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Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the original Gremlins film on June 8, Max revealed today the second season of the acclaimed animated prequel series from Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Animation will be titled Gremlins: The Wild Batch and debut this fall.
 

Gremlins: The Wild Batch follows Gizmo, Sam, and Elle as they travel from their home in Shanghai to San Francisco, bringing even more magic, mystery and Mogwai mayhem. Hot on the trail of a new brood of evil Mogwai, our heroes journey deep into the American West, coming up against new supernatural creatures and picking up a few mysterious characters along the way.
 

Returning series regulars Ming-Na Wen, James Hong, BD Wong, Izaac Wang, AJ LoCascio, and Gabrielle Nevaeh will be joined by an all-star guest cast to be announced at a later date. Tze Chun serves as showrunner and executive producer. Brendan Hay serves as executive producer with Dan Krall serving as Supervising Producer. Joe Dante serves as consulting producer.

Doctor Who’s latest episode takes us back into the Regency era and “Oh, my Bridgerton!” is it a fun romp in the past. Ruby and Fifteen head back to 1813 for a little fun at a ball. Things get rather spicy with some human scandals, the villainous Chuldur’s plans to take over bodies for evil cosplay fun, and the Doctor’s interactions with Rogue, played by guest star Jonathan Groff. Many fans were curious about Groff’s Doctor Who character and how he would play into this universe. And boy, does this episode shake the show up in a way we haven’t seen before. 

The Doctor encounters Rogue, a space bounty hunter from the future who accosts him after a very funny meet-cute. Rogue believes the Doctor is a Chuldur, a shapeshifter that he’s been hired to find and chuck into some incinerator to a death sentence. Rogue brings the Doctor to his ship and the latter can’t help but act, well, like the Doctor. He’s making jokes about the inferior vessel (nothing is better than the TARDIS) and Rogue getting his name from Dungeons & Dragons.

The funniest part is when he pokes fun at Rogue by turning up his music. Guess what song is playing? Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” (Fun fact: Kylie was in the 2007 Christmas special Doctor Who episode “Voyage of the Damned.”) Rogue is clearly annoyed by the Doctor and his little screwdriver at first but that soon fades away after a scan reveals that the Doctor is not Chuldur. The duo end up liking each other. And I mean liiikkiiinnnngggg each other, nearly kissing in the TARDIS before the ongoing mystery interrupts. 

While Ruby is off being nosy and having a good time, Rogue essentially becomes The Doctor’s companion. They work together to devise a plan to send the Chuldur to a random barren dimension so they cannot kill everyone on Earth. They also cannot help but flirt throughout their plan to lure the Chuldur. This includes dancing “scandalously” in front of a crowd and (fake) arguing like a real couple.

Ruby ends up on the transporter after she has to pretend to be a Chuldur to stay alive. Rogue kisses the Doctor and takes Ruby’s place, instructing the Doctor to find him. The Doctor is obviously heartbroken but he quickly pushes his emotions aside and moves on with Ruby. 

Give me Rogue and Fifteen fanfic please. We don’t know if we will ever see Rogue again. (Probably not.) But perhaps his barren dimension adventures will come to Big Finish one day. Until then, we can smile about the Doctor finding love with someone who feels like his equal, even if it is only for one night.

The post DOCTOR WHO Delivers Queer Romance, Thanks to Jonathan Groff’s Rogue Character appeared first on Nerdist.

Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images By Melissa Noel ·Updated June 6, 2024

A conservative activist group has filed a class action lawsuit against Evanston, Illinois’ reparations program, arguing that its race-based eligibility criteria make it unconstitutional.

In 2021, Evanston became the first U.S. city to offer reparations to Black residents affected by discriminatory zoning laws from 1919 to 1969. Judicial Watch is representing six non-Black residents with ancestral ties to the area, and they claim the program violates the equal protection clause by using race as a proxy for discrimination.

This lawsuit is part of a trend of legal challenges to race-based initiatives following the Supreme Court’s decision to end race-conscious college admissions.

According to the memorandum, Evanston’s program was designed to acknowledge the “historical harm” to residents who experienced “discriminatory housing policies and practices.”

Housing discrimination in the town of Evanston at the time included redlining, which prevented Black residents from building wealth and fostered racial segregation. The program initially provided $25,000 to eligible Black residents, funded by the city’s cannabis sales tax.

Critics of the reparations program, including some eligible residents, have argued that its limitations—especially for renters—demanded revisions. Community advocacy led to the inclusion of direct cash payments for housing costs. Eligible Black residents, or their descendants, who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 or experienced later housing discrimination, can receive $25,000. As of May 1, 129 original residents had accepted payments, with another 80 descendants expected to receive reparations this year.

Judicial Watch contends that their plaintiffs meet all criteria except the racial requirement and are thus unjustly excluded. They seek $25,000 in damages and an injunction against the race-based eligibility. In response, Evanston’s communications manager, Cynthia Vargas, stated the city would vigorously defend its reparations program against any legal challenges.

The post Conservative Group Sues City Of Evanston, Illinois, Over Reparations Program For Black Residents  appeared first on Essence.

Ishana Shyamalan makes her feature film directorial debut with Warner Bros. The Watchers, based on A.M. Shine’s novel of the same name. As you may have already guessed, she is the daughter of director M. Knight Shyamalan, who lends a helping hand as a producer. 

The film follows Mina, played by Dakota Fanning, who serves as the main character while adding an A-lister to the roster. After experiencing some car trouble on a path through the woods, Mina ventures out of her car to look for help. Instead, she finds herself running from something lurking in the shadows, ultimately darting towards a welcoming stranger in a closed off room with two others. The older and seemingly more experienced Madeline (Olwen Fouéré) explains to Mina where she is and what she was running from, although she wasn’t able to lay eyes on the mysterious creature. 

While in the room, she is given a little more backstory about two others she encounters: Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) and Ciara (Georgina Campbell, recently seen alongside Bill Skarsgärd in Barbarian). After some conversations, Mina learns that the group have given up hope about getting out of their situation. Mina, on the other hand, refuses to accept that this is her new home and begins to plot her escape. While they are not being held captive, they are going up against the daylight, which is the only time they can wander about the woods safely. This has become the sole reason they have opted to stay put in their new space: death awaits them if they get caught outside when the sun goes down.

The Watchers is one of those movies where you can’t say much out of fear of spoiling the very themes that are purposely kept unknown and out of trailers. Going into the flick, you are already anticipating a wild ride followed by a plot twist, especially when the director’s last name is Shyamalan. Taking a page out of her father’s book, she provides a series of turns that are exactly the type of ingredient we miss in cinema these days. The jump scares and weirdly formed “things” are what fans of sci-fi projects live for and want injected into their veins. 

The film has a 100-minute runtime, but the last 35 minutes will have you dialed in trying to predict what’s next to come. You’re guessing right up until the very last few minutes. Right when you think you’re coming down from the climax, you immediately realize you’re wrong to let that thought intrude.

This leg is perhaps the best part of The Watchers, deeming most of what you’ve seen before almost unnecessary as it does not contribute much to the story. The idea at hand is compelling and rather unique, but the fluff that leads up to it feels like underwhelming filler. To add to that, the characters are far from memorable, making it a smart move not to cast big name talent aside from Fanning. The 30-year-old’s performance is solid and provides viewers the opportunity to see her grow as an actress. She’s come a long way from the young girl we grew to love in Uptown Girl and I Am Sam.

One thing the film does well is setting the scene, with the gloominess and tall trees contributing to the sense of lonely isolation. You can’t help but feel thrown right into the mix along with the characters, which is important when trying to convey the real dire situation they are facing.

It isn’t likely that this flick will blow box office numbers out of the water, and that’s okay. It doesn’t try to be something it’s not. The Watchers is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel giving us faith that unique thrillers and sci-fi projects haven’t died. It is important to note that Shyamalan was 22 years old when putting this together, which is wildly impressive no matter what connections you have to directing. Knowing that, it is a no brainer that Ishana is destined to have a stellar career ahead of her.

The cast recently sat down with Black Girl Nerds to discuss their project; you can check out the interviews here. If you are a fan of the book, then you will enjoy the film, especially given the fact that A.M. Shine is credited as a writer. Many may not have even known this was a book adaptation, but that doesn’t take away from the story at all. Is it going down in the books as a classic? No. Is it enjoyable and not too predictable? Yes. Unless you have crazy surround sound at home, hit the theater to experience this one.

The Watchers releases June 7, 2024.