11 best Easter movies on Netflix

Can you believe it’s Easter already? Time to dust off the bunny decorations and hide some eggs! One of the hardest parts of any holiday is what to do with your downtime when your family is in town. After you eat all the deviled eggs and ham, and sugar cookies, after everyone’s stuffed and can’t move.. what to do? Watch an Easter-themed Netflix movie, that’s what!

Maybe you want to watch something with Christian themes, maybe you’re looking for something for the kiddos to watch, or maybe you just want something non-religious but Easter adjacent, regardless we’ve done the research. The list below ranges from biblical stories to rabbit stories to everything in between. All of these movies are just a click away, so enjoy! Here are 11 of the best Easter movies on Netflix.

‘The Chosen’

I know what you’re thinking. “This isn’t a movie it’s a show!” Well, yes, but each episode is basically a movie on its own, so you’re getting much more bang for your buck. Also, what better time than Easter to watch the story of Jesus? The show is set in 1st century Galilee as Jesus begins his search for apostles. Also, it’s a fan favorite with a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

‘Watership Down’

This is one of those “Easter adjacent” movies we were talking about. Watership Down has a fairly simple premise: A group of rabbits with their own culture and prophecies have to escape from their native home and find a new place to live (a hill called Watership Down).

It’s not explicitly Easter themed but it has some religious symbolism and a “first rabbit” named Frith. It’s adapted from a 1972 adventure novel of the same name. There’s also a sequel called Tales from Watership Down and a cult classic traditionally animation version from 1978.

‘Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness’

Chickenhare is the name of the main character of this whimsical children’s movie, and he’s half chicken and half rabbit. The little guy just wants to feel like he belongs and has quite the adventurous spirit. He meets up with a sassy turtle named Abe and a karate-kicking skunk named Meg and they go on a journey to save their kingdom from Chickenhare’s evil uncle. The movie is based on a comic book series of the same name and it’s appropriate for children of all ages.

‘Duck Duck Goose’

This delightful children’s film boasts an impressive pedigree of voice actors, including Jim Gaffigan (Peng), Zendaya (Chi) and Carl Reiner (Larry). It’s a sweet premise, too. Peng wants independence from his flock so he ventures out on his own, but he comes across two ducklings in danger from a cat. He rescues them and all of a sudden he’s a parent. From there, they embark on an epic journey through scenic locales in search of their respective flocks and learn a lot about what it means to belong on the way.

Journey to Bethlehem

This is a fun take on the story of Jesus with a twist: it’s a musical. There’s dancing and singing and it also touches on some heady topics, like how you have to have faith, how people are greedy and how important it is to push through difficult times.

It’s a refreshing take on the whole “nativity movie” genre that we’ve all seen a hundred times. It sounds like it wouldn’t be good at all but it’s surprisingly well done. Audiences love it too; it has a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Come Sunday

Come Sunday is a heady religious movie, but if you want to be challenged by something that’s important and biblical, then this movie is for you. It’s actually based on an episode from the radio show This American Life from 2005.

The premise is fairly straightforward and there are some high-profile actors in it, like Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jason Segel and Martin Sheen. Basically, a minister gets ostracized from his whole congregation after he starts preaching that there’s no hell. 

Jesus Revolution

Part hippie movie, part rock n roll movie, part religious awakening. Jesus Revolution is set during the Free Love era of the late ’60s and early ’70s. It’s a coming-of-age story about a boy searching for meaning in all the wrong places. Fortunately, he runs into a street preacher named Lonnie who looks suspiciously like Jesus. From there, they meet Pastor Chuck Smith, played by Kelsey Grammer, and they transform his once dying church into something much, much bigger.

Green Eggs and Ham: The Second Serving

Here’s something to keep the kids occupied before the Easter egg hunt (or after) – Green Eggs and Ham: The Second Serving. This fun, animated take on the classic Dr. Seuss story involves a mystery, a secret and a whole new beginning. Guy and Sam, the opposites, hit the road to track down Sam’s mother. If you’re thinking, “hey, how is that the plot,” just remember there wasn’t much of a plot in this one to begin with. Fun for the whole family!

Soul Surfer

This 2011 gem is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton after she famously lost an arm during a brutal shark attack when she was surfing. It’s based on a book called Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Hamilton herself. After the bite, Hamilton lost 60 percent of her blood and her doctor called her recovery “a miracle.” It’s about perseverance and faith, and facing your fears by trusting in something greater than yourself.

A Week Away

Think of this movie as a romantic Christian musical. It’s about a boy named Will who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. He does something egregious and gets sent to Christian summer camp, something he is not thrilled about. However, once he’s there he meets and falls in love with a fellow camper named Avery. Their love helps him grow his faith and he finally feels like he belongs to something great for the first time in his life. It’s the perfect mix of joyful and romantic.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian

If you love comedy and you’re willing to go a little outside the bounds of family-friendly, then Monty Python’s Life of Brian is right up your alley. It’s a beautifully irreverent satire of the story of Christ that skewers belief (relatively) respectfully. Brian has the unfortunate luck of being born on the same night as Jesus, just one barn over. It’s a classic but be warned; it’s not really for kids so viewer discretion is advised.

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‘Godzilla x Kong’: Is Godzilla a girl?

The marvelous MonsterVerse is returning with a new feature three years after the box-office success of Godzilla vs. Kong. Fans should anticipate some big revelations in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but is this also a surprise gender reveal party for the mighty Godzilla?

Marking the 38th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 13th in the King Kong franchise, and the fifth in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will dig deeper into Hollow Earth’s secrets. The world’s most powerful kaiju Godzilla will unite with the King of the Beasts Kong in the upcoming film. However, the vibrant new look of our favorite monster Godzilla is raising some eyebrows.

The Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer and promotional images are brilliantly raising the heat for the upcoming adventure. If you’re obsessed enough with this mysterious world of Titans, you must remember how Godzilla entered hibernation after the explosive showdown in the last film. The monster is now rising from its deep sleep to help Kong defeat the tyrannical leader of Hollow Earth. But, in a new avatar.

Godzilla’s pink atomic aura has people believing it to be a girl

The traditional belief that relates blue with boys and pink with girls has fans genuinely confused about Godzilla’s gender following the trailer reveal. The change in Godzilla’s appearance has taken fans by surprise and may indicate a possible evolutionary step after its hibernation. In The New Empire trailer, the generally blue aura radiating from Godzilla has been replaced with a vivid pink hue as the monster rises from Icecaps.

While the pink Godzilla is doing positive advertising for the franchise, even stimulating merchandise sales, people are nonetheless puzzled about why it has changed in look. If you pay attention to your physics professor, you must know that radioactivity is invisible and colorless. Godzilla’s aura is instead colored by energy emitted beyond the ultraviolet spectrum by its nuclear stores. But does the change have anything to do with its gender?

Is Godzilla a girl?

In the original Japanese films, gender-neutral pronouns like “it” are used to refer to Godzilla and other monsters. This means that the characters were originally conceptualized as ambiguous or non-binary creatures. The 1998 American version of Godzilla, directed by Roland Emmerich also hinted that the beast reproduces asexually, affirming his ambiguous identity.

Despite all, Godzilla is identified as a male creature in the English-dubbed versions of the feature films. On the contrary, the legendary actor who portrayed Godzilla in the original films, Haruo Nakajima stated that he had no idea about Godzilla’s gender.

But to answer the question, Godzilla’s transformation from blue to pink aura in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire does not seem to be linked to its gender. The beast must have evolved as a part of its natural process and gained the glowing pink scales depicting its heightened energy.

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‘Late Night With The Devil’ ending, explained

One of the more interesting and visually exciting movies of recent memory is the horror film Late Night With The Devil, starring longtime character actor David Dastmalchian in the lead role and having an ending that has sent minds reeling.

Dastmalchian has appeared in films like The Dark Knight, Bird Box, The Suicide Squad, TV show Gotham, plus he was also in Oppenheimer — all the proof you need to confirm that the Stephen King-approved film has the best talent leading the charge. He’s a phenomenal actor and it’s great to see him in a leading role in such a great film. The movie’s getting incredible reviews and buzz, but the ending is pretty out there and leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

That’s where we come in! We’ll do our best to explain what happened. But spoilers lie ahead and if you are yet to watch the horror flick, stop reading now.

What is the premise of Late Night With The Devil?

Late Night With The Devil is a “found footage” horror film written and directed by Australian brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes. Found footage is a type of movie technique where all of the movie is presented as past recordings that were later “found” and presented to the audience. Other notable films that use this technique are The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and Cloverfield.

It centers around a 1970s late-night talk show host named Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian), a direct competitor of Johnny Carson. It’s presented as a documentary exploring what happened on Halloween night on the show. For background, Delroy’s wife recently died of cancer and Night Owls with Jack Delroy was on hiatus for a while. When it came back, it couldn’t quite get back to the level of success from before, so Delroy cooked up a plan to have an occult-themed show on Oct. 31.

The plan involved bringing on possessed teen Lilly (Ingrid Torelli) and her parapsychologist/author Dr. June Ross-Mitchell. Other guests on the show that night include Carmichael the Conjurer (Ian Bliss), a magician who’s now a skeptic, and a psychic named Christou (Fayssal Bazzi). There’s also Delroy’s sidekick Gus (Rhys Auteri). A few things to remember: Delroy is rumored to be a part of a secret society that meets in the woods and performs weird rituals, and that supposedly has something to do with his wife Madeleine’s death from lung cancer, even though she never smoked in her life.

The plan is to have Lilly summon the devil on live TV, which he thinks will surely be ratings gold, and catapult him into the number one spot like he always wanted. There’s also the pressure of cancellation if he doesn’t turn the boat around, which adds to the stakes of it all. The thing is it does, but it’s the cost that makes it hard to bear. This is pretty much the point of the film: Be careful what you wish for because you might get it, but you will probably not like what you had to sacrifice. It’s sort of like a Monkey’s Paw situation.

Christou senses a spirit named Millie, who we find out is what Delroy used to call his wife. Then he senses a darker spirit and pukes black stuff all over the stage. He’s taken away and dies on the way to the hospital, which Delroy keeps from everyone. The crew and Gus start to get freaked out and beg Delroy to call it off, and everyone seems bothered by the vibes. Delroy stays the course and with Lilly padlocked to a chair, asks Dr. June to go ahead with the plan.

Lilly, by the way, is the sole survivor of a demon-worshipping cult. The demon in question is named Abraxas, and he’s the subject of Dr. June’s book Conversations with the Devil. June summons Abraxas and things get scary. Lilly’s voice keeps changing, the chair levitates, and other weird stuff happens. Afterward, Carmichael tries to prove that all this is fake by hypnotizing the audience and making Gus think he’s full of worms, which causes him to claw out his own stomach. They then watch the tape back and see that everyone was fooled, including Gus.

Then, they watch Lilly’s footage again and suddenly you see the spirit of Madeline right behind Delroy, and things get crazy after that. Lilly is possessed again but this time she’s not padlocked. Her head splits in two and fire shoots out. Gus’ neck snaps, June’s neck gets sliced open and Carmichael is set on fire and dies. The audience flees and Delroy is suddenly transported into a series of memories. The last two memories are the most important: He drinks from a cup with the cultists and then he’s standing by his dying wife as she lays in bed.

Her dialogue is important to understand what’s happening: “They told you you could have it all, didn’t they?” she says. “Be number one. Well, you finally made it, darling. But you had to pay a price. Exit Millie, stage left.” Then she asks him to stab her with a ceremonial knife to put her out of her misery. He complies and stabs her again and again, then the camera moves back and suddenly it’s the studio, and he’s stabbed Lilly to death. He stands there dumbfounded, realizing that he’s not only murdered someone but that there are dead bodies all around him. The sounds of sirens slowly get louder and the movie ends.

What does the ending of Late Night With The Devil mean?

Photo via AGC

Before we dive in, let’s hear from Dastmalchian, who gave his interpretation of the ending to The Wrap.

“I believe that if [emergency responders] didn’t get there in time, which they may have, he was going to end his own life. But if they saved him, then he is currently heavily medicated, staring out the window of somewhere upstate, being taken care of by professionals, who will be trying to unravel this mystery for the rest of his life.”

He also doesn’t think that Delroy intentionally killed his wife in his quest for ratings, as he believes he’s just “a man who is dealing with overwhelming unprocessed trauma, grief, work, addiction, alcoholism, and his mind is on the fray. And he is not doing the work and not getting the help to heal what is ultimately really broken inside of him.”

He thinks Delroy opened a “doorway to something … much bigger” and “more dangerous and much darker” than anything he could’ve “ever imagined.” Dastmalchian also tells a story about his two friends in a band called Twin Temple, who are considered a “Satanic doo-wop” group. He asked them if it was possible for them to cast a spell and ask for a mansion. The duo said sure, they could do it, but you’d “have to be very careful” because you don’t know what has to happen for/to you to get the mansion.

“What insurance windfall did you get because all of a sudden, a car crashed into you? And now you are unable to drink out or eat anything other than with a straw for the rest of your life. But you got that mansion.”

The theme of “sacrifice” comes up again and again in the movie. When watching stock footage, we see Delroy signing a five-year TV deal and a reporter yelling out to ask what Delroy had to “sacrifice” to get there. Then the narrator, voiced by Michael Ironside (from Top Gun!), mentions the secret society and how “Speculation swirls around its taste for arcane ceremony and its power to make and break careers.”

Also, when Lilly is possessed the first time, the demon says “He’s here, isn’t he” and then makes a statement about how it has met Delroy before. Delroy says no and the demon calls him a fool. “We met amongst the tall trees,” the demon says. If you put everything together the wife scene becomes more clear. The implication is that Delroy made a deal with the demon to become number one, but it’s a monkey paw wish and his wife had to die for him to get there. Be careful what you wish for indeed.

Late Night With The Devil is in theaters now. It will appear on the horror streaming service Shudder on April 19, 2024.

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Review: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ almost makes the prospect of AI filmmaking appealing

What follows is a cynical, marginally cathartic, passionately dispassionate, and regrettably scathing takedown of alleged film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and the parameters that allowed it to get made, brought to you by about a half-hour-long, somewhat existential rumination, an empty-handed grasp for positives, and a series of far more deep breaths than I care to admit.

Let’s face it, there is no one on this planet who will walk into this movie expecting anything more than by-the-numbers franchise fare; this is a movie for people who have either made Ghostbusters a part of their personality, are looking to waste (not spend, not kill; waste) about two hours, or — and this is the demographic I predict will make up the majority of this film’s box office — groups of friends and families that are so hopelessly entrenched in the plastic, consumerist hell that we’re all navigating, that they’ll gravitate towards whatever neuron-neutering piece of content is offered up to them in a tragically desperate attempt to have a good time. And make no mistake, many will believe they did have a good time because they have to believe that at this point.

That is precisely the ceiling that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire set for itself, and the only thing more infuriating about it being okay with its goalposts is the sheer anti-inspiration that fueled its inability to even touch that ceiling.

Now, the word “Ghostbusters” tells you all you need to know about the spine of the plot; the Afterlife gang is all back together, and they need to bust some ghosts before the world ends. And to be honest, I’m not even sure what else there is to say about the plot; textually, Frozen Empire is such an inconsequential nothing-burger that I struggle to even call it a story. It’s not even that it’s a bad plot, because that would require some indication that it’s trying to have a plot in the first place; it’s not, and that’s much, much worse.

Instead, Frozen Empire puts on a blindfold and proceeds to try and stitch together a series of incoherent, quarter-baked ideas with several heaping tablespoons of nostalgia courtesy of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Slimer, and even footage from the original Ghostbusters movies; therein lies Exhibit A of the creative no-man’s-land that is the state of this franchise.

Exhibit B would have to be the fact that Frozen Empire seems to have made a life mission out of insulting the audience whenever possible. There is no quicker way to lose a viewer’s respect than to have Paul Rudd say “Hey! That was pretty funny!” after Phoebe tells a cringey joke, or to have Kumail Nanjiani say “That was awesome!” after telekinetically redirecting the course of a proton pack beam (don’t ask). But Frozen Empire also plays the long game of losing one’s respect by approaching every plot beat with such a shallow, childish pseudo-confidence, that hardly any line of dialogue has any hope of being more than an additional, sanitized, milquetoast nail in the coffin of a film that would probably get an absolute kick out of me having begun this paragraph with “Exhibit B would have to to be…” Get it? Because I made the “B” sound twice in quick succession? Get it? Do you get it?

Furthermore, despite a supremely stacked cast of tried-and-true practitioners of comedic timing, there are maybe five lines in the entire film that are worthy of even a light chuckle. Even then, Frozen Empire is so impossibly committed to drowning itself in its relentless abhorrence for creativity, that even smiling at those lines feels like grasping a sharp rock in the ocean; it’s a completely meaningless interaction, but at least that meaninglessness can be interacted with, even if it wounds you in the long run.

Screengrab via YouTube/Sony Pictures

Speaking of said practitioners, someone please get these poor, poor actors better projects after this one. My presumption is that Rudd and company were under no illusion that they were working with some of the worst material out there, and what else can you do at that point other than blindly phone it in and hope that the result at least makes sense in the context of the movie?

The problem there, however, is that the film can’t really claim to have a context of its own, because it exists solely for people who will mindlessly (and that’s key here) flock to anything with “Ghostbusters” in the title, and when a movie exists for any entity before it exists for itself, it’s already committed one of the worst possible sins of the medium by forfeiting its potential identity and, by extension, its ambitions.

And in saying that, I’m quite honestly not even sure if I’m critiquing Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire or if I’m critiquing the specific Hollywood machine that churned out this soulless glut, because they might as well be one in the same. By coating itself in sugary nostalgia, Frozen Empire allows fans the illusion of being seen; “There’s that character I like! I recognize that ghost! I feel like I’m part of something!” And the fact that our current social landscape has left us so grossly detached from one another and ourselves, that someone out there will gladly rely on such shoddily-crafted hyperproducts like Frozen Empire to access even a fraction of an endorphin, is indicative of an entirely evil cycle that the entertainment industry continues to be complicit in with movies like this.

Again, no one expected much from Frozen Empire, and it really didn’t need to do much. It would have also been completely okay if it wanted to try something different from its predecessors; in fact, that’s pretty much the entire point of serialized storytelling in film in the first place. But with Frozen Empire, not only did it barely attempt to reach an effectively rock-bottom ceiling, it couldn’t even be bothered to try the same thing as its predecessors; if doing nothing is a lack of action, then whatever Frozen Empire did is somehow the opposite of action, which is less than doing nothing, and I don’t even know if a word for that exists.

In closing, there’s no real way to talk about Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire without getting caught in a dreary circle of why this dreadful aspect led to that dreadful aspect, and how it all loops back to that first dreadful aspect, until you’re just vaguely reiterating how bad it is. And the thing is, that makes perfect sense, because the film is at once a cyclical product of non-inspiration, and simultaneously the fuel and the excrement of Hollywood’s role in this unsightly consumption cycle that weighs on us day after day. And that distinction, my friends, is the single biggest standout of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; that should, on some level, make you angry.

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Latest Marvel News: X-Men fans were not prepared for this to happen on Disney Plus as Chris Evans’ return hopes rise and fall

X-Men ’97 is everything we could’ve hoped from Marvel‘s first attempt at tackling the mutant team and more. No joke, I just wanted to make that clear from the off. It’s authentic to both the original ’90s animation and the spirit of the beloved brand in general.

It’s even authentic to the spirit of some things about the X-Men comics universe that we never thought would be made canon by the MCU. Another thing we never thought would be made canon by the MCU? Chris Evans’ return as Captain America. Well, that one might actually still be the case…

X-Men ’97 dares to canonize the single weirdest romance in mutant history

Screenshot via Marvel Animation/Disney Plus

X-Men ’97 doesn’t shrimp on the jaw-dropping twists in its two-part premiere — even if one of them, that Magneto now leads the X-Men after Professor X’s death, was spoiled in the trailer. Here’s one that Marvel definitely kept under its hat, though — the series sure seems to be suggesting that Rogue and Magneto had a past affair, one that may soon be rekindled. This bizarre May-December romance is actually a thing in the comics — which, for the uninitiated, are full of crazy soap opera developments like this — even if those familiar with the films have never once shipped the characters played by Anna Paquin and Ian McKellen.

Classic Captain America may be returning, but Chris Evans isn’t

Image via Skydance

Rejoice, Marvel gamers, because this week brought us a first-look reveal trailer for Marvel 1943: Rise of HYDRA. Returning to the kind of wartime Captain America vibe of The First Avenger, the game sees Steve Rogers team up with Black Panther — specifically, Azzuri, T’Challa’s grandfather. Honestly, going by the storyline and the character designs, the game could practically be considered MCU canon. So many were getting their hopes up that Chris Evans could reprise his role as the Sentinel of Liberty. Unfortunately, this is not the case — as any of Evans’ recent comments on his reluctance to return to Marvel could’ve told us. Hey, at least there’s always Secret Wars!

Is Aaron Taylor-Johnson going from Quicksilver to Kraven to 007?

Photos via Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb/EON/MGM/Remix by Christian Bone

Killing Quicksilver off after a single movie back in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron seemed like a dumb move at the time, and a big snub for Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but in the long run maybe it’s worked out the best for him. On top of returning to the Marvel multiverse for Kraven the Hunter, Taylor-Johnson might also be free enough to secure himself the most coveted of all roles for a British actor — James Bond himself. This is what widespread rumors are saying, anyhoo, but don’t take the casting as fact just yet as it’s yet to be reliably confirmed. Although ATJ looking to jump ship from the Sonyverse ASAP, after the mauling of Madame Web, would be a very smart career move. Let’s just hope Evan Peters doesn’t steal his role again like last time.

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How Mark Hamill responded in the early ’80s when George Lucas asked him to revive Skywalker role ‘around 2011’

To say that George Lucas has foresight is an understatement. The Star Wars creator, who had planned nine total films in the galactic movie franchise, decided early on to see whether Mark Hamill would be available three decades later for one of the films.

In the early 1980’s, Hamill was a guest on numerous talk shows promoting the Star Wars films and a 1983 clip presently on YouTube from one of those on-air interviews — though exactly which talk show can’t quite be determined — is of Hamill explaining a question that Lucas asked him presumably while making Return of the Jedi.

Aware that Lucas had wanted to make the next trilogy a prequel to be filmed mostly in the 1990’s, Hamill also knew that the sequel to Return of the Jedi would be the first of the final trilogy, and would film in the early 21st century, if things went as Lucas planned. So, Lucas talking about those future films wasn’t too surprising, but then he asked Hamill if he would be in one of those films as a sort of Obi-Wan Kenobi type of character who passes his Jedi wisdom to the next generation.

Hamill’s initial response was to ask, “When would that be?” to which Lucas replied, “Around 2011.”

To put that into perspective, it’s like someone asking that question in 2024 and saying they’ll start filming in 2054. Understandably, Hamill couldn’t exactly commit to the role and began answering, “As much I’d like to have a job lined up at the turn of the century,” before trying to figure out how old he’d be and then settled on simply telling George, “Well, I don’t know.”

It was a less entertaining conversation then the time George called him pretending to be someone who was trying to buy the script of The Empire Strikes Back from him, but it was something of a prophetic one.

Despite Lucas selling his beloved space opera franchise to Disney, Hamill did, in fact, return to play Luke Skywalker in the sequel trilogy some three decades after Lucas asked him. The Force Awakens was released in 2015, thus pre-production obviously began a couple years earlier. 2011 wasn’t too far off. Hamill even reprised the Skywalker character as a Jedi teacher, like Lucas had said he would be.

Hamill talking briefly about the film 30 years in advance is not exactly a spoiler like Billy Dee Williams’ Today Show interview was, but it does make me wonder if I should look forward to seeing Daisy Ridley revive the Rey Skywalker character in the The Force Reawakens in the 2050’s.

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‘The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story’ release date and time confirmed

Spider-Man fans were left hanging with the cliffhanger ending of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in 2023. Thankfully, a sequel to the movie is in the works. 

However, while it’s going to be a minute before Beyond the Spider-Verse hits the screens, Sony has announced a new project that will tide fans over until then. Titled The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, the animated short film is set to release soon. Here’s everything you need to know about the spin-off.

The Spider Within release date and time

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Sony has announced that the upcoming animated film will be set in the Spider-Verse world and will be released on the Sony Picture Animation YouTube channel on Mar. 27, 2024, by 6 a.m. Pacific Time. 

What to expect from The Spider Within?

The Spider Within was written by Khalia Amazan and directed by Jarelle Dampier, in partnership with the Kevin Love Fund. The Kevin Love Fund is a non-profit organization created by the basketballer, Kevin Love, to promote mental health care and break the stigma around mental health issues. 

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story follows the protagonist of the Spider-Verse franchise, Miles Morales, in a short story about acknowledging and seeking health for mental health struggles. In the short, Miles struggles to grapple with the different aspects of his life, from family and school, to being a superhero. This leads to him having a panic attack. Thankfully, the short will show him seeking the help he needs. Moreover, it’s important that Miles acknowledges his struggles, and reaches out to the people who care about him. Fans young and old should have quite a bit to take home from the upcoming short.

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‘Back to the Future’ almost had a completely different title, and it’s even more bizarre than what ‘Beetlejuice’ was almost called

In the history of movies, there are some pretty horrendous names for some good films, but some hugely successful films were able to avoid such disaster. Back to the Future, and Beetlejuice were both nearly victimized by their respective studios who strongly suggested really bad movie titles.

There’s a really good 1954 comedy film starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon titled Phffft!. The sad part is, the name likely prevents it from being a movie that today’s audiences would want to check out, despite the fact that the film was nominated by the Writers Guild of America for Best Written American Comedy.

To me, the funniest movie title of all-time is Rambo III because it doesn’t actually make mathematical sense. It’s the third film in the First Blood franchise. The first film is called First Blood. The second film is called Rambo: First Blood Part II (which I humorously call Second Blood) so the third film should be First Blood Part III but it’s instead named Rambo III, which technically means that it’s really First Blood Part IV, but it isn’t. Ugh!

It would’ve been nice if someone involved with the movie stopped them from naming it Rambo III, but the list below is indeed movie titles that actually were thankfully changed during production because, in most cases, someone realized that the title just wasn’t good enough.

Perhaps the most popular example of is License to Kill. The title hits. It’s James Bond. It’s a must-see film partly because of the title but it was originally called License Revoked. That was actually the title of Ian Fleming’s story upon which the movie was based, but when screened for test audiences, they complained that the title made it sound like an appointment at the DMV. As a result, License to Kill became the first Bond film not to have the same title as the story it was based on.

Here are some more examples of titles that were changed but, to make this more fun, I’ll show you a list of the original titles, and you can try to guess what movie it actually is.

The Lunch Bunch

The Adventures of Luke Starkiller

Star Beast

Ghoststoppers

The Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night.

Blood and Steel

Scared Sheetless

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Space Man From Pluto

Any guesses? For the The Lunch Bunch just think of a different meal and you might get it. The movie title was changed to The Breakfast Club. I don’t think it has the same impact if still called by the cartoonish name of The Lunch Bunch, which is ironic because then the Don’t You Forget About Me song would have a totally different meaning,

The Adventures of Luke Starkiller was one of the original titles for a major sci-fi hit. The main character’s name changed to Luke Skywalker and the movie title changed to Star Wars.

Star Beast was also the title of a major sci-if hit from the late 1970’s. The movie was initially from a script called Memory which when focused on one particular part of that script became Star Beast then ultimately changed to the more simpler Alien.

Sigourney Weaver was in Alien and she was also in Ghostbusters, which was forced to change its title because The Ghost Busters was already the name of a cartoon. So, they called it Ghoststoppers until they decided to buy the rights to use the name and thus went back to Ghostbusters.

The 1977 box office smash hit Saturday Night Fever was based on a 1976 New York magazine article by Nik Cohn. That article is titled The Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night and, in turn, it was the original title of the film. However, they decided to shorten it to Saturday Night until The Bee Gees recorded the song Night Fever for the soundtrack, and producers decided to call the film Saturday Night Fever.

Blood and Steel is quite generic and makes you believe it’s a movie with a lot of sword action. However, despite it being a martial arts film, there is no swordplay and its star, Bruce Lee, convinced the studio to change the name to Enter the Dragon.

Scared Sheetless was a movie title that the director suggested to the studio as a joking response to their idea to call the film House Ghosts. What is this horror film? Well, it’s not really a horror film. Hence why its director, Tim Burton, insisted on the studio not changing the name from Beetlejuice.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom is the autobiographical book that one of the most epic movies of all-time is based on. In fact, failed attempts to make the movie in the 1940’s had that title. Finally, in the 1960’s, David Lean made the film and retitled it Lawrence of Arabia, which T.E. Lawrence was often referred to. The film, about the Englishman leading the Arab Revolt during World War I, is often praised as one of the greatest movies ever made.

Universal studio head Sid Sheinberg was not sold on the title of BACK TO THE FUTURE, and sent Steven Spielberg this memo with his very odd name change suggestion. pic.twitter.com/MNrY7jjF66

— All The Right Movies (@ATRightMovies) March 19, 2024

None of these possible film title quite hit my funny bone like the one for Back to the Future, especially considering the Robert Zemeckis film is perfectly named. The title was never changed, however, so it was never a working title but, incredibly, a studio executive didn’t like the name and decided to write to Zemeckis to try and convince him to change the name of Back to the Future to Space Man From Pluto. His idea was to emphasize the reaction of some people thinking he was from out of this world, like the family whose barn he crashes into, who think he’s from outer space.

I can’t say I understand that exec’s way of thinking but I’m glad that Zemeckis refused to heed the letter. I’m also glad he didn’t call the film Marty: Back to the Future Part II and then follow it with Marty III.

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What is ‘Alien: Romulus’ about?

Considering its eye-catching lineup of deeply unsettling yet oddly satisfying installments, it hardly comes as a surprise that the Alien franchise is as fruitful now as it’s ever been. And with Alien: Romulus hitting theaters in summer 2024, it’s clear that the film series is back to increase its longevity.

Kickstarting all the way back in 1979 with Ridley Scott’s Alien, it certainly didn’t take long before the spine-tingling horror achieved triumphant success and built a passionate following of fans — especially in regards to franchise veteran Sigourney Weaver as fan-favorite Ellen Ripley. From there, the franchise has had a tendency to release a handful of lackluster sequels, but there’s no denying that Romulus director Fede Álvarez is looking to deliver an unforgettable cinematic experience that the entire horror community will enjoy.

Ahead of the much-anticipated sci-fi horror releasing in theaters on Aug. 16, 2024, one major question continues to linger on horror fanatics’ minds: what the upcoming Alien chapter is about, exactly.

So, what is Alien: Romulus about?

Much like the plethora of other movies in the long-standing Alien franchise, the fresh-faced installment features the terrifying Xenomorph-esque villain. Often dubbed as the “most terrifying life-force” in the entire universe, each introduced Alien villain is arguably just as horrifying and sinister as the next, although this one looks to be one of the most threatening ever shown in the series.

In the case of Romulus specifically, the official synopsis insists that the franchise is set to travel back in time directly to its original roots. In the upcoming chapter, “a group of young space colonizers come face to face” with that all-too-familiar creature. As per the official premise, the film apparently takes place between the original Alien (1979) and its intense sequel Aliens (1986). The teaser trailer doesn’t offer much in the way of an official premise, but we do see a long tentacle being pulled from someone’s throat, so, you know. Yum.

For those looking to witness the unsettling experience this summer, be sure to follow the trailer’s directions and RUN (don’t walk) to purchase tickets.

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Every version of James Bond, ranked by kill count

James Bond will return… but the problem is we’re still not entirely sure what he’ll look like when he does. The latest rumor that’s apparently leaked from M’s MI6 files is that Kraven the Hunter‘s Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been offered the job behind the scenes. Considering producers just admitted “nothing is happening” on the reboot in February 2024, this seems a bit of a stretch, but nevertheless the internet is mostly hyped by the notion of Taylor-Johnson embodying Ian Fleming’s 007.

But as we await concrete news on who could play the seventh incarnation of the secret agent, it’s worth posing a question that bloodthirsty Bond fans may be wondering: which of the six actors to play the role in the official series of 25 films from EON Productions has the biggest kill count? In the wake of No Time To Die‘s release in 2021, which brought Daniel Craig’s era to an end, FandomSpot did a deep-dive into the movies and determined all the deadly data for each incarnation of MI6’s signature assassin. And the results may surprise you.

George Lazenby — 6

Photo via MGM

Well, all right, there’s nothing unexpected about who brings up the rear of our kill-count ranking. George Lazenby has the distinction of being the only actor to play Bond just once in the official series (David Niven also played the character in the unofficial 1967 Casino Royale adaptation, but that doesn’t count as part of the canon), so naturally he didn’t rack up that many on-screen executions.

Having said that, you would expect him to have killed more than a mere six, but 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a relatively bloodless affair, seeing as it’s more of a love story instead. All in all, Lazenby’s 007 averages one kill every 23 minutes, 33 seconds of screentime.

Timothy Dalton — 20

Photo via EON Productions/MGM

Similarly, Timothy Dalton is the next Bond with the least appearances, playing the role in just two films — 1987’s The Living Daylights and 1989’s License to Kill. He has a reputation as a much more flinty, serious Bond than most, with Dalton drawing his portrayal very closely from Fleming’s text, eschewing much of the suavity and gallows humor of his predecessors/successors.

Nevertheless, although there are some gnarly deaths in License to Kill, in particular, Dalton’s Bond himself isn’t responsible for that many demises. He only managed an average of 10 kills per movie, which equates to around one kill every 13 minutes, 15 seconds.

Sean Connery — 68

Image via Metro Goldwyn-Meyer

Here’s where things get a little more unexpected. Sean Connery is, of course, the original and — many still believe — the most definitive portrayal of James Bond on-screen. He’s also one of the most prolific Bond actors, playing the part consecutively for five films between Dr. No and 1968’s You Only Live Twice before returning a sixth time for 1971’s Diamonds are Forever (he likewise starred in 1983’s Never Say Never Again, but that’s another unofficial flick).

It’s somewhat surprising, then, that in all those appearances, Connery’s spy only racked up a relatively paltry 68 kills, which averages out as 11 per movie and one kill every 10 seconds, 35 seconds. This low death-count is likely connected to the way the franchise, and movies in general, were less violent back in the 1960s.

Pierce Brosnan — 103

Image via Metro Goldwyn-Mayer

As we enter the top three, we’re finally reaching triple digits. Pierce Brosnan’s Bond is actually another interesting case, as you could argue that he deserves the runner-up spot on this list. With 103 kills in just four movies — that covers 1995’s GoldenEye to 2002’s Die Another Day — Brosnan has the second-highest average kill stats.

He actually managed to wipe out 26 evil geniuses, femme fatales, nameless goons, and more per movie, which accounts for one kill every 4 minutes, 55 seconds. This might be a bit of a shock for fans as Brosnan is generally viewed as one of the lighter-hearted depictions of the hero, although clearly he has a pronounced darker streak, too.

Roger Moore — 121

Photo via MGM

So, taking that into account, Roger Moore claims second place on the kill-count ranking, even though he actually kills fewer people per movie than Brosnan did. What pushes him up the ladder, however, is the fact that he’s the most prolific leading man of them all, with Moore embodying Bond for seven films consecutively from 1973’s Live and Let Die to 1985’s A View to a Kill.

Across all those movies, then, Moore’s 007 picked off 17 souls per outing, averaging one kill every 7 minutes, 32 seconds. Similar to Brosnan, that high kill frequency is mighty surprising given that Moore is usually remembered for his groan-inducing quips and eyebrow-raises rather than his ultra-violence and blood-lust.

Daniel Craig — 235

Photo via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Columbia Pictures

But, try as Moore and Brosnan might, they cannot top the outgoing incarnation of the character. Yes, not only is Daniel Craig our longest-lasting Bond in terms of time spent in the role — he served M for five films from 2006’s Casino Royale to 2021’s No Time To Die — he’s also the Bond with the highest number of fatalities to his name.

Thanks to that whopping figure of 235 deaths, that means Craig’s James checked off 59 kills per movie, essentially offing someone every 2 minutes, 30 seconds of screentime. Given that much of Craig’s films were actually devoted to character development, romantic scenes, and team-building, that just goes to show how intense and high-octane the action scenes in his outings were, allowing him to earn his place as the 007 with the most kills on his conscience. Are we sure that he’s actually the good guy?

All 25 James Bond movies can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

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The 10 best Carrie-Anne Moss movies and TV shows to watch before ‘The Acolyte’

An icon in the eyes of action film fans, Carrie-Anne Moss returns to television in the new Star Wars series, The Acolyte. In it, the performer will be playing Jedi Master Indara, at the height of the High Republic.

For many fans, this means seeing an exciting return to form. For the past 2 decades, Moss has lent her talent to many films, movies, and even video games that have endeared her to audiences. Viewers should be sure to tune in to watch The Acolyte when it premieres on Disney Plus on June 4. But before then, explore the many entries to her filmography that were a precursor to her upcoming role.

1. The Matrix

The Wachowskis’ dystopian film is still hugely influential. Starring Laurence Fishburne, Keanu Reeves, and of course Carrie-Anne Moss, the film pictures a reality where the robot revolution is over. Humans have become enslaved to AI, who use their bodies as batteries. 

The Matrix had a unique visual style, from its leather-clad characters to the bullet-time fighting style. The film put Moss on the map as an action star from a thematically resonant and genre-bending movie. She plays Trinity in the original trilogy of films, and its 2021 sequel, Matrix: Resurrections.

2. Jessica Jones

Moss is a respected hallmark of the entertainment industry, which is what made it such a joy to see her crop up in Netflix’s gritty Marvel universe. The actor plays Jeri Hogarth, who is historically male in the comics. In Jessica Jones, they change the gender to make the series more female-forward, which is relevant to the story’s subject material.

Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is a woman trying to make it as a private investigator in New York, all well recovering from trauma. She also happens to have superpowers. As an investigator, she takes jobs from Hogarth’s law firm as she overcomes her personal demons. Like most women in the show, Hogarth is not a one-note character. She is a complex and often shady lawyer who makes mistakes professionally and personally. It is a shame that Jessica Jones only had so many years to fly.

3. Snow Cake

Even as part of a stacked cast that includes Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, Moss stands out in this gentle indie rom-com. The movie sees the relationship between Rickman and Weaver’s characters, with Moss playing a neighbor gradually drawn into the drama.

Snow Cake isn’t much talked about now but it’s a cozy watch that warrants a revisit. In recognition of her performance Moss would go on to pick up a Best Supporting Actress award at the 27th Genie Awards in 2007, which recognizes the very best in Canadian cinema.

4. Memento

Even earlier in his career, Christopher Nolan had a way with mind-bending storytelling. The 2000 film Memento follows Leonard (Guy Pearce), who cannot form short-term memories. Despite this significant obstacle, he still tries to solve the mystery of his wife’s murder. A precursor to Tenet, Nolan tells this story in both forward and reverse at the same time. This technique allows viewers to be in the headspace of Leonard, while also being able to figure out what is going on while he cannot.

The first big revelation is Leonard’s dynamic with Natalie (Moss). Leonard forms a relationship with her only for the audience to learn that she has ulterior motives the entire time. Moss is adept at playing both sides, showing Natalie in one moment as innocent and another as a calculating manipulator. 

5. Mass Effect

Moss has also made a name for herself in the world of voiceover acting. While you may not recognize her, she adds depth as the Asari named Aria T’Loak. The character appears briefly in Mass Effect 2 but is most notable for her role in Mass Effect 3 and the Omega DLC. A villain at worst, Aria is the brutal leader of Omega. She rules without mercy, and after Cerberus takes over her fiefdom, she fights to get it back. Her role in Mass Effect is another addition to a widely appreciated sci-fi universe.

6. Silent Hill: Revelation

Silent Hill: Revelation picks up where the first film leaves off and just keeps running. After Sharon returns from the foggy landscape without her mother, she and her father keep moving. But Silent Hill won’t let them go so easily.

Even after changing her name to Heather, a cult of Silent Hill called The Order summons her back to continue the work of Alessa’s burning in the first film. The leader of The Order is Claudia (Moss), who intends to use Heather’s body to summon her god. Claudia is depicted with a ghostly pallor and white hair but ultimately transforms into a terrifying creature with saw blades in her flesh. Silence Hill: Revelation continues the terrifying work that Silent Hill started with Moss at its villainous core.

7. Disturbia

A modern take on Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, Rear Window, Disturbia stars Shia LaBeouf as Kale, a teenager under house arrest. To stave off boredom, Kale takes to spying on the neighbors with a set of binoculars. After witnessing disturbing behavior from a neighbor, Kale and his friends set out to prove that he is a murderer. 

Moss plays Kale’s mother, Julie, who becomes a pawn in the game of cat and mouse. Naturally, no one believes Kale until Julie is taken hostage in the murderer’s house. A classic thriller of the mid-aughts, Disturbia adds to Moss’ genre credits.

8. Chuck

Moss brings her action skills to television with her short stint on NBC’s Chuck. Appearing in the last season of the show as Gertrude Verbanski, the character explores a romantic relationship with John Casey (Adam Baldwin) as she aids Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) and Chuck (Zachary Levi) in various capacities. A nice change of pace to see the performer in a more comedic role, she also gives Casey a romantic storyline as they two sail off into the sunset together.

9. Horizon Forbidden West

Moss’ work in video game voiceover is further expanded in Horizon Forbidden West. She plays the antagonist, Tilda van der Meer, who is forever motivated by the loss of her lover, Elisabet. She regrets leaving her on Earth to die in a cataclysmic event and spends her time trying to replicate her in various ways. This complex character was motion-capped by Moss, who adds depth to a layered character.

10. The Bye Bye Man

Based on the “The Bridge to Body Island” chapter in the book, The President’s Vampire, The Bye Bye Man takes many familiar elements from horror movies about curses. Like Sinister or Smile, The Bye Bye Man follows a group of people who are desperate to prevent a mysterious visage from spreading. In this case, the titular entity can spread if people say its name. 

Moss plays Detective Shaw, who eventually becomes a vehicle for the curse to continue. As she investigates a group of college-age kids dying off one by one, she discovers something supernatural is going on. Though the conclusion seems to indicate that the entity is contained, the remaining survivor of the group whispers the name of the evil creation so it can continue through Shaw.

The Bye Bye Man is made more disturbing by knowing that it’s inspired by alleged real-life occurrences.

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