Movies

While Naruto excels in many areas – boasting memorable story arcs, thrilling battles, and deeply moving moments that resonated with a generation of anime fans – some early character choices and plot points created problems that continued to surface throughout the series, even into the Boruto sequel. These initial decisions limited character development and, as the story expanded, made the central message about overcoming hatred feel less impactful. Despite its strengths, these issues ultimately lingered and caused complications as the narrative grew in scope.

Watching Japanese director Hikari’s new film, Rental Family, kept reminding me of a particular evening. The film stars Fraser as Phillip Vandarploeug, a lonely American actor in his middle years who lives in Tokyo and isn’t getting many good roles anymore. Years ago, Phillip briefly became famous in Japan for a series of silly toothpaste commercials where he played a superhero who rode a toothbrush. Now, he mostly goes to auditions he doesn’t get, or spends time on set pretending to be a plastic tree. Things take a strange turn when he’s hired to act sad at a funeral, only to discover the man in the coffin is actually alive. The whole event is a performance meant to help the man feel better about his life. This company, called Rental Family, arranges these unusual “specialized performances” to help people feel a sense of connection they’re missing. Sometimes these performances involve self-delusion, and sometimes they’re outright tricks. For example, one of Phillip’s first jobs is pretending to be the groom at a Japanese wedding. The parents want a happy memory and peace of mind, but the bride secretly plans to move to Canada with her girlfriend immediately after the ceremony.

I expected the movie to be a standard tale about chasing the American Dream. While it touches on those themes, it’s actually a much more serious and reflective story about life and mortality.

During the heartfelt talk between Clark Kent and Lois Lane about Superman’s reason for being on Earth, the Imp stayed mostly out of focus, leaving fans with little chance to get a good look at its appearance. Now, however, official concept art has been released, finally revealing what the creature looks like.

In an interview with Deadline, Cynthia Erivo was asked about the possibility of a third Wicked movie. While there’s been no official announcement about a third film, Erivo expressed her enthusiasm, saying she’d be thrilled to be involved. However, she also feels content with the story being told across two films, explaining that sometimes it’s best to leave something beautiful untouched. She did share some ideas, though, about what she and her children would like to see in a potential Wicked sequel.

The new Apple TV+ show, Pluribus, is quickly becoming a hit. It recently surpassed Severance on Rotten Tomatoes, achieving a remarkable 99% approval rating, compared to the 97% earned by the Adam Scott-led mystery thriller.

The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, famously created outrageous storylines, even depicting a romantic relationship between Donald Trump and Satan, who later became pregnant with his child. Although the White House dismissed the show as low-quality and outdated in a statement to Variety, it received surprisingly less criticism compared to late-night hosts like Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel—and comedian Patton Oswalt believes he understands the reason why.

Joe Deckelmeier from MovieWeb recently spoke with Matthew Lillard before the release of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 this December. Lillard confirmed he’ll be appearing in Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again, playing a brand new character in Hell’s Kitchen who won’t be wearing a superhero costume. He also shared that his past work with showrunner Dario Scardapane on The Bridge is what led to this exciting opportunity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he’s thrilled to be a part of it.

CBS initially intended to premiere the new FBI spin-off in the fall, but production difficulties prevented that from happening. While Tom Ellis was cast as the lead for the show—now titled CIA—Wolf Entertainment and CBS had trouble finding the rest of the cast. They eventually added Nick Gehlfuss as Special Agent Bill Goodman, who will work alongside Ellis, and Natalee Linez and Michael Michele will also star.

Okay, so I checked out the Rotten Tomatoes score for The Family Plan 2 after it dropped on the streaming service on November 21st, and it’s not looking great – currently sitting at a 20% rating. But, heads up, that’s only based on 10 reviews right now, so I’m expecting that score to probably change as more people weigh in.