News

• The great Alan Rickman passed away last week after a battle with cancer. We’ll be watching Die Hard in his honor, marathoning Harry Potter, and recommending is writer/director efforts The Winter Guest and A Little Chaos to anyone who’ll listen.

• HBO has reportedly halted production on Westworld, the Jonathan Nolan-helmed series adaptation of Michael Crichton’s seminal original film. That’s the latest in a long string of mysterious production shakeups at HBO, but it’s hard to get too rattled about it considering nearly everything they put out is of impeccable quality.

• A lightsaber with a crossguard hilt will apparently crop up in Star Wars Rebels, and it’s possible (although highly unlikely) that Supreme Leader Snoke will make an appearance as well. I’m all for bringing elements of The Force Awakens into the earlier-set parts of the Star Wars saga, but the lightsaber concept alone kind of makes Kylo Ren’s iconic weapon a little less special. I hope I eat those words.

• Can we talk about the impressive unveiling of 10 Cloverfield Lane? Consider how impossible it is to keep anything a secret these days. Consider how we only have to wait two months for the film, rather than two years. Consider how J.J. Abrams must have known that the Force Awakens marketing blitz would effectively serve as its own smokescreen, press outlets wrongly assuming that J.J. wouldn’t dare think of multitasking with a Star Wars film at stake (even if T.J. Miller sniped it). Trailer below.

Trailers

Are we ready for Hail, Caesar? Well, it’s complicated:

John Hillcoat’s Triple 9 looks like a hell of a thrill:

And here’s that 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer:

In Cinemas

There ain’t much in the way of new movie releases this week (unless you count Dirty Grandpa), so maybe it’s finally time to catch The Revenant, or The Hateful Eight, or Anomalisa.

On TV

Both Legends of Tomorrow and Agent Carter kick of this week, with the Starz pirate series Black Sails returning on Sunday.

On Netflix

Check out our most recent Netflix Staff Picks.

Review of the Week

William Friedkin has crafted several masterpieces, and this is not one of them.