Katharine Trendacosta

This Is Outlander‘s Darkest Hour

Jamie’s in prison and Claire’s on the way to rescue him. But it cannot be the penultimate episode if we don’t send our heroes into the darkness at the hands of their great enemy, Black Jack Randall. Every single thing about Saturday’s “Wentworth Prison” was uncomfortable on every single level. It ranged from the nerve-wracking…

Buy This Death Star Beach Ball For the Summer

For all the supporters of the Empire, enjoy a beach vacation with an inflatable death star. Be wary, though, one tiny pin in the shape of an X-Wing can destroy the whole thing. On the other hand, be prepared to be called insensitive by any Alderaan survivors who happen to be nearby. You can buy…

All The Crazy Science Fiction References In Taylor Swift’s New Video

Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video finally premiered tonight. And there are so many pop culture references, you’ll wonder if you actually saw them all. Up at top is Taylor Swift’s entrance into her own video, in a move she learned from Black Widow, obviously. Here’s the video, via Variety: First off, are our ears…

Many have attempted to illustrate Middle Earth, Barnes and Noble’s blog asked artist Grant Lindahl to imagine seven more. Head over to see his take on how Al Hirschfeld, Dr. Seuss, Edward Gorey, and others would draw Tolkien’s characters.

Close Up Photos of Bird Plumage Look Like Alien Worlds

Photographer Thomas Lore, who is known for his fashion shoots, has a new project: close-up, abstract photos of birds. He’s gathered them all into a new book. What we see when we look at these? The topography of alien worlds. Lore’s put some “outtake” bird shots on Instagram. The above one looks like a a…

A World Run By Cable Television Logic Is the Worst World

Funny or Die has tackled the insanity of cable television bundling — where you end up paying for a bunch of channels you never use — by showing us a whole world that uses the same principle. It’s a horrible, horrible world. Contact the author at [email protected].

Kate Beckinsale Will Catsuit Up For a Fifth Underworld Movie

Underworld, that movie franchise that flies under the radar but somehow is on its fifth movie, is returning with Kate Beckinsale as Selene. They’ve also tapped Anna Foerster to direct. For awhile, rumor had it that Beckinsale was done with Underworld and that the fifth film would focus on Theo James’ character, David. It sounds…

Fan-Made Black Widow Title Sequence Is Absolutely Perfect

For his After Effects class final project, Christopher Haley made a title sequence for the not-in-existence Black Widow movie. It has an obvious inspiration, but if you’re making a spy movie, why not pay tribute to Bond? Haley even has a full plot synopsis and cast list: Cut off one head, two more shall take…

Population Density As Seen From Space

Nearly half of Italy’s population lives in the Po Vally, captured here on a Sentinel-1A image. The brightest spot, on the far left, is Milan. Along the bottom of the image, cities cluster along a highway. Image credit: Copernicus data (2014)/ESA Contact the author at [email protected].

Can you identify the science fiction movie/TV show from its operating system? The Radio Times has a quiz with fifteen questions ranging from the obvious to the more obscure.

Why Acclaimed Indie Director Shane Abbess Quit Dark Crystal 2

Shane Abbess, one of three directors attached to Power of the Dark Crystal — now on indefinite hiatus — has finally explained why he left. And it doesn’t sound pretty. Genndy Tartakovsky was rumored to be the director of David Odell and Annette Duffy’s script. Then the studio announced that the Daybreakers team, the Spierig…

Oh Good, Sony’s Remaking The Craft.

Sony will remake the 1996 movie for modern audiences. This is so necessary. If you somehow missed The Craft/are too young to have lived through the 90s’ love affair with witches, here’s the original trailer. Brace yourself for a 90s overload: Sony’s hired Leigh Janiak to write and direct and Phil Graziadei to co-write (they…

Keep drinking coffee! We’ve known for a while that coffee has itsgood and bad qualities, but Aaron E. Carroll took to theNew York Times to outline how the scientific evidence weighs much more on the beneficial side.

Stare Into the Dead Eyes of Madame Tussaud’s New Star Wars Exhibit

As much quality work as clearly goes into these, you just can’t escape the uncanny valley when you star into wax Han Solo’s lifeless eyes. Image credits: Getty Images On Saturday, May 16th, Madame Tussaud’s will open its brand new Star Wars exhibit, which recreates a bunch of iconic scenes with spaces for visitors to…

The New Muppet TV Show Trailer Captures All the Old Magic

The trailer for the new Muppet TV show, The Muppets, is so perfect. The jokes are so perfectly Muppet-y and the characters are exactly as you remember them. I’m so happy. The jokes are a little more direct than The Muppet Show’s more out there material, but the core is intact. Right down to Miss…

Marvel Wants Ava DuVernay to Direct Black Panther or Captain Marvel

The Wrap reports that that Marvel is “courting” director Ava DuVernay (Selma) for Black Panther. If Marvel can pull this off, it’ll be a massive coup. According to the Wrap’s sources, DuVernay and Marvel have had several meetings about her directing one of their upcoming movies, specifically either Black Panther or Captain Marvel. Since Black…

The Truth Behind That Video of Black Bears “Chasing” Tourists

It turns out that the video of black bears chasing tourists in Yellowstone National Park is less a case of a protective mother and her cubs and more a case of a frightened bear trying to get away from gawking tourists who trapped them. National Geographic contacted an expert to explain: [I]t started with what’s…

A Short About the Real Danger of Having All Media At Your Fingertips

“All Your Favorite Shows” by Ornana Films is a masterclass in editing. It follows a middle schooler whose mind is so full of the movies he watches on his phone, he starts seeing them everywhere. Warning, this video has a lot of quick cuts and flashing images. [via Vimeo Staff Picks] Contact the author at…

The 2015 Fashion Trend We Love: Stars! Stars On Everything!

There is no way I could afford these or, save the coat, look good in any of them. But that doesn’t mean these star-filled selections from the Fall/Winter Emilio Pucci Collection aren’t fabulous. Contact the author at [email protected].

Person of Interest Renewed For What Will Probably Be Its Last Season

Well, thank the Machine for this: CBS has given Person of Interest a truncated fifth season. Which is great news since the season four finale did not end in a good place for our team. The fifth season is said to be thirteen episodes, rather than the usual 22 or 23. This smacks of CBS…