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Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling got all dolled up for the “Barbie” press junket in L.A.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling got all
Dr. Matthew Hitchcock, a family physician in Chattanooga, Tenn., has an A.I. helper.
It records patient visits on his smartphone and summarizes them for treatment plans and billing. He does some light editing of what the A.I. produces, and is done with his daily patient visit documentation in 20 minutes or so.
Dr. Hitchcock used to spend up to two hours typing up these medical notes after his four children went to bed. “That’s a thing of the past,” he said. “It’s quite awesome.”
ChatGPT-style artificial intelligence is coming to health care, and the grand vision of what it could bring is inspiring. Every doctor, enthusiasts predict, will have a superintelligent sidekick, dispensing suggestions to improve care.
But first will come more mundane applications of artificial intelligence. A prime target will be to ease the crushing burden of digital paperwork that physicians must produce, typing lengthy notes into electronic medical records required for treatment, billing and administrative purposes.
For now, the new A.I. in health care is going to be less a genius partner than a tireless scribe.
From leaders at major medical centers to family physicians, there is optimism that health care will benefit from the latest advances in generative A.I. — technology that can produce everything from poetry to computer programs, often with human-level fluency.
But medicine, doctors emphasize, is not a wide open terrain of experimentation. A.I.’s tendency to occasionally create fabrications, or so-called hallucinations, can be amusing, but not in the high-stakes realm of health care.
That makes generative A.I., they say, very different from A.I. algorithms, already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, for specific applications, like scanning medical images for cell clusters or subtle patterns that suggest the presence of lung or breast cancer. Doctors are also using chatbots to communicate more effectively with some patients.
Physicians and medical researchers say regulatory uncertainty, and concerns about patient safety and litigation, will slow the acceptance of generative A.I. in health care, especially its use in diagnosis and treatment plans.
Those physicians who have tried out the new technology say its performance has improved markedly in the last year. And the medical note software is designed so that doctors can check the A.I.-generated summaries against the words spoken during a patient’s visit, making it verifiable and fostering trust.
“At this stage, we have to pick our use cases carefully,” said Dr. John Halamka, president of Mayo Clinic Platform, who oversees the health system’s adoption of artificial intelligence. “Reducing the documentation burden would be a huge win on its own.”
Recent studies show that doctors and nurses report high levels of burnout, prompting many to leave the profession. High on the list of complaints, especially for primary care physicians, is the time spent on documentation for electronic health records. That work often spills over into the evenings, after-office-hours toil that doctors refer to as “pajama time.”
Generative A.I., experts say, looks like a promising weapon to combat the physician workload crisis.
“This technology is rapidly improving at a time health care needs help,” said Dr. Adam Landman, chief information officer of Mass General Brigham, which includes Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
For years, doctors have used various kinds of documentation assistance, including speech recognition software and human transcribers. But the latest A.I. is doing far more: summarizing, organizing and tagging the conversation between a doctor and a patient.
Companies developing this kind of technology include Abridge, Ambience Healthcare, Augmedix, Nuance, which is part of Microsoft, and Suki.
Ten physicians at the University of Kansas Medical Center have been using generative A.I. software for the last two months, said Dr. Gregory Ator, an ear, nose and throat specialist and the center’s chief medical informatics officer. The medical center plans to eventually make the software available to its 2,200 physicians.
But the Kansas health system is steering clear of using generative A.I. in diagnosis, concerned that its recommendations may be unreliable and that its reasoning is not transparent. “In medicine, we can’t tolerate hallucinations,” Dr. Ator said. “And we don’t like black boxes.”
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has been a test bed for Abridge, a start-up led and co-founded by Dr. Shivdev Rao, a practicing cardiologist who was also an executive at the medical center’s venture arm.
Abridge was founded in 2018, when large language models, the technology engine for generative A.I., emerged. The technology, Dr. Rao said, opened a door to an automated solution to the clerical overload in health care, which he saw around him, even for his own father.
“My dad retired early,” Dr. Rao said. “He just couldn’t type fast enough.”
Today, the Abridge software is used by more than 1,000 physicians in the University of Pittsburgh medical system.
Dr. Michelle Thompson, a family physician in Hermitage, Pa., who specializes in lifestyle and integrative care, said the software had freed up nearly two hours in her day. Now, she has time to do a yoga class, or to linger over a sit-down family dinner.
Another benefit has been to improve the experience of the patient visit, Dr. Thompson said. There is no longer typing, note-taking or other distractions. She simply asks patients for permission to record their conversation on her phone.
“A.I. has allowed me, as a physician, to be 100 percent present for my patients,” she said.
The A.I. tool, Dr. Thompson added, has also helped patients become more engaged in their own care. Immediately after a visit, the patient receives a summary, accessible through the University of Pittsburgh medical system’s online portal.
The software translates any medical terminology into plain English at about a fourth-grade reading level. It also provides a recording of the visit with “medical moments” color-coded for medications, procedures and diagnoses. The patient can click on a colored tag and listen to a portion of the conversation.
Studies show that patients forget up to 80 percent of what physicians and nurses say during visits. The recorded and A.I.-generated summary of the visit, Dr. Thompson said, is a resource her patients can return to for reminders to take medications, exercise or schedule follow-up visits.
After the appointment, physicians receive a clinical note summary to review. There are links back to the transcript of the doctor-patient conversation, so the A.I.’s work can be checked and verified. “That has really helped me build trust in the A.I.,” Dr. Thompson said.
In Tennessee, Dr. Hitchcock, who also uses Abridge software, has read the reports of ChatGPT scoring high marks on standard medical tests and heard the predictions that digital doctors will improve care and solve staffing shortages.
Dr. Hitchcock has tried ChatGPT and is impressed. But he would never think of loading a patient record into the chatbot and asking for a diagnosis, for legal, regulatory and practical reasons. For now, he is grateful to have his evenings free, no longer mired in the tedious digital documentation required by the American health care industry.
And he sees no technology cure for the health care staffing shortfall. “A.I. isn’t going to fix that anytime soon,” said Dr. Hitchcock, who is looking to hire another doctor for his four-physician practice.
Dr. Matthew Hitchcock, a family physician in
“Playables” is a new feature in development for YouTube that could add interactive games to the video platform, The Wall Street Journal reports. The feature was apparently detailed in an email Google sent to its employees asking them to test it. Games could either be playable via the YouTube app on iOS and Android or through the browser on desktop.
The WSJ’s report only contains details on one game the service could include, Stack Bounce, which it describes as “an arcade game in which players attempt to smash layers of bricks with a bouncing ball.” It sounds a little bit like Atari classic Breakout to me, but it’s hard to tell without seeing screenshots.
In a statement, YouTube declined to confirm the existence of the initiative. “Gaming has long been a focus at YouTube,” spokesperson Alex McQuiston said. “We’re always experimenting with new features, but have nothing to announce right now.”
“We’re always experimenting with new features, but have nothing to announce right now”
YouTube already boasts a large library of gaming content that includes both livestreams and prerecorded videos. Google even attempted to spin this content out into its own app in 2015 with the launch of YouTube Gaming, but it was discontinued in 2019 after the company admitted it caused “a lot of brand confusion.”
Google has had several gaming initiatives over the years, but its track record is hit and miss. Android is host to a vibrant gaming ecosystem of titles that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. But Stadia, Google’s high-profile attempt to tap into the burgeoning market for game streaming, floundered and was eventually discontinued a little over three years after it was launched.
When announcing Stadia’s shutdown, the service’s vice president and general manager, Phil Harrison, said that the company saw “clear opportunities to apply [Stadia’s] technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts.”
It’s unclear exactly how YouTube plans to monetize Playables. But for a platform like YouTube, where attention is a key part of its success, it’s not hard to see the benefit interactive games could bring.
Update June 26th, 12:00PM ET: Updated with attributed YouTube statement.
“Playables” is a new feature in development
Mila Kunis showed off her casual style as she was spotted grabbing breakfast with a friend at Beverly Glen Deli in Los Angeles on Monday.
For the morning outing, the 39-year-old actress donned a black-and-white striped top that she wore over a light blue long-sleeve collared shirt, and a pair of ripped white jeans.
Kunis, who turns 40 later this summer, completed her outfit with a pair of white Converse sneakers and a pair of black sunglasses.
She wore her tresses in soft waves as she was spotted smiling while departing the Los Angeles-based deli.
Beverly Glen Deli appears to be a favorite place of Kunis’s as she was seen departing the same restaurant on June 12, where she grabbed lunch with a different friend.
Style: Mila Kunis showed off her casual style as she was spotted grabbing breakfast with a friend at Beverly Glen Deli in Los Angeles on Monday
The outfit: Kunis, 39, donned a black-and-white striped top that she wore over a light blue long-sleeve collared shirt, and a pair of ripped white jeans
For the June 12 lunch, Kunis once again displayed her incredible fashion style in a another chic yet casual outfit: a beige colored sweater, a pair of high-waisted, wide-leg ankle jeans, and a pair of white sneakers.
To finish her look, the That 70s Show star sported a large white canvas bag and had her hair up in high ponytail with a purple scrunchie.
Beverly Glen Deli appears to be not just a favorite hotspot for the 39-year-old actress, but for other celebrities as well.
In addition to Kunis, other celebrities who were recently spotted dining at Beverly Glen Deli include Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber, and rumored couple Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny.
The sighting of Kunis at Beverly Glen Deli on June 26 comes just three days after her husband and fellow That 70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher posted a rare tribute to her (Kunis does not have any verified social media accounts) on Instagram.
‘I’m the Luckiest man alive. #gratitude,” Kutcher, 45, wrote in the caption of his June 23 Instagram post.
Kutcher’s Instagram post featured a single photo of Kunis standing in front of a blue ocean during a tropical getaway with a beautiful mountain range in the background.
Kunis, who had her eyes closed in the picture, held her arms out and stretched towards the sky as a rainbow appeared to line lup perfectly behind her and over her head.
Grateful: Kunis’s outing at Beverly Glen Deli comes just days after her husband posted a rare tribute to her on Instagram where he expressed his gratitude for his wife as they were recently on a tropical getaway
From Kutcher’s post, it was unknown where he and Kunis were enjoying their tropical getaway at.
The couple met on the set of the hit sitcom That 70s Shows, which ran for eight from seasons from 1998 to 2006. On That 70s Show, Kunis portrayed Jackie Burkhart while Kutcher portrayed Michael Kelso.
Despite their characters being in an on-again, off-again relationship throughout the first half of That 70s Show, things did not turn romantic between the co-stars until years after the show’s final season concluded.
At the time of the series finale of That 70s Show, Kunis was in a long-term relationship with actor Macaulay Culkin and the pair were together for eight years from 2002 to 2010.
Meanwhile, Kutcher was married to actress Demi Moore, with the marriage lasting from 2005 to 2013.
The That 70s Show co-stars didn’t start dating until earl 2012 and have been married since July 2015. The pair share two children together: eight-year-old daughter Wyatt and six-year-old son Dimitri.
A powerful, shapeshifting teenage girl and a disgraced knight-in-training suspected of killing a beloved queen are at the heart of “ Nimona,” a vibrant and irreverent animated adventure set in a futuristic fantasy kingdom.
It is a familiar story — a society governed by ancient rules and a crippling fear of outsiders — even by recent Netflix animation standards (see “The Sea Beast”). But “Nimona” is wrapped in new, exciting packaging with a wildly fun soundtrack featuring the likes of Metric, Dope Saint Jude and Judas Priest, LGBTQ+ themes that aren’t clumsily subtle, and charismatic lead voice actors in Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed. There’s also a supporting character named Ambrosius Goldenloin. Ambrosius. Goldenloin. He has blonde, swooped hair and is voiced by Eugene Lee Yang of The Try Guys.
The fraught saga of getting “Nimona” to audiences could be its own epic movie. ND Stevenson’s popular graphic novel first went into development in 2015 at Blue Sky Studios and was inherited by Disney in 2019 as part of the Fox acquisition. Despite seismic shifts and leadership changes, work continued. Then in 2021, when the film was reported to be 75% complete, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios was shuttering and “Nimona” was to be shelved. In addition to the economic hardships of the pandemic, Business Insider reported that Disney leadership took issue with a same-gender kiss. Then Annapurna and Netflix stepped in, with new directors (Nick Bruno, Troy Quane), and got “Nimona” to the finish line.
Moretz is the voice of Nimona, a chaos-loving radical who sees a fellow outsider’s horrifying fall from grace and thinks “I need to collab with this guy.“ The outsider in question is Ballister Boldheart (Ahmed), a kid from the streets who dreamt of being a knight, a position traditionally reserved for members of a certain class or descendants of an ancient, revered warrior named Gloreth, who 1,000 years ago saved the kingdom from a monster. Despite the odds, and prejudices, he rose the ranks and almost made it.
On the “Night to Knight Knights” a big, televised event with futuristic Super Bowl halftime show-meets-“Blade Runner”/“Hunger Games” production levels, the public still isn’t convinced about Ballister – they sneer that he doesn’t deserve it and won’t keep them safe. The only people on his side are his boyfriend, the aforementioned Ambrosius Goldenloin, and the queen. But things go south quickly at the ceremony: The sword he’s given kills his most public champion, the queen, in front of everyone and no one gives him the benefit of the doubt. He’s a queen killer and that’s that.
Ballister is reluctant to team up with Nimona – he wants to prove his innocence and she doesn’t seem like the best way back into society. But she also has some very useful skills, namely being able to morph into anyone and anything – an adult, a child, a rhinoceros – and single-handedly defeat a dozen men without much strain. Plus, she’s a lot more fun than the small-minded bros and icy leaders back at the Institute. Moretz, it should be noted, is an excellent voice actor who brings real life and punk energy to Nimona. And there are some real twists and turns on the way to the resolution that would be best to just experience yourself.
Certainly the release has been plotted to coincide with Pride, but it happens that LGBTQ+ rights are also once again under seige in the country. This may not push the envelope much further than recent animated forays into more blatant depictions of same sex relationships, but it’s another tiny step in the right direction which is always helped when the movie is good, too.
Netflix might not have initiated “Nimona,” but it won by getting it out in the end.
“Nimona,” a Netflix release in limited release Friday and streaming June 30, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for, “violence/action, rude humor, thematic elements and some language.“ Running time: 101 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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MPA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
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A powerful, shapeshifting teenage girl and a
Jennifer Lawrence achieved global super-stardom by landing the role of Katniss Everdeen in Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games” franchise, which launched in 2012 and spanned four films through 2015. The franchise grossed $2.9 billion at the worldwide box office with Lawrence at the forefront. However, Lawrence’s tenure as Katniss would not have been possible had a different audition gone in the Oscar winner’s favor.
“I auditioned for ‘Twilight,’” Lawrence confirmed during a recent interview on “The Rewatchables” podcast. “They turned me down immediately. I didn’t even get a callback. But my life would’ve been totally different. I got ‘Hunger Games’ I think, like, a year later. It was probably after ‘Winter’s Bone.’”
Summit Entertainment’s “Twilight” saga launched in 2008 and spanned five movies through 2012. The franchise, which turned Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner into overnight stars, earned $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office. Lawrence said she had to “churn out movies in between” her “Hunger Games” films so that she was “not only known for this franchise,” which is something she’d still have to do if she booked “Twilight” instead.
“I was still in a franchise, so I was still trying to counteract the franchise-ness,” Lawrence said. “I’d still be doing that if I was in ‘Twilight.’ But I almost didn’t do ‘Hunger Games’ because ‘Twilight’ had come out and that fandom had happened.”
“When I was trying to talk to people about making this decision after [‘Hunger Games’] got offered to me, it was hard to explain to people… this level of fame,” Lawrence said. “I assumed it was going to be the ‘Twilight’ level of fame and that was never something I had in mind. I never wanted to be the most famous person on the planet. That’s a very different life than I pictured for me.”
Given “Twilight” launched in the late 2000s, its stars were subjected to paparazzi and a tabloid culture that differed from Lawrence’s experience in the mid-2010s. Lawrence was still hounded, of course, but she said “I would’ve been miserable, too” had she starred in “Twilight” and had to deal with the media attention Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner faced.
Lionsgate is set to continue “The Hunger Games” franchise later this year with the prequel movie “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which stars Viola Davis, Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman and Hunter Schafer. Lawrence recently told Variety that she would be open to reprising Katniss should the franchise continue.
“Oh, my God – totally!” Lawrence said when asked about a “Hunger Games” return. “If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100 percent.”
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opens in theaters Nov. 17.
Jennifer Lawrence achieved global super-stardom by landing
As Marvel’s vice grip over the box office has begun to loosen and DC films such as The Flash and Black Adam flop, many people have begun to wonder if “superhero fatigue” has finally set in.
From 2008 through 2019, superheroes reigned supreme at both the box office and popular culture as a whole. While Hollywood luminaries such as Quinton Tarantino and Martin Scorsese griped that cinema was being ruined by the superhero fad, Marvel continued to turn out hit after hit.
Photo: Marvel
One of the men behind many of those hits was James Gunn, who led the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise through its first three films.
In a recent interview, Gunn, who is now in charge of the DC Universe, talked about the fear that studios like Marvel and DC are “overextending” themselves.
“We’re going to be very careful with the product that we put out. Making sure everything is as good as it can possibly be,” Gunn said.
While some have questioned whether or not the sheer volume of superhero content is the problem, Gunn thinks the bigger issue is lazy storytelling.
“People have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories,” Gunn said. “And they have gotten to the place where, ‘Oh, it’s a superhero, let’s make a movie about it.’ Then, ‘Oh, let’s make a sequel, because the first one did pretty well.’ And they aren’t thinking about, ‘Why is this story special? What makes this story stand apart from other stories? What is the story at the heart of it all? Why is this character important? What makes this story different that it fills a need for people in theaters to go see?’”
Photo: Variety
Gunn continued, “People have gotten a little lazy and there’s a lot of biff, pow, bam stuff happening in movies. And I’m watching third acts of superhero films where I really just don’t feel like there’s a rhyme or reason to what’s happening. I don’t care about the characters. And they’ve gotten too generic.”
Photo: Marvel
So, the question remains, what can Marvel and DC do to get back on track?
According to Gunn, the solution is “having very different genres” within the superhero genre as opposed to “this sort of middle-of-the-road type of genre and tone that so many superhero movies have.”
“I like very serious superhero movies, and I like very comedic superhero movies,” Gunn said. “I like ones that are a murder mystery but it’s with superheroes. I’d like to see these different types of stories, as opposed to seeing the same story told over and over again.”
Photo: Marvel
Marvel has previously had success doing just what Gunn suggests. The most critically acclaimed Marvel films in recent years have been projects like Werewolf by Night, which drastically changed the tone.
Photo: Marvel
If superheroes are going to continue, they will need to evolve. Now, it is up to Marvel and DC to change course.
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As Marvel’s vice
The massive revamp of the DCU franchise, which is being orchestrated by acclaimed director James Gunn, is a huge move in one of the most lucrative niches of the film industry that’s undoubtedly being closely watched by fans, be it those of the comics and/or those who liked at least some of the previous cinematic adaptations. The person whose perhaps most aware of the near-astronomical expectations of what’s to come is of course Gunn himself. In a report from The Direct, the director recently sat down with the Inside of You podcast for an interview about the road ahead with the DCU, and how he expected backlash from the moment of the first announcement.
James Gunn is no stranger whatsoever to superhero films. He first helmed the dark superhero comedy Super (2010), which starred the likes of Rainn Wilson (Dark Winds), Elliot Page (The Umbrella Academy), Liv Tyler (Ad Astra), and Kevin Bacon (You Should Have Left). He then broke into the Marvel scene with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), a very unique new ensemble installment in the MCU that people initially underestimated until it blew everyone away at theaters. Gunn followed it with two more incredible sequels, the latest being Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 which released this past May to universal acclaim and nearly a billion dollars at the box office. With that sub-franchise alone Gunn had definitively made his mark in the land of superhero cinema, but he was nowhere near done yet. He went on to helm a somewhat different, standalone superhero horror film called Brightburn (2019) which took a far darker take with what appeared to be the origin of Superman, but it’s never actually indicated. He also see-saw’d over to the DCU to direct the sorely awaited reboot The Suicide Squad (2021), which debuted to immense accolades from fans after the unfortunate fallout with David Ayer’s rendition of the ensemble story.
With the proper experience under his belt, and trust from studio executives and fans alike, Gunn decided it was time for the DCU to get a much-needed philosophical intervention and took over the entire franchise, earlier this year announcing his official plan to start it from square one. He also provided the blueprint for what he called “Chapter One” of the new DCU, outlining the first dozen or so film and television projects under the title “Gods and Monsters”. Even with his carefully concocted vision for the future, however, Gunn came to the table bracing for backlash that he knew would inevitably come from at least some of the fan demographic. In his podcast interview with Inside of You, he remarked:
“I knew that there was going to be many challenges as we embarked on that journey, because people have different ideas about how things are supposed to be. People have all sorts of things that they love whether they love things from the DCEU, or they love things from the Arrowverse, they love things from the animated worlds, or whatever, that is something that we knew was going to be a ring of fire we were gonna have to walk through.”
He also noted how one of the main deciding factors for him to take on the enormous responsibility was the invitation of his longtime creative collaborator, Peter Safran.
“What made it [DC Studio’s role] appealing to me eventually was because they also went to Peter early on. And he was like the same way. But what eventually became appealing to me was doing it with Peter [Safran],”
Also, when asked about the ongoing discourse surrounding “superhero fatigue”, noted by dwindling box office turnouts and overall lackluster impressions with newer titles in both the MCU and DCU, Gunn had this to say:
“It doesn’t have anything to do with whether they’re superhero movies or not. If you don’t have a story at the base of it, just watching things bash each other, no matter how clever those bashing moments are, no matter how clever the designs and the VFX are, it just gets fatiguing, and I think that’s very, very real.”
Gunn is currently hard at work on his first personal installment in Chapter One of the DCU, titled Superman: Legacy, with hints at potential cast favorites circulating social media. Blue Beetle, which has since been confirmed to be part of the DCU, is set to premiere in theaters later this summer on August 18.
The massive revamp of the DCU franchise,
The FTC is suing Amazon for allegedly enrolling customers to subscribe to Prime “without their consent while knowingly making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions to Prime”.
In a complaint filed today, the FTC accused Amazon of “knowingly” duping millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime. More specifically, the FTC elaborated on how Amazon used “dark patterns” that tricked customers into automatically renewing a subscription to Prime, noting that during the checkout process, the company made it difficult for consumers to locate the button to finish purchasing an item in their cart.
“In many cases, the option to purchase items on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was more difficult for consumers to locate,” the FTC explained. “In some cases, the button presented to consumers to complete their transaction did not clearly state that in choosing that option, they were also agreeing to join Prime for a recurring subscription.”
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The FTC also accused Amazon of making it challenging for customers to cancel their subscriptions to Prime. “The primary purpose of its Prime cancellation process was not to enable subscribers to cancel, but to stop them,” the press release reads. “Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would’ve made it easier for users to cancel Prime because those changes adversely affected Amazon’s bottom line.”
“The FTC’s claims are false on the facts and the law. The truth is that customers love Prime, and by design we make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up for or cancel their Prime membership,” said an Amazon spokesperson in an email sent to IGN. “As with all our products and services, we continually listen to customer feedback and look for ways to improve the customer experience, and we look forward to the facts becoming clear as this case plays out.”
In recent years the FTC has cracked down on companies that exhibit “dark pattern” behavior that companies used to make it difficult to cancel some subscription services. A recent example of this includes the agency fining Epic Games more than $500 million last year, claiming the developer “tricked” players into making unintentional purchases in its popular free-to-play battle royale Fortnite.
The announcement of the FTC taking legal action against Amazon over its dark patterns comes less than a day after Amazon officially announced the dates for Prime Day 2023. The annual event provides discounts across various items and categories, with all the deals and discounts exclusive to those subscribed to Amazon Prime.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
The FTC is suing Amazon for allegedly
For four decades, Los Angeles has been home to Outfest, by any standard the premier LGBTQIA+ film festival in the US. And though June technically ends this week, Outfest’s July 13-23, 2023 festival dates provide a sort of cinema-shaped pot of gold at the end of Pride Month’s long rainbow–featuring a well-curated selection of queer cinema from new, emerging and established artists with a variety of viewpoints and experiences.
Last week, Film Independent’s Festival Visions series—our ongoing spotlight of the best programming picks from regional and specialty festivals nationwide—continued, with an online showing of the doc Finding Her Beat, directed by Dawn Mikkelson and Keri Pickett, about the emerging female presence in the historically male-dominated world of Asian drumming.
Visit our events page for more details and to register for more upcoming Festival Visions screenings—which are always online and for free—and check out our Q&A with the Finding Her Beat filmmakers on our YouTube page.
To learn a little bit more about Outfest and its, well, vision, we spoke to Outfest Director of Programming Mike Dougherty. Outfest 2023 happens next month in LA, July 13-23.
To start, tell us where Outfest is located and what surrounding community is like.
Dougherty: Outfest takes place in several venues across Los Angeles. Obviously, Los Angeles has a very film-centric cultural footprint. There are so many theaters and organizations that put on specialty programming, like American Cinematheque, The New Beverly, Vidiots, Brain Dead Studios and many more spanning all taste levels. There’s always so much going on across the city around food, music, comedy and nightlife that it can be hard to stand out as a must-see event. It’s not unusual for film events here to welcome filmmakers and cast-members in person, or to eventize a screening with a performance element. So you really have to work to make your event feel one-of-a-kind.
When was Outfest founded?
Dougherty: Outfest began in 1982, started by graduate students at UCLA including Larry Horne, Claire Aguilar, Chris Berry, Don Diers, Geoff Stier and John Ramirez. It had its origins as a weekend of screenings and lectures on campus and then moved into Los Angeles proper as a full-fledged film festival the following year. We’ve long been the most recognized LGBTQIA+ film festival in the country. Most major film festivals play a handful of queer and trans-focused films as a nod to the diversity of their lineup, but that doesn’t give you a sense of the scope of all the beautiful diversity within the LGBTQIA+ community itself.
Tell me a little bit more about that diversity.
Dougherty: Every queer film does not appeal to every queer person, so festivals like ours are crucial to show what an amazing variety of stories are out there that don’t get platformed anywhere else. We also recognize that, sadly, it’s a fact that there are always those attempting to strip our community of its voices, its representation, its rights. Proudly showing all of these stories in a safe and welcoming environment is a loud and clear rebuke to [those people].
What is your programming philosophy? What are some films you’re especially proud to have showcased
Dougherty: I believe Outfest should be as much about discovery and amplifying the work of emerging artists as we are about highlighting some of the most visible queer films of the year. Audiences will always want films with recognizable names or the stamp of approval from other major festivals. But it can be even more exciting to connect them with artists and work they’re unfamiliar with, but find themselves loving. Since Outfest is positioned in the center of the film industry, it’s important for us to help connect artists just starting out with the people and resources that can further their career. Our lineup of artists and films should always reflect the diversity of our community and share a multiplicity of perspectives with our audience. I also believe that different audiences want different things. Some might like films with broader appeal. Some might want more challenging, esoteric work. Some might want a little of both. All of those people should have multiple options at our festival.
In your personal opinion, what’s been your favorite film festival memory? It could be at Outfest or anywhere else.
Dougherty: Oh gosh, so many. My first year as an Associate Programmer at AFI Fest, I arrived early to the filmmaker welcome dinner and the first person to sit down next to me was Agnes Varda! I still remember her telling me, “I just saw The Last Emperor in 3-D. I am not convinced.”
What is your advice for filmmakers to make the most of their Outfest experience?
Dougherty: Meet each other. See each other’s work. Talk to each other. See how you might collaborate. My favorite stories out of Outfest and other festivals I’ve worked at are how new films get born from connections made during the festivals. You never know when a connection might pay off, so keep yourself open to meeting new people and take every opportunity to go to a networking event.
Tell us about the Outfest attendee experience.
Dougherty: Like many festivals in Los Angeles, we try to centralize our programs so people can experience multiple films or events in one day and form a community throughout the festival dates. We’re traditionally headquartered at the DGA Theater, which has its fantastic Atrium space and outdoor patio. Those areas make for great socializing space before or between events. There’s usually free drinks available, we try to create as much of a party atmosphere as possible wherever possible. You not only get to see great films, but we incorporate live performances–especially at our Alchemy Party which Big Freedia headlined last year. We always open up our Q&As to audience questions so you feel more connected to the experience. We strive for a welcoming, inclusive environment where our community and its allies can feel safe to celebrate.
Film Independent promotes unique independent voices, providing a wide variety of resources to help filmmakers create and advance new work. Learn more online and become a Member of Film Independent today.
Bill Maher took a deep dive into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on vaccines in a sit-down interview for the “Club Random with Bill Maher” podcast.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance has become a talking point around his campaign, as Maher tried to warn him by yelling that he would have to discuss his views for voters.
“They’re all going to ask you. This is all they’re going to ask you about. Are you serious?” Maher said after Kennedy said he wouldn’t talk about vaccines in his campaign. “You think they’re your friends who want to help you? They want to go to the most vulnerable point, which is, ‘You’re a kook because you don’t believe in vaccines.’ That’s not me talking.”
Kennedy answered no, and then he specified what about vaccines makes him skeptical. He called for scientists to test them the same way other medicine gets tested — with placebo alternatives to compare to the actual medicine.
“Every medicine is required to do placebo-controlled trials. That’s what science is. You give a group of people — a cohort — the medicine. And then you give a similarly situated cohort of people the placebo, and then you will get health outcomes over a four or five-year period. Because many of the outcomes are going to have long diagnostic horizons along the incubation period so you won’t see them immediately,” Kennedy said. “You need to do it — Anthony Fauci said eight years — for a vaccine. You need to watch them for a while. The only medicine that never gets tested are vaccines, and that is what I object to.”
“All I’m saying is let’s test them the way we test other medicines,” RFK Jr. added.
Maher responded that this argument is not unreasonable.
Watch the full video here:
Bill Maher took a deep dive into
[The following story contains spoilers for Secret Invasion’s series premiere, “Resurrection.”]
Secret Invasion star Kingsley Ben-Adir had already made a name for himself to fans of Netflix series like Peaky Blinders and The OA, but his role as Malcolm X in Regina King’s One Night in Miami (2021) was when the British actor truly broke out within the industry at large. Just two weeks after the release of Miami, Ben-Adir received a call from Marvel Studios with a direct offer to play Gravik, the Skrull baddie of their six-part miniseries, Secret Invasion, starring Samuel L. Jackson.
Marvel brass tempted Ben-Adir with two scripted scenes, one of which involves Gravik throwing Jackson’s Nick Fury around a room. (There’s a bit of it in the trailer.) So the opportunity to work one on one with Jackson, as well as Ben Mendelsohn, instantly sold Ben-Adir.
“That [Nick Fury fight scene] was one of the scenes that I read before I accepted the job. So I felt all of those feelings when I was reading it, and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is gonna be a week or two of Sam on the floor.’ So that scene and another scene with Ben [Mendelsohn] made me say, ‘Wow, I’ve really gotta do this,’” Ben-Adir tells The Hollywood Reporter.
In Captain Marvel (2019), Fury and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) promised their Skrull allies that they’d find them a new planet to call home as long as they helped look after Earth in the meantime. Well, after nearly three decades, Fury and Danvers failed to fulfill their promise, and Gravik took that personally, which is why he is now seizing Earth by any means necessary. Ben-Adir also suggests that there’s more to it than just retaliation.
“He’s had enough of listening to people who are full of shit, and it really became a simple thing to wrap my head around,” Ben-Adir says. “The audience will feel that there’s a tension or something that is not being said, and that there’s something you don’t know about the way that he feels.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Ben-Adir also discusses the inspiration that Amazon’s crime series ZeroZeroZero had on his creation of Gravik.
Well, Kingsley, I’m quite concerned about your character’s sugar intake.
(Laughs.)
Is this an indication that Earth’s offerings aren’t enough for his palate?
I think that’s the only thing that he likes. It’s his one enjoyment, maybe. His last little pleasure. There was just a cup of tea and sugar on the table that day, and it was something that we kept.
I counted four or five sugar cubes in one cup.
There are more sugar cubes coming as we go along.
So did this come your way on the heels of One Night in Miami?
It was a couple weeks after, yeah.
Did you have to go through a lot of rigamarole? Or was this a straight offer?
Straight offer, yeah.
Kingsley Ben-Adir in Secret Invasion
Gareth Gatrell
So Gravik is the villain of the piece. What can you say about the events and the relationships that led him to this place?
Huge trauma, huge mistrust of leadership, feeling of being let down time and time again by different figures of authority and leadership, seeing war — it’s the buildup of all of that. Later on, we get to see him explain some of those reasons for why he feels the way that he does, but it’s the abuse of power, the mistrust of leadership, the broken promises and the feeling like he’s had enough. He’s had enough of listening to people who are full of shit, and it really became a simple thing to wrap my head around. I was like, “I understand this kind of feeling that creates these guys who behave in this way.” The idea was to create something grounded, real and darker, and it felt appropriate to think about him in those terms. “Who are these guys? What is this behavior?”
So the more I looked at cult leaders who are able to manipulate whole communities of people to do these horrific acts for justified reasons, it felt appropriate as the villain in this piece to explore the antisocial personality disorder side of things. The righteousness of what he’s doing is this complete crock of shit, and it’s just how he uses and manipulates people. He is testing everyone constantly, and that becomes quite fun to play. It becomes something that you can ground yourself in, and then I felt that all the scenes started to have more interesting layers than just what he was saying.
What he says and what he does are two different things. He’s saying it’s for his people, but what seems more important to him is that Nick Fury experiences it as it’s happening. So we’ll see more of this later on with other characters, where you go, “This guy is doing and saying very different things, so there has to be something else going on underneath.” Otherwise, it’s just dull. We’ve seen it, and it won’t be felt. So the audience will feel that there’s a tension or something that is not being said, and that there’s something you don’t know about the way that he feels.
In the trailer, there’s footage of a dozen or so Graviks during a meeting with Talos (Ben Mendelsohn). Was it you and a bunch of doubles? Or did they shoot you in each spot and composite it all?
Yeah, they shot me in [each spot]. Well, all the people were standing in their positions as the waiters and the other people in that room, and then we’d do takes where the real people stood up. And then I went to all of those different positions and did exactly the same thing that they did. And then they would go off and do a whole set of CGI tricks to morph them together. There’s a special camera that they used to do it. It was a huge thing.
The trailer also shows Gravik knocking Nick Fury around a room. To work with Sam on that level, was that another moment where you stopped to take in how far you’ve come?
Yeah, that was a “taster” scene that they sent early on. I keep saying taster scene, but they just sent me a couple of scenes to give me a sense of what they were building and where they wanted the journey of the character to go. And that was one of the scenes that I read before I accepted the job. So I felt all of those feelings when I was reading it, and I was like, “Oh man, this is gonna be a week or two of Sam on the floor.” So that scene and another scene with Ben made me say, “Wow, I’ve really gotta do this.”
Did you model yourself after any past villains? Did you pull bits and pieces from anyone?
Yeah, I was watching ZeroZeroZero at the time, just coincidentally. It was a show that I was watching before I got the offer, and then I watched it a few more times just because I loved it so much. I also wanted to watch it again because of the subtitles; I knew I’d missed pieces. And [Harold Torres’] performance as Manuel, who was the leader of a group in Mexico, was just stunning. It was understated, and something really dark and sinister was going on underneath. His behavior and what he was doing was so traumatic. The level of violence that he was able to witness and inflict, I was like, “Gravik becomes interesting if he’s kind of like that.” He holds a certain tension and a certain mystery in his behavior. He uses and manipulates the people around him. So it was really that show [that I pulled from], but there are a lot of villains that you watch and go, “Don’t do that.”
Kingsley Ben-Adir in The OA
Netflix
And lastly, I am still bitter about The OA’s cancellation. In the grand scheme of your work, where does that job stack up for you?
Oh man, that was huge. That was a huge offer when it came in, and it took a while to figure out if a visa was gonna come in time. And I remember being like, “Oh man, if this visa doesn’t come, it’s gonna be devastating.” There was someone else who was supposed to play the role before me but wasn’t able to do it, and so how it landed on my desk was nuts. But it was huge, and it was my first or second big job in America. I was kind of co-leading a show, which I hadn’t done before. So that was huge for me, personally.
***
Secret Invasion is now playing in movie theaters. This interview was edited for length and clarity.
[The following story contains spoilers for Secret
The 20th season of the reality dating show premieres on ABC, and PBS presents a documentary about a safe home for trans women in the ‘50s and ’60s.
The 20th season of the reality dating
Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about Chris Christie’s weight did little to scorn the former New Jersey governor, who instead shot back on Sunday’s edition of “MediaBuzz,” “Oh, like he’s some Adonis?”
“Once Trump starting hitting back at you on a number of fronts, he took aim at your weight. What was your reaction to that?” Fox News’ Howard Kurtz asked Christie, who announced on June 6 that he is throwing his hat in the 2024 presidential election.
“Oh, like he’s some Adonis? I mean please,” Christie answered, earning a chuckle from Kurtz. Christie added that there are tens of millions of Americans who, like him, struggle with their weight and strive for improvement everyday, saying, “I continue to struggle and I continue to try to do better.”
The former governor continued by arguing that his weight has not been a deterrent from serving his elected terms from 2010 to 2018 as he responded to Hurricane Sandy and worked upwards of 20 hours per day.
“What’s that got to do with my competence for office?” Christie asked. “I ran the governorship in New Jersey for eight years I think in a very energetic, successful way.”
“I don’t know what his point is,” Christie continued. “It’s like a child, a bully on the school yard who teases you and makes fun of you. But here’s my message to him: I don’t care what he says about me and I don’t care what he thinks about me.”
Christie also encouraged Trump to avoid throwing stones from his own glass house. “He should take a look in the mirror every once in a while, maybe he would drop the weight thing off of his list of criticisms.”
Christie, whose previous loyalty to Trump took a steep turn in recent years, took aim at the former President when he announced his candidacy for the 2024 election, calling Trump a “bitter, angry man.”
Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about Chris Christie’s
Model Taylor Hill married venture capitalist Daniel Fryer in her hometown of Winter Park, Colorado, on June 10. “I just kind of wanted the whole thing to feel really relaxed because we’re in my hometown,” Taylor told Vogue. “I wanted this element of feeling like you were constantly at somebody’s home.”
Hill married her “soulmate” in an elegant off-the-shoulder Etro gown two years after their Italian engagement in June 2021. “This is [actually] the first wedding dress that Etro has ever made,” Hill told Vogue. “When they sent me the sketches of it, I was like, ‘It’s like you’re in my head.’”
She added, “My favorite part of the dress is probably the top and the sleeves. It gives it the element of romance that I was looking for.”
Model Taylor Hill married venture capitalist Daniel
Bitcoin is the most distinguished name in the world of cryptocurrencies. For those unfamiliar, cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies that operate on a direct peer-to-peer value exchange basis using decentralized protocols. This system doesn’t rely on any central authority or an institution for financial transactions. The removal of third-party involvement comes with a myriad of advantages, especially in the case of online transactions.
From an obscure term in the past, Bitcoin has become an accepted and normalized payment method worldwide with a growing number of users. Whether you are considering investing, buying online, or making a bitcoin casino deposit with credit card, this article will provide a concise exploration of the advantages of Bitcoin in online transactions.
The experiment with digital money started even before the occurrence of Bitcoin, with prominent examples of ecash protocols, b-money, or bit gold, to name a few. In 1992, cryptographers Cynthia Dwork and Moni Naor were the first to suggest ascribing value to solving computational issues, laying the foundation for the future development of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin first appeared in 2008. The person responsible for designing its protocol was a mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto whose real identity, despite numerous speculations, has never been confirmed. Other cryptocurrencies emerged around 2011, competing for the same attention and value.
A key concept for understanding how crypto functions is blockchain technology — a distributed database shared between network nodes. The structure enables decentralized and safe transactions directly between peers. Unlike fiat currencies, crypto’s value lies in its usability. The demand dictates the price. The more crypto is accepted and used, the higher is its price.
Over time, Bitcoin’s value skyrocketed, so much that it is now a popular saving/investment option, like gold or real estate. In the beginning, many people managed to become rich because of the lack of regulations which is now changing. With broader acceptance comes stricter regulation. But even today, various countries have different laws and tax requirements for crypto. It is vital to check your region’s regulations before starting any action.
We are in the midst of a crypto revolution, with many companies and institutions introducing their cryptocurrencies. Neither has reached the value of Bitcoin, but many have been widely accepted, which changed the financial reality.
Bitcoin has many advantages over traditional payment options, especially in online transactions. In the following text, we will introduce you to the major ones.
Transferring money can be expensive due to massive bank fees. Bitcoin transactions are considerably cheaper. It is not surprising many people choose this option over the traditional ones.
Transactions between bank accounts can take days, while e-wallets enable quick, even immediate, results.
Anonymity is a priority for many Internet users. Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals enable you to keep your identity from prying eyes. Every transaction is encrypted, making it safer and more private. Instead of giving personal information, you provide a wallet address. This doesn’t mean crypto transactions cannot be traced at all, but it protects private data.
A word of caution, though. If you make a mistake, it will be impossible to retrieve the lost money because of the decentralized nature of the process. This is one of the downsides of crypto transfers. Make sure to give the correct wallet address information, or you will lose your money.
As mentioned before, decentralization removes the power from a central authority to a distributed network. It also allows all transactions to be transparent through the blockchain explorers.
Online gambling, just like traditional, is a popular activity with gray areas. Many countries restrict gambling practices and employ different laws and regulations regarding casinos and the tax one has to pay for their winnings.
Crypto casinos are a particularly lucrative industry since joining is often easier. On some sites, all you need is an e-mail address to register. The usage of crypto is more convenient than traditional payment methods. The deposits and withdrawals are processed more quickly, so you can start playing immediately upon registration.
Cryptocurrencies have revolutionized the world of online gambling by ensuring private participation without the need to give away credit or debit card information. They also enable people to withdraw and deposit instantly. The sites use AI algorithms to ensure provably fair games, and you can access an online casino from anywhere. The only obstacle is the fact that some casinos restrict access to players in certain areas. This is due to specific local gambling laws.
Since its emergence, people’s attitudes toward Bitcoin have been contradictory. Some believed it to be the world’s biggest scam. Others predicted utopias of non-regulated access to money for everyone and democratized monetary politics.
Over time, we witnessed that neither was correct. The crypto market is becoming more regulated, and although Bitcoin is immune to inflation, the crypto world is equally affected by the forces that govern the general economy. Still, the acceptance is widespread and advantageous. It offers quicker, cheaper transactions, more privacy, and online safety. Cryptocurrencies have become integral to the current financial climate and are opening doors to innovative directions in the future.
Noah is an expert in cryptocurrencies and gambling. He has extensive experience in these fields and provides useful information for beginners and professionals alike.
Bitcoin is the most distinguished name in
Freight
Taylor Sheridan may have populated 1923 with mega-stars but it wasn’t just Harrison Ford or Helen Mirren who blew away viewers with a stirring performance. For the first time on TV, Sheridan depicted the dark legacy of Catholic boarding schools and how they dehumanized young indigenous women — one of whom is played by the courageous Aminah Nieves. While the Duttons were busy saving the ranch in one part of Montana, Nieves’ Teonna Rainwater was being held prisoner by savage, paddle-swinging nuns in another. Here, the Indiana-born newcomer recalls how hard it was to decide whether to accept such a life-changing role.
DEADLINE: How did you first land the part of Teonna?
AMINAH NIEVES: I was not aware of the Taylor Sheridan universe before. It happens the way it always happens, you get it through your team. I read it and was emailing my manager like, “I don’t know man. I don’t know if I should do this. It’s just heavy and triggering.” My manager was so supportive and said, “you know what? I support anything you do so whatever decision you make is a good one.” My mom is my reader for everything. We talked about it a lot. I did the audition the day it was due because I waited so long. I was scared. My mom was like, “Aminah, you have to do this, not just for you, it’s for us. It’s for our communities and for all indigenous peoples across the world.”
DEADLINE: Was this your very first job in Hollywood?
NIEVES: I background acted for four or five years. I was working four jobs at once in New York, trying to make rent. I’m also an herbalist, so I was working at my herbal shop and doing my own practice outside of that. I was also a doula and worked in a clothing store. But I quit all of those at once because I realized I wasn’t fulfilled. The reason why I started background acting was not just because of the money, but because I wanted to know how it all worked. After I saved up money, I quit and moved to my parents’ house. I had $21 to my name when I booked 1923.
DEADLINE: Do you remember when you first wanted to act?
NIEVES: It’s kind of interesting because from the moment I could even dream or wish up on a star, I wanted to be on stage. I knew I wanted to perform. I did music. I thought I was going to be this traveling symphonic musician. And then I was like, psych! I’m going to actually go to New York and go to school for acting.
Nieves and Michael Greyeyes as Hank.
Christopher Saunders/Paramount+
DEADLINE: Was your rep encouraging about the opportunities for indigenous actors?
NIEVES: We talked a lot about my expectations and my strong ability to say no, because I’m not going to do something that feels icky or doesn’t feel good in my body. He was honest that there isn’t a lot out there, but he was going to try to get me into every room possible. He only submitted me for leads. I was only with him for eight months before I booked 1923.
DEADLINE: Do you remember your first day on set? Did you have to get right into the heavy stuff?
NIEVES: I had to go straight into it. The first scene we did was the first scene that you see Teonna with Sister Mary [Jennifer Ehle}. The moment I put on the uniform, I looked at myself and couldn’t stop crying. I had to step away, go outside and just walk. It was heavy.
DEADLINE: Your character takes a lot of beatings. I imagine there was a lot of preparation involved.
NIEVES: Yeah, there was prep. Right before we shot the scene, we’d have a little conversation about it. But everything that you see, the leather mallets, the rulers and stuff, they had a furry coating. I was hit quite a bit and still got bruised up. But for the most part it was all pretty painless, unless I overextended myself, which I usually do because I like to do most of my stunts. Jennifer is just an incredible talent. I bow to her. She was so tender and kind, moving through everything that we did. We talked a little bit before each scene, but typically they would just give us the stunt choreography in like 10 minutes. Then we’d be, “alright, let’s shoot it.” You kind of have to separate yourself a little bit from what’s happening because it’s a lot of physical and spiritual energy. We always made sure to be with one another.
DEADLINE: You end up exacting revenge on the very nuns who beat you.
NIEVES: That was the hardest scene for Jennifer and I to do together. For Teonna, it wasn’t joyous for her. It was the hardest thing she’s ever had to do because she sees Sister Mary as an abuser. But it’s just like what she told her — “I am the land, no one who is the land is killing you.” In that moment she’s sitting there with her thinking, I wish she could have understood that we are way similar more than Sister Mary thought. We share the same soil. We walk the same.
DEADLINE: When you got back home after shooting each day, what would you do to get out of the dark mood?
NIEVES: I would first take a shower. Water is so healing and I would just kind of sit there, close my eyes and sing a little bit. Then I would stuff my face with goat cheese and crackers and an avocado and be like, “alright girl, burn your medicine, take a breath, go to sleep.”
Greyeyes and Nieves.
Christopher Saunders/Paramount+
DEADLINE: How much did you interact with Taylor Sheridan?
NIEVES: Taylor would call me sometimes and say, “don’t stop, keep going.” I’d be like, “OK, you’ll tell me if it’s not good though, right? That’s the last thing I want, but this is hard, so just be honest with me.” And he was like, “I’m never gonna have to tell that to you.”
DEADLINE: At the end of the season, how would you describe where Teonna was emotionally?
NIEVES: I think there’s a little childhood glow, showing her dad how worthy she is and how strong and capable she is. I want to focus on her joy right now. Episode eight was the first [gentle] human touch that Teonna had. Let’s see what Season 2 brings. I’m very excited but scared.
DEADLINE: Do you have any hint where things will pick up in the new season? Have you been told anything?
NIEVES: No, and I’m at the edge of my seat. I have no clue.
DEADLINE: So now that the first season is over, what kind of feedback have you received, especially from Indigenous community?
NIEVES: From what my family says and from what other cast members and their families are saying, it’s really great feedback. People have told me that it’s given them the opportunity to be more open with what is happening [within the community]. I think that’s the whole reason why we do this art, to share honest and real stories that spark curiosity and help people feel safe. Having a moment to see yourself and to feel strength to talk about certain things is super important. That’s all I wish for — sharing these stories that make people want to do a Google search to see what really happened.
Taylor Sheridan may have populated 1923 with
Confused about how to secure some of Diablo 4’s rarest items? You’re not alone. In fact, Diablo 4’s lead class designer Adam Jackson has been questioned enough about the action RPG’s more unusual uniques that he decided to post a helpful tweet about them.
Whilst warning us that the highly sought-after items were “realllly rare”, Jackson explained that there are currently six in the game – Andariel’s Visage, Doombringer, Harlequin Crest, Melted Heart of Selig, Ring of Starless Skies, and The Grandfather – and that they will always drop at 820 item power.
As for where to find them? Jackson confirmed that “you get them anywhere you can get a regular Unique” and “they can drop from level 85+ enemies”.
Hello! I wanted to clear up some details on the rarest Unique items in Diablo 4.1. They can drop from level 85+ enemies2. You get them anywhere you can get a regular Unique, and they always drop at 820 ipower3. We currently have 6 of them in the game4. They’re realllly rare! pic.twitter.com/pVVj5DTEaUJune 24, 2023
Blizzard’s general manager of Diablo, Rod Fergusson, recently revealed that you’ll need to make a brand new character to participate in Diablo 4’s upcoming battle pass.
The battle pass – which is scheduled to launch in mid-to-late July, along with other seasonal content – means that your existing character won’t be able to experience the new content, so players must start from scratch with a brand new character. Writing on Twitter, Fergusson stated that: “to take part in the seasonal questline, mechanics, season journey and battle pass, you will need to create a new seasonal character”.
“Perhaps Diablo 4’s most adventurous quality is the move towards an open world in the ‘modern’ sense,” we wrote in our Diablo 4 review.
“What could have been a featureless, bland expanse is, instead, a delight. Brimming with intrigue and danger, the open world of Sanctuary fits the Diablo formula like a glove, providing the space in which the game’s macabre aesthetic and bold mechanical design cohere beautifully.”
Blizzard has confirmed that the DDoS attacks that have plagued its games for most of the weekend are now over, and its games, plus its website Battle.net, are up and running as normal again.
Confused about how to secure some of
Meghan McCain, the daughter of late Senator John McCain, is the latest target of nepo baby discourse after the former “The View” co-host attacked Hunter Biden as “the ultimate product of nepotism” in her latest Daily Mail column, which has led many critics to point out the hypocrisy at work.
In the column, published Saturday, McCain called out President Joe Biden for inviting “America’s disgraced First Son” to this weekend’s White House State Dinner, calling the President’s son “an elitist scumbag,” among several other flashy titles.
“Mr. President – when will you realize that your nepo-baby scumbag son doesn’t deserve to be an honored guest at the People’s White House?” McCain wrote in the opinion piece. “You’re spitting in the faces of Americans who pay taxes and earn an honest living.”
Shortly after the article’s publication and widespread circulation, McCain responded to the backlash on Twitter saying, “Thank you all for getting my recent Daily Mail column trending and spending your day talking about me. I’m taking care of my babies and don’t have time to get into petty back and forths on Twitter.”
As expected, Twitter erupted with outrage over McCain’s comments, with replies ranging from “nepo baby says what?” to “do they know who your father was?” accompanied by a video compilation of McCain saying “my dad” during various media appearances.
“Meghan McCain calls Hunter Biden ‘an elitist scumbag, the ultimate product of nepotism,’ interesting, coming from an elitist scumbag, the ultimate product of nepotism,” one Twitter user wrote, while another took issue with the column’s bold point of view that McCain shied away from defending on social media, saying “NepoBarbie had time to write her op-ed on Hunter but doesn’t have time to defend it. We see you NepoBarbie.”
Another user urged “someone who loves Meghan McCain to give her a definitive heart-to-heart that her entire public career has been the beneficiary of unabashed nepotism.”
The former co-host for “The View” has yet to engage further with critics calling out her own nepo baby status.
Check out more reactions to McCain’s column below:
Meghan McCain, the daughter of late Senator
Emily Ratajkowski doesn’t let the season dictate her fashion choices.
This Saturday, the 32-year-old model admitted to dressing “inappropriately” for the summer weather in Paris, which reached a high of 84 degrees Fahrenheit on June 24. Ratajkowski arrived at the Loewe menswear fashion show dressed in her best Matrix cosplay: an oversized black leather duster jacket. What else, you ask? Well, nothing other than some black leather boots, a puffy green purse, and large oval sunglasses.
“I’m naked underneath this,” she told one reporter in a TikTok video posted by i-D.
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
When asked about how she dresses for hot weather, Ratajkowski replied, “inappropriately, obviously,” suggesting she was feeling a bit toasty despite her single-layered look. “I’m sweating so much.” Ratajkowski later added that she was planning to change outfits.
Of course, Emily Ratajkowski is no stranger to pushing the fashion envelope. In October 2022, the model reflected on the most “controversial” look of her career: a naval-plunging cutout gown that Tim Gunn called “appallingly vulgar” in 2016.
“If I saw this at a party, all I could do would be to drink. I couldn’t eat. There’s absolutely no way,” Gunn said during an appearance on Fashion Police at the time, per Vanity Fair. “This dress is so appallingly vulgar and revealing. Why wear anything? Why not just take it all off?”
Six years later, Ratajkowski shrugged off the comment. “I still think I look great,” Ratajkowski told Harper’s Bazaar, regarding the backlash. “Somebody called it ‘extremely vulgar’ and it became this huge controversy on the internet. I was in my 20s and just, like, hadn’t registered that it was so sexy, because there is a panel in the middle, but it looks like there isn’t.”
Emily Ratajkowski doesn't let the season dictate
When the anthology film “Twilight Zone: The Movie” opened on June 24, 1983, reviews were mixed; The New York Times’s Vincent Canby deemed it “a flabby, mini-minded behemoth,” and that was a fairly representative view. A middling box office performer, the film may well have been forgotten entirely were it not for another news event, related to the picture, reported that same day: the unsealing of the grand jury indictments against five of the filmmakers, including the director John Landis, for their responsibility in a stunt gone horrifyingly awry, killing three people during the picture’s production.
It happened at 2:20 a.m. on Friday, July 23, 1982. Landis’s segment — which concerned a loudmouthed bigot (Vic Morrow) who gets a taste of his own medicine when he steps into the Klan-era South, Nazi Germany and a Vietnam War battle, and is mistaken for the very people he’d previously derided — was to culminate in a spectacular display of stunts and firepower. Chased by a military helicopter, Morrow’s character was to carry two Vietnamese children across a river to safety as a village exploded behind them. But the sequence was poorly planned and barely rehearsed, and the explosions damaged the rotor blades of the chopper, causing the pilot to lose control. The helicopter crashed into the river, dismembering Morrow and the two children: Myca Dinh Le, age 7, and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, 6 (spelled Renee Shinn Chen in The Times’s early reporting).
As investigators examined the crash, they discovered that the children’s mere presence on the set had been illegal. Child labor law regulations prohibited children from working at that late hour; further, no on-set child-welfare worker would have permitted them to work in such proximity to explosions or a helicopter. So Landis and one of the producers, George Folsey Jr., went outside regulations, casting children of mutual acquaintances, keeping their names out of the production’s official paperwork and paying them in petty cash. A production secretary recalled Landis joking of the scheme, “We’re all going to jail!”
That cavalier attitude carried over onto the “Twilight Zone” set. Landis was described as a “screamer,” prone to temper tantrums and abusive invective, and thus resistant to concerns raised by crew members about the safety of that sequence — or an earlier scene, in which Landis, unsatisfied with the effects achieved by fake gunfire, ordered the use of live ammunition.
Communication between the director, the special-effects crew and the helicopter pilot was all but nonexistent that night. When a stunt performer noted that the explosion was more forceful than expected in an earlier helicopter shot, Landis reportedly replied, “If you think that was big, you haven’t seen nothing yet.”
It took three more years, after the unsealing of those indictments on the film’s opening day, for the case to come to trial. Landis, Folsey and three other defendants were charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony. The trial was a media sensation, promising “some of the splashy drama of a guns-and-action Hollywood film.” Yet the defendants were acquitted on all charges, thanks to a somewhat bungled prosecution and a seemingly star-struck jury.
There were some consequences for the filmmakers and for Warner Bros., the studio behind the picture, including fines for labor violations and settlements in civil suits filed by the families of the deceased. But in spite of the deaths on his set, and the troubling stories of his behavior and decisions leading up to it, the industry rallied behind John Landis. Sixteen significant directors — including Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, John Huston, George Lucas, Sidney Lumet and Billy Wilder — signed an open letter of support for the filmmaker. Several director pals also appeared in cameos in “Into the Night” and “Spies Like Us,” two of the features Landis made between the deaths and his acquittal.
Landis also directed the music video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and the feature comedies “Trading Places” and “Three Amigos” in that period. Dan Aykroyd, who appeared in the Landis-directed “Twilight Zone” prologue as well as in “Trading Places” and “Spies Like Us,” dismissed the tragedy: “That was an industrial accident, nothing more.” After the trial, the “Trading Places” actor Eddie Murphy hired Landis to direct his 1988 comedy “Coming to America,” though they clashed during production; while promoting the film, Murphy was asked if he’d ever work with Landis again, to which he replied, “Vic Morrow has a better chance of working with Landis than I do.” But the film was a gigantic hit, and six years later, Landis again directed Murphy in “Beverly Hills Cop III.”
Landis’s career would eventually slow down — not because of the deaths, but because his films stopped making money. In a hearing after the “Twilight Zone” deaths, Art Carter, the chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said that while speaking to industry veterans and union representatives about tightening safety restrictions on sets, “No one could recall a single instance in which a given movie or television program could not be made because of safety considerations. Rather, it was a matter of spending the necessary money to assure protections.”
After the “Twilight Zone” deaths, the Directors Guild of America issued formal, firmer safety guidelines, yet the cutting of budgetary corners has continued to put the lives of actors and crew members in jeopardy. The very day the verdict was handed down in the “Twilight Zone” case, a helicopter crash on the Manila set of “Braddock: Missing in Action III” killed four Filipino soldiers. The camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed by a freight train while working on the low-budget film “Midnight Rider” in 2014. And apparent negligence on sets resulted in the shooting death of the actor Brandon Lee during the production of “The Crow” in 1993 and of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in 2021.
The questions of verisimilitude versus safety, of what risks are permissible in the making of art, have not gone away in the 40 years since “Twilight Zone: The Movie” was released. But the sole public statement on the matter from Steven Spielberg, who directed another of the film’s segments, remains illuminating. His name was conspicuously absent from the open letter of filmmakers supporting Landis, and in April of 1983, he summed up the experience in a Los Angeles Times interview: “No movie is worth dying for. I think people are standing up much more now than ever before to producers and directors who ask too much. If something isn’t safe, it’s the right and responsibility of every actor or crew member to yell, ‘Cut!’”
When the anthology film “Twilight Zone: The
‘Shaka iLembe’ is a masterpiece in the making
‘Shaka iLembe’ is a masterpiece in the
What if we held Comic-Con, and nobody showed up?
That’s the question we’ll ponder in the latest MarvelBlog News update.
Source: Jesse Grant/ Getty Images
Several times recently, I’ve indicated that Marvel will likely hold off major project announcements until July’s Comic-Con.
I’d like to formally extend an apology to those of you who believed me, as I’m dead wrong here.
Marvel will skip a formal Hall H presentation at Comic-Con this year, which you may take a certain way at first blush.
Source: by Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Shutterstock (10341985ce)
That decision certainly hints at turmoil behind the scenes at Marvel that has caused executives to decide not to appear.
While that could play a factor, it’s not the deciding one here. Instead, Disney has liaised with Marvel and chosen to pass on a presentation this year.
The reason why is that the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike would cause optics concerns for Disney.
Richard Madden and Chloé Zhao at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 in San Diego, California. Photo: Getty/Alberto E. Rodriguez
Several of Marvel’s recent projects have gone on hiatus due to the WGA strike.
So, the studio has no way of knowing when those titles will finish production.
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney
Productions like Daredevil: Born Again, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, and Wonder-Man remain in flux at the moment.
In addition, talking about the work of writers while those same professionals bemoan their salaries isn’t a tasteful strategy.
Photo: Comic-Con International
Marvel/Disney aren’t the only organizations to recognize this fact, either. On Friday, Variety reported the following:
“Marvel, Netflix, Sony, HBO and Universal to Skip SDCC as Fest Faces Another Existential Threat.”
The headline included another phrase: “Comic-Con Crisis.”
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are handed out each year at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Photo: Forbes/Comic-Con International
I must admit I don’t even consider that clickbait. It’s an accurate summary of what’s happened.
Comic-Con had canceled in-person attendance for two years during the pandemic.
Now, only one year after its big comeback, the beloved fan event faces another impactful setback.
Source: Kendall Whitehouse/ Marvel Studios/ San Diego Comic-Con 2019
If you’ve got tickets to the event, you’ll still enjoy the proceedings, as all your favorite merchandise and actor/character interactions will remain.
The only thing lacking will be television series and movie presentations. That’s become the core of Comic-Con lately, though.
Image: Marvel
We’ve got two new Marvel-related controversies this week.
Unlike other recent ones, these aren’t anti-Marvel inasmuch as…odd.
The first of them involves the new Disney+ series, Secret Invasion. I’ve watched the premiere and am biting my tongue about spoilers.
Image: Marvel
As usual, MarvelBlog will post a weekly recap/discussion of each episode.
One subject I avoided is the one that has attained the most online conversation thus far. Well, second-most.
Those of you who have seen the episode know what the seminal topic is.
Image: Marvel
Another one has garnered plenty of dissent, though. Marvel used AI to create the opening credits for Secret Invasion.
As a reminder, one of the reasons why the WGA is striking is a fear that budget-conscious studios will employ AI rather than people.
So, the timing here is…less than ideal. In truth, some are perceiving Marvel’s actions as a bit of an FU to creators.
Image: Marvel
Wired has an article describing the defense of human employment as “oddly hopeful”.
However, Variety counters that Marvel didn’t do this per se. Instead, the company outsourced the opening credits to Method Studios.
Image: Marvel
As you might imagine, Method has grown defensive about its AI usage. Studio representatives have since claimed that no human lost work over this.
Here’s the official statement:
Image: Marvel
“AI is just one tool among the array of tool sets our artists used. No artists’ jobs were replaced by incorporating these new tools; instead, they complemented and assisted our creative teams.”
Image: Marvel
I read that as, “We’ve ticked off Marvel, and they’ve told us to deal with it. We screwed up but aren’t quite ready to fully own that fact yet.”
Your mileage may vary.
Credit: Marvel
Remember all the accusations about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?
As a reminder, a Vulture writer suggested that Marvel had created a toxic work environment for its special effects team.
That story gained so much heat that Victoria Alonso eventually took the fall for Marvel.
Source: Sony Pictures/ Marvel
Now, the same author has returned with another scapegoat piece regarding Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
I’ll editorialize just a bit before delving into the piece. I’ve also written an article that earned millions of views and then tried to create a follow-up.
Source: Marvel
Generally, the second story lacks the meat of the original. It generally loses its freshness and originality as well.
In that regard, reporting works similarly to any kind of storytelling. And I feel that’s the case with this article.
This piece describes working on Across the Spider-Verse as “death by a thousand paper cuts.”
Source: Sony Pictures
However, most of the complaints fall into the same bucket that special effects teams work long hours and sometimes lack work.
That statement proved true with Across the Spider-Verse because the production team used a unique creative process.
Phil Lord (especially) and Chris Miller would request changes as they came up with new ideas for the project.
Source: Sony Pictures
This style of direction caused 100 people (out of a staff of more than 1,000) to quit due to the frustration of repeated lost work.
The difference with the conversations is that these animators will splash Across the Universe on their resumes for the rest of their lives.
We’re talking about an instant classic movie. It’s harder to argue with these kinds of results as opposed to the Quantumania debacle.
Source: Sony Pictures
As such, I doubt this story gains anywhere near the traction the Quantumania one did.
In fact, the only subject of note is that Beyond the Spider-Verse may face delays.
Source: Sony/ Marvel
I won’t sugarcoat this one. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has suffered through a tough week. It’s been pretty brutal.
First, the trailer for Kraven the Hunter debuted. Here it is:
You’re, uh, you’re making a face right now, aren’t you? If so, you’re not alone.
Many responses to this trailer included some variation of “It’s Morbin’ time!” to reflect the *ahem* lackluster quality of the dialogue.
These are professional actors, some of them Academy Award winners, throwing under performances you’d watch in a 7th-grade play.
Source: Marvel/ Sony
Adjust your expectations for the film accordingly. Then again, at least we’re sure Kraven will happen.
That’s no longer the case for El Muerto, which Sony has removed from its movie schedule.
Source: Marvel
As a reminder, Bad Bunny, arguably the most popular musician/celebrity on the planet today, specifically picked El Muerto for his Spider-Verse film debut.
Now, some outlets are reporting that Bad Bunny has dropped out of the project entirely.
Source: Collider
These sources aren’t ones I entirely trust, but I’m honestly just awaiting confirmation from a more reliable publication.
Everything else about the rumor aligns. Bad Bunny’s brutal touring schedule and recent fixation on the WWE have siphoned his time.
As I said during the project’s announcement, I struggle to envision a time when he can set aside four months to film El Muerto.
Source: wearemitu.com
Sony built an entire film franchise around Bad Bunny. Now, it cannot pin him down to appear in the film. And El Muerto without Bad Bunny is like a Taylor Swift concert without Taylor Swift.
Sony has proven it can make exceptional Spider-Man movies. The rest of the Spider-Verse is in shambles, though.
Image: Marvel
I’m running long, but let’s cover two other quick stories.
First, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will debut on streaming services on July 7th.
However, that’s not the date the film will appear on Disney+. Instead, it’s the digital sales date on Vudu, Amazon, and Apple.
Image: Marvel
Disney has reestablished the release schedule window. So, GotG3 will probably debut on Disney+ at some point in August.
At the box office, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has absolutely shredded expectations, which ties back to what I was just saying.
Source: Sony
After this weekend, the film has grossed $317.1 million domestically and $560.3 million worldwide. It’s objectively one of the biggest hits of the decade.
Finally, I’ve got one more tip for you. If you go to Marvel’s official website here and enter the code, SKRULLS, you’ll get a free digital copy of the Secret Invasion comic book.
Featured image: Marvel
The Flash took a dive in its second weekend at the domestic box office, beating out an unfortunate DC record.
DC has had a tough year at the box office so far as it releases the final four movies of the old studio regime ahead of James Gunn’s DCU reboot.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods became the worst earner in DCEU history with a disappointing worldwide haul, something the studio reportedly, at least partly, blames on the imminent superhero reboot.
Despite plenty of anticipation and critical buzz, The Flash looks on course to go the same way with a disappointing box office opening despite previously positive projections for the movie’s gross.
As shared by box office expert Luiz Fernando, The Flash suffered a massive drop at the domestic box office in its second weekend, grossing an estimated $15.3 million after an already disappointing $55 million opening weekend.
The massive decline means The Flash faced the biggest second-weekend box office drop in DC history with 72.5%, beating out the previous record of 71.5%, which was set by The Suicide Squad during the height of the pandemic.
The biggest second-weekend drops for DC movies at the domestic box office can be seen below:
Even going beyond that, The Flash suffered the third-worst second-weekend drop in superhero movie history at the domestic box office, only being beaten by Morbius‘ 73% and Steel‘s 78%.
The worst drops for superhero movies domestically are listed below:
The Flash currently has a domestic total of $87.6 million and is said to be eyeing a total U.S. run of around $110-120 million on an insane budget of $220 million, not including marketing and other major costs.
The Multiverse blockbuster has also crossed the $200 million mark worldwide, now sitting at $210.1 million across all territories, including the U.S.
The total will likely leave The Flash as the ninth-highest-grossing of the 13 DCEU movies at the domestic box office when all is said and done:
The Flash finished third at the domestic box office for the June 23-25 weekend, narrowly beating out Jennifer Lawrence’s comedy No Hard Feelings but falling behind Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Pixar’s Elemental:
Both Shazam 2 and The Flash have now proved to be box office disappointments for Warner Bros., which will undoubtedly leave the studio worried about the fate of its two remaining DC movies ahead of the reboot – Blue Beetle and Aquaman 2.
As James Gunn has already announced Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes, aka Blue Beetle, will be “the first DCU character,” there may still be time to salvage the financial chances of his solo debut. Perhaps if Blue Beetle’s place in the reboot can be worked into the marketing, fans may be more intrigued to give it a chance.
With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom likely to suffer the same box office fate as Shazam 2 and The Flash, especially after the worrying news from test screenings, there is a conceivable world where Blue Beetle could come out as the highest-grossing DC movie of 2023, toppling the works of all the familiar characters.
After churning out $220 million on The Flash‘s production and reportedly plenty more on an extensive marketing campaign, the movie now seems unlikely to turn a profit, and could instead lose Warner Bros. a massive amount of money.
Fans have blamed this disappointment on a number of factors including the Ezra Miller controversy, the mixed word-of-mouth, the imminent DCU reboot, superhero fatigue, and the several main criticisms facing the movie. But, realistically, the true explanation lies in a mix of all these factors, which combined to topple The Flash.
Although this failure is unlikely to impact much in the way of DC’s future, especially James Gunn’s reboot plans, The Flash‘s unexpected flop may prompt Warner Bros. to be more careful with handing out massive budgets going forward.
The Flash is playing now in theaters worldwide.
The Ouya is celebrating its 10-year anniversary today, June 25, 2023. Below, we look at its legacy as a system that endeavored to crack into a market with an atypical approach.
Like many failed console projects, the Ouya was both ahead of and behind the times. Released 10 years ago today, the Ouya was an independently developed console, funded, in part, by a massive Kickstarter campaign. Questions, criticisms, and concerns abounded, but there was also excitement at the possibility space such a console would create. What could an independent-focused console and development community create?
The Ouya was a $99 micro-console, built with Android architecture. The pitch was in the low-price point and the fact that every console shipped was also a dev kit. Anyone with some technical knowhow could begin developing games for the platform. The console promised to have accessible developer tools, a library of exclusive indies, and to bridge the mobile and console worlds.
Before it was even out, academic Ian Bogost argued that the appeal of the Ouya is not in the literal box, but in “the entertainment value of expressing your support for such a hypothetical console… the pleasure of participating in hypothetical disruption is sufficient.” Indeed when the Ouya released, the reception was lukewarm. The console flailed, was acquired by Razer, and died a slow death. Much of the eulogizing around the Ouya is about how it failed, moving from one of the most-funded Kickstarter campaigns ever to being frequently forgotten–and overshadowed by future, larger Kickstarter projects. In some sense, Bogost was right. The Ouya collapsed because its purpose had already been served before the point of sale.
Even watching the original Kickstarter video, the Ouya’s pitch is grand. Industry disruption, mobile games on the big screen, enabling small developers to play with the big boys. The future is here; it’s in this little box. The original Ouya packaging even came with inserts bearing slogans like “and so begins the revolution” or “thank you for believing.”
However, the Ouya’s strength was in its smallness. The grand vision of its creators of disruption never came true, but they did succeed at building a fairly affordable, open-source space for strange creations. In a warm and funny piece for the now-defunct Killscreen, Zack Kotzer argued that Ouya is a fantastic purveyor of games to play while you’re high. He points to rain simulators, surreal sails through void seas, absurd valet parking sims–games that don’t need to be everything because they are something.
Even the Ouya’s clearest success, the multiplayer fighter Towerfall, is an example of that smallness. The most-cited complaint at the game’s launch was its lack of online multiplayer, a complaint I both understand and feel misses the mark. Towerfall is a game made for close calls, shouting at the television, and hearing the laughter fill a room. A multiplayer lobby with the right set of players can capture this feeling, but online multiplayer can create distance. Towerfall’s strength is in frenzied obsession over a weekend and an occasional match over the following years. Unlike practically every major multiplayer game on the market now, Towerfall cannot make the presumption to take over your life. It is small by definition, much like the Ouya itself.
Although the Ouya allowed truly small stuff on its platform and created a number of development tutorials, its pitch aimed slightly higher. Shortly after the console launched, the Ouya team opened a $1 million funding campaign. Kickstarted indies could get their money matched dollar-for-dollar by Ouya in exchange for a six-month timed-exclusivity contract. The policy was controversial, as some developers were accused of artificially boosting their Kickstarters to gain access to the promised funds. The policy received changes based on developer feedback. It also showed the scale of Ouya’s ambitions. Indie hits a la Super Meat Boy or even Towerfall were the name of the game. The ever smaller games that crowded the corners of Ouya’s shop received less institutional support. Kotzer wrote, “better anarchy than antiquity,” a warning that has become a prophecy.
Even more unfortunately, the Ouya was something of a closed ecosystem. When it was announced that its online ecosystem would be shutting down, preservationists rushed to save the games that the lack of official support would leave behind. The Ouya fared a little better in this because it was built on Android architecture, which is hardly a niche or locked environment (unlike Dreams or Game Builder Garage or Mario Maker). But it’s not as if nothing was lost or abandoned in its collapse.
Weirdly enough, it’s the personal computer that has taken the place the Ouya attempted to claim. Portable PCs like the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally are relatively easy to develop for. More people than ever have a laptop or PC for school or work. The website and desktop client Itch.io, which launched just months before the Ouya, is now the best way for anyone to publish their games, participate in a game jam, or just soak in the strange and broken and wonderful (yes, even while high). The cultural forces that shaped the Ouya, and those it helped shape, are still with us.
One of the differences is that a personal computer, even a cheap one, can be significantly more expensive than the Ouya was–or even than it still is. You can now pick up an Ouya on eBay for anywhere from $50 to $200. Another difference is that basically every kind of personal computer, with some notable exceptions, comes from massive hardware companies. The Ouya got institutional support but was also, in theory, an independent console. It’s worth remembering, too, that the Steam Deck is the latest, most successful chapter in a long line of Valve’s attempts to break into hardware manufacturing. With its truly ungodly amounts of money, Valve can afford to lose over and over again until it finds a hit. The Ouya could not. The exact vision of a truly independent game console is further away than ever. Even successors like the Playdate are more niche than the Ouya ever pitched itself to be.
Video games are an often unsustainable industry. From environmental impact to working conditions to the scale of big-budget projects, the industry cannot just scale upward forever, no matter the ambitions of CEOs and studio heads. The Ouya’s central failure was perhaps its ambition, the scale it attempted to reach. Its success was perhaps building a model for a different kind of gaming ecosystem. The Ouya is far from the only small console with big dreams to be consigned to the dustbin of history. But like all those other consoles, the Ouya points at alternate histories and alternate futures. You can now hack your Ouya to connect it to a new, community-run server to download and play games. After all its history, it remains small, independent, and alive. I only wish more people could participate in that.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
This post was written by Toni V. Genov.
It seems like the 1960s might have been the peak time for unconventional film marketing campaigns. Whether it was skeletons flying over the audience, life insurance in case you get scared to death, or special ghost-viewing glasses, one thing is for sure–no idea was too wacky.
Check out the video below to see the gimmicks in action, including the one I actually try out myself.
On June 16, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Psycho premiered in a manner that defied convention. Unlike traditional movie screenings where viewers could enter at any point, Hitchcock insisted on a strict set of rules: Nobody was allowed into the theater after the movie began, and once inside, nobody could leave until it ended.
This was partly to protect the legendary plot twist of the film but also acted as an ingenious marketing campaign. The unique approach created long queues outside theaters and contributed to Psycho becoming a tremendous commercial success.
While Hitchcock’s rules set the stage for audience engagement, William Castle took movie gimmicks to new heights. He was not just a filmmaker but also a showman who understood the power of creating unforgettable experiences for moviegoers.
In his movie The Tingler, he introduced a parasite that thrived on fear, growing larger the more terrified its host became. To enhance the movie’s impact, Castle devised a gimmick he called “Percepto.”
Theaters were equipped with small buzzers installed under seats, which vibrated during key moments, creating a tingling sensation among the audience, mirroring the film’s concept. Moreover, during a pivotal scene, a paid actress would scream, pretend to pass out, and be carried away by fake nurses.
As the tension heightened, the audience witnessed the shadow of the Tingler crawling on the movie screen and were encouraged to scream. These immersive elements made The Tingler a massive hit and solidified Castle’s reputation as a master of gimmicks.
In House on Haunted Hill, Castle introduced Emergo, a gimmick that surpassed the 3D experience of the time.
The movie revolved around an eccentric millionaire who invited guests to a haunted mansion, promising a substantial reward if they stayed the night. During a climactic scene where a skeleton chased a character, Castle arranged for a plastic skeleton to zip across the theater on a wire, seemingly emerging from the screen itself.
The clever play on the words “Emerge” and “Emergo” added a captivating visual element that thrilled the audience, further immersing them in the movie’s atmosphere.
According to the stories, kids absolutely loved it and would try to hit it with their throw popcorn and soda cups.
For his film 13 Ghosts, Castle introduced Illusion-O, a gimmick that engaged viewers in a supernatural way. Each audience member received a “Ghost Viewer,” which was a pair of glasses with red and blue lenses. When a character in the film wore theirs, viewers were instructed to do the same. Those who believed in ghosts could look through the red lenses and see them, while the skeptics could use the blue lenses and make the ghosts disappear.
The simple yet effective use of color in a black-and-white movie created a personalized ghost-viewing experience for each viewer, amplifying the thrill and immersion of the film.
I actually managed to get my hands on an original pair and had an absolute blast watching the movie that way. It works perfectly!
William Castle’s innovative and immersive gimmicks resonated deeply with audiences, offering them a chance to be part of the movie itself.
Despite not being regarded as a serious director making important films, his unique contributions to the movie industry cannot be undermined. He remains one of the greatest showmen of Hollywood and it truly makes me wish that one day Hollywood will bring some of those fun gimmicks back.
In the 20th century, filmmakers came
Francis Ford Coppola’s lifelong commitment to taking creative risks and betting on himself is culminating with “Megalopolis,” his self-financed passion project that recently wrapped production. The epic romance, which takes place in a futuristic city called New Rome, was dogged by rumors of on-set dysfunction that Coppola and his A-list cast denied. But the film’s staggering scale has impressed many cinephiles — including Jon Hamm.
In a new appearance on the Back to One podcast to promote his role in “Maggie Moore(s),” Hamm praised Coppola for taking such an ambitious swing.
“Look at what Francis Ford Coppola is doing right now,” Hamm said. “He’s making a $300 million movie that he just has wanted to make. I did a table read of it, I know how impossible this movie is to make. But he’s making it. And God bless him, that’s exactly what he should be doing.”
Hamm explained that he received an inside look at Coppola’s creative process when he was invited to participate in a table read of “Megalopolis.” While Hamm is not starring in the film, he joined a coterie of actors to help Coppola work through the script — and walked away shocked by the scope of the project.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know how he’s gonna make this movie,’” he said. “I sat at a table with Al Pacino, Shia LaBeouf, all these amazing actors. I thought ‘I don’t know know what this is gonna be, but I’m unbelievably happy to be here in this room on the Paramount lot where 45 years ago he made ‘The Godfather’ when Robert Evans was walking around. Like ‘okay, I’ll be part of this.’”
Hamm’s comments echo similar remarks from “Megalopolis” star Adam Driver, who recently praised Coppola’s creativity and willingness to take on such an ambitious project.
“‘Megalopolis’ is one of the most exciting things that I’ve ever been a part of, with Francis in particular,” Driver said. “It’s one of the best shooting experiences I’ve had. And the things that he’s made, there’s no frame of reference for it. It’s so unique and inventive and hopefully accessible by everyone. That it’s not so elusive that it’s for a certain audience, it’s for everyone. And he is everything that you hope he will be.”
Francis Ford Coppola’s lifelong commitment to taking
Forget about tripping over a sandbag. Jeffrey Katzenberg wants President Joe Biden to act like Mick Jagger.
The Wall St. Journal reports movie mogul Katzenberg has joined with other advisers to tell Biden to “own” his age and turn it into an asset. If Jagger (who turns 80 soon) and Ford (now 80) can still do it, Joe can lean into his longevity, the WSJ said, quoting sources.
Katzenberg is reported by the WSJ to have become “an influential outside adviser” in the last few months. The former studio head brings years of business experience, Hollywood storytelling bona fides, and a Rolodex of contacts in California’s entertainment and tech industry, the Journal contends.
“He is determined, and the thing about Jeffrey is there’s just no version that he takes no for an answer,” actor George Clooney said in an interview. “Jeffrey will call, and I will help.”
Katzenberg faces big challenges, the WSJ says, including Biden’s low approval ratings, a majority of Democrats who would rather he not run, and festering allegations of corruption.
Biden welcomed Katzenberg’s input, which brought an outside the Beltway perspective. Katzenberg was announced as one of seven national cochairs of Biden’s 2024 campaign. He is the only one who doesn’t hold elected office.
Katzenberg’s role is still evolving, the WSJ says, he could help raise as much as $2 billion and connect the campaign with technology, social media and messaging strategies by leaders.
Republicans don’t seem concerned, the WSJ reports.
“It’s another wealthy Hollywood celebrity whispering in the ear of a presidential candidate who is failing to connect with a working-class population that doesn’t feel like the administration is dealing with their economic concerns,” said Jesse Hunt, a Republican strategist.
Forget about tripping over a sandbag.
Vin Diesel as Dom in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
The past always has a way of catching up with Dominic Toretto and his gang. This time, someone from Dom’s past shows up in the most unexpected way, putting everyone in danger, including Dom’s son – Little B.
The official synopsis for ‘Fast X’ is below:
“Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto and his family have outsmarted and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they must confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced. Fueled by revenge, a terrifying threat emerges from the shadows of the past to shatter Dom’s world and destroy everything — and everyone — he loves.”
The cast of ‘Fast X’ includes Vin Diesel (‘Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3’), Michelle Rodriguez (‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’), Tyrese Gibson (‘Morbius’), Chris “Ludacris” Bridges (‘2 Fast 2 Furious’), Nathalie Emmanuel (‘Die Hart’), Jason Momoa (‘Aquaman’), Jordana Brewster (‘Simulant’), Sung Kang (‘Raya and the Last Dragon’), Helen Mirren (‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’), Jason Statham (‘The Meg‘), Rita Moreno (‘80 For Brady’), and Leo Abelo Perry. Also returning to the franchise are Charlize Theron (‘The School For Good and Evil’), John Cena (‘The Suicide Squad’), and Joaquim de Almeida (‘Missing’).
‘Fast X’ premiered in Rome on May 12, 2023. It opened in theaters domestically on May 19th. The film opened to $67 million and has grossed over $676.9 million worldwide since its release.
(L to R) Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
Trouble always seems to find its way to Dominic Toretto’s doorstep, much like when ‘Fate of the Furious’ villain Cypher (Charlize Theron) shows up at Dom’s home badly injured. She tells Dom of a new threat named Dante, who turns out to be the son of drug lord Herman Reyes. Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) appeared in ‘Fast Five’ and met his end after chasing Dom’s team for the vault.
Played by Jason Momoa, Dante seeks revenge for his father’s death and will stop at nothing to hurt Dom – including kidnapping his son Brian. Dante may be the franchise’s most interesting and formidable villain so far – outsmarting Dom in ways we’ve never seen before. Fashionable, unhinged, and outright entertaining to watch, Dante steals every scene he is in.
(Right) Brie Larson is Tess in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
Joining the Fast family are Brie Larson (‘Captain Marvel’), Alan Ritchson (‘Dark Web: Cicada 3301’), and Daniela Melchior (‘The Suicide Squad’). Brie Larson portrays Tess, who is revealed to be the daughter of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). She is helping Dom and his team in their fight against Dante Reyes. Alan Ritchson plays Aimes, the new head of The Agency. Daniela Melchior plays Isabel, a Brazilian street racer who is connected to someone from Dom’s past.
There is more than meets the eye with these new characters, so you should check out the movie to find out exactly who they are and if they’re on Team Dom or plotting against them.
Jason Momoa as Dante in ‘Fast X’, directed by Louis Leterrier.
The film was released theatrically in the United States on May 19th, 2023, and its follow-up is already announced to be released on April 4th, 2025. While the movie is already available on VOD, you can still catch the high-octane action in theaters. ‘Fast X’ is available in IMAX, Dolby Atmos, 3D, and 4DX format, so be sure to check with Moviefone below for showtimes in your area. ‘Fast X’ has a total runtime of 2 hours and 21 minutes, making it the second-longest movie in the franchise.
Watch the official trailers for ‘Fast X’ below:
You now have the option to rent or purchase ‘Fast X’ on VOD for $19.99 or $24.99, respectively. The movie is available on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Direct TV, Google Play, Vudu, Microsoft, YouTube, AppleTV, and Redbox.
As the movie is distributed by Universal Pictures, Peacock subscribers (in both Premium and Premium Plus tiers) will be able to stream ‘Fast X’ once available – likely to be in late August or early September though no official date has been announced by the studio.
No official date has been announced for the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the film, though pre-orders are already available from stores such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.
(Clockwise, from left) Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Han (Sung Kang), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Dom (Vin Diesel), Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry), Abuelita (Rita Moreno), Mia (Jordana Brewster), Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, back to camera) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson, back to camera) in ‘Fast X,’ directed by Louis Leterrier.
Vin Diesel as Dom in 'Fast X,'
In a town where plastic surgery is as ubiquitous as kombucha, where and how one recuperates can be as vital as which board-certified doctor performs the operation.
“People are investing upward of $100,000 on cosmetic surgeries but choosing to skimp on the post-op care, and it’s not a good idea,” Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon Lisa Cassileth, who specializes in breast reconstruction, tells THR. “A lot can go wrong after major surgery, and having a friend or family member take care of you could set back the recovery and the result and ultimately affect how you end up looking.”
Postsurgical retreats have been a mainstay in L.A. for years, with Serenity Aftercare, a health-care facility in Santa Monica, reigning as the gold standard. But after it closed during the pandemic, a new crop of post-op hideaways has emerged, and they’re upping the ante thanks to partnerships with posh hotels including the Four Seasons, SLS Beverly Hills and The Beverly Hilton, where patients recover in luxe surroundings with room, nursing, meals and transportation included in the nightly fee.
Opened in 2021 by facial plastic surgeon Ben Talei, Aura AfterCare (auraaftercare.com, from $1,750 per night) now employs much of Serenity’s staff, including skilled nurses with more than 25 years of experience. It comprises four 3,500-square-foot condos, most with their own private balconies, in a luxurious residential building in the Wilshire Corridor. Nurses are on call 24/7, and there is an in-house chef who creates a customized menu of foods designed for optimum nutrition and recovery including Kosher, vegan and vegetarian options. The post-op center offers à la carte healing treatments such as an LED bed (said to help reduce inflammation); IV drip therapy (to boost hydration and provide vitamins); and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. “The 60- to 90-minute sessions help increase the blood supply into the tissues after being disrupted by surgery,” says Talei.
A hyperbaric oxygen chamber at Aura AfterCare.
Courtesy of Subject
There’s even medicinal leech therapy, which was approved by the FDA in 2004. “This is beneficial if the blood supply ended up being compromised after surgery, which can happen with a revision face-lift, nose job or tummy tuck,” says Talei. “It’s an old therapy that’s been around a long time and helps thin the blood to reduce swelling.”
Irina Brodsky (@laleeches) has been practicing this ancient treatment, referred to as hirudotherapy, for more than 10 years. “Leeches were the original antibiotics,” she says. “Their saliva, which is very compatible with the human body, is essentially a live pharmacy containing enzymes, amino acids, and proteins that are very healing and acts like a natural blood thinner, especially when there is bruising or if decongesting is necessary,” she adds. Each 90-minute session (from $200) is very tolerable and can also be effective for treating hormonal imbalances, joint pain, and even depression according to Brodsky. “There is a sensation of mild burning on the surface of the skin as the leeches work like little pumps, releasing natural blood thinner into the body, but there isn’t any pain,” she adds
Another newer aftercare spot, Calicia Care (caliciacare.com, from $2,000), co-founded by sisters Erika and Lexi Maldonado (Lexi is an RN), offers patients recovery time in plush guest rooms at The Beverly Hilton. “We take care of everything, and it’s always one-on-one nursing care,” says Erika. Treatments can include in-room lymphatic drainage treatments and reiki sessions, plus services like dog walking, manicure/pedicures and makeup/hairstyling “if patients want to go home looking fresh,” she adds.
Prestige Surgical Aftercare (prestigeaftercare.com, from $2,099), housed at the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills, has suites that include D. Porthault linens and automated voice control for the lights, beds and 55-inch flat-screens.
Aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon Payman Danielpour shares that his go-to for aftercare is Immortelle Healthcare Group (immortellemed.com, from $3,300), which has 12 rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. “It has all the amenities and abilities of a mini hospital, and my patients love the white-glove, royal treatment and extra attentive care,” he says.
Wellness bed at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
Don Riddle
Sought after for elective and nonelective post-surgical recovery, Immortelle prides itself on a holistic approach to aftercare. “With every patient, we consider not only the internal medicine component and post-surgical care, but psychological support as well,” says co-founder Evan Pinchuk. “All three go hand in hand when it comes to helping improve patient outcomes.” And thanks to the extensive medical equipment they have on site, Immortelle can perform hospital-level interventions if necessary. Treatments include photobiomodulation light therapy, which promises to reduce inflammation, swelling, pain and anxiety. The 20- to 60-minute treatment (from $300 per session) doesn’t involve discomfort and “helps patients get better faster,” says Pinchuk, who adds, “We deliver Four Seasons level of care, experience and service.”
For patients looking to continue the healing once they are back on their feet, Pause Studio (pausestudio.com) has several Los Angeles locations and offers an array of treatments at their sleek outposts for anyone seeking a dose of restoration, including LED light therapy beds and compression therapy, which aid in repairing damaged tissues and decreasing inflammation (from $40 per session).
A version of this story first appeared in the June 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
In a town where plastic surgery is
Aphex Twin’s headlining DJ set at Barcelona’s Sónar festival last weekend was a nonstop onslaught of sensory overload: breakneck tempos, strafing lasers, overdriven bass, and earsplitting dissonance more in line with a noise show. But “Blackbox Life Recorder 21f,” the Cornish musician’s first new music in five years, is an altogether friendlier affair. Much like “T69 Collapse,” which opened 2018’s Collapse EP, the new song brandishes its analog-sounding drum machine as though it were a shiny new toy, snares and rimshots so dry they’re practically vacuum-sealed. He offsets the skipping drum groove with one of the gentlest synth melodies he’s crafted in ages, answering sighing pads with a sweetly downcast counterpoint. This is Aphex, of course, so nothing is as it seems at first. The groove thickens as it goes: Nagging breakbeats poke and prod, while insistent crash cymbals blanket the high end in white noise. But he never lets it get too extreme; every time you think things might go off the rails, he falls back on those soft, ruminative synths, closing with nearly a minute of somber ambience. It’s an unusually reflective look for electronic music’s biggest trickster.
Aphex Twin’s headlining DJ set at Barcelona’s
OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! Plenty of movies and television have highlighted the magic and nostalgia of working at one’s local video store. Chandler Levack’s feature film, I Like Movies, may wash away some of the magic and grounds us in a good way.
I Like Movies is the story of 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen), who dreams of attending film school at NYU and becoming a great director. He spends all his time with his buddy, Matt (Percy Hynes White), and each weekend is Rejects Night, when the two watch Saturday Night Live.
Right out of the gate, we learn that Lawrence is a bit messed up. His father recently committed suicide. His single mother is forced to work long hours to support the family, and there’s not exactly enough money to pay for Lawrence to attend NYU. That’s the sob story.
Lawrence is also a narcissist…like a colossal narcissist. The story opens up with Matt and Lawrence’s school assignment to produce a video analyzing bias in media. Instead, Lawrence produces a comedic short about Rejects Night because he doesn’t care about the assignment.
Realizing that he has no money for NYU, Lawrence gets a job at his local video store, Sequels. His new boss, Alana (Romina D’Ugo), tries to put up with Lawrence’s BS and forms an odd relationship with him.
“Realizing that he has no money for NYU, Lawrence gets a job at his local video store…”
I Like Movies essentially documents Lawrence’s spiral downward, and his story is the heart and soul of the film. We learn not only learn that he suffers from panic attacks and mental health problems.
While attempting to make Lawrence a sympathetic character, writer/director Chandler Levack insightfully addresses issues of entitlement, narcissism, and the oppression Olympics that the youth are engaged in today…though set in the early 2000s. Levack addresses these issues in a blunt and straightforward way. So much so that I wish we could turn back the clock to 2002.
There’s a scene where Alana and Lawrence sit in an HR disciplinary meeting, and words get brutal and honest. “Eggshells” are broken all over the place. I’ll just say that meeting resonates today.
I Like Movies is very low-budget and low frills. It rests solely on Levack’s sharp and poignant script and fantastic performances by Lehtinen and D’ugo. Two scenes featuring Lawrence’s final breakdown and Alana’s heartbreaking confession about her past prove you don’t need Hollywood to make a great movie only to have someone meddle with the story you want to tell.
I Like Movies screened at the 2023 Oak Cliff Film Festival.
OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! Plenty
Provincial funding to help reduce the risks of future disaster-related natural hazards and climate change is coming for the Village of Lumby, B.C.
MLA Harwinder Sandhu says $150,000 in funds will benefit the city and boost ongoing flood mitigation.
“Disaster can strike at any time. That’s why our government is helping communities all over B.C. to plan and prepare for emergencies to help keep more people safe,” said Sandhu. “The $150,000 in funding for Lumby will boost the ongoing flood mitigation plans that help reduce serious risks to residents.”
The money is directed at Bessette Creek Flood mitigation near Maple Street.
Approximately $2.3 million through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF) is going to local governments and First Nations across B.C. under the Climate Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation stream.
The funds will help communities to reduce risks from climate-related emergencies, such as floods and extreme heat events.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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Pink, 43, shared an Instagram video that showed her fans how she got ready for her first of two shows at the British Summertime Festival on Saturday, and it involved an ice bath! The singer wore a metallic pink one-piece swimsuit that had the words, “Vicious Bitches” in white text on the front, in the clip, as she walked over the full outdoor bath and bravely made her way in. “Man that’s cold. Oh gosh, it hurts just so much,” she said after getting in the cold water.
She also wrote a caption alongside the post that showed off her excitement for her performance, which was set in London’s Hyde Park. “HYDE PARK NIGHT ONE OF TWO!!!! Gettin it all in before we go get it!!!! SEE YA SOON CUTIE PATOOTIES,” the caption read. Once the post was published, her fans shared their thoughts in the comments section.
“I don’t know how you do it! You are super woman!❤️,” one fan wrote, while another wrote, “You, madam…are a legend. Thank you for an epic night out. You are incredibly inspiring.” A third shared, “The physique” along with a heart-eyed emoji, and many more, who later attended her show, called it “amazing.”
Pink’s ice bath video comes after she shared a cute black and white video of her and her family arriving in Paris, France. “WE GO HARD. 3 MILLION OF YOU PLUS US. THIS IS WHERE WE SHINE ??????,” she captioned the post.
When Pink’s not sharing moments from her career, she’s sharing snapshots and videos of her personal life. The “Try” crooner celebrated Father’s Day earlier this month by creating a post in honor of her husband, Carey Hart, who is also the father of their kids, Willow, 12, and Jameson, 6. “Happy Fathers Day @hartluck. These kids are so lucky to have a Papa that loves them and sees them and goes out of his way to make them feel important. Fishing, camping, skating, cuddles, scrambled eggs and manicures. You’re up for all of it. ♥️❤️♥️,” she sweetly wrote alongside photos of the proud dad and his two children.
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View gallery Image Credit: MEGA Pink, 43, shared an
While “The Idol” viewers may have grown accustomed to the HBO drama’s scandalous nature, Da’Vine Joy Randolph teased that the series will transform in its remaining two episodes.
“What you’ve seen up until now, it’s about to completely turn on its head,” Randolph told TheWrap, adding that discourse about the HBO drama’s nudity and profanity is “about to turn” and “reveal something different.”
“The man [created] ‘Euphoria,’” Randolph said of “Idol” creator Sam Levinson. “You really think it’s gonna be surface and obvious? No, there’s a spin — there’s a huge, huge spin.”
As the relationship between rebounding pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and shady nightclub owner Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) continues to escalate, it’s safe to say he is involved in whatever sinister plot comes next. The developments will confirm suspicions from Destiny (Randolph), Jocelyn’s manager who foresaw the trouble Tedros would bring from a mile away.
While Randolph noted that upcoming episodes hint at Destiny’s background in the industry, she envisions that Jocelyn’s other manager, Chaim (Hank Azaria), brought her into the pop star’s team to bring some edge and freshness into the fold.
“She’s been a part of this life in a very intimate way herself, even in some ways as a performer,” Randolph said. “This is someone who’s been there, done that, and now has found their new way of how they want to still be a part of this world but in a new space.”
As Jocelyn struggles with rebuilding her image after a nervous breakdown derailed her last tour — as well as grieving the loss of her late mother — Destiny and Chaim are her first line of defense when it comes to both business and personal needs. Functioning as a chosen family, Randolph said Destiny wears many hats in Jocelyn’s life, sometimes acting as a mother, best friend or auntie depending on the circumstances.
“I am there as a support system — I know when to talk business to her and I know when she needs… love and TLC,” Randolph said. “[Destiny] is someone who deeply loves and cares for [Jocelyn]… I wouldn’t say she feels sorry for her, but she’s very empathetic to her. It’s very hard — the situation she’s in — so I want to see her succeed.”
Like any woman in the industry, Randolph imagines that Destiny has also experienced her share of trouble surrounding overzealous and sleazy men, leading her to immediately call “bulls–t” when Jocelyn starts bringing Tedros around.
“When this Tedros guy comes, she’s been there, done that — she knows this type, yes probably dated one of these guys herself at some point in her life,” Randolph said. “The moment she sees him, [she knows] it’s bulls–t… There’s no disrespect to Abel and his character, but it’s like, ‘I know what this is. I know this guy. I know what this type is.’”
Though her character knows her gut feeling is correct that Tedros is “a problem,” Randolph noted that “Destiny is not all that worried, because she knows what to do when the time comes.”
Instead, Randolph likened her character’s treatment of Jocelyn to that of a pre-pubescent teenager, who would take a slap on the wrist as an opportunity to deepen her involvement with Tedros, prompting Destiny to observe the pair carefully while letting Jocelyn believe she has total freedom to galavant with her new beau’s crew.
“It’s kind of like how parents are like, ‘You guys have a party, but you’re having it at our house and we’re gonna be here’ — it’s supervised fun,” Randolph said. “I’m gonna make you think that you’re doing your thing, and you’re having a blast and you have complete freedom, but the moment something truly goes left, I’m stepping in and shutting it.”
Amid pressure for Jocelyn’s comeback album to soar to the top of the charts, and the growing influence of Tedros and his friends, Randolph emphasized Destiny’s careful balance to avoid pushing Jocelyn too far into Tedros’ scheme — noting that “for Jocelyn to lean more [into Tedros] would be a tailspin of utter destruction.”
“It really is this fine line negotiation that she’s mastering of spinning all these plates and letting everyone do their thing, making sure everything falls into place,” Randolph said. “She’ll never let anything get too crazy, while at the same time making people feel like they’re making their own decisions for themselves.”
“The Idol” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and streams on Max.
While “The Idol” viewers may have grown
Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is no stranger to big budget Hollywood productions with his seven U.S. credits to date including Clash Of The Titans, Hannibal and Doctor Strange.
This did not stop him from feeling in awe of the scale and legacy of Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny on his first day on set, in the role of Indy’s nemesis, the former Nazi turned scientist Jürgen Voller.
“It felt gigantic. No spoilers but we are in 1944 in the beginning, and there was just a ton of extras and treasures and a big train. And there was the mist and the moon. It was just enormous and fantastic,”
“There’s no way around it. You’re wearing a fanboy hat in the beginning, but you’ve got to throw it off and start doing what you’re being asked to do which is bring life to this character. But you’re pinching yourself a little.”
Mikkelsen was talking to the Deadline Studio at the Taormina Film Festival this weekend where the film makes its Italian premiere on Sunday as part of it red carpet tour ahead of its June 30 release.
Voller marks the sixth Hollywood “baddie” role for Mikkelsen, who rarely plays the antagonist back home in Denmark. The actor says he relishes roles.
“The baddies is something that is kind of concentrated in America. I don’t think we’ve ever made a film in Denmark, where we have like villains,” he said.
“I embrace it. I’m lucky that it’s different genres, different frameworks and I get a chance to play some different villains… I have a career back home and in Europe, where I get the chance to play variations of real human beings.”
Mikkelsen said he had not gotten hung up on the Nazi backstory in Voller’s past because of the cinematic context within which he was playing the character.
“If we were doing a different kind of film and diving down into the darkness of what that ideology meant to the world, it would be a very different approach. This is obviously an Indiana Jones film, and they’re [the baddies] are there for a purpose. They’re very easy to read. They’re the bad guys for a reason.”
He revealed his approach to playing a character like Voller.
“I believe my characters are the heroes of their own story in their own world,” he said. “It’s no secret that this is based loosely on the real-life Nazi and later NASA engineer Wernher von Braun, a notable German scientist among the hundreds who worked for NASA right after the war.
“Tons of people did that and tons of people went to the Soviet Union as well. Everybody apparently decided to close their eyes and say that nothing happened in the past. So, I look at him as a scientist who has a higher vision for the world, a better place… it can be a better place if he had a chance.”
Talking about villain characters in the Taormina press conference on Saturday, Mikkelsen revealed his fascination with the figure of the Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan.
He explained to Deadline afterwards: “Somehow he managed to pull off the people kind of lean back and go, ‘It was a cool period. They look cool. They were cool.’ Like how did he you manage that? Because he did kill a lot of people and raped a lot of people.
So I say that more as a jokey thing but it’s also it’s it’s interesting to see who who turns out after committing such atrocities to be not doomed as a complete person, which is very interesting.”
Mikkelsen’s will next be on big screen after Indiana Jones in Nikolaj Arcel’s mid-18th century drama The Bastard.
He plays the real life figure of Ludvig von Kahlen, a former soldier who tries to make his fortune by taming the then wild and lawless heath of the Danish Jutland peninsula, so it could be turned over to cultivation following a declaration by King Frederik V.
“We’re just finishing the edit as we speak. It’s the second film I’ve done with Nikolaj Arcel, after A Royal Affair. It takes place at the same time, the 1700s. It’s a fascinating part of Danish history, a very brutal story and also beautiful, if we get lucky,” he explains.
Mikkelsen says its important for him to keep working at home as well as in the U.S.
“It’s my native tongue. Those are my stories and those are my friends back home. So of course, it’s special and I will always go back home,” he says.
“The scale is the most obvious thing that’s different. When I come onto a set in Denmark, I say good morning to ten people. On Indiana Jones, you say good morning to 300 people, he adds.
Mikkelsen heads to Budapest to reunite with Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller on his feature debut Dust Bunny.
According to previous reports, he will play the intriguing neighbor of an eight-year-old girl who enlists his help to kill the monster under her bed that she believes ate her family.
“And as you probably would have guessed, this will be a very beautiful but very crazy film. I don’t think I can say anything. But it’s about kids and if we’re lucky kids can also watch it.”
Quizzed on other films that he would liked to do in the future in the press conference, Mikkelsen revealed that he had always wanted to do a zombie movie
“I love zombies,” he told Deadline afterwards. “I don’t know why.I’ve watched so many films since I was a kid, and it has always been fascinated. There’s something interesting about an enemy that moves so slow that you can actually picture yourself in that universe and get away from them and still get the thrill of being chased. Except for the World War Z, where they’re fast zombies.”
Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is no stranger
Savage spends the first few seconds of his 1984 national television debut frozen stiff. As the intro of his first single, “Don’t Cry Tonight,” begins to play, he poses in a half-kneel, his right hand resting on his leg in front of him, his left around his neck. A fedora covers his entire face, like an off-brand Bob Fosse impersonator. Behind Savage (real name: Roberto Zanetti) spin the neon blue lights of the futuristic set of Discoring, a show airing on Italy’s Rai 1 network that regularly features acts from the country’s burgeoning dance scene.
After eight motionless bars, Zanetti raises his head and looks into the camera. Suddenly, a jolt: His right hand pounds the ground and his left points behind him to 8 o’clock. He rises slowly, arms outstretched at his sides, index fingers pointed, then drawing them together in front of his chin. He balls his hands into fists and hides his face again, only to re-emerge when, about 75 seconds into his song, he begins lip-synching lyrics that have the syntactical incoherence but emotional clarity of someone talking in his sleep: “When you find the light to an upset shade away/If you’ll never, never let me go with every melody…” Zanetti, though, is very much awake, his eyes wide open and barely blinking. His expression, sometimes punctuated by a grimace, is so intense, its projected passion feels potentially murderous, like that of a chronically misunderstood loner in a giallo.
Zanetti’s performance elicits the same response as the best songs in Italo disco, the genre that Savage would come to exemplify. Heard the first or the fiftieth time, an effective Italo song makes you wonder, What’s going on here? What’s going to happen next? This is a style so reliant on novelty, it can shock from measure to measure. In his memoir, Italo Disco: History of Dance Music in Italy from 1975 to 1988, producer Raff Todesco (Time’s “Shaker Shake”) enumerates the elements to a successful Italo song, including synths, a lack of guitars, an embrace of technology, and, perhaps most notably, a “catch,” by which he means “something that was unique”—a vocalization, a strange sound, a weird way of singing. The result is a genre that is a true neophile’s delight, a smorgasbord of idiosyncrasies.
It has been posited that for all its garish futurism, bald-faced hokeyness, and earnest expressions in limp English, Italo is “the most amazingly uncool genre ever created,” but Savage wasn’t necessarily trying to be cool. He was trying to be different. Like the disco that preceded it and the house that would follow in its wake, the Italo hits of the early ’80s generally landed around 120 BPM, like ‘Lectric Workers’ “Robot Is Systematic,” Gary Low’s “You Are a Danger” and “I Want You,” and Klein & M.B.O.’s “Dirty Talk.” To stand out from the pack, Savage deliberately paced his first single at a slower-than-typical 104 BPM. In a conversation with Pitchfork, Zanetti said that when clubs would play his song—and it was met with such fervor upon release that this sometimes happened three or four times over the course of a night—DJs would have to stop the music to make way for the lumbering strut of “Don’t Cry Tonight.” From the jump, Savage was, simply, unmatchable.
Savage spends the first few seconds of
And you probably will sing these in
Hollywood studios will get a lucrative tax benefit they have long sought and workers on film productions will get new safety protocols they’ve wanted since the deadly “Rust” shooting under new legislation that Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign into law by the end of this week.
It reflects a grand deal between the governor and state lawmakers to tackle Hollywood’s thorniest political fights in Sacramento in one sweeping bill that was made public Saturday as lawmakers race to finalize the state budget.
The legislation will extend California’s film and television tax credit for five more years with a new “refundable” feature allowing studios to receive cash payments from the state if their credits are larger than their tax bills — a perk studios have lobbied for in California for several years in the face of competition from other states.
It weaves in the set safety issue by requiring that productions receiving the tax credit follow new safety rules including hiring a safety advisor to perform a risk assessment and be on set during filming. For all productions, it will require that prop masters and armorers handling weapons have firearms training and a special state permit.
And it adds new diversity requirements that were a priority for Democratic lawmakers who have been frustrated that Hollywood workers do not reflect California’s ethnic and gender diversity. A portion of the tax credits that productions will receive will depend on meeting diversity targets. A larger slice of the tax credits will go to job training programs in community colleges that predominantly serve students of color. And the legislation requires adding a new member to the state film commission who has expertise in diversity, equity and inclusion.
“It’s the art of compromising and negotiating, finding a solution that works for everyone,” said Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), who played a key role in crafting the bill.
“The studios want refundability and have been wanting to have more access to these dollars. The unions have been advocating for set safety supervision, given what happened on the ‘Rust’ set. … On both ends, this was an agreeable compromise to see if it works.”
Attempts to pass set safety legislation last year stalled amid disagreements between the Motion Picture Assn. and the IATSE union that represents entertainment industry workers. They continued negotiating this year and had come to agreement on the terms in Senate Bill 735, which has been folded into the new film tax credit bill.
The author of that legislation, Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San José), said that some version of the bill for greater safety and firearms protections on film sets has been in the works since the week after the “Rust” shooting in 2021.
He recalled contacting Cal/OSHA and the Department of Industrial Relations after the fatal shooting and asking what laws were on the books to prevent that from occurring in California.
“I thought there’d be all kinds of bill history,” he said. “But there was nothing.”
This year, Cortese said, after he facilitated negotiations with the Motion Picture Assn. and IATSE units to put together SB 735, a conversation began to happen among the governor’s office, the Motion Picture Assn. and labor groups about including the film safety bill in the budget bill.
“There’s a certain efficiency and expediency in getting it done now,” he said.
Cortese said that he visited Universal and Warner Bros. sets during the drafting of the bill to see how they worked and that the firearms component of the bill is meant to codify into law what those top studios are already doing.
“Just because they do it doesn’t mean it trickles down to the rest of the industry,” he said. “We wanted it to be law so it applied to everyone, top to bottom.”
The legislation incorporates much of Newsom’s proposal earlier this year to make $330 million in film tax credits available per year from 2025 to 2030. By making the credit refundable, Carrillo said more companies will be able to take advantage of it, which should bring more productions to the Golden State.
Currently, she said, only Disney and Universal Studios benefit from the tax credit because they have larger tax bills in California due to their theme parks. Making it refundable will allow Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony and Paramount to benefit from the program too, Carrillo said. Even if their California tax bills are smaller than the tax credit they qualify for, the new program will allow them to get a portion of the credit paid in cash.
“We are in a very competitive fight to ensure that these jobs stay in California, and they are jobs that primarily impact Los Angeles County and the city of L.A.,” Carrillo said.
The film industry legislation is one of nearly two dozen budget-related bills that lawmakers are expected to pass Tuesday as they work toward a final agreement with Newsom on the 2023-24 state budget. Negotiations have been dragging as Democrats who control the Capitol grapple with a $31.5-billion deficit.
Newsom faces a June 30 deadline to sign the budget. He is expected to sign the raft of budget-related bills lawmakers send him this week by that date.
SACRAMENTO — Hollywood studios will get
The original web-slinger spin-off that launched Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is about to become a trilogy.
Even though Sony Pictures is expanding its Spider-Man roster with Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web, the studio hasn’t abandoned its symbiote story.
Following Sony’s Venom 3 announcement in 2022, updates have consisted of casting announcements and briefs from Venom star, Tom Hardy himself.
But now, fans have an idea of just when cameras are expected to roll on this franchise’s “last dance.”
Following reports of Venom 3 receiving an October 2024 release, Murcia Today claimed filming for the Tom Hardy threequel is set to begin next week in the Cartagena neighborhood of Los Mateos, Spain.
This same report revealed that production boss Tate Araez explained Cartagena was selected because it resembles certain streets in Mexico.
The last audiences saw of Eddie Brock and Venom was at a bar in Mexico in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
While the pair were returned to their own universe, a piece of Venom symbiote remained in Mexico and the MCU Universe.
In addition to Tom Hardy returning to his role, Kelly Marcel, who wrote and produced the first two Venom films, is confirmed to direct Venom 3.
While fans haven’t seen Eddie Brock or Venom since No Way Home‘s post-credits scene, the same can’t be said for the Venom Universe.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse actually visited Venom‘s San Francisco – specifically Mrs. Chen’s store – when The Spot popped in to steal candy.
Now that connection has been established, it will be interesting to see how this Multiversal storytelling escalates, especially in light of Sony’s back-to-back Spidey slate.
For instance, Kraven the Hunter is set to release on October 6, followed by Madame Web on February 16, 2024, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse on March 29, 2024, and now Venom 3 next October.
The wild card of this side Spider-Man Universe is El Muerto, which was recently removed from Sony’s calendar.
In all, a lot has changed and developed since 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is only expected to evolve and expand ahead of Venom 3.
It will be fascinating to see how this growing universe impacts Venom‘s final chapter and if filming for the threequel reveals any of what Sony has in store for the coming months.
Venom 3 is expected to arrive in theaters in October 2024.
Works of sci-fi are often inspired by a particular vision of the future that dwells in the mind of an author, a filmmaker, or even a comic book artist. These tales are thrilling escapes into realms of futuristic societies, technology akin to magic, and intergalactic adventures. Some of the most thrilling sci-fi concepts of the past are slowly turning into our current reality. These mind-bending ideas shape the present’s escapism and the future of the next generation.
If you’re a die-hard science-fiction fan or simply seeking an exhilarating movie that challenges your perception, Netflix has you covered with its diverse selection of sci-fi offerings. You can explore captivating worlds and take a look at the future as it’s been envisioned by many filmmakers. The most popular online streaming service has its own titles and licensed popular properties, so you can enjoy a great evening with futuristic films packed with thought-provoking ideas, suspense, and plenty of action. Let’s take a look at the best sci-fi films on Netflix, in no particular order.
Ryan Reynolds has a great deal going strong with Netflix, and The Adam Project is one of his latest offerings. Directed by Shawn Levy, with a script by Jonathan Tropper, Reynolds takes the lead alongside Zoe Saldana and Mark Ruffalo. This visually stunning sci-fi adventure follows Adam as he travels back in time, seeking the help of his younger self to save his father in the past. It’s a great time travel story that doesn’t get muddied with the usual antics about alternate realities, with tons of humor and excellent family dynamics.
Spanish cinema has brought audiences some of the most thought-provoking sci-fi films of all time. The Platform is an intriguing offering directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, with a script by David Desola, and featuring the talent of popular Spanish actors such as Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, and Antonia San Juan. The story is set in a dystopian era, in a strange prison.
Without spoiling too much of the plot, we can firmly say this sci-fi drama explores the dark side of human nature with many metaphors, as inmates in prison must fight for their survival while contending with limited resources provided in the mysterious platform that falls daily, offering food for those on the top.
Several sci-fi films deal with the treatment of so-called ‘social undesirables,’ and none paint a great picture of how the elites and powerful treat the marginalized among us. Level 16 is one of these offerings, written and directed by Danishka Esterhazy, with a young all-female cast including such as Katie Douglas, Celina Martin, and Sara Canning.
This dystopian thriller takes place in an all-girls boarding school where the students are educated to be clean and obedient while disregarding negative vices such as anger or curiosity. Two friends get curious and embark on a journey to discover the real secret behind their existence in this thrilling movie exploring control, conformity, and rebellion themes.
Battleship was supposed to be a tentpole blockbuster for 2012 that bombed at the box office, but in the past decade, it’s had a small critical reevaluation as a fun, wacky movie with a Starship Troopers-type military allegory. The movie, directed by Peter Berg and written by the Hoeber brothers, is based on the classic board game, and has an all-star cast including the likes of Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, and Liam Neeson.
When an alien invasion threatens Earth, a naval fleet must engage in an epic battle on every front. The impressive special effects are on par with most Transformer films, making for an exciting, explosive sci-fi adventure.
Sandra Bullock made a remarkable comeback with this sci-fi horror story. The actress would publicly thank Netflix for giving her a second chance after Hollywood studios began favoring younger faces. Bird Box is an atmospheric and tense movie directed by Susanne Bier, based on a screenplay by Eric Heisserer.
Trevante Rhodes and John Malkovich star alongside Bullock in a post-apocalyptic world where unseen entities cause anyone who sees them to commit suicide. A woman and her two children must embark on a dangerous journey while blindfolded to save themselves.
Imagine a world where emotions are repressed for the sake of an orderly society. This is the question posed by Lois Lowry in the novel The Giver. The film of the same name was written by Michael Mitnick and directed by Phillip Noyce. The stellar casting includes veterans such as Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep, alongside newcomers Brenton Thwaites and Odeya Rush.
The story follows a supposedly utopian society where emotions and memories are suppressed after the fall of mankind until a young man named is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory. He would discover the dark truths that created this new, seemingly perfect facade.
After Pitch Black became a sleeper hit, Universal saw the potential to expand on the lore of this character. The result was a bold entry in the Riddick saga. The Chronicles of Riddick is written and directed by David Twohy, with Vin Diesel returning to the role of the rogue Furyan.
The stakes escalate quite a bit in this story as Riddick finds himself at war with the Necromongers, a race of intergalactic zealots. The action-packed film features a large ensemble cast and some of the best action shots in the franchise, with Riddick fighting for his life and unwillingly becoming the ruler of a new empire.
Imagine a world where climate change gets so bad, that humanity is forced to develop technology to control the weather at will until the machinery fails. The Colony tells a story about that scenario; this excellent sci-fi flick is written and directed by Jeff Renfroe and features the talents of Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Zegers.
In a post-apocalyptic frozen world, a group of survivors living in underground colonies receives a distress signal from another colony. A crew gets together to embark on a dangerous journey facing the elements and threats from within. The film was overshadowed by another, and admittedly superior, 2013 sci-fi film about a frozen post-apocalyptic world, Snowpiercer.
Suppose you enter a cryogenic chamber to take a long nap in the future, and you suddenly wake up with no memory, running out of oxygen, only to find out from the manufacturer your chamber was damaged years ago. This claustrophobic sci-fi thriller Oxygen is written by Christie LeBlanc and directed with style by Alexandre Aja, featuring Mélanie Laurent as Liz.
With no memory of who she is, how she got there, and her oxygen supply running out, Liz faces the ticking countdown to her survival. She must do whatever she can to unravel the mystery of her identity and try to escape before it’s too late.
Many critics gave this film an undeserved bad rap, but we’d like audiences to make up their own minds. Set in a futuristic neo-noir society and written and directed by Duncan Jones (who made waves with his excellent sci-fi film Moon), Mute features the talents of Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Rudd, and Justin Theroux.
A mute bartender named Leo is searching for his missing girlfriend, and has to navigate the city’s underworld; he soon finds himself entangled in a web of crime and corruption. It’s a great story with all the tones of a detective pulp novel with a futuristic set-up, half Blade Runner, half Brick. The solid cast and enchanting visuals make it one solid offering in the ranking.
The first time we got Dune on the big screen was at the hands of David Lynch. The story is based on the novel by Frank Herbert, deemed unfilmable by multiple studios. Lynch co-wrote the script with Eric Bergren and assumed direction duties. The diverse cast includes Kyle MacLachlan, Virginia Madsen, Patrick Stewart, and Sting.
Set in a distant future where interstellar travel and political intrigue are the norm, the story follows the adventures of young nobleman Paul Atreides as he witnesses the downfall of his family while surviving power struggles and becoming the ruler of a new race. The original Dune has been regarded as a failure for a long time, but in recent years received a bit of a critical reevaluation, if only because it’s so bonkers. It’s a film with a lot of charm but doesn’t hold a candle to the current remake. Still, it can be appreciated for what it is and the novelty of it.
Some of the most brilliant superhero films are not from Marvel or DC. Project Power presents an exciting premise: what would you do with a pill that grants you superhuman abilities for five minutes each time you take it? The story is written by Mattson Tomlin and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. The cast has an all-star lineup including Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback. We follow a former soldier, a cop, and a drug dealer who must join forces to take down the people behind the drug distribution.
What would you do as a crew member in an interstellar mission if you suddenly find out you have a stowaway passenger in your ship? That’s the question posed by Stowaway, written and directed by Joe Penna with the assistance of Ryan Morrison. The outstanding cast includes Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, and Toni Collette. The story explores the consequences of an uninvited guest whose sole presence threatens the stability of the mission as all supplies in the ship are measured to cover the basic needs of the crew. It’s a film that explores pragmatism, humanity, and moral dilemmas.
The Wandering Earth explores the idea of humanity’s contingency plan by the time the sun begins to die. Based on a novel by Liu Cixin, the author behind the massive hit The Three Body Problem, the film is directed by Frant Gwo, with the screenplay adapted by Gong Geer and Junce Ye. We follow a team of scientists looking to save humanity by moving the Earth out of the solar system and turning the planet into a giant spaceship. You can’t fault the story for going big to try and save us, and while the Chinese sci-fi film wasn’t a big blockbuster ot anything, its visuals are extremely imaginative and surreal.
If you ever wondered about the acting range of Noomi Rapace, you only need to watch What Happened to Monday. The wild story, written by Max Botkin and Kerry Williamson, is directed by Tommy Wirkola and features the talents of Rapace, Willem Dafoe, and Glenn Close. In a dystopian future with strict population control measures, seven identical sisters (all portrayed by Rapace) must live a single life, each named after a day of the week and a distinct personality in order to hide their existence. When Monday suddenly goes missing, the other sisters must uncover the truth while evading the ruthless government enforcers.
You can never go wrong with anything directed by Paul Verhoeven. His bananas satire Starship Troopers is a clever adaptation of the novel by Robert A. Heinlein that explores themes of colonialism, warfare, and fascism. The incredible screenplay by Edward Neumeier is masterfully crafted for the talents of Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, and Neil Patrick Harris. The satire is very tongue-in-cheek, but it flies past many audiences. In the story, we follow the ongoing war between humanity against giant insectoid aliens, which has led to a complete reorganization of society as only the people who serve in the military are considered citizens.
World War Z has become something of a guilty pleasure for many people out there. While the film failed to capture the nuances of the novel by Max Brooks, it tells a competent story, even if it’s predictable. The script written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, and Damon Lindelof had to be reworked multiple times at the studio’s request. Marc Forster did his best to direct the feature, with solid acting from Brad Pitt as a former UN investigator who must travel the world to find a way to stop the global pandemic from turning people into zombies.
Circle follows the same premise as Saw but ramps up the higher stakes. Written and directed by the duo of Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione, the film features a cast of working actors such as Allegra Masters, Michael Nardelli, and Julie Benz. The whole movie is set in a single room, where a group of strangers awakens to find themselves trapped and standing in marked circles. Someone in the circle dies every few minutes, forcing the remaining survivors to make difficult choices. It’s a great movie with tense pacing, and explores the moral dilemma of the lifeboat thought experiment and questions the weight of someone else’s death on a group.
Replicas offers something entirely different: an underrated performance by Keanu Reeves. The intriguing writing of Chad St. John, and the direction of Jeffrey Nachmanoff, put Keanu in the shoes of an incredibly talented neuroscientist named William Foster, who loses his family in a car accident. Without thinking clearly and being overwhelmed by the grief, he becomes obsessed with bringing them back using the experimental cloning technology he’s been developing in his line of work. Foster delves deeper into the ethical and scientific ramifications by testing the limits of his own ethics and defying the laws of nature.
Terminator 2: Judfgment Day or T2 is the sci-fi blockbuster that marked an entire generation. Written and directed by James Cameron, the second entry in the Terminator saga is considered by many as the last good film in the franchise. Cameron went all out and brought Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton back to pair them up with newcomers Edward Furlong and Patrick Stewart. The T-800 is back again, but he’s here to protect John Connor from the new menace represented by the T-1000. It’s a classic story full of twists and turns and plenty of action that remains the ultimate milestone in sci-fi cinema.
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Works of sci-fi are often inspired by
There are many game modes to look forward to for Madden fans. However, those who own older-gen consoles such as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will not get to relish in the excitement of Madden NFL 24 game modes that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S owners will get to.
EA Sports has proclaimed that because of the contrast in gameplay Madden players will experience due to platform differences, game modes will differ. Also, with the announcement that Madden 24 is cross-play compatible, knowing what game modes are coming is more of a priority now. In this post, I’ll be listing all of the game modes and what platforms get to enjoy them, as well as what game modes will be included in cross-play.
EA has reintroduced some of the fan-favorite game modes while removing some of the deadweight from current-gen platforms that players were not in favor of. Some of these game modes will be a means of progression in a couple of single-player modes while also being stand-alone modes that players can play.
Related: How to Enable and Disable Cross-Play On Madden NFL 24
The developers have also introduced tiered abilities and real-time player grading to certain single-player modes, promising a far better NFL experience for Madden players after dropping The Yard and Face of the Franchise for newer-generation consoles and PC owners. Below is the list of Madden NFL 24 game modes.
Players who want to enjoy cross-play gaming and features must have a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S, as cross-play is restricted to these platforms.
There should be more game modes coming with the game but we’ll know more about that closer to the time of release. For more on Madden 24, you can read: What is Madden NFL 24 Duel Entitlement? Learn how it benefits you if you’re thinking about running Madden 24 on a PS4 or Xbox One
There are many game modes to look
Monty Python star John Cleese has revealed he plans to ditch the famous song ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ from his new stage adaptation of religious satire The Life Of Brian.
One of the most memorable scenes from the 1979 hit film was the finale when Brian (Graham Chapman) and his disciples broke into the song as they were being crucified.
Cleese told the UK’s Mail on Sunday that he considered the scene “too predictable.” He said:
“It was shocking in 1979. It was absolutely astonishing.
“People thought it was hilarious, they screamed with laughter. Well, nobody is going to be shocked now – the joke is 40 years old.
“People do love the song but do we want to end with something that’s completely predictable?”
And Cleese added that he will also ditch the scene where ‘Romans Go Home’ is written in graffiti, because the language is much less taught in schools now than when the film was released.
However, the comedy veteran doubled down on including the scene where revolutionary Stan announces he wants to be a woman and mother.
As Deadline previously reported, Cleese insisted he never said that he would remove the politically incorrect scene, even though the film’s 1979 sensibilities will not draw quite the laughs it once did, owing to the rise of trans issues awareness.
Cleese claimed it was “misreported” that he was planning to cut the “Loretta” scene. Instead, he said he has “no intention” of removing it.
The scene in question features a male character declaring that he wants to be woman named “Loretta,” and wants to have a child. Cleese’s character tells the man that the notion is ridiculous, while another suggets that they all advocate for his right to childbearing.
“I want to be a woman. … It’s my right as a man,” the character claims “I want to have babies… It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.” After Cleese’s protest, the character snaps, “Don’t you oppress me!”
Cleese told the Mail on Sunday he was still tweaking the script for the stage project after three years.
“I listen to everyone and then I think about it long term and make up my own idea at the end of that,” he said.
Monty Python star John Cleese has revealed
Secret Invasion is next in line to grow out the Marvel Cinematic Universe through Disney+’s array of Marvel originals. But is this Nick Fury-centric series helping guide the MCU in a more positive direction after several bad reviews in a row of Marvel content?
When the series picks up, it is clear that Secret Invasion’s biggest Marvel connection is to Captain Marvel and Nick Fury’s relationship with Talos and his past with the Skrulls. The background conflict follows that the Skrulls may be going rogue and wish to take over Earth, eliminating the human population in the process.
The series premiere makes it clear that Nick Fury is not the man he once was. Rather than the man on top, the person three steps ahead with all the plans and backup plans, he has never been the same since returning from the Blip.
Nick Fury has lost some of his motivation and has abandoned Earth for a few years, but will his return help him regain control?
In the past, Marvel movies and shows have been condemned for trying to force jokes where they were not needed to keep the MCU’s comical tone in place. Secret Invasion’s first episode does not make that mistake, instead understanding that while sarcastic comments are allowed as a way to add moments of humor, the show does not need to go out of the way to add comedy in a way that will undermine the severity of the situation at hand.
While appearing in other MCU projects, such as Captain Marvel and in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Skrulls have not been a heavily present population in previous Marvel projects.
Marvel may be using Secret Invasion to show that they will be more active in the MCU moving forward, especially when the upcoming The Marvels comes out, given Carol Danvers’ connection to the group.
While Nick Fury has been involved in Marvel projects for years, his role has jumped between being a key player and a background character. For the first time, Nick Fury’s involvement rests at the heart of the story, finally allowing his character to be explored beyond the strong presence for the Avengers he had always been.
While Secret Invasion spends a lot of time suggesting that Nick Fury had lost his way, the series still has plenty of time to dig into how he dealt with the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame and show how he can return to the man he had been, or take how he had responded to the Blip to show he is more vital than he had ever been before.
Secret Invasion spends a lot of time setting up the complicated friendship between Fury and Talos and how Talos struggles with the idea of harming one of his own. The premiere’s painfully unexpected ending may be exactly what Nick Fury needs to prepare himself for what will follow. Still, while Secret Invasion takes a different and potentially more serious approach, will this be the show that can help restore Marvel’s reputation? Or will it only help the MCU fall further?
Secret Invasion is next in line
“The Conners” and “The Righteous Gemstones” star John Goodman says he misses his “Roseanne” co-star Roseanne Barr, but he’s not sure he’d work with her again.
Hit sitcom “Roseanne” was canceled by ABC in 2018 after a racially-charged tweet by Barr about Valerie Jarrett, an African-American woman who was a senior adviser to Barack Obama throughout his presidency. Barr later apologized.
Later that year, Goodman told the Sunday Times: “I was surprised at the response. And that’s probably all I should say about that … I know for a fact that she’s not a racist.” He added that Barr was “going through hell.” Barr then thanked Goodman “for speaking truth about me.”
At the Monte-Carlo Television Festival this week, where he served as president of the fiction jury, Variety sat down with Goodman in the Blue Gin Lounge of the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel, overlooking the Mediterranean.
Does Goodman regret speaking up for Barr? “No. At the time I remember going to some kind of junket where they saw the pilot, and then the interviews, and it just turned into attack. And that made me very uncomfortable with them just attacking Roseanne.”
He adds: “Yeah, I felt bad for her. And then, yeah … I just feel terrible about the whole thing. You know, we had a great time. And I love her. She’s just her own person.”
Would he work with her again? “I don’t know. If she’d liked to … I just don’t know. I miss her,” he says. “I wish her well.”
John Goodman, Roseanne Barr in Season 8 of “Roseanne”
Courtesy of Carsey-Werner/Paramount Television/ABC/Everett Collection
Reflecting on the success of blue-collar comedies “Roseanne” and “The Conners,” which is a reboot of “Roseanne” but with Barr’s character killed off in an early episode, what does Goodman see as their strengths?
“I think a lot of people have tied into the struggle that it lives paycheck to paycheck. And we try to handle it with humor,” he says. “Roseanne said something very early in the process: ‘Just because we’re poor doesn’t make us stupid.’ And I think that has a lot to say for the series, but it’s a struggle that’s handled with humor.”
Goodman says there are not many shows that treat blue-collar families with that level of respect.
“The Righteous Gemstones” is another success, with some saying it is a worthy successor to “Succession” for HBO. Asked what its winning qualities are, Goodman says: “Its outrageousness and the bizarre characters that are somehow grounded in reality. The lust for money and power. The insecurities. You know everybody’s got insecurities, but for these people they’re blown up to Godzilla proportions.”
Asked whether he still enjoys working in comedies, Goodman says: “Oh, yes, very much so. I’m more of a straight man in ‘The Righteous Gemstones,’ so I get to sit back and watch a free show.”
Goodman doesn’t believe he’ll appear again on “Saturday Night Live.” “No. My time may have passed. Yeah, it might be a generational thing. I know Steve Martin still goes on and does things.” Does he have any desire maybe to play Donald Trump on the show, for example? “Oh, no, there’s too many Trumps out there. We’re over Trumped,” he says.
What are his views on the former President? “I’ve become weary of him,” Goodman says. “He is so corrosive and it’s just rotten from the inside out.”
He looks back at the period when he worked on several Coen Brothers films with fondness. “I used to hang around on the set on my days off just because I liked being there. They made me laugh,” he says. Asked why they kept casting him, he says maybe they shared “a Midwestern sensibility.”
John Goodman and Jeff Bridges in 1998’s “The Big Lebowski”
Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Everett Collection
Reflecting on what makes the Coen Brothers stand apart from other directors, he says: “They strike a more personal note with me. It’s just their writing is superior and their sense of humor and their vision. And maybe it’s the fact that we are Midwestern transplants to New York. Perhaps it has something to do with it. But I hit it off with them as soon as I met them. We had a grand old time at my audition for ‘Raising Arizona.’ Yeah, I feel like my tickets have run out on the Coen Brothers because I haven’t seen them for so long and haven’t worked with them.”
Having spent a week watching series from around the world, he judges the quality of the non-U.S. shows as “very good.” Does he see many differences between U.S. and foreign shows? “Not especially. I mean, both sides have mandatory fucking now,” he says.
He enjoys watching British series in particular, even when he’s not on a jury. “More than half the stuff I watch is British or British influence with British writers,” he says. After Monte-Carlo, he heads to London, but not for work. “Just to hang out. I love going to the theater there. For me it’s very special and I love… the British actors are just crackerjack, just top hole, and the theater is great. I just love being there and walking around.”
“Technically,” he says, New Orleans is his home, “but since I’m always either in L.A. or Charleston, South Carolina, I’m rarely there.” Has he considered retiring? “I did, a couple of years ago, but I really enjoy acting so much that, yeah, it wouldn’t kill me to do like one or two things a year. I’ve just been going nonstop.”
“The Conners” and “The Righteous Gemstones” star
It’s no secret that House of the Dragon is an intense show to make. From brutal action sequences to explicit sex scenes to incredibly deep and profound drama that includes complex fantasy vocabulary the show can’t be easy to make, and it turns out it wasn’t easy to audition for either. Emma D’Arcy, who plays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen opened up about their audition, and let’s just say this “three-month” process sounded like a lot.
Now that Season 1 of House of the Dragon has been out for a while and Season 2 of the Game of Thrones prequel is on its way, it’s hard to imagine D’Arcy having to audition, because they’re so magnificent in the show. However, while speaking about how scary it was to say yes to such a massive series, the actor also detailed their audition process, and just how intense it was, telling THR:
Then I auditioned [via self-tape] for three months during the pandemic after losing a year of work, so in some ways, I think my hands were tied. Halfway through the process, the then-showrunner, Miguel Sapochnik, called to ask me if I owned a wig. A proper person would’ve asked someone who does hair for advice.
They went on to say between them and their partner they stuck hair that they had from another job on their head, and then proceeded to do a self-tape. That audition process then lasted for three months and at the end, D’Arcy had a four-hour in-person audition as they said:
I auditioned for three months. At the end of that, I did a four-hour in-person audition. And then I didn’t hear anything.
Like most people I’d imagine, Jennifer Coolidge, who was part of the THR roundtable, couldn’t help but follow up about the four-hour audition. She asked D’Arcy what it was like, and the Rhaenyra actor went into detail about their entire experience saying:
I feel like, by the end of three months, I had taped every scene in the show. Because they took a punt on me, I guess, in that I couldn’t bring an audience. I just remember that it was good for a while and then it was awful. And then after a few hours, they said, ‘Great, you can go home and get drunk, we’ll be in touch.’ Then Miguel came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders and said, ‘Can we do one more?’
Among the principal House of the Dragon cast, D’Arcy was not the best-known actor of the bunch. It’s also commonly known that audition processes for massive projects of this scale can have secretive, long and intense tryouts. However, this feels like it was on another level, as the actor also had to tape themselves filming scenes they didn’t even do in the show because the first half of HOTD features younger actors as various characters, including Rhaenyra and Alicent.
However, the actor who plays the older version of Rhaenyra did the scenes, and said they ended up filming what felt like the entire show throughout the audition process. D’Arcy continued to speak about the experience, saying:
It was the virtuosic performance of my life. And they got me to tape [as the character] across the series, even though I’d only play the older character.
Talk about intense! I guess this is one way to really make sure you have the right actor for the part, and they 100% got the right person for Rhaenyra, because Emma D’Arcy is a true force.
I’d imagine that while it was intense, this process did help prepare them to shoot House of the Dragon. Matt Smith has said filming the show was a lot at times, and Paddy Considine explained that he actually was injured while shooting Viserys’ final scene. On top of that, this period drama features high-fantasy concepts, CGI dragons and the pressure of being the follow-up to Game of Thrones. In other words, this show has to be a real challenge to make. However, the cast and crew proved over their first season that they’re more than up for the challenge.
If you want to go back and watch Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen you can stream House of the Dragon with a Max subscription.
It’s no secret that House of the
Veteran producer Arnon Milchan testified on Sunday in the long-running corruption trial against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, involving three separate charges of breach of trust and fraud.
Milchan gave his evidence via video-link to the Jerusalem District Court from a room in The Old Ship Hotel in the UK seaside resort of Brighton, close to his current home, in the presence of Netanyahu’s wife Sara Netanyahu.
Scores of Israeli demonstrators gathered outside the hotel to protest corruption in Israel as well as Netanyahu’s controversial overhaul of the judiciary.
Milchan told the hearing he had given gifts of champagne, cigars and jewellery to Netanyahu and his wife.
He said the gift-giving began of his own volition but that over time Netanyahu had started making requests and that it had become routine, with the politician using code words to indicate what he wanted such as “pink” for champagne “leaves” for cigars.
Milchan told the hearing that considered Netanyahu as a friend – even calling out “Hello Bibi” as the prime minister walked into the court room in Jerusalem on Sunday.
“I saw him as a close friend, between friends and comrades,” said the producer, who has freely admitted to acting as spy for Israel in the past.
Milchan has not been back to his native Israel since 2016, after he was grilled there by the prosecutors in the early days of corruption case, but he is witness and not a suspect.
Under the case known as “Case 1000”, Netanyahu is accused of having a conflict of interest after he intervened in the interest of Milchan’s business interests in return for lavish gifts from the producer and Australian billionaire James Packer.
The trial against Netanyahu began in Jerusalem in May 2020, with witness testimony from more than 300 witnesses beginning in April 2021.
Other well-known figures on the list of witnesses first announced in 2019 include U.S. casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison and UK-American billionaire Len Blavatnik.
Veteran producer Arnon Milchan testified on Sunday
Over a year after first teasing it on his radio show, Drake has released his debut book of poetry. Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness is out now via Phaidon. He co-wrote the collection with Kenza Samir, a longtime friend and songwriting collaborator who contributed to albums like Views and If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late. The publisher’s website describes Titles Ruin Everything as a 168-page collection of never-before-published poems about “fame, romance, and relationships.”
In newspaper ads promoting Titles Ruin Everything, Drake included a QR code that leads to a website with the following message: “I made an album to go with the book. They say they miss the old Drake girl don’t tempt me. FOR ALL THE DOGS.” No release date is mentioned.
It’s All a Blur Tour with 21 Savage is about to begin later this week on June 29. Drake recently added additional dates to the tour, including stops in new cities like Toronto, Austin, Milwaukee, and Denver as well as extra nights at some of the sold-out locations. In March, Drake fans filed a class-action lawsuit again Ticketmaster, alleging that seat prices for the original run of shows were artificially inflated.
Earlier this month, British rapper J Hus tapped Drake for his new song “Who Told You.” As for his own material, Drake released both Honestly, Nevermind and Her Loss, his collaborative LP with 21 Savage, last year.
Over a year after first teasing it
