Y’all! Ray J may have gotten the result he wanted, but his latest boxing match has fans wondering what exactly went down in that ring. After stepping up against Orlando Brown on Saturday night, the singer walked away with a unanimous-decision victory—but the chaotic three-round showdown quickly became a social media spectacle for reasons that had little to do with the scorecards.

RELATED: Never Giving Up? Ray J Shares 10-Year Wedding Anniversary Message To Princess Love Amid Apparent Separation (PHOTO)

Ray J Secures The W, But Orlando Brown Brought The Chaos

In case you missed it, Ray J and Orlando Brown went three rounds at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, with Ray ultimately taking the unanimous-decision win. The matchup was part of Zeus Network’s card for the Claressa Shields and Kaye Scott’s fight, giving Ray some redemption after his knockout loss to Supa Hot Fire earlier this year. But judging by the clips making the rounds, fans weren’t exactly calling either man the next boxing great. Brown caught plenty of jokes for his wild swings, while Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford appeared just as puzzled by the action. Mayweather, Crawford, and Shakur Stevenson later congratulated Ray on the win.

Of course, this wasn’t exactly a random matchup. Ray J and Brown have had their share of back-and-forths over the years, with Brown previously making claims about Ray and repeatedly calling him “Brandy’s brother.” After three chaotic rounds, Ray had he official W—but whether fans are ready to give him his flowers is a whole different story.

Social Media Is Having A Field Day

Fans ran straight to TSR’s Instagram comment section after watching Ray J and Orlando Brown’s chaotic matchup, and many admitted they didn’t know what to make of the whole thing. Some called the fight “a whole circus,” while others joked that Ray J was acting like he had just won the heavyweight championship. Meanwhile, plenty of folks questioned Zeus Network’s decision-making, with some wondering what made them think putting this matchup together was a good idea.

One Instagram user @the.shandawg said, “This man acting like he beat Sugar Ray Leonard”

This Instagram user @omoakin joked, “This is Pure Comedy,Ray J now thinks he’s the world greatest Boxer 😂😂😂😂”

And, Instagram user @beauty_court commented, “Who told Orlando that hunch fighting position was it 😂”

Meanwhile, Instagram user @richoffaifilms shared, “Doesn’t he have a heart…nevermind.”

While Instagram user @rowdyhiphop claimed, “A whole circus 😂”

Finally, Instagram user @benny_pitts added, “This something only Zues network would produce lol 😂”

Brandy Reacts To Ray J’s Win

Brandy was right by her brother Ray J’s side as he stepped into the ring against Orlando Brown, and she made it clear she was proud of him. In an interview with FightHype following the bout, Brandy said, “So proud. I mean, he did really good,” but when asked if she wanted to see Ray J fight again, she quickly shut it down with a simple, “no.” Ray J, however, apparently has other plans because just seconds later, he brought up Jake Paul. Sir, Brandy just said NO! Still, it was sweet to see Brandy show up and support her brother for the big moment.

RELATED: Sibling Love! Brandy And Ray J’s Reunion Has Fans In Their Feels (VIDEO)

Zara Larsson is pushing back against the assumption that artists are pocketing enormous profits from expensive concert tickets. The Swedish pop star addressed the cost of attending her ongoing “Midnight Sun Tour” after a fan accused wealthy performers of flourishing financially while ordinary people struggle to afford live shows. Although Larsson agreed that concert tickets should be more accessible, she claimed she is currently making little money from touring because her revenue goes directly toward keeping the production on the road.

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The discussion began after Larsson shared a video on Friday showing her performing choreography while promoting the final stop of her world tour. The 28-year-old singer is scheduled to perform in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 1 and said she hopes to sell out the remaining concert. However, one follower used the comments section to raise concerns about the cost of attending live performances.

“I wish singers would advocate for cheaper ticket prices. The whole damn world would go to y’all shows, but sh-t is too expensive in this economy,” the user wrote. “While you guys flourish in money, you get to happily leave after singing and dancing on a stage. We have 9-5s that barely pay enough.”

Rather than dismissing the criticism, Larsson said she understood where the commenter was coming from and promised to investigate whether anything could be done. “I don’t want my tickets to be too pricey, and I will definitely see what I can do about that!” the “Lush Life” singer replied.

Singer Says She Is ‘Not Making Big Bucks’ From Touring

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Larsson then challenged the idea that her current tour has become a major personal payday. “But right now in my career I’m definitely not making big bucks on touring,” she claimed.

The singer explained that money generated by the tour must cover the extensive costs associated with bringing a large-scale production to cities around the world. Larsson’s show includes backup dancers, elaborate costumes, colorful sets and other production elements.

Touring also requires her to pay crew members while covering transportation and domestic and international travel expenses. “It’s basically a non-profit at this point everything that I make goes to paying people, transportation, production, etc.” Larsson wrote.

Her response explains the difference between gross ticket revenue and an artist’s actual profit. Even when a concert generates a substantial amount at the box office, that money does not go directly into the performer’s pocket. Venue costs, salaries, insurance, equipment, rehearsal expenses and transportation can all reduce what remains after a tour concludes.

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Another TikTok user argued that wealthy artists should recognize how financially strained their audiences have become. “Ya see everyone is broke and barely making it by… if rich people could see that and lower the concert prices for people to still go while you still make your bag,” the person commented. “But until they see that, they will overprice their tickets and continue to not have sold-out shows.”

Larsson once again insisted that the perception did not match her “Midnight Sun Tour” experience. “I’m not making a bag on this tour truustt,” she replied, before clarifying that the tour has performed strongly despite tickets remaining available for its final date. “And everything is sold out except for Thailand! Which will be sold out! I’m manifesting and posting.”

The Bangkok performance will conclude the tour, which began in October of last year.

Resale Tickets Are Listed For Hundreds Of Dollars

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Larsson’s comments come as resale tickets for the Bangkok show appeared online at significantly elevated prices. Listings on StubHub reportedly included tickets priced at $340 and $419.

However, those figures reflect resale listings rather than necessarily representing the prices originally established by Larsson or the concert promoter. Third-party sellers can list tickets above their original face value, meaning an expensive resale seat does not automatically translate into additional income for the performing artist.

Larsson did not provide the face value of the tickets being discussed or disclose how much revenue she personally expects to earn from the Bangkok concert. She also did not detail what changes, if any, she could make to lower prices before the November 1 performance.

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The candid exchange comes months after Larsson made headlines for her blunt response to Chris Brown. As The Blast previously reported, Brown unexpectedly mentioned Larsson while responding to Pitchfork’s highly critical review of his album, “Brown,” which received a 1.3-out-of-10 score.

“If you not my fan, I don’t want you to listen to my sh-t. Go listen to motherf-ckin’ Zara Larsson or somebody,” Brown said during his social media rant.

Larsson responded to the unexpected name-drop with a pointed question: “Who the f-ck are you?”

The tension did not emerge from nowhere. Larsson had already made her position on Brown clear during a February interview with Cosmopolitan, when she discussed artists she prevents from appearing in her Spotify playlists. “There are so many artists I have blocked on Spotify, and all of them are, like, abusers,” she explained. “You certainly wouldn’t find, like, a Chris Brown song.”

But for now, she remains focused on filling the remaining seats in Bangkok, even if selling out the show does not result in the enormous payday some followers assume.

Season 17 of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” is nearly over, with two more parts of the reunion set to air on Bravo. Now, ahead of the second, Porsha Williams is opening up about her prenup and defending herself against both “RHOA” cast members and fans who criticized what she received in her divorce from Simon Guobadia.

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Entertainment Tonight’s Brice Sander interviewed Williams in August 2026 to promote both “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and “Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th.” During the conversation, the reporter congratulated Williams on finalizing the divorce and the more recent resolution of the remaining marital property.

He then asked how she felt about her “RHOA” castmates saying her home was Guobadia’s after she received it in the divorce, and even the production team poking fun. The “RHOA” star responded, “I felt like if one person has a crummy prenup, you know, then they’re going to speak from a crummy prenup point of view.”

After that, she noted that the ladies from the show who have “never even had a prenup” are also ignorant, as they’ve never been in the same situation as she has. Regarding the producers inserting what has been called “the ghost of Simon Giubadia” in the background of the home, she said, “I thought it was entertaining on production’s part.”

Porsha Says Her Prenup ‘Withstood The Test Of Time’

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Williams continued discussing her prenup by admitting that had the comments from her co-stars happened “back in the day,” she would have “rode even harder about the whole ‘Simon’s house, Simon this, Simon that.’” She then said, “In real life, the prenup withstood the test of time and the courts prevailed, and it worked out in my favor.”

From there, Sander mentioned the most recent update: Williams received the home as well as a settlement, and asked how she felt about all of this being public knowledge. The “RHOA” star responded, “I feel like it’s par for the course. I feel like my ex-husband wanted a lot of things to be public throughout the entire divorce.”

Williams added, “Why not publicize what actually happened in the end?” Still, despite the drama between them following their divorce and public disagreements, Williams says she wishes Guobadia well. She added, “He says that he won; congratulations to him. I’m just going on with my real life. I’m gonna continue to flourish; I’m gonna continue to secure my future with my daughter.”

Porsha Williams Filed For Divorce From Simon Guobadia In 2024

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Williams and Guobadia tied the knot in November 2022 with two ceremonies, one in Nigeria and another in Atlanta the following day. This followed their May 2021 engagement after the couple dated for only one month. Sadly, according to PEOPLE, Williams filed for divorce in February 2024, just days after announcing her return to “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.” They were married for roughly 15 months.

After the two battled it out on social media, they finalized the divorce in June 2025. However, disputes over the prenup details lasted until August 2026, when TMZ reported that the “RHOA” star received a seven-figure settlement and the marital home.

Per the agreement, Williams is entitled to a $1,568,181.63 reimbursement for his interest in the home. She also has the right to either refinance or sell the home with Guobadia’s involvement. Additionally, he agreed to give her the title to a 2021 Rolls-Royce.

The ‘RHOA’ Star Defended Herself In The Season 17 Reunion

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According to Bravo, during the first part of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” season 17 reunion, cast member Kelli Ferrell was confronted for referring to Williams’ home as “Simon’s house,” with her being asked if she was jealous that she didn’t have as solid a prenuptial agreement as Williams.

Williams chimed in, stating that Ferrell shouldn’t be concerned with “Simon’s house” when she was forced to live with another of their co-stars due to her dispute with a neighbor. According to Williams, “She can’t worry about Simon’s house when she’s living in Shamea’s house.”

She went on, “By the way, the house that you’re calling Simon’s house, I have maintained and paid it very well,” before Ferrell clapped back, “I’m so glad that you are paying Simon’s bills.”

Toward the end, Williams told her castmate that she shouldn’t “discredit women” while also seeking support.

Porsha Also Confirmed ‘Real Housewives Of Atlanta’ Season 18

Unconfirmed reports say that production on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” will begin in September. While promoting “Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th,” Williams confirmed to Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea that she will be returning for the upcoming season.

She said, “I’m just not privy to anybody else’s contract, you know.” Williams then said, “I’ll be back.” Notably, this came after Andy Cohen took to “Radio Andy” to say he and the network were happy with the current cast, hinting that everyone could return in some capacity. Additionally, friend of the show Cynthia Bailey confirmed recently that she will return for season 18.

Netflix couldn’t have picked a better year to keep Stranger Things alive. The original series is finished, but Hawkins isn’t going anywhere just yet. Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will return for Season 2 later this year, and its timing is almost suspiciously good as Netflix has spent 2026 turning science fiction into one of its most reliable draws.

This is a useful position for a spinoff that had plenty working against it when it arrived. Tales From ’85 was animated, it recast the characters fans had spent years watching, and it jumped backward in the timeline to a period viewers already knew. The first season had to convince people that this was more than a side project, but Season 2 doesn’t have that problem anymore.

Netflix Has Made 2026 a Very Good Year for Sci-Fi

Image via Netflix

If there is one thing Netflix’s 2026 slate has made clear, it’s that the streamer hasn’t lost interest in science fiction. War Machine, starring Alan Ritchson, became one of Netflix’s biggest movies ever after pulling in more than 140 million views. After its performance, Netflix has already announced War Machine 2 and given Ritchson a first-look movie deal.

The genre has also found traction in less familiar territory. The Last House emerged as a major global hit, reaching No. 1 on Netflix’s global movie chart and trending in dozens of countries. Meanwhile, Stranger Things Season 5 remained one of the platform’s biggest television draws, collecting 55.6 million views during the first half of 2026.

Not every sci-fi gamble has worked. The Boroughs, another series produced by Matt and Ross Duffer, was canceled after one season despite positive reception and solid viewership. Netflix reportedly decided that its audience wasn’t large enough to justify the show’s considerable cost, but even that cancellation says something about where the streamer has been placing its bets.

‘Tales From ’85’ No Longer Has to Prove Itself

Via. Netflix

Netflix introduced Tales From ’85 on April 23 as the first television spinoff from one of its biggest franchises. Rather than continuing after the original series, the show went back to the winter of 1985, between the second and third seasons. Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max were back, but they sounded different because none of the original live-action actors returned to voice them.

For a franchise whose identity is so closely tied to its young cast, moving Stranger Things into an animated format could have been a tough sell. The Duffers and showrunner Eric Robles instead leaned into the idea, taking inspiration from the Saturday-morning cartoons of the 1980s and giving Hawkins a brighter, more exaggerated look. It worked well enough for Netflix to order another season just five days after the premiere.

The first season also gave Tales From ’85 its own identity. The Hawkins kids formed the Hawkins Investigators Club, met Nikki Baxter, fought a new collection of creatures, and uncovered another mystery connected to the Upside Down. It was finding out what Stranger Things looks like when it gets to play by the rules of an animated adventure.

Netflix’s Sci-Fi Boom Could Give the Spinoff a Second Wind

Via. Netflix

Tales From ’85 managed to spend two weeks on Netflix’s global Top 10 TV chart after its debut, which is respectable, especially for a spinoff that arrived with a very different format from its predecessor, but it didn’t come close to the cultural earthquake created by the live-action series. Season 2 has an opportunity to close some of that gap.

Netflix has spent the year reminding subscribers that science fiction isn’t something they need to wait for Stranger Things to watch. New movies have pulled huge numbers, original series have continued to experiment with the genre, and the franchise itself remains one of the most recognizable pieces of Netflix IP. Tales From ’85 doesn’t need to become the next Stranger Things; it doesn’t even need to replicate the original show’s numbers, but it should give people who already like science fiction a reason to press play, and it has a much easier pitch than most new shows: it’s Stranger Things, but animated, set in 1985, with the Hawkins kids facing another supernatural mess.

There’s also no shortage of curiosity surrounding the wider Stranger Things universe. The original series ended its five-season run in December 2025, but Netflix moved almost immediately into the next phase with Tales From ’85. The franchise has already demonstrated that it can survive outside the main story, and Season 2 gives Netflix another chance to keep that audience engaged. Considering how much sci-fi has delivered for the streamer this year, Tales From ’85 could hardly ask for a better time to come back.

Anne Hathaway didn’t mince words as she expressed strong reactions to movies that kill dogs during the press tour for her new movie, “The End of Oak Street.”

The renowned actress said films in which dogs are killed “should automatically be rated R,” which stands for “restricted” and means that the movie contains adult material.

Over the years, Hathaway has spoken up on causes close to her heart, including when she promised to “fight” for LGBTQ+ equality despite the “divided” politics.

Anne Hathaway is advocating for animal safety even in fiction. During the press tour for her new film, The End of Oak Street, she told Complex Pop that movies that feature dogs being killed should be rated R, name-dropping “John Wick,” which stars Keanu Reeves.

“I feel like movies that kill dogs should automatically be rated R,” Hathaway said. “Doesn’t matter if anybody curses, doesn’t matter if there’s violence, if a dog dies, R-rated.”

She continued, “I think everybody’s so traumatized by ‘John Wick,’ because I’ve been seeing those [comments for our movie] like, ‘They better not kill the dog.’ I’m like, ‘Which movies are out there killing dogs that everybody’s scared that we’re just casually doing it in movies now?’”

Anne Hathaway Reassures Fans About Her Movie’s Dog

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In “The End of Oak Street,” Hathaway stars as Denise, an aspiring novelist and matriarch of the central family, as Ewan McGregor plays her husband, Greg, alongside Maisy Stella and Christian Convery as their children.

Set in the early ’80s, the story follows the Platt family, who live in a suburban neighborhood that is suddenly transported millions of years back into prehistoric times by a temporal anomaly, forcing them to survive against lethal dinosaurs.

They also have a trusted canine friend named Starbuck, which has left fans worried about his survival.

“Somebody was like, ‘Can you just let the audiences know that, like, it’s all gonna be OK?’” Hathaway said about Starbuck’s fate. “We break rules in this movie; that might not be one of them. Don’t worry.”

Hathaway’s Growing Family Includes Her Dogs

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Hathaway and her husband Adam Shulman, who share two children and are expecting a third, have brought dogs into their growing family, per Entertainment Weekly.

The Oscar winner has a chocolate Labrador named Esmeralda, whom she said was with her when she learned of her first Oscar nomination in 2008 for Rachel Getting Married.

“I was with my parents and my dog when I got the news, and we were all overjoyed — although I’m not sure my dog knew what was going on,” she jokingly told PEOPLE in 2009.

They also adopted a mixed spaniel-terrier in 2014 and renamed him Kenobi.

Hathaway might not be wrong, as reports suggest many fans check whether a dog dies before watching the movie.

Anne Hathaway Continues Her Fight For Equality

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The Interstellar actress often speaks up about causes close to her heart, such as women’s and children’s rights, animal safety, LGBTQ+ advocacy, gender equality, and abortion rights.

Chosen in 2016 to be a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, she shed light on the tension between celebrating progress and pressing on in the face of ongoing inequality during an address at the commemoration of the 2026 International Women’s Day at the UN General Assembly in New York earlier this year.

“It’s hard to bear the knowledge that the distance between the promise of equality and the experience of it is still so far apart, for so many,” she said.

However, she insisted that celebrating the occasion itself is an act of defiance and must go on.

“Yes, we absolutely do,” she added. “Our celebration today affirms our determination to outlast it.”

Hathaway Promises To Fight For LGBTQ+ Rights

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In the buildup to the release of “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which she starred in alongside Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, Hathaway touched on the movie’s resonance with people worldwide, including the LGBTQ+ community.

In a conversation with Out, she revealed that she had the community in her heart the whole time she was filming the movie, in which she plays the legendary role of Andy Sachs, a role she first starred in 22 years ago.

She promised to continue the “fight” for LGBTQ+ equality even though the politics surrounding it have become “divisive.”

“I had [the queer community] in my heart the entire time we were filming! I knew who I was doing it for. It’s so obvious to me, the whole concept of equality. It doesn’t make any sense to me that the laws governing human freedom aren’t even applied consistently across the spectrum. I’ll fight until it’s that way, but in my head and in my heart, I know that’s true,” Hathaway told the news outlet.

She added, “This is a film for everyone. I love that there’s a film and there’s a space where we can be thinking about suburban dads and urban gays. We know that they will both love it and find something in it! I feel like, frankly, there’s a lot of money to be made by keeping us divided. It’s really wonderful to offer something for everyone.”

Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) has been one of TV’s most fascinating characters for two decades, so much so that fans refuse to let go of him. After the failed ending of the popular original series, Dexter, there was a spinoff sequel, Dexter: New Blood, which tried to fix things, followed by a better-than-expected prequel, Dexter: Original Sin. Finally, the franchise got it right with Dexter: Resurrection. After a great first season, the show is set to come back for a second. That wait is far off, though. If you’re craving more Dexter Morgan, check out the lost series you may have never even knew existed, an animated one that you can still find on YouTube today.

‘Dexter Early Cuts’ Was a Series of Short Animated Films on YouTube

Dexter Early Cuts premiered in 2009 during the run of the original Showtime series. Long before Dexter: Original Sin, which starred Patrick Gibson as the serial killer in his early days, audiences wanted to know more about who he was before we first met him. Dexter Early Cuts fills in some of those blanks in a unique way. From 2009 to 2012, three seasons of Dexter Early Cuts were released as a clever way to promote the upcoming new episodes. By putting the content on YouTube, free for all to see, it increased interest in what you had to pay to see later on Showtime.

The first season of Dexter Early Cuts consisted of 12 easy-to-digest mini-episodes, with runtimes that clocked in at only a few minutes. The familiar music of the intro is there, complete with a quick shot of darkened images of bodies, a syringe, and a spot of blood. Released weekly, the first season takes a burgeoning Dexter Morgan on his journey of tracking down and taking out three serial killers. Season 2 of Dexter Early Cuts, subtitled Dark Echo, did things a bit differently, with only six episodes, and all coming out the same day in October 2010. Two years later, in late summer 2012, came a third and final season, subtitled All in the Family, this time going back to the better format of one mini episode per week.

‘Dexter Early Cuts’ Is a Richly Drawn Exploration of Dexter Morgan’s Origins

Dexter Early Cuts is not as good as the original show it promoted. It’s not as good as what’s come after either. But it’s not supposed to be. With such limited time to work with, there is only so much the series can do. Still, it’s much more than filler or a lazy commercial for Dexter. It’s a compelling series, with Michael C. Hall back as the narrator, and a journey that takes Dexter from multiple victims at the start of the journey to a season-long big bad, and in the last season, a father-and-son duo who will challenge our anti-hero in new ways.

Dexter Early Cuts isn’t perfect. We know Dexter is in no danger, and the short runtime makes it difficult to get invested in the evolution of his mind or who the antagonists are. They are simple fodder. The animation style is also an effect you’ll either love or be frustrated with. In our opinion, it works. Rather than being a simple, twisted cartoon of sorts, Dexter Early Cuts is more akin to a graphic novel. It mostly stays still, with zoom-ins and zoom-outs, the camera moving across the page from one frame to the next. The little movement there is, with mouths moving on still characters, feels disjointed and off-kilter, just like the rich, exaggerated colors that are often hurried, scratched, and frayed. It’s purposely imperfect and not lifelike, which serves to make it unsettling. The simplicity also forces the viewer to use their imagination rather than being shown everything.

It’s truly art, and a style taken seriously because of who is involved. Season 1 is illustrated by Kyle Baker, a former illustrator for Marvel Comics who has been around since the 1980s. The second is a joint production by Bill Sienkiewicz (a surrealist who influenced The New Mutants movie) and David Mack (a writer and artist for Daredevil Marvel Comics), before Mack handles the duties on his own in Season 3.

If you’re a fan of graphic novels and comics, Dexter Early Cuts is fascinating. The iconic character and the actor who voices him are the way in. The animation is the reason to stay. The style hides the flaws that would exist if the short episodes were the usual live-action sameness. The attention-getting animation is as much of a reason to watch as the stories told. 15 years ago, it was a stylistic way to keep Dexter alive in the imagination of viewers between seasons. It worked well enough two decades ago. Today, Dexter Early Cuts is an even better watch because we’ve since gone back to the origins of Dexter Morgan, and with renewed interest due to Dexter: Resurrection, the mini-episodes are more effective, whether it’s for a rewatch or the very first time you’ve seen it.

You cannot properly summarize David Robert Mitchell’s filmography to date, since each one tackles a different genre or two, and then all of them have their own ideas about how to do weird things with those genres. His directorial debut was in 2010, and was kind of a weird dramedy a bit like Dazed and Confused, but not quite as strong or coherent. Then, 2014 is the movie for which he made a name for himself, mainly as a horror filmmaker, yet then he didn’t stick with horror for long, and made something that got very messy and head-spinning in 2018. Eight years passed, and he’s now returned with a fairly large-scale (almost blockbuster) sort of movie that J.J. Abrams seems to be getting a lot of attention for, even if Abrams is only there, officially, in a co-producing role. It’s a bit Abrams-esque, which is to say it’s also a bit Spielberg-esque, but more on that specific film shortly.

There are only four movies here, sure, but they’re all strange and there are a fair few things to talk about when it comes to each. Three are probably good, or maybe it’s more the case that two are good, and one’s a bit misunderstood. As for the fourth… it’s baffling and maybe kind of amateurish, but somehow in a weirdly compelling way, too. If you want movies you don’t usually see, David Robert Mitchell might be your guy, even if he is always, admittedly, mixing and matching individual elements that do sometimes feel familiar. His four feature films to date are ranked below, starting with the one that’s a bit of an interesting mess, and ending with the one that still feels like the closest he’s come to making a full-on classic.

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‘The Myth of the American Sleepover’ (2010)

Image via IFC Films

Dazed and Confused was mentioned before as something that feels a little in line with David Robert Mitchell’s first movie: The Myth of the American Sleepover. The word “Myth” being in the title here feels like it does some heavy-lifting, supporting the argument that this is more than just a coming-of-age dramedy, and something that’s instead dreamlike or even a bit fantastical. It’s an avant-garde kind of coming-of-age movie, or it’s a fairly sloppily put-together attempt at making another coming-of-age dramedy that might have a chance at scratching the same itch as something like Dazed and Confused, or the other hang-out movies Richard Linklater’s directed.

In The Myth of the American Sleepover, the teenagers feel like they’re hanging out in purgatory. The drama’s rarely dramatic, the crushes and romances scarcely passionate, and the comedy simply not there at all, to the point where one starts to wonder whether there’s been some massive era in this being labeled as a dramedy. It’s Mitchell’s smallest movie, and it looks like the simplest on the surface, so you return to it after having seen any combination of the other three, expecting something gentler and more basic, and nope. Well, it might be more basic. It’s hard to know whether it’s just basic, or whether there’s some extra layer to the basic and amateurish qualities, and so what you’re actually seeing is a more arthouse take on (or even an underhanded parody of) “the summer’s winding down” style coming-of-age movies. What a trip, and what a snooze, all at the same time.

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‘The End of Oak Street’ (2026)

The cinematic world is not dominated by dinosaurs in the way it arguably should be, because you’ve got Jurassic Park, which towers over everything critically and commercially, and then you’ve got the Jurassic Park sequels, which tower over things not so much critically, but usually commercially. It felt as though there was something of a monopoly on big-budget dinosaur movies, so it’s nice when something like The End of Oak Street comes along and shows that dinosaurs don’t need direct attachment to Steven Spielberg’s original film/series to work. Of course, The End of Oak Street owes debts to Spielberg’s filmography in other ways. It doesn’t take place in that world, and the setting of 1982 appears to be a way to get out of any need for characters to mention “This is like that movie, Jurassic Park,” but some scenes do pay serious homage to the first two Jurassic Park movies. The premise also takes what the premise of Jurassic World Dominion should’ve been, and has more fun with it.

That film promised dinosaurs freed at last, and rampaging all over the world. Actual exciting scenes with dinosaurs in real-world locations proved minimal. With The End of Oak Street, you only get a small chunk of humanity thrown back in time, but many of the set pieces do resonate the way the set pieces in a hypothetically better Jurassic World Dominion might’ve. Beyond Jurassic Park, you’ve got some homages to Poltergeist (which Spielberg produced, and maybe ghost-directed, according to some), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, and even some Raiders of the Lost Ark (though Indy never had to deal with a snake quite this big). Parts of The End of Oak Street also feel bloodier and a little more intense than you might expect, and the end of The End of Oak Street… it’s interesting. Certain things about it set in long after the movie’s over, so it’s hard to feel sure about where it all ends up. But the ride there’s a fun one, and Anne Hathaway continues to battle Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland in the competition of “Who Does 2026 at the Movies Belong to?”

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‘Under the Silver Lake’ (2018)

Image via A24

While there aren’t really ways to break down just what happens in Under the Silver Lake, there are things to compare it to. It’s less being like, “Hey, the movie is about this happening, and if you like movies where that happens, maybe check it out.” It’s more like, “Uh, this mess of a film takes messy inspiration from the best of the messes, since it’s got the fingerprints of someone who wants to be Thomas Pynchon all over it, and then you throw in a bit of David Lynch fanaticism, and also, remember Southland Tales? This movie kind of feels like Southland Tales.” You say all that, and potential watchers are either clutching a bottle of pepper spray, or starting to back away very slowly, or maybe they’re just flat out running elsewhere. Look, Under the Silver Lake is not their kind of movie. It’s probably not your kind of movie. Whose kind of movie even is this?

Uh, Under the Silver Lake looks pretty good. Visually, David Robert Mitchell seemed to know what he was doing, and the color and style of it all being reminiscent of some works by David Lynch… like, that’s pretty high praise. As for Pynchon, it’s about a guy stumbling around, trying to uncover something, and learning less about all sorts of conspiracies, shady figures, and underground societies the more he tries to interact with them. It’s a bit Inherent Vice, but with the comedy stripped away, making it arguably more like The Crying of Lot 49, but a bit longer and more complex, so throw in a bit of V into the mix, too. Maybe there are other postmodern authors Mitchell’s pulling from, too. Anyway, very little of this movie makes any kind of sense in the way sense is usually defined/understood, but it’s worth a watch for the things it does right stylistically, and for the undeniably daring places it’s also very confident to barge into throughout.

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‘It Follows’ (2014)

Image via Image via RADiUS-TWC

The high-concept premise is the first thing that It Follows really has going for it, and then the second thing is the fact that said premise is executed incredibly well. Whatever David Robert Mitchell was trying to do in The Myth of the American Sleepover (it remains a mythtery), he’d really worked out his whole style and what to do with It Follows. This is his most intense stab at the horror genre, with the outlandish premise made to work here involving a sexually transmitted disease that is a lot more deadly (in the literal sense) than the more “normal” ones. If you get infected, you’re stalked by some kind of very slow but also very deadly creature, and the only way – at least it seems, initially – to get the target off you is by having sexual intercourse with someone else, and then the creature will pursue them.

But the paranoia remains, because once the person they want is dead, the creature will go back to the next person in the chain. The whole movie has some young people frantically trying to work all this out, all the while worrying about how long they can keep fleeing – and keep track of – the monster that’s after them. Metaphorically… well, it’s obvious what it’s about. The subtext becomes the text here, or maybe the subtext/text becomes the literal villain. It Follows makes all this work, boasts a handful of genuinely terrifying sequences, looks unique on an atmospheric front, and feels clever as regards the mythology and unique central monster it builds up. It’s one of the best psychological thriller/horror/mystery films of the century so far, and certainly feels like David Robert Mitchell’s single strongest filmmaking effort to date.

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It Follows

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Release Date

March 27, 2015

Runtime

101 minutes

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Director

David Robert Mitchell

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Writers

David Robert Mitchell

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