Actor Mahershala Ali (1974)

Alita: Battle Angel (2019) is an American cyberpunk action film adapted from Yukito Kishiro’s Gunnm manga series. The story takes place in 2563 on a ravaged Earth, dubbed ‘The Fall’, where Dr. Dyson Ido comes across a brain-attached cyborg while scavenging for parts in Iron City’s scrapyard. After reuniting the body and brain, Ido names the cyborg ‘Alita’ after his late daughter. With no recollection of her past, Alita quickly forms a bond with Hugo, a young man longing to escape to the opulent sky city of Zalem, and Dr. Chiren, Ido’s estranged ex-wife. Upon discovering ...

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) is an animated superhero film featuring Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The story follows Miles, a New York City teenager struggling to meet his father’s expectations as a police officer who sees Spider-Man as a troublemaker. To lift Miles’ spirits, his uncle Aaron takes him to an abandoned subway station where he is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains powers similar to Spider-Man’s. After discovering a collider built by the villainous Kingpin, who hopes to access ...

Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, Luke Cage (2016–2018) is an American TV series created by Cheo Hodari Coker for Netflix. As part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it shares continuity with the franchise’s films and was the third installment in the Marvel Netflix series before leading to The Defenders crossover miniseries. Produced by Marvel Television in collaboration with ABC Studios, showrunner Coker tells the story of a fugitive rebuilding his life in Harlem after being granted super strength and unbreakable skin through a sabotaged experiment. Despite overcoming his ...

Hidden Figures (2016) is an American biographical drama film, directed and written by Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder, respectively. The film brings to life the remarkable story of three female friends who worked in NASA’s African-American computing section at Langley during the intense American-Soviet space race of early 1961 to early 1962. Based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s non-fiction book of the same name, it sheds light on their overlooked yet monumental contributions to America’s advancements in space exploration. Despite facing obstacles due to ...

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) is an American thriller directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. It is adapted from Suzanne Collins’ novel Mockingjay (2010). After being assaulted by a brainwashed Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen recuperates in District 13. President Alma Coin holds back Katniss from heading to the Capitol until they take control of the last district, District 2. To persuade District 2 to join ...

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) is a dystopian action film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. It is based on Suzanne Collins’ novel from a decade earlier. Following their rescue from the destroyed arena of the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Beetee, and Finnick Odair are taken to District 13, an underground district that has been leading the rebellion. There, Katniss is reunited with her mother and sister ...

The popular American anthology crime drama television series True Detective (2014–2024) was created by Nic Pizzolatto and first aired on HBO in 2014. Each season features a new narrative, cast, and setting. The initial season was met with critical acclaim and impressive ratings for HBO, winning numerous awards for its exceptional acting, cinematography, writing, and direction. While the second season received mixed reviews, it still maintained high viewership. The third season was positively reviewed but experienced a decrease in viewership. Now in its fourth season, titled True Detective: Night Country and set ...

House of Cards (2013–2018), an American political thriller streaming television series, was created by Beau Willimon and is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Michael Dobbs. It is also an adaptation of the 1990 BBC series, which was based on the novel by Andrew Davies. The first season, consisting of 13 episodes, premiered on February 1, 2013, exclusively on Netflix. This marked the first time a TV series had been produced by a studio for the streaming service. House of Cards received rave reviews and garnered ...

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 ...

In the American sci-fi action flick Predators (2010), directed by Nimród Antal and written by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch, a group of strangers discovers they have all been mysteriously dropped into a jungle. Among them are Royce, Cuchillo, Nikolai, Isabelle, Mombasa, Stans, Hanzo, and Edwin. Led by Royce, who Isabelle suspects is a former special ops soldier turned mercenary, the group explores the unfamiliar terrain. Along the way, they come across strange structures and evidence of someone else’s presence – ...

The American fantasy romantic drama film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), directed by David Fincher, follows the loosely based storyline by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1922 short story of the same name. In August 2005, Daisy Fuller shares with her daughter Caroline the tale of Mr. Gateau, a blind clockmaker commissioned to create a train station clock in 1918 as a tribute to those who lost their sons in World War I, including Gateau ...