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With 456 players involved at the titular deadly competition in “Squid Game,” viewers are sure to have a hard time keeping every character straight when they start binge-watching Season 2 at launch on Dec. 26. The good news is, not every one of those players is essential to the story of Gi-hun’s (Lee Jung-jae) return […]

Created by writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the Emmy-winning “Squid Game,” Netflix’s most-watched series of all time, has returned for a second season. Season 1 of the South Korean survival thriller followed Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a divorced father and gambling addict who joins the Squid Game in hopes of earning enough prize money to pay off his […]

M. T. Vasudevan Nair, celebrated Indian screenwriter, director and novelist, died on Dec. 25 at a hospital in Kozhikode after being admitted for breathing difficulties. He was 91. His contributions to Malayalam-language cinema and literature redefined storytelling in the southern Indian state of Kerala where he was born. Nair’s early exposure to traditional folktales and the […]

There’s a haunting quality to Ecuadorian Oscar submission “Behind the Mist,” Sebastián Cordero’s intimate documentary on scaling Mount Everest. On one hand, Cordero’s twinning of mountaineering and filmmaking reveals spiritual similarities to both endeavors. On the other hand, his visual texture reveals hidden layers through its lo-fi aesthetic — one that emerges by necessity, given […]

Hudson Meek, a teen actor who appeared in Edgar Wright’s film “Baby Driver,” died on Dec. 22 in Alabama after falling from a moving vehicle. He was 16. “Our hearts are broken to share that Hudson Meek went home to be with Jesus tonight,” read a post on his Instagram account.

Beyoncé showed out for her native Houston with her highly anticipated NFL halftime performance during the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans football game on Christmas Day. For her first live televised performance in four years, dubbed “Beyoncé Bowl,” the singer put on a meticulously confected and executed show, enlisting Post Malone, Shaboozey and her daughter […]