If there’s one weekend this summer you need to spend all your time at home, it’s this one.

Major streamers like Netflix, Prime Video and more have just dropped some of the season’s can’t-miss shows, which is why Watch With Us had to cancel our wedding yet again to make time to watch all of them.

Dramatic weddings? That sounds like Sweet Magnolias to us, and the rumors are true – the hit Netflix series is back for season 5.

There’s also a slew of new shows that will make you beg for more seasons, like Prime Video’s hit YA adaptation Every Year After and HBO Max’s queer coming-of-age tale, Proud.

‘Sweet Magnolias’ Season 5 – Netflix

The Magnolias are back, and this season, they’re ditching the Deep South for the Big Apple. Well, kinda – bride-to-be Helen (Heather Headley) needs a fancy wedding dress, and only Fifth Avenue can satisfy her cravings for haute couture bridal gowns. Meanwhile, Maddie’s (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) dream job at a Manhattan publisher turns into a nightmare, and she is soon booking a return trip home.

Related: A Guide to Prime Video’s New Steamy Rom-Coms, Shows — And Book Adaptations

Prime Video is investing in love with a wide variety of steamy rom-coms, star-studded TV shows coming this year— and a fan event to celebrate the upcoming YA titles. The streaming service announced on Thursday, April 30, that Prime Video was branching out with Obsessed Fest, which is described as “an inaugural summer tentpole event […]

Relax, fans – Sweet Magnolias is still largely set in Serenity, that cozy, too-good-to-be-real small town that makes Stars Hollow seem like San Francisco. Helen’s upcoming nuptials provide some of the drama, as does Dana Sue’s (Brooke Elliott) increasingly troubled marriage to hubby Ronnie (Brandon Quinn). Yet no matter what life serves them, the Magnolia ladies can rely on each other to weather any storm – and disappointing men – that cross their paths.

‘Every Year After’ Season 1 – Prime Video

It’s a new month, which means there’s another Prime Video adaptation of a massively popular YA novel to bingewatch. After last month’s hit hockey romance Off Campus, the streamer dropped the puck-less Canadian love story Every Year After, based on Carley Fortune’s bestselling novel, Every Summer After. It’s just as addictive as Off Campus, except it’s a little more serious than its YA peer.

Barry’s Bay is a picture-perfect small town, so why has Percy (Sadie Soverall) been away for almost a decade? Something drove her away, and it has to do with childhood crush Sam (Matt Cornett). When her mother, Sue (Elisha Cuthbert), dies, Percy has no choice but to go back to her hometown and face some demons from her past. Will she see Sam again? Does she even want to?

‘Proud’ Season 1 – HBO Max

Live fast, party hard – if Filip (Ignacy Liss), the main character in the new Polish-language series Proud, had a motto, that would be it. He’s young, he’s good-looking and all the guys he encounters either want to be him or hook up with him. But Filip’s hedonistic lifestyle grinds to a halt when his sister dies, leaving him to take care of her infant child. Filip’s never taken care of anyone before, not even himself, so he has his work cut out for him as a de facto dad with no stable income and a lifetime of making bad choices.

Can Filip be responsible? That’s the main question Proud asks, and it answers it by giving an honest portrait of an immature boy who slowly – slowly – matures into a man. It’s not an easy, straightforward path, though, and Filip realizes he has to rely on others for help. Proud consists of eight episodes at approximately 32 minutes each, and it’s just the right length to watch one of summer’s most surprising – and rewarding – dramas.

‘My Adventures With Superman’ Season 3 – HBO Max

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … an overused pun connecting a certain all-American comic book character to season 3 of an animated TV show. Yes, My Adventures with Superman is back on HBO Max with a new batch of episodes starting on June 14.

This scene brings back Supes (voiced by Jack Quaid), Lois Lane (Alice Lee) and Jimmy Olsen (Ishmel Sahid) as they hang with new friends like Superboy (Darren Criss) and battle new villains like Cyborg Superman. One of the main plots this time around is The Reign of the Supermen, an adaptation of a very famous ‘90s storyline which sees several successors to Superman’s role as Metropolis’ primary defender.

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‘The Listeners’ Season 1 – Starz

Claire’s (Rebecca Hall) life is pretty ordinary until she hears a distant humming noise that completely disrupts her routine. No one else close to her can hear it – not her husband, daughter or her fellow teachers – except for Kyle (Ollie West), a student in her class who is also mystified about the noise. Both wonder where it comes from and why they can only hear it, but as they investigate the source of their disturbance, their initial curiosity gives way to an all-consuming obsession.

With its slow, steady pacing and emphasis on liminal space to conjure a strange, vaguely menacing mood, The Listeners is like an A24 movie stretched across four episodes. That might dissuade people from watching it, but those who enjoyed the recent horror hit Backrooms and the 1995 Julianne Moore film Safe should like this series. As the noise-plagued protagonist, Hall once again shows she’s one of the most underrated actors working today. She’s fantastic, especially in the scenes when her character is slowly losing her grip on her sanity.

It has been more than 15 years since the release of “The Social Network,” the biographical drama centered on the creation of Facebook, and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is back for its standalone sequel, “The Social Recoking.” Sorkin, who directed the sequel, wanted Jesse Eisenberg to reprise his role as Facebook’s co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg, but the actor refused. The role went to Jeremy Strong, who was eager to step into the role.

In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, Aaron Sorkin discussed his upcoming movie, “The Social Reckoning,” the follow-up to 2010’s Academy Award-winning movie, “The Social Network,” written by Sorkin and directed by David Fincher.

Initially, Sorkin said he would only do the project with Fincher as the director. However, the director was busy with other projects, which led Sorkin to take on the role. He did, however, reveal that Fincher was the first person to read the script and also offered help in any way he could.

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Talking about the premise of the movie, Sorkin said, “‘The Social Network’ was about how Facebook was invented, and ‘The Social Recoking is what it’s become.”

Jesse Eisenberg Vehemently Refused The Zuckerberg Role

According to Sorkin, his first instinct was to approach Jesse Eisenberg to reprise his role as Mark Zuckerberg. “I felt like it belonged to him, and he was certainly battle-tested,” he said. Eisenberg was nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and BAFTA Awards for his portrayal of the Facebook founder.

In an interview in 2011, Eisenberg said while playing the role, he “developed an even greater affection” for the character. “So even if the character is acting in a way that hurts other characters, you still have to understand and ultimately sympathize with all of that behavior,” he said.

For the sequel, however, Sorkin said he tried to convince the actor for three days to come back, to no avail. “He simply did not want to be conflated with Mark Zuckerberg anymore, that he has his problems with the guy,” the director explained.

The Actor Changed His Tune About Zuckerberg

While Sorkin didn’t reveal many details about his conversation with Eisenberg, he further added, “he doesn’t like kids coming up to him in airports with business cards that say ‘I’m CEO, b-tch’ for him to sign.”

In 2025, Eisenberg said he no longer wanted to be associated with Zuckerberg, saying that the CEO “evolved into somebody obsessed with avarice and power.”

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He also shared that he disagreed with Zuckerberg’s political views, stating, “These people have billions upon billions of dollars, more money than any human person has ever amassed. And what are they doing with it? Oh, they’re doing it to curry favor with somebody who’s preaching hateful things.”

Aaron Sorkin Found His New Zuckerberg

I love that everyone is complaining about jeremy strong when he literally fits older mark zuckerberg better and jesse eisenberg is also in his 40s pic.twitter.com/Z5750MUWS8

— Ryan’s Fortress 🍿 (@RyansFortress) June 11, 2026

Sorkin revealed that he first mentioned “The Social Reckoning” to Eisenberg at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. At that same event, he ran into Jeremy Strong, and they got to talking. When the screenwriter mentioned that he was working on a sequel to “The Social Network,” the actor said that he would be interested in the role of Zuckerberg if Eisenberg passed on the opportunity.

Strong told Variety in 2025 that he would approach the role just like any other, “with empathy, with objectivity, with care.” He agreed to take on the project, as he was fascinated by the material and thought it was one of the greatest scripts he’s ever read.

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When asked whether he’d reach out to Zuckerberg, Strong replied, “no comment,” adding that he did not have a social media presence.

“He showed up on his first day, and when he said ‘good morning’ to me, he was already talking like Mark,” Sorkin said about Strong.

Aaron Sorkin On The Challenges Of Writing The CEO

“The Social Reckoning” will focus on the 2021 Facebook leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen. Documents showed Facebook knew the platform had harmful societal effects, including political polarization, misinformation, and negative effects on mental health, but failed to take sufficient action as they conflicted with the business’ interests.

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According to Sorkin, one of the challenges was writing Zuckerberg like any other character and disregarding his personal views about him. “I can’t judge Mark Zuckerberg while I’m writing it. You’ve got to write the character like they’re making their case to God why they should be allowed into heaven,” he explained.

“The Social Reckoning” hits theaters on October 9, 2026.

Postmodernism is a term that’s a little hard to define, and the word can mean different things depending on what medium you’re talking about, but postmodernist literature is what’s being stuck to here. It is indeed (and unsurprisingly) a movement that came about after modernism, with postmodernism being a bit more abstract and willing to tackle confounding things in life to an even greater extent than modernist works might’ve.

There’s also some really interesting language used throughout most great postmodernist novels, and it’s therefore not too surprising that some rank among the very best – and most important – books of the second half of the 20th century. Postmodernism, as a literary genre, really came about in the 1950s, and was probably at its peak in the subsequent two decades, with many (but not all) of the following novels, which can be considered among the best postmodern books ever written, being from that time.

10

‘Mason & Dixon’ (1997)

Image via Henry Holt and Company

There is probably a Thomas Pynchon book you’re expecting to see here, even if you’ve not read it, because it’s kind of infamous (one that got a shout-out in Knives Out, of all places). And it will be here, a little later. For now, though, here’s another Pynchon novel: Mason & Dixon. This one’s challenging, but not so much because of its disturbing content, as other Pynchon novels are more confronting, as well as probably more confounding when it comes to things like narrative.

The story in Mason & Dixon is almost straightforward, at least by Pynchon’s standards, being a story within a story about Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who, in the 18th century, surveyed parts of North America together and established the Mason-Dixon line. The perplexing part of Mason & Dixon is the language used, as it’s done in a way that does some combination of homaging and parodying the literature of the time in which it’s set, but once you get used to that style, it’s a compelling read. Hell, it’s compelling in a weird way even if you don’t 100% get used to that style.

9

‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ (2003)

Image via Doubleday

Just to show that a book doesn’t have to be grim, confusing, and aimed at an adult audience to technically be postmodern, here’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Sure, it’s not as “important” or “classic” as some of the other books mentioned here, but it could work as a great introduction to unconventional literature, for younger readers. It’s postmodernism, but with the postmodernist training wheels still on (postmodernist wheels are like, triangles, or something, and there are two and a half wheels per set, because **** you, that’s why).

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is about a teenage boy who observes the world in a unique way, and what happens when he becomes fixated on solving the murder of a neighbor’s dog. The first-person narration here is really what carries the whole book, and makes it stand out, as does the use of maps and other images used throughout; they help make this somewhat postmodernist, and also, they help elevate what’s an already solid mystery novel into something of a modern classic.

8

‘Underworld’ (1997)

Image via Scribner

The idea of the “Great American Novel” has been a thing for so long, and the search for it has been so built up, it might well never be a thing. There might well never be a definitive “Great American Novel.” That doesn’t stop there from being contenders, though, with Underworld by Don DeLillo being at least worth considering… and it was even linked to the idea of the “Great American Novel” as early as the year it was first published.

What Underworld does narratively might not sound too wild, since it’s about the baseball that was hit by Bobby Thomson in 1951: the one in the so-called Shot Heard ‘Round the World. It’s about that baseball over the years, and the different people who obtained it at some point, but after the prologue dealing with the New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Dodgers match, Underworld jumps forward to the 1990s, and then each part of the book goes back 10 or so years, until things are back in the 1950s. That structure is very postmodernist, as is DeLillo’s general style, not to mention the sprawl and different tangents of Underworld. It’s huge, strange, overwhelming, and almost always very impressive, as a novel.

7

‘Lolita’ (1955)

Image via Olympia Press

You probably know what Lolita is about, and it is, but it’s also very different, in practice, than how some people like to describe it. On one hand, Lolita is easier to read than you might expect a book with such subject matter to have, as it is equal parts witty and poetic. But then it is somehow darker and more uncomfortable than you might be prepared for, and you’re already going to be prepared for something dark and uncomfortable.

It might be the fact that Lolita is funny and horrifying without it feeling like two different books clashing that makes it such a harrowing read. You’re always yanked around, and you feel like you’re being tormented, toyed with, and sometimes controlled by the book’s narrator… a man who infamously exerts control over the young girl he calls Lolita, all while attempting to manipulate other characters alongside those he’s telling his story to, too. The effect is dizzying, impressive, and hard to read, but persevering through this particular book is ultimately worth it.

6

‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ (1984)

Image via Harper Perennial

Of course The Unbearable Lightness of Being is postmodernist, with a title like “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and all. This is a book about a womanizer and the two women who have had the biggest impact on him, though he does have many more women in his life, and he’s far from a likable protagonist (it doesn’t feel like he’s supposed to be, either, but this still might be a turnoff for some readers).

Well, actually, that synopsis applies to the movie adaptation of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The book is also somewhat about those things, but is a lot more poetic and kind of dreamlike, de-emphasizing what narrative there is here while often being more concerned with philosophical ideas and other musings on life and love (or a lack thereof) more generally. It’s better – and more readable – than all that might make it sound, promise.

5

‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ (1969)

Image via Dell Publishing

Slaughterhouse-Five tackles so many genres at once, which is impressive, considering it’s not a long book, by any means. The first edition came in at under 200 pages, but in that time, Slaughterhouse-Five is about World War II, time travel, and trauma, being a satirical book, a work of science fiction, and a war novel (plus some other things, probably) all at once.

It’s the novel for which Kurt Vonnegut is best known, and it’s also up there among the greatest books of the 20th century, however you might be willing to define it; whatever category it gets slotted into. While The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time might be more approachable, Slaughterhouse-Five is also a good novel to read if you want a (relatively) gentle introduction to postmodern literature, mostly just because it’s quite punchy and a good deal shorter than some of the other books mentioned here. Speaking of longer books being mentioned here…

4

‘Infinite Jest’ (1996)

Image via Little, Brown and Company

…Infinite Jest. Hoo boy. This could be the final boss of postmodernist literature, in the sense that it’s unlikely anyone will write something simultaneously as long, unwaveringly ambitious/strange, postmodernist, and genuinely good in the foreseeable future. For starters, there are so many footnotes throughout Infinite Jest that if you exclusively read those footnotes, it still might take quite a bit longer than some full-length novels (based on the uncut audiobook of Infinite Jest being eight hours longer than the audiobook that only features the main novel, with the footnotes not being read).

And you might think that’s well and good and all, “But what is Infinite Jest actually about?,” you might be asking. Whatever you want it to be; whatever you end up thinking it’s about is what it’s about. It is as postmodernist as things get, while still being actually readable and often surprisingly entertaining. It’s a classic that feels like it has to be read, and yet it also feels very hard to actually recommend. Jest, so confusing.

3

‘Gravity’s Rainbow’ (1973)

Image via Viking Press

One of the things that gets brought up quite often, when talking about Gravity’s Rainbow, is how it broke the Pulitzer Prize jury the year it came out. Now, it’s not the only time there was some kind of dispute, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was not given out for a certain year, but it’s still interesting. Sorry if it’s something you already knew, but hey, it is a good way to summarize and succinctly explain the notion of Gravity’s Rainbow being challenging and very much not for everyone.

It’s a wild novel that manages to be incredibly long (more than 750 pages, and closer to 900, sometimes, depending on an edition’s formatting) and also remarkably dense, with plenty of sentences you’ll feel tempted to read again and again to make sense of them. If sense is even something that can be made here. And then there’s the matter of trying all those sentences, pages, and wildly different episodes together. It is postmodernism squared, and then some, but very much worth tackling whenever you find yourself with quite a bit of free time on your hands.

2

‘House of Leaves’ (2000)

Image via Pantheon

The style of House of Leaves is often the story, even more than a book where a distinctive style is used to tell the story. House of Leaves tackles psychological horror in a unique way, and in a manner that could only really be done as a book. If you want a movie that scratches the same itch as some of House of Leaves, there is always Backrooms, and also a rather famous mod for Doom II called MyHouse.wad is almost like a video game adaptation of parts of House of Leaves.

But even with these, it’s mostly just parts of the novel that are represented in these works from different mediums. There are different sorts of horror in House of Leaves, long tangents, supplemental material that helps the overall book (even if such parts aren’t always 100% necessary to read in their entirety), and countless smaller stories told through footnotes. You’ve also got the wild formatting that has to be seen to be believed, and it’s bonkers enough in that department that you probably couldn’t even do an audiobook version of House of Leaves, let alone make it into some kind of movie.

1

‘Libra’ (1985)

Image via Viking Press

It was hard limiting this whole ranking to only featuring two Don DeLillo novels, a little like how it was also hard including “only” two Thomas Pynchon ones. They’re not necessarily the grandfathers of postmodernism, but they’ve both been active for decades, and they’re also living legends in the sense that both have had works published in the 2020s (even if those books haven’t quite been as great as either author’s best works).

With DeLillo, White Noise deserves an honorable mention, but it’s Libra that’s his greatest novel overall. Even if it’s not as aggressively postmodern as Underworld, nor as sprawling, it is DeLillo’s most compelling novel, alongside being the hardest to stop thinking about, once you’ve read it. It’s the best story concerning the John F. Kennedy assassination (and there have been quite a few), and also one of the most paranoia-inducing novels of, potentially, all time. Sorry if that sounds a bit hyperbolic, but it really is something (very) special.

David Beckham was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first soccer player to receive the honor. He was surrounded by family and close friends, including his wife Victoria, and three of his four children. Notably absent was his firstborn, Brooklyn Beckham, amid reports of a rift within the family.

Brooklyn cut off all contact with the Beckhams several months ago, but not before releasing a lengthy statement accusing his parents of controlling his life. David and Victoria have since attempted to reconcile with their son to no avail.

On June 12, David Beckham received the 2,849th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame under the Sports Entertainment category. It was a momentous occasion for David, who joined other athletes honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in the past, including Shaquille O’Neal, Billie Jean King, Muhammad Ali, and Magic Johnson. David, however, was the first soccer player to receive a star.

Speaking during the ceremony, David said the moment felt “surreal.” “I’ve always been a dreamer, but I could never have imagined that an honor like this would come to a working class English soccer player like me,” he said.

David is widely regarded as one of the most iconic soccer players of his generation, playing for top clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid. He retired from the sport in 2013 and is the co-owner of the U.S. Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF.

Brooklyn Beckham Skipped The Ceremony

Tom Cruise was in attendance to honor David, and in his speech said, “His is a Hollywood story: a boy who believed in something bigger than himself, had to work for every opportunity he received, and went on to influence his sport, shape culture around the world, and create opportunities for generations who followed.”

Other celebrities present included Eva Longoria and James Corden. David’s family, including his wife Victoria and children Cruz, Romeo, and Harper, were also there to support him. Brooklyn, however, was nowhere in sight.

In January, the eldest Beckham child posted a lengthy note on Instagram Stories, accusing his parents of being controlling and undermining his relationship with his wife, Nicola Peltz, as The Blast previously reported. Before ending his message, he wrote, “I do not want to reconcile with my family.”

Harper Beckham Was Seen Outside Her Brother’s Home

According to Page Six, Harper was seen arriving in an SUV outside Brooklyn’s L.A. home shortly after David’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony concluded. She was wearing the same pink dress she wore at the event.

An insider, however, said that Brooklyn and Nicola were out of town, and Harper left shortly thereafter. The youngest Beckham sibling’s visit may have been another attempt at reaching out to her brother.

In February, Harper also mentioned Brooklyn in a Valentine’s Day post honoring her three brothers. She posted a black-and-white photo of her younger self alongside Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz, adding the text, “I love you all so much, words can’t describe it,” and tagging all three.

David Beckham Refuses To Talk Publicly About Rift

In an interview with Variety, David talked about his Hollywood star, his career, soccer, and his relationship with Victoria. When asked how they keep their relationship solid despite being constantly scrutinized by tabloids, the former athlete said that although they have busy schedules, their relationship and their family always come first.

“That’s our priority, and that’s what makes it work when you’ve been together for so long. Our priority will always be our family,” David explained.

When the topic went to the reported rift in the family, David was quick to say that he didn’t want to address it. “I’m sorry to stop you there, but that’s a private matter. That’s one thing that I don’t want to talk about,” David said.

David And Victoria Beckham Have Repeatedly Reached Out To Brooklyn

According to reports, Brooklyn blocked his parents on social media in December 2025 and stated that any future communication should be conducted only through his lawyers. He also asked them to stop tagging him on social media posts.

In March, on Brooklyn’s 27th birthday, both David and Victoria took to social media to share birthday greetings for their son. The husband and wife posted on their respective Instagram Stories, sharing photos of themselves during happier times with Brooklyn and greeting him a happy birthday. “I love you so much,” Victoria wrote.

In an interview with WSJ in April, Victoria touched on the topic, but didn’t go into specifics. “We’ve been in the public eye for more than 30 years right now, and all we’ve ever tried to do is protect our children and love our children. And you know, that’s all I really want to say about it,” she said.

For a long time, I thought vampire movies had a serious repetition problem. Somebody gets bitten, somebody spends half the film staring sadly out a window, almost everytime somebody (a vampire) falls in love with the wrong person (a human), and eventually somebody ends up dead. After a while, a lot of them started blending together in my memory.

The films on this list broke that pattern. These ten films represent some of the most visually striking, ambitious, and unforgettable examples the genre has ever produced, which is exactly why they still feel so alive decades after many of their contemporaries disappeared.

10

‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ (2013)

Image via Recorded Picture Company

Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) have been together for centuries, and by the time the film begins, they are already exhausted by most of modern life. Adam spends his nights recording music in Detroit and avoiding people whenever possible, while Eve arrives from Tangier carrying books, stories, and enough curiosity to make the world seem interesting again. Their relationship is unusually quiet for a vampire film. They are not chasing victims or fighting enemies. Most of the time they are simply talking, listening to music, driving through empty streets, and trying to find meaning in another century of existence.

What stays with me is how much attention the film gives to small things. Adam can spend several minutes discussing a scientist he admires, and Eve can become excited over a stack of old books. Even the cities matter because Detroit and Tangier feel worn down and beautiful in completely different ways. The vampire story almost becomes secondary to two immortal people trying to hold onto the things they still love.

9

‘Near Dark’ (1987)

Image via De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

Everything changes for Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) after one night with Mae (Jenny Wright), a drifter who bites him before disappearing into the darkness. By sunrise, Caleb can no longer stand daylight, and he is forced into a nomadic vampire group that travels across the American Southwest. The gang includes Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen), Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), and Severen (Bill Paxton), whose idea of passing time usually involves violence, intimidation, and leaving bodies behind.

A lot of vampire films surround their creatures with castles, ancient legends, or aristocratic manners. Near Dark drops them into motels, highways, and roadside bars instead. One of the most memorable scenes takes place inside a crowded bar where Severen spends the evening terrorizing strangers simply because he enjoys it. Caleb never fully fits into that lifestyle, which gives the story its tension. While the rest of the group accepts endless killing as normal, he keeps looking for a way back to the life he had before Mae found him.

8

‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992)

Image via Columbia Pictures

Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) travels to Transylvania expecting a routine legal assignment and quickly realizes Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) is nothing like the wealthy client he imagined. The castle feels isolated from the rest of the world, strange things happen at night, and Dracula becomes increasingly interested in Mina Murray (Winona Ryder) after seeing her photograph. Long before the story reaches London, the film already feels dreamlike, as though reality itself is starting to bend around the Count.

Much of the film revolves around Dracula’s obsession with Mina and his belief that she is connected to a love he lost centuries earlier. That idea gives the story a sadness that many vampire films never attempt. At the same time, Francis Ford Coppola fills almost every scene with elaborate costumes, shadows, candles, and practical effects that look handmade. Even people who dislike parts of the adaptation often remember individual images years later because there is so much visual imagination packed into nearly every sequence.

7

‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ (2014)

Image via Vice Films

Bad City looks like a place people forgot to leave. Oil pumps move endlessly in the distance, streets stay empty for long stretches, and most of the people still living there seem lonely in one way or another. Among them is Arash (Arash Marandi), a young man struggling with his father’s debts and increasingly difficult life. Somewhere else in the city, a vampire known simply as The Girl (Sheila Vand) spends her nights wandering the streets in a black chador, watching the people around her.

The Girl is not interested in random victims. Drug dealers, abusers, and men who prey on others often attract her attention first. One scene involving a skateboard and an empty street somehow becomes as memorable as the horror moments because the film spends so much time creating a mood unlike anything else in the genre. It moves at its own pace and trusts silence far more than dialogue.

6

‘Cronos’ (1993)

Image via October Films

Everything begins when Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi), an elderly antiques dealer, discovers a strange mechanical device hidden inside a statue. The object, known as the Cronos device, was created centuries earlier by an alchemist searching for eternal life. When Jesús accidentally activates it, a metal needle pierces his skin and starts changing him in ways he does not immediately understand. His health improves, his energy returns, and he begins craving things that once meant nothing to him.

The film becomes increasingly sad because Jesús is not somebody chasing immortality. He already has a family, a granddaughter who adores him, and a quiet life he seems perfectly happy with. Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) desperately wants the device for himself, while his nephew Angel (Ron Perlman) spends much of the story carrying out his orders with growing frustration. As Jesús changes, the film keeps returning to his relationship with his granddaughter Aurora (Tamara Shanath), and those scenes give the story far more emotional weight than a traditional monster movie.

5

‘Martin’ (1977)

Image via Libra Films

Martin (John Amplas) arrives in a small Pennsylvania town to live with his elderly cousin Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), who is convinced the young man is a vampire. Martin insists that he is completely ordinary, though his behavior makes that difficult to believe. He stalks women, breaks into homes, and uses syringes to sedate his victims before drinking their blood. Unlike most vampire films, there are no fangs, supernatural powers, or ancient curses here. Everything Martin does could be explained through reality.

That uncertainty hangs over the entire film. Martin tells stories about another life that may or may not have happened, while Cuda treats him as a genuine monster sent from centuries ago. George A. Romero never rushes to answer who Martin really is. Instead, the film becomes a portrait of loneliness, obsession, and a young man who seems completely disconnected from the people around him. Even decades later, very few vampire movies feel this unsettling or this difficult to categorize.

4

‘Let the Right One In’ (2008)

Image via Sandrew Metronome

Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) spends most of his time alone. He is bullied at school, struggles to connect with other children, and often retreats into his own imagination. Then Eli (Lina Leandersson) moves into the apartment next door. She only appears outside at night, rarely seems bothered by the freezing weather, and immediately feels different from everybody else around her. Their friendship develops slowly through conversations, small moments of trust, and shared loneliness.

At the same time, a series of killings begins attracting attention throughout the area. Eli’s connection to those murders becomes increasingly difficult to ignore, though the film never treats her as a simple villain. She remains a child in many ways, despite carrying burdens that nobody her age should understand. The swimming pool sequence near the end has become famous for good reason because it says almost everything about their relationship without showing very much directly. The film is violent when it needs to be, though most of its power comes from watching two isolated children find comfort in each other.

3

‘Shadow of the Vampire’ (2000)

Image via Lions Gate Films

During the production of Nosferatu in 1922, director F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich) becomes obsessed with creating the most realistic vampire film ever made. His solution is simple and completely insane: he hires a real vampire to play Count Orlok. Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe) joins the production, and at first the cast assumes he is merely an eccentric method actor. Before long, however, strange disappearances and unsettling behavior begin making that explanation harder to accept.

One of the film’s greatest strengths is how seriously everyone treats the filmmaking process. Murnau remains so focused on finishing his movie that he keeps ignoring increasingly obvious danger around him. Meanwhile, Schreck often seems more interested in understanding ordinary human behavior than hiding what he is. Watching Dafoe move through scenes with equal parts curiosity, hunger, and confusion becomes one of the film’s biggest pleasures. Instead of telling a vampire story directly, the film turns the making of a vampire movie into the horror story itself.

2

‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’ (1979)

Image via 20th Century Fox

When Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) travels to meet Count Dracula (Klaus Kinski), the journey already feels wrong long before they meet. Villagers warn him not to continue, the landscape grows increasingly empty, and Dracula’s castle appears almost abandoned by the rest of the world. Kinski plays Dracula as a deeply lonely figure rather than a powerful seducer. From his first scenes onward, he seems trapped inside centuries of isolation.

The relationship between Dracula and Lucy Harker (Isabelle Adjani) gradually becomes the center of the story. Dracula’s attraction to her carries genuine sadness because he understands that immortality has left him completely cut off from normal human life. Werner Herzog spends a great deal of time on images that have little to do with plot and everything to do with atmosphere. Empty streets, silent rooms, and entire towns overtaken by plague give the film a strange feeling that never leaves. It is a vampire story, though it often feels closer to a meditation on loneliness and decay.

1

‘Nosferatu’ (1922)

Image via Film Arts Guild

More than a century later, Nosferatu still contains images that instantly come to mind when people think about vampires. Count Orlok (Max Schreck) emerging from the darkness, standing rigid in a doorway, or moving through empty spaces remains unsettling because the character looks unlike almost every vampire that followed. He does not charm people, blend into society, or hide behind elegance. He looks sickly, animalistic, and genuinely disturbing.

The story itself follows Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) as he travels to Orlok’s castle and unknowingly helps bring the creature back to his hometown. Once Orlok arrives, disease begins spreading through the city, and fear quickly follows. Many modern vampire films focus heavily on romance, action, or mythology. Nosferatu strips things down to something much simpler and more primal. It is built around dread. Even with silent-film limitations, shadows, movement, and composition do so much work that many scenes remain more memorable than sequences from horror films made a hundred years later.

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Nosferatu

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Release Date

February 16, 1922

Runtime

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95 Minutes

Director

F. W. Murnau

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Writers

Henrik Galeen

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With 2019’s The Irishman, director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro reunited for another movie dealing with the history of organized crime in America. This was a seismic event, as the two artists were perhaps most associated with the mob movie, and their last collaboration had been 1995’s Casino, another sprawling mob epic based on real events. Even more encouraging was the return of De Niro’s Casino, Goodfellas, and Raging Bull costar Joe Pesci, and even better than that, Al Pacino would be working with Scorsese for the first time. The movie arguably became the defining mobster film of the 21st century, and the central trio made it even more meaningful, with one caveat: their age.

The Irishman technically spans from the mid-1940s to the 1990s, and De Niro is in nearly every scene throughout the film. The actor was 74 at the time of production, leading to the adoption of controversial “de-aging” technology, which could clean up wrinkles, age spots, and anything else that might make you think you’re looking at a 74-year-old man. But the realities of age and the inconsistency of the visual effects led to an early scene that damaged the movie’s credibility to many: an allegedly middle-aged De Niro kicking a grocer on the sidewalk. We see all of De Niro’s body, including some elderly fragility and leg-shaking, and the scene’s failure to hit its necessary effect might have weakened the impact of the whole film.

‘The Irishman’ Gave Viewers a Young De Niro Who Wasn’t

The Irishman begins at the end, with union truck driver and mafia hit man Frank Sheeran (De Niro) stuttering through the details of a 1970s road trip and then going back even further through multiple layers of flashbacks. Like a lot of Martin Scorsese mob epics, it’s a long movie, but it lacks the trademark snappy, jagged energy of something like Goodfellas or Casino. Instead, it’s a haunting story of an old man looking back, telling half-true stories and recalling his divided loyalties between Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) and mafioso Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci, playing a real-life character as he did in Casino). Unlike, say, The Godfather Part II (which also starred Pacino and De Niro), The Irishman didn’t recast for the younger versions of its characters. One unintentionally funny bit has Pesci calling a visibly elderly De Niro “kid.”

Because Scorsese and De Niro’s history of collaboration goes back to 1973’s scrappy gangster classic Mean Streets, the passage of time is visible in their work. In Mean Streets, De Niro played Johnny Boy, a wildly energetic screw-up whose recklessness drags Charlie (Harvey Keitel) and others into a spiral of unpaid bills and violence. And movies like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Cape Fear took their partnership to new and deeper levels, with De Niro finding new modes and often disturbing personalities (Frank, who frames his murders as regular old contract work, may be the most disturbing). Viewers who’ve seen Scorsese’s other movies know what young Robert De Niro looked like – and it’s not how the de-aging effects make him look in The Irishman. There’s a disconnect, and it’s not helped by scenes like him attacking the grocer.

The Grocer Scene Paid Homage to Martin Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’

Image via Netflix

The grocer scene in The Irishman is actually a trope in Scorsese’s mob movies: the explosion of violence in a mundane setting to show how organized crime coexists with polite society. Specifically, it’s echoing a scene from Goodfellas, in which Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) beats down a man who has assaulted his girlfriend. In the Goodfellas scene, the camera pans to follow Henry walking up to the man, and then stands still for about thirty horrific seconds as he attacks him with a pistol. Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus called it the most violent scene he’d ever filmed, according to Glenn Kenny’s making-of book Made Men.

In The Irishman, Frank (who by this point has been welcomed into the Bufalino crime family) is driven to violence by finding out his daughter Peggy (Lucy Gallina) has been harassed by a local grocer. Like Goodfellas, this scene takes place in broad daylight, with a simple wide shot that lets the violence play out in sickening detail. But a 70-something De Niro is going to have a different physicality than young Ray Liotta, and as he pushes his victim through a glass door and kicks him on the sidewalk, the effect isn’t exactly horrifying. The camera stands still on De Niro shuffling, without a lot of drive. While his performance in most of the movie is able to be threatening because of his dull affect and use of guns, this scene comes off more sad and pathetic—which might have been the point.

Why the Scene (and the De-aging) Works for ‘The Irishman’

Image via Netflix

The focus of the scene is not just on Frank’s ability to act violently in the public eye, but on Peggy’s recognition of the man her father truly is. We see Peggy eventually grow into a young woman (Anna Paquin), whose suspicion and fear of her father becomes the moral engine of the movie. And the final note of the beat down, in which Frank steps on the grocer’s fingers, is only heard as the movie cuts to Peggy’s reaction, which sells the horror of the moment (even if De Niro’s leg wobbles a bit beforehand).

While critics of the movie suggest Martin Scorsese could have filmed the scene in a different manner to accommodate De Niro’s age, that would have gone against the intention of the scene. Same with using a stunt double and plopping De Niro’s face on it. Believability wasn’t the goal of The Irishman. It was to spend a lifetime with De Niro as Frank Sheeran, to show the ravages of age and the regrets of a life of violence, as well as the malleability of memory, effectively summing up Scorsese’s career. Casting others to play the middle-aged versions of him or other characters would have diminished the effectiveness of the theme, even if it made scenes like the grocer beating more believable.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid shut down the speculation that Travis Kelce is distracted by his upcoming wedding to Taylor Swift amid NFL training camp.

“Listen, he has been here most of the offseason if not the whole offseason. He’s been around. It is good to have him here,” the longtime coach, 68, said of Kelce, 36, in a press conference on Friday, June 12. “He did the mandatory camp and [did] a nice job there. It’s good to have him back in and rolling.

Reid added that Kelce is “very excited” for the upcoming football season and is doing his part to get ready for it amid the plans of his and Swift’s nuptials. (Swift, 36 and Kelce announced their engagement in August 2025 and are expected to wed this summer.)

“You see no distractions with that and the wedding,” Reid explained. “It’s like when I got married my wife did everything, so I just kinda followed her lead on it.”

Andy joked that he just “showed up” to his wedding to wife Tammy Reid adding maybe that Kelce is “doing more” than him.

“But he looks like he is pretty focused on this job,” he said.

When asked if he was going to Swift and Kelce’s wedding Andy joked that he “can’t talk about it.”

One day before the Chiefs coach’s remarks, Kelce made a surprise appearance at Swift’s induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Kelce was not expected to attend the event as the Chiefs are currently in the middle of mandatory minicamp which ended on Thursday, June 11.

While Swift walked the red carpet solo, Kelce joined his fiancée inside the ceremony Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on Thursday. In addition to the football player, the pop star was joined by parents Andrea and Scott Swift, brother Austin Swift and Travis’ mom Donna Kelce.

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Related: ESPN Drops Major Hint About Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s Wedding Date

Before Travis Kelce officially returns for his 14th season with the Kansas City Chiefs later this year, the superstar tight end has another milestone on his calendar: getting hitched. Kelce, 36, and his fiancée, Taylor Swift, plan to get married “before training camp,” ESPN’s Chiefs insider Nate Taylor reported on Tuesday, March 10.  The Chiefs […]

Taylor was being honored alongside Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss, Kenny Loggins, Alanis Morissette, Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and more. She was the youngest-ever female inductee, beaten only by Stevie Wonder, who was inducted at age 32.

During her speech, the “I Knew It, I Knew You” singer thanked her family for their support all these years.

“It was easy to choose songwriting over everything else in my life, but it couldn’t have been easy for my parents and my brother to just pick up and move our entire family from Pennsylvania to relocate to Nashville so that I could hone my craft in the songwriting capital of the world,” she said, per Variety. “But after making obvious that this was not even remotely a temporary phase their teen daughter was going through, they uprooted their entire lives to move me to Music City. And even though words are supposed to kind of be my thing, I will never be able to express my gratitude to you guys for doing that for me. You’re the reason I’m here tonight.”

Invincible burst onto screens in a wave of bright colors and epic action brilliance that quite frankly stunned its entire audience. The series centers around the young Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), who finally gains his superpowers after his 17th birthday and desires to follow in his superhero father’s footsteps — only to discover that his father isn’t as heroic as he once believed. While its story and adult animated action are both unapologetically brutal and brilliant, there are quite a few epic animated sagas that have the superhero icon beat.

Brilliant shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender — often hailed as not only one of the world’s finest action animations but one of the greatest animated series, period — and the new fantasy epic, The Mighty Nein, which wields emotionally driven storytelling and expansive lore, are just two action shows that embody the genre just right. On this list are eight shows that prove that while Invincible may be a quality animated standout in the action genre, there exist many that are even better.

1

‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba’ (2019–Present)

Image via VIZ Media

This global anime phenomenon delivers impeccable action sequences and brilliant storytelling. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is set in Taisho-era Japan, centering on the tender-hearted teen Tanjiro Kamado (Natsuki Hanae), whose life is ultimately changed when he returns home after a day away to find his entire family slaughtered except for his little sister Nezuko (Akari Kitō), whose survival is due to her unexpected transformation into a demon. With an impressive determination to rid the world of demons permanently and return his sister to her former self, Tanjiro joins the secretive Demon Slayer Corps.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is well known for its incredible animation and is considered all the more brilliant for its fantastic battles. The anime has not only perfectly captivating fight sequences but also meaningful storytelling that is capable of drawing out sympathy from its audience towards its absolutely horrid villains. Compared to a hit series like Invincible, which features great animation for a Western TV show, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba wields story, animation, and crazy action that the Prime Video series can’t quite live up to.

2

‘Primal’ (2019–Present)

Image via Adult Swim

Primal is once again great proof that dialogue isn’t always necessary when delivering insane amounts of brutal action. The series follows the caveman Spear (Aaron LaPlante) and his unlikely bond with a Tyrannosaurid dinosaur named Fang as the duo traverses across a brutal primordial world in a bid for survival and adventure.

Set in prehistory, Primal is rife with dangers that lead to some of the most captivating action scenes seen on television. The pure violence featured in the show is sometimes unyielding and nail-bitingly unflinching. The show holds a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score for both seasons, as audiences have consistently hailed it for its bold experiment in storytelling. Both Primal’s animation and action sequences are beautifully brutal, as they portray a life of everyday survival in a world of monsters and mayhem. Invincible may have the series beat in dialogue and heavy plot, but Primal brings to screens a pure visual narrative that masterfully resonates with audiences, keeping them thoroughly hooked.

3

‘The Mighty Nein’ (2025–Present)

Image via Prime Video

This character-driven animated adaptation brings to the screen an insane amount of great fantasy action. Set in the same universe as the underrated The Legend of Vox Machina, The Mighty Nein adapts Critical Role’s second D&D campaign. Its story centers on a group of unrelated outcasts who find themselves forced together by circumstance and a growing, unyielding bond of reluctant friendship as they find themselves with mutual enemies.

Filled with entertaining adventure, The Mighty Nein gifts audiences a series rife with heists, outrageous brawls, and battles against fanatical mages. The series may be new, having debuted in 2025, but fantasy action lovers have already raved about the show’s notable high quality. While the series shares a space with Invincible on the platform Prime Video, The Mighty Nein wields a deeper lore with more expansive worldbuilding that Invincible can’t compare to. For fans of the superhero series, The Mighty Nein is just as adult-oriented, but with a richer, more immersive setting that’s worth investing in.

4

‘Teen Titans’ (2003–2006)

Image via Warner Bros. Animation

Teen Titans is a beloved DC series that remains a defining animated action staple of its era. This Cartoon Network hit follows the Teen Titans, a group of superhero apprentices who set out on their own, tackling evil to keep their home, Jump City, safe.

Teen Titans may be getting up there in age, but for the three years it was on air, it captivated a diverse array of viewers, with not only its incredible action but also its extremely catchy theme song. From the show’s genuine humor, animation style, and expressive visual gags to intense mood switches and stylized action scenes, Teen Titans brought to screens a truly unforgettable work of fiction. The show’s character development is quite impressive, while its more serious themes were able to cultivate a wide-ranging fanbase. Shows like Invincible would simply not be a thing without quality childhood gems like Teen Titans. With an edge that outshines newer animated series and a cultural impact that dubs it a classic, Teen Titans stands as an enduring animation that is truly unforgettable.

5

‘Batman: The Animated Series’ (1992–1995)

Image via Warner Bros. Animation

This legendary DC series is a high-quality classic that set the gold standard for animated action TV hits. Batman: The Animated Series centers around superhero icon Bruce Wayne/Batman (Kevin Conroy) as he prowls the crime-ridden streets of Gotham City, tackling various terrible villains.

Despite its age, Batman: The Animated Series is a quality landmark series widely regarded as one of the greatest cartoons of all time. The show is definitely one of the best benchmarks for superhero storytelling and won multiple awards, as it’s consistently praised for its sophisticated narrative and atmospheric art style that appeals to both kids and adults. Compared to a modern icon such as Invincible, the DC series still ranks above it, with great storytelling, impeccable action, character development, and the late Kevin Conroy’s brilliant performance as the leading man.

6

‘My Hero Academia’ (2016–Present)

Image via Studio Bones

My Hero Academia is a global phenomenon anime hit that ranks high in the superhero genre. The series is set in a world where almost everyone wields a superpower known as a “quirk.” In this colorful world of amazing powers exists the young Izuku “Deku” Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita), a boy who is in the very low percentage of people who are quirkless. With a striking determination to be a hero, Deku’s life abruptly changes when the hero he idolizes gifts him a quirk of his very own after he displays a brief bout of brilliant heroics.

My Hero Academia is an emotional wild ride of pure epic brilliance. The series has received widespread praise for its reinvigoration of the superhero anime genre, with its countless wholesome scenes and masterful action sequences. With an iconic soundtrack to boot, MHA has been lauded as an emotional journey that wields quite a few epic battles that place all that’s important on the line. Featuring themes of resilience, bravery, and heartfelt friendship, My Hero Academia is truly in a realm of its own.

7

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (2005–2008)

Image via Nickelodeon

This Nickelodeon hit animated series is one of the best TV shows of all time. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fantasy action series set in a world of elemental magic, centering on 12-year-old Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) — the world’s current Avatar — and his friends Katara (Mae Whitman) and Sokka (Jack De Sena) on a quest to ensure Aang masters all four existing elements needed to save the world from the terror brought on by the Fire Nation.

Balancing heartfelt character development, rich worldbuilding, and themes of destiny, war, and redemption, Avatar: The Last Airbender delivers an animated series that completely captivates. The show has consistently been called one of the best animated series brought to screens, receiving praise for its thematic depth, nuanced storytelling, and complex characters. The show may be a cartoon, but its cinematic action sequences and meaningful depth appeal to an incredibly wide-ranging audience. While Invincible is one of the best in the superhero genre, Avatar is notable for its transcendence in the youth fantasy genre entirely.

8

‘Blue Eye Samurai’ (2023–Present)

Image via Netflix

Standing as one of Netflix’s finest animated gems, Blue Eye Samurai is a relatively new series that offers a feudal Japan action saga with an epic twist. Set in the Edo period, the series follows a mixed-race female samurai, Mizu (Maya Erskine), born to a Japanese mother and a foreign European father, whose prominent blue eyes have been a cause for torture and discrimination by the people around her. Hiding her identity as not only a mixed-race individual but also a woman, Mizu wanders Japan as a sword master, seeking revenge against the white men who she suspects fathered her and ruined her mother’s life.

Blue Eye Samurai is a Netflix series that is, honestly, horribly underrated. The show not only features incredible storytelling but also almost unparalleled action sequences that leave viewers on the edge of their seats. The series doesn’t shy away from gore, as duels are often bloody and incredibly swift. While exploring themes of prejudice, identity, and the cost of hatred, Blue Eye Samurai delivers a truly enthralling series rife with striking animation, complex storytelling, and maturity.

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Blue Eye Samurai

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Release Date

November 3, 2023

Showrunner

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Michael Green, Amber Noizumi

Directors

Jane Wu

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Writers

Michael Green, Amber Noizumi

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