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As a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings, one thing that always struck me was how Boromir’s desire for the Ring really forced Frodo to understand the danger. It made him realize he couldn’t rely on others, because the Ring’s pull was just too strong. That’s why he decided to go to Mordor alone, with only Sam by his side. Looking back, it makes perfect sense that Frodo doesn’t really share a lot of meaningful interactions with characters he hadn’t known for very long. And get this – I was shocked to learn that Legolas *only* says five words to Frodo throughout the entire trilogy! It’s literally just his oath to protect Frodo, at the beginning and the end.

A new animated Batman show from DC Comics recently had a name change. It was originally called *Bat-Family*, but was shortened to *Bat-Fam* without any prior announcement.

The 1990s were a fascinating era for film, especially for thrillers, crime stories, comedies, and adventures. New directors like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and David Fincher quickly became prominent, particularly in darker genres, and Steven Spielberg consistently delivered excellent films. The decade was full of original, thought-provoking, and ambitious movies that really captured the public’s imagination. Twenty-eight years ago, a particularly strange and controversial monster movie emerged. While most critics didn’t like it, Roger Ebert of the *Chicago Sun-Times* was a surprising fan. I’ve always admired Ebert’s independent spirit and his willingness to share his honest opinions, even when they went against the crowd – and his enthusiastic review of this film is definitely unexpected.

Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire aren’t the only Spider-Man characters who might join the Avengers to battle Doctor Doom, as played by Robert Downey Jr. With so many Spider-Man variations already introduced in the Marvel multiverse over the past few years, several could appear in *Avengers: Doomsday* when it’s released next year.

In his early writings, J.R.R. Tolkien established that one Valian year lasted about 9.5 solar years. He used this timeframe while building the history of Middle-earth in the 1930s and 40s. But as he finished the first volume of *The Lord of the Rings*, he started to question his earlier calculations. He felt events like the Elves’ expansion across Middle-earth seemed too rushed. To fix this, he lengthened a Valian year to 144 solar years – a number tied to the original number of Elves who awoke. Although the term ‘Valian year’ doesn’t appear in *The Lord of the Rings*, the book does state that Elves measured time in 144-year periods. This seemingly small detail actually had a significant impact on the backstories of characters like Galadriel, who lived before the sun was created.

While promoting his new movie with Mark Wahlberg, director Scott Black was asked if he had any recent media recommendations. He enthusiastically praised Scott Frank, the creator of *Queen’s Gambit*, and his new Netflix series, *Dept. Q*, calling it “Great. Exquisite. Really good.” Black also expressed his pleasure at the news that *Dept. Q* had been renewed for another season, simply stating, “I’m happy.”

Details emerged during a recent interview with *Dragon Ball Daima* Director Yoshitaka Yashima, featured in a bonus booklet with the Japanese Blu-ray release of the show. According to a translation and summary by X (formerly Twitter) user @Venixys, Yashima received an early draft of the script from Akira Toriyama that wasn’t finished – Toriyama hadn’t yet decided how the story would unfold or conclude. Yashima explained that the initial outline only covered about half of the plot, leaving the production team unsure of what would happen next.

The film *Kiss of the Spider Woman* debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January to a positive reception. Jennifer Lopez and the cast received a standing ovation, and many began discussing her potential for an Oscar nomination and other awards. The topic resurfaced during a recent interview with *CBS News Sunday Morning* (available on YouTube), where Lopez shared that she’s trying not to focus on awards buzz, drawing on past experiences.