Failure is never easy, but in the worlds of film, gaming, and tech, it tends to have the most interesting stories to share. A great number of the coolest stories in pop culture aren’t about the huge successes; instead, they are about the grand failures. These works didn’t just fail; they almost suffocated the industry with their disbelief, and sometimes, they turned into legends of their own. So, here is a list of 10 flops that shook the public, confused the fans, and scared the executives.

10. Atari’s E.T. – The Game That Almost Sank a Giant

In the early ’80s, Atari was in such a hurry to capitalize on the E.T. movie frenzy that they created a game in a mere five weeks. The outcome? A muddled, near-impossible title that put millions of unsold cartridges in a New Mexico landfill. The failure came close to erasing Atari from the landscape, a reminder that even the largest labels can fall when hype gets in the way of quality.

9. Nintendo Virtual Boy – VR That Gave Players Headaches

Nintendo hyped a virtual reality revolution with the Virtual Boy, but what gamers received was clunky, uncomfortable, and headache-causing. With its sparse game catalog, red-and-black screen, and speculation about health dangers, the Virtual Boy was a cautionary tale of bringing technology to market ahead of the world’s readiness.

8. Apple Newton – Before Its Time, Behind in Sales

Years before the iPad, Apple made a try at reinventing computing with the Newton, a touchscreen computer with handwriting recognition. Sadly, it was expensive, clunky, and uselessly inaccurate. While its ideas laid the groundwork for Apple’s future triumphs, it was a market failure that learned the technology world that innovation can’t succeed on its own.

7. Google Glass – The Gadget Nobody Wanted Wearing on Their Face

Google Glass was futuristic, with the promise of hands-free surfing, real-time navigation, and an integrated camera. But at $1,500, privacy issues, and social awkwardness, it never made it. The moral? Even the most hip tech must have pragmatism and restraint.

6. Heaven’s Gate – The Film That Brought Down a Studio

Following the Oscar-winning Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino was let off the leash to make Heaven’s Gate. The epic Western derailed: runaway budgets, perpetual takes, and a five-hour version. Box office results were disastrous $3.5 million on a $44 million budget, and United Artists folded. A cautionary tale of unlimited ambition. 

5. John Carter – Disney’s Costly Flop

Disney’s John Carter was meant to start a new sci-fi franchise, but instead was a $200 million flop. Leadership at the studio changed, the director pulled out of live-action, and Taylor Kitsch’s career suffered. Occasionally, a flop’s reverberations spread far beyond the box office.

4. The Iron Giant – A Cult Classic That Bombed

Now, the Cult Favorite “The Iron Giant” is loved, but its original release bombed. Even with breathtaking animation, poignant storytelling, and momentous themes, it tanked at the box office because of poor promotion and intense competition. Decades later, viewers rediscovered it, showing that some bombs are just biding their time.

3. Joker: Folie à Deux – A Sequel Gone Wrong

Following the runaway success of Joker, expectations were at an all-time high. But the sequel, with whispers of musical themes, couldn’t quite commit to its vision, disappointing critics and fans alike. Opening at $40 million with a lackluster reception, it is a reminder that even iconic franchises can fail if they overcomplicate their narrative.

2. Theranos – The Tech Unicorn That Fell Apart

Theranos promised to change the game in blood testing and was worth $9 billion at one point. But the tech failed, the results were fudged, and the backlash was devastating. The company folded, and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, went to trial. Theranos is a cautionary tale: hype can’t substitute for innovation, particularly when lives are on the line.

1. New Coke – A Classic Reimagined, and Rejected

Few failures of products are more well-known than New Coke. In 1985, Coca-Cola attempted to alter its iconic formula, creating a sweeter soda that consumers spurned in favor of the original. In 77 days, the company brought back the old recipe as “Classic Coke.” The failure solidified the principle that sometimes the best decision is not to touch a classic.

DC fans are mostly the most loyal fans of a team that keeps messing up on the goal line. Every time you think your favorite hero will make it, Warner Bros. shows up and ruins it. A lot of weird casting decisions and canceled projects are the only things some DC characters have in common, as they just can’t seem to get a break. It’s a list of the 10 DC characters that WB seems to be determined to wipe out, starting with the “lesser evils” and ending with the ones that break your heart.

10. Green Lantern

Before the DCEU took off, Warner Bros. presented us with Green Lantern—and it was a disaster. Ryan Reynolds tried his hardest, but the movie tanked completely, and the character languished in dormancy for years. Sequels were scheduled, then scrapped, and the Green Lantern Corps was stationary. Only now, with Guy Gardner making an appearance in Superman and a new Lantern Corps show in the works, is there a spark of optimism.

9. Black Manta

Black Manta was the standout of Aquaman, and it was a shock when Warner Bros. quietly shelved his solo film (The Trench) before fans had even heard about it. Naturally, he did reappear in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but that chance for a real antihero leading role was gone—unlike Black Adam, who got his blockbuster.

8. The Joker

Not even the Clown Prince of Crime is safe. Jared Leto’s Joker in Suicide Squad was a meme rather than a monster. And then Todd Phillips’ Joker came along, delivering. Until the tonal shift of the sequel left the fans bewildered. Warner Bros. has managed to get arguably the most iconic DC villain wrong more than once.

7. Shazam

The first Shazam! The movie was nice, emotional, and a hit. Its sequel and Black Adam spin-off were not as fortunate. Lightning twice failed to strike, disappointing both fans and Zachary Levi.

6. The Justice League

The 2017 Justice League was DC’s Avengers moment. What we got instead was the Whedon cut—forced comedy, tone whiplash, and dubious character choices. Fans at last experienced what might have been with the Snyder Cut, but the harm had already been done.

5. Batgirl

Warner Bros. almost gave us a Batgirl movie with Leslie Grace and Michael Keaton’s Batman—but then they cancelled it at the very last minute for a tax write-off. The same happened to Batgirl’s shelving, which became the emblem of DCEU mismanagement, where fans wonder whether Barbara Gordon will finally have her time on screen.

4. Batman

Ben Affleck’s Batman polarized fans with his brutal, sadistic style. Luckily, Matt Reeves’ new Elseworlds trilogy is a more traditional Dark Knight—but the perpetual switching between versions has worn me out.

3. Superman

Henry Cavill’s Superman began well, only to be studio indecision hastily put on ice. Brooding, nihilistic, and perpetually trapped in eye-rolling plot twists, Cavill’s Clark Kent hasn’t been given a decent movie since 2017, leaving fans in limbo.

2. The Flash

The Flash solo film was an exercise in chaos. Production problems, rewrites, and rumors about the star actor dominated the headlines—so much so that Batman and Supergirl wound up upstaging in a film about the Scarlet Speedster himself.

1. Wonder Woman

Diana Prince kicked off well, her solo film and Batman v Superman reveal winning her fan love. Wonder Woman 1984, however, did not deliver—iconic trailers couldn’t salvage a movie heavily banked on Chris Pine. Fans now prepare themselves for the inevitable reboot, hoping this time around the Amazonian warrior deserves her dues.

And there you have it: ten DC characters Warner Bros. can’t appear to manage. If you’re still holding out hope for your favorites, then don’t worry, you’re not alone—sometimes, venting is all a fan can do.

Let’s be honest, when people think of Hollywood power, the first things that come to their minds are the red carpets, the Oscars, and the A-list stars with their bright smiles for the photographers. But, behind each strategically timed headline, each comeback story, and each interview moment that goes viral, there is usually a publicist mastermind making it all happen. They are the ones who are the behind-the-scenes engineers of fame, the problem solvers who can either construct or tear down a career with just one phone call. From press strategy to crisis management, they are the ones who create the narratives that ultimately become the measure of stardom. So, let’s count down—because suspense is entertaining the top 10 most influential publicists in Hollywood, the ones who keep the stars shining, the scandals quieted, and the careers rolling.

10. Shawn Sachs and Ken Sunshine — Co-CEOs, Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis

While you might not recognize their faces, their work has been everywhere across Hollywood’s major outlets. Shawn Sachs and Ken Sunshine are the epitomes of quietly powerful, yet massively influential individuals. They jointly lead one of the most prestigious PR agencies in the entertainment industry, Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis. Their list of clients is like the guest list of an Oscars after-party: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Barbra Streisand, and many more. The thing that differentiates them is not only their network but also the ethical side of their work. They rocked the entertainment industry when they dumped the Hollywood Foreign Press Association due to the diversity issue. The action they took was a reminder that great publicity entails not just spinning the story but also sticking to one’s principles.

9. Leslie Sloane Zelnik — Co-President, BWR

Leslie Sloane Zelnik is a personality who would not seek the limelight herself, yet the clients she represents are always in the spotlight. She is very well known in the industry and also very fast in offering support to fellow publicists. Among her credits as a publicist are the names of Chris Rock, Blake Lively, and Megan Fox. Her career itself has been like one of her greatest qualities: she kept things confidential. When Sloane is called upon, the A-list gets their moment without going overboard, being heard without ever getting involved in a scandal. Her proficiency in maintaining the popularity of the clients in the right way while avoiding the problems of the tabloid is something that is done to perfection. Underneath the calm, honest exterior is a brilliant strategist who knows exactly how to organize the show.

8. Lewis Kay — CEO, Kovert Creative

Lewis Kay is one of those people who somehow manages to be involved with every major pop culture event. As the head of Kovert Creative, he has been the force behind the rise of the careers of MrBeast, Jimmy Kimmel, and Amy Poehler, to name just a few. Kay doesn’t limit himself to being a publicist; he is more of a strategist and understands that fame in the present-day world goes beyond the traditional media. He has arranged everything from the appearance of a late-night host to a viral campaign that takes over social media users’ feeds. Kay’s forte is to be able to meld the best of both worlds—the Hollywood of the 1970s and the digital age present-day—and come up with campaigns that are not only real but also smart and successful. If at all huge moments are happening that, among other things, require a skillful mix of being real and at the same time creating a buzz, Lewis Kay is probably the one who is there behind the curtain, making it seem so effortless.

7. Cindi Berger — Chairman and CEO, Rogers & Cowan PMK

Cindi Berger is a type of Hollywood myth that makes assistants everywhere dream: She started as a receptionist and went up to the position of the head of one of the most powerful PR firms in the world, Rogers & Cowan PMK. Berger has on her client list Mariah Carey, Billy Crystal, and Robert Redford, but her influence goes way farther than the red carpet. She led The View, proving that her abilities are not limited to celebrity publicity but also extend to the creation of cultural moments. With her grace and correctness, Berger has become not only the publicist who protects her clients but also the one who drives them forward. She not only keeps fame alive; she makes it perfect.

6. Adam Keen — Co-Head, Global Film PR, Amazon Studios

Adam Keen has been an influential voice in film publicity for over 20 years and is now, with just a few exceptions, the most acknowledged among the industry’s fanbase in the film publicity field. In his present position at Amazon Studios, he leads the public campaigns of television and cinema for the streaming giant. His career also includes the production of features such as Act of Valor and Immortals, along with time at Warner Bros. and Sony. Keen’s formula for PR is not only a thorough one but also ingenious since he understands how to build suspense, compose a message, and make sure that every campaign is celebrated. He is a shining example that the use of a well-planned narrative is the secret weapon of Hollywood success, way behind the scenes.

5. Jill Hudson — VP of Entertainment Publicity, FOX Broadcasting Co.

In case you have been watching shows like American Idol, The X Factor, or The Simpsons, you have also been seeing what Jill Hudson does. As the main publicity force of FOX for many years, Hudson has been the architect of publicity campaigns that literally make TV shows the referents of culture. Her major quality, which strongly contributes to her success, is her imaginative approach, and thus she can make a PR stunt look like a real event for the media to cover. A good example of this is her “Mars Bar wine tasting” event for Stars on Mars, which was at the same time witty and perfectly on-brand. Hudson’s PR intuition is a harmonious mixture of fun and sophistication, and she is recognized for the point of view that turns an ordinary moment into a headline that is not to be missed.

4. Amanda Lundberg — Partner, 42West

Amanda Lundberg is a name synonymous with blockbuster success. As a 42West partner, she’s overseen publicity efforts for everything from buzzy indie darlings to huge franchise movies. She’s been credited with reviving the James Bond franchise, as well as developing Oscar-season strategies for actors Tom Cruise and director Paul Feig. Lundberg’s strategy is film-friendly in its own right; she knows how to stage a movie opening as an event and ensure the discussion doesn’t fizzle the moment the credits stop rolling. Her instincts, coupled with her rich industry acumen, make her one of the most sought-after counsel to Hollywood’s biggest stars.

3. Nicole Perez-Krueger — Principal, Align Public Relations

Nicole Perez-Krueger, who could be termed a reinvention genius, is the PR expert who helped Matthew McConaughey get rid of his rom-com image and be known as an Oscar-winning dramatic actor. A transformation of that sort is not a simple thing that just happens overnight; it takes deliberate planning, intentional storytelling, and knowing people’s perceptions. Perez-Krueger is also well known for managing clients like Lauren Conrad years after their reality TV fame, which implies that she perfectly understands how to grow a brand in a dignified manner. Her clients are not only famous but also respected, relevant, and real because of her thoughtful and up-to-date approach to PR.

2. Danica Smith — Publicist, Kovert Creative

Danica Smith has been instrumental in redefining the concept of success for her clients and has, in fact, made a career out of it. She was a key player in the transition of Olivia Munn from quirky TV host of Attack of the Show to a popular actress on The Newsroom. Smith, whose client base is a mix of the entertainment, sports, and lifestyle industries, is proficient in the blending of authenticity and branding when it comes to the relationships between celebrities and brands. On the other hand, PR and branding frequently co-interact in Danica’s case. She is creative and credible when it comes to integrating PR and branding, which has led to her becoming one of the most innovative publicists in the industry. She is a living example that the loudest promotion is not a must, but rather the one that is felt.

1. Joy Fehily — Founder, Joy Fehily Management + Consulting

When in need of wise counsel, Robert Downey Jr., Aaron Sorkin, or Seth MacFarlane may turn to Joy Fehily. As the founding partner of Joy Fehily Management + Consulting, she has gone on to be known for being strategic and very personal in her work. Fehily does not simply do the work of publicity; she is in charge of perception, story, and legacy. Her background is in communications, brand management, and creative consulting, which allows her clients to be the most distinctive in a constantly changing media landscape. She has been the power source that runs the vehicle behind the great career changes and the enduring relationships of Hollywood while working with stars and studios to handle fame in a very calm and graceful way. Simply put, Fehily is much more than a publicist; she is a visionary.

What do all these people have in common? They are the backstage geniuses of the Hollywood glitter. Publicists are those who spin the tales, rescue the characters, and maintain the fragile balance of exposure vs. privacy. They oversee exclusives, handle crises, and have an impact on how the public sees the celebrities that we like (or sometimes dislike) the most. In an industry where perception equals reality, these PR titans are the ones who keep the shows going and ensure that the cameras are still rolling. Without them, the Hollywood machine wouldn’t be able to shine so brilliantly.

Peacock will not offer you endless options like some of its streaming rivals, but let me inform you that, in terms of quality, it is at the same level. If you are tired of scrolling for 30 minutes and then giving up and watching The Office again, this list is your savior. I have put together the 10 best movies currently streaming on Peacock in a ranked countdown manner because, well, a little suspense is more fun.

10. Belfast

Kenneth Branagh’s genuine love letter to his youth is the type of film that clings long after the credits stop. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Belfast weaves nostalgia, sadness, and determination into a stunningly made coming-of-age tale. Boasting an amazing cast and a killer soundtrack, it’s the very definition of a moving film.

9. The Bad Guys

Don’t be fooled by the animation; this heist comedy is a hoot for adults and children alike. Think Ocean’s Eleven if the team were a wolf, shark, tarantula, snake, and piranha. With snazzy, Into the Spider-Verse-style visuals and a star voice cast headed by Sam Rockwell, The Bad Guys is sheer fun.

8. The Killer

If you are a fan of John Woo, then you must be very happy to know that he is back with this remake of the film of the same name from 1989. This new version tells the story of Nathalie Emmanuel, who plays an assassin whose killing turns into a personal one, witnessing the event. Omar Sy and Sam Worthington are the supporting actors, while Woo is directing, and that means this is the best type of chic action filmmaking.

7. The Northman

Do you want to hear about the movie that combines Vikings, revenge, and incredible visuals? Then, of course, your answer would be yes. The Northman, by Robert Eggers, tells the story of a prince (Alexander Skarsgård) who is on a violent journey to avenge his father’s death. This film is done in a very raw way, it is very violent, and it is very visually striking – thus, it is perfect for those who take pleasure in period dramas that have a dark twist.

6. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Even though Renee Zellweger is back in the role of Bridget, this movie is not one of the lighthearted rom-coms that you might expect. Here she is, a widow who is going through the grieving process, and at the same time, she is returning to the dating scene, and her new love interest is a lot younger than she is. The movie is hilarious, touching, and surprisingly gloomy, so if you want to watch, have your tissues and wine ready.

5. Dog Man

Just like the team that made Captain Underpants, Dog Man is the absolute antithesis of a creative team. The creators of Dog Man, the half-dog, half-dog cop, have taken one ridiculously hilarious premise and turned it into the best thing that it can be. Pete Davidson is the one who tells the story of the villain, Petey the cat, who is the troublemaker, and that is why the movie is full of both silly and funny jokes. A really good family movie that is both funny and smart to watch.

4. The Woman in the Yard

Need a fright? This Blumhouse horror movie, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, features Danielle Deadwyler as a bereaved mom who is stalked by a supernatural entity in the very yard she is in. It’s unsettling, moving, and atmospheric, a welcome twist on the haunted-house genre.

3. Drop

This tight thriller relies on an irresistible “what would you do?” setup. Meghann Fahy is a widow reentering the dating pool until things turn wicked and she’s blackmailed: kill your date or your son dies. With Fahy and Brandon Sklenar smoldering with chemistry, Drop has you on high alert until the very last. 

2. The Phoenician Scheme

Think Wes Anderson doing a crime caper, and you’ll get the vibe here. Benicio del Toro stars as a shady arms dealer trying to pull his estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton) into the family business. With a stacked cast of Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bill Murray, and Anderson’s signature visuals, this one’s as stylish as it is quirky.

1. Monkey Man

Dev Patel not only stars in Monkey Man he also writes, directs, and delivers a powerhouse performance. This revenge thriller tracks a street fighter from an Indian underground club as he tracks down the perpetrators of his mother’s murder. Violent fight scenes intermingle with incisive comments on class and corruption, making one of the year’s most buzzed-about films.

Whether you’re in the mood for gut-wrenching drama, wild animation, or bone-crunching action, Peacock’s lineup is stacked right now. Queue up a couple of these, grab some snacks, and you’ve got yourself the perfect movie night.

Would you like to take a movie road trip across America? If yes, then it is great that you were thinking about it because that’s exactly what we are going to do! Our trip will be guided by 10 fantastic films that were filmed in different states of America. We will take the vast lands of Wyoming in our stride and, at the same time, get a little charm from the small houses of Massachusetts. These films might be seen as maps since they tell you which is the main theme of the place, the people, or that intangible feeling is, for instance, which lets you know that you are somewhere. In case you are a cinephile, a trivia lover, or simply looking for your next great watch, these choices are the best ones as they give a little bit of America, one shot at a time.

10. Wyoming – Wind River (2017)

Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River is not just a murder mystery but a terrifying tale of sorrow, survival, and unfairness in the snow-covered nature of Wyoming. It is the story of a wildlife tracker (Jeremy Renner) and an FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) who, while looking into a murder, find the reservation torn apart by trauma that goes far beyond the crime. The film’s wide, frostbitten images are gorgeous but suffocating as they not only show the emptiness but also the strength of the people living in that area. It’s a beautifully, though brutally, filmed reminder that the forces of nature and mankind aren’t necessarily different and that they can also be harsh.

9. South Carolina – The Notebook (2004)

Is there any place on earth that could be the source of love? The answer would most likely be the state of South Carolina. The Notebook, which is based on Nicholas Sparks’ bestselling novel, Seabrook Island, transforms into a movie that depicts the most romantic of summers and heartbreaks. The movie features the actors Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as Noah and Allie, characters who experience love at first sight amidst the Spanish moss, rowboats, and southern sunsets of this beautiful state. The movie is so powerful that, inevitably, you will have to fall in love and, thus, the tears will also be a must in your watch session. Almost 20 years later, it still stands as one of the most legendary romantic films ever created, combining the elements of love and tears in the most balanced way.

8. Rhode Island – Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Wes Anderson alone could transform Rhode Island into a pastel postcard seemingly from another planet. Moonrise Kingdom is his quirky love letter to childhood adventure, following the escapades of two young fugitives who run away from their small seaside town in the name of defiance and love. Apart from the lighthouses, rock coasts, and the meticulously constructed sets, it looks like a fairy tale brought to life. Beneath the dream, however, there is a melancholy, a reminder of what it means to grow up and find your place in a world that doesn’t always make sense.

7. Oregon – Wild (2014)

Wild is a deeply moving story of regret and subsequent personal growth set in the breathtaking wilderness of Oregon. Reese Witherspoon delivers an equally powerful performance as Cheryl Strayed, a female hiker who undertakes a solo journey of more than a thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail to work through her grief. The film does not shy away from showing the tremendous physical challenge of the hike, and it also depicts the emotional transformation that comes with being alone. The vast forests and mountains of Oregon are not just pretty views; they are also integral to Cheryl’s change, a stark setting for a very human story about the struggle to come to terms with your past without being crushed by it.

6. North Carolina – Logan Lucky (2017)

Logan Lucky from Steven Soderbergh is a brilliant and crazy North Carolina heist comedy that locates us right in the heart of the state. With a mix of actors like Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, and Daniel Craig, the movie is about a group of blue-collar scoundrels who hatch a plan for a high-risk heist during a NASCAR event. The jabs are on point, the characters talk in authentic accents, and southern hospitality is there, too, all wrapped up. On top of the laughs, the movie offers a sharp class-conscious critique of luck and the grind of the hustle in a world socially stacked against you, all done in a beer-fueled, laid-back style.

5. New Mexico – Crazy Heart (2009)

Crazy Heart is a very few movies that can accurately represent the faded love of the American Southwest with such detail. Jeff Bridges is great and rightly earns the Oscar as Bad Blake, a down-and-out country star who is dragging the desert towns of New Mexico along with his bottle and his vulnerable side. One of the few bright things in dust and neon lights is his romance with a journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The country music in the film, which is about falling, heartbreak, and salvation, was seemingly made by the very earth. Every bar, the roadside cafe, and the sunset drive convince you of that bittersweet truth: sometimes you have to lose sight of yourself before you can find your way back home.

4. New Jersey – Garden State (2004)

With Garden State, Zach Braff wrote a quietly moving picture of what it is like to come home after wandering too long. Set against the backdrop of suburban cul-de-sacs and gray skies, the film recounts a down-and-out actor (Braff) who goes back to New Jersey for his mom’s funeral and finds his way back to life with the help of an offbeat, free-spirited woman (Natalie Portman). The picture’s quirky humor, sweet moments, and indelible soundtrack define the indie spirit of 2000s cinema, and the bittersweet comfort of finding your way back home, imperfections and all.

3. Nebraska – Nebraska (2013)

Alexander Payne’s Nebraska is a dryly funny, sweet odyssey across America’s heartland, in grim black and white. Bruce Dern plays an elderly man who thinks he’s won a million-dollar sweepstakes and embarks on a road trip accompanied by his skeptical son (Will Forte). As they ride along deserted towns and fields, the film limns a poignantly bittersweet picture of small-town dreams and unspoken disappointments, and the messy love between fathers and sons. It’s heartwrenching and hilarious, a caution that even in the dullest of places, you might find tales worth hearing.

2. Missouri – Winter’s Bone (2010)

Generally, Toxic Bone or Winter’s Wrath is probably the most emotional and most haunting movie about Missouri, which is a story that Jennifer Lawrence led with a stunning performance before she became famous. As Ree Dolly, a girl who was determined to find her absent father and save her family’s home, Lawrence powerfully conveys both her strength and her vulnerability almost to the same extent. The film’s subdued color scheme, the nature vibe, and its rugged-realistic style, which is even quite rough at the border, all help to achieve an almost documentary-like atmosphere. The plot is fascinating, and it is mainly about survival, friendship, and the quiet bravery of facing the world when you only have your will.

1. Massachusetts – Little Women (2019)

Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is not only an inviting, lively, and lovable new interpretation of the immortal classic by Louisa May Alcott, but it is also a love letter from the director to the state of Massachusetts. Based on 19th-century Concord, the film depicts the March sisters’ walk through the life stages of growing up, fantasizing about, and eventually figuring out what being a woman really is. The movie is packed with warm fall light, old mansions, and snug rooms, none of which seem like a replacement but rather a picture. Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Timothée Chalamet are just right as Gerwig’s characters in the film, and with their energy and zeal, they convincingly show that only those tales of family, ambition, and love are never going to be old.

From snowstorms to sunsets, heartbreak to hope, these movies are proof that every corner of America has a story that deserves to be told. Whether you are drawn by the wild nature of the West, the Shore’s charm of New England, or the soulful rhythms of the South, movies allow us to experience it all without needing a plane ticket. So for your next film evening, why not let the map decide?

It is confirmed: Netflix has become the workshop of Santa, the fastest producer of holiday entertainment of Christmas movies. Once upon a time, Hallmark was the undisputed king of the snow-globe romance market; however, now Netflix has by all means arrived with a great number of various kinds of love stories, such as the ones with a warm and fuzzy plot, stories with a high budget, and even the ones that are delightfully weird and difficult to understand.

The programming for the coming holiday season is jam-packed with content: there is animation, music, warm drama, and even a little bit of anarchy. Make a cup of hot chocolate, and put on a pair of fuzzy socks before lying down and watching these top 10 Netflix Christmas movies of 2024, which we list in reverse order, of course, as who doesn’t like a little suspense?

10. That Christmas – Richard Curtis’s Animated Holiday Tapestry

The British Writer of Love Actually and Notting Hill has, after a long time, changed his style and turned his work into animation. Richard Curtis’s That Christmas features the signature ensemble narrative of the director selecting one theme in a warm, candy-colored universe with stories of love, family, and Christmas chaos that are interconnected. Brian Cox, Jodie Whittaker, Fiona Shaw, and Bill Nighy are among the cast, so in essence, it is Love Actually, plus a little British humor and a bit of childhood magic.

9. The Snow Sister – Nordic Magic and Melancholy

If you aren’t quite satisfied with just the usual holiday films and demand emotional depth as well, then The Snow Sister will be an emotional feast for you. The original for this Norwegian remake is the story of a boy named Julian whose Christmas spirit is brought back to life by a very lovely and, apparently, magical girl named Hedvig. What starts as an average holiday story metaphorically grows into a touching and mystical fable about loss and healing. It is gorgeously filmed, emotionally layered, and is a perfect substitute for anyone who is in need of less bright and more serious works during the holiday season.

8. A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter – Pop Meets Holiday Pandemonium

Christmas specials don’t have to be all sweet, right? Sabrina Carpenter throws that suggestion out the frosted window with A Nonsense Christmas, a musical-comedy extravaganza that’s part variety show, part fever dream. Filled with celebrity guest stars (Shania Twain, Quinta Brunson, Cara Delevingne, and more) and replete with tongue-in-cheek humor, it’s crazy in the very best way. Half-sparkle, half-snark, this is the Christmas special for those who adore tradition but with a dash of glitter and irony.

7. Meet Me Next Christmas – Music, Meet-Cutes, and Mayhem

Christina Milian gets back to romantic-comedy stardom in Meet Me Next Christmas, a bubbly love story filmed during a snowy New York City. The story? Layla wants to get tickets to a sold-out Pentatonix concert and perhaps find “the one” in the process. With musical numbers, slapstick antics, and the ideal balance of cheese and charm, it’s one of those movies that makes you smile even when you’re rolling your eyes (for good).

6. Our Little Secret – Lindsay Lohan’s Cringeworthy Ex-Mas Reunion

Lindsay Lohan keeps her holiday comeback vibe alive with Our Little Secret. In this rom-com, she is reunited with Ian Harding from the Pretty Little Liars series. After discovering that their new partners are siblings, two exes are compelled to spend Christmas together under the same very critical roof. Kristin Chenoweth overplays her role to the extreme as the domineering matriarch, while Tim Meadows brings on the hilarious chaos. It is fast, sharp, and ridiculously awkward—the kind of family Christmas terror that is unsettlingly accurate.

5. The Merry Gentlemen – A Naughty-but-Nice Holiday Spectacle

What if you take elements from Magic Mike and White Christmas and combine them? The result would be The Merry Gentlemen. Britt Robertson plays the role of a dancer who comes back to her hometown to save her parents’ theater by creating a fun, all-male, holiday revue. The glittery ensemble is led by Chad Michael Murray and, yes, it is as uproarious and over-the-top as it sounds. The movie goes from being heartfelt to tongue-in-cheek and back again, making it the right combination of sparkle, sweat, and sentiment.

4. Hot Frosty – The Snowman Rom-Com We Didn’t Know We Needed

Christmas queen and the most lovable one of the time, Lacey Chabert, finally takes her trademark holiday formula a step further in Hot Frosty. In the movie, she is the one who brings a snowman to life by accident (Dustin Milligan), and he is, well, outrageously handsome. What could be a fiasco turns out as a surprisingly charming rom-com about loss, love, and the weird magic of the holidays. It is ridiculous, heartfelt, and the perfect homage to every Hallmark movie you have ever liked (or mocked).

3. Carry-On – Holiday Action with High Stakes

Christmas action films are back on the holiday menu. Carry-On serves up straight-up Die Hard-esque, with Taron Egerton playing an X-ray technician who is blackmailed by Jason Bateman into smuggling a mysterious package onto a flight, on Christmas Eve. Trapped in an airport for most of the film, it still gets tense, frantic, and surprisingly festive. If you prefer your Christmas film with explosions rather than carols, this one’s your ticket.

2. Mary – The Nativity Retold on an Epic Scale

Netflix goes big with Mary, a majestic biblical epic reimagining the birth of Jesus from the perspective of Mary. Noa Cohen plays the title role with understated power, and Anthony Hopkins brings dignity as King Herod. Visually ambitious and emotionally honest, it’s a testament that the season’s spiritual heritage still has narrative heft. Respectful but never preachy, Mary is timeless, a welcome addition to the contemporary Christmas canon.

1. The Netflix Christmas Machine – Comfort, Chaos, and Holiday Gold

Let’s be honest: the actual star of Christmas 2024 is not any one movie, but rather Netflix itself. The streaming platform has basically perfected the self-aware holiday movie to a very fine extent by delivering equally snow-globe escapism, nostalgic, and innovative stories. Netflix has a certain way of making us millennial holiday nostalgia hit perfectly with the antics of Lindsay Lohan, the romance of Lacey Chabert, or the chaos of Sabrina Carpenter. What’s the result? Loads of comfort, glamour, and just the right amount of anarchy, and we can’t turn away from watching.

So, if you want to watch a heartwarming drama, a sparkling musical, or an utterly insane rom-com about a snowman boyfriend, Netflix is the place to be this holiday season.

Comedy lovers, come and see because the year 2024 has turned out to be one of the best years for stand-up in the last years. One thing that we saw in the year was the rebranding of the big stars and the very powerful entrance of the new faces, and we might even add that some of the specials made us amuse, groan, and even shed a tear. The year was full of biting social commentary and pure craziness, which proved that stand-up is still evolving in crazy, great ways. How about we do a countdown of the 10 greatest comedy specials of 2024, starting from the bottom, just because suspense is half the fun?

10. Ali Wong – Single Lady (Netflix, 59 min)

Honestly, I don’t think Ali Wong will ever be beaten in the foreseeable future with the way she keeps turning brutal honesty into comedy gold. Her drama with the divorce is the focus of Single Lady, where one gets to see an uncut glimpse of life, money, and power through the eyes of someone who has definitely made her way and can now say whatever she wants. Across every story, Wong’s confidence is there, and you can feel her being a perfect blend of sharp and chill in her delivery. It is a very funny, at times brutal, a little bit of a cry, and absolutely Ali Wong at her best.

9. Langston Kerman – Bad Poetry (Netflix, 50 min)

Langston Kerman is an extremely rare breed of a comedian, who gives nothing away in his appearance but is fiercely intelligent and masterful in his execution, with literally every line. He invites the viewers into the confounded territories of his mind with Bad Poetry and then quickly turns the surreal commentary into a subtle story with a deceivingly calm tone. Kerman’s finding weirdness not only funny but also in some way profound is evident whether he is doing an on-the-spot sermon of cringe-worthy voicemails or delving into the themes of identity and absurdity.

8. Ramy Youssef – More Feelings (Max, 55 min)

One of the most illuminating and thoughtful moments of comedy that Ramy Youssef could ever bring to the stage is More Feelings, a quite addictive show with almost 55 minutes long. Youssef, in his role, comes off as a mixture of a comic and a cognitive psychologist, and the show, in its core, is an investigation of faith, politics, guilt, and the growth cycle. The tone of Youssef is like a cozy night chat with an old buddy, but the punchiness he makes usually hits the target. Christopher Storer, the director, just gets it spot on with the closeness, and this, without a doubt, is the most deeply human special of this year.

7. Kyle Kinane – Dirt Nap (YouTube, 72 min)

The gist of the story of Kinane’s cat that Kinane starts his Dirt Nap is quickly left behind, and the stand-up turns into an existential voyage where aging, politics, and life during a pandemic are dealt with. His work is that of a philosopher half in a beer-guzzling raconteur, and he is also half wisdom, half nonsense. Kinane’s style of loose-limbed should have failed, but actually, it works because he is the kind of rare comedian who can make even the most ludicrous side-track seem to be of great importance.

6. Courtney Pauroso – Vanessa 5000 (Dropout, 64 min)

Pauroso’s special, Vanessa 5000, by all means, is the most innovative stand-up of the year. As a machine with the traits of a female over-the-top, whose programming breaks down bit by bit, Pauroso eventually takes a ridiculous proposition and makes it an emotional meltdown of the highest order. The mix of clowning, body humor, and heartbreak elements in the work makes it something very special in the field of stand-up. It is quite unsettling, yet very funny and also very memorable, a show that refuses to be pigeonholed and which demonstrates the potential of comedy to be a form of art.

5. Anthony Jeselnik – Bones and All (Netflix, 51 min)

With the album Bones and All, Jeselnik turns the spotlight on 20 years of his bad taste to be refined into high art. The way of delivery of the artist is still very much ice-cold and to the point; however, there is a certain new level of introspection as well. Jeselnik’s take on cultural hotspots is very avant-garde, and when he slows down the pace and reflects on his career and his friendship with Norm Macdonald, it’s a surprise to find him being sentimental. It is Jeselnik, the sharpest version, but with the most humane side of his character showing through and, therefore, the least amount of bite, that is here made most apparent.

4. Nikki Glaser – Someday You’ll Die (Max, 60 min)

Nikki Glaser’s Someday You’ll Die is a demonstration that grimness and humor can intermingle effectively. Glaser examines her own death, social connections, and why she doesn’t mind not having children through extremely frank and somewhat ironic one-liners. The show’s visual aspects are quite impressive, awesome, and shiny, which, in fact, reflect well Glaser’s mixture of openness and confidence. Essentially, it is the most self-assured, well-rounded, and therefore, the gift she has ever made.

3. Adam Sandler – Love You (Netflix, 74 min)

Love You, directed by Josh Safdie, is not an ordinary Adam Sandler comedy special; it’s half confession, half conceptual art. Sandler incorporates into the mix songs, jokes, and heartfelt feelings, all of which he tries (and sometimes fails) to execute simultaneously. The anxiety and the affection are something one would expect from a Safdie movie, and the final song, an homage to comedy, is as lovely as it is sorrowful. It is an unorganized, touching, and typical Sandler work of art.

2. Jacqueline Novak – Get on Your Knees (Netflix, 94 min)

Jacqueline Novak’s Get on Your Knees, a film by Natasha Lyonne, is quite an experience: 90 minutes of language tricks, personal insights, and brutal honesty with a surreal twist. Initially, the author’s consideration of oral quickly morphs into an essay on language, gender, and creativity. Novak’s intellect and vitality are without any kind of limitation. She moves around the stage, uses her hands, and speaks off the cuff until the whole room seems to animate. It is confrontational, clever, and one-of-a-kind.

1. Ali Siddiq – Domino Effect Part 3: First Day of School (YouTube, 77 min)

Ali Siddiq continues his narrative saga in Domino Effect Part 3, a nd it’s quite simply his best so far. Zeroing in on the time in jail before the court hearing, Siddiq turns the story into something very personal and at the same time universal, a musing on childhood, accountability, and inner power. The man’s comic timing couldn’t be better, the characters are vibrant, and the overall point of view is very much human. Besides being an absolutely great comedic special, it is an American narrative, done by a master craftsman and his mic.

Honorable Mention: Nate Bargatze – Your Friend, Nate Bargatze (Netflix)

The compilation would not be complete if we didn’t have Nate Bargatze, whose Your Friend, Nate Bargatze was Netflix the most considerable stand-up special of the year. His neat, very relatable manner of doing things is what keeps him attracting great audiences, thus making him the highest-paid comedian in the world for 2024. After a year full of arena gigs and working with Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan, Bargatze has proved that clean doesn’t mean dull.

2024 provided us with a bit of everything: love, disorder, philosophy, dirt, and a massive amount of laughter. If you happen to like raw honesty, weird experiments, or traditional joke craft, then you are going to agree that the comedy specials of this year were able to extend the boundary of comedy that much without it being a loss of its essence.

If you are like me, the moment Netflix drops its “Leaving Soon” list, it feels like this list is targeted at me personally—as if the streaming gods are deliberately making my planned watchlist disappear. Just when you have made up your mind to re-watch that safe show or finally start the movie your friends have been insisting you watch, it disappears without a trace. Alas, it seems that July and October 2025 will be two particularly cruel months to say goodbye to a great mix of loved, hidden gems, and all-time favorite titles. So, in case these gems disappear for an indefinite period of time, here are 10 movies and shows that you absolutely have to stream before their departure, going from the lowest to the highest number, as suspense makes everything better.

10. Wynonna Earp

If you are a fan of the supernatural genre, this is definitely a show you should watch. Wynonna Earp, the quirky cult-fantasy-Western, is soon to be off the shelves and on Netflix, July 26. The show, across its four seasons, offers demon-hunting, witty one-liners, and touching familial relationships. It is one of those series that never got the recognition in the mainstream that it surely deserves, and yet it is a total find for anyone who seeks a combination of action, love, and a quirky sense of humor. Catch it before it moves on.

9. Thanksgiving

If you are a lover of horror films, then this is good news for you as we are breaking the news of the sad departure from Netflix of Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving, which will be gone on August 17. This present-day slasher not only serves the viewers with gore, but it is also a wickedly funny and self-aware piece. Situated in Plymouth, Massachusetts, it turns holiday pandemonium into utter chaos. Roth’s loving horror homage to the greats reveals that sometimes being very serious about it is exactly what makes it effective. So you’d better see it before the time slot changes without you noticing.

8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

One can be sure of this that George Miller’s Furiosa—the fantastic, revenge-tragic the very violent Mad Max: Fury Road series—the prequel is fast leaving Netflix and streaming services on July 16. Anya Taylor-Joy does an amazing job in the dark tale of vengeance, while Chris Hemsworth brings a deviously delightful villain gesture to life. Furiosa is a powerful argument that prequels can go beyond merely unfolding the original narrative; in fact, they then enrich it. So if you are into crazy post-apocalyptic disasters, make your move before Furiosa leaves.

7. Dune: Part Two

The second chapter of Dune: Part Two is scheduled to leave Netflix on July 1, so make sure to watch it before then. Denis Villeneuve’s epic follow-up goes beyond in almost every sense what the first film had: the visuals, the storytelling, the ambition. It is cerebral sci-fi of the highest order – grand, thoughtful, and staying with you for a long time. In fact, whichever side of the fence you are on, the fights or the philosophical undercurrents, make sure that this one is not lost among the sands.

6. Obsessed

Should you wish to watch a tension- and drama-filled, classic old-fashioned thriller, then you should definitely watch Obsessed. The movie, which stars Beyoncé and Idris Elba, is about a married couple whose life is turned upside down by a delusional coworker who becomes dangerously obsessed with one of them. It is highly intense, dramatic, and totally takes your breath away, exactly what you need for a popcorn movie night. Watch it before the time of its expiration, which is July 1.

5. The Squid and the Whale

Baumbach, Noah, with his The Squid and the Whale, perhaps has made the hardest-hitting, uncompromising movie of all time about the breakdown of the family unit. Divorce through the eyes of children baffled by it is what the movie gets to with the best performances in the careers of Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney. It is merciless, very funny in a dark way, and deeply heartbreaking. This indie gem should not be allowed to take its leave before the 1st of July.

4. Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing is ageless—a searing, beautiful look at race, community, and conflict on one hot Brooklyn day. Its strength is its unwillingness to preach or oversimplify, but rather to force you to sit with the unease. One of those films that every cinema fan needs to see at least once. Get out July 1, don’t miss it.

3. The Twilight Saga

Indeed, Twilight. Love it, loathe it, or ironically love it, there is no denying its cultural relevance. All five are departing from Netflix on July 1, so here’s your opportunity to return to the sparkling vamps, over-the-top drama, and nostalgic early-2000s angst. Watch solo or with friends for laughs, and it’s a surefire nostalgia.

2. Empire Records

“Damn the man, save the Empire!” is still the best ’90s comfort film of all time. It is a story about revolt, friendship, and the power of music, set in a record store that is about to be taken over by a corporation. With the great soundtrack and lovable misfit characters, it is no surprise that it has become a cult classic. See it until October 23 if you want to experience a retro viewing.

1. Mission: Impossible Series

Along with the theme music. Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible series is the best one in the action genre and is therefore followed by crazy stunts, unexpected twists, and barely heroic situations. All five parts will be off Netflix in October, so you cannot spare the time better than this if you want to do a marathon. If you are revisiting the classics or watching them for the first time, this is peak action cinema.

So, gather the snacks that you will need, call your binge friends, and press play, because your Netflix queue will be very different when these shows disappear.

Often, one of the best movies or TV series is that single which shakes your entire worldview so much that you cannot help but express your surprise by saying, “Wait… what just happened?”. These fictional works, which in a way laugh at reason and simply aim for the absurd, have an odd charm to them; although they never operate conventionally, they stay with you. To acknowledge their weirdness, here is a list of the nine most confusing, unfathomable, and engrossing screen experiences.

9. Hostage (2025)

Hostage is a political thriller on Netflix full of sarcastic remarks, and you want to figure out the plot only to find out that it is something else entirely. The story is a magnificent muddle of confusion: Mrs. Prime Minister gets kidnapped during a secret mission, the son of the French President is carrying some encrypted laptops, but nobody is interested, and global leaders are pretending that they are lost, as if they didn’t know where their next important meeting was. It is absurd, it doesn’t make any sense, and yet it totally captivates you. Hostage is the outcome of the mix of the gorgeous images and the total logic breakdown, a “beautiful nonsense” you keep looking at, although your mind keeps protesting.

8. Mad God (2022)

Mad God, made by the legendary stop-motion master Phil Tippett over a period of 35 years, is more of an expedition into the nightmares of someone else than a film. It is completely silent, has no story, and is absolutely insane, which is why it is amazing. A hooded stranger travels through a rotting world of deformed puppets and frightening monsters, with each shot being more horrifying than the previous one. The film is a combination of art, horror, and insanity all in one single hypnotic fever dream. To view it is to surrender to the depths of the subconscious, a place one may never fully leave, but which will haunt one forever.

7. Persona (1966)

Ingmar Bergman’s Persona is still among the most puzzling and deeply psychological works of art in the film category. After throwing at the viewer some downright shocking images of a crucifixion, a dead animal, and a corpse, it switches to the portrayal of the relationship between a nurse and her mute patient, an actress who has lost her ability to speak. Afterwards, the movie goes beyond its own borders with the film burning, the storyline getting mixed up, and the truth being smashed. What is real? Who is who? Does everything exist or not? Persona is a riot of ghosts, brains, and stubbornly multilayered.

6. Annihilation (2018)

Alex Garland’s Annihilation is a noisy cocktail of the genres sci-fi, horror, and existential terror. The Shimmer is a place where the laws of physics and biology that we know are changed. So, a team of scientists entered the zone to find out the truth. When Portman, as the character, sees her doppelganger of weird perfection, there is no room for reason. You have to question identity, reality, and even the reason for evolution. It is a beautiful movie, but also a terrifying one, and it is mind-boggling as well. It is better to see it twice, the first time to follow the story and the second time with the confusion.

5. Mulholland Drive (2001)

David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive is a film that breaks the rules of any kind. The film noir whodunit that it is at first soon became a dreamlike nightmare of fragmented identities, false memories, and madness. Naomi Watts as the actress whose reality is between fantasy and nightmare and thus blurring, makes an excellent job. A dream? A delusion? Both? Lynch never provides the answer because Mulholland Drive is not about the answer. It’s about the feeling.

4. Tenet (2020)

Tenet is a wild, edgy, and cool spy thriller by Christopher Nolan that more or less feels like a scientific puzzle. The film revolves around “time inversion” situations, where characters interact as if one is going forward and the other is going backward in time. The hero, figuring out that he’s the one from the future who’s actually writing the script, may very well give you a brain-in-a-blender effect. Simply put, Tenet is awesome, impressive, and quite a complicated mess of sorts; it’s not something you understand, it’s an impression that you get, and that impression is a wonderful kind of confusion.

3. Inception (2010)

While Tenet was a time-related theme, Inception treated the same theme through dreams that were nested inside each other. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb is the leader of an operation that delves into the subconscious, mixing dream with reality on every level. And the spinning top: it is always spinning, never falling, and continually creating arguments. Is he aware? Still dreaming? Both? Nolan purposely keeps it ambiguous, thus turning the explanation into a riddle that lasts even after the credits are done.

2. Donnie Darko (2001)

Not many films could combine teenage rage, time travel, and absolute terror of existence in such a way as Donnie Darko did. The protagonist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, sees a giant rabbit that tells him the end of the world, and to his astonishment, everything that happens is very tightly related to fate, other dimensions, and whether he is a lunatic or a genius. The movie keeps telling us that it never provides a direct answer, but keeps coming back to its own riddles. Donnie Darko is a dark, depressive, and eternally debatable one of the most atypical and complex pieces of the past that has amassed a cult-following.

1. The Insanity of Short Films

Maybe shorts were the first to bring the anarchist idea to the film industry. In most cases, these directors choose to use these small-scale projects as their way of showing their most unusual and ambitious ideas, which, in general, are limited by factors like runtime or sometimes even by logic. Actually, shorts kind of have the whole surreal thing to themselves, whether it be Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon or Don Hertzfeldt’s funny and absurd Rejected (“My spoon is too big!”). There are also Stant Brakhage’s The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes, which revolutionizes the concept of an autopsy film, and Chris Marker’s La Jetée, a love story told only through still photographs.

They do not take much time to present to the audience what creative freedom and delightful confusion can be found in feature-length ones. Sometimes the best stories are completely illogical, and that happens to be their strength. If a film leaves you confused, laughing your amazement, or silently staring at the credits with astonishment, it is not a defeat; it is art. Because, in the cinema universe, confusion can be the most delightful of emotions.

Hollywood can make dreams a reality, but also destroy them in record time. Occasionally, it isn’t burnout or scandal that brings a promising career to a halt, but rather one misguided role that sets everything awry. Here’s a countdown of 10 performances that sent once-rising stars right off the A-list map.

10. Greta Garbo – Two-Faced Woman

Greta Garbo was inviolable at one time, the height of silver screen stardom. But Two-Faced Woman (1941) was the film that dethroned her. The movie attempted to remake her as a sassy comedienne, but reviewers savaged it as tasteless and badly constructed. Viewers didn’t accept the new Garbo either. She ceased appearing in films altogether after the negative reaction.

9. Eddie Murphy – The Adventures of Pluto Nash & Norbit

Eddie Murphy dominated the ’80s and ’90s but came close to seeing his career ruined in the early 2000s. The $100 million sci-fi bomb The Adventures of Pluto Nash, which grossed less than $7 million, was just the start. Then there was Norbit, which critics deemed wince-inducingly unfunny and offensive. Murphy himself now acknowledges that the time was ripe with “shitty movies,” leading him to take a break from the limelight for a couple of years.

8. Mariah Carey – Glitter

Pop icon Mariah Carey believed Glitter (2001) would make her a movie star. Instead, it was a pop culture punchline. The film tanked at the box office and with critics, grossing only $5 million and a paltry 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. Carey did not take the panning well, but she rebounded by heading back to her rightful home: the recording studio. Hollywood, though, did not dial back.

7. Shaquille O’Neal – Steel

Basketball great Shaquille O’Neal attempted to extend his winning streak to the big screen, but Steel (1997) was a complete airball. The superhero movie was awkward, campy, and box office poison, scoring an atrocious 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even the director admitted after the fact that Shaq simply lacked the acting skills. Following that, his acting career was benched forever.

6. Paris Hilton – The Hottie and the Nottie & House of Wax

Paris Hilton’s transition from reality TV stardom to the big screen didn’t exactly work out. House of Wax brought her lots of ridicule, and The Hottie and the Nottie put the finishing touches on it, scoring just 6% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Razzie for Worst Actress. Critics were merciless, and Hilton’s film career never got back on track. She went back to the community that adored her most, celebrity culture.

5. Taylor Kitsch – John Carter

Arriving on the heels of Friday Night Lights, Taylor Kitsch seemed to be the next big leading man. Then, of course, there was John Carter (2012), one of the most costly and catastrophic box office flops in film history. Even Kitsch’s decent work couldn’t save the film from its haphazard marketing and ballooning budget. Kitsch has worked steadily since, but the A-list moment that John Carter was going to provide never materialized.

4. Rachael Leigh Cook – Josie and the Pussycats

Rachael Leigh Cook was Hollywood’s new darling after She’s All That. But when Josie and the Pussycats tanked, she reports that she was essentially sent to “movie jail.” The box office failure put the brakes on her big-screen career, and she gravitated to the smaller films and TV movies. She is still adored, but her chance at movie superstardom passed her by.

3. Taylor Lautner – Abduction

Fresh from Twilight, Taylor Lautner had the potential to be a blockbuster leading man, until Abduction (2011). Abduction was ripped apart by critics, with The New York Times poking fun at his abs doing most of the work. The film had a paltry 5% on Rotten Tomatoes, and since then, Lautner’s film career dwindled nearly to nothing.

2. Alicia Silverstone – Batman & Robin

Following Clueless, Alicia Silverstone was Hollywood royalty. Then there was Batman & Robin (1997), roundly regarded as one of the worst superhero films ever created. Her performance as Batgirl won her a Razzie, and the bad publicity, particularly nasty jokes about her weight, encouraged her to retreat from acting completely. Many years on, Silverstone confessed the experience made her disillusioned with the industry.

1. Elizabeth Berkley – Showgirls

Leading the pack is Elizabeth Berkley, who transitioned from Saved by the Bell sweetheart to overnight scandal magnet. Showgirls (1995) was supposed to be her transition into adult Hollywood stardom, ended up ruining her career. The critics ridiculed the film’s explicit eroticism and stilted acting, and Berkley carried the worst of the criticism. While Showgirls later became a cult classic, it came too late for Berkley’s Hollywood life.

Hollywood loves a comeback, but these stories prove that sometimes one wrong role can change everything. In a town built on image and timing, even one bad decision can turn a rising star into a footnote.