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The Original Plan For Cowboy Bebop Was Nothing More Than A Cash Grab “Cowboy Bebop"is essential anime, a carefully blended concoction of genres that add up to a fiercely original space adventure. The series has received acclaim far outside the confines of anime fandom particularly because it travels outside the confines of anime conventions and tropes for its influences. It’s ironic, then, that this irreverent, existential show started off as a way to sell spaceship toys....

This Week In Trailers: Dead Europe, Zaytoun, Ballroom Dancer, The Long Island Railroad Massacre: 20 Years Later Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week we stop in Greece for a spell to get in touch with a dead dad, watch Dorff onGolfMiddle East relations, peek at a swarthy man get back in touch with his inner Fred Astaire, and then try to make sense of a senseless tragedy with a man who will defend himself against charges of mass murder....

Trailer Round-Up: ‘Survive The Night’, ‘Ghost In The Shell: SAC_2045’, ‘Chrissy’s Court’, ‘#blackAF’, ‘You Ain’t Got These’, ‘The Wretched’ It’s time for a trailer round-up! Rather than let some smaller trailers slip through the cracks, we like to gather them together and bring them to you in one place. You’re welcome. This trailer round-up features a new Bruce Willis movie, some upcoming Netflix shos, two shows from the new streaming service Quibi, and a horror movie....

What Are The Chances ‘I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer’ Hooks Viewers With Fun? (Welcome toDTV Descent, a series that explores the weird and wild world of direct-to-video sequels to theatrically released movies. This week, we go digging for secrets with a hook.) Ah, the ’90s. The decade that brought us Beanie Babies and Limp Bizkit also saw a rebirth of sorts for big-screen slashers. After withering away throughout the 80s the genre got a major boost with the arrival of Wes Craven’sScream(1996) which delivered memorable kills with style, wit, and a hot cast of hot young hotties for all tastes....

What Happened To Lando Calrissian After ‘Return Of The Jedi’? Right around the timeStar Wars: The Force Awakenshit theaters in 2015, beginning a new film trilogy, a new Star Wars book trilogy was launched as well. The series began withStar Wars: Aftermath, continued withAftermath: Life Debt, and concludes later this month withAftermath: Empire’s End. All of theAftermathbooks are giving us insight into the events that happened betweenReturn of the JediandThe Force Awakens....

Who Are The Inquisitors? The Obi-Wan Kenobi Villains Explained It’s a wild time to be a fan of the animated “Star Wars” TV shows … and a confusing one for those unfamiliar with that side of the franchise. “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett” brought several beloved characters created exclusively for the animated series"Star Wars Rebels"and"The Clone Wars"into live-action, be they noble warriors (Ahsoka Tano), cutthroat crooks (Cad Bane), or individuals whose morals are a bit more flexible (Bo-Katan Kryze)....

Why ‘The Interview’ Digital Success Probably Won’t Change Future VOD Releases The Interviewwas a pretty solid success on VOD, with Sony calling the film its best-ever digital performer, but what will that mean for studio VOD films, especially the concept of day and date releases, going forward? Probably nothing, say analysts, so long as theater chains continue to be resistant to day and date schedules that put films in theaters and on VOD at the same time....

Year Of The Vampire: Hotel Transylvania Gave Monsters A Friendly Face (Welcome toYear of the Vampire, a series examining the greatest, strangest, and sometimes overlooked vampire movies of all time in honor of “Nosferatu,” which turns 100 this year.) It’s been about a decade since Columbia Pictures swooped in with “Hotel Transylvania,” a 2012 animated movie that brought together the classic monster archetypes in a fun, family-friendly story. In addition to putting Universal’s Dark Universe later attempt to shame, “Hotel Transylvania” was a welcome spin on the typical Adam Sandler movie — it featured many of his frequent collaborators, but in a decidedly “PG” form....

‘21 Jump Street’ Producer Neal Moritz Developing Comedic, Stalkerish Take On ‘Sleeping Beauty’ The fairy tale trend that’s taken over Hollywood clearly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Even as cameras roll on Disney’sMaleficent, which retellsSleeping Beautyfrom the perspective of its villain, there’s another reinterpretation of the story brewing, this time with the prince who breaks the spell at its center.Fast and the FuriousproducerNeal Moritzis behind the new version, a comedy which sees its male protagonist stalked by Sleeping Beauty after he awakens her....

‘Alien: Covenant’ Trailer Breakdown: New Planet, Same Problem Last year, I visited the set ofAlien: Covenant. Today, I was able to publish my observations, and I wrote all about the film’sgore and monsters,its cast of characters, itssets and costumes, andits connections toPrometheus. And then, like clockwork, a new trailer arrived, and you know what means – it’s time to go through this whole thing frame-by-frame. Please note: While I have not seenAlien: Covenant, I will incorporate observations from the set visit into this trailer breakdown....

‘Avatar 5’ Script Finished With Filming Beginning In August; Will ‘Avatar 2’ Be Delayed Again? James Cameronis a very busy man. He’s writing and prepping the next fourAvatarsequels, producing a NatGeo documentary calledAtlantis Rising(premiering January 29th, 2017) and developinga sixth film in theTerminatorfranchise. In a new interview, the filmmaker provides updates on the status of theAvatarsequels, but the answer makes us wonder ifAvatar 2will be delayed yet again. Cameron has been out doing press for the documentary he produced for NetGeo....

‘Christopher Robin’ Trailer: Get Tickets Now To See The Silly Old Bear Return To The Big Screen While blockbuster summer will start coming to an end later this month, there are still some gems waiting for audiences to wrap up the season in August. One of those will undoubtedly be the return ofWinnie the Pooh. Christopher Robinfinds the childhood friend of Winnie the Pooh (and the rest of his pals from the Hundred Acre Wood) all grown up and stressed out by the responsibilities of everyday life....

‘Dark Horse’ Trailer - Could This Be Todd Solondz’s Sweetest Movie Yet? Based on the premise,Dark Horsesounds like it could be another entry from the Judd Apatow comedy collective.Jordan Gelberstars as a schlubby, overgrown man-child who strikes up a relationship with a pretty woman (Selma Blair), and tries to grow up a little bit in the process. But in fact, this is aTodd Solondzfilm, which means we’re in for a significantly darker, pricklier take on the world....