Before gushing about her experience inside the Olympic Village, Team USA figure skater Isabeau Levito admitted she had eyes for another one of her sport’s stars.

“Oh my God, someone said my celebrity crush is Cha Jun-hwan, that is so real,” Levito, 18, said in a resurfaced clip from a recent Instagram Live with fellow Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu. 

Liu, 20, responded, “Is this a bit?”

Levito and Cha, 24, were both members of the 2024 Stars on Ice tour, which is where Levito’s affinity for the skater first blossomed. 

Related: Who Is Alysa Liu? What to Know About the Figure Skater’s Comeback Story

Alysa Liu’s incredible comeback story has led her to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, after previously retiring from competitive figure skating. Liu made history as the youngest-ever U.S. Figure Skating champion at just 13 years old and represented Team USA in Beijing at the 2022 Winter Olympics when she was […]

“Everyone’s bit with him was just that he was perfect,” Levito explained. “In the group rehearsals, when everybody was looking bad, everyone would just look at Cha Jun-hwan and say, ‘But he is perfect.’”

Cha, who represents the Republic of Korea, finished in 4th place in the men’s figure skating event at the 2026 Olympics, falling just 0.98 points behind Japan’s Shun Sato, who took home the bronze medal.

The clip of Levito began circulating online after her comments about loving life in the Olympic Village went viral earlier this week. 

“I’ve spent every night in the [Olympic] Village. It’s been everything and more,” Levito told NBC in a video posted on Monday, February 16. “You can’t evict me.”

She added, “I don’t think there’s anything not to enjoy. I haven’t even gotten to compete yet and I feel like my experience is already complete. Not complete, but I’m having a blast. The best time.”

The American star had plenty of time to explore the Village grounds, arriving in Italy weeks before she finally hit the ice to compete in the women’s figure skating short program event on Tuesday, February 17. 

“I feel like I’m exactly where I want to be and I’m so glad that things have aligned and worked out for me to be here,” Levito said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to compete.”

Levito finished in 5th place in the short program, with American Liu in 3rd. Amber Glenn, the third member of Team USA’s Blade Angels, had a disappointing skate and finished in 13th place.

“I feel very good,” Levito told NBC after her performance. “I feel like I skated with the elegance that I wanted to skate with. And I’m very glad that my Olympic debut looked like that … I just felt special.”

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She continued, “I really love this program. I love the costume, and I love the character that I get to play in this program. So I just feel very confident and very satisfied and happy with myself right now.”

Liu was in a similarly positive mood after her short program on Tuesday. 

“It felt great,” Liu told reporters. “I don’t know if I felt this good because it was Olympic ice, or because my best friend, my siblings, my [dad] and my friends were watching. I don’t know which it is — I’m just really happy, and this moment is really exciting.”

Levito, Liu and Glenn, 26, all return to the ice for the women’s free skate on Thursday, February 19. 

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 23 seconds ago

Star Trek is a franchise that has always been known for its colorful villains: from the Klingons to the Borg, episodes have always given us over-the-top bad guys like nothing the audience had ever seen before. However, the most iconic villains of a beloved spinoff were actually modeled after a type of real-life criminal that the audience is all too familiar with. In Star Trek: Voyager, the alien Kazons were originally modeled after the street gangs of Los Angeles, but it took over an entire season before one writer helped shape them into this very specific mold.

During the development of Voyager, producers Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor wanted to create a new kind of villain that nonetheless represented very contemporary concerns. As quoted in Captains’ Logs Supplemental – The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, Taylor said that “We felt with the Kazon we needed to address the tenor of our times and what…was happening in our cities and recognizing a source of danger and social unrest. We wanted to do that metaphorically.”

The Bloods, The Crips, And The Kazon

Piller (who almost singlehandedly transformed Star Trek: The Next Generation into must-see TV) liked the idea of villains who embraced anarchy and might fight among themselves as much as they fight with Captain Janeway. He and the other producers retained the LA gang metaphor, internally comparing the differing Kazon factions to the Bloods and the Crips. They were all in on these new bad guys, which is why the Voyager premiere episode and its first season presented various Kazon factions as an ongoing concern in our crew’s quest to navigate the Delta Quadrant and eventually make their way home.

Unfortunately, audiences kind of hated the Kazon in Season 1, and Michael Piller came to believe that the writers had failed to turn these aliens into something truly unique. After Ken Biller wrote an initial draft of the Season 2 episode “Initiations,” Piller called him and (as reported originally by Cinefantastique) expressed his concern that the audience saw the Kazon as “warmed over Klingons.” In order to get these villains back to their roots, Piller gave Biller a pretty wild homework assignment: to go talk to actual gang members and report on “what you find out from the street.”

Biller did not take this frankly dangerous advice, but he did go buy a copy of Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, written (inside a jail cell, no less) by Sanyika “Monster” Shakur. Insights from the book helped the writer create a better Star Trek: Voyager episode, and Piller was quite pleased with the final draft of “Initiations.” But what pleased him even more was that Biller went on to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to breathe new life into the Kazons.

The Secret To Building A Better Villain

You see, Biller wrote a kind of mini-Kazon Bible that outlined their customs, history, and other major sociological factoids. This proved to be invaluable because Star Trek: Voyager had already planned to devote its second season to the Kazon, essentially giving itself a second chance to make a good impression on the audience. Whenever the writers had to craft a Kazon-heavy episode (like “Alliances”), they relied on Biller’s bible, one which finally made the Kazon feel like something other than Temu Klingons.

To this day, the Kazon aren’t necessarily fans’ favorite villains, but they are arguably the most iconic Star Trek: Voyager bad guys. In a show that would come to be dominated (or should that be assimilated?) by Borg episodes, the Kazon remain an original creation who helped shape Voyager into one of Trek’s most beloved spinoffs. But that never would have happened if Michael Piller and Ken Biller hadn’t teamed up to do the impossible: get these angsty aliens back to their inexplicable gangbanger roots.  

Bold and the Beautiful finds there is a lot of fan outrage right now over many of the storylines on the CBS soap. From Sheila Carter‘s (Kimberlin Brown) marriage being blown up to Eric Forrester‘s (John McCook) design disaster—not the designs themselves, but the way it’s playing out—and several other storylines that are just unsatisfactory to a lot of viewers.

We’re going to talk about five things that B&B is royally messing up right now. Let’s get into what has fans so riled up right now.

Fan Backlash Over Deacon Sharpe and Sheila Carter’s Crumbling Marriage on Bold and the Beautiful

The first thing I want to discuss that has fans steamed is the attack on Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) and Sheila’s marriage. What’s crazy to me is that Brad Bell has twisted this around and managed to make Sheila sympathetic when we all know she’s a killer. But they’ve done it.

Bold and the Beautiful viewers do not like that Deacon is trying to cheat on Sheila after they turned their lives around and built this happy marriage. Deacon’s put his life back together after his terribly criminal past. He’s made a smashing success of things, and I do think that Sheila deserves credit for some part of that.

Fans enjoyed the chemistry between Deacon and Sheila. We’ve watched their love story and their journey, and somewhere along the way, you started rooting for them. Now, Bold is ripping that all apart and doing it in a really skeevy way.

Bold and the Beautiful Has Taylor Not Acting Like Herself

We’ve got Sheila about to lose her husband to Taylor Hayes (Rebecca Budig), a noted psychiatrist who’s violating her professional ethics to kiss and get hot and heavy with a married patient. The whole thing where Deacon said, “Oh, I’m not her patient anymore,” is not how that works.

For a psychiatrist like her who’s an MD, they are never allowed to date or have any sexual involvement with a patient. It just can’t happen professionally. It’s one thing for her to catfight Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) to try and get Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye), but for Taylor to risk her medical license is bad writing and very out of character.

I saw a fan comment recently that I felt was thought-provoking. The question they asked was: Does Deacon really want Taylor, or does Deacon just want out of his marriage to Sheila? He may see Taylor as a springboard or a catalyst to end things with his wife.

At long last, Deacon might have realized being with Sheila isn’t sustainable for his long-term happiness. Deacon’s kids hate Sheila, as do his employees and his customers. Taylor is somebody his family would welcome and wouldn’t hurt this redeemed reputation he has built.

Deacon’s kids and Taylor are all pressing him on the Sheila issue, so Deacon might have latched onto Taylor for the wrong reasons. Plus, to me, they said “I love you” way too fast. It feels sloppy, forced, and off.

Ridge Forrester’s High-Handed Attitude and Disrespect Toward Eric on B&B

The second thing fans are really sick of cuts across a lot of messy storylines, and that’s Ridge’s ongoing crappy attitude. He has been so unlikable for so long and it’s not getting better. He kicked Eric out of Forrester then half-heartedly apologized, but he can’t un-ring the bell.

On the day Ridge sprung the surprise party and told Eric to retire from the company he founded, Eric was planning to show Ridge his designs. Ridge wouldn’t even look at his dad’s work. Fast forward to this week, Eric’s designs are sitting out, and Ridge finally looks at them and says, “Wow, Dad, your designs are great. Let’s put them into the couture line.”

Eric would have given those designs to Forrester already if Ridge had given him the chance. Instead, Ridge acts like he’s in charge of everybody from his dad to his ex-wife Taylor and her dating life. Ridge acts like he runs Forrester all by himself, even though he’s got a co-CEO. He’s very self-important and high-handed.

B&B Fans Appalled at Ridges Behavior

Fan comments have been on fire about this. One said, “All of a sudden he misses Eric, but it’s Ridge who booted him out.” Another fan called out Ridge, saying his fondest memories are working with Eric, yet Ridge was the one who put Eric out the door.

There’s a lot of hypocrisy and shiftiness. The way Ridge has been trash-talking Katie Logan (Heather Tom) non-stop, saying she’ll fail, is just ugly. If she wants to start a business, why does Ridge care?

When she and Bill Spencer (Don Diamont) showed up to check on Eric, Ridge was at it again. Brooke said they were looking at Eric’s fabulous new designs, and Ridge said he would show them to Katie, but “she tends to take things that don’t belong to her.”

That was Ridge hitting at her over the Logan trademark. Forrester Creations never once used that trademark, and you cannot have a trademark you don’t use. Carter Walton (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Ridge screwed up and didn’t renew it anyway. She didn’t steal it; they dropped the ball. Bottom line: Ridge is irritating fans in every storyline.

Is Katie Logan’s New Fashion House Already Doomed to Fail on Bold?

The third big fail we’re seeing with fans is that it looks like Bold and the Beautiful is about to kill Katie’s new fashion house. Brad Bell promised this big rivalry, but it hasn’t manifested. It’s basically just been Ridge insulting Katie behind her back and Bill planning a PR blitz.

Eric promised to teach Ridge and Brooke a lesson about disrespecting their elders, but now Eric seems to want to back out of Logan. Unless something changes, Katie’s fashion house seems doomed.

If we’re lucky, Katie will hire Deke Sharpe (Harrison Cone) and he and Eric will finish the line. Then once Katie launches Logan, Eric can retire on his own terms. But if Brad Bell does his usual nonsense, Logan is going to fizzle or wind up under the Forrester umbrella. Fans see this as a waste of time and attention if nothing comes of it.

B&B’s Generational Gap: Where is the Middle Generation?

The next gripe fans have is the characters that Bold is choosing to focus on daily. We get lots of episodes for the youngest generation. We’ve got “dumpster diving” Dylan (Sydney Bullock), “waffling” Will Spencer (Crew Morrow), and “inconsistent” Electra Forrester (Laneya Grace).

We’re also getting time with the oldest generation—Eric, Bill, Ridge, Donna Logan (Jennifer Gareis), Katie, and Brooke. But where’s the middle generation? Where are the characters in their 30s? They are supposed to be the next generation after Eric and Ridge.

Liam Spencer (Scott Clifton) and Hope Logan (Annika Noelle) are rarely seen. When they are, there’s no action, no sizzle, and no romance. We have Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) having occasional sofa sex, but Finn is not around much.

The characters who should have inherited the front-burner storylines—Hope, Steffy, Liam, Thomas Forrester (Matthew Atkinson), Zende Forrester Dominguez (Delon de Metz), and Ivy Forrester (Ashleigh Brewer)—are rarely on screen.

Lack of Chemistry and Boring Pairings Killing the Drama

The last complaint I’m seeing a lot on soap social media is about the weird pairings and lack of chemistry. Fans are saying that Daphne Rose (Murielle Hilaire) and Carter don’t have the sizzle. They’re newlyweds; they should be on fire. Plus, people are annoyed that Daphne’s lie got buried and Carter never found out her true agenda.

Hope and Liam, as I said, have about zero chemistry right now. They don’t even hug or kiss. It’s like they’re friends, not newlyweds. A lot of fans think Deacon and Taylor have no real chemistry and that Deacon had more sizzle with Sheila, even if the “daddy” thing was pretty cringe.

Electra and Will are lackluster for a lot of fans. Many people think Dylan has better chemistry with Will, and RJ Forrester (Brayan Nicoletti) was giving off “creeper” vibes with Electra. Thomas seems to be gone for good, but love him or hate him, Hope and Thomas had sizzle.

Katie and Bill have barely kissed since they reunited. Ridge and Brooke’s chemistry is sweet, but it’s not sizzling. Plots are falling flat because we’ve been promised big drama and big chemistry, and then everything just fizzles. Drop your comments on what plots are bothering you.

Left On Read And Locked Out

From Solo Hustle To Serious Money

Opening Doors Instead Of Closing Them

The Tables Have Turned

Former Prince Andrew
Leaves Police Station In Range Rover

Published
February 19, 2026
11:43 AM PST

Days of Our Lives saw Philip Kiriakis (John-Paul Lavoisier) telling Gabi Hernandez (Cherie Jimenez) on their Miami trip that Titan is in big, big financial trouble.
This is the same trip where she opened up about Stefan DiMera (Brandon Barash) being kidnapped by Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel) and that he died still wanting to be with Gabi.

So, the Stefan news is awful, no doubt, but it might trigger a life-changing end result for Gabi that might also turn out to be life-changing. I wonder if Gabi is going to help Philip out of the jam that he is in. Let’s get into it.

Days of Our Lives: Gabi Hernandez’s Secret Corporate Espionage Against Titan Industries

Gabi’s been hiding a huge secret from Philip for many months. Last year, Gabi had been scheming with Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) to seize control of Titan Industries, which had taken over DiMera Enterprises. As part of their plan, Gabi snuck a pen with a listening device in it into Xander Cook (Paul Telfer) and Philip’s CEO office.

That gave Tony and Gabi power because they found out Philips’ psycho surrogate mom Vivian Alamain had forged the letter from Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston) that led to Philip getting half the company. Gabi and Tony found out that Xander found out about it and beat Philip nearly to death.

The forgery info and the assault info they got illegally was what allowed Tony to demand that Xander and Philip hand over DiMera Enterprises, which they had scored in a corporate takeover. They got some money out of the transaction, but in the end, it left Titan in a very precarious position, one that not even one smutty book could dig them out of.

Tony DiMera’s Betrayal and Theo Carver’s Growing Obsession on DOOL

Then if you remember, Tony double-crossed Gabi because Tony had promised Gabi the CEO position at DiMera Enterprises if she helped him get the dirt on Xander and Philip. But Tony never ever planned to honor that deal.
Instead, he brought in his nephew Theo Carver (Cameron Johnson) to take over as CEO of DiMera Enterprises. Then, Tony up and left town and, of course, then was kidnapped. Now, Theo knows all about Gabi’s treachery. Theo knows that Gabi planted the bug.

He also knows that if Philip found out about it, he would probably break up with Gabi in an instant. And then this week, Theo is daydreaming about being with Gabi and kissing Gabi and sweeping her off her pretty little feet. Poor Jada Hunter (Elia Cantu) had no idea that’s where Theo’s head was when she caught him drifting off into thought when they were out at the pub on their Valentine’s Day date. Jada thought Theo was just distracted because their last dinner date at the pub didn’t happen because Peter Blake (Dan Gauthier) kidnapped Theo.

Philip Kiriakis Confesses the Truth About Titan’s Looming Bankruptcy on Days of Our Lives

But back over to Gabi. So, she’s off in Miami enjoying a little Heart’s Day holiday trip with Philip. And he’s been super understanding about Gabi’s melancholy over losing Stefan and finding out the ugly truth of it all.

And that’s when Philip made his own confession that could prompt Gabi to try and make amends. Of course, Philip wouldn’t know that she’s making amends because Gabi’s still lying to him about planting the bug.

But you can see that she’s torn and she’s thinking about telling Philip the truth about spying on him and Xander. She almost confessed, but then Gabi saw that Philip was breaking out all over because he’d gotten stung by a jellyfish.

So instead of apologizing, Gabi took a hot shower with him and then was rubbing hydrocortisone on him. Then, talk turned to them flying commercial to Miami instead of private. Philip confessed to Gabi the reason they didn’t take the company jet was finances. Philip can’t afford any business expenses like flying him and Gabi on the Titan private plane to Miami.

Gabi’s Guilt Over Victor Kiriakis’ Legacy and the Family Mansion on Days of Our Lives

And Philip also told Gabi that a big loan is coming due soon and his late father Victor’s mansion is the collateral for the loan. Titan’s been struggling since Xander and Philip had to split Titan and DiMera back apart. Gabi looked really worried when Philip was telling her this.

Not only does Gabi care a lot for Philip, but she also feels totally guilty for screwing Philip over with these dirty corporate games. I mean, Gabi was double-crossed by Tony, but that’s not Philip’s fault or Xander’s. Right now, things are great for Gabi. She got Gabi Chic away from Titan and DiMera. And she’s happy successfully running her business.

Meanwhile, Philip’s worried he’s going to lose his father’s legacy, the company. And the family home. And Gabi’s actions led to that. That’s a much worse double-cross than what Tony did to Gabi. And to make it worse, Philip is head over heels for the woman who betrayed him.

Days of Our Lives: Gabi Hernandez Set to Become an Extremely Wealthy DiMera Widow

So this week, it seems like Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) is going to get confirmation from the FBI’s handwriting expert that Stefan’s signature on the divorce docs was forged. And that means Gabi is not his ex-wife, she is Stefan’s widow.

And this week, EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel) was telling Cat Greene (AnnaLynne McCord) that Stefano DiMera’s (Joseph Mascolo) last will and testament is going to be read very soon. So, in the next couple of weeks, we could see Gabi go from successful businesswoman to that plus being an extremely wealthy widow worth a whole bunch more zeros.

I’m sure EJ and the other DiMeras might hate it, but Gabi could rake in a big chunk of Stefano’s estate. Even better, it would absolutely enrage Vivian. But I doubt Gabi can sit on that pile of inherited cash while she watches Philip lose everything, especially knowing that she played a role in it.

Could a Titan Bailout Save Philip and Gabi’s Relationship?

So, we could see Gabi going to Philip and Xander. She might offer an investment to help Titan out, or Gabi might do one better and just go buy their loan from the bank and then give them more favorable terms.

She could do that actually, maybe even anonymously. But if she came in and offered an investment or some assistance, she could tell Philip that, you know, I’ll bail you out if you give me some equity in Titan.

That way it could seem like a business reason for her making this investment and not her doing it out of guilt if Gabi is not going to come clean to Philip.

Will Theo Leak the Truth and Destroy Gabi’s Future on DOOL?

But there could be a hitch in Gabi’s plan to help Philip if Theo keeps daydreaming about Gabi and decides he has to have her. Right now, Theo seems to be enjoying his time with Jada and the feeling seems to be mutual.

But we know from confirmed Days of Our Lives spoilers that Shawn-Douglas Brady (Brandon Beemer) is with Jada soon, all coupled up. So, she might dump Theo over his fixation on Gabi if she figures it out. I mean, Jada is a detective. And Theo may turn around and spill the tea on Gabi’s corporate espionage for a very personal reason to break up her and Philip.

Theo might want to keep his name out of it so Gabi doesn’t find out that he blabbed, but he could leak the info indirectly to Philip or Xander. He could send it as an anonymous tip, tell Xander if he promises to keep it private. And then reveal that Gabi planted a bug in their office. Things may get pretty messy if Theo decides to play dirty to try and break up Gabi and Philip.

And in the meantime, wait to see if Gabi helps Philip when and if she gets that big pile of DiMera dollars because she is a DiMera widow. The big question from there is if Gabi bails out Titan, but Philip then finds out that Gabi spied on him and Xander, will Philip stick with her? Will he forgive Gabi or will he walk away from her for her sneaking and lying?

The action genre can be one of the most highly technical. From the stuntwork, explosive effects, and the endless amounts of choreography and coordination that go into making these movies, it makes it all the more impressive when they do it well. The best action movies are all technical masterpieces on one level or another, but some of them do it so well that they should legitimately be studied.

These are action movies that astound with sequences that seem too wild to be true, with such technical wizardry and precision filmmaking that they’ve often proven impossible to replicate. Every good action movie is technically impressive, but the great ones raise the bar. These ten are absolute masterclasses of action, elevating the genre and pushing it to its limits.

‘Police Story’ (1985)

Image via Golden Harvest

If you’re looking for premiere stunt work and fight choreography, there are few equals to Jackie Chan. The international action star has a filmography bursting with incredible action classics that have continually put Hollywood to shame. Wheels on Meals, Drunken Master II and Project A all offer incredible fight scenes and death-defying stunts, but if there’s one Chan film that is a true technical masterclass, it’s the original Police Story.

This action-comedy classic was made by Chan after his disappointment working on The Protector, an American co-production that failed to break him out as an international star. Beginning to end, Police Story features some of the most elaborate action sequences Chan ever accomplished, starting with a shantytown demolition derby and culminating in a mall-set finale that miraculously didn’t get everyone killed. For his part, Chan suffered second-degree burns and a dislocated pelvis from sliding down a two-story pole as part of this climax.

‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991)

Image via Tri-Star Pictures

The Terminator is a grungy, gritty sci-fi action slasher that fueled James Cameron‘s career. It has a lot to love about it, but it was merely an apéritif to the four-course action feast that Cameron cooked up for the blockbuster sequel. The director was able to supersize every aspect of his time-travel cyborg adventure, adding massive action sequences and a dynamic new villain, accomplished with groundbreaking visual effects.

The T-1000, the liquid metal death machine that was sent in the sequel to kill John Connor, had originally been intended for the first film, but Cameron wisely understood he didn’t have the visual effects capability to accomplish the character in 1984. For Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Cameron reteamed with Industrial Light & Magic, the effects house that had created the iconic water tendril for The Abyss. Combined with incredible practical effects by Stan Winston, the resulting villain was a landmark for photo-realistic CGI, much of which holds up remarkably well over thirty years later.

‘Hard Boiled’ (1992)

Image via Golden Princess Film Production

While Cameron and crew were breaking new ground for visual effects, over in Hong Kong, John Woo was crafting his action magnum opus without any help from computers. Hard Boiled features a cops versus criminals plotline on which Woo and his stunt team are able to hang three of the most breathtaking action sequences ever captured on film. It was the director’s final film before making his way to Hollywood, and it remains his greatest action masterpiece that few films have come close to touching on a technical level.

The film opens with a bullet ballet in a tea house, as Chow Yun-fat dual-wields his way into the action hero hall of fame. From there, it moves to an explosive gunfight in a warehouse that must have depleted the squib supply of Hong Kong. The extended climax set in a hospital is where Hard Boiled truly schools every action filmmaker to come before, with floor after floor of intense action perfection. The most iconic moment is an extended long take of action that follows Chow and Tony Leung for three minutes straight of gunfighting on two floors.

‘Heat’ (1995)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Michael Mann‘s muscular, sprawling crime saga Heat isn’t nearly as action-packed as the other films on this list, but pound for pound of pure adrenaline-fueled gunplay, it is every bit their equal. The film begins and ends with expertly choreographed action scenes, but it’s the broad daylight armed robbery turned downtown gunfight that is its action centerpiece. It makes Heat the apex of action-oriented heist films, and no other film has come close to reaching its heights.

Shot in the glass canyon of downtown Los Angeles, the shootout sees Robert De Niro‘s elite team of thieves trading bullets with Al Pacino‘s police unit. The actors all trained for months with former SAS soldier Andy McNab to become proficient in their weapons handling, and from the tight editing to the use of the real sounds of the gunshots echoing off the buildings, the sequence is a top-to-bottom assault on the senses. Mann is known for being a meticulous director, and the painstaking effort taken by him, his crew and the actors is clearly evident in one of the greatest gunfights ever filmed.

‘The Matrix’ (1999)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

The influences on The Matrix are all clearly evident. From the man versus machines plotline, to the slow-motion gun-fu, to the gravity-defying fights pulled from numerous martial arts classics. Even the iconic bullet-time effect of the film had its origins in commercials and music videos before the Wachowskis ever utilized it for their film. No matter how many giants the filmmakers were standing on the shoulders of for their action classic, it doesn’t detract from how perfectly implemented every single element is in the final film. The Matrix is far more than just the sum of its parts.

To understand the true ingenuity behind The Matrix, you only need to look at any of the myriad imitators that were released in the wake of its success, including its sequels. While many of those films are technically impressive in their own right and had far larger budgets and access to more resources, they all feel like pale imitations. The low-tech solution to accomplish the iconic slow-motion action using a complex rig of still cameras gives the effects in The Matrix a timeless quality that no amount of technological advancements has seemingly been able to improve upon.

‘Children of Men’ (2006)

Image via Universal Pictures

Alfonso Cuaron‘s dystopic thriller Children of Men features action sequences in the same way that Saving Private Ryan does. It’s meant to be harrowing and chaotic, all while still getting your pulse to race and your knuckles to whiten. In depicting a near-future police state where women have become infertile, the action is designed to be as immersive as possible, through incredible cinematography mixed with seamless digital work.

The most famous sequence in Children of Men is the car assault, accomplished with a complex camera rig that captures several long shots that were then stitched together in post-production to produce an action sequence that never takes a breath. There are several extended shots throughout the film that put audiences into the thick of the action, all of them captured with such breathtaking precision by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. The action in Children of Men will leave you breathless.

‘Redline’ (2009)

Image via Tohokushinsha Film

There are many technically impressive animated action movies, from classics like Akira to the more recent Predator: Killer of Killers. If there’s one film that comes off the line at full tilt and never lets its foot off the gas, it’s the nitro-boosted sci-fi racing film Redline. Produced by animation studio Madhouse, who were also responsible for other animated actioners like Wicked City and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, the film was the directorial debut for Takeshi Koike, which makes it all the more of an impressive endeavor.

The film had a prolonged production period of seven years, due to the fact that it was all hand-animated and features over 1,000 individual frames. The result of that time-consuming work and dedication is animation that’s smooth as silk and some of the most exhilarating action ever produced in any medium. While Redline wasn’t an immediate success, it has gained a well-deserved cult following and remains one of the purest examples of handmade craftsmanship of the 21st century.

‘Inception’ (2010)

Image via Warner Bros.

Few directors are as dedicated to, or have the creative power to demand, practical effects as Christopher Nolan. Whether it’s flipping an 18-wheeler in The Dark Knight or crashing a full-size 747 airplane in Tenet, the director emphasizes real stunts and effects over CGI whenever possible. Even when he does utilize CGI, it’s of the highest fidelity and blends beautifully with the more tangible effects work. Nowhere is this marriage more technically proficient than in his mind-bending action heist film Inception.

Setting the film within the architecture of the mind allowed Nolan and his team to go bigger and bolder with action setpieces than ever before. The most notable sequences feature a train barreling through traffic and a gravity-defying fight sequence. The latter involved the use of a massive rotating set that allowed the actors and stunt performers to fight across the walls and ceilings. Inception won a multitude of awards for its visual effects, sound design and cinematography, and it remains a high bar for Nolan as an action filmmaker.

‘The Raid 2’ (2014)

Image via Sony Pictures Classics

The Indonesian action masterpiece The Raid brought a fresh level of brutality to the action genre in the 2010s that inspired a decade-plus of ultraviolent cinema. It’s a brutalizing film filled with outstanding fight choreography, frenetic camerawork and bruising stunt work, and its sequel outdoes it in every single respect. The Raid 2 is an epic action film filled with muddy melees, bloody fight scenes, and a breakneck car chase.

Following the first film’s protagonist, played by martial arts star Iko Uwais, as he goes undercover in the underworld of Jakarta, the sequel trades the first film’s contained setting for sprawling set pieces. It begins with an epic prison brawl and only gets crazier from there. It’s a maximalist action movie that moves from one blood-soaked set piece to the next with an unrelenting pace. The Raid 2 is the best kind of sequel that elevates everything you loved about the first film to the extreme.

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

While the rest of Hollywood was trying to play catch-up to the international action filmmakers that were ten steps ahead, George Miller went back to the drawing board to reinvent his classic action franchise for the 21st century. The original three Mad Max films all offer unique evolutions to Miller’s motorhead action premise, but Mad Max: Fury Road supercharges it to a whole new level. Combining modern digital effects with old-school stunts, it’s an epic car chase across the desert that is as technically perfect as an action film can get.

Shot by legendary cinematographer John Seale, who came out of retirement to do the film, Fury Road has a vibrant color palette and utilizes center-framing as a means to keep the audience consistently oriented to the subject of each shot during the frenetic action. The editing is rapid-fire, and the frame rate ramps up and down throughout the entire runtime. Few action directors are ever in as complete control of the entire frame as Miller is here. The film has often been compared to the relentless energy of Looney Tunes, and Miller is the mad artist behind it.

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Rom-com fans this is for you. Do you find yourself switching between the swoon-worthy Regency-era drama Bridgerton and one of the latest rom-coms to hit the market, People We Meet on Vacation? Now the two come together as the upcoming adaptation of Emily Henry‘s first novel, Beach Read, casts Bridgerton‘s Phoebe Dynevor. She’s set to play the lead, January Andrews in the adaptation of the novel set on Lake Michigan from 20th Century Studios. No cast has been announced for her love interest, Gun Everett. The logline for Beach Read is as follows:

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“A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.”

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Release Date

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January 9, 2026

Runtime

116 minutes

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Director

Brett Haley

Writers

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Yulin Kuang, Nunzio Randazzo, Amos Vernon

Producers

Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner

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This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.