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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The Best of What’s New in Streaming: April 2021

If you stick to the path I’ve cut for you with this vouched-for movies and shows, you’ll avoid getting lost in the streaming jungle and succumbing to the dreaded condition of option paralysis.

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The Best of What’s New on Netflix: April 2021

The best new films and shows on Netflix this April feature big stars — from Idris Elba to Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy to Octavia Spencer and Amanda Seyfried. A quick guide to help curate your queue.

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What to Watch if You’re Spending Spring Break at Home

Avoid Miami — and the rest of the spring break towns — and live vicariously by streaming these party films from the comfort of your own living room.

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Recap Episode 2: “The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan”

In the second episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the two lead characters finally share the screen, but the only thing they can agree on is how much the new Captain America sucks. A primer and post-op for Falcon #2.

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I May Destroy You

An addictive, provocative, Emmy-nominated limited series that challenges how we think and feel about our own relationships – romantic, platonic, and professional. Creator and star Michaela Coel captivates.

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The Godzilla and King Kong Movies You Need to Watch Before Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla vs. Kong is coming soon, so pop some popcorn, grab some candy, and watch these Godzilla and King Kong films to prepare for the epic battle!

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Honeyland

A visually stunning, intimately told story that will alternately grip and move you as it drives home the urgency of the larger environmental issues at stake.

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League

With all the DC heroes together in their best light, a gorgeous, more layered production — the Snyder Cut is a great case study for how much of a difference directing and editing can make.

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The Flight Attendant

A funny murder mystery thriller that doubles as a high-stakes trip around the world,

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A Need-to-Know Guide to And Just Like That…

It’s been a two year wait, but Carrie Bradshaw and her tribe of fabulous fifty-somethings are finally back with their third season. You’d be forgiven if you lost track of the Sex and the City sequel and its storylines. But with summer’s planes, trains, and automobiles and rained-in weekends, And Just Like That might be

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Bring Her Back

A psychological horror film with standout performances, Bring Her Back isn’t just about summoning the dead, it’s about confronting the parts of ourselves we lose in the process. The Philippou brothers have crafted a film that dares to ask whether the true horror lies in what we’re willing to do in the name of love.

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The Something for Everyone Show: Poker Face is Back

Can’t agree on what to watch together?  Consider putting on your Poker Face. Peacock’s acclaimed mystery-of-the-week series created by Rian Johnson (best known for Star Wars: The Last Jedi and, most relevant here, the Glass Onion films) and starring Natasha Lyonne, is finally back for another season after two long years. That’s great news for

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It’s not HBO, it’s The Pitt: How streamers are embracing old TV network models  

“It’s not TV, it’s HBO.” Remember that old tagline? For nearly all of its history, broadcast television has been fighting against the perception that it’s subordinate to film as a storytelling medium. Television was just media for the masses, as opposed to the more erudite aficionados of cinema (who, by the way, poured into theaters

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Boyhood

Boyhood captures the importance of moments in time as people grow up and contests the idea that any singular moment is defining to your childhood. It’s a film filled with the full breadth of the emotions of childhood, conveying each one delicately to leave you reflecting on its many pensive conversations. 

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Why Andor is Luring in Non-Star Wars Fans

An edgier Star Wars prequel with a timely story about rebellion, Andor skips some of the more familiar elements of the franchise — from lightsabers to Jedi to the Force — in favor of a more grounded story with parallels in both history and our current moment. While it sets up the legendary world of

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Inside the War Zone: A sit down with Warfare’s director and cast

A harrowing new film from Alex Garland’s production banner, Warfare drops viewers into a real-time combat mission in Iraq. Set in 2006, it follows a team of Navy SEALs on a surveillance mission gone awry. Co-written and co-directed by Garland and Ray Mendoza—whose own platoon was ambushed during the real-life event—the film is both brutal

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