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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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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A New Mystery Series Has Some Fun with True Crime Obsessions

It arrived without much fanfare, another offbeat “true crime” mystery set against the stormy clouds of an eerie small town. But Bodkin, the new Netflix series set in Ireland, has something deeper going on. Both a revelation and a lighthearted indignation, Bodkin has something to say about conspiracy theorists, disinformation rabbit holes, the people making

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Mary & George

A clever, dark and salacious historical drama that brings a much overlooked chapter of European history to vivid life. Mary & George is a richly drawn, rough and raunchy story about the quest for power – and survival – in 16th century England.

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Scott Pilgrim vs The World

A fun, comical, unexpected breath of fresh air, Scott Pilgrim vs the World blends cleverly crafted action with a story about how to deal with the pain of young love, accept ourselves and move on – shifting our focus from the past to the present.

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Summertime

A vicarious vacation to Italy’s Adriatic coast that lulls you in with its summer romances, lapping waves, rich-hued cinematography, and Italian classics soundtrack.

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The Last Letter from Your Lover

A date night movie that transports you to a lush 1960s French Riviera, the adaptation of the JoJo Moyes novel entwines two eras and two sharply contrasted romances, delivering a wistful summer escape watch.

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Life Changers: The Year’s Best Storytelling for the Planet

If you’ve been looking for a way to manage the overwhelming news about the state of our planet, you could begin by watching a few of the recent films and TV shows that shine a light on some of our biggest issues — and show us what we can do about them. According to a

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Never Have I Ever

A fresh coming-of-age dramedy, Never Have I Ever depicts how the death of a loved one can impact teens’ mental health, as well as a parent’s wellbeing. Families enduring similar struggles will find relatability and reassurance to know they’re not alone.

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We are Lady Parts

This is a funny, endearing, fresh show that demonstrates what proper representation looks like.

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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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Holiday Movies to Watch with Each Generation

Deciding what to watch with your family over the holidays is akin to playing Mario Kart. You can be in first place, cruising along when BAM! One of those pesky red shells hit you and now you’re in last place. One minute, you’re sitting down for dinner and everything’s running smoothly, then someone turns on

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Transport Me: Holiday Movies from Around the World

If you and your family are getting tired of the same old Christmas stories year after year, why not dig a little deeper and try these picks from around the world?

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What to Watch (and Skip) with Thanksgiving Guests

What to watch – and what to skip – if you’re spending Thanksgiving with kids, teenagers, older generations, or all of them under one roof? Your 2022 Watercooler Guide to holiday movies.

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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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Robert Redford’s Impact: Four Films to Watch

He was “one of the lions,” as Meryl Streep put it, an American touchstone who changed filmmaking and opened the gates for new generations of storytellers, becoming a central force in independent cinema. To understand the impact his films have had – on previous generations, on our culture, on so many other films – we’ve

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