Here’s a classic movie for you to enjoy for Sunday: The Colossus Of New York, from 1958. When a surgeon’s son dies, he transplants his brain into the body of a cyborg, with tragic and unintended consequences.
It’s not long before we get the whole series to gorge on, but for now, we’ll happily take this kickass trailer for Jessica Jones. Krysten Ritter kicking butt? Check. David Tennant being mysterious and creepy as hell? Double check. And there’s a whole lot more!
A fantastic live action short set in the Metroid universe by Rainfall Films and director Sam Balcomb, featuring Jessica Chobot from Nerdist and America Young (Halo 5.) This is from the same people who made that amazing Wonder Woman fan film we featured a few years ago.
The War Doctor is back! John Hurt’s conflict-ravaged incarnation of The Doctor has (so far) only made an appearance in Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary special, but that’s about to change: Big Finish have announced that John Hurt will reprise the role in an ongoing series of audio plays set during the Time War.
If you like giant robots blasting away at each other in futuristic feudal warfare as much as we do, hang onto your autocannons: Battletech is coming back in a big way as a turn-based, tactical video game.
The most amazing thing about Ben Wheatley’s High Rise is its tone. Its feeling. Some how it’s a film that’s intense, funny, scary, disturbing, and aloof all at the same time. Sometimes though, that mix gets very dark and makes things a little hard to follow.
High Rise is based on the novel by J.G. Ballard about life in an ultra modern apartment building. Tom Hiddleston plays Robert Laing, the building’s newest occupant, with a nice place on the 25th floor. He’s a doctor and quickly gets involved in some of the building’s social events. Those range from monotonous activities like shopping or exercise, to more crazy things like drinking heavily and having an orgy.
Everything about the world Wheatley creates is cold. The people, the environments, it gives every action a sheen of ominous. And for a while, that’s holding the movie together because between all the parties and bouts of violence, there isn’t a very clear narrative.
Then you start to see the cracks. You see the class system in the building. How the wealthier people live higher and think they deserve more resources than the people who live lower. Everyone is hugely materialistic, too. Laing is aware of this but also oddly mystified by it. He’s enjoying what’s going on, but also has interests on both sides.
Eventually, a sort of mini-revolution in the high rise becomes the catalyst for things to go downhill and the movie has an explosion of madness. Very, very quickly the building becomes an ultra-modern Sodom and Gomorrah, as the sex, drugs, violence and death escalate and become just the way it is.
By this point, High Rise either has you or it doesn’t. The film never really gives a worthy explanation of why these things happen, you just sort of have to buy it and move along. If you do that, the criticisms on capitalism, technology, modern society and more become apparent. But it never ever feels ultra cohesive and digestible.
Instead, it’s the way Wheatley, through his performances, music choices, cinematography and editing, keeps you on the edge of your seat that makes the film oddly enjoyable. There are lots of times that you aren’t quite sure what the hell you’re watching, but it’s always fascinating
While that tone is the star of the show, the cast is also outstanding. Between this, Crimson Peak, I Saw the Light, and Only Lovers Left Alive, Tom Hiddleston is quietly becoming one of our most dapper, confident, and versatile leading men. In High Rise, he’s a great balance of sleazy and lovable, a guy you aren’t quite sure if you like. He’s joined by Sienna Miller, as his beautiful but promiscuous upstairs neighbor; Elisabeth Moss, as one of the kind women from the lower floors; and Luke Evans as Moss’ husband, a total maniac who does his best to steal the movie. And just for good measure, throw Jeremy Irons and James Purefoy into the mix too.
High Rise is a divisive, complex movie that’s going to be tough for a lot of people to watch. On its most basic level—narrative—it doesn’t quite work. On the other hand, the film’s higher functions—theme, emotion, tone—are working overdrive to make something very different. In that aim, it succeeds.
Note: This review originally ran out of Fantastic Fest in September 2015. We’re republishing now for the theatrical release this week.
Thirty-six years ago this week, an American Vela Hotel satellite detected an atmospheric explosion over the southern Indian Ocean near the Prince Edward Islands. It was a strange event that remains controversial to this very day.
by Jennifer Ouellette on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9
Have you ever wanted to meander between two spiral galaxies, or follow in the footsteps of a comet? Now visitors to southwest Scotland’s Nith Valley can do just that. Welcome to the “Crawick Multiverse,” a massive installation created by renowned landscape architect Charles Jencks that gives symbolic physical form to some of our most abstract physics theories.
LEGO Dimensions fuses 14 fan-favorite universes from film, television and games together with the principal actors voicing their characters from almost every property to lend authenticity to the game’s epic story. Check out some of the famous voice talent in LEGO Dimensions:
— Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd who played Marty McFly and Doc Brown, respectively, in the Back to the Future films have rerecorded and reprised their roles in LEGO Dimensions.
— From The LEGO Movie, Chris Pratt returns as Emmet, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, Alison Brie as UniKitty and Charlie Day as Benny, among other actors from the film.
— Chris Pratt is Owen Grady and Irrfan Khan is Simon Masrani from Jurassic World, along with other members of the film’s original cast.
— Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor, Jenna Coleman is Clara Oswald, Michelle Gomez is Missy from Doctor Who, and many other original actors from the long running British science fiction television series have also returned to voice their characters in the game as well.
— From the world of DC Comics, Troy Baker is Batman and Tara Strong is Harley Quinn.
— Stephen Merchant is Wheatley and Ellen McLain is GLaDOS from the Portal video game series.
— And as part of the original LEGO Dimensions story, Joel McHale is X-PO, the game’s robot guide, and Gary Oldman is Lord Vortech, the evil mastermind who seeks to control the LEGO Multiverse.
It’s a popular sci-fi plot: Earth sets up colonies on Mars; Mars colonies grow, developing their own technologies and culture; Mars colonies rebel against overbearing Earth government, demanding independence. It happens in Total Recall, in Babylon 5, in Red Mars.
But what if we gave Mars its independence right from the get-go? Rather than giving future colonies to governments or corporations, Jacob Haqq-Misra thinks we should let Martian colonists develop their own values, governments, and technologies, with minimal interference from Earth. Haqq-Misra is an astrobiologist at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, a non-profit organization that promotes international unity in space.
Not only would Haqq-Misra's strategy preclude any Martian wars for independence, but cultural independence could help Martians think differently enough to solve problems that Earth continues to struggle with—such as working together to fight global environmental problems, or making long-term plans for the future of humanity.
“Maybe Mars is more valuable in trying to seed the second incidence of civilization.”
Instead of getting divided by nations or plundered by industry, says Haqq-Misra, “maybe Mars is more valuable in trying to seed the second incidence of civilization.”
The plan that he lays out in an essay in New Space has five main provisions:
Humans who leave Earth to permanently settle on Mars relinquish their planetary citizenship as Earthlings and claim a planetary citizenship as Martians.
Governments, corporations, and individuals of Earth cannot engage in commerce with Mars and cannot interfere with the political, cultural, economic, or social development of Martian civilization.
Scientific exploration may continue as long as it does not interfere with the development of civilization on Mars. Sharing of research and information between Mars and Earth is permitted only to pursue mutual scientific or educational goals.
The use of land on Mars will be determined exclusively by the citizens of Mars. No Earthlings may own or otherwise lay claim to land on Mars.
Any technology, resources, or other objects brought from Earth to Mars become permanent fixtures of the Martian civilization. Earthlings may not make any demands for resources on Mars.
There is some legal precedent. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which 103 nations (including the U.S. and Russia) are party to, prohibits any nation from claiming territory in space. The treaty “makes very clear that a colony on Mars could never become a colony in the classical legal sense of the word, like the U.S. was originally a colony of the U.K.,” says Frans von der Dunk, a space law professor at the University of Nebraska.
Nevertheless, under the current legal system, von der Dunk says American colonists on Mars would still probably fall under U.S. jurisdiction.
Sailors in international waters are expected to follow the rules of their ship's flag, and astronauts must do the same. The rules even hold when they're not on board the ship—for example, when the Apollo astronauts roamed around the moon, or when astronauts on the International Space Station do spacewalks, they're still subject to U.S. laws.
But what about when the excursion is longer than a few hours? On the ISS, where astronauts spend months at a time, participating countries have worked up their own quasi legal system, which is pretty similar to Earth's. If an American astronaut were to hit a Russian astronaut over the head, for example, first the U.S. would have the right to determine whether a criminal act was committed. If the U.S. doesn't take action, then he could be tried under Russian jurisdiction.
The rules could be different when we're talking about pioneers who venture to another planet with no intention of returning home. Still, says von der Dunk, “You cannot simply say 'I'm no longer a citizen of the U.S.' It's not for you to decide.”
Illustration Showing a Mars Colony with Living Quarters and Solar Panels
Mars One
He thinks that if Americans are able to set up self-sustaining communities on Mars, they'll consider themselves Americans and abide by U.S. laws—at least at first. “At some point in time, they will not like that anymore,” says von der Dunk. “They won't feel like they are American or Russian or wherever they come from, they'll feel like they are Martian. They will say, 'Listen, we don't want to pay taxes anymore, and we want to develop our own legal system.'”
Cultural evolution is inevitable in small populations that splinter off from Earth. A lot of Earthly traditions just won't apply, and the Martians will develop their own jokes, rules, and customs. Haqq-Misra's suggestion of limiting contact with Earth would simply speed up that transition.
Von der Dunk thinks it would be difficult to set up a colony as a blank slate, as Haqq-Misra proposes. Mars colonists would carry with them a lot of legal and cultural baggage that biases their ideas about how society should work. But over time, Martian culture could change dramatically. "It's hard to think outside the box there, but one could think that because Mars is so different from Earth, that when they tear themselves away from traditional legal structures, they could develop something very new," says von der Dunk. "This is all very hypothetical."
There are other potential problems. Getting to Mars ain’t easy, and there are a lot of ways to die once you get there. Unfortunately, Earth's help won’t come cheap: these days it costs about $10,000 to send one pound of supplies to the space station, and that's a much closer, easier trip than Mars. Without the financial incentives of Martian communities, resources, and/or business, nations and private companies aren’t likely to rally around the Free Mars idea. Haqq-Misra’s plan relies on either extremely thorough planning to make sure the colonies are completely self-sufficient, or generous donations to send resupply missions to Mars.
Haqq-Misra says he’s not holding his breath for anyone to jump on this idea. Still, he says, since everyone from NASA to SpaceX and Mars One has their sights set on visiting or colonizing Mars in the coming decades, it's important to think about.
“Hopefully it’s going to instigate people to have a longer-term vision for whatever we do on Mars.”
Layla was being teased at school in Virginia for wearing an R2-D2 jacket and Guardians of the Galaxy shirt. After hearing about this, the local chapter of the 501st Legion, Garrison Tyranus decided to step in and help out: by issuing her her own set of Stormtrooper armor.
Well, after all these years, looks like someone caught a Pikachu. I would love to pretend like I am an actual adult and not jealous right now, but I am slightly jealous.
The people who stuffed the ballot at this year’s Hugo Awards nominations have made a number of arguments in favor of their actions. We shared some of those with you a while back . But there’s one argument that the Hugo saboteurs keep making which seems especially strong—except they already disproved it.
When four-year-old Sawyer Dunlop first heard Groot speak in the amazing Guardians of the Galaxy movie, he instantly connected with the character. Sawyer suffers from Dyspraxia. A condition that affects a child’s motor functions and can impair their ability to speak, among other problems. Sawyer’s Dad, Josh, started noticing some amazing changes in his son after they saw the film. You can read the full message above in the pic, but here it is for those who don’t want to squint:
Hi James…This is in response to your recent post about Guardians being released a year ago and the effect it has had on my son. My son is four years old and has a condition known as dyspraxia, which not only interferes with motor skills but speech as well. When Guardians came out Sawyer could only say about three words and would communicate to his mother and I by other means. When he saw Groot, something clicked inside him and he connected with him on a level I haven’t seen. He began to mimic him and he would use the word “Bah” for a lot, but after he saw the film, he would change the tone in which he said it to convey a different meaning. He would also start saying Groot for many things as well. Since that, he was finally able to go to a speech class and it has helped amazingly. I just wanted to thank you though, for a script and movie that was written so well that a four year old, three at that time, could connect with someone who had the same language barrier.
We all knew Guardians was a magical movie. The truth is, we just didn’t know HOW magical until now. And I guess that part at the end of the movie when Groot says “WE are Groot” rings with a lot more truth than any of us knew at the time.
There’s a new start-up company out there that’s looking to reinvent how stories are told on the web: by publishing high-quality fiction serially. From all indications, Serial Box has a pretty incredible lineup of stories coming in the next couple of months.
two notes: 1) Not super happy they made (Lady) Thor a metal bikini maiden, but whatever. 2) Angrier hulk gets, stronger hulk gets... but can zombies really get mad? Comic science clashes with zombie metaphysics, DISCUSS!
Watch as She Thor fights a zombified Hulk in this epic Marvel fan film by Youtuber Miltonius Arts.
Celebrities visiting a hospital has been a cool thing to do for a while now: Christian Bale and Chris Pratt have been known to stop by to cheer up kids. The latest feel-good story comes with the new cast of Ghostbusters, who stopped by Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center in Boston yesterday.
And Joss Whedon. Let’s not forget about Joss Whedon!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is joined by Anne Hathaway and Brian & Nick from BriTANick, who guest star in a short film about a pair of sidekicks struggling to emerge from the shadow of their superheroes.
This time she’s tackling actual Avenger Tony Stark, and she told us why:
What was originally just an attempt to do a genderbent Avenger costume with friends turned into a little more. The rest of the group fell away, but I wanted to continue forward with the idea of doing a business chic version of the gregarious Tony Stark. It was both fun and challenging to bring a realistic female version of Tony Stark to life — or better known as Natasha Stark from Earth-3490. The costume consisted of clothes from my closet or newly purchased items to create a real world “everyday cosplay.” The arc reactor was a 3D-printed piece by Adam Greene of Pixelbash Props.
Google is to offer free broadband to people living in public housing and other affordable housing project properties. It will also offer free computer skills training.
The free service, which will have no connection fee, will be available initially in Atlanta, Durham, Kansas City and Nashville before being rolled out to all cities where Google currently offers its high speed fiber internet.
While the service offers theoretical speeds up to 1,000 megabits per second, Google’s announcement didn’t specify that’s what will be available in the public housing program. Google Fiber does offer a Basic Internet plan with speeds up to 5 megabits per second. That’s already free of charge to all customers in areas covered by Google Fiber, though normally it carries an eyewatering $300 installation fee.
As well as providing the free connection, Google plans to find local facilities to host “digital literacy training.” In a test program in Manhcaca Village, a public housing facility in Austin, 90 percent of residents took up the free service and more than half attended the training sessions.
The offer is part of a wider program called ConnectHome run by the White House and the Department of Housing and Urban Development that is trying to expand internet use among public housing residents, particularly children.
These smart trash cans are solar powered, can detect how full and smelly they are, and will soon offer Wi-Fi.
Garbage cans are the latest previously un-smart objects to become Wi-Fi-enabled.
Waste management company Bigbelly equipped two of its smart bins with wireless internet in downtown Manhattan last winter, providing 50 to 75 megabits per second. That's fast enough to download an HD movie in nine minutes, or upload 200 photos in about 27 seconds.
The company now wants to turn more of its several hundred garbage and recycling bins in New York City into Wi-Fi hotspots. Bigbelly is applying for a grant from the Mayor's Office to install the Wi-Fi garbage cans in underserved neighborhoods. The company also plans to conduct more pilot tests this year, and fully deploy units in the fall if they get Board approval. Other North American cities will soon have their own wireless trash cans, too.
Bigbelly's bins were already pretty smart — they're solar powered, have sensors to detect how full and smelly they are, notify trash collectors when it's time to empty them, and some can automatically compact the trash when they're getting too full. Adding Wi-Fi to garbage cans on the street level means wireless signals aren't blocked by skyscrapers, either.
New York City payphones are also being replaced with Wi-Fi enabled "Links," which offer free charging stations, free domestic calls, and a tablet with city info. The first Links will go live by the end of this year, and eventually 10,000 of them will be installed across the five boroughs — thousands of which will offer free Wi-Fi.
Link
LinkNYC
The payphone of the future.
How are all these services free? Both the payphones and garbage cans will display advertising, of course. CityBridge, the consortium managing the Links, estimates ad revenue will net the city $500 million in the first 12 years. By then, you'll probably never have to go anywhere that doesn't have Wi-Fi.
Every time the beautiful Regina rejects his advances, James pushes a red button and tries again, all the while unaware of the reality and consequences of his actions. Directed by Devon Avery. Selected for the Sploid Short Film Festival, a celebration of coolest short films and the filmmakers that make them.
