I totally get why it’s dorky to be into magic. Most magic acts are very cheesy and require a high tolerance for earnestness. There’s a lot of satin and glitter and bow ties. But at the heart of magic is wanting to believe in something amazing happening right in front of your face. There’s a reason magic reaction gifs are so beloved. Our dumb lizard brains freak out when our eyes see something that doesn’t make sense.

Warning: Spoilers for Yellowjackets season two lie ahead. With a harrowing cabin-in-the woods pregnancy and a literal flesh-eating feast, Yellowjackets’ second season finally lived up to its stomach-churning potential. It might have upped the gross-out factor with a harrowing birth scene and roasting bodies, but the show remains one of the most suspenseful and unpredictable dramas out there. This list of books is just as refreshingly exhilarating, and, much like the show, covers a lot of jagged terrain.

With history’s biggest, most profitable story about a superhero team — the inevitable megasmash Avengers: Age of Ultron — coming out this week, let’s take a moment to think about what makes such teams work as fictional constructs. Why do comics readers and moviegoers come back to this simple, stupid idea (a bunch of people with miraculous abilities fight things and hang out together) over and over again? Sure, part of it is simple bigger-is-better maximalism, but we don’t crave superhero teams simply because more fists mean more punching.

Fear the Walking Dead comes to an end in late November, concluding an 8-season run (alongside the main show’s 11.) Along the way, it morphed from a different look at the zombie apocalypse — in a different location with an entirely new cast — into an outright spinoff, with certain supporting characters drifting over from The Walking Dead to carry Fear themselves. All the while, though, it maintained a similar central theme with its parent series — how does mankind continue in the wake of ruin, and how are we changed?

This list was originally published on May 14, 2019. We’ve updated it to include more episodes, just in time for prom. Prom night is a special rite of passage for high-schoolers, both in real life and for the teens (often played by adult actors) on TV. The dance can be a fun, special event, but it also comes with a fair amount of stress — there’s just so much to worry about: What dress?

While this week’s Mindy Project premiere didn’t exactly give us a glimpse into Mindy’s specific parenting style, it’s only a matter of time before two become three, and we get what’s sure to be a no-holds-barred look into the life of Dr. Mindy Lahiri: Working Mom™. Like every mountain Mindy scales, this adventure is sure to be dramatic and ridiculous, but, ultimately, not as much of a mess as initially suggested.

This year’s sprawling Cannes Film Festival has finally come to a close, and even though your Vulture correspondents Kyle Buchanan and Emily Yoshida are back in the United States, their thoughts still drift eastward to the Croisette. Here are some of the movies, performances, songs, and murders they can’t stop thinking about. Most Likely to Vex New Yorkers: Under the Silver Lake The East-coast Establishment has always condescended to the City of Angels, and after David Robert Mitchell’s trippy L.

“Santa’s Secret Stuff” (R-L) Rory (Alexis Bledel) returns from London after the holidays. Lorela (Lauren Graham) is disappointed that Rory celebrated Christmas in London with Logan, but decides to have a ÒChristmas after ChristmasÓ celebration as a new family complete in GILMORE GIRLS on The CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2006 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Chances are, the Gilmore Girls fan in your life has already opened the number one item on her holiday wish list: a new season of Gilmore Girls that she probably doesn’t think is that good, but hey: at least it exists.

This week, Marc Maron’s show Maron premieres on IFC. The show is based loosely on the comedian’s experience creating and hosting his WTF with Marc Maron podcast. Since the podcast’s creation in 2009, Maron has interviewed everyone from Carrot Top to Bryan Cranston to Jonathan Winters, and Maron’s candid conversational style paired with his signature blend of honesty, insecurity, and resentment has shone a light on the emotional backstories behind respected and despised comedians, actors, and musicians alike.

This article was originally published on December 23, 2020. We’ve updated it for Bridgerton’s third season with even more historical romance novels. Dearest gentle reader, if you are here, you have likely watched (and possibly rewatched) the entirety of Bridgerton on Netflix to date, and one cannot judge you for your enthusiasm on that front. With the debut of its long-awaited third season, this television series is packed to the brim with sexy, steamy, inclusive Regency-era drama and romance.