Entertainment

CANNES, France — When Australia’s George Miller came here in 2016 to serve as jury president, just months after his “Mad Max: Fury Road” won six Oscars, he swept in like a conquering hero. His movie was undeniable: a reinvigoration of both his career and the action genre. Often, the relationship between Cannes and the blockbuster directors it invites comes off as strained — see French artist Zaho de Sagazan serenading this year’s jury president Greta Gerwig at Tuesday’s opening ceremony — but with Miller, the moment felt right.

Inciardi Dance will present “Aspire,” their end-of-the-year program at the Poncan Theatre Saturday, May 25. The show will begin at 7:00 p.m. and there is no charge to the public. Suzanne Kem and Cara Cassens are the directors of Aspire.

What a ride! There was a lot of hype heading into “X-Men ’97”, the original show from 1992 is looked back upon as a gold standard for what a superhero/action cartoon could be back in the 90s along with “Batman: The Animated Series” for pushing the boundaries of the format, and offering dramatic and heavy topics. “X-Men ’97”, as I mentioned in my first impressions article a few weeks back, captures the same spirit of the old show while also growing with it’s audience.

Since Charlton Heston first gazed upon the remnants of the Statue of Liberty emerging from a sandy beach in horror, 56 years ago, the “Planet of the Apes” movies have been extremely popular with moviegoing audiences. The appeal of these earnest, big-budget spectacle movies is the opportunity to explore complex characters, power dynamics and wrestle with social issues within the franchise’s allegorical representation of our world. They’re not escapism, but reflection.

Blake Crouch has enjoyably adapted his own 2016 novel “Dark Matter” into a nine-episode series for Apple TV+, which aims to be your destination for classy sci-fi. It’s got nothing to do with “dark matter” except as Shakespeare might have used the phrase to describe some sinister business — “This dark matter doth shade our bright prospects,” something like that.

After much anticipation, we’ve finally got our first look at the new costume design for James Gunn’s new Superman movie that will debut next year and kick-off the new DC Universe (DCU) cinematic universe that both Gunn and Peter Safran are heading. And my first thoughts….I like it.