
Charles Bramesco


Extra Credit: Five Spinoffs to Stream After ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’
After Han Solo seizes his moment in the spotlight, stream these other movies about supporting characters taking the fore.

Crossing $11 Billion Mark, Hollywood Poised for Biggest Year to Date
Even if it feels like things are getting worse all the time, with Hollywood delivering an unholy crop of expensive flops amidst murmurs of cinema’s death in 2016, that may not be the case. At the very least, the American film industry isn’t in danger of collapsing any time soon — quite the opposite, in fact. If we’re to take the total sum of money generated by ticket sales in a given year as a barometer of the industry’s overall health, Tinseltown’s still as strong as an ox, Ben-hur remake or no.

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Cast Delights Hospitalized Children, Except for the One Kid Who Likes Batman
When you’ve been fortunate enough to land the headlining role in a potentially lucrative film franchise, the least you can do is give a little back. Superhero actors making guest appearances in hospitals to spread a little cheer to bed-ridden children has become an increasingly common practice in recent years, with Chrises Evans and Pratt both leveraging their celebrity as Captain America and Star-Lord, respectively, to brighten sickly youngsters’ days. It’s a harmless PR stunt — the movie gets some positive, feel-good publicity while making some kid’s day/week/life, and everyone walks away smiling.

Check Out This Fan-Made ‘Ratatouille’ LEGO Set
Toy block company LEGO runs an online program called LEGO Ideas, where anyone is free to make a profile and use it to design new sets of their own imagining. It works almost like a Kickstarter for LEGOs: the crowd can submit their own concepts for new products, and if they’re able to rally enough support around their proposed project from their fellow users, then the top brass at LEGO will actuall

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Dressed Like Yoda at the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Premiere
At long last, the screenings of Star Wars: the Force Awakens have begun to gradually trickle down through the populace. Last night in Los Angeles, the most beautiful and famous among us had the privilege of bearing witness to J.J. Abrams’ go at a seventh installment of the treasured sci-fi franchise...

Armchair Film Critic Barack Obama Names His Favorite Movie of the Year
It’s hard enough for film critics without Barry O. snatching up our freelance gigs, but President Obama and the First Lady weighed in with their choices for 2015’s best film.

Nickelodeon Moves Forward With ‘Hey Arnold!’ TV Movie, Delighting Football-Heads Everywhere
Damn near everything popular between 1985 and 1999 has been rebooted, reimagined, reworked, or remade in the studios’ relentless efforts to wring every last drop of earning potential from existing creative properties. Some efforts have been more successful than others, but either way, Nickelodeon has moved to throw their own hat into the ring.

Emma Stone to Take the Court as Tennis Legend Billie Jean King in ‘Battle of the Sexes’
This larger-than-life story will form the basis of The Battle of the Sexes, a planned film with Emma Stone and Steve Carell in the starring roles. Variety reported on Stone’s involvement with the picture late last night, confirming that the star of Easy A and Aloha would replace Brie Larson (who had to drop out to star in The Glass Castle) for the Billie Jean King part.

Porsche Responds to Lawsuit, Says Paul Walker’s Death Was His Own Fault
Walker’s daughter Meadow filed a lawsuit against Porsche under the banner of “wrongful death,” attributing her father’s untimely death to numerous defects in the car’s design. Industry trade papers are now reporting that officials from Porsche have handed down a response to the lawsuit, claiming that the accident and any injuries sustained therein were ultimately Walker and Rodas’ “own comparative fault.”

A ‘Back to the Future’ Producer Wanted to Retitle the Film ’Space Man From Pluto’
In October 1984, when Back to the Future would’ve been in early-development stages, a producer gave a friendly suggestion to remedy one of the biggest flaws in the project. The script was “terrific”, everything was fine, but that title. Wouldn’t something along the lines of Space Man from Pluto have a smoother flow, make more sense to audiences, and convey what the movie’s actually about much more succinctly?

Affirm Your Fandom With This New 13-Disc Marvel ‘Phase Two’ Blu-ray Box Set
Weighing in at thirteen discs, this ultimate status symbol among Marvelites collects the Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray 3D, and digital-only editions of Iron Man 3, Thor: the Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Captain America: the Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.