This has been a tough year. Pop culture let us down in many ways, even as our political system and our social institutions revealed a deeper seam of ugliness. But speculative fiction still offers us hope: not just optimism about human ingenuity, but actual reasons to look forward and keep our heads up.

The whole point of a post-apocalyptic story is that someone survives. But when you have a calamity that wipes out 99.9 percent of all humans, then how exactly do you explain the survivors? In honor of the new Maze Runner movie, here are the 14 dumbest ways people survive the apocalypse.

This was a tough year for movies and television — we had the weakest box office summer in years, and TV ratings were anemic. Tons of huge, vaunted projects stumbled, and some underdogs thrived. Here are the top 10 lessons we hope the entertainment industry has learned this year.

The third movie in the Hunger Games series is supposed to be the one where the frame pulls back and reveals a bigger world than the teen arena of the first two. Instead, Mockingjay Part 1 does something more daring: it shows how all of the dystopian land of Panem is just the Arena writ large. Minor spoilers ahead...

Lately, every movie seems to be a sequel or reboot — but it doesn't stop there. Because the movie industry is increasingly dependent on creating franchises, we're seeing some bastardized forms, that are just designed to keep franchises alive. Here are six newfangled types of movies that we're already tired of.

It's Banned Books Week! But people are trying to keep great books out of libraries and schools every hour of every day, year round. And often, people's reasons for challenging these titles are really, really... outlandish. Here are 12 SF and fantasy books that people have given incomprehensible reasons for banning.

Today's genre books are full of future dystopias, which only have one weakness: teenagers. And everybody knows that most dystopias are kind of contrived. But here are 10 lessons from real-life rebellions against repressive regimes, that we wish the creators of fictional dystopias would pay attention to.

The latest Hunger Games Mockingjay poster.

So have they announced a Hot Toys Cressida figure yet? Asking for a friend. Check out Natalie Dormer's Cressida and the rest of the rebels in the the new Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 posters below:

This is a great time to be a fan of science fiction and fantasy movies, and this fall is jam-packed with wonder and fascination. There are huge sequels, like Hunger Games and The Hobbit. But also some huge wild cards, like Christopher Nolan's Interstellar and Ridley Scott's Exodus. Here are 29 movies to look out for…

Traditionally, it's damsels who need saving, what with their pretty dresses, bosoms and emotions. Men, on the other hand, are theoretically strong and self-sufficient… which is why it's so satisfying whenever these tables turned. Here are seven dudes who would be dead without their infinitely more competent damsels.