In every generation, there are but a handful of cinematic productions that not only define the moment but continue to shine as a living monument to a different time. For so many of us of a certain age, that movie is Peyton Reeds feature-length directorial debut, Bring It On. Disagree with us? This isnt a democracy, its a cheer-ocracy so we dont care. Yes, the iconic 2000 feature perfectly encapsulated the turn of the millennium when we were afraid that when the ball dropped on January 1, 2000, our microwaves would turn against us and usher in a nuclear apocalypse. Ah, simpler times. Led by Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, and Gabrielle Union, Bring It On helped build our personalities brick by brick for better or for worse. Whether you somehow have never seen this cult-classic piece of cinema or need to take a walk down memory lane, Tubi has you covered, as, on December 1, the iconic title will be available on the free, ad-supported streamer.

Monster movies tend to transcend genres. Some can be sci-fi, horror, or fantasy, but whichever category they fall into, they seem to be popular. It turns out a lot of moviegoers like seeing what sorts of creepy creatures Hollywood will come up with next, and how the heroes of the story are going to defeat it in the long run. A lot of these films aren't exactly high art, but there are definitely some that have some pretty profound subtexts.

With seven books, eight films, a spinoff film series, and an upcoming TV show, Harry Potter is undeniably one of the most recognizable franchises in the world, and the name is now synonymous with magic. While it has not held the films back, Harry Potter's first film has a rather confusing title not because of the title itself, but because of its inconsistency. The first entry into the magical world has two English titles, as it is known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the U.K. and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S. This is not unique to the films, as it was a choice made when publishing the original books, which has spilled over into the adaptations. These days, most fans know that these refer to the same story, but why have two different names in the first place?

When it comes to star quality, many of the competitors on Finding Mr. Christmas are showing that they have it. But there is one holiday hunk who broke out in all the right ways, Daxton Bloomquist. The Broadway vet has a sparkle and shine that makes him perfect for the Hallmark Holiday family. He brought an instant smile with a willingness to have fun and let loose. As the token gay contestant, it may have felt like an uphill battle to be the next Hallmark heartthrob in a primarily heteronormative universe, but he proved that he could be what they needed him to be.

It has been a fairly impressive year for Fred Hechinger, who has transformed from an up-and-coming breakout star to one of the most in-demand young actors working in the industry. While Hechinger first started earning praise for his work on prestige television shows a few years ago thanks to The White Lotus and The Underground Railroad, 2024 has seen him appearing in the acclaimed drama Nickel Boys, the unusual rockumentary Pavements, the upcoming supervillain origin story Kraven the Hunter, and the highly anticipated action sequel Gladiator II. However, Hechinger is at his most hapless and charming in the heartwarming independent comedy Thelma.

Even though the last season of Black Mirror didn't have the best reception from fans, we're still excited for the new season and can't wait to see new episodes of the anthology series. No one knows this better than Netflix, which is why the streamer has come up with the perfect solution to help ease the wait for the next season. This December, the Thai sci-fi series Tomorrow and I debuts on the catalog, and it looks like the only difference from Black Mirror is that the show takes place in a different country. All four episodes of the new series are set to debut on December 4.

Dune: Prophecy is proving to be an intriguing addition to the Dune universe. Set 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's titular novel (which inspired the Denis Villeneuve films), Dune: Prophecy chronicles the origins of the Bene Gesserit the mysterious society who manipulates events to set humanity on a more enlightened path. Mother Valya Harkonnen (played by Emily Watson in the present and Jessica Barden in the past) starts a grand plan to cement the Imperial's control of the planet Arrakis; that plan is soon threatened by soldier Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), who seeks to lessen the Bene Gesserit's influence on the Empire.

Ouch

2024 has been a good year for horror movies, with cinema-goers flocking to both art house provocations ("The Substance") and franchise reboots ("The First Omen"). But one film in particular stands out — for reasons that should disturb us. The scary thing about Longlegs isn't so much his affectation or his methods but the sense that he's backed by a supernatural force that remains hidden to us. Osgood Perkins' "Longlegs" is one of the year's notable success stories, grossing $125 million on less than a $10 million budget. What it lacked in marketing muscle it made up for in massive word-of-mouth excitement — much of it focused on a nearly unrecognizable Nicolas Cage's unhinged performance as the titular agent of evil.'Se7en' meets 'Silence'While "Longlegs" is extraordinarily effective, it isn't quite as original as its initial buzz suggested. It is set in the '90s, and much has been said of its obvious borrowings from two movies of that era. It gets its relentlessly gray, dread-soaked atmosphere from "Se7en" and its tense game of cat-and-mouse between a rookie female FBI agent and an enigmatic serial killer from "Silence of the Lambs."To these familiar components "Longlegs" adds another classic horror trope. Longlegs kills on behalf of a greater, supernatural evil: Satan. And yet here the movie dispenses with the usual Hollywood trappings. There are no exorcisms or grotesque physical transformations — and it is perhaps for this reason that the movie has largely been left out of the discourse surrounding our culture's increasing fascination with the demonic."Longlegs" centers around an elaborate series of murders of entire families — each of which happens to include a 9-year-old girl born on the 14th of the month — somehow connected to it's titular character. Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is an FBI agent attached to the case who has clairvoyant abilities, an analytical mind, and a childhood connection to the murderer that she doesn't fully understand.NOTE: As "Longlegs" hit theaters in July and has been available to stream for almost three months, what follows will contain spoilers. Initially, the police are stumped by the seemingly random killings, but Lee can see through the data and recognize a pattern that is innately satanic. This leads them down a bizarre path where they discover the killer's affection for dolls, his penchant for religious imagery, and his ability to possess people and objects in such a way that they do the bidding of his master.Hide and seekThe scary thing about Longlegs isn't so much his affectation or his methods but the sense that he's backed by a supernatural force that remains hidden to us. Buried under over-the-top makeup and prosthetics, and playing in an altogether different register from his trademark brand of crazy, Cage seems to make Longlegs deliberately impenetrable. What little glimpse we get of the inner man comes literally, as he smashes his face against an interrogation table, crushing his nose into a pulp, and praising Satan with his final breath.This results in the film's curious religious subtext. Lee's mother is depicted as being extremely Christian and constantly asks her daughter if she keeps to her prayers or not. Lee is clearly informed about religious matters, enough to correct others on their factual errors and keep books on religion in her home, but she doesn't seem to be a practicing believer. She has clairvoyant powers, but when asked if she prays, she admits she never has. Lee pursues the case relentlessly but with pronounced detachment and lack of emotion. Her quarry, meanwhile, is deeply invested in his evil quest.Longlegs commits his murders by proxy, mesmerizing the family patriarch into a murderous trance, in which he will do the killer's bidding. His is the power of subversion, a creeping ability to possess good people and use them to advance evil, even after the source of that evil is functionally gone. Controversially, his greatest weapon ends up being Lee’s mother, controlling her to spread his possession powers — completely overpowering her religious soul and puppetizing her in the disguise of a nun. The story of "Longlegs" ends up being a depressing story of evil's omnipresent ability to spread beyond death and corrupt everything in its sight. The film's darkly ambiguous ending — in which the heroes lose everything while achieving a temporary stalemate at best — questions whether or not goodness can ever hope to defeat evil. 'No Country' for hope?This bleak outlook very much brings to mind the infamous ending of "No Country for Old Men," where our hero has been killed off-screen before his final climactic dual, the sheriff has given up trying to fight evil, and innocents have been killed for no other reason than that the villain promised to do so."No Country for Old Men" leaves us to contemplate the malevolent Anton Chigurh still roaming the world, spreading evil while goodness sits down and surrenders to the reality of cosmic hopelessness and failure. “If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?” says the villain Chigurh (and also Vice President-elect Vance that one time).But Chigurh is no satanist, he’s a determinist. He has a clear philosophy. Longlegs lacks that interior complexity; he is content to be a bodily conduit for spiritual evil. And that evil is ultimately stopped not by faith but by a bullet and an act of parricide, the betrayal of a daughter crushing her mother’s hollowed-out Christian affectations.Unlike its close relatives like "The Exorcist" or "The Conjuring," "Longlegs" has no clear moral compass. It's not so much that evil triumphs at the end but that good seems to lack much in the way of conviction or energy. Lee goes through the motions, without seeming to understand why it matters; there's a sense that the evil she's fighting has long ago compromised her from within; that it's only a matter of time before she, too, gives up the fight. Lee differs from Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling in one crucial respect: She is almost as alien to us as Longlegs is. We don't root for her as we do Starling; instead, we're invited to take a more neutral, almost hypnotic pleasure in Perkins' hopeless vision, as if the movie itself is one of Longlegs' sinister dolls. To quote blogger Justin Bower, “In Longlegs's world, Satan always answers prayers while God—if he exists—is silently resigned, unable to contest the power of the Devil’s dollmaker.”By not asking us to identify with the good, "Longlegs" lets us off the hook from pondering our own evil as well. Could that account for its massive popularity? A culture so resigned to its decline that the best it can do is enjoy the ride.

The scripture verse that came to mind on the morning of Nov. 6 was Psalm 126:3 (NIV): The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. In the months leading up to the election, I had been reading through the Old Testament. As I studied Kings and Chronicles, I noticed a pattern: When Israel’s kings followed God’s law, their nation thrived. But when they turned to worship false gods like Ashtoreth and Baal, their nation suffered curses. The fundamental transformation of America may finally have been derailed, and now the work of foundational restoration can begin. Over the past three and a half years, our country has experienced a significant decline. A win by the Democratic Party — whether by fair means or otherwise — seemed likely to accelerate that downward spiral with the continuation and expansion of its policies. For now, however, we appear to have a reprieve. This moment may depend on our nation’s willingness to return to the God who loves and cares for us. I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster. (verse 3) He [the Lord] does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. (verse 9) I had been praying for miracles throughout this election season — long before the assassination attempt on July 13 — and it seems clear that God controlled events in ways beyond coincidence. Donald Trump has demonstrated extraordinary resilience in the face of relentless attacks from a determined deep state. Against all odds, Trump has not only emerged victorious but may now hold a legendary place in history. The events since his near-death experience in mid-July may have profoundly changed Trump’s character. Those who listened to his speech in the early hours of Nov. 6 likely noticed a newfound tone of humility. Two scripture verses seem to speak directly to what Trump’s adversaries have schemed and unleashed against him: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV) And Joseph’s words to his brothers who sold him into slavery, only to later find him in a position of power in Egypt, blessing them: You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. (Genesis 50:20, NLT) Is America “out of the woods” because of this election’s results? Will Christians, Jews, and people of goodwill celebrate a great victory today only to return to complacency tomorrow? Let’s hope not. Can anyone deny that our lack of vigilance allowed evil influences to blindside us? Like the proverbial frog in slowly boiling water, we almost woke up too late. The pastors I have spoken with or watched on television agree: The 2024 election was not the finish line — it marks the starting point. We must continue praying for the new administration. Pray for wisdom and steadfastness as they work to purge evil from our nation and promote righteousness across society and culture. The fundamental transformation of America may finally have been derailed, and now the work of foundational restoration can begin. As our Founding Fathers declared in the Declaration of Independence, “with a firm reliance on Divine Providence,” we can succeed in restoring true freedom and responsibility to America. In doing so, we can also renew hope and inspiration for nations around the globe. Editor's note: A version of this article appeared originally at Stream.org.