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Four episodes in and Disney Plus' Loki has been a wild ride. We've seen multiple apocalypses, the mind-bending tech of the TVA, and - as the fourth episode ended - four bizarre new alt-Lokis. But surpassing all that is Sophia Di Martino's Sylvie, a female Loki variant who the TVA is trying to wipe from existence. Di Martino has come close to stealing the show from Tom Hiddleston and most are hoping Sylvie will go on to a bright future in the MCU.
Sylvester Stallone's Rocky series is one of the most enduring in cinematic history. There's been a new movie in the franchise in every decade since the 70s, beginning with the Oscar-winning 1976 Rocky and currently ending with the excellent Creed II in 2018. Over that time the Italian stallion has built a substantial fanbase around the world, which apparently also includes young girls.
Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead was a big hit for Netflix, dominating online conversation with its high-octane zombie action, science-fiction elements, and subtly time-twisty narrative. Many felt that the film ended with a bunch of unanswered questions about the zombies' origins, the fact that some of them appeared to be cyborgs, and the hints that our heroes might be stuck inside some kind of time loop.
Star Trek is in a golden period right now, with a bunch of cool shows either mid-run or coming soon. One of the finest is Picard, which is effectively a sequel show to Star Trek: The Next Generation and whose best feature is the nostalgia trip of reuniting the Enterprise D's crew. In the first season it was great to catch up with Riker, Troi, Data, and, of course, Jean-Luc Picard - and the second season is currently filming. But there was one big absence that bugged me. Where the hell is Michael Dorn‘s Worf?
Disney Plus' Loki has already turned heads with its timeline-hopping action. We've seen worlds end, discovered some of the dark secrets at the core of the TVA, and been introduced to Sophia Di Martino's Sylvie, the female Loki variant who seems destined for long-term MCU popularity. Tomorrow will see the penultimate episode air, with the finale next Wednesday.
Chris Pratt‘s The Tomorrow War hit Amazon Prime Video last week and has defied critics to become a monster hit. Audiences seem to be loving its dumb-but-fun blockbuster action, the movie is lighting up social media, and it's apparently breaking viewing records. The time-traveling tale sees Pratt playing Dan Forester, a biology teacher and special forces veteran who gets sucked into 2051, where the future is drafting soldiers from the past in a last-ditch attempt to save Earth from aliens.
Independence Day is now 25 years old and has become a 90s pop culture totem. The film is regularly quoted on social media, has spawned a tonne of memes, and Bill Pullman's epic Presidential speech uniting Earth against the alien menace still kicks a whole bunch of ass. While some of the CGI compositing looks a bit rough by modern standards, the epic destruction sequences still hold up beautifully thanks to excellent use of intricate models and slow-motion photography.
Disney recently unveiled Star Wars: Visions, a new anthology show featuring takes on a galaxy far, far away from some of the best anime studios around. The collection will consist of seven short films in which the creators have been let off the leash when it comes to storytelling. The coolest sounding are Kamikaze Douga's "The Duel", Kinema Citrus' "The Village Bride" and, (as I'm a long-time Neon Genesis Evangelion fan), Production IG's "The Ninth Jedi".