Lauren Vanderveen

Lauren Vanderveen covers news for CinemaBlend, with a heavy emphasis on pop culture trends and streaming titles. She has also written reviews for AllMovie.com.
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Minx

The streaming series about the intersection between feminism and smut could endear even the most skeptical. And what it might lack in delicacy, it certainly makes up for in swagger.

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Love & Gelato

Love & Gelato is pretty corny but it’s the exact kind of sweetly innocent confection that will melt in your mouth. What’s more, the film offers a slightly more authentic ending than the average rom-com fare.

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Becoming Elizabeth

Becoming Elizabeth goes beyond mere court intrigue and makes a testimony to the influence of the powerful over the powerless. It’s assisted majorly by an eager and incredibly telling arrangement of sounds that stitches the lofty narrative together. In short, it’s a bold entry in the arena of historical dramas.

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Watercooler Guide: What You Need to Know about The Staircase

Our Watercooler guide to The Staircase will help you jump right into the conversation about HBO Max’s new true-crime series.

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Outlander: What We Talk About When We Talk About Assault

It’s no coincidence every major character in Outlander has experienced some form of assault. I’d argue that’s what the whole show is about.

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The Adam Project

The Adam Project is one of those movies you go into imagining big explosions and kids hilariously making life-or-death decisions (like Zathura, for example). And, to be sure it throws everything it has at the wall and then some: time-travel jiu jitsu soldiers, a stacked all-star cast, and lots of heart. 

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The Alpinist

Joie de vivre never looked so effortless as it does in The Alpinist. While the spectacular cinematography wows the senses, the beautiful character portrait at its core of an eccentric, backwoods mountain climber stirs the humanity in us all.

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The Best New Movies and TV Shows in February 2022

Love, history, and choices well off the beaten path are arriving on streaming platforms this month. See our picks in categories you won’t find anywhere else.

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The Best New Movies and Shows to Stream in December 2021

This month’s picks include big stars, highly anticipated returns, sci-fi epics, and an international Oscar contender—all for your streaming pleasure!

Lauren Vanderveen

Lauren Vanderveen covers news for CinemaBlend, with a heavy emphasis on pop culture trends and streaming titles. She has also written reviews for AllMovie.com.
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Summer Escape Binges: The Best Series to Transport You

The best escapist shows and movies with travel and exotic settings.

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Teen Romance for the Sweltering Summer

There’s a particular teenage feeling of promise to summer for me. School is out, the sun is beating, and the space between June and September seems big enough to live a lifetime in. Even for someone staunchly past teenhood, the tickle of summertime is exciting, Teen Romance For Sweltering Summer and self-transformation– and these are

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Round the World: Summer Camp Movies for Grownups

Ah, summer camp. Images of wood cabins, elaborate pranks, cringe-y talent show performances, and teens with raging hormones have filled our brains, thanks to what’s become a subgenre of American & Summer Camp Movies.. But summer camp stories take on different depths depending upon the decade and the country where they’re set, and they can

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What to Watch with your Roommates

It’s difficult to share your home with someone you don’t share anything else with. But one of the easiest inroads to friendship is television, and one of the joys of living with others is introducing them to the shows you love, and vice versa. Watching Carrie meet Big for the first time with my new-to-the-show

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A Watercooler Watch: Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything

Before social media and podcasts, there was one undeniable truth about news-making interviews: if a story mattered, Barbara Walters would be the one to tell it. Landing a one-on-one with her didn’t just mean publicity, it meant you had become part of a national conversation. But while the interview signified that you had made it,

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Universal Language

An absurdist dramedy about the clash of two worlds, Universal Language entertains as much as it motivates. Beyond the madness lies an urgent plea for unity, an appeal that resonates with people hoping for a better, more harmonious future.

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Industry S1

Industry is a series fueled by greed, drugs, sex, and money, and provides all of these ingredients in Federal Reserve-sized quantities. There’s never a dull moment.

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Minx

The streaming series about the intersection between feminism and smut could endear even the most skeptical. And what it might lack in delicacy, it certainly makes up for in swagger.

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The Sympathizer

Told through the perspective of a conflicted hero with contradicting loyalties, The Sympathizer is an ambitious examination of a spy who can’t help but sympathize — hence, the title of the series — with the enemy. It might make you rethink everything you were taught about the Vietnam War too.

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Star Trek: Prodigy

The values of Star Trek, and then some: unity, diversity, individuality, optimism, idealism and hope. What more could you ask for? How about the return of Captain Janeway? Yeah, it’s got that too.

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Colin in Black & White

You’ll want to talk about this scripted dramatic series about Colin Kaepernick’s childhood – created by Ava DuVernay and Kaepernick – which reveals how he faced down racism and classism while rising to the top of the sports world.   

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Book vs. Movie: Denis Villeneuve’s Dune

Will the latest version of Dune capture the hearts of loyal readers as well as new audiences? Maybe.

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Only Murders in the Building

Only Murders in the Building is a gripping mystery with a touch of comedy, a strong sense of style, and charm to spare. There’s nothing else like it on TV right now.

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Halloween Kills

Halloween Kills is a worthy entry in the Halloween franchise. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s an above-average slasher movie that will get you in the spooky season mood.

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Watch These Sopranos Episodes to Appreciate The Many Saints of Newark

Thanks to the recently released prequel film The Many Saints of Newark, a lot of viewers are rediscovering—or even discovering for the first time—the brilliance of The Sopranos (which scored record ratings on HBO Max in the wake of the film’s release). In case you don’t have time to binge all six seasons of the

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On My Block

A clever, witty, and endearing look at the lives of inner-city teenagers that will make you laugh out loud but also sob uncontrollably. On My Block is the perfect blend of romance, drama, and comedy, a true standout in the world of teen drama. 

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What to Watch After Squid Game

If you happen to be one of the many, many viewers who have already burned through all nine episodes on Netflix, you’re probably going through a lot of feelings right now. If one of them is indecision over what to watch next, we can help with that.

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The Many Saints of Newark

While it can’t be compared to The Sopranos, the prequel Many Saints of Newark opens a new angle on the anti-hero standard, and for better or worse, it will make you remember the classic HBO series even more fondly.

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