Space is always a terrifying place to be, where the claustrophobia of a spaceship is unnervingly contrasted with the vastness of its outside environment — alone and trapped in the purest sense. Somehow, Netflix's animated sci-fi horror, Exception, takes the terror of the location up a notch, not only by tossing in a rampant monster, Alien-style, within the close quarters of the spacecraft, but also by plunging viewers into inescapable existential dread. The miniseries offers eight 30-minute episodes of survival horror and a mission to save humanity, all while questions about what it means to be human are woven into the story's fabric, forcing the audience to consider humanity's existence like never before.

Fantasy films are generally known for their sense of wonder, even joy, in the magical and mystical. Dark fantasy is the other side of the coin, the stories that approach the same concepts and forms from a more mature angle, finding greater depths of emotion, philosophy, and even terror in their fantastical worlds. It’s a genre that has given us many of the most acclaimed fantasy films of all time, like Pan’s Labyrinth or Coraline, but there are also a significant number of great dark fantasy movies that have sadly faded from the spotlight.

Every decade is home to some fantastic films, and one of the greatest genres that fans have been enjoying for centuries is fantasy. The sense of adventure paired with the mystical worlds, fascinating creatures, and overall feeling of wonder is unrivaled. The best part of the genre is that it can be so many different things, from epic high fantasy films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy to a more grounded movie that bends realism into fantasy, such as Life of Pi. Whatever fans want, this genre can provide.

One of Netflix's earlier TV hits, the Jason Bateman-led Ozark has remained one of the streamer's more memorable titles as well. The crime drama saw a regular banker and his family take on a money laundering scheme for a cartel, meshing the terrors of organized crime with a group of in-over-their-heads characters who felt instantly relatable. Ozark ran for four seasons and concluded its run back in 2022, so most fans of crime shows have already watched through the show at least once by now. Fortunately, this month brought a new series to Netflix's lineup that feels like a strong successor to Ozark, giving those fans an easy weekend binge to scratch that same itch.

It’s agreed upon by most film fans that the ‘70s were the greatest decade in film history, which is why they are often referred to as the “New Hollywood” era. It was after a series of significant box office disappointments in the 1960s that studios began to give more creative control to directors, many of whom were young, and fresh out of film school. Since this rising crop of filmmakers tended to cite international cinema as an influence on their work, the definition of what a “Hollywood” film was transformed dramatically.

In 2022, Top Gun: Mavericktook flight with a roster of young talent, including Lewis Pullman, sending his career soaring. In addition to starring in hit Apple TV series, joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and continuing a legacy with his father, Bill Pullman, in the highly anticipated Spaceballs sequel, Pullman has recently marked off yet another moviemaking bucket list goal: working opposite two-time Academy Award winner Sally Field in Netflix’s upcoming drama Remarkably Bright Creatures.

As science fiction gets closer and closer to science reality, the cancellation of HBO’s Westworld seems even more tragic. Debuting in 2016, the sci-fi masterpiece was a reimagining of Michael Crichton’s 1974 film about a Western theme park where the robotic hosts start to malfunction. Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the television series was much more ambitious than the film, tackling themes of AI and bodily autonomy.

Adventure movies often feel old-fashioned, but the best ones don’t feel old-fashioned in bad/detrimental ways. It’s more to do with stories about adventure having always been appealing and entertaining for hopefully obvious reasons, so there are plenty of iconic ones that have existed long before cinema was ever a thing (take The Odyssey, arguably… though, yeah, that one’s being made into a high-budget film in 2026).

The anticipation for Avengers: Doomsday is feverish, to say the least, and the MCU is reaping all the benefits. The franchise has regained prominence, with all the talk of its demise that has dominated the conversation for months taking a back seat to unabashed optimism. The films that make up the franchise have seen a resurgence in streaming, and even the weakest of the Avengers films benefited. And racing up to the top, as it should be, is the MCU's best, the one that started it all 18 years ago: Iron Man.

The last time we saw Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) was at the end of Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again, where the anti-hero was locked in one of Wilson Fisk's (Vincent D'Onofrio) cages, but with the return of Season 2 this year, the Punisher was curiously missing from the lineup of heroes protecting New York. Now, after The Punisher: One Last Kill, we know where he's been the entire time. In a violent and action-packed hour of television, Marvel gives us an intimate look into where Frank has been since the cage. While the special covers a lot of ground, it also dives deep into Frank's psyche, something fans haven't witnessed since the end of the original Netflix Punisher series.