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The disaster film comes and goes. The genre was massive in the 1970s, leading to classics like "The Towering Inferno" and "The Poseidon Adventure." It saw a resurgence in the '90s thanks to hits like "Armageddon" and "Dante's Peak," and there's been a slight bump over the past decade, too — think "Skyscraper" and "San Andreas," both starring The Rock. These films are often a chance to cobble together an all-star cast (historically, they featured big names past their prime) and thrill audiences by showing off some special effects work.

The biggest and best disaster films stick around. After all, people still debate whether "Armageddon" or "Deep Impact" was better. There are plenty more, however, that are forgotten. Whether due to genre fatigue or inexplicable box office failure, many have flown under the radar yet are still worth a watch. Some have casts that make them worthwhile (Alain Delon from "Le Samouraï" is in an "Airport" movie!), while others now have a certain camp factor thanks to their outdated special effects. From the enjoyably ridiculous to the sorely underseen, here are 10 underrated disaster films that deserve your attention.

The Swarm (1978)

For "The Swarm," Irwin Allen decided to direct. The producer had been behind legendary disaster flicks like "The Towering Inferno" and "The Poseidon Adventure," so "The Swarm" seemed like a no-brainer. He assembled an all-star cast (as usual), consisting of Henry Fonda, Michael Caine, Olivia de Havilland, Patty Duke, and others. The disaster: a gigantic swarm of killer bees. The results, according to critics? Well ... a disaster.

Sure, "The Swarm" is overlong. Sure, there's too much time taken up by scientists and military men squabbling over how to fend off the bees. Sure, a lot of the performances are lacking. (Caine fares particularly poorly. He shouts a lot without much facial expression). And ... sure, there's an inexplicable subplot in which survivors see psychic visions of gigantic hovering bees.

Still, there is a lot of fun here. Some of the bee-induced mayhem is as overpowering and ridiculous as you could want from a movie like this. There are slow-mo bee swarm attacks, cacophonous buzzing, and human figures contorted in pain. Many disaster movies kill a lot of nameless townspeople.  Still, the bees rack up an absurdly high kill count. "The Swarm" also has a trick up its sleeve. In addition to the bees, there are chaotic sequences involving runaway trains, a disaster at a nuclear plant, and a catastrophic city-destroying fire. Irwin Allen saw his chance, and he took it. You have to admire the chutzpah.

City On Fire (1979)

Like many disaster movies, "City on Fire" is star-studded. In this case, the intersecting cast contains Leslie Nielsen (the mayor), Henry Fonda (the fire captain), Ava Gardner (an anchorwoman), Shelley Winters (a nurse), and Barry Newman (a doctor). The disaster is instigated by a bunch of kids smoking in a treehouse. When one drops his cigarette onto a pile of trash below, it sparks a house fire that endangers the life of his little sister. At the same time, a madman blows up the oil refinery on the edge of town, leading natural gas to seep into the sewers. Soon the entire city is engulfed in flames.

Some of the effects in "City on Fire" are terrible in a charming way. At one point, the mayor views the destruction from the roof of the hospital. While the lighting on Leslie Nielsen's face is gorgeous and expressive, the clumsy glimpse of the burning (cardboard) city behind him is a little silly.

While the wider disaster shots are lacking, the stuntwork is phenomenal. At times, "City on Fire" is downright horrific. The movie's pièces de résistance are a series of long dolly shots tracking terrified patients as they flee the doomed hospital. Against the backdrop of what appears to be an actual burning city block, people cry, scream, and run as the flesh melts from their faces. A staggering number of people catch on fire in this movie, making it worth the price of admission.

Meteor (1979)

Before "Armageddon," there was "Meteor." In Ronald Neame's disaster film, a comet hits a massive asteroid and sends it on a collision course with Earth. Humanity's only chance for survival is for the United States and the Soviet Union to put aside their differences, aim their space defense systems at the asteroid, and cooperate by creating an explosion powerful enough to blow the planet-killer off course. Sean Connery plays a NASA scientist, while Natalie Wood stars as a Russian translator. Rounding out the cast are stars like Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, and Martin Landau.

It's interesting to watch "Meteor"  — not just after "Armageddon" but also after "Don't Look Up," the 2021 film about scientists who are unable to convince a complacent populace that certain doom is coming. "Meteor" was released in 1979, very much in the thick of the Cold War, but it imagines a world where the USA and USSR might work together. In the film, both countries have secret satellites capable of deploying nuclear weapons, but "Meteor" inverts the concept of mutually assured destruction. In turning these weapons of war into our only hope, it's about mutually-assured survival. Without spoiling much, it's a fundamentally optimistic movie in a way that feels even more quaint than its special effects.

The disaster scenes in "Meteor" are also worth the price of admission. So-called "splinter" asteroids reach Earth ahead of the main problem, and they cause chaos in the form of avalanches, tidal waves, and cities turned to howling infernos.

Into The Storm (2014)

By 2014, audiences were growing tired of found-footage movies. The "Paranormal Activity" franchise, for example, was in steady decline. "Into the Storm," which combined the found-footage film with the disaster genre, similarly failed with both critics and audiences.  However, "Into the Storm" is essential viewing for disaster movie fans.

The film follows several intertwining groups during a massive storm that produces multiple record-breaking tornadoes. Primarily, "Into the Storm" is about a family (headed by Richard Armitage as patriarch Gary) that links up with a storm-chasing group led by Matt Walsh and Sarah Wayne Callies. Both groups are filming on the day the tornadoes strike. Father and sons are capturing a high school graduation ceremony, while the storm chasers are hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime shot from inside a tornado. Crucially, "Into the Storm" isn't just found footage. It doesn't tie itself to the conceit the way a lot of films did around that time. This means it isn't beholden to inventing plot reasons for cameras to survive. If a cameraman gets sucked into a tornado, the film isn't concerned with how we'll find the footage. Director Steven Quale ("Final Destination 5") also knows when to give us an unmotivated view of his characters framed as small figures against the awesome power of nature.

In "Into the Storm," nature is awesome. The town gets absolutely mulched, and the action sequences are pulse-pounding. For all you "Twister" fans, there's even an obligatory flying cow.

The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979)

In 1980, "Airplane" spoofed the disaster film genre so well that the boom quickly died down. Specifically, "Airplane" was lampooning the "Airport" franchise, a series of disaster movies about planes encountering various catastrophes in the sky. Each successive installment fared worse at the box office, and by the time 1979's clunkily-titled "The Concorde... Airport '79" was released, audiences didn't seem interested anymore.

However, the movie is still worthwhile. As with most disaster movies in the '70s, "Airport '79" boasts an all-star cast. This one includes Robert Wagner, Alain Delon, and George Kennedy, reprising his role from the previous three "Airport" films (He's one unlucky pilot!). All of the "Airport" movies are enjoyably preposterous, but "Airport '79" ups the ante by making the imperiled plane a supersonic jetliner dodging missile tests gone awry. The hook-nosed plane is populated by eccentric characters like a saxophone-playing pothead, a Russian athlete and his deaf daughter, and a reporter uncovering a nefarious plot. Charo even makes a brief appearance as a woman attempting to smuggle a dog aboard the aircraft inside her fur shawl — because why not? It's not great, but when the film is this silly and fun, who needs it to be?

The Hurricane Heist (2018)

As "The Hurricane Heist" opens, we witness two young brothers and their father attempt to outrun Hurricane Andrew in 1992. They cower in a house, but the hurricane tears the roof off of the building. A skull emerges from the clouds, swoops down toward the terrified children ... and roars. "The Hurricane Heist," the film wants us to know, is not your average disaster movie. It's incredibly campy — ultra-ridiculous — and it's all the better for it.

The bulk of the story takes place in the present day. The two brothers who survived Hurricane Andrew are now all grown up and are facing yet another terrible storm heading their way. Will (Toby Kebbell) is a meteorologist, while his brother Breeze (Ryan Kwanten) works as a mechanic. Yes, you read that correctly. The main character of a movie about a hurricane is named "Breeze." The brothers soon find themselves wrapped up in the titular heist, which is being carried out against a local cash storage facility by a group of evildoers attempting to use the cover of the hurricane to steal hundreds of millions of dollars. Along the way, they run afoul of kidnappings, shootouts, car chases, and horrifically high-powered winds that turn the town to rubble. Kebbell is British and Kwanten is Australian, but they both do Floridian accents that sound like no American ever. It's a scream.

Did we mention the part when the hurricane has a face and it roars? What are you waiting for?

Rollercoaster (1977)

On one hand, "Rollercoaster" may seem anticlimactic. Unlike most disaster movies, which tend to save the most mayhem for the end, "Rollercoaster" gets its largest disaster scene out of the way in the beginning. The rollercoaster derailment is a wild sequence, full of screaming people, twisted wreckage, and impressive camera tricks that put the audience right in the middle of the action. The rest of the film is a cat-and-mouse game, as detectives attempt to stop a madman (Timothy Bottoms) intent on destroying more theme park rides. Other stars include George Segal, Richard Widmark, and Henry Fonda (that guy sure did a lot of these). There's even an appearance by a young Helen Hunt, in her feature film debut!

Instead of being an action film like many disaster movies, "Rollercoaster" relies on suspense. We've seen what the killer is capable of, and Bottoms is excellent at conveying creepy intensity. As the authorities rush to foil his dastardly plans, the delighted screams of theme park patrons threaten at any moment to turn to screams of terror. There are numerous sequences in which people ride the coasters in an attempt to make sure they are free from tampering. Sometimes, the film feels like those POV ride videos you can find on YouTube. Then, the camera will pull back from the car and float away from the coaster for a birds-eye view. It's stunning. In short, "Rollercoaster" is as much of a thrill ride as its title promises.

Moonfall (2022)

Director Roland Emmerich is responsible for several iconic modern disaster movies, including "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow." The Hollywood Reporter even calls him the "master of disaster." When "Moonfall" was announced, I was excited. A movie starring Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry in which the moon, of all things, falls? Count me in! The movie failed to connect with critics, but I'm not sure what everyone expected that "Moonfall" doesn't deliver.

To my delight, "Moonfall" is even dumber and sillier than I could have hoped for. There's an absurd twist revealed in the first few minutes of the film: The moon isn't a moon at all but a giant alien superstructure. In other words, like "Independence Day," this isn't (just) a disaster movie. It's an alien invasion movie. It hits all the expected beats, and thanks to committed, in-on-the-joke performances from Wilson and Berry, it hits them well. There's an amateur scientist who realizes the problem before anyone takes him seriously, a city-destroying event that forces people to pay attention, a social media panic, and as the destruction on Earth ramps up, a trip to the moon that unveils a hilariously complex backstory. There are instantly-outdated shoutouts to Elon Musk, an inartfully-deployed reference to "Q-clearance," and a sense that Emmerich delights in razing iconic metropolises. In short, "Moonfall" delivers on the promise of the title, and it's worth watching to see just how far it goes.

Everest (2015)

Many disaster films have high body counts. Anonymous, nameless people run, scream, are crushed, and die. Part of the attraction is watching masses of humanity all panic together. On the other hand, Baltasar Kormákur's "Everest" takes a more subdued approach. Based on John Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air," the film is about the 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster. It takes its time to build its characters. When the climactic storm finally strikes, we feel attached to these people. Watching them freeze, fall, panic, and die is harrowing.

Like all the best disaster films, "Everest" boasts an excellent cast. Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Josh Brolin, and more face the ultimate test of their endurance, and they all deliver performances more well-rounded than the ones found in the vast majority of disaster flicks. Kormákur's direction is elegant, and the cinematography (from Salvatore Totino) is gorgeous. You can almost see how cold the air is. It's pretty to look at. The film makes fantastic use of the bright white of the Everest snow contrasted with the vibrant jewel tones of the climbers' equipment.

A lot of disaster films go big and loud, and "Everest" has those moments. More chilling, however, are the moments when the film dials back. One quiet scene, in particular, involving a character experiencing hypothermia, is downright haunting. It'll stay with you, preserved in your memory like one of the fallen bodies on the mountain encased in ice.

The Wandering Earth (2019)

The Chinese film "The Wandering Earth" was one of the biggest successes of 2019, racking up an astonishing $700 million at the international box office. That makes it the second highest-grossing film of all time that isn't in English. Netflix released the film outside of China, though, and on the streamer, the film didn't make nearly the splash that it deserved.

"The Wandering Earth" imagines a future in which the sun begins to decay, meaning it will explode and envelope the Earth. To counteract the impending extinction of the planet, the global community comes together to strap giant rockets to the side of the Earth, allowing the entire world to be driven like a spaceship. It's a preposterous idea, but the movie takes it seriously, and thanks to some very impressive special effects, so do the audience.

When the Earth begins to move, society experiences cataclysmic natural disasters. There are earthquakes, tidal waves, and plummeting global temperatures. This is a mass extinction event anyway, but there's a real sense that humanity is banding together to save those it can. It all leads up to a thrilling showdown between Earth and Jupiter, and to say much more would be to spoil some of the wondrous effects sequences that "The Wandering Earth" has up its sleeve. There's a sequel currently in production. Here's hoping it finds a wider international audience.

Read this next: The 30 Greatest War Films Of All Time, Ranked

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Despite 'unlaunching' the GeForce RTX 4080 12GB a little under a month ago, it appears that Nvidia may be drawing up plans to bring the GPU back to market under a different name. A rebranding isn't entirely surprising, but it remains to be seen whether team green will stick by the previously announced price point for this graphics card.

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A new Half-Life: Alyx mod adds a fresh, X-rated experience to the Valve and Steam VR game, with more blood, gruesome kills, and “fun mechanics such as limb dismemberment,” a brutal but brilliant way to pass the time as we wait on Half-Life 3.

RELATED LINKS: Half-Life: Alyx review, How long is Half-Life: Alyx?, Half-Life 3 news

CD Projekt RED has released a brand new update for Cyberpunk 2077. Update 1.61 is 11GB in size, adds support for AMD’s FSR 2.1 on PC, and below you can find its full patch notes. Going into more details, Patch 1.61 packs numerous fixes for quests, UI, and visuals. It also has a number of … Continue reading Cyberpunk 2077 Update 1.61 released, is 11GB in size, full patch notes →

The post Cyberpunk 2077 Update 1.61 released, is 11GB in size, full patch notes appeared first on DSOGaming.

"The White Lotus" might be the first show on television that accurately captures Gen Z girls — and they aren't even the focus of the series. In the first season, series creator Mike White perfectly encapsulated the painfully self-aware hypocrisy of pseudo-intellectual, ultra-rich Gen Z girls in Sydney Sweeney's character Olivia Mossbacher. "The White Lotus" carries that tradition into the second season with Haley Lu Richardson's character, Portia.

Unlike the other guests at The White Lotus, Portia is a middle-class assistant on a work vacation with Tanya, played by Jennifer Coolidge. Portia joins Tanya on what is supposed to be a romantic trip with her husband. When they arrive in Sicily, her husband is enraged by Portia's presence. He insists that Portia leave, but Tanya secretly asks her assistant to stay hidden in her room so that her husband doesn't find out she's still there.

Richardson's character is conflicted. Portia is anxious about losing her job while she entertains a budding romance with Albie, a nice Italian-American boy she met by the pool, and she isn't even particularly passionate about either. "Portia is lost. She doesn't know who she is," the actress explained to The Daily Beast. "She's really trying, you know, she's desperately, with so much angst, trying to find her purpose and her fulfillment in life."

Portia's identity crisis reflects lots of elder members of Gen Z that are straddling adolescence and adulthood. Like Portia, they are struggling to find their niche and find happiness in a culture saturated with instant gratification, ever-shifting trends, and marketing. Portia has no trouble complaining about her lot in life but she struggles to take the initiative to change it. Through Richardson's character, Mike White has skewered another damaging Gen Z pathology.

Richardson Styled Portia To Look Like She Doesn't Know Who She Is

The class-striving consumerism and insecure identity of middle-class Gen Z girls is reflected in Portia's fashion choices in season 2 of "The White Lotus." The character is dressed head to toe in micro-trend pieces like baby tees and '70s-inspired prints. Her styling makes her look susceptible to marketing and desperate to impress. By choosing such painfully contemporary pieces, Portia's fashion becomes instantly outdated. Richardson actually styled herself for the production and revealed that this look was completely intentional. "I liked taking cute pieces of clothing and then putting them together in a way that was not. She's trying to look upscale," the actress said.

The audience finally gets an idea of Portia's desires in Episode 2 when she goes on a date with Albie. "I just want to have fun," Portia laments. "I just want to feel fulfilled and have an adventure. I'm sick of TikTok and Bumble and screens and apps and sitting there binging Netflix. I just wanna live my life so badly."

Rather than take initiative and go on an adventure or find fulfillment by herself, Portia is waiting for a man — specifically a "caveman" who is "totally ignorant of the discourse" — to enter into her life and change things for her. She doesn't see her own behavior as a problem and doesn't seem to think that she herself has the agency to get off of TikTok and "live her life" as she so desperately wants. It is easier for her to complain about her circumstances and hope that someone else comes along to fix them rather than change herself. In the end, she concludes, "I think I just need to up my meds."

Portia Is More Like Tanya Than Richardson Thought

"The White Lotus" Season 2 is filled with characters that indulge their own suffering, and Portia is no exception. She is resigned to staying in her room, wallowing in her depression and remaining at her boss' whim. In this way, she is a lot like Tanya herself, who often stews in her own suffering, like when grieving her mother in Season 1 and in her tumultuous marriage in Season 2.

"When I was auditioning for the show and [had] my original ideas of Portia... [I] was like, 'Oh, so she's going to kind of be the more grounded, earnest character in this season, to all of these kind of crazy, narcissistic, totally unaware personalities,'" Richardson confessed to The Daily Beast. "And I quickly realized she's actually not. She's very selfish. She's kind of honestly like a mini Tanya in a lot of ways."

Unlike Olivia in Season 1, who frequently lashes out at her mother, Portia is sympathetic to Tanya, which makes her submissive. Olivia relies heavily on her mother but has little to no compassion for her. As her employee, Portia is in a transactional relationship with Tanya, but she understands the comfort that she provides Tanya and truly doesn't want to upset her or leave her alone.

Richardson auditioned for the role of Olivia, but concedes that Sweeney was "perfect for the role. She was so deadpan... .I'm so glad it worked out the way it did, because I do feel like Portia's a little bit more of an adult character." Sweeney has the emblematic droll of a spoiled leftist teenager but Richardson definitely has the frazzled sincerity of a 20-something blob girl, the likes of which haven't been seen since Lena Dunham one generation ago.

Read this next: 20 Movies About Time Travel Ranked Worst To Best

The post Haley Lu Richardson's White Lotus Season 2 Character is a Scathing Portrait of Gen Z appeared first on /Film.

Science fiction allows us to explore worlds of imagination and possibility, the bigger and the wilder the better. However, the line between smash hit and cult darling is hard to pinpoint, much less cross. The show that doesn't win this blindfolded coin toss is often doomed to go forgotten, its episode order cut short, and its effects budget cruelly slashed just in time to limp to a half-baked finale or worse, a cliffhanger.

It's a fate that often hits this genre harder than others because big concept science fiction shows can look like money pits to studios worried about their bottom line. Money makes it difficult for showrunners to realize their full vision, much less attract strong writers to help them on the way. Despite these hurdles, there are years of great science fiction lurking under an ocean filled with "Star Trek" yachts and waves of reality TV. Of course, not everything that's lost is worth digging back up. So we're doing the work of finding 12 of the best lesser-known science fiction shows that deserve the spotlight.

Hard Time On Planet Earth

Once upon a time, Martin Kove, best known as villainous Sensei John Kreese of "Karate Kid" and "Cobra Kai" fame, could've played the Punisher just as well as Jon Berenthal. With a face like a rock and a gift for the unforgiving stare, Kove playing a likable character would be shocking. How about a half-hour science fiction comedy about an alien convict sentenced to Earth?

"Hard Time on Planet Earth" is a relic of the late '80s, a Disney product loaded with the blatancy of the time — one episode takes place at Disneyland — that flopped like a Magikarp against the Elite Four. Kove plays "Jesse," a traitorous alien prisoner. His sentence includes an observer robot that looks like a pink flying snail. The robot is an idiot. The critics loathed it, which is fair, but that's also not reflective of the show's charm. It's a show ahead of its time that dared to take its absurd premise and have fun with it. Kove does a marvelous job of lampooning his own character type. It's utterly forgotten. It's not even on Disney+, and that's a shame.

V

The 1980s cult sci-fi series "V" includes a two-part miniseries that dares to go as grim as possible with its historical fascist parallels, the three-part "Final Battle" miniseries, and a weekly TV series. The 2009 two-season reboot gave it a good college try, but let's stick with the original. It's overeager with its concept, leaning hard into its evil space lizard Nazis with an enthusiasm that makes the whole thing thrive in spite of itself. With that blatant theme comes a timelessness that overcomes the huge hair and shiny nylon jumpsuits.

It's easier than ever to watch the Visitor Diana (Jane Badler) eat a live rat and think a politician would do it today to get a vote, going on to argue that the woke left is trying to give the eaten rat more rights than their reactionary base. The most astonishing thing about "V" is that the Visitors start by triumphing in terrible, familiar ways. The series goes on to follow the struggle to get Earth back, with all the deaths, setbacks, and terror that come with rebellion. It stumbles hard in places by the end, and it's not on par with "Andor" with its tale of strife and sacrifice, but it remains a lesser-known classic.

Alien Nation

"Alien Nation" is an excellent movie and a pretty good TV series. Both have the same premise: What if "In the Heat of the Night" was about literal xenophobia? The show doesn't try to ascend James Caan's excessively gruff cop, it eventually goes in a different direction — and it works. Matthew Sikes (Gary Graham) starts as tough and bigoted as Caan's iteration but has a lot more time to be drawn into the intricacies of Newcomer life. He's changed by his experiences, forced to recognize them as people. While it's never forgotten that the Newcomers are aliens, by the end, their differences are familiar and welcoming. It's a nice lesson.

George Francisco undergoes a bit of an unavoidable downgrade, going from Mandy Patinkin to Eric Pierpont, but his blander normalcy, again, benefits the character in the long run. "Alien Nation" suffered an early, "Firefly"-style death, but it's also one of the few canceled sci-fi shows to receive an unlikely rescue. Its plot was wrapped up several years later in a series of five TV movies.

Babylon 5

Better known than many of the shows on this list, "Babylon 5" still had the bad luck to be overshadowed by the curiously similar "Star Trek: Deep Space 9." With a fully outlined story mapped to multiple planned seasons, creator J. Michael Straczynski envisioned a grand epic, a science fiction homage to the depth and detail of "The Lord of the Rings."

Astonishingly, it succeeds. Over five seasons, we explore the fifth and last of the Babylon stations. All its predecessors ended in disaster. It's Earth's best chance at preventing another war like the one that nearly obliterated it. It nearly fails at its mission, as a great evil rises from an off-limits world. Against the backdrop of this sprawling drama, the series explores topics still all too relevant like bigotry, fear, and the rise of fascism. It's still beloved by its fans. Straczynski is still pushing for a reboot, put on hold by the buyout of Warner Brothers. Watch the original, streaming on HBO Max in full, and find out why we need more "Babylon 5."

Space Battleship Yamato

Don't turn your nose up at anime. Yeah, there's a lot of iffy stuff shoved out every year, but c'mon, how many cop shows do we need per night in America? Yet, as "The Wire" proves, there's high quality among the glut of police doing police things. Anime has major standouts worth everyone's time. For science fiction fans, the foundational work is "Space Battleship Yamato."

This is one of legendary director Leiji Matsumoto's earliest works, paving the way for his better-known space operas like "Captain Harlock" and "Galaxy Express 999." The Yamato is a lifeboat as much as it is a battleship, the last gasp of humanity. Its mission is to reach the source of a mysterious message offering a way to save an already ruined Earth. Brutal and complex, it's the series that paved the way for the war-scarred mechs of "Gundam" and the wrenching psychological damage of "Neon Genesis Evangelion." Like a lot of early anime, its first visit to US shores was via a mangled localization called "Star Blazers." And like other Japanese classics, "Space Battleship Yamato," with its princesses and planet destroyers, just might've inspired George Lucas more than he wants to admit.

Legion

It was easy to miss one of the best MCU-adjacent shows on television. FX, and by extension, Hulu's few Marvel series never achieved the public awareness of Netflix's offerings, nor did Disney ever throw the power of the Mouse behind them. It's a fate that's ended several excellent shows too early, including "Runaways" and "Cloak & Dagger." However, it's the forgotten "Legion" that may be the most painful sting.

Starring Dan Stevens as David "Legion" Haller, the mutant son of Charles Xavier, the series uses its faint X-Men backdrop to explore mental illness and trauma. David isn't who he thinks he is, nor does he understand what the forces around him want him to be — or even what those forces are sometimes. It's a complex, deeply psychological exploration of one of the franchise's most tormented mutants, a guy who doesn't always understand the impact of the things he's doing. "Legion" needs a fan's full attention for its biggest twists to land with all the import they deserve, and its three seasons tell an entire, if tangled, story. Satisfying and criminally underrated, Dan Stevens deserves his own canon MCU cameo to honor what he accomplished here.

Fringe

"Fringe" is the spiritual descendent of "The X-Files" and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath far more often than it is. As the show opens, the Fringe Division is relegated (with more respect than poor Mulder got) to investigating the wealth of weird crap going on in the world. Like its kin, the anthological nature of these early episodes quietly lays the groundwork for an intricate myth arc, crossing time and multiverses to tell a tale about families and about loving them enough to do anything to save them.

Anna Torv is the heart of the show as Agent Olivia Dunham, a capable investigator with a past she's not initially aware of. With her is an excellent cast that includes the tomato-munchin' Lord Denethor himself, John Noble and Lance Reddick, who uplifts everything he's in, even if it flops. "Fringe" even brings out Leonard Nimoy for one of his best roles, treating him as more than Spock and letting him showcase his complexity and depth as an actor in his final years. With five satisfying seasons, "Fringe" is a bigger — and a banger — and should never be forgotten by sci-fi fans.

Space Dandy

Everybody loves "Cowboy Bebop," the anime sensation that survived a pretty good Netflix live-action adaptation with its rockin' soundtrack intact. However, Shinichirō Watanabe's multiple follow-up series were never going to be "Cowboy Bebop 2: Beboping Harder," and that kept fans from falling as deeply in love with his next projects. "Samurai Champloo" made out alright, but "Space Dandy" goes almost entirely forgotten.

It's a riot of pulp sci-fi tropes, cheesy machismo behavior and all. The titular Dandy is a Han Solo with no child safety features. He's a butt man, a lech who knows what he likes and spends his free time ogling it at a questionably named Hooters knock-off. He's also an instinctive physicist, and one of his crew members is a sentient space cat — not that sentience gives them any smarts. Meow has an orange-brown blot on his head, and that's enough to qualify him as the occasional maintainer of the one brain cell all orange cats share. This is not a series for deep thinkers. It's here to have fun, and that's, well, just dandy.

Almost Human

Karl Urban and a cult sci-fi wonder that leaves him hanging ... it's weird that it's happened to him twice. The first is the ultra-violent glory of "Dredd," of course, but the second is a sedate little wonder from the creators of "Fringe" called "Almost Human." At one season of 13 intriguing episodes that showcased a grimy cyberpunk future of androids and ethical dilemmas, it got the "Firefly" treatment, right down to FOX airing episodes out of order.

As Detective John Kennex, Urban gets to serve the best Adam Jensen vibes a "Deus Ex" fan could desire. Kennex didn't ask for this: a 17-month-long coma, cybernetic prosthetics, and his new android partner, Dorian (Michael Ealy). Dorian is the heart of this too-short series, an exemplar of a line of droids that were too human for their makers' comfort. An anthological police procedural, it showcased some great stories. Slain cuties reveal the seediness behind genetic engineering, and a prescient episode with a live-streaming killer (guest-starring David Dastmalchian) are standouts. "Almost Human" was on the cusp of big reveals about its own myth arc when the plug was pulled. Check it out and discover why we're still bitter about its cancellation.

Orphan Black

Tatiana Maslany earned praise for her vibrant charm as Jennifer "She-Hulk" Waters, but she'd long since put in the work to master her brand of whiplash humor. "Orphan Black," a story about a sprawling conspiracy to master cloning, puts Maslany in the center as Sarah Manning, a clone with some unique characteristics. She also plays Beth, the dead cop that sets the series off, and Allison, a twitchy soccer mom ... and Cosima, a research scientist ... and Helena, a religious fanatic ... and Rachel, a clone who works inside the institute behind their genetics program ... and more clones — like, a lot more. You get the point.

Each clone is made distinct, not just in looks but by Maslany's masterful performances. And each one is being hunted down for reasons Sarah is racing to understand. The reasons for her complex new life allow discussions to range from the religious to the ethical. More than anything else, it's a wild ride uplifted by Maslany's performance and smart writing. It's the BBC cult show everyone's heard of by now but hasn't yet watched. It's worth it, and there's more coming.

Lexx

Picture it: your living room, late at night, at the end of the '90s. You're flipping through cable channels for something to watch, and there it is, one of the most bizarre things you've ever seen. It's a phallic spaceship that also looks like an incredibly detailed fly's head, and it's full of sketchy people — people that probably shouldn't be on TV. You double-check the channel. It's not some late-night Showtime softcore porn. It's the Sci-Fi Channel, and it's something called "Lexx."

"Lexx" is "Red Dwarf" by way of Quentin Tarantino's fetish diary. That's a compliment. There's something compelling about this show, which doles out an actual plot about eternal recurrence and multiversal good and evil in between its boundary-pushing sex romp set-ups. It features a cast of losers and dead people, most of whom are following their primal desires, not any noble cause. Yet, smartly, it uses this same basic humanity to put its villains on equal footing with their prey. Nothing is sacred in Lexx, not death, not the bathroom, and certainly not chastity. There's nothing else like it. That's probably for the best, but still, it's an experience to be cherished.

Sliders

There's no Time Variance Authority in charge behind the scenes of "Sliders," a series with a premise that would've made He Who Remains throw a fit. A little like Sam Beckett of "Quantum Leap," inventor Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell), and a handful of people who never signed up for this, get lost in an unending parade of parallel Earths.

"Sliders" leaned hardest into the potential of its premise in its first two seasons, with episodes in which Elvis never died and dinosaurs claim San Francisco for their own a year before a Tyrannosaur clawed through San Diego in "Jurassic Park: The Lost World." Worlds of magic and alien invasion awaited the hapless protagonists, and the series earned enough love to survive a hop from Fox to the Sci-Fi Channel. But its rescue also led to a gradual decrease in quality, with iffy scripts and plot devices torn wholesale from popular sources. With a cliffhanger ending and a cast that's long since moved on — Jerry O'Connell is enjoying a well-deserved renaissance as Jack Ransom on "Star Trek: Lower Decks" — the end of the series is bittersweet. It's still a great ride.

Read this next: Single-Season '80s Sci-Fi And Fantasy Shows That Deserve A Second Shot

The post 12 underrated sci-fi shows that you need to see appeared first on /Film.

With the popularity of nostalgia-driven shows like "Stranger Things," interest in '80s pop culture always seems to be taking new and exciting directions. One such example is the fascination with the classic movies of the decade. Sure, everyone knows about the heavy hitters like "Back to the Future," " E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," "The Terminator," and "The Breakfast Club." Yet, there are many other films from the 1980s that need respect, and that's what this list is about.

Here, we'll look at the movies of the '80s that deserve some love and devotion. These movies should become references in TV shows, have cosplays made of them, or at least be included in your next '80s movie marathon. So make sure to grab your favorite scrunchie, a bowl of popcorn, and a can of Tab (or whatever soda you can safely drink), so we can totally explore some fantastic — and underappreciated — '80s cinematic gems!

Some Kind Of Wonderful (1987)

When it comes to John Hughes movies, many people tend to think of "Pretty in Pink." "Some Kind of Wonderful," a film with similar themes, often gets the short end of the cinematic stick. The film centers on an artistically talented high schooler named, Keith Nelson (Eric Stoltz), who has a huge crush on the popular girl, Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson). When Keith finally asks Amanda out on a date, his world becomes even more chaotic than before, especially his relationship with his longtime best friend, Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson). 

Fueled by an incredible soundtrack and electric direction from Howard Deutch, "Some Kind of Wonderful" improves upon the formula Hughes attempted with "Pretty in Pink" with more believable characters and mature subject matter. There are also some fantastic performances, particularly from Masterson and Stoltz, who have the kind of chemistry that most teen movies of the era wish they could capture. Plus, any movie that gets Elias Koteas to play a bully turned good guy with incredible one-liners means it's great by default. 

The Bride (1985)

What do you get when you mix Sting, Jennifer Beals, and a classic horror tale? Franc Roddam's "The Bride," is a strange but aesthetically engaging reimagining of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" that shines a uniquely 1980s light on the story. Roddam skips the creation of Baron Charles Frankenstein's (Sting) first monster (Clancy Brown) and instead shows the production of his latest experiment, Eva (Beals.) Unlike Elsa Lanchester's "Bride" from 1935, this version of the character is much more articulate and is driven to take control of her life — despite her creator's wishes.

Though considered a substantial critical and box office failure during its initial release, "The Bride" is one of those odd gems that deserves a reexamination, especially in a post-Guillermo del Toro landscape. Sure, the plot sometimes is a tad too silly for its own good, as is Sting's ham-driven performance. Yet, those aspects shouldn't detract from an otherwise inventive interpretation that honors the campy spooks of its Universal horror origins with a fascinating (though messy) feminist angle.

Highlander (1986)

Putting a movie like "Highlander" on this list might not make a lot of sense to some. With its memorable Queen-infused soundtrack, delicious catchphrases, and many sequels and spin-offs, why would it ever be considered underrated? Yet, with the film's unique cult status, there are still quite a few moviegoers that haven't dived deep into the strange world of Connor MacLeod and his immortal adventures.

What exactly makes this ridiculous fantasy a must-see piece of '80s cinema? Well, for starters, how many movies include decapitation as a significant power-enhancing ability? Clearly, not enough. Secondly, the film also contains a fascinating ensemble of actors that includes Sean Connery as Connor's guide into the immortal community, Clancy Brown as the deliciously disgusting antagonist, and Christopher Lambert trying his best Scottish accent as the lead protagonist. Plus, there's a stunning musical score by Michael Kamen that deserves to be honored right alongside the best compositions of the decade. s

While "Highlander" might not be for everyone, if you're seeking a uniquely 1980s fantasy, this is the movie for you. 

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

If you're on the hunt for a movie that (visually) defines the vibe of the mid-to-late '80s, then "Earth Girls are Easy" is the treasure you've been searching for. In this music video/musical hybrid, manicurist Valerie (Geena Davis) discovers that a trio of aliens (Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, and Jeff Goldblum) have crash-landed in her pool. As the film progresses, hilarious hijinks ensue, including everything from the aliens going to nightclubs and getting makeovers to falling in love with human girls. Essentially, it's an MTV fever dream with a hyper day-glow color palette to match.

However, what makes "Earth Girls are Easy" more than just a silly sex comedy is its fascinating female gaze. From the sequences involving Valerie's fantasies and nightmares to the visualization of the alien's makeover, it's clear that co-writer/co-star Julie Brown and director Julien Temple wanted to bring a unique feminine perspective to a subgenre that's often fixated on male desires. For that reason alone, "Earth Girls" deserves your time and attention. Plus, who can resist the hotness of Jeff Goldblum in pastels?

Legend (1985)

For those looking for some genuine fairy-tale filmmaking, Ridley Scott's incredibly underrated "Legend" will likely check all your boxes. The story depicts the battle between good and evil, paying homage to the classic tales of the Brothers Grimm while evoking Scott's signature haunting vibes. There are also unicorns, monsters, Tim Curry portraying a version of the devil, Tom Cruise in a sparkly suit of armor, and two enchanting film scores by Jerry Goldsmith and Tangerine Dream (depending on which version of the movie you're watching.) Essentially, it's an '80s-era "Dungeons & Dragons" book cover brought to life.

Despite all of these magical qualities and its jaw-dropping cinematography by Alex Thompson, the film had not-so-great box office returns and a mixed critical reception. So why should it be included on this list? Well, it's yet another entry in Scott's filmography that is misunderstood. Sure, it might have a story that is both too much and too simple, but it's nearly impossible to ignore the craft that went into each frame. Plus, with superb performances by both Curry as Darkness and an extremely young Mia Sara (in her feature-length debut role) as Princess Lili, this movie deserves a chance for its passionate performances and exquisite attention to detail throughout.

Somewhere In Time (1980)

In the beautiful "Somewhere in Time," a young playwright (Christopher Reeve) crosses paths with a mysterious older woman on the opening night of his show. Years later, he finds out more about the woman (Jean Seymour) in question and thus is inspired to do the unthinkable: travel back in time to meet her. What then occurs is a fascinating adventure that blends science fiction with history and romance in one splendid package that is enchanting from beginning to end.

Despite its initial lackluster reception, "Somewhere in Time" has gained a devoted following that, over the years, has even inspired a convention. What exactly makes this movie such a treasure? Well, between the lovely performances of Seymour and Reeve and the hyper-romantic direction by Jeannot Szwarc, it's one of those rare films that often comes across like a painting brought to life. It brilliantly balances its corny lovey-dovey qualities with dramatic tension, producing an offbeat time-travel story that is the definition of poignant.

Willow (1988)

With a sequel TV series on the way, it's still sad to realize how many people haven't seen Ron Howard's "Willow." The film follows a quest involving Elora Danan (Kate and Ruth Greenfield and Rebecca Bearman), an infant destined to save the land from the destruction wrought by the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh). Since Elora's only a baby, she needs help from unlikely heroes to complete her quest. It then becomes up to Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), an aspiring sorcerer, the quirky swordsman Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), and various other magical individuals to accomplish this impossible task.

With its signature quirks from director Ron Howard and creator George Lucas, "Willow" is the definition of delightful. Sure, it has spooky creatures and other intense sequences. Yet, it evokes so much of what people love about classic adventure tales, particularly its delicate balance of comedy and genuine emotional pay-offs. The film also contains visual effects that changed the industry such as a morphing sequence that still holds up to this very day. Ultimately, "Willow" is a movie that deserves critical acclaim and should be admired by fans of all ages for its timeless story of hope during the darkest times.

Streets Of Fire (1984)

When it comes to movies full of bold choices, Walter Hill's "Streets of Fire" is definitely at the top of the heap. The film takes place in an alternate reality where the '80s mix with the '50s in a strange hybrid of retro and modern. There, we meet Ellen Aim (Diane Lane), a famous rock singer who finds herself kidnapped by an evil biker gang led by Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe). When news gets out of Ellen's disappearance, it's up to her ex-boyfriend, Tom Cody (Michael Paré), to rescue her and bring peace to their community. With bad blood and other bumps along the way, Tom is clearly in for an adventure he'll never forget.

From the beginning, "Streets of Fire" takes audiences on a neo-noir journey like no other. From its rocking soundtrack (including songs written by the immortal Jim Steinman) to its distinct cinematography by Andrew Laszlo, there are very few movies that "Streets" can be compared to. That's what makes this Walter Hill film so fascinating to watch. It doesn't care about explaining its world but instead wants its viewers to go along for the ride. Is it for everyone? Maybe not. But for those who love music-infused filmmaking, this might be your cup of tea.

Broadcast News (1987)

Sometimes, the best romantic comedies have a bit of a sharp edge. "Broadcast News," is a sexy yet hilarious tale that brilliantly balances its laughs with commentary on TV journalism. We follow Holly Hunter's Jane Craig, a news producer who always knows the right thing to say in anchor Tom Grunick's (William Hurt) ear. As the film progresses, we witness the ever-building chemistry between these two and how their professional lives interweave with their personal. Of course, as with any rom-com, Jane's best friend, Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks), also has a crush on her, making the already crazy world of television even nuttier.

While it features many of the typical rom-com tropes, what ultimately makes "Broadcast News" something special are the performances. Holly Hunter, for example, brings an additional power boost to the intimidating but lovable Jane — an aspect that was presumably in the script but is elevated by her dynamic portrayal. Similarly, both Albert Brooks and William Hurt are excellent as romantic and professional rivals who add a unique spin to their otherwise prototypical characters. Overall, with this ensemble and an electric screenplay by writer-director James L. Brooks, "Broadcast News" remains a hidden gem of the decade that rom-com devotees and movie fans, in general, should embrace.

The Phantom Of The Opera (1989)

Have you ever wanted to see the Phantom tear individuals limb-from-limb slasher style? Well, you're in luck because there just so happens to be a version of "The Phantom of the Opera" that stars Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. In this adaptation of Gaston Leroux's classic story, a modern-day Christine Daaé (Jill Schoelen) finds herself remembering her past life as an opera singer in London. There, she encounters Erik Destler (Englund), a disfigured composer who lives deep underneath the opera house and just happens to be in love with the young singer. As time passes, Christine realizes that Erik isn't the angel she once believed him to be as he turns her various lives upside down.

Though filled with the typical gothic romance of other versions of the story, the charm of this "Phantom" is all about the camp factor. From Robert Englund's over-the-top delivery of the film's beloved one-liners to Jill Schoelen's commitment to being a scream queen, this movie is pure chaos in the best of ways. Is it the most faithful retelling of Leroux's tale? No. But for horror fans or those who love the story, this is undoubtedly a retelling you'll never forget.

Say Anything (1989)

In Cameron Crowe's "Say Anything," audiences meet Lloyd Dobbler (John Cusack) and Diane Court (Ione Skye), two teenagers who never thought they would ever end up together. When Lloyd finally asks Diane to go with him to their senior graduation party, their opposite social circles eventually blend, resulting in a genuine, beautiful romance, but with tensions building between Diane and her father, Jim Court (John Mahoney), the mature romance between these young lovebirds might be doomed before it even takes off.

While it certainly has fans, "Say Anything" doesn't get the same admiration as John Hughes' teen flicks. Everyone knows about the boombox sequence along with a few other iconic moments. Still, this movie is among the teenage rom-coms that deserve to be loved just as much as Hughes' best. But why should you watch it? Well, not only does it contain one of John Cusack's best performances, but the relationship between Lloyd and Diane is one of the most genuine in any teen romance. It's nearly impossible not to root for them (and this movie) from beginning to end.

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

If you're a fan of costume dramas, then Stephen Frears' "Dangerous Liaisons" should be a priority on your watchlist! Adapted from the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the story revolves around two ex-lovers, Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont (John Malkovich), who plot to get revenge in the most highly deplorable of ways. As their plans go into motion, their various relationships become even more chaotic than they had planned. The results? A deliciously beautiful yet haunting examination of human sexuality and romance.

Not only does "Dangerous Liaisons" have one of the most excellent casts in all of cinematic history (including Michelle Pfeiffer along with a young Uma Thurman and Keanu Reeves), but it also has some of the most stunning costumes in any film of that decade. Designer James Acheson won an Academy Award for them. Yet, the most significant reason "Dangerous Liaisons" had to make this list is how well Frears juxtaposes the lavish sensibilities of '80s filmmaking with the era in which the story takes place. His unique angle along with the movie's other filmmaking achievements make it a feast for the cinematic soul.

Valley Girl (1983)

In the original 1983 film version of "Valley Girl," popular student Julie (Deborah Foreman) and punk rocker Randy (Nicolas Cage) cross paths at a party. While they obviously come from very different social circles, sparks fly between them, resulting in a romance that's both campy and genuine. Yet, as with any teen story inspired by "Romeo and Juliet," Julie and Randy's friends aren't too keen on the pair being a couple, making for some awkward scenarios. The film follows the teenage lovebirds as they face the naysayers in their lives, proving that their love can conquer any challenge.

Though recently reimagined as a movie musical, this initial take on the "Valley Girl" story could have only been made in the '80s. From the footage of teens at local malls to the unique sequences filmed at Los Angeles nightclubs, it's fun to see how often Martha Coolidge's film feels like a hybrid of a documentary and rom-com. It's an aesthetic choice that distinguishes the movie from its teen movie competition, making it a quintessential flick any '80s fan needs to see.

Grease 2 (1982)

While its plot has similarities to the 1978 hit musical film, "Grease 2" often feels like a commentary on the ridiculous nature of the original. The story follows a similar structure but reverses the roles, making Michelle Pfeiffer's character the rebel that transforms Maxwell Caulfield's goodie-two-shoes exchange student into the "cool rider" of her dreams. Yet, considering the polarizing reactions to the original film, it's no surprise that most critics didn't quite get the magic of "Grease 2" back in 1982. Thankfully, that's changed over the decades, and the film now has a passionate following.

Why is a movie about the early 1960s exploits of the T-Birds and Pink Ladies a must-see for those wanting to watch '80s cinema? It's the iconic performances, of course. Not only does Michelle Pfeiffer give it her all in the campiest way possible, but the rest of the ensemble is equally up to the task of matching her over-the-top energy. Plus, how can you not love a movie that has incredible songs filled with cheesy sexual innuendo? Ultimately, if you love poking fun at the original, then "Grease 2" is tailor-made for you.

Read this next: The 15 Best '80s Comedies Ranked

The post 14 underrated '80s movies that you need to see appeared first on /Film.

The creators of "Weird," the Weird Al fake-biopic that was released last week on Roku, have been very open about the fact that they didn't do much research before writing the script. As Al Yankovic himself will tell you, his life wasn't quite "interesting enough" to "merit a Hollywood biopic," so they decided to make a movie that was completely, utterly disinterested in being accurate to his experience at all. 

There were some nuggets of truth in the film, however. A door-to-door accordion salesman actually did show up at Al's door, for one thing; it's just that Al's father didn't beat the salesman halfway to death shortly after he walked inside the home. Perhaps more noticeable is that the "Yankovic bump," which the movie makes into a major plot point, was also a real thing. Artists of the original songs truly did tend to receive a boost in record sales after Weird Al parodied their songs. 

Unfortunately no, Weird Al and Madonna were never a couple in real life, but Madonna did in fact want Al to make a parody of her song, "Like a Virgin." As Al recounted at a recent New York Comic Con panel, Madonna had "wondered aloud" to a "mutual friend" if Weird Al could make a parody song called "Like a Surgeon," which Al agreed was a good idea. (The rest is history.)

'They Sold Like An Extra Million Units Of Nevermind'

In an interview with Seth Meyers, Al Yankovic talked about a little about the Yankovic bump and how it influenced the movie. "I heard from Nirvana's record label that, when my parody 'Smells Like Nirvana' was released, they sold like an extra million units of 'Nevermind,'" he said. "Artists' record sales spike when the parody comes out, so we kind of took that little nugget and extrapolated it into this whole subplot about Madonna wanting that Yankovic bump!"

It turns out to be the one of the funnier storylines within the movie. Played excellently by Evan Rachel Wood, Madonna visits Al out of the blue and asks him to parody her music. Al says no — he's decided at this point that he's only going to make original songs — but at first it doesn't seem to matter: Madonna is already infatuated with him. And so begins an absurdly passionate, chaotic, increasingly toxic, entirely-fictional love-affair between the two mega-stars.

While most of the appeal of "Weird" is just how unhinged and disconnected from reality it is, it might be at its most appealing when the plot stumbles upon things that are actually sort of true. You can read /Film's review of "Weird" here, which will hopefully make you check out the movie if you haven't already. We can't recommend it enough. 

Read this next: The 14 Best Billy Wilder Movies, Ranked

The post Weird's 'Yankovic Bump' Has The Real-Life Numbers To Back It Up appeared first on /Film.

This article contains major spoilers for "Terrifier 2."

The Halloween season may be behind us, but "Terrifier 2" fever is still going strong. For well over a month, the hardcore splatter flick has become a box office sensation in the world of independent horror, along with ushering in the era of the MegaSlasher, according to Mike Flanagan. When it comes to the killer whose presence has garnered the most attention and disgust this year, look no further than the sadistic Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton).

In the pantheon of killer clowns, Art makes Pennywise's approach look like child's play. When Art comes for you, there's a 90 percent chance you're not making it out of the encounter alive, let alone with all of your skin intact. The pantomime slasher approaches his kills as if it's about to be the funniest thing he's done all week. Thornton has even talked about molding his dedicated performance based on the expressionistic comedy of silent movie clowns like Charlie Chaplin.

Over the span of 2 ½ hours, which is usually unheard of for a slasher flick, Art torments a teenage girl named Sienna (Lauren LaVera), who shares a mysterious connection with the demon clown, along with all of her friends and family. Around the time that we reach the film's gory climax at the Terrifier haunted attraction, you're waiting for Sienna to finally give Art a taste of his own medicine, and boy does she let him have it.

The demonic Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain) walks away with Art's decapitated melon, leaving room open for a sequel, but the true final moments of "Terrifier 2" have something different in mind.

The Mid-Credits Scene Was Initially Longer

In the film's mid-credits scene, we see a security guard (Chris Jericho) and a nurse (Leah Voysey) working the graveyard shift on Halloween night at the Miles Country Psychiatric Hospital. While they converse, the disfigured Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi), Art's final victim from the first film, starts profusely bleeding in her room. When the nurse goes to check on her demented laughter, she discovers a horrifying sight, as Victoria has given birth to Art's head. But that bonkers ending looked entirely different at one point.

In an interview with ComingSoon.net, Jericho talks about how they had to retool the ending they actually shot because a recent horror flick beat them to the punch:

"That scene was actually a lot longer, which led to the actual ending of [the] movie. Another horror movie came out in the same timeframe, over the last year, that had the same ending, so we had to recut it, and re-shoot it. So, it was actually a longer scene than that."

Asking for logic in the same film where a killer clown hands out candy to trick-or-treaters through a decapitated head is futile, but it did seem odd that Jericho just kind of comes and goes (the AEW wrestler is a massive fan of this franchise). He doesn't even rush to come to check out Victoria's demon spawn. There's something that feels incomplete after spending that whole scene with him at the front desk, only to not give his character any sort of reason for being there.

Jericho was vague when talking about the movie that made "Terrifier 2" cut the intended finale, but director Damien Leone gave a very strong hint as to what it could be.

Art Nearly Went Full Malignant

While doing a Reddit AMA, Leone was asked to clarify Jericho's statements. While he didn't outright say the exact movie that mirrored his original ending, Leone name-dropping the director of the project made it much easier to connect the dots. "They didn't steal our idea. We just happened to have the same one! It may or may not have had something to do with a recent James Wan film," says Leone.

You're reading that correctly. Leone has all but confirmed that the original ending to "Terrifier 2" would have closely resembled that of James Wan's "Malignant." Baby Art is by no means a bad conclusion, but it's difficult to think of losing the demon clown going full Gabriel. Leone didn't elaborate on how closely the two film's endings were. Going off of how Wan's film concluded, however, you have to wonder if Art instead sprouted in the back of Victoria's head before going on a destructive killing spree throughout the asylum. It's easy to see why Leone went in a different direction, though.

"Terrifier 2" is its own grimy beast of a grindhouse flick. Folks will remember the grotesque mutilations as an extension of Art, but "Malignant" is also its own thing. In the span of a year, Gabriel has been embraced as a figurehead of the horror community. There's truly no separating the parasitic killer from that incredible police station rampage. With that said, it would be very interesting to see what Leone exactly had in mind for Art's final impression with whatever footage still exists. Here's hoping we get to see it someday.

"Terrifier 2" is now playing in select theaters nationwide, in addition to streaming exclusively on Screambox.

Read this next: The Horror Movies We Can't Wait To See In 2022

The post Why Terrifier 2's Ending Underwent a Major Change appeared first on /Film.

Microsoft is now promoting some of its products in the sign-out flyout menu that shows up when clicking the user icon in the Windows 11 start menu. BleepingComputer: This new Windows 11 "feature" was discovered by Windows enthusiast Albacore, who shared several screenshots of advertisement notifications in the Accounts flyout. The screenshots show that Microsoft promotes the OneDrive file hosting service and prods users to create or complete their Microsoft accounts. Those reacting to this on social media had an adverse reaction to Redmond's decision to display promotional messages in the start menu. Some said that Windows 11 is "getting worse in each and every update it gets," while others added that this is a weird choice given that "half of the Start Menu is for recommendations" anyway. BleepingComputer has also tried replicating this on multiple Windows 11 systems, but we didn't get any ads. This hints at an A/B testing experiment trying to gauge the success of such a "feature" on devices running Windows Insider builds or the company pushing such ads to a limited set of customers.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

When Netflix officially declared November 6 as "Stranger Things Day," they promised theatrical screenings, pop-up events across the country, and so much more. Chosen to commemorate the in-universe date in 1983 that marks the disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) into the Upside Down, November 6, 2022, will forever be known as the day "Stranger Things" fans everywhere kicked off their wild speculation regarding the show's final season. 

As part of the day's festivities, the official "Stranger Things" Twitter account posted an image of the title page from the first episode of season 5, with the caption "season 5. chapter one. the crawl. happy stranger things day." Thanks for all the lowercase letters, clearly millennial social media account manager!

season 5. chapter one. the crawl. happy stranger things day pic.twitter.com/xCdNLjD7Yt

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) November 7, 2022

When we last saw our faves at the end of season 4 volume 2, the crew had all reunited in Hawkins following separate battles, only to see a horrifying line dividing their Midwest town. One side boasted blooming flowers and plenty of living wilderness, while the other looks like something out of Vecna's nightmarish hellscape. The Upside Down and reality have converged, which means our heroes (and the government) are no longer the only people who know about the other realm. 

We already learned earlier this summer that the final season would stay in Hawkins, Indiana instead of forcing our beloved characters to have mini-adventures across the globe, but now that we know the title of the first episode, we can begin the tinfoil hat-wearing process of trying to predict how season 5 will kick off.

Is 'The Crawl' A Reference To The Growing Line?

The "Stranger Things" kids have a history of adding cute little nicknames to the weird stuff they discover, usually inspired by terms used in their favorite game, "Dungeons & Dragons." The Demogorgon, Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and the kids' class distinctions are all names pulled from "Dungeons & Dragons," even if the monsters they encounter in the Upside Down don't look like they do in their D&D handbook. I did some digging through my wife's Dungeon Master guide and couldn't really find anything regarding "A Crawl" or "The Crawl" in terms of any specific monsters or phenomena, but that isn't to say that Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, or Lucas Sinclair won't refer to the line separating our world and the Upside Down as "The Crawl," especially if that line starts spreading like some sort of interdimensional wildfire.

At the end of season 4, the fire(?) of the Upside Down looked to be spreading throughout Hawkins, so there's no telling how far the danger will unfurl. It's not like the line is serving as some sort of invisible barrier, so there's bound to be some crossover between the worlds. Demobats will absolutely fly into the "healthy" side of Hawkins, and foolish cops will definitely cross the line to investigate the Upside Down. No guarantees as this is wild speculation, but don't be shocked if "The Crawl" ends up being the name given to the dividing line.

Is The Crawl A New Nickname For A Character?

"Stranger Things" creators The Duffer Brothers love to hide meticulous details throughout the series, so I took a look at some of the previous "Chapter One" episodes of the show. Season 1 gave us "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers," which obviously set the stage for the adventure that would lead us to this moment. "Chapter One: MADMAX" opened season 2, and introduced us to fan-favorite addition, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), who has evolved to be one of the best characters on the whole dang show. Season 3 kicked off with "Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?" and introduced us to Dustin's girlfriend Suzie Bingham (Gabriella Pizzolo), the brilliant computer whiz who has continually helped our heroes in clutch moments. The most recent season began with "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club," introducing us to the "Dungeons & Dragons" group that welcomed the boys once they started high school, led by Dungeon Master Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), arguably the most important (and most heavily memed) character of the double-volume season.

Going by this practice, there's a possibility that "The Crawl" is the nickname or code name of a new and important character. The Duffer Bros. have hinted that the series will likely see a time jump, so perhaps this is someone we've yet to meet or a nickname developed for an existing character based on behavior we'll see throughout the season. 

Selfishly, I'd love it if "The Crawl" is the nickname of Lucas' little sister Erica (Priah Ferguson). Ferguson was promoted to series regular in season 4 but had a major role in season 2 by crawling through the air ducts in the Starcourt mall to find a secret room occupied by the Russians. Given her small stature compared to most of the other main characters, Erica often crawls into spaces others can't get to. Maybe this is the name someone gives her in reference to her standard role in the group.

Is Eddie Munson Crawling Back To Us?

Speaking of fan-favorite characters, The Duffer Brothers definitely didn't anticipate how popular Eddie Munson would become, because they likely wouldn't have had him sacrifice himself at the end of season 4 had they known. Eddie Munson died in the Upside Down, not in our reality, which means that his death doesn't necessarily have to play by the rules of mere mortals. Now that Hawkins and the Upside Down are one and the same, maybe "The Crawl" is the name of Eddie's journey to return to his friends. Bringing Eddie back would be the ultimate act of fan service, but I highly doubt anyone would complain.

As far as this writer is concerned, they made a massive mistake by killing off Eddie, and this would be a fantastic way to right such an egregious wrong. If Eddie is capable of crawling back, that could theoretically also mean that anyone else killed in the Upside Down could also crawl back. How that works for people like Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) who died while in Vecna's control in the Upside Down but their catatonic body was manipulated in the real world has yet to be seen, but maybe an undead version of Vecna's victims will have the ability to crawl over to the other side.

After all, the lyrics of "Master of Puppets" by Metallica, the song Eddie was playing before he died, contain the line "Come crawling faster..."

Read this next: The Horror Movies We Can't Wait To See In 2022

The post Let's Speculate Endlessly About the Title of Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 1 appeared first on /Film.

When it comes to storytelling, "WALL-E" is as close to perfection as you can get. It was one of Disney-Pixar's most charming hits ("Directed with a poet's eye," says Peter Travers at Rolling Stone) and one of the highest-grossing films of 2008.

Andrew Stanton stood at the helm of Pixar's ninth feature, which isn't silent but the spiritual kin of silent films. The future-set story finds its Charlie Chaplin avatar in a robot of the same name as the title. WALL-E is a non-verbal trash-collecting machine who lives a solitary life on a future Earth so befouled by garbage that, like a nightmare roommate, the humans fled to space rather than tidy up after themselves. A visit from a hot probe-bot and an update on Earth's viability brings the musical-loving WALL-E out of the smog and onto a starship, where mayhem, rebellion, mutiny, and ultimately love ensues.

/Film's resident Pixar animation expert Josh Spiegel has chronicled the risk that Pixar Animation Studios took with a relatively dark story. Like many of the studio's successful ideas, it came from an influential lunch where, among other seedling prompts, the question was asked, as Spiegel puts it, "What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn off the last robot?" Its influences range from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" to the rise of Amazon and Apple, but it turns out that some of its influences might not be so easy to explain to the kids.

To mark the film's induction into the Criterion Collection, our man Spiegel spoke with Andrew Stanton, who cites a raunchy frat party movie as a touchstone for the development of the sweetest lil' robot you'll ever meet.

Is That A Buy-N-Large Pin On Your Uniform?!

"WALL-E" is a vivid, imaginative film filled with social criticism, some of which might fly over the heads of the wee ones in the audience. WALL-E the robot showcases the doldrums of a soul-crushing 9-to-5 and inadvertently incites a robo-rebellion aboard the starship Axiom, all with minimal vocabulary.

In trying to get the Pixar team in the headspace to depict an endearing character who doesn't say much but gets his emotions across nonetheless, Stanton had some predictable works in mind, like Albert Lamorisse's dialogue-minimal short film "The Red Balloon." But a surprise comes in his interview with Josh Spiegel:

"It's easy for us to say now because 'WALL-E' is done, but 'WALL-E' didn't exist. I had to say, 'This is the state of mind you'll be in when you watch the film I want to make.' I'd either have something pure like 'The Red Balloon' or 'The Black Stallion,' which had just music and action and atmosphere. But I knew there would be times when dialogue was said, and that your brain would be trying to interpret the emphasis of what their dialogue was.

From 'Animal House,' it was the racy scene with John Belushi on the ladder and being motivated by lust to get to the next window, just showing you how much characters' intentions and goals can be 100%, if not even more, clear to the audience."

That's right, kiddies -- the "Peeping Tom" scene from Ivan Reitman's "Animal House" acted as a storytelling North Star for one of the most wholesome children's movies of the 21st century. John Belushi's "Bluto" Blutarsky doesn't provide much commentary as he endeavors to observe nude college students, but his motivation was hilariously clear nonetheless.

Read this next: Sci-Fi Movies That Accurately Predicted The Future

The post How A 'Racy' Scene From Animal House Influenced Pixar's WALL-E [Exclusive] appeared first on /Film.

A new survey on the Xbox Insider Hub suggests Microsoft is looking to expand on its energy saving features for Xbox consoles and potentially PC games too. Jez Corden writes via Windows Central: A recent questionnaire I came across in the Xbox Insider app on Windows PC detailed a potential list of new features Microsoft is exploring for games across consoles and PC. These new features pertain specifically to opting-in to reduce frame rates, resolution, and so on, with the goal of limiting energy consumption. Of course, surveys don't necessarily mean that these sorts of features will make it into a final product, but Microsoft's commitments to net zero carbon use have seen the firm increase its investments in this space. The survey asks users about their current feelings with regard to energy consumption, potentially polling users on how the energy crisis is affecting their willingness to spend. The survey asks users if they would be interested in features that reduce power consumption in games, both while the games are running and while they're inactive, specifically to save energy and thus money. Microsoft also asks users how they would prefer these features to be branded, with terms like "eco-saving" and "energy-saving," and even asks if these sorts of features would affect users' purchase decisions per game.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Several weeks ago, Microsoft announced that DirectStorage 1.1 was “coming soon” to PC, and now the time has officially arrived. DirectStorage 1.1 is now available for any dev hoping to use the tech in their game. For those unfamiliar, the DirectStorage API allows PC developers to stream more efficiently from NVMe SSDs potentially reducing processing overhead. This was one of the hyped aspects of the Xbox Series X/S’ “Velocity Architecture,” but the new API brings DirectStorage to PC.

DirectStorage 1.1 with GPU Decompression now available! Check out our blog post here: https://t.co/mq5O1w3m0w#directstorage #gdeflate

— DirectX 12 (@DirectX12) November 7, 2022

Upon initial release, DirectStorage for PC enhanced data transfers to the CPU, but the 1.1 release also improves decompression by allowing devs to offload it on the GPU. Here is Microsoft’s more detailed description of what exactly DirectStorage 1.1 and GPU decompression brings to the table…

“Games require massive amounts of data to build immersive worlds – every character, object, and landscape […] adds up to hundreds of gigabytes of data. To reduce the overall package size of a game, these assets are compressed. When a game is run, the assets are transferred to system memory, where the CPU decompresses the data before it is finally copied into GPU memory to be used as needed. The transfer and decompression of these assets on gaming devices contributes heavily to load times and limits how much detail can be included in open world scenes.

DirectStorage 1.0 improves the data transfer part of this process. Advances in Windows 11 combined with DirectStorage allow developers to make use of the higher bandwidth of NVMe drives. DirectStorage enabled games installed on NVMe drives should expect to see reductions in load times by up to 40%. After enhancing this part of the pipeline, developers will want to improve decompression performance next.

Typically, decompression work is done on the CPU because compression formats have historically been optimized for CPUs only. We are offering an alternative method in DirectStorage 1.1 by moving the decompression of those assets to the GPU instead – known as ‘GPU decompression.’ Graphics cards are extremely efficient at performing repeatable tasks in parallel, and we can utilize that capability along with the bandwidth of a high-speed NVMe drive to do more work at once. As a result, the amount of time it takes for an asset to load decreases, reducing level load times and improving open world streaming.”

Based on Microsoft’s highly-optimized tests, DirectStorage 1.1 with GPU decompression can offer up to 3x faster loading than DirectStorage 1.0.

DirectStorage for PC has a lot of potential, but not a lot of support thus far. Square Enix’s Forspoken, which releases in January, will be the first game to take advantage of the tech after the horror game Scorn clarified it wasn’t using it. Hopefully, more support is forthcoming.

The post DirectStorage 1.1 Available Now for PC, GPU Decompression Could Offer 3x Faster Loading by Nathan Birch appeared first on Wccftech.

It might seem hard to believe, but TechPowerUp is probably tired of playing with their RTX 4090.  They just conducted a minimum of 159 runs of 53 games using that GPU, the…

by Eurocheese

One of the most exciting debuts of the festival was Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. The first thing that stands out about his adaptation, unsurprisingly, is the stunning visuals. Imagine a puppet show with a lush background where frames are so beautiful, singled out shots could easily serve as postcards. Well known characters such as the cricket (given the name Sebastian here) and the Blue Fairy mix deep blues with the monsters that always seem to lurk in Del Toro’s imagination. Think of it this way: If you crossed the animals from Isle of Dogs with the radiance of a stained-glass window, you’d get images like this. 

Del Toro came to present the film and spoke to having total control over the project, not allowing studio notes to mess with his vision (he used stronger language than "mess with")...

Not really that many zombies

Zombie Hunter looks like a fake game. You know the opening of No More Heroes III where Travis Touchdown outlines this weird Deathman game, and the gamer part of your brain tells you that such a game couldn’t exist in the time period it’s supposedly from? That’s Zombie Hunter. It tells me it’s from 1987, but doesn’t really tell me it was developed by Lenar. Instead, it just mentions Hi-Score Media Work Corp, which was sued out of existence by Enix over a screenshot of Dragon Quest 2. I know this, because the first thing the game does upon being started is scream at you, “Hai Sukoa!” It was a nice jumpscare to start the game.

That's a lot of UI

Just look at it. Half of the screen in Zombie Hunter is taken up by its HUD. It’s excessive! Then you actually start moving, and then you stop because there’s an encounter. These encounters are like the random encounters of a typical JRPG, but they’re always the same. You side-scroll screen by screen, then some enemies pop out and you swat them to death with your iron death stick.

Yes, it’s the unholy marriage of side-scroller and RPG. It’s all about experience points, gold, and inventory management. You have to jump over some holes, but not too many, and falling in a hole doesn’t mean instant death.

It’s weird. Not the combination of genres, but the almost half-assed meshing of systems. The enemies on each screen are always the same. The loot they drop is always the same, except sometimes they don’t drop anything at all. You can’t advance forward when combat is active, but if an enemy falls off the edge of the screen, they’re just gone. You don’t get experience, and you don’t get any loot. Zombie Hunter doesn’t want to track off-screen enemies, so just deal with it.

Kickywalk

Look at the graphics. They’re weirdly pleasant. There’s very little animation aside from your armor-person’s kickywalk. The music is manic, but it isn’t really all that bad. Despite all the shortcomings I’ve already listed, Zombie Hunter is a strangely solid game. I’m even going to go as far as saying I enjoyed it.

Your job is to get past six levels, but levels 2-5 have you select your route, so there are technically ten levels in the game in total. Enemies and their loot drops are different depending on which route you take, so there’s reasonable incentive to take different routes through the game.

Equipment is rated with numbers that denote both its strength and potential degradation. Your normal enemy-smacker doesn’t degrade, and neither does armor, but magical items and better smackers do. However, if you get a level 8 smacker; that love lasts forever. Of course, there’s a chance that Zombie Hunter will just give you butt. You either get an item or don’t from an enemy group, so unless you want to grind every encounter until they drop something, you might miss the best pick-ups.

Enemy-smacker

And you will grind. Zombie Hunter is a grinder’s paradise or Hell depending on how much you actually enjoy grinding. I love it, so I was at home here. If you backtrack into an enemy’s territory, it will respawn, meaning you can find your comfortable grinding spot and then rack up the levels. You need a key to exit each level, and like any of the drops, they’re random. So, if the enemies are playing shy about dropping their wallets, you may end up grinding unintentionally, just trying to end the stage.

On the other hand, you also get gold and there are hidden shops. I say “hidden,” but mostly because there aren’t any signs. There are often lots of doors in the environment, but only the rare one is an actual shop. Some are even literally hidden behind otherwise solid walls. But what make these especially hard to find is the fact that in order to enter them, you have to hold Up and press B. No one really tells you that the shops are there or that this is how you enter them, so you’re welcome.

I will break you

Zombie Hunter’s biggest downfall is that it has no protection against grinding, if that bothers you. It will happily let you over-level yourself and kill the boss in a couple of swats. That can be fun, but the problem I find is that there is no baseline difficulty. It feels like grinding out some experience is expected. It’s certainly welcome. So how do you play Zombie Hunter without grinding? Do you just press your way through the encounters without doubling back? Do you grind in moderation? Try and stop me.

Really, I guess you set your own difficulty, but Zombie Hunter can screw you over pretty quickly. You have to prepare, but what is the right amount of preparation? This is my dilemma. Don’t give me the ability to break the game because I always will. I have no respect for your design.

Won't set your groin alight

I don’t think Zombie Hunter is going to set anyone’s groin alight, but I found it to be a rather pleasant surprise. I had never really heard of it before, and while it is a strange mix of polished and ramshackle, it’s a decent way to spend the afternoon. I just can’t get over what a lack of restraint it has in its design. There aren’t even that many zombies.

Activision was apparently going to bring Zombie Hunter to western shores, but for whatever reason, canceled it. A version was released on the MSX home computer, but it hasn’t been ported to anything modern. That’s sort of a shame.

Especially since it can be a bit heavy with its Japanese. There is no word puzzles, so you can get a feel for the menus, but unless you have a baseline in the language, it’s difficult to discern. Luckily, there is a fan translation of it, so if you’re a monolinguist who has an afternoon to burn, I can think of worse ways to do it.

Check out previous Famicom Fridays right here.

The post Zombie Hunter is a scream-y RPG enemy-smacker appeared first on Destructoid.

Following the departure of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players in 1980, there have been very few "Saturday Night Live" cast members who've shot to stardom via one relentlessly hilarious sketch. Certainly, there have been breakout performances, but something on the magnitude of Eddie Murphy hitting the Studio 8H stage as Little Richard Simmons only happened one more time: Chris Farley's Chippendales sketch, opposite guest host Patrick Swayze, on the show's October 27, 1990 episode.

The premise is simple: Swayze and Farley are the finalists for one open dance slot at the famous strip club. To win the gig, they have to face each other in a dance-off. People have criticized the skit for getting big laughs at Farley's expense, but that does him a huge, insulting disservice. The sketch works because of Farley's unabashed energy, and as Robert Smigel once noted, incredible nimbleness. He's a great dancer and an unparalleled physical comedian, and the audience can't get enough of him.

The response was so enthusiastic that Lorne Michaels quickly elevated Farley to repertory player status. There was more where that came from. But Farley wouldn't find his go-to character until 1993, when, with a big assist from Bob Odenkirk, he unleashed motivational speaker Matt Foley on the world.

From A Van Down By The River And Into Our Hearts

Farley had been killing audiences with an over-caffeinated, motivational-type maniac at Chicago's The Second City, but it was all vague histrionics until "Saturday Night Live" writer Odenkirk spent his summer 1991 hiatus at the theater putting on a sketch show titled "Flag Burning Permitted in Lobby Only." Odenkirk fashioned Farley's unhinged rants into a parody of an on-the-skids drug addict who tries to scare kids straight off of marijuana. The character slayed and played a key role in getting Farley his "SNL" gig. In the oral history "The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts," Odenkirk remembers being dazzled by Farley's explosive genius. "[W]atching where he took it was insane," says the writer.

Strangely, Farley mothballed Foley until his third season, two years after Odenkirk had left the show. When Farley's friend and collaborator gave him his blessing to introduce the character to a national audience, the actor hurled himself into the role with customary ferociousness.

As writer Steve Koren remembers in "The Chris Farley Show," he was a tad put off by snagging the assignment of helping Farley bring to life a character he'd workshopped with another writer. "Little did I know," he says.

"I was sitting there watching the rehearsal, making sure the camera angles were right, and I said to Chris, 'You know, you're gonna hurt your voice talking like that. Are you sure you want to do the voice that way?' He was like, 'Don't worry, Steve. I got this one down.'"

A Funnyman Without An Off Switch

Boy, did he ever. According to David Spade, Farley waited until the actual live performance to pour on Foley's most ridiculous affectations, most notably his constant twisting of his belt. "He knew that would break me," says Spade. "He started hitching up his pants, and I couldn't take it. And whenever the camera was behind him focusing on me, he'd cross his eyes. I was losing it."

"SNL" producer Lorne Michaels is notoriously not a fan of actors breaking character during a sketch, but Farley didn't care. As Spade remembers, "Sometimes after the show he'd say, 'All I'm trying to do is make you laugh. I don't care about anything else.'" Farley was an infectiously funny performer, but like Gilda Radner or Eddie Murphy, he was also unpredictable. Whenever Farley was on stage or in front of a camera, you were on guard for the most convulsive of belly laughs.

There was no top for Farley. He just kept pushing and pushing until someone screamed "Cut" or the show went to commercial. He was a meteorite who made a sonic boom upon entrance and cut brilliantly across the sky until he cratered. He was beautiful.

Read this next: 20 Movies About Time Travel Ranked Worst To Best

The post Bob Odenkirk Was The Creative Mind Behind What Might Be Chris Farley's Best SNL Character appeared first on /Film.

The Winters Expansion wraps up some questions from the mainline Village game, while presenting new ones for the future. Every Rose has its mold.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card has been benchmarked in Geekbench 5's benchmarks & showcases a 15% improvement over the 3090 Ti.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Graphics Card Is Up To 45% Slower Than RTX 4090 In Geekbench 5 OpenCL Benchmark

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 launches next week but the graphics card seems to have already been benchmarked within the CUDA, OpenCL & Vulkan tests in Geekbench 5. The graphics card was benchmarked on an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X test platform featuring ASUS's ROG Crosshair X670E Extreme board & 32 GB of DDR5 memory.

In terms of performance, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card scored 300728 points in the CUDA benchmark test, 248932 points in the OpenCL benchmark test, and 148838 points in the Vulkan benchmark test.

2 of 9

In CUDA, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card is 45% faster than the RTX 3080, 15% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti, and 30% slower than the RTX 4090 graphics card.

In the OpenCL benchmark test, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card is 9% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti and 37.5% faster than the RTX 3080 graphics card. The graphics card is around 36% slower than the RTX 4090 here.

Finally, we have the Vulkan benchmarks where the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card ends up being only 5.5% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti, 20% faster than the RTX 3080, and 45% slower than the RTX 4090.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB 'Official' Specifications

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB graphics card is expected to utilize a cut-down AD103-300 GPU configuration with 9,728 cores or 76 SMs enabled of the total 84 units whereas the previous configuration offered 80 SMs or 10,240 cores. While the full GPU comes packed with 64 MB of L2 cache and up to 224 ROPs, the RTX 4080 might end up with 48 MB of L2 cache and lower ROPs too due to its cut-down design. The card is expected to be based on the PG136/139-SKU360 PCB. The graphics card is said to offer a peak clock rate of 2505 MHz.

As for memory specs, the GeForce RTX 4080 is expected to rock 16 GB GDDR6X capacities that are said to be adjusted at 22.5 Gbps speeds across a 256-bit bus interface. This will provide up to 720 GB/s of bandwidth. This is still a tad bit slower than the 760 GB/s bandwidth offered by the RTX 3080 since it comes with a 320-bit interface but a lowly 10 GB capacity. To compensate for the lower bandwidth, NVIDIA could be integrating a next-gen memory compression suite to make up for the 256-bit interface.

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB "Official" TBP - 320W
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB "Official" TBP - 350W

Based on the leaked performance figures, it looks like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 at $1199 US will have a tough time competing against AMD's $999 US Radeon RX 7900 XTX or even the $899 RX 7900 XT graphics cards. The graphics card launches almost a month prior to AMD's release so we won't know for sure how the performance compares until mid of December.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series Official Specs:

Graphics Card Name	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16G	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 12G
GPU Name	Ada Lovelace AD102-300	Ada Lovelace AD103-300	Ada Lovelace AD104-400
Process Node	TSMC 4N	TSMC 4N	TSMC 4N
Die Size	608mm2	378.6mm2	294.5mm2
Transistors	76 Billion	45.9 Billion	35.8 Billion
CUDA Cores	16384	9728	7680
TMUs / ROPs	512 / 176	320 / 112	240 / 80
Tensor / RT Cores	512 / 128	304 / 76	240 / 60
Base Clock	2230 MHz	2210 MHz	2310 MHz
Boost Clock	2520 MHz	2510 MHz	2610 MHz
FP32 Compute	83 TFLOPs	49 TFLOPs	40 TFLOPs
RT TFLOPs	191 TFLOPs	113 TFLOPs	82 TFLOPs
Tensor-TOPs	1321 TOPs	780 TOPs	641 TOPs
Memory Capacity	24 GB GDDR6X	16 GB GDDR6X	12 GB GDDR6X
Memory Bus	384-bit	256-bit	192-bit
Memory Speed	21.0 Gbps	23.0 Gbps	21.0 Gbps
Bandwidth	1008 GB/s	736 GB/s	504 GB/s
TBP	450W	320W	285W
Price (MSRP / FE)	$1599 US	$1199 US	$899 US
Launch (Availability)	12th October 2022	16th November 2022	Cancelled

The post NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Graphics Card Geekbench 5 Benchmark Leaks Out, Up To 15% Faster Than RTX 3090 Ti by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, but the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

Amphibious shoes

Keen Sandals, $70+ Keen sandals have a solid shoe-like toe covering that I’ve never seen in Tevas-like amphibious sandals. This covering keeps the sand out and eliminates stubbed toes. They’re warmer than Tevas and almost not sandals at all. I think of them as very sturdy water shoes. They have arch support and sturdy, gripping soles. They lace with an elastic gizmo that fastens easily and securely. Best of all, water runs right out of them and they dry very quickly. No more dreading the wet footwear as I head off on my daily trek on the beach. I’ve put about 300 miles on the current pair and they show little sign of wear. My beach has some steep vertical climbs that I traverse without fear of slipping. They seem to carry me easily between the water and the land. It took a little while to adjust to the idea that I could wear socks with them. – John Sumser

Open-toed hikers

Chaco Sandals, Price varies When weather permits, I live in sandals. Over the years I’ve tried all the major brands. A few years ago a friend suggested that I try a brand, Chaco, that I had never heard of. Initially I balked at the price, but when I found a pair that was closeout priced I decided to give them a try. I’ve never looked back. While I own a variety of Chaco sandals, I primarily wear the general purpose Z/1. The primary advantage of these sandals is their unique means of attachment to your foot; a single slide buckle. The strap for the front of the sandal is one continuous length that is threaded through slots in the sole. You initially adjust the sandal to your feet by pulling until you’ve got the fit you want. You then take the sandal off and on by using the slide buckle. To put the sandal on you slip in your foot and pull down on the buckle strap. To loosen the strap to remove the sandal you pull up on the buckle bottom. This is so easy and natural to do that with reasonable balance you can take them on and off while standing on one foot, then the other. This design provides a superbly comfortable fit, primarily through the elimination of the typical stiff Velcro closures. Another feature of all Chaco sandals is their unique contoured footbed. First, it has an aggressive arch support (that the manufacturer claims counters pronation). Second, it has a deep heel cup that helps your foot stay centered. For my foot, they are more comfortable than any other shoe I have ever worn. This is, of course, a very personal observation, and you should probably try a pair on before buying. Also, the company has recently switched to a newer footbed material that I haven’t yet tried. While they aren’t marketed as such, I consider them a hiking sandal. They have a stiff Vibram sole with a very aggressive tread, just like what you’d find on a hiking boot. The slightly oversize footbed protects toes from being stubbed. I wear them for everything: strolling around town, driving, canoeing, biking and hiking. In all these roles they are every bit as comfortable as well-fitting shoes, while also providing the glorious open-air experience. As added bonuses, they float, and can be re-webbed or re-soled. In competitor Keens, your feet are quite confined. I don’t really think of the Keens as sandals; they are really quick-dry athletic shoes with cut-outs. The Keen’s soles are similar to those of an athletic shoe, while the Chaco’s are more similar to the soles on hiking boots. Keens definitely offer better toe protection. Still, I’ve put many hundreds of hiking and biking miles on my Chacos and have never once stubbed my toe. I think that the thick, oversize soles are what provide the protection. If you don’t seek the open-air feeling of true sandals such as the Chacos, the Keens would be a fine choice for everyday use. However, for serious hiking and river travel, Chacos are the answer. As far as cost, the sandals list for $95, but annual design updates result in numerous Internet closeout opportunities in the early spring, and I’ve never paid more than $65 for a pair. – Dave King

Heavy duty flip-flops

Reef Sandals, $24+ I’ve worn several pairs of Reef sandals for more than 10 years now, and they are simply the most solid “flip-flops” I’ve owned. I’ve tried other brands, but they fall apart in stressful conditions or delaminate after a few months of wear. Reef consistently holds up, and I usually wear mine until the rubber is paper thin on the bottom. Right now I’m wearing the “Leather Smoothy” in black – the leather top seems to hold less odor. They have many different styles and colors to choose from for guys, girls, and kids. – Camron Assadi

Kevlar-soled moccasins

VIVObarefoot Shoes, $100 I’m fascinated by feet, their function and potential, particularly. For the past year and a half, I’ve been exploring the “barefoot running” scene, and found a wealth of information regarding footcare and advice for those who wished to traipse ’round unshod. Unfortunately, without the proper sensitivity and calluses, it’s near impossible to walk/run in urban areas unafraid. Thus, I went looking for a shoe that would emulate the foot as closely as possible. I tried the famed “ninja” tabi-boots as well as Nike’s much hyped “Air Rift” running shoe, without satisfaction. I wondered, what would be the most effective material to construct a sole that would make for a thin, yet durable shoe…and hit upon the jackpot: kevlar. I googled “kevlar sole”, and came across a mention of the company “VIVO barefoot” in a podiatry forum by the CEO and creator. Vivos are without a doubt the most lightest and most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn. Their lack of “arch support” and elevated heel is actually a boon, as it allows you to walk/run normally and regain natural posture. They also have a wide toe-box, to accommodate your feet without crunching, even have a zippered sole so that you can just replace them when they wear out, instead of buying a new pair! While the zipper tab does have a tendency to snap off, (a design flaw I hope will be remedied in future runs) I’ve never felt any discomfort from wearing them, and surprisingly enough, they even kept my feet darn warm in the most recent Maine winter time with their removable “insulated sole insert”. They also come in a variety of designs from slip on loafers to casual tennis shoes and look like totally normal shoes. While they generally run on the more expensive side, I managed to find a pair on eBay for forty-five bucks. – Josh Samuels

The Daily Goat Show checked out the Action RPG Steel Rising: Steel Rising | A Gamer's Review

Sky-high energy prices have people turning to wood to provide a cheaper alternative—and EU laws are helping incentivize this.

According to Microsoft’s 2022 Digital Defense Report, nation-state hacker attacks on critical infrastructure have soared, largely due to Russian cyber operations targeting Ukraine and its allies.

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Security researchers are warning of "a trove of sensitive information" leaking through urlscan.io, a website scanner for suspicious and malicious URLs. "Sensitive URLs to shared documents, password reset pages, team invites, payment invoices and more are publicly listed and searchable," Positive Security co-founder, Fabian Bräunlein, said in a report published on November 2, 2022. The

The Terrifier franchise has quickly become the goriest and hard-to-stomach horror series of late, while carrying its lower budget. With many taking their chances with the sequel, we confirm if Terrifier 2 is based on a true story and if Art the Clown is a real killer.

The Terrifier series came from Damien Leone’s directorial debut and the short film The 9th Circle from 2009, starring the angel-dressed heroine who ended up returning as Sienna in Terrifier 2.

Created, directed, and written by Leone, the splatter slasher horror Terrifier 2 is a direct sequel to the 2016 original movie Terrifier and the third movie to feature killer Art the Clown, starring David Howard Thornton, Samantha Scaffidi, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman, and Casey Harnett.

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SMILE | Final Trailer

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Is Terrifier 2 Based on a True Story? Is Art the Clown Real?

No, Terrifier 2 is not based on a true story nor inspired by real-life events. It’s very common for slasher movies to be at least loosely inspired by true events these days, but Terrifier 2, and its predecessor, are completely fictional and created by Leone.

This also applies to the antagonist of the franchise, Art the Clown, who is not based on a real murderer – which we are glad about.

Instead, Art the Clown is actually a demon that appears at Halloween to claim his victims and causes general chaos. The demonic clown is not based on any entity found in pre-existing legends.

Leone Guareentees Terrifier 3 Happening

Terrifier 3 has not been given the green light just yet, which isn’t surprising since the sequel took six years to premiere after its predecessor.

However, creator Leone has “guaranteed” Terrifier 3 is happening, while speaking to Slash Film:

“Right now, I would like to just tell a solid story where it has a nice arc for my heroes, my villains, it’s complete. So a three is, I can almost guarantee a part three. After that? We’ll see if there’s anything left and if the fans are still accepting of this character and this franchise.” 

Leone also told Variety that Terrifier 3 is so big that the sequel may have to be split into two parts in order to put out a shorter runtime.

If a third movie is definitely happening, it’s expected that Terrifier 3 would release a lot sooner than the gap between the first and second entry, with The Digital Fix predicting its 2024 release window.

Watch it now on @ScreamboxTV https://t.co/j8Seug9bDZ

— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) November 6, 2022

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Terrifier 2 Reviews

Despite theaters hosting horrors Smile and Prey For the Devil currently, the genre’s fandom is still raving over Terrifier 2, with many viewers suffering adverse reactions to the gore.

It’s not completely uncommon to hear of people feeling nauseous over the contents of a horror movie, but fainting takes the cake – which is surprising after nearly two decades of Saw movies.

Aside from the gore factor, many horror fans are having a lot of fun with the sequel and the ScreamQueensPodcast even gave the movie a glowing review in emojis.

TERRIFIER 2- Wow wow wow! A REVIEW IN EMOJIS: ??????? pic.twitter.com/OnxThkhGgF

— ScreamQueensPodcast (@podcast_queens) November 6, 2022

By Jo Craig – jo.craig@grv.media

The post Is Terrifier 2 Based on a True Story? – Is Art the Clown Real? appeared first on ForeverGeek.

A massive Fallout 4 HD texture pack has been released, which overhauls all of the game’s textures.

Created by modder ‘luxor8071’, this HD texture pack weighs in at 43GB and packs ten thousand of overhauled textures for vanilla Fallout 4 and all expansions. It’s an impressive package, for sure, and one that Fallout 4 fans will surely appreciate.

“Fallout 4 HD Overhaul 2k is providing new and improved HD Textures”, the modder writes. “Replaces ten thousands of textures all over the World of Fallout 4 and its DLCs. To complete the whole new look, I handpicked other textures from the HD Texture Pack, improved, and added them.

‘luxor8071’ adds, “FO4 HD Overhaul is fully integrated into the original ba2 Texture Files. No additional HD Texture Packs are necessary. This ensures better performance and shorter loading times.”

We’ve included some screenshots of the mod in action down below:

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Those interested can download the new Fallout 4 HD Texture Pack from Nexusmods here. Please note that the package comes in fifteen different parts, and the modder has also included an optional pack for Level of Detail and debris ground tiles.

Fallout 4 is available globally now for PC and consoles. The game was released back in 2015 and has since received several expansions. Here's what we wrote about the game in our review upon launch:

The main quest is also somewhat of a mixed bag, even though I found the first part to be quite interesting which made me eager to see the rest of it. There are four main factions in Fallout 4: the Minutemen, the Institute, the Railroad and the Brotherhood of Steel. You can join and stay with all of them for a while, which is nice as it provides some measure of perspective regarding their objectives and ideologies. I've also appreciated that none of them (save perhaps for the Minutemen, who are basically a Commonwealth people's militia) can be defined as truly evil or good, as there are a lot of gray areas in all cases.

However, after a certain battle fought by all the factions at once, everything becomes a lot more confusing. At that point, you basically need to choose one of the factions, but the repercussions are underwhelming to say the least. In my case, I chose to side with the Minutemen which turned the Institute hostile; at the same time, though, the Brotherhood of Steel remained in a sort of limbo where no faction NPCs acknowledged my choice.

The post Massive Fallout 4 HD Texture Pack Overhauls All Textures Within the Main Game and Its Expansions by Aernout van de Velde appeared first on Wccftech.

It seems like the tides might be turning for Microsoft and its recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard now that it's been put under more intense scrutiny by several regulator agencies and antitrust authorities in the UK, US, and European Union. Some insiders have begun to worry about the fact that this deal could very well blow up and not happen to begin with.

Now, Microsoft's been painting a very rough picture of itself and Xbox while trying to make its case regarding the acquisition of the Call of Duty company. The company has revealed that Cloud gaming isn't the way of the future, that Xbox consoles still are sold at a loss, and other trivia that makes them look like the underdog against its competitor and most vocal opposition: Sony and PlayStation.

According to insiders that talked with the New York Post, Microsoft certainly didn't expect this level of scrutiny from market authorities. In fact, the increasing pressure has left both it and Activision Blizzard at odds behind the scenes despite both companies' insistence that the deal will go through.

The brass tacks at this point are regarding the exclusivity of the Call of Duty franchise. While Microsoft has stated before that this game series will not be kept from PlayStation, they also wouldn't be legally obligated to keep the franchise not exclusive, and that is where the dealbreaker begins to set in for the regulators.

So, what now? Well, we still have yet to see what's going to happen come November 8, when we get to hear more about whether the European Commission will permit the deal to go into its next phase. A Microsoft spokesperson told the Post in a statement that they have worked on taking the necessary steps to make the deal go forward.

It also is worth reminding our readers that there is a fee that Microsoft will have to pay should the deal fall through in the coming days. If the European Commission, UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, or American Federal Trade Commission squash the deal, Microsoft will have to pay Activision Blizzard $3 billion as per the conditions of the deal.

The post Activision Blizzard Merger with Microsoft Could Fall Apart According to Insiders by Ule Lopez appeared first on Wccftech.

Starlink raised its prices this spring, and now it's increasing the costs for its most demanding users. As The Vergereports, the SpaceX-run satellite internet provider is instituting a 1TB "Priority Access" monthly cap for data use between 7AM and 11PM beginning in December. Cross that limit and you'll spend the rest of the month relegated to "Basic Access" that, like with some phone carriers, deprioritizes your data when the network is busy. You might not notice much of a difference in typical situations, but this won't thrill you if you depend on sustained performance.

Service can get expensive if you insist on full performance around the clock. You'll pay 25 cents per gigabyte of priority data. As Reddit user Nibbloid pointed out, the math doesn't quite add up. It will cost you another $250 to get an extra 1TB of data — it would be cheaper to add a second subscription, at least if you don't mind the cost of an extra terminal. RV, Portability and "Best Effort" users also don't have any Priority Access.

Other users face tougher restrictions. Fixed business service has peak-hour caps ranging from 500GB to 3TB, with extra full-speed data costing $1 per gigabyte. Mobility users have no Priority Access for recreational use, while commercial and Premium/Maritime users have respective 1TB and 5TB caps. Those higher-end users will pay $2 for every gigabyte of priority data they need.

The justifications will sound familiar if you've dealt with data caps from Comcast and other land-based internet providers. Starlink maintains that it has to balance supply with demand to provide fast service to the "greatest number of people." This is ostensibly to keep usage in check on a "finite resource."

The decision to cap users comes as SpaceX has called for government help to fund Starlink service in Ukraine at a claimed cost of nearly $400 million per year. While Musk has said SpaceX will continue to pay regardless of assistance, it's clear the company is worried about expenses as demand increases.

I don’t know about you, but a hectic working and family schedule means my time for games is way more limited than it used to be. That’s why I’m intrigued by Chop Goblins, a “microshooter” from Dusk and Gloomwood developer David Szymanski that’s coming to Steam on January 2nd, 2023. Szymanski says Chop Goblins’ campaign can be finished within a single sitting of around 30 minutes. Appropriately enough, it’s all about time travel.

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