We start this week’s pop culture news recap with the sad, and shock, report that actor Andre Braugher has died aged 61 following a short illness (or lung cancer, depending on the article). Braugher is probably best known for his work in Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Also passing this week was 70s breakout star Ryan O’Neal, who starred in the likes of Love Story, Paper Moon, and Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon before becoming mired in personal scandal in later years. O’Neal died aged 82 from prostate cancer. In the early 2000s he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Film

Ex Machina. Annihilation. Men. 28 Days Later. The Beach. Do we have your attention yet?

Writer-turned-filmmaker Alex Garland is back with Civil War, a chilling war film about near-future America torn apart by its polarized attitudes. Familiar faces in the cast include Kirsten Dunst, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons and Nick Offerman. Civil War comes to cinemas starting 26 April.

For some tonal whiplash, check out IF, a family fantasy that combines live-action and CGI animation. John Krasinki writes and directs this tale of a girl (Cailey Fleming) who discovers she can see other people’s discarded imaginary friends (IFs). It turns out her neighbour (Ryan Reynolds) has the same ability, and they set out to help the imaginary creations – who are voiced by the all-star likes of Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph and many more.

IF is scheduled to be released on 17 May 2024.

Ooh, here’s one to keep on your radar, especially if you enjoyed Prey. Introducing Out of Darkness. We discovered this Ice Age survival thriller through Dark Horizons. In cinemas as of 9 February (after touring the film festival circuit) is this tale of a band of desperate people living 45,000 years ago. Seeking shelter in an unfamiliar landscape, they encounter something monstrous lurking in the caves and forest. Out of Darkness has been made with archaeologist backing, and features its own subtitled language.

While we were looking at movies released by film company Bleecker Street, we also came across hard sci-fi thriller I.S.S., starring Ariana DeBose and Chris Messina. Releasing on 19 January, I.S.S. explores what would happen on the International Space Station if worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. American and Russian scientists, normally happily collaborating, suddenly find themselves facing off as a result of received orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.

Wrapping this section with some movie tidbits:

  • A24 is teaming up with Hideo Kojima to make a live-action film adaptation of the game maker’s acclaimed (and very weird) sci-fi epic Death Stranding.
  • The Golden Globe nominations for 2023 have been announced. With nine nominations, Barbie leads on the film front, followed by Oppenheimer which earned eight nominations, and Killers of the Flower Moon, and Poor Things, with seven each. Television-wise, Succession is ahead of the pack with nine nominations, followed by The Bear and Only Murders in the Building, which each scored five nominations. The Last of Us has three, for the record.
  • The past week has included poster reveals for two blockbusters out in 2024. Check out new marketing material for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Madame Web.
  • We also now have release dates for Millie Bobby Brown’s high fantasy thriller Damsel (8 March), and the next installment in the resurgent Saw franchise. Look out for Saw XI on 27 September next year.

Series

Squee! Despite it feeling like a bit of a hidden gem, Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai has already been renewed for a second season – barely one month after the animated series made its debut on the streamer.

Spearheaded by co-creators and husband-and-wife team Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049) and Amber Noizumi, the highly cinematic, and definitely adult orientated, Blue Eye Samurai centres on a mixed-race warrior out to kill the four white men who remained in Japan after the country closed its borders in the early 1600s. Blue Eye Samurai is made by French studio Blue Spirit.

Also on the series renewals front, Prime Video’s Good Omens – based on the work of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – has scored a third, and final, season.

Finally, here’s something to look forward to. Coming to Disney+ in 2024 is a new animated series set in the Black Panther Universe. Eyes of Wakanda features the following official plot synopsis: “Throughout Wakandan history, brave warriors have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts. This is their story.”

Gaming

Just a quick note here that it’s the season for gaming years in review. To get started, pick your gaming platform: PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch. For PC players, Steam’s 2023 Year in Review will launch in January.

Oh, and E3 – once gaming’s biggest American tradeshow – is officially dead. Here’s a great article on why the writing has been on the wall with this kind of event for some time.