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“Thunder Force” is nearly half over before the action-comedy lands on a real joke: the introduction of co-star Jason Bateman as a half-superhero mutant with crab arms instead of human appendages. Jokes aside, Bateman’s “The Crab” also makes for a good foil to the eponymous Thunder Force, a pair of unexpected crime fighters who have emerged to battle the supervillain crime wave that has consumed the world since their childhood. They need all the help (or hurt) they can get. Melissa McCarthy...

When you read a lot of television writing, you start to realize that many critics have pet peeves or tropes that can make them a little dispirited about the medium as a whole. One such stumbling block is the reliance on in medias res in stories that don’t necessarily warrant them. For the unfamiliar, in medias res is a latin term which translates to “in the middle of things.” On TV, utilization of the concept will often see an episode begin “in the middle of” an action-packed sequence, in...

All products and services featured by IndieWire are independently selected by IndieWire editors. However, IndieWire may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. It’s been 10 years since “Game of Thrones” debuted, and to celebrate, HBO and HBO Max announced a monthlong streaming extravaganza, which included the newly released trailer for the controversial eighth and final season. Even though...

Nearly 40 years ago, Godfrey Reggio’s “Koyaanisqatsi” set a pulsating montage of modern and natural splendor to an ecstatic Phillip Glass score and was off to the races, with a singular formula of manufactured awe that has lasted generations. Likewise, when Terrence Malick returned from decades of dormancy to heighten conventional narratives with whispery voiceovers and cosmic detours, the ambition was undeniable. Yet “Awaken,” which was executive produced by both men and directed by their...

In statements given to Variety as part of a look at the year ahead in Latinx film representation, Rosie Perez reveals she has never been invited to attend or present at the Academy Awards since her 1994 Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in “Fearless.” The actress added, “Not even to sit in the audience, not to present, nothing — and I’m a member. I love the Academy Awards. I cheer on my peers, but it hurts.” Perez described the feeling of never...

Last Year’s Winner: “Schitt’s Creek” Still Eligible: No. Hot Streak: It’s been a few years since we saw a repeat winner in the Best Comedy Series category, and that’s OK! “Veep” was the last to pull it off, winning three in a row from 2015 – 2017, which came right after “Modern Family’s” historic run of five consecutive wins. Both of those preceded “30 Rock’s” three years atop Comedy Mountain, so after 11 years of hot streaks, let’s enjoy the unpredictability while it lasts. Fun Fact...

Rookie filmmaker Emma Seligman is shaping up to be a major new talent thanks to the recent release of her directorial debut “Shiva Baby” and word of two new projects she’s attached to. Along with her upcoming film “Bottoms,” Canadian director Seligman is teaming up with Adam McKay for an HBO comedy series titled “Sugar,” about the lives of sugar babies who are bankrolled by older sugar “daddies,” who also offer money and gifts. The half-hour series will center on a young Jewish woman living...

When Trevor Hawkins wanted to finance his debut feature, “Lotawana,” he did it the old-fashioned way; He took out a second mortgage. Now that the film is done, he’s taking a distinctly 21st-century approach by creating two types of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs: At $1,000 each, there’s 1,000 tokens that represent ownership shares that give profit participation as well as $100 tokens to access the movie’s online premiere. “It was risky to make the movie itself,” he said Hawkins, a veteran...

Crimes involving art are inherently captivating. Even in its most basic form, the theft of a priceless work of art is a singular draw, regardless of any person or group’s reason for swiping it. (That appeal almost singlehandedly catapulted “Lupin” to “TV phenomenon” status earlier this year.) But what’s kept the events of March 18, 1990 in the public fascination is everything about it that still makes no sense. “This is a Robbery” outlines the circumstances surrounding the pilfering of 13...

Neil Burger only directed the first installment of the ill-fated “Divergent” series before moving on to more lucrative problems (“Billions,” “The Upside”), but his latest film — a self-generated story that re-stages “Lord of the Flies” on a cramped spaceship full of horny teens — suggests an enduring fascination with the same kind of YA futurism that was all the rage back when Lionsgate was hoping to make Beatrice Prior into the next Katniss Everdeen. Between its dystopian overtures...

All products and services featured by IndieWire are independently selected by IndieWire editors. However, IndieWire may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Any seasoned filmmaker will likely admit that you’re never fully prepared to make your first film, but that’s part of the excitement. Getting started can be a huge part of the battle and those fears aren’t always technical. Sometimes...

Netflix’s next documentary will examine one of the nation’s most infamous murderers via the upcoming “The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness” docuseries. The streaming service released the trailer for the four-part series Wednesday. The docuseries, which consists of four hour-long episodes, will premiere May 5 on Netflix. Here’s Netflix’s synopsis: The hunt for the “Son of Sam” captivated the world in the late 1970s, but the story behind one of America’s most notorious serial murderers...

Raoul Peck’s four-part HBO documentary series besieges the romantic myth of the United States, chronicling the bloody arc of imperialism using documentary footage, movie references, needle drops, and narration, all with concentrated precision. Blistering and dense, “Exterminate All the Brutes,” picks up where his “I Am Not Your Negro” left off with its unsparing deletion of accepted falsehoods. From the first Crusades to the current racial landscape of America, Peck identifies centuries of...