When asked about this film’s journey to the big screen, screenwriter Scott Neustadter explains: “It was much easier to sell network execs on a film ‘From the team that brought you (500) Days of Summer’ than to set up an R-rated dark teen drama.” But this coming-of-age love story seems to be both a quirky, well-written indy film as well as a dark story with enough alcohol, sex, and offensive language in the first 10 minutes to earn its R rating.

Let’s say this upfront: Planes isn’t a Pixar production. But with John Lasseter—chief creative officer at both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios—as executive producer, this movie is clearly a follow-up to Lasseter’s 2006 Pixar production, Cars, and its brightly colored trucks and planes invoke the same imaginary terrain.

With over 170 million books in print, Debbie Macomber has proven that when it comes to romance stories, the word “romance” doesn’t have to equal “sleazy.”  And she isn’t afraid to reveal to secular media why she writes cleaner stories than most: She’s an evangelical Christian.  

Her voice trembling, eyes watering, Merry Clayton admits, “I felt that if I just gave my heart to what I was doing, I would automatically be a star.”  

From Ray Charles to Sheryl Crow to Elton John, musical stardom has afforded many pop icons a measure of earthly glory. But in this documentary, the spotlight finally hits some of the 20th century’s greatest back-up singers like Clayton—people you’ve heard, but never heard of.  

When we first meet Lone-Ranger-in-training, John Reid (Armie Hammer), he has no mask, no horse, and no hint of a sidekick. Fresh out of law school, he’s traveling to his hometown with an ideal of justice that—like his dandy suit—seems to have no place in the Wild West.

One reason 30,000 American soldiers of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops haven’t received their due—despite critical roles in World War II including the Battle of the Bulge—is the fact that most of them never existed. In truth, the so-called Ghost Army consisted of a mere 1,100 deception artists.

In this documentary, which aired on PBS in May and remains available on DVD, producer Rick Beyer examines this special army unit, combining photographs, video footage, and interviews with both historians and members of the Ghost Army.