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"Batman: The Animated Series" ran for 85 episodes on Fox Kids and maintained impressive quality control throughout. There are very few lumps of coal in this box of diamonds, but some "Batman" episodes do get mentioned again and again as the fan-favorites.

There's the Emmy-winning "Heart of Ice," which forever redefined Mr. Freeze. "Beware The Gray Ghost" featured a heart-melting guest appearance by Adam West as a washed-up film serial star who Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) loved as a child. "Almost Got 'Im" features some of Gotham's worst sitting around a poker table, swapping stories about when they came closest to punching Batman's clock.

Similar to "Almost Got 'Im," the episode "Trial" features many heavy hitter Batman villains. They seize control of Arkham Asylum, capture the investigating Batman, and put him on trial for all the grief he's caused them.

Sometimes when I make a video on one of my favorite movies, I find something a little extra upon further viewing. Obviously, there is some research that goes into it as I like to look up what else the writer, director, or actors did or even what possible sequels there are. Class of 1984 is one of my favorite horror adjacent titles out there from the script by Tom Holland and great performances from Roddy McDowell, Perry King, and all of the main gang members. It shows the very real fears of what teachers in bad areas could potentially deal with, only with the knob turned all the way to 11 and it’s immensely rewatchable. While I had heard that there were sequels to the movie, I wrote them off as cash-ins, especially since they were quite a bit after, and the movie was fine as a standalone. Then I...

This month, director Ryan Coogler gives the vampire genre some fresh blood with his absolutely fantastic action-horror-musical "Sinners." There have been several vampire movies released recently, and to be honest, the majority of them have been rather disappointing. Thankfully, "Sinners" changes all of that — it's one of the best movies of the year. In honor of "Sinners," this month's horror streaming column is rounding up some great vampire movies you can watch right now. So bust out your plastic fangs, tie on your cape, and get ready to suck some blood!

Read more: The 10 Best Stephen King Books, Ranked

Blacula

Streaming on Tubi, Kanopy, Pluto TV, Prime Video.

"Blacula" is one of those movies everyone knows about even if they've never seen it. I mean, it's called "Blacula," and that's the type of title you pay attention to. This blaxploitation horror flick begins in the late 1700s and introduces us...

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If you are a horror fan, then there is a big chance that you might have heard about the horror streaming service Shudder, and if you have its subscription, you might be wondering what’s in store for you in April 2025. Don’t worry. There is a host of new and old horror movies coming to the service in the upcoming month, and we have listed the 10 best movies coming to Shudder in April 2025.

Fright Night (April 1) Credit – Columbia Pictures

Fright Night is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Tom Holland. The 1985 film follows a teenager who knows that his next-door neighbour is a vampire, but when he tells people, nobody believes. So, he asks for assistance from a has-been horror film actor. Fright Night stars Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffreys, and Roddy McDowall.

Sad news for Star Wars fans today as Clive Revill, best known as the original voice of the villainous Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back, has died at the age of 94. Over a prolific career, the actor made many appearances on stage and screen, and his passing is the loss of another star from a generation that gave the world some pioneers of modern cinema. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Revill died March 11 at a care facility in Sherman Oaks following a long battle with dementia.

Born in 1929, Revill showed a love of acting at a young age and attended many schools and colleges on his way to a professional career which began in England. Appearing in many West End productions, the actor became a powerhouse performer in both modern – at the time – and Shakespearean roles, lending his voice to characters of both dramatic and comedic inclination.

In the 1960s and 1970s,...

Clive Revill, the New Zealand native who after being recruited to be an actor by Laurence Olivier starred on Broadway, appeared in two films for Billy Wilder and provided the original voice of the evil Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back, has died. He was 94.

Revill died March 11 at a care facility in Sherman Oaks after a battle with dementia, his daughter, Kate Revill, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The extremely versatile Revill played cops in Otto Preminger’s Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), starring Olivier, and Jack Smight’s Kaleidoscope (1966), starring Warren Beatty; not one but two characters (a Scotsman and an Arab) in Joseph Losey’s Modesty Blaise (1966); and a physicist investigating strange goings-on at a haunted mansion in John Hough’s The Legend of Hell House (1973), starring Roddy McDowall.

A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Revill also appeared seven times on Broadway and received Tony nominations for...

Gallery 1988 has released prints and original artwork from its “Back to 1985” exhibit celebrating pop culture that turns 40 this year. I’ve highlighted eight genre-related pieces.

“1985” – Jeremy Wojchihosky’s amalgam of the year’s films includes characters from Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Ghoulies, The Stuff, and more. 12×12 open edition prints cost $30.

“Got Brains?” – Amanda Jablonka’s artwork of Tarman from Return of the Living Dead is available as an open edition 9×12 print for $25.

“I am Peter Vincent, vampire killer!” – Christopher Uminga pays tribute to Roddy McDowall’s horror host character in Fright Night. The original 9×12 framed watercolor artwork costs $500.

“Over His Dead Body” – Stephen Andrade imagines Clue as a vintage paperback novel. 11×17 prints come signed by the artist for $30.

“Bub” – Jimmy Read’s draws Day of the Dead‘s most iconic zombie. The 4×4 original colored pencil and ink framed piece costs $50.

“Hero vs. Villian vs. Rebel with a Bike...

"It's an adventure unlike anything on this planet!" Who needs a dose of super low budget, extra wacky fun science fiction from the 70s? Try this on for size! Laserblast is a hilariously bonkers, trashy fun, vintage 70s sci-fi film made by Michael Rae about a kid who gets hold of an alien laser weapon. This looks totally rad! Featuring some crazy cool stop-motion alien characters, clunky special effects and obvious sets, terrible acting and everything else you'd expect from something this schlocky. The film was also mocked in "Mystery Science Theater 3000" once before, turning it into a fan favorite. Ostracized teenager, Billy, finds a laser gun and terrorizes the town with it as he mutates with each blast. Now it's a race against time before the aliens return to claim the weapon... and his life. Starring Kim Milford as Billy, Cheryl Smith, Gianni Russo, Keenan Wynn, Dennis Burkley,...

As with fellow legendary families like the Barrymores and Fondas, the Bridges are undeniably acting royalty in Tinseltown, with father Lloyd Bridges trailblazing his way in the entertainment industry and sons Beau and Jeff following in his talented footsteps. The big and small-screen star appeared in over 150 feature films throughout his more than 50 years in the business, starring in a slew of hits like Sahara, High Noon, Airplane!, and Hotshots! (among countless others) and programs including Sea Hunt and The Lloyd Bridges Show during his sensational career. In 1965, Bridges continued his television takeover when he headlined the shamefully underrated Western The Loner.

Created by trailblazing producer and screenwriter Rod Serling, the mastermind behind the groundbreaking sci-fi horror series The Twilight Zone, The Loner focused on former American Civil War soldier William Colton as he sets out on a treacherous quest across the country to start a new life and is...

Last year, Synapse Films and Red Shirt Home Video teamed up to bring us a deluxe edition Blu-ray and 4K Uhd release of the 1986 rock ‘n roll horror film Trick or Treat, one of my all-time favorite movies. Now Synapse and Red Shirt have announced that they’ll also be giving the deluxe edition treatment to the 1988 vampire sequel Fright Night Part 2! A lot of fans have resorted to buying bootlegs just to have a good copy of this movie on DVD, but now it’s getting an official 4K Uhd and Blu-ray release. According to Red Shirt’s Michael Felsher, it’s likely to be released sometime in 2026.

Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, who takes over from the first film’s Tom Holland, and scripted by Tim Metcalfe, Miguel Tejada-Flores, and Wallace, Fright Night Part 2 features young Charley Brewer, fresh out of a psychiatric hospital, and the...

After working their magic to bring Trick or Treat to 4K Ultra HD, Red Shirt Pictures and Synapse Films have announced six upcoming titles in the works.

The releases include: Fright Night Part II, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II, Prom Night III: The Last Kiss, Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil, 976-Evil II, and Angel of H.E.A.T.

“There are no release dates for any of these titles at this time,” Synapse writes, noting that Fright Night Part II will not be out in 2025.

“We can’t even say ‘Still in production. No release date.’ because several of them have not started production yet! Just as it was with Trick or Treat, Red Shirt Pictures will be overseeing the production of each release, while Synapse will oversee the audio/video and distribution of each title, all of which will be in production throughout 2025 and into 2026.”

Synapse also has the...

A dog is a man's best friend, but do we really deserve them? It's a rhetorical question. Of course we don't deserve dogs, cats, geckos, or any other animal you can think of -- just look at the state of the world we're giving them! Let's forget about that for now, though, and simply appreciate the joy that our canine friends bring, both in the real world and on the screen. They're our companions, guards, workers, friends, and occasional arbiters of our own demise, and we love them for it.

Dogs have been a part of the movies since the early days of cinema, and it might surprise you to learn that it was a dog who won the very first Oscar for Best Actor! While they're usually mere supporting players, plenty of movies have had the wisdom to feature our canine friends in leading roles for comedies, thrillers, dramas,...

Rodney Dangerfield’s whole act is predicated on the idea that he gets no respect, which obviously wasn’t true. Dangerfield was a beloved comedian, a successful film actor and a one-time board game star.

But Dangerfield’s comedy catchphrase became depressingly accurate during his dealings with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1994, the Back to School star applied to become a member of the Academy, after his name was submitted by actor and friend Leonard Gaines. When others expressed surprise at the idea of making Dangerfield a member of the Academy, Gaines believed that he was “doing the Academy a favor” by inviting a huge star like Dangerfield.

As the L.A. Times pointed out at the time, Dangerfield met the criteria to join, with “major parts in at least three theatrical releases to his credit.” He also presented an award at the 1987 Oscars and killed.

Play

On top of all that,...

In 2024, the first Planet of the Apes movie in more than a half-decade was released as the start of a new era of the franchise at Disney. What is shaping up to be a new trilogy centered around a new story officially reignited the fan base with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Even though fans love to cling to the brilliance of the 2010s "Caesar Trilogy," which effectively explored the origins of a planet ruled by apes instead of humans, the most recent film presents an even more exciting direction for the franchise going forward.

With what feels like an inventive bridge between the past and future, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes looks to portray the world in a different era that gets a lot closer to the 1968 original than any contemporary entry. It certainly makes the upcoming sequels that much more tantalizing. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes...

His career spanned more than five decades, and his influence on movie-making remains unparalleled. Still, even the biggest movie lovers may not know his name, John Ford. Often associated with Westerns, Ford made movies across genres, pushing the envelope at every turn. His efforts garnered him four Academy Awards for Best Director, a record that remains in place more than 50 years after his death.

Ford started making movies during the era of silent films but moved to Westerns during the 1930s. Notoriously harsh with his actors, Ford collaborated with greats like John Wayne, Henry Ford, and Maureen O'Hara on several occasions. He made several movies with Wayne, including Stagecoach and The Searchers, often regarded as two of the most influential films in cinematic history.

John Ford's Career Started His Career In Hollywood As An Actor

John Ford wasn't the only member of his family who moved to Hollywood from their family home in Maine.

Hollywood Squares is coming back to television. The classic game show is a form of tic-tac-toe. In the game show, celebrities sit in boxes positioned as a game board. The two contestants then get clues from the celebs and decide if they are lying or telling the truth. Whoever gets tic-tac-toe wins the game.

The first promo shows that Drew Barrymore and Drew Carey will be involved, and it roasted both celebs in the process.

Hollywood Squares Returning To CBS

After several years off the air, Hollywood Squares is returning to television. CBS Mornings host Nate Burleson (a former NFL football star) will host the new version of the game show, and the celebrities will feature several familiar faces.

The original show was the home to some iconic comic actors. Originally airing on NBC, that original show ran from 1966 to 1980. It featured celebrities in the squares ranging from Rich Little...

Although not the revered classic that Citizen Kane is, How Green Was My Valley beat out the Orson Welles film to achieve the highest honor in the filmmaking business. Along with Casablanca, Citizen Kane is widely regarded as one of the two biggest contenders for the title of the greatest movie of all time. But of those two, only one - Casablanca - actually received the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Like Casablanca would a year later in 1943, Citizen Kane earned a multitude of nominations at the 14th Academy Awards. However, its only win was Best Original Screenplay, which went to Herman J. Mankiewicz. It lost on multiple fronts, with one movie in particular being the biggest reason for Citizen Kane coming up short. Legendary director John Ford, a filmmaker whose legacy is intertwined with John Wayne's, managed to top Citizen Kane with a film he made in-between Ford's collaborations with Wayne.

It is almost unfair to ask if anything is as good as The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling's award-winning anthology series, with its groundbreaking blend of social commentary and hair-raising horror, continues to inspire generations of viewers, and it would be too much to hope that his follow-up series Night Gallery could be as powerful. However, the three-season show contains some legitimate gems with star-studded casts and top-tier directors, and fans are bound to find a few satisfying thrills.

In the horror-fueled anthology Night Gallery one finds famous names like Steven Spielberg and Joan Crawford, Vincent Price and Orson Welles. There are twisted tales from the likes of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Bloch and plenty of Rod Serling's brutally ironic screenwriting. The show may not stand up to The Twilight Zone, but it's worth finding out why fans like Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro haven't forgotten it.

Related 10 Most...

Several voice actors from Batman: The Animated Series had already made their mark in the world of Gotham long before lending their voices to the animated classic, having appeared as characters in the 1960s Batman series. Known for its campy humor, colorful villains, and larger-than-life performances, the original Batman show introduced a generation to DCs Caped Crusader in a style radically different from the darker tone of Btas. Batman: The Animated Series honored its 1960s predecessor by casting several actors from the show, bridging the gap between two very different interpretations of the Caped Crusader.

Despite stylistic differences, Batman: The Animated Series paid homage to its predecessor in several ways, including casting actors who had been part of the 1960s show. With its noir-inspired aesthetic and mature storytelling, Batman: Tas brought a new depth to Gotham City while keeping a connection to the beloved TV series. These performances not only...

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a blog, which hopefully someone out there has noticed. I had to take a brief hiatus from my daily Days viewing to get a real job (temporarily!). But I didn’t completely leave the soap world behind. For the past six week, I served as the production coordinator for a civil war feature filming in middle Tennessee produced by All My Children veteran Alan Dysert (ex-Sean Cudahy) and featuring Dynasty legend John James (ex-Jeff Colby).

Yes, that’s right. Nashville is not just home to the Dimera warehouse in which all the dead bodies of Salems finest and not-so-finest are resurrected when the storyline serves. It is also home to quite a few daytime alums. Melissa Reeves, Scott Reeves, Jonathan Jackson. So it should come as no surprise a movie filming just outside of Nashville would feature not one but two former sudsers.

The American TV-movie has gained a bad rap over the years, but there was a time when folks looked forward to these flicks — and not in an ironic sense or a need to hate-watch.

That period of kinder and less cynical viewership was surely in the 1970s and ’80s when the made-for-television movie became more widespread. The “movie of the week” format took off in the former decade, with the major networks at the time devoting blocks in their schedules to these standalone, small-screen features. And one of the more revisited genres was horror. Duel, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Trilogy of Terror, Are You in the House Alone?, The Initiation of Sarah. These are just a few of the classic telefilms that scared a whole generation of viewers.

There have been great strides to archive and restore these past horror TV-movies,...

Quick Links Pixars A Bugs Life Is Based on Aesops Fable the Ant and the Grasshopper Hopper Is a Disney Villain Who Uses Intimidation to Accomplish His Goals A Bugs Life Is an Overlooked Pixar Gem

Disney villains have earned a lot more space in the spotlight in recent years. Especially with Halloween time in Disney Parks focusing on them more with each passing season. Many of Disney's star villains have received their own stories in book and movie form. Actresses Angelina Jolie and Emma Stone, and Glenn Close have tackled villainesses like Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty) and Cruella (from 101 Dalmatians) in live-action. And with the recent announcement of Walt Disney World getting a Villains Land, the brand is clearly picking up some major stream.

One Disney Villain who has fallen out of the spotlight since the release of his feature film in 1998 is Hopper -- the main antagonist of Pixar's A Bug's Life.

Quick Links Caesar Is Not in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Debuts the Villainous Proximus Caesar Noa is Caesar's True Successor in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Will There Be a Sequel to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?

When Wes Ball's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes went into production, fans were curious about how it would connect to the previous trilogy. That narrative told the story of Caesar, an ape experiment who was part of the human mission to cure Alzheimer's. Instead, the project led to the Simian Flu outbreak, with humanity being rendered primitive, and apes taking over the world due to their heightened intelligence.

Sadly, Caesar died after showing compassion in 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes. It led to many fans asking how the new movie would pick up...

Four made-for-tv Planet of the Apes movies from 1980 are now streaming online, the first time they have been available for viewing since a DVD set was released nearly two decades ago. The four films are actually compilations of episodes from the 1974 CBS Planet of the Apes live-action series. The four films are currently streaming for free on YouTube's Movie Channel.

Some fans of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes film are not even aware that the CBS series or TV films even existed. In September 1974, CBS premiered the series, which was based in the same timeline as the 1968 film starring Charlton Heston. Roddy McDowell was the lone cast member from the original Apes films to return for the series. However, he played a completely new character, Galen, a chimp who helps two astronauts (Ron Harper and James Naughton) who have traveled from the past and crash-landed on their home planet a thousand years later.

Quick Links Cornelius In the Classic Planet of the Apes Series The Newest Planet of the Apes Trilogy Reintroduced Caesar's Son, Cornelius Cornelius' Potential Future in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Will The New Planet Of The Apes Trilogy Introduce Caesar's True Descendants?

The following contains spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, in theaters now.

Within the Planet of the Apes franchise, various timelines and continuities differ greatly from each other. At the same time, several recurring elements and characters appear in these different universes, even if they're handled in drastically divergent ways. One example is Cornelius, who fans of the recent reboot trilogy will recognize as heir to the proverbial throne.

Cornelius was the son of the apes' veritable messiah in this continuity: a chimpanzee named Caesar. This was similar to how he was handled in the original continuity for the movies, though it also differs greatly.

School is starting to get back in session for many, hammering in one of the final nails of summer’s coffin. It’s fitting that the new school year heralds in the arrival of Fall; few things are scarier than the hells of school. Students must deal with homework, teachers, parents, social structures, and puberty. Teachers must contend with unruly students, their unrulier parents, grading, and office stresses. And high school is a hell of its own.

Luckily, horror covers the terrors of school from every perspective, young and old alike. This week’s streaming picks head back to school to exploit all the academic anxieties and fears.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Battle Royale – freevee, Hoopla, Kanopy, Pluto TV, Tubi

Thanks to a government-mandated act to control Japan’s disorderly youth, class 3-b has been selected...

Bob Weatherwax, who trained dogs who played Lassie as a member of the famous family that also taught Hollywood hounds a thing or two in The Thin Man (Asta), The Wizard of Oz (Toto) and Old Yeller (Spike), has died. He was 83.

Weatherwax died Thursday at a Veterans Administration facility in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, his son, Robert Weatherwax, a former animal trainer for films and television shows, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Bob Weatherwax was the son of Rudd Weatherwax, the original owner and trainer of Pal, the collie introduced to moviegoers in the MGM classic Lassie Come Home (1943), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall.

His grandfather, W.S. Weatherwax, was an actor and animal trainer in the silent era, and his cousin, Ken Weatherwax, played Pugsley Addams on The Addams Family.

Bob Weatherwax served as an animal trainer under his dad on the CBS/syndicated Lassie series that aired from 1954-74 and...

The Planet of the Apes franchise consists of four different continuities, including the original pentalogy, a 2001 remake, a reboot trilogy, and the 2024 film. The original timeline features a complex story where apes rule and humans are slaves, ending with a reveal that the planet is actually a post-apocalyptic Earth. The Caesar timeline begins with the escape of characters from Earth to the past, leading to an alternate history with Caesar leading an ape uprising for equality.

The complete Planet of the Apes timeline is actually made up of four separate continuities established over the course of the entire franchise. To date, the Planet of the Apes movie franchise spans over 55 years and includes the original pentalogy, a 2001 remake directed by Tim Burton, a reboot trilogy starring Andy Serkis as Caesar, and the 2024 film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Plante des Singes served as...

She was the most famous woman in the world. Her marriages (there were eight), affairs, jewelry and medical disasters were all exhaustively chronicled by the tabloids and paparazzi. But away from the klieg lights, a different side of Elizabeth Taylor — witty, wounded, desperate to prove herself — was shared with the tight circle of confidants who surrounded her during her tumultuous life.

And it’s one that Nanette Burstein, director of the new HBO documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes,” was able to highlight after the Taylor Estate contacted her and allowed her to sort through 40 hours of unreleased audio from interviews the screen legend conducted in the 1960s with journalist Richard Meryman.

“It’s extremely rare to have a legendary movie star be so candid about their inner life,” Burstein says. “It was an opportunity to not only understand this revered person in cinema history, but also to chart the...

In 1953, Elizabeth Taylor made the forgettable melodrama “The Girl Who Had Everything,” which also is an apt description of her life and her career. Over her 79 years, she segued from a stunningly beautiful child star to a va-va-va-voon sex symbol to a two-time Oscar-winner to a pioneering AIDs activist. Taylor was more than a star. More than an icon. Even a dozen years after her death, cinephiles are still obsessed with the violet-eye actress.

But a new HBO/Max documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” illustrates she didn’t have “everything.” In the 1960s, Taylor gave interviews to celebrity journalist Richard Meryman who died in 2015. Forty hours of their interviews were recently discovered in his archive and are the anchor for this compelling piece. (There is also an interview from the 1980s with Dominick Dunne).

Wrote the New York Times: “For the Taylor enthusiast, the film is unlikely to reveal much new information.

If you had to pinpoint the start of the 1960s — that is, the counterculture revolution — two events are almost universally agreed on as the era’s formative earthquakes. One was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The other (the real spark to the tinderbox) was the first appearance of the Beatles on “Ed Sullivan,” which happened only 11 weeks later, and which all but answered the assassination by saying, “Here is joy. Here is hope. Here’s a new way to be.”

Yet there was another global media phenomenon that took place over a slightly longer period of time, and it was one that was just as defining of the era’s new energy. That was the scandalous romance of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. We tend to think of that saga as, simply, the apotheosis of celebrity gossip. Yet as it plays out in Nanette Burstein’s luscious and enveloping...

The HBO Original documentary Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, directed by award-winning filmmaker Nanette Burstein, debuted on Saturday, August 3rd on HBO and streaming on Max. An official selection of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, the film had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes allows Elizabeth Taylor’s own voice to narrate her story, inviting audiences to rediscover not just a mega star of Hollywood’s Golden Age but a complex woman who navigated lifelong fame, personal identity, and public scrutiny on a global stage from early childhood. Through newly recovered interviews with Taylor and unprecedented access to the movie star’s personal archive, the film reveals the complex inner life and vulnerability of the Hollywood legend while also challenging audiences to recontextualize her achievements and her legacy.

In 1964, at the height of her fame, Elizabeth Taylor sat down with journalist Richard Meryman for a candid,...

I love me some damn dirty apes, and I’m not alone. Ever since the first Planet of the Apes movie in 1968, it’s been one of Hollywood’s most consistent (on a quality level) franchises. Think about it. Has there ever really been a lousy Planet of the Apes movie? Not really. Yet, it’s often unheralded when we talk about the great franchises. So, let’s look at the series as a whole, with this Planet of the Apes movies ranked list (from worst to best). And don’t worry – you’ll get to have your say tomorrow with a poll I’ll be publishing, so check back for that.

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Tim Burton’s remake of the original 1968 classic is a mixed bag. Mark Wahlberg was a little too green at this point in his career to make a captivating action hero, with him paling...

In 1964, at the height of her career, megastar Elizabeth Taylor sat down with journalist Richard Meryman for a combined 40 hours of audio interviews discussing the highs and lows of her work and life. Now, 60 years later, award-winning “Hillary” filmmaker Nanette Burstein offers “the most intimate portrait of the actress to date” with a new feature-length documentary with Taylor in her own words, in addition to personal photos, home movies, news footage, film clips, and more. “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” premieres on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. Et on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. You can watch with Subscription to Max.

How to Watch “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” When: Saturday, Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. Et Where: HBO, Max Stream: Watch with a Subscription to Max. Sign Up $9.99+ / month Max.com About “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes”

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Nanette Burstein, “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes...

Beat the summer heat with the latest additions at Max! This August, truth is stranger than fiction, and HBO will premiere multiple documentary series and films, including the four-part Original “Chimp Crazy,” a new installment of the Emmy-winning “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears,” and the streaming premiere of the recent Cannes and Tribeca entrant “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.”

The rest of the month at Max includes the Season 3 premiere of the HBO/BBC One finance industry drama “Industry,” returning after a two-year hiatus, and the surprise “City of God” follow-up series “City of God: The Fight Rages On.” All of the new titles, from new series premieres to classic films joining the library, as well as any new games and matches available this month on Bleacher Report, will be available on either an ad-supported Max plan beginning at $9.99 per month or an ad-free plan beginning at $16.99 per month.

Could Raka and Proximus Caesar possibly have survived? Well, the actors who portrayed two of the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' main characters seem to think so. Kevin Durand played the big bad, Proximus, in director Wes Balls action adventure this summer, while Peter Macon was tasked with voicing the last living member of the Order of Caesar, aka Raka. And during an appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con this week, both performers offered up their opinions on the apparent deaths of the two characters. Macon said during an interview with Screen Rant:

Did you see [Raka] die? I didn't see him die. Did you see him die? I saw [Proximus] kind of fall...

Durand quickly interjected:

I didn't die! Shut up, Raka. I didn't see you die, but you fell from a very big height. Stop putting that out in the universe.

Macon replied:

No, I'm saying you'll come back formidable,...

Elizabeth Taylor’s iconography as a Hollywood starlet, activist, and sex symbol is narrated by the late, legendary actress herself in documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.”

The HBO original film is directed by Nanette Burstein. The feature had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and screened at Tribeca 2024.

Taylor’s 1964 interview with journalist Richard Meryman is the crux of the documentary. The film uses 40 hours of the newly unearthed audio and has access to personal photos, home movies, archival interviews, and news footage. “The Lost Tapes” is billed as the “most intimate portrait of the actress to date,” as Taylor charts her own filmography from her debut in 1943’s “Lassie Come Home” to “Giant,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Butterfield 8,” and “Cleopatra.”

Taylor’s personal life is also discussed, with her fifth marriage to Richard Burton a centerpiece of the documentary.

The synopsis reads: “The...

The HBO Original documentary Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, directed by award-winning filmmaker Nanette Burstein, debuts Saturday, August 3 (8:00 p.m.–9:45 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. An official selection of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, the film had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes allows Elizabeth Taylor’s own voice to narrate her story, inviting audiences to rediscover not just a megastar of Hollywood’s Golden Age but a complex woman who navigated lifelong fame, personal identity, and public scrutiny on a global stage from early childhood.

Photo Courtesy of HBO

Through newly recovered interviews with Taylor and unprecedented access to the movie star’s personal archive, the film reveals the complex inner life and vulnerability of the Hollywood legend while also challenging audiences to recontextualize her achievements and her legacy.

In 1964, at the height of her fame,...

Tom Holland and Mark Hamill connected through Fright Night and Child's Play. Hamill initially refused to voice Chucky in the 2019 remake but changed his mind after learning the altered storyline. Holland found directing Child's Play challenging due to limited technology at the time, while Fright Night was his best directing experience.

The cast of Tom Hollands 1985 horror hit Fright Night recently got together to reprise their roles for Manifest Medias Table Read podcast. Noticeably absent from the readthrough of Hollands script was the late Roddy McDowall, who portrayed the part of Peter Vincent in the film, and sadly passed away in 1998. Stepping into his shoes for the event was Star Wars veteran Mark Hamill, and while the duo of Holland and Hamill had never worked together before, it turns out they have a connection thanks to another horror film the director helmed: 1988s Childs Play.

Holland and Hamill were interviewed...

Fright Night remains a campy horror classic with great practical effects and creepy creatures. Star Chris Sarandon was initially hesitant about the script but was won over by the quality. The film defied expectations of financial success with little interference from the studio, spawning a sequel.

Fright Night is a gloriously campy horror movie remembered for some impressive special effects, a gruesome villain, and some knowing nods to the genre it is almost a parody of. Manifest Medias Table Read podcast recently released a new episode centering on the horror movie, which saw the original cast, and director Tom Holland, joined by Mark Hamill and Rosario Dawson to do a live reading of the script. In a subsequent interview, star Chris Sarandon, who plays the villainous vampire Jerry Dandrige, revealed that he initially wanted to reject the script based purely on its title.

Fright Night RComedy HorrorThriller Release Date August 2, 1985Director Tom HollandCast Chris Sarandon,...

Mark Hamill joins Fright Night original cast for Table Read podcast, stepping into the late Roddy McDowall's role of Peter Vincent. Director Tom Holland calls Fright Night Table Read "incredible experience," a celebration of the beloved cult classic film. Fright Night, released in 1985, continues to captivate audiences & maintain its legacy through various mediums.

Director Tom Hollands Fright Night is widely regarded as one of the best vampire movies ever made, if for nothing more than being a fun take on the classic monster. Released in 1985, the film took in $24 million at the box office against a budget of $7 million, and starred the likes of Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, and the incomparable Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent. Now, Mark Hamill is taking over for the late actor in the new episode of Table Read, which brings together most of the original cast, with the added addition of Rosario Dawson as well.

There have been countless books written about the immortal star Elizabeth Taylor, even some credited to her as both memoir or autobiography including 1989’s Elizabeth On Elizabeth. But a book released on January 1, 1965, probably comes closest to a pure autobiography, and the cover simply says, Elizabeth Taylor by Elizabeth Taylor. It is a by-the-numbers account of her life through her own words up until that point, but it actually was written by Richard Meryman, a journalist credited with among other things the last interview with Marilyn Monroe.

Meryman got Taylor to sit for some tape-recorded sessions in 1964, so he would be able to write the book as if Taylor did it herself. Sixty years later, those presumed “lost” recordings have been found and cleared for release by Taylor’s and Meryman’s estates. They have been in Meryman’s wife’s possession all these years,...

When 20th Century Fox began production on the first "Planet of the Apes" film, they enlisted special effects makeup artist John Chambers to help transform actors like Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, and James Whitmore into anthropomorphic apes. Chambers was already famous for having perfected Spock's Vulcan ears on "Star Trek," but a society of intelligent apes who were capable of communicating was like something straight out of "The Twilight Zone." Rather than create ape masks, Chambers instead crafted individual prosthetic pieces to be applied in sections, allowing the actors to emote with their own facial muscles -- a technique that revolutionized the art of special effects makeup.

Now, over 50 years later, the intelligent apes have traded practical makeup prosthetics in favor of breathtaking and realistic digital artistry. When it comes to 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," /Film's Larry Fried declared, "There is simply no...

Who knew that French author Pierre Boulle’s slim, satirical 1963 novel, Le Planete des Singes, would lead to one of the most successful science fiction franchises of all time? Consisting of 10 films (to date), two TV series , comic books (including a magazine series from Marvel), toys, games, merchandise and more, Planet of the Apes remains one of the most enduring and unique sci-fi sagas in cinematic history.

The success of the original film, 1968’s Planet of the Apes, led studio 20th Century Fox (which finally made the movie after years of development and stalling) to launch a series of sequels. That wasn’t necessarily unheard of back then, but those sequels—which include Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)—told one complete story, unlike anything done on film before.

This article contains spoilers for "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes."

Wes Ball's "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" isn't a reboot of the beloved franchise, nor is it a direct sequel to the most recent trilogy, but instead a standalone sequel set hundreds of years after the time of Caesar, the evolved patriarchal leader played by Andy Serkis. Caesar in this series differs from the character played by Roddy McDowell in the original, as this version sees apes and humans as unlikely equals rather than inherently viewing the latter as subservient, and even lets fellow ape Koba fall to his death for ruining the chance for apes and humans to have peace.

Humans are being ravaged by the simian flu, a condition that allows the apes to flourish from an evolutionary standpoint but wipes out a majority of humanity. Those that survive due to genetic immunity splinter into small communities,...

This article contains spoilers for "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes."

In 1968's "Planet of the Apes," astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) and his companions find themselves traveling from 1972 to the year 3978 during their voyage, initially assuming they've traveled through space as well as time. Famously, Taylor finds this assumption woefully incorrect, discovering that a malfunctioning spacecraft took him right back to his point of origin: an Earth, but 2,006 years in the future, where humanity has all but destroyed itself with nuclear war, and a race of sentient apes have risen to become the world's dominant species.

While that original film has arguably been surpassed in quality by its subsequent sequels and the modern reboot saga, its cultural impact cannot be matched; everything from its visual iconography and immortal twist ending is firmly ingrained within pop culture. That's a big reason why the "Planet of the Apes" films, even...

Contributed by Melissa Thompson and Michelle McCue

The Planet Of The Apes franchise has seen five feature films from the original movies, one from Tim Burton in 2001, a successful prequel series starring the amazing Andy Serkis, a live-action television series, an animated Saturday morning series, comic books, trading cards, action figures, you name it.

50 years ago in 1974 20th Century Fox came up with the clever idea to offer all five movies at once to select movie theaters, and program them together as a “Go Ape!” movie marathon.

Inventive marketing at the time, the films starred the incomparable Roddy McDowall, who played Cornelius and Caesar, in 4 out of the 5 movies. All the movies can now be found on streaming services.

In 2024, Pota fans were offered the chance to see the film on May 8th at the special Fan Event and “Go Ape” again!

Wamg hit 20th Century Studios’ Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes...

In the grand scheme of things, Matt Reeves’ two entries into the Planet of the Apes series might be the highest peak this beloved franchise has experienced since the original 1968 movie. There have been other good movies about talking chimpanzees and the humans they enslave—a shocking amount too when you think about that premise for a minute—yet Reeves brought a somber, frigid tactility to the material we’d never seen before. So following in those footsteps, as well as those left by the monumental performance of Andy Serkis as Caesar (a Spartacus among apes), was always going to be a tough act.

But if I’m being honest, I missed how chatty the apes first were in the original Rod Serling screenplay from more than 50 years ago. While Reeves’ movie did an impressive job of setting the stage for how human civilization collapsed while a nascent strand of super smart gorillas rose up,...

Director Wes Ball claims "we tried to exist in both places" when it comes to connecting Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes with the 1968 classic and Caesar trilogy: "the two pillars." Ball also says of his Kingdom's place in the franchise, We're trying to be somewhere in the middle between those two." The upcoming sci-fi action film almost didn't happen, with Ball initially being reluctant, but the story eventually found its own unique path.

Goddn you all to hell! Fans of the classic 1968 Planet of the Apes will undoubtedly remember actor Charlton Heston's Taylor crying out and cursing humanity for destroying the world when he and Nova (Linda Harrison) discover the shattered remains of the Statue of Liberty. And who can forget the brilliance of Andy Serkis heartfelt performances in the most recent Caesar-led Planet of the Apes trilogy? Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' director Wes Ball clearly hasnt forgotten,...

The studio once known as 20th Century Fox is a younger entity than the other major Hollywood Studios. It was founded in 1935 out of the ashes of Fox Film, compared to Warner Bros (1923), Universal Pictures (1912), Paramount Pictures (1912), Columbia Pictures (1923), and Disney (1923) — the latter being the new parent company of 20th Century Studios.

Still, Fox waited only seven years to take home the top prize at the Oscars. At the 14th Academy Awards, held in 1942, Fox's film "How Green Was My Valley" won Best Picture, presented to Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck. That wasn't the only prize "Valley" won that night: it also got Best Director (John Ford), Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Arthur Miller), and finally Best Art Direction -- Interior Decoration, Black-and-White.

One of the films that "Valley" beat that night was "Citizen Kane" (which got only Best Original Screenplay for director Orson Welles and his co-writer Herman J.