News

Downfall director Oliver Hirschbiegel is heading up The Inquest Of Pilot Pirx – a new film adaptation of a Stanislaw Lem story.

Perhaps best known for his World War II drama Downfall, director Oliver Hirschbiegel is set to make a new sci-fi film based on a short story by Polish author Stanislaw Lem.

First announced last year, The Inquest Of Pilot Pirx is based on Lem’s short story The Inquest, originally published in 1968. Its lengthier title comes from an earlier 1979 Polish adaptation (pictured), also based on the same tale. It tells the story of a routine repair mission to one of Saturn’s rings that has a fascinating additional purpose.

The ship’s crew, led by one Commander Pirx, is a mixture of humans and androids. What follows is essentially a Turing Test in space – if the androids prove to be indistinguishable from humans, then the company that makes them will put them into production.

The Berlinale has always been a festival of discoveries. It is a stage where cinema reinvents itself. As the 75th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival looms, cinephiles and critics alike are bracing for a lineup brimming with audacity, artistry, and social reflection. With Tricia Tuttle taking the helm, the programming seems to be bolder than ever, mixing celebrated auteurs with breakthrough voices from across the globe.

This year, the selection promises a fascinating cross-section of narratives: from historical epics to surreal dystopias, intimate character studies to socio-political thrillers. Below, we take a deep dive into the ten most anticipated films of Berlinale 2025, breaking down why each film deserves a spot on your radar.

1. Baksho Bondi

Set against the vivid backdrop of a dusty Kolkata suburb, “Baksho Bondi” follows Maya—a resilient working-class woman who juggles multiple jobs while caring for her Ptsd-afflicted husband, Sundar. When Sundar mysteriously vanishes...

Christopher Nolan's movies have a very particular aesthetic. Though he works in genres where loads of computer-generated imagery are the norm, he values location shooting, practically staged action, and, of course, the kind of rich, tactile visuals that only film — not digital — can give you (at a reel length of 11 miles). There's a reason many cinephiles travel great distances to see his movies projected on 70mm IMAX, and never walk away disappointed.

Nolan's aesthetic preferences were challenged like never before when he took on "Interstellar." The deep space exploration film, based on the brilliant work of astrophysicist Kip Thorne, promised to be a brainy piece of science fiction in the vein of classics like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Solaris" (Tarkovsky's or Soderbergh's). "Interstellar" wound up calling those films to mind here and there, but, really, it was singularly Nolan in its attempt to realistically depict what getting stuck...

Andrei Tarkovsky classics Solaris, Stalker, The Mirror and more besides are now available in full (and legally) on YouTube.

Celebrating its centenary in January 2024, Russian production company Mosfilm has spent the past few months quietly uploading many of its classic films to YouTube.

Among the additions are several works by Andrei Tarkovsky, including perhaps his most famous films, Solaris (1972) and Stalker (1979). Solaris, adapted from Stanislaw Lem’s 1961 novel, is a simmering masterpiece – the story of psychologist Kris Kelvin (Donatis Banionis), who’s sent to a distant space station to investigate some strange behaviour among its crew. Once there, he’s told that the planet the station orbits, the titular Solaris, may be sentient – and capable of somehow turning memories into physical reality…

Stalker’s a sci-fi piece of a very different sort. It’s loosely adapted from Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s novel Roadside Picnic, and sees a group of scavenger,...

Viola Davis will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes in January. She will be honored during the group’s 2025 gala hosted by Nikki Glaser on Friday, January 3, at the Beverly Hilton.

Davis won a Supporting Actress Oscar and a Golden Globe for 2016’s Fences and has three other career nominations: Best Actress for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) and The Help (2011) and Supporting Actress for Doubt (2009). She also has six other Golden Globe noms, most recently for 2022’s The Woman King.

Davis’ long list of big-screen credits also include The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Air, The Suicide Squad, Widows, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby films and Solaris. She also has done plenty of TV work including the lead in How to Get Away with Murder along with Live in Front of a Studio Audience, The First Lady, Peacemaker, United States of Tara...

Viola Davis will receive the 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 82nd annual Golden Globes.

The actress, activist, producer, philanthropist, and best-selling author, is part of the select group of creatives to have achieved Egot status, having won an Emmy, a Grammy, Oscar and two Tony Awards. Davis won a best supporting actress Golden Globe in 2017, her first such award, for her performance in Fences, opposite fellow Cecil B. DeMille winner Denzel Washington.

A Juilliard graduate, Davis first made her name in theater, and made her Broadway debut in 1996, in the original Broadway production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars. She transitioned successfully to feature films in the 2000s, starring in Antwone Fisher, Solaris, Traffic, The Help, Prisoners, Widows, Air and The Woman King. In all, she’s been nominated for an Oscar four times, winning in 2017 for Fences.

Davis has also found huge success on television, starring in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,...

Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has tackled every genre under the sun: the heist thriller with the “Ocean’s” franchise, sci-fi with “Solaris,” WWII films (“The Good German”), the action genre (“Haywire”), thrillers of all sorts, comedies (“The Informant!”) and more. But aside from “Unsane,” which flirted with the psychological horror genre, Soderbergh has never really done traditional horror.

Continue reading ‘Presence’ Trailer: Steven Soderbergh’s Spooky Ghost Story Thriller Arrives in January at The Playlist.

With a tagline of "Imagination is not always perfect," Darío Autrán's Entelequias, if judged by its desaturated, asymmetrical, vertically distorted key art, looks to be playing in the narrow liminal space between Solaris and eXistenZ.  This poster eschews a standard credit block, instead placing actor, director and writer in one corner, its tagline blocked in the middle, and varying width bands off to the right, where the characters are repeated, but all seem to be glancing at a burning book, the only source of real colour here. Perhaps a text by Aristotle? The film's title, Entelequias, was coined by Aristotle back in the day, and can be translated as "having the end in itself," but in Spanish it has come to colloquially mean, "an unreal thing." Argentinian designer...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Multiverse of Sadness: Kroger Captivates with Cryptic Cold War Sci-Fi Exploit

Although it will invariably be confused with the 2014 Stephen Hawking biopic, Timm Kröger’s fascinating sophomore feature The Universal Theory (Die Theorie Von Allem) blends modern cinema’s excessive obsession with the notion of the multiverse into a gloomy, sci-fi neo noir. It’s also a fatalistic, overcast love story, reminiscent of everything from Solaris (1972) to Alain Resnais’ Je t’aime Je T’aime (1968), utilizing contemporary fascinations folded into vintage aesthetics. In the wake of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023), Kröger’s film arrives as if from some fortuitous concentric time loop to revel in the ripple effects of the atomic bomb.…...

There’s something about a well-thought-out mobile strategy game that gets you so immersed, you’re planning your next move even without your phone in hand.

If you’re itching to play a game so good it’ll have you feeling like this, look no further than this list of the 9 best mobile strategy games. They’ll completely hook you with their intricate and engaging mechanics that’ll make you feel like you’re on top of the world, once you master them.

Play these titles alongside one of the nine addicting mobile puzzle games we recommend, and your brain will definitely get a good workout.

9) Xcom 2 Aliens have taken over, and it’s your chance to fight back. | Credit: Feral Interactive

If you like your tactical strategy games to have a heavy dose of sci-fi, then this one is going to suck you in fast. Earth has fallen victim to an alien invasion,...

Nafta Films, led by Esko Rips, and Film and Music Entertainment, headed by Sam Taylor, have teamed to adapt Stanislaw Lem’s novella “The Inquest of Pilot Pirx.” Previous films based on Lem’s work include Steven Soderbergh’s “Solaris,” starring George Clooney, and György Pálfi’s “His Master’s Voice.”

British sci-fi novelist Adrian Tchaikovsky has adapted Lem’s story for the screen. Tchaikovsky’s series “Children of Time” won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Hugo Award and British Science Fiction Assn. Award. He recently spoke at the Worldcon in Glasgow on the topic of “AI and the End Times – Do Androids Dream of Killing Us All” and has previously been a guest speaker at the Turing Institute’s AI U.K. conference.

The English-language film tells the story of Commander Pirx who leads a small crew of half androids and half humans on a rescue mission into space.

In a career spanning several decades, George Clooney has appeared in plenty of massive blockbusters, but he also has some underrated gems. Clooney's most popular movies include the Ocean's trilogy, O Brother, Where Art Thou, Gravity and many more. His good looks and charisma have made him a bankable leading man in a variety of genres, but not all his movies get the love they deserve.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are set to team up once more for Apple TV's new action-comedy Wolfs, in which they play two combative fixers forced to work together. While Wolfs is already generating plenty of excitement, some of Clooney's movies have managed to fly under the radar in his career. Looking back at Clooney's career, there are plenty of underrated comedies, sci-fi movies and actioners which deserve a second chance.

Solaris (2002) Kelvin

Solaris

Director Steven SoderberghRelease Date November 27, 2002Cast Ulrich Tukur, Jeremy Davies,...

All astronaut movies about losing your mind in the lonely, alienating depths of space essentially harken back, more or less, to Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris” in 1972. The premise, adopted in dozens of films since Steven Soderbergh’s “Solaris” remake, James Gray’s “Ad Astra,” and the recent Adam Sandler vehicle “Spaceman,” is practically its own sub-genre at this point.

Continue reading ‘Slingshot’ Review: Casey Affleck Loses His Mind In Reality-Warping Paranoia Space Thriller at The Playlist.

The Visual Effects Society has named the first honorees who will be feted at a special event in October.

Avatar co-producer Brooke Breton, a former SVP Production at James Cameron’s effects house Digital Domain who also worked on three Star Trek movies from 1986-91, will receive the 2024 Ves Founders Award. The group also named Reid Paul and Ronald B. Moore as Lifetime Ves Members and posthumously will induct Tim McGovern, Thad Beier, Maya Deren and Dorothy Davenport into the Ves Hall of Fame.

Read more about them all below.

“Our honorees represent a group of exemplary and pioneering artists and innovators who have had a profound impact on the field of visual effects,” Ves Board Chair Kim Davidson said. “We are proud to recognize those who helped shape our shared legacy and continue to inspire future generations of VFX practitioners.”

The 23rd annual Ves Awards will be handed out Tuesday,...

Swiss director Simon Jaquemet – fresh off the world premiere of “Electric Child” at Locarno – is considering an adaptation of “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by U.S. science fiction writer Ted Chiang. His “Story of Your Life” already inspired Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival.”

“It’s very clever and complex,” Jaquemet said about the novella, published in 2010, which could serve as an inspiration for his future work. He is also thinking about a move into series, one that would take place after events shown in “Electric Child,” albeit still within the same universe.

“The story could take place after some catastrophic AI event. With series, you have more time – you can make it more complex. Some shows are even more daring than films [these days],” he stated.

In the meantime, Jaquemet is bound to provoke heated discussions with his new film, “Electric Child.” Echoing many AI-related conversations taking place at the festival, he...

Sci-fi romances that involve some kind of interplanetary expedition don’t really have happy endings, do they? Star Wars, as a franchise, is one of the biggest space operas in existence and it is plagued with doomed romances. Solaris is responsible for the “sad men in space” template. For the most part, the two Dune movies by Denis Villeneuve focused on the love story forming between Paul Atreides and Chani, and by the end of the second film, it seemed like Chani will try to kill Paul. Jupiter Ascending (which is a movie I like!), Passengers, and the Avatar movies are kind of the outliers here, I guess. But the exception proves the rule, i.e. if your romantic couple is in a sci-fi movie (even if it’s a short film), then it won’t last. So, let’s talk about Alpha 27.

Written and directed by Nick Azzaro, Alpha...

Steven Soderbergh's 2002 film "Solaris," based on the 1961 novel by Stanislav Lem, was an interesting experiment as sci-fi blockbusters go. Starring George Clooney and made for a not-immodest budget of $47 million, "Solaris" tells the tale of an astronaut Dr. Kelvin (Clooney), who is sent to a distant space station to investigate the curious psychic properties a nearby planet seems to emanate. The space station is nearly uninhabited, as the crew have almost all taken their own lives. Dr. Kelvin soon finds that the nearby planet Solaris has the ability to reach into a person's mind and physically manifest memories. Kelvin's dead wife Rheya (Natasha McElhone) appears to him, much to his consternation. Because the real Rheya took her own life, the artificial Rheya begins sharing the same bleak thoughts. 

"Solaris" is emotionally intense and filmed in a contemplative, psychedelic fashion. Lem's novel had previously been adapted to film in 1972 by Andrei Tarkovsky,...

Co-written by the screenwriter of Moon, Slingshot stars Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne and Tomer Capone as fractious astronauts. Here’s a trailer:

To the ever-growing ‘unhappy men in space’ sci-fi subgenre we can now add Slingshot – a psychological thriller starring Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne and The Boys’ Tomer Capone as a trio of stressed-out astronauts.

The explorers are on a mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan, when something goes awry and they’re forced to attempt a risky slingshot manoeuvre in order to reach their destination. Meanwhile, Affleck’s character begins to hallucinate. Oh, and Fishburne’s brought a revolver with him for some reason.

Aside from a cracking cast, Slingshot has a good pedigree behind the camera. Its director is Sweden’s Mikael Håfström, director of such genre pieces as 1408, based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, The Rite, an enjoyably daft exorcism horror from 2011, and Escape Plan,...

These days, it feels like George Clooney is known more for his political opinions than his acting career. Billions earned at the box office? Meh. Billions more raised in advocacy, humanitarian efforts, and charity? Yawn. Two-time People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive? Getting closer, but nah. Donald Trump calls you a “rat” on Truth Social? That’s when you know you’ve made it.

Believe it or not, George Clooney used to be famous for something other than his political flip-flops. Well, hold onto your hats because there was actually a time before Clooney’s latest head-scratcher: penning a New York Times op-ed calling Joe Biden unfit for office mere weeks after throwing him the mother of all fundraisers. Yes, you heard that right – he hosted a record-breaking cash bash for Biden, the biggest ever for a Democrat candidate, then declared to the world that the guy shouldn’t run.

Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer of Titanic and Avatar, has died aged 63.

Landau reportedly died on Friday (July 5) of cancer. It was confirmed by Disney Entertainment co-chair Alan Bergman in a statement on Saturday.

“Jon was a visionary whose extraordinary talent and passion brought some of the most unforgettable stories to life on the big screen,” said Bergman. “His remarkable contributions to the film industry have left an indelible mark, and he will be profoundly missed. He was an iconic and successful producer yet an even better person and a true force of nature who inspired all around him.”

Landau...

Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer of the Avatar films and Titanic, has died after a battle with cancer. He was just 63.

Some thoroughly rubbish news that came in over the weekend. Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer of films such as Titanic, Avatar and Avatar: The Way Of Water has died. He was just 63 years old. This follows a prolonged battle with cancer.

A popular figure – not least for being a joy when chatting to people on our side of the fence – the news of his death has come, inevitably, as a huge shock. Long-time creative partner James Cameron led the numerous tributes over the weekend, telling The Hollywood Reporter that “a great producer and a great human being has left us.”

Cameron added to the outlet that “Jon Landau believed in the dream of cinema. He believed that film is the ultimate human art form, and to make films you...

Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington and more have paid tribute to Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer behind the “Avatar” movies and “Titanic,” who died of cancer July 5 at age 63.

“Avatar” star Saldaña remembered Landau in an Instagram post, writing, “Words are hard to put together right now, your passing is hitting really hard. You are leaving us too soon, my thoughts are with you and your family right now. Your wisdom and support shaped so many of us in ways we will always be grateful for. The memories we shared together will always hold a special place in my heart. Your legacy will continue to inspire us and guide us in our journey. Rest in peace, dear Jon. You will be deeply missed.”

Worthington, who plays Jake Sully in the “Avatar” film series, referenced the Na’vi (The People) from the sci-fi franchise in his tribute to Landau.

“Jon was all heart.

It is a sad day for fans of James Cameron’s work as one of his long-time collaborators, producer Jon Landau, has passed away at the age of 63. Landau had apparently been battling cancer for some time and finally succumbed to the illness.

James Cameron himself took to the official Avatar Twitter/X account and made the following statement:

“The Avatar family grieves the loss of our friend and leader, Jon Landau. His zany humor, personal magnetism, great generosity of spirit and fierce will have held the center of our Avatar universe for almost two decades. His legacy is not just the films he produced, but the personal example he set — indomitable, caring, inclusive, tireless, insightful and utterly unique.“

“He produced great films, not by wielding power but by spreading warmth and the joy of making cinema. He inspired us all to be and to bring our best, every day.

Oscar-winning film producer Jon Landau, renowned for his collaboration with director James Cameron, passed away on Friday, July 5, at the age of 63.

As previously reported on Monsters & Critics, Landau succumbed to cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Julie, and their two sons, Jamie and Jodie, as well as his siblings, Tina, Kathy, and Les Landau.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Landau was instrumental in producing some of the highest-grossing films in cinematic history.

His partnership with James Cameron led to the creation of iconic movies such as Titanic, Avatar, and its 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.

Landau also served as the chief operating officer for Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, which produced other notable films, such as Solaris and Alita: Battle Angel.

The duo was actively planning the future of the Avatar franchise at the time of his passing.

Who is Jon Landau’s wife Julie?...

Oscar-winning film producer Jon Landau, who was famously known for his collaboration with James Cameron, passed away on Friday at the age of 63. Bidding adieu to his legacy after losing his battle against cancer, the Titanic and Avatar franchise producer was mourned over by his colleague Kate Winslet.

Acclaimed film producer Jon Landau | image: Boungawa, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

According to Deadline, Kate Winslet recalled her collaboration on Titanic and Avatar: The Way of Water with producer Jon Landau, and claimed to be deeply saddened by his demise. Reminiscing about how Landau’s association with Titanic skyrocketed her to stardom as the leading lady, Winslet expressed her gratitude towards the late producer.

Kate Winslet Paid Tribute to Titanic’s Late Producer Jon Landau

Renowned film producer, Jon Landau, who played a pivotal role in offering the world cinematic milestones like Titanic and both Avatar movies,...

The passing of Jon Landau at 63 has sparked a renewed appreciation for his remarkable career as a film producer.

Collaborating closely with James Cameron, Landau achieved immense success, notably winning an Academy Award for producing the iconic 1997 movie Titanic.

He further solidified his legacy by producing Avatar and the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, which have amassed a staggering $2.9 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively, at the box office.

As of 2024, three of his films, including Titanic, are among the four highest-grossing films in cinematic history.

Jon Landau has an impressive portfolio of movies that have resonated with audiences and critics alike.

His works span various genres, and many have achieved critical and commercial success.

Jon Landau: Must-Watch movies based on Rotten Tomatoes scores

Landau’s list of must-watch movies is small, but many have had a cultural image in Hollywood and have had mega box office success. Based on their Rotten Tomatoes critics scores,...

The relaxation of a long holiday weekend was shattered today for many, as news spread of the death at 63 of producer Jon Landau.

Landau collaborated with James Cameron on such blockbuster films as Titanic and the Avatar franchise. Other credits included Solaris, Alita: Battle Angel directed by Robert Rodriguez, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Dick Tracy.

“Words are hard to put together right now, your passing is hitting really hard,” Avatar franchise star Zoe Saldaña wrote on Instagram next to photos with Landau. “Your wisdom and support shaped so many of us in ways we will always be grateful for…Your legacy will continue to inspire us and guide us in our journey. Rest in peace, dear Jon. You will be deeply missed.”

Avatar’s Sigourney Weaver said: “There were two poles in our Avatar world that kept it spinning. Jim Cameron was one pole, and the other was Jon Landau.

Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer behind “Titanic” and “Avatar” and a longtime collaborator of director James Cameron, is dead at 63.

Landau’s sister, Tina, confirmed his death. Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, she said, “The best brother a girl could ever dream of — my brother Jon — has passed away. My heart is broken but also bursting with pride & gratitude for his most extraordinary life, and the love and gifts he gave me — and all who knew him or his films.”

Some of Landau’s other credits include Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 remake of “Solaris” and Robert Rodriguez’s “Alita: Battle Angel” from 2019. Landau, who was COO of Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment production banner, was also at work on producing the upcoming three “Avatar” sequels, the next of which is scheduled to arrive in 2025.

Landau was born in New York City in 1960 to Edythe and Ely Landau, film and TV...

Jon Landau, who produced several of Hollywood’s biggest films including Titanic and Avatar, has died at the age of 63.

Landau passed away on Friday, July 5th, following a battle with cancer, according to TheWrap.

A former executive vice president of feature film production at Twentieth Century Fox, Landau later made producing his primary focus through high-profile collaborations with director James Cameron. As a producer on Titanic, Landau helped shepherd the first film to gross $1 billion at the box office and later won an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Landau also worked closely with Cameron on 2009’s Avatar and its 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of the Water. As of present day, Avatar, The Way of the Water, and Titanic rank as three of the four highest-grossing films of all time.

In a statement in response to Landau’s passing, Cameron said, “A great producer and a great human being has left us.

Jon Landau, the illustrious producer and COO of James Cameron‘s Lightstorm Entertainment, died July 5 in Los Angeles after a 16-month-long battle with cancer. He was 63.

Landau produced films generated by Cameron that include 1997’s Best Picture Oscar winner Titanic, which tied Ben-Hur for most Academy Awards, 11. That film for a time was the largest grossing film of all time until it was surpassed by another Cameron blockbuster, the 2009 Avatar, which Landau also produced. Other credits included Avatar: The Way of Water, Solaris, Alita: Battle Angel directed by Robert Rodriguez, and he co-produced Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Dick Tracy.

During his 27-year partnership with Cameron, having joined the director in the making of Titanic in 1995, Landau produced three of the five highest-grossing films of all time, Avatar, Titanic and Avatar: The Way of Water. His death was first divulged by Titanic actress Frances Fisher. Late last night she posted of his passing,...

Hayakawa Publishing launches HayaComi, a manga service adapting popular literary works. Titles like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None and Stanislaw Lem's Solaris will be adapted. HayaComi aims to create a platform for readers and artists worldwide, with more adaptations to follow.

Hayakawa Publishing, a prominent Japanese publishing company plans to introduce a new manga service that will be adapting major literary works into manga. Hayakawa Publishing is celebrating its 79th anniversary with the launch of HayaComi, a new manga service that will host exclusive manga adaptations of popular works by authors like Agatha Christie, Stanislaw Lem, and Touma Osaka.

According to a post on X by MangaMoguraRE, popular novels such as Agatha Christies's mystery series And Then There Were None and Stanisaw Lem's hit science fiction series Solaris will be receiving manga adaptations which will be available on the new manga service HayaComi from July 23, 2024.

Famous Literature...

Some sci-fi classics like Star Wars and Jurassic Park are always worth rewatching. Mad Max: Fury Road is a thrilling endless car chase. Everything Everywhere All at Once mixes kung fu with a heartwarming family story for an entertaining sci-fi flick. Galaxy Quest hilariously parodies Star Trek while paying homage to the beloved franchise that inspired it.

A lot of the lofty sci-fi movie classics arent very rewatchable, but some of the genres greatest entries like Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park hold up to countless repeat viewings. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a breathtaking piece of cinema pondering the biggest questions about humanitys existence, and Blade Runner is a powerful futuristic noir about what constitutes a person. But they both move at such a slow pace, and deal with such heavy philosophical subject matter, that no one is champing at the bit to rewatch them on movie night.

Stanisław Lem's 1961 sci-fi novel "Solaris" had already famously been adapted to film by the masterful Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972, so there was some debate as to whether or not Steven Soderbergh's 2002 version of "Solaris" counted as a remake or simply another adaptation. Given the slow, moody, contemplative style that Soderbergh affects for his film, though, one might be tempted to say he was directly emulating Tarkovsky, a filmmaker known for his incredibly long, extended takes, paired with broad moments of silence.

"Solaris" is about a mysterious distant planet, orbited by a human-made space station. When people board the station, a strange psychic wave from the planet reaches into their minds and physically manifests their loved ones. In Soderbergh's version, George Clooney plays the lead character, and he finds himself interacting with his long-dead wife Rheya (Natasha McElhone). The duplicates, however, understand -- in a very vague sense -- that...

Although players can eventually pull 4-star weapons in Wuthering Waves using the game's 'Convene' system, they can also be found scattered throughout the world of Solaris-3. There are five types of weapons to dispatch Tacet Discord enemies with Sword, Broadblade, Gauntlet, Pistols, and Rectifier. Each weapon type has 4-star and 5-star classes, but the latter is usually acquired through Convening or spending loads of time progressing in-game while the former can be accessed after completing certain quests, crafting weapon recipes, and other methods.

It is essential that players first complete all main story quests until Act 4: Clashing Blades since all main quest-lines up to this point provide different abilities to fully explore the world and unlock Rover's potential. Jinzhou should also be mostly explored at this point with unlocked vendors, such as Uncle Wei's weapon shop. It's also helpful to have multiple characters unlocked to try out newly acquired weapons.

In the image that James Gunn released, depicting David Corneswet’s Superman, a slew of easter eggs have already ensnared audiences into giving the picture a closer look. Despite all the conversations around the suit, fans are now increasingly more interested in what the big purple blob behind Superman is. Speculations have run wild, and there are multiple candidates that have come to the forefront of the conversation when it comes to figuring out who it might be.

David Corneswet’s Superman as revealed by @jamesgunn, captured by Jessica Miglio

The purple blob can be multiple things, given how storied Superman’s history is in dealing with the absurd. It must also be taken into account that James Gunn is a comics fan himself and loves obscure characters, which could mean the purple blob could be some Golden Age monstrosity from Supeman’s Action Comics days.

Superman could be dealing...

If there’s one thing that can be said for the Soviet project, it produced some damn fine science fiction. There’s nothing like living in a grim present which continually promises a great future to inspire new visions of the way that humans or others might exist, and nothing like restrictions on criticising one’s government to precipitate the development of parables. What’s interesting is how well that tradition has survived to the present day, blooming again as Putin has tightened the screws. Dmitriy Moiseev’s Encounters acknowledges its roots with direct reference to forebears including Tarkovsky’s Solaris, but also in its style and, dare one say it, its quality.

The Soviet legacy is everywhere present in the remote Russian town where the action in this film takes place. Crumbling apartment blocks line the streets, which are largely empty of both traffic and pedestrians. Older buildings and...

Dune: Part One took on the massive challenge of adapting a lengthy and complex story, successfully bringing it to life. Solaris showcased Tarkovsky's talent in transforming intricate storytelling into a compelling film. A Trip to the Moon was a milestone in film history due to its visionary storytelling despite technical limitations.

Sci-fi movies are known for pushing the limits of what is possible in cinema, but some sci-fi movies stand out for being more ambitious than the rest. Sci-fi as a genre is inherently ambitious, as it requires imagining a world that exists beyond what is possible right now. Whether that means having incredibly advanced technology or achieving things that are currently impossible, while still offering up a sensible explanation for how it could work.

The creatives behind these movies need to develop a clear vision for their project and build a world from the ground up. But despite the overwhelming challenge,...

A sci-fi road trip steeped unevenly in grief, “We’re All Gonna Die” introduces its concept in exciting fashion before pushing it far into the background. Its lead performances are occasionally powerful, but writer-directors Freddie Wong and Matthew Arnold — of web-based studio RocketJump — struggle to keep their subject matter sincere, resulting in tonal oddities.

An enormous alien “spike” crashes down on Earth and begins teleporting between locations, a premise the movie establishes deftly through news and social media clips. Twelve years and nearly 1500 “jumps” later — setting the movie somewhere in 2036, though technology has seemingly come to a standstill — mass death and casualty have run so rampant that they’ve become entirely commonplace.

As beekeeper Thalia (Ashly Burch) goes about her day, her parents and in-laws gather to mourn her departed husband and daughter, a loss she seems to ignore, letting the weeds around their tombstones run wild with neglect. As the...

Cillian Murphy is the favorite to win the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer on Sunday Night. The actor spent almost six months researching and prepping to play the role of the Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. It was not the first time the actor did extensive research for a role. One such research for a $34 million movie changed him from an agnostic to an atheist.

Cillian Murphy as physicist Robert Capa in Sunshine

In the 2007 sci-fi film Sunshine, Cillian Murphy played another physicist role, Robert Capa. The film takes place in the future and tells the story of a group of astronauts on a dangerous mission to save the Earth by reigniting a dying Sun.

Cillian Murphy’s Belief System Was Changed By His Research For Sunshine

Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, and Troy Garity in Sunshine

Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle...

People starting the movie Spaceman would be forgiven for thinking that their Netflix had glitched. Yes, we do see Adam Sandler’s character Jakub dressed in a space suit. But he’s not floating through the cosmos. He’s walking through a wooded stream, the greenery of the trees and bushes reflecting off his mask.

What the heck does this have to do with being a space man, one might ask? By the end of the movie, directed by Johan Renck and written by Colby Day (adapting the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař), Spaceman answers all your questions. Or rather, Jakub’s new friend, an alien spider named Hanuš, explains everything in the gentle, dulcet tones of Paul Dano.

Spaceman‘s strange, but ultimately clear, approach may frustrate some viewers. It may excite others, leaving them wanting to watch more sci-fi movies with a surrealist approach. Regardless of...

This Spaceman article contains spoilers.

Jakub Procházka (Adam Sandler) has lofty goals. The first astronaut in the Czech Space Program, Jakub is on a year-long solo mission to study a strange violet phenomenon in deep space, dubbed the Chopra Cloud. “As I enter the Chopra cloud,” he tells the public via video-link from his ship the Jan Hus-1 (named from the 14th century proto-Protestant theologian), “I might just unravel some secrets of the universe.”

Despite Jakub’s grand ambitions, Spaceman director Johan Renck and screenwriter Colby Day, adapting the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar, intend instead to explore the mysteries of the human heart. Jakub spends more time thinking about the death of his informant father and his estrangement from his pregnant wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan). Of course a lot of that soul searching comes via Hanuš, a giant telepathic spider who arrives to help heal Jakub’s distress.

After two slow-as-molasses months, things are about to heat up at the 2024 box office in March. Fortunately, for those more inclined to stay home as we wait out the final weeks of winter, there are plenty of alternative options for your entertainment fix to choose from on Netflix. In addition to its usual smattering of kids' shows, international releases, and comedy specials, the streamer will unveil intriguing new projects starring the likes of Millie Bobby Brown and Regina King, along with some endeavors that could only exist on Netflix.

Don't believe me? There's a South Korean comedy series about a woman being turned into a chicken nugget that's written and directed by Lee Byeong-heon, whose 2019 action-comedy "Extreme Job" was the highest-grossing movie in South Korea at the time of its release. Has the streamer found the next "Squid Game" already, or is this one destined to remain a roundly niche offering?...

Adam Sandler has gone pseudo-serious before, from a mentally agitated toilet plunger salesman in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” to a depressed comic in Judd Apatow’s “Funny People.” But he’s never been so dour as cosmonaut Jakub Prochazka in Johan Renck’s lonely island of a science-fiction drama, “Spaceman,” where he’s six months into a solitary research mission investigating spectral cloud activity around the planet Jupiter.

Sci-fi cinephiles are certainly familiar with the cinematic wonderments capable of the gas giant, thanks to Stanley Kubrick’s Stargate sequence in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which sends Keir Dullea on an existential trip into Jupiter’s furthest depths. But Renck’s film, written by Colby Day, is too concerned with the far more banal Earthly dramas Jakub has left behind in the form of his wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan), who is preparing to leave him. “Spaceman” is a miserable...

For a time, it seemed like an auteur war was about to break out over Adam Sandler, with some of America’s most revered directors vying to find the right role for the comedian. It was rumored, but never confirmed, that Quentin Tarantino imagined him a key role while writing Inglourious Basterds, although this might have been wishful thinking from critics who saw the talented Sandler heading in the same direction as John Travolta until Pulp Fiction saved him from a lifetime of Look Who’s Talking movies. In the end, Paul Thomas Anderson got there first, with Punch Drunk Love (2002), although the glow of a bona fide arthouse hit didn’t last long, and Jack and Jill still happened less than ten years later.

Nevertheless, though he returned to the fanbase, Sandler has always been good in serious supporting roles, even in films that don’t broadly work, like...

Adam Sandler, we can all agree, is a serious actor — at times a great one. His comic DNA will often thread its way through his performances, but not always. In “Uncut Gems,” he had a frantic aggro desperation worthy of a Scorsese crime film. In “Hustle,” the crowd-pleasing Netflix sports drama he made after that, he played a pro-basketball scout with a menschy mouthiness that carried the audience right along. So when you sit down to watch “Spaceman” (also made for Netflix), in which Sandler plays a morosely bearded and tired-looking Czechoslovakian astronaut who is six months into a solo mission to the far side of the solar system, you give him the benefit of the doubt. We’ve seen space operas about stranded voyagers before (like Matt Damon’s red-planet Robinson Crusoe in “The Martian”). If any actor has the resources to hold down the center of a movie like this one,...

Adam Sandler stars as a Czech cosmonaut grappling with existential matters in this impressive adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař’s best selling 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia. Directed by Swedish musician turned filmmaker, Johan Renck. The film also stars Carey Mulligan, The Big Bang Theory alum Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini, and Paul Dano (The Fabelmans).

In a parallel universe not to dissimilar from ours, Czech astronaut Jakub Procházka is sent on a mission to the edge of our solar system to study a mysterious cloud visible to the naked eye. Back on earth, Jakub’s heavily pregnant wife Lenka has decided to leave him without explanation. As he struggles with feelings of loneliness and constant dread, Jakub’s lonely existence onboard of the spacecraft is soon shattered by a mysterious creature (voiced by Paul Dano) that purports to want to help him reach his destination.

As he gets to know the creature,...

In Spaceman, Adam Sandler joins a long line of lonely men lost in space, a proud cinematic tradition going back past Ryan Gosling’s First Man, Brad Pitt in Ad Astra, Sam Rockwell in Moon, and Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar to the crew in Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris.

The latest in this sci-fi linage, adapted from Jaroslav Kalfar’s novel Spaceman of Bohemia, is set in an alternative future where the Czechs are frontrunners in the space race and their national hero is Jakub (Sandler), a cosmonaut on a solo mission to investigate a mysterious dust cloud on the edge of Jupiter that might just hold the secrets of the universe.

But millions of miles away from home, and from his pregnant wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), Jakub is consumed by loneliness and existential angst. Enter a huge, telepathic and empathetic space spider, voiced by Paul Dano, who promises to help...

Out with the old, in with the new! Hulu is ushering in the new month with plenty to add to your to-watch list but not before it says farewell to dozens of its current movies and shows available for streaming. Its first loss will come on the first of the month with the critically acclaimed “Lucky,” starring the late Harry Dean Stanton, but the streamer will remove titles all month long, from the “Pusher” trilogy to “Magic Mike.”

Don’t miss out—- find out everything leaving Hulu in February, including The Streamable’s picks for the top of your watch list!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Leaving Hulu in February 2024? “Lucky” | Thursday, Feb. 1

Accomplished character actor Harry Dean Stanton stars in the drama, one of his final on-screen roles before his death at the age of 91, as, fittingly, a 90-year-old on...

There’s a story about a Soviet commissar who, upon seeing Solaris, proved that he both completely understood the movie and didn’t understand it at all by indignantly demanding to know what the point is of humanity going from one end of the universe to the other if they bring all their emotional shit with them. That’s not far from the moral of Aaron Schimberg’s third feature A Different Man, the story of a man who gets radical plastic surgery only to find out he still has to live with himself. Containing elements of Seconds (plastic surgery with unintended consequences) and […]

The post Sundance 2024: A Different Man, Realm of Satan first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

There’s a story about a Soviet commissar who, upon seeing Solaris, proved that he both completely understood the movie and didn’t understand it at all by indignantly demanding to know what the point is of humanity going from one end of the universe to the other if they bring all their emotional shit with them. That’s not far from the moral of Aaron Schimberg’s third feature A Different Man, the story of a man who gets radical plastic surgery only to find out he still has to live with himself. Containing elements of Seconds (plastic surgery with unintended consequences) and […]

The post Sundance 2024: A Different Man, Realm of Satan first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.