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02 Dec 20:09

What the CISA Reporting Rule Means for Your IT Security Protocol

by info@thehackernews.com (The Hacker News)
The new Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) requires CISA to create rules regarding cyber incident reporting by critical infrastructure organizations. The RFI and hearings precede a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that CISA must publish sooner than 24 months from the enactment of CIRCIA, which the President signed into law in March. The sessions and
02 Dec 20:09

Hackers Exploiting Redis Vulnerability to Deploy New Redigo Malware on Servers

by info@thehackernews.com (The Hacker News)
A previously undocumented Go-based malware is targeting Redis servers with the goal of taking control of the infected systems and likely building a botnet network. The attacks involve taking advantage of a critical security vulnerability in the open source, in-memory, key-value store that was disclosed earlier this year to deploy Redigo, according to cloud security firm Aqua.
02 Dec 20:08

Sight And Sound's List Leaves Off Some Of The Greatest Films In Horror History

by William Bibbiani

Every decade — on the "twos" for some reason — Sight and Sound releases what may very well be the definitive list of the greatest movies ever made.

The organization asks film critics and filmmakers from all over the world, people who really know their stuff, to present their own lists of the ten greatest motion pictures in history. Those lists are tabulated and spun out into a mighty Top 100, giving movie lovers a chance to learn about a lot of amazing movies and consider the impact that history and cultural shifts in our collective opinions about movies have over time.

And as usual, we learned that critics and filmmakers over the world don't seem to like horror very much.

There are a handful of scary films on the Sight and Sound poll in 2022, but most are squarely in the realm of arthouse cinema, and could also be classified as dramas or thrillers if the voter was feeling snooty about it. "Psycho, "The Shining," and "Get Out" are almost inarguably horror movies but films like "Mulholland Drive" and "Night of the Hunter" occupy vaguer genre territory. Snobs could easily ignore their horror elements and still get a lot out of them.

So where are the great scary movies? 

A lot of them are ready and waiting, that is if future voters feel like expanding their repertoires.

The Silent, Golden Ages

As we move further away from the silent era, which occupied roughly a quarter of all of cinema history, fewer and fewer silent movies seem to get recognized by contemporary film lovers. But several horror films from the era are still among the best and most influential. Classics like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) and "Nosferatu" (1922), in particular, have painted some of the most indelible images in the art form, and now arguably typify the German Expressionist movement which still influences filmmakers today. Two of the most important movies of all time, but not two of the 100 greatest, apparently. "Nosferatu" even got snubbed on its 100-year anniversary. Poor guy.

As the art form and industry expanded, and as sound added whole new avenues for terror, the genre continued to grow. James Whale's "Frankenstein" (1931) introduced one of cinema's most enduring creations, and his "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) remains one of the most subversive mainstream studio films ever made, incorporating queer subtext and arguably sacrilegious elements that challenged convention, and still feels daring even today. Jacques Tourneur's "Cat People" (1942) — which is often credited with inventing the fake-out jump scare, aka the "Lewton Bus" — glaringly damns the xenophobia and sexism of American culture.

And if those films are too mainstream for Sight and Sound critics, they could always vote for artier fare like the surreal quasi-documentary "Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages" (1922), which explores the history of occult superstitions, or Carl Theodor Dryer's stunningly dreamlike "Vampyr" (1932), which gives even David Lynch's vaunted filmography a run for its money in the nightmare department.

Mid-20th Century Anxieties

The anxieties of our cultures evolve over time as new existential and practical threats alter our lives. Giant monster movies existed prior to Ishirō Honda's "Gojira" (1954), but set as it was against the aftermath of the atomic bomb, the devastation of a giant radioactive fire-breathing creature laying waste to Japan was incredibly potent. Not only did the film launch a still-massively popular international franchise, but the original has lost none of its impacts.

In America, anxieties over the so-called "Red Scare" led to sci-fi classics like Don Siegel's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), a frightening allegory for insidious ideologies taking over the minds of our neighbors (which, sadly, still feels relevant). George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) would throw working-class Americans into a pressure cooker while they fought wave after wave of flesh-eating ghouls. Romero's film not only spawned one of the most popular and lucrative horror subgenres but also concluded in a harrowing reminder that, when all is said and done, we cannot escape the horrors of a society that eagerly dehumanizes so many of its members (which again, is sadly still relevant).

Meanwhile, William Castle was breaking down the walls between the artist and the audience with interactive classics like "The Tingler" (1959), which released its title monster into the actual theater through the use of chairs equipped with electric buzzers. Herk Harvey's "Carnival of Souls" (1962), a film of rare ethereal power, miraculously sprang from the low-budget and rarely-appreciated realm of industrial cinema.

And then there's Robert Wise's perfectly titled "The Haunting" (1963), one of the most atmospheric movies ever crafted, Alfred Hitchcock's experimental and confounding "The Birds" (1963), and Georges Franju's arthouse shocker "Eyes Without a Face" (1960), as sad and disturbing as any film of its era.

The Nightmarish 1970s

The 1970s are often considered a highlight in movie history, with filmmakers embracing the new possibilities that the recently-adopted rating system afforded them, to address themes and capture images that previously would have been forbidden by the restrictive "Production Code."

The 1970s provided a fantastic wave of smart, groundbreaking, and visceral horror classics. William Friedkin's blockbuster "The Exorcist" (1973) is more than just terrifying, it's a powerful exploration of modern secularism in collapse. Bob Clark's "Black Christmas" (1974) helped spawn the popular slasher genre, with a film about women fighting off a murderous stalker, whose evil becomes indistinguishable from the misogyny of a man trying to control a woman's decision to have to an abortion. As scary (and again, sadly still relevant) as can be.

Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" (1974) completely changed the motion picture landscape with the blockbuster release, but it's also a striking indictment of a capitalist system that willfully prioritizes economic security over the safety of human lives (again, sadly still relevant). Speaking of blockbusters, while some have argued that the cult horror-comedy musical "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975) is "so bad it's good," the film's cultural influence is so overwhelming that it's literally still playing in theaters today. How can we deny the power of a film that almost literally jumps off the stage and inspires multigenerational cult-like devotion?

David Lynch may be well-represented on the Sight and Sound poll, but his initial surreal masterpiece "Eraserhead" (1977) didn't make the cut, despite its terrifyingly artful illustration of modern loneliness. Dario Argento's superlatively phantasmagorical "Suspiria" (1977) didn't make the list either. Even Ridley Scott's technical masterpiece "Alien" (1979), which combined modern anxieties of a heartless capitalist system, violent sexism, and the all-too-human discomfort with our own physiology, and gave cinema some of its most memorable moments.

Turn Of The Century Scares

It's just getting ridiculous at this point, but there are still more horror classics that arguably deserved recognition. David Cronenberg's remake of the (already wonderful) "The Fly" (1986) is more than a classic monster movie, it's one of the most depressing and emotional films ever made about dying. Bernard Rose's "Candyman" (1992) takes the slasher genre and transforms its urban legend conceptualizations into an eye-opening treatise on the power of myth.

In the 1990s, several filmmakers artfully pulled back the camera to explore horror cinema as a construct, indicting the entertainment industry for exploiting and dulling the artistic value of the genre in "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (1994) and indicting the audience itself for paying for these evils to be brought into the world, in Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" (1997).

Craven's metatextual approach to the horror genre would yield the even more wildly popular, but no less insightful "Scream" (1996), the first in a long series of films that would analyze not just the self-reflexive nature of the horror genre but also reveal its many misogynistic underpinnings, in front of and behind the camera. Takashi Miike's "Audition" (1999) would also disturbingly damn its protagonist for his manipulation of women, in ways too surprising to discuss, but so powerful we're literally arguing it deserves consideration for a list of the Top 100 movies of all time.

The New Millennium Of Macabre

Critics are often hesitant to canonize films before history has had a chance to prove they have staying power, but the new Sight and Sound poll made exceptions for films like Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning social horror film "Get Out" (2017) and the similarly biting "Parasite" (2019), which may or may not be a horror film but is, in its themes and various events, often genuinely disturbing.

So maybe it's a little early to consider the other great horror films of the 21st century for a "Greatest Movies of All Time" list, but it's easy to imagine a near future where Robert Eggers' incredibly intricate and unsettling historical horror film "The Witch" finds a place among the best of the best. Time may also be kind to Ari Aster's feminist cult shocker "Midsommar" (2019) or Jennifer Kent's emotionally devastating and monstrous modern classic "The Babadook" (2014), but we'll just have to wait and see.

Then again, "wait and see" hasn't done wonders for the horror genre's inclusion on the Sight and Sound poll. As wonderful as pretty much all the films on the 2022 list are, they're missing many of the most enduring tales about one of humanity's most powerful emotions. Unless we start giving the horror genre its proper due, I fear the participants of the Sight and Sound poll may always ignore many of the most important and meaningful films in the medium. And that's pretty scary.

Read this next: The 95 Best Horror Movies Ever

The post Sight And Sound's List Leaves Off Some Of The Greatest Films In Horror History appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 20:07

13 Hit TV Series No One Saw Coming

by Ross Johnson

Way back in 2011 (impossibly long ago in TV years, given how the streaming era has shaken things up), there premiered on the lesser cable network FX a weird little show called American Horror Story. A sharp left turn for the creators of Glee (Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan), its ads foregrounded mystery and a skinny guy…

Read more...

02 Dec 20:07

US Army Planned To Pay Streamers Millions To Reach Gen-Z Through Call of Duty

by msmash
The U.S. Army allocated millions of dollars to sponsor a wide range of esports tournaments, individual high profile Call of Duty streamers, and Twitch events in the last year to specifically grow its audience with Gen-Z viewers, and especially women and Black and Hispanic people, according to internal Army documents obtained by Motherboard. From the report: In many cases the sponsorships ultimately did not happen -- the Army ordered a stop of all spending with Call of Duty's publisher Activision after the company faced a wave of sexual harrassment complaints. But the documents provide much greater insight into the Army's goals and intentions behind its planned integrations with Call of Duty and other massive entertainment franchises. "Audience: Gen-Z Prospects (A18-24)," one section of the documents read. "Focus on the growth of females, Black & Hispanics." Motherboard obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A table included in the documents lists the funds the Army planned to spend on various platforms, events, and streamers. At the top, is Twitch and its HBCU [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] Showdown. Previous seasons of this esports league had players compete in Madden and NBA games. The Army planned to spend $1 million on sponsoring the event. The documents show that the U.S. military considered gaming and, in particular, Call of Duty, as a potentially useful branding and recruiting tool.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

02 Dec 20:06

Protecting Your Car 101: Where to Start Efforts

by Kale Gibson

Owning a car is a significant responsibility. Not only do you have to worry about keeping it clean and in good condition, but you also have to worry about its safety. There were over 37,000 traffic fatalities in the United States in the past year. However, you could have prevented many of these fatalities if the drivers and passengers had worn seat belts.

Despite this risk, there are many benefits to owning a car. For starters, cars provide a sense of freedom and independence. Instead of relying on others for transportation, you can go where you want, when you want. Cars also allow you to transport large items or groups of people, which can be difficult or impossible without a car.

In addition to the practical benefits of owning a car, cars can also be a lot of fun. Whether cruising down the highway with the windows down or taking the scenic route through the countryside, cars offer a unique way to experience the world around you.

Still, car owners must protect their valuable assets, starting with these tasks.

Creating the Ideal Garage

The garage is an integral part of protecting your car. Not only does it provide a place to store your vehicle, but it also protects it from the elements. If you have it at home, you can keep your car safe. However, you need to consider a few key features to create the ideal garage for your vehicle.

The first element is the roof. The roof should be solid and sturdy, capable of withstanding heavy snow loads or rain. The second element is the door. The door should be big enough to allow your car to fit inside but not so big that it lets in too much sunlight or cold air. The third element is the flooring. The flooring should be tough and durable, able to withstand oil and gasoline spills.

When designing your garage, make sure to keep these elements in mind. By creating a safe and secure space for your car, you can help protect it from the everyday hazards of life.

Security Features

The car is one of the most expensive assets people can get in their lives. It will be beneficial and good to have some security features in place.

The most crucial security feature is the car alarm system. It will alert you when someone tries to break into your vehicle or if there is any suspicious activity around the car. You should also install a sound locking system with a critical code for extra protection. You can also install motion sensors that will trigger an alarm if someone approaches the car when it is parked.

Finally, consider installing surveillance cameras in your garage and around the exterior of your home. This will allow you to monitor who is passing by your property at all times, which can help deter thieves from targeting your vehicle.

These security features can help ensure that your car is safe and secure.

Regular Inspection and Maintenance

Having a car maintained for protection

A car is often a reliable and durable machine capable of taking you from one place to another. But to make sure that your vehicle is safe and reliable, you must regularly inspect and maintain it.

Regular inspections should involve checking the car’s fluids, filters, belts, tires, brakes, and other components. This will help identify any potential issues before they become significant problems. Replacing worn-out parts or fluids when necessary can help keep your car running efficiently.

In addition to regular inspections, cars also need maintenance, such as oil changes and tune-ups. These services will not only extend your vehicle’s life but can also improve its overall performance.

Unfortunately, you might not be able to perform them yourself, even if you have basic knowledge of how cars work. In this case, it is imperative to enlist the help of a qualified mechanic to take care of your car correctly.

Regularly inspecting and maintaining your vehicle can help extend its life, improve its performance and keep yourself safe on the road.

Car Paint Protection

Your paint will get exposed to the elements every time you take your car out. This means it can become damaged from UV rays, dirt and grime, bird droppings, and other contaminants.

To protect your paint from these hazards, invest in a quality wax or sealant to coat the exterior of your vehicle. Wax will help fill in any minor scratches and provide additional protection against the elements. Sealants are more resilient than waxes and offer better long-term protection for your paint job.

Another option is to take your car to reliable clear car protection film installers to get a wrapping job. This will ensure that the paint gets professionally applied and can withstand any weather.

Final Thoughts

Your car is an expensive investment, so you should protect it in every way possible. By creating a safe garage space with security features, inspecting and maintaining your vehicle regularly, and protecting its paint from the elements, you can help ensure that your car remains in good condition and stays reliable for years to come.

The post Protecting Your Car 101: Where to Start Efforts appeared first on Joe Martin.

02 Dec 20:06

The Phantom Of The Opera Was A Role Gerard Butler Never Expected To Actually Land

by Jenna Busch

The classic tale of "The Phantom of the Opera," about a man with facial differences living in a secret lair under the Paris opera house, has been turned into several films and a wildly successful Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1910 French novel "Le Fantôme de l'Opera" by Gaston Leroux, the story revolves around a young singer named Christine Daaé who has been vocally coached by a mysterious opera ghost, her romance with Count Raoul de Chagny, and the phantom who will go to any lengths to have her for his own. 

A 2004 film based on Webber's musical and directed by Joel Schumacher starred Emmy Rossum as Christine, Patrick Wilson as Raoul, and Gerard Butler as the Phantom of the Opera. There were a number of actors known for their musical talents, like Hugh Jackman, who were up for the role of the Phantom, but Butler won out in the end, surprising even him. He wasn't sure he was up for the task, as he admitted in a video for GQ in 2019.

'Am I Wasting My Time?'

The role of the Phantom is notoriously difficult to sing, as Gerard Butler was well aware of going into the film. As he explained to GW, he used to sing in a rock band when he was a law student and had taken a few vocal lessons, but was nervous all the same. When Joel Schumacher called his agent to ask if he could sing, Butler's agent replied (according to Butler), "Eh, he can sing, but I don't know if he can sing that." Butler added:

"So it went from me going for my first ever singing lesson and singing to the professor of music from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and I said, 'Look, just tell me: am I wasting my time? I don't wanna make a fool of myself.' And we finished, and she said, 'You can absolutely do this. You need to put in a lot of work, you need to learn the rules, but you can do this,' you know? So that's all I needed to hear."

Obviously, getting the role worked out for Butler. The film only has a 33 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes among critics, so whether or not it worked out for "The Phantom of the Opera" itself is up for debate.

'My Leg Took On A Life Of Its Own'

Being cast in a role is one thing. Actually singing for Andrew Lloyd Webber, who composed one of the most well-known musicals of all time, is quite another. In an interview with Tribute.ca in 2013, Gerard Butler called the audition "hairy," saying that he felt confident until he found himself standing in front of Webber, Joel Schumacher (who hadn't heard him sing yet either), music supervisor Simon Lee (who was playing piano for him), and executive producer Austin Shaw. "My leg took on a life of its own. I couldn't stop it. I thought, could they see this? I was just shaking it. Simon's going [mimes deep breath] 'just breathe.' ... It was funny. I look back now and laugh," Butler noted.

In the GQ interview, Butler also mentioned the fact that he was the one cast in the first place popped into his head a lot during the making of "The Phantom of the Opera." He laughed, explaining, "There would be so many times I'd just be sitting there going, 'How the hell did I get here? This is awesome. I can't even sing." 

Butler may not have been perfect in terms of vocal production, but he managed to plow through a difficult score. At the time of this writing, "The Phantom of the Opera" isn't streaming for free, but you can rent it on Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV.

Read this next: The 14 Greatest Action Movies Of The 21st Century

The post The Phantom of the Opera Was A Role Gerard Butler Never Expected To Actually Land appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 17:46

The Geekbox: Episode 636

Wherein we discuss, Fan Expo San Francisco 2022, cleaning up digital detritus, Square Enix's smooth jazz, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Wednesday, Dracula, Our Flag Means Death, Wellington Paranormal, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Marvel Snap, The Mortuary Assistant, and Hive. Starring Ryan Scott, Justin Haywald, and Ryan Higgins.

02 Dec 17:46

How to Avoid Paying the 'Single Tax'

by Meredith Dietz

Whether you love the single life or can’t wait to be coupled up, one thing is sure: It’s expensive to be single. We’ve previously covered personal finance tips to take advantage of while you’re single, but the costs of being alone are rarely a result of personal failure. Instead, our economy privileges…

Read more...

02 Dec 17:40

Hot Skull – Netflix Series Review

by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
02 Dec 13:45

Christina Ricci Sees Something Strangely Relatable About Her Yellowjackets Character

by Joshua Meyer

This post contains spoilers for "Yellowjackets" season 1.

On Showtime's "Yellowjackets," Misty Quigly, played by Christina Ricci as an adult and Sammi Hanratty as a teenager in flashbacks, is an outcast with a twisted character profile. As the equipment manager for the WHS Yellowjackets girls' soccer team, Misty is unpopular. Yet she has an overwhelming desire to fit in and is willing to go to some very questionable lengths to make that happen. When the team's plane crashes in the wilderness en route to a tournament, Misty's knowledge of first aid gains her more acceptance, and it feels so good to be needed that she secretly smashes the plane's flight recorder, thereby eliminating any chance that they will be located and rescued.

Despite this and other moves that go against the good of the group (and later, the welfare of her patients as a nurse), Ricci sees something in Misty that keeps her weirdly relatable even as she acts out in crazy ways.

In an interview with GQ for the "Yellowjackets" season 1 finale, Ricci said, 

"People really do connect with that need [Misty] has that motivates everything, which is to be accepted, to be a part of the group. But what's interesting about this character and what I think these writers do so adeptly is, they show you how badly she wants to be there, and then they show you the reason why she deserves to be kicked out."

In the wilderness, the teenage Misty develops unrequited feelings for the Yellowjackets' assistant coach, Ben (Steven Krueger), who falls under her care after she's forced to amputate his leg. Though Ben privately self-identifies as gay, Misty dotes on him and is not above tripping him or even poisoning him if it means ensuring that he will still need her help.

'She Has That Need, Still'

This early tendency toward a kind of Munchausen by proxy behavior on Misty's part propels her toward a job as a care assistant in a nursing home as an adult. By then, Misty has reached the point where she demands respect and is even willing to withhold morphine if a patient gives her trouble.

"The thing I actually like most about this character," Ricci continued, "is how she has that need, still. It's still the thing that — almost subconsciously, probably, at this point — drives her to operate. But she's also, after years and years of being stepped on and dismissed and not accepted and punished for who she is, very much at a point where she's like, 'Well, no one's ever going to give it to me. So I'm going to f****** take it.'"

Holding private detective Jessica Roberts (Rekha Sharma) hostage in her basement shows how dangerous Misty is, but at the same time, there's still a needy aspect to her, which sees her latching onto her fellow Yellowjacket, the adult Natalie (Juliette Lewis). In Ricci's view, Natalie serves as an idealized version of someone who's an outsider but cool, the way Misty always wished she could be. She concluded:

"[Misty] really has a fascination with Natalie, which I think is born out of the fact that Natalie was also an outsider when they were teenagers, and that she's the best version of that Misty could imagine being, you know what I mean? She's like, 'Right. I'm an outsider too. And look how cool that outsider is. So, that must mean being an outsider is really cool.' I think she's always really coveted who Natalie is."

"Yellowjackets" season 1 is now streaming on Showtime.

Read this next: The 15 Best Horror TV Shows Of All Time

The post Christina Ricci Sees Something Strangely Relatable About Her Yellowjackets Character appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 13:45

Seth Rogen Developed His Knocked Up Character By Reading With Every Woman Who Auditioned

by Joe Roberts

These days, Seth Rogen is showing up in Steven Spielberg movies and posting pictures of his pottery on Twitter. But back in the early-2000s, he had a near-legendary run appearing in Judd Apatow comedies, which truly jump-started his career. After his supporting role alongside Steve Carell in Apatow's 2005 effort "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," Rogen took on the starring role in the director's next project: the romantic comedy "Knocked Up."

Playing Ben Stone, the lovable stoner with a slacker mentality, the actor was described by Peter Sciretta in /Film's original "Knocked Up" review, as someone who "reminds me of a lot of my friends." Scenes with Ben and his band of layabout buddies feel like you're watching actual friends hanging out and busting balls. In fact, the movie succeeded in realistically depicting all kinds of life situations. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's Pete and Debbie felt so much like an actual couple (they were based on Apatow and Mann's real-life relationship) that in 2012 the director debuted a sort of sequel to "Knocked Up" based around their characters with "This Is 40."

With the "This Is 40" sequel officially in development, the legacy of "Knocked Up" continues to evolve. But it's unlikely anything set in the same universe will top Apatow's original movie, which belongs to the early-2000s golden age when the prolific director/producer seemingly had something to do with every comedy movie that came out. Much of that is down to those realistic performances that feel as though the actors were simply playing themselves. And while there's a lot of that going on in "Knocked Up," in Rogen's case, the now well-established star actually worked pretty hard to develop the character of Ben. And he had a novel way of doing it.

Rogen Read With A Hundred Different Actors

In a piece for Vanity Fair, Apatow breaks down his entire career, including a little-known pilot starring Amy Poehler and Kevin Hart which wound up going nowhere. With "Knocked Up" being such a significant movie in establishing Apatow as an industry powerhouse, he of course gives some insight into the film and even elaborates on how Rogen found his character during pre-production. Evidently the then-24-year-old "read with every single woman who came in," for the part that eventually went to Katherine Heigl. The process apparently took "months," with the actor reading with "a hundred different people" and developing the Ben character along the way.

It's probably not too uncommon for actors to develop characters in the process of reading with their future colleagues — though, reading with a hundred people probably isn't a common thing. But as Apatow noted, when actors are yet to become established, there's a different energy to the production process:

"It's different when it's that first movie and [the actors] really wanna score, and they have so much energy and passion ... when you get to your 40th Harrison Ford movie, he tends not to give you that time. And he shouldn't."

Seth Rogan Is At Harrison Ford's Level

Since "Knocked Up," Rogen has gone on to have a varied career in Hollywood, proving that he can capably take on dramatic roles such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in "Steve Jobs" and now as the avuncular Bennie in Spielberg's "The Fabelmans." Talking to Uproxx about the latter, he actually credits his time working with Apatow as giving him an insight into how to tell "deeply personal" stories on film, claiming the producer/director was a big proponent of including semi-autobiographical elements in his stories.

That was certainly the case with "Knocked Up," with its multiple characters that felt like real people and Pete and Debbie's marriage being based on Apatow's own. And at that time Rogen was a relatively inexperienced actor, having only really appeared in the Apatow-produced TV series "Freaks And Geeks" which was canceled after 12 episodes and a handful of smaller movie parts. Reading with every actor that came in for the Katherin Heigl part was likely a great exercise for the young Rogen, who these days occupies a much more secure position in Hollywood. For "The Fabelmans," he was sought out by Spielberg during the COVID-19 pandemic and then just "hung out for a few months as they put the rest of the movie together." Not quite the same intense commitment to developing his character as he had for "Knocked Up," but at this point, he doesn't need it. He's earned his Harrison Ford status.

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

The post Seth Rogen Developed His Knocked Up Character By Reading With Every Woman Who Auditioned appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 04:49

Florida sheriff says kids are too soft these days, need to go back to the old days where kids literally needed to fear they're going to have the cheeks of their ass torn off for not doing right in class [Florida]

02 Dec 04:48

How AMD’s New HYPR-RX Could Improve Your Gaming Performance

by Kieran Robertson

AMD has a wide range of performance-enhancing software under its belt. Many of these programs are neatly packaged in AMD's Adrenalin Edition. Announced in early 2022, the latest version of Adrenalin Edition delivers up to a 15 percent gaming performance uplift compared to the previous year's edition. However, AMD has now set its sights on pushing the limits of AMD Adrenalin even further.

02 Dec 04:47

What Are Elon Musk's Views on Free Speech?

by Brandon Cranmer

It seems that Elon Musk is always in the news for one reason or another. He has become especially popular after acquiring Twitter. Moving on to own what many consider the "world's public square", it's interesting to find out what Musk has to say about free speech.

02 Dec 04:46

A Wounded Fawn (2022) [1080p] [BluRay] [5.1] [YTS.MX]

A Wounded Fawn (2022)
IMDB Rating: 5.5/10
Genre: Horror
Size: 1.68 GB
Runtime: 1hr 31 min

After his art collector client loses out to hers on a proxy bid for a distinctive Erinyes statue, secret serial killer Bruce Ernst follows Kate Horna back to her home from an auction. Haunted by an imposing vision of a Red Owl figure, Bruce murders Kate and steals the sculpture.Bruce brings his new girlfriend Meredith Tanning, a gallery docent recovering from an abusive relationship, to his remote woodland cabin for a weekend getaway where he actually plans to kill her. Upon arriving at the cabin, Meredith hears a disembodied voice warn her to leave.Meredith recognizes the Erinyes statue as having gone through her museum for provenance verification. To keep her from digging further, Bruce claims his sculpture is merely a replica. Meredith still takes a photo of the statue and texts it to her friend Wendy who works with her at the museum.Tensions mount between Meredith and Bruce as Meredith becomes increasingly unsettled by odd occurrences such as seeing an unknown woman walking by outside. After initially refusing, Bruce ultimately agrees to take Meredith back to the city when she demands to leave due to the growing strangeness.While another vision of the Red Owl indicates to Bruce that it is finally time to murder her, Meredith takes a phone call from Wendy. Wendy warns Meredith to leave the cabin immediately because the Erinyes sculpture was reported stolen and the woman who bought it went missing.Once Meredith returns to the main room, Bruce suddenly slashes her throat, which seemingly kills Meredith. Bruce burns Meredith's clothes, destroys her phone, and masturbates before returning to her body. Having apparently survived the slashing, Meredith unexpectedly beats Bruce unconscious with the statue.When he recovers from the massive head trauma, Bruce notices a piece of his skull poking into his head. Bruce then experiences a series of strange visions and encounters that include an aggressive dog, Kate, Meredith, another victim named Leonora, and other figures masked as Furies from Greek theater.When the haunting hallucinations subside, Bruce takes the statue outside as an offering for his psychological torment to stop. However, Meredith continues to confront Bruce with taunting visions and cryptic conversations. Bruce insists he isn't evil, but that there is a floating piece inside his skull that tells him who to target and commands him to kill.Feeling tricked by Meredith, Bruce storms outside to collect the statue. More visions that include Kate as well as Meredith wearing a mask surround Bruce before chasing him into a forest.In their final confrontation, Bruce claims Meredith drove out the Red Owl, but she demands that he confess to being a thief and a murderer. Refusing to do so, invisible arms start slashing Bruce to death as he pleads for Meredith to call "them" off. A sudden cut back to reality shows that Meredith survived her slashing by putting duct tape around her throat and she now stands watching as Bruce kills himself on the forest floor. (thanks to culturecrypt)
02 Dec 03:33

Mars Asteroid Impact Helps to Solve a 'Mega Tsunami' Mystery - CNET

by Jackson Ryan
The solar system smash was similar to Earth's Chicxulub impact, which ended the reign of the dinosaurs.
02 Dec 03:24

PCI-SIG States That Partners Are Responsible For User Safety Following 16-Pin 12VHPWR Cable Lawsuit

by Hassan Mujtaba

PCI-SIG Wants It Partners To Ensure Utmost User-Safety For The 16-Pin 12VHPWR Cable Standard 1

We have an update that comes to us directly from PCI-SIG in regards to the 16-Pin 12VHPWR cable specifications.

PCI-SIG Wants It Partners To Ensure Utmost User-Safety For The 16-Pin 12VHPWR Cable Standard

The 12VHPWR 16-Pin cable saw various issues since its introduction on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. We saw multiple cases of cables and connectors melting up but experts and NVIDIA itself concluded that the problem occurred due to an improper connection caused solely due to user error.

Last month, NVIDIA was hit by a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit can be seen filed over at Justia and was filed at the California Federal court on 11 November 2022. The user states:

NVIDIA "marketed and sold the RTX 4090 with a defective and dangerous power cable plug and socket, which has rendered consumers' cards inoperable and poses a serious electrical and fire hazard for each and every purchaser."

Now PCI-SIG has come forward to address the whole situation with their first official response. In an email sent to us, PCI-SIG states that its members are responsible for the design, manufacturing, and testing, including safety testing, of their products that utilize the 16-Pin 12VHPWR specification. The full statement is listed below:

We previously sent an email notifying you that one manufacturer has reported to PCI-SIG potential safety issues with its use of the 12VHPWR connection. Further to that, we have been informed of a recent lawsuit: Genova v. Nvidia Corporation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California case No. 5:22-cv-07090. The lawsuit alleges, in part, that 12VHPWR cable plugs experienced “melting … posing a serious electrical and fire hazard”.

PCI-SIG wishes to impress upon all Members that manufacture, market or sell PCI-SIG technologies (including 12VHPWR connections) of the need to take all appropriate and prudent measures to ensure end user safety, including testing for the reported problem cases involving consumers as alleged in the above-referenced lawsuit. Members are reminded that PCI-SIG specifications provide necessary technical information for interoperability and do not attempt to address proper design, manufacturing methods, materials, safety testing, safety tolerances or workmanship. When implementing a PCI-SIG specification, Members are responsible for the design, manufacturing, and testing, including safety testing, of their products.

via PCI-SIG

PCI-SIG Wants It Partners To Ensure Utmost User-Safety For The 16-Pin 12VHPWR Cable Standard 2

We have a small but useful (and effective) guide for how to install the 16-Pin 12VHPWR connector if you are getting an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 graphics card. We expect other partners to follow up with their own statements soon.

The post PCI-SIG States That Partners Are Responsible For User Safety Following 16-Pin 12VHPWR Cable Lawsuit by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

02 Dec 03:16

Titans Season 4 Finally Delivers The Goods With Beast Boy

by Marcos Melendez

This post contains spoilers for the fourth season of "Titans."

The fourth season of "Titans" is not perfect by any means, but it's a sizeable step up from previous years. The titular superhero team finally has some sort of rhythm, and a change of scenery to Metropolis is proving to be a locale worth exploring. The addition of a few iconic Teen Titans villains doesn't hurt, either. But the mid-season finale has arrived, and folks, it's finally happened. After three seasons of morphing into a tiger (and the occasional bat), Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) has finally spread his wings and turned into something even cooler. 

As a longtime "Titans" watcher, I was almost content with the fact that Beast Boy would always turn into a tiger, and the occasional bat or snake. But his character development remained ever so stagnant, until now. In season 4, "Titans" finally gives Beast Boy the time of the day, introducing new abilities and a very powerful connection to all animal life that already has serious implications for the series. In other words, he can now turn into a really cool-looking, massive green ape.

A Big Ol' Ape

The sixth episode had the superhero team fight Mother Mayhem (Franka Potente) and her goons as a last-ditch effort to stop the Brother Blood ritual from happening. Although we've seen Beast Boy stretch his limits as of late, the mid-season finale confirms that he can actually turn into large animals that are not feline. As his ape form ravages the Cult of Blood, we get to see Beast Boy in action unlike never before. He turned into a virus earlier this season, but that's admittedly not as cool as a giant friggin' ape.

Thankfully, it seems like this will not be the last time we see Beast Boy turns into a non-tiger animal. Being able to morph into an ape was long overdue, anyway. He apparently turned into a variety of creatures in a previous episode, including a velociraptor, but it occurred off-screen. "Titans" season 4 has slowly been working its way into introducing new limits to his metahuman abilities, tying them to a mysterious supernatural force.

A New Kind Of Animal Connection

Shockingly enough, the fourth season of "Titans" is making explicit moves to evolve Beast Boy as a character. Throughout the last few episodes, Beast Boy has been experiencing visions of a red-tinted world and a large tree at the center of it. These moments have allowed him to have a few premonitions of his own, including predicting the bombastic final fight against Mother Mayhem at her lair. The Red, a force that connects all animal life, has made its way into "Titans" and is the apparent source of Beast Boy's newfound abilities.

Sort of like the Green, which connected Swamp Thing to all plant life in the comics, the Red serves a similar purpose for Beast Boy. With a deeper connection to the animals, it's a no-brainer that we'll see a larger variety of transformations from now on. Even though "Titans" consistently skimps out on its heroes using their superpowers, utilizing Beast Boy at his full potential should be the priority if it turns out to be the last season. Let him be a T-rex in the finale, at the very least.

New episodes of "Titans" debut on Thursdays on HBO Max.

Read this next: Every DC Movie Made Prior To The DCEU Ranked From Worst To Best

The post Titans Season 4 Finally Delivers the Goods With Beast Boy appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 03:15

Harrison Ford Insisted On Adding A Key Scene To The Mosquito Coast's Screenplay

by Drew Tinnin

Harrison Ford has never come across as an actor who was willing to spout off about politics, take up a certain humanitarian cause, or rail against the overseas meddling of the United States. Ford only uses his power of celebrity when it's insisted upon by the Hollywood studio system, reluctantly making the rounds during a seemingly endless press tour to promote his next blockbuster. He certainly never cared about the rise of the Rebellion in "Star Wars" or becoming an international diplomat as Indiana Jones. Shouting, "That belongs in a museum!" in the thrilling opening sequence of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is about as pedantic as the famed archaeologist ever got. 

However, with his Golden Globe nominated role as Alfie Fox in 1986's "The Mosquito Coast," Ford delivered his most politically-minded role by portraying a discontented family man that had grown tired of the deconstruction of American values. Reuniting with director Peter Weir (who had helped secure Ford's first Oscar nomination for "Witness"), Ford was able to play an eccentric character that rants and raves about the material distractions and shallow desires of Americans who don't take the time to look around and realize that the U.S. had become a toilet. 

During a meeting with journalists from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1986, Ford delivered a surprising, passionate interview about how you can love America and still criticize it. Suddenly, the megastar performer was being political. The character of Allie Fox loves America so much that he leaves it, forcing his family to come along with him on an ill-fated adventure in the Caribbean jungle. At the time, Ford was campaigning for the Golden Globe Awards and talked about his insistence on adding one crucial scene in "The Mosquito Coast" that proved the character still loved his home country. 

What Was The Scene That Ford Wanted In?

The screenplay for "The Mosquito Coast" by Paul Schrader ("Taxi Driver") remained true to author Paul Theroux's 1981 novel of the same name, staying mostly faithful to the original spirit of the book. Ford was well aware that he was using his star power to inject some likability into the misguided idealism of Alfie Fox. Knowing that Peter Weir's film was going to be controversial, Ford wanted to incorporate another story about family from the book that wasn't originally included in Schrader's script. Speaking to the HFPA:

"Peter and I were both aware of the possible difficulty of the audience's understanding what our attitude was about America, so in the original screenplay by Paul Schrader, there was no scene where Allie Fox tells the story of his mother's death. It was one of my suggestions that we included that dramatic story from the book to show the audience that Allie Fox does love America."

In the pivotal scene, Fox compares his dying mother to America herself. He remembers her asking for some rat poison to end her suffering. Loving the country just as much as his own mother, he turns his back on both because he can't bear to see them perish. Helen Mirren's "Mother" character willingly and obediently follows her husband into the brink, a show of blinding loyalty that Ford also addressed with a surprising amount of political and social acumen. "In this particular case, it's not a disproof of feminist theory that this woman reacts as she does to this man. She clearly loves him, and that's their relationship."

A Story About Fathers

Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford are set to reunite as husband and wife for Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone prequel "1932," their first time working together since "The Mosquito Coast." The saga of the Dutton family ranch in "Yellowstone" is all about family, but the intimate American story in Weir's divisive film is really all about the responsibility of fatherhood. 

Before writing the novel, Theroux befriended an American writer named Moritz Thomsen in Ecuador who regaled the author with horror stories about his abusive father. "His stories about his father were terrifying," Theroux told The Ringer's Tim Greiving. "I started thinking about fathers. I thought about Jim Jones, Huck Finn's father, my father ... even I as a father."

Taking inspiration from "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Theroux made the 14-year-old boy the narrator, so readers could see the rantings of Allie Fox through his son's eyes. Theroux also took real-life influences into account, using the Jonestown Massacre in the 1970's and the fatherly cult leader Jim Jones as a kind of prototype. Jones, too, was a father figure that was strictly anti-government, becoming an expatriate that also attempted his warped version of a utopian community. 

Becoming so enamored with a romanticized version of the so-called American dream, Fox forces his family to choose between him and any semblance of a stable, sustainable family life. The family believes in him as an apotheosized father figure, which ultimately causes them to realize that he has betrayed them and left them with nothing but an unattainable ideal. 

This Is America

Patriotism was at an all-time high during the booming years of the Reagan era when "The Mosquito Coast" came out in theaters, and Ford uncharacteristically spoke about the difference between the two America's that were emerging in the mid-'80s. He told the HFPCA:

"If you have a newspaper handy, I can point out to you, from Ivan Boesky to the secret war in the White House and all the way down the line, that it's our right and responsibility to criticize America. But also, it's a matter of degree. This is a character who's operatic in tone and so his criticisms are as exaggerated, overblown, but we all would hope for a more perfected America, which is not Ronald Reagan's America."

That's about as political as Ford has ever been in the public square, before or since. Theroux's own nephew, writer and actor Justin Theroux (seen above, right), currently stars in the modern day version of "Mosquito Coast" on Apple TV+ that continues the story of a radical antihero for a new generation. The streaming series is facing the same problem that the original did in a way, forcing an America that's arguably more divided and distracted than ever to take a break from their screen life to look at the uncertain world around them. 

"There's a great independence of spirit in the American people and some will see Allie Fox as a fool while others will see him as a sympathetic person," Ford acknowledged back in 1986. "I expected that, I never wanted anybody to be comfortable with him. I was not expecting this character to be embraced as a prophet for the new America." Ford's words back then still resonate today, maybe even more so. And maybe today, we need the maverick spirit of Allie Fox more than ever. 

Read this next: The 19 Greatest Movie Couples Of All Time Ranked

The post Harrison Ford Insisted On Adding A Key Scene To The Mosquito Coast's Screenplay appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 03:13

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny Trailer Breakdown: Where There's A Whip, There's A Way

by Jeremy Mathai

Dust off that old fedora and break out that trusty whip, because Indiana Jones is finally back for one last ride.

After years of rumors, false starts, and rampant speculation, we've actually set our eyes upon brand new footage of Harrison Ford as the world-famous archaeologist extraordinaire, who makes a specialty out of punching Nazis and chewing bubble gum ... and he's all out of gum. Today, Lucasfilm dropped the highly-anticipated trailer and the official title for the artist previously known as "Indy 5," which is now called "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." What exactly is a dial of destiny, you ask? Beats me, but the cadence and rhythm of that McGuffin sure fits perfectly with the pulpy feel of the rest of the throwback franchise. And that's a huge relief, considering that this will be the first (and presumably only?) "Indiana Jones" movie to be made without the direct fingerprints of a certain Mr. Steven Spielberg behind the camera.

The footage has everything you could possibly want out of modern Indy: sun-soaked desert locales! Fast-paced chase sequences! The professor himself in his natural environment -- a classroom! And, of course, a stunning silhouette showing off that legendary, fedora-wearing profile. Yeah, despite plenty of reasons to feel cynical about a fifth "Indiana Jones" movie (a legacy sequel to another legacy sequel, as I enjoy reminding everyone), this James Mangold-directed picture looks as thrilling as it gets. Which makes sense, considering the filmmaker has plenty of experience crafting cinematic goodbyes to beloved fictional characters.

Without further ado, let's break down all the highlights of that stunning trailer.

One Last Sunrise ... Or Sunset?

You had to know the "Indiana Jones" trailer would begin with a calming, familiar, and deeply nostalgic shot like this, didn't you? Spielberg and Douglas Slocombe, his regular cinematographer on all the previous films except "Crystal Skull" (which saw Janusz Kaminski step up to the plate to try to recapture that same old-school feel), crafted iconic shot after shot of golden hour at various desert locales. At this point, the shimmery golden haze of a sunset or sunrise simply evokes classic Indy. This time, it can't help but feel like a dawn of a new era for the grizzled old fella ... or, much more likely, the end of the road in one way or another.

Though this doesn't really tell us much about the actual plot -- beyond the Middle Eastern-looking setting and the fact that our hero will apparently end up in the middle of an action-packed set piece that will see him swinging from taxi to taxi -- it does effectively transport us right back to the whip-cracking world of Indy as if we hadn't missed a beat. 

Also a nice touch: the voiceover narration (from a character that we'll get to soon enough) wistfully opining about, "I miss the desert, I miss the sea..."

Old Stomping Grounds

You know how it goes by now, right? Dr. Jones is restful and content at his day job, teaching a bunch of adoring young students about the ins and outs of archaeology and relics from antiquity ... only to get sucked right back into the fist-fighting world of Nazis, supernatural powers, and the occasional UFO. You have to admire the commitment though. 

After an establishing shot of a much older Indy strolling through what appears to be 1960s New York City, we get a closer look at Ford teaching a classroom full of students about the more mundane pleasures of the business. He might have been the sexy action hero for an entire generation of fans, but at his heart? Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. has always been a big ol' nerd.

A Familiar Foe

Can you feel the nostalgia in every frame of this trailer so far? Just listen to the voiceover that continues on, which is certainly pining for the good old days right along with us: "And I miss waking up every morning wondering what wonderful adventure the new day will bring us." 

In a flashback sequence, we see soldiers taking away a hooded figure who seems to be their prisoner as an old European-style building explodes into flames behind them. Take a quick look at the helmet of the soldiers in the foreground and, well, it seems as if Indy can't quite escape the demons from his past. As promised, those damned Nazis appear to be back and involved in some significant way. After all, what else besides the biggest bads of them all could possibly bring a geriatric Indy out of semi-retirement?

Days Gone By

Where's that Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when you need it? Look, everyone, Sallah's back! The lovable sidekick from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," portrayed by John Rhys-Davies, is joining in on the action. As it turns out, it's his soothing and unmistakable voice that's been guiding us through the trailer up to this point. Though there's no indication if he has a larger role to play in this movie beyond a single cameo outside of what looks like an airport, he's sure doing his best to urge Indy to join him for old-time's sake. Gently chastised by his longtime friend with the simple declaration that, "Those days have come and gone," the incorrigible Sallah responds heartily and with a winking sense of knowing something that Indy doesn't: "Perhaps ... perhaps not."

Train To Nowhere

Here's our first look at Toby Jones as Arnim Zola an undisclosed character in the film. But come on, after serving as the main prize of another high-speed train set piece in "Captain America: The First Avenger," it's more than a little funny that the diminutive actor once again finds himself in the middle of a pulpy adventure on top of a speeding train, right? I suppose that's fitting, though, since -- fun fact alert -- the Joe Johnston-directed superhero movie pretty blatantly showed some love for its "Indiana Jones" inspirations through its wink-wink, nudge-nudge reference of Hitler digging for "trinkets in the desert." Talk about coming full circle! 

In any case, it's great to see that Mangold and his director of photography, Phedon Papamichael, found some pretty striking and evocative shot selections that would feel right at home on that "One Perfect Shot" Twitter account.

The Resemblance Is Uncanny!

If looks could kill, then the lasers that a young, digitally de-aged Harrison Ford is staring at his captor(s) would probably melt some Nazi faces along the same lines of, well, you know

Seriously though, after months and months of rumors that were only just recently confirmed, here's the official reveal of young Indy back in World War II-era regalia. As /Film's Ryan Scott writes, it's a pretty eye-popping and impressive effect that the visual effects team has achieved, though seeing it in motion might be another story entirely. Still, after plenty of pretty egregious swings and misses over the years, mostly pioneered by Marvel, it's nice to see a much more convincing effort here that presumably will have a genuine story purpose beyond the novelty of it all.

Speaking of which, the very next shot also shows a de-aged Mads Mikkelson (possibly even in the same room or building as poor Indy here) opening a box branded with the Nazi swastika as a glowing light emanates from within. We've seen this image a few times before in this franchise, haven't we folks? Some tropes are tropes for a reason -- because they're fun!

So What Are We, Some Kind Of Dial Of Destiny?

"Raiders of the Lost Ark." "Temple of Doom." "The Last Crusade." "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Okay, maybe scratch that last one, but this franchise has always been full of killer titles that just roll of the tongue. "Dial of Destiny" is great for the alliterative appreciators out there, but are we all fully on board with how hokey that sounds? It's all in the eye (ear?) of the beholder, of course. In any case, at least we actually know the title after what felt like ages of keeping it under close wraps. 

What exactly is it? Well, this intriguing shot seems to suggest that it could be a sundial. The McGuffins in these movies always seem to come down to ancient relics and priceless items from the deep past, so this sure seems in keeping with that. You know what they say: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Indy, a purveyor of retrieving artifacts for safekeeping in museums, would surely agree!

Back In The Saddle Again

As is customary for trailers these days, we quickly transition to a fast-moving montage of images that barely even register in the brain before moving on to the next. While Indy solemnly intones, "I've seen things ... things I can't explain. And I've come to believe it's not so much what you believe, it's how hard you believe it," we get more rapid-fire glimpses of Mads Mikkelsen's main antagonist (this time in the present day), Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character (who was recently revealed to be Indy's goddaughter) in the field alongside Indy, more teases of the action sequence set during the ticker tape parade celebrating the Apollo 11 return from the moon, and finally Indiana Jones going full John Wick as he rides a horse through a subway system. It all feels appropriately "Indy-like" enough to feel of a piece with the rest of the franchise, not to mention more visceral action with some pretty nifty camera placement that brings viewers right into the nitty-gritty of the action.

Scene-Stealer Incoming

It all ends on the cute button of Indy and Helena in some seedy restaurant or other, confronting some equally as seedy-looking individuals as the pair are on some important plot-related business. 

While saddling Harrison Ford with Shia LaBeouf as his son in "Crystal Skull" didn't quite turn out as successfully as the creative team intended -- Mutt Williams is nowhere to be seen in this movie and not a single person is mad about it -- here's hoping the infinitely more exciting addition of Phoebe Waller-Bridge livens up the proceedings. Based on the short scene here where she all but oozes charisma, we're expecting big things. The final moments see Indy whipping out his, well, whip in an attempt to keep some dangerous individuals away from him ... until they all take out guns of their own in a hilarious reversal of the moment in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where Indy pulls a similar trick on that poor swordsman. It's like poetry; it rhymes!

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" comes to theaters on June 30, 2023.

Read this next: Every Steven Spielberg-Directed Horror Movie, Ranked

The post Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Trailer Breakdown: Where There's A Whip, There's A Way appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 03:12

Turns Out There Was Never A Real Reason For Jerry Seinfeld To Hate Newman

by Shae Sennett

One of the many great mysteries of "Seinfeld" has always been Jerry's deep-seated hatred of his neighbor, Newman. Sure, he isn't the most charismatic guy, but all of Jerry's friends have their own abhorrent qualities that don't seem to bother the protagonist. As it turns out, even the co-creator and star himself doesn't know exactly why his self-insert character hates Newman — he just does. And sometimes, especially in a sitcom, that's the only reason necessary.

Newman's first lines of the series were in the season 2 episode "The Revenge." The character does not appear on screen, but rather yells from the roof, threatening his friend Kramer that he's going to jump. "The following season, we did a show where I guess we needed a friend for Kramer, somebody in the building," the series co-creator Larry David explained in a behind-the-scenes interview. "We've already heard this name 'Newman' before so, let's use this guy. We've already introduced him." 

The other series creator was hesitant to introduce the people in Kramer's world. "I thought it might stir Kramer's mystique if you actually saw any friends of his," Jerry Seinfeld recalled. "We wanted him to be kind of an island unto himself."

When Wayne Knight read for the role, Larry David knew "in about five seconds" that he was the one for the part. "There was no expectation of Newman being a recurring character," Knight said. "This was strictly a one-off shot as far as I knew." It seems that Knight's performance ultimately convinced Seinfeld to keep him on the show. "Obviously, Wayne [Knight] was such a perfect compadre and counterpoint to him," he conceded. Seinfeld may have warmed up to Newman's presence in real life, but his character certainly did not.

'It Just Seemed Funny To Hate Newman'

There are a few reasons why Jerry Seinfeld hates Newman, but none of them are because he deserved it. "People ask all the time, why did Jerry not like Newman?" Wayne Knight said in the interview. "Frankly, he was the only one who expressed it. Nobody really liked Newman." 

As for Seinfeld, he believes that Newman was a natural antagonist for him on the show. "It was an instinctive dislike of the character," he explained. "He was the first person who was coming onto my own show to sabotage me in some way, and so why would I not hate him forever for that?"

As for why his character truly despises Newman, even Seinfeld himself isn't totally sure. "The real answer, why I hated Newman, is because it just seemed funny to hate Newman," he admitted to CBS News. "Everybody has one eccentric friend that's sort of out there," he explained, referring to Kramer. "And their outer orbit friend is someone you cannot deal with. So that was the reasoning." More than anything, though, Jerry's animosity towards Newman was purely comedic. "There was no real reason for me to hate Newman. He never did anything bad to me, it was just fun. It was fun to hate him."

Newman is pretty unlikeable, but does he really deserve so much of Jerry's ire? When he eventually retaliates in revenge, is he truly in the wrong? Some people think that the real villain in "Seinfeld" isn't Newman at all — it's actually Jerry. As it turns out, the real-life Jerry Seinfeld might not disagree. He admits that he doesn't hate Newman for any good reason. It's not a very intricate answer, but it works — the fact that their conflict is based solely on clashing vibes makes it all the more hilarious.

Read this next: The 15 Best Comedy Duos Of All Time

The post Turns Out There Was Never A Real Reason For Jerry Seinfeld To Hate Newman appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 03:10

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Trailer Breakdown: 'We'll All Fly Away Together, One Last Time'

by BJ Colangelo

It seems like James Gunn is ready to make superhero fans across the globe cry their faces off because the trailer for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is bringing equal parts hype hero action and devastating emotional moments that seem like audiences will be blubbering messes by the end of it. It's the final chapter for the galaxy's favorite intergalactic a-holes, following their recent appearance in "Thor: Love and Thunder" and the delightfully ridiculous "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special."

Set after the events of 2017's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," (especially the post-credits teaser featuring Adam Warlock, the super-powerful being first introduced in the "Fantastic Four" comic books back in the 1960s), the second film in Marvel's Phase Five is likely the last we'll see of Peter "Star-Lord" Quill (Chris Pratt), this version of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper).

We already knew from Gunn's comments at the "Guardians of the Galaxy" panel during San Diego Comic-Con that a hearty chunk of "Vol. 3" would explore the past of Rocket Racoon, with the trailer flashback of a very cute baby Rocket backing up his claims. Gunn said at SDCC that Rocket is "the saddest creature in the universe," which might be true until people see "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" for themselves and potentially give the roughhousing raccoon a run for his title. Gunn surely has plenty of surprises up his sleeve before the film arrives in theaters but this incredible trailer all but guarantees this swan song will be one for the record books.

'The Galaxy Needs Its Guardians'

Peter Quill opens the trailer with a moving, motivational statement: "We were gone for quite a while but no matter what happens next, the galaxy still needs its Guardians." The crew arrives on a new, Earth-like planet, but the inhabitants are far from human. Sadly, Gamora is not with them, as she died in "Avengers: Infinity War."

A different version of Gamora from an alternate universe came to the central MCU universe via the events of "Avengers: Endgame," but now, the Guardians, hoping to reunite with ANY version of their lost friend, are searching for her. For Drax, this means pelting a New Men child in the face with a ball on Counter-Earth and inciting a rock fight with the land's inhabitants. I guess that's one way to make a connection with an alien race and hopefully gain new information.

Speaking of Gamora, we don't see a whole lot of her in the trailer. It's clear that at some point the Guardians achieve their internal mission of finding her, as she's seen helping Mantis carry Drax out of a situation where he looks to have been hit in the chest by something, but there are also shots of her holding a polaroid (what's on it?!), drawing a weapon, and an epic shot of the original team (plus Mantis and Nebula) walking away in unison from a fire. It'll be interesting to see how the crew interacts with this "new" Gamora in a more in-depth role.

Our First Look At Adam Warlock

The trailer also gives us our best look yet at Will Poulter's Adam Warlock, a major character in the Marvel comic books who originally played a huge role in the "Infinity Gauntlet" and "Infinity War" miniseries. Comic fans were a bit confused when Warlock wasn't included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films of "Avengers: Infinity War" or "Avengers: Endgame," especially after learning he was supposed to be a major player in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." Warlock is shown with a jewel in the middle of his forehead, which in the comics was an Infinity Stone. Considering this is supposed to take place after the events of "Avengers: Endgame," we'll have to wait and see what the purpose of the gem will be in this film. Maybe the gem is an Infinity Stone, and "Guardians Vol. 3" will be the latest MCU film to play around with timelines in the multiverse.

All of the scenes with Adam Warlock show him independently, with the exception of one shot that shows him pinning Nebula to the ground and punching her square in the face. As the character has played both the hero and occasional villain in the comics, it's unclear how he will function in this film. The end credits scene from "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" showed Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) presenting a gold growth chamber with a being she crafted specifically to destroy the Guardians, so it's likely that Adam Warlock will be the secondary antagonist of the film. However, given the much greater threat at hand, it won't be surprising if Adam Warlock has a change of heart and eventually joins the Guardians to take down the High Evolutionary.

Beware The High Evolutionary

It's been known for a few months that "Peacemaker" star Chukwudi Iwuji was joining "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" as antagonist the High Evolutionary, but the trailer is the first look at his terrifying presence outside of his appearance at San Diego Comic-Con when he showed up in person ... and in costume. The High Evolutionary is the villainous name for Doctor Herbert Wyndham, a geneticist who focuses on creating human/animal hybrids typically called "New Men." As was previously noted, the Guardians open the trailer by arriving on a planet inhabited by aliens, all of which resemble humans with the heads and limbs of different animals. It's safe to assume that the Guardians' arrival on Counter-Earth will interrupt whatever plans the High Evolutionary is in the middle of pursuing.

This is purely speculative, but given his penchant for modifying genetics, the Guardians may see the High Evolutionary modify what's left of Ego and the severed Celestial head of Knowhere to recreate a Celestial, or worse, bring Super-Ego into the fold. Now, the High Evolutionary will need a heck of a lot of power to pull off a stunt that big and would need something like, say, the potential remaining energy inside the Anulax Batteries Rocket used to make a bomb inside Ego's core during "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."

Speaking Of Rocket Raccoon...

Something big is happening with Rocket, and no one in the galaxy is emotionally ready for it. Nebula recently gave Rocket the Christmas gift to end all Christmas gifts in "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special," which will almost certainly come into play during "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," for better or worse. Rocket is responsible for many of the emotional lines in this trailer, including telling Peter Quill, "Pete, I'm done running." It's been implied that Rocket was created as the result of animal testing, which has always been a sore spot for the team's smallest hothead.

In the comics, Rocket comes from a planet in the Keystone Quadrant that serves as an abandoned colony for the mentally ill and their genetically manipulated animal companions. It's hard to know how much of this story Gunn will keep and how much will be changed for the MCU, but Gunn has made it clear that this film's arc is the plan he's had for Rocket Raccoon from the very beginning.

The trailer also shows a brief shot of Rocket hugging Lady Lylla, a wise otter who is Rocket's soulmate in the comics. The voice of Lady Lylla has yet to be announced, but this could be the character Gunn was teasing when the film wrapped principal photography a few months back. We know from the shot of Baby Rocket that the film will feature flashbacks, so it's unclear whether or not Lylla will appear in a flashback or be introduced to Rocket in the current timeline. Regardless, it's sure to be emotionally devastating, and given the inclusion of the animal hybrid New Men of the High Evolutionary, perhaps he will provide the painful answers to Rocket's history.

Pop Culture References And Tears

The "Guardians of the Galaxy" films have been riddled with pop culture references from the very beginning, with even the "Volume" names referencing the mixtapes Peter Quill has made of his favorite music. While the San Diego Comic-Con teaser boasted the song "Do You Realize?" by The Flaming Lips, the new trailer has "In the Meantime" by the band Spacehog. The song feels right at home with the "Guardians" soundtrack, and in a weirdly meta coincidence (or knowing Gunn, an intentional decision), the song was the lead single off the band's album, "Resident Alien." This song was tailor-made to be in a "Guardians" movie.

Another interesting bit of pop culture fun occurs when the Guardians jump out of the ship in colorful space suits that look a lot like the ones from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Plenty of fans online have also noted that the suits look a lot like those in the video game "Among Us," but, uh, those suits are also a reference to Kubrick's film.

Most importantly, there are a few shots of Quill, Mantis, and Rocket all crying out in agony. It seems as if someone might be saying their last farewell, but it's not exactly clear who. With James Gunn leaving Marvel to co-lead the film, TV, and animation division over at DC, it's also quite possible that all of the Guardians will be saying their goodbyes because, as Rocket says in the trailer, "We'll all fly away together, one last time, into the forever ... that beautiful sky."

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" arrives in theaters on May 5, 2023.

Read this next: 9 Filmmakers Who Should Be Given Free Rein In The MCU

The post Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Trailer Breakdown: 'We'll All Fly Away Together, One Last Time' appeared first on /Film.

02 Dec 03:08

Dead End – Netflix Series Review

by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
02 Dec 03:06

The Rally Point: The 25 year patch of Emperor Of The Fading Suns proved me wrong

by Sin Vega

We've all worn the rose-coloured glasses when it comes to old games. It's a real hazard of the job when you started out covering stuff from the 90s. It's less common though, to fall afoul of whatever its opposite is. The uh, yellow-tinted glasses, maybe? My point is that I did you all a disservice when I described Emperor Of The Fading Suns as "an intriguing, ambitious, crap mega 4X" last year. It was a remarkable game, and more remarkably still, its developers Holistic Design Inc. recently updated it with a major patch, 25 years after its original release.

It's a lot better than I remember. And only some of that is down to the patch.

Read more

02 Dec 03:05

Chrome, Defender and Firefox 0-days Linked To Commercial IT firm in Spain

by msmash
Google researchers say they have linked a Barcelona, Spain-based IT company to the sale of advanced software frameworks that exploit vulnerabilities in Chrome, Firefox, and Windows Defender. From a report: Variston IT bills itself as a provider of tailor-made Information security solutions, including technology for embedded SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) and Internet of Things integrators, custom security patches for proprietary systems, tools for data discovery, security training, and the development of secure protocols for embedded devices. According to a report from Google's Threat Analysis Group, Variston sells another product not mentioned on its website: software frameworks that provide everything a customer needs to surreptitiously install malware on devices they want to spy on. Researchers Clement Lecigne and Benoit Sevens said the exploit frameworks were used to exploit n-day vulnerabilities, which are those that have been patched recently enough that some targets haven't yet installed them. Evidence suggests, they added, that the frameworks were also used when the vulnerabilities were zero-days. The researchers are disclosing their findings in an attempt to disrupt the market for spyware, which they said is booming and poses a threat to various groups.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

02 Dec 03:03

Brains of Post-Pandemic Teens Show Signs of Faster Aging, Study Finds

by BeauHD
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The brains of teenagers who lived through the Covid pandemic show signs of premature aging, research suggests. The researchers compared MRI scans of 81 teens in the US taken before the pandemic, between November 2016 and November 2019, with those of 82 teens collected between October 2020 and March 2022, during the pandemic but after lockdowns were lifted. After matching 64 participants in each group for factors including age and sex, the team found that physical changes in the brain that occurred during adolescence -- such as thinning of the cortex and growth of the hippocampus and the amygdala -- were greater in the post-lockdown group than in the pre-pandemic group, suggesting such processes had sped up. In other words, their brains had aged faster. "Brain age difference was about three years -- we hadn't expected that large an increase given that the lockdown was less than a year [long]," said Ian Gotlib, a professor of psychology at Stanford University and first author of the study. Writing in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, the team report that the participants -- a representative sample of adolescents in the Bay Area in California -- originally agreed to take part in a study looking at the impact of early life stress on mental health across puberty. As a result, participants were also assessed for symptoms of depression and anxiety. The post-lockdown group self-reported greater mental health difficulties, including more severe symptoms of anxiety, depression and internalizing problems. "Deterioration in mental health is accompanied by physical changes in the brain for teens, likely due to the stress of the pandemic," said Gotlib. "In older adults, these brain changes are often association with reduced cognitive functioning. It's not clear yet what they mean in adolescents. But this is the first demonstration that difficulties in mental health during the pandemic are accompanied by what seem to be stress-related changes in brain structure."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

01 Dec 03:42

Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy': How Did Nebula Get Bucky's Arm? - CNET

by Jennifer Bisset
The Winter Soldier's vibranium arm made an interesting appearance in the holiday special. Director James Gunn provides an answer to why.
01 Dec 00:19

Twitter is now pushing recommended tweets to everyone

by Karissa Bell

Twitter is now pushing more tweets from accounts users don’t already follow into their timelines. The company revealed that it’s now surfacing recommendations to all its users, even people who had successfully avoided them in the past.

“We want to ensure everyone on Twitter sees the best content on the platform, so we’re expanding recommendations to all users, including those who may not have seen them in the past,” the company wrote in a tweet.

It’s not clear how many more recommendations users should expect to see in their "home" timeline, or if Twitter is making recommendations more prominent in other parts of the app as well. In its tweet, the company pointed to a blog post from September, which states that “recommendations can appear in your Home timeline, certain places within the Explore tab, and elsewhere on Twitter.” For now, it seems that recommendations won't appear when viewing the "latest" timeline, which sorts tweets chronologically and has historically not included tweets from accounts that aren't already being followed.

Anecdotally, it seems some users are already reportingnoticeablechanges to their timelines, with the appearance of new topic suggestions and many tweets from seemingly random accounts. In a tweet from its support account, the company told one frustrated user to switch back to the chronological "latest" timeline to avoid the surge of recommended content.

Though the change may feel jarring, it’s not the first time the company has experimented with adding more suggested content. Twitter has been pushing recommendations into various parts of its service for years, though it has sometimes tweaked how often these suggestions appear. In the past, Twitter has also been careful to note that it bars certain types of content from recommendations in order to avoid amplifying potentially harmful or low-quality content, though it’s not entirely clear if that’s still the case. The company no longer has a communications team. The curation team, which was responsible for elevating content throughout Twitter, was also eliminated during the company's mass layoffs.

Interestingly, Twitter’s current CEO, Elon Musk, hasn’t always spoken favorably about the platform’s recommendation algorithms. Back in May, he tweeted that using the app’s “latest” timeline was crucial to “fix” Twitter’s feed. “You are being manipulated by the algorithm in ways you don’t realize,” he said at the time. Musk, who has also spoken about his desire to open source Twitter’s algorithms, hasn’t yet weighed in on the new expansion of recommendations, or how the feature works.

Update 11/30 8:55 PM PT: This story has been updated to reflect that Twitter's support account confirmed recommendations won't appear in the "latest" timeline, which sorts tweets chronologically.

01 Dec 00:19

Zuckerberg Says Apple's Policies Not 'Sustainable'

by BeauHD
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday added to the growing chorus of concerns about Apple, arguing that it's "problematic that one company controls what happens on the device." Axios reports: "I think the problem is that you get into it with the platform control, is that Apple obviously has their own interests," Zuckerberg said at The New York Times' Dealbook conference. "[T]he fact that companies have to deliver their apps exclusively through platforms that are controlled by competitors -- there is a conflict of interest there," he said. That conflict of interest makes Apple "not just a kind of governor that is looking out for the best of people's interests." Zuckerberg also noted that Apple's policies differ from other tech giants, including Microsoft and Google, which allow apps to be sideloaded onto devices if they're inaccessible in app stores. "I do think Apple has sort of singled themselves out as the only company that is trying to control, unilaterally, what apps get on the device and I don't think that's a sustainable or a good place to be." Changes to Apple's app tracking policies last year are expected to cost Meta billions of dollars in lost ad revenue. Zuckerberg's comments come days after Musk publicly attacked Apple, alleging the company's app store policies are an abuse of power. Asked about Musk's content moderation decisions, Zuckerberg didn't go as far as to endorse his strategy, but said, "I kind of think the world in the industry gets more interesting when people take some different approaches." "[Y[ou can agree or disagree with what Elon is doing, or how he's doing it. But I do think it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out in terms of the approaches he's taking." When asked about TikTok, Zuckerberg said it raises "a very complex set of questions" about the involvement of the Chinese state with TikTok's affairs. "I'm sure it's complicated." Further reading: Mark Zuckerberg Still 'Long-Term Optimistic' on Metaverse, Says Skepticism Doesn't Bother Him Too Much

Read more of this story at Slashdot.