Collider - CL Originals

‘Smallville’ Is About Clark Kent, But Lex Luthor Is the Real Star

Michael John Petty — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 03:30:19 GMT

We all know that Smallville is about a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) on his way to becoming Superman. It takes him a decade to get there, but once he's there it feels both earned and about time. But what makes Smallville, especially in its earlier years, work so well is the well-placed juxtaposition between Clark and his best frienemy Lex Luthor, played to perfection by Michael Rosenbaum. Still considered by many to be the best interpretation of the character, Smallville's Lex steals the show in every scene he's in, and it's because of his ultimate destiny that we hope (beyond hope) that he won't fall into that same dark pit he always does. Yeah, Smallville is about becoming Superman, but it works because we also get to see the origins of Lex Luthor.

‘1883’s Most Historically Inaccurate Detail Is the Show’s Most Obvious

Jordan Todoruk — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 02:45:18 GMT

1883 is a film praised for its historical accuracy, but those pearly white teeth are a bit out of place; however, it does not affect the story, which matters most. Show creator Taylor Sheridan even hired a team of historians to assist in creating a historically accurate depiction of the period. The film does this spectacularly well, accurately portraying the socioeconomic conditions of the time with meticulous attention to detail in set design. According to Executive Producer David Glasser, every set, prop, and costume was built from the ground up to ensure careful attention to detail, something Sheridan prides himself on. This attention to detail is a typical feature of his work and it was evident in the neo-western crime film Wind River. It is safe to say that Sheridan endeavors to be as precise as possible, and that is an excellent quality in a filmmaker.

This Underrated British Miniseries Is the Best Fantasy TV Show

Elisa Guimarães — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 02:15:18 GMT

The history of fantasy on television is a pretty rich one, especially in the post-2000, peak TV landscape. Fans of the genre have a swath of options when it comes to picking their favorites, from high fantasy classics such as Game of Thrones or The Wheel of Time to urban enterprises usually aimed at younger audiences, like Shadowhunters and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. There are even some examples right there in the middle, such as the prematurely canceled Shadow and Bone. The point is that there is no scarcity of magical storytelling and amazing worldbuilding to choose from. However, there is a fantasy show that rarely makes the lists of best of the genre, even though it is a beautiful series with a unique approach to fantastical elements. We are talking about the 2015 British miniseries Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

‘Beau Is Afraid’ Ending Explained: Ari Aster Puts Himself on Trial

Chase Hutchinson — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 02:01:18 GMT

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Beau Is Afraid. So how about that giant patriarchal phallus? That was really something. If that opening salvo didn’t tip you off about where you've now found yourself, we recommend that you strap in, as this piece is going to be an analysis of the Joaquin Phoenix-led Beau Is Afraid that spoils absolutely everything in the film. This third feature from writer-director Ari Aster is, to put it lightly, an experience that is equal parts unhinged as it is oddly compelling. However, while there are plenty of jokes to be made about the way it frequently dicks around, the ending beyond all of that is worth delving into in detail, as it's a beast all its own. Where his previous films such as Midsommar were unsettling yet relatively straightforward in how they all wrapped up, this one takes us to places that make those prior works look like a cakewalk for their characters.

Lucille Ball Stole the Show in a ’40s Cult Classic Before ‘I Love Lucy’

Jacob Slankard — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 01:30:17 GMT

Lucille Ball worked hard to make her reputation as one of the great screen comedians of history, trudging through years of experimentation and failures to become responsible for one of the most important pop culture works of the 20th century, I Love Lucy. While it might be hard to imagine her failing at anything, given her sharp business acumen and legendary intelligence for playing on the screen, it's intriguing to note how long she tried to make it in movies before finding her stride on television. She tried to find different films that suited her style, and while drama didn't work in her favor, she found the best cinematic showcase of her career thanks to the direction of one of the first great female directors in Dance, Girl, Dance.

USA Network Never Should've Abandoned Its 'Blue Sky' Shows

Jeffrey Harris — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 00:45:18 GMT

Earlier this month, Deadline reported that the USA Network is mounting a major comeback for scripted original content — a mind-boggling move for the post-streaming era. Under the current plan, NBCUniversal plans to roll out new shows for the ad-supported cable network, with the apparent goal of launching the new shows by 2025. This does not seem like a coincidence as one of the network’s formerly most popular and long-running shows, Suits, started streaming on Netflix for the first time in June.

The First Major Studio Western To Cast a Black Actor in the Lead Role

Namwene Mukabwa — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 00:31:17 GMT

“My name's John Ford. I make Westerns." John Ford, one of the Western genre's greatest influences, spoke these words at a Directors' Guild of America meeting to Cecil B. DeMille, considered one of the founders of American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. In a conversation between two cinema greats, John Ford's words couldn't be more accurate. The director with the most Academy Awards under his sleeve, surprisingly never won an Oscar for a Western movie. But his name lives on through his immaculate films. Some were controversial, for which he received his fair share of criticism, particularly for his portrayal of Indigenous Americans and other people of color. In the final decade of his career, however, he made films that seemed to undo the stereotypes his critics had cited that his earlier films propagated. One such movie was a Western that broke the record of being the first ever major studio film in the genre to cast a Black actor in the lead role. That film was 1960's Sergeant Rutledge, with lead actor Woody Strode.

The Complicated Legacy of Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Color Purple’

Jacob Slankard — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 00:31:17 GMT

We all have an idea of who Steven Spielberg is as an artist. We think of him as the man who understands blockbusters better than anybody in history, or we think of him as a deeply felt historian, with an empathetic touch on how to make major historical events come alive again. What he rarely does is straight-up historical fiction, and he's even less known for tackling films about racial issues, which is what makes The Color Purple such an outlier in his filmography. When he was tapped to direct an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, it was met with a lot of questions and, of course, a great deal of hype. The man who brought us films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Close Encounters of the Third Kind is doing a prestigious drama based on a book everyone knows? That was a huge swerve for him, and the film itself wound up both living up to the hype and serving as an important fork in the road, both for Steven Spielberg and Hollywood representation as a whole.

'The Sound of Music': What Was the von Trapp Family's True Story?

Patrick Fogerty — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 23:16:18 GMT

"I can't seem to stop singing wherever I am." Julie Andrews' Fräulein Maria just couldn't resist making melodies. Whether it was on a mountain overlooking Salzburg or in a rowboat on the Salzach River, the pixie-haired songstress was the human phonograph of late 1930s Austria that simply couldn't be turned off, and moviegoers wanted the music to play on. Not only was The Sound of Music 1965's top-grossing film, it earned 10 Academy Award nominations and won five statuettes, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The Recast That Changed 'Riverdale' Forever

Jay Snow — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 23:00:18 GMT

Following his award-winning performance as Joe in May December, Charles Melton is the talk of the town (and the internet). Joe’s emotional journey was the tour de force of the film, finally giving the actor his flowers. However, his rise to stardom is no surprise to those who watched him regularly on Riverdale until the series ended in 2023. Entering in the second season as the new Reggie Mantle, replacing Ross Butler in the role, Melton changed the character — and, by extension, the show — for the better, bringing a much-needed new energy to Reggie (even after only 13 episodes of Butler’s take) that turned him into the character that fans later came to adore, especially in the final season.