“Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk has had his profile raised to an almost unimaginable degree over the last month or so. A 50-year-old writer and director who spent years trying to get his hyper-violent satire of capitalism off the ground, Hwang is now the creator of one of the biggest shows on the planet. That’s a step up in fame that comes with some major perks, presumably—including getting to hear the thoughts and opinions of a far more famous class of critics....

“Funky is branching into consumables with Pop! Candy in Q1 of 2023 with a special, see-through Pop! figure filled with colorful candy to hit fan’s sweet spot, while also delivering a collectible item. In time for Easter, the first launch will include Freddy Funky and other IP, such as Care Bears.” Funko also announced they will begin producing a line of puzzles as well. “Funko’s first line of puzzles will arrive this holiday season from Funko Games, featuring fan-favorite pop culture characters like Elf (available in October), Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (November)....

“To make Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sony had to invent new types of animation technology. The result was a stunning, Oscar-winning film that blurred the line between cartoon and comic book. But at the same time, Sony was making another animated film that took the same tech from Spider-Verse and used it to do something very… weird.” Read more at Inverse. Shrek is a masterpiece that couldn’t have existed as it does if the stars hadn’t aligned....

“Filming on The Witcher’s second season continues apace, as Netflix has hired several new cast members for the hit series based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy books, including one of the series’ bigger villains.” Read more at Gizmodo. William Shatner turned 90 years old yesterday. To celebrate, check out 90 fun facts about this Star Trek icon. Read more at Mental Floss. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier gives two beloved MCU sidekicks the attention and character developments they deserve....

On its surface, Mare of Easttown is a murder mystery: Who killed poor, sweet, Erin McMenamin? By the time the credits roll on the final episode, we will almost certainly have that answer (unless we don’t). Yet, the connective tissue of the series goes much deeper than a simple whodunnit. The threads that bind the citizens of Easttown together are woven through with unspoken pain, loss, and tightly held secrets....

The MCU is finally back on the big screen! Marvel’s Black Widow was supposed to be the official kickoff of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but then the pandemic happened, it got bounced around the release calendar, and Disney managed to release three MCU TV shows before Natasha got to take her curtain call on the big screen. But that’s thankfully behind us, and Black Widow delivers terrific blockbuster action in the mighty Marvel manner....

Marvel’s Loki episode 1 has finally arrived on Disney+! And in the grand scheme of things, this one is much closer to WandaVision than The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in terms of its tone, weirdness, and overall sense of mystery. The halls of the TVA are packed with obscure Marvel Comics lore and hints of what’s to come for the MCU, and we’re here to try and help you make sense of all of it....

In an interview with Metro, BioWare project director Mac Walters addressed some of the ways that the team is using the Legendary Edition to fix certain aspects of the original Mass Effect games that haven’t aged well. Notably, he revealed that the team is especially interested in remedying some of the issues that left the original female avatar for Commander Shepard feeling like an afterthought. “So a male Shepherd animation would have him sitting with his legs quite wide open with a low camera where, if you were wearing a skirt, it would be a bit unflattering,” Walters explains....

When it comes to interrogating the meanings and possible subtexts of Men, the new and formidable surrealist horror film from Alex Garland, the filmmaker is unusually circumspect. As a storyteller who appears always as erudite as the films he’s written—which include 28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go, and his previous directorial efforts of Ex Machina and Annihilation—Garland is again thoughtful while discussing Men ahead of release. But perhaps more so than any of his previous projects, he also feels a need to be ambiguous about a movie that shockingly ends with the sight of Rory Kinnear birthing himself....

Midnight Mass is the project that’s rattled around Mike Flanagan’s head the longest. According to the creator himself, Flanagan developed the central conceit of the faith-based horror story well before his horror career even began. The project has been fine tuned many times, first as a novel, then a movie, and now finally a Netflix series. Though the details of Midnight Mass have changed over the years, two particular moments have remained immutable....

It’s easy to forget, but the mid-2000s were a lean period for Cruise’s stardom. The actor’s involvement with Scientology and subsequent bizarre media appearances led to the end of a 14-year relationship between Cruise and Paramount Pictures. Underwhelming box office performances for Cruise-led films like Lions for Lambs, Valkyrie, and Knight and Day also suggested that maybe it took more than Cruise alone to sell a picture. However, Cruise’s fortunes appeared to turn in 2011 with Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, the fourth film in the franchise....

A long time in a galaxy not even remotely close to far away, there was a special entity that appeared to save us. No, it was not Grogu saving us with his near-unrivaled level of cuteness. But rather, it’s the folks over at MobyFox making sure our watch game is strong with the force. What better way to showcase your Star Wars fandom than their new Star Wars collection, which features a plethora of your favorite Jedi, Droids, and everything in between!...

Up to 2009, the Marvel name had already been attached to some big-performers – Sony’s Spider-Man, Fox’s X-Men, the studio’s own Iron Man – but it was also complicit in just as many bombs: Spider-Man 3, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, a pair of lukewarm Fantastic Fours. Even Marvel’s own Incredible Hulk. In 2010, there was little indication that in the decade that followed, Marvel would go on to absolutely dominate the pop-culture conversation....

Nancy Drew Season 2, Episode 2 Sea shanties truly are so hot right now. Yes, the musical sensation sweeping your social media plays a big part in the latest installment of Nancy Drew, as our favorite sleuth works to track down a nautical ballad that may hold the key to defeating the vengeful Aglaeca. Unfortunately, there’s not nearly enough actual singing in this hour for a plot involving sea shanties, and the bulk of the story isn’t so much about the vicious sea spirit’s backstory as it is a trip down memory lane with her last batch of victims, who all turn out to be faces we’ve seen before....

Nancy Drew Season 2, Episode 6 In case you were anxious that Nancy Drew’s second season would slow down now that the gang has finally defeated the Aglaeca for good, “The Riddle of the Broken Doll” is here to prove that we have nothing to worry about in that department. An hour that not only features one of the show’s most grotesque monsters of the week to date, it also cleverly expands Nancy’s world as an investigator and, in doing so, that of the show itself....

Here are the new arrivals we greeted in 2022, including many that are well worth catching up on if you didn’t get to them the first time around. Am I Being Unreasonable? (September) This six-part comedy-thriller from Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli is a sneaky masterpiece that doesn’t announce what it really is until the very end, by which point you’ll be hooked. Thank goodness another series has already been commissioned....

On the TV side of things, it’s a good month to be animated with both Big Mouth and F is for Family premiering their fifth seasons (on Nov. 5 and Nov. 25 respectively). It’s the live-action version of an animated classic, however, that might be Netflix’s crown jewel this month. Cowboy Bebop premieres on Nov. 19 and based on the first trailer, it will maintain the spirit of the beloved anime....

Season 5 of the worldwide smash Money Heist is set to premiere its first half on Sept. 3. This Spanish series (called La Casa de Papel in its native tongue) about a group of geographically-named thieves found new life on Netflix to become a global phenomenon. Other international series of note this month include Sex Education and Jaguar. Netflix’s roster of originals in September 2021 is pretty packed even beyond that....

As you’ve probably guessed, though, New Pokémon Snap‘s Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are the most elusive in the game. In fact, some of these Pokémon are so hard to find that you could easily add hours to the sequel’s runtime just exploring the possibilities that eventually unlock them. If you’d rather avoid throwing Orbs at everything in the game in the hope of eventually uncovering the rarest Pokémon, though, then here’s exactly what you need to do to find every Legendary and Mythical Pokémon location in New Pokémon Snap....

The only way forward? Show that list who’s boss. Seize control, take back the power, and no longer creep into each new dawn bent double by the weight of Stuff You Still Haven’t Seen. 2023 is your year to climb on top of that teetering mental pile and look out to horizons new. And it all starts here, with your New Year’s Viewing Resolution. Clear up an unfinished series, finally knuckle down to a classic, get to grips with a new obsession, make one night a week movie night, cut ties with a show that’s been doing you dirty… whatever you resolve, the change starts now....