I’ll watch anything with Zendaya in it. Even without the genius-level marketing that was the Challengers press tour — complete with those tennis ball Loewe heels — I still would’ve rushed to the theater to watch Challengers. Due to last year’s strike, its delayed release made one thing obvious: anticipation really does make the reward that much sweeter. Challengers finally comes out on Friday, April 26th and after watching an early screening, I can confirm, it’s well worth the wait.

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What is Challengers about?

Challengers is about tennis. Challengers is about a love triangle. Challengers is about Zendaya’s bob. Directed by Luca Guadagnino of Call Me By Your Name, it’s no surprise that this movie is also about sex. It follows three young tennis players — two lifelong friends who are rising stars and superstar prodigy Tashi Duncan with whom they are massively enamored — over their messy love lives and careers.

Zendaya leads as Tashi Duncan, the intense and intensely ambitious woman at the center of this story. After a devastating injury, Tashi goes from the top of the game to her husband’s coach, trying to recall what she felt at the height of her career.

Ambition battles desire as the love story between the three twists and turns over the course of time. Shifting between time periods and storylines, it feels like a Christopher Nolan film if it slayed. And with Luca’s expert directorial eye, styling from JW Anderson’s Loewe, and Zendaya as heroine, it’s a cinematic feat — tense, vivid, and utterly irresistible. Zendaya herself recommends watching the movie at least three times while “viewing” it from each character’s perspective each time. Well, what Z says, goes.

Clearly, Mike Faist (Dear Evan Hansen, West Side Story) as Art and Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Own Country) as Patrick have been inducted into the exclusive club of Luca’s muses. If you weren’t in love with them before, you will be by the movie’s end. The film has confirmed them as the white boys of the month. But they’re more than just pretty faces. They are Actors — with a capital A.

And Challengers is their launch pad for Hollywood’s latest leading men. Their performances are masterful, their characters are tight and consistent, and their chemistry is unmatched.

While their chemistry with Zendaya is electric, it’s their chemistry together that keeps the film pulsing with anticipatory tension. Whether they love each other or hate each other, the best scenes are those when Faist and O’Connor can play off each other — whether it’s literally tennis or a battle of wits and the battle for Zendaya’s heart.

Of course: we have to talk about that scene. Teased in the trailer and the promo images alike, everyone is all aflutter over the film’s alleged menage a trois. Appearing early on, it’s a taste of what the film does well: emphasizes sex appeal without denigrating any of its characters — especially Zendaya — as mere sexual objects.

Sex in this film is often implied. Yet, sensuality and the power exchange of desire are foregrounded. It’s about power. But it’s also a game. And, like tennis, Zendaya is a master. “You don’t know what tennis is,” she tells Art and Patrick. “It’s a relationship.” For the three of them, this certainly proves true. The central question here is: who will win?

This is a movie about tennis, actually.

The internet has noticed a strange trend: the women who’ve played Spiderman’s love interest in the major Spiderman franchises have all gone on to do movies about tennis. Kirsten Dunst did the underrated rom-com Wimbledon. Emma Stone portrayed Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes just three years after her term as Gwen Stacey. And now, Zendaya is playing her own version of a tennis star.

@jessthereporter The Spider-Man to Tennis pipeline – EXPLAINED #spiderman #challengers #zendaya #emmastone #kirstendunst #movienews #movietok ♬ original sound – Jess Lucero❤️🔥☕️

But this isn’t just a film about tennis players. It’s a movie deeply in love with the game of tennis itself. It plays with the form of the game by mirroring a tennis match — each act of the film feels like a set of a match. It moves through scenes and time periods like perfect volleys. The key scene that ties it all together is a tennis match. We watch the ball go back and forth as we are transported to and from the past, wondering which player will get the upper hand.

“What do you want?” The boys ask Tashi early in the film. “To watch some good fucking tennis,” she says.

In the end, the sentiment is repeated. In tennis, love means zero. And that’s the Challengers’ conceit. Sitting across from the umpire (who is — fun fact — played by her real-life assistant Darnell Appling) in the central tennis scene, her judgment is all. It’s like the final scene of Love and Basketball — they’re playing for her heart. And her heart is always with the game.

Challengers will make a tennis fan of you. While you don’t need to know the game in order to follow the plot, its artistic representation of the game — from the writing to the directorial shot list — will satisfy the superfans and intrigue the newbies.

Let’s get to the point (pun intended): Is Zendaya’s Tashi a triumph?

Earlier this year, Timothee Chalamet achieved the impressive feat of starring in two of the year’s highest-grossing films — Dune: Part Two and Wonka. I predict that by the time they stop this weekend’s Box Office count, Zendaya will achieve the same feat with Dune: Part Two and Challengers.

While she’s the heart of Dune: Part Two, she’s finally taking her rightful place as a leading lady with her turn as Tashi Duncan. After playing high schoolers for decades from Spider-Man to Euphoria, the role of Tashi is the perfect transition. We meet Tashi the summer after high school, before she heads to Stanford, and watch her grow into an adult in real-time. Zendaya and her character get similar arcs.

Zendaya deftly handles Tashi’s youthful confidence with her jaded older self while rocking that damn bob. It’s up to you to decide whether you love this character or despise her. There’s a viral interview in which an interviewer remarks that as much as he loves Zendaya, this character kind of made him hate her. Meanwhile, I — lover of maneaters and female manipulators — am pinning photos of Tashi to my vision board as we speak.

Audiences are split on their takes on Tashi but everyone agrees: Zendaya played her with the chill-inducing complexity she deserves. EGOT soon! This is Zendaya’s magnum opus — so far. She’s proven she’s a movie star, a leading lady, and an adult woman ready to play older roles. I can’t wait for what she does next.

Challengers will hit theaters on Friday, April 26th. Watch the full trailer here:

AI is a constant in today’s cinematic landscape. It was a big point of contention during both strikes that affected Hollywood in 2023, was brought up during the Academy Awards, and is even leading to backlash for one of 2024’s best received films. No matter what your opinion on the subject, it is a topic that is not going away anytime soon.

Terror in the Ailien Realms: Transdimensional Horror Movie Posters & Their Film Reviews is a book by filmmaker and artist Pat Tremblay that combines art and AI. Fueled by his love of the great VHS box art from the days when video rental stores were an essential part of life, Tremblay has created a series of horror movies posters. This is not just a simple homage to days of horror movies past, however. Each poster was created with the assistance of AI.

The idea will immediately turn many potential readers off. AI is a touchy subject that seems to be met with resistance more than understanding. Tremblay – an artist himself – has written about why people should be more understanding even when they are not completely receptive to the idea of AI art. This includes the idea that AI is not stealing or plagiarizing artists but using them for reference or inspiration, its similarities to pop art, and just the natural aversion people have to change.

It will take years and many examples before most of us will be able to have a fully developed opinion regarding AI art. Terror in the Ailien Realms is a great introduction into what can be done, however. Quite simply, the posters found in the book are simply amazing. Those who spent hours of their childhoods in the horror section at video stores will be amazed by what they see. From horror westerns to grindhouse to just straight up scary stuff, Tremlay’s project has it all.

Terror in the Ailien Realms is not just limited to those who have nostalgia. Many of the pictures are reminiscent of thumbnails seen on streaming channels. Some are outlandish while others have an arthouse quality to them. It is an interesting mix that makes each page interesting.

Adding to the fun are the fictional movie reviews that are included. Genre filmmakers, writers, and journalists participated in coming up with the write-ups. There are a bunch of neat entries and they also show what can be accomplished when AI is paired with human creativity. 

But at the end of the day, it is the AI art that will garner the most attention. In a vacuum, Terror in the Ailien Realms: Transdimensional Horror Movie Posters & Their Film Reviews is an enjoyable item that genre fans should get a kick out of. On a grander scale, it provides a glimpse into the possibilities of AI art. It may not change opinions outright, but it will give people a lot to think about.

Terror in the Ailien Realms: Transdimensional Horror Movie Posters & Their Film Reviews is available to order now

It is often said that the primary objective of franchise films is to evoke nostalgia in the viewers. These films serve as a reminder of the time when we first met the characters, a time when we had fun and didn’t have the adult perspective to overanalyse filmmaking style. An ideal scenario in such cases, is a sequel that takes a new approach while still retaining the warmth of the original film, thereby providing you with a refreshing yet nostalgic experience. However, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the latest addition to the Ghostbusters franchise, fails to deliver in terms of novelty, instead relying solely on nostalgia.

Director: Gil Kenan

Cast: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani

This fifth addition to the supernatural comedy franchise takes place three years after the events of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The Spenglers, including Egon Spengler’s daughter Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), her boyfriend, Gary Grooberson(Paul Rudd), her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe( Mckenna Grace), and their close friends Lucky Domingo and Podcast, move to New York City to assist Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) and Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd ) in reestablishing the paranormal investigation group known as Ghostbusters.