Apple macOS Monterey 12.4 serves as the fourth major update to the upgrade that officially launched back in October 2021. Succeeding macOS Monterey 12.3, which launched around two months ago, the update focuses on minor fixes but brings a major improvement to the Studio Display, a product whose webcam was criticized for having poor picture quality.
The macOS Monterey 12.4 update is compatible with all Macs using the Software Update section of System Preferences. For those running Big Sur, Apple has catered to those users too by releasing the macOS Big Sur 11.6.6 update. For those running macOS Catalina, Apple has released a 2022-004 security update.
Following the macOS Monterey 12.4 update launch, Universal Control is no longer in beta form. The feature is now official, with Apple claiming that it is bug-free and will allow users to considerably improve their productivity. For the uninitiated, Universal Control was introduced in March and allows users to use a single mouse or trackpad and keyboard across multiple Macs and iPads.
For the Studio Display, macOS Monterey 12.4 adds support for the 15.5 firmware. Aside from this, there is also an update for the Podcasts app, with Apple adding a setting limiting the number of episodes stored on a Mac. To update your Mac to the latest macOS Monterey 12.4, Apple has highlighted the following steps below.
Before you get started, it’s a good idea to back up your Mac. Then follow these steps to find and install any available software updates or upgrades.
From the Apple menu in the corner of your screen, choose System Preferences.
In the System Preferences window, click Software Update.
If your System Preferences doesn't include Software Update, learn how to upgrade to macOS Monterey or upgrade to an older macOS, and use the Updates tab of the App Store app to get app updates.
Click Update Now or Upgrade Now:
Update Now installs the latest updates for the currently installed version, such as an update from macOS Big Sur 11.5 to macOS Big Sur 11.6.
Upgrade Now installs a major new version with a new name, such as macOS Monterey. Software Update shows only upgrades that are compatible with your Mac.
When Software Update says that your Mac is up to date, then macOS and all of the apps it installs are up to date, including Safari, Messages, Mail, Music, Photos, FaceTime, and Calendar.
Aside from this, Apple has launched iOS 15.5, along with iPadOS 15.5, so you can check out all the details of those updates here.
Whether you love or hate James Wan's "The Conjuring," it's impossible to deny the impact the 2013 film had on horror. Wan fused atmospheric scares with Joseph Bishara's string-filled and spine-tingling score to craft a part-haunted house, part-possession film that jump-scared its way into earning more than $320 million at the worldwide box office. By 2021, "The Conjuring" franchise has earned $2 billion, as confirmed by Deadline.
While "The Conjuring" was marketed as a story based on true events, Wan and co-writers Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes took several creative liberties when bringing the Warrens' investigation of the Perrons' family house to life. (For example, the film's exorcism of Carolyn Perron never happened.) Although it's true that Ed and Lorraine Warren conducted hundreds of paranormal investigations, their validity as ghost-hunters has never been confirmed. Also, as THR documented in 2017, the real-life Warrens' story has plenty of disturbing facts off-screen. For fans wondering where else they can turn to find similar haunting thrills that don't support their troubled legacy, look no further.
If you're a fan of "The Conjuring" and craving more ghouls, here are some underrated haunting gems that deserve a watch. The films below each uniquely tackle possession, and hauntings, and explore the role that family plays when things take a supernatural turn for the worse. Some are more frightful than others, but all invoke the unpredictable powers of ghosts or demons and what happens when humans face them.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
Made on a budget of $2.2 million, 2018's "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum" grossed more than $20 million at the global box office. The Korean horror film became a blockbuster hit in South Korea, rivaling that of the beloved classic "A Tale of Two Sisters." However, the fanfare for this found-footage-style paranormal investigation film didn't rank nearly as high in the U.S., bringing in roughly $115,000 to the domestic box office. Despite that lukewarm reception in the States, it's wholly deserving of a first watch (or rewatch) for those that love each moment a ghost or entity embodies someone in "The Conjuring."
Unlike James Wan's film, director Jung Bum-shik modernizes his take on a paranormal investigation that's also based on a reportedly haunted place. In 2012, CNN reported that the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital in Gyeonggi, South Korea was one of the scariest places in the world, which led co-writers Jung Bum-shik and Park Sang-min to craft a film around YouTubers exploring it solely based on that article. While the filmmakers didn't obtain permission to shoot within the hospital, they recreated scenes using its floorplans to make them as realistic as possible. While the real-life building is now demolished, "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum" continues its terrifying reputation. Of all the film's on this list, this one is not for the faint of heart. Its possession scenes range from quietly disturbing to nausea-inducing, and it takes plenty of joy in seeing how far its creepy ghosts can toy with its YouTubers.
Curse Of Aurore
Similarly, 2021's "Curse of Aurore" takes a found footage approach to exploring a haunting (and true) piece of history. Filmed in Quebec in the actual family house of its star Llana Baron, "Curse of Aurore" creates a film about making a horror film. The movie takes its time developing its scares as the filmmakers search for what their film will be about. Along the way, the three filmmakers stumble into the infamous and tragic history of Aurore Gagnon, a young girl in the 1900s who was savagely and slowly tortured by her parents until she died. The film uses its format as a way to investigate Fortierville, Aurore's troubled spirit, and what happens when outsiders try to intervene in local matters.
What works best about this movie is its subtle use of ghostly figures and scares. You could make a solid game at trying to catch all the ghosts that are off-center in shots or making mischief in the background. While there are certainly some VFX at work here, there's a handful of inventive practical effect scenes with ghouls that are far more unsettling than some of the cinematic ghost reveals in "The Conjuring." Whereas you'll certainly remember the ghosts of "The Conjuring" and when they appear, "Curse of Aurore" will have you second-guessing which ones you've missed and exactly when the haunting truly began.
Thirteen Ghosts
Over the past decade, the 2001 remake of William Castle's "Thirteen Ghosts" has finally earned cult classic status, especially among horror fans that like to have a little fun in bloodshed. It's incredibly easy to fall in love with "Thirteen Ghosts" for its detailed approach to its supernatural mythos, its murder-box design of a house that'd make Pinhead squeal with joy, and the pitch-perfect chemistry between stars Matthew Lillard and Tony Shalhoub. The pair's acting styles — Lillard, of course, chews the scenery, whereas Shalhoub remains astutely understated until the moment calls for an outburst — mesh fascinatingly well.
It's worth noting that director Steve Beck director pulls off something that "The Conjuring" failed to land: It told a heartwarming tale about the power of the Kriticos family's unconditional love. In "The Conjuring," Ed and Lorraine save the day by toting out horror's well-worn magical priest trope (even though Ed Warren in real life was never ordained or given permission to conduct exorcisms) and bless the evil away for the Perrons. The family is helpless to save themselves. However, "Thirteen Ghosts" proves Catholicism isn't the only way to cast out the darkness. Turns out, the selfless love of a father can beat a bloodthirsty juggernaut if the need arises. While James Wan's film centers on the Perron family, its story is about what happens to them; Beck's film showcases how the Kriticos family overcomes grief and unimaginable horror to survive for one another.
Caveat
If you're wary of any horror movie with a paranormal investigation team, "Caveat" just might be your answer. While director Damian Mc Carthy's debut feature film is more about the dangers of trusting others than exorcisms, it nevertheless features a chilling spirit and an unsung ghost-hunter: Meet the drummer bunny. Mc Carthy said in 2021 that he thought it'd be "cool" if there was a toy that could "always tell if there was a ghost in the room." That's exactly what this toy bunny does, kickstarting Olga's journey to discover who is haunting her home. What's most impressive about this dialed-down approach, especially in comparison to "The Conjuring," is the audience gleans how this toy works without being told by someone like the Warrens. This choice allows viewers to feel like vicarious investigators, intuiting their own theories of the logic of this creepy and tragic world.
When "Caveat" tips its hand into what's happening in Olga's home, its central ghost shares some of James Wan's style. The movie used practical effects for its ghost, casting dancer Inma Pavon in the role of a being who often smiles, moves incredibly slowly, and enters the scene with string-filled scores that'll give viewers goosebumps. The film's pacing is comparatively slower than "The Conjuring," matching up more with the 2013 film's first atmospheric act. But if a building sense of dread is what you're seeking, "Caveat" has it in spades.
The House At The End Of Time
During the same year "The Conjuring" debuted, director and writer Alejandro Hidalgo released the highest-grossing film in Venezuelan history, "The House at the End of Time." Following its release, horror critics didn't flock to this one as kindly — calling it "rough around the edges" — or as widely. Some criticized it for leaning too much into aesthetics than substance, whereas others felt impatient with the film's unspooling and timey-wimey mystery. In a sense, it's fair to say that "The House at the End of Time" isn't an easy film to watch, particularly from the point-of-view of lead character Dulce, who has no idea what's happening to her or her family. Dulce has premonitions and believes her house is cursed. In order to understand how these two things connect, the audience has to sit through plenty of seemingly contradictory moments. That patience will pay off, but likely not in the way you imagine.
That being said, "The House at the End of Time" excels as a haunted house/mystery box of a film that rewards repeat viewings. The journey of watching it feels like a slow descent down a spiraling staircase that you know will lead to something even darker and it's your curiosity that keeps you going. For "The Conjuring" fans who delighted in watching how a family survives a haunted house, this pick will satisfy that urge and deliver a uniquely moody vibe.
The Skeleton Key
One thing that doesn't get spoken about too much in regards to "The Conjuring" is how it cherry-picks data around land rights. As discussed best in "The Gaylords of Darkness" podcast by Anthony Hudson, the 2013 horror film stops its investigation into the Perrons' homeland right at colonial times when Bathsheba Sherman presumably lived and did (or didn't) stir cauldrons. "The Conjuring" never answers if Bathsheba was an actual witch or, like the real-life Salem Witch trials, was killed for being an outspoken woman and became a witchy spirit. There's no mention of indigenous land rights or cultures pre-Bathsheba, and no interest in digging deeper into how colonialism and whiteness changed their landscape.
In 2005, director Iain Softley crafted "The Skeleton Key," a possession film that more openly tackles race than most horror. "The Skeleton Key" follows a hospice nurse named Caroline who travels to the Terrebonne Parish plantation to take care of Violet Devereaux and her husband Benjamin. However, once Caroline arrives, she discovers some mysterious Hoodoo books and becomes determined to figure out what's happening in the Devereaux home. What works best about Softley's film is how it shows the persistence and arrogance of whiteness, and Caroline learns exactly what happens when you trot into a world that's not yours seeking to fix it. Filmed on the real-life Felicity Plantation, "The Skeleton Key" isn't perfect in its examination of slavery and racism, but it nevertheless and admirably tries with its cautionary tale.
The Exorcist III
1990's "The Exorcist III" invented the requel way before 2018's "Halloween," and did so without undermining any of its leads' backstories. Written and directed by William Peter Blatty, "The Exorcist III" serves as a direct sequel to the original film and ignores all the events of "The Exorcist II: The Heretic." Instead of focusing on Regan, the film focuses on Father Dyer and Lt. Kinderman's lives 15 years after the events of the first film. These two supporting characters gain a fully realized story in "The Exorcist III," which expands the mythos of the franchise in a thoughtful way, giving a wider scope to the aftermath of the first film. It's a bold and fascinating move as we see how these men of the law and faith vastly disagree on how to see the world but nevertheless are bonded by their belief in the beyond.
Additionally, the film works wonderfully as an unfulfilled queer love story between the two leads as they investigate what is either a serial killer or a demonic force plaguing their town. "The Exorcist III" is a great pick for fans of "The Conjuring" who preferred the flavor of its first act — cautious and full of impending doom. While the film takes its time to deliver its good vs. evil face-off, it's worth the wait and doubles the impact for those who've also seen "The Exorcist," thanks to the film's surprise and gut-punching reveal at its very end.
Constantine
In "The Conjuring," Ed and Lorraine see their divine duties as a blessing, even though it painfully debilitates Lorraine any time she uses her powers. The Warrens don't seem to mind (or discuss on-screen) how hard it is to live a life surrounded by death. Throughout "The Conjuring," the Warrens profess that God's love will heal all evils and they piously believe that's enough. That's certainly not the case for the chain-smoking and quippy John Constantine. In the 2005 DC Universe film "Constantine," seeing and exorcising demons is John's curse. Unlike the Warrens, John has no problems discussing how he never asked to be a hand of God. He's angry that his last days on Earth are bound-up in an epic battle between Heaven and Hell.
Eventually, John sets aside his reluctance to help others, but it's his journey to get there that makes the watch worthwhile. The Francis Lawrence-directed film brings the same battle of good vs. evil that we see in "The Conjuring" to the stage, but it does so with more nuance. Not all angels are good, and not all who practice the dark arts are wholly bad. Plus, it spares on expense in fusing high-octane action scenes with the supernatural world. Also, it's possible that John exists in the world of the Warrens. Beyond these franchises being owned by Warner Bros. and produced by DC — making it easier for IP crossovers — the Warren's haunted Annabelle doll makes a cameo in both James Wan's "Aquaman" and David F. Sandberg's "Shazam!"
The Divine Fury
While "Constantine" has plenty of demon-fighting action, it can't compare to 2019's "The Divine Fury." Similarly, the film follows a faithless man who is ironically tasked with the ability to exorcise demons. But this time, exorcisms don't need "Bible" verses or Lorraine's rosary beads. All they need in Kim Joo-hwan's film is a solid boxing combo. After a tragic accident robs him of his father at a very young age, Yong-hoo doesn't believe in God. He channels all his feelings into dominating the boxing ring. His beliefs change, though, when he meets and unwittingly saves a priest from a demonic attack.
Yong-hoo is nothing like Ed Warren, and that's a great thing. "The Divine Fury" acknowledges but cleverly dispels the magic priest trope in horror. Our priest in this film is helpful but doesn't save the day. The power lies in the individual to succeed regardless of religion. Sure, Yong-hoo examines his faith with Father Ahn, but he never needs to convert to Catholicism to gather the inner strength he needs to fight demons. Yong-hoo's fist is the weapon, not faith.
An often overlooked part of "The Conjuring" is how its "true story" weaponizes faith. It argues that Catholicism is the only way to be saved. Nowhere in the franchise's film series are other religions validated. Throughout its narrative, "The Divine Fury" proves how isolating that perspective can be, and it pushes the possession subgenre to be more inclusive.
The Old Ways
Set in Veracruz, Mexico, "The Old Ways" is a wonderful example of how an exorcism film can work outside the traditional bounds of Catholicism. Written by Marcos Gabriel and directed by Christopher Alender, "The Old Ways" follows a possessed L.A. journalist named Cristina who travels back to her ancestral village to document their beliefs around a haunted cavern that she believes is wholly fictional. Not too soon after arriving in town, Cristina falls victim to a nasty demon attack. What follows next is an intriguing demon-fighting story that relies on Brujeria rituals and the power of community to save the day.
This 2020 film is a great pick for "The Conjuring" fans who are looking to see what else the possession subgenre has to offer that's more inclusive in its storytelling. Not only does it show detailed rituals that are fresh to the genre, but Keith Thompson's creature design deserves a special shout-out for crafting a truly chilling demon. Once the big bad emerges, it'll likely please fans who are nostalgic for some of Guillermo del Toro's earlier creature work that relied more on the uncanny, looking derived from (but not quite) human. After viewing "The Old Ways," hopefully, it'll become even more apparent to viewers that there are many stories and cultural perspectives within this horror subgenre worthy of being explored in future films, regardless if "The Conjuring" universe never does widen its religious scope.
Lake Mungo
The format of "Lake Mungo" is part found-footage film and part-fictional documentary. It's important to note its styling choices first, because writer-director Joel Anderson does such an incredibly realistic job crafting this film that you just might ask, "Wait, is this true?" The 2008 indie darling sets itself up to be a documentary investigating a family's claim that their recently dead daughter, Alice Palmer, is haunting them.
Compared to "The Conjuring," this haunted house film takes a methodical approach to why or how this haunting is occurring. Instead of starting from a place of jump-scares or ghostly apparitions, "Lake Mungo" collects its supernatural evidence slowly to build the Palmer's case. Each strange fact is presented on-screen for the viewer to question or accept. We hear heartfelt interviews from the Palmer family and friends that make the audience feel as if they're a part of the story. Unlike "The Conjuring," the ghost(s) in "Lake Mungo" are quiet and watchful. There are no big action scenes, so much as a lingering sense of dread around what happens to all of us after we die. "The Conjuring" fans who are hooked on the film's larger questions about the afterlife will find plenty to sink their teeth into with "Lake Mungo," a film that won't provide any answers but makes up for it with dreadful wonder.
Dark Water
"The Conjuring" focuses most of its storyline on the possession of Caroline, the mother of the Perrons family. If watching how a supernatural force affected Caroline's role as a mother were some of your favorite parts of James Wan's 2013 film, then buckle up for 2002's "Dark Water." Though, fair warning, it's a deep dive into ghastly tragedy.
Directed by Hideo Nakata ("Ringu"), "Dark Water" follows Yoshimi Matsubara navigating a divorce and finding the means to raise her daughter, Ikuko. Due to the financial strains of starting a new life, Yoshimi can only afford to live in a rundown building that constantly leaks water into her apartment. Of course, things get even more complicated and strange when Ikuko and her mother start seeing a mysterious young girl around the apartment building. While the film begins as a melodrama, it descends into an unforgettable ghost story.
Without spoiling the film's shocking reveal, "Dark Water" will appeal to "The Conjuring" fans who would rather focus on a character-driven narrative with a mother steering the story. The film investigates what it means to be a mother in order to tell a harrowing ghost story that's hard to shake off after viewing. The film's story was inspired by Koji Suzuki's (who also wrote the "Ring" novels) short story collection of the same name, which has plenty of other harrowing tales to read for viewers thirsty for more tales like this one.
Martyrs Lane
Some of the most memorable scenes from "The Conjuring" are the tiny details that James Wan shoots to clue the viewer in that doom will come soon. We see the dead birds on the Perrons' new homeland before we ever discern the film's demonic force. If there's one thing Wan knows how to do well in horror, it's orchestrating a steady and rising sense of terror.
If that sensibility of Wan appeals to you, 2021's "Martyrs Lane" is a must-see. Similar to "The Conjuring," the audience is clued into something being "off" with a tiny detail at the start of the film: Leah is obsessed with her mom's locket. At first, there's no clue why this is the case and the audience is left with plenty of questions. "Martyrs Lane" embraces its questions, though. Since Leah is in charge of this supernatural mystery, she's often wrong and stumbling into things that she shouldn't. A huge chunk of the film is spent watching Leah gather artifacts around the house, trying to solve what's wrong with her mother.
Written and directed by Ruth Platt, the film delivers a complicated and more honest take on motherhood, even amidst a haunting. In an interview with CBR, Platt explained, "Leah's whole journey is about finding this key to open her mother up." However, once Leah does unlock some secrets about her family's past, all ghastly hell breaks loose.
The Power
There are several things to love in Corinna Faith's "The Power" for fans of "The Conjuring" looking for a historical-based scare. Like James Wan's film, "The Power" uses true events within a fictionalized story to ramp up its resonating terror. "The Power" explores the impoverished era of London's East End in the '70s and its abusive healthcare system. The 2021 horror film follows a nurse named Val on her first day of work at the East London Royal Infirmary. Unfortunately, there's a country-wide black-out during her first shift, and that's exactly the time that its ghosts like to play the most.
Given its premise, "The Power" will likely peak the interest of anyone who loved the clap-scare scene in "The Conjuring," as this film takes that idea to a whole new level. In "The Power," ghosts can only come out in the darkness, which creates several thrilling moments of anticipation and satisfying jump-scares. But what works best about this film is how it thoughtfully tackles sexual assault. While what happened in London's healthcare system can't be undone, "The Power" sheds a light on what transpired so its wronged children are not forgotten. "The Power" lends a voice to silenced survivors and crafts a compassionate reimagining of events to soothe its haunted children.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit theRape, Abuse & Incest National Network websiteor contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
The European Parliament announced a "provisional agreement" aimed at improving cybersecurity and resilience of both public and private sector entities in the European Union.
The revised directive, called "NIS2" (short for network and information systems), is expected to replace the existing legislation on cybersecurity that was established in July 2016.
The revamp sets ground rules, requiring
ASUS has stated that GPU demand in the crypto segment has almost dried up but prices will take time to normalize due to strong gaming demand.
ASUS Expects GPU Prices To Take Time To Normalize Despite Dwindling Crypto Demand
In their latest earnings report, ASUS's Co-CEO, Sy Hsu, stated that GPU demand within the crypto segment is drying but whether prices will normalize depends on the overall demand and not just the crypto variable.
“Because the demand for cryptocurrency mining on GPU shipments has been slowly coming down, the demand for graphics cards across the market is normalizing,” he said.
“Because the demand from cryptocurrency is disappearing, it’s made us wonder if the pricing for GPUs will also normalize,” Hsu said. “In reality, the demand for gaming is still strong, so we still don’t think we can necessarily meet all of the demand.”
GPU prices saw a huge price hike of over 3x during the peak mining season but 2022 started off with crypto demand going down due to lower profit margins and the increase in difficulty. All of this has resulted in GPU prices and availability improving by a huge margin. As of right now, the NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon graphics cards are available on almost all major retail outlets and with prices hovering around 5-10% over MSRP (on average). Prices are further expected to come down with the Ethereum 2.0 update which should essentially phase out GPU mining but it looks like ASUS believes that the crypto correction may have a little impact on the prices.
As seen from the statement above, ASUS states that price normalization may not happen soon since GPU demand in the gaming industry still remains strong. While this is true, there are many examples of new cards being listed at prices below the MSRP. We recently saw the 6900 XT on Newegg listed for a price lower than its MSRP.
There are also several cards that are available at MSRP but there are certain markets that still aren't correcting their prices since they bought their stock at the inflated rates. ASUS was one of the many companies that profited off the GPU mining craze so they might take time to adjust to the new norm but for now, even getting cards at their MSRP is a big win for gamers who had waited almost two years for a new graphics card.
The 1958 film "Macabre" was, in actuality, William Castle's 40th film as a director, but it might be the first that could be considered "a William Castle picture." Prior to "Macabre," Castle was a studio workman, churning out multiple low-budget genre films every year, including Westerns (he made four of the eight films in the popular "Whistler" film series), gangster flicks, and medieval adventures. "Macabre" was the first film he financed himself (he had to mortgage his house), and Castle finally permitted himself to lean into the kinds of movies he always wanted to make: joyously ghoulish horror films. "Macabre," perhaps described as a more sensationalist version of Henri-George Clouzot's 1955 psychological thriller "Les Diaboliques," was a fine thrill ride unto itself, but Castle felt he needed an extra marketing ploy to bring people into the theater. His innovation was brilliant: "Macabre" was so scary, that every member of the audience was issued a $1,000 life insurance policy, backed by Lloyd's of London, in the event they should die of fright during the movie. In order to check on viewers' health, Castle also hired actresses to play nurses, and stationed them at every theater playing "Macabre."
The gimmick worked, and "Macabre" was an enormous hit. Castle immediately went to work on additional horror films, each with their own unique gimmick. 1959's "The House on Haunted Hill" was presented in "Emergo," which was simply a stunt in which a human skeleton, dangling from a ceiling-high cable, was hoisted over the audience's heads.
That same year would see "The Tingler," handily one of the best horror movies ever made (yes, seriously), presented in "Percepto," actually a series of vibrating buzzers placed underneath random theater seats. When the titular monster (a small, silly-looking centipede-like creature) grabbed an on-screen victim, certain viewers would feel it on their butts. "The Tingler" also employed actors to scream at timed moments, and additional nurses to enter the theater and bring them to safety. The conceit of "The Tingler" was that a living creature would rapidly grow on the human spine when its host is scared, and wither away when is host screamed. Screaming scares off the fear monster in your body. Late in the film, one of the creatures is set loose in a movie theater, making for a wonderfully scary metaphysical experience. Several times throughout "The Tingler," Vincent Price would address the audience directly, imploring them to scream! Scream for your lives!
Scream For Your Lives!
"The Tingler" is not just an excellent horror movie, but stresses something vital about cinema: it is a shared experience. Yes, one can watch "The Tingler" at home (it's on Roku, Fubo, Tubi, Redbox, Popcornflix, Pluto TV, Indieflix, Plex, and Flixfling), but it will take a little jump of imagination to picture yourself in a theater, surrounded by rowdy horror fans, each one hoping that they will be the one to be sitting on the buttocks buzzer. William Castle -- the greatest American showman since P.T. Barnum -- understood innately that films were a communal experience, and, with his gimmicks, brought audiences together. This was the man who invited people to look through Illusion-O ghost viewers for "13 Ghosts," or have the audience participate in a Punishment Poll, choosing whether or not the title character of "Mr. Sardonicus" should face comeuppance. An ambitious theatergoer can picture sitting in a crowd, the people around them hooting and throwing popcorn, expressing their bloodlust out loud for all the room to hear.
Movie theaters are currently facing a crisis. Every few months, another story breaks of a notable venue or theater chain shuttering, largely thanks to Covid striking right when theaters were fighting against the rise of streaming entertainment options. And while supra-mega-blockbusters are still being released to enormous numbers, the secondary-earners of the week are gaining less and less traction. It's no wonder Hollywood is pouring so many resources into tentpoles; they're practically the only thing left bringing people into theaters. Prognosticators have surmised that indie films and smaller release windows are muscling all other options out of the nation's remaining screens. Variety and mid-budget films be damned. Scorsese wrote eloquently on the matter.
Filmmakers often tout the importance of the theatrical experience. The makers of "Lightyear," Edgar Wright, and Steven Spielberg have all weighed in on the matter. And, tapping into the spirit of William Castle, both Jordan Peele and Jamie Lee Curtis, at Cinemacon 2022, argued that horror films are the most important when it comes to illustrating the importance of the theatrical experience. Horror is about thrills, being scared, screaming for your life. Said Peele, "Roller coasters aren't fun alone. Laughing isn't fun alone. Being scared isn't fun alone."
Being Scared Isn't Fun Alone
"We come to this place for magic," Peele said, continuing:
"We come to AMC Theaters to laugh, to cry, to care. Because we need that. All of us. That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim, and we go somewhere we've never been before. No just entertained, but somehow reborn. Together. Dazzling images on a huge silver screen. Sound that I can feel. Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this. Our heroes feel like the best part of us, and stories feel perfect and powerful. Because here ... they are."
So goes the much-ballyhooed and widely razzed 2021 commercial for AMC theaters, a gloriously overblown poem to the theatrical experience read by AMC regular Nicole Kidman. In the ad, Kidman is seen in an empty theater (a sign of grim things?) moved to a near-spiritual ecstasy by footage from Patty Jenkins' film "Wonder Woman." It's a silly ad, yes, but lovers of the theatrical experience may understand what Kidman is getting at: There is something experienced in theaters that cannot be had at home. The sacred darkened space where films are projected allows us to more closely connect with a wider community of theatergoers.
And that connection doesn't manifest itself in vainglorious Kidmanesque smirks, but in screams, hoots, and spontaneous expressions of fear. A fun, wicked scary movie pleases us twice. Once when we scream at a jump scare, and again when we laugh off the tension immediately after. Both offer release. The first, when we face our fears in the harmless environ of fiction, and again when we chuckle at ourselves, and at others, for getting rattled.
The Thrill Of Being Afraid
Yes, other genres can provide shared thrills; I, to, was in a theater on opening night for the 2021 blockbuster "Spider-Man: No Way Home," also a Castle-like gimmick film wherein characters from five movies, stretching back to 2002, interacted for the first time. The filmmakers were careful to include long pauses in the film's action to accommodate people cheering in the theater, which -- anecdotally -- they did. And loudly. But that sort of shared enthusiasm, while certainly providing a party-like atmosphere in a theater, isn't quite the same as screaming. The thrill of seeing three Spider-Men is predicated on the shock of recognition and the exploitation of nostalgia. Horror provides a more emotionally honest, visceral response beyond mere thrill. Fear. Pain. Death. With horror we are facing the things we ordinarily turn away from. And, in sharing them with a crowd, find we have more in common with each other.
Attending horror in groups is, one might even argue, a form of therapy. Horror films, however wicked, bloody, cynical, cheap, exploitative, or lascivious, are, at their core, handling everyday human fears of death, pain, and blood. In watching those things in a theater, and understanding what terrifies us as a whole, we are more closely facing our fears safely in each other's arms, so to speak. Are you afraid of needles? Watch this scene from "Audition." It's uncomfortable, but at least you know it's fictional. Are you afraid of dogs? Have you watched "Cujo?" Are you afraid that your upper-class neighborhood might be secretly having incestuous shunting orgies behind your back? May I point you to Brian Yuzna's 1989 film "Society?"
But, even more basically than that, there is a very basic truth about horror, and this is where William Castle had so much keen insight: Being scared is fun. It's fun to watch monsters in the dark. It's sexy to cling onto a date in abject terror. It's enjoyable to watch other squirm in their seats, only to find that you too are squirming. It's thrilling to get that adrenaline rush that a good, startling horror movie can provide.
We're not just screaming for our lives. We're screaming to feel alive.
A first-of-its-kind security analysis of iOS Find My function has identified a novel attack surface that makes it possible to tamper with the firmware and load malware onto a Bluetooth chip that's executed while an iPhone is "off."
The mechanism takes advantage of the fact that wireless chips related to Bluetooth, Near-field communication (NFC), and ultra-wideband (UWB) continue to operate while
16/05/2022 Kopite7kimi has clarified that the RTX 4000 series could launch "mid-July".
Securing an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 GPU is currently the top priority for many gaming PC builders around the world, with many having patiently saved up their pennies during the recent GPU shortage. Thankfully, it seems that we may not need to wait quite as long as expected for team green's soon-to-be best graphics cards.
Hardware leaker kopite7kimi previously claimed that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 series would be on store shelves "a little bit earlier" than expected, but they have now followed this up with a more specific launch window of "Q3 early." This brings into question the previous rumoured Ada Lovelace release date of September, and means we'll potentially have our hands on the RTX 4090, and RTX 4080 as soon as July or August.
While it's best to take these kinds of things with a healthy handful of sodium chloride, this would mark the earliest Nvidia has released new graphics cards since the lauded GeForce GTX 10 series. Looking at this from a broader perspective, this possibly indicates that the company wants to get ahead of its main AMD Radeon RDNA 3 competition as much as it possibly can.
A new Elden Ring survey has revealed a bunch of our favourite things about FromSoftware’s wildly popular action RPG - and it turns out everyone really loves the NPC Ranni the Witch. Conducted by Japanese gaming mag Famitsu and translated by FrontlineJP, the survey also reveals our favourite bosses, items, areas and loads more. In addition to Ranni, it also turns out players were very fond of the living jar Iron Fist Alexander, while their favourite enemy was the demigod Starscourge Radahn.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has temporarily removed a Windows flaw from its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog after it was informed by Microsoft that a recent update can cause problems on some types of systems.
Valve recently announced through its official Steam Deck Twitter account that new Steam Deck audio drivers are now available for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Previously, the Steam Deck offered crippled audio support for Windows 10 and Windows 11, with limited support for Bluetooth or USB-C audio devices.
Valve has updated its support page with info on a new APU driver that brings complete audio support for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Those brave enough to install Windows on their Steam Deck will want to download the latest drivers from the Steam Deck support page. If you have previously installed older drivers, you can still install the new one. Just make sure to check the “factory reset” box in the installer.
Hi all, we’re happy to share that audio drivers are now available for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on Steam Deck! For instructions and more details, please visit the following link: https://t.co/zjU2Ubr8l0
While Valve has always touted that its Steam Deck is a PC capable of running different operating systems, it also offers a disclaimer stating that there is no formal support for those heading down this path. As noted on its support page, Valve is “providing these resources as is and are unfortunately unable to offer ‘Windows on Deck’ support.” Despite this, the company has made strides to improve the experience over the past few months, adding a new Lock Screen, frame rate limiting, and more.
Of course, running Windows on your Steam Deck has some drawbacks, with the most crucial being the lack of a dual-boot option. This means you’ll have to completely wipe out the stock experience to gain access to Windows. If running Windows isn’t a priority, you might want to wait, as Valve has already committed to a dual-boot option that will arrive in a future update.
Initially, support for Windows arrived a month after Steam Deck’s release. Unfortunately, it didn’t offer support for Windows 11. That problem would be rectified a month later, with the Steam Deck gaining support for Windows 11. While interest in the Steam Deck has been strong, pre-order fulfillment looks to be going at a snail’s pace. Those pre-ordering now will be forced to wait a few months, with Valve giving an estimated shipment date of Q3 2022. In the meantime, you can check out our unboxing and extensive coverage of all things Steam Deck.
Task and Purpose reports on "a new and somewhat unnerving recruiting pitch from the U.S. Army's 4th Psychological Operations Group" that asks viewers one simple question: "Have you ever wondered who's pulling the strings?"
The three-and-a-half minute, movie trailer-esque video was released by the 4th PSYOP Group on Youtube on May 2. Since then it's brought in 329,396 views, and it's not hard to see why: This is not your father's recruiting commercial. Complete with eerie whistling in the background and suspenseful music, the video is far from the sometimes-cheesy Army recruiting commercials we often see on television. It's dark and palpably tense, the clips of old cartoons and radio segments from world events combining perfectly to create something that is both intriguing and unsettling.
It accomplishes exactly what psychological operations soldiers set out to do: Influence an audience. As one commenter on Youtube pointed out: "Everything is a weapon. Even this video." Col. Chris Stangle, commander of 4th PSYOP Group, told Task & Purpose on Friday that the video was created in-house, both as a recruitment effort but also to literally show people what they can do — part of psychological operations is creating persuasive media.... Throughout the world, Stangle said, psychological operations are occurring "literally everywhere, every day, in every component of our lives." We're seeing it play out in real-time in eastern Europe, where Ukraine is proving much more successful in the information war than the Russians.
That's no coincidence. Stangle said after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the U.S. PSYOP community, along with other NATO allies and special operations communities around the world, got to work helping Ukraine build their own abilities.... "We've helped through [military-to-military] partnerships, us as well as more than 12 allies and partners. And what we've been able to do is just sit and watch how amazing their arguments are ... Ukraine has done a masterful job, they've taken the training and the work we've done with them, as well as their own inherent skill, and have just really blown it up...."
U.S. Army PSYOP soldiers are working daily with over 40 countries around the globe, according to Stangle. And those partnerships will be critical to success both in preventing future conflicts, and in future conflicts as they unfold.
As the video says: "Warfare is evolving, and all the world's a stage."
Thanks to Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the link!
Doom 64 fans, here is something special for you today. Cryonaut has shared a new version of The D64ifier, a mod that attempts to make all the classic Doom games look like Doom 64. The D64ifier supports Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, No Rest for the Living, and most other vanilla mapsets. As such, you … Continue reading The D64ifier Mod makes all the classic Doom games look like Doom 64 →
2002's "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" was Park Chan-wook's fourth film as a director, but it established a motif. "Mr. Vengeance" is about a man named Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) who donates a kidney to a black market organ harvester in exchange for a matching kidney intended for his ailing sister. When he gets ripped off and can no longer afford the operation, he watches her die. When he takes her to the river to bury her, his daughter slips and drowns. It's understandable why he would want to take vengeance.
In 2003's "Oldboy," a man named Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is kidnapped and thrown into a locked motel room. He is held with no communication or explanation for 15 years, only able to watch TV to catch up with the world. Then, just as randomly as he was kidnapped, he is released with the instruction to find who locked him up. Dae-su delves heartily into the underworld trying to find his captor. He commits horrid acts that crescendo to a tragic climax worthy of Shakespeare. It's understandable why he would want to take vengeance.
In 2005's "Lady Vengeance," a woman named Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) has been released from prison after a 13-year murder sentence. During her sentence, she became a media personality, though fame was a carefully cultivated tool for revenge. Years ago, she was blackmailed into aiding a horrible man (Choi) in a kidnapping ring, accidentally abetted the murder of a child, and took the blame to protect her newborn infant. In planning her post-prison life, she discovers others who have just as solid a claim to her intended victim's blood. It's understandable why she would want to take vengeance.
The three films make up Park's Vengeance Trilogy. All were widely celebrated upon their release (mostly "Oldboy," which won the Grand Prix at Cannes). Each is a dark fable of punishment, people getting what they deserve, and, most strikingly, people suffering for no good reason.
Why was Park Chan-wook driven to make such movies? In a 2016 interview with the A.V. Club, Park explained. Revenge, it seems, is meaningless.
Vengeance Is Meaningless
Blood revenge is, of course, a common motivation in film. Violent revenge stories are popular, as they provide the audience a catharsis they wouldn't be able to achieve in real life. Wronged? Kill a guy. Easy-peasy. Given how often Park Chan-wook revisited the concept, one might sense a preoccupation. The A.V. Club asked Park how much he personally believes in revenge and why he made three bleak and violent films on the subject. Park explained he intended it as a narrative device:
"It's a device which dares to make us think what it is to be a human. And to think about this human existence, that vengeance is meaningless. Even a small child, if they think about it, they will understand this. Revenge is about something that has already happened, and when you are trying to achieve vengeance, you are investing your everything into a venture that will lead you to no benefit at the end. It is a human trait, to engage in foolish acts. And to observe this foolish act and reflect on it is the intention of those narratives."
This is true of most revenge-based thrillers, and certainly of Park's Vengeance trilogy. Characters are harmed or aggrieved, all at the hands of another, but their revenge ultimately proves to be futile. Park points out that revenge stories are inherently manipulative because they elicit sympathy for an act that will ultimately be bloody and unrewarding.
"When they [the audience] see a vengeance drama, they see the protagonist has lost something. This makes them sympathize with the protagonist and angers them. And they go on this journey with the protagonist, and on this journey, they root for the protagonist. Never once do they ask the question about how fruitless or meaningless this act of vengeance is. Or rather, [they don't ask] why the protagonist doesn't just concentrate on his life here and now, and try to think about living the rest of his life in a more fulfilling way rather than engage in a fruitless endeavor. This thought doesn't come across [to] the audience."
Reflection After The Fact.
One could argue that all action films are intended to offer a similar manipulation. Action movies provide images of pursuit, fights, and destruction as dramatic solutions to simple problems. It's perhaps telling that the most successful movie series in the world right now is based on the actions of a group calling themselves avengers. The audience is being, essentially, morally tricked into believing that fight-based answers are okay. Park feels that is the nature of a good revenge story. He continued to the A.V. Club:
"So they only pursue this foolish desire, and it's only at the end of the film, as they come out the theater, [that they] reflect on what they've seen and realize how foolish the business of vengeance is. Good vengeance drama should always make the audience think this way."
Park seems to feel that humanity has violent impulses, but to face its darker aspects, we must be tricked into rooting for them first. The audience, after all, is sometime complicit in the on-screen violence they witness. Park may not personally believe in vengeance, but he is carrying an ethos with him. The AV Club asked about how often he explicitly brings his personal beliefs into a film. Park responded:
"Well, it's different from film to film, different from scene to scene. And these films are not just about personal statements. But 'The Handmaiden' for sure is where my personal statement is very exposed in a strong way. What surprises me is that often people will confuse the thoughts of characters in the film as the thoughts of the film director. And that is something the audience should carefully avoid."
Park taps into something that has been brought up a lot in contemporary criticism: the notion of depiction vs. endorsement. The films of Park's Vengeance Trilogy are about blood revenge, but in being bleak tragedies, they clearly don't advocate for blood revenge. They're merely a bloody, sad, amazing time at the movies.
Air fryers are fast becoming a staple gadget in many people’s homes, likely because they are fast, convenient and don’t cost a small fortune. And with recent technological advancements, there are air fryers on the market that can cook, bake, saute, dehydrate, pressure cook and more. If you’ve been mulling over the thought of investing in an air fryer, now’s the time to jump on the bandwagon — let us help you choose the best air fryer for your needs.
Whether you’re up for roasting a whole chicken, making a meal for the entire family or want to try your hand at the infamous air-fryer muffins (yes, you read that right), there’s an air fryer to suit everyone. And with Prime Day on the horizon, you will likely be able to get a great deal on a new machine that could make all the difference to those dreaded mealtimes.
What does an air fryer do?
Let’s clear one thing up first: it’s not frying. Not really. Air fryers are more like smaller convection ovens, ones that are often pod-shaped. Most work by combining a heating element and fan, which means the hot air can usually better crisp the outside of food than other methods. They often reach higher top temperatures than toaster ovens – which is part of the appeal.
For most recipes, a thin layer of oil (usually sprayed) helps to replicate that fried look and feel better. However, it will rarely taste precisely like the deep-fried version when it comes out of the air fryer basket. Don’t let that put you off, though, because the air fryer, in its many forms, combines some of the best parts of other cooking processes and brings them together into an energy-efficient way of cooking dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch.
You can separate most air fryers into two types and each has different pros and cons. Convection ovens are usually ovens with air fryer functions and features. They might have higher temperature settings to ensure that food crisps and cooks more like actually fried food. Most convection ovens are larger than dedicated air fryers, defeating some of the purpose of those looking to shrink cooking appliance surface area. Still, they are often more versatile with multiple cooking functions, and most have finer controls for temperatures, timings and even fan speed.
You may never need a built-in oven if you have a decent convection oven. They often have the volume to handle roasts, entire chickens or tray bakes, and simply cook more, capacity-wise, making them more versatile than the pod-shaped competition.
The flip side of that is that you’ll need counter space in the kitchen to house them. It also means you can use traditional oven accessories, like baking trays or cake tins, that you might already own.
Pod-shaped air fryers
Pod-shaped air fryers are what you imagine when you think “air fryer.” They look like a cool, space-age kitchen gadget, bigger than a kettle but smaller than a toaster oven. Many use a drawer to hold ingredients while cooking, usually a mesh sheet or a more solid, non-stick tray with holes to allow the hot air to circulate. With a few exceptions, most require you to open the drawer while things cook and flip or shake half-cooked items to ensure the even distribution of heat and airflow to everything.
That’s one of a few caveats. Most pod-shaped air fryers – there are a few exceptions – don’t have a window to see how things are cooking, so you’ll need to closely scrutinize things as they cook, opening the device to check progress. Basket-style air fryers also generally use less energy – there’s less space to heat – and many have parts that can be put directly into a dishwasher.
Some of the larger pod-shaped air fryers offer two separate compartments, which is especially useful for anyone planning to cook an entire meal with the appliance. You could cook a couple of tasty chicken wings or tenders while simultaneously rustling up enough frozen fries or veggies for everyone. Naturally, those options take up more space, and they’re usually heavy enough to stop you from storing them in cupboards or shelves elsewhere.
As mentioned earlier, you might have to buy extra things to make these pod fryers work the way you want them to. Some of the bigger manufacturers, like Philips and Ninja, offer convenient additions, but you’ll have to pay for them.
Air fryer pros and cons
Beyond the strengths and weaknesses of individual models, air fryers are pretty easy to use from the outset. Most models come with a convenient cooking time booklet covering most of the major foods you’ll be air frying, so even beginners can master these machines.
One of the early selling points is the ability to cook fries, wings, frozen foods and other delights with less fat than other methods like deep frying, which gets foods the crispiest. As air fryers work by circulating heated air, the trays and cooking plates have holes that can also let oil and fat drain out of meats, meaning less fat and crisper food when you finally plate things up. For most cooking situations, you will likely need to lightly spray food with vegetable oil. If you don’t, there’s the chance that things will burn or char. The oil will keep things moist on the surface, and we advise refreshing things with a dash of oil spray when you turn items during cooking.
Most air fryers are easy to clean – especially in comparison to a shallow or deep fryer. We’ll get into cleaning guidance a little later.
With a smaller space to heat, air fryers are generally more energy-efficient for cooking food than larger appliances like ovens. And if you don’t have an oven, air fryers are much more affordable – especially the pod options.
There are, however, some drawbacks. While air fryers are easy enough to use, they take time to master. You will adjust cooking times for even the simplest types of food – like chicken nuggets, frozen French fries or brussels sprouts. If you’re the kind of person that loves to find inspiration from the internet, in our experience, you can pretty much throw their timings out of the window. There are a lot of air fryer options, and factors like how fast they heat and how well distributed that heat is can – and will – affect cooking.
There’s also a space limitation to air fryers. This is not a TARDIS – there’s simply less space than most traditional ovens and many deep fat fryers. If you have a bigger family, you’ll probably want to go for a large capacity air fryer – possibly one that has multiple cooking areas. You also might want to consider a different kitchen appliance, like a multicooker, sous vide or slow cooker to meet your specific cooking needs.
You may also struggle to cook many items through as the heat settings will cook the surface of dishes long before it’s cooked right through. If you’re planning to cook a whole chicken or a roast, please get a meat thermometer!
Best air fryer accessories
Beyond official accessories from the manufacturer, try to pick up silicone-tipped tools. Tongs are ideal, as is a silicon spatula to gently loosen food that might get stuck on the sides of the air fryer. These silicone mats will also help stop things from sticking to the wire racks on some air fryers. They have holes to ensure the heated air is still able to circulate around the food.
Silicone trivets are also useful for resting any cooked food on while you sort out the rest of the meal. And if you find yourself needing oil spray, but don’t feel like repeatedly buying tiny bottles, you can decant your favorite vegetable oil into a permanent mister like this.
How to clean an air fryer
We’re keeping clean up simple here. Yes, you could use power cleaners from the grocery store, they could damage the surface of your air fryer. Likewise, metal scourers or brushes could strip away the non-stick coating. Remember to unplug the device and let it cool completely.
Remove the trays, baskets and everything else from inside. If the manufacturer says the parts are dishwasher safe – and you have a dishwasher – the job is pretty much done.
Otherwise, hand wash each part in a mixture of warm water, with a splash of Dawn or another strong dish soap. Use a soft-bristled brush to pull away any crumbs, greasy deposits or bits of food stuck to any surfaces. Remember to rinse everything. Otherwise, your next batch of wings could have a mild Dawn aftertaste. Trust us.
Take a microfiber cloth and tackle the outer parts and handles that might also get a little messy after repeated uses. This is especially useful for oven-style air fryers – use the cloth to wipe down the inner sides.
If Dawn isn’t shifting oily stains, try mixing a small amount of baking soda with enough water to make a paste, and apply that so that it doesn’t seep into any electrical parts or the heating element. Leave it to work for a few seconds before using a damp cloth to pull any greasy spots away. Rinse out the cloth and wipe everything down again, and you should be ready for the next time you need to air fry.
How to find air fryer recipes
Beyond fries, nuggets and – a revelation – frozen gyoza, there are a few ways to find recipes for air-fried foods. First, we found that the air fryer instruction manuals often have cooking guides and recipe suggestions for you to test out in your new kitchen gadget. The good thing with these is that they were made for your air fryer model, meaning success should be all but guaranteed. They are often a little unimaginative, however.
Many of the top recipe sites and portals have no shortage of air fryer recipes, and there’s no harm in googling your favorite cuisine and adding the words “air fryer” on the end of the search string. We’ve picked up some reliable options from Delish, which also has a handy air fryer time converter for changing oven and traditional fryer recipes. BBC Good Food is also worth browsing for some simple ideas, as is NYT Cooking, with the ability to directly search for air fryer suggestions. Aside from that, you can also grab plenty of cookbooks from your local bookshop with lots of recipes that you can use in your favorite air fryer.
And if you have a killer recipe or unique use for your air fryer, let us know in the comments. What’s the air fryer equivalent of the Instant Pot cheesecake? We’re ready to try it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-air-fryers-133047180.html?src=rss
2016's "10 Cloverfield Lane" still stands tall as one of the best and most thrilling original horror movies to grace the silver screen in the last decade or so, a feat that only becomes even more impressive when considering it was director Dan Trachtenberg's feature film debut. There are few things I love more than a filmmaker bursting onto the scene on the biggest possible stage and leaving the rest of us to look forward to what they might do next to follow up on such success ... but several years after the fact, we've still been waiting. Trachtenberg has taken to television in the meantime, helming episodes of "Black Mirror" (which, coincidentally, was just announced to receive a brand-new season), "The Boys," and most recently Peacock's "The Lost Symbol." But finally, the exciting storyteller is set to make his return to the big screen with another genre picture -- which will once again involve some pesky extraterrestrials.
The "Predator" franchise had to be considered on life support after Shane Black's 2018 film, which (in)famously underwent quite a bit of studio interference on the way to its lackluster performance. In the aftermath of that setback, however, a fresh creative vision was needed to shake up the franchise in ways that it hasn't since, arguably, the 1987 John McTiernan-directed original. Excitingly, that meant bringing Trachtenberg on board for a prequel that would revolve around a much earlier period in Earth history: 300 years ago, to be precise. We've seen the fearsome Predators hunting hapless humans everywhere, from the jungles of Vietnam to the streets of Los Angeles, but much like its title would imply, "Prey" is set to change things up drastically by shifting the action to the Comanche Nation in America's Great Plains.
Today, the very first trailer has been released, giving eager fans an all-too-brief look at what this latest film has in store. Watch it for yourself below!
Prey Trailer
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg from a script by Patrick Aison, "Prey" already seems ready to up the ante in terms of horror-thriller vibes while giving us a refreshingly new group of heroes (and a sorely underrepresented one, at that) to root for in between all the gory and likely terrifying alien mayhem. As you might expect, this first footage doesn't give much away beyond establishing the premise of the picture. A pair of Comanche natives fleeing from a forest and turning around to face their foe, armed only with pitifully inadequate bows and arrows? Yeah, that and Trachtenberg's involvement are more than enough to pique our interests.
In addition, 20th Century Studios boasts that the film features "a cast comprised almost entirely of Native and First Nation's talent," including Amber Midthunder ("The Ice Road," "Roswell, New Mexico"), Stormee Kipp ("Sooyii"), Michelle Thrush ("The Journey Home"), Julian Black Antelope ("Tribal"), and newcomer Dakota Beavers. Reassuringly, the studio also goes on to state that:
"The filmmakers were committed to creating a film that provides an accurate portrayal of the Comanche and brings a level of authenticity that rings true to its Indigenous peoples. [Producer Jhane] Myers, an acclaimed filmmaker, Sundance Fellow and member of the Comanche nation herself, is known for her attention and dedication to films surrounding the Comanche and Blackfeet nations and her passion for honoring the legacies of the Native communities."
After all that good news, I suppose it's only fair to break the disappointing development that it would seem that fans won't get the chance to see this in theaters. "Prey" is set to debut exclusively on Hulu August 5, 2022.
Set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, "Prey" is the story of a young woman, Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior. She has been raised in the shadow of some of the most legendary hunters who roam the Great Plains, so when danger threatens her camp, she sets out to protect her people. The prey she stalks, and ultimately confronts, turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal, resulting in a vicious and terrifying showdown between the two adversaries.
Articles focused on cybersecurity threats facing the connected medical device market often cite a well-worn statistic: the average hospital bed in the United States has 10 to 15 internet-enabled devices that collect and transmit data.
Bitcoin has no future as a payments network because of its inefficiency and high environmental costs, according to one of crypto's most influential chief executives. From a report: Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the digital asset exchange FTX, said the proof of work system of validating blockchain transactions, which underpins bitcoin, was not capable of scaling up to cope with the millions of transactions that would be needed to make the cryptocurrency an effective means of payment. "The bitcoin network is not a payments network and it is not a scaling network," said Bankman-Fried. His comments came as the fast-growing cryptocurrency market was hit by a punishing sell-off that left bitcoin down by more than 35 per cent since January, at its lowest level since late 2020.
Bitcoin is still seen by some crypto enthusiasts as a way to conduct everyday transactions. Countries such as El Salvador and the Central African Republic have adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender. But recent research by academics in the US found that Bitcoin has scarcely been used for daily payments in El Salvador, despite the rollout of bitcoin ATMs and other measures to encourage its use. The 30-year-old billionaire, who has expanded FTX into one of the world's largest virtual asset exchanges, said an alternative type of blockchain known as proof of stake, or other technological innovations, would be required to create a functional crypto payments network. In a Twitter thread, Bankman-Fried clarified: "To be clear I also said that it does have potential as a store of value. The BTC network can't sustain thousands/millions of TPS, although BTC can be xfered on lightning/L2s/etc."
The Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2) is undoubtedly one of the best VR headsets you can buy right now, but Facebook account are still a point of criticism. Thankfully, Meta's chief technical officer, Andrew Bosworth, has provided a small update on the company's progress to remove the social media shackles from its virtual reality unit.
During a Quest 2Instagram AMA (via UploadVR), someone asked Bosworth whether he was able to provide on the topic of alternate logins. He responded by saying that this "this is still in the works, still on the way," highlighting that "due care and diligence" regarding data privacy regulations is a major contributing factor to this process.
However, Bosworth adamantly reassures Quest 2 users that "it's still going to happen," so we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled for any announcements from Meta in the future.
"This is a complicated issue that's without precedent and with profound consequences," said McDonald's chief executive Chris Kempczinski in a message to staff and suppliers.
In the decades after it was released, "Blade Runner" was dissected by fans and critics alike. People poured over its grim vision of the future, enraptured by the sci-fi glimpse it gave of a 2019 Los Angeles that was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. But it wasn't just the film's aesthetic atmospherics that had people enthralled. "Blade Runner" centers around the story of Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who works as one of many bounty hunters of bioengineered humans known as "replicants." Although, it's the film's group of replicants — led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and first presented as ruthless antagonists — that emerges as its Promethean heroes.
But even though "Blade Runner" deals greatly with replicants, much like its treatment of this uncanny dystopia, it steers clear of giving audiences more clarity than they need. It's the ambiguity surrounding the replicants that makes them so terrifying and fascinating. For director Ridley Scott, adapting the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" meant setting up parameters for his movie. And one such barrier for "Blade Runner" meant excluding certain questions and answers about the replicants themselves.
Scott Decided To Cool It With The Genetic Science
After its dismal theatrical release, "Blade Runner" had a renaissance in the '90s catalyzed by the release of Ridley Scott's director's cut and with no small help from its VHS release. Fans could now rewind and rewatch a film that tested poorly by audiences for being too confusing. Obsessive theories about the film's ambiguities surfaced over the decades. Since then, sequel "Blade Runner 2049" has answered some questions, but one area where Scott wanted to be particularly vague was the process of genetic engineering that created the replicants. He told American Cinema Papers in 1982:
"We deliberately stopped, in screenplay development, going too far into the idea of genetic engineering, which we could have done. That would have been another, entirely different film. It would have been '2001,' in a way. In fact, to go into the study of genetics and its future is fascinating. But it was another can of beans. "
Seeing as how audiences screened for the film found bewildering, that was probably a good call. Scott continued:
"So we drew a line: We wouldn't explore the laboratory details, the genetic explanations. Instead, we'd ask: What if large combines in the next few decades became almost as powerful as the government? Which is possible. They'd move into all sorts of industries — arms, chemicals, aerospace — and eventually, they'd go into genetics. And then you reach the point where genetics starts developing into the first 'man-made' man. I think it could happen in the next 12 or 15 years."
The Tyrell Corporation was famously responsible for creating replicants. It's from CEO Dr. Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel) that audiences learn of the four-year lifespan limit to newer Nexus-6 replicants, and that it's irreversible. It's a revelation that ends in his gruesome murder by a vengeful Batty, but also points to Scott's focus for "Blade Runner." The problem faced by the replicants has less to do with their genetics than the age-old conflict between parents and their begotten children — especially when those children are treated as subhuman slaves.
Greater Focus On The Replicant Struggle
Although Batty and his group strike out a bloody rampage against their creators, by the film's end the replicants have ceased to be the antagonists they were made out to be. Even when Batty crushes the skull of his pseudo-father, Tyrell, it's hard to feel bad for the guy. In not focusing on the genetic science behind the replicants, Ridley Scott decided to look at the consequences of breeding a workforce. He continued to American Cinema Papers:
"From there, as happens in 'Blade Runner,' you can quite easily slip into breeding a second-class generation to do things which normally you or I wouldn't care to do, or psychologically couldn't stand to do. For instance, going into space knowing you're not going to come back. You take a humanoid and dick around with his brain, bring him along certain psychological lines, and he's going to go quite happily."
The film's eternally famous "tears in the rain" monologue by Rutger Hauer comes to mind. After saving Deckard, Batty tells him, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe." Batty waxes poetically about seeing "attack ships on fire ... bright as magnesium" near Orion, about riding on the decks of something called a "blinker," and watching "C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate." In just a few sentences Batty paints a dazzling portrait of the wonder and terror he's witnessed living in the liminal spaces of the cosmos mankind has begun to colonize. It's the kind of effect the limitations of his own existence as a Nexus-6 replicant has on his psyche in contrast with the near limitless marvels of his reality as frontiersman of the universe. Rightfully, Scott hones in on the corporations that energize, manifest, and justify such horrendous practices — not to mention those made culpable in their complicity, like Deckard.
