Latest news with #DarrenAronofsky
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Zoe Kravitz, Austin Butler spotted out together at immersive NYC show after sparking romance rumors
Zoe Kravitz and Austin Butler — who've previously sparked romance rumors, and star together in the upcoming film, 'Caught Stealing' — were spotted out in NYC together last weekend. Multiple spies told Page Six that the duo was seen together at immersive theater company Punchdrunk's latest production, 'Viola's Room,' at the Shed in Hudson Yards. We hear that the pair was spotted going into the edgy show together, and also heading out into the night afterwards. They attended the show with their 'Caught Stealing' director Darren Aronofsky, a spy said. In April, the Post reported that rumors about the duo started while they were filming 'Caught Stealing' — and were seen kissing on the set as cameras rolled in October 2024, a month before filming wrapped. 'Viola's Room' is by the creators of the long-running, immersive downtown hit, 'Sleep No More,' which was known to draw lots of celebs — including Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Margot Robbie, Bono and more — as audience members wore masks as they took in the roving show. Kravitz, 36, had called off her engagement to Channing Tatum that same month after three years of dating. Butler, 33, and his former flame, model Kaia Gerber, reportedly called it quits toward the end of 2024, also after three years of dating. The stars have yet to address the buzz — though Butler's rep reportedly had previously denied there was any romance between the two. In their upcoming film, Butler stars as a former baseball player who's plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of '90s New York. The film is based on a book by Charlie Huston, who also penned the screenplay. This production, playing through Oct. 19, is more intimate and features a barefoot audience and the recorded voice of Helena Bonham Carter over headphones. This story was featured on a recent episode of , a daily morning show serving up the hottest celebrity headlines, exclusives, and behind-the-scenes buzz. Catch Danny, Evan and Ian chat with celebrity guests every weekday on SiriusXM from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on Stars Ch. 109. SiriusXM service required. See Offer Details.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The 30 best films on Amazon Prime to watch now
Watching films on Amazon has always been a case of hunting for freebies, while mostly resigning oneself to coughing up the price of a coffee: thousands of movies can be rented, by anyone, for £3.49 (or less). Yet, for subscribers to Amazon Prime, a much more limited, ever-changing selection comes free. You just have to look out for the 'Included with Prime' blue tick beside a film's title – then catch it before it disappears. The free catalogue tends to skew heavily towards well-known, relatively recent US studio titles, with scant room for golden oldies or subtitled gems. But if you plan your viewing based on availability, I'm here (having watched, as a Telegraph critic, more films than anyone should be allowed to see in a lifetime) to help you find the pearls amid the muck. Skip to: Drama Thriller Science fiction Comedy Family Drama Requiem for a Dream (2000) Addiction is hell, but each character occupies an isolated abyss of their own, in Darren Aronofsky's excoriating portrait of four lost souls on Coney Island. Oscar nominee Ellen Burstyn is the widowed Sara Goldfarb, who becomes hooked on prescription amphetamines; Jared Leto is her son Harry, a heroin addict; Marlon Wayans is his friend Tyrone, who gets arrested after a shoot-out; and Jennifer Connelly is Harry's girlfriend Marion, whom he presses into prostitution. Adapting Hubert Selby Jr's 1978 novel with the author's help, Aronofsky socked viewers with a virtuoso downer, shunted along by the driving rhythms of Clint Mansell's inspired music. Monster (2003) No one could stop the astonishing Charlize Theron swiping an Oscar here as the real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was executed the year before the film's release for the murders of seven men along highways in Florida, all of whom she claimed to have killed in self-defence. Theron and writer-director Patty Jenkins together stake out an impressively complicated position on who Wuornos was, why she may have done what she did, and how a viewer is expected to feel about it: the mixture of repulsion and empathy is rare and risky for a biopic. JFK (1991) Who killed JFK? Was it Lee Harvey Oswald, from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository? Or an unknown shooter from the grassy knoll? Was there more than one assassin? Were the CIA somehow involved in a cover-up? All the conspiracy theories that Oliver Stone saw fit to air appear in his virtuoso – if factually contentious – three-hour political thriller, which tackles the investigation of New Orleans DA Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) into the shady underworld ties of Oswald and his confederates. In a stacked supporting cast (Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, John Candy, Sissy Spacek), Donald Sutherland takes the cake in one long scene as a high-ranking spook who seems to know everything. Small Things Like These (2024) This tight-lipped Irish drama is suffused with sadness, and shouldered with hypnotic grace by Cillian Murphy in his first post-Oppenheimer role. He plays a father of five in a small County Wexford town, who pits himself against the local convent – and calculating head nun Emily Watson – for their incarceration of pregnant girls in 1985. Claire Keegan's source novel chose a man of few words to make this stand, and Murphy steps up to play him with a heroic understatement that could move mountains. The result is one of the best 'small' films in recent memory. The Immigrant (2014) One of the most neglected efforts from writer-director James Gray (The Yards, Two Lovers, Ad Astra), The Immigrant fell foul of measly distribution after Harvey Weinstein tried, and failed, to meddle with Gray's final cut. Marion Cotillard, in one of her greatest performances, plays Ewa, a Polish refugee who arrives on Ellis Island in 1921, and is exploited by a shyster (Joaquin Phoenix) who simultaneously prostitutes and romantically pursues her. Darius Khondji's photography is stunning, with a rich flavour for the period. Platoon (1986) If Apocalypse Now did justice to the chaotic scale of the Vietnam War, this low-budget smash (it cost a mere $6m) zoomed in on the moral battle, by enlisting Charlie Sheen as an infantry volunteer torn between two brands of soldiering: one exemplified by the hardened brutality of Tom Berenger's Barnes; the other, by Willem Dafoe's saintly, paternalistic Sergeant Elias. Basing the film on his own experiences as a grunt, Oliver Stone was determined to counter the jingoism of John Wayne's The Green Berets (1968) and certainly succeeded, winning Best Picture and Director Oscars for his pains. Platoon is resolutely grimy and convincing, with the only glamorous touches coming from a louche soundtrack of 1960s pop hits. The use of Samuel Barber's Adagio, too, is unforgettable. Zodiac (2007) David Fincher's real-life serial killer procedural is an excitingly mature study of obsession and epic burnout. What it is not is Se7en, which gave it muted appeal at the box office – but in the era of shows such as True Detective and Mare of Easttown, it's very streamable indeed. Fincher follows the oft-thwarted efforts of many people, including a San Francisco police inspector (Mark Ruffalo), a true-crime writer (Jake Gyllenhaal) and an investigative reporter (Robert Downey Jr) to puzzle out the identity of the Zodiac Killer, who claimed to have murdered 37 people in Southern California in the late 1960s. The precision-tooled script and density of detail are remarkable. Capote (2005) Where most biopics sprawl, this penetrates, by tackling only a sliver of its subject's life – the writer's block Truman Capote endured while researching his true-crime masterpiece In Cold Blood, and his ensuing giant depression. A magisterial Philip Seymour Hoffman, in his Oscar-winning role, makes this literary icon's intellectual vanity dazzlingly funny. Despite being half a foot taller than Capote, he forays superbly into the man's demons, and into his complex relationship with the murderer Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr). The bevy of cheeping mannerisms he summons, while mischievously pilfered from Capote lore, are still, somehow, pure Hoffman. A Few Good Men (1992) This is the military courtroom drama everyone loves to quote – 'You can't handle the truth!', and so on. That's a line delivered by Jack Nicholson as the sulphurous star witness, a US Navy Colonel called to the stand when two of his men are accused of murdering a new recruit in Guantanamo Bay, and their defence lawyers (Tom Cruise and Demi Moore) dare to put the system on trial. Aaron Sorkin adapted the screenplay from his tub-thumping play, and Rob Reiner directed at the height of his 1980s-1990s hot streak (This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery). Though more interested in high-fiving itself than sincerely advancing an anti-martial theme, it's irresistibly bombastic. Donnie Brasco (1997) Al Pacino enjoyed one of his best periods in the second half of the 1990s, and this hangdog performance in a real-life gangster yarn might be the jewel in the crown. He's magnificently sad as Lefty Ruggiero, the career mafioso who was taken in by an undercover FBI agent, Joseph Pistone (aka Donnie Brasco), played here by a subtle and sterling Johnny Depp. To convince everyone he's a violent hood, Pistone had to become one – or perhaps he always was. Paul Attanasio's Oscar-nominated script finds layers in their friendship that break your heart, and Mike Newell reached new heights as a director, surpassing even his Four Weddings and a Funeral. Thriller Conclave (2024) Pick a pope? Tread carefully. Derived from Robert Harris's potboiler about the hushed, cloistered and backstabby process of casting ballots in the Sistine Chapel, Conclave got eight Oscar nominations, and won for Peter Straughan's acidic script. The fictional election Harris cooked up, which director Edward Berger reheats at full blast, leads us through a dank labyrinth of intrigue – with one man, Ralph Fiennes's Thomas Lawrence, peering through the murk to discern an outcome that won't set Catholicism back decades. Declaring 'certainty the enemy', he really seems to mean it – like present-day Rome's pained, grey answer to Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall. Point Break (1991) No one packs more testosterone into an action ride than Kathryn Bigelow, who scored one of her few bona fide box office hits here. Keanu Reeves is the rookie fed who goes undercover as a surfer to infiltrate a gang of bank robbers, headed by Patrick Swayze's charismatic, perma-tanned free spirit. Waves crash, bullets fly and men cement their brotherly love by jumping out of planes together in the famous skydiving scenes. Don't bother with the useless 2015 remake: the purest highs by far are to be found right here. The 39 Steps (1935) We have John Buchan's novel to thank for the spy-movie trappings of this story, with a hero accused of murderous counter-espionage. The kicker is that this evergreen Hitchcock chase thriller manages to be a great romantic comedy into the bargain. The influence of Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934) is hard to miss in the leads' bickering relationship as they're flung hither and thither across the Highlands, when Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) goes after the vicious foreign spy ring who have framed him, and finds himself handcuffed to Madeleine Carroll's suspicious stranger. A History of Violence (2005) David Cronenberg started a fruitful collaboration here with Viggo Mortensen, who would excel again in his Eastern Promises (2007) and A Dangerous Method (2011). He's tremendous as Tom Stall, a small-town diner owner and family man who deftly foils an attempted robbery and is hailed as a hero: unfortunately, the publicity blows his cover, and we learn that he's a former Mob hitman whose associates aren't done with him. William Hurt got an Oscar nomination as a goateed kingpin, but it's Ed Harris who makes the more menacing impression as Carl, a scarred emissary who won't leave Tom well enough alone. Jaws (1975) The one and only: a shark-attack B-movie boosted to art by precision engineering. 'He has a very great talent,' said Alfred Hitchcock about Spielberg, the new kid in town. His big breakthrough, keeping millions out of the sea since its release, this diabolical suspense classic was both the stuff of nightmares and a production stricken with them. Somehow the rookie director weathered the storms, coped with that pesky mechanical shark, and cut the movie with Verna Fields to cuticle-shredding perfection, setting a whole new bar for summer entertainment in the process. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) John McTiernan's spin on the 1968 Steve McQueen/Faye Dunaway/Norman Jewison art-burglary caper is a rare remake that brings something genuinely new to the table. Specifically, it boasts the best role Rene Russo ever had, as the amused cop who thinks she has the number of Pierce Brosnan's playboy thief. It's really swish entertainment, with a special climax scored to Nina Simone's Sinnerman and involving multiple Magritte-style bowler hats. The leads' 'situationship' is electric precisely because we don't know if it's fated to last. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) There are more famous film versions of the Conan Doyle chiller – the 1939 Fox one with Basil Rathbone as Holmes; the 1959 Hammer one with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. But this relatively little-known ITV adaptation, one of a pair starring Ian Richardson as the detective, is the most spine-tingling and creative. It starts with the prowling of the titular beast outside the Baskerville mansion, which is striking because of hound's-eye-view photography that sets the terrified tone. The green fog on the Grimpen mire has a livid radiance, while an expert supporting cast includes Denholm Elliott, Martin Shaw, Connie Booth and Eleanor Bron. The Mist (2007) The usually optimistic Frank Darabont unleashed this amazingly bleak chiller which, like his The Shawshank Redemption, was based on a story by Stephen King, this time about slimy monsters besieging a supermarket in Maine. It's a bloody and unflinching vision of American despair. Thomas Jane heads the cast as a painter who takes his young son (Nathan Gamble) to the shops, passing military convoys, and is barricaded inside when a mist descends. Marcia Gay Harden is on top form as a religious fanatic, convincing many locals that divine punishment awaits in tentacled shape. The ending is a solar plexus blow you'll never see coming. Cliffhanger (1993) This begins with an infamously terrible day for the bulging Sylvester Stallone: stretched out on a limb traversing a mountain crevasse, with a frayed clip the one thing preventing a fellow climber from plunging to her death. For anyone with the slightest fear of heights, the sequence is a nerve-shredding model for making us sit up and sweat. Renny Harlin's durable action classic delivers the rest of the goods, too, with a gloriously hammy John Lithgow as the criminal mastermind searching for $100m that has tumbled from a Treasury plane somewhere in the Rockies. Harlin and crew captured impressive amounts of the action up real mountains – and it boasts an aerial stunt so dangerous (and costly, at $1m: Stallone paid for it out of his own salary) they only shot it once. Pusher (1996) This Danish gangland yarn started a franchise while launching several careers: that of director/co-writer Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, The Neon Demon), lead actor Kim Bodnia (The Bridge, Killing Eve) and the fellow playing his cheery sidekick, one Mads Mikkelsen in his film debut, a decade before Casino Royale. Bodnia plays Frank, a low-level heroin dealer in Copenhagen, who manages to get into no end of trouble when he evades a police bust by falling into a lake, in the process destroying an eye-watering amount of product. The definition of gritty, the whole film goes hard and gained a cult following. The Long Good Friday (1980) Don't mess with Bob Hoskins. Michael Caine once claimed there were three truly great British gangster films: one Caine did (Get Carter), one he co-starred in with Hoskins (Mona Lisa) and one Hoskins made alone, which is this. His character, Harold Shand, is a fireball of raging ambition, stopping at nothing to consolidate his London empire. His aim is to get into legitimate business with a casino in the Docklands, but he finds his position eroded by IRA bombings, despite the smart, practical influence of his moll Victoria, commandingly played by Helen Mirren. It's also notable for featuring Pierce Brosnan's debut as an IRA enforcer. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) Quite a swansong for the venerable Sidney Lumet, who at 83 delivered a rivetingly gloomy, non-linear crime thriller about a tragically botched heist on a jewellery shop. Hard-up brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke) choose their own parents' establishment, knowing it's insured, but the accomplice Hank enlists brings in more than a toy gun, and everything goes hideously wrong. Their father (a devastated Albert Finney) and Andy's wife (Marisa Tomei, terrific) are dragged into the fallout, and it's unhappily-ever-after for all involved. Science fiction Back to the Future (1985) Strap into the DeLorean, get up to 88mph, and experience time travel the Robert Zemeckis way – as a kind of gonzo science-fair attraction, unlocking a giant payload of emotion. Michael J Fox has to ensure his own existence goes to plan, when he nearly messes it up by stumbling from the 1980s into the 1950s, and meeting the younger version of his mother (Lea Thompson), who takes a troublingly incestuous shine to him. This is the most bonkers plot hook of its day; but we also get Christopher Lloyd's durable comic vim as Doc Brown, the bug-eyed inventor with the permanently electrified hair. Giddy and imperishable. Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982) 'Sometimes, the design is the statement.' This was Ridley Scott's reasoning, and he's right. The design is truly bewitching, and extremely influential: every neon-slicked dystopolis since owes a debt to it. Also, the drudgery of Harrison Ford's Deckard character is a risky nod to noir, in a genre which usually prefers zapping aliens and whipping out lightsabers. Blade Runner grows and grows. Perhaps the older we get, the more we grasp what a limited life-span means, and what the replicants Deckard is hunting – especially Rutger Hauer's wonderful Roy Batty – have to teach us. Metropolis (1927) Perhaps the most seminal work of science fiction ever put on film, Fritz Lang's silent Expressionist epic was a cautionary response to the rapid industrialisation and social divisions of Weimar Germany. The future society it depicts is marked by a chasm between rich and poor, which the idealistic hero (Gustav Fröhlich) and heroine (Brigitte Helm) aim to bridge. Helm also plays her character's double, the Maschinenmensch ('machine-human'), a robot created by a vengeful inventor (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) to incite the working classes to rebellion. The art direction, photography and effects make it a towering visual achievement, which would influence everything from Batman to Star Wars. Comedy Game Night (2018) Look no further for a relatively recent studio comedy that's, for once, satisfyingly plotted: the concept is grabby enough, but the follow-through just keeps getting more enjoyable. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play a couple whose weekly game night spins out of control – starting with Bateman's brother (Kyle Chandler) switching things up with a murder mystery, and then being abruptly kidnapped. It unspools from there with screwball verve, plentiful silliness, and stars transmitting their own glee at being involved. Jesse Plemons all but steals the show as a creepy cop no one likes, who can't stop stroking his cat. The Devil Wears Prada (2006) To many, this will need no introduction – much as fashion magazine editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (a delectable, Oscar-nominated Meryl Streep) assumes everyone must know her name. The recipient of her most withering scorn is Anne Hathaway's Andy, a newbie who becomes Priestly's overworked, underpaid PA. It's a Cinderella story in the tradition of Working Girl, but given juice by the real-life origins of the tale: the experience of the novel's author, Lauren Weisberger, working for dauntingly spiky style queen Anna Wintour. A 20th anniversary sequel is due on May Day 2026, the very weekend of the Met Gala. Family Corpse Bride (2005) Tim Burton's live-action features went through a mid-career wobbly patch, with his barren remake of Planet of the Apes (2001) and the rather mawkish Big Fish (2003). Redemption came from this wittily macabre stop-motion animation, co-directed with Mike Johnson. It's a tight, 77-minute treat that's a little too death-focused for the under-10s, but should delight everyone else. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter not only voice the main characters – a peculiar young man named Victor, and the reanimated cadaver to whom he accidentally gets betrothed – but clearly gave some facial cues to the puppeteers, too. Shrek 2 (2004) Never fear, Shrek is also on Prime – but here's raising a glass to the first sequel, still caustic, still hugely funny, but a much more chilled-out, warmly sophisticated affair. Made by the upstart studio DreamWorks, the original barged in attacking Disney's legacy and wallowing in fart jokes. Enough of all that: by now, our titular ogre (Mike Myers) and his bride Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are married, but the whole notion of a happy-ever-after feels unstable, because they don't fully know each other's foibles yet. Waiting in the wings is a malign Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) determined to split them up and give her son Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) the nuptials he considers his birthright. Paddington (2014) Everyone's favourite furry Peruvian immigrant made his new London home here, and in the process bedded in for the cuddliest film franchise of the last decade. A huge share of the credit has to go to writer-director Paul King, who brought a very particular comic sensibility to the enterprise, fastidiously parked right on the edge of chaos. Take the passing sight gag on a TFL escalator – 'Dogs must be carried' – and our puzzled bear's response. Ben Whishaw's gentle timbre was perfect for the part, and Nicole Kidman has a ball here as the guest villain, an icy taxidermist named Millicent Clyde. Paddington 2 – and Hugh Grant's turn to be a priceless rotter – is also on Prime, and every bit as irresistible.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Black Swan' Books Exclusive 15th Anniversary Run in Imax Theaters
Darren Aronofsky's award-winning Black Swan is getting the Imax treatment in celebration of its fifteenth anniversary. The psychological thriller — starring Natalie Portman in her Oscar-winning role as a troubled ballerina — is being remastered for an exclusive Aug. 21-24 run in more than 200 Imax locations across the U.S. and Canada, Searchlight Pictures announced Wednesday. More from The Hollywood Reporter Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey': Tickets for Imax 70MM Screenings Now Officially on Sale a Year Out Rise of the Machines: Inside Hollywood's AI Civil War Natalie Portman-Produced French Animated Film 'Arco' Wins Annecy It will be the first time that audiences can watch Black Swan in the premium Imax format. Plans for additional anniversary events will be announced at a later date. Black Swan made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September 2010 on its way to collecting five Academy Award nominations, including for best picture and best director, and a win for best actress. Set in the cutthroat world of New York City ballet, the story follows Nina (Portman), a dedicated dancer whose pursuit of perfection spirals into obsession when a new rival, played by Mila Kunis, joins the company. As she prepares for the demanding dual role of the Swan Queen, the mounting pressure begins to blur the line between reality and delusion, leading to a mesmerizing descent into the dark depths of ambition, identity and madness. Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder also star in the specialty film. Black Swan earned more than $329 million at the global box office, including $107 million domestically and $222 million overseas, not adjusted for inflation, to become one of the top-grossing titles in Searchlight's history. Searchlight released a new trailer and poster ahead of the film's Imax screenings. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 40 Best Films About the Immigrant Experience Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Solve the daily Crossword
Gizmodo
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Was This the Geekiest Concert of All Time?
When the hamburger-shaped spaceship with the word 'Millennium' on the back lowered down above me, I figured I was in for something special. What I didn't expect was that, for the next two hours, the 'Millennium…' let's call it 'Falcon,' would fly through an asteroid field before docking on a planet with light cycles and noir landscapes, as lines of code dropped down like rain and huge cylindrical gates of stars swirled around. But that's what happened, and, I must say, it was phenomenal. Last weekend, the iconic boy band Backstreet Boys started a short run of shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's that huge dome you've certainly seen on social media that houses its own unique Darren Aronofsky film, will soon reimagine The Wizard of Oz, and has played host to mega bands like U2, Dead & Company, Phish, and the Eagles. Backstreet Boys are the first pop group to play the venue, though, and when the dates were announced earlier this year, my wife, her best friend, and I knew we had to be there. Fast forward through months of waiting, miles traveled, and dollars spent, and we finally arrived at the Sphere for the show. We were there for night two of the multi-week run, so we implemented a strict 24-hour social media blackout to avoid being spoiled by videos and clips from the first night. That was mostly successful, so, as we entered the venue, we had no idea what to expect. Okay, we had a little bit of an idea. Backstreet's Sphere performances celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album Millennium, which, even if you aren't a fan of the band, you almost certainly know. It was one of the biggest albums in history, with singles such as 'Larger Than Life' and 'I Want It That Way.' That, coupled with the fact we've seen Backstreet at venues all across Los Angeles and Las Vegas over the past decade, gave us a bit of an idea what to expect. But once the countdown clock clicked to zero, things were taken to a whole other level. View this post on InstagramAs you sit waiting for the show to start, you're in this huge pseudo-laboratory. It's dominated by a massive, phallic structure in the middle, which seems to serve no purpose. But, when the show starts, we learn this structure is basically a mega telescope that lets us rocket into space. It's here we encounter the 'Millennium Falcon,' fly around the asteroid, and we're off to the races. What's hard to even describe in words is the feeling of watching all this happen. This was my first time ever at the Sphere, and it's unlike anything I've seen before. It's a completely immersive experience that stretches beyond what your eye can see. So, as long as you don't turn completely around, you feel like the band is performing in a different place from where you're sitting. Places that change in wild, imaginative, colorful ways throughout the show. And, more often than not, those visuals are sci-fi influenced. So, for the show's opener, 'Larger Than Life,' we get those 'Millennium Falcon' scenes that mirror Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. A little later, 'More Than That' takes us through a space station filled with red roses and silver beings, almost like Silver Surfer visits The Hunger Games. The song 'Siberia' takes the group to a snow planet (Hoth?) where huge statues of their faces (almost like the Donner Superman) are carved into mountains. And, up until this point, I felt like maybe I was imagining all the nerdiness. But then Backstreet did 'Get Another Boyfriend.' During that song, two-wheeled vehicles that aren't quite like lightcycles, but very darn close, blaze through a shiny, tech-inspired landscape. It's kind of like the Grid from Tron, until the camera pans up. That's when we see, way up in the sky, it's actually a smoky, dark, neo-noir skyline. Immediately I said, 'Tron meets Blade Runner.' It's both obvious and, frankly, awesome. Songs that follow had monoliths very reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a huge, dare I say, world of water, and a clearly Tetris-inspired scene during 'Quit Playing Games (With My Heart).' At this point, a few of these connections were stretches, but others weren't, and after flying through an underwater oasis during 'Shape of My Heart' and the stage literally leaving the ground to simulate a spaceship during 'I Want It That Way,' the final three songs of the night locked everything in. 'We've Got it Going On' has the group singing in a sunburned, post-apocalyptic landscape that, at its center, houses multiple rings quickly circling a large ball of light. It looked like Stargate and the machine in Contact rolled into one. That went into 'The Call,' which was literally just The Matrix. No hiding it. Code drops from the top of the Sphere all the way down just like in the movies. It couldn't be clearer. Finally, for the last song of the night, the group did 'Everybody (Backstreet's Back).' 'Everybody' is probably Backstreet's most famous song and already had a super geeky monster music video when it was released in 1997. Later, it also made an appearance in Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's 2013 meta-comedy This Is the End. So there was already some strong pop culture grounding. Here, though, this version wasn't filled with monsters or angels. It was, again, a huge sci-fi landscape filled with dancing robots that all looked like Star Wars Battle Droids wearing Mandalorian helmets. Now, was I merely reading this into the show? Was I projecting my love of these movies onto the performance? At some points, most definitely, and honestly I'm fine with it. As the 'Millennium Falcon' brought us back to the original laboratory, marking the end of the evening, I sat there in disbelief. I'd just witnessed not just a super fun, energetic pop show in arguably the most incredible, immersive venue in the entire world, but I had also been taken on a trip through worlds clearly inspired by, and sometimes directly based on, some of my favorite movies ever. Talk about a magical night I'll never forget. Backstreet Boys' 'Into the Millennium' tour at the Sphere in Las Vegas runs during the weekends through the end of August. Then, there's a possibility it could come back in 2026. If it does, I'm going again. Without a doubt. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Buzz Feed
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
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2025 Horror Movies To Stream On Hulu
Whether it's for the jump scares or the iconic final girls, we all have our reasons for coming back to horror movies again and again. Below, I've rounded up 17 titles currently streaming on Hulu that might just give you a new reason to love the genre: Alien (1979) One of the films that started it all for deep space horror. Sigourney Weaver is absolutely iconic, and that scene where the alien is right next to her face still sends shivers down it on Hulu. Longlegs (2024) This cryptic serial killer story was one of the most hyped movies of 2024, and totally belongs on every horror fan's queue. Watch it on Hulu. Black Swan (2010) Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this psychological horror film is made for fans of Swan Lake. Natalie Portman's lead performance as Nina earned her the Oscar for Best Actress in it on Hulu. Insidious: The Red Door (2023) IYKYK, the Insidious franchise is hands down one of the scariest out there. This is the fifth and final film in the series, in case you're making a night of it. That you actually want to fall it on Hulu. A Quiet Place Part II (2021) Shhh — don't make a sound! This post-apocalyptic horror film picks up where the original left off, with even more creatures lurking in the silence. Watch it on Hulu. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) This parody of Jane Austen's novel is a wicked-good twist on the traditional zombie movie. Watch it on Hulu. 28 Weeks Later (2007) If zombie movies are your vibe, 28 Weeks Later is required viewing. Plus, it's only the second film in the franchise so there are more undead it on Hulu. Immaculate (2024) If you enjoy movies like Rosemary's Baby or The Nun, this sinister Sydney Sweeney film should be your next it on Hulu. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) A reimagined tale of Abraham Lincoln, except this time there are blood-sucking vampires. Watch it on Hulu. Nightbitch (2024) Amy Adams stars as a stay-at-home mom, and her new motherhood routine suddenly takes her on a surreal journey. If you're a fan of campy dark comedies, this will be right up your alley. Watch it on Hulu. Beau Is Afraid (2023) Expect the unexpected in this journey of twists, turns, and grief starring Joaquin Phoenix. Watch it on Hulu. Spiral (2021) Ready to play a game? The terrifying world of Jigsaw is back in this spin-off film starring Chris Rock, Max Minghella, and Samuel L. it on Hulu. Run. (2020) A daughter unpacks her mother's secrets in this intense rollercoaster ride of a psychological thriller starring Sarah Paulson and Kiera it on Hulu. V/H/S (2012) If you're in the mood for a found-footage horror film like Paranormal Activity or The Blair Witch Project, you'll want to press play on V/H/ it on Hulu. Umma (2022) A remote farm and a mother's ghost are all you need for a truly haunting horror it on Hulu. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010) This movie is the perfect combination of horror and comedy. It's packed with laughs and a bloody good time until the end credits roll. Plus, Tucker and Dale's performances? Chef's it on Hulu. Scream (2022) Ghostface = an iconic staple in the slasher universe 🔪 This is the fifth film in the Scream franchise, and always a scary-fun ride from the beginning to it on Hulu. Watch all of these horror films on Hulu. What's your favorite scary movie? Share your thoughts in the comments!
