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An "irreverent" spin-off for "The Boys" has been in the works since 2020, prompted by the popularity of season 2 of the parent series on Prime Video. Production for the college-set spin-off had unfortunately been delayed due to leads Aimee Carrero and Shane Paul McGhie dropping out, which led to a recasting process and the transformation of key characters in the show.

However, good news for those who wish to consume more content on all things Supes: the untitled "The Boys" spin-off has found three new cast members for "high-profile recurring roles" in the series (via Deadline). Patrick Schwarzenegger ("Moxie," "The Staircase"), Sean Patrick Thomas ("The Tragedy of Macbeth," "Barbershop"), and Marco Pigossi ("Tidelands," "Invisible City") will be playing the respective roles of Golden Boy, Polarity, and Dr. Cardosa. While character details are scant at the moment, these roles will most likely function within the ambit of the all-Supe school owned by Vought.

What Could Go Wrong In An All-Supe College?

"The Boys," although based on Garth Ennis' comic book series, took significant liberty with its subject material, and introduced its own audacious twists, which is part of the reasons why the show has garnered massive popularity. This success ushered in the need to produce new material set in "The Boys" universe, namely the spin-off, which focuses on a Vought-owned college exclusively created for educating and training budding Supes. Given how puberty itself is an intense transformational process, this, combined with uncontrolled superpowers can easily become a recipe for disaster real quick.

While much about the series is not known at the moment, the upcoming series will be R-rated (I would be surprised if it wasn't) and follow students engaged in a competitive setup, with the heightened emotions of adolescence in the mix. This is giving the Dauntless in "Divergent" vibes, minus the superpowers, allowing for fresh characters to make their mark within the franchise and potentially carry a narrative arc that bleeds into the primary narrative of "The Boys."

As announced sometime last year, Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters will be acting as showrunners, while executive producers include Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur, Pavun Shetty, Ken Levin, Jason Netter, and Garth Ennis himself, among others.

Other series regulars include Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn.

As it is too early for the spin-off to have a release date, it is difficult to gauge when we can expect it to premiere.

Read this next: The 15 Most Anticipated Comic Book Movies And Shows Of 2022, Ranked

The post Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi Board The Boys College-Set Spin-Off appeared first on /Film.

Episode 2 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" properly introduced the Enterprise's chief engineer, Hemmer (Bruce Horak). Hemmer is a member of a familiar "Star Trek" species, but not quite the one you may think. Specifically, he's an Aenar (pronounced i-nar), a subspecies of the Andorians. The pale white Aenar resemble their blue-skinned cousins, but there are some differences that go more than skin-deep. The Aenar are blind and have telepathic abilities which Andorians lack.

While not as famous as the Vulcans or Klingons, the Andorians go back to "Star Trek: The Original Series." The Aenar are a more recent introduction to the franchise, debuting in 2004 during an eponymous episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise." Indeed, Hemmer is the first Aenar main character in a "Trek" series. 

Let's look back at the history of these two closely related alien races.

Introducing The Andorians

The Andorians debuted in the second season of "Star Trek," specifically "Journey to Babel." In this episode, the Enterprise is assigned to transport numerous diplomatic delegations to the titular planet; among the representatives are Andorians. The villain of the episode is an Orion spy posing as an Andorian named Thelev (William O'Connell).

Written by D.C. Fontana, "Journey to Babel" is an important episode for the "Trek" canon. For one, it fleshes out Spock's backstory and marks the first appearance of his parents, Vulcan Ambassador Sarek (Mark Leonard) and Amanda Grayson (Jane Wyatt). On a more macro-scale, the episode makes the world of "Trek" feel much fuller by emphasizing that the Federation is more than just Humans and Vulcans.

Though very little of Andorian culture was revealed, Fontana's script described them as a "warrior breed," and ambassador Shras (Reggie Nalder) notes his people are "violent." Indeed, later works would depict the Andorians as militaristic, especially compared to their Federation comrades.

Of all the alien species introduced in the original "Trek," the Andorians had the most distinctive appearance. The work of make-up artist Fred Phillips, they were blue-skinned, white-haired, and with a pair of antennae atop their heads. Their costumes were vaguely medieval, with chain-mail beneath green/brown vestments. The Andorians certainly looked more like aliens than the Vulcans/Romulans or "TOS"-era Klingons. However, this was a double-edged sword. Make-up expenses kept the Andorians from being a major presence in the series; they only appeared in four episodes, and none besides "Babel" was more than a cameo. The same held true for the "Star Trek" films, where Andorian characters were little more than crowd filler in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and "The Voyage Home."

Absent From The Next Generation

The Andorians were an even more meager presence in the 24th-century era "Trek" shows, specifically "Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and "Voyager." Indeed, no Andorians appear in the latter two shows. The closest they came on "Next Generation" was a background appearance in "Captain's Holiday" and Data creating a holographic model of an Andorian in "The Offspring." The "TNG" Andorians looked more like the Great Gazoo, with green skin, a bulbous head, and longer antennae. With such a lacking design, perhaps it was for the best they didn't show up more.

A non-presence in the TV series, the expanded universe had to pick up the slack in fleshing out the Andorians. The "Deep Space Nine" novels by S.D. Perry on an offhand comment in "Data's Day" that Andorian marriages have four participants. Perry interpreted the species as not simply polyamorous but actually having four sexes: the roughly masculine chan and thaan and the approximately feminine zhen and shen. Take this with a grain of salt, though; "Trek" novels are treated as secondary canon and filmed works have depicted Andorians as a binary-sex race.

IDW's "Alien Spotlight" comic meta-series included an Andorian issue, published in 2007. Written by Paul D. Storrie with art by Leonard O'Grady, the issue centers on a 24th century Andorian named Sharad. A member of Starfleet Intelligence, Sharad finds that there is discontent among his people, some of whom prefer the "Old Ways" when Andorians were the types of conquerors who Starfleet often fights against. Sadly, this is one of the only "Trek" works that explore Andorians' place in the Federation.

Andorian Resurgence On Enterprise

The first "Star Trek" series to explore the Andorians in any depth was "Enterprise." Producer Brannon Braga's goal was to, "take the goofiest aliens from 'The Original Series' and make them a real culture that's cool and believable."

Advances in make-up no doubt helped facilitate their increased presence; their antennae now protruded from their foreheads rather than from the top of their heads, where the make-up splotches could be concealed with hair. The "Enterprise" Andorian design was a big improvement on the "TNG" look, harkening closer to how they looked in the original series. "Enterprise" also boasted the first recurring Andorian character, Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs), and the first appearance of Andorian ships.

"Enterprise" is a prequel, set in the mid-22nd century about 10 years before the Federation's founding. In a call back to "Journey to Babel," the Andorians were revealed as one of the four founding members of the Federation, alongside Humanity, Vulcans, and Tellarites. The series used the Andorians as foils for the Vulcans; warriors driven by passion and romanticism instead of logical scientists.

Debuting in "The Andorian Incident," Shran and his compatriots are initially antagonists; they hold the Vulcan monastery of P'Jem hostage, believing the Vulcans are using it as cover for a listening post. Things become greyer when it turns out their suspicions were right. For the rest of the series, the Andorians waffle between ally and antagonist to humanity but ultimately settle on the former side, reflected in the friendship between Shran and Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). "Enterprise" Season 4 is also when we finally meet the Aenar.

The Aenar

"The Aenar" is the final chapter of a three-part "Enterprise" episode. The previous chapters centered around a Romulan drone ship equipped with a holographic projector to mimic other ships' appearance. The Romulans' goals were to foment unrest; Shran's ship is destroyed by the drone posing as a Tellarite ship.

In part 2, "United," the drone ship's pilot was revealed to be an Aenar. His people are properly introduced when Archer and Shran visit Andoria to get answers. Incidentally, this was the first onscreen depiction of the Andoria, revealed as a cold, harsh world where the inhabitants dwell underground.

The Aenar are a pacifistic and isolationist people; the Romulans' pilot Gareb (Scott Allen Rinker) was abducted so his captors could exploit his telepathic abilities. Gareb's sister Jhamel (Alexandra Lydon) is able to communicate with her brother and sabotage the Romulans' plans.

"Enterprise" ended prematurely after Season 4. Considering it was building towards the Earth-Romulan War and the founding of the Federation from the ashes of conflict, it's a certainty the Andorians would've continued to be a major presence in the series. Whether the same is true for the Aenar remains unclear.

Andorians And Aenar In Modern Star Trek

The Andorians have made sporadic appearances throughout "Star Trek: Discovery." The make-up hews close to the "Enterprise" iteration but with more accentuated facial features; a white version of this make-up was used to bring Hemmer to life. Animated comedy series "Star Trek: Lower Decks," (where make-up costs are a non-issue) also features a recurring Andorian character, Jennifer Sh'reyan (Lauren Lapkus).

"Strange New Worlds" marks the first appearance of the Aenar since their debut. Evidently, in the century since, at least some of them have abandoned their forebears' isolationism. Speaking to Nerdist, Horak described his character as:

"Crunchy outside and gooey on the inside. He is a bit crunchy on the outside. I think that comes from just his incredible intelligence and his incredible abilities. The Aenar species, at least as far as my research goes, is—they're a dying species. I think that kind of pressure might, or that kind of loneliness or aloneness, might give someone a bit of a crunchy exterior."

With Hemmer as part of the main cast, it's possible that "Strange New Worlds" will be the lynchpin series for the Aenar that "Enterprise" was for their Andorians cousins.

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The post Old Federation Allies: Star Trek's Aenar and the Andorians Explained appeared first on /Film.

Epic Games is giving away FREE copies of Prey, a Bethesda games sci-fi shooter RPG for one week, starting today and lasting until May 19th 2022.

The post Get Prey for free at Epic Games Store this week appeared first on Indie Game Bundles.

Epic Games is giving away FREE copies of a hand-drawn action-exploration game, Jotun Valhalla Edition, for one week, starting today and lasting until May 19th 2022.

The post Free Game on Epic Games Store: Jotun Valhalla Edition appeared first on Indie Game Bundles.

You may not know the name Phil Tippett, but you most certainly know his work. The VFX legend has been integral in the creation of some of modern cinema's greatest creature effects, from the animation for the AT-AT walkers and the tauntauns in "The Empire Strikes Back," to the dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park," to the robots in "RoboCop," and even the bugs in "Starship Troopers."

But while he was working on mesmerizing audiences with his work in "Robocop 2," Tippett was also working on an independent project that would become his magnum opus: "Mad God." This stop-motion descent into hell has been in the works for 30 years, dropped several times, revived thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, and now it is finally about to be unleashed upon the eyeballs of unsuspecting audiences.

A Land Of Nightmares And Monsters

The trailer for "Mad God" tells you shockingly little to what the movie is actually about. That's because, well, even if you do see the film it is shockingly hard to explain what it is about, other than it must be a distillation of the darkest, most gruesome nightmares Phill Tippett's had for the past three decades. It is more like a collection of silent vignettes than a proper narrative, showcasing increasingly deranged imagery and creatures that prove no one does it like Tippett.

If you are a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky's "Primal" and its silent yet brutal portrayal of pre-historic savagery, then "Mad God" should be right up your alley ("Repo Man" director Alex Cox even shows up as a curly fingernailed scientist!). If you don't believe me, believe our reviewer who said:

"Mad God" isn't a movie, it's an experience, and one that I implore anyone and everyone to immerse themselves in as soon as they possibly can. I fear I will spend the rest of my life trying to solve the puzzles hidden within "Mad God," knowing full well this is an impossible feat.

This is just the kind of personal passion project only a handful of filmmakers get to make, but we rarely get to see done in animation (let alone stop-motion). A singular vision rebelling against mainstream studio fare and showing the power of the medium to create unique (and quite violent) worlds.

"Mad God" will be unleashed on Shudder on June 16, 2022.

"Mad God" is an experimental animated film set in a world of monsters, mad scientists and war pigs. A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city, settling down upon an ominous fortress guarded by zombie-like sentries. The Assassin emerges to explore a labyrinth of bizarre, desolate landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens.

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The post Mad God Trailer: Phil Tippett Takes Us Inside His Nightmares appeared first on /Film.

I'm obsessed with this TV show.

While this week Microsoft issued a production release of CBL-Mariner 2.0 as its in-house Linux distribution, they are continuing to maintain CBL-Mariner 1.0 for the time being and have overnight issued its newest monthly release...

Researchers have detailed a previously undocumented .NET-based post-exploitation framework called IceApple that has been deployed on Microsoft Exchange server instances to facilitate reconnaissance and data exfiltration. "Suspected to be the work of a state-nexus adversary, IceApple remains under active development, with 18 modules observed in use across a number of enterprise environments, as

Here's a question I've kept in mind throughout every episode of "Halo" so far: how long are audiences expected to stick it out with a new series, wallowing through uneven results in the early going while waiting for the story to become appointment television? In an ideal world, most shows would be as immediately arresting as "Breaking Bad" or "Lost," dropping viewers headfirst into an unfamiliar story and never letting up, all but daring us to even think about losing interest. The issue of how much slack a show deserves has never felt more pressing, especially given the sheer amount of movies and shows fighting for our attention at any given moment. I've tried to keep this concern in mind throughout every episode recap of "Halo," which has felt like a parade of mixed bags since the opening moments of the premiere.

So when I throw out a statement about how "Halo" has finally hit its stride at such a late stage in the season — the penultimate episode, no less — that's meant to be interpreted with a certain amount of implied criticism, right alongside the deserved praise for (mostly) coming through when it counted most.

This latest episode, titled "Allegiance," lived up to its name and then some. After last week ground all semblance of momentum to a screeching halt for a disconnected and frankly boring check-in on the show's least successful subplot, episode 8 picked up where episode 6 left off. It's hard for me to unequivocally claim that this hour makes the plodding and unconventional path to reach this point completely worth it ... but it'd be just as silly to deny the thrill of seeing all the plates left spinning in the air throughout previous episodes come crashing down here.

Presumably, those still on board with this idiosyncratic show have long since come to terms with the fact that the creative team is simply taking their own unique path to the events of "Combat Evolved." While previous episodes have provided their fair share of entertaining moments, "Allegiance" is perhaps the most significant proof that "Halo" can ultimately live up to its potential — not by reverting to the safe harbor of video game iconography, but by succeeding on its own merits altogether. Let's get right to it.

Arc Of The Covenant

There are a few telltale indications early on in "Allegiance" that the episode might steer clear of the pitfalls that previous hours have stumbled headlong into. First, we pick up right where we left off 2 weeks ago; no clunky flashbacks used as a crutch to give the present storyline a needed jolt, thankfully. Secondly (and I acknowledge this is perhaps a low bar to clear), we get a neat bit of visual shorthand further linking John's mystical connection with Makee, the "Blessed One" sent by the Covenant to infiltrate the UNSC and recover the artifact for their own nefarious purposes. With both individuals still reeling from their shared vision of stepping foot onto Halo, John stares at a mirror and feels strangely compelled to draw a certain round-shaped glyph. Cue the smash cut to Makee, alone in her room yet similarly framed by the curves of the circular mirror she's peering into. Parallels, folks!

Nobody's reinventing the wheel of visual storytelling here. But even this small and effective moment, conveyed through means other than dialogue for a change, helps lend a sense of confidence that the script (credited to writers Justine Juel Gillmer and Steven Kane) and the direction (Jonathan Liebesman, who also helmed episodes 5 and 6) are both working together towards a common goal.

That goal, as it happens, deals with the growing complications between John and Makee. The episode takes great pains to quickly establish a sense of intimacy, lingering on the touch of an outstretched hand or John's reassuring invitation of "Don't be afraid" as he leads her away from the busy UNSC headquarters so they can actually talk about what they've both experienced. Of course, they can't get far without being observed secretly by Dr. Halsey (still under house arrest after her falling-out with Admiral Parangosky), who vaguely remarks that John "is connected to something beyond all of us" and that the key lies with the artifact — which has mysteriously cured the Chief of his previous poor health.

When they do get to talk, however, we finally learn a little more about how the Halo fits into a Covenant-held prophecy that Makee believes in, as well. As she tells it, a "divine wind will rush through, propelling all those who are worthy on a great journey to the sacred ring, where we will become like gods." And when John asks about those deemed unworthy (meaning humanity), Makee blithely replies that they will be "cleansed."

Philosophical Differences

In another improvement from prior "Halo" episodes, it takes little time at all for "Allegiance" to lay the groundwork to unite all of its disparate threads and coalesce around a single idea. The title hints at the predominant concern of the hour, which neatly explains the focus on the (admittedly rushed) John/Makee development. Both of them very clearly struggle with opposing viewpoints of humanity. Makee, having been exposed to the worst that people have to offer (previously seen flashbacks to her hellish childhood come back to inform much of her story here), actually begins to have an understandable motivation to side with the Covenant over her own kind. John, meanwhile, views his own fragments of a happy childhood as a reason to hold onto humanity's innate capacity for goodness and hope and love, all of which he claims is "within us. Something special, something sacred, something worth protecting."

Despite these early warning signs of trouble to come, John forges ahead anyway — thanks to a mix of euphoria and naïveté over his newfound emotions breaking through his rigid indoctrination, some inexplicable side-effects of contact with the artifact, and perhaps a few narrative shortcuts — and ends up in Makee's quarters, on the pretext of gifting her a book (similar to the one she and her friend read as children) and filling her in on the plan to allow her to communicate through the Madrigal artifact to locate the other artifact on the Covenant planet of Raas Kkhotskha. They end up sleeping with each other after his declaration of trust in her, providing a perfect opportunity for Makee to eliminate the Chief with her energy sword finger implant. Despite some tension, we instead get some nifty body horror when she removes the digit entirely to rid herself of the weapon.

At this point, allegiances are fracturing and reforming across the entire supporting cast. Captain Keyes reassures Parangosky about the danger of John discovering the truth of their involvement in his childhood abduction. Meanwhile, Dr. Halsey continues to scheme and cause certain alarm bells to go off within Cortana. When Keyes visits her one last time to say goodbye before the good doctor is shipped off-planet, her estranged lover explodes in anger at the lengths Halsey is willing to go and the sacrifices she's willing to make to see her own ends achieved. While all this is going on, Miranda Keyes continues to work on translating intercepted Covenant messages, which we know will bring her to the truth of Makee's deception.

Collision Course

With all these seeds planted throughout the episode, the climax is effectively set up to bring everything crashing down on top of our main characters. Having stolen her daughter Miranda's biometrics during her last visit 2 episodes ago, Halsey uses this clearance to contact Makee and set the wheels in motion for her escape. Bringing the focus of the episode right back to whether humanity is truly worth saving, Halsey aligns herself with Makee's worldview. "I love humanity," Halsey explains, "but humans are the problem." Worried that the UNSC will only use Halo to destroy themselves, Halsey pressures her into convincing John to take the artifact, make their escape together, and somehow take control of the ringworld themselves. When this desperate plea falls on deaf ears, Halsey resorts to sneering about how attachment and sentimentality lead to feelings of pride, fear, and even love (as a quietly disturbed Cortana suggests), all of which overrule pure, cold logic in normal human beings and force Halsey to step up to "save them from themselves."

All the various dominoes begin to fall when Halsey uses the ace up her sleeve, activating the combat-ready Spartans under her sole authority and planning to use Cortana as a failsafe to get the Chief under control and the artifact into her own hands. Kai, freed from the hormone-suppressing pellet several episodes ago, balks at Halsey's orders to turn against John and receives a swift knockout punch from Riz and Vannak for her trouble. Bothered by some of Halsey's subtle jabs during their conversation and preoccupied with her own religious faith in the Halo, Makee questions John about what he intends to do with the ring if they're eventually able to use it as a weapon to end the war with the Covenant. ("I guess we'll see," he alludes.) And when Halsey finally admits to Cortana that she'll no longer need John's services when she has the artifact, promising that the artificial intelligence will be "free to assume full control of his body and consciousness," it's apparent that even Cortana will have a tough choice to make concerning her own loyalties.

As tortured as the journey has been to get to this point, it's a relief to finally have a sense of genuine exhilaration and momentum as all these storylines come to a head in the last half of the episode simultaneously. Cortana emphatically makes her choice, alerting John to the trap that Vannak and Riz set for him and assisting him during their hand-to-hand combat. Miranda decodes the Sangheili communications and realizes from Makee's chillingly familiar voice that she's a double agent, rushing off to inform Parangosky and her father Captain Keyes. By the time this explosive reveal causes Parangosky and her trigger-happy Marines to brutally arrest Makee, drawing direct parallels to her treatment as a child at the hands of similarly oppressive soldiers, we can practically see her draw her final conclusions about the human race.

Her desperate attempt to grab the artifact at the center of the room causes another surge of energy, briefly incapacitating her enemies and sending her and John to another vision on Halo. Where before there was at least a chance for connection and understanding, her painfully simple "Goodbye, John" seals the deal and sets her up as the main villain for the concluding episode — and perhaps beyond.

(Re)claim To Fame

• Halo Watch: We're definitely trending in the right direction! We get this out of the way pretty quickly in the episode when John confronts Makee in the gardens of Reach about how they actually stepped foot (well, as much as shared dreamscapes count) on the Halo ring. As feared from the beginning, it sure seems like we're only actually going to get there in next week's finale ... and even then, it's likely that the Chief's arrival (along with whoever else the show decides to bring along, as clearly the series will boast a vastly different roster of characters than "Combat Evolved" did) and any further explorations of the world will be left as a cliffhanger.
• Mea Culpa: Look, it's likely that nobody else except me would've ever even noticed this. But in the interests of transparency, I have to admit my own mistake. I previously griped about how the series was taking a slightly different tack with the Master Chief's abilities in comparison with other Spartans, making him seem like the best and brightest out of them all. I even went so far as to cite the novel "The Fall of Reach" as my preferred approach. Well, episode 8 came along and made me look foolish. While watching the Chief from her window hundreds of feet above, Halsey directly quotes that book when she observes, "From the moment I first saw him as a child, I had an instinct. He wasn't the fastest or the strongest, but there was something about him." That's the Chief I'm familiar with from the novels, who gets ahead through sheer strength of will and a healthy dose of luck, and I hope next season has the time to explore that further.
• The Great Journey: Makee's recitation of the Covenant prophecy regarding Halo, describing a "Divine wind" and referencing the "Great Journey," is also a direct quote of the Prophet of Mercy from the games. As disappointed as I am that the series never really used Makee's wholly original character to dive into the details of the Covenant religion, I wouldn't be surprised if we get much more of that moving forward.
• Criterion Collection: This is a very minor tidbit since the episode itself glosses over this development rather quickly, but we get a glimpse of the UNSC planet Criterion getting "glassed" by Covenant forces, killing 11 million innocents. This spurs the Master Chief to "take the fight to them" and move forward with his plan to use Makee to find where the Covenant are hiding the second artifact that they recovered. Criterion is taken straight from franchise lore, which is neat, but this one scene only makes me wish we saw more of the galaxy-wide scale of the actual war instead of brief skirmishes here and there.
• Natascha McElhone, Y'all: Last week was Burn Gorman's turn in the actor spotlight, so this week I'm taking Natascha McElhone. She's not going anywhere, mind you, but it's time we fully appreciated her commitment to bringing every ounce of energy needed in every one of her scenes. In her argument with Captain Keyes, her hilariously exasperated eye-roll when he begins waxing poetic about the sanctity of life is only one-upped when she spits out an outraged exclamation of, "My secrets? OUR secrets" when Keyes attempts to shift blame onto her. McElhone's performance goes much deeper than just these two obvious moments, adding so many layers to what's admittedly a thinly-sketched jumble of villainous ideas and one hell of a god complex. Still, that's the power of committed acting, baby.

Read this next: 12 Shows Like Stranger Things You Definitely Need To Stream

The post Halo Episode 8: Allegiances Are Forged And Shattered As Halo Finally Hits Its Stride appeared first on /Film.

In recent months, a cybercriminal gang known as LAPSUS$ has claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile attacks against technology companies, including: T-Mobile (April 23, 2022) Globant  Okta Ubisoft Samsung Nvidia Microsoft Vodafone In addition to these attacks, LAPSUS$ was also able to successfully launch a ransomware attack against the Brazilian Ministry of Health. While

From blister prevention to delivering compression therapy on the go, we have you covered.

Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thrillers and the supernatural, is thrilled to release the new trailer for the Shudder Original sci-animated horror MAD GOD ahead of the film’s debut on the platform on Thursday, June 16.

The film is directed by visionary and Oscar and Emmy Award-winning stop-motion animator and special effects supervisor Phil Tippett, founder of Tippett Studio and the creative powerhouse involved in such classics as RoboCop, Starship Troopers, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

MAD GOD is an experimental animated film set in a world of monsters, mad scientists and war pigs. A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city, settling down upon an ominous fortress guarded by zombie-like sentries. The Assassin emerges to explore a labyrinth of bizarre, desolate landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens. Through unexpected twists and turns, he experiences an evolution beyond his wildest comprehension. A labour of love that has taken 30 years to complete, Mad God combines live-action and stop-motion, miniature sets and other innovative techniques to bring Tippett’s wholly unique and grotesquely beautiful vision to life.

An inspiration and trailblazer in his field, Tippett’s work has been praised by Steven Spielberg, Paul Verhoeven, Lucasfilm President Kathy Kennedy, and many more, and continues to this day to push the boundaries of the animation genre.

MAD GOD is written and directed by Tippett who also produced.

The post [News] Phil Tippett’s MAD GOD Gets Chilling Trailer appeared first on Nightmarish Conjurings.

Point Lookout - Fallout 4 is a faithful fan recreation of Fallout 3’s Point Lookout DLC... but in its sequel. The Fallout 4 mod includes every quest, location, NPC, enemy, and nearly every item and weapon from its predecessor's DLC.

It’s an impressive feat. Point Lookout was the penultimate DLC for Fallout 3, which was released back in 2009. Located in Point Lookout State Park in Maryland, the expansion broke away from the usual grey palette of the vast Capital Wasteland in favour of a small town in a swamp, with a seaside (swampside?) pier and a strange old mansion.

The mod is the work of The Capital Wasteland Project, which aims to recreate all of Fallout 3 in Fallout 4, along with the added benefits to graphics, physics, and performance. As you'd expect the DLC looks significantly better on Fallout 4’s engine, with higher resolution textures, god rays, and better visuals thanks to the use of assets from the newer game.

RELATED LINKS: Fallout 4 console commands, Fallout 4 mods, Buy Fallout 4

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NVIDIA has officially gone open-source with its latest Linux graphics drivers which it states will improve the experience on Linux OS significantly.

NVIDIA GPUs Goes Open-Source Starting With Its R515 Linux Graphics Drivers

Press Release: NVIDIA is now publishing Linux GPU kernel modules as open-source with a dual GPL/MIT license, starting with the R515 driver release. You can find the source code for these kernel modules in the NVIDIA Open GPU Kernel Modules repo on GitHub.

This release is a significant step toward improving the experience of using NVIDIA GPUs in Linux, for tighter integration with the OS, and for developers to debug, integrate, and contribute back. For Linux distribution providers, the open-source modules increase ease of use. They also improve the out-of-the-box user experience to sign and distribute the NVIDIA GPU driver. Canonical and SUSE are able to immediately package the open kernel modules with Ubuntu and SUSE Linux Enterprise Distributions.

Developers can trace into code paths and see how kernel event scheduling is interacting with their workload for faster root-cause debugging. In addition, enterprise software developers can now integrate the driver seamlessly into the customized Linux kernel configured for their project.

This will further help improve NVIDIA GPU driver quality and security with input and reviews from the Linux end-user community.

With each new driver release, NVIDIA publishes a snapshot of the source code on GitHub. Community submitted patches are reviewed and if approved, integrated into a future driver release.

Refer to the NVIDIA contribution guidelines and overview of the driver release cadence and life-cycle documentation for more information.

Supported functionality

The first release of the open-source GPU kernel modules is R515. Along with the source code, fully-built and packaged versions of the drivers are provided.

For data center GPUs in the NVIDIA Turing and NVIDIA Ampere architecture families, this code is production-ready. This was made possible by the phased rollout of the GSP driver architecture over the past year, designed to make the transition easy for NVIDIA customers. We focused on testing across a wide variety of workloads to ensure feature and performance parity with the proprietary kernel-mode driver.

In the future, functionality such as HMM will be a foundational component for confidential computing on the NVIDIA Hopper architecture.

In this open-source release, support for GeForce and Workstation GPUs is alpha quality. GeForce and Workstation users can use this driver on Turing and NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPUs to run Linux desktops and use features such as multiple displays, G-SYNC, and NVIDIA RTX ray tracing in Vulkan and NVIDIA OptiX. Users can opt-in using the kernel module parameter NVreg_EnableUnsupportedGpus as highlighted in the documentation. More robust and fully featured GeForce and Workstation support will follow in subsequent releases and the NVIDIA Open Kernel Modules will eventually supplant the closed-source driver.

Customers with Turing and Ampere GPUs can choose which modules to install. Pre-Turing customers will continue to run the closed source modules.

The open-source kernel-mode driver works with the same firmware and the same user-mode stacks such as CUDA, OpenGL, and Vulkan. However, all components of the driver stack must match versions within a release. For instance, you cannot take a release of the source code, build, and run it with the user-mode stack from a previous or future release.

Refer to the driver README document for instructions on installing the right versions and additional troubleshooting steps.

Installation opt-in

The R515 release contains precompiled versions of both the closed-source driver and the open-source kernel modules. These versions are mutually exclusive, and the user can make the choice at install time. The default option ensures that silent installs will pick the optimal path for NVIDIA Volta and older GPUs versus Turing+ GPUs.

Users can build kernel modules from the source code and install them with the relevant user-mode drivers.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I download the R515 driver?

You can download the R515 development driver as part of CUDA Toolkit 11.7, or from the driver downloads page under “Beta” NVIDIA graphics drivers. The R515 data center driver will follow in subsequent releases per our usual cadence.

Can NVIDIA open-source GPU Kernel Modules be distributed?

Yes, the NVIDIA open kernel modules are licensed under a dual GPL/MIT license; and the terms of licenses govern the distribution and repackaging grants.

Will the source for user-mode NVIDIA graphics drivers such as CUDA be published?

These changes are for the kernel modules; while the user-mode components are untouched. So the user mode will remain closed source and published with pre-built binaries in the driver and the CUDA toolkit.

Which NVIDIA GPUs are supported by Open GPU Kernel Modules?

Open kernel modules support all NVIDIA Ampere and Turing GPUs. Datacenter GPUs are supported for production, and support for GeForce and Workstation GPUs is alpha quality. Please refer to the Datacenter, NVIDIA RTX, and GeForce product tables for more details (Turing and above have to compute capability of 7.5 or greater).

How to report bugs

Problems can be reported through the GitHub repository issue tracker or through our existing end-user support forum. Please report security issues through the channels listed on the GitHub repository security policy.

What is the process for patch submission and SLA/CLA for patches?

We encourage community submissions through pull requests on the GitHub page. The submitted patches will be reviewed and if approved, integrated with possible modifications into a future driver release. Please refer to the NVIDIA driver lifecycle document.

The published source code is a snapshot generated from a shared codebase, so contributions may not be reflected as separate Git commits in the GitHub repo. We are working on a process for acknowledging community contributions. We also advise against making significant reformatting of the code for the same reasons.

The process for submitting pull requests is described on our GitHub page and such contributions are covered under the Contributor License Agreement.

The post NVIDIA GPUs Go Open-Source With Its Linux Graphics Drivers by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

Keanu Reeves was one of the most exciting movie stars of the 1990s. Now, he's more popular than ever. Although there was a brief period where his films were not as successful, Reeves had a major career comeback in 2014. He starred in the action film "John Wick," which was directed by the stuntmen Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. "John Wick" proved that Reeves hadn't lost any of the charisma that had made him so beloved in the first place.

In addition to the "John Wick" sequels, Reeves has also recently returned to some of his other iconic roles. Reeves and his "Bill & Ted" co-star Alex Winter had teased another installment in the franchise for many years. Nearly 30 years after the last film, 1991's "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey," the latest sequel "Bill & Ted Face The Music" was finally released in summer 2020. Reeves also reprised his role as Neo in 2021's sequel "The Matrix Resurrections." It's not like Reeves is going away anytime soon. "John Wick: Chapter 4" is slated to come out in 2023, and Reeves will also voice Bruce Wayne/Batman in the animated comedy "DC League Of Super-Pets."

Here are the 20 greatest Keanu Reeves movies, ranked.

20. To The Bone

Keanu Reeves has the reputation of being one of the few genuinely nice people working in Hollywood. There is a reason that Reeves' work still resonates with audiences; he seems like an authentically caring person. Reeves was perfectly cast as a sensitive medical professional in the 2017 drama "To the Bone." He delivers a powerful performance as an untraditional doctor, who helps young adults that are dealing with eating disorders.

The film follows the young woman Ellen (Lily Collins), who recently dropped out of college. Ellen has anorexia. Her stepmother, Susan (Carrie Preston), decides to send her to an in-patient facility. While she feels uncomfortable living with other young adults, Ellen trusts the insights of the specialist Dr. William Beckham (Reeves). Beckham is unlike any other doctor that she has ever worked with. He helps her to heal both physically and emotionally. The film treats its subject material very seriously; however, Reeves adds some comic relief when it is appropriate.

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19. The Night Before

Keanu Reeves has starred in many great films, but he also has the unique ability to redeem projects that are clearly beneath him. The 1988 teen comedy "The Night Before" is no classic. It was clearly trying to replicate the success of other high school comedies from the 1980s. "The Night Before" has an all-too familiar premise, and a forgettable series of jokes. Some of the off-color humor in the film has not aged very well.

"The Night Before" wouldn't be worth remembering at all if it wasn't for Reeves. He manages to redeem the film. Although "The Night Before" often feels mean-spirited, Reeves acts as a force of positivity. The film follows the geeky slacker Winston Connelly (Reeves), who manages to score a date with the cheerleader Tara Mitchell (Lori Loughlin). Tara only agreed to go to Prom with Winston after losing a bet. After they get lost on their way to the school dance, Tara begins to open up to Winston.

18. Side By Side

Keanu Reeves has collaborated with some of the greatest directors of all-time. Any actor who has worked with such masters of their craft as the Wachowski sisters, Gus Van Sant, Ron Howard, Stephen Frears, Francis Ford Coppola, and Sam Raimi tends to learn a thing or two about the technical aspects of filmmaking. Reeves' experience made him the perfect person to explain the rapid ways that cinema has changed with the advent of new technology. The 2012 documentary "Side by Side" explores the differences between digital production and photochemical film creation.

Reeves hosted and produced the documentary. "Side by Side" explores the history of movies, and how the "filmmaking" process works. It also explains why digital technology is so influential on modern movies. "Side by Side" features insights from many well-known directors. They explain their preference between digital and film. Reeves does an excellent job conducting these interviews.

17. The Matrix Resurrections

"The Matrix" was a phenomenon. However, fans are divided on whether the next two films, "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions," are worthy continuations of the first film's legacy. A fourth installment had a lot to live up to; it had to continue the complex story that had already been established, and examine the different ways that the first trilogy has been incorporated into popular culture. 2021's "The Matrix Resurrections" is a fascinating and subversive film. Keanu Reeves returns to his iconic role of Neo, and gives his strongest performance as the character.

In "The Matrix Resurrections," Neo is trapped in a warped version of our reality. He is a video game designer, who created a popular video game called "The Matrix." Neo is visited by a programmed version of Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Morpheus tells him the truth. Even though there is a lot of action, "The Matrix Resurrections" is really a love story. Neo and Trinity (Carrie Anne-Moss) fall in love again, after being separated at the end of "The Matrix Revolutions." It is the most sincere film in the series yet.

16. Bill & Ted Face The Music

Great comedy sequels are few and far between. The first "Bill and Ted" sequel, 1991's "Bogus Journey," was a surprisingly great continuation of the franchise. Fans of the first two films speculated about a third installment for almost three decades before "Bill & Ted Face The Music" finally went into production. It was well worth the wait. Surprisingly, "Bill & Ted" became one of the few film franchises with three genuinely great installments.

The third film takes place in 2020, where the Wyld Stallyns have failed to live up to their potential. Bill and Ted had thought that they would bring the world together with their music, but it hasn't happened yet. They decide to travel in time to find a version of themselves who have already written the perfect song. However, Bill and Ted realize that their real mission was to raise their daughters. Thea Preston (Samara Weaving) and Billie Logan (Brigette Lundy-Paine) become musicians worthy of their fathers. It is a heartfelt passing of the torch.

15. Toy Story 4

"DC League Of Super-Pets" is not the first time that Keanu Reeves has joined an iconic animated film franchise. Reeves is one of the many talented actors who has appeared in the "Toy Story" films. Reeves voiced the action figure Duke Kaboom in 2019's "Toy Story 4." The first three "Toy Story" films tell a complete story. While a fourth installment could have ruined the perfect ending, "Toy Story 4" thankfully made the series still feel fresh by including new toys. Duke Caboom is one of the most entertaining characters that is introduced.

In "Toy Story 4," Woody (Tim Allen) becomes separated from his new owner, Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw). Woody and the new toy Forky (Tony Hale) are lost at an RV park when Bonnie's family goes on a road trip. After he reunites with his former love interest, Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Woody considers not returning home. However, he knows how important Forky is to Bonnie. Woody is determined to make Bonnie happy, no matter what.

After Forky is lost in a carnival, Woody and Bo Peep recruit a group of new toys to rescue him. Among their new friends is Duke Caboom, a Canadian stunt motorcyclist toy. Reeves' deadpan delivery of Duke's lines is hilarious. He has a heartwarming character arc; Duke regains his confidence after helping Woody find Forky.

14. The Gift

Sam Raimi is one of the most talented horror filmmakers of all-time. However, Raimi has also directed many films outside of the horror genre. His 2000 film "The Gift" is a supernatural mystery, even though there are still elements of horror. Raimi stepped outside of his comfort zone, and it worked in his favor. However, Raimi wasn't the only person involved with "The Gift" who was trying something new. Keanu Reeves stepped outside his typically friendly persona and played a dark, violent abuser.

"The Gift" takes place in the small town of Brixton, Georgia. The film follows Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), a supernatural fortune-teller, who uses her psychic abilities to learn about her clients. Wilson is coping with the recent death of her husband. She receives a traumatic vision, which predicts the death of the local woman Jessica King (Katie Holmes). Annie informs the local sheriff, Pearl Johnson (J.K. Simmons). Although he does not believe her, Johnson begins investigating the case.

Johnson suspects that Donnie Barksdale (Reeves) murdered Jessica. Donnie has been harassing his wife, Valerie (Hillary Swank). Even though Donnie has threatened her in the past, Annie learns that he is innocent. After Donnie is put on trial, Annie uses her powers to look for the real killer. Reeves does a great job at playing a complex character. Even though he is innocent of the crime that he's accused of, Donnie is still an abuser.

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13. Constantine

While many fans want to see him appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Keanu Reeves already starred in one of the most underrated DC comic book films ever made. The 2005 superhero film "Constantine" is based on the character who was created by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben for the "Hellblazer" series. It was the feature film directorial debut of Francis Lawrence, who would go on to direct several films in "The Hunger Games" franchise. At the time, there were not many comic book films that received an R-Rating from the MPAA. The dark tone of "Constantine" made it stand out among superhero films. Reeves is perfectly cast as the titular anti-hero.

John Constantine is a private investigator and exorcist. He has the ability to speak with both angels and demons, even if they are not disguised as humans. Despite the nature of his work, Constantine does not consider himself to be a "hero." He keeps to himself. The Los Angeles Police Department Detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) hires Constantine to investigate the death of her twin sister, Isabel (also Weisz). Although Isabel's death was ruled as a suicide, Angela suspects that there is something else going on.

"Constantine" retains the grim atmosphere of the original source material. While there are plenty of great action sequences, the jump scares make "Constantine" feel like a horror film.

12. The Neon Demon

One of the most interestings things about Keanu Reeves is his ability to show up in smaller character parts. Reeves is very humble; he doesn't demand to be the star of every movie he appears in. His star power grants legitimacy to many fascinating projects. Nicolas Winding Refn's 2016 horror film "The Neon Demon" is one of the most disturbing films in recent memory. Refn explores the corrupt nature of the fashion industry, and examines how women are forced to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty. Reeves helps to create the eerie atmosphere of the film.

"The Neon Demon" follows the young model Jesse (Elle Fanning), who moves to Los Angeles to pursue a career in fashion. Her beauty attracts the attention of the photographer Dean (Karl Glusman) and the makeup artist Ruby (Jena Malone). Jesse becomes an overnight success. The models Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee) grow very jealous of her.

Despite the glamorous fashion world that she is now a part of, Jesse has to stay in a seedy motel in the underbelly of the city. She is frightened of Hank (Reeves), the manager of the motel. She has terrifying visions that Hank will assault her. Reeves is genuinely scary in these nightmarish sequences.

11. The Devil's Advocate

The 1997 courtroom horror drama "The Devil's Advocate" asked Keanu Reeves to do something challenging for him; he had to play a completely unlikeable character. Considering how inherently amiable Reeves is, the role of a crooked lawyer was a major stretch. However, Reeves was able to shed his endearing persona. It showed just how versatile he is as an actor.

There were many legal thrillers in the 1990s, but "The Devil's Advocate" is one of the most unusual. The film combines elements of horror, fantasy, and dark comedy to create a disturbing deconstruction of the nature of evil. Based on the 1990 novel by Andrew Neiderman, "The Devil's Advocate" follows the successful Florida lawyer Kevin Lomax (Reeves). Kevin is not averse to using deceptive techniques to win his cases. In the shocking opening scene, Kevin cross-examines a child witness, who is the defendant in a sexual assault case.

Kevin receives an intriguing offer from the enigmatic New York law firm representative John Milton (Al Pacino). He decides to join Milton's firm, and moves to Manhattan with his wife, Mary Ann (Charlize Theron). As Kevin begins to take on new cases, he becomes more aggressive. Milton encourages Kevin to relish his behavior. Mary Ann experiences shocking visions. It is heavily implied that Milton is actually Satan. Reeves shows how an evil man can become even more sinister.

10. Much Ado About Nothing

"Much Ado About Nothing" is one of William Shakespeare's most beloved comedies. It tells the timeless story of a series of romantic interpretations. The original play has been adapted into many different films. However, Kenneth Branagh's 1993 adaptation is one of the best. Branagh turned the story into an elaborate melodrama. The performances are all very heightened and over-the-top, but for a good reason. It makes the hilarious dialogue even funnier. Keanu Reeves is perfectly cast as the sinister villain Don John. Compared to the rest of the performances, Reeves is very reserved. His stilted nature emphasizes just how evil Don John really is.

Branagh's version of "Much Ado About Nothing" does not change the context of Shakespeare's original text. The film takes place in Messina during the 17th century. The Prince of Aragon, Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), returns home with his loyal companions. Among them is the witty womanizer Benedick (Branagh) and the earnest young man Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard). All Claudio can do is dream of reuniting with Hero (Kate Beckninsale), the daughter of the Governor of Messina, Leonato (Richard Briers). Don Pedro reluctantly agrees to let his brother, Don John, back into the city. Don John had attempted to stage a rebellion against him.

Don John decides to orchestrate an evil plan. After Claudio proposes to Hero, Don John convinces him that his new fiancee is being unfaithful. Although this creates tension within the community, Don John's plot is foiled in the end.

9. Bram Stoker's Dracula

There have been countless depictions of Bram Stoker's iconic vampire, Count Dracula, throughout the course of film history. With any character that exists in the public domain, it can be challenging to create a compelling new version. However, Francis Ford Coppola managed to make the Dracula story feel exciting again with his 1992 film "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Coppola turned the vampire's origin story into an epic gothic romance. Gary Oldman delivers one of his greatest performances ever as the titular character. The film is visually gorgeous; it won three Academy Awards, for best makeup, best sound effects editing, and best costume design. Coppola transported the viewer to London during the end of the 19th century.

Keanu Reeves co-starred in the film as the young solicitor Jonathan Harker. Even though his British accent is a little stiff, Reeves is still a compelling romantic lead. After his associate R. M. Renfield (Tom Waits) is admitted to a mental facility, Jonathan takes over Renfield's clients. Among them is the enigmatic Count Dracula. Dracula sees a picture of Jonathan's fiancee, Mina (Winona Ryder). He believes that she is the reincarnation of his dead bride, Elisabeta.

8. River's Edge

Tim Hunter's 1989 crime drama "River's Edge" is one of the darkest coming-of-age films ever made. Compared to the warm, heartfelt style of the John Hughes films, "River's Edge" is much more realistic and disturbing. The film explores the consequences that young people are forced to face for their irresponsible behavior. It asks a thought-provoking question; what are you supposed to do when someone that you care about makes a horrible decision? This is a question that adults may struggle to answer, and it is even more difficult for teenagers to contemplate.

Keanu Reeves co-stars in the film as Matt, who is a bit of a troublemaker. Unlike many of his other roles, Reeves isn't playing a character that is inherently likable. Initially, Matt is very rude, and sometimes he does cruel things. He is mean to his younger brother, Tim (Joshua John Miller). Matt does not have a lot of ambition. The highlight of his day is going with his friend, Layne (Crispin Glover), to pick up marijuana from the local criminal Feck (Dennis Hopper). However, Matt and his group of friends are soon forced to deal with a disturbing situation. They learn that their companion, Jamie (Danyi Deats), has been murdered.

The authorities search the area in their investigation. However, Matt and his friends learn that Jamie's boyfriend, John (Daniel Roebuck), is the murderer. They are unsure what they should do. Reeves is completely believable as a confused teenager. He makes Matt's plight more compelling.

7. Dangerous Liaisons

Even if you don't like costume dramas, the 1988 film "Dangerous Liaisons" may surprise you. The film is based on the 1985 stage show "Les liaisons dangereuses," which adapted Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' novel from 1782. Although the film takes place in 18th century France, the subject material does not feel irrelevant. In fact, the crude sexual content in "Dangerous Liaisons" is more shocking than most films of its generation. The characters in "Dangerous Liaisons" are completely ruthless. The film explores the tragic consequences of a sordid scheme.

The film takes place in pre-Revolution Paris. The former lovers Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont (John Malkovich) and the Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (Glenn Close) take pleasure in mocking their contemporaries. They speculate on the various romantic affairs that are going on in high society. Merteuil wants to get revenge on her former fiance, the Comte de Bastide. He had left her prior to their wedding. Merteuil recruits Valmont to seduce the Comte de Bastides' new fiance, the virgin Cécile de Volanges (Uma Thurman).

However, Cécile begins to fall in love with her music teacher, the hapless Le Chevalier Raphael Danceny (Keanu Reeves). This delights Merteuil to no end. She knows that Danceny is a commoner, and has no chance of ever marrying a rich girl. She begins to seduce him. Merteuil encourages Danceny to challenge Valmont to a duel. Reeves does a great job at playing a gullible heartthrob.

6. Parenthood

It was clear that Keanu Reeves was a special talent, even when he was very young. Reeves delivered one of his breakout performances in the 1989 comedy classic "Parenthood." Director Ron Howard created a very realistic film about familial relationships. Even though the film has many uproariously funny sequences, the emotions are all grounded in reality. Many viewers could relate to what the characters are going through. "Parenthood" is very empathetic to all of the characters' perspectives. Each member of the cast is memorable. Even though he is mostly used as the comic relief, Reeves has many very heartfelt moments in the film.

"Parenthood" follows the eccentric misadventures of the Buckmann family. Helen (Dianne West) struggles to raise her two children, Julie (Martha Plimpton) and Garry (Joaquin Phoenix). Helen's husband recently left her. Garry desperately hopes that he will get the chance to see his father again. However, Julie wants nothing to do with her mother. She plans to get married to her boyfriend, Tod Higgins (Reeves). After Julie becomes pregnant, Tod moves into Helen's house. Neither Tod or Helen is prepared to be a parent.

Even though he is a goofy slacker, Tod is completely devoted to Julie. He tries to be more responsible. Tod gives Garry advice, and becomes his mentor. After Garry learns that Helen's husband is never coming back, Tod becomes a father-like figure to him. The chemistry between Reeves and Phoenix is very endearing.

5. Point Break

It is very easy to make fun of the 1991 action movie "Point Break." It has one of the most ridiculous movie premises of all-time: an FBI agent goes undercover to stop a group of surfers from robbing banks. However, the film is incredibly self-aware. It completely acknowledges its ridiculous premise. Director Kathryn Bigelow satirized the nature of masculinity. She emphasizes the heightened emotional state of the characters. Bigelow fought to cast Reeves in one of the lead roles.

Reeves is perfect for the character of Johnny Utah. Utah is self-serious to an absurd degree. His straight-faced delivery of the ridiculous dialogue is simply hilarious. "Point Break" does not go out of its way to emphasize the satirical elements; all of the actors feel completely earnest.

The emotional crux of "Point Break" is the relationship between Utah and the leader of the robbers, Bodhi (Patrick Swayze). Swayze is effortlessly charismatic and relaxed. Utah and Bodhi bond over the course of their time together. Even though he knows about Bodhi's actual profession, Utah finds himself attracted to the surfer's philosophies. Some critics have interpreted the film as a homoerotic love story. The passionate chemistry between Reeves and Swayze would certainly indicate that to be the case.

4. Speed

In the wake of 1988's "Die Hard," there were many imitators that attempted to take the same premise, and set it in a different location. Among all of these action films, 1994's "Speed" was the very best. Director Jan de Bont crafted a taught, suspenseful film that did not ever lose its sense of momentum. Essentially, it is a perfect action movie. "Speed" is more than just "'Die Hard' on a bus." It is a great example of how to maximize a simple story, and make the most of a confined environment.

"Speed" takes place during a hot summer day in Los Angeles. A series of bombings has terrified the city. The LAPD Officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) receives a threat from the terrorist Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) that a mass transit bus is detonated to explode if it goes over 50 mph. Jack desperately races to the bus and boards it. However, he is too late. The device is already armed. Jack has to stay on the bus to keep the passengers safe. He bonds with a fellow passenger, Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock).

Reeves and Bullock have outstanding chemistry. Their relationship is the heart of the story. If there was ever any doubt as to how important Reeves was to making "Speed" a success, just watch the sequel, 1997's "Speed 2: Cruise Control." Reeves is absent in the film, which is one of the worst action movie sequels of all-time.

3. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

As dim-witted as the titular characters are, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" is a surprisingly intelligent film. The 1989 comedy classic hilariously parodies many historical events. It also used time travel in a clever way, which is not very easy to do. Time travel films can often become very confusing. Keanu Reeves and his co-star Alex Winter were definitely in on the joke, but they also made their characters seem relatable.

The film follows the hapless slacker Bill S. Preston (Winter) and Theodore Logan (Reeves), who want nothing more than to be rock stars. They have their own band, the Wyld Stallyns. Despite dreaming of giving huge concerts, Bill and Ted don't really know how to play their instruments. They're on the verge of failing high school. Bill and Ted get one last shot at saving their grades before they graduate; their history teacher offers them the opportunity to create a project about history's greatest leaders.

Bill and Ted are visited by the time traveler Rufus (George Carlin). Rufus tells them that in the future, the philosophy of the Wyld Stallyns is the basis for a utopian society. However, this exciting future will not exist if they don't pass their final exam. Rufus sends Bill and Ted back in time to learn about history. They gather a group of historical icons to deliver their presentation.

2. John Wick

At one point in "John Wick," the titular character murmurs "Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back." Keanu Reeves could say the same thing after the film debuted. The expectations for "John Wick" were not very high before it came out; Chad Stahelski and David Leitch were first time filmmakers, and the first teaser trailer was released only one month before the film was scheduled to hit theaters. At first, it seemed like "John Wick" would just be another forgettable action film. It was anything but that.

Similar to what "The Matrix" did back in 1999, "John Wick" wowed action fans with its amazing stunt work and choreography. Reeves is very dedicated to making the film feel realistic. He did most of his own stunts. "John Wick" combines many different types of action movies. There are many gun fights and martial arts sequences. Despite the relentless pacing, the film has a very subtle sense of humor. It acknowledges the ridiculous nature of the story.

The action sequences are grounded by the most emotional performance of Reeves' career. He plays a man who is grieving after the death of his wife. John is just looking for some sense of companionship. He finally finds a friend after taking in a beagle that his wife had given to him before she died. After a gang of ruthless criminals kill his dog, John sets out on a bloody quest for revenge. Has there ever been a more justified character motivation?

1. The Matrix

1999's "The Matrix" is one of the most influential science fiction films of the 1990s. It is also one of the best action movies ever made. Everything about the film was a game changer. The way that the Wachowski sisters combined gun fights, kung fu, and slow motion was unlike anything that American audiences had ever seen before. In the subsequent years, there were countless imitators that attempted to replicate the same style.

"The Matrix" is also a very complex text. The Wachowskis have confirmed that the film is an allegory for the transgender experience. It also explores ancient philosophy. The film is loosely inspired by the Greek philosopher Plato's Allegory of the Cave, which suggests that humans are living in a simulated reality. The Wachowskis took this historical concept, and inserted it into an exciting science fiction adventure. "The Matrix" can also be seen as a grim warning about the over-reliance on technology.

Over 20 years after its release, "The Matrix" is still worth revisiting for its thematic value. Keanu Reeves is an essential part of why "The Matrix" was so successful. A story this nuanced needed an empathetic lead character, who the audience could relate to. Neo experiences the changes in his reality at the same time that the viewer does.

Read this next: 95 Best Sci-Fi Movies Ever

The post The 20 Best Keanu Reeves Movies Ranked appeared first on /Film.

There's nothing conventional about the FX sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." The show evolved from humble beginnings into a beloved guilty pleasure for millions of viewers. It broke the mold of the sitcom on its way to becoming television's longest-running live-action comedy series in American television history. The cringe-worthy dark comedy features ludicrous storylines like faking a baby funeral to avoid the IRS, fulfilling dreams of becoming a drug addict, and the creation of a product called kitten mittens. But the show also tackles taboo topics that most sitcoms won't dare touch, including an aggressive look at racism that would make Archie Bunker blush. And they do all of it with a cast of characters that simply refuse to grow as people.

Unlike your typical sitcom, no one learns their lesson at the end of each episode, recurring storylines are often ignored, and the budget was once so low the opening credits were filmed by the actors with their own camcorder. And quite frankly, the indiscriminate Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) couldn't care less, which makes it ok if we as an audience don't care either.

So, it's not surprising that when it came time to pitch the show to FX network executives, the gang used an unconventional technique to sell the show.

They Filmed A Pilot For $100

After 15 seasons, it's hard to imagine "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" taking place anywhere other than a grungy South Philadelphia bar. But that's exactly the case when the show was just a concept being pitched by Rob McElhenney. The show was set in Los Angeles, and according to the L.A. Times, it created a blueprint for producing a sitcom at a quarter of the cost.

Unlike the misfortune of its characters, the show's success is largely a product of good timing and creative presentation. When FX General Manager John Landgraf arrived at the network in 2004, he wanted to add low-cost comedy to FX programming. Enter the gang — specifically, Rob McElhenney.

During a meeting with FX, McElhenny avoided a typical pitch and instead showed a pilot produced with Day and Howerton for $100 titled "Charlie has Cancer" (fans will recognize the title as it was re-done for season 1 episode 4 of the series). In this version of the show, the gang was a trio of struggling actors who all fake a terminal illness in the hopes of landing an acting gig. The essence of the show that we know and love today shines through in a clip of the low-budget pilot. Specifically, Dennis' apathy towards feelings, Charlie's dumbfounded nature, and Mac's frenetic energy.

The concept and characters were there, the gang just needed a chance, and FX obliged, even with McElhenney making some unheard of demands as a first-time producer.

McElhenney Demanded Total Control Of The Show

One reason "It's Always Sunny" is different from other sitcoms is because FX never had a chance to interfere with the gang's vision. In an interview with FX, McElhenney said:

"I wanted to lay out exactly what it is that was going to happen if they (a network) bought the show. The only way that we'll do it is if I'm the showrunner and executive producer, Glenn and Charlie are executive producers, and we write the show and we act in the show and we can't change the cast."

FX met McElhenney's demands and gave the show a budget of $450,000 per episode for the first season, about a quarter of a standard sitcom budget. The network did have one request: Drop the struggling actor schtick. The decision was made to move the location of Paddy's Pub to Philadelphia, McElhenney's hometown, and Sweet Dee, initially played by Jordan Reid, was recast with Kaitlin Olson.

"It's Always Sunny" floundered for the first season, but Landgraf was a believer and liked the price tag of the show. He reached out to a familiar face – Danny DeVito. Landgraf was the head of DeVito's production company before joining FX and convinced the actor to make a regular return to television for the first time in more than two decades.

By season 2, DeVito was on board and the budget for each episode almost doubled, but there was one more surprise in store. In season 4 the series was added to Hulu and quickly became one of the streamer's most popular shows. Ten seasons later, the gang found itself negotiating a record-breaking deal. Quite a bit different from popping in a homemade pilot shot on a camcorder during a pitch meeting. From a $100 pilot made by a few friends to the longest-running live-action series in U.S. television history, things are indeed always sunny in Philadelphia for the gang.

Read this next: The 10 Best Comedies Of The Last 10 Years

The post How It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Turned $100 Into a Fan-Favorite Series appeared first on /Film.

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The day has finally come: NVIDIA IS PUBLISHING THEIR LINUX GPU KERNEL MODULES AS OPEN-SOURCE! To much excitement and a sign of the times, the embargo has just expired on this super-exciting milestone that many of us have been hoping to see for many years. Over the past two decades NVIDIA has offered great Linux driver support with their proprietary driver stack, but with the success of AMD's open-source driver effort going on for more than a decade, many have been calling for NVIDIA to open up their drivers. Their user-space software is remaining closed-source but as of today they have formally opened up their Linux GPU kernel modules and will be maintaining it moving forward. Here's the scoop on this landmark open-source decision at NVIDIA.

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This post contains spoilers for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, for better or worse, finally has its Mister Fantastic. After years of dueling fan wishes and campaigns, John Krasinski (of "The Office" and "A Quiet Place") has emerged victorious as the smartest — and stretchiest — man in the world, Reed Richards. His fleeting cameo in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" was definitely a long time coming for fans of Marvel's first family, but for others, the choice feels like fan service gone too far. It's no secret that Marvel enthusiasts can be a bit, well, assertive. It was their passion (and their grasp on Deepfake technology) that helped make Krasinski the most popular choice for the role of Reed Richards. But whether the studio chose to cater to these demands after all this time, or the rumors of Krasinski's MCU debut were true from the get-go, it's hard to get behind such a safe choice, especially knowing there were more interesting names to choose from.

John Krasinski's Reed Richards is likely here to stay. It'd be weird (not to mention confusing) if another actor were to step into the role for the forthcoming "Fantastic Four" reboot, even if "Spider-Man: No Way Home" allowed the idea of different versions of the same character to be portrayed by different actors in the MCU. But that doesn't mean we can't hold out for a different hero anyway. Let's take a look at seven actors who are just as worthy of being Reed Richards.

Rahul Kohli

If John Krasinski was the fans' first choice to play Reed Richards, then "Midnight Mass" star Rahul Kohli was a very, very close second. Apart from whatever physical resemblance the actors share, it's not hard to imagine Kohli slipping into Richards' bright blue jumpsuit. Kohli's played into the joke on more than one occasion, even suiting up "as John Krasinski as Reed Richards" for Halloween in 2021.

Kohli hasn't been shy about his desire to star in any Marvel project, but there's something about Reed Richards that feels like a perfect match for the actor. He's got the humor to make the character's zanier quirks sing. Plus, he's a proper nerd in real life — not that it's a requirement for the character — and he's certainly got the depth to inform Reed's struggle as a burdened hero.

Freddie Prinze Jr.

Let's be honest with ourselves for a second: a big draw to Krasinski's casting as Reed Richards is the possibility of his real-life wife, Emily Blunt, portraying Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman). Blunt has been pretty, well, blunt about her interest — or lack thereof — in the role, so their husband-wife MCU team-up probably isn't happening (...or is it?). That said, there's always Freddie Prinze Jr., whose own off-screen relationship with Sarah Michelle Gellar adds a fun layer to their collaborations on film and TV.

Of course, the success of Prinze's Mister Fantastic wouldn't hinge exclusively on the Gellar's participation. The actor has the fatherly charisma needed to lead the Fantastic Four, and the grit to take on Reed's broodier inclinations. If the "Fantastic Four" film ends up dipping into the dark territory of recent comics, Prinze would've been a great choice for it.

Chris Pang

When it comes to fan-casting, sometimes it's about a vibe — and Aussie actor Chris Pang is frankly off the charts. Pang is probably most recognizable for his roles in "Crazy Rich Asians," "Palm Springs" or the "Charlie's Angels" reboot, but he was also a fan favorite to play the titular hero in "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" a few years back. Though that role eventually went to Simu Liu (and clearly for good reason), there's obviously room for another Asian hero at the table, so why not Pang?

Chris Pang would be a great choice for a younger Reed Richards. He embodies a sensitivity — not to mention a naïveté — that Ioan Gruffudd once harnessed for his own Mister Fantastic. Of course, the goal is always to bring a fresh perspective to a well-known character, but there's no doubt that Pang could deliver on that front too. Plus, after supporting turns in so many recent blockbusters, he deserves a shot as a leading man.

Alfred Enoch

In terms of potential leading men who deserve more love (and more roles), Alfred Enoch is right up there with Pang. If you're a fan of the Wizarding World, you might recognize him as Dean Thomas, one of very few Black characters in the "Harry Potter" franchise. If you're a Shondaland fan, you might also recognize him from "How to Get Away With Murder," or maybe even the head-spinning sci-fi epic "Foundation."

The point is, Enoch's been around, if not criminally under the radar, and he's well overdue for some mainstream recognition. Marvel films aren't all about recognition, of course; he'd also just make a fantastic (excuse the pun) Reed Richards. He's got the boyish charm and the soulful inner turmoil down pat, and he also has a great grasp on science fiction and fantasy in general, something that "Fantastic Four" will definitely need from its cast. Plus, I just love the idea of a guy who's already tall and lanky gaining powers that could make him inconceivably taller and lankier.

Dev Patel

The general attitude towards Dev Patel is that he ought to be in every movie, no matter what, so casting him as Reed Richards feels like a no-brainer. He may be chronically averse to big-budget franchise fare after the turmoil of "The Last Airbender," but Patel has always been total hero material. The warmth and the charm that he exudes makes him so gosh darn likable, even when emulating a less-than-likable character. He's played into detachment (in "The Wedding Guest"), and blind ambition (in "The Green Knight" and "The Personal History of David Copperfield"). His characters often make selfish choices, and they're often caught in a dizzying journey to discover themselves no matter the cost. But we root for them anyway, just as we root for Reed.

Patel would have no trouble balancing endearing nerdiness with the cool-headed outlook of the Fantastic Four's leader. A character as complicated as Reed Richards should be played by someone you can always see the good in, and there's no one more capable than Dev Patel.

Tom Bateman

Lest anyone get the idea that I'm making a fuss about a white guy playing another canonically-white guy, I present Tom Bateman. Bateman is an English actor who's popped up in Kenneth Branagh's "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Death on the Nile," as well as the Netflix series "Behind Her Eyes." He's cut his teeth on period dramas like "Vanity Fair" and "Beecham House," where he pretty much mastered the role of the roguish guy with a tragic past who's always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's downright compelling to watch on-screen, as much for his capacity to propel a mystery as he is for his A+ puppy-dog eyes. There's always something simmering beneath the surface with Bateman. And after (don't hate me) Krasinski's low-energy take on Reed Richards, I can't help but hope for someone with a just bit more intensity moving forward.

Bateman also bears a startling resemblance to John Krasinski. In another universe, they could be brothers. And if we're playing by multiversal rules, Bateman could easily step in as a younger, angstier variant of Krasinski's Reed Richards. The story writes itself, people!

John Cho

Ever since Jon Watts stepped down as the director of Marvel's "Fantastic Four" reboot, "Fast Saga" filmmaker Justin Lin has been a top choice to succeed him. Lin is known to bring his long-time collaborators into as many projects as possible — and if he's actually tapped to helm "Fantastic Four," who better to play his leading man than his "Better Luck Tomorrow" and "Star Trek Beyond" star John Cho?

Casting Cho in such an enigmatic role obviously comes with serious advantages. For one, he's stupid hot. He's also one of the most solid actors of his generation, and he's no stranger to a leadership role either (see the steely speech he delivered as Sulu in "Star Trek Into Darkness"). Reed Richards is a pretty complicated guy, but Cho's got the range to pull off all his virtues and vices. And after the untimely cancellation of "Cowboy Bebop," he deserves to be cast in everything.

Then Again, Krasinski Could Still Work

Preferred candidates aside, it's not exactly fair to judge Krasinski's MCU future on his five-minute appearance in "Multiverse of Madness." Krasinski really isn't a bad choice by any means. He made the most out of his role, despite having very little to do, and there's definitely potential in his Reed Richards. In fact, it's entirely possible that he could really be the ideal match for the MCU moving forward. His world-weary performance does make sense for a post-"Avengers: Endgame" Reed Richards. And, in a heftier role, he could really make a memorable addition to the franchise.

Perhaps the higher-ups at Marvel Studios see something in Krasinski that we've yet to fully realize ourselves. Though the actor's long-term role in the MCU — and in the forthcoming "Fantastic Four" movie — hasn't been confirmed just yet, many fans are already anticipating his return. And if Krasinski really will be the face of the Fantastic Four moving forward, then he deserves the benefit of the doubt. There are worse ways to bring the superhero team back to the screen, after all.

Read this next: The 15 Most Anticipated Comic Book Movies And Shows Of 2022, Ranked

The post 7 Actors We'd Rather See Playing Reed Richards in the MCU appeared first on /Film.

Every other generation seems to be potentially scary for Nintendo So what’s happening with the console generation after the Switch?...

The post Nintendo president says he’s “concerned” about the generation after the Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Many strange things are afoot in Jordan Peele's 2019 horror film "Us." The film's opening scenes are a collage of seemingly unconnected nightmare images: A vintage TV set plays footage of the 1986 nationwide fundraiser Hands Across America. A wall of rabbits in cages. A carnival in the 1980s. A young girl in a hall of mirrors. And, wait ... Was that a reflection, or an actual person? 

That young girl will grow up to be a mom named Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) who, while on vacation with her family, returns to the site of her childhood trauma. At night, a mysterious, frightening family appears in her driveway. They wear matching red jumpsuits and fingerless leather gloves. They don't speak, at least not at first. They are doppelgängers. Adelaide's husband (Winston Duke), her two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex), and herself have perfect doubles who break into their home and threaten to "untether" them with decorative scissors. What it means to be "tethered," well, that's one of the film's many mysteries. 

Nyong'o plays both Adelaide and her twisted double Red in "Us," and her performance is nothing short of chilling. Red speaks as if her throat hasn't been accessed in years, her body coiled and constantly ready to explode. Adelaide is terrified, of course, but has an eerie understanding of her nefarious twin. Eventually, Peele reveals what their true connection is and where the doppelgängers came from, but none of it makes sense in a traditional, logical way. "Us" plays like the nightmare one has after a late night reading folklore, American history textbooks, and watching '80s movies.

Nyong'o got deep into character to play Red. On set, some of her co-stars were afraid of her and, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Nyong'o revealed that she was even afraid of herself.

It Was Kinda Creepy

In talking on Buzzfeed's morning show "AM to DM" (via Bustle), Shahadi Wright Joseph reveals that Nyong'o stayed in character between takes when playing Red. Red doesn't speak, and stalks around skittishly, and Joseph admitted that it was scary seeing her co-star behaving that way even when the cameras weren't rolling. And while Nyong'o was doing her best to stay scary, Joseph sensed that it was all play: 

"It's a lot of fun because you never know which [Lupita] you're gonna get sometimes, which I think makes her perfect for this role because she has so many great different personalities."

Nyong'o sense of haunted house fun carried over into the press tours for "Us," wherein the actress would appear on late-night talk shows to promote the project. When appearing on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Nyong'o wore a pair of eerie gold contact lenses, giving her a vampiric look. Nyong'o declared in that interview that she's "going for the darkest things in life now." 

Nyong'o talked about those dark corners, and what was involved in delving into them in the Rolling Stone interview. 

"... I definitely had to go to some dark, dark corners of my being to embody the one scary character. It was very intimidating to think of that character as scary or evil, you know those kinds of words I found to be debilitating. So, it was about getting beyond that because when you watch these scary movies, the evil is so ominous that it feels larger than life. To try and embody that can be quite daunting. So, it was about just really deeply investigating the character's emotional motivation and being situated in that and allowing that to magnify the character."

The Joy Of Being Scary

Ultimately, Nyong'o was happy to work on "Us," even if it was terrifying. More than anything, she relished the opportunity to work with Peele, whose 2017 film "Get Out" was an enormous hit and was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay (which it won), Best Actor, Best Director, and Bes Picture. Says Nyong'o:

"I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the realization of Jordan's imagination. He was such a joy to work with from the very beginning. One of the things that makes him an extremely incredible director is how compassionate he is, and he has incredible communication skills. At every turn of making this film, he was just very, very good at keeping everyone informed about what's going on. And in doing so, you kind of get on board, and you root for him and you root for the work."

Nyong'o also talked about how Peele got her into the horror mindset by assigning her horror homework. Peele asked Nyong'o to watch 10 horror films that were important to him and vital to understanding the world of "Us." 

"Jordan really does pay homage to the genre and to the canon of horror films. For me, it was useful to know what kind of vocabulary he'd be working from, what kind of aesthetics, what kind of style. So that was what I was taking away from the films, really. Not really acting notes per se, but the things that are going to influence the world he was creating, because the world in 'Us' is so deeply from Jordan's mind that in order to do my work as an actor, I really had to, like, interrogate him."

"Us" received widespread praise from critics who appreciated Nyong'o's performance, as well as the film's ambitious mishmash of themes. Peele's next film, "Nope" is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 22, 2022. Nyongo's next film, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is due out on November 11, 2022.

Read this next: 12 Shows Like Stranger Things You Definitely Need To Stream

The post Lupita Nyong'o's Method Acting in Us Terrified Her Co-Stars appeared first on /Film.

The MITRE Center for Threat-Informed Defense, Microsoft, and other industry partners collaborated on a project that created a repeatable methodology for developing a top MITRE ATT&CK® techniques list. The method aims to facilitate navigation of the ATT&CK framework, which could help new defenders focus on critical techniques relevant to their organization’s environment, and aid experienced defenders in prioritizing ATT&CK techniques according to their organization’s needs.

The ATT&CK framework provides an extensive list of specific techniques that may be challenging to navigate in certain situations. This project aims to help defenders who use the framework focus on noteworthy techniques regardless of the attack scenario or environment. For example, using research on 22 ransomware attacks, the repeatable methodology led to the identification of the top 10 ransomware techniques list.

The project also included the development of a customizable, web-based calculator that seeks to prioritize techniques based on a defender’s input, making the methodology even easier to apply to different environments and scenarios. As an example of the insights that can be gained from using this calculator, the project found that the following techniques are present in most attacks and environments:

• Command & Scripting Interpreter (T1059)
• Scheduled Task/Job (T1053)
• Impair Defenses (T1562)
• Remote Services (T1021)
• Create or Modify System Process (T1543)

This methodology considers the continuing evolution of threats, so it supports the creation of criteria that are tailored to an organization’s unique environment. This enables defenders to continuously identify threat trends and decide where to focus resources for detection coverage.

Establishing the top ATT&CK techniques

The methodology for identifying the top ATT&CK techniques factored in three attributes to determine the significance of a technique: prevalence, choke point, and actionability.

Prevalence is the frequency of specific ATT&CK techniques used by attackers over time. A higher frequency of a technique indicates a higher likelihood of it being used in multiple attack scenarios. Therefore, there’s a higher chance of encountering an attack with a high prevalence ranking. Prevalence was determined using the Center’s Sightings Ecosystem project from April 2019 to July 2021, which registered 1.1 million encounters of attacks across the 184 unique ATT&CK techniques. Including prevalence as a criterion aims to cover more attacks with fewer techniques.

Choke points are techniques that disrupt an attacker due to them being a point of convergence or divergence. In real-world incidents, choke points manifest as one-to-many or many-to-one behaviors or steps in the attack. The inclusion of this criterion aims to identify the critical techniques that can help link activity throughout attack chains.

Actionability is the opportunity for a defender to detect or mitigate a technique. This is based on publicly available security controls (such as CIS Critical Security Controls and NIST 800-53 Security Controls) and analytics (Splunk detections, Elastic, and Sigma).

Top 10 techniques in ransomware attacks

Following the creation of the methodology, the top 10 ransomware techniques list was generated to test this new approach in practice. To create this list, Microsoft and the other partners involved in this collaborative effort analyzed prevalent ransomware attacks from the past three years. A total of 22 specific ransomware attacks were studied specifically for their use of ATT&CK techniques. Based on this research, the top 10 techniques in ransomware attacks are:

• Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486)
• Inhibit System Recovery (T1490)
• Obfuscated Files or Information (T1027)
• Windows Management Instrumentation (T1047)
• Masquerading (T1036)
• Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059)
• Impair Defenses (T1562)
• Modify Registry (T1112)
• User Execution (T1204)
• Process Injection (T1055)

Organization-specific top techniques list via web calculator

This collaborative project also included the creation of a dynamic, user-friendly calculator for a more customizable, tailored top techniques list. This customizability allows organizations to have unique prioritization based on each organization’s size and maturity.

The calculator takes into consideration various inputs, including:

• NIST 800-53 Controls (all NIST controls or specific ones such as AC-2, CA-2, etc.)
• CIS Security Controls (all CIS Controls or specific ones such as 1.1, 2.5, etc.)
• Detection analytics (MITRE Cyber Analytics Repository, Elastic, Sigma, Splunk)
• Operating systems used in the environment
• Monitoring capabilities for network, process, file, and cloud services in the network

With this calculator, an organization can create a tailored technique list based on various aspects like the maturity of their security operations and the tools that they use. This can serve as a great starting point for companies looking to evaluate and improve their detection and protection capabilities regarding ransomware activities and prioritize the TTPs that are the most actionable for them.

Practical applications and future work

The methodology and insights from the top techniques list has many practical applications, including helping prioritize activities during triage. As it’s applied to more real-world scenarios, we can identify areas of focus and continue to improve our coverage on these TTPs and behaviors of prevalent threat actors. Refining the criteria can further increase results accuracy and make this project more customer-focused and more relevant for their immediate action. Improvements in the following areas can be of particular benefit:

• Fine-tuning the choke point analysis by adding machine learning models to visualize and predict all viable paths an attacker could take, which can be used to create a corresponding attack graph. This attack graph could be tied in with the user-implemented filters to identify relevant paths based on an organization’s current functionality. Future integration with the Attack Flow project might be a step towards this enhanced choke point analysis.
• Developing a metric to identify subjective filters like “Damage Impact” and “Significance” as they are important when making decisions on covering different attacks.
• Performing a comparison of results between this current analysis and global data sets to validate the accuracy of the current findings.
• Enhancing prevalence data to ensure a broad and timely data set is driving the analysis. Community contributions to the Sightings Ecosystem project is critical.

Insights from industry-wide collaborations like this project help enrich the protection that Microsoft provides for customers through solutions like Microsoft 365 Defender and Microsoft Sentinel. These solutions are further informed by trillions of signals that Microsoft processes every day, as well as our expert monitoring of the threat landscape. For example, our comprehensive view and research into the ransomware ecosystem enables us to deliver cross-domain defense against human-operated ransomware, leveraging a Zero Trust approach to limit the attack surface and minimize the chances of ransomware attacks succeeding. 

In the recent MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK® 2022 Evaluations, Microsoft demonstrated complete visibility and analytics on all stages of the attack chain, with 100% protection coverage, blocking all stages in early steps (pre-ransomware phase), including techniques within the top 10 ransomware techniques list that were tested.

This collaboration and innovation benefits everyone in the security community, not only those who use the MITRE ATT&CK framework as part of their products and services, but also our valued ecosystem of partners who build services on top of our platform to meet the unique needs of every organization, to advance threat-informed defense in the public interest. Microsoft is a research sponsor at the Center for Threat-Informed Defense, partnering to advance the state of the art in threat-informed defense in the public interest. One of our core principles at Microsoft is security for all, and we will continue to partner with MITRE and the broader community to collaborate on projects like this and share insights and intelligence.

Gierael Ortega, Alin Nagraj, Devin Parikh
Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team

The post Center for Threat-Informed Defense, Microsoft, and industry partners streamline MITRE ATT&CK® matrix evaluation for defenders appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

It's important to remember that George Carlin was not on your side. 

There is a tendency to mythologize Carlin — one of the best and most important figures in the history of standup comedy — as some sort of prophet for the New Age, and in 2022 it doesn't take too much digging to find memes, quotations, and video clips of Carlin addressing any random, grievous injustice of the modern-day. Carlin, who died in 2008, frequently talked to the hypocrisy of established institutions, pointing out the ridiculousness of drug laws, the arbitrariness of censorship (of his famed 1972 "Words You Can't Say on Television" bit, only two — fart and turd — have been allowed into a more acceptable vernacular), the horror of politics, and the bulls*** of religion. Because his observations cut so deep, they took on a universal quality, with Carlin unwittingly equipping his listeners with the verbal ammunition required to attack those in power. Carlin said in multiple interviews that he often encouraged his audiences to think as well as to laugh. 

If Carlin did ally himself with a set philosophy, it was far away from anything the modern American politic had codified. Carlin was notoriously disgusted with mass thinking, saying near the end of his life that he loved individuals, but was suspicious of groups. Carlin was not some sort of American folk poet. If one wants to make a comparison, Carlin was far more akin to atheist philosophers like David Hume (who lambasted God and religion, and vaunted empiricism).

Judd Apatow's and Michael Bonfiglio's documentary film "George Carlin's American Dream" — airing in two parts on HBO Max starting on Mary 20, 2022 — does not compare Carlin to Hume, but it does lay out a very fair and thorough portrait of his career, his relationships, and his philosophy, capturing Carlin's thought process without tipping (too far) into embarrassing hero worship. I think Apatow and Bonfolglio understand that Carlin likely would have been grossed out by any portraitist that tried to paint him with too clean a brush, and they clearly made a great effort to be as open and as clear about Carlin's life as he would have been himself. 

The Compassionate Undercurrent

"American Dream" takes a pretty straightforward, chronological approach to Carlin's life and career, with Part One starting with a portrait of the artist as a young man, and continuing through the late 1970s, and Part Two exploring Carlin's heyday in the '80s and early '90s, up through his death in 2008. Carlin had a habit of taking ubiquitous notes, and spent his whole life jotting down his theories about life, his ideas for bits, and many, many jokes besides. The filmmakers make ample use of Carlin's missives as a running commentary on his upbringing and evolving viewpoints, reducing the need for a steady onslaught of talking heads and gushing fans. "American Dream" does talk to a few significant comedians on Carlin and his influence — Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Patton Oswalt all appear, as do Kevin Smith and Alex Winter who worked with Carlin on various films — but gives more time to Carlin's daughter Kelly, his brother Patrick, Rocco Urbisci, who was director of multiple of Carlin's specials, his manager Jerry Hamza, his second wife Sally Wade, and those closer to him. 

I wouldn't be so bold as to speak for Carlin or declare what he would and would not have wanted, but I suspect he would have appreciated being depicted as a man and not as a movement, a person and not an institution. 

By "American Dream"'s estimation, there were only two groups Carlin was wholly in support of, and it was the groups formed by his marriages to the two loves of his life: Brenda Hosbrook and Sally Wade. Carlin often spoke of how much he loved Brenda on stage, and details his and her mutual struggle with addiction — he to cocaine and alcohol, she to just alcohol — and how much she served as a bedrock for his life. When she passed away in 1997, Carlin was despondent and, painfully enough, was in the middle of a book tour for his first published work "Brain Droppings." In 1998, he married Wade, and their relationship was just as intense and loving. The two of them began an elaborate love letter campaign wherein they detailed their relationship as an epic, myth-heavy fantasy adventure. Wade's and Carlin's letters were published in "The George Carlin Letters: The Permanent Courtship of Sally Wade." 

Carlin's notes and letters to Brenda and to Sally form the main, compassionate undercurrent of a documentary that often has to face the fact that Carlin's outlook on life was, as he aged, incredibly bleak. 

Not To Get A Big Head

Carlin was wise enough to re-invent himself every decade or so, not just t keep his comedy fresh, but to keep his mind active. In the documentary's early passages, the directors have assembled many clips of Carlin's early years on variety TV, living out his dream of becoming the next Danny Kaye, only to find that he was slowly becoming dissatisfied with that broad kind of comedy. He moved out of comedy, grew a beard, and started talking more frankly about the kind of "rough" material he wasn't previously allowed to do; this was when he performed his famed "Seven Words" bit, and codified his persona as a language-obsessed, deconstructionist imp. Carlin continued on that tack until comedians like Sam Kinison and Steve Martin began outpacing him in terms of deconstructionism and satire, and he had to return with material that was even more thoughtful, more aggressive, more earnest about Carlin's own personal disenchantment with the world. The Reagan years were a dark time for America and a ripe time for Carlin to foster his hate for those in power. Carlin's career, he would argue, peaked with his 1992 special "Jammin' in New York," possibly his best work. 

But as he aged, Carlin became bitterer and bitterer about the world, and his late career became so dark as to skew away from standup comedy and more into brazen nihilistic screeds. He quoted the famous adage that to scratch a cynic was to reveal a disappointed idealist underneath. By the end of his career, it became hard to see the idealism hiding underneath, and Carlin's work became more and more geared toward watching the human race destroy itself. Colbert admits that late-career Carlin was simply too dark to enjoy anymore. 

Whenever "American Dream" gets a little too big for its britches — that is: when it starts delving wildly into Carlin's important place in the cultural landscape — Apatow and Bonfiglio are wise enough to undercut themselves. When one gets the impression that Carlin is becoming a massive TV star, they will include a quote about how unsatisfied Carlin was. When following Carlin's career through the '70s, they include criticism from Cheech Marin or spoofs from MAD Magazine or "SCTV" about the weakness of his material. The most critical moment in "American Dream" comes from, of all people, Jerry Seinfeld, who points out — rightly — that no comedian has ever changed someone's point of view, and let's not get carried away with how "important" comedians can perceive themselves to be.

Overall

"American Dream" contains a lot of readily available clips from Carlin's standup work, and those who had been following Carlin's career for any span will likely be familiar with large portions of Carlin's story; it will serve less as an education for many, and more of a reminder. "American Dream," which runs nearly four hours in toto, attempts to be thorough and is careful to give each stage of Carlin's career its due without ever falling completely into the trap of hero worship. 

The title, we find from the film's coda, is most certainly ironic. Carlin pointed out that the American Dream was so named because you had to be asleep to believe it. Rather than leaving audiences feeling sentimental about Carlin and his deep abiding love for individuals, Apatow and Bonfiglio repeatedly slam audiences in the face with how bad the world is now. A sour, angry Carlin rant from 20 years ago is just as relevant now as it was at the time, and that is incredibly sad. 

Many in the social media sphere's have said — and this is discussed in "American Dream" — that Carlin's commentary on a post-Trump world would be welcome, and his bitterness would be welcome as a salve. Given how disgusted Carlin was with the world at the end of his life, I am glad, personally, that he was spared having to witness it.

"George Carlin's American Dream" will debut on HBO on back-to-back nights. Part 1 debuts May 20, 2022, with part 2 debuting May 21, 2022. Both episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max beginning Friday, May 20, 2022. 

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The post George Carlin's American Dream Review: Portrait of a Disappointed Idealist appeared first on /Film.

"Aren't you a little old to be playing a kid?" This question is spoken by a young woman to Bruce McCulloch, reprising one of his many recurring characters from "The Kids in the Hall," named Gavin. When the show premiered in the late 1980s, and served as a Canadian sibling of sorts to the sketch work of "Saturday Night Live," McCulloch was one of five fresh-faced comic performers with darkly funny sensibilities hidden just beneath the surface. But it's been over thirty years since the show first premiered, and more than 25 years since its last episode. Revived now thanks to Amazon Prime, "The Kids in the Hall" are now really only kids in spirit, but they lean into that awareness in the sharp and funny return.

Within the first few minutes of the first episode (there will be eight in total, and I've seen the first five), the five stars get as dark as possible in acknowledging the reality of the situation. The setup of the first sketch is that their cult-favorite film "The Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy" has finally made a profit thanks to a garage-sale purchase, meaning that it's time for them to return to the small screen. And so, their shirtless and oft-silent cohort/co-writer Bellini digs them up from a joint grave where they're buried. But even so, they've aged so much. Aside from McCulloch, there's still Dave Foley, Scott Thompson, Mark McKinney, and Kevin McDonald, with the now-white-haired Foley asking, "Am I still the cute one?" to a chorus of hems and haws.

Though there are fourth-wall-breaking references throughout the five episodes — including a particularly funny sketch that turns into one performer making the other wax rhapsodic about the first one's comic abilities — "The Kids in the Hall" works because it remains as cheerfully black-hearted when it counts. Diehard fans will likely be pleased to know that Gavin is but one of many returning characters. One episode's framing device features Francesca Fiore and Bruno Puntz Jones (Thompson and Foley), South American film stars, and many episodes return to the world of AT & Love for a new set of satiric comments on modern work culture.

Walking A Fine Line Between Humor And Awkwardness

If there is any point during which "The Kids in the Hall" tiptoes perhaps a little too close to feeling like a complaint about the current state of humor, the type of grouchy early-Boomer grousing about what is or isn't allowable to be funny anymore, it comes during these various sketches. In one, the big boss (Foley) informs recurring character Danny Husk (Thompson) that he's fired for sporting loud, squeaky clown shoes because it's considered offensive cultural appropriation by an actual circus clown. In another, a Zoom meeting quickly devolves because the various attendees are called out for inappropriately touching themselves (and then it devolves even further). The sketches never jump fully into arguing that people are too touchy and need to relax, but the frequency of these jokes (and their hit-or-miss qualities, at best) makes you wonder.

Where "The Kids in the Hall" continues to show strength is in broader absurdity, as in one sketch where a little boy's attempt to get his grandfather medical help goes awry because the grandfather is unable to appropriately say the word "ambulance." And the bleakness of some of the sketches feels uniquely fresh even though it fits in well with their earlier work, as in one episode's recurring sketches with a morning-zoo-style DJ (Foley) in an apocalyptic version of Earth where he lives in an underground bunker and plays the same song ("Brand New Key") over and over and over and over again to an audience of likely zero.

Though all five of the Kids have gone on to varying levels of success in the last thirty years — American audiences may be most familiar with Foley, thanks to his starring role in "NewsRadio", among other titles — they all seem as nimble and willing to dive into sublimely ridiculous premises. (And as a fan of the Disney film "Sky High," it was particularly funny to watch a recurring sketch where Foley gets to play a sidekick ... of sorts to a strange twist on a classic superhero.) For the most part, "The Kids in the Hall" feels about as unchanged as possible, in that the troupe doesn't seem to have missed too much of a step.

One recurring bit through the first five episodes, and likely through the remaining installments, is dubbed "Friends of the Kids in the Hall," in which a series of famous performers (including Pete Davidson, Catherine O'Hara, and Samantha Bee) briefly talk about their love of the Kids while also playing particularly weird characters in what amounts to a direct appeal to the camera. Though it's nice to see these performers, it's hard not to wonder what it would be like to have seen them in sketches with the Kids themselves. (The other two big names so far are Kenan Thompson and Will Forte, so we're talking about people with plenty of comic cred already.) These bits almost serve as a way to prove to a younger audience that "The Kids in the Hall" is worth their time and attention, as if the show itself isn't enough proof. And though there are some slight missteps, it's great to see the Kids back in form. The guest stars are a nice bit of oomph, but almost an unnecessary one. The Kids are good enough on their own.

"The Kids in the Hall" premieres on Prime Video May 13, 2022.

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The post The Kids in the Hall Review: The Canadian Quintet Returns Mostly to Comic Form appeared first on /Film.

Modder Davo has released a brand new fully-loaded quest campaign for Fallout New Vegas, called Special Delivery!. Special Deliver! comes with 3 hours of voice acting from 20 actors, as well as 3 hours of jazzy music on a radio station with a DJ. Moreover, this new fan quest campaign has oodles of documents, holotapes, … Continue reading Special Delivery! is a new fan quest campaign for Fallout New Vegas →

The post Special Delivery! is a new fan quest campaign for Fallout New Vegas appeared first on DSOGaming.

The number of attacks targeting Windows Print Spooler vulnerabilities has been increasing, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.

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C&C Tiberian Dawn Redux is a full remake of the original Command & Conquer within C&C Generals Zero Hour’s SAGE-Engine.

This total conversion project has been working for several years, but the team behind this ambitious mod has now released a new version, C&C Tiberian Dawn Redux Version 1.5. This latest version of the conversion mod packs numerous new features including naval warfare and much more polished gameplay alongside updated visuals and scenery.

In addition, the update brings new sound effects, framerate improvements as well as a SPEC OPS campaign with bonus missions, fixed GDI & NOD campaign missions, new vehicle and structure models, and more. In short, this is a must-have mod for fans of the original Command & Conquer from 1995, and we highly recommended it for those who want to experience this remake within the Zero Hour SAGE 3D Engine.

Down below you’ll find some screenshots and two videos (courtesy of ModDB) from the latest version of this project in action:

Those interested can download C&C Tiberian Dawn Redux Version 1.5 here.

Released in 1995, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn is part of the Command & Conquer Saga. A collection, featuring thirteen games in the series, was released by EA back in 2007.

"With over 25 million copies sold worldwide, the Command & Conquer franchise has defined the Real-time strategy (RTS) genre with fast and fluid gameplay, cutting-edge visuals, epic storylines, and rich campaign missions", EA wrote in 2007. "The series has evolved over a decade, spawned over a dozen titles, and continues to be the genre benchmark by which all RTS games are measured. With its explosive style of warfare, the Command & Conquer franchise has grown over the years to span multiple fictional genres, including the science fiction Tiberium Universe, the revisionist history of the Command & Conquer Red Alert Universe, and a twist on modern warfare with Command & Conquer Generals."

The post C&C Tiberian Dawn Redux is a Full Command & Conquer Remake Within C&C Generals Zero Hour’s SAGE-Engine by Aernout van de Velde appeared first on Wccftech.