Entertainment
The 10 Best Fantasy Movies in Film History
Fantasy has remained one of cinema’s most popular and prolific genres for over a century for a reason: There are very few movie genres better fit for the medium of cinema than these stories of magic, mythology, and grand imaginary worlds. As such, it’s no coincidence that several of the best fantasy movies in film history can also be counted among the best movies of all time, period.
After all, we’re talking about foundational Hollywood classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, cornerstones of international arthouse cinema like Wings of Desire, and modern masterpieces like Pan’s Labyrinth. Film history’s greatest fantasy movies are proof of what has kept this genre as one of the most timeless to have ever graced the big screen.
10
‘The Fall’ (2006)
There are only a handful of R-rated fantasy movies that truly changed the genre forever. By this point, in spite of the fact that it’s still a relatively niche cult classic, it’s nevertheless quite reasonable to say that Tarsem Singh‘s The Fall is one such film. Due to an atrocious release strategy that largely stemmed from a bitter feud with Harvey Weinstein, The Fall was a massive flop upon release; but as the years have passed, cinephiles have woken up to its visionary genius.
The Fall was shot across more than two dozen countries over the course of four years, and that level of passion and dedication comes through in the form of some of the most stunning visuals, riveting storytelling, and deep character development that fantasy has seen this century. It’s an absolutely jaw-dropping artistic achievement unlike anything else any fantasy film fan has ever seen.
9
‘The Green Mile’ (1999)
There is no artist in Hollywood better at adapting Stephen King stories than Frank Darabont, whose The Green Mile is one of the saddest Stephen King movies of all time. But as downright depressing as it may be, this three-hour-long magical realism masterpiece is one of the greatest prison dramas of the entire 20th century, and certainly in film history.
The Green Mile deals with the usual thematic elements that you’d expect in a prison drama, from critiquing the flaws of the American justice system to examining the layers of racial prejudice, but the fantastical elements it sprinkles in add a fascinating dimension to the story. It’s low fantasy at its most powerfully subtle, and one of the bigger tearjerkers in Hollywood film history.
8
‘Wings of Desire’ (1987)
Fantasy movies without any flaws are so rare that when one comes across a film as practically perfect as Wim Wenders‘ Wings of Desire, one has to cherish them like they’ve run into a true treasure trove. This romantic fantasy drama earned Wenders a Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival, and it was a perfectly-deserved one, because this really is one of the most beautifully-constructed arthouse dramas the fantasy genre has ever delivered.
It’s a slow-moving movie, one that dives deep into the gorgeous intricacies of the mundanity of life and celebrates their simple wonders. Anchored by Bruno Ganz‘s subtly potent lead performance, this poetic meditation on the beauty of existence and mortality is every bit as thought-provoking and life-affirming as any fan of slow-burning fantasy could possibly expect.
7
‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ (1975)
The legendarily hilarious British comedy troupe Monty Python were looking for a new creative challenge after Monty Python’s Flying Circus wrapped up. The clear answer was a feature film, and that ambitious mission resulted in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, now widely remembered as one of the greatest and funniest comedy movies the big screen has ever seen.
The film takes full advantage of its low budget and finds endless ways of leveraging it as part of its timeless charm, charm that makes it one of the most fun fantasy movies of all time. Serious and epic fantasy has delivered several masterpieces over the course of film history, but the genre has also seen the release of many of the funniest and most creative comedies ever made, a realm where Monty Python and the Holy Grail rules supreme.
6
‘Macario’ (1960)
Every year, it’s tradition in Mexico to watch Roberto Gavaldón‘s Macario as the Day of the Dead approaches. Outside of Mexico, this is one of those perfect dark fantasy movies nobody remembers anymore, but that should absolutely not be the case. It may be designed around Mexican culture and folklore, but Macario is a fantasy masterpiece as universally engrossing as they come.
Creatively structured, perfectly paced, visually gorgeous, and full of deeply emotional and thought-provoking moments, this gem is a film all about death, wealth disparities, and culture. It’s as thematically profound as it is phenomenally performed, and 66 years later, it’s just as fascinating and wonderfully moving as it has always been.
5
‘Spirited Away’ (2001)
Hayao Miyazaki is both the master of anime filmmaking and one of the greatest cinematic auteurs in the history of Japanese cinema, which makes it unsurprising that he was responsible for the second-ever film (and first-ever international production) to win the Best Animated Feature Academy Award: Spirited Away, one of the most rewatchable fantasy movies ever made.
There are those who would go so far as to call this the greatest animated movie in history—certainly the greatest animated fantasy movie in history—, and it would be difficult to disagree. Mature, complex, and beautifully creative, it’s a family film so artful and universally appealing that anyone and everyone, no matter their age, should consider it a must-see.
4
‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (2006)
Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been one of dark fantasy’s undeniable masters in Hollywood for many years, but what most people would consider his magnum opus is actually a Mexican-Spanish co-production. It’s Pan’s Labyrinth, of course, one of the best fantasy movies of the 21st century and of the entirety of film history.
For anyone who loves fantasy, what’s not to love about Pan’s Labyrinth? Del Toro’s direction is amazingly layered and tonally complex; the visuals are some of the most jaw-dropping that the genre has ever seen; and the narrative is a dark fairy tale that’s unlike anything else fantasy cinema has produced over the course of the last two decades.
3
‘Fanny and Alexander’ (1982)
There will never be a filmmaker quite like Ingmar Bergman, master of Swedish cinema and one of the greatest European auteurs in history. The question of where the uninitiated can start when they want to dive into Bergman’s filmography is one bound to elicit many answers, and one of the most accessible (despite its daunting runtime) is the wonderful Fanny and Alexander.
This dramatic family saga is a whopping three hours long (over five hours in its extended miniseries version), but every second of that runtime is imbued with enrapturing magical realism, Bergman’s unmatched direction, and one of the best depictions of childhood in movie history. It’s certainly not fast-paced or action-packed fantasy, but it’s a masterpiece which proves that slow-burning fantasy can be every bit as powerful and every bit as riveting.
2
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946)
Frank Capra was one of Golden-Age Hollywood’s biggest visionaries, a director who was never afraid to push the boundaries of the Hays Code and show the unparalleled wonders that the Seventh Art was capable of. His first feature film after serving in World War II ended up becoming one of his very best: It’s a Wonderful Life, one of those 20th-century fantasy movies that are downright perfect.
It was probably Capra’s experiences during the War that helped him balance the pure joy of It’s a Wonderful Life‘s life-affirming messages with the poignant bittersweetness of many of its most emotionally punchy moments. An anti-suicide character drama is a concept so ambitious that you’d probably not expect it to come from Hollywood’s Golden Age, but that wonderful optimism and lust for life is precisely what has kept this Christmas classic timeless for so long.
1
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
There is no fantasy movie in the entirety of film history better, more impressive, or more unforgettable than Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as a whole was a titanic artistic achievement, transforming the most important fantasy book of the 20th century into a series of movies worthy of its legacy, but the trilogy’s conclusion is on a whole other level.
Return of the King is tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic as the winner of the most Oscars in history, with a whopping 11, which is but one of the myriad reasons why it’s one of the best movie sequels of all time. Its action sequences are grand and exciting, its tone is both epic and emotionally character-driven, and its production values have aged like fine wine. All in all, film history has never seen a fantasy movie quite like Return of the King, and it quite possibly never will again.
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Entertainment
The 6 Best Netflix Shows Released Since 2020, Ranked
Netflix has a peculiar talent for turning television into objects. A tracksuit becomes a Halloween costume. A haircut becomes a beauty trend. A piece of candy becomes a challenge people attempt on TikTok. By Monday morning, somebody who has never watched the show still recognizes the imagery. That machinery can manufacture attention remarkably fast. Making something people still care about after the homepage has moved on is much harder.
The strongest Netflix shows of this decade have survived that cycle because there is serious craft underneath the iconography. They reward the binge without becoming disposable after it. Their characters withstand memes, discourse, fan edits, rewatches, and the inevitable period when the internet becomes obsessed with something else. These 6 Netflix shows survived it. Some for their cult audiences, some for perhaps their longevity, and one just because it was way too sharp for a miniseries. Let’s dig in.
6
‘Blue Eye Samurai’ (2023–)
Blue Eye Samurai is based in seventeenth-century Japan. Mizu (Maya Erskine) has spent her life learning that the blue eyes inherited from a white father make other people see her as monstrous. She disguises herself as a man, masters the sword, and hunts the white men who were illegally present in Japan around the time of her conception. Revenge supplies the engine of Blue Eye Samurai, although Mizu becomes much more interesting once Ringo (Masi Oka)’s loyalty, Taigen (Darren Barnet)’s pride, Akemi (Brenda Song)’s fight for autonomy, and Abijah Fowler (Kenneth Branagh)’s sheer awfulness keep interfering with the clean, solitary mission she imagined for herself.
Then episode five pulls out a Bunraku puppet performance and uses it to echo another piece of Mizu’s life, weaving romance, betrayal, identity, and violence together without slowing the swordplay for a lecture. That kind of visual confidence is everywhere. Fights can be savage enough for a midnight exploitation movie, then the animation suddenly pauses for snow, food, fabric, or the tiny mechanics of forging a blade. The second season will take Mizu’s hunt to London while other characters remain entangled in Edo politics, so this revenge story is still expanding. One season was enough to establish Mizu as somebody you would follow through a blizzard with a sword in her hand.
5
‘Baby Reindeer’ (2024)
A free cup of tea is the fuse. Struggling comedian and bartender Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) offers one to Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning), a lonely customer who quickly begins treating basic kindness as evidence of a relationship between them. Soon come the messages, voice mails, appearances at his workplace, interruptions during his comedy sets, and emails with those famously mangled phone-signature lines that became instantly recognizable online. Baby Reindeer was adapted by Richard Gadd from his one-man show and his own experiences, which helps explain why the series feels so uncomfortable about giving anybody the safe distance of a conventional stalker thriller.
Donny repeatedly makes choices that frustrate the viewer because the story understands that shame, loneliness, trauma, ego, and the desire to be wanted can coexist inside the same person. Martha is frightening without being flattened into a horror-movie creature. Teri (Nava Mau) sees through Donny with painful clarity, while his attempts to become a comedian expose another appetite for attention that the stalking begins warping into something darker. Seven episodes keep changing the emotional equation until the word “victim” feels far less simple than it did at the beginning. Baby Reindeer became a phenomenon because people arrived expecting something lurid. The series had enough nerve to make the messiness harder to consume than the headline.
4
‘Adolescence’ (2025)
The police batter through the Miller family’s front door before anyone has properly processed what is happening. Thirteen-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is pulled from bed, arrested over the death of a girl from his school, and taken through an interrogation while his father Eddie Miller (Stephen Graham) watches a child he recognizes enter a world he absolutely does not. Adolescence tells that story across four episodes, each filmed as one continuous shot, which means the camera cannot rescue anybody with a cut when a conversation becomes unbearable.
That technique reaches its fullest force when Jamie sits opposite psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty). The room barely changes, yet attraction, masculinity, humiliation, anger, and his need for approval keep shifting the power between them. Earlier, a school investigation reveals an online language of emojis and misogynistic codes that adults have been looking at without understanding. The series spreads its concern across digital radicalization, peer cruelty, adolescent insecurity, parental blind spots, and a boy learning poisonous ideas about what women supposedly owe him. Its scariest decision is keeping the Millers recognizable as a loving, ordinary family. There is no cartoonishly evil household to blame. That makes the question hanging over all four hours much harder to shake.
3
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ (2020)
The Queen’s Gambit is a chess bombardment on steroids. And you don’t have to know how to play chess to get hooked to it. Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) first learns chess in an orphanage basement from custodian Mr. Shaibel (Bill Camp), then begins visualizing entire boards on the ceiling after taking the green tranquilizers routinely distributed to the children. That image contains almost everything. Chess becomes imagination, refuge, obsession, competition, and another substance Beth can use to disappear into herself. By adulthood she can demolish rooms full of players while dressed like she has already calculated what everybody will be wearing three moves from now. Netflix confirms the seven-episode story remains a limited series.
The great trick is making chess legible without turning matches into tutorials. Eyes move. Clocks slap. Pieces disappear. A player getting up from the board can feel like somebody throwing a punch. Borgov (Marcin Dorociński) acquires the aura of a heavyweight champion, Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) somehow makes a cowboy hat work at a chess tournament, and Beth’s immaculate clothes become progressively sharper even as the rest of her life starts slipping. Addiction keeps the success from becoming wish fulfillment, while Jolene (Moses Ingram) and Mr. Shaibel connect the glamorous international prodigy back to the lonely child in Kentucky. For a few months in 2020, millions of people suddenly wanted to know what a Sicilian Defense was. The show had already done the harder thing by making them care who was sitting across the board.
2
‘Arcane’ (2021–2024)
As much as I hate why a Dota 2 story couldn’t become something like Arcane. The League fan-base deserved it. Piltover gets the sunlight, progress, polished architecture, and Hextech dreams. Zaun gets the pollution underneath it. Two sisters are caught inside that inequality long before either understands the scale of it, and the childhood fracture between Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder (Mia Sinclair Jenness) eventually becomes the emotional fault line running through Arcane.
Powder grows into Jinx (Ella Purnell). Vi returns to a city that moved on without her. Caitlyn Kiramman (Katie Leung), Jayce Talis (Kevin Alejandro), Viktor (Harry Lloyd), Ekko (Reed Shannon), Silco (Jason Spisak), and eventually Ambessa Medarda (Ellen Thomas) keep pulling personal loyalties into a political conflict where technological progress can liberate one person while putting a weapon in somebody else’s hands. Fortiche’s animation makes psychology visible. Jinx’s fear and instability can scratch themselves across the frame in neon drawings. Ekko and Jinx’s bridge confrontation briefly remembers them as children playing together before snapping back into the people that history produced. Music videos, graffiti, Art Nouveau, steampunk machinery, painterly backgrounds, and explosive action somehow belong to the same visual language. There’s so much more. Video game adaptations spent decades being treated as a punchline. Arcane reached the point where its source material almost became trivia. The second season was deliberately the last for this particular story, although more Runeterra projects are planned.
1
‘Squid Game’ (2021–2025)
You could strip away the title and still identify Squid Game from a handful of objects. Green tracksuits. Pink guards. Circle, triangle, square. A giant schoolyard doll turning its head during Red Light, Green Light. A brittle dalgona shape that suddenly makes licking candy feel like a life-or-death strategy. That visual simplicity helped the Korean series travel astonishingly well, but the premise underneath it is brutally specific. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and 455 other people crushed by debt are offered 45.6 billion won to survive children’s games whose rules are easy enough for anyone to understand.
Netflix has produced bigger budgets, stranger premises, and plenty of enormous hits. Nothing since 2020 has demonstrated its global power quite like millions of people realizing at roughly the same time that a playground game could make them sick with tension. It’s a brilliant show. It has its cult following. Everybody knows about it. You’re missing out if you haven’t watched it.
Squid Game
- Release Date
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2021 – 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Directors
-
Hwang Dong-hyuk
-
-
Wi Ha-jun
Detective Hwang Jun-ho
Entertainment
‘The Day of the Jackal’ Meets ‘Money Heist’ in Apple TV’s New Crime Thriller Officially Coming This Fall
In Peacock‘s hit crime thriller The Day of the Jackal, a hitman and a detective engage in a cat-and-mouse game across Europe as the seasoned killer slips through every trap law enforcement has set. Things become personal when the detective figures out how the killer is moving, and it all ends in a devastating showdown. A similar game plays out in the hit Spanish crime thriller Money Heist, when a detective tries to capture a smart heist planner who has everything mapped out. Apple TV is now bringing its own version of this dynamic in a new thriller premiering this fall.
Europe seems attractive for crime thrillers, and this one takes place there, too. Its creative team is taking huge swings with the story, following it across three interwoven timelines. The first follows the planning of a heist to break into a bank vault housed deep beneath the streets of Zurich, Switzerland. The second timeline follows the actual heist, while the final one explores the aftermath. The heist takes a year to plan, while execution takes half a day, and the aftermath unfolds over a dozen days. The series is named 12 12 12 to reflect this split.
Created by Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble, the thriller features two top-tier actors in the lead roles. Fifty Shades star Jamie Dornan plays an American career criminal planning the daring heist. Marvel star Anthony Mackie plays a disgraced FBI agent bent on catching the criminal. The clock is ticking, and if he doesn’t do it within 12 days, the chances of catching him drop to near zero. Other cast members include Jack Kesy (12 Strong), Agathe Rousselle (Titane), Sallie Harmsen (Blade Runner 2049), José Garcia (The Ax), and Kali Reis (True Detective), among others. 12 12 12 will premiere globally on Friday, November 13, 2026, with the first two episodes, followed by one episode every Friday through December 25, 2026.
What Other Thrillers Are Coming to Apple TV?
Apple TV is the home for sci-fi and thrillers, so there is always something new or returning to look forward to. Last Seen (September 9) explores a father’s dedication to finding his missing daughter. Espionage has never looked this thrilling in the sixth season of Slow Horses (September 16). In Nocturne (October 30), a detective leaves the chaos of the city for the quiet of rural Pennsylvania but walks into the hunting ground of a notorious serial killer. Stephen Graham and Liev Schreiber star.
Catch the double-episode season premiere of the eight-episode first season of 12 12 12 on November 13, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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November 13, 2026
- Network
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Apple TV
- Directors
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Kari Skogland
Entertainment
Sydney Sweeney’s Romance Faces Pressure With Partner’s Kids
Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun appear to have entered a more complicated phase of their romance as his children become increasingly involved in their time together.
After more than a year of dating, the actress was recently seen spending time with Braun’s children during a casual outing in Los Angeles.
While the development could indicate that their relationship is moving forward, experts believe it also introduces new responsibilities for Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun.

As Sweeney becomes more involved in Braun’s family life, experts believe keeping his children away from the pressures surrounding their famous parents should remain a priority.
Licensed clinical psychotherapist Robin Hamilton stressed that the children should be treated as individuals who did not choose celebrity life for themselves.
“You want to keep their personal lives personal, and their parents’ celebrity lives theirs,” Hamilton told Fox News Digital. With greater public interest potentially bringing questions and attention their way, she believes the children should be prepared for how people may approach them.
Hamilton also encouraged the couple to intentionally create private family time away from the media and outside online commentary. She warned against placing unnecessary pressure on the children at this stage, especially considering the difficulties that intense public exposure can create for young people.
Scooter Braun’s Kids Involvement Could Pose A Challenge To The Relationship

Bringing Braun’s children into the picture could change how the couple divides their time.
Relationship expert Nicole Moore explained that spending more time together as a family could strengthen their connection, but it could also leave fewer opportunities for Sweeney and Braun to bond and focus on each other.
She advised them, saying, “It will be important for Scooter and Sweeney to maintain date nights and consistent romantic activities if they want their relationship to survive this new stage.”
Experts Fear Sydney Sweeney Might Not Be Ready To Be A ‘Full-On Parent’ To Scooter Braun’s Kids

Another possible complication is how much responsibility Sweeney may eventually be expected to assume around Braun’s children.
Moore noted that “Sydney is only 28 years old, so her career rise is likely the biggest focus right now.” This suggests that it is unlikely that she would want professional commitments displaced by parental duties.
Although Sweeney may be happy to spend time with the children, Moore suggested that becoming fully responsible for them could be another challenging situation entirely.
“Sydney is most likely looking to be present and engaged with Scooter’s children when she’s with them, but she might not be ready to be a full-on parent yet,” she said.
The Actress’s Growing Bond With Her Partner’s Kids Signals Their Relationship Is Getting Serious

Sweeney’s relationship with Braun appears to be moving beyond simply spending time together as a couple. The actress was recently seen joining Braun and his three children for a smoothie outing in Los Angeles, showing that she is becoming more involved in an important part of his personal life.
The outing comes as their romance continues to progress after the pair were first linked last year. With Sweeney now spending time with Braun’s children, relationship expert Nicole Moore believes they may have reached an important point in their relationship.
“Most celebrity romances have a short expiration date, so the fact that Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun have reached the stage of Sydney being involved with his kids is significant,” Moore told Fox News Digital.
Moore also explained that parents are often selective about bringing a romantic partner into their children’s lives unless they believe the relationship has the potential to last. Sweeney’s growing involvement with Braun’s family could therefore suggest that their romance is becoming a more serious commitment.
Sydney Sweeney Admits Dating In The Public Eye Has Been Difficult

While her romance with Braun has become increasingly visible, Sweeney has acknowledged that navigating relationships under constant public attention is not easy.
She previously explained that even an ordinary date can quickly become something entirely different once outsiders begin analyzing it.
“Sometimes I’ll think that I can do a normal thing and have a date in a normal way, and then it gets perceived in a very non-normal way. It’s kind of sad,” Sweeney said in a chat with Cosmopolitan.
The actress also acknowledged that she is still figuring out relationships while dealing with opinions from a huge audience. After devoting much of her 20s to her career, Sweeney said she now wants to experience more of her personal life.
However, she admitted that choosing to explore love while being watched by the public has made the process harder, saying, “I’m just navigating it all.”
Entertainment
Rob Reiner Wins Emmy Award 8 Months After His Death
One of Rob Reiner’s final acting projects before his death is being celebrated among TV’s biggest stars.
During the 2026 Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday, September 5, Reiner was honored with a posthumous nomination for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series thanks to his turn as Albert Schnur in season 4 of FX’s The Bear.
The late star won, with presenter Wendi McLendon-Covey accepting the award on his behalf as the audience rose to give him a standing ovation. “We all wish he was here,” the actress, 56, said.
Other actors nominated in the category included Michael J. Fox for Shrinking, Brett Goldstein for Shrinking, Hamish Linklater for Widow’s Bay, Christopher McDonald for Hacks and Connor Storrie for hosting Saturday Night Live.
During season 4 of The Bear, Reiner’s character, Albert Schnur, was a restaurant franchiser who mentored Ebraheim (played by Edwin Lee Gibson) on how to expand The Original Beef sandwich walk-up window. The episodes were released in June 2025.
Rob and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their Brentwood, California, home on December 14, 2025.
The couple’s son Nick Reiner was later arrested and charged in connection with their murders and remains behind bars at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Downtown Los Angeles.

Edwin Lee Gibson, Rob Reiner FX on Hulu / Courtesy Everett Collection
Nick, 32, who has struggled with addiction and mental health issues over the years, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The couple’s two other children, Jake, 35, and Romy, 28, continue to mourn the loss of their parents while also trying their best to move forward.
“It’s been eight months. It feels like eight years at the same time, and it also feels like eight minutes,” Jake told KABC-TV’s Mark Cota-Robles in an interview shared August 27 on Good Morning America. “Every moment that I wake up, I’m reminded of my reality.”
In a Substack essay published in April, Jake further shared the emotions he was feeling as he tried to cope with the death of both parents.
“Nothing can prepare you for what it feels like to lose both parents instantly at the same time. It’s too devastating to comprehend,” Jake wrote at the time. “I still wake up every morning having to convince myself that, ‘No, it’s not a dream. This truly is my living nightmare.’ I can’t even begin to put myself in my parents’ shoes, but one thing I keep coming back to is how frightened they must have been.”
He continued, “They were the last people in the world to deserve what happened to them. They deserved to be loved, they deserved to be respected, and above all they deserved to be appreciated for how much they gave to all three of us and to the world.”
The 2026 Primetime Emmys air on NBC Monday, September 14, at 8 p.m. ET.
Entertainment
The 10 Best Epic TV Shows of All Time, Ranked
Epic books are nothing new, by any means, and epic movies are only slightly newer because cinema, as a medium, is more recent than literature, as a medium/art form. TV shows that satisfy as epics are newer still, with the rise of more cinematic and higher-budgeted television around the start of the 21st century being a big factor in shows getting, you know, bigger.
There were also some TV shows made earlier that feel epic in other ways, even if the production values feel a little slimmer compared to the spectacle more modern shows offer. Also, epic is not being used as a stand-in for the word “good” or “great.” There are amazing shows that aren’t mentioned below, but those here, in one way or another, feel like epics in the conventional sense. They satisfy the traditional definition of the word “epic,” as in the epic genre.
10
‘Boardwalk Empire’ (2010–2014)
Boardwalk Empire is a show that takes place during the Prohibition era, and has a focus on organized crime in Atlantic City during said era, but it branches out and touches upon some other things, too. It’s a massive show in terms of its production value, which is sort of what HBO has become known for, so yes, there will be other HBO shows featured below. It’s all a bit inevitable, with the topic at hand.
There’s also a huge number of characters in Boardwalk Empire, and it’s the historical setting and the immensity of that ensemble cast that makes it feel like more of an epic than something like The Sopranos, which is also a crime-related show with a fair few characters. The Sopranos is the better show, for the record, but Boardwalk Empire just ticks more boxes if you’re looking for shows that feel like actual epics in the traditional sense.
9
‘Deadwood’ (2004–2006)
While Deadwood is contained to the one fairly small town (the titular one) for the most part, that town is shown growing and becoming more populated over the seasons, and numerous characters are balanced at once. There’s already a huge ensemble cast in the first season, and though a few people get killed off, characters are introduced at a faster rate than they’re written out.
In season 3, there might well be too many characters and narrative threads to keep track of. It got canceled before season 4 had a chance of bringing things together or concluding it all, but there was thankfully a 2019 movie that felt like a good send-off. Anyway, when Deadwood was at its best, it was great, and the recreation of a time and place – and having so many people living during that time in that place – proved more than enough to make it feel sufficiently epic.
8
‘I, Claudius’ (1976)
It’s the oldest show here, which means there are some production-related limitations that need to be overlooked, but also, they’re not as hard to overlook when the quality of the writing and the acting is so strong. I, Claudius delivers on those fronts and then some, and then it feels like an epic because of how much time it covers, with the titular character recounting his entire life, from when he was a small child until the very end.
That life was tumultuous, to say the least, since it was during the early Roman Empire, and Claudius does end up Emperor, but not before some other reigns are shown. It does what House of the Dragon did in its first season, being willing to jump forward any number of years between episodes, but it did that much better than House of the Dragon. If done today, with more of a budget, I, Claudius might well have more spectacle, but for its time – and for what it does in terms of how it’s written – it’s nonetheless admirably epic.
7
‘Rome’ (2005–2007)
Returning to HBO, the first season of Rome came out a year on from the first season of Deadwood, and can quite easily be viewed as an escalation in terms of production and ambition. Setting something in the 1870s and having it feel authentic is one thing, but Rome goes all the way back to the 1st century BC, so it does kind of fulfill that question of “What might I, Claudius have looked like with HBO money?”
It’s not a perfect comparison, because Rome is about the end of the Roman Republic, and the transition to the Roman Empire, while I, Claudius is all about the first few emperors of that latter period. If you want some chronology and to watch both shows, it makes sense to watch Rome first, even if it was made some decades later, because there are a few things that line up and probably feel fitting (though not quite as many as there might’ve been had Rome not suffered the same fate as Deadwood and been canceled earlier than the creators had wanted).
It is an animated show, unlike the others here, but Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood does feel just as ambitious and grand in scope as the live-action shows it’s being included among. It’s a fantasy series that also tackles various other genres, with the basic premise involving a pair of brothers searching for the Philosopher’s Stone to try to mend the damage done to their bodies after a spell intended to bring their mother back to life goes wrong.
They meet various heroic and villainous characters along the way, which does increase the scope of the show considerably, all the while finding the Philosopher’s Stone remains a consistent endgame. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is almost 70 episodes long, and a lot happens in those 70 episodes, and it’s worth highlighting as one of the best shows of the century so far, animated or otherwise.
5
‘Lonesome Dove’ (1989)
Perhaps the ultimate Western book of all time got adapted remarkably well into what might well be the ultimate Western miniseries: Lonesome Dove. It’s funny having “mini” play a role in describing a show like this at all, but it is effectively four feature-length episodes that all add up to about six hours, with those episodes/hours being about two Texas Rangers and some other people taking part in a cattle drive to Montana.
The book is part of a series, but Lonesome Dove – whether you’re talking about that original book or this particular miniseries adaptation – does successfully stand alone, and a ton is offered in terms of scope and ambition. Also, Lonesome Dove is one of the most emotional Western stories of all time, and the miniseries version (should you have six hours to spare) is recommendable even to viewers who might not ordinarily like Westerns all that much.
4
‘Andor’ (2022–2025)
The way a prequel show centered around one decent but not particularly loved character from a prequel movie became one of the best TV shows in recent memory… who knows? It was strange and surprising in a good way. But that show was Andor, and it was a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was a 2016 film that itself was a prequel to the first Star Wars movie, ending right where that 1977 film began.
Andor does quite a lot for its titular character, and makes him more interesting for sure, but it’s how the show builds into a whole sci-fi political drama with a scope that manages to exceed the movies that really impresses. It also feels like there are more reasons to care about what’s going on here than in most other Star Wars-related media, and yes, this is all adding to the ridiculous hype around Andor that already exists, but it really does deserve all that hype and acclaim.
3
‘Lost’ (2004–2010)
It does have to be acknowledged that Lost doesn’t really start out as an epic, even if it does start pretty ambitious… not nearly as ambitious as it later gets, though. There are people stranded on an island after a plane crash, and then they find out all the ways in which that island is incredibly strange, which leads to a good deal of adventuring, some of it through time (flashbacks early on set a precedent for this) and some of it not really just related to the island itself. Kind of.
The main thing is that at some point, Lost becomes an unusual kind of epic.
Elaborating further would sound a bit chaotic, if you’ve only got so many words to work with, and then it would also involve giving away too much. The main thing is that at some point, Lost becomes an unusual kind of epic, and it remains about as big, wild, and ambitious as a network TV drama has ever gotten.
2
‘Game of Thrones’ (2011–2019)
Game of Thrones had an ending. That ending is an elephant and this article is the room. It’s all been addressed. Game of Thrones was also just about the most epic anything of the 2010s, and it did define that decade, to some extent, by being aired throughout it. All the previously mentioned large-scale shows on HBO were something, and felt grander than things before (and most things that weren’t HBO), but Game of Thrones was all next-level.
The main conflict here concerns which house will rule over Westeros, while there’s also an approaching undead army that threatens to wipe out all of civilization, and will likely do so faster if everyone’s still at war. There’s so much going on, an almost overwhelming number of characters to keep track of, and undeniable spectacle throughout, including in the first season, but it just gets bigger and bigger from there (especially as far as battle sequences were concerned).
1
‘The Wire’ (2002–2008)
There isn’t as much variety in setting in The Wire as Game of Thrones, with the former being set almost entirely within one city, and the latter having a whole fictional/fantasy continent (and beyond) to depict. Baltimore is that city in The Wire, though it is explored and covered in-depth, to the point where The Wire ends up feeling more epic, in many ways, than similarly ambitious shows that might have a larger setting.
Also, you get the sense of things becoming bigger as the show goes along. The city doesn’t literally grow, but each new season has a new focus on a different area or aspect of Baltimore, and once introduced, those areas (and the characters relevant to them) will remain important to the show, even with new seasons technically spending more time on new/different things. By the end, it’s pretty staggering to think how much was covered, and how seamlessly and efficiently The Wire covered it all.
The Wire
- Release Date
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2002 – 2008-00-00
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Ernest R. Dickerson, Ed Bianchi, Steve Shill, Clark Johnson, Daniel Attias, Agnieszka Holland, Tim Van Patten, Alex Zakrzewski, Anthony Hemingway, Brad Anderson, Clement Virgo, Elodie Keene, Peter Medak, Rob Bailey, Seith Mann, Christine Moore, David Platt, Dominic West, Gloria Muzio, Jim McKay, Leslie Libman, Milcho Manchevski, Robert F. Colesberry, Thomas J. Wright
Entertainment
Mariska Hargitay Nods to Gloria Steinem In Emmys Speech
Mariska Hargitay delivered an emotional acceptance speech while receiving one of two Creative Arts Emmy Awards for her directorial debut My Mom Jayne, referencing the late Gloria Steinem.
“I’m utterly overwhelmed, as you can imagine. I just wanted to share with you that it took me a while … to realize that this was my story to tell. I didn’t think that I could direct it and so I just want to add something to Gloria’s pointer and that is about telling your own story,” Hargitay, 62, said on Sunday, September 6, inside Los Angeles’ Peacock Theatre.
Steinem, a feminist icon and political activist, died at age 92 in her New York City home on Wednesday, September 2. Her final interview for the Famous Last Words documentary series, filmed in February 2025 and released after her death, urged people to “please tell your own story,” as it’s “the most important thing we can do for each other.”
Hargitay, who created her 2025 documentary about her late mother, Jayne Mansfield, reiterated Steinem’s stance on Sunday. “I just want that invitation to go out, especially to women. I’m so excited to explore and discover and to innovate new ways of hearing stories from half of the world’s population because we don’t hear from you nearly enough,” she said on stage. “I can’t wait to get to know you. Thank you, this is meaningful.”
The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star lost her mom, a fellow actress and 1960s sex symbol, in a 1967 car crash when Hargitay was 3 years old. Hargitay’s film features personal home videos and interviews with her mom’s five children. (Mansfield welcomed Jayne Marie in 1950 with Paul Mansfield, Miklós in 1958 and Zoltán in 1960 with Mickey Hargitay, Tony in 1965 with Matt Cimber and Mariska in 1964. Mariska was raised by Mickey before learning the identity of her biological father, Nelson Sardelli, who had a brief fling with Jayne during a break in her relationship with Mickey.)

Gloria Steinem Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Foundation for Women
Hargitay said during her June 25 appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that filming the documentary shone a light on the similarities she shared with her late mom. “During the making of this film and on this journey, I’ve had so many moments where I got to see our similarity, or what I came from, and what I admire and revere and respect are the things about her that I’m in awe of and the things about her that are so similar to how I am,” Mariska told host Alex Cooper. “So, in that way, it has been this gift. It’s so magnificent.”
Entertainment
Julia Stiles Joins TikTok Trend To Dispel Rumors
With the new season of “Dancing with the Stars” approaching, some contestants are already facing scrutiny over their previous dance experience. Fans have questioned whether celebrities with dance backgrounds have an unfair advantage over their fellow competitors.
Among those drawing attention is Julia Stiles, who famously starred as a ballerina-turned-hip-hop-dancer Sara Johnson in the film “Save the Last Dance.” Now, the actress is revealing how much dance experience she really has.

Several competitors in the upcoming season of “Dancing with the Stars” have raised eyebrows, with their dance backgrounds allegedly giving them an unfair advantage in the ballroom. Some of them include Ciara Miller, Harry Shum Jr., and Jenna Dewan, to name a few.
Julia Stiles, who trained in dancing while preparing for her role in “Save the Last Dance,” has also caught fans’ attention. On September 6, the actress and her “DWTS” pro partner, Ezra Sosa, joined the TikTok Yep/Nope challenge to clear up some rumors. “PSA just to clarify #dwts” Stiles captioned the post.
Upon answering a few questions, people were surprised to learn a few facts about her dance background, or lack thereof.
The Actress Used A Body Double In ‘Save The Last Dance’
First, Stiles wanted to clarify that she did not attend The Juilliard School, the prestigious performing arts conservatory in New York. However, her character in “Save the Last Dance” did. Following the news of her “DWTS” casting, many fans joked that having a Juilliard-trained competitor in the show was unfair.
Next, Stiles said that she wasn’t a trained dancer. While she had to learn dance techniques for the movie, she did not have professional dance training before or after making the film. Moreover, she revealed that she used a body double. According to reports, most of the complicated dance sequences were performed by a professional dancer.
Finally, Stiles said she has not danced since making the movie, which was released in 2001.
Julia Stiles’ Drunk Dancing For A Movie Got Her An Audition
On the 20th anniversary of “Save the Last Dance,” Stiles revealed how she got the role of Sara Johnson despite her lack of professional dance skills.
Talking to Today in 2021, the actress said she met director Thomas Carter, who told her he had seen her performance in “10 Things I Hate About You.” The rom-com came out in 1999, and Stiles played the leading role of Kat Stratford. In one scene, Kat, drunk on tequila, climbs on a table and wildly dances to The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize.”
“He saw that, and he was like, ‘Oh, you have rhythm’,” Stiles recalled. She then had a screen test and was eventually hired for “Save the Last Dance.”
The Actress Said Her Limited Dance Training Is A ‘Disadvantage’
For Stiles, dancing and training were the activities she enjoyed the most while filming “Save the Last Dance.” “It was really challenging and really daunting because I’m not a professional dancer. So there was a lot of playing catch-up,” she said, adding that it was a great opportunity to experience “rigorous training” and “choreography rehearsals.”
Following the “DWTS” full cast announcement, Stiles revealed that she thinks her limited dance training for the movie was “a bit of a disadvantage” for her stint on the ballroom-dancing competition. She told Entertainment Weekly that she has not received any formal dance training since the movie.
“I love dancing at home, and part of my reason for coming on this show was to find the joy in dance again… find my confidence in dance again,” she said.
Julia Stiles’ Former Co-Stars Support Her Dance Journey
Stiles is already hard at work with Sosa, learning dances and perfecting routines ahead of the show’s premiere.
In an appearance on “Good Morning America” on September 2, following the cast reveal, Stiles was shown surprise videos from her “Save the Last Dance” co-stars. Kerry Washington and Sean Patrick Thomas, who played brother and sister in the movie, had sweet messages for Stiles.
“Honestly, the competition better watch out, because I know that you have some slammin’ moves up your sleeves,” Washington said. Thomas, meanwhile, congratulated Stiles and said, “From what I remember, you got into Juilliard, so I know you’re gonna kill it.”
“DWTS” Season 35 kicks off with a two-night premiere on September 15 and 16, followed by new episodes every Tuesday.
Entertainment
Candace Cameron Bure’s Daughter Natasha Denies Having Baby
Candace Cameron Bure‘s pregnant daughter Natasha Perry has slammed critics claiming she’s had her baby and won’t share the news in a grab for more “attention” and “money.”
“It’s September 6, I’m filming this in real time … I’m still pregnant, I still have a baby here, OK?” she told fans in a Sunday, September 6, TikTok video, before lifting her shirt up to reveal her bump.
Natasha, 28, who is expecting her first child — and Candace’s first grandchild — with her husband, Bradley Steven Perry, filmed the clip in response to a comment that claimed she had delayed a birth announcement for strategic reasons. “Ultimately these people just use us for engagement and likes and comments because the more attention, the more money. They don’t actually want us involved or want to keep anyone in the loop,” the comment, pasted in Natasha’s TikTok, read.
Natasha, who is one of three children shared by the Full House alum, 50, and her husband, Valeri Bure, told fans, “I see [this type of comment] all the time on my content. The internet can be a really fun, beautiful place. I love my community that I have on here. It can also be such a creepy, parasocial space where people feel entitled to information about your life. That being said, not sharing content in real time has never come from a monetization aspect.”
She added that delayed content posts are “not about money, it’s not about strategy: it’s simply about having boundaries online, protecting my family and ultimately the biggest reason is, allowing myself to soak up the moments that are happening for me in my real life before I share them with the internet.”
Natasha, who announced her pregnancy via a joint Instagram post with her husband in May, continued, “I’m not sitting at home thinking about how it’s going to financially benefit me to post a certain video at a certain time. I’m just not. If I feel comfortable to share in the moment then great, I will, but if I want to savor a moment that’s happening for my family, I don’t owe you anything. Nobody owes you anything.”

Candace Cameron Bure and Natasha Perry Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Lionsgate
She concluded, “I’m always going to do it when it makes me feel comfortable. Sometimes that’s the same day, sometimes that’s a month later. I don’t know what I’m going to feel and when I’m going to feel that way.”
This isn’t the first time that Natasha has hit back at online criticism. In June, she clapped back at social media users who didn’t approve of her showing off her growing bump publicly. “Raise your hand if you will never understand people being offended by a pregnant belly being out?” she quipped in a June 12 TikTok video, subsequently raising her own hand. “Let me just be the first to say: I do not care. I literally don’t care.”
She continued at the time, “I didn’t know this was a thing until I have received countless DMs from grown women telling me I need to put my belly away, buy a bigger shirt or sending me the lengthiest stories about how when they were pregnant, in their time, they didn’t do that. I love my pregnant belly, [and] I have never in my life been so proud of my body, so proud that I’m growing a little baby in there.”
Entertainment
The 7 Most Influential Adventure Movies of the Last 25 Years
Few movie genres have had so much staying power as adventure. Since the early days of cinema, audiences have been utterly transfixed by movies about grand, dangerous, and thrilling adventures in far-off lands, filled with daring heroes, handsome rogues, spirited damsels, and wicked villains. Adventure movies have had a long and storied journey on the big screen, from the early days of The Thief of Bagdad all the way to the Indiana Jones movies of the ’80s.
In the 21st century, the genre endures as a prime source of entertainment, even if its popularity isn’t exactly what it once was. Indeed, the genre’s inherent, old-fashioned sensibilities might seem a tad outdated by today’s standards, but audiences will still run to the theater for the right kind of adventure movie. Over the last 25 years, a few adventure movies have raised the bar and set new standards, becoming greatly influential not only within the genre but in cinema as a whole.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
No movie—or in this case, movies—are more foundational to 21st-century filmmaking than The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sir Peter Jackson‘s adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s equally seminal novel is the pillar upon which all of this century’s blockbusters rise. The trilogy tells the story of the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as he and a fellowship of allies carry the One Ring to the fires of Mount Doom as the Dark Lord Sauron assembles an army to take over Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings revived the fantasy genre and proved that blockbuster filmmaking could perfectly balance commercialism with artistry. It accrued a total of 30 Oscar nominations, winning a whopping 17 statuettes, including Best Picture for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The films launched a new wave of fantasy and adventure movies based on literary IPs, with every studio wanting to replicate Jackson’s success, if not critically, then at least commercially. It wasn’t an easy task, as not even Jackson could do it with the subsequent Hobbit trilogy. The Lord of the Rings‘ legacy remains untouched, though; if anything, it has only kept increasing over the years, now standing as certified masterpieces of cinema as a whole.
‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’ (2003)
In 2003, Disney took a huge gamble by making a movie out of a theme park ride, one that wasn’t particularly popular. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl also had the daunting task of reviving the pirate and swashbuckling genre, which was all but killed eight years earlier, when the disaster that was Cutthroat Island put a knife through its heart and bankrupted Carolco Pictures in the process. The risk paid off, alas, and The Curse of the Black Pearl became a sensation.
The film not only launched an incredibly successful franchise, including two sequels that rank among the biggest cultural phenomenons of the 2000s. However, it also signaled a shift in the industry: suddenly, studios didn’t need to stick to books, shows, or movies for inspiration, as theme park rides and even board games were all game. Disney would make multiple attempts at replicating Pirates‘ success, tackling other theme park rides like Haunted Mansion and Tomorrowland; none were as successful. Similarly, competitor studios went all in on the whimsical, adventure vibe of the movie, leading to multiple movies with varying degrees of success, from solid performers that went on to become cult classics, like Stardust, to outright disasters that are best left forgotten, like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
‘Sherlock Holmes’ (2009)
The ’80s showed that action heroes can come from the most unlikely of places. However, that idea took a whole new form in the late 2000s, when studios got the idea to turn classic literary characters into men of action, if not necessarily action stars per se. Perhaps the most influential of these new heroes was Guy Ritchie‘s take on Sherlock Holmes, played by Robert Downey Jr. in the middle of his post-Iron Man career resurgence.
2009’s Sherlock Holmes was an action-comedy-mystery hybrid that greatly benefited from Downey Jr.’s witty, physical, and curiously charming performance, which even earned him the Golden Globe. The film’s hectic, highly modernized approach also inspired a new wave of movies taking classic properties and translating them to a modern audience, from 2011’s The Three Musketeers to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, none of which were particularly successful. The film also launched a new wave of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, most notably the BBC serial starring Benedict Cumberbatch in an Emmy-winning performance. A third entry in Ritchie’s Holmes series has been long-discussed, but nothing has materialized, and fifteen years after 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, we’re still waiting.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ (2010)
Not every movie that was influential was strictly “good”; take Tim Burton‘s fantasy Alice in Wonderland, which might very well be one of the weakest entries into his filmography. The film acts as a sequel to the classic Disney movie and sees Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returning to “Underland,” which has been overtaken by the Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter). With the help of many of the classic characters from Lewis Carroll‘s tale, Alice launches a revolution to put the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) back on the throne.
The wave of Disney live-action adaptations that dominated the 2010s, and keep popping up to this day, can be traced back to Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The film was an overwhelming success, surpassing a billion at the box office and making Disney salivate at the prospect of repackaging their timeless classics in live-action. Along with James Cameron‘s Avatar, Alice in Wonderland was also instrumental in popularizing 3D, with many movies post-2010 quickly scrambling to turn themselves into 3D, hoping to replicate Burton and Cameron’s successes. Indeed, few movies of the early 21st century were as influential as this one, believe it or not.
‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ (2012)
And speaking of mid movies that had a profound impact on the industry, we have Snow White and the Huntsman. A dark retelling of the classic tale of Snow White, the film sees the evil queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) taking over Snow White’s (Kristen Stewart) kingdom and locking her in a tower. Years later, Snow White escapes into the Dark Forest, and Ravenna sends the huntsman Eric (Chris Hemsworth) to bring her back.
Snow White and the Huntsman is a curious case: it wasn’t exactly acclaimed by critics or audiences, yet its impact on filmmaking is undeniable, launching countless dark retellings of classic fairy tales in the years to come. Everything, from failed efforts like Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and Jack the Giant Slayer, to criminally underrated grimdark gems like Tale of Tales, to even Disney’s own Maleficent and Into the Woods, can be traced back to Stewart and Theron’s fantasy adventure. The trend was short-lived, though, because who doesn’t want to see fairy tale figures in grimy, oppressive landscapes because the story isn’t actually how we know it? By the time The Huntsman: Winter’s War (the long-awaited sequel that didn’t feature Stewart’s Snow White) came out, the industry had ended its venture into fairy tale territory.
‘Barbie’ (2023)
Now, first things first: Barbie is a fantasy comedy with heavy adventure elements rather than a strictly pure adventure movie. However, considering the adventure takes the entire middle act of the movie and is the main driver in Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) story, it’s eligible for this list. The movie sees Barbie and Ken (Ryan Gosling) going on an adventure from Barbieland into the human world after she starts having dangerous thoughts that are directly tied to the girl playing with her in the real world.
Barbie was a proper cultural phenomenon, not only as one-half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon, but in and of itself. It was the highest-grossing movie of 2023 and earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture—infamously, both Robbie and Greta Gerwig were snubbed in the Best Actress and Best Director categories. As expected, the film’s massive success provoked an instant reaction in the industry, not with studios actively searching for more female-centric, female-driven movies about distinct female-oriented issues, but by green-lighting more movies based on toys. Thus far, we’ve had new adaptations of Masters of the Universe, and there are active plans to make movies about Polly Pocket and, believe it or not, even Barney.
‘The Odyssey’ (2026)
It might be cheating to include Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey in this list, considering it’s literally still in movie theaters. However, the impact it’s already had on the industry is perceivable, and considering Nolan’s reputation and the film’s performance, it’s easy to conclude it will go all the way to become one of the all-time greats. Matt Damon stars in this adaptation of Homer‘s epic about Odysseus’ 10-year-journey back to Ithaca.
The Odyssey has already become Nolan’s highest-grossing movie, and the dollars just keep coming. Awards predictors have it as a top contender in multiple categories at the Oscars, including Matt Damon in Best Actor. Just like Gladiator did for the sword-and-sandal genre, The Odyssey is bound to inspire a new wave of large-scale, character-driven epics. Whether they come from Greek classics or not remains to be seen, but don’t be surprised if new movies based on the Trojan War and the arguably less-widely-known epic Aeneid are announced in the following months—perhaps we’ll finally get the long-awaited adaptation of Madeline Miller‘s The Song of Achilles. How many of those will actually reach the heights of Nolan’s Odyssey? Well, that’s a different matter altogether.
Entertainment
Brandi Glanville Reveals 18-Hour IV Regimen, Weight Loss
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Brandi Glanville has shared insight into her ongoing health battle.
“I know I’m so skinny right now. I can’t eat because the things I do … decreases my food. I feel like death. I look like death,” Glanville, 53, told fans in a Sunday, September 6, Instagram video that captured her slender frame in a kitchen as she prepared daily IV infusions.
She continued, “I just finished this IV, it’s Imipenum. It’s on a pump. I had to learn to do all these with the nurse. Now she comes four hours a day in the evenings to do my other IV but I have to do this IV before she comes for the 4-hour IV, and then I start this at 4 o’clock, the Imipenum, and I have that overnight. 18 hours a day. It’s a lot of setup.” (Imipenum is an antibiotic used in conjunction with Cilastatin to treat infections caused by bacteria, according to the Cleveland Clinic.)
Dressed in exercise gear with a bandage wrapped around one of her biceps, the reality star also provided a window into her lifestyle via the clip’s caption. “For the first time, I’m showing you what my life has really looked like behind closed doors. The treatments. The IVs. The exhaustion. The days nobody saw,” Glanville wrote of “part 1” of her story. “I haven’t been ready to talk about all of it publicly, and there’s still a lot I’m not ready to share yet. This is only one minute of a much bigger story.”
The health update comes after Glanville revealed in June that a benign tumor in one of her facial lymph nodes provided a hurdle amid the return of her facial parasite. (Glanville suffered from facial disfigurement due to the parasite in the past, revealing in 2024 that she’d spent more than $113,000 on treatments.)
She said on a June episode of her “Unfiltered” podcast that the non-cancerous tumor “could be why the fluid is going around my face,” adding during the episode that she “can wear makeup for, like, 15 minutes, and [then] I have to take it off.”
The reality star, who rose to fame on the Bravo series from 2011 to 2015, spoke to Us in November 2025, revealing that her health issues sparked a “slow process.” Noting that she’d moved house in search of a “fresh start,” Glanville said at the time, “I’m finally getting back to my normal routine and feeling like myself again. The new space has really helped me reset and focus on creating a calmer, more positive environment for myself.”
She continued, “I’m enjoying keeping things simple, spending more time at home, and really taking care of myself … I’m actively filming my YouTube series and working on a variety of new projects, so my focus is really on everything I’m creating today. It’s been exciting to grow and explore new platforms.”
While Glanville is only beginning to open up about her IV needs, she did recently reveal all regarding the vaginal rejuvenation surgery she underwent in 2009 after her ex-husband Eddie Cibrian allegedly commented on her body’s changes after childbirth.
“The only way I could stop f***ing my ex-husband was to be a virgin again,” she told her podcast cohost James Maas about the surgery. “You know, I spit out two kids and [Cibrian] made a comment like, ‘It’s not what it used to be.’”
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