In Star Trek: The Original Series, when the USS Enterprise computer randomly started calling everyone “dear” in the episode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” Kirk and Spock considered a minor annoyance and programming error. But, when the computer of the USS Discovery started getting more friendly with Saru in the Discovery episode “Forget Me Not,” it’s the first step towards a larger evolution. And, if you’ve seen the Short Treks episode “Calypso,” then you know how that evolution will eventually play out....

Joining Sir Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard on next year’s galactic adventure are Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, LeVar Burton as Geordi LaForge, Michael Dorn as a pacifist Worf, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, and Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi. Also returning are regular Picard cast members Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Michelle Hurd (Raffi). But that’s not all. A new trailer released during the Star Trek Universe panel at this year’s New York Comic Con has revealed that there are even more characters from The Next Generation returning....

“Yes, we are doing it. We are doing it this year,” Luna revealed to ET during a Netflix press event in February. “It’s happening, and I’m getting ready for it.” The Cassian Andor series is part of the first batch of Star Wars shows announced for Disney+, a slate that also includes the upcoming seventh season of The Clone Wars, the Prequel era animated series set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith....

The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 5 Gorgeous cinematography, lots of action, and plenty of actual answers to the show’s biggest mysteries — The Mandalorian Chapter 12, “The Jedi,” has everything. Drawing on his love for Japanese cinema and his deep understanding of the Star Wars canon he helped create, writer and director Dave Filoni has truly become a master. The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda arrive at the city of Calodan on the planet Corvus, as Bo-Katan instructed in “The Heiress....

Think that you’ve got a handle on Stargirl and its ever growing roster of heroes and villains? Well, get ready to take a trip back in time to get familiar with a mysterious figure who has connections to Arthurian England. Oh, and he just so happens to be the janitor you might have seen skulking around Blue Valley High. It’s time to get to know Stargirl‘s Shining Knight! Each week Stargirl has introduced new foes and friends for Courtney Whitmore and Pat Dugan, but in “Brainwave” they introduce a whole new team and it’s one that is sure to excite old school comic book readers....

This makes Sephiroth the third character added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s second Fighter Pass following the debuts of Min Min from Arms and Steve: he whose fame derives largely (though not entirely) from the realm, kingdom, and universe of Minecraft. More importantly, the addition of Sephiroth to the Smash Bros. roster means that it’s now possible to pit Sephiroth against fellow Final Fantasy 7 legend cloud within the unique confines of Nintendo’s massive fighting game....

Supergirl Season 6 Episode 7 Supergirl’s mid-season finale goes for a high concept, Star Trek-feel, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Instead of being emotional, revelatory, or action-packed, the mid-season finale feels like a filler episode. While it technically manages to check all the boxes – Kara is rescued, Nyxly is coming back to National City to cause trouble, Zor-El is coming back for presumably positive shenanigans – much of the episode is a played out drag....

But Hoechlin could have donned the red cape several years earlier, as he had auditioned for the title role in Zack Snyder’s 2013 Man of Steel film. While the role obviously went to Henry Cavill in the end, Hoechlin recently reflected on the experience of auditioning for a very different kind of Superman. “I remember that audition more than almost any other and not because of the audition, not because of who the character was or anything like that,” Hoechlin says....

But technically, Ben Affleck and Keaton will beat Bale for appearances as Batman on the big screen next year when both return for the DCEU’s The Flash movie and Keaton makes an appearance in Batgirl. That will make four times in the cape and cowl for each actor. Sure, these aren’t movies starring the Caped Crusader but they still count! But before any more history is made with the upcoming return of Keaton and Affleck’s Batmans to the DCEU, let’s first take a look at all of the actors who have become the Dark Knight on the big screen....

If you’ve seen The Batman by now, it’s plain to see that director/co-writer Matt Reeves’ vision for the Dark Knight is perhaps the darkest we’ve seen onscreen to date, drenched in the brooding atmosphere and morally ambiguous tones of noir while constructed on the spine of a classic detective story. There’s virtually none of the fantastical carnival aspects of the Burton/Schumacher films and far less of the propulsive action pyrotechnics of the Christopher Nolan-directed Dark Knight trilogy....

As that last point indicates, no genre is hurt more by the end of the rental store than horror. No longer did those looking for depravity need to leave their homes to visit shady cinemas in Times Square or dusty drive-ins. Now, they could go to the rental store and plan their own double-feature. To appeal to those amateur programmers, production companies commissioned incredibly eye-catching VHS covers, images that promised all the sex and violence a movie fan would want, even if the film itself could never realize those depraved dreams....

If you, like us, are having trouble processing EVERYTHING that happened in the last twelve months, we’ve got some help for you! We read a ton of fantastic comics, and narrowed it down with the help of our illustrious readers into 20 books that we enjoyed the most. 20. Hellions (Marvel Comics) Zeb Wells (W), Stephen Segovia et al (A), Rain Beredo (CA) If you had told me even five years ago that a comic scene featuring Nanny and Orphan Maker, the little egg with lipstick and the giant toddler mech who used to kidnap mutant kids at the tail end of Chris Claremont’s X-Men run, would actually bring me to tears, I would have probably slapped you....

To say 2020 was a challenging year is like announcing the Hindenburg had a rough landing. In a period that’s transformed how billions live their lives, there isn’t one person, family, business, or industry that wasn’t impacted significantly by upheaval. And that includes going to the movies. Just 12 months ago, moviegoers were turning out by the millions to see their favorite space adventures in theaters. Now they’re watching them, and everything else, on streaming....

According to German folklore that dates back to at least the 18th century, Belsnickel is a foil of sorts to Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus: a disheveled man dressed in tattered furs and dirty clothes, often wearing a mask with a long tongue and carrying a switch, he visits homes a few weeks before Christmas to check up on children’s behavior. Belsnickel’s name is a combination of belzen (German for “pelt,” which could describe furs and/or walloping) and Nickel, a nickname for the German Nikolaus....

And like the first movie, which is based on the real-life investigations of demonologist Ed Warren and the clairvoyant Lorraine, The Conjuring 2 is heavily inspired by a true story, one that captured the attention of British tabloids — and even the BBC — just as Jay Anson’s The Amityville Horror was hitting bookshelves. The film nods to Amityville, the Warrens’ most famous case, in its opening scene, and later ties it to Enfield through the recurring “Nun” demon Valak....

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will be the first main entry in the horror series not helmed by James Wan, who is producing along with Peter Safran. Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona) directed the film from David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick’s screenplay, with a story by Johnson-McGoldrick and Wan. The story involves the very first murder committed in Brookline, Connecticut, in its 193-year history. It is also the first U....

The Flash’s “Fear Me” is an entertaining enough Season 7 installment that gets to play with a long-standing genre trope, that of an outside entity – think demon, alien, magical dust, or, in this case, a metahuman known as Psych who’s able to project nightmare hallucinations onto others – who somehow allows us to explore the deepest fears of our favorite characters (plus, Cecile in The Thinker’s chair was pretty darn cool)....

There’s really no such thing as understatement on this season of The Handmaid’s Tale, is there? This episode, and the ones preceding it, have played out at a deafeningly high emotional volume. Every speech is emphatic, every exchange is urgent and tear-filled, every decision is literally life or death. It’s a good job that Elisabeth Moss, Samira Wiley and the others are able to pull off this level of sustained intensity, because with a lesser cast or less controlled direction, the high drama could easily turn into melodrama....

Mike Flanagan has slowly become one of the surest hands in horror. Not only has he excelled which original material like Oculus and Hush, he’s also expertly adapted tricky properties like Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep, the daunting sequel to The Shining. Perhaps Flanagan’s most widely seen work, Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House, was a 10-episode series that updated Shirley Jackson’s famous novel of the same name....

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is beloved by shounen anime fans for its nonstop action, absurd and over-the-top showdowns, and creative Stands (physical manifestations of one’s true self). It’s a bombastic series that defies predictions. We’re still waiting for the fifth part of the manga, Stone Ocean, to be released as an anime adaptation, and the story is still ongoing. Strangely, there’s still no confirmation that a fifth season is even coming yet....