Updated every Friday 12:00 PM
August 21 - August 27

APPLE TV
Apple TV's sports comedy "Stick," starring and executive produced by Owen Wilson, swings back into season two on Wednesday, November 4 Hailing from creator Jason Keller, the new season welcomes Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Rhea Seehorn, who joins returning ensemble cast led by Wilson, Peter Dager, Marc Maron, Mariana Treviño, Lilli Kay, Judy Greer and Timothy Olyphant...

Helsinki is to host a new awards ceremony, to be known as The Freyas, which will celebrate Nordic film and TV talent, bringing together the region's leading filmmakers as well as international industry guests. Its launch follows the recent global success of Nordic titles such as "Sentimental Value," which won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film this year.The first-ever edition of The Freyas – also known as the Nordic Film & TV Awards – will launch on Sept. 22 at the iconic Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. The ceremony will be held while Helsinki Intl. Film Festival's industry event, the Finnish Film Affair, is in progress (the FFA runs Sept. 23-25)....

Ever since the early aughts, when the original "Halo" trilogy recruited an entire generation of gamers in the intergalactic war against the Covenant hegemony of extraterrestrials, the movie industry has collectively salivated over the idea of turning unprecedented video game sales into box office receipts. When even Steven Spielberg gets caught up in the "Halo" hype, you know a franchise has tapped into a very formidable segment of pop culture. In many ways, a big-budget blockbuster putting moviegoers in Spartan-117's MJOLNIR armor felt inevitable — almost as inevitable as Microsoft refusing to leave well enough alone and keeping the super-soldier in service long after the perfect ending of "Halo 3." ("Halo 4," in all fairness, kind of rules.) But let's just say that "Halo: Campaign Evolved" finished the fight before Hollywood could really get started. We've now seen the beloved story brought back to life faithfully and with a modern polish, striking the perfect balance between old and new. It's one thing to add a sprint feature, rerecord dialogue and the classic score, and create a trio of new levels embracing sequel elements (like battle rifles and marauding Brutes). But it even goes so far as to include a few subtle additions laying the groundwork for the events of the sequel games. This is as satisfying an experience as gets, outside of simply replaying the campaign of "Combat Evolved" for the umpteenth time. (Courtesy Jeremy Mathai)...

A new dino-themed PAW Patrol video introduces kids to real-world conservation, from endangered species recovery to protecting wildlife from disease. Rob Keyes manages content planning and processes, business development, social media, strategic partnerships, branding and PR for Screen Rant and consults for CBR, Collider, and MovieWeb. You may know also him from various television and radio appearances covering the superhero beat, co-hosting the Screen Rant Underground and Total Geekall podcasts - and currently, PODCAST X - or founding and building Game Rant. In addition to expanding and launching new verticals on ScreenRant, Rob Keyes also works with and on passion projects involving National Geographic, Colossal Biosciences, theme parks, and travel/expedition companies around the globe. PAW Patrol is taking its latest rescue mission into the real world! Paramount, Spin Master and Colossal Biosciences have teamed up for a new video encouraging kids to learn about protecting animals and preventing species from disappearing. Colossal is best known for its de-extinction projects involving the dire wolf, woolly mammoth, dodo, thylacine, and most recently, the bluebuck, but conservation and education are also major parts of what the company is working on...

Mita wrote movies like S.W.A.T., Robots, and 24 Hours to Live. Working across a few genres, he's found one rule that helps him keep focus as a writer. His rule is to ensure the story progresses at least every few minutes, which would be roughly five pages. "I feel that your story needs to move forward every five minutes. It needs to progress with new information. It could be very subtle information, or it could be big news, but the story needs to progress." This doesn't mean you need a big twist every page or anything. Just look at your pages and consider whether characters have accomplished anything or the plot has significantly changed in about that time frame. Did a character learn something new? Did they face an obstacle? What was the outcome of facing that obstacle? Do they have to pivot to try something new? Those are all things that advance the plot...

Daniel Craig officially left the role of James Bond behind in 2021 when No Time to Die was finally released in theaters, which suffered multiple delays due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even before the movie was released, though, Craig confirmed he would be saying goodbye to the series after his fifth installment, meaning that pundits have been attempting to predict who could step into the iconic shoes of the character for years. With Craig having debuted as 007 in 2006's Casino Royale, it means this is the first attempt at casting the character in more than 20 years. Part of what makes this process interesting is that, when Craig was cast, he was far from being the most obvious choice for the part. However, with Casino Royale meant to serve as an adventure in the earlier days of Bond's exploits, Craig had more freedom to interpret the character as he saw fit. Previous performers, meanwhile, had the more difficult task of honoring previous portrayals while also putting their own spins on the figure. Understandably, with there being a major 007 void to fill, everyone from industry insiders to average moviegoers have made their predictions about a new James Bond...