Stars I Love: Sam Claflin

Glamour UK / Matt Holyoak

Many male stars starting out in Hollywood are known for their pretty faces and washboard abs. That's actually how Australian native Sam Claflin spent his early days in some of the biggest franchises like a lovestruck rebel in Pirates of the Caribbean and Snow White's childhood friend William in Snow White and the Huntsman. In 2013, he hit the jackpot as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games, which is one of my favorite book characters, and it's been fascinating to see his career grow over the past five years.

One of my favorite qualities about Claflin is that I never know where he is going to turn up next and I always forget what I've seen him in before - in a good way. He surprises me by the amount of different roles he's taken on in only seven years. His characters are never quite the same, nor is he particularly attached to one genre or another. (And like another one of my favorites Chris Pine, Claflin often works with female directors and his characters support heroines to do their own thing....) In a celebration of his birthday, here are my five favorite roles of his so far. What are your favorite Sam Claflin movies? Feel free to share in the comments below!

5 Reasons Why I Couldn't Fully Recap The Walking Dead Season Eight Finale

Nothing might be more defeating in a fandom than when something you love goes off the rails. Though The Walking Dead's ratings have been dropping for more than two seasons, and its direction has been panned by both fans and critics, the season eight finale was still majorly disappointing.

It's difficult to pinpoint where the popular series started spiraling out of control because every fan feels differently, and if you've been following my recaps, it's no secret when the show started letting me down. However, there just seemed to be no recovery of how expectations of the characters' future were shattered when one major cast member was unceremoniously killed off, and the show kept pile-driving a storyline home that nobody's wanted for multiple seasons. Which is why it took me so long to even approach writing a recap for the season eight finale. Honestly, I didn't know if I needed space from the latest cliffhanger or if I just stopped giving a damn. I just know here are 5 Reasons Why I Couldn't Take The Walking Dead's Season Eight Finale Seriously and Didn't Recap It. This post contains spoilers of season eight. You've been warned!

The Greatest Showman (2018) Sings A Surprisingly Different Tune

Musicals inspire us to set aside reality as characters break out into song and dance when life’s knocked them down or they're making their dreams come true. With the setting of a grand circus and a showman making his performers dreams come true, The Greatest Showman surprisingly struggles with creating magic outside of its wondrous score and dazzling production.

Hugh Jackman takes on real-life circus mogul P.T. Barnum from his downtrodden childhood to marrying the woman (Michelle Williams) of his dreams and creating an eccentric show starring outcasts – bearded lady, a giant, a dwarf, trapeze artists, siamese twins - to name a few. As his exhibition of "freaks" bring a different kind of success than he anticipated, Barnum's forced to face what his dreams are truly made of.

Stars I Love: Chris Evans

If Ryan Gosling is the king of Canadian Charm, there's truly only one option for the All-American Human Unicorn. And that is Chris Evans. Not only has he played Captain America with nothing short of charisma and charm, but underneath the blue eyes and oggle-worthy muscles, he's compassionate, pragmatic, and sensitive. So, settle into your Captain America suit, because in celebration of his birthday, we're digging into the Superhero Who Walks Among Us Chris Evans.

Ocean's Eight (2018) Plays It A Little Too Cool

Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Since Ocean's 8 started stitching its cast list together in 2017, the reboot to Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's franchise took on huge expectations and a need to prove assumptions wrong before it ever hit theaters. Despite how epic the cast is or big the anticipation (or sleek the trailers are), sometimes the power to make a good movie isn't with those on the poster; it's with the actual powers-that-be. And unfortunately, this director plays it way too cool and practically topples the film like a house of cards.

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), estranged sister to Danny Ocean (George Clooney), spent five years, eight months, and twelve days in jail with one thing on her mind: pulling off her next con. Reunited with her team of grifters - Lou (Cate Blanchett), Amita (Mindy Kaling), Tammy (Sarah Paulson), Constance (Awkwafina), Nine Ball (Rihanna), Rose (Helena Bonham Carter), they make Hollywood's biggest star Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) and jewelry powerhouse Cartier their next target. But Ocean's jewel heist isn't just any jewel heist: all she aims to do is break inside the Met Gala and walk out with $150,000,000. Easy.

First Man (2018) Trailer Reaction

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

After gathering even more steam in Hollywood following his award-winning musical La La Land, director Damien Chazelle decided to take one giant leap from Tinseltown to outer space. Teaming up again with human unicorn Ryan Gosling, the two embark on a biopic of prolific astronaut Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to walk on the moon for the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

If you've been following my obsession admiration Ryan Gosling here or on twitter, then you must know that this post was an inevitable. Combining two of my biggest loves - space and the Canadian actor - inspired me to count down the days until the official trailer for First Man would drop. *deep breaths* Now that it's finally been released, it's time for another trailer reaction! SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT.

The X-Files Mini Reunion Reveals The Truth at MegaCon Orlando 2018

For almost fourteen years, fans of The X-Files waited for the resurgence of Chris Carter's extraterrestrial series to come along. When the television show returned to Fox for two more seasons, devotees were all-to-eager to continue the investigation of aliens, demons, and everything in-between alongside FBI Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Following the series' brief return for its eleventh and final (never say never) season earlier in 2018, the truth was still out there as the supporting cast touched down in MegaCon Orlando for a mini-reunion. Mitch Pileggi, who played FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, Annabeth Gish as former agent Monica Reyes, and William B Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man were on hand for a spooky question and answer session with fans to dish about the latest season and what it was like to work on one of the most mind-boggling series ever.

The following contains spoilers for the final season of The X-Files. Read at your own risk!