Actor J.K. Simmons (1955)

In the film Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022), based on the beloved characters of the same name, we follow Chip and Dale as they navigate their friendship and careers in a world where humans and cartoon characters coexist. Starting out as best friends in elementary school, they eventually move to Hollywood and find success in acting. However, when Dale gets his own show, their relationship takes a turn for the worse and both of their shows end up getting cancelled. Fast forward thirty years, Chip is now an insurance salesman while Dale travels to fan conventions. But when their former co-star Monterey Jack reaches out for help after getting into trouble with ...

A comedy film Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), directed by Jason Reitman and co-written with Gil Kenan, takes place in Summerville, Oklahoma. There, Egon Spengler captures a supernatural being at occultist Ivo Shandor’s mine near the town and lures another to his farm. Despite the failure of his elaborate setup due to a power outage, Egon manages to hide the ghost trap in his home before succumbing to a fatal heart attack. Following Egon’s death, his daughter Callie inherits the farm and moves there with her children Trevor and Phoebe after being forced out of ...

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), a superhero film, is based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Following Quentin Beck’s deceitful actions, Peter Parker is wrongly accused of murder and his true identity as Spider-Man is exposed. This results in Peter, along with his girlfriend MJ, best friend Ned, and aunt May, being questioned by the Department of Damage Control. Fortunately, lawyer Matt Murdock successfully clears Peter’s name. However, the group must now deal with the consequences of their newfound notoriety. As things become increasingly ...

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), also known as the Snyder Cut, is a director’s cut of the 2017 American superhero film Justice League, which is part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) based on DC Comics’ team of the same name. Centuries ago, Darkseid and his Parademons attempted to conquer Earth by harnessing the power of three Mother Boxes. However, they were thwarted by a united force consisting of Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, humans and extraterrestrial beings. Afterwards, the Mother Boxes were scattered and concealed in different locations. In present day, Superman’s death at the hands of Doomsday[d] ...

Based on William Landay’s 2012 novel, Defending Jacob (2020) is an American crime drama miniseries produced by Apple TV+. Created and written by Mark Bomback and directed by Morten Tyldum, the series has received positive reviews from critics for its strong performances (particularly from Evans, Dockery, and Martell), emotional depth, and ambiguity. However, some have ...

Klaus (2019) is an animated holiday adventure comedy from director and writer Sergio Pablos, also known for creating Despicable Me. This production was brought to life through the efforts of Pablos’ company, The SPA Studios, and released by Netflix. The film begins in 19th-century Norway, where the Royal Postmaster General has a plan to change his son Jesper Johansen’s ways. Considered lazy, spoiled, and selfish by his father, Jesper is sent to postman training in hopes that it will improve his character. After seeing Jesper’s lackluster performance, his father assigns him a seemingly ...

The Front Runner (2018), a 2018 American political drama film directed by Jason Reitman, is based on the 2014 book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai. This gripping tale follows former Senator Gary Hart as he makes a comeback in the 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries, after coming up short against Walter Mondale in 1984. As he gears up for his campaign launch in April 1987, some of Hart’s staffers express their concern about his reluctance to share personal details and instead focusing solely on his ideas and ...

Counterpart (2017–2019) is a science fiction thriller TV show featuring J.K. Simmons, created by Justin Marks and initially aired on the Starz network. Across two seasons totaling 20 episodes, viewers follow the story of Howard Silk, a quiet and meek employee at the Berlin-based Office of Interchange (OI). Despite his three decades with the United Nations agency, his low position prevents him from understanding his role in exchanging seemingly nonsensical messages. The OI oversees a checkpoint between parallel Earths (known as ‘Alpha’ and ‘Prime’) ...

Based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name, Justice League (2017) is an American film. It opens with footage taken by two kids using their camera phone, capturing Clark Kent/Superman after one of his heroic missions. In an interview, one of the kids asks Superman about his favorite thing on Earth, but before he can answer, the footage abruptly ends. Fast forward several months later in Gotham City where a robbery has just taken place. Perched on a gargoyle, Bruce Wayne/Batman confronts the perpetrator and engages him in a fight. Using fear as his ally, Batman dangles the man over the edge of a building and lures out a strange winged creature. After ...

Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) is an animated martial arts comedy brought to life by the collaborative efforts of DreamWorks Animation, China Film Group Corporation, Oriental DreamWorks, and Zhong Ming You Ying Film. The film follows Grand Master Oogway as he battles General Kai, a formidable spirit warrior yak who has stolen the chi of all the other deceased kung fu masters. Despite warning Kai about his eventual defeat at the hands of another, Oogway falls victim to the chi-stealing technique and Kai returns to the Mortal Realm. Meanwhile, after announcing his retirement from teaching, Master Shifu appoints Po as his successor. However, Po’s initial attempts at ...

Zootopia (2016) is an animated buddy cop movie created by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, the film follows Judy Hopps, a determined rabbit from Bunnyburrow who achieves her childhood dream of becoming the first rabbit police officer in urban Zootopia. Despite her eagerness and ambitions, Chief Bogo of the Zootopia Police Department assigns Judy to parking duty. However, on her very first day, she crosses paths with con artists Nick Wilde and Finnick. The next day, she jeopardizes her job by leaving her post to apprehend Duke Weaselton, a petty thief who stole a bag of rare crocus bulbs. ...

Directed by Gavin O’Connor, The Accountant (2016) is an American action thriller film written by Bill Dubuque. The protagonist, who goes by the name ‘Christian Wolff’, is on the autism spectrum. While his mother wants to send him to Harbor Neuroscience for treatment, his father disagrees and takes it upon himself to train Christian and his brother Braxton in various martial arts. This training also includes encouraging Christian to face stimuli that usually trigger him, rather than avoiding them. As things stand, Christian runs a small accounting office ...

Terminator Genisys (2015), the American science fiction action film, is the fifth installment in the Terminator franchise. Acting as a reboot, it takes a different direction from the original film and disregards events depicted in previous sequels. In 2029, Human Resistance leader John Connor leads a final offensive against Skynet, an artificial general intelligence system set on destroying humanity. However, just before victory is within their grasp, Skynet activates a time machine and sends a T-800/Model 101 Terminator back to 1984 to eliminate John’s mother, Sarah. To protect her, John’s loyal companion Kyle Reese volunteers to go back in time. ...

Men, Women & Children (2014) is an American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and co-written with Erin Cressida Wilson. It is based on the novel of the same name by Chad Kultgen, and focuses on online addiction. The movie follows a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they navigate the ways in which the internet has affected their relationships, communication, self-image, and love lives. Social issues such as video game culture, anorexia, infidelity, fame hunting, and access to inappropriate content are explored. As each character’s ...

Whiplash (2014), an American indie psychological drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle, follows jazz drummer Andrew Neiman as he attends the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory in hopes of achieving the same success as his childhood hero Buddy Rich. The conductor of the Studio Band, Terence Fletcher, recruits him to play for the ensemble as an alternate for core drummer Carl Tanner. However, Andrew soon discovers that Fletcher is exceedingly strict and abusive towards his students. This becomes apparent when Fletcher throws a chair at Andrew and then physically and verbally assaults him for not keeping tempo ...

Labor Day (2013) is an American drama film written and directed by Jason Reitman, adapted from the 2009 novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard. Set in 1987, it tells the story of Adele Wheeler, a despondent single mother living with her 13-year-old son, Henry, in a rural home. While out shopping, they encounter a man who convinces them to take him back to their house. The man is later revealed to be Frank Chambers, an escaped convict wanted by the authorities. As the film unfolds through flashbacks and imagery, we learn that Frank is a Vietnam War veteran who had married ...

The Legend of Korra (2012–2014) is an American animated fantasy action TV series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon. In the initial season, Book One: Air, Korra relocates to Republic City to train under Tenzin, the son of Avatar Aang. She becomes a member of a pro-bending team with brothers Bolin and Mako, while also forming a friendship with Asami Sato, heiress of a prominent engineering corporation. The determined politician Tarrlok enlists Korra’s help in quelling the ‘Equalists’, a group led by the masked Amon who ...

Gravity Falls (2012–2016), created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD, is an American mystery comedy animated television series. It follows the escapades of Dipper Pines and his sister Mabel, who spend their summer with their great-uncle Stan in Gravity Falls, Oregon – a town filled with mysterious events and supernatural creatures. The siblings assist Stan in operating the ‘Mystery Shack’, his tourist attraction, while also investigating local enigmas. This critically acclaimed series has been lauded for its writing, characters, voice acting, animation, humor, and ability to appeal to ...

Megamind (2010) is an American animated superhero comedy film from DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks, distributed by Paramount Pictures. The main characters, supervillain Megamind and the superhero Metro Man, are both aliens who arrived on Earth as infants after their planets were consumed by a black hole. Despite arriving in the same city at the same time, their upbringings are vastly different – Metro Man is raised in luxury while Megamind grows up in prison. Attending the same school as his nemesis, Megamind faces constant bullying until he decides to embrace his destiny as a supervillain. This sparks a fierce rivalry between him and Metro Man that ...

Extract (2009), an American comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge, centers around Joel Reynolds, the owner and founder of Reynolds Extract. While his business is thriving, his marriage lacks excitement and he frequently deals with his bothersome neighbor, Nathan. One day, an unfortunate incident occurs at the factory resulting in employee Step losing a testicle. This catches the attention of Cindy, a con artist who reads about it in the news. She devises a plan to make easy money by getting a job at the factory and manipulates Joel for inside information on Step. In addition, she begins stealing from her ...