The global supply chain is slowing down at the very moment when Americans are demanding that it go into overdrive. The Atlantic: Is it just me, or does it feel like America is running out of everything? I visited CVS last week to pick up some at-home COVID-19 tests. They'd been sold out for a week, an employee told me. So I asked about paper towels. "We're out of those too," he said. "Try Walgreens." I drove to a Walgreens that had paper towels. But when I asked a pharmacist to fill some very common prescriptions, he told me the store had run out. "Try the Target up the road," he suggested. Target's pharmacy had the meds, but its front area was alarmingly barren, like the canned-food section of a grocery store one hour before a hurricane makes landfall.
This is the economy now. One-hour errands are now multi-hour odysseys. Next-day deliveries are becoming day-after-next deliveries. That car part you need? It'll take an extra week, sorry. The book you were looking for? Come back in November. The baby crib you bought? Make it December. Eyeing a new home-improvement job that requires several construction workers? Haha, pray for 2022. The U.S. economy isn't yet experiencing a downturn akin to the 1970s period of stagflation. This is something different, and quite strange. Americans are settling into a new phase of the pandemic economy, in which GDP is growing but we're also suffering from a dearth of a shocking array of things -- test kits, car parts, semiconductors, ships, shipping containers, workers. This is the Everything Shortage. The Everything Shortage is not the result of one big bottleneck in, say, Vietnamese factories or the American trucking industry. We are running low on supplies of all kinds due to a veritable hydra of bottlenecks.
Drywall regularly sustains all kinds of damage, from holes made while hanging shelves and pictures to dings from protruding chair backs and door knobs, but luckily it’s almost as easy to repair as it is to break. Fixing dents and holes in drywall yourself can save you some money and make you feel downright handy,…
Modder ‘Kuzja80’ has released a must-have HD Texture Pack/remastered mod for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. This project is 5.5GB in size, overhauls all of the game’s textures, and brings a number of tweaks and enhancements. Going into more details, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Remastered upscales all of the game’s … Continue reading Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Remastered Mod adds 4K textures →
"Squid Game" is a phenomenon, and rightly so. It's a vicious thriller series that sharply criticizes class and capitalism, anchored by across-the-board stellar performances. Until ... episode 7. That's when the Korean drama series introduces the mysterious "VIPs," who turn out to be wealthy Americans, alongside one Chinese businessman, who look and sound like they're characters played by Tobias Funke. They're hammy, they're over-the-top, and they're in gross contrast to the nuanced performances given by Korean stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Jung Ho-yeon, and Wi Ha-joon — and even by the broader performers Heo Sung-tae, who played the gangster antagonist, and Kim Joo-ryoung, our favorite unhinged wild-card player. And yet, it works. In fact, it kind of rules.
I'm not here to say that these performances by the white VIPs (who are played by Daniel C. Kennedy, John D. Michaels, and Geoffrey Giuliano — all professional actors, and not random people plucked off the streets, in fact) are good by any means. They are objectively bad. But it works in the greater context of the K-drama genre and even the wider Korean movie circuit, both of which have famously employed white actors who act and speak like an alien's approximation of a human being. Because that's kind of what's happening: we're seeing Americans through the lens of South Korean writers and directors. And baby, it's not that flattering.
Are We The Baddies?
Americans are so used to seeing themselves represented in Hollywood that it's a little jarring to see things from the other side: that white people aren't so beloved, Bob! This is never more clear than in "Squid Game," where the three white VIPs are depicted as bloodthirsty, crude voyeurs with over-the-top drawls and accents who guffaw over "69" jokes and have hilariously bad banter like:
VIP 1: "Only five remaining players."
VIP 2: "And then there were five!"
That the VIPs behind such a twisted game as "Squid Game" are white Americans is not a subtle jab at the richest 1% hailing from the U.S., but Korean dramas and films have rarely been about subtlety. "Squid Game" itself has a transparent piggy bank hanging over the heads of the contestants — you couldn't get a more obvious metaphor for capitalism.
Long before "Squid Game" earned the ire of Americans who saw themselves depicted as cartoonishly evil goons, South Korean movies and K-dramas have been featuring hilariously wooden white characters who are often borderline caricatures. Look to even the critically acclaimed films of Bong Joon-ho, who had an eeevil scientist in his 2006 film "The Host" played by Scott Wilson say stilted lines like, "The Han river is very broad, Mr. Kim, let's try to be ... broad-minded about this." The scientist who shows up later in "The Host," played by Paul Lazar, is even hammier and capital "E" evil, practically cackling about the U.S. government's virus cover-up. And most any K-drama that features a white character, as prestigious as that series may be, usually has wooden dialogue and acting to match.
This Is By No Means A New Thing
As surprising as this is to learn, Hollywood isn't the only movie industry in the world. China has the largest movie market on the globe, while Japan and Korea have been releasing critically acclaimed and wildly popular fare for years. Bollywood is a whole industry to itself. And often, in the films produced by other countries, Americans and Westerners rarely factor in — or if they do, sometimes it's not in the most favorable way.
Look to any Korean, Japanese, or Chinese movie that features a white character, and you'll see the same thing: cartoonish caricatures of Westerners, sometimes played for laughs, and rarely accurate.
But you know what, that's fine. A few actors have even mined whole careers out of playing the hammy heavies in Chinese martial arts and action movies — which are basically pro-China propaganda as they are — such as Scott Adkins and Frank Grillo. When either of those two show up in a movie like Ip Man 4 or Wolf Warrior 2, you can expect the most 'roided-out depiction of testosterone-powered American bravado — perfect for the noble Chinese protagonist to defeat in a show of homeland superiority.
Adkins and Grillo are extremely good at this, and there's a whole community of Western actors who have made a living out of playing these cartoonish depictions of white people — just look to the IMDB profiles of Kennedy, Michaels, and Giuliano in "Squid Game," and you'll see almost exclusively Korean titles on their resumés.
And you know what, maybe we all need a little ham to go with that boiled potato they gave us as a meal in "Squid Game." And maybe we all need a little humbling reminder that white Americans aren't always seen as the default hero in other countries. And maybe it's a little refreshing to see white people be depicted as those cartoonishly bad doofuses, after years of Hollywood doing the same to Asian people.
Courtesy Paramount Pictures & Spyglass Media GroupDo you like scary movies? The thrilling trailer for SCREAM, scheduled to be released in theaters January 14, 2022, just dropped, and Nightmarish Conjurings is excited to share some exclusive interviews from a virtual press junket I attended with the cast of the new film! Written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not), also known as Radio Silence, SCREAM stars Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ammar, with Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell.
Along with a few other online outlets, I had the pleasure of talking with Marley Shelton and David Arquette, over Zoom, about returning to their roles as Deputy Judy Hicks (Shelton) and Sheriff Dewey Riley (Arquette) for the new Scream!
First, we talked with Marley Shelton, who told us that Judy Hicks has been promoted! She’s now Sheriff Hicks and said, “There’s a lot that comes with that which I won’t give away. She also has a teenage son, who’s an amazing member of our cast.” Shelton also shared that Judy’s son is named Wes, in honor of the late Wes Craven.
Patrick Cavanaugh, Comicbook.com: For SCREAM, was this something that you’ve been hoping to come back for the past 10 years? Or was it later in the game that you’re excited to kind of get involved?
Marley Shelton: Honestly, it never even occurred to me that they would make another one after four. I just completely put it out of my mind. I’m not sure why in retrospect, but I was so delighted and surprised when they called me up. And now, it makes perfect sense. I think it’s fantastic. And what’s great about this, this relaunch is you’re gonna get all of the same kind of things that we love about Scream, which is like the self-referencing humor, the making fun of other horror tropes that really kind of amazing sort of snarky tone and yet, all while being really, really scary. I was so excited when I read the script. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, they pulled it off. They did it again.’ Like they actually hit this, this incredible tone that’s like threading a needle. And I think Matt and Tyler as directors are also really the right guys to take this on and to helm this. I think Wes Craven would have approved of this choice. So, I’m excited and I think this is a great way to kind of relaunch the Scream world.
Michelle Swope: Deputy Judy Hicks has an iconic line from Scream 4, “Wear the vest, save your chest!” Does the new Sheriff have any cool lines in the new SCREAM that will stay with us?
Shelton: Yes, Judy’s always full of Judy-isms. So hopefully, we’ll have a few this go around. I know between that line and the lemon squares, it’s you know, Judy, has made her mark on the Zeitgeist [laughs].
Rihaana Stark, Geeks of Color: As a whole, what makes this one bigger and better than the others, and how does this one set it set itself apart from the others in the franchise?
Shelton: Well, I think, for one thing, there’s that much more backstory. That’s the cool thing with the Scream legacy is like you get more and more invested in these characters. Because each time everything’s connected to the predecessor and there’s this whole almost lore now surrounding it and I think that keeps us audience members invested because you’re tracking who’s related to who and how and remembering different origin stories and how they relate to the present. So, all of that is in this and yet it also is fresh and topical and modern and new characters I mean, I think that’s the other cool thing. We have a whole fresh young cast that is super talented. Also really cool that they’re diverse, that we’ve got major ethnic diversity this time which is cool. And I think that’s gonna be awesome for audiences to see it’s just a new host of talented actors along with the legacy cast, of course.
Michelle Swope: What’s your experience been like filming SCREAM during the pandemic? Has it been difficult?
Shelton: Well, so like every other business and industry, we’ve had to get creative and pivot and adapt. And it’s definitely a challenge. It’s not insurmountable but dealing with all the PPE and the masks and face shields, and all of that stuff in between takes is definitely something to get used to. I don’t think I saw my cast members’ full faces until they said, “action.” They roll in half. First day of shooting, which was so kind of jarring, we even rehearsed with full masks on. So, that was interesting. And I joked with Matt, and Tyler, but I still haven’t seen their faces. They’re my directors, and still, I’ve only seen their eyeballs. But like anything else, you get used to it. You know, it’s like the triumph of the human spirit. Like our crew. They’re such rockstars. They’re wearing all of this gear for 12 hours a day. And people are so respectful and caring of each other, and it’s a group effort, but in a weird way, it bonds you as well.
Michelle Swope: I know you probably can’t tell us, but how would you feel about Sheriff Judy Hicks not surviving SCREAM?
Shelton: I mean, that would be devastating. That would be absolutely devastating. But it’s interesting the way we’re approaching this. I don’t know if anyone else has talked about this yet. But the filmmakers are not revealing who the killer is. We’ve only been given up to page 77 of the movie. And the idea is that in a Scream movie, everyone is a suspect. Or a potential victim you just don’t know. And so, they’re really playing with this idea on set and it’s sort of helping our characters to not know whether we’re the killer or the victim until obviously, eventually when we shoot those scenes so yeah, so it could go any which way.
Marley Shelton stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream.”
The virtual press junket continued with a fiercely passionate conversation with David Arquette about returning to SCREAM, which ended with Arquette and all the journalists, including myself, emotional and in tears.
LRM: So, how is that suit fitting again, making the return?
David Arquette: [laughs] Oh, I love playing this character so, so sweet. It’s got such a close place in my heart. You know, there’s not a lot of films that spend 24 years but I’m a part of it. You know, I actually have a child as a result, the entire experience so it’s incredibly close to my heart. It’s really sad, you know, doing this and not having Wes here. It’s been an emotional experience. But it’s been really exciting to me, working with Tyler and Matt. Just been so respectful of Wes, you know, vision and learn so much and were inspired by him. They’re taking that into this new generation with these incredible actors. I’m so in awe of the talent that these young actors have and how quick-witted they are, what incredible people they are, they all have such big hearts and they’re really kind and they are really just so talented. I mean, Melissa [Barrera] and Jenna [Ortega]…I had the opportunity to work with Jenna before and I knew how amazing an actress she was. So, it’s been really exciting and really inspirational to see this new generation and know that they were inspired by the original and that they’re going to continue the stories and hopefully entertain the audience and stay true to what came before but also expand on it. There are so many horror films that have gone through an evolution with films, like Get Out and Midsommar, and all these sorts of wild films that keep pushing the envelope and expanding the genre. So, I think all of that comes into play as well as the Internet and society. All of this stuff. It’s gonna be an exciting film for people to watch.
Comicbook.com: I know how much you love Wes. And obviously signing on for this project. It’s one thing to know Wes will be there. But what was that really like when you stepped on set and saw the Ghostface costume or were working with Neve and Courtney like what was that like? What were those emotions like?
Arquette: Anytime you see Ghostface, it’s always something. As a horror film lover myself, there’s something just incredible about the whole being part of that, and just seeing the mask. I just love that he’s become such an iconic figure within the whole genre. It’s been an emotional experience for me, I’ve thought about Wes quite a bit. Really, sort of talk to him in my head, you know, say personal little prayers. Just feeling his energy around really. But it’s a new movie. It’s a new movie that honors the past films. But a lot has happened since even the last one. So, I think they incorporate all of that. I think they incorporate aspects of our world now. And what we all experienced and the evolution of the internet and the evolution of horror films, in general, I think it’s gonna be really exciting. A lot of it I think they just ramped up. They’ve learned from what came before and have expanded it in a really brilliant way.
Geeks of Color: So what’s it like getting back into a character like Dewey, who already has so much on his plate?
Arquette: I just love playing the character. I love being a part of the series. It has a personal sort of connection for me. I see my daughter who’s 16. Now, I see these actors are a couple of years older than her. It’s interesting, but I think like, fans in general and filmmakers, there’s been an evolution there too. In the technology in which they make films, and there’s been an evolution. So, I think they use all these new tools. And Matt and Tyler were inspired by Wes and have a love for the genre, and for what he had done in the past. So, I think they’re very aware of that. They have a great sensibility, for humor and for scares, and storytelling. I think it’s in really good hands. I think it’s definitely an understatement how crazy the world is right now. But it’s also pretty inspiring to watch this new generation of filmmakers, and this new generation of actors. They’re just really super talented, and really just impressed by, you know, I knew Jack Quaid when he was just a little kid, and to see him now, he has grown into this incredible actor who’s just so witty and he’s got such a big heart. It truly gives me hope, to be honest, gives me hope that everything’s gonna be alright.
Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream.”
Michelle Swope: I’m so glad that Dewey is coming back! But how the hell has he survived five movies? How has he done it?
Arquette: He’s got a big heart. I don’t know. It was Wes. I was supposed to die in the first one. But it’s just a fun character to play. I just slip into it really easily. It’s really kind of a sweet part of my heart that he lives in and I was just able to slip back into it pretty instantaneously. After you’ve been part of something for 24 years, it’s sort of ingrained in you. There are all these things that I did in the original one and listening to the music from the original time period and listening to music from moments throughout while we were filming these that have connected to me. But it’s been very emotional, very deep; it’s very real for me, It’s not just a film to me. I have a daughter because of it and it’s just something that’s personal and it’s emotional. That doesn’t play into it too much. But it does ground it and makes it a lot easier to sort of bring their reality to it. Even though you’re kind of having humorous lines or whatever.
LRM: Can you share how you got the news about SCREAM and when you got the news, and how that you’d be making the return?
Arquette: There was like little buzz about it, probably on the internet first. And then we heard there was a script. Then we read the script and then we made sure that certain people were behind it as far as Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven sort of groups, that they were supportive of it. But it was great; it’s a really great script. And it really honors the past films, but also gives birth to a whole new generation of incredible actors and filmmakers. And I’m just really excited for people to see how much talent…They just really did a great job casting, to really have the right people at the helm of this. The whole Radio Silence group is just incredible. The fact that it’s a Paramount film now really succeeding to have a proper studio behind it, I think it’s going to be something that really takes the fans into consideration; takes the history into consideration, but also uses all these tools from history to create something that builds on it all, even expands it, in a way.
Comicbook.com: If Nev and Courtney didn’t sign on for this, would you have still been just as excited, or do you think it’s important for Dewey to have Sidney and Gail in the movie along with him?
Arquette: Absolutely. I mean, Neve is this iconic, female badass, Ghostface killer [laughs], so she’s so important to it. But also, for Dewey and Gail in their whole history and just, for us, it’s even crazier, because I started to keep going back and there aren’t many films that you have a daughter because of it. I mean, Wes Craven was instrumental in sort of sitting me down after Scream 2 and saying, “David, I think Courtney really, really likes you and really wants you to work.” My mother was dying during Scream 2, so I was in a really sad place. And she was like, “I want you to get through this hard time to make it work with her. I think you guys would make a great couple.” And that was like a real fatherly moment of advice, and that just stuff like that [emotional] has a really deep meaning to me.
Being able to participate in the SCREAM virtual press junket was honestly a dream come true for me. Look for more interviews with the rest of the cast of SCREAM on Nightmarish Conjurings very soon!
SCREAM will be in theaters on January 14, 2022, from Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group!
As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.
Roughly two months ago, I wrote about Psychonauts, which I was replaying in order to get ready for its crowdfunded sequel, Psychonauts 2, which released on August 25. The original Psychonauts is a wonderful game that I encourage everyone to play. I thought I’d take a break and play something else before tackling the sequel, but then I decided to just jump right in. I’m glad I did. Psychonauts 2 is brilliant, managing to improve upon its classic predecessor in every way. I don’t play enough games to be able to make a judgment about the best games released each year, but it’s hard to imagine anything topping this. I recommend it without reservation. Go play it! If you need further convincing, I’ve written more thoughts on Psychonauts 2 below, which I’ve tried to keep as spoiler-free as possible.
Psychonauts 2 continues the story of Razputin (“Raz” to his friends), a young psychic who dreams of joining the elite ranks of the Psychonauts, an organization of psychic secret agents. He uses his 3D platforming skills to traverse both the real and mental worlds, in a playful and funny adventure that’s simply a joy to play. In my post about the original Psychonauts, I remarked that it has aged remarkably well, some technical issues aside. I went so far as to say that its stylized art and classic platforming action felt like they could have been released yesterday. Psychonauts 2 reveals that I may have spoken too soon. Sure, the original Psychonauts feels younger than its sixteen years, but in comparison Psychonauts 2 feels slick a modern in all the best ways. It retains the cartoony visual style of the original, but its crisp rendering, perfect animations and fancy lighting make it look absolutely gorgeous. I snapped over 450 screenshots while playing, each new location just begging to be preserved, the visual design endlessly inventive. I even sent some screenshots to my family, who generally do not care about games at all, because I thought that even they might get excited. I find myself wanting to use the term “set design” for many of the places in Psychonauts 2, because they almost resemble claymation dioramas. In certain moments — especially within one of the many minds players will explore during the game — the design leans into this sense of artificiality, of a staged performance or facade that masks the truth underneath.
These mental worlds are just as imaginative and varied as those in the original game, if not more so. They also benefit from modern tech that creates even more surreal spaces. Most notable are the portals, impossible doorways to other places that function much like those in the games for which they’re named, but are fixed parts of the mind rather than placed by the player. Open a refrigerator to reveal an entire building within. Head down the neck of a giant bottle and find another realm inside. The worlds also play clever games with scale, zooming in on elements of the scene only to have Raz explore them as gargantuan landscapes. Each mind is heavy with symbolism, filled with both obvious and subtle manifestations of its owner’s psyche. Here also Psychonauts 2 is an improvement over its predecessor, its explorable minds deftly dealing with the delicate subject of mental health while maintaining a positive tone. Where the first game might have Raz enter a mind that represents paranoia, in Psychonauts 2 Raz will instead explore the mind of someone whose grief led to substance abuse and eventually an unhealthy isolation from friends and family. Not only is all of that shown without judgment or resorting to stereotypes, it’s done with a beautiful visual style that ensures every mind looks totally unique.
As with the first game, I must struggle not to tell you about each and every mind I explored in Psychonauts 2. They’re all so amazing! I want to tell you how imaginative and original they are, in detail, but that would ruin the wonderful surprise. I will, however, permit myself one more example; skip the rest of this paragraph if you truly wish for no more spoilers. Perhaps my favorite mind belonged to someone suffering from sensory deprivation. To help them out, Raz had to reunite their sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, so they could learn to work together again. Naturally, this was framed as getting the band back together. A literal psychedelic rock band, with each of the senses playing an instrument. Raz had to scour the rainbow-hued music festival grounds for each of the band members and convince them to come back, but also had to be careful not to trigger a sensory overload, which might lead to a panic attack.
Which brings me to combat, which is also much better than it was in the first game. While the iconic censors — cartoony men in business suits who stamp out thoughts that don’t belong — make a return, most of the adversaries in Psychonauts 2 are new and more imaginative than the original’s cast of baddies. In addition to battling manifestations of panic attacks, Raz might need to fend off doubts, which leave puddles of movement-hindering sludge around, or regrets, flying creatures which try to drop their weights on Raz’s head. These are not only great fits for the themes of each mind, their behaviors generate interesting combat situations, especially in combination. Fights tend to be separated from platforming-based exploration, and are almost entirely limited to the mental worlds, resulting in a nice rhythm during play.
Combat and exploration alike benefit from Raz’s new and improved arsenal of mental powers. A highlight of the new powers is Mental Connection, which acts like a grappling hook of sorts. Not the type that would let Raz swing around, though, it’s more like zipping him between floating thought bubbles that might appear in certain places, letting him reach platforms that are otherwise out of reach. It’s also introduced rather brilliantly in a a sequence that sees Raz creating connections between different thoughts and concepts in someone’s mind. And yes, the implications of this meddling are thoroughly explored. Some of the less useful powers from the first game have been removed, and others are much easier to control than before. Telekinesis, for example, no longer requires players to awkwardly draw a trajectory in order to throw an object, it simply has Raz pick something up — often with a short delay while he pulls at it, which temporarily leaves him vulnerable to attack — and then lets him carry it around, and easily hurl it directly at whatever target he’s looking at. This change made Telekinesis so much more useful that I nearly always kept it equipped. Raz can now have four powers equipped at any one time, rather than three, but it is still a little annoying to swap them in and out. Fortunately, some handy settings in the game options means that Levitation no longer needs to hog a spot in the equipped powers. Turn these Levitation options on and Raz will employ his Levitation ball automatically after his standard double jump. This has the added bonus of making navigation feel more natural.
Speaking of navigation, there seems to be a consensus that the actual platforming mechanics of the original Psychonauts weren’t very good. I didn’t have any particular complaints on this front, although I’m no expert on 3D platformers. But platforming is noticeably improved this time around. Everything simply feels a bit more responsive, and it’s easier to read the scenery and determine viable places to jump and clamber about. I was initially surprised to find that the Levitation power no longer allows the same high, floaty jumps that it did in the first game, but soon came to appreciate this change. It means Levitation is no longer necessarily the default means of traveling around. It helps when moving quickly over open ground, but jumping and climbing is often easier on foot. It’s simply more fun to traverse the real and mental worlds with this new design.
This time around, the real world exploration takes place in and around the headquarters of the Psychonauts, known as the Motherlobe. The story in Psychonauts 2 picks up right where the original left off — or rather, it picks up right where the short VR game Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin left off, which in turn picks up right where the original Psychonauts left off. Like many players, I don’t have a VR headset and was therefore unable to play this connecting game, but I just watched a video playthrough instead. I recommend doing so (or actually playing it, if you have a VR rig) to get the full story, although there’s a nice summary at the start of Psychonauts 2 for any players who can’t be bothered. Anyway, these events lead to Raz traveling to the Motherlobe to help the Psychonauts deal with a new crisis. Several beloved characters make a return, with their original voice actors, but most of the other campers that Raz met at Whispering Rock Summer Camp in the first game don’t appear here. In their place are the members of the Psychonauts intern program, who are less than enthused when young upstart Raz suddenly joins their ranks. It’s a smaller group than the campers were, but they’re a likeable bunch, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. They’re also more integrated into the story.
That story centers on the original founders of the Psychonauts, old now, many with grandchildren carrying on their legacy. And it’s an excellent story. Filled with funny and poignant moments alike, it’s entertaining, surprising, and satisfying. One of its greatest strengths is the way it incorporates the explorable minds into the tale. In the first Psychonauts, some characters had little role beyond providing interesting minds to explore. In Psychonauts 2, the explorable minds belong to characters with an important stake in the story, Raz always enters their minds with good reason, and — critically — always with their permission. This makes each mind feel important to sort out, and provides a satisfying connection bewteen each of these fantastic mental landscapes. I also love how the story is all about helping people. Even villainous characters are multi-faceted, often suffering from circumstance or other factors, and they are not defeated through direct conflict but by sorting out what ails them, by helping them overcome that which drives them to do harm. When so many games are explicitly about conflict, it’s so refreshing and satisfying to play something like this, that’s all about empathy and the desire to help.
The Psychonauts founders are mostly new characters, but their addition is brilliant. They offer an excellent opportunity to dig into who and what the Psychonauts are, and for Raz to realize that his idols are not as flawless as he may have thought. I loved how each of them has a different specialty, such as communing with plants, or animals, or designing machines to enhance or control mental powers. Even the interns have their own particular skills which can come to bear on missions. These special skills tend to run in the family too, and there are pleasing connections to some of the campers Raz met in his first adventure. His friend Dogen, for example, is revealed to be the grandson of one of the founders, and Dogen’s older sister Sam is an intern at the Motherlobe; they all share an affinity for telepathic communication with animals. And speaking of families, Raz’s own family makes an appearance, which is another stroke of brilliance. This lets players delve into Raz’s own background a bit more, and gives Raz a chance to reconcile with siblings who are upset at him for running away to join a psychic summer camp. His family is unexpectedly large, and like the rest of the cast they’re all well written and a blast to interact with.
It’s all just so good! It’s everything I could have wanted in a Psychonauts sequel. Like its predecessor, it shows more creativity in a single one of its explorable minds than most games show in their entirety, and I’m struggling to find anything to criticize about it. The closest I come to a complaint is about the collectibles, but even these are improved when compared to the original. Figments retain their crayon drawing appearance, but new visual effects give them a more animated appearance that’s easier to spot. I still had to look up the locations of one or two of these, but in many minds I found them all on my own, which never happened in the first game. Emotional baggage and memory vaults make a return, and are generally hidden just well enough. In the real world, there are psi-cards and scavenger hunt items to collect, but dealing with the Otto-Matic vending machines to redeem these is far easier than the camp shop ever was. The vending machines also offer an assortment of pins that subtly tweak Raz’s psychic powers and ensure he always has something to spend his hard-earned psitanium on. I was particularly pleased to see that many collectibles cannot be acquired before the end of the main story. A playable epilogue gives Raz a chance to check in with everyone to see how they’re doing after the events of the game, and to track down any missing collectibles in the physical and mental worlds alike. This takes the pressure off during the game proper, letting players keep their focus on the story without sacrificing pacing by scouring every location before moving on. I mean, I still did that, but it didn’t take as much time as it might have, since it was clear I would need to return later.
As the existence of a playable epilogue implies, Psychonauts 2 doesn’t end on a cliffhanger like the first game does. Events tie up nicely, but leave ample opportunity for more. I don’t know if a Psychonauts 3 is planned at some point, but there’s certainly room for it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for the possibility of more Psychonauts games — especially if they take less than sixteen years to appear — but if this is where the series ends, it’s a fine note to go out on. And if you’ve never played a Psychonauts game, I can highly recommend them both. The original is a little fiddly to get running these days, but well worth it, and playing through its story will enhance your appreciation of its even better sequel. Play them! You won’t be sorry.
October is for corn mazes and apple picking and pumpkin carving and all sorts of delightful outdoors activities that feel a little more doable this year than last year, but there's still a lot of Halloween traditions you might be missing out on. Cramped costume parties, sweaty spooky DJ nights, and lining up for all of the haunted houses you can get your hands on.
If you're not up to getting up close and personal with a bunch of strangers in a dimly lit room while an actor screams in your face this year, look no further than your TV for all of the haunted house vibes you crave. From documentaries to indie gems, we have everything you need to get into the Halloween spirit and make you feel like you've been haunted house hopping all night. No tickets required.
The Houses October Built (2014)
Kicking off with a personal favorite of mine, "The Houses October Built" follows a group of friends as they travel across the country looking for an entryway into the underground world of extreme haunts. This is a theme you'll notice a lot in the more recent films on this list, but after taboo-pushing, avant-garde haunt companies like Blackout and The 17th Door (among others) expanded beyond their core group of enthusiasts and rose in popularity in the early to mid-2010's, horror films inspired by the haunts followed suit. These "haunted houses" (most of which aren't even stylized as houses) feel more like twisted theater productions than your traditional haunt. They almost always break from common haunted house conventions; the actors in extreme haunts can touch you, you may be in close proximity with bugs, you may undergo electric shock or get pushed around, and the storyline of these haunts veers much closer to an NC-17 rating than a PG-13 rating.
Unlike in "The Houses October Built," you don't need a connection to have access to any of the well known extreme haunts, you just need to buy a ticket, but the film does a good job at using this search for the most extreme haunt to create a fervent energy and an interesting lore. It has a fun atmosphere that isn't too scary for the less horror inclined, but there are also some very tense moments and haunting images.
Hell Fest (2018)
Gather your friends, throw some popcorn in the microwave, pour yourself a drink and tune into one of the most fun films on the list, "Hell Fest." Directed by Gregory Plotkin (who served as the editor for "Get Out"), "Hell Fest" is a stylistically sleek film that follows (another!) group of friends as they cast off their college stresses and head to the local horror theme park to celebrate Halloween the right way.
The crux of this film draws from every urban legend you've heard about haunted houses, i.e., someone was killed in the haunt and their body left there because everyone thought they were a prop, but "Hell Fest" does good work with the well-trod tale. Most horror films about haunts take the subject matter as an excuse to go full low budget and keep things confined to one small location, whereas "Hell Fest" blows it out, creating an entire haunted amusement park on sprawling grounds that are full of excellent costumes and fun scares. The characters are a little one note, but you'll be cheering for their successes (and their failures) all the same.
Haunters: The Art Of The Scare (2017)
If you're more interested in the actual haunts behind these movies, "Haunters: The Art of the Scare" is exactly what you're looking for. This doc dives deep into the small haunt community, chronicling the individuals who open up their homes and dedicate their lives to scaring people. The film includes a ton of interesting videos with lifetime haunt actors and creators, which really give the doc its heart, but it also takes a long look at one of the most controversial figures in the haunting community, Russ McKamey of McKamey Manor.
McKamey runs the most extreme haunt in the film, which can include hours upon hours of simulated torture, without a safe word. He famously requires the people who apply to come to his haunt to sign a 40-page waiver and complete a health assessment and he films everyone who comes through his haunt. He comes off pretty unhinged in the documentary, which should come as no surprise, but even if you're a vehement opponent of McKamey (and there are plenty of reasons to be), this doc is still worth your time. It gives way more context for the passion and artistry that goes into constructing these haunted houses than you might have inferred from just walking through.
Hell House LLC (2015)
"Hell House LLC" is one of those movies that are beloved by found footage fanatics and there's a good reason for it: the scares hit. Instead of following a group of friends who are trapped in a haunted house or lured into a haunted house or tricked into a haunted house, "Hell House LLC" takes you behind the scenes and into the creation of one of these haunts. You might think that the people rigging up the scares and cuing up the sounds affects wouldn't be scared off their own supply, but "Hell House LLC" flips the switch, proving that even event planners have feelings.
This film works so well because it feels so DIY, and it really leans into that approach. The scares are minimalist and tight while the tension ramps up in a way that feels genuine. The friendships in this film also feel a little more realistic than in some of the other movies on this list, and I think that's mainly due to the fact that these are all friends working on a passion project, so emotions run high and arguments break out in a way that feels familiar if you've ever work with a friend (or have become friends with one of your coworkers). If you find yourself falling in love with this one, there are also two sequels that manage to tread the same ground in a way that doesn't feel overly repetitive.
Haunt (2019)
This film feels sort of like "Hell Fest," but with a smaller location budget and a larger gore budget, which kind of makes sense when you realize your horror stepdad Eli Roth produced this one. While I wish it had a little more of the aesthetic ambition of "Hell Fest," the kills and brutality in "Haunt" hit harder, there are a few really memorable scenes, and the design and costuming work is solid.
Like almost every movie about a haunted house, this one follows a group of friends who get in way over their heads and find themselves trapped in a haunt with some truly maniacal characters. It's the kind of movie that makes you never want to go into a real haunt again, but it also gives you that classic horror high of knowing you're not as stupid as the characters in the movie, so you could probably take the killer, right?
Really, all of these movies are just a constant reminder that I'll never get a film adaptation of my favorite YA horror novel, "Full Tilt," and that's fine.
Extremity (2018)
If you think of "Extremity" as the older, grizzlier and colder brother of "Haunt," you'll basically get the entire vibe this movie is going for. "Extremity" feels like a cinematic McKamey Manor, it's a torture zone way out in the middle of nowhere, where everyone knows what they're getting themselves into ... sort of. Directed by Anthony DiBlasi, who was also at the helm for "Last Shift" and "Dread," "Extremity" breaks some of the haunted house/attraction conventions to create a movie that stands out in more ways than one.
Forget about checking out a haunted house with friends, this film tells the story of a young woman who thinks that making it through an extreme haunt might help her work through some personal traumas, so she makes her way out to an abandoned building in the middle of the winter to see what she can handle. This film totally eschews the autumn/Halloween aesthetic that accompanies so many of these films and goes for a desolate, middle of winter setting that pairs well with the solitary narrative. This isn't about group dynamics or working together, it's about survival, pure and simple.
The Funhouse (1981)
The oldest film on our list was directed by the one and only Tobe Hooper ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Poltergeist") which should tell you everything you need to know about "The Funhouse." This movie basically works as the blueprint for all of the films on this list that have come after, it features a group of friends having a fun and rebellious night out which degrades into a nightmare of blood and terror as murderous carnies attack.
It's a film that feels just as '80s as it is, so in a way, it resembles more of the actual haunted attractions I've been to than the neon-lit, artistic haunts all over this list. And while the style of the film is definitely dated, it's in the best way possible. The film is an assault of primary colors and big sounds thanks to its over-the-top score and the near-constant screaming of the actors. If you've ever been to a rundown carnival IRL, this film will take you right back, sights, sounds, smells and all.
Hell House (2001)
Back to the land of non-fiction, "Hell House" (not to be confused with "Hell House LLC" or "Hell Fest") is more than a bit of an outlier, but if this subgenre has reeled you into the world of haunted attractions, your education isn't complete without watching it. "Hell House" is a gripping documentary that captures the planning of Trinity Church's annual tradition, a haunted house that has a goal of saving its guests from eternal damnation. Instead of being confronted by ghosts, witches, or haunted dolls in Trinity's "Hell House," the guests who make it to this haunted house outside of Dallas, Texas are treated to skits about suicide, school shootings, drugs, and abortion (shocker), with the hope that at the end of the house, you'll chose to be saved.
It is just as uncomfortable and insane as it sounds, which makes it an utterly captivating doc. It's the kind of movie you watch with half of your face in your hands, you can quite face it head on, but you also can't look away. If you've seen "Jesus Camp" or any other documentary that focuses on the evangelical movement, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I wouldn't want to be trapped in any of the horror films on this list, but this very really haunted house takes the cake.
Dark Ride (2006)
You could make one hell of a confusing and twisted double feature with this film and "The Many Saints of Newark." Not because this movie has any mob elements or even takes place in the same era as "The Sopranos" cinematic universe, but because it starts Jamie-Lynne Sigler, our favorite mob daughter Meadow. To be honest, I haven't seen this film since the mid-aughts, so I'd completely forgotten she was in it, but it kind of makes me want to hunt it down and watch it again.
"Dark Ride" is very much a movie of its time. It has that dark and muted color palate that all the horror films that came out in 2006 had, the one that was supposed to denote that this was a serious scary movie with serious scares, and even though that's not necessarily true, "Dark Ride" still has a little bit of magic to it. It has your requisite group of friends that go on a cursed ride, a pair of twin girls disappeared on the ride years ago, and things go from bad to worse. There are some fun kills in this one, plenty of jokes about college kids having too much sex or not enough sex, and a creepy enough killer. It'll scratch your haunted house itch and might force you into a "Sopranos" rewatch.
Spookers (2017)
If you finished watching "Haunters: The Art of the Scare" and are looking for something in the same vein but a little more wholesome, look no further than "Spookers." This 80-minute romp goes behind the scenes of Auckland, New Zealand's Spookers, a horror attraction that takes place in an old psychiatric hospital. Because this doc focuses on one haunt instead of trying to get a general pulse of the haunt scene, you really get to know the inner working of the attraction.
You can see how much the staff care about each other and how much work they put into creating an immersive environment for their guests. Unsurprisingly, all of the actors have great stories, but more than that, the doc captures the beauty behind the gore. Behind all of the screaming and the zombie brides and the bloody babies, there's a very sweet found family.
"Upgrade" is getting an upgrade. When the bonkers-in-Yonkers sci-fi action film, written and directed by Leigh Whannell, released in 2018, it received a pithy welcome at the box office, though critics like /Film's Matt Donato had a good time with it. Whannell moved onto his bombshell hit "The Invisible Man" in 2020, and now that the dust has settled on the (pardon the pun) universal fanfare and praise surrounding the resurrected Universal Monsters franchise-launcher, the writer-director has signed a first-look deal with Blumhouse and is ready to return to "Upgrade" for an expansion to television.
Earlier this year it was announced that there are plans for an "Upgrade" TV series, which takes place after the high-intensity events of the film. In the writer's room are Krystal Ziv Houghton and James Roland, who handled season 2 of Blumhouse's "The Purge" TV series. Whannell will executive produce alongside showrunner Tim Walsh ("Shooter"). The TV show "picks up a few years after the events of the film and broadens the universe with an evolved version of STEM and a new host -- imaging a world in which the government repurposes STEM to help curb criminal activity."
Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum recently offered an update on the "Upgrade" TV show in a chat with Collider. The producer said that he's champing at the bit to expand the "Upgrade" story as well, but only if the script is ready. He elaborates:
"Upgrade should have been a wide release. I was pissed about that. We're working on a TV show. So working on the scripts. This first round didn't come out. I didn't get the response I wanted to get. I don't want to be in development. I want an order. We're working on the scripts again, so that we can get an order. And I don't want to develop it."
B-Movie Body Horror Done Right
The original film's premise is a nutso one: mechanic Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green), and his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) are attacked by a quartet of men, who kill Asha and leave Grey quadriplegic. Asha's employer happens to have developed a versatile microchip, called STEM, which they implant in him -- giving him not only agency to walk again, but to kick untold amounts of ass in a mission of vengeance.
Seriously, Marshall-Green's physicality in this performance is top-tier, taking stunt coordinator Chris Anderson's fight choreography and stilting the movements just enough (along with his reactions) so that it appears that a computer is controlling his every action. Add to it Whannell's incredible technical prowess behind the camera and a balls-to-the-wall script, and you have one of the raddest cyberpunk "Death Wish" riffs of the past decade.
A straight-to-series order is ambitious, but it looks like Blum and the writers are up to the task, if only to bring the greatness of "Upgrade" before wider audiences.
"The Black Phone" is Scott Derrickson's ("Doctor Strange") feature-length adaptation of Joe Hill's short horror story of the same name, originally published in his first collection "20th Century Ghosts" in 2005. The film was co-written with Derrickson's "Sinister" collaborator C. Robert Cargill, who also serves as co-producer on the film alongside Jason Blum. The movie had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2021, where /Film's Eric Vespe caught it and sang its praises. The story, a child killer thriller, is produced by Blumhouse Productions along with Derrickson and Cargill's Crooked Highway, who signed a two-year first-look deal with Blumhouse in 2020.
Now, the first trailer has arrived to tease one of the creepiest movies you'll see next year.
The Black Phone Trailer
Joe Hill's a busy writer; "The Black Phone" isn't the only work of his getting the adaptation treatment. "Abraham's Boys," another short story from "20th Century Ghosts" and a sort of Van Helsing spin-off of the classic "Dracula" story, is being handled by Tea Shop Productions (the production company behind genre-straddling gem "I Am Not A Serial Killer") and has "Lucky" screenwriter Natasha Kermani attached to adapt the story.
But wait, there's more!
"Voluntary Committal," another "20th Century Ghosts" special, is coming to Paramount+. These join a handful of solid adaptations of Hill's work, including "Horns" in 2013 (directed by Alexandre Aja!), "In The Tall Grass" (Patrick Wilson sings!), and the 2019-2020 series "NOS4A2," all based on author's best-selling works.
It should be noted, however, that "The Black Phone" is one of those movies that's best seen with little to no context. From his review, Vespe elaborates:
I'll avoid any major spoilers as I dive into this review, but if all you want to know is if it's good or not, then I'll say it's really damn good right up front. If you're sold and haven't read the short story, then why not go in cold? The film has a release date of January 2022, so you have a little time to sit and wait, but it's worth it. Trust me.
What Is The Black Phone?
If you're still curious, the movie's about a young boy named Finney Shaw (Mason Thames). He's a sweet kid just trying to survive a harsh world of bullies and a bad home life, along with his spitfire sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). In their '70s Colorado suburb, kids have been vanishing; local townsfolk point towards a near-mythic abductor called "The Grabber" (Ethan Hawke), and soon it's Finney that ends up in the Grabber's basement, a bare-bones room with a mattress on the floor, a weird painting, and a disconnected black phone. Help comes through the phone, in the form of the killer's past five victims who call one by one and provide clues to help Finney avoid the same fate.
Derrickson and Cargill certainly had their work cut out for them. The writer-director duo, who previously knocked one out of the park with their 2012 horror feature, "Sinister," (which contains one of the most effective modern jump scares, Meagan Navarro argues) were tasked to taffy-pull some twenty-odd pages into a 102-minute feature.
Vespe calls it "the first feature adaptation of Joe Hill's work that demands more big-screen Joe Hill adaptations," and, having seen the film myself at Fantastic Fest, he's absolutely right. Hawke doesn't do villains often and it's a true shame, because he is a sinister delight in this film, opting to act around his creepy mask (designed by none other than Tom Savini himself) rather than from behind it, adapting an eerie physicality for the role. Hawke's villain is counterbalanced by two fantastic child performances in Thames and McGraw, who provide the heart of the movie to complement the scares. Derrickson and Cargill deliver on everything promised in the trailer, and more.
"The Black Phone" arrives in theaters on February 4, 2022.
When actress Marley Shelton ("Grindhouse," "Pleasantville") was added to the cast of 2011's "Scream 4" as Deputy Judy Hicks, and subsequently survived the ordeal, it was just assumed that her character was being set up for a role in sequels down the line. Sure enough, she popped up in yesterday's trailer for the fifth installment "Scream," and she is now Sheriff Judy Hicks. Judy watches over the town of Woodsboro, where she lives with a teenage son named Wes, played by Dylan Minnette.
Her son's name is most assuredly a tribute to "Scream" franchise filmmaker Wes Craven, who sadly passed away in 2015 from a brain tumor at age 76. Anyone in this business who ever met, worked with or (in my case) interviewed Craven was likely taken aback by how sweet and kind the man who made "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Last House on the Left" was in reality. Shelton had a similar experience with Craven that also eerily echoed the "Scream" movies, which she recalled for Bloody Disgusting:
"I was such a huge fan of his going into it that I was just incredibly humbled and excited to get to work with him. I remember the first day I got there, I had been traveling from Europe, and I was jet-lagged. I was in the hotel room, it was dark, and I got this phone call. I answered my phone, and the voice was, 'Hello, Marley.' It honestly sounded like a ghost. It was Wes Craven calling just to check in and see how I was doing. But it sounded like Ghostface to me, and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh. I have Ghostface on the line.' It just felt so real. Like life imitating art."Anyway. He was the coolest. He's so brilliant and personable. He has such a philosophy about the value of horror films. Psychologically, for audiences, he really believes that they're a cathartic healthy thing for our psyche. It was just awesome to participate in his vision, of course. I was a huge fan of the 'Scream' franchise, so I just felt honored."
Carrying On Wes' Legacy
Craven was, by all accounts, a solid dude who exercised his anxieties and fears onscreen for both his benefit and the audience's. Raised in a strict Baptist household as a child, Craven went on to earn a masters degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University before becoming a college professor. He then made the not-so-lateral career move of breaking into the porn industry, where he wrote, directed and edited a number of X-rated movies under pseudonyms. His twisted take on Bergman's "Virgin Spring," 1972's "The Last House on the Left," was intended to be another of these before it became a more mainstream revenge movie that spawned many imitators.
"Last House" was the first of three times over the course of his career that Craven created a landmark that changed the horror genre forever, the second being 1984's "A Nightmare on Elm Street." In 1996 he did it again with "Scream," which ushered in the self-conscious meta age of horror, poking fun at the tropes and stock teen characters he himself had helped pioneer.
The fifth film in the series, also titled "Scream," will be the first not helmed by Craven. Taking the mantle are directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett along with producer Chad Villella, the three of whom form the group known as Radio Silence ("Ready or Not"). Shelton told BD that the team was more than up to the task:
"They did such a great job capturing that similar tone of being funny and scary at the same time, which is so unique to the Scream movies. What a perfect idea to have these guys direct this and infuse it obviously with their own style and creativity. But also carry on Wes' legacy. I jumped at the chance to be able to work with them. Jamie Vanderbilt wrote the script, who's a very acclaimed screenwriter. Kevin Williamson is still involved. This is a dream team. I thought the script, too, was fantastic and well thought out and captured that essence of the other Scream movies while also being its own new thing. I was like, 'Sign me up.'"
"Scream" will arrive in theaters on January 14, 2022.
Creatives tend to be very critical towards their own work. A viewer might look at a movie or TV episode and think it's a work of brilliance, but the writer/producer/director might only see the flaws present or the intent that never made it to the screen. Hence, one of the absolute fan-favorite episodes of Adult Swim's phenomenally popular animated sci-fi comedy "Rick and Morty" was considered to be a dog by the time it aired.
What would drive the creators of the show so crazy that they couldn't see why people would like the episode? Let's dive in and find out!
"It Broke Us To A Certain Extent."
The premiere episode of "Rick and Morty" season 2 titled "A Rickle in Time" (a takeoff on Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 YA novel "A Wrinkle in Time," later turned into an unsuccessful Disney movie) could not have had a rougher ride from conception to completion. Right from the jump, co-creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon were as unaligned as Rick, Summer, and Morty's timelines in the episode that picks up where season 1 left off, namely Rick having stopped time for six months so the three of them could clean up the family house after a party. Roiland thought playing with the repercussions of freezing time was a natural way to begin the new season, but the other writers wanted to only make it the cold open and move on. Harmon, meanwhile, thought about tripling down on the idea and making the entire season take place in frozen time. Ultimately the idea played out over the entire single episode.
Roiland stated to Rolling Stone in 2015 before the premiere aired that the episode "was just brutal and it broke us to a certain extent. We were so close to something amazing and we never really got there from a structural standpoint."
Harmon agreed, stating: "It went off the deep end conceptually and got really over-complicated. We're pretty convinced the first episode might be the worst for that reason."
Part of honing the story involved changing the underlying drama between the characters from pure chaos to the concept of uncertainty, not to mention the emotional damage Rick's verbal abuse has on the kids. Summer's role was also significantly reduced or ported over to Morty. The B-story also underwent changes in the writing process, with the original Jerry/Beth plot involving them being dropped off by Rick on a remote island ala "Lost" and making fun of event television tropes. Another idea had the married couple experiencing repetitions in time due to Rick's machinations, but this was ultimately scrapped in favor of an unrelated B-story about Jerry and Beth trying to save a deer's life. The lack of integration proved disappointing to Roiland, as funny as it wound up being.
A Pyrrhic Victory?
In the episode, Rick and the kids are not supposed to touch anyone for fear of knocking the whole fabric of time out of alignment, but a squabble between the two siblings causes the space they occupy in the universe to split into two concurrent limbo realms, represented by a squiggly line splitting up two horizontal split-screens. Director Wes Archer of "The Simpsons" fame went through many different iterations of storyboards for the episode just trying to figure out the best way to represent the time rifts onscreen, which in some cases involve the same actions performed with subtle variations by the characters in each alternate split-screen.
"It was brutal to board and animate just because of the multiple screens. They kept having Toon Boom crash on them constantly just because it had so many elements going on at once. Every season we've had an episode where we had to go and pop the hood on it in animatic. In season one, it was the Meeseeks episode. In season two, to a much greater degree we popped the hood open on 2.01 and this was after Wes had already boarded it with his team. They were able to reuse a lot, but they had to go in and re-board a bunch of stuff and they were troopers the whole way through. Never once did they complain."
All of these production issues resulted in the entirety of season 2 being delayed, which was not helped by the fact that Harmon was preoccupied with "Community" season 6 at the same time. Even the finished season 2 premiere wound up getting leaked online prior to airing, but the piracy didn't hurt ratings with 2.12 million viewers, making it the highest-rated show the night it aired on July 26, 2015. The episode, which featured comedy partners Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as testicle monsters modeled after time eaters from "Stephen King's The Langoliers," was critically acclaimed as well and has earned its place as one fo the great "Rick and Morty" episodes, despite the hardship the creators had to endure.
AMD warned last week that its chips are experiencing performance issues in Windows 11, and now Microsoft's first update to its new OS has reportedly made the problems worse. From a report: TechPowerUp reports that it's seeing much higher latency, which means worse performance, after the Windows 11 update went live yesterday. AMD and Microsoft found two issues with Windows 11 on Ryzen processors. Windows 11 can cause L3 cache latency to triple, slowing performance by up to 15 percent in certain games. The second issue affects AMD's preferred core technology, that shifts threads over to the fastest core on a processor. AMD says this second bug could impact performance on CPU-reliant tasks. TechPowerUp measured the L3 cache latency on its Ryzen 7 2700X at around 10ns, and Windows 11 increased this to 17ns. "This was made much worse with the October 12 'Patch Tuesday' update, driving up the latency to 31.9ns," says TechPowerUp. That's a huge jump, and the exact type of issue AMD warned about.
When it comes to gift giving, the more personal the present, the better. But what if you can’t decide what to get? Luckily, our shopping experts are here to help. We've rounded up the best personalized gifts for all budgets, from money clips to wrapping paper.
A new study (PDF) by a team of university researchers in the UK has unveiled a host of privacy issues that arise from using Android smartphones. BleepingComputer reports: The researchers have focused on Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, and Huawei Android devices, and LineageOS and /e/OS, two forks of Android that aim to offer long-term support and a de-Googled experience. The conclusion of the study is worrying for the vast majority of Android users: "With the notable exception of /e/OS, even when minimally configured and the handset is idle these vendor-customized Android variants transmit substantial amounts of information to the OS developer and also to third parties (Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) that have pre-installed system apps." As the summary table indicates, sensitive user data like persistent identifiers, app usage details, and telemetry information are not only shared with the device vendors, but also go to various third parties, such as Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Facebook. And to make matters worse, Google appears at the receiving end of all collected data almost across the entire table.
It is important to note that this concerns the collection of data for which there's no option to opt-out, so Android users are powerless against this type of telemetry. This is particularly concerning when smartphone vendors include third-party apps that are silently collecting data even if they're not used by the device owner, and which cannot be uninstalled. For some of the built-in system apps like miui.analytics (Xiaomi), Heytap (Realme), and Hicloud (Huawei), the researchers found that the encrypted data can sometimes be decoded, putting the data at risk to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks. As the study points out, even if the user resets the advertising identifiers for their Google Account on Android, the data-collection system can trivially re-link the new ID back to the same device and append it to the original tracking history. The deanonymization of users takes place using various methods, such as looking at the SIM, IMEI, location data history, IP address, network SSID, or a combination of these. In response to the report, a Google spokesperson said: "While we appreciate the work of the researchers, we disagree that this behavior is unexpected -- this is how modern smartphones work. As explained in our Google Play Services Help Center article, this data is essential for core device services such as push notifications and software updates across a diverse ecosystem of devices and software builds. For example, Google Play services uses data on certified Android devices to support core device features. Collection of limited basic information, such as a device's IMEI, is necessary to deliver critical updates reliably across Android devices and apps."
"Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" began filming in July, and though it's certainly not Evangeline Lilly's first time playing the titular Wasp, Marvelites may be surprised to learn that she's just now getting to know her character.
Lilly first appeared as Hope Van Dyne in "Ant-Man," before getting her own superhero costume in a mid-credits scene, and then receiving top billing alongside in the sequel, "Ant-Man and the Wasp." She also showed up in "Avengers: Endgame," and lent her voice to Marvel's animated "What If...?" series this summer, so depending on how you count it, "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania," is either her third or fourth go-round as the character.
Lilly praised "WandaVision," however, saying that Wanda Maximoff was the best Marvel had "ever represented a female character." Yet it seems that her own character, Hope, was a mystery to her. She told The Hollywood Reporter:
"Hope is an odd enigma for me. I wish I could say otherwise because I want to honor her; I want to honor every character I ever play. But the truth is that I find it harder to know and understand Hope than any other character I've ever played before."
A Good Bluffer
Covid has hit the film industry hard enough as it is, but "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" also ran into some trouble last month when an outbreak of a different virus, the norovirus, or winter vomiting bug, affected it and other productions at Pinewood Studios in England. That hasn't derailed the film's principal photography, however. Lilly also said that the movie's script gave her a "eureka moment," enabling her to finally understand the character of Hope. She's explained:
"We're just a little over halfway through. And I will say that after I read the script of the film, I did have a kind of eureka moment; I said to Peyton [Reed], 'Oh my God, I think I finally get her.' (Laughs.) Three or four films in, I thought, 'I think I get it now.' So I'm hoping that when we come to wrap and when I see the movie, I'm going to know the difference. But I don't think anyone else will. I think I'm a good bluffer. That's what I do for a living. But I know the difference and I'm hopeful that in this one, I'll feel like I can watch it and go, 'Yeah, you had a better handle on her in this one than you ever have before.' That's my goal, anyway. That's my hope."
Lilly's experience with Marvel and her hope for Hope just goes to show that even the most aspirational MCU heroes (or the actors playing them) sometimes have to fake it until they make it. There's a lesson in there somewhere.
"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" flies into theaters on February 17, 2023.
When a college student vanished, one overzealous detective convinced the press that he might have been been trapped in a series of tunnels by fellow gamers.
I had something else planned for this morning's "Good Morning" post but them plans got scrapped when the trailer for the brand new Scream movie arrived -- I had to get to that one quick! So I googled what actors are in it, saw Dylan Minette's name, and looked up this scene from his Netflix series 13 Reasons Why -- voila, "Good Morning" post. Now let's get to the Scream stuff that matters dammit!
Released yesterday that's the first poster for the fifth film in the franchise, which we will always pronounce in our head "Five Cream" for the "5cream" they should have titled the movie. I waited to post it (along with the first images from the movie, which you'll see way down below) because I wanted to wait for the trailer which was pretty clearly imminent. And it sure was! Dropped this morning it shows our favorite Woodsboro trio of Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney f'ing Cox As Gale Weathers, back on the scene for a new batch of murders... well just watch the damn trailer:
I know I often say "Don't ever watch Horror Movie trailers!" because they ruin things but Scream's different -- this franchise is so baked into my DNA there's no not looking. I would die if I tried to not look. I won't look at any more trailers now though! But I had to see my friends and understand the peril they're in this time -- looks like the people being murdered are all related to former Scream killers! -- and this will be enough to sate / terrify me until the movie's out on January 14th.
The only shot I care about in the trailer -- if Gale is making this face nothing good can come of it #Screampic.twitter.com/wQj5V82q1S
See? Already terrified. I just don't see any way where our main trio makes it through this movie alive, and that shot of Gale has me... oh, Dewey. You know, honestly, the only way I'll be okay with them killing some of the original trio is if they just go ahead and kill all three of them. That's the only way this can end. Just stab stab stab all at once, like ripping off a bandaid. It would feel symbolic in its way, them paying tribute to there being no more Wes Craven (sigh RIP Wes). Anyway that answer we'll have in January. Y'all tell me what you think of the trailer and I'll share those promised images from the movie after the jump...
SCREAM l Paramount Pictures & Spyglass Media GroupParamount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group have dropped the official trailer for SCREAM (or Scream 5 if we really want to keep things less confusing). Make sure you check out the trailer below and rejoice, dear fans!
SCREAM stars Melissa Barrera (In The Heights, “Vida”), Kyle Gallner (Ghosts of War, “Outsiders”), Mason Gooding (Let It Snow, Booksmart), Mikey Madison (“Better Things”, The Addams Family), Dylan Minnette (Don’t Breathe, The Open House), Jenna Ortega (“Stuck in the Middle”, The Babysitter: Killer Queen), Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games, “The Boys“), Marley Shelton (Planet Terror, Bubble Boy), Sonia Ammar (Jappeloup), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“The Leftovers”, “Stitchers”) with Courteney Cox (“Friends”, “Cougar Town”), David Arquette (12 Hour Shift, Spree), and Neve Campbell (The Craft, Wild Things).
The film is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (Devil’s Due, Ready or Not) and Tyler Gillett (Southbound, V/H/S). The screenplay is written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Amazing Spider-Man) and Guy Busick (“Castle Rock”, Urge), based on characters created by Kevin Williamson.
SCREAM is produced by William Sherak (Little Black Book, Middle Men), Paul Neinstein, and Vanderbilt. It is executive produced by Kevin Williamson (Scream franchise, “Dawson’s Creek”), Gary Barber (The Vow, Leap Year), Peter Oillataguerre (Dead Silence, No Time To Die), Chad Villella (Ready or Not, Phobias), Cathy Konrad (Walk The Line, 3:10 to Yuma), and Ron Lynch (“Corporate”, “WordGirl”).
Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group present SCREAM, which will be in theatres on January 14, 2022.
Ubisoft is offering gamers a sample of Riders Republic, allowing a one-day test ride/fly of this massively multiplayer extreme sports game. You can pick up a copy and get started playing through...
Windows 11 is a week old, but it’s already getting its first round of fixes. And if you’re wondering why it’s getting an update so quickly, then let me be the first to welcome you to the wonderful world of Patch Tuesday. Every second Tuesday of the month, all supported Microsoft products get an update, and that includes Windows 11.
It’s been nearly a month since Microsoft released Windows 11 build 22000.194 to the Beta channel, and then it arrived in the Release Preview channel a week later on September 23. In other words, despite Windows 11 becoming generally available a week ago, it’s actually been a while since it’s gotten a proper update.
This is the first update that Windows 11 has received in production, and Beta and Release Preview users are getting it at the same time. Oddly, the list of fixes is relatively short, so there are probably some under-the-hood changes that aren’t in the changelog.
The update is KB5006674, and it brings the build number to 22000.258. You can manually download it here. The highlight is only that it updates security, but the list of fixes is a bit more detailed.
Addresses known compatibility issues between some Intel “Killer” and “SmartByte” networking software and Windows 11 (original release). Devices with the affected software might drop User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets under certain conditions. This creates performance and other issues for protocols based on UDP. For example, some websites might load slower than others on the affected devices, which might cause videos to stream slower in certain resolutions. VPN solutions based on UDP might also be slower.
Microsoft says that there aren’t any known issues in the update, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any known issues in Windows 11. The company keeps a separate list of known issues here, and out of the three, only one was fixed in this update.
Moving forward, Windows 11 updates won’t work any differently than they did with Windows 10. You’ll still see another mandatory cumulative update every Patch Tuesday, and those will install automatically if you’re not proactive about installing it yourself. There will also be optional C and D week updates, which won’t install automatically.
AMD released its first Ryzen processor five years ago, and the company is celebrating that by looking back at those successful years. AMD’s executives Robert Hallock and John Taylor sat down to discuss the entire architecture, and how the company managed to hit different milestones in the world of semiconductors. AMD also confirmed its new AM5 platform will launch in 2022, and it’ll support both PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory at launch.
Two minutes into the “AMD Ryzen Processors: 5 Years Later” video, the two individuals are taking a trip down the memory lane, recalling how the company unveiled “Ryzen” with a couple of performances demos at launch. Robert then continues to talk about Ryzen’s new platform. “In 2022 Ryzen will have a new platform and some key ingredients are DDR5, PCI Express Gen 5, and cooler compatibility with existing AM4 coolers,” he says.
You can watch AMD’s video below:
AMD shares AM5 details
While we already knew about the DDR5, this is the first confirmation about PCIe 5 support. It’s good to finally know AMD is not giving up its I/O lead to the competition. Just to recall — AMD has supported PCIe 4.0 since Zen 2 in 2019, while Intel only delivered the support for PCIe 4.0 this year. With PCIe 5 doubling the available bandwidth, it’ll be interesting to see how much of an impact it’ll have on the performance.
We also like how AMD addressed CPU cooler compatibility was in the video while announcing the new details. Hallock confirmed cooler compatibility with existing AM4 coolers as one of the key ingredients of AM5. This means you’ll be able to bring your existing CPU coolers to the new motherboard. There’s no need to buy a new one or wait for manufacturers to release adapters.
With AMD confirming the new details about AM5, things are getting competitive in the PC space. Intel’s Alder Lake processors are expected to land early next year followed by the ‘Intel Arc’ GPUs. We’ll then get our hands dirty with all the new PCIe 5.0 stuff while waiting for AMD’s AM5 platform to land on our desktops, perhaps in Q3, 2022.
While it’s true that your resume should highlight your accomplishments and experience relevant to the job you’re applying for, recruiters usually only spend about 7 seconds looking at resumes, on average. At this stage of the application process, they’re looking for a reason to reject applicants, which is why you…
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