Cinema is one of the more unique mediums in how it combines artistic expression with the mechanics of business. No other creative medium can boast the same perfect storm of obsessive writers, yearning actors/actresses, and tightly-wound producers of the magical-yet-stressful world of filmmaking. And as you might expect, several filmmakers have tried to capture the different aspects of Hollywood and the American movie industry, including things like the crippling effects of writer’s block, the dreams of breaking out, and the tediousness of retakes....

In the world of television, geeks are often portraited in a negative light. They’re made fun of, beaten up by bullies, and often treated as less than. But some shows have actually given geeks such prominent roles that they’ve become legendary. Here are my picks for the most iconic nerd characters from popular TV shows! You’ll notice most of these shows are sitcoms, but don’t let that take away from how awesomely geeky these characters are....

Who are the most popular female anime characters and why do viewers like them so much? That’s a great question! Most anime series—especially those in the shonen genre—feature female characters who are designed to win the hearts of viewers via their physical appearance, body features, and outfits. And while many female anime characters that rank highly do exhibit a certain level of sexiness and charm, physical appeal alone usually isn’t enough for a female character to top the charts....

Nearly all of us have fond childhood memories of playing with LEGO. Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment after completing a challenging set, and that feeling doesn’t change as you get older. LEGO has the power to transcend time. It doesn’t matter if you’re eight years old or 88 years old—there’s much fun to be had, and every year brings even cooler LEGO sets to build and enjoy. Whether you’re already an avid LEGO fan, or you want to rekindle that childhood sense of wonder, or maybe you never had the opportunity to build a proper LEGO set from scratch…...

The Simpsons changed modern television forever. Its impact on pop culture is undeniable, and the fact that it’s still running after three decades on the air is testament to that. However, more than just animated laughter, The Simpsons has also given us a plethora of musical moments to fawn over, complete with all kinds of musical guest stars popping up across the series . Artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Billie Eilish have made appearances in Springfield at some point, lending their personalities in ways that endear us again and again....

Studio Ghibli is an easy contender for most prestigious name in animation. Even those who don’t watch anime have probably seen at least one Studio Ghibli film (the most likely one being Spirited Away ). And it’s no wonder why the company has been so successful. Their films beautifully mix the joys, questions, and traumas of childhood with delicate balance. Their movies hit deeply and in ways that make us feel emotions that most movies could never manage....

LL Cool J once rapped: “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.” Well, sometimes, despite the fact somebody has been around for years, their careers will fall and their popularity will wain. It happens all the time across multiple areas of entertainment. It’s an unwritten rule that very few can remain evergreen throughout an entire entertainment career, pulling in audiences every time. And this is no more true than in Hollywood, where actors and actresses can explode into stardom, be the talk of the town, and still fade away into the background....

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie trilogy achieved feats that no other fantasy film had ever reached before. Aside from public and critical adulation, its legacy has pushed fantasy filmmaking to new heights and resulted in higher-quality fantasy movies for mainstream viewers. Children and adults around the world were hooked by Frodo’s journey across Middle-Earth—with Sam at his side—to destroy the One Ring and bring down the armies of Mordor and the Evil that lurked there....

Futurama always felt like it was several years ahead of its time, which makes sense for a show that took place 1,000 years in the future. In addition to its memorable characters and loose continuity, Futurama was an undeniably quotable show. And since the show’s run coincided with the rise of internet meme culture, we’ve been gifted a legacy of Futurama memes that have long outlived the Planet Express crew....

The concept of the TV sitcom started as a simple one: to produce a cheap TV series, about half an hour in length per episode, that could make the audience laugh every week for more than 20 weeks every year. And that original concept worked for decades. The comedy of TV sitcoms reflected the everyday situations of common people, and so they had broad appeal across age groups and social class....

Retro gaming is all the rage. Whether it’s the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, or Xbox One, the consoles’ digital storefronts are loaded with classics. This seems as if it may apply to the next-generation consoles too, with both Microsoft and Sony focusing heavily on backward compatibility. Don’t forget the PC, a platform which has been steadily growing its library for years longer than any console available. That said, not every old PC game is easy to get up and running....

Prisons are NOT fun! They’re menacing institutions full of desperate, sometimes dangerous people barely kept in line by an indifferent system of violence. But how much worse would prisons be if they existed on alien worlds? In alternate realities? With superpowered inmates? Related: The best insane asylum movies These sci-fi prisons show what could happen if we added superhuman and alien variables into the incarceration equation. Can metahumans be contained without wiping them all out?...

I’ve played a lot of Diablo III on PC. I mean a whole lot. I’ve played on and off from the day the game came out until just a few weeks ago. I’ve bought and sold items on the real-money auction house. I’ve fought through the days of sparse loot drops and bad legendaries. I played as the game rose from the ashes with the release of Loot 2.0. I’ve even played a good 30-40 hours of the game on PS4 and must say Blizzard did a fantastic job adapting to controller play....

If you play a fair amount of video games, you’ve probably run into the situation where you sit down to play something, but nothing in your collection is speaking to you. You’ve got plenty of great games, but none of them are speaking to you. You could buy something new, but what if you don’t want to spend the money? Fortunately, there has never been a better time when it comes to finding great games to play for free....

Writers and directors often say that comedy and horror are two of the most complicated genres to pull off in cinema—so when a movie successfully blends the two genres, it’s especially noteworthy. The past two decades have been a grand era for comedy-horror films, as we’ve been given so many films that have bucked trends, spun new ideas, and are destined to become classics (if they aren’t already). From surprisingly deep zombie comedy films to ingenious movies that mock conventional horror movie tropes, here are our picks for the best modern horror comedy films that came out after 2000!...

These days, it’s common for people to use “OCD” as an adjective to describe neat and orderly tendencies. However, this mental health disorder goes far beyond good handwriting and a tidy bedroom. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a demanding condition that comes under the umbrella of anxiety disorders. It’s more than just a tendency or a personality—it’s an all-consuming illness without escape. Here are some of the best movies and TV shows that depict the realities of OCD and how it can affect one’s everyday life, yet also shine light on the fact that people are more than just their illnesses....

It doesn’t matter how old you are, how long you’ve been gaming, or how you see yourself on the spectrum of casual to hardcore—there’s nothing quite as special as a well-made platformer game. If you still think platforming is the same as what it was when a certain Italian plumber first descended down a massive pipe, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what’s on offer via Xbox Game Pass. 10.ClusterTruck In many ways, ClusterTruck is a deconstruction of the platformer genre....

Most of us have fond memories of listening to stories at some point in our lives. Whether it was a teacher reading a story in school, a parent reading a fable before bedtime, or a friend telling spooky stories around a campfire—there’s something uniquely magical about listening to a story. Especially a story told well. Sci-fi is already engrossing when read in book form, and perhaps more so when watched on TV or in the movie theaters....

Back when The Sopranos aired on HBO during Sunday evenings, the FBI would intercept conversations on Monday morning between Mafia families under surveillance… and often they’d be discussing how much they loved the series. Not only that, but those same Mafia members would wonder if the series had an insider from the Mafia world working with them. Such was the authenticity of The Sopranos and its characters. The show changed modern television in so many ways with its cinematic approach and its harsh, unfiltered violence....

POV (point-of-view) shots are a bold choice in camera angles, taking you out of the narrative and placing you directly in the eyes of a character. They’re used infrequently but with great intention—never to simply cut between standard mid-shots—and they’re really good at getting viewers involved in a movie. But only if they’re done well. Done poorly, POV shots do nothing more than disrupt the flow of a film and can even snap the viewer out of the experience....