We had hoped it wouldn’t come to be, but 2021 turned out to be more of the same from the previous year thanks to the pandemic. Lots of hunkering-down isolating or enjoying the great outdoors more often than usual. And once again, books played a big part in helping us all cope and maintain some kind of normalcy. Now more than ever, books in all their various formats will make a great gift this holiday season. This year saw a resurgence of Dune; illustrated versions of J.R.R. Tolkien works; memoirs from the world of rock and heavy metal; graphic novel collections; fun, pop-culture-themed cookbooks; stories from the imaginations of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Grady Hendrix; continuing adventures from the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Marvel universes, and much more.

Check out our Holiday Gift Guide 2021 for Books, eBooks, and Audiobooks for our favorite holiday gift picks for the readers in your life.

Movie theater franchises have been adding more and more immersive theater experiences to their screenings: There’s the ever-popular IMAX (in its various forms), AMC has the Dolby Cinema, and Regal Cinemas has launched a few new options with ScreenX and 4DX. I spent the summer checking out cinema chain’s answers to slumping attendance, focusing mainly on what 4DX has to offer.

Though it started to look like Spider-Man would be going back to Sony after their partnership with Disney came to a crashing end, a surprising deal was able to save the webslinger from the corporate snap that would have dusted the character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Though both parties agreed on new terms, it was who brought them together that made it all happen. According to new reports, it was Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home star Tom Holland‘s last-minute heroics that were able to save Spidey from being lost to the MCU. More on the report below.

Spider-Man: Far From Home
4K Ultra HD | Blu-ray | DVD | Digital
Director: Jon Watts
Writer: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers
Cast: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, J. B. Smoove, Jacob Batalon, Martin Starr, Marisa Tomei, Jake Gyllenhaal
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 1, 2019

It’s a bit ironic that Sony and Disney would come to an agreement to share Spider-Man one more time just before the home release of Spider-Man: Far From Home. So there is a slight cause for celebration. The webslinger is a permanent fixture within Marvel Comics, but has had a hard time playing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sandbox thanks to rights issues. Luckily, the two sides have been able to come an agreement. And as such, we have been given two, and now soon to be three, great standalone films.

Whatever happens next is still unclear, but fans can rest easy knowing that Spider-Man has at least spent some time in the MCU. Now Spider-Man: Far From Home, one of the better live-action Spider-Man films, is available for you to own on various home entertainment formats. Filled with a number of bonus features, this will be something every Marvel Studios and Spider-Man fan needs to have. Check out my review of the Blu-ray Edition here below.

Oh how things can quickly change. Back in August, just days before the D23 Expo was supposed to start, Sony had announced that Spider-Man would no longer be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, citing Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige’s growing responsibilities at Disney+. The move was shocking to say the least and was met with an uproar from fans who believed that Sony needed Feige’s help.

Now it looks like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will websling in the MCU once again thanks to a last-minute deal that was signed between Disney and Sony. More on the report here below.