Joanne “J. K.” Rowling had no idea that a train ride from Manchester to London would change her life—and the lives of millions around the world—forever by sparking the idea for a novel. When Harry Potter first hit the shelves in June of 1997, there had only been 1,000 copies printed. Of that, 500 went to libraries. But by the next year, Harry Potter had gained enough traction and success to warrant a sequel novel....

The male gaze refers to how women are depicted in the world—specifically media—from a heterosexual male’s point-of-view. This depiction is generally hypersexualized and treats female characters as objects for the male protagonists to use. An obvious example would be the James Bond franchise, in which “Bond girls” are seldom more than erotic side characters. A Bond girl’s only purpose is to look pretty and gratify Bond’s desires, rarely having much of any character development themselves....

There are many reasons for that, but one in particular sticks out for the Canadian filmmaker: whereas many great directors have a favored style and genre—like Martin Scorsese with gangster epics or Christopher Nolan with time-warped stories—Denis Villeneuve is a chameleon whose skills and vision can fit to any film genre. Among all that, Villeneuve is always consistent in one thing: the ability to tell human stories that are grounded and emotional yet epic in scale....

Indeed, there’s no feeling in anime like watching a beloved villain turn a new leaf and start heading down a new path toward redemption. We love to watch characters who start off bad, realize the errors of their ways, and make up for it by the conclusion. And the funny thing is, we often end up liking these characters more than we like the protagonist! That speaks volumes of the value of redemption....

Most of these otherworldly critters are nothing like the adorably marketable races that we’re more familiar with. (I’m looking at you Ewoks and Gungans! But I get it. Cute species work well to sell merchandise, and Jar-Jar Binks brings in the dough.) But nothing piques an audience’s interest like dangerous bad guys whose attitudes and capabilities aren’t fully defined. From extra-galactic nomadic marauders to giant self-replicating space spiders, there are plenty you’ve missed if you’ve only seen the movies....

The whole book-to-movie adaptation process has become the bane of many authors, who wanted to see their works brought to theaters with 100% authenticity but ended up with filmmakers transforming their original writings into something almost unrecognizable. However, every so often, out comes a film adaptation that deviates from the original book in such a huge way that it actually ends up being better for it—much to the chagrin of the original author....

Science fiction is a lot harder for filmmakers, at least when it comes to stirring up those same feelings in watchers—because deep down we know what we’re seeing is totally unbelievable. Getting us to suspend our disbelief and making us want to believe that the events before our eyes are real? That’s one of the greatest feats any filmmaker can achieve, and that’s no truer than in outer space. It takes a deft hand and a keen mind to craft space battle sequences that aren’t just far from cheesy but engaging in a way that leaves us hanging off the edges of our seat and ignoring the impossibility of space battles....

In that moment of pure, unbridled hatred, you may be tempted to flip the board—and even claim that the game was rigged—before storming out of the room, leaving behind a scene straight out of Apocalypse Now. The rage that comes with certain board games—most often older ones—should be written into a warning label slapped on the box. And moments like this got us thinking: which board games are the most frustrating?...

Whether it’s adding more depth to a flimsy fairy tale, flipping the intended message of a fairy tale, or even telling the fairy tale from the villain’s perspective, they’re all fun ideas worth exploring. And several authors have set themselves apart for their retold fairy tales! Check out the best fairy tale retelling authors, along with their best fairy tale retelling books. 5-7. Liz Braswell, Elizabeth Lim, and Jen Calonita (The Twisted Tale Writers) These three writers have all contributed to the Twisted Tale series, which specifically takes common fairy tales and Disney stories and flips them into a new light—many focusing on the villains....

The city has played host to hundreds—if not thousands—of movies over the years, and some of the best ones were comedic tales of romance. The lights, the ambience, and Central Park all come together to make for a truly romantic setting. Here are the best romantic comedy movies set in New York. Whether you love the city or not, you won’t want to miss these! 8. Serendipity (2001) Serendipity may be a little hollow and riddled with clichés, but it has the one thing that makes a romantic comedy great: heart....

Well, after two seasons, that question has been roundly answered with The Boys and how it showcases a group of unbalanced individuals who all have deep-seated personal issues. However, The Boys doesn’t feature a league of heroes who defend the Earth against otherworldly threats. Instead, it concentrates on a renegade group of misfits who are intent on bringing down the corporate heroes. The rag-tag gang The Boys learns the truth about Vought’s involvement in creating superheroes, and each member of The Boys has their own personal reason for wanting to bring Vought down....

The chase can be relentless, and small details can make the difference between success and failure. Following a cop on their journey to pick up scattered clues? It’s almost like a game for the audience. Whether it’s Clarice Starling meeting Hannibal Lecter for the first time or Vincent Hanna having coffee with his nemesis Neil McCauley, the dynamic between cops and criminals can define a movie’s success. Here are some of the best cops, police officers, and law enforcement officers in cinema and what makes them great characters....

However, by the time Rocksteady completed the Arkham trilogy, they were hailed as icons. This studio mastered the art of giving fans everything they wanted in a superhero game, and they successfully redefined what modern gaming could be for licensed IPs. With their long-awaited next game arriving in the form of The Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, we thought now would be the perfect time to visit Rocksteady’s history of excellence....

Dark anime is technically not a genre but rather a classification that focuses more on the exploration of death, trauma, psychologically disturbing concepts, and explicit mature content. It may look and feel the same as your typical shonen or shojo anime series, but you’ll come across scenes that are plenty more gruesome, hair-raising, stomach-churning, and emotionally devastating. Many dark animes are considered so dark that they’ve actually been banned in several countries....

But years ago, we’d actually get most of our movie-watching done through video rental stores like Blockbuster, West Coast Video, and Hollywood Video. Or video rental kiosks like Redbox. Nowadays, people don’t rent movies as much. And that’s a shame, because renting movies has never been easier or more convenient! There’s no commitment like when you’re buying a physical disc or signing up for a streaming platform. If you just want to watch a movie once and it isn’t available on any streaming service you’re subscribed to, then you should consider renting movies online via one of these sites....

Which isn’t so unusual when we look at how popular superhero movies have become over the past two decades. With the incredible success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s all too realistic for Hollywood to churn out more of the same in order to rake in the big bucks. It was Bryan Singer’s X-Men in 2000 that set the Marvel movie wheels in motion for mainstream cinema. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man came soon after in 2002, and its sequel Spider-Man 2 is still considered one of the best superhero movies ever made....

Both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (as well as Sony’s PlayStation 5) have taken a more PC-style approach to console gaming. This means that most new games are still available to play on the previous generation of consoles, but look and run better on current generation hardware. With Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S, this gets even trickier. Should you opt for the fancier of the two console models if you can afford it?...

But then there are days when even getting out of bed can feel like the greatest challenge. It’s normal to feel this way once in a while, but if you’ve noticed it happening more and more lately, then it’s probably time to re-assess your everyday habits and make some changes. Here are some useful life habits and daily routines that might be missing from your patterns. They can really improve your mood if you take them seriously and incorporate them with intention....

For many years, the movie adaptation has been the pinnacle of success for many authors, a milestone that clearly proved a book’s popularity. Becoming a movie allowed an author’s work to reach a vast audience and have the knock-on effect of repopularizing their original work. But when a book is too dense to comprehensively adapt into a two-hour movie, what do you do? For a while, the answer was: movie series....

Little did I know that, while the show has its fun and lighthearted moments, it also punches you in the gut and tugs at your heartstrings. With two complete seasons under its belt, you should add Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist to your watchlist. Here are several reasons why Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is better than most musical TV shows you’ve seen, and why you should start watching it if you like musicals!...