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Fantasy is often defined by older works from writers of the past. However, the contemporary generation of speculative fiction authors has delivered excellent works that are moving the genre in an exciting direction. As fiction, and writing in general, becomes more inclusive and diverse, it opens the door for a greater number of stories to be told that connect with audiences. While plenty of these works are the beginnings of a sweeping fantasy series, some are standalone projects that have become just as influential in the world of fiction. These books represent the trends that fantasy will continue to follow.

Many of these are complex fantasy books with great payoffs that deliver strong endings after laying the groundwork with intricate world-building. While world-building and the creation of concrete magic systems are important parts of the fantasy genre, it's equally vital that these novels include complex characters who undergo significant development before the story is through.

Stephen Walker's sudden exit from Criminal Minds shocked viewers who demanded answers on Damon Gupton's departure. Criminal Minds navigated significant cast changes throughout its impressive 15-season run that impacted its narrative. Damon Gupton's departure was a strategic move to make room for Daniel Henney, leading to Walker's off-screen death.

The unexpected exit of Stephen Walker in Criminal Minds season 13 left viewers reeling, demanding an explanation for why Damon Gupton left the show. Criminal Minds has captivated audiences globally since 2005, weaving intricate tales of an elite FBI profiling team's battles against the darkest minds. The series, renowned for its psychological depth and suspenseful storytelling, experienced a significant shift early on when Mandy Patinkin, who played lead profiler Jason Gideon, left the show due to concerns over its violent content. Despite these challenges, Criminal Mind has flourished, securing a place in viewers' hearts and spawning many Criminal Minds spin-offs.

Onetime Gotham resident Morena Baccarin will soon call Edgewater home.

Baccarin has been tapped to play a sheriff in a Season 2 episode of the CBS hit Fire Country, our sister site Deadline reports. Baccarin will guest-star as Mickey, a sheriff’s deputy with 15 years of experience, who is fiercely protective of her Edgewater, Calif. turf.

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With the one-off role comes the option...

After record-breaking attendance of over 170,000 music fans over four days in 2023, Welcome To Rockville returns to Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida to kick off the festival season bigger and better than ever May 9-12, 2024. Festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents is excited to announce the addition of a 5th music stage and 50 additional bands, bringing the total music lineup to an impressive 150 bands for Welcome To Rockville 2024.

The initial music lineup for the 13th year of Welcome To Rockville is the festival’s most powerful collection of artists yet and features an array of talent not-to-be-missed including Foo Fighters, Mötley Crüe, Slipknot, Jelly Roll, Disturbed, Limp Bizkit, Queens of the Stone Age, Judas Priest, Greta Van Fleet, Evanescence, Falling In Reverse, A Day To Remember, Breaking Benjamin, Bad Omens, The Offspring, Mudvayne, Koe Wetzel, Stone Temple Pilots, Primus, Cypress Hill, Sum 41, a rare appearance by Mr. Bungle, and many others.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for iCarly season 3iCarly fans are sharing their excitement over one long-awaited moment between Carly (Miranda Cosgrove) and Freddie (Nathan Kress). The third installment of the Paramount+ iCarly revival has taken a big step that has been hinted at since the earliest days of the original series. In episode 3, titled "iMake New Memories", Freddie and Carly look back on their history and share two kisses. Although their friends quickly groan at the pair's new romance, viewers couldn't be more pleased.

On Twitter, fans celebrated the milestone kiss that was teased in the iCarly season 3 trailer. One viewer shared gifs of the 'ship, known as Creddie, writing that they would be the cutest couple ever. Another commended Kress and Cosgrove for what they brought to the scene. And, in one tweet, a user dug into the show's history to highlight how far the couple has come.

This Star Wars: The Mandalorian review contains spoilers.

The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 8: Chapter 24

“The Return” is a satisfying ending to what has been a rock-solid season of The Mandalorian, with all of the show’s carefully laid-out storylines converging in spectacular fashion. The season was light on the core Din Djarin/Grogu dynamic, but the redirected focus on Bo-Katan and the reunion of the estranged tribes under the mantle of The Creed paid off, underlined emphatically by the (apparent) demise of Moff Gideon.

One of the most dramatic aspects of these past two episodes has been the emphasis on Gideon’s evil plans for Mandalore. He razed the planet, scattered its people, and then had the gall to use their sacred act of forging Beskar armor to bolster his own army of Imperial Mando-lites. Gideon violates. He exploits. He violently misappropriates. Everything he does feels deeply personal, which makes...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the 2005 drama Shadows in the Sun, starring Harvey Keitel and Joshua Jackson. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Written and directed by Brad Mirman, Shadows in the Sun has the following synopsis: Jeremy is a book editor in a London publishing company and is sent on a pointless mission, in Jeremy’s opinion, to a small town in Tuscany, Italy, to sign up Weldon, who hasn’t written anything in 20 years. He eventually finds him and gives him his pitch – getting nowhere. But at least he gets to meet his cute,...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not watched the Season 5 finale of “Better Call Saul,” titled “Something Unforgivable.”

Gustavo Fring, played by Giancarlo Esposito, may have made himself scarce in Monday night’s Season 5 finale of “Better Call Saul,” but he proved crucial in setting off the events leading up to the episode’s bloody climax: an attempted murder of Fring’s cartel rival, Lalo Salamanca, played by Tony Dalton.

While the hit may have fallen short (Lalo is still alive by episode’s end), Esposito assured to fans on the “Variety After-Show” that even though Gus will be mad, but probably won’t hold it against his inside man Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), who was tasked with facilitating the kill.

“I don’t believe he’ll blame it on Nacho, but I do believe this is setting us up for a very explosive Season 6,” Esposito predicted. “Gus...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 271 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.

Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2014.

“This year’s class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy.”

The 2014 invitees are:

Actors

Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”

Clancy Brown – “The Hurricane,” “The Shawshank Redeption”

Paul Dano – “12 Years a Slave,” “Prisoners”

Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”

Ben Foster – “Lone Survivor,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”

Beth Grant – “The Artist,” “No Country for Old Men”

Clark Gregg – “Much Ado about Nothing,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”

Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine,...

Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o of 12 Years a Slave were two of the 271 artists and industry leaders invited to become members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which determines nominations and winners at the annual Oscars. The entire list of Academy membership—which numbers about 6,000—isn’t public information so the annual invitation list is often the best indication of the artists involved in the prestigious awards process. It’s worth noting that invitations need to be accepted in order for artists to become members; some artists, like two-time Best Actor winner Sean Penn, have declined membership over the years.

Pop quiz: What do Chris Rock, Claire Denis, Eddie Vedder and Josh Hutcherson all have in common? Answer: They could all be Oscar voters very soon. The annual Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences invitation list always makes for interesting reading, shedding light on just how large and far-reaching the group's membership is -- or could be, depending on who accepts their invitations. This year, 271 individuals have been asked to join AMPAS, meaning every one of them could contribute to next year's Academy Awards balloting -- and it's as diverse a list as they've ever assembled. Think the Academy consists entirely of fusty retired white dudes? Not if recent Best Original Song nominee Pharrell Williams takes them up on their offer. Think it's all just a Hollywood insiders' game? Not if French arthouse titans Chantal Akerman and Olivier Assayas join the party. It's a list that subverts expectation at every turn.

It's no secret that we hold Neil Patrick Harris in the highest esteem here. He's both an inspiration and pretty much the template for how to live openly in Hollywood and still have the kind of career most actors would kill for.

It basically comes down to class, talent, and having a sense of humor - about the business, the baggage that goes along with it, and especially about yourself. Nph is remarkably self-aware, which is extraordinary considering he's spent most of his life surrounded by a facade.

A couple of years ago we did a "Reasons We Love," for his birthday, but so much has happened since then, we felt an update was necessary. So here are 39 things we love, some old, some new, but it all paints a picture of a multi-talented star, and one of our favorite people.

1. Unlike a lot of child stars, Nph fully embraces...

Mackenzie Lyn Rosman is a diminutive little lady toping the measuring stick at 5' tall, however, there is nothing tiny about this little lady's talent or heart. Mackenzie was born in Charleston, South Carolina on December 28, 1989. She is an actress and a singer. She is best known for her role as Ruthie Camden on the long running TV show 7th Heaven (TV). Mackenzie may also be recognized on some commercials she has done for K-mart. She has appeared in numerous television commercials since the age of 4 such as Tuff's Diaper commercial's and a Nike shoe commercial. Mackenzie is an avid equestrian. She owns horses and competes in show jumping competitions using her horse Mentos Junior. She currently resides in West Hollywood, California and graduated from Valencia High School in late May, 2007. Her nickname is Mack and her Star Sign is Capricorn. This young lady is quite active in fundraising for...

Chicago – Universal Pictures has released a slate of images from their 2010 films including “Despicable Me,” “Robin Hood,” “Green Zone,” “MacGruber,” “Repo Men,” the second untitled sequel to “Meet the Parents,” “Repo Men,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” and “Your Highness.”

Actors and actresses featured in the slideshow include Jude Law, Ben Stiller, Russell Crowe, Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Michael Cera, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel, Steve Carell, Jason Segel, and many more.

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. Specific photographer credits where noted when needed.

Despicable_Me1: Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) tries to break into Vectors fortress in Despicable Me.

Despicable_Me2: Vector (voiced by Jason Segel) prepares to annihilate Gru in Despicable Me.

Despicable_Me3: Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) tries to break into Vectors fortress in Despicable Me.

Today in Screen Rant’s weekly TV Wrap Up, we have some great casting news for 24, we’ll be talking about David Carradine’s appearance in Fox’s new show Mental and we also have some Heroes casting news, the possibility that My Name Is Earl may be getting new legs, some news on Ghost Whisperer, The Sarah Connor Chronicles coming to DVD and a bit about Futurama’s, err, future.

We’ll wrap it up with ratings from last week. This week in the ratings section, I thought I’d try something new and toss in some cable viewer numbers.

24 Gets More Cast Members

I’ve previously reported that Freddie Prinze Jr. had joined 24 and now Fox has added more cast members to the popular action series.

The actress I’m most excited about seeing come on board is Katee Sackhoff. Sackhoff played the tough-luck viper pilot Kara Thrace...