By Robert Scucci
| Published 55 seconds ago

Ever since George Miller gave us the first Mad Max movie in 1979, moviegoers have been assaulted with cheap imitations, some of which are actually quite good. 1986’s Dead End Drive-In is a superb example of how a society in decline manages to operate before everything totally collapses. It exists in an early state of decay, showing how the powers that be still struggle to keep the common citizen under their thumbs, while the common citizen tries to navigate a bleak future looming over the horizon. More often, though, we get films like 1985’s Wheels of Fire, which might as well be called The Road Warrior, But Not As Cool.

In this film, we’re already occupying the wasteland, resources are scarce, and it’s every man for himself. There are trucks and explosions, and a rag-tag group of miscreants trying to fight off evil militias, with their only hope being to live another day before figuring out where they’re going to scavenge next. It’s a fun, action thriller B-movie, but most of the excitement I felt while watching it was over how awesome it’s going to be the next time I watch a Mad Max film. I’m way overdue to revisit Fury Road, and I have Wheels of Fire to thank for making me realize that.

The Ownership, True Believers, Rebel Gangs, And Lots Of Stuff Blowing Up 

Wheels of Fire follows the adventures of Trace (Gary Watkins), a former member of a militia known as The Ownership. The Ownership’s entire reason for being is to establish stable communities where people can start rebuilding peacefully. Scavenging along with Trace is his sister, Arlie (Lynda Wiesmeier), and her boyfriend, Bo (Steve Parvin), but the group quickly gets broken up by a warlord named Scourge, who captures and enslaves Arlie, while Bo falls in with his gang.

Along the way, Trace befriends a lone mercenary named Stinger (Laura Banks), and the two cross paths with a group of Sand People and a psychic named Spike (Linda Grovenor), only to run into another community known as the True Believers. Scourge, who simply wants to rule over everybody, is hellbent on destroying both The Ownership and the True Believers if it means he gets to be the ruler of the wasteland. Lots of stuff blows up, everybody’s wearing leather in the desert, and you can only imagine just how bad everybody smells in this context.

A Quick And Fun Imitation

While I give credit to Wheels of Fire for having fun with a formula that was already perfected with 1981’s The Road Warrior, it’s also all over the place, and undermines its own adventure by trying to cram so much lore into such a short run time. The entire movie clocks in at 81 minutes, and just when you think things are getting going, the credits are already rolling. It’s one of those “drive off into the sunset” kind of movies, as it’s pretty obvious that nobody’s situation is going to improve overnight, and there’s still a long road ahead. In order for that to work, though, a film like Wheels of Fire has to be good enough to warrant a sequel that allows for that lore to properly build out.

Instead, we have a bunch of wasteland renegades on the adventure of a lifetime, but there’s such a lack of charisma that nobody seems like they want to be there at all. Even when the film was at its most intense, I kept thinking to myself, “Man, if I were there, I’d go out in an epic blaze of glory unlike these clowns.” The most we get here is some yelling and a bunch of marauders sauntering around the desert haphazardly, simply going where the screenplay tells them to walk.

Still, Wheels of Fire is such a low-stakes film that any fan of that dusty and crusty Mad Max flavoring will find enjoyment in its aesthetic because you really can’t go wrong with it, which is why we’re still silently holding out hope for another Mad Max movie that we’ll probably never get. Though there are murmurs of a TV series in development, so never say never.

As of this writing, you can stream Wheels of Fire for free on Tubi.

Maggie Sajak is showing support for boyfriend Jackson Olson after his Dancing With the Stars casting news.

“SO PROUD @jacksonolson_ !!!” Sajak, 31, wrote via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, May 12, while sharing Olson’s cast announcement.

In another slide, Sajak shared a photo of herself and Olson, 28, cuddled up together as they watched a fireworks display.

“Beyond proud of you @jacksonolson_ …the dance floor better get ready,” she added.

Olson, a player for the Savannah Bananas and viral internet sensation, was announced as DWTS season 35’s latest celebrity cast member during Disney’s Upfront presentation on Tuesday.

Related: Maggie Sajak Supports Boyfriend Jackson Olson at Savannah Bananas’ Game

When Jackson Olson takes the field during some of his biggest games to date, he’ll have an extra special cheerleader in the stands. Just a couple of weeks after hard-launching his relationship with Maggie Sajak, daughter of famed gameshow host Pat Sajak, the Savannah Bananas baseball player was able to have his girlfriend attend one […]

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“This banana is hitting the ballroom! 🍌🕺,” the official DWTS Instagram page shared. “Catch @jacksonolson_ on the new season of #DWTS, this fall on ABC, Disney+, and Hulu.”

Love Island’s Maura Higgins and Summer House star Ciara Miller were previously revealed as cast members.

During an appearance on Good Morning America on Wednesday, May 13, Olson said he “manifested” his casting.

“When I was a kid, I never thought any of this was possible, even like, playing for the Bananas or anything like that. I was a shy kid that never danced, never put myself out there, never entertained and found a passion for it,” he explained. “And now I kind of manifested this whole thing and posted a couple TikToks last year just joking [about joining the show], pranking my coach that I was going to be on the show, never thinking that it was a possibility. But when I posted it, I’m like, ‘Maybe there is a possibility.’ I saw some comments. I’m like, ‘OK, maybe this is possible.’”

Related: Maggie Sajak’s BF Jackson Olson Hints He’s ‘In Love’ After Romance Reveal

Savannah Bananas’ Jackson Olson made it very clear that he is in love after going public with Pat Sajak’s daughter, Maggie. Olson, 28, shared a clip from the movie Elf via his Instagram Story on Tuesday, April 21, showing Will Ferrell‘s character Buddy saying, “I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it.” Olson […]

Olson’s DWTS casting comes weeks after Maggie, the daughter of former Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, hard-launched their romance via Instagram by sharing a photo of the couple at Disneyland.

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The athlete later gushed about his long-distance relationship with Maggie in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.

“It’s really cool because we’re obviously living very different lives right now on the opposite side of the country, but we’re able to come together and just have an awesome relationship,” he shared on May 1. “I feel like in any relationship, you’re trying to figure out how to see each other as frequently as possible, which is never something that I thought in my past I was going to want to do … but now I really do.”

Olson continued, “It’s just about planning and making sure you’re setting aside time to see each other and make really cool experiences happen because a start of a relationship never happens again. You only get one chance at a start of a relationship.”

The OG 90 Day Fiance is back and Shea McGuire is larger than life in the small town of Paducah, Kentucky but so are his many secrets. Catie Norboe tries to settle down with Josh Atkins but can’t stop drunkenly making out with randoms.

Marissa Rubinetti fears Edward Miguel Gomez won’t be able to keep up in her fast paced world. And Ashia speaks in tongues when her fiance hits a glitch with his k-1 visa. Grab a beer, fire up the barbecue and let’s dive right in to this recap of Season 12, Episode 1 In My Getting Married Era.

90 Day Fiance: Shea McGuire Can’t Hide from His Reputation

On 90 Day Fiance, Shea McGuire enjoys his hard partying life in Paducah, Kentucky. He’s a realtor, an auctioneer and the life of the party. He loves his boat, some cold beers and the ladies. The ladies love him too and swarm around him at the local barbecue. One even admits she’d date the flirty 54 year old if he was single. But he’s not. Enter Annabelle Chua, his fiance in the Philippines. They met through Shea’s pal Greg who has a wife in the Philippines.

Shea McGuire has three kids and two ex wives. He’s super close to daughter Allison. He consults Allison to check out some of the clothes he bought for Annabelle’s arrival. Allison approves his selections. And he admits she was his style inspo. But Allison fears their relationship will suffer when Annabelle Chua arrives. Since her dad is her neighbor and best friend. A knock on the door interrupts them. And it’s Shea’s most recent ex wife Nicole.

It’s clear on 90 Day Fiance that Nicole isn’t there for a friendly chat. She pulls Shea McGuire out on the porch for some private talk. She threatens to tell Annabelle that Shea isn’t innocent. He two-timed Nicole with Annabelle during their 4 week marriage. And she wants Annabelle to know that he’s still hanging out with her as well as flirting with certain locals a little too much. So Shea McGuire will have a lot of explaining to do when Annabelle arrives.

90 Day Fiance: Catie Can’t Control Herself

Catie Norboe brings a lot to this new season of 90 Day Fiance. She’s downing Jack Daniels on a plane when we first meet her. She lives in Portland, Oregon. But has been living the life of a crazy nomad while pet sitting for free rent around the globe. Along the journey she met Josh Atkins, a reserved Brit from London. She made out with his friends first and ghosted him while he went to the bathroom. But nevertheless they are engaged. Catie comes home to her things in storage. And fails to secure an apartment for her and Josh.

Catie Norboe blames her OCD for her many struggles. Among them being an inability to keep her lips to herself when drunk. She admits to a friend in her run club that she still makes out with randoms since getting engaged to Josh Atkins. She makes patriotic cake pops and buys America themed gifts to greet him at the airport. Including some red lingerie that she teases him with in baggage claim. Josh is a little uncomfortable. But she did secure an apartment although site unseen.

TLC Crossover Marissa Rubinetti Says Yes to Love

New to 90 Day Fiance, Marissa Rubinetti is familiar with reality tv. The Pennsylvania native is the COO and Executive Vice President of Kleinfeld Bridal. Which is of course the TLC wedding dress show where brides famously say “yes to the dress”. Marissa has an apartment in New York City and is a single mom to two sons. She’s divorced from their father Michael. But they have a good co-parenting relationship.

In between her high powered career and motherhood she found time for a much needed girl’s trip to the Dominican Republic. And this time Marissa said yes to a fling with hotel entertainer Edward Miguel Gomez. Back home she went back to her life but texted Edward 3 years later on a return trip to Punta Cana. Edward admits losing her number. They reconnected and he proposed and it was Marissa’s turn to say yes.

Edward Miguel Gomez is arriving soon on the k-1 visa. But Marissa isn’t without concerns on 90 Day Fiance. She fears lifestyle differences may take their toll. And how her ex husband might react to another male presence in their son’s lives. But Edward was willing to shed some skin to help adapt to life in America. He underwent an adult circumcision. And although there was a slight complication during the healing process he’s doing just fine.

90 Day Fiance: Ashia Gets a Gift from Above

Ashia is spirited and definitely brings a different energy to 90 Day Fiance. At the tender age of 12 Ashia was minding her own business at a store when a voice from within told her the next song to be played would be an NSYNC song. And sure enough it was! Ashia considered it pure divine intervention even if Joey Fatone was involved. Her pastor says she has a prophetic gift. And she’s embracing it in her Pentecostal church in Alabaster, Alabama.

Ashia whirls, twirls and speaks in tongues. She tearfully reveals that God himself not only served up a boy band but now is sending her a husband. She even took her best friend along to Nigeria to meet him. And his best friend proposed to her best friend. Ashia says her and her fiance Maxwell both love business and the Lord. But there’s a glitch at the visa interview leading her to speak in tongues about blood and Justin Timberlake. It works to a point and their story continues this season.

Mallory Is a Redneck Woman

On 90 Day Fiance, Mallory hails from Athens, Alabama and calls herself a basic white b*tch. She loves her southern lifestyle of drinking and hanging out with her pals who she refers to as rednecks. Mallory ventured to Greece on a girl’s trip. And a dashing boat captain from Turkey named Rasit saw her on an app and was captivated. The feeling was mutual and now they are engaged.

Mallory heads to Turkey to bring him back on the k-1 visa. She worries how Rasit who she fondly refers to as “Rash” since she can’t pronounce his name will fare in her conservative town. Rasit adores Mallory. He likes everything about her. And it shows when he sees her arrive at the boat dock in her cowboy hat. We’ll see how they figure it all out once he arrives in Alabama. Til next time!

Travis Kelce is pulling back the curtain on his latest getaway with Taylor Swift after the couple quietly spent time together in London.

The Kansas City Chiefs star recently opened up about their overseas trip during his podcast, sharing unexpected details about their food adventures, theater outings, and playful conversations with family and friends as wedding buzz surrounding the couple continues building online.

Travis Kelce recently discussed the trip during an episode of the “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” podcast, where his older brother Jason quickly teased him for keeping the getaway low profile.

“I found out you were in London on the Internet,” Jason Kelce joked per PEOPLE. “That was fun.”

Travis laughed off the comment before replying, “London is fun, Jason.”

The NFL star then shared more about what he and Taylor Swift did while visiting England together.

According to Travis, the pair spent much of their time enjoying food and attending theater performances around the city.

“For the most part, had some really good food and enjoyed some plays,” he explained before discussing a production of “Romeo & Juliet” they attended.

Travis praised the cast members involved in the performance, saying, “Saw Sadie Sink, and, I believe, Noah Jupe is his name. He’s f-cking phenomenal as Romeo. Sadie was as Juliet as well.”

The trip also reportedly included attending Poppy Delevingne’s 40th birthday celebration and a stop at Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat restaurant in London.

Ramsay later described the celebrity couple to Entertainment Tonight as a “classy couple” who were “in high spirits” and “had a blast” during the visit.

One of the moments Travis appeared most excited about involved a dinner date at the famous Indian restaurant Gymkhana.

The football star admitted the experience completely surprised him.

He described the outing as “one of the most surprising meals” he had ever experienced while also calling the food “f-cking remarkable.”

According to Travis, he approached the dinner differently than many people expected, especially considering his reputation for being selective with food choices.

“Every dish they brought out, I didn’t ask a single question. I just dove in,” he said.

“The only questions that I had to ask was how hot or how spicy the heat of the spice.”

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end explained that the group decided to keep the spice level manageable during the meal.

He noted they “went more on the mild side” when deciding how adventurous to get with the menu.

The conversation eventually shifted into a running joke about Travis supposedly only eating basic comfort foods.

Taylor Swift Gets Dragged Into Travis Kelce Food Debate

Jason Kelce admitted that his younger brother had become frustrated over repeated jokes suggesting he was an extremely picky eater.

Jason told listeners that Travis was “a little bit upset” over the comments made during earlier podcast episodes.

Travis pushed back on the reputation while admitting there may have been some truth to it years ago.

“It’s not accurate at all, but it’s fun to play around with because I was at one point,” Travis explained.

He then credited Jason for helping expand his food choices years earlier through one memorable sushi experience.

“I was hammered, and you told me, ‘Dude, just eat this. You’re gonna love it,’” Travis recalled. “And I did. And then I’ve loved sushi ever since. Sushi’s like, I can’t go, like, more than a week without getting sushi now.”

As the jokes continued, Travis firmly shut down one rumor that has followed him online.

“I’m not doing this anymore, this whole Travis only likes chicken fingers thing,” he declared.

Jason then playfully suggested Taylor Swift deserved some credit for helping change his eating habits.

“You didn’t like food before you started dating with Taylor. That’s all I’m saying,” Jason joked.

Travis quickly dismissed the claim as “bogus.”

Travis Gets Teased About London Trip

The teasing did not stop with Jason. Podcast producer Brandon Borders, also known as Intern Brandon, joked that Travis Kelce only became adventurous with food because of his relationship and international travels.

“You flew out of the country to prove a point. You flew out of the country to prove me wrong personally, and I say, you’re welcome. I got you out there,” Brandon teased.

The lighthearted exchange gave fans another glimpse into the relaxed dynamic Travis shares with those closest to him.

At the same time, the London getaway has continued fueling interest in the couple’s relationship as wedding speculation surrounding the pair grows stronger.

The two stars became engaged last year and are reportedly planning to tie the knot sometime later this year.

Wedding Buzz Continues Around Taylor Swift And Travis Kelce

While Travis and Swift continue enjoying time together, reports about their wedding preparations have continued circulating online.

According to previous reports, Swift is reportedly feeling “a little” nervous about Travis’ upcoming bachelor party despite trusting him completely.

The concern reportedly centers more around the unpredictability of bachelor party traditions than anything involving the NFL star directly.

Sources claimed Travis has already reassured Taylor that the celebration will remain calm.

“Travis has promised Taylor he’s going to keep it chill, but that’s not really up to him – his boys are in charge of the planning, and it’s hard to imagine they’ll hold back,” a source told Closer Online.

The insider added, “Taylor trusts him, but every woman is a little nervous about their man’s bachelor party.”

HBO has spent the better part of two decades convincing us that prestige television lives or dies with names like Tony Soprano, Carrie Bradshaw, and Daenerys Targaryen. But some of the network’s most rewatchable and memorable work has happened inside the strict containment of a single season.

Miniseries don’t have to wring a fifth installment out of a story that should’ve wrapped at the end of Season 1. They get in, gut you, and get out. Below are 10 that more than earn their place on this list, even if you slept on a few of them the first time around.

1

‘Sharp Objects’ (2018)

Image via HBO

Amy Adams plays Camille Preaker, a St. Louis crime reporter dragged back to her dying Missouri hometown of Wind Gap to cover the murders of two young girls in this Gillian Flynn adaptation. Reuniting with her toxic mother (Patricia Clarkson, in a performance so toxic you’ll want to fumigate your TV) and an unsettling teenage half-sister she barely knows (Eliza Scanlen, also frighteningly good), Camille drinks her way through the assignment while peeling back layers of family dysfunction more horrifying than the case itself.

Jean-Marc Vallée’s eight-episode descent into Southern Gothic dread is the kind of show that gets under your fingernails. The director likes to linger on the details of Wind Gap — the sweat-splattered bodies of teenagers rollerblading down Main Street, the rotting wood of a plantation porch. He cuts past and present together so fluidly you sometimes don’t realize you’ve slipped into Camille’s traumatic memories until you’re already drowning in them, a tactic that pays off in the show’s nastiest reveals. Adams, who’d spent a career being cast as a bright young thing until this show, is doing something different here. She’s playing a woman who has clearly not eaten a real meal in years, carves words into her own skin, and flirts with a teenage suspect because she can’t resist the temptation to self-destruct. It’s truly thrilling to watch.

2

‘The Night Of’ (2016)

Image via HBO

Riz Ahmed plays Naz, a Pakistani-American college kid who borrows his dad’s cab to hit a Manhattan party, brings a beautiful stranger home, wakes up next to her bloody corpse, and proceeds to make every catastrophic decision the criminal justice system rewards with a Rikers Island bunk. From there, an eczema-ridden, sandal-wearing John Turturro takes over as Jack Stone, the bottom-feeder defense attorney who sees something in Naz worth fighting for. Eight slow, meticulous episodes that double as a procedural and an autopsy of how easily American justice grinds a brown kid into something unrecognizable follow.

Naz gets processed, gets a cellmate (Michael K. Williams, magnetic as always, playing a Rikers shot-caller who takes an interest in him), gets a neck tattoo, a heroin habit, and, eventually, gets very good at survival in a place he should never have ended up. Meanwhile, Stone is shuffling around Manhattan in those flip-flops, building a defense on phone records, autopsy timelines, and a dogged refusal to let his client become a statistic. Ahmed’s transformation is the spine of the whole thing, and Turturro is the heart. The finale doesn’t give you the catharsis you want, but it does give you something messier and truer to life, which is exactly why it works.

3

‘Watchmen’ (2019)

Image via HBO

Damon Lindelof’s audacious sequel to Alan Moore’s graphic novel opens with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and never quite lets up on our necks after that. Regina King plays Angela Abar, a Tulsa cop moonlighting as the masked vigilante Sister Night in an alternate America where police hide their identities behind hoods because white supremacists have made that necessary. Jeremy Irons mutters around an English manor, Jean Smart busts vigilantes and busts out homemade sex toys as an FBI agent with an axe to grind, and Tim Blake Nelson wears a reflective head sock with conviction.

Watchmen is nine episodes of pulpy, big-swing television that somehow manages to be a faithful comic-book sequel and a piercing meditation on American racial trauma at the same time. The episode “This Extraordinary Being” remains one of the most stunning hours of TV in the streaming era, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score will haunt your driving playlist for years to come.

4

‘Chernobyl’ (2019)

Image via HBO

Who would’ve thought the guy who wrote The Hangover Part II had this in him? Craig Mazin pivoted from broad studio comedy to prestige drama and somehow delivered the most harrowing piece of historical reconstruction HBO’s ever put on the air. Across five episodes, Jared Harris (as Soviet scientist Valery Legasov), Stellan Skarsgård (as a reluctant Party functionary), and Emily Watson (as a composite scientist who refuses to swallow the official story) walk us through the infamous 1986 nuclear meltdown from the moment the reactor blows to the courtroom postmortem of who let it happen.

It’s bleak, obviously, but it’s also a masterclass in how to make policy malfeasance feel like edge-of-your-seat suspense. The cold open alone, Harris recording his confession before he hangs himself, ranks among the bleakest first scenes of any TV show. So, maybe try to watch this in two sittings?

5

‘Mare of Easttown’ (2021)

Image via HBO

Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a vape-puffing, Wawa-grazing, hoagie-clutching Delco detective in this moody crime drama that became something of a pop culture phenomenon when we were all confined to our couches during the COVID-19 lockdowns. She’s newly separated, still grieving the death of her son, sharing a house with a mom (Jean Smart, Emmy-winning per usual) who keeps pinching her sleep aids, and getting nagged by the entire town to solve the murder of a local teenager. Evan Peters drops in as a sweet outside detective brought in to help, Julianne Nicholson plays her best friend with surprisingly deep ties to the case, and Guy Pearce smolders through a side plot as the visiting professor-with-benefits.

Brad Ingelsby’s creation is a whodunit that isn’t really about the whodunit. Mare of Easttown earns its emotional gut-punch by treating everything from grief to opioid addiction and casual misogyny with the same importance as the central murder mystery. Winslet’s accent (the show’s most viral export) props up one of the best performances of her career, a woman who is bone-tired in every frame. By the end, you’ll totally understand why.

6

‘Empire Falls’ (2005)

Image via HBO

Adapted from Richard Russo’s Pulitzer-winning novel, this two-part Maine-set miniseries gathered Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Aidan Quinn, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Wright into the orbit of a dying mill town and the diner that anchors it. Harris plays Miles Roby, a passive divorcé running the Empire Grill at the whim of a powerful matriarch (Woodward), while his deadbeat father (Newman, having an absolute ball) drinks and schemes around the margins. It’s a subtler, slower list entry, but one with a knockout supporting cast that reads like a roundup of America’s best character actors.

Newman is the obvious scene stealer, devilish and twinkly in what would become one of his last great roles, but Hoffman, in particular, gives a small, pre-Capote performance so fascinating that it functions as its own little movie. This show is the kind of mid-2000s prestige TV no one talks about anymore, but they really should.

7

‘The Young Pope’ (2016)

Image via Gianni Fiorito/© HBO/courtesy Everett Collection

Paolo Sorrentino dropped the most beautifully blasphemous show of the decade onto HBO, and most of America was too busy meme-ing the title to notice. In The Young Pope, Jude Law plays Lenny Belardo, a chain-smoking, Cherry Coke Zero-craving young American cardinal who’s just been elected the first U.S. pope, and who promptly reveals himself as the most reactionary pontiff in modern memory. Diane Keaton plays the nun who raised him in an American orphanage, wearing a habit and a Knicks jersey, sometimes simultaneously.

This is 10 episodes of Sorrentino in his element, delivering gorgeous visuals and monologues that land somewhere between profound and unhinged. Law’s performance is indulgent and eccentric and deliciously off-kilter. He should’ve won more awards for it. Instead, the show became a punchline before audiences realized it was funnier and weirder than anyone gave it credit for.

8

‘The Undoing’ (2020)

Image via HBO

David E. Kelley adapted Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel into the most expensive-looking limited series of pandemic-era HBO with The Undoing. Nicole Kidman plays Grace Fraser, an Upper East Side therapist whose oncologist husband (Hugh Grant, in full reptilian-charm mode) becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a beautiful art-mom from their son’s private school. Donald Sutherland looms grandly as Grace’s wealthy father, his eyebrows doing most of the heavy lifting.

This show is a six-episode whodunit dressed in cashmere and filmed in townhomes and the lobbies of buildings most New Yorkers can’t afford to even walk past. The mystery itself is fine, though the ending is still divisive. But the real reason to watch is Grant’s mid-career renaissance, that floppy-haired rom-com lead now playing men whose surface charm conceals something rotten underneath. It’s a role he feels born to play, compliment intended.

9

‘The Investigation’ (2020)

Image via HBO

A Danish-Swedish co-production picked up by HBO, Tobias Lindholm’s six-part series fictionalizes the real-life investigation into the murder of journalist Kim Wall by Peter Madsen aboard his homemade submarine. Søren Malling plays detective Jens Møller, the patient, exhausted lead investigator working alongside divers, prosecutors, and Wall’s grieving parents to build a case against a defendant the show pointedly never names or shows on screen. That choice, refusing to give the killer a face or a single moment of screen time, is what elevates The Investigation above the parade of true-crime adaptations that have chased it.

Lindholm centers the victim and family, here, resisting the seductive impulse of serial-killer prestige TV. The show is sad, gray, and devastating, and a model for how the genre might responsibly exist going forward.

10

‘The Regime’ (2024)

Image via HBO

This Kate Winslet turn couldn’t be more different from her Philly-twanged hard-ass in Mare of Easttown. As Elena Vernham, the fictional dictator of a fictional Central European nation, who rules her marbled palace with the help of an ex-soldier (Matthias Schoenaerts) she essentially keeps as a pet, Winslet is at her most deranged. Across six episodes, she fears mold spores, communes with her father’s preserved corpse, croons Chicago at state functions, and drives her country off a slow, gilded cliff.

Will Tracy, the Succession alum behind The Menu, brings his signature brand of acidic political comedy to a show that pairs slapstick autocracy with genuine geopolitical dread, and Winslet is having a hell of a time, lisping and over-pronouncing her way through a performance she herself described playing “an awful, awful cow.” What’s not to like?

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The Regime

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Release Date

2024 – 2024-00-00

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Showrunner

Will Tracy

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Writers

Will Tracy

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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 18 seconds ago

Jon Bernthal is really having a moment right now. Not only did his popular Punisher character return for Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, but he’ll be popping up on the big screen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. That will mark the biggest, most substantial cameo any Marvel TV character has ever made in an MCU film. On top of that, this violent vigilante character just got his own TV special, The Punisher: One Last Kill. With the svelte runtime of a TV episode and the ambitious plotting of a short film, this movie provides plenty of action and drama while leaving you wanting more.

What is The Punisher: One Last Kill about? We catch up with Frank Castle after he has done what once seemed impossible: he’s killed everyone that had anything to do with the brutal murder of his family. After seemingly wiping out the Gnucci crime family, he is at a crossroads, unsure of what to do with his life now that he’s completed his quest for vengeance. But when Ma Gnucci (played by Judith Light) shows up and puts a bounty on his head large enough to attract every thug in the tricity area, the Punisher’s new purpose is simple: survive the day or die trying!

Straight Down The Barrel

If you’re a big fan of the original comics, you’ll quickly clock that One Last Kill is a very loose adaptation of the “Welcome Back, Frank” arc written by The Boys creator Garth Ennis. “Loose” is the keyword here, though. Since he’s already killed the rest of the family (something we later see through a hilariously violent flashback), Ma Gnucci is the only significant comic character who makes an appearance. She’s really just there to kick off a barebones plot that is (no points for guessing) just an excuse to have Punisher kicking a lot of ass onscreen. 

The simplicity of the storytelling is really a double-edged blade here. On the one hand, this is the perfect TV movie for any Marvel fan who has ever complained about the TV shows feeling like homework because, after the prerequisite dramatic setup, The Punisher: One Last Kill descends into balls-to-the-wall action. On the other hand, if you’re actually invested in Frank Castle as a character, you’ll likely be disappointed at the relative lack of characterization and even resolution because this short film is laying the seeds for a new TV show that we may or may not even get.

A Bit Of The Old Ultraviolence

With that being said, this huge Frank Castle fan found the whole thing very enjoyable. To paraphrase Wolverine, The Punisher: One Last Kill is the best there is at what it does, but what it does isn’t very nice. The action is dynamic and intense, and there are several brutal, bloody kills that would give your favorite horror movie a run for its money, and it’s not just gunplay, either. While you do get to see Frank using a small arsenal of firearms, he also weaponizes everything from a baseball bat to his own burning body. Really, there’s so much chaos and carnage onscreen that the subtitle to this movie should have been “So Many Kills.” 

The secret ingredient of The Punisher: One Last Kill is Jon Bernthal. He handles the emotional weight of his scenes (which include heartbreaking flashbacks to his family and an intense scene where he contemplates suicide) well, giving an otherwise one-note character a surprising amount of nuance and depth. The performance also sells the idea that Frank Castle is a tragic figure; someone who just wanted to be a family man before he was transformed into a living weapon. Frank’s rage is as righteous as it is terrifying to behold, and Bernthal sells every bloody moment of his character’s descent into a baptism of blood.  

A Movie Worth Peeping At

Honestly, I was deeply surprised by the quality of The Punisher: One Last Kill. I thought this TV movie might be a vanity project at best (Bernthal cowrote the screenplay) or a boring filler episode at worst. Instead, the movie convinced me that Bernthal really understands Frank Castle’s character and how he is both driven by and tormented by his past. At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, it’s always rewarding to see a Marvel actor who (not unlike Ryan Reynolds with Deadpool) really loves his character and sees this job as more than an easy way to get a fat paycheck from Mickey Mouse.

Speaking of pleasant surprises, I was delighted by how well The Punisher: One Last Kill functions as a standalone film. For the most part, you don’t need to have watched Daredevil: Born Again or the previous Punisher series for this story to make sense. That means that Marvel gets to effectively have it both ways. Existing fans of the character will love seeing Frank Castle fighting his demons and delivering vigilante justice, one bullet after another. Meanwhile, those fans can use this movie to introduce their friends to the character, growing the Punisher fandom before he pops up again in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The Punisher: One Last Kill is a movie that plays for keeps, and nobody (including, sadly, the world’s cutest doggie) onscreen is ever truly safe. There are no quips, no comic sidekicks, and no mustache-twirling villains.

Instead, this is Marvel’s tribute to John Wick, and it focuses on one of the most brutally compelling characters in the entire MCU. No need to reload your remote. You’ve already got batteries in the chamber. Just aim at your TV and fire up Disney+ to watch the absolute bloodiest thing Marvel has ever put on television.

THE PUNISHER: ONE LAST KILL SCORE

The first family of Westeros might well be the Targaryens, but in our hearts it’s always going to be the tragic, brave, constantly murdered Starks. They might not be the flashiest of families but when one loyal to them appears we all sit up and take notice. Now, with House of the Dragon heading for the bloodiest part of the Dance of the Dragons, HBO has given us a first look at one of the most famous Northern figures in the history of the continent.

At today’s upfront, HBO’s tease of the third season of the series gave us a tantalizing glimpse at Alysanne “Black Aly” Blackwood, one of the most anticipated non-Targaryen characters from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. Played by Annie Shapero, Black Aly is briefly seen riding into battle alongside Oscar Tully, covered in House Blackwood colors with black paint smeared across her eyes. Cool.

Black Aly is one of the noblewomen of House Blackwood and one of the fiercest warriors in the history of Westeros. She’s also a skilled archer and a key supporter of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen’s claim, taking command of the Black Army’s archers during the brutal Riverlands campaign. She’s also the aunt of the young Lord Benjicot Blackwood, whose house is already involved in this dragon nonsense.

Who Stars in ‘House of the Dragon’?

The cast of House of the Dragon includes Emma D’Arcy (Truth Seekers, Wanderlust) as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One, Bates Motel) as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown) as Daemon Targaryen, Fabien Frankel (The Serpent, Last Christmas) as Ser Criston Cole, Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk, The King) as King Aegon II Targaryen, Ewan Mitchell (The Last Kingdom, Saltburn) as Prince Aemond Targaryen, Steve Toussaint (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Small Axe) as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Bethany Antonia (Get Even, Stay Close) as Baela Targaryen, Phoebe Campbell (Midsomer Murders, Home from Home) as Rhaena Targaryen, and Tom Taylor (The Dark Tower, Doctor Foster) as Cregan Stark.

The third season will be made up of eight episodes, which will air weekly following its premiere next month. And HBO has already announced that the series will conclude with Season 4, which we think will turn up in 2028. But knowing George R. R. Martin, that could be 2048.

House of the Dragon Season 3 premieres June 21 on HBO and HBO Max.

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Release Date

August 21, 2022

Network

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HBO

Showrunner

George R.R. Martin

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Directors

Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel

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Writers

Gabe Fonseca

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  Fabien Frankel

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  Ser Criston Cole

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Netflix stumbled upon a goldmine when it comes to KPop Demon Hunters, a movie that was discarded by Sony Pictures and picked up like a lucky penny for the streamer. What’s more, it turned itself into a full-blown cultural phenomenon by bringing fans into this magical world and making them feel like part of HUNTR/X. Well, now, fans are going to get the chance to feel a little of that golden concert energy for themselves.

Netflix has announced that they’re teaming with AEG Presents and launching a concert tour based around the two-time Oscar-winning animated film by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. Netflix has described it as a major worldwide event that will bring the Golden songs to life. Cities, dates, and ticket on-sale details have not been announced yet but fans should keep their eyes peeled for more information soon.

The tour is basically a real-life version of HUNTR/X, the stars at the center of the movie. In the film, their concerts have the dual purpose of wowing fans but also providing enough Honmoon magic and love to, you know, keep demons away and stuff. So that’s a bit more pressure than just a set list. And the upcoming concert tour will give fans a chance to experience that energy in real life, though ideally with fewer actual demons in the crowd.

What Is ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ About?

KPop Demon Hunters follows HUNTR/X, a global K-pop group whose members secretly protect their fans from supernatural threats when they are not busy selling out stadiums. Their biggest challenge comes when they face Saja Boys, one of those irritating but irresistible rival boy bands who happen to be demons in disguise.

For now, fans will have to wait for the official cities, dates, and ticket details. But HUNTR/X is officially getting ready to go global, and if the movie taught us anything, it is that a loud enough crowd can do some serious damage.

KPop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix. The global concert tour waitlist is open now, with cities and ticket details to be announced later this year.

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Release Date

June 20, 2025

Runtime

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96 minutes

Director

Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang

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Writers

Hannah McMechan, Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang, Danya Jimenez

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Producers

Michelle Wong

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By Robert Scucci
| Published 4 seconds ago

2020’s The Occupant, when you break it down, is essentially the Spanish-language answer to films like the 2019 Korean-language satire, Parasite. If you’re looking for an English-language variation on similar themes, you could also point to 1991’s The People Under the Stairs (1991) or Jordan Peele’s Us (2019). All of these films are about haves versus have nots, and the desperate, oftentimes insane measures people take when they feel like society has wronged them.

This is obviously a universal theme because this kind of push and pull transcends languages and cultures, which is why this particular subset of psychological thrillers can get under your skin so easily, especially if you don’t quite belong to either camp. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck at a few different points in my life, but I’ve never gotten to the point where I’ve been evicted from my apartment and become obsessed with the new tenant who took my place like in The Occupant.

Watching films like The Occupant, I feel like a helpless spectator because I don’t belong to either world. I rent an apartment and have a crappy electric oven, which kind of sucks, but I’m also not going to sneak into a wealthy acquaintance’s house while he’s away so I can use his gas range and start seducing his wife either. Sitting on the sidelines, all you can do is hope that the film’s protagonist comes to his senses before he does something incredibly stupid.

Like Parasite, But Tells Its Own Story

Parasite tells the story of an impoverished family who slowly infiltrates a much wealthier household over the course of several weeks. One family member lands a tutoring job, and slowly refers the others for various odd jobs around the house. Over time, they essentially “move in” and live like wealthy people whenever the owners are out. It’s a horrifying look at how quickly desperation can spiral into entitlement once people start convincing themselves they deserve a lifestyle they never earned.

It’s also worth mentioning that Parasite is a dark comedy, meaning it has fun with its satire while pointing to larger systemic issues involving working-class families trying to get a fair shake in life. One of the film’s biggest subversions is that the wealthy family are not cartoon villains. They’re just wealthy people who don’t realize they’re being manipulated by people they trusted. 

The Occupant, however, goes incredibly dark, and there’s nothing funny about what’s happening here. When we’re introduced to Javier Munoz (Javier Gutierrez), he’s selling his pristine luxury apartment after losing his executive job and realizing he can no longer afford to live there. He moves into an apartment he believes is beneath him with his wife Marga (Ruth Diaz) and son Dani (Christian Munoz). Instead of getting introspective or figuring out how to improve his situation, Javier becomes obsessed with the man who moved into his old home, Tomas (Mario Casas).

Tomas is, by all measures, a decent guy. He has a troubled past, but he’s also a recovered alcoholic doing his best to keep his life together. Javier learns this after sneaking into the apartment and finding Alcoholics Anonymous chips that track his sobriety milestones in Tomas’ desk drawer. Tomas is happily married to his wife Lara (Bruna Cusi), and together they have a daughter named Monica (Iris Vallés Torres). In Javier’s mind, this is the idyllic family he deserves to have for himself.

Now that Javier has Tomas in his crosshairs, as well as the completely irrational desire to move back into his old home, he gets to work sabotaging Tomas’ life. He starts attending Tomas’ AA meetings and shares fabricated stories about his own troubled past. Slowly, he gains Tomas’ trust, and the two become friends. While Tomas and his family are out for the day, Javier lets himself into the apartment and pretends he still lives there. As you’d expect, Javier’s behavior escalates, and he starts manipulating Tomas’ family into believing he’s a terrible person who can’t keep his vices in check.

As Javier gains the upper hand with Tomas’ family, his own personal life slowly falls apart, but he doesn’t care. He’s so obsessively fixated on becoming a have instead of a have-not that he turns into the absolute worst version of himself and eventually pushes himself past the point of no return.

A Slow Burn Procedural Thriller

One thing I really appreciated about The Occupant is how little room there is for ambiguity. Javier’s fall from grace feels inevitable from the start, but we still get to watch him escalate over time. Meanwhile, Tomas remains completely clueless to the fact that Javier is manipulating him every step of the way while he’s genuinely trying to be a good husband, father, and productive member of society. Tomas isn’t perfect, but he doesn’t deserve what Javier is doing to him.

Javier can’t see things that way, though. In his mind, he already “made it” and had the perfect life, only for it to be ripped away from him. Because of that, he views Tomas as an enemy who needs to be eliminated. Instead of looking inward and trying to rebuild his own life, he dedicates all of his energy toward destroying somebody else simply because they’re living the life he thinks should still belong to him. It’s terrifying how much time and effort he’s willing to spend sabotaging Tomas when he could have used that same energy to improve his own situation instead.

The Occupant is far from an easy watch, but it’s such an effective thriller because you keep waiting for Javier to stop, and he doubles down every single time. It creates the same feeling you get in a horror movie when somebody decides to investigate the creepy basement even though you already know there’s no coming back once they reach the bottom of the stairs.

It’s also terrifying to think about somebody secretly living in your home while you’re away at work all day. If you want to experience the fear of checking behind your shower curtain every time you walk into the bathroom, you can stream The Occupant on Netflix with an active subscription.