On March 22, 1895, Auguste and Louis Lumière stood before the assembled audience members of the Society for the Development of the National Industry in Paris, France. They debuted a new photographic technology that allowed photos to be taken at a rate of 16 photos per second. When those images were then projected at the same rate, it gave the illusion of movement: men and women walking in and out of a factory....
As a new player to Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition , one of the first choices you’ll need to make is which class to play. No other choice will impact your session or campaign as much as this one, because your class determines nearly everything you’ll be able to do. Understandably, that can be somewhat overwhelming. Related: Critical tips for your first time playing D&D With 12 official classes in the D&D Player’s Handbook —each with their own unique gameplay mechanics, strengths, and weaknesses—it’ll take you a while to try each one and really learn the ins-and-outs....
One of the most disappointing things in anime is when an insanely cool or lovable character with lots of backstory and potential growth is relegated to the sidelines, forgotten about, or killed off. It’s like the exact opposite of fan service, in which a fan favorite character becomes more important than they were originally meant to be just to please fans. In this case, we want more but we’re denied....
Classic movie monsters have been terrorizing audiences for over a century. Each one is characterized by its own unique brand of menace that continues to evolve to this day. But these famous movie monsters have been reimagined over and over again. What were they like when they first debuted? Which movies introduced the world of cinema to these monstrocities? Related: Where to watch classic movies online Sadly, many of these first movies are known as “lost films,” meaning there are no known existing copies of them in any studio archives, private collections, or public archives....
Wrapping up HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones was an unenviable task for showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Their television creation, taken so lovingly from George R. R. Martin’s original books, became the biggest TV series the world had ever seen to that point. In the process, it launched several young actors’ careers and established fantasy as a worthwhile genre in modern television. However, with great power comes great responsibility—and Benioff and Weiss leveraged their work on the epic fantasy TV show to win big contracts with other companies who wanted similar success....
One reason we see so many different hair colors in anime is that it helps to set up characters before they even open their mouths. Red hair usually goes to the hothead of the group. Pink is usually worn by the cute one. Meanwhile, anime characters with blue hair usually have cool and collected personalities that bring balance to the cast. Of course, not every blue-haired character fits that trope! Here are my picks for the best anime characters with blue hair and why they’re cool no matter what show they’re in....
Is there anything cooler than a trained fighter who wields a sword? I don’t think so. The world has long moved on from swords as a practical weapon, but they remain popular for good reason. Swords lend themselves to stylish fight scenes, especially when paired with an anime studio that knows how to bring those action scenes to life. If you’re looking for a great anime with lots of sword-fighting heroes and villains, you’re spoiled for choice....
From the good old days of Looney Tunes to the modern-day cult hits like Rick and Morty , cartoons have been there as comfort from when we were children right through to adulthood. Animation is a medium that drops the curtain of live-action reality and invites the audience into its own unique world with its own rules, own laws, and own kinds of fun. Within the realm of animation, certain characters have managed to become so iconic and lovable that they’ve established themselves as cultural symbols all over the globe....
Passion can become ambition. Ambition can become obsession. And obsession can become dangerous… The same driving forces behind humanity’s greatest feats can also be the most destructive, causing us to become so wrapped up in our own personal glory that we lose sight of reality. Many films have looked at how success can blind us, how the desire to control can dominate us, how the unrepentant striving for a singular goal can alter how we act and think....
When unintentional, pregnancy can be the worst surprise that upends your life. But when it’s desired and pursued? It’s one of the most magical phenomena in the world. The miracle that is the creation of life has inspired countless works, from the frescoes that decorate the Sistine Chapel to some of the most moving movies of all time. No matter what, pregnancy is a big deal. These films expertly capture the importance and significance of conception and childbirth....
Movies have featured characters with all kinds of social struggles, and they’ve come across on screen in many ways. They can be quirky, shy, smart, odd, volatile, creepy, and that’s just scratching the surface. But underneath their socially awkward facades, you’ll often find stories that have them dealing with the most difficult challenges. In life, social anxiety and social awkwardness are generally taken as light obstacles—but they can be far more complex and strenuous than they first appear to those who don’t suffer from these issues....
Modern-day pop culture is dominated by one sci-fi trope: the multiverse. It’s the idea that there are numerous other mirror universes running in parallel with our own, real universe. Those other universes may differ in origin, physics, or biology, but overall they represent dimensions and realities that are akin to ours. There have been countless multiverse depictions of all different kinds. At times, those multiverses only exist to bridge popular IPs together....
Feel like getting away from it all? There’s no better place to escape Earth than the darkest reaches of space, which is why outer space is such a popular setting for anime movies. There are countless space anime movies that’ll have you blasting off beyond the stratosphere. Several of them are actually quite good, and a few of them are even phenomenally influential. Here are my picks for the best space anime movies to watch, from old classics to modern hits....
In board gaming, some themes have truly been done to death, including zombies, Cthulhu, generic fantasy, and European farms. Other themes may feel overdone but are actually uncommon. The island theme is one such example. You can probably name one or two games right off the top of your head—maybe Catan springs to mind—but it gets hard pretty quickly. And that’s a shame because the island theme is one of my favorites....
If there’s one thing that Netflix succeeds at, it’s encouraging, offering, and promoting top-tier content from all over the world. Lately, we’ve had our eyes and ears opened to all kinds of high-quality foreign-language media, and the world’s largest streaming service has taken advantage of this with their Netflix Original series. This year alone, a South Korean thriller series took the world by storm and a Spanish crime drama series is about to reach its conclusion....
Coming out of the global pandemic and still reeling from its effects, every disaster movie about a viral outbreak feels different in retrospect—like cautionary tales of doom that really could be. Diseases, viruses, and sicknesses are terrifying for how quickly they can dismantle society and erode humanity. The best path to survival is care, caution, and the advice of experts, but it can be tough to bring humankind together on even those things....
At first, we’re led to believe that all Devil Fruits are the same—until the term “Paramecia” is mentioned by Wyper in the Skypeia Arc. That opened up all kinds of possibilities for the lore of Devil Fruits in One Piece . Paramecia is the most common type of Devil Fruit in the series. When consumed, it gives the user one of many skills or properties that fall into a number of subdivisions and classifications....
Whether you’re looking to bond with a vast ensemble of awesome characters, get lost in fleshed-out worlds with intricately woven plots, or just kill a lot of time because you’re bored, few genres give as much bang for your buck as the epic fantasy genre. If you want to sink your teeth into deep stories and complex settings, you can’t overlook the vast number of great fantasy book series, including both modern and classic ones....
First-person shooter games have provided decades of entertainment for the ever-growing audience of world gamers. From titles that pioneered the genre to those that elevated the genre to new levels with innovative gameplay mechanics, the first-person experience has always been unique for its ability to put the player directly in the shoes of the protagonist. FPS games put us smack dab in the center of intense action and thrilling story, and it’s a feeling that gamers crave and cling to....
BoJack Horseman is hilarious, depressing, and philosophical. The brainchild of Raphael Bob-Waksberg, it features stellar voiceover work by Will Arnett, Aaron Paul, Alison Brie, Amy Sedaris, and more. Not only did BoJack Horseman win all kinds of awards over its six year span, it also helped adult cartoons to gain legitimacy in the eyes of many. This isn’t just a goofy show—it’s an entire palette of human emotions and experiences, ranging across loss and union, growth and regression, loneliness and harmony, resentment and forgiveness....
