Actor Ben Mendelsohn (1969)

Secret Invasion (2023), an original miniseries on Disney+, is based on the 2008 Marvel Comics storyline of the same name. As the ninth addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this series by Marvel Studios shares continuity with its film franchise. Under the direction of Ali Selim and head writer Kyle Bradstreet, Secret Invasion follows Nick Fury and Talos as they uncover a plot by shapeshifting Skrulls aiming to conquer Earth. Taking place in present-day MCU, Fury teams up with his allies such as Everett Ross and Maria Hill, along with Talos who has built a life for himself on Earth. Together, they must race against time to stop an impending Skrull ...

The Outsider (2020) is a gripping American television series that combines elements of psychological thriller, horror, and crime drama. Adapted by Richard Price from Stephen King’s 2018 novel of the same name, it was picked up for a full series by HBO on December 3, 2018, following its optioning as a miniseries by MRC in June of the same year. Starring talented actors including Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Bill Camp, ...

The epic historical film, The King (2019), directed by David Michôd, is based on various plays from William Shakespeare’s Henriad. Hal, also known as Henry, Prince of Wales, is the eldest son of King Henry IV of England. He has a distant relationship with his father and shows no interest in inheriting the throne. Instead, he spends his time drinking, engaging in promiscuous behavior, and making jokes with his friend John Falstaff in Eastcheap. However, things change when Henry IV reveals that Hal’s younger brother Thomas will be the new successor to ...

Spies in Disguise (2019) is an American animated spy comedy produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Lance Sterling, a confident agent of H.T.U.V. (Honor, Trust, Unity and Valor), is tasked with retrieving an attack drone from Japanese arms dealer Katsu Kimura in Japan. Despite orders from H.T.U.V. director Joy Jenkins to stay put, Sterling takes matters into his own hands and successfully defeats Kimura and his gang before escaping with the drone. Upon returning to headquarters, Sterling confronts Walter Beckett, a social outcast and MIT graduate who equipped nonlethal weapons into Sterling’s suit. However, after being fired by ...

Captain Marvel (2019) is an American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 21st installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). In 1995, Vers – a member of the Starforce team on the Kree Empire’s capital planet of Hala – suffers from amnesia and recurring nightmares involving an older woman. Under the guidance of her mentor Yon-Rogg, Vers learns to control her abilities while also being urged by the Supreme Intelligence – the ruling artificial intelligence of the Kree – to keep her emotions in check. ...

Based on the novel by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One (2018) is a sci-fi film set in a future where people use the OASIS, a virtual reality universe created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow of Gregarious Games, to escape their bleak reality. When Halliday passes away, his avatar Anorak leaves a message announcing a contest: whoever finds the golden Easter egg hidden behind a locked gate within the OASIS will gain ownership of the entire game. This attracts many players known as ‘Gunters’ as well as Nolan Sorrento, CEO of Innovative Online Industries (IOI), who wants to take control of the OASIS for himself ...

Rogue One (2016), an American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards, follows research scientist Galen Erso and his family as they evade Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic on the planet Lah’mu. Krennic seeks to force Galen to complete the Death Star, a destructive superweapon. During their confrontation, Galen’s wife Lyra is killed and their daughter Jyn escapes with the help of rebel extremist Saw Gerrera. Fifteen years later, cargo pilot Bodhi Rook defects from the Empire and delivers a holographic message from Galen to Gerrera on the desert moon Jedha. Upon learning of Rook’s ...

Filmmaker Ridley Scott brought the biblical story of Exodus to life through his epic film, Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014). At this time in history, Moses, a respected member of the Egyptian royal family and a skilled general, prepares for battle with the Hittites alongside his fellow prince Ramesses. A High Priestess delivers a prophecy to Ramesses’s father Seti I using animal entrails, foretelling that one of the two princes will save the other and become a great leader. During the intense battle, Moses risks his own life to save Ramesses, leaving both men unsettled. As events unfold, Moses takes on the ...

Killing Them Softly (2012) is an American neo-noir crime film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt. It is based on George V. Higgins’ 1974 novel, Cogan’s Trade. Against the backdrop of the 2008 American financial crisis and presidential election, Johnny ‘Squirrel’ Amato devises a plan to rob a Mafia poker game. To help him carry out the heist, he turns to Frankie, a former colleague, and Russell, an Australian expatriate with a heroin addiction who makes money by ...

The film The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), directed by Derek Cianfrance and written by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder from a story by Cianfrance and Coccio follows the journey of Luke Glanton, a motorcycle stuntman with a traveling carnival. In Schenectady, he reconnects with his former lover Romina Gutierrez, who is now in a relationship with Kofi Kancam. To his ...

The superhero film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), was helmed by director Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Bane, a former member of the League of Shadows, leads an attack on a CIA plane over Uzbekistan to abduct nuclear physicist Dr. Leonid Pavel and deceives observers by making it appear that Pavel died in the crash. Meanwhile, eight years have passed since district attorney Harvey Dent’s death in Gotham City. Thanks to the Dent Act, ...

The American science fiction thriller film, Knowing (2009), was directed and co-produced by Alex Proyas and starred Nicolas Cage. In 1959, a Lexington, Massachusetts elementary school held a competition for students to envision the future through drawings. One student, Lucinda Embry, ignored the task and instead listened to whispering voices that guided her to write out a series of numbers. The teacher collected all the drawings before Lucinda could finish writing the final numbers. The next day, she etched the remaining numbers into a closet door with her fingernails. ...

The historical romantic drama film, The New World (2005), was written and directed by Terrence Malick. It tells the story of Pocahontas, the adventurous daughter of Chief Powhatan, and her tribe’s encounter with three English ships in 1607. Captain John Smith, who had been sentenced to death for mutinous comments on board one of the ships, is pardoned upon arrival ashore by Captain Christopher Newport. Despite an initially promising start, the colony soon faces challenges such as disease, poor discipline, supply shortages and tensions with the local Native Americans – referred to as ‘the ...