into the movie’s new villain, Kiros, voiced byMads Mikkelsen(Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore)....