By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 5 seconds ago

Every now and then, you get a movie description that sounds a bit like the setup to a bad joke. For example, let’s say someone tells you the following: “Jason Stackhouse, Frank Heffley, and Tyrion Lannister must team up with River Tam in order to save a bunch of cosplayers from a sexy lady.” You’re waiting for a punchline, right? There’s no punchline, though, because there’s no joke. There’s just Knights of Badassdom, arguably the weirdest and most underrated character actor collaboration of modern film.

This is a movie whose core cast includes Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse from True Blood), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones), and Summer Glau (River Tam from Firefly), making Knights of Badassdom the rare collision of fantasy, sci-fi, and gothic horror. The resulting film is a strange brew that gets a bit better with each sip you take. Where else can you find demons, magic, and cosplay? If you just reflexively answered “in my porn search history,” you’re the perfect audience for this naughty, nerdy film now streaming for free on Tubi!

Roll For Initiative

The premise of Knights of Badassdom is that after an aspiring musician gets dumped by his girlfriend, his friends try to cheer him up by dragging him to a LARPing event. This is meant to be a lighthearted weekend of them dressing like medieval warriors and beating the crap out of other people using foam swords. However, when someone reads the wrong incantation, they accidentally cast a spell that summons a real-life succubus. Unless they can stop her, this deadly demon is going to have her own revenge on the nerds, one bloody kill at a time.

If the plot didn’t give you a clue, Knights of Badassdom is not a film that takes itself very seriously. That’s a good thing. By keeping everything light, director Joe Lynch (who would later direct the pitch-perfect horror movie, Mayhem) invites audiences to bask in the surreal spectacle of live-action role players. Everything is undeniably silly, but the LARPers are so unbearably earnest that it’s impossible not to love their increasingly stupid hijinks. Plus, real talk? If you’ve ever LARPed or simply attended a cosplaying event, every cringe character moment will seem far too familiar. Worry not, though, as Lynch’s movie is (almost) always laughing with you and not at you.

Looking For Group

The strongest aspect of Knights of Badassdom is its cast, which is surprisingly stacked for a low-budget, lo-fi horror flick. Ryan Kwanten is our lead actor, and he’s really just doing a variation on his character from True Blood: all heart and no brains. Fortunately, he has breezy, grinning affability that helps him win you over from his very first appearance. Speaking of not playing against type, Steve Zahn leans fully into the familiar role of air-headed chaos agent. However, Peter Dinklage is the film’s real secret weapon. The most popular Game of Thrones actor in a movie filled with swords and sorcery? Talk about a perfect combination!

Dinklage deserves special praise for fully embracing the zaniness of this wacky plot. From the outside looking in, it seemed like the Game of Thrones actor was really slumming it by being in this film. But instead of phoning in his performance, Dinklage brought the full weight of his considerable charisma to every scene. In the hands of lesser actors, Knights of Badassdom would descend into full farce. Dinklage fully commits to the chaos, though, and that helps lend the silly script the earnestness needed for us to really care about these characters.

Bringing The Summer Heat

With that being said, it’s arguably Summer Glau who really holds this movie together. While initially presented as an archetypal prize (the insanely hot super-dork), her character is refreshingly given plenty of agency and constantly steals scenes even better than Dinklage. Filmed about eight years after she dazzled in Firefly and Serenity, Glau was still fully in her niche as the geek next door to genre fans around the world. She’s so good in every scene, and it’s fair to say she is given more to do (as both actor and character) here than she was ever given in the sci-fi show that made her famous.

Knights of Badassdom is a movie that only does a few things, but it does them very well. For example, the cast is small, but that just gives each of our principal performers that much more time to shine. The movie is more intimate than epic, but that helps it achieve a perfectly cozy vibe (i.e., a movie to watch with buddies and beers). The special effects are modest, but that’s okay. The emphasis on practical effects elevates both the humor and the horror, and when we do get fancy effects, they’re usually worth the wait. 

For all of its killer casting and awesome ambition, Knights of Badassdom never really landed on most nerds’ radar. That’s a shame because this outwardly goofy movie is doing something very profound: it’s using the actors and tropes of genre storytelling to deconstruct that genre altogether. In a film whose heroes blend the mundane with the magical, this movie challenges audiences to find the call to adventure lurking within every corner of our shopworn, everyday lives. It’s obviously hard to deconstruct nerd culture without offending your target audience, so Knights of Badassdom was always destined to be a roll of the die. Fortunately, this cult classic landed a critical hit.

Care to roll the dice for your evening entertainment? You could do far worse than Knights of Badassdom, a movie featuring the people you see at nerd conventions doing the same thing you do at nerd conventions: dress like a weirdo and geek out with your fellow freaks. The movie is a celebration of its subject matter, and you will never find a more passionate (like, the sloppiest of sloppy kissing passionate) love letter to the entire genre. It’s streaming for free on Tubi, so you’re just one click away from watching an unforgettable fantasy adventure about bros, brotherhood, and battle.

KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM SCORE

Or, you know, just one click away from staring at Summer Glau for an hour and a half. Either way, it’s the perfect way to spend your evening!

Nearly three years ago, rom-com aficionado Will Gluck struck gold with his sizzling spin on Shakespeare, Anyone but You. Carried by the chemistry of its magnetic stars, Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, it became an unexpected global phenomenon, earning $220 million globally and becoming the highest-grossing live-action adaptation of The Bard’s work ever to hit theaters. Now, the writer-director is looking to see if lightning can strike twice with an even wilder premise that invokes The Purge. Ahead of its arrival in August, we’re excited to feature One Night Only as part of Collider’s Exclusive Summer Preview series, and we can share a new image highlighting the central romance between Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro on the steamiest night of the year.

Our exclusive still shows the A Complete Unknown and Masters of the Air stars opposite each other in apparently matching vehicles, leaning out of their respective windows for a cute little moment as Barbaro reaches out her hand. From the looks on their faces, their chance encounter has sparked something special that viewers will get to see unfold across one chaotic evening in a slightly fictionalized New York. The duo plays Allie and Owen, love-starved strangers who are looking for something more. One is a hopeful romantic, and the other is still recovering from a break-up, yet despite the clear connection between them, everything seems to keep getting in their way. It’s fitting that they’re in separate cars, signaling how, despite being so close in the bustling city, they remain so far from each other.

The rub of One Night Only is that it takes place in a world where single people are only legally allowed one night a year to hook up with one another. That leaves Allie and Owen as outliers at a time when everyone in the city is scrambling to take advantage of the opportunity. Amid the hustle and bustle, however, one misstep and detour after another conspires to keep them separated, pulling them towards and away from each other throughout the evening. Yet, in their attempts to link up, they may discover that exactly what they’ve been looking for has been much closer than they could’ve imagined when they take a moment to reflect.

Who Else Is Coming Out for ‘One Night Only’?

The chemistry between Turner and Barbaro will be what makes the magic for One Night Only, but the cast is also stacked with talent. Joining them in the high-concept rom-com are Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, King Princess, Ben Marshall, Ziwe, Molly Ringwald, Nicholas Braun, and LeVar Burton. Gluck penned his script based on an original screenplay by Travis Braun, whose original work topped the 2024 Black List. In an interview with Collider’s Michael Zimmerman, the two leads attested to how Gluck, with his wealth of experience in the genre, helped elevate the project to new heights. Turner recalled how the writer-director spurred the actors to get creative and experiment, making something both more organic and freeing to be a part of.

“I agree entirely, and Will Gluck, I think, is the third piece of that jigsaw where, you know, you’re getting to work with someone who is brilliant in this world, in every world. But in this world in particular, you know, Friends With Benefits and Easy A and Anyone but You. I love those movies now. And I’ve watched them over and over. So to get to be in a movie that he’s making is a gift. And to watch him work, and he’s kind of like an adrenaline junkie, man. Like you had the script and we did two weeks of rehearsals, and we like, fine-tuned things and rewrote things, and then you get to set and he would say let’s mix it up, and so we try different things and we remold a scene, and it was really exhilarating for me, I’m sure for you, too. A safe space to fall on your face and try stupid things. It was an incredibly liberating experience for me.”

One Night Only arrives in theaters on August 7. Check out our exclusive new image above and stay tuned here at Collider throughout the rest of the week for more new looks at upcoming films from our summer preview series.

Jennifer Lopez showed that she’s still got her svelte figure from more than two decades ago, rocking a pair of lace-up jean pants she wore in the 2001 “Ain’t It Funny” video.

Fans couldn’t believe it as many took to social media to gush over her well-maintained shape and ageless glow.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez continues to spark relationship rumors with her “Office Romance” co-star Brett Goldstein, as he left her wowed with his near-perfect knowledge of her movies.

Lopez teamed up with actress Mika Abdalla to recreate a famous scene from Amazon Prime’s “Off Campus,” where the younger actress shows up in a green dress that looks like the one Lopez wore to the Grammy Awards in 2000.

In the video, the mother of two wears figure-hugging denim jeans with a white crop top, while Abdalla is seen wearing a baggy pair of jeans with a brown crop top.

“I don’t know her personally, but I’m pretty sure that’s Jlo,” Abdalla lip-syncs to a voiceover audio of co-star Khobe Clarke’s line from the movie.

The camera then pans to Lopez, who lip-syncs Abdalla’s character,  Allie Hayes’s line, saying, “Oh my God, this is me. Now,”

They then hugged each other before dancing to the singer’s 2011 hit “Get On The Floor.”

Advertisement

“It’s a new Jeneration of party people…” the “Hustlers” actress captioned the clip.

However, an eagle-eyed fan pointed out that her pants are “insane,” to which she revealed, “They’re the same ones from that video.”

Fans Praise The Pop Star For Her Stunning Physique

Aside from the fact that she has been able to maintain her banging body over the years, several fans were left stunned as to how she looked even better.

“Being able to wear the same pair of jeans from 20 years ago is such a flex. Mother behavior,” an X user wrote in the comments, while another added, “Wait whaaaaat they lasted all this time?”

“You look the same as you did when you were 20!” one fan said.

Advertisement

Someone else wrote, “You’re the biggest proof that age is just a number, queen.”

“Oh QueenLo, you are aging like the finest wine,” another fan gushed.

Sources Dispel Jennifer Lopez’s Dating Rumors With ‘Office Romance’ Co-Star

Lopez has been promoting her upcoming Netflix movie “Office Romance” featuring co-star Brett Goldstein, ahead of its premiere on June 5th.

The pair had sparked romance rumors after she praised him for being the best kisser she’d ever worked with, as well as going on a Broadway date night in New York City.

However, reports suggest it’s all just for show to drum up buzz for the film and push Goldstein into a “leading man status.”

Advertisement

“Jennifer and Brett are not dating or romantically involved at all,” an insider told the Daily Mail.

“They think it’s actually really funny that people are suggesting they are [dating], and they’re going with it because they’re both really excited for Office Romance to come out,” the source continued.

Jennifer Lopez Wants To Turn Her Co-Star Into The Next Big Thing

The “Ted Lasso” actor, however, seems smitten by the “Maid In Manhattan” actress as he gushed over her appearance in “Hustlers,” during a 2018 episode of his podcast, “Films to Be Buried With.”

In a recent interview shared by Netflix, he left her stunned with his near-perfect knowledge of her movies like “Maid in Manhattan,” “Selena,” and “Hustlers,” answering nearly all questions posed to him.

A second source who spoke to the Daily Mail noted that they may not be dating, but Lopez doesn’t mind playing make-believe to elevate his star power.

Advertisement

“Brett is a star, but he isn’t a leading man that everyone knows about and cares about,” the second insider said. “This movie he is doing with Jen, it is her job to make him, and she is taking on that position to heart. She wants him to be the next big thing.”

The Singer’s Relationship With Brett Goldstein Is ‘Nothing More Than A Showmance’

Speaking further on the romance rumors, the source noted that Lopez and Goldstein are both aware of the romance rumors and leaning into them for the sake of their movie.

They continued, “If the movie is received well and he also gets the shine from ‘being in a relationship’ with J-Lo, it shows that he is important and on his way to leading man status. As much as there is chemistry, they are also playing the game to make him into something he isn’t yet.”

“She will take the attention it brings, and she will gladly give him some shine, but it is currently nothing more than a showmance for them over a romance,” the insider added.

Advertisement

Summer House’s West Wilson is addressing ex Ciara Miller’s intense reaction to his newfound romance with costar Amanda Batula.

West, 31, was quizzed about how Ciara has taken the news by his “Show Me Something” cohost Sophie Cunningham on the Monday, May 25, episode of their podcast. West dated Ciara for several months in 2023 before calling it quits. They appeared to be getting close again last summer, as documented on Summer House season 10, which is currently airing on Bravo.

But the Summer House cast and viewers alike were left shocked in March when West and Amanda, 34, confirmed they were seeing one another. (Amanda announced her split from husband Kyle Cooke, 43, in January.)

“This is probably me totally being mean, but did you ever get to tell Ciara, like, ‘Dude, we were not dating?’” Sophie asked West on Monday.

Related: Revisit Ciara Miller and West Wilson’s Relationship Timeline

West Wilson and Ciara Miller quickly caught each other’s eyes during Summer House season 8. The season was filmed during summer 2023, but fans didn’t get an inside look into their relationship until episodes hit Bravo starting in February 2024. Things between West and Ciara were hot and heavy in the beginning — but they […]

West responded, “The last two months, I’ve been in such, like, survival mode that I haven’t really taken a lot of time to process s***. I was just trying to survive and keep it moving and stay distracted. I kind of have run out of steam the last few weeks. I’ve had a lot of time to think and reflect.”

“I know a lot of people’s feelings are hurt, especially Ciara and Kyle. No s***,” he continued. “Even though there’s so much gray area up for interpretation, at least with Ciara and I … the end of summer, we were canoodling again. I told Ben [Waddell] I wasn’t trying to be a boyfriend or whatever. I think it’s still a shock to the system and people feel betrayed. I’m not trying to convince anyone that their feelings don’t matter.”

West and Amanda were confronted about their relationship by their fellow castmates during the Summer House season 10 reunion, which filmed in April and is set to begin airing Tuesday, May 26, on Bravo.

In a teaser clip from the three-part reunion, Ciara, 30, can be heard telling Amanda, “He wants to embarrass me. He wants to get his last little word. And I hope it works, because he’s with you to spite me.”

On Monday’s podcast, West denied that was the case.

“I was a deer in the headlights for a lot of it,” he said of filming the reunion. “I was just like, why is that something I would ever do? That’s the thing with this reality TV s***. So many people interpret things differently. If I tried to fight everyone’s different opinion on s*** I’ve done, I would be f***ing dead and on the floor. It’s just not worth reacting to s*** like that. But [that’s] obviously not the case.”

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

Advertisement

West also said that he attempted to clarify the timeline of his relationship with Amanda at the reunion amid speculation that they were getting close while filming season 10 last summer.

Sophie asked West if he got to “squash” any “false narratives” at the reunion, to which he responded, “I did feel like it was hard to finish most of my thoughts, but the main one was that anything was happening during the summer. Everyone watches that back now and is like, ‘They’re all over each other.’ I do think we made it clear that wasn’t happening.”

“Everything else is up for interpretation, but I mostly just tried to apologize and hope it comes across. I’m not known to be a strong reunion player, so you just kind of get through it,” West added.

There are few things we love more than a beauty product that has so many uses that we don’t know how we ever got by without it. That’s how we feel about this skincare oil, which has been used by Kim Kardashian and Meghan Markle. No matter your face or body skin concern, chances are that this product can help with its appearance.

Kardashian has used Bio-Oil Skincare Oil and credited it with keeping her skin stretch mark-free, according to a since-deleted post on her website, as documented in Marie Claire. “It just makes my skin glow, and it has so many benefits,” Kardashian wrote. “If you have a scar or stretch marks, you just massage the oil onto the area two times a day.”

Markle has also used the skincare oil to keep stretch marks at bay, an insider told The Sun. At the time of this insight, Markle was pregnant with her first child. So, Bio-Oil is truly a trusted product during such a body-changing time in life.

Get the Bio-Oil Skincare Oil for $25 at CVS!

Maybe you have acne scars that still bother you years later. Or maybe you’re pregnant and trying to improve the look of stretch marks. Or maybe you have uneven skin for one reason or another and want to work on that. Those are just some of the issues that Bio-Oil Skincare Oil can help with.

Although this skincare oil has caught the eye of celebrities, you don’t have to worry about it having a high price tag. It comes in a variety of sizes, and its reasonable cost makes it clear why it’s such a staple. Plus, a little goes a long way, so you’ll certainly get your money’s worth.

To get maximum benefits, the brand recommends taking the oil and massaging it in a circular motion on your face or body until it’s fully absorbed. It was designed to be fast-absorbing and non-comedogenic, so it won’t clog pores, even on those who have sensitive or acne-prone skin. Apply it twice a day for at least three months for serious results.

Bio-Oil Skincare Oil is able to do what it does thanks to a few key ingredients. Purcellin oil repairs and re-regulates the skin’s moisture barrier, and vitamin A encourages new collagen formation and helps skin that’s been damaged by ultraviolet (UV) rays. Meanwhile, lavender oil calms and soothes the skin, and rosemary oil invigorates and conditions the skin.

There aren’t many people who wouldn’t benefit from the helpful properties of this beauty staple. We know Kardashian and Markle have certainly reaped the benefits!

Get the Bio-Oil Skincare Oil for $25 at CVS!

Nobody does action quite like Hong Kong. The region has given the world some of the most influential directors and classic films, like John Woo‘s The Killer and Hard Boiled, and Jackie Chan‘s action-comedy Police Story. At the Toronto International Film Festival last year, a new film staked its claim as a modern Hong Kong masterpiece, earning a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes following its Midnight Madness premiere and finishing as a runner-up for the section’s People’s Choice Award behind Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie in a stacked field that also featured Curry Barker‘s Obsession. That title was Kenji Tanagaki‘s martial arts epic The Furious, and we’re thrilled to include it as part of Collider’s Exclusive Summer Preview series ahead of its arrival in theaters next month.

Set to be released by Lionsgate, The Furious is a violent mixing pot of bloody action film and revenge thriller DNA, most commonly earning comparisons to Gareth Evans‘ The Raid and the Liam Neeson favorite Taken. It centers on a resolute father named Wang Wei (Xie Miao), whose daughter is kidnapped by a human trafficking network, sending him on a path of destruction to get her back when it’s clear the police will be of no help. His only ally in his pursuit of vengeance is a journalist named Navin (Joe Taslim), whose wife has mysteriously vanished, likely at the hands of the same criminal organization. Together, they face the kidnappers head-on, raining fists and fury upon anyone in their way either to save the ones they love or, at the very least, bring justice to the men responsible for ripping them away.

As part of our preview event, we can share two new exclusive images that highlight The Furious‘ heroes as they prepare to fight. The first looks as if it belongs right alongside The Raid, with its gritty aesthetic backing a bloodied, yet determined Wei and Navin. Neither Xie nor Taslim is a stranger to martial arts action flicks, with the former cutting his teeth as the on-screen son of the legendary Jet Li in The New Legend of Shaolin and My Father Is a Hero, and the latter shining in The Raid, Fast & Furious 6, and, most recently, Mortal Kombat II. When they’re both stanced up, pure carnage is about to unfold. On the flip side, the other shot highlights the more personal angle of the film, showing Wei next to his daughter, Rainy (Yang Enyou). Judging by their looks, neither will make it out of this nightmare scenario completely unscathed, and there’s always the fear of who or what could be waiting around any corner to interrupt this rescue mission.

‘The Furious’ Is Packed With Martial Arts Prowess

Joining Xie and Taslim in the chaotic martial arts epic is another The Raid alum, Yayan Ruhian, who’s responsible for some of the most kinetic modern action scenes ever put to screen, from Evans’ classic and its sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum. Also starring are Chocolate and Triple Threat standout Jeeja Yanin, Everything Everywhere All At Once‘s Brian Le, and Alice in Borderland‘s Joey Iwanaga. Tanagaki directed from a script by Mak Tin Shu, Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan Sin, and Frank Hui, and, during an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub at TIFF, he confirmed that it only took a breezy 60 days to shoot The Furious. 18 days and “every night” alone were spent on a massive fight in a police station, further making the film a technical marvel carried by its remarkable choreography and killer cast.

The Furious hits theaters on June 12. Check out our exclusive images above and stay tuned here at Collider throughout the week for more exciting new looks at the hottest upcoming films in our summer preview series.

Advertisement

Release Date

Advertisement

June 12, 2026

Runtime

114 Minutes

Advertisement

Director

Kenji Tanigaki

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement