Now that many people who’ve had the option of working remotely during the pandemic are being called back into the office, it’s becoming increasingly clear that not all employers are on-board with the arrangement. Initially instituted to help prevent employees from contracting COVID-19, work-from-home policies began…
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What do shopping for furniture, hanging photos on the wall, and doing large-scale art projects all have in common? — Read the rest
If you've checked out the first three episodes of the HBO Max series "Peacemaker," then you know that Peacemaker's dad Auggie (Robert Patrick) is a real jerk. His behavior makes Peacemaker (John Cena) look like a really good guy by comparison, which is part of the reason Peacemaker is so screwed up in the first place.
In a press junket attended by /Film, series creator James Gunn explained that he first started exploring the character with Cena on the set of "The Suicide Squad." Fatherhood and its impacts were major themes in "The Suicide Squad," and the HBO Max series is set to take those to extremes.
Peacemaker (real name Christopher Smith) has some pretty serious daddy issues. That's really not a surprise, given that his father is the hateful white supremacist supervillain known as the White Dragon. In "The Suicide Squad," there's a scene where Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), and Peacemaker all have a chat about dads. It turns out that both Bloodsport and Peacemaker have truly awful fathers, and that small moment led into Gunn developing the character of Auggie:
"John and I talked about it on [The Suicide Squad] set. We talked about who his dad was now. At that point, I didn't know he was the White Dragon, but I knew the basics of who the character was. There's two different characters from the comics [that form the character]. There's Peacemaker's actual father in the comics, [Wolfgang Schmidt], which is the old Nazi from World War II. Then there's the White Dragon character, who's a separate character. I just melded those two characters to create a truly awful supervillain with very little chance of redemption."
The "Peacemaker" version of the White Dragon is the combination of two characters: Peacemaker's comic book dad, Paul, and William Heller, the original costumed White Dragon. The character was created by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell, first appearing in "Suicide Squad" #4 in 1987. Two other characters, Daniel Ducannon and Chop-Chop, also donned the White Dragon alias and "Iron Man" inspired armor. Gunn explained that it was important to differentiate between the awfulness of someone like Peacemaker, who's a bad guy but has empathy, and someone like his dad:
"We come into this knowing that Peacemaker's kind of bad guy, and then we see who his father is and we go, well, you know, generationally, he's a step up, certainly a better person than his father is and maybe gives us a little bit of a little bit more understanding for who he is. In [The Suicide Squad] scene with Bloodsport, you see John nod and smile as he's talking about his own dad and what his dad did. And you see him getting along, empathizing with Bloodsport in that moment."
New episodes of "Peacemaker" debut Thursdays on HBO Max.
Read this next: The 15 Best Jane Austen Adaptations Ranked
The post The Idea for Peacemaker's White Dragon Began on the Set of The Suicide Squad appeared first on /Film.
Sony has released God of War on PC and as we’ve already reported, the PC port is pretty great. However, and by default, the game only runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Thankfully, there is a mod now that you can use in order to play it on Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows … Continue reading You can now play God of War on Windows 7/8 thanks to this mod →
The post You can now play God of War on Windows 7/8 thanks to this mod appeared first on DSOGaming.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation's (SpaceX) ch8ef executive officer Mr. Elon Musk has shared the latest details for his company's Starlink satellite internet constellation. Starlink is SpaceX's internet service which uses low Earth orbit (LEO) small satellites to beam down the Internet to its users. Due to a rapid cadence of launches, SpaceX has ensured that Starlink is the world's largest internet constellation in service, and the company is currently upgrading the satellites with laser based connectivity. This will allow Starlink to expand its coverage and reach areas that cannot be served without ground stations to connect the satellites and the users to internet servers.
Mr. Musk shared the latest details through his social media platform Twitter, as he outlined the number of Starlink satellites currently in orbit and his company's plans to activate newer spacecraft capable of optical communication. These are crucial for evaluating the internet service's current capacity, which has come under fire from rivals in proceedings for spectrum sharing and licensing currently underway at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
According to the executive, Starlink currently has more than 1,400 spacecraft in service and it will activate its satellite with laser connectivity soon. As he outlined:
1469 Starlink satellites active
272 moving to operational orbits
Laser links activate soon
These details are crucial as they mark a rare occasion when SpaceX has shared figures for its operational spacecraft. Generally, the company is more forthcoming about the total number of satellites that it has launched to date, which are higher than the figure shared by Musk above.
The latest such reveal came through a filing made to the FCC by SpaceX's director of satellite policy Mr. David Godlman. This was in the Commission's proceeding to evaluate whether to perming the company to launch the internet spacecraft through its Starship next-generation launch vehicle platform. SpaceX, which modified its application for the second generation Starlink satellites to accommodate Starship for a beefier cadence, is under fire from rivals who believe that the modification violates FCC rules. The filing saw Mr. Goldman state to the FCC that his company had launched close to 1,800 satellites by mid-November last year.
Crucially, the tweet also confirms that Starlink has now built out more than a quarter of the first quarter of its first constellation phase. This phase will have a total of 4,396 satellites, out of which 1,584 each will be placed at 53° and 53.2° inclinations. Since Mr. Goldman's November filing, SpaceX has launched 247 additional satellites through five launches, most of which took this year in an aggressive start. This brings the total number of spacecraft launched close to 2,000, and the new launches all target the 53.2° inclination, which is the second part of the first phase mentioned above.
Starlink first tested newer satellites with lasers in 2020, and since then the company has launched several of these spacecraft, limiting itself to far flung polar orbits as of yet. Laser communications allow Starlink to cover wider regions of the globe, as its current operational model involves the user beaming the data to the satellite via a dish, with the satellite then communicating with the ground stations before completing the link once again with the user. Laser or optical communication removes this need, and Mr. Musk's latest tweet also suggests that Starlink is yet to operate the laser satellites that it has launched to date.
Once more of these satellites are added to the mix, and they become operational, Starlink should either improve its performance or retain current figures as it adds more users into its fold. The latest data from Ookla, who is behind the popular internet speed testing application Speedtest shows that the service is leading broadband internet providers in download speeds globally.
However, Musk's latest figures are at odds with those combined by the popular astrophysicist Mr. Jonathan McDowell. McDowell, who regularly updates his website with facts about the Starlink spacecraft such as those in orbit and operational, believes that 1,498 satellites are operational instead of the 1,469 outlined by the SpaceX chief. Yet, once the satellites that are on their way to operational orbit according to Musk reach their destination, then Starlink will have further solidified its lead over other firms that plan to launch their own internet satellites.
The post Elon Musk Shares Crucial Starlink Data That Will Enable Big Leap Over Global Broadband by Ramish Zafar appeared first on Wccftech.
With the final episode of "The Expanse" airing this Friday, /Film had the chance to talk with James Holden himself — actor Steven Strait — about the end of the show.
Read on to get Strait's thoughts on portraying Holden's arc through the six seasons of the series and what it was like going back to play a very young and naïve Holden for the show's X-Ray short. There's also some cat talk (if you know, you know), for your enjoyment.
And warning! Spoilers for the series finale of "The Expanse" lie ahead.
This must be a big day for you, now that the last episode is finally out.
It is, it is. It's really hit me in the last 24 hours. I'm so proud of the season. I'm grateful that it's out and people are able to see it, but it's bittersweet, for sure. It's definitely a bittersweet moment.
Absolutely. I know in our first conversation, we talked a little bit about some of your scenes in season 6, but we didn't really get to dig into the end of the series, and Holden's big moment when he becomes president of the Trade Authority, and he turns it over to Drummer. Can you just talk about that scene, and what you think it means for Holden as a character, and how you approached it?
It was a scene that I was looking forward to, one of the scenes I was looking forward to the most this year. I think it's really emblematic of the kind of evolution Holden has made from the time we meet him on the Canterbury. He never stops being an idealist, but his version of idealism matures over time.
I think by the end of the story, his particular kind of strength is very much one of humility and empathy. He's a hero who chooses not to kill more often than not. He's someone who turns away from violence most often. It's a very different kind of masculinity than we often see in these kind of stories. His empathy and humility is the linchpin that allows all these sides to come together in the end. They look to him to be the figurehead of this because he's neutral, because each side knows that, ultimately, Holden has humanity's best interest at heart, not any one side. He has frustrated the hell out of all of them at different points in the series, but he does what he always believes is the right thing.
[Holden] has a moment to really cement the change that is necessary to break the wheel of violence and oppression, and he takes it. It's a moment of real courage and bravery and strength. He knows two thirds of the system will hate him for this, but he knows it's right. That, to me, is the thing about Holden that I've always loved playing with over the years, as an actor, because that quality in him, as much as it always remains there, really does evolve. He's naive in the beginning. He's an idealist, but it's a naive idealism that is shaped through hard, awful moments of experiencing genocide, and blowing up doctors, and connecting circuits that sees vast death of an entire civilization, and all of this stuff that almost breaks him. And he always finds a way to pick himself up and learn from it and move.
Through the years, I think his world view gets more and more solid in his decision making, based on his sense of empathy. I think he knows that if humanity's going to have any chance of dealing with things that are truly existential, it has to be that quality that guides us there. Holden represents that in the story. He is the personification of that within the story structure. So for me, it was showing that in a realistic and believable way, so that by the end of the story, we believe this man is capable of being in this place and doing these things, and then stepping away because it's the right thing to do.
All the characters end up in different places than when we saw them in episode 1, season 1. And the relationships between these characters have also changed. Obviously, Holden and Naomi's relationship has changed, but also Holden's relationship with pretty much everyone else. Was there any particular character you enjoyed acting against as Holden in terms of that arc, in terms of how things changed from where you started and where you ended?
Yeah. There's Naomi and Amos, in particular. I loved being able to show a committed relationship based on respect and love. That felt real to me. Holden loves her, and trusts her, and respects her. They are each other's rock. Again, that's a very unusual thing to play, because so often in stories, there's these side plots and triangles and things. It's not what Holden and Naomi's relationship is; it's a committed relationship that has its trials, because the world is hard enough without any of the other stuff. The situations they're in are hard. These two people cling to each other in this storm, and become so solid by the end of this series.
With Amos too, it's a realistic evolution of a friendship. They were each about to kill each other in the beginning of this series, for different reasons and at different times. But I think Holden being able to empathize the way he can reaches Amos. Amos, with his own perspective of the world, based on intense trauma, who's shut off from so many people, does connect with Holden.
To be able to show those relationships evolve over time in an earned way, I'm grateful we got to where we got in the end. Six seasons was the plan — we were aiming at this very specific point. There's no other way to really have a meticulously plotted show without having that. But to be able to actually do the arc, you dream of that as an actor. You just cross your fingers and hope you get there, because if you only got to season 3, most of Holden's arc is not even there yet. So you just hope. And it did. I'm grateful for it. I know how rare it is.
I had a chance to see the X-Ray short of Holden before the beginning of the show, before he joins the Canterbury, which is fantastic. I'd love to talk a little bit about that. First, on a practical level, do you film that after the season?
Yes. I filmed it the day after we finished. I went and got a shave and a haircut, put on some civilian clothes, and went back to set.
What was that like after shooting your last scene, which I believe was the scene, not in this last episode, but the scene between you and Naomi in episode 4? Was it a weird shift to have to film that, and then have to go way back to before the show started?
It was a trippy shift to do to begin with. To shoot the beginning and the end first [the cast shot episode 601 and 606 back-to-back and then the other episodes] was an interesting process for us anyway, because you really have to know exactly how your arc is going to go for it to make any sense at all. But to then, at the end of this last scene that I did in episode 4, and then go all the way back to before the Canterbury, was a trip.
But it was fun. The beginning of that X-Ray was great for me and cathartic for me to play Holden without the weight of the system on his shoulders. He's just a carefree guy enjoying himself at a bar on Ceres. Yet, we still, we do see the qualities in him that allows him to bring every side together. It's there ... You see it in him. But you just see a young man, he's just kicked out of the Navy. He doesn't have a care in the world. He's just happy to be there. McDowell approaches him with this gig that seems fine and safe, and it's good money and whatever ... it was fun for me to show that in him. It was so long ago within his development as a character, but it really emphasizes the length of the arc from the beginning.
It must have been an interesting bookend for you, just having the Canterbury captain, the actor, who you probably haven't seen in awhile.
Years. It's been years. Yeah. It was wonderful to see him. But yeah. McDowell and his cats.
We don't really know about those cats. Maybe you know the backstory.
No. That's the greatest mystery of "The Expanse," what the hell do those cats mean? [laughs] But yeah, it was cool. It was a great opportunity to show that piece of Holden that circumstance just strips from him. The ethical core and the trustworthy core of everyone feeling that from him remains all the way through to the very end. But there is none of that lightheartedness by the end of the series. He has really developed into this incredibly competent leader.
That was my dream when we started was to be able to show that, was to like, "Okay. How do leaders really develop?" They go through all this awful stuff. No one's born that way. They have to evolve into that. It's usually a very, very messy process to get there. I was given the opportunity to do that. I am so grateful for it. I know it's so rare to be able to do, but yeah, it was a nice little bookend to be able to do, just put an exclamation point on it.
Now that the series is over, there's obviously a lot of emotions for you, and I'm sure for the fans as well. What do you hope fans walk away with having watched the final episode? What do you hope they have gotten out of the show?
There's so many different pieces of why "The Expanse" is important to different people. The allegories of all different kinds, that I think have always felt important to me, sparking those conversations out there, and being a disarming vehicle for talking about things that really matter to us as a species and as people.
But I think if anything, just from my own perspective and I think from Holden's, from playing Holden all this time, is that, ultimately, doing the right thing by others, and gaining your strength through humility, and empathizing, to the best that you can, with everyone around you is the only way we all will get through the things that really challenge us. If there's any hope that we have, it's going to be that. It's going to be that quality that pulls us through.
So from a very Holden-centric perspective, that's the thing that I hope people take — that as naive as Holden can be over the years, and as infuriating and frustrating as he can be, that quality in him, I think, is the key to dealing with so many of the really important existential problems that we have as people.
All six seasons of "The Expanse" are now available on Prime Video.
Read this next: The 14 Greatest Science Fiction Movies Of The 21st Century
The post The Expanse's Steven Strait Looks Back on James Holden's Journey to the Series Finale [Interview] appeared first on /Film.
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The "memeification" of Nicolas Cage is a digital age phenomenon. Younger generations watch the Oscar-winning Coppola's catalog as "hilarious" YouTube compilation videos featuring titles like "Deadfall," "The Wicker Man," or "Vampire's Kiss." He's become infamous for his extravagant spending habits (he had to return a $276k dinosaur skull for legal reasons), which drives the online theory that he'll take any role for the right price to pay off castle-sized debts. Audiences demand the unrestrained Cage who can't control his character's emotions to thrive, howling lines like "TESTICLE!' with gusto, which — in my opinion — influences filmmakers to wrongfully indulge the viral tendencies of Nicolas Cage when there's so much more to the madman behind feral monologue screams.
To demonstrate my thesis, let's use two prominent 2021 examples. In "Willy's Wonderland," Cage battles animatronic Chuck E. Cheese knockoffs as a mute, energy-drink guzzling janitor. In "Pig," Cage emerges from woodland isolation to shake down the Portland restaurant scene, searching for his stolen and beloved truffle-hunting swine. One is a magnificent exploration of grief and love, the other a numb exploitation of the Cage who nabs internet clicks.
Oddly, the characters of Robin "Rob" Feld ("Pig") and "The Janitor" ("Willy's Wonderland") are foundationally comparable. They're rooted in a place of introspection and subtlety to allow Cage momentary eruptions of his trademark extremes. A film like "Mandy" understands this duality of Cage best: His characters must earn their snaps out of sanity or composure, and they're most powerful when there's been proper legwork to establish his cooler, subdued nature. "Willy's Wonderland" only comprehends the latter half of Cage's performative draw, heavy-handedly promoting the film's mechanical massacre while erasing Cage's unquestionable ability to first garner compassion for broken souls.
"Pig," alternatively, encourages Cage to excel at both the yin and the yang.
There's an exemplary scene in which Rob Feld interrogates his former prep cook Derrick Finway (David Knell), now the head chef of a haute cuisine, "familiar but foreign" Michelin wannabe restaurant called Eurydice. Derrick stammers about farm-to-table inventiveness, slowly unraveling before a grungy, scabbed Rob (who's fresh from an underground fight ring). This is the moment in other movies where Cage's antics might lead to a flipped table, or smashed bottle, or shouted profanities as Derrick confesses. In "Pig," director Michael Sarnoski knows better.
"This isn't real, you aren't real," Rob softly professes to the once hopeful owner of a village-favorite Irish pub. "We don't get a lot of things to really care about," Rob mutters, trying to connect with Derrick as tethered, wayward hearts. Cage's face is a pre-boil that's entirely more unsettling due to its resolute calmness. Escalation mounts through words, as an attentive Derrick wriggles and chugs his expensive red wine without an ounce of sophistication. It's not the time nor place for a loopable Nic Cage outburst, and Sarnoski's acknowledgment of the actor beyond overshadowing gifs is to his movie's benefit.
Meanwhile, "Willy's Wonderland" only sees Nicolas Cage as a one-dimensional source of entertainment. The anonymity of Cage's unnamed cleaner-upper is a gimmick meant to accentuate the action unfolding as plastic ball pits become slick with victim juices. Cage's personality traits are quirky for the sake of questionability, his seemingly superhuman violence the headliner attraction. How can you botch a scenario where Nicolas "Not The Bees" Cage goes apeshit on robotic weasels? Turns out the answer is "pretty simply," when you don't think past the initial amusement factor of your casting announcement.
There's nothing memorable about Cage's performance in "Willy's Wonderland" because he's there to fill a role the internet has deemed his bread-and-butter. The production offers no opportunity for Cage to imbue "The Janitor" with memorable traits. He pauses for breaks where he sips his fizzy Punch fuel, plays pinball, and then bashes some more monsters while teenagers die. Worse off, there's no dialogue for his character to utter. Nicolas Cage, the lunatic behind some of the most memorable on-screen tirades in the last two decades, is asked not to speak a single word, and instead just strolls through the movie like some kiddie-mascot Terminator. It's baffling -- not only because Cage never has a chance to prove he's worth more than some algorithmic B-movie filler, but also because if you're only looking for "Crazy Cage," you've neutered his most maniac tendency. If you won't honor the density Cage brings to any role, whether unhinged or grounded, at least unleash the monster inside like his "Hokey Pokey" billiards breakdown in "Mom And Dad."
What "Pig" accomplishes, and what should be rewarded by the Academy, is a Nicolas Cage that's forgotten by newer generations raised on the mythical "thespian" we — and Cage, in interviews — have shared across countless social media threads. He's not John Wick in this scenario, driving angry or Bangkoking dangerous. Rob Feld leaves a trail of humble sorrow wherever he goes and only escalates in the most dire, hopeless downfalls. The way Cage prepares a scrumptious meal for his foe or displays a photographic memory of every patron served is empathy that reverberates throughout an immaculately passionate experience. There are moments when Cage's kettle doth boil over, but it's only to capture the pinnacle of depression, loss, and exasperation. And even then the score might drown out Cage's words, leaving us with aching facial expressions that need no verbal translation.
"Willy's Wonderland" happens when star billing is valued over all else. Frankly, it's a curious predicament that forces one to wonder why Cage was even cast. Anyone can fulfill the bruiser arc of churning through enemies and slurping carbonated liquids — Nicolas Cage isn't "anyone." He's one of the most noteworthy performers working in today's cinematic industry, with a unique ability to pluck at one's emotions while losing himself to an otherworldly instability moments later. That's not to say he shouldn't be allowed to explore and redefine his "weirdness" through roles like "Between Worlds," or "Ghost Rider," and so on. It's more to suggest the highlight reels that garner internet fame have painted an incorrect picture of the Nicolas Cage some audiences might otherwise not recognize. That's how you get "Willy's Wonderland," a dull pummeler flick that doesn't utilize his voice, range, or even his darkest inhibitions in a movie that screams for even a glimpse of what he delivered in something like "Color Out Of Space."
"Pig," served course after course, embraces all sides of Cage. The sweetness of a head chef reconnecting with his former baker, the always-grieving widower who adores his partner piggy, the social outcast who scoffs at a system built on fakeness because that's what people want. In a way, "Pig" is Cage's direct response to the outcries for more of his "batshit" turns, emerging from behind countless riffs on his wildest sensibilities to remind Twitter avatars there's more to an award-winning actor than how a certain segment of audiences view him. "Pig" understands Nicolas Cage's fullest potential, coaxing a deeply complex culinary character from underneath leathery, bruised skin, proficient in highlighting his character dedication alongside the loudest, brashest accentuations. It's the total package, where something like "Willy's Wonderland" sells itself, and its actor, hundreds of yards short.
"Willy's Wonderland?" That's the type of Nicolas Cage role we've convinced ourselves we need. "Pig" is the type of Nicolas Cage role we deserve.
Read this next: Jack Nicholson's 15 Most Iconic Roles Ranked
The post The Two Nicolas Cages: A Case Study in How to Properly Utilize One of Our Best Actors appeared first on /Film.
Earlier this week, Nvidia quietly announced a kind of DLSS-adjacent downsampling tech: Deep Learning Dynamic Super Resolution (DLDSR). It aims to improve image sharpness and quality on GeForce RTX graphics cards, using AI to reduce the performance loss of Nvidia’s existing DSR feature, and it’s now available to install and enable through GeForce Game Ready Driver 511.23.
It's an IP-driven world and we're just living in it, folks. If there's any established franchise that holds even the slightest potential of bringing eyeballs with news of a buzzy revival, you can bet that studios these days will find a way to do it. We just received a new "Matrix" sequel over a decade after the trilogy wrapped up conclusively, the fifth installment of the beloved "Scream" series is slashing its way into theaters today with positive reviews, and even "Dexter" found new life after a catastrophic series finale with "Dexter: New Blood." Now comes the news that Timothy Olyphant will be strapping on his pistol, spurs, and cowboy hat once more to reprise his role as Raylan Givens for a new limited series, continuing the story of "Justified." The popular FX show ran for six largely successful seasons, bringing us the throwback Western exploits of Olyphant's Deputy U.S. Marshal Givens and his increasingly fraught rivalry with outlaw Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins). Check out all the details below.
Timothy Olyphant is coming back for another round in possibly his best-known role. Seven years after the conclusion to "Justified" (almost exactly to the day!), Sony Pictures Television and FX Productions have announced a new adaptation of the late prolific author Elmore Leonard's series of Western novels. His 1980 epic crime story, "City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit," will now be his latest work to receive the live action treatment as an FX limited series titled "Justified: City Primeval." In addition to bringing back Olyphant in the main leading role, Dave Andron and Michael Dinner are also returning after their work on the original series, this time serving as showrunners, writers, and executive producers. Dinner is slated to direct while other returnees include Graham Yost, Sarah Timberman, Peter Leonard, and Carl Beverly as executive producers. Taylor Elmore and Chris Provenzano are also credited writers in addition to executive producing.
Similarly based on an Elmore Leonard novella, the original Emmy-winning "Justified" ran from 2010-2015 and helped solidify Timothy Olyphant as a can't-miss screen presence on television. The plot of this new series is described as:
Having left the hollers of Kentucky eight years ago, Raylan Givens now lives in Miami, a walking anachronism balancing his life as a U.S. Marshal and part-time father of a 14-year-old girl. His hair is grayer, his hat is dirtier, and the road in front of him is suddenly a lot shorter than the road behind.A chance encounter on a desolate Florida highway sends him to Detroit. There he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, aka The Oklahoma Wildman, a violent, sociopathic desperado who's already slipped through the fingers of Detroit's finest once and aims to do so again. Mansell's lawyer, formidable Motor City native Carolyn Wilder, has every intention of representing her client, even as she finds herself caught in between cop and criminal, with her own game afoot as well. These three characters set out on a collision course in classic Elmore Leonard fashion, to see who makes it out of the City Primeval alive.
Stay tuned for more details as they come in.
Read this next: The 20 Best Westerns Of All Time
The post Justified Revival Will Bring Back Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens appeared first on /Film.
If you've lamented the distinct and much-documented lack of sexiness in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (I know I have!), here's a titillating sip of news to quench your thirst. Tessa Thompson spoke about Valkyrie's role in "Thor: Love and Thunder" this week, and she described her hero's powers as "erotic."
Thompson sat down with W Magazine for a profile that touched upon her "Love and Thunder" role. As you may remember from 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok," Val is a legendary fighter who drowns her sorrows in alcohol after witnessing the deaths of her all-women fighting force at the hands of Hela (Cate Blanchett). She teams up with Thor for a haphazard adventure, and was last seen taking over Thor's role as ruler of Asgard at the end of "Avengers: Endgame." Though her character's queer identity was pushed off into Phase 4, she still quickly became a fan favorite among LGBTQ+ fans–and Marvel fans at large.
Now, Thompson is finally giving some insight into what's next for Val, outlining her superpowers for the first time. "She can sense when someone is close to death, and she takes them into Valhalla, which is essentially the afterlife," Thompson says. So far, so platonic. But apparently, Val is also prone to body swap shenanigans, which any fanfiction reader (or erstwhile "The X-Files" watcher) knows can be one of the cheekiest moves in the trope book. "She can revive people," Thompson tells W, "But when she revives people, sometimes she ends up in their body. It's a weird thing. It can be quite erotic."
As someone who is a "Thor: Ragnarok" fan first and a Marvel fan second (if at all), I've been surviving on crumbs of plot information about this movie for years, but nothing has been as exciting as this tidbit. Director Taika Waititi, who is known for allowing his actors to go so off-script that he may as well be a credited writer too, has previously called "Thor: Love and Thunder" the "craziest" movie he's ever made. In a quote to Empire, he said, "If you wrote down all the elements of this film, it shouldn't make sense."
This tracks, both with Waititi's own previous raucous take on the MCU and with Thompson's new reveal about Val's powers. In addition to her role as afterlife courier, sometimes resurrector, and accidental sexy-body-swapper, Thompson also says Val "has superhuman strength and is essentially a God." This sounds fantastic. If you need me, I'll be sitting in line outside the theater until July.
"Thor: Love and Thunder" is scheduled for a theatrical release July 8, 2022.
Read this next: 11 Marvel Comics Villains We Really Want To See In The MCU
The post Tessa Thompson Describes Valkyrie's 'Quite Erotic' Superpowers – Love and Thunder, Indeed appeared first on /Film.
Despite the outside perception that the Marvel Cinematic Universe operates like a well-oiled machine (and, in fairness, it pretty much does), Marvel Studios has actually experienced quite a few bumps and detours along the way to gaining box office supremacy with their deeply interconnected franchise of movies and shows. The arrival of the Disney+ streaming service (combined with the restructuring of Marvel Studios and cutting out the middleman of Kevin Feige reporting to the "Creative Committee") ushered the MCU into a whole new era of multimedia storytelling, even though Marvel technically produced prior shows for ABC (nobody misses "Inhumans," but RIP "Agent Carter," cancelled far too soon!) and Netflix (those, you've probably heard of).
After years of the MCU essentially pretending as if Netflix shows like "Daredevil," "Punisher," and "Defenders" simply never happened, "Hawkeye" came out of nowhere to suddenly draw a much, much closer connection between the officially sanctioned universe and those redhaired stepchildren of the MCU. Vincent D'Onofrio reprising his role as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin caused a significant stir among fans ... but not just out of pure hype. Many viewers couldn't help but notice the vast difference in his portrayal between "Daredevil," which once famously depicted the madman decapitating someone with a car door, versus his glaringly bloodless appearance in "Hawkeye." Now, the actor himself is weighing in on this change and whether fans can look forward to a more brutal, hard-edged Kingpin.
Before we go any further, I feel compelled to point out that superheroes in general, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in particular, are primarily aimed at audiences of all ages, but especially kids. As such, I'm not sure anyone should've ever expected that "Hawkeye," starring pop icon Hailee Steinfeld and no doubt viewed by many of her adoring, young fans, would suddenly morph into an R-rated horror show once Kingpin arrived on the scene in the latter episodes of the season.
That's not to say that the Disney+ series neglected to take advantage of the actor's physicality and imposing screen presence, as D'Onofrio (or should I say his double, who was a fairly obvious stand-in throughout the scene) put poor Kate Bishop through the wringer in their brief fight sequence. His role on the show ended with the heavy (but notably off-screen) implication that his niece, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), put a bullet in him in an act of vengeance ... but possible death doesn't seem to phase D'Onofrio in his candid comments with ComicBook. The actor acknowledged the differences between Netflix and Disney+, saying:
"I think the [different] tones are obvious. I think it's less bloody. We talked a lot about it, and for me, it's not a worry, because if I ever get the chance to take it further with the MCU, then I'm going to do the same work I did on 'Daredevil,' like I did in 'Hawkeye.' [Fisk is] about emotional brutality, and he is just a mess. He's a broken monster, and he is capable of many different kinds of brutality...so none of that worried me during 'Hawkeye.' I did notice obviously that there's less blood and there's less torture. The thing you have to do is, you have to stay away from torture, and that really cuts things down. A lot of baddies that you play, they're not just baddies, but they also actually torture people. They get control of them, and torture, and that's too hardcore. So that's out for 'Hawkeye,' and hopefully something will happen after this."
That doesn't sound like a man who's been told his (brief) time in the MCU is already at an end, but his comments are as thoughtful as ever. May all fans be as level-headed and understanding as he is!
"Hawkeye" is streaming on Disney+.
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The post Vincent D'Onofrio Reveals Why His Kingpin Was So Different on Hawkeye appeared first on /Film.
Over 120,000 Japanese Americans, many of them American citizens, were incarcerated in U.S. concentration camps during World War II. The government's War Relocation Authority hired photographers to document the process in a way that masked this massively cruel act
Among the photographers was Dorothea Lange, who famously photographed migrant agriculture workers for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression. — Read the rest
"Mare of Easttown" had no business being as good as it was. Early promo materials, while promising, looked too similar to any number of other "gritty cop grapples with a new investigation and their own mental well-being" shows. The cop who takes their investigation personally is a cliché at this point, and early on, it didn't look like even the considerable talents of Kate Winslet would be enough to save it.
That criticism turned out to be exceptionally wrong. "Mare of Easttown" transcends convention. It is arguably one of HBO's best limited series and certainly a new benchmark for procedural dramas. In particular, Winslet has never been better, and she was rightfully awarded both the Emmy Award and Golden Globe for her performance as Marianne "Mare" Sheehan, a detective sergeant investigating the murder of single mother Erin McMenamin (Cailee Spaeny). It's a small-town murder mystery with genuine grit, pathos, and power that is imminently bingeable and wholly worthwhile. If you loved "Mare of Easttown" and are looking for something in a similar niche, here are 13 shows you can watch right now to get all the murder and drama you crave.
"Broadchurch" is not an easy watch. Sure, the sunny fictional village of Broadchurch along the Dorset Coast is pleasant, and stars David Tennant and Olivia Coleman are as charming as ever, leaning into their comedy roots for performances as amicable lead detectives, but that's all just an illusion. "Broadchurch" is like a murder mystery that director Mike Flanagan might conceive. It is a deeply-reflective, sorrowful foray into the murder of 11-year-old Daniel "Danny" Latimer (Oskar McNamara).
It's a grief-filled series with no shortage of painful monologues and personal close-ups of a community ripped apart. However, that says nothing of the first series' (in the U.K., a series is the equivalent of a U.S. television season) twist ending that catapults Series 2 into a deeply troubling trial with profound implications for all involved. Series 3, the last, shifts course considerably, focusing not on a murder but a sexual assault. The change in subject matter, though, is no less compelling. "Broadchurch" is one of a kind: a show crafted with exceptional care, perfect casting, and genuine emotion. Plus, fans of Mare Sheehan are going to love Coleman's Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller.
When HBO launched "The Undoing," its adaptation of Jean Hanff Korelitz's 2014 novel "You Should Have Known," critical reception was immediately mixed. For many, it was a reductive, shameless attempt to replicate the success of "Big Little Lies" without that show's subversive interrogation of the uber-rich. Nicole Kidman, an HBO limited series stalwart, returned with natural hair and a shaky American accent as Grace Fraser, a psychologist whose life is upended when her husband Jonathan (Hugh Grant) is accused of murdering a woman with whom he was having an affair.
Just six episodes long, "The Undoing" moves at a fairly steady clip, and by the end, as murder mysteries are wont to do, it's less about who committed the crime and more about the why. While it isn't the best of what HBO and prestige television drama have to offer, it still works a lot better than most shows of its kind. Kidman is still unmatched when it comes to playing woman on a downward spiral, and Hugh Grant is both deliciously smarmy and empathetic when it counts most. Yes, it's a yuppie crime drama, but it has all the sordid twists one would expect. It's easily as bingeable as "Mare of Easttown" and, better still, can be accessed with the same subscription.
"Sharp Objects" is almost worth watching for the performances alone. The central trio of Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, and newcomer Eliza Scanlen (still criminally underrated) deliver the kind of performances that, in the era before television gluttony, would be heralded as small-screen classics. Upon release, the show was largely lost in the sheer number of offerings available, and consequently, "Sharp Objects" was seen and swiftly forgotten. That's a shame because the late Jean-Marc Vallée's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel is a delectable mix of gothic horror and procedural drama that is inimitable in its tone and pacing.
Adams stars as Camille Preaker, an deeply troubled alcoholic reporter consigned to return to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, to report on the murders of two young girls. There, she runs into her half-sister Amma (Eliza Scanlen) and mother Adora (Patricia Clarkson), a vicious socialite who all but runs Wind Gap. Though the pace is slower than audiences might expect (the intermittent episodes all but forgo the central murder), it's an atmospheric, gothic nightmare that consistently beguiles and surprises. Plus, it's got one of the most vicious final twists this side of M. Night Shyamalan. It's certifiably bone-chilling.
As was the case with "Sharp Objects," pacing likely killed any hopes of a second season for "The Outsider." Adapted from horror maestro Stephen King's 2018 novel of the same name, it started with a bang. However, depending on one's perspective, it ended with something even less than a whimper. Especially for fans of the horror genre, "The Outsider" was sensationally scary and a benchmark of King adaptations that knew when to diverge and when to stay true to the author's vision.
At first, it seems like several shows in one. Though I wouldn't dare spoil anything here, there's a twist in its second episode that radically reworks the show's trajectory. Ostensibly the story of a man accused of a crime he couldn't have committed (he wasn't in town at the time) despite being present at the scene, it's really a horrific reflection on identity, doppelgangers, and primordial demons. Actress Cynthia Erivo who plays Holly Gibney is the show's jewel. A recurring character in King's work, Gibney transcends the savant cliché, and Erivo's performance retains the character's eccentricities while firmly positioning her as "The Outsider's" true hero. HBO doesn't often delve into straight-up horror, and that likely accounts for the show's early procedural feel. Yet, if "The Outsider" is any indication, it's a risk they should take more often.
"Happy Valley" is brutal. Sally Wainwright's BBC One crime drama is slow-going at first, saving its cruel, violent hand for the end. A sensational Sarah Lancashire stars as Catherine Cawood, a police sergeant in West Yorkshire. She lives with her sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran), balancing a relationship with her son (Karl Davies) while still grieving over the suicide of her teenage daughter. That daughter was involved with Tommy Royce (James Norton), a drug dealer and suspected rapist who has been terrorizing young women in Catherine's neighborhood.
Both Series 1 and Series 2 follow ongoing threads. In October 2021, the BBC announced a third series scheduled to begin filming in early 2022. Nonetheless, the first two remain some of the most thrilling seasons of procedural television around. Lancashire is especially astounding, and while the series may mandate subtitles for some viewers (the accents are thick), it has some of the best writing this side of "Broadchurch." It abounds with twists and turns without ever forgetting the core human element.
"The Cry" is unconventional, and fortunately, very short. Most procedural thrillers run out of steam quickly, overplaying their hands and dragging mysteries on for longer than is necessary. With just four episodes, "The Cry" is a condensed crime thriller, but it's no less astounding for its short length.
Jenna Coleman and Ewen Leslie star as Joanna Lindsay and Alistair Robertson, an engaged couple and new parents traveling from Scotland to Australia to visit family. On the way, they stop at a local grocery store to buy supplies. When they return to the car, their infant son Noah is missing. A manhunt ensues, and public scrutiny mounts. With little to no physical evidence, the question remains: What happened to baby Noah? As written by Jacquelin Perske, the answer doesn't remain a mystery for long. By the end of episode 2, it becomes clear what happened. There are still considerable twists in store, however.
For fans of thrillers looking for something as short and sweet as "Mare of Easttown," "The Cry" more than fits the bill.
"The Investigation" is another of HBO's newest offerings. Directed by Tobias Lindholm, this six-part true crime series follows the investigation into the death of Kim Wall, a 30-year-old Swedish journalist. Wall, a freelance journalist, boarded a submarine in August 2017 to interview its owner Pater Madsen, a Danish entrepreneur. She never returned. Weeks later, parts of her dismembered body were found scattered around the area. New discoveries continued until November of that same year.
Adapting true crime can be difficult, especially if shows lean too heavily into the whodunnit element of it all. It's hard to maintain interest when the answer is known. Luckily, "The Investigation" is something akin to restorative justice. It honors Wall's legacy and the local authorities responsible for tracking the killer down. A profound meditation on grief and tragedy, it isn't for the faint of heart, but as a counterpart to "Mare of Easttown's" fictionalized thrills, it isn't to be missed.
In the same sense that adapting true crime to serialized television is difficult, true crime documentaries aren't exactly easy to accomplish successfully. Part of that is sheer volume. There is no shortage of true crime documentaries, podcasts, books, and television specials available, and distinguishing any given property among the abundance of true crime content is difficult (unless it's something as unique as "Tiger King). There is also the question of simple ethics. Too often, the lens is focused on the crime and perpetrators, ignoring the legacy of victims and exploiting real tragedy for cheap thrills.
"Don't F**k With Cats" broke the mold. Netflix's three-part true crime documentary principally follows Deanna Thompson, otherwise known as "Baudi Mooven," a data analysist who endeavors to track down the perpetrator responsible for a series of online videos featuring the killing of cats. Soon, the perpetrator graduates to killing humans, and the hunt is on.
"Don't F**k With Cats" is respectful of both the victims and the dedicated weirdos responsible for tracking the killer down. It's a larger-than-life story — one certainly suited to Netflix's platform — and should be the benchmark for how the streaming service approaches similar stories in the future. It's short, tactful, and incredibly thrilling.
I would die for "American Vandal," and I will never forgive Netflix for canceling it after its second season. In fact, I've been tempted more than once to vandalize the Netflix offices with crude, spray-painted images because of their decision. Of course, I would (probably) never do that.
"American Vandal" is a thrilling, hilarious, and genuinely tense faux true-crime documentary that is inimitable in form and content. A parody of the burgeoning true crime trend, its first (and best) season follows Tyler Alvarez's Peter Maldonado, a Hanover High School anchor and documentarian.
Someone has left 27 faculty cars vandalized with phallic images, and all fingers point to Dylan Maxwell (Jimmy Tatro), the school's class clown and signature burnout. An investigation is launched per Peter's documentary. As fun as the show is (and as silly as the crime ends up being), it's incredibly thrilling. Creators Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda adroitly subvert expectations and wisely render the comparatively innocuous crime as a genuinely compelling mystery no different than those of shows with higher stakes. Season 2 expands on the format well, and it's a shame that "American Vandal" is no more.
Like "American Vandal," "Mindhunter" is a show I'll never forgive Netflix for canceling. Adapted from John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker's "Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit," "Mindhunter" is like "Criminal Minds" with real murderers. Starring Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv as a trio of agents developing the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit (BSU), it's a true-to-reality foray into some of the most vicious serial killers this country has ever seen.
Notably grounded and splendidly acted (with a standout performance from Cameron Britton as recurring serial killer Ed Kemper), "Mindhunter" is true adult drama. It's patient, never exploitative, and feels like David Fincher's dreamscape incarnate (rightfully so since he executive produced). It's a must-watch for true crime fans and one of the best fictionalized accounts of the BSU around. It puts "Criminal Minds" and similar shows to shame.
Incidentally, Tobias Lindholm, creator of the previously mentioned "The Investigation," helmed two episodes "Mindhunter."
"The Missing" is mostly predicated on one Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo), a French detective investigating missing-persons cases in and around France. Procedural thrillers often live or die based on the detectives in charge (a tragedy for "The Dublin Murders" which was based on a book whose detectives were far more interesting than their screen counterparts). However, Julien Baptiste is a knockout. He's a little goofy, sure, but he's tender and sweet. More than anything, he's committed to justice, and he's damn good at finding it.
Series 1 has Baptiste investigating the disappearance of a five-year-old British tourist whose parents had taken him along for a vacation. Eight years later, the investigation is reopened, and a retired Baptiste is brought back into the fray after the discovery of a new piece of evidence. Series 2 has Baptiste rejoining another old case after a missing girl is found and claims to have been held captive with the subject of one of Baptiste's cold cases. It's grim, dour stuff, and like "Mare of Easttown," the answers often hurt more than they help. Yet, for all the pain, it's a swirling portrait of grief, healing, and cruelty that transcends convention.
"The Killing" is arguably the most controversial entry on this list. While its two-part premiere was met with near universal acclaim, with credit going to Mireille Enos' performance, Patty Jenkins' (of "Wonder Woman" fame) direction, and the gritty, faux-Danish art direction ("The Killing" is adapted from a popular Danish show, "Forbrydelsen"), subsequent episodes floundered. The worst sin came in "The Killing's" first season finale. In that episode, the murder of Rosie Larson (Katie Findlay) is ostensibly solved — only for the final moments to pull the rug out from under the revelation with a final twist.
In an interview with Uproxx, creator Veena Sud remarked, "... Some people may not be so happy that we didn't tie it up in a bow at the end of the season, but we never promised that, and we're trying to do something different here."
Opinions were mixed, but "The Killing" returned for a strong sophomore season, an even stronger third season with an entirely new case, and even an F-bomb laden final chapter on Netflix. While rough going at times, "The Killing" is a contemporary cult classic for a reason.
"Top of the Lake" isn't going to work for everyone. Even by procedural standards, it's slow and recurrently ignores its central crime for deep, pathos-laden dives into the minutiae of its setting and core players. Yet, for those who can work their way through the colloquial muck, "Top of the Lake" has a lot to offer.
Elizabeth Moss is especially good as Detective Robin Griffin, the officer spearheading the investigations into the disappearance of a pregnant 12-year-old in Series 1 and the death of an unidentified young girl in Series 2. The peripheral players are particularly good, with special credit going to Holly Hunter as a cult leader in Series 1 and Alice Englert's Series 2 role as Robin's daughter.
"Top of the Lake" is gritty, dense, deeply political (something to be expected with Jane Campion both producing and directing), and never boring. It both demands and rewards patience. With an unconventional setting and subversive leads, "Top of the Lake" is at the top of its game.
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The post Shows Like Mare of Easttown You Can Binge Watch Right Now appeared first on /Film.
"Jackass" is a franchise that has tested the limits the human mind and body with a litany of crazy, gross, weird, and all-out insane stunts that the whole crew took part in. But sometimes, the lifestyle of cast members would go a little overboard and into some darker territory. Such was the case for Bam Margera, who was long a fixture on the show and movie series, and is curiously absent from "Jackass Forever."
The fourth main installment in the "Jackass" movie franchise restarted filming in the fall of 2020 following a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Margera tested positive for Adderall during filming and was not invited back onto set when "Jackass Forever" resumed their shoot. Margera, a former professional skateboarder and founding cast-member of "Jackass," isn't the first or only Jackass member to have some behavioral and substance abuse issues — Steve-O was infamously an addict for much of Jackass's run before seeking help and turning his health completely around — but he has caused rifts with the group as of late, resulting in his presence in the upcoming movie getting severely limited.
Margera only appears in a single stunt throughout the movie and is credited near the end of the cast list in film: as the 45th out of 49 members. After his ban from the set, he released videos on Instagram making accusations towards Paramount, and Jackass co-founders Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine, all of whom Margera proceeded to sue. Knoxville said that the intention, of course, was to include Margera for the entire film but the situation had changed.
Steve-O spelled it out clearly in a reply to one of Margera's Instagram videos, stating, "Everyone bent over backwards to get you into the movie, and all you had to do was not get loaded. You've continued to get loaded, it's that simple." Producer Spike Jonze is also part of the lawsuit, which claims that Margera was prescribed Adderall for his Attention Deficit Disorder and thus, his ban from the set was illegal. The lawsuit is also claiming millions from the movie's producers and Margera went so far as to call for his fans and fans of "Jackass" in general to boycott the movie.
While it's not certain what the future of "Jackass" is, Johnny Knoxville has all but declared that it is his final foray into the world of stunts and pranks. It would have been nice to have the entire crew there for "Jackass Forever" to send everyone and especially Knoxville off in glorious fashion, but with the combined untimely death of cast member Ryan Dunn (Margera's best friend) and Bam Margera's personal issues, it looks like the show will have to be carried on the backs of Knoxville, Steve-O, Wee Man, and the rest of the gang.
"Jackass" cast members have made a living off of putting themselves in precarious situations but in this case, things have gotten a little realer and frankly, sadder, than they would've hoped. Bam Margera's erratic and unpredictable nature was an asset for "Jackass's" best stunts, but it has since turned on its head in the real world. Margera's drug addiction is something which has affected Knoxville quite a bit. He laments, "It's really heartbreaking. I love Bam. We all love Bam. He's our brother, you know? You just hope that he takes it upon himself to get the help that he needs, because we all care about him a lot."
"Jackass Forever" hits theaters February 4, 2022.
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The post Why Bam Margera Barely Appears in Jackass Forever appeared first on /Film.
NVIDIA has reaffirmed that the ongoing GPU shortages are set to ease down in the second half of 2022, right before their next-gen GeForce RTX 40 series hits retail.
During the 24th Annual Needham Growth Conference, NVIDIA's CFO, Colette Kress, reaffirmed that the ongoing GPU crisis is going to get better in the second half of 2022. Colette also pointed out the huge demand for GeForce graphics cards and GPUs and expects it to outweigh their supply of existing chips.
So even throughout all of calendar 2021, we have seen strong demand for GeForce. And it continues to remain strong and stronger than our overall supply that we have. The holiday demand, for example, was quite strong, particularly in laptops. And we're still finishing out our quarter. But we'll look at the end of the quarter in terms of what we've seen in terms of channel levels. We had seen channel levels be quite lean, and we are working with our supply chain partners to increase the availability of supply. And we feel better about our supply situation as we move into the second half of the calendar year '22.
Some of the other record breaking things that we've seen is gaming demand is quite strong. We're seeing record concurrent users, for example, on Steam. 28 million concurrent users breaking a prior record quite easily. Also, we're seeing momentum build -- momentum building for creative and/or Metaverse like type of applications that are addressed with our Studio offerings, but also [indiscernible].
Now when we focus in terms of cryptocurrency, the contribution of cryptocurrency to our gaming revenue continues and will be difficult for us to quantify. We believe that our process on light hash rate cards for GeForce, also with our CMP product, has been an effective strategy to steer GeForce to the supply of other gamers. However, new crypto hash rate has stemmed and we're seeing several different sources of that. That can be our GeForce GPUs, it could be AMD GPUs, custom ASICs, and our CMP product, all of these are contributing. But again, it's just very difficult for us to quantify.
Not only NVIDIA's CEO, but Intel and AMD's CEOs have also previously hinted at the whole chip shortage situation easing down by the second half of 2022. But it isn't stated as to what will be attributed to the situation getting better. It looks like as the company moves into 2H 2022, they could start focusing on their next-gen GPU architecture, codenamed Ada Lovelace which is going to power their GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs. As such, moving over to a new generation may move off-set some load off the existing GPU lineup.
In a recent rumor, it was reported that NVIDIA has spent several billions of dollars to acquire large quantities of 5nm wafers from TSMC that will go on to power its next-gen GPU lineup. If this is true, then NVIDIA is really aiming to launch its latest products with a stronger supply than we had seen for GeForce RTX 30 series. Currently, there have also been reports that the entry-level GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card is bound to get a better supply than both the GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti, combined. The new card launches on 27th January so it won't be long before we see if that holds any truth.
Consumers are really looking forward to things getting better in the 2nd half of 2022 and we also hope that the chip supply shortages get better so gamers and PC users have access to the latest GPUs and CPUs on time and at MSRP.
The post NVIDIA Says GPU Shortages Are Going To Ease Down in 2H 2022, Right Before Next-Gen GeForce RTX 40 Series Hits Market Shelves by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.
This Friday, Mamoru Hosoda's latest film "Belle" hits theaters. While the anime auteur may not be a household name in the way of Hayao Miyazaki or even Makoto Shinkai (the director of global anime hit "Your Name,") he should be. Hosoda, with his delicate animation style and intimate fantasy adventures, has a style unto himself, often injecting his own personal experiences into his fantastical stories. "The Boy and the Beast" might be a kickass action-fantasy movie about a boy who finds his way into the spirit world and is taken under the wing of a samurai sword-wielding bear, but it's also about Hosoda's anxieties about fatherhood. "Mirai" might be a time-travel adventure about a child who falls through the past, but it's actually Hosoda pondering his family history while musing over his own child's future.
So, ahead of the release of yet another Hosoda critical darling ("Belle" is already being buzzed about as an Oscar contender), here's a guide to the best of Hosoda's films that you can find on streaming now.
Country: Japan
Genre: Fantasy family drama
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Cast: Aoi Miyazaki, Takao Osawa.
Hosoda's gentle 2012 film Wolf Children follows Hana, a university student who falls in love with a man who transforms into a wolf. They have two children together before the wolf man is tragically killed, and soon the pressures of single motherhood and prying eyes force Hana to move to the countryside to protect her wolf children. But as Hana's wolf children grow, one starts to feel the call of the wild while the other is drawn to the messy shelters of civilization. Perhaps the most mature of Hosoda's works, "Wolf Children" is also his most melodramatic — a heartbreaking romance, a coming-of-age story, and a bittersweet treatise to parenthood, all at once. Wolf Children is a lovely fairy tale that feels like several lifetimes lived.
Watch This If You Like: "My Life as a Zucchini," movies about mothers, also movies about wolves.
Country: Japan
Genre: Action fantasy
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Cast: Kōji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Shōta Sometani, Suzu Hirose, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Mamoru Miyano, Kappei Yamaguchi.
"The Boy and the Beast" follows Kyuta, a young boy who runs away to live on the streets of Shibuya after his mother dies, as he accidentally stumbles into a fantastical world populated by beasts and spirits. He soon runs headlong into Kumatetsu, a churlish warrior bear who reluctantly takes him in as a pupil. The two hotheads clash immediately and frequently, but eventually strike up a wary but trusting relationship — teaching each other how become better people and fighters over the course of nine years. Similarities to Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" will inevitably be drawn, but "The Boy and the Beast" is also just as much "The Karate Kid" meets "The Lion King," and totally its own thing. But ultimately, buried beneath the splashy fight scenes and soaring visuals, "The Boy and the Beast" is a deeply felt parable about fatherhood.
Watch This If You Like: "Spirited Away," "The Lion King," top 10 anime fights.
Summer Wars – Funimation
Country: Japan
Genre: Sci-fi action-comedy
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura, Sumiko Fuji.
"Summers Wars" was the movie that put Hosoda on the map. An impossibly imaginative digital adventure, "Summer Wars" takes all of the filmmaker's sleek sci-fi chops that he honed during his time as an animator on Digimon (later making his feature directorial debut with Digimon: The Movie) and combines them with the delicate slice-of-life sensibilities that he had tested out with his masterpiece "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time." It's hard to describe "Summer Wars "without it sounding like the weirdest and most anime movie out there, but Hosoda strikes an incredible balance between the wildly differing tones — and genres — of the movie. At first, "Summer Wars" unfolds like a serene, lazy slice-of-life movie, set in a countryside house where nothing happens outside of a crowded family reunion, where all kinds of outrageous characters vie for the attention of our quiet protagonist. But suddenly, Hosoda shifts gears, and the movie transforms into a visually stimulating, action-packed adventure.
Watch This If You Like: "Digimon," virtual reality, watermelons.
Country: Japan
Genre: Fantay family drama
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Cast: Moka Kamishiraishi, Haru Kuroki, Gen Hoshino, Kumiko Aso.
"Mirai" is a curious little thing. A time-hopping sci-fi epic and an intimate family drama all at once, the story follows 4-year-old Kun, a boy prone to tantrums and random acts of childish cruelty at his new baby sister who has just arrived at their home. Simmering with envy at his attention-hogging sibling, Kun stumbles into a magical garden that acts as a gateway through time. There he meets the teenage version of his baby sister, Mirai, which coincidentally in Japanese means "future." Together they embark on a journey through their family history, befriending Kun's mother as a mischievous young child who likes to wreak havoc in her household, or going on a motorcycle ride through the country with Kun's great-grandfather in pre-World War II Japan. Through his journey, the film weaves a rich tapestry between past and present — though Kun doesn't much care, he's 4 years old. It's a remarkably low-key film for its grand scale and stunning animation, but that's part of it's wonderful charm.
Watch This If You Like: "Petite Maman," "My Neighbor Totoro," time travel!
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The post Pop Culture Imports: Your Streaming Guide to Belle Director Mamoru Hosoda appeared first on /Film.
In "The Suicide Squad," John Cena's Peacemaker is a pretty irredeemable jerk. After his third-act heel turn, it's hard to imagine rooting for him. So how does the "Peacemaker" HBO Max series make viewers not only cheer for Peacemaker, but feel empathetic towards him? James Gunn, who wrote the series and directed five of the eight episodes, uses a wide variety of storytelling techniques to make Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, more sympathetic. One that works surprisingly well is that the story surrounds him with characters who are more clearly evil. Chris' moral ambiguity becomes refreshingly progressive compared to both his white supremacist father Auggie (Robert Patrick) and his long-time friend and true sociopath, Vigilante (Freddie Stroma).
"Peacemaker" is in-part a warning against any kind of authoritarian thinking, and while Auggie represents the blatantly horrible side, Vigilante provides a slightly more likable version to really force viewers to think. He's just like Peacemaker, except he's missing the ability for empathy. That makes him a great killer, but really messes things up when it comes to being a human being.
At a press junket for "Peacemaker" attended by /Film, Gunn explained that Vigilante was intended to be a version of Peacemaker without a moral compass:
"We have Peacemaker, who's a guy who obviously has a conscience. Despite the bad stuff he does, he does have a reasoning behind what he does. Yeah, some of it may be a rationalization for why he's venting his anger, but he does have a philosophy behind it. And Vigilante is a very different sort of 'hero.' I think that I created Vigilante for the show because I thought, if you really are a guy that puts on a costume and goes around and murders people, just cold-blooded murders people who you think are bad guys, who are you really? Who is this person really? He was an interesting character to play with because he is a sociopath."
Vigilante takes the ideas Gunn first played with in his 2010 black comedy "Super" and takes them a step further. In "Super," Rainn Wilson's Frank is a short-order cook who decides to put on a costume and start fighting crime himself. Frank discovers that while he's definitely not a big fan of people, he's still too human to be a good killer. Vigilante, however, never really had any humanity to begin with. Vigilante was recast halfway through production, with Chris Conrad stepping down and Freddie Stroma filling his shoes. Stroma's performance is essential to the character, imbuing him with a sweetness that contradicts his sociopath tendencies. It was important to Gunn that he be morally worse than Peacemaker, but still have redeeming qualities:
"He does not seem to have a conscience, and moreso, he doesn't seem to have emotions. He has a lot of issues. He's not really able to pick up on people's facial expressions. He's not very in tune with other human beings. And yet, despite all of this, there's this sort of, dare I say, sweetness about him that comes from Freddie's performance and comes from the fact that he, in such a vulnerable way, adores Peacemaker... He's a worse version of Peacemaker in many ways, but also not without things that we can like about him."
Gunn's series is all about redemption and who's worthy of it, so providing Vigilante to contrast Peacemaker's own growth is perfection. Besides, Cena and Stroma are more fun together than a grenade taped to a tank shell.
New episodes of "Peacemaker" come out each Thursday, exclusively on HBO Max.
Read this next: Joker's Wild: Ranking The Cinematic Versions Of The Clown Prince Of Crime
The post James Gunn Says Vigilante is Much More of a Sociopath Than Peacemaker appeared first on /Film.
Only David Lynch. This video resurfaced recently of an incident that happened in 2003(?). It shows David Lynch eating a pair of warm panties just removed by "Cinema Lover," a member of the DavidLynch.com chatroom. He stuffs the panties in his mouth and then attempts to pronounce the handle of another chatroom member, WMMVRRVRRMM. — Read the rest
Keeping their tradition alive of launching a new graphics architecture every two years, this year, NVIDIA introduced its Ampere GPU. The Ampere GPU is built upon the foundation set by Turing. Termed as its biggest generational leap, the NVIDIA Ampere GPUs excel compared to previous generations at everything.
The Ampere lineup offers faster shader performance, faster ray tracing performance, and faster AI performance. Built on a brand new process node and featuring an architecture designed from the ground up, Ampere is a killer product with lots of numbers to talk about. The fundamental of Ampere was to take everything NVIDIA learned with its Turing architecture and not only refine it but to use its DNA to form a product in a completely new performance category.
Today, we will be taking a look at the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB graphics card, a silent release from NVIDIA that wasn't announced till its official release on 11th January.
Turing wasn't just any graphics core, it was the graphics core that was to become the foundation of future GPUs. The future is realized now with next-generation consoles going deep in talks about ray tracing and AI-assisted super-sampling techniques. NVIDIA had a head start with Turing and its Ampere generation will only do things infinitely times better.
The Ampere GPU does many traditional things that we would expect from a GPU, but at the same time, also breaks the barrier when it comes to untraditional GPU operations. Just to sum up some features:
The technologies mentioned above are some of the main building blocks of the Ampere GPU, but there's more within the graphics core itself which we will talk about in detail so let's get started.
NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 30 series is made up of a diverse portfolio of graphics cards. The lineup starts at the GeForce RTX 3060 with an MSRP of $329 US and goes all the way up to higher-end configurations starting at $499 US for the GeForce RTX 3070, $599 US for the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, $699 US for the GeForce RTX 3080, $1199 US for the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and $1499 US for the GeForce RTX 3090. NVIDIA themselves call the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti the flagship graphics card and not the GeForce RTX 3090.
The RTX 3080 & RTX 3070 are both priced well and in line with their predecessors but the GeForce RTX 3090 goes all out with a price of $1499 US. Even the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has seen a price hike compared to the MSRP of the RTX 2080 Ti ($999 US vs $1199 US). NVIDIA calls the GeForce RTX 3090 the "BFGPU" and as per the terminology, it seems like this is a new marketing name for the Titan graphics card. It is likely that we could see a Titan-based card under the Quadro branding with faster specs out of the box but the GeForce RTX 3090 is purely a gaming graphics card first with all the horsepower for intense professional and workstation workloads.
With that said, the GeForce RTX 3080 replaces the RTX 2080 SUPER at the same price point and the GeForce RTX 3070 replaces the GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER at the same price point. Given this trend, we might see the more mainstream variants cost just as much as their RTX 20 SUPER series cards but with a higher performance out of the box.
| Graphics Segment | 2014-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titan Tier | Titan X (Maxwell) | Titan X (Pascal) | Titan Xp (Pascal) | Titan V (Volta) | Titan RTX (Turing) | GeForce RTX 3090 |
| Price | $999 US | $1199 US | $1199 US | $2999 US | $2499 US | $1499 US |
| Ultra Enthusiast Tier | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | GeForce RTX 3080 Ti |
| Price | $649 US | $649 US | $699 US | $999 US | $999 US | $1199 US |
| Enthusiast Tier | GeForce GTX 980 | GeForce GTX 1080 | GeForce GTX 1080 | GeForce RTX 2080 | GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER | GeForce RTX 3080 |
| Price | $549 US | $549 US | $549 US | $699 US | $699 US | $699 US |
| High-End Tier | GeForce GTX 970 | GeForce GTX 1070 | GeForce GTX 1070 | GeForce RTX 2070 | GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER | GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GeForce RTX 3070 |
| Price | $329 US | $379 US | $379 US | $499 US | $499 US | $599 $499 |
| Mainstream Tier | GeForce GTX 960 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce GTX 1060 | GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER GeForce RTX 2060 GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GeForce GTX 1660 |
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB |
| Price | $199 US | $249 US | $249 US | $249 US | $399 US $349 US $279 US $229 US $219 US |
$399 US $329 US |
| Entry Tier | GTX 750 Ti GTX 750 |
GTX 950 | GTX 1050 Ti GTX 1050 |
GTX 1050 Ti GTX 1050 |
GTX 1650 SUPER GTX 1650 |
TBA |
| Price | $149 US $119 US |
$149 US | $139 US $109 US |
$139 US $109 US |
$159 US $149 US |
TBA |
In addition to the specs/price update, NVIDIA's RTX technologies are being widely adopted by major game engines and APIs such as Microsoft's DirectX (DXR), Vulkan, Unreal Engine, Unity, and Frostbite. While there were only three RTX titles around the launch of the RTX 20 series cards, NVIDIA now has at least 28 titles that utilize their RTX feature set to offer real-time ray tracing with more coming soon.
In addition to that, with the upcoming consoles confirmed to feature ray tracing, developers can also make use of the RTX technology to fine-tune future games for the GeForce RTX hardware. Currently, NVIDIA has 13 game engines that are leveraging their RTX technologies for use in their upcoming and existing games while both Vulkan and DirectX 12 Ultimate APIs are part of the RTX ecosystem on the PC platform.
So for this review, I will be taking a look at MSI's latest GeForce RTX 30 SUPRIM X series graphics card which includes the GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB SUPRIM X.
NVIDIA designed the GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB graphics card, not just for any gamer but all gamers who want to have the best 4K graphics performance at hand to power the next-generation of AAA gaming titles with superb visuals and insane fluidity. It's not just the FPS that matters these days, it's visuals, and a smoother frame rate too and this is exactly what the GeForce RTX 30 series is made to excel at. There's a lot to talk about regarding NVIDIA's flagship Ampere gaming graphics cards so let's start off with the specifications.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB Graphics Card Specifications
For the GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB, NVIDIA has enabled a total of 70 SM units which results in a total of 8960 CUDA cores, a 3% increase over the standard RTX 3080. In addition to the CUDA cores, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3080 also comes packed with next-generation RT (Ray-Tracing) cores, Tensor cores, and brand new SM or streaming multi-processor units. The card is suggested to have a TDP of 350W and will operate at a base clock of 1260 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz.
In terms of memory, the updated GeForce RTX 3080 comes packed with 12 GB of memory and that too is the next-generation GDDR6X design. With Micron's latest and greatest graphics memory dies, the RTX 3080 can deliver GDDR6X memory speeds of 19.0 Gbps. That along with a bus interface of 384-bit will deliver a cumulative bandwidth of 912 GB / s or a 20% increase over the 10 GB variant. The TGP for the card is set to be slightly higher than the RTX 3080 at 350 Watts. That's definitely needed to feed the extra cores so NVIDIA might have to optimize the clocks a bit here.
The reception of this card mostly depends on its pricing. While the MSRP of $ 699 US was never true for the GeForce RTX 3080, the same can be expected for the 12 GB variant. It will slide between the RTX 3080 10 GB and RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB graphics card so expect around $ 899- $ 999 US as an MSRP & realistic pricing should be expected over $ 1500 US. As for performance, the card may end up being really close to the RTX 3080 Ti at a lower price point.
| Graphics Card Name | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Name | Ampere GA107 | Ampere GA107 | Ampere GA106-300 | Ampere GA104-200 | Ampere GA104-300 | Ampere GA104-400 | Ampere GA102-200 | Ampere GA102-225 | Ampere GA102-300 |
| Process Node | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm | Samsung 8nm |
| Die Size | TBA | TBA | TBA | 395.2mm2 | 395.2mm2 | 395.2mm2 | 628.4mm2 | 628.4mm2 | 628.4mm2 |
| Transistors | TBA | TBA | TBA | 17.4 Billion | 17.4 Billion | 17.4 Billion | 28 Billion | 28 Billion | 28 Billion |
| CUDA Cores | 2048? | 2560? | 3584 | 4864 | 5888 | 6144 | 8704 | 10240 | 10496 |
| TMUs / ROPs | 64 / 40 | 80 / 48 | 112 / 64 | 152 / 80 | 184 / 96 | 192/ 96 | 272 / 96 | 320 / 112 | 328 / 112 |
| Tensor / RT Cores | 64 / 16 | 80 / 20 | 112 / 28 | 152 / 38 | 184 / 46 | 192/ 48 | 272 / 68 | 320 / 80 | 328 / 82 |
| Base Clock | TBA | TBA | 1320 MHz | 1410 MHz | 1500 MHz | 1575 MHz | 1440 MHz | 1365 MHz | 1400 MHz |
| Boost Clock | TBA | TBA | 1780 MHz | 1665 MHz | 1730 MHz | 1770 MHz | 1710 MHz | 1665 MHz | 1700 MHz |
| FP32 Compute | TBA | TBA | 12.7 TFLOPs | 16.2 TFLOPs | 20 TFLOPs | 22 TFLOPs | 30 TFLOPs | 34 TFLOPs | 36 TFLOPs |
| RT TFLOPs | TBA | TBA | 25.4 TFLOPs | 32.4 TFLOPs | 40 TFLOPs | 42 TFLOPs | 58 TFLOPs | 67 TFLOPs | 69 TFLOPs |
| Tensor-TOPs | TBA | TBA | 101 TOPs | 129.6 TOPs | 163 TOPs | 174 TOPs | 238 TOPs | 273 TOPs | 285 TOPs |
| Memory Capacity | 4 GB GDDR6? | 4 GB GDDR6? | 12 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6X | 10 GB GDDR6X | 12 GB GDDR6X | 24 GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Bus | 128-bit | 128-bit | 192-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 320-bit | 384-bit | 384-bit |
| Memory Speed | TBA | TBA | 15 Gbps | 14 Gbps | 14 Gbps | 19 Gbps | 19 Gbps | 19 Gbps | 19.5 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | TBA | TBA | 360 Gbps | 448 Gbps | 448 Gbps | 608 Gbps | 760 Gbps | 912 Gbps | 936 Gbps |
| TGP | ~75W | ~100W | 170W | 200W | 220W | 290W | 320W | 350W | 350W |
| Price (MSRP / FE) | $149? | $199? | $329 | $399 US | $499 US | $599 US | $699 US | $1199 | $1499 US |
| Launch (Availability) | 2021? | 2021? | February 2021 | December 2020 | 29th October 2020 | 10th June 2021 | 17th September 2020 | 3rd June 2021 | 24th September 2020 |
In case you want to read our full NVIDIA Ampere GPU architecture deep dive and GeForce RTX 30 Founders Edition review, head over to this link.
The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB SUPRIM X is one of the best custom variants design for the GeForce RTX 30 series family. MSI has gone all out with the design of SUPRIM X series graphics cards which now stand a tier above the Gaming X Trio lineup. MSI has also adopted new cooling & acoustics design for the SUPRIM X series which we will be talking about in detail.
In addition to the custom design, the RTX 3080 12 GB SUPRIM X graphics card comes with a non-reference PCB, featuring a 20 phase power design that features higher quality components than the reference variant which is already a really good design by itself.
In terms of clock speeds, the MSI GeForce RTX 3090 SUPRIM X graphics card features an 1830 MHz boost clock (Gaming & Silent Mode) with a TGP of 400W. The card is powered up through a triple 8-pin connector configuration. The rest of the specifications including the memory clocks are rated at stock specifications.
Following are some of the features of the MSI GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB SUPRIM X before we go into detail:
With the differences out of the way, now let's talk about the similarities and the main highlights of the SUPRIM X design. The SUPRIM X graphics cards look vastly superior to the Gaming X Trio models and I can even say that they match the quality of the Lightning series which is exclusive for flagship designs. Both cards use advanced Tri-Frozr coolers which are the replacement of the MSI Twin Frozr series which have been widely used in current and last-generation graphics cards from MSI.
SUPRIM means more than just a new graphics card series from MSI. Decades of circuit engineering and cooling development have led to a new product design that
embraces prestige in its appearance and capabilities.Concept turns to reality with high quality materials coming together such as thickened copper inside the PCB to brushed aluminum plating with precision cut edges on the exterior of the cooler.
A focus on the user experience and quality is reflected in the details, such as the dual BIOS
being set to Silent out of the box for comfort .This card is amped up with robust power stages for durability, cooled with an extensive
heatsink system for sustaining extreme performance, and clad in a modern aesthetic to reflect a high performance lifestyle
MSI has incorporated and refined a couple of things in the new Tri Frozr design for SUPRIM X which is now referred to as Tri Frozr 2S while the Gaming X Trio variants feature the Tri Frozr 2 cooling. First is the TORX fan 4.0 which uses a ring design that connects two fan-blades with each other to increase airflow towards the internal heatsink assembly. These fans are made up of a double ball bearing design which ensures silent functionality in heavy loads.
The fans are fully compliant with the Zero Frozr Technology and are actually comprised of three areas. All of these would stay at 0 RPM (idle state) if the temperatures don't exceed 60C. When it does exceed 60C, all fans would start spinning. You can change that through the MSI configuration panel if you want more cooling performance over noise load but it's a nifty feature that I do like.
In addition to the cooling fans, the new VIP heatsink has been designed to be denser by using the brand new wave curved 2.0 fin design. The new heatsink makes use of deflectors to allow more air to pass through the fins smoothly, without causing any turbulence that would result in unwanted noise. MSI estimates a 2 degrees (C) drop in temperatures with the updated design versus the previous generation cooling system.
Talking about the heatsink, the massive block is comprised of seven copper squared-shaped heat pipes with a more concentrated design to transfer heat from the copper base to the heatsink more effectively. The base itself is a solid nickel-plated base plate, transferring heat to the heat pipes in a very effective manner. To top it all off, MSI uses their exclusive Thermal Compound X which is said to offer higher thermal interface and heat transfer compared to traditional TIM applications.
Rocking a classy brushed look, the backplate on the SUPRIM X series provides a nice visual finish to the card. It also strengthens the card and thanks to some cleverly placed thermal pads even help to keep temperatures low.
The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB SUPRIM X graphics card comes inside a standard cardboard box. The front of the package has a large "GeForce RTX" brand logo along with the "MSI" logo on the top left corner and the "Gaming X Trio" series branding on the lower-left corner. A large picture of the graphics card itself is depicted on the front which gives a nice preview of the SUPRIM X design.
The packaging has put a large emphasis on the RTX side of things as the first feature enlisted by AIBs will be NVIDIA Ampere architecture, Ray Tracing & DLSS support. NVIDIA has bet the future of their gaming GPUs on Ray Tracing support as these are the first cards to offer support for the new feature.
The back of the box is very typical, highlighting the main features and specifications of the cards. The three key aspects of MSI's top-tier custom cards are its blazing performance which is achieved by fully custom design, the new Tri-Frozr cooling system, and a new wave-curved 2.0 heatsink which will offer better cooling performance compared to the traditional flat-surfaced fin heatsinks.
There's also a focus towards GeForce.com on each AIB card through which users can download the latest drivers and GeForce Experience application which are a must for gamers to access all feature sets of the new cards.
The sides of the box once again greet us with the large GeForce RTX branding. There's also the mention of 12 GB GDDR6X (RTX 3080) memory available on the card.
Outside of the box, the graphics card and the accessory package are held firmly by foam packaging. The graphics card comes with a few accessories and manuals which might not be of much use for hardcore enthusiasts but can be useful for the mainstream gaming audience.
The card is nicely wrapped within an anti-static cover which is useful to prevent any unwanted static discharges on various surfaces that might harm the graphics card. The most interesting accessory that I found in the package was a graphics card support bracket. This bracket connects the graphics card to the casing, offering better durability and preventing any sort of bending that may occur due to the heavy weight of the Gaming X Trio series graphics cards.
Useful manuals and installation guides are packed within an MSI labeled letter case. There is an MSI Quick Users Guide, a Support bracket installation guide, a sticker letter, the MSI DIY comic, and a single driver's disk. It's best to ignore the driver disk and install the latest software and graphics drivers directly from the NVIDIA and MSI official web pages as the ones shipped in the disks could be older versions and not deliver optimal performance for your graphics cards.
After the package is taken care of, I can finally start talking about the card itself. This thing is a beast and I can't wait to test it out to find what kind of performance improvement I get over current-gen cards.
MSI’s Tri Frozr heat sinks are some of the biggest heatsink cooling solutions that I have ever tested. I first tested the Gaming X Trio when MSI released the 1080 Ti variant back in 2017 and that was a very aggressive design in its own right. With the RTX 30 series cards, MSI has further refined the Twin Frozr design. The card measures the same at 336 x 140 x 61 mm and weighs in at 1905 grams, respectively. The card features a standard 3 slot height which is expected of today's high-end cards.
You would have to keep in mind the height when going for a dual card solution as your case or motherboard PCIe slot combination may not allow such a setup. The cooling shroud extends all the way to the back of the PCB and it requires a casing with good interior space for proper installation.
The back of the card features a solid backplate which looks stunning. The backplate offers a lot more functionality than just looks which I will get back to in a bit.
In terms of design, we are looking at an updated version of the Tri Frozr heatsink which is now in its sixth variation while for the Gaming X series, this is the 2nd iteration. The first variation started off with the GTX 780 Ti Lightning, the second was the 980 Ti Lightning, then came the 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio, the 1080 Ti Lightning, and then the RTX 20 and RTX SUPER Gaming X Trio graphics cards.
The new heatsink looks like a beefed-up version of the Gaming X Trio with the main changes being the shroud and heatsink design that feature an aggressive shroud design on the front, absorbing the black and silver color platelets while featuring the RGB emitting acrylic cutouts at the front. The sides also come with a large RGB accent bar which lights up when the card is powered on.
Coming to the fans, the card actually features two different fan designs based on the Torx 4.0 system. All three fans feature a ring-based design to allow for higher airflow to be channeled within the main heatsink. All fans deploy a double ball bearing design and can last a long time while operating silently.
MSI also features their Zero Frozr technology on the Tri Frozr heatsink. This feature won’t spin the fans on the card unless they reach a certain threshold.
In the case of the Tri Frozr heatsink, that limit is set to 60C. If the card is operating under 60C, the fans won’t spin which means no extra noise would be generated.
I am back at talking about the full-coverage, full metal-based backplate which the card uses. The whole plate is made of solid metal with rounded edges that add to the durability of this card. The brushed matte-black finish on the backplate gives a unique aesthetic. The graphics card also comes with a compact PCB design which means that the shroud, heatsink, and backplate are all extended beyond the PCB. The third fan blows air through the heatsink and blows it out from the cutouts that are situated at the very end of the backplate.
There are cutouts in screw placements to easily reach the points on the graphics card. We can also see the MSI Dragon logo on the back which looks stunning. MSI is also using heat pads beneath the backplate which offer more cooling to the electrical circuitry on the PCB. The most interesting thing to spot on the back aside from the backplate is the large retention metal bracket which adds more mounting pressure to effectively disperse heat from the GPU to the heatsink.
With the outsides of the card done, I will now start taking a glance at what's beneath the hood of these monster graphics cards. The first thing to catch my eye is the humungous fin stack that's part of the beefy heatsink which the cards utilize.
The large fin stack runs all the way from the front and to the back of the PCB and is so thick that you can barely see through it. It also comes with the wave-curved 2.0 fin stack design which I want to shed some light on as it is a turn away from traditional fin design and one that may actually offer better cooling on high-end graphics cards such as the RTX 3080 12 GB.
The heatsink has been designed to be denser by using a wave curved fin design. It allows more air to pass through the fins smoothly, without causing any turbulence that would result in unwanted noise. Airflow Control Technology guides the airflow directly onto the heat pipes, while simultaneously creating more surface area for the air to absorb more heat before leaving the heatsink.
Talking about the heatsink, the massive block is comprised of seven copper squared-shaped heat pipes with a more concentrated design to transfer heat from the copper base to the heatsink more effectively. The base itself is a solid nickel-plated base plate, transferring heat to the heat pipes in a very effective manner. To top it all off, MSI uses their exclusive Thermal Compound X which is said to offer higher thermal interface and heat transfer compared to traditional TIM applications.
MSI adds extra protection to its impressive PCB by including a rugged anti-bending plate. This also acts as a memory and MOSFET cooling plate while the PWM heatsink with micro fins keeps the VRM cool under stressful conditions.
I/O on the graphics card sticks with the reference scheme which includes three Display Port 1.4a & a single HDMI 2.1 port.
There's also a dual-BIOS switch on the card which comes pre-configured with Silent & Gaming modes. The BIOS doesn't affect the clock profiles but rather affects the maximum power limit, enabling higher fan speeds to better cooling and more stable clocks.
MSI makes use of a 20 phase PWM design that includes its Military Class components such as Hi-C Caps, Super Ferrite Chokes, and Japanese Solid Caps. The main VRM controller is an OnSemi NCP81611. For VRAM, the controller is a UPI made 9512R while the MOSFETs are made up of OnSemi NCP302150 (50A).
The card also uses the GDDR6X memory from Micron that operates at 19.0 Gbps alongside a 384-bit wide memory interface.
The MSI GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB SUPRIM X is a very power-hungry graphics card as showcased by its custom design. Being so, the card utilizes a triple 8-pin connector configuration as opposed to a single 12-pin EPS configuration that the FE variant features. The card is rated at 350W but ends up around 400W with the Extreme profile (1845 MHz).
MSI SUPRIM X series cards utilize their Mystic Light RGB technology to offer you a visually pleasing lighting experience on your graphics cards. There are a total of 5 different RGB effects which you can choose from and the cards have 3 RGB accent points on the front, one on the back, and one lightbar surrounding the side of the card which looks really good. You can fully customize the RGB lights to your preference using the MSI Mystic Light application from MSI's web page.
Following is what the graphics card looks like when lit up.
We used the following test system for comparison between the different graphics cards. The latest drivers that were available at the time of testing were used from AMD and NVIDIA on an updated version of Windows 11. All games that were tested were patched to the latest version for better performance optimization for NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-12900K |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | AORUS Z690 Master |
| Video Cards | MSI GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB SUPRIM X MSI GeForce RTX 3080 TI SUPRIM X MSI GeForce RTX 3090 SUPRIM X MSI GeForce RTX 3080 SUPRIM X MSI Radeon RX 6900 XT Gaming X Trio MSI Radeon RX 6800 XT Gaming X Trio MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT Gaming X MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming X MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X |
| Memory | G.SKILL Trident Z5 Series 32GB (2 X 16GB) CL36 6000 |
| Storage | Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB) |
| Power Supply | ASUS ROG THOR 1200W PSU |
| OS | Windows 11 64-bit |
| Drivers | AMD Radeon Adrenalin Edition 21.12.1 NVIDIA GeForce 511.17 WHQL |
DOOM Eternal brings hell to earth with the Vulkan-powered idTech 7. We test this game using the Ultra Nightmare Preset and follow our in-game benchmarking to stay as consistent as possible.
Square Enix has deployed out the first update for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on PC, and here’s what it does.
The game’s first patch updates the game version to 1.001 and should download automatically the next time players launch the Epic Games Store client. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be a major update for PC players, as patch notes are quite minimal.
According to the notes, the new 1.001 update packs fixes for various issues, although details haven’t been specified. In addition, after installing the update, subtitles within Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade are now English by default. The most notable change appears to be related to Dynamic Resolution Scaling as this update stabilizes the game’s framerate for framerates of 90 and above.
For the sake of completeness, we’ve included the full release notes, as supplied by Square Enix, down below:
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade PC Update 1.001 Release Notes
The Epic Games Store version of FFVIIR INTERGRADE has been upgraded to Ver. 1.001.
Please see below for details.
- Subtitles now default to English.
- The resolution is now stabilized for framerates of 90 and above.
- Various other issues have been rectified.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is available now globally for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. The PC version was released last month following an announcement at The Game Awards. Prior to the game’s release on the Epic Games Store, the Remake was exclusive to PlayStation platforms.
In FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE on PC, players will follow the story of ex-SOLDIER operative turned mercenary Cloud Strife, who descends on the mako-powered city of Midgar as he lends his aid to an underground resistance group calling themselves Avalanche in their fight against Shinra Electric Power Company, a shadowy corporation. FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE also includes an exhilarating new story arc, FF7R EPISODE INTERmission, which brings ninja Yuffie Kisaragi to the forefront as she infiltrates the city of Midgar during the events of the base game.
With improved textures, lighting, background environments, a fully customizable “Photo Mode,” and more, FINAL FANTASY VII INTERGRADE for PC also features 4K support, HDR support, XInput and DirectInput compliant controller support, keyboard and mouse support, plus the highest spec PCs could see a performance of up to 120 frames per second.
The post Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade PC Update 1.001 Stabilizes Framerates of 90 and Above; Also Packs Fixes For Various Issues by Aernout van de Velde appeared first on Wccftech.
"Vertigo" was released more than 60 years ago, receiving mixed criticism and lukewarm responses, as viewers at the time felt that it lacked Alfred Hitchcock's signature mastery.
However, over time, "Vertigo" underwent massive critical re-evaluation, having been hailed for its taut narrative threads, complex characters, and stunning cinematography. The ending of the film still baffles some, as it is an eerie thematic mirroring from a symbolic perspective, emulating the visceral sensation of vertigo.
Like any valuable work of art, the innate and inherent themes within "Vertigo" seem to shift with every viewing, as the film blooms when its many layers are peeled away, and the saga of John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) unfolds. Interestingly, the decision to cast Stewart in a rather unconventional character mold (given that his established roles were in fantasy and romantic dramas, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Philadelphia Story") adds a layer of compelling effectiveness to an already-dizzying tale. After all, it's Scottie's spiral towards the edge of sanity, his deep-seated issues with acrophobia and vertigo, and the psychosexual undercurrents that define him, that make "Vertigo" such an electrifying watch.
In order to better understand why "Vertigo" ends the way it does, it is crucial to delve deeper into Scottie's psyche, and the various psychological triggers that progress his arc throughout the film. Moreover, to view Judy/Madeleine's actions through the sole lens of morality would mean adopting a rather narrow tunnel vision, as the mere presence of an overt crime does not warrant immediate condemnation (or pangs of guilt). Nor does the absence of crime, as in Scottie's case, guarantee a guilt-free conscience.
Just like guilt stains the soul of Joseph K., an innocent man accused of a crime he is unaware of, in Franz Kafka's "The Trial," Scottie's guilt of having witnessed the death of the police officer manifests in physical ways -- acrophobia and vertigo.
This overarching anxiety, accompanied by the sheer inability to face his own fears, is what allows his old friend Elster to carry out his elaborate murder scheme. However, this very anxiety is exacerbated by Scottie's sexual desire for Judy/Madeleine, which is an integral aspect of Elster's intricate plan. Even after the ploy is unveiled, Scottie's desires are pinned on "Madeleine," the psychosexual mental imprint of his friend's actual wife, despite the fact that he is acutely aware of Judy's reality.
One also has to consider that another reason why Scottie is so taken with Madeleine is the larger-than-life family backstory of Carlotta Valdes, which further fuels his obsession to the point of clinical breakdown and disorientation.
Applying the advice of ex-fiancée Margorie, who believed that only a greater emotional trauma could undo Scottie's newfound fears/medical condition, Scottie decides to relive the trauma of Madeleine's death in order to overcome his guilt/grief. Naturally, this idea hinges upon the trope of conscious performance, an attempt to maintain an illusion that has already shattered, given way to a reality one is incapable of accepting.
This sense of dissonance sets in via subtle moments, such as when Judy wears a necklace from Madeleine's jewelry collection, which also belonged to Carlotta Valdes. Despite his knowledge of the bitter truth, Scottie pushes Judy up the bell tower -- an instance wherein his obsession overshadows his innate fears.
There are multifarious ways to analyze the ending of "Vertigo," key being the questions of what the presence of the nun meant, whether the events were a self-exonerated retelling of planned murder or just pure, absurd coincidence. No matter how one chooses to arrive at a conclusion, it's crucial to acknowledge the unsettling, bizarre mix of fear and desire that dominates the final scene, one that ultimately ends in death.
One could venture into a Freudian route of desire (Eros) and death (Thanatos), or alternatively, look at the events as a manifestation of Scottie's innermost desire -- the death of "Madeleine" (or who he believes to be Madeleine) for him to be able to get over her. Either way, it's too late.
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The post Vertigo Ending Explained: Dizzying Doubles and Deadly Obsession appeared first on /Film.
The death of Satoshi Kon in 2010 from pancreatic cancer at age 46 robbed the world of the chance to catch up with his artistry. In the early 2000s, anime already had die-hard devotees in America, but the art form started to gain traction outside of that fanbase with Disney's advocacy of Hayao Miyazaki's family-friendly films. Kon's madcap fantasias couldn't be marketed the same way, since they dealt with adult subjects and collapsed Japanese history and film history into each other to surreal effect.
Kon's first feature film was 1997's "Perfect Blue," the story of a pop singer who announces that she's giving up music for an acting career and takes a role on a TV crime series. A violent stalker who wants her to stay in pop starts murdering people around her, and the stress gives her hallucinations involving her character from the show. The theme of characters being haunted by sinister versions of themselves stretches back at least to the literature of the 19th century, but Kon applies it to a specifically Japanese cultural context, using it to comment caustically on the boxes in which both J-pop and TV dramas can trap women.
Ambitious Western filmmakers have picked up Kon's sophisticated handling of themes and psychedelic visuals as grist for their stories -- perhaps none more so than Darren Aronofsky.
Aronofsky denied using "Perfect Blue" as inspiration for his 2010 Oscar-winning horror film "Black Swan," but this comes off as highly disingenuous when you consider that he reportedly purchased remake rights for Kon's film so that he could reference specific shots in "Requiem for a Dream." Aronofsky not only uses mirrors in a manner similar to Kon's, he also details how the sexist pressures of the entertainment industry (here represented by a New York ballet company) ravages the body and the mind of the woman at the center of his story. Even the names of the protagonists are similar, with Mima of "Perfect Blue" becoming Nina in "Black Swan." The film's quotient of body horror is a prominent feature in plenty of anime in general and not just Kon's films, but having it play out in live action with Natalie Portman's performance makes "Black Swan" a potent work.Images of beautiful young women serve as currency in entertainment industries all over the world, and when you happen to be one of those beautiful young women, that can't help but alienate you from the likeness of yourself. Satoshi Kon and Darren Aronofsky (and later Edgar Wright in 2021's "Last Night in Soho") examined how that alienation and the dislocation of portraying a character who is different from oneself can crack the door open for mental disorders and the loss of one's own identity. The line between fantasy and reality becomes frighteningly permeable in not just "Perfect Blue" and "Black Swan," but in Kon's "Paprika" and Aronofsky's "π" and "Requiem for a Dream," and it's what imbues these movies with such nightmarish power.
Read this next: 15 Must-See Horror Anime Movies
The post The Classic Dark Anime That Inspired Darren Aronofsky appeared first on /Film.
