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Updated: In the last few days since we posted this piece, the story has gone viral, and now Warner Bros has reached out to us with a statement from their Home Video department offering to make good on the ruined DVDs – if possible.

Here’s the statement in full:

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is aware of potential issues affecting select DVD titles manufactured between 2006 – 2008, and the company has been actively working with consumers to replace defective discs.

Where possible, the defective discs have been replaced with the same title. However, as some of the affected titles are no longer in print or the rights have expired, consumers have been offered an exchange for a title of like-value.

Consumers with affected product can contact the customer support team at whv@wbd.com.

For me, this is kind of a good news/ bad news situation, as while it will be nice to get replacements,...

When Morgan Freeman got to the stage at the 97th Academy Awards to pay respects to Gene Hackman, fans noticed that he was wearing a single glove on his left hand. Many fans wondered what happened to Freeman as he tried to hide his hands behind his back. However, it isn’t a new thing for the actor who suffered nerve damage to his left hand after suffering from a car accident.

Morgan Freeman in a still from Driving Miss Daisy | Credits: The Zanuck Company

Freeman had previously told People Magazine that he wore compression gloves to keep his blood flowing, adding that his hand hadn’t gotten better after the accident. At the Oscars, Freeman spoke about the late Hackman, whom he worked with on two films Unforgiven and Under Suspicion.

What happened to Morgan Freeman’s hand as he was seen wearing a single glove at the Oscars?...

Morgan Freeman opened the annual In Memoriam segment at the 2025 Oscars by sharing kind words about his former co-star, Gene Hackman, who died last week.

Freeman addressed the Dolby Theatre audience in Hollywood by saying, “This week, our community lost a giant — and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman.”

Freeman continued, “I had the pleasure of working alongside Gene on two films, Unforgiven and Under Suspicion, and like everyone who ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer and a man whose gifts elevated everyone’s work. He received two Oscars, but more importantly, he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”

The Shawshank Redemption star shared, “Gene always said, ‘I don’t think about legacy. I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work.’ So, I think I speak for us all when I say: Gene,...

It was another win for Neon and director Oz Perkins this past weekend as "The Monkey" absolutely killed it at the box office. Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, Perkins' latest collected $14 million in its debut domestically, placing in second just behind "Captain America: Brave New World," ($28.2 million), with Marvel's latest collapsing in its second weekend. Meanwhile, Neon and Perkins have reason to pop champagne.

Produced for around $10 million, even before a single dollar from overseas is counted, this gory horror-comedy had been set up for success right out of the gate. "The Monkey" has been met with mixed-to-positive reviews which could impact its ability to endure beyond opening weekend. Even so, that low production cost acts as an insurance policy. This now ranks as Neon's second-biggest opening weekend ever, trailing only Perkins' own "Longlegs" from last year, which opened to $22.4 million en route to a $127 million global finish.

There are a lot of Stephen King books out there — and about as many movies based on those King-ly books. The writer earns his title as a horror master not just through craft, but prolificity. He's got multiple works that could contend for "scariest book ever written," but quite a few that aren't so great either.

If you're preparing for a King deep dive, with movies or TV, consider starting with the cream of the crop. One story that's absolutely in that cream is King's novel "The Dead Zone," which fellow horror master David Cronenberg adapted as a movie in 1983. For added convenience, "The Dead Zone" is now streaming for free (with ads) on Pluto TV.

Now, Cronenberg is synonymous with body horror, but "The Dead Zone" is no gross-out picture; the violence happens only in spats. What makes it Cronenbergian is that is about a man undergoing a physical...

Let’s be honest Longlegs was a disappointment. Although it did contain a great central performance from Maika Monroe, it’s supernatural storyline owed much too much to many far better films. Added to this, the marketing campaign – which hyped it beyond belief – set audience expectations far higher than anyone could achieve.

That said, the film did extremely well at cinemas across the land, propelling its writer and director into the limelight and as my review said “all we can hope is going forwards, Osgood Perkins uses the new found fame and commercial footing to indulge his more interesting and unconventional horror ideas.”

On the face of it, adapting a Stephen King story is neither interesting nor unconventional. With a career spanning over 50 years, King’s works have been remade by multiple directors inciting fear on screens large and small for centuries, from Carrie to Misery, The Lawnmower Man to The Shawshank Redemption,...

Blake Lively rose to prominence with her roles in Gossip Girl and The Age of Adaline, and she has long been a part of Hollywood’s glamour circuit. Her high-profile marriage to Ryan Reynolds, their witty banter, and her impeccable style created an unparalleled image of the actress. But her past comments about one film, starring Morgan Freeman, have brought her under fire again.

Blake Lively | Vogue / YouTube

Lively has been facing backlash for months, with the ongoing It Ends with Us controversy and legal troubles with Justin Baldoni, her past interviews and clips have been making rounds on the internet. So let’s look at another one of these moments that has marred the actress’ image.

Blake Lively’s remark about Morgan Freeman’s The Shawshank Redemption Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd in The Shawshank Redemption | Castle Rock Entertainment

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 classic that stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman,...

While President Trump pardons known criminals and revokes executive orders for police accountability, thousands of innocent men and women have spent decades behind bars, framed by police - but no-one was listening.

Clockwork Films are partnering with Chalk & Blade ( Hunting Ghislane; Madmans Hotel: Audible ) on a thrilling new true crime series with iHeartPodcasts that pulls back the curtain on the false confession capital of America – Chicago.

The gripping 10-part series will tell the story of both a harrowing murder investigation, a corrupt police department and a tale of friendship that rivals The Shawshank Redemption.

“At Chalk + Blade we revel in stories that poke at stigmatising themes and challenge the status quo , this project was a clear perfect match for us. " says Ruth Barnes Founder and Creative Director.

“It is fantastic to be partnering with Chalk and Blade and iHeart to tell a story I have been obsessed with for years.

Leighton Meester, whose varied projects have included the iconic teen drama Gossip Girl and the sweet sitcom Single Parents, is now happily promoting her new cop clan dramedy Good Cop/Bad Cop, premiering on The CW on February 19 at 9/8c). Meester plays skilled veteran Det. Louise “Lou” Hickman, who works for her father, small town police chief Big Hank, along with her polar opposite brother Henry, newly returned home from seven years in the Seattle P.D. and promoted to detective by their dad. TV Insider talked to the actress a short time before she and her husband Adam Brody lost their home in the disastrous Pacific Palisades fire. So you have not one, but two new roles in the near future, the other being joining the second season of the Apple TV+ Gilded Age costume drama, The Buccaneers, about wealthy young American women ...

Last year, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Long Walk (which was, like The Running Man and Thinner, published under the pen name Richard Bachman) went into production, with director Francis Lawrence, whose previous credits include Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2, Red Sparrow, Slumberland, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, at the helm. Now, Lawrence has confirmed to the folks at Collider that post-production work on the film is almost complete, and he’s “super happy” with it.

An adaptation of The Long Walk has been trudging through development hell for decades. At one point, the rights were in the hands of Frank Darabont, who made the King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist. Then the rights passed over to New Line Cinema, where Scary Stories to...

You know you’re up to something special when your job involves replicating the kind of chocolate that “The Shawshank Redemption” used to create the mud that Andy Dufresne breaks through to freedom. But that is exactly what production designer Carmen Navis needed to do to make Mo Najjar’s (Mo Amer) own escape from an immigration detention facility — in a dream sequence, anyway — work as such a hilarious, heightened, poignant part of “Mo” Season 2.

The dream sequences throughout the final season of the Netflix comedy use cinematic signifiers and genre conceits to help tell the story of the big emotions that Mo’s feeling as he goes from being stranded in Mexico City to being deported but monitored in America to finally getting legal status and being able to visit his extended family in the West Bank. For every twist and turn of the story, Navis and her team...

Prison dramas are strange. It’s certainly not my go-to genre when it comes to recommending films or TV shows, and it is definitely not something I gravitate to in my free time. But if I come across one by chance, and if it’s even half-decent, I can assure you that I’ll stick with it all the way to the end. That’s how I came across masterpieces like The Great Escape, Escape from Alcatraz, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Hurricane. I watched Starred Up for Jack O’Connell, Chopper for Eric Bana, Bronson for Tom Hardy, A Prayer Before Dawn for Joe Cole, Gridiron Gang for Dwayne Johnson, The Longest Yard for Adam Sandler, and Brawl in Cell Block 99 for Vince Vaughn. Also, Chicken Run is undoubtedly up there with the greats. Now, when it comes to TV shows, I don’t show the same kind of zeal.

In an era when there is more media than ever before, new arbiters have sprung up to guide our increasingly disoriented collective taste. Though it throws up confounding developments such as claiming that Sean Connery's only "perfect" movie is "Darby O'Gill and the Little People," Rotten Tomatoes has emerged as one such guide through the dim and bloated media landscape wrought by the rise of the internet and streaming platforms. Likewise, IMDb, with its devoted user base eager to register their takes on movies and TV shows, has provided another way to decipher modern media.

The site that put "The Shawshank Redemption" at the top of its best movies of all time, IMDb is arguably not the best source of guidance, but at least it brings a certain sense of order to things. We now have the site's 250 best TV shows of all time, for example, which provides a...

One might wonder if Netflix could just keep every film or series they have ever streamed. That sure would make it easy for the rest of us to find what we love. Still, there is licensing and bandwidth to worry about.

That means every month viewers have to try to catch shows and movies before they leave the streamer for good. Or at least for a while. Thankfully, there are not a huge number of things leaving Netflix in February, but there are ones we will miss.

Below are three films you will not want to miss. You might have seen them before, but they are worth seeing again. And if you have not seen them, one might ask, "Why not?" Well, here is your chance.

Five movies leaving Netflix in February that you need to seeCinderella Man (leaving February 28)

Say what you will about how Russell Crowe's career...

During a recent appearance on The Kingcast, Stephen King praised Mike Flanagan‘s take on his magnum opus, The Dark Tower.

“I’ve seen screenplays and pitches, and he starts where he should start,” the author says. “The beats are perfect. They’re just perfect.”

King lovingly refers to Flanagan — who previously adapted Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and the forthcoming The Life of Chuck — as “the King whisperer.” The filmmaker revealed in late 2022 that his Intrepid Pictures acquired the rights The Dark Tower.

Tangentially related to the Dark Tower saga, King is currently working on a third Talisman novel. He expressed his excitement to return to the parallel world he created with the late Peter Straub.

“I’ve been channeling [Straub] like a motherfucker while working on Talisman 3. I find myself using his verbs. People don’t necessarily walk into a room. They bustle into a room, because that’s a very Straub-ian word.

Morgan Freeman talked about Christopher Reeve’s life, his co-star from Street Smart, and the celebrated Superman alum, in an interview with Film Freak Central. In it, Freeman revealed his own opinion about the life his co-star led, and how it was mostly outside of his own control.

Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd from the movie The Shawshank Redemption | Castle Rock Entertainment

Describing the actor as “a passionate actor”, and talking about his time with the actor on their shared project, Morgan Freeman was pretty candid about what he shared, also talking about how Christopher Reeve might have done his greatest-known film under some duress.

Morgan Freeman believes that the Superman myth swallowed Christopher Reeve whole Christopher Reeve as Superman in 1978’s Superman || Credit: Warner Bros

Christopher Reeve had a very storied career even before he did Superman, but once the actor starred in the original film, there was little...

For decades, Stephen King has been the undisputed king of horror, scaring the socks off readers with stories that make you double-check your locks at night. Even Katt Williams, the comedian who never holds back, enjoys the stories written by King.

Katt Williams in The Pimp Chronicles Pt. | Credits: HBO

Williams’ hilariously unfiltered comments about Stephen King set social media ablaze. Some fans clutched their well-worn copies of The Shining in defense, while others nodded along, finally feeling seen. But what exactly did Williams say that had everyone howling? Let’s break it down.

Katt Williams and Theo Von talk about how Stephen King is pure evil Katt Williams in Father Figures | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

Katt Williams doesn’t do subtle, and his opinion of Stephen King was no exception. During a podcast with Theo Von, the comedian got on the topic of horror stories and didn’t hesitate...

Over the years, "Family Guy" has made jokes at the expense of some revered names in popular culture. George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, and Agatha Christie have all been put under the knife and cut into comedic pieces. One big name that Seth MacFarlane's show went after was Stephen King, who, in the 15th episode of season 7 (one of the best seasons of the series), paid homage to the author with a brief anthology in "Three Kings."

The episode saw Peter Griffin (Seth MacFarlane) sitting by the fire going through three of Stephen King's beloved stories as they each get the "Family Guy" treatment: "Stand By Me," "Misery," and "The Shawshank Redemption." The problem is that each segment starring some of Quahog's finest is taken from the films based on the books and not the books themselves. Peter might say he's made a trip to the library, but it seems...

After being delayed several months by the writers strike and the actors strike, season 5 of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (which is also the last season of the show) finally went into production at the start of 2024 with a twelve month shooting schedule, wrapping at the end of December. A month removed from the filming of the finale, series star Finn Wolfhard took a moment to discuss what it was like to finish working on the show while talking to Variety. Meanwhile, fans are speculating that Stranger Things season 5 might premiere sometime in the final months of 2025 – with some sources saying that it’s likely to have a split release, like Netflix did with season 4.

Stranger Things has the following synopsis: A love letter to the ‘80s classic genre films that captivated a generation, Stranger Things is a thrilling drama set in the seemingly normal Midwestern town of Hawkins,...

The 2025 lineup for the Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival has been unveiled. The three-day fest features headliners Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch, and Falling in Reverse, along with such acts as Acid Bath, Knocked Loose, Lamb of God, Three Days Grace, Marilyn Manson, Slaughter to Prevail, and Beartooth, among others.

The festival takes place July 18th-20th in Mansfield, Ohio, at the Ohio State Reformatory, the defunct prison made famous in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Three-day passes and single-day tickets are currently available here.

Get Inkcarceration Tickets Here

Joining Falling in Reverse on the Friday (July 18th) bill will be Knocked Loose, Beartooth, Parkway Drive, Killswitch Engage, I Prevail, The Amity Affliction, Chiodos, The Devil Wears Prada, and more.

On Saturday (July 19th), Slipknot will top a bill that includes Marilyn Manson, Slaughter to Prevail, Acid Bath, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Dayseeker, Khublai Khan TX, August Burns Red, and others.

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was celebrated at the fifth edition of Saudi Arabia’s Joy Awards in Riyadh over the weekend, with Anthony Hopkins presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award on stage.

The Million Dollar Baby Oscar winner, and the five-time nominee for films including The Shawshank Redemption and Driving Miss Daisy, was among a number of honorees who also included Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and UK director Guy Richie, while Matthew McConaughey was presented with the Personality of the Year Award.

Sunday’s star-studded ceremony – which is part of the Riyadh Season consisting of a series of high-profile entertainment, cultural and sporting events – featured performances by Saudi Singer Mohammed Abdo, U.S. pop star Christina Aguilera, Zimmer, Bocelli, Canadian pop icon Michael Bublé, Lebanese singing star Wael Kfoury, and Turkish singer-songwriter Tarkan.

Prior to the Joy Awards ceremony,...

It was recently reported that Apple TV+ has renewed the Rebecca Ferguson show for two more seasons and is planning to end after season 4. Season 2 has just finished its run. Season 3 is currently being filmed, and season 4 is being written so they can shoot back-to-back. Silo follows the last 10,000 people on Earth as they navigate life in their mile-deep underground home protecting them from the toxic outside world. The catch? No one knows when or why the silo was built and anyone who goes snooping for answers faces fatal consequences. The series has an impressive cast that includes Ferguson (Doctor Sleep), Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption), David Oyelowo (Selma), Common (John Wick: Chapter 2), and Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation).

The Wrap recently sat down with the show’s creator, Graham Yost, now that season 2 has come to an end. Beware: Spoilers follow for anyone wanting to stay fresh. Yost...

Tom Cruise has been up for many roles throughout his illustrious career, but one cult science fiction film that he campaigned hard for ended up being a box office disaster, despite deserving so much better. Kicking off his career in the early 80s, Tom Cruise has always been one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, with an impressive filmography to boot. Even then, there have been roles throughout Tom Cruise's career that he lobbied for, or was almost cast in, that never ended up working out.

There have been some major movies that Tom Cruise almost starred in, but didn't end up getting, including Ghost, Wall Street, A Beautiful Mind, Iron Man, The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, and many more over his career. While these are all fantastic movies in their own right, there was another movie that Tom Cruise really wanted to star in, and was attached to...

As the streaming wars continue with Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Hulu, Max, Paramount+ and Apple TV+ all vying for viewership supremacy, Apple TV+ is treating audiences in the New Year with a free preview weekend. According to a post on their official social media, Apple TV says, “This weekend, see for yourself. Stream for free Jan 4-5.” The post also features a video that showcases the streamer’s acclaimed original content, including shows like Severance, The Morning Show, Ted Lasso and Shrinking.

This weekend, see for yourself.

Stream for free Jan 4-5. pic.twitter.com/8p6PCUYpms

— Apple TV (@AppleTV) December 30, 2024

Shrinking just wrapped up its second season on Christmas. The first season, from Ted Lasso creator Bill Lawrence, had already been nominated for a bevy of awards, from the Golden Globes to the Emmys. Our Alex Maidy gave the second season a perfect 10 in his review, saying, “Shrinking continues...

Gritty and authentic was what Rachel Morrison, the first woman cinematographer nominated for an Oscar (“Mudbound”) was seeking for her directing debut, “The Fire Inside.” Released on Christmas Day, the true-life sports drama earned an A Cinemascore and is building word of mouth at the holiday box office. The $12-million Amazon/MGM feature scored strong reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival and earned performer nominations from both the Gothams and the Indie Spirits, as well as a coveted Golden Frog nomination for Morrison from Cameraimage, which she shared with her cinematographer Rina Yang.

Like Steven Soderbergh, Morrison likes to operate her own camera as both cinematographer and director. One popular picture of Morrison shows her at a late stage of pregnancy, shouldering her camera on the set of “Seberg” (2019). “I was eight months pregnant by the end of it,” she said in a Zoom interview. “Shooting 35mm, mostly or entirely,...

IMDb has a Top 250 list that is constantly evolving. You can rate every movie that is listed on IMDb from one to 10, and the Top 250 is a collection of the highest-rated films across the entire website. This differs from Rotten Tomatoes, which features both critic and audience scores; IMDb's list is purely based on regular audience ratings. The more people that see and enjoy the film, and the higher they rate it, the higher it ranks on the Top 250.

The lowest-rated movie on the list, "Cool Hand Luke," has a rating of 8.0 while the highest-rated movie, "The Shawshank Redemption," has a 9.3. Back in the good old days when IMDb was more of a community and had message boards, the Top 250 was a hotly-debated topic. There was constant arguments about what deserved to be on the list, what didn't, and what should have the coveted number one spot.

There are many movie franchises out there,...

When the best James Bond movie of all time, "Casino Royale," debuted in 2006, the franchise was immediately reinvigorated with Daniel Craig's 007 representing a truly fresh take on the character. Director Martin Campbell, who a decade prior had kicked off Pierce Brosnan's tenure in the tux in similarly spectacular fashion with "GoldenEye," reintroduced audiences to a modern Bond, taking cues from 2001's "The Bourne Identity" and its 2004 sequel to give England's greatest spy a more grounded and — yes, I'm going to use the word — gritty treatment.

But then, things sort of fell apart. 2008's "Quantum of Solace" was the biggest disaster in Bond history, but not for the reasons you may have heard. The film was decent but didn't fare well with critics and fans, prompting custodians of the Bond franchise, Eon Productions, to change tack. What resulted was the truly dismal "Skyfall," a movie that masquerades as...

Stephen King is arguably the most celebrated horror writer of all time. He's also an extremely prolific author whose work has been turned into countless movies and TV shows — many of which fail, but some of which are stunningly great. When you think of Stephen King, there are works that immediately jump to mind, like "The Shining," "Carrie," or maybe even "The Shawshank Redemption." Something like "The Dead Zone," on the other hand, tends to be overlooked, which is too bad. King's story centers on Johnny Smith, a man who gets into a car accident and wakes up from a coma five years later, now armed with the power to see into the future and past by touching people or items. Beyond that, though, the man's life is a mess; his one true love has moved on and started a family with someone else, and he keeps having visions of...

The 1990s were some of the best years in movie history, with some of the greatest movies of all time coming out in that decade. Iconic directors like Quentin Tarantino, John Singleton, the Wachowskis, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola, and even Wes Anderson made their directorial debuts in the 90s. Films like The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, Toy Story, and Heat all came out in that decade, proving just how incredibly strong it was.

These are just a handful of the films that people instantly recognize and love, with countless more that can be added to the list. It's worth not forgetting the incredible ones that seem to have left the public consciousness, as the 1990s provided some of the greatest movies and movie references that no one seems to talk about anymore. Perhaps they slipped away because they were overshadowed by the director's other films, or the lead...

Stephen King is one of the best storytellers of the 20th and 21st centuries, which makes it intriguing to see which movies resonate with him. Many of Stephen King's best books, including The Shining and It, have been adapted as movies, and some have even been adapted more than once. He is known for his horror stories, but he is also the author of the novella that was adapted into the hopeful and inspiring movie The Shawshank Redemption, along with writing the novella that is the source material for the upcoming and heartfelt Stephen King movie The Life of Chuck.

King's taste in movies is as varied as the wide range of stories that he has written over the years. As seen in the best Stephen King book endings, the prolific author knows how to tell and complete a good story, an art form that he recognizes and appreciates in the movies he watches.

We have reached the fifth episode of Disney+’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, titled “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates.” This chapter delivers even more delightful and refreshing fun while beginning to weave together several storylines. The story picks up where we left off last time in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

Poor Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) had passed out after helping Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) save the group from Sm-33 (Nick Frost), who was experiencing a triggering flashback — remembering orders from his former commander to kill anyone who knew the way back to At Attin.

Is our beloved, lovable blue Snuffleupagus okay? For that matter, is the ever-loyal Sm-33? Will Jod Na Nawood lead our “Goonie” crew home?

Related Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 1 Recap & Spoiler Review — What Does Wim Find in the Woods? Disney+’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s Season 1 Episode 5: What is a “Barrier” Key?...

Frank Darabont is credited for directing three of the very best Stephen King adaptations, but between 1994's "The Shawshank Redemption" and 2007's "The Mist," the pulp maestro has rarely had an easy go of it.

If you're wondering what could be so awful about making a movie that constantly flickers around the top spot on the IMDb's ranking of the all-time greatest films, you need to remember that "The Shawshank Redemption" wasn't a runaway success when it hit theaters in the late summer of 1994. Based on a novella from King's celebrated "Different Seasons" collection, the film couldn't be sold as a tale from the "King of Horror," nor could it rely on star power given that Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were typically viewed as ensemble actors. Its main selling point would be the reviews, and, well, critics didn't initially deliver a chorus of raves.

Things didn't really turn...

Although cinema is an art form, first and foremost, it is also a business that requires financial support to be sustained. A healthy box office is necessary for the medium to remain a cornerstone of popular culture, as studios will only be willing to invest in future projects if it is proven that there is an audience that is willing to go out and see them. 2024 was a year in which there were tremendous box office highs, but the delays due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes did lead to some crushing lows.

Box office performances are a compelling way to examine where the industry is headed, but it is not necessarily an indication of quality. Although films like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Inside Out 2,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” and “Wicked: Part One” performed extraordinarily well this year, few publications that take themselves seriously...

Updated with the latest: Stranger Things Season 5 has officially wrapped production. The end is closer than originally thought for Netflix tentpole from the Duffer Brothers.

The fifth and final season of the show has been in the works ever since Part 2 of Season 4 arrived in July 2022, with the writers room for the next season opening August that year. A pandemic delaying Season 4’s arrival and then dual Hollywood strikes pushed Season 5 further than originally planned.

Find everything we know about Stranger Things Season 5 below.

When will Stranger Things Season 5 come out?

As of November 6, 2024, Netflix revealed that the final installment of the show looks to a 2025 release window, not 2026 like previously thought with how long production takes.

Production officially wrapped in December 2024 after it had reached the halfway point in July. Production on the final season kicked off in January 2024.

Related: ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ Director Frank Darabont On Why ‘Stranger...

The portal to the Upside Down is closing up for good. On Friday, Netflix announced that production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things has wrapped. Season 5 of the Emmy-winning sci-fi adventure series is set to premiere in 2025.

Along with the announcement, the streaming service shared some behind-the-scenes photos featuring the cast and creative team, including creators the Duffer Brothers, executive producer/director Shawn Levy, and director Frank Darabont, the iconic filmmaker who came out of retirement to helm two episodes, marking his first time behind the camera in over a decade.

Season 5 will bring the story of Hawkins, Ind. to a close, as the kids head into the final showdown with the supernatural terror that haunts their town. The Season 5 cast includes Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke,...

After being delayed several months by the writers strike and the actors strike, season 5 of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (which is also the last season of the show) finally went into production at the start of the year with a twelve month shooting schedule… and now that the year is coming to an end, Netflix has announced that filming on Stranger Things season 5 has officially wrapped!

Netflix broke the news while sharing multiple behind-the-scenes images on social media:

That's A Wrap On Stranger Things. See you in 2025. pic.twitter.com/DWkIwMMOJ3

— Netflix (@netflix) December 20, 2024

Stranger Things has the following synopsis: A love letter to the ‘80s classic genre films that captivated a generation, Stranger Things is a thrilling drama set in the seemingly normal Midwestern town of Hawkins, Indiana. After a boy vanishes into thin air, his close-knit group of friends and family search for answers and are...

Stephen King is recognized as the "King of Horror," which doesn't mean his stories don't have wholesome moments. Stephen King's best novels stand out for their ability to turn people's worst nightmares against them, exploring unsettling themes and offering unforgettable villains. Consequently, the long list of movies based on Stephen King's books is likely to be remembered for their eerie, upsetting quality.

However, beneath the element of terror, King's writing also has a heartwarming, touching streak. Whether crafting scary tales or delving into different genres, the writer has the unique ability to touch on profoundly delicate subjects in an extraordinarily sensitive manner. His stories emphasize the resilience of friendship, family love, sacrifice, redemption, and loyalty. If Stephen King's villains are terrifying, to say the least, his heroes are their perfect foil, often representing humanity at their best and leading to surprisingly wholesome moments.

Chris Comforting Gordie Stand By Me

Stand by Me...

The IMDb top-250 is a curious portrait of populist taste. The list is, it's worth remembering, culled only from user ratings on the IMDb website, and, judging by the films on the list, the average IMDb user seems to be a college-age white male with a taste for crime, guns, fantasy, and the ultra-masculine. The top movies on the list all seem to be the types of movies that young men would own posters for, proudly displayed on their dorm room walls. There are many unassailable classics, to be sure, and young teens could easily look to the list as a rudimentary introduction to the world of cinema, but the list seems ... skewed. There's not a lot of variety. It's not curated by a single critic, nor even a panel of critics. It's just a general consensus of the taste of the types of people who like to rate movies on IMDb.

It's difficult to overstate the impact of Richard Donner's 1978 blockbuster "Superman." Much has been written about how, without Donner's film and Christopher Reeve's Superman, we wouldn't have the modern blockbuster — all of which is true. But beyond the film's effect on Hollywood and the rise of blockbuster filmmaking, "Superman" was a truly special movie for so many other reasons.

Its innovative special effects actually fulfilled the movie's promise to make audiences "believe a man can fly," while Donner's respectful treatment of the source material seemed to transcend the comic book foundations of the film itself, resulting in a work that embodied the very values that Supes himself stood for: hope, justice, truth. "Superman" also proved every naysayer wrong, demonstrating that comic book material could make for successful Hollywood fare.

In the years since that original movie and its three sequels, we've had numerous cinematic iterations of the Man of Steel.

Making a successful movie in Hollywood is a challenging feat for even the best filmmakers. Then again, sometimes even the greatest cinematic endeavors get overlooked as a result of circumstances beyond their control. For every surefire hit like "Jurassic Park," "The Avengers," and "The Dark Knight," there exists a handful of pictures moviegoers ignore before discovering them years, even decades, after their initial release.

Classics like "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Office Space" failed miserably at the box office but eventually became beloved cinematic treasures after hitting home video and cable. Others, like "Hocus Pocus," steadily accrued a devoted fan base over time, while "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" fell flat on its face but quickly reworked itself into a campy treat audiences could participate in, leading to prolonged success.

While there are too many belated hits to list in this article, we've compiled a handful of our favorite movies that...

The second season of Apple’s sci-fi dystopian series, Silo, has been enthralling audiences. Our own Alex Maidy glowed in his review, “I found the expanded scope of this season to be as entertaining as it is sinisterly thrilling. Thanks to a finite endgame in sight for where this story will lead, fans can enjoy this middle chapter as the saga of Silo builds the tension to a breaking point. I expect that by the time everyone reaches this season’s finale, they will eagerly await what comes next. Packed with great turns from Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, Common, and the entire cast, this sophomore season of Silo is a solid continuation.”

Now, Deadline is reporting that Apple TV+ has renewed the Rebecca Ferguson show for two more seasons and is planning to end after season 4. Season 2 is currently streaming and will finish its run through January. Silo follows the...

For Christmas one year, I gave my grandpa a DVD box set of the early "Seinfeld" seasons. My dad thought it was a silly gift because a now-classic show like "Seinfeld" would probably have reruns until the end of time. So far, my dad has been right. Even as streaming has transformed the television landscape, the availability and appeal of "Seinfeld" shows no signs of fading. In fact, it's this ongoing popularity that helped turn director Rob Reiner's production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, into a cash cow.

Named after Stephen King's famous setting on the Maine coast, Castle Rock Entertainment is an American independent film and television production company founded in 1987 by Rob Reiner, Martin Shafer, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick, and Alan Horn. The company produced numerous acclaimed independent films, including Richard Linklater's "Before" trilogy, several Stephen King adaptations such as "The Green Mile" and "The Shawshank Redemption,...

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Those words from The Shawshank Redemption could not be more fitting for many relationships—especially when we look at the complicated and sometimes heartbreaking connection between Jamie and Beth Dutton in Yellowstone.

A still from Yellowstone | Credit: Paramount

Fans have been holding their breath, waiting for a breakthrough moment, where these two characters—torn by years of resentment, pain, and family dynamics—could perhaps find some healing, or at the very least, an understanding. Unfortunately, as season after season passes, it seems that Taylor Sheridan has left us holding the bag, with no real resolution in sight.

There was one episode in season one where Jamie had a rare moment of emotional openness, offering to comfort Beth on the anniversary of their mother’s death. But instead of seizing the moment, it’s almost...

Jamie Foxx had a fight with Mr. Chow (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Jamie Foxx was caught up in an incident at the Los Angeles hotspot, Mr. Chow, during his birthday celebration on Friday night. A spokesperson for the Hollywood star confirmed that while at dinner, someone from another table threw a glass that struck Foxx in the mouth.

Jamie Foxx Required Stitches Following the Incident

According to a press release from the Beverly Hills Police Department, officers responded to Mr. Chow at 10.06 pm on Friday for a reported assault with a deadly weapon.

The police determined the assault report to be unfounded but confirmed that a physical altercation had occurred between the individuals involved.

Trending Did Morgan Freeman Almost Turn Down The Shawshank Redemption?

Did Leonardo DiCaprio’s Humble Beginnings & Dad’s Life Advice Shape His Hollywood Journey?

Foxx required stitches due to the incident and is currently recovering. The authorities were called to the spot,...

Morgan Freeman almost rejected his role in The Shawshank Redemption? ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Yep. Irish. In Stephen King’s original novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Red, who narrates the story, is described as an Irishman. When someone sent Morgan Freeman the book, he read the first page, saw that detail, and immediately closed it. “I can’t play an Irishman!” Freeman admitted in a 2014 Role Recall interview. End of story, right? Not quite.

But thank goodness Frank Darabont, the genius behind the script for The Shawshank Redemption, wasn’t ready to let that detail stop him. Darabont and the casting team had their eye on Freeman for Red, but turning Red into an African-American character was a change that would ultimately shape cinematic history. Freeman signed on—and it turned out to be an Oscar-nominated career highlight.

“I didn’t play an Irishman,” Freeman laughed later. The movie...

Should you ever need to give your watchlist some extra oomph, you can't go wrong by referring to IMDb's Top 250 list, which includes some of the best movies that cinema has ever had to offer. The great thing about such a mammoth pile of films is that icons of Hollywood will be popping in more than one entry on the list. Of course, some stars have a greater presence on this compendium than others, and while it might not shock many as to who has the most entries, it's surprising to see who the runner-ups are.

Coming in at the number one spot with the most films in IMDb's Top 250 is the man many believe to be perhaps the best actor ever -- Robert De Niro. Having appeared in over 100 films, nine of De Niro's projects rank among the website's most beloved 250: "The Godfather Part II," "Goodfellas,...

More often than not, drama movies blend elements of comedy, tragedy, horror, and any other genre into their stories to make them more compelling. Even though most dramas are marked by their serious topics and difficult subject matter, many of them use the darkest moments of the narrative to make room for the happy ending, which makes it easy to consider them feel-good films. Though not every dramatic story has to have a positive conclusion to be considered comforting or a rewatchable project, there's usually some uplifting aspect that gives both the audience and characters hope.

The best feel-good movies of the past decade have come from a variety of genres, as it's up to individual audience members to determine what makes for a soothing film. Most people have movies that they return to many times over because they elicit feelings of contentment and safety, even if the narrative isn't joyful from beginning to end.

It seems odd to think that there's still any kind of debate over the legitimacy of horror as a serious form of filmmaking. The very term "elevated horror" — against which this site has argued passionately — implies from the outset that the genre needs some sort of additional element in order to ascend to the level of that most revered of movie genres: drama. But aside from the fact that it's ridiculous to suppose that confronting society's widespread fears through the art of film is somehow less important than other cinematic projects, the history of cinema itself is replete with masterpieces that stand unapologetically within the horror sphere.

Sadly, in 2024 it seems this point still hasn't quite sunk in, as evidenced by the fact that IMDb's top 250 movies list only features five horror films. Now, it should go without saying that IMDb is not the arbiter of quality in filmmaking,...

Last Updated on December 9, 2024

For years, Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net has been about two things only – awesome art and the artists that create it. With that in mind, we thought why not take the first week of the month to showcase these awesome artists even more? Welcome to “Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net.” In this column, we are focusing on one artist and the awesome art that they create, whether they be amateur, up-and-coming, or well-established. The goal is to uncover these artists so even more people become familiar with them. We ask these artists a few questions to see their origins, influences, and more. If you are an awesome artist or know someone that should be featured, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.This month we are very pleased to bring you the awesome art of…...

The star of Clint Eastwood's 2019 drama defends his Letterboxd rating for the film after being taken to task on social media. Eastwood’s long and storied directorial career began way back in 1971 when the star took the helm on the thriller Play Misty For Me. Over 50 years later, the 94-year-old Hollywood legend is back with his 40th film as a director, the courtroom drama Juror #2.

In a filmography as rich and varied as the one Eastwood produced in the years between Play Misty for Me and Juror #2, there are bound to be a few stinkers alongside the masterpieces. Eastwood-directed films receiving the most critical pans (via Rotten Tomatoes) include The 5:17 to Paris, The Rookie, Firefox, J. Edgar and Hereafter. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Eastwood’s triumphs include Unforgiven, High Plains Drifter, Honky Tonk Man, the aforementioned Juror #2 and Pale Rider.

Richard Jewell Star Paul Walter Hauser...