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Airplane!is stuffed with jokes. The classic 1980 comedy from the trio ofJim Abrahams,David Zucker, andJerry Zucker— likely my favorite film comedy of all time — uses a strong, simple, fundamental plot (borrowed from a couple of earnest “airplane dramas” likeFlight Into DangerandZero Hour!) as a sturdy skeleton to hang as many jokes in as many different forms as possible. From sight gags to wordplay to non sequiturs to even the abrupt mimicry of television commercials, if ya don’t like one joke inAirplane!...

The directorAlan J. Pakulahad helmed four films by the time the offer to directAll the President’s Menarrived on his desk. Two of them,KluteandThe Parallax View, were very well received but were not the kind of films that everyone sees, from your grandfather on down to the woman that makes your coffee; his debut,The Sterile Cuckoo, is often ignored but deserves equal footing with these more regularly noted works. Pakula was clearly talented from the moment he lensed his first feature, but like so many other New Hollywood icons, nationwide recognition didn’t come until he took on the story of one of the great con jobs perpetrated on the American people, namely the Watergate scandal....

James Wancut his teeth as a director of horror films–quite the successful one, too–before making the unexpected leap to big-budget, high-octane action withFurious 7. Now, behind the camera for Warner Bros.' DC Comics adaptation of perhaps the most difficult-to-adapt mainstream heroAquaman, Wan is shifting genre gears yet again. That doesn’t mean he’s leaving everything he’s learned over his nearly 20 years in the director’s chair behind but rather that he’s bringing those experiences to bear on this high-seas superhero adventure....

Divisive among critics andpopular at the box office, live-action translations of animated classics undoubtedly generate tremendous hype around their casting choices. From Disney fairy tale reimaginings to cartoons brought to full-fledged life, casting a beloved animated personality’s flesh-and-blood equivalent is a herculean task that, at best, can translate the character seamlessly into the real world, but at worst, can come off as bad cosplay. The demands an actor must meet in bringing an animated character to live-action are unlike any other role....

As #BlackLivesMatter protests swept the globe over the last couple of weeks, people were feeling the call for activism and doing some serious self-reflection on their own privilege, prejudice, and bias. People were also watchingThe Helpon Netflix, which wasthe #1 most popular movieon the streaming service over the weekend. And folks, that ain’t it. Indeed, the Oscar-winning 2011 film which itself was based on a book byKathryn Stocketttells the story of two Black maids in 1963 Mississippi, the racism they’re forced to deal with every day as they work for white families, and the small victories they found along the way....

WithCobra KaiSeason 3 now due to hit Netflix on New Year’s Day, we’ve got a lot ofCobra Kaicontent coming your way very soon beginning with the non-spoiler portion of our chat withRalph MacchioandWilliam Zabka. While this section of the conversation does stick to the material we saw in the trailer, it feels worth noting that if you’re someone who prefers to go into Season 3 with minimal context, you might want to save this interview until after watching the first few episodes of the season....

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Company You Keep Season 4.After a week off due to the Oscars,The Company You Keepreturned with an all-important episode that picked up right where we left Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia). In the final scene of Episode 3, we saw Charlie being forcefully abducted by three men and thrown in the back of a van just outside his family’s bar. That left us wonderingwho ordered this attackand whether this was meant as an intimidation play by Daphne (Felisha Terrell) to accelerate the debt payback from the Nicolettis....

To almost everybody exceptPeter Jackson,District 9was a complete surprise when it landed in late summer of 2009, hovering over the box office like an extraterrestrial mothership.Neill Blomkamp’s feature debut, an adaptation of his 2006 short filmAlive in Joburg, earned four Oscar nominations including Best Picture, helped galvanize a renaissance of original science fiction projects that also includedDuncan Jones’MoonandJoe Cornish’sAttack the Block, and immediately established Blomkamp as an important new voice in feature filmmaking....

While they may not be quite as popular as their fictional counterparts,documentaryfilms are an important and necessary part of our cultural landscape. These non-fiction films educate us on vital issues and inspire us to push for real social change, and sometimes, they do all that while still providing an entertaining experience. Maxhas a sizable collection of great documentary films, ranging from biographical works to movies about horrifying real-life crimes and even some on the lighter side of life....

This past weekend,Dwayne Johnsontook to Instagram to share the story of howlosing out on the role of Jack Reacherled directly to him landing a part in theFast & Furiousfranchise. That part of Hobbs inFast Five, of course, became a fan-favorite, and Johnson’s long-promised Hobbs spinoff finally arrived last year in the form ofHobbs & Shaw. The actioner, which drew from iconic 80s buddy movies as it teamed Hobbs up with frenemy Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), was a hit, grossing over $760 million worldwide....

Fanboy favoritesEdgar WrightandJoe Cornishare teaming up to launch Complete Fiction with their respective producing partnersNira ParkandRachael Prior, and the newly-christened production company is already off to a hot start, having set up three TV projects at Netflix. Park has been Wright’s producer for more than 20 years, dating back to their beloved TV seriesSpaced, while Prior served as the head of development at Wright and Park’s Big Talk Pictures, and has been Cornish’s creative right-hand for the last decade....

Elvis & Nixonconcerns the one time meeting betweenElvis Presleyand the pre-Watergate PresidentRichard M. Nixon. The meeting occurred in 1970, but was not publicly known until 1972.Photos exist. Presley’s hand in Nixon’s, locked in a firm handshake; flags stood behind the two and Presely’s gold International Championship belt and wavy-swept hair somehow displayed more power than the Oval Office was able to in his presence (i.e. party in the front, business in the back)....

No one wants a horror movie ridden with cliche scares and plot points, but there is something to be said for one that can tap into familiar territory but deliver a fresh take on it. DirectorBruce McDonaldcertainly tries to do something along those lines withHellions, but the traditional Halloween shenanigans are far more entertaining than the muddled surreal spin he puts on them. The movie centers on a teenager named Dora (Chloe Rose)....