A new sci-fi novel imagines the thrilling, terrifying future of San Francisco's tech boom
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
We were given a somewhat lighter, less-vital episode of Game of Thrones this week with "The Broken Man," though that's not to say that Arya getting stabbed and the Hound returning from the "dead" weren't notable moments for the series. It's just that, comparatively, there wasn't a lot of movement this week, story-wise. Unless you take the word movement literally and count Jon and Sansa's whirlwind trek across the North to try and drum up support for their siege against Ramsay.
But let's dig into the Hound first and the big back-from-the-dead reveal that went down before the episode's opening credits. I loved it. Or, I should say I loved the Hound being back as a thing. He's a great character and the show could still do a lot with him. That being said, his storyline in this episode, with the communal support of a killer-turned-foolish-pacifist and his followers? Not the best. It felt sort of clichéd, actually, and very un-Game of Thrones, in a way.
The Man of Steel won't be staying in the shadows any longer on Supergirl, as Superman himself will be introduced in Season 2 of the DC Comics-based series. Clark Kent/Superman will appear in the first two episodes of Supergirl: Season 2, as the show moves to the CW in the fall, and casting is currently underway for a new TV incarnation of the iconic superhero.
Said executive producer Andrew Kriesberg, in a statement, "Greg
, Ali [Adler[ and I are beyond thrilled to welcome Clark Kent and his slightly-more-famous alter ego to the world of Supergirl. Superman will be appearing in the first two episodes of the new season and we cannot wait to see who next dons the red cape!"
The Samsung Galaxy S7 has been our nearly unanimous choice for the best phone of 2016. And once again U.S. operator AT&T (and only AT&T, we might add) has commissioned an "active" version. It sports a more destruction-proof case and a bigger battery, with a few new software features to go along with that "active" name. You won't want to abuse this phone, but it should stand up to life better than most.
Another year, another Samsung Galaxy S7 Active. You might be tempted to overthink this phone. Don't. It's a Galaxy S7 through and through. Mostly the same internal specs. Mostly the same software — with a few additions. All in all, you mostly get the same experience.
Where things really differ is in the body. This Galaxy S7 is protected by a much more durable shell, and has a screen that should keep from shattering from most casual falls. Plus it's got a few built-in software features that the "active set" — whomever that is, we suppose — will find in handy, but nothing you couldn't really add to your own phone.
The real question you'll have to ask yourself here is whether you'd want to switch to AT&T to have this phone. Or if you're already on that operator, whether you'd rather have it than just strap a regular GS7 into a protective case.
Oh, and whether you want to put up with AT&T's inexcusable bloatware.
| Width | Height | Thickness |
|---|---|---|
 |
5.85 in 148.8mm |
 |
| 2.95 in 75.0mm |
0.38 in 9.9mm |
|
| 6.52 oz 185 grams |
We're publishing this review after spending about four days with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Active. That's inside our seven-day window for even considering calling something a "review," but much about this phone is a known quantity. It is, through and through, a Galaxy S7 — a phone with which we already are intimately familiar. Same processor. Same camera. Same software experience.
Our Galaxy S7 Active review unit (it's the SM-G891A) provided by AT&T is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow (Build MMB29M.G891AUCU1APE7), with the May 1, 2016, security patch.
The Galaxy S7 Active in "sandy gold," "titanium gray" and "green camo."
In some ways the Galaxy S7 Active is sort of the anti-GS7, if you think about it. Samsung's flagship phone is all about sleek sex appeal. From the marriage of curves and sharp lines, to the execution of its commercials. This is space-age stuff.
The GS7 Active almost should be called something other than GS7. The look and feel of the two phones couldn't be much more different. Metal and glass gives way to something that's much more plastic. A soft-touch sort of plastic — not quite rubber feeling — and much more bulbous than the GS7 or GS7 edge. It's available in three colors — "sandy gold," "titanium gray" and "green camo." Figure the first color is great for getting lost at the beach, and the latter in the woods. (Gray? You're on your own.)
This is a larger, more robust Galaxy S7. But it is in no way awkward.
It's also a good bit bigger in all respects. Taller, wider, thicker. It weighs more. But Samsung's done all this in a way that doesn't make the phone feel ungainly or huge. "More robust" is the term that keeps popping into my head. Not quite rugged. Certainly not as huge as some of the cases you'd get from, say, Otterbox, or from a dedicated "rugged" phone by someone like CAT.
We still have physical buttons — done in the usual Samsung layout of recent apps-home-back. But new this year is the inclusion of a fingerprint reader in the home button. That's always a good option to have, even if it's not the most practical when it comes to this sort of phone, which sort of assumes you might be using it with wet or dirty hands.
Stick the GS7 Active up against the previous model (the GS6 Active, of course), and you'll see that Samsung's actually toned down that rugged look a bit. Gone are the exposed screws. The SIM tray drawer no longer is opened by a fingernail, but instead uses a paper clip-style SIM tray tool. And the tray itself has moved from the top of the phone to the side, beneath the power button.
There's nothing about this phone that's uncomfortable to hold. It's not too big. It's not too bulky. Some of the sharper edges are more rounded.
And the buttons are all in their usual places. That includes the "Active Key" that's above the volume rocker. A single press opens the Activity Zone. A double-press opens up the emergency options — to quickly call 911, or message an emergency contact.
And a long press — well, we'll get to that in a second.
You can remap any of those Active Key actions to any of your installed apps, though. That's handy as hell, even if it takes a little extra work.
The AMOLED display is still excellent indoors, and especially important in this case, outdoors. The always-on display introduced by Samsung earlier this year is on by default here. I've never found it particularly useful, though.
You'll see a lot of footage of the Galaxy S7 Active spending time under water. (We for sure did our fair share of that, too.) But while the phone certainly has been hardened against the elements, it's not actually any better at swimming than the original Galaxy S7.
The Galaxy S7 Active has the exact same water resistance rating as the regular Galaxy S7.
All three phones in the GS7 class are rated IP68 for dust ingress and water immersion. That means it can spend up to a half hour in 5 feet of water, without suffering any ill effects.
As some folks have learned the hard way, that means a bath. A quick soak. Not a prolonged shower. That doesn't mean the phone can't survive a little more abuse — and we've definitely put it to that test a few times — but that's not what Samsung intends or warrants here. We're still talking about your leaving it in your pocket at the beach, or dropping it into your coffee/water/toilet/bath. That sort of thing.
Try not to get it wet. But if it does, there's a good chance it'll survive.
The other rating you'll hear AT&T and Samsung promoting is MIL STD-810G. That's a military standard that puts devices of all types up against — well, pretty much up against everything. Pressure. Temperature. Shock. (That's physics, not electric.) Rain. Radiation. Fungus.
We didn't actively test that last one.
But we did abuse our Galaxy S7 Active more than we normally would a "regular" phone in the course of the review process.
We dropped it on concrete from pocket level. We tossed it around a bit. It went swimming. It played in the sand. It spent a little time with a 5-year-old.
And for the most part the phone held up quite nicely. It still works. It looks a little worse for wear, for sure. We've got scuffs all over the body. The display is scuffed in places. But it didn't crack. It didn't shatter. The phone very much is operable.
The Galaxy S7 Active after our physical testing.
Our biggest concern has to do with where the glass meets the body. We got a good bit of sand lodged in there, and that worries us when it comes to future water resistance. There also were a few grains of sand around the physical buttons.
We also had a few instances after getting the phone wet in which the power button was misbehaving. But after thoroughly drying the phone, all is well. (That sort of thing isn't uncommon for IP68 devices, actually. And to be fair, skipping a phone across a tide pool isn't exactly intended use.)
You shouldn't actively torture the Galaxy S7 Active. That's a quick way to have something bad happen to your phone. But we have pretty good amount of confidence that this phone will stand up to anything stupid that someone might do to it. Basic falls and such. Quick dunks in water.
And that's exactly what this phone is meant to withstand.
Again, this is a 32-gigabyte Galaxy S7 Active, as has been the standard for the GS7 family this year. Of that 32GB, a little less than 20GB is actually available to you as a user, thanks to the system and preloads and such. (That's actually a little more than I had available when I reviewed the Galaxy S7.)
A microSD card can increase all that, of course. But as has been the case with Samsung's other phones, you'll be using external storage in the traditional sense. That is, no Adoptable Storage. But the upside to that is the the SD card can come and go as you please, making it easier to move files around.
A 4,000 mAh battery — and wireless charging — may make this the perfect Galaxy S7.
As for battery and charging, it's business as usual. The GS7 Active comes with Samsung's own Adaptive Fast Charging. Use it. A half-hour plugged in took us from 30 percent to 65 percent.
And new this time around is the ability to charge wirelessly. That's a good thing. And if you're going to do that, you might as well splurge for Samsung's wireless fast charger. The "regular" wireless charger (which Samsung has a habit of giving away for free sometimes) is painfully slow.
As for battery life, it's been exactly what we'd expect from a larger, 4,000 mAh cell powering an Snapdragon 820 processor and 5.1-inch 2K display. Take what we've learned from the Galaxy S7, and extend it a bit. I've had virtually no problem getting through a full day. I imagine some seriously hard use will cut into that, but 33 percent more capacity is 33 percent more capacity. Getting well into a second day's use (after laying around dormant all night) is definitely a possibility, but you'll still need to find a charger at some point after breakfast.
Your usage will vary, of course, depending on your app load and how great AT&T is where you are. But nobody's turning down a larger battery in this phone — which was always going to be physically bigger anyway. It's a good improvement.
The GS7 Active is 99 percent like the Galaxy S7, with a few software additions.
If you've at all seen Samsung's implementation of Android 6.x Marshmallow, you know what you're in store for on the Galaxy S7 Active. The setup process is that weird mix of Google and Samsung and carrier (in this case, AT&T), with some overlaps.
You'll get a couple of chances to restore your content — once from Google, another time from AT&T, for things like voicemail and accounts and services. And Samsung will prompt you to log in to its service as well, which you'll want to do since a fair amount of preloaded apps will want to update from there.
The Galaxy S7 Active is encrypted by default. Samsung gives you the option to require a PIN at boot as part of the encryption mechanism. We suggest you take advantage of this. And good on Samsung for pushing this at first boot.
The home screens look like Samsung home screens. There's a mix of Google and Samsung and AT&T, for better or worse. (More on the latter half of that a second.)
The biggest change as far as the software goes comes from the Active Key, a single press of which launches the Activity Zone. There you'll find a nice 2x3 card interface for quick shortcuts to the weather, barometer, S Health, compass, flashlight and stopwatch. It's pretty standard and self-explanatory stuff, and it's the sort of thing we'd like to see in all of Samsung's software, actually. There's nothing inherent to this phone that prevents it from being on other phones. The Active Key is just a shortcut.
A double-press of the Active Key launches "Emergency Zone." That gives you one-touch access (erm, after the double-press of the Active Key) to 911. You also can designate an emergency contact here, and the phone will fire off an SMS with your location, pictures from both the front and rear cameras, and an audio clip of what's going on. Nice touch.
We've already discussed AT&T's penchant for loading up its phones with software you might or might not want a couple of times. First with the original Galaxy S7, and later with the LG G5, when things seemed to get even worse.
AT&T's pushing of DirectTV (and other bloatware) would be insulting if we weren't already numb to it.
Nothing's changed on the Galaxy S7 Active. The first time you pull down the notification menu you'll see a black DirectTV notification — a stark contrast against the off-white quick settings and other notifications. It's as if AT&T believes it's impossible for you to own one of its phones but not subscribe to DirectTV. The good news is you can hide this notification by hitting the little gear icon, thing turning "display remote" off.
Or, swipe over one home screen and you'll find a half-page widget for DirectTV content.
Hope you really like DirecTV.
Open the app drawer and you'll note that there's only a single page of apps. That's almost commendable! Of course, that black DirectTV app icon right in the middle sure stands out.
Perhaps AT&T really wants folks to subscribe to DirectTV.
In the app drawer you'll also find an AT&T folder full of things, in the No. 1 spot. And these things include:
At this point we can't do much more than throw up our arms and shake our head and continue to question why AT&T thinks this is good way to treat its customers in 2016. The presumption that you're either already a DirectTV subscriber or that you'll soon become one would be downright insulting if it weren't also expected at this point.
Hell, a long press of the Active Key by default launches DirectTV. It's come to that.
We don't see this changing any time soon, sadly.
The Galaxy S7 has pretty much the best camera you can find in a smartphone today. Therefore, so does the Galaxy S7 Active.
Samsung's Galaxy S7 camera is in full effect here.
As a refresher, the rear camera is a 12-megapixel deal with an f/1.7 lens. It's got OIS. It's got a whole bunch of modes — including one for shooting underwater, using the Active Key and volume buttons instead of on-screen buttons, for obvious reasons.
It's basically still the best camera you can get in a phone. (And you can still launch it with two quick presses of the home button.)
So we're not going to spend a whole lot of time on it here. It's been covered. It's still excellent.
We have absolutely no reason to not recommend the Galaxy S7 Active. (By the way it runs $26.50 a month for 30 months, or $33.13 a month for 24 months — that's $795 total, $100 more than the standard GS7) so long as you're fine being on AT&T. Or switching to AT&T. Point is, this phone's only available on AT&T.
You can't see it because it's camouflaged, but there's a Galaxy S7 Active in this picture.
And you have to be OK with all the AT&T crud that comes on the phone.
And you have to remember that this is an "active" phone. It's not, strictly speaking, a "rugged" phone. You'll still want to be a little careful with it. But it's still a lot of fun to use. It's as good and as easy as a Galaxy S7. Because it is a Galaxy S7. It's just got a bit of a case built in. You don't necessarily need to worry about it getting wet. (Of course you didn't have to worry about that with the regular GS7 either.) You can be reasonably sure that if you drop it, it'll probably still work. It might be a little worse for wear, but it'll still work.
Really, what we have here is a nice option for folks on AT&T. If that carrier's a non-starter for you, you'll get 90 percent of the same experience — save for the larger battery and a few software tweaks — with a Galaxy S7 and a sturdy case.
Video credit: Greg Riegler Photography
Additional footage by Jared DiPane, Michael Fisher and Phil Nickinson
It may only be June, but it’s going to take some damn good comedy to top the fits of laughter brought upon by Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. After The Lonely Island trio (Andy Samberg, Akiva Shaffer and Jorma Taccone) made a splash with their digital shorts on Saturday Night Live, it’s amazing it took them this long to put together a mockumentary following the rise and fall of a faux musician in the real world music industry. But for as long as it took, the hilarity delivered by Popstar makes it well worth the wait.
Read our full Popstar review after the jump.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a mockumentary following Conner4Real, a respected hip-hop star played by Andy Samberg. Conner has the respect of musicians and producers such as Ringo Starr, DJ Khaled, Simon Cowell, Usher, Seal, Mariah Carey and dozens more, all appearing throughout the movie as talking heads that help immerse you in this world where such a clearly goofy guy has become one of the biggest music stars in the world.
But the documentary has started to follow Conner at a difficult time as his new album is getting awful reviews (Rolling Stone gives it the shit emoji instead of a star rating). Plus, he’s about to get outshined by his opening act Hunter the Hungry — played fantastically by Chris Redd, making a breakthrough comedic performance akin to Jerrod Carmichael’s in Neighbors. There’s a myriad of problems that begin to plague Conner as his star seems to be fading.
Though it’s a simple premise at the center of the film, it is played in such a way that it’s ridiculously funny yet not so silly that it’s unbelievable. Conner is a bit of a dummy, but he’s not so dumb that he doesn’t see that the world of celebrity around him is starting to crumble.
Helping to ground the story and keep it progressing are Conner’s two childhood friends Owen and Lawrence, played by Jorma Taccone and Akiva Shaffer (who also co-direct the movie). Conner, Owen, and Lawrence used to be a trio known as the Style Boyz, another faux musical act who was influential on the music scene with their dance craze called the Donkey Roll. But as Conner went solo and became famous, he lost touch with his roots. It adds just the right amount of heart to the movie, and it’s bolstered by the fact that these three stars have been friends in real life for a long time.
Stealing scenes here and there are the likes of Will Arnett as the head of a TMZ-esque gossip outlet, surrounded by other key comic talents such as Mike Birbiglia and Chelsea Peretti. But maybe the best supporting cast members are Sarah Silverman and Tim Meadows as Conner’s publicist and manager respectively. Their talking heads alone are hilarious, but their interactions with Conner are even better. Meadows’ explanation of “30 Seconds to Mars” to Conner is such a brilliant joke. And thankfully, this is one of those comedies where the best jokes haven’t been spoiled in the marketing, so there’s plenty more where that came from.
However, the true triumph of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is the incredible soundtrack of silly songs composed and written by The Lonely Island. We knew these guys could deliver hilarious, well-produced music from their SNL Digital Short days, but with more time and a real budget allowing them to go even further, the concert sequences for Conner’s songs are nothing short of awesome. Catchy instrumentals and beats blend with positively ridiculous lyrics to make songs that you’d want to play in your car over and over again. Again, artists like Adam Levine, Michael Bolton and Linkin Park help add some flair to these songs, grounding them in this universe where Conner is somehow a star.
Andy Samberg has struggled to become a star on the big screen despite a large number of fans, but this is the role he was born to play. With shades of Justin Bieber, Samberg’s performance as Conner is never exaggerated to the point of being completely unbelievable. The film itself is clearly inspired by real documentaries like Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Katy Perry: Part of Me, and Samberg’s character doesn’t feel too far removed from some real pop stars out there today.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is This Is Spinal Tap for the next generation, but it has a different kind of comedic energy to it that never slows down, packing a laugh into nearly every minute of the movie. There are plenty of stupid laughs here, but there’s also an authenticity to the proceedings that allows the humor to stick the landing. While SNL movies sometimes feel like a sketch stretched out too long, Popstar feels like a sketch played out to its maximum potential . Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I was laughing so hard for such an extended period of time. For my money, Popstar might be the best comedy of the year, and it’s going to take one hell of a comedy to dethrone it.
/Film rating: 9 out of 10
The post ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ Review: Non-Stop Laughs Make for the Best Comedy of the Year appeared first on /Film.
Few shows make me laugh like Silicon Valley and few people on Silicon Valley make me laugh like T.J. Miller makes me laugh. Although Miller has been working steadily since making his film debut in 2008’s Cloverfield (he was the guy behind the camera), he’s finally come into the spotlight in the past few years. Those who don’t know him from the funniest show currently airing on television probably saw him as Weasel in Deadpool a few months ago, where he played an effective foil to Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson.
Still, all of that feels like prologue to being cast in a Steven Spielberg movie. Miller has joined the ensemble of The Beard’s latest project, Ready Player One.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miller will take on the role of “i-R0k,” an online troll in the forums for the massive virtual world where the bulk of the story takes place. An irritating internet commenter in a dystopian science fiction world sounds like a role Miller was destined to play.
Miller joins a cast that already includes Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Simon Pegg, Ben Mendelsohn, and Spielberg’s latest muse, Mark Rylance. In other words, Ready Player One will star two of the more promising young actors around right now, a beloved geek icon, a brilliant character actor/new Star Wars villain, one of the finest actors of all time (who just took home an Oscar a few years ago), and one of the funniest people around at the moment. That is one solid line-up.
Honestly, that’s the kind of cast that gives me faith in Ready Player One, especially since I couldn’t bring myself to finish Ernest Cline‘s original novel. I expect (and hope) Spielberg will lean heavily on the the book’s impressive world-building and science fiction concepts and quietly ditch the overt (and eventually numbing) reliance on constant pop culture references, although the plot does require more than a few of them. If there is anyone who can carve a great movie out of this material, it’s the greatest populist filmmaker of the past forty years.
Ready Player One should start shooting later this month for a March 30, 2018 release date. Here’s the official plot synopsis:
In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia know as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within the confines of this digital world, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win – and confront the real world he’s been so desperate to escape.
The post Steven Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ Recruits ‘Silicon Valley’ Star T.J. Miller appeared first on /Film.
The miraculous medical sponge in a syringe
The UEFA Euro 2016 soccer tournament kicks off next week, and fans will have the opportunity to show their team spirit via the Eiffel Tower. Tournament sponsor Orange, a French wireless carrier, will light up the Paris landmark in the colors of the m...
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Warning: Full spoilers for the May 31st Person of Interest, “The Day The World Went Away,” below.
The 100th episode of Person of Interest was a huge – and hugely sad – one, as Root (Amy Acker) was killed protecting Finch (Michael Emerson). But with just three episodes left, it was also clear this wasn’t the end for Acker on the series, as the Machine, which Root worked so hard to help, took on her voice and persona, becoming more of a full character than ever before.
I spoke to Acker about this big turn of events, when she found out and what she felt about Root’s fate. We also discussed the incredibly popular Root/Shaw relationship in relation to this twist and what it was like to find herself for the second time, after Angel, finding out she was being killed off on a series, yet would continue on as a god-like entity.
Warning: Full spoilers for the May 31st Person of Interest, “The Day The World Went Away,” below.
The 100th episode of Person of Interest was a hugely eventful one, and ultimately a tragic installment that saw the team losing one of their own - even as the Machine took on a very familiar persona.
I spoke to Person of Interest’s executive producers, Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman, about the death of Root (Amy Acker) in “The Day the World Went Away,” how and why they chose to kill her and how Root lives on, in a way, thanks to the Machine taking on her personality (and voice) for itself.
For more on Person of Interest's 100th episode, check out our review, along with our interview with Amy Acker about what occurred.
Dominic Cooper and Hayley Atwell both want Agent Carter to come back. In fact, Cooper— who plays Howard Stark in Agent Carter—recently said he has "no doubt" Peggy Carter and Stark will be back.
Marvel's Agent Carter was cancelled by ABC just over two weeks ago after two seasons.
Hayley Atwell, the actress who plays Carter, wants to bring the show back, too. During a panel at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida, Atwell said she was 100 percent into bringing the character back to life.
"I'd shoot on the weekends. Blue serum. Whatever it takes," Atwell said, according to a fan in the audience.
Competition is a good thing. The advent of digital gaming platforms like Steam, Origin, and GOG (formerly Good Old Games) gives consumers more choice, and forces platform holders to stay competitive by running special promotions such as sales and free weekends. Trouble is, Steam was one of the first on the scene, and is so engrained in PC gaming that many consumers are reticent to buy games anywhere but Steam, preferring to keep their library in one place.
Enter GOG Connect, a way to consolidate your collection by linking DRM-free versions of previously purchased Steam games to your GOG account at no additional cost.
"Whether you're checking us out for the first time or looking to copy over your previous purchases, GOG Connect gives you DRM-free versions of your games, along with digital extras and the freedom to choose between standalone installers or the optional GOG Galaxy Client," representatives from GOG platform holder CD Projekt explained in a press release.
"It's our take on game ownership and we say: why buy the games more than once?"
As of right now, not all games available on Steam and GOG are eligible. GOG is working on establishing partnerships with publishers include Deep Silver, Jonathan Blow's Number None, and more so players can begin linking games. GOG Connect maintains an ongoing list of eligible titles, including FTL, Trine Enchanted Edition, Saints Row 2, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, and Shadowrun Returns, among others.
Take note, however, that games able to be linked through GOG Connect have an expiration date. "While GOG Connect will stick around, the games available will come and go. These are limited-time offers made possible by participating developers and publishers, so stay tuned for more games to come."
Meaning, any games you link up will remain connected, but the opportunity to link them will expire—much like how Origin's On the House games are only free for a short time.
Head to GOG.com/connect to check out eligible games and get started.
Useful Links
* GOG.com/connect – GOG's hub that lists games eligible for Steam/GOG linking
It's often hard to convey what's happening inside virtual reality. HTC Vive's green screen idea attempts to do just that -- and also make it more interesting to watch. I will admit: Watching someone else play in VR is typically pretty damn boring. Bu...
The arrival of an antibiotic resistant gene in the US has moved us closer to the post-antibiotic era
Nearly two weeks ago, Dwayne Johnson teased a new project that would having him teaming up with Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys director Shane Black in 2017. The project was not specifically named, but since Black is beginning production on his new Predator movie later this year, we assumed that Johnson would be leading the long-gestating big screen adaptation of the pulp hero Doc Savage.
Now we have official confirmation of Dwayne Johnson as Doc Savage thanks to a new Instagram post that features him alongside Shane Black as well as writers Anthony Bagarozzi & Chuck Mondry and producer Hiram Garcia, the vice president of production at Johnson’s own Seven Bucks Productions.
Here’s the photo Johnson posted to Instagram on Monday:
Along with the Instagram post, Johnson included a lengthy caption that said:
“It’s OFFICIAL: For all comic book fans you already know the world’s first superhero (pre-dating Superman) is the “Man of Bronze” himself Clark “Doc” Savage.
Comic book fans around the world know that the cool thing about “Doc” Savage is that he’s the inspiration for Superman. First name Clark, called “Man of Bronze”, retreats to his “Fortress of Solitude” in the Arctic etc etc. Doc was physically and mentally trained from birth by his father and a team of scientists to become the perfect human specimen with a genius level intellect. His heightened senses are beyond comprehension. He can even identify a women’s perfume from half a mile away. He is literally the master of everything. But here’s the #1 reason I’m excited to become Doc Savage.. HE’S A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO! Confidently, yet innocently he has zero social graces whatsoever due to his upbringing so every interaction he has with someone is direct, odd, often uncomfortable and amazingly hilarious.”
Doc Savage was an iconic character from the 1930s and 1940s who starred in his own books, magazine, comics and radio plays. He’s the kind of hero you don’t really see anymore who could do anything. Savage was a scientist, explorer, and physician, always saving the day with various gadgets he invented himself. Plus, he was handsome, strong and just plain awesome.
However, the most intriguing part of the character is how weird he is, and Johnson says that he and Black really want to make that part of the character shine. In the Instagram caption he also noted, “After speaking for hours w/ Shane Black I can see why the creator of Superman took only the best parts of Doc Savage and leaving the “weirdo” part behind. But to us, it’s that “weirdo” part that makes Clark “Doc” Savage dope! Can’t wait to sink my teeth into this one of a kind character.”
Knowing what Black did with Tony Stark in Iron Man 3, I can’t wait to see what he does with a character who doesn’t need to fit into the mold of what Marvel Studios had already created. Doc Savage will allow Black much more freedom to make the movie his own while staying true to the classic character, and the fact that he wanted Johnson for the role from the beginning bodes well for this project.
If all goes well, Doc Savage will start shooting in 2017, and will likely get released sometime in 2018. Otherwise, we’ll see Johnson this summer in Central Intelligence, and we’ll hear him in Disney’s Moana. But right now he’s busy on the set of Fast 8. Stay tuned to see how many more projects Dwayne Johnson can get on his plate.
The post Dwayne Johnson Officially Confirmed as Shane Black’s ‘Doc Savage’ appeared first on /Film.
X-Men: Apocalypse took the top spot at the box office this holiday weekend, pulling down just over $65 according to Box Office Mojo, blowing away Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, which is doing nowhere near the big business of the first film. Critics haven’t been too kind to the X-Men sequel (though I found it to be as entertaining as it was flawed), but plenty of comic book movie fans still venture to the theater to see it for themselves.
Even if some of you fans didn’t like the movie, I think we can all agree that Quicksilver’s scene was the best moment in the entire flick. If you want to see how they pulled it off, which actually features more practical effects and wire work than you might imagine, check out an X-Men Apocalypse Quicksilver featurette after the jump.
Here’s the X-Men: Apocalypse featurette from 20th Century Fox:
Capture at 3,000 frames per second by a special slow-motion camera called The Phantom, this sequence is by far the coolest scene in the movie. I’m not sure it’s quite as good as Quicksilver’s big scene from Days of Future Past, but it’s still incredible.
This featurette only gives a taste of the on-set work that was done to create the sequence, which includes using the slow-motion camera to capture a bunch of real explosions and destruction. Hopefully the home video release has a much more extensive look at how this scene was completed, especially with the small peeks of wire work that Evan Peters can be seen doing.
The post ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Featurette: How the Incredible New Quicksilver Scene Was Done appeared first on /Film.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
"Blood of My Blood" was kind of all over the place, story-wise - checking in with Bran, King's Landing, Sam's nightmare father down in swanky Horn Hill (yep, yet another awful dad!), Braavos, and then a moment at the end involving Daenerys finally making her big decision to head west with her massive army of lethal worshippers. But this installment probably speaks, more than any other episode so far this season, to the accelerated rate of payoffs we're now getting that the show isn't directly following the books.
Not only did we get big returns in the form of Walder Frey (David Bradley), the missing Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzie), and a quick mention of the Brotherhood Without Banners, but a notable character from the books, who'd been conspicuously left off the show seasons ago, made his big debut.
Comic book legend Stan Lee recently discussed his cameo in Deadpool, joking that he's "damn mad" about his strip club appearance in Fox's R-rated flick.
"I don't know if I should tell you the truth about that cameo. It will kill all your fun," Lee said in an interview at MegaCon (via The Hollywood Reporter). "I was not in the topless dancing place. I did that in a studio and then they put it into the movie, and I'm damn mad about that!"
He jokingly went on to say he "made them promise" that he'll actually be on location the next time.
Lee then teased several forthcoming cameos, noting he'll soon be traveling to the East Coast to film three cameos. "I've got to be there either next week or the week after, and I'm going to do three cameos for three different movies," he said. "Now, I don't know what the movies are. I don't know what the cameos are, but I know I'll damn well be there."
With a special appearance from Mark Zuckerberg
Roumen.ganeffThis is the video card to have at $350
X-Men: Apocalypse has arrived, which means it’s time for yet another discussion on the biggest questions, surprises, Easter eggs, and WTF moments that went down in the latest film to feature Professor Xavier’s band of merry mutants. We’re talking full spoilers here, so click away from this page if you haven’t seen the film yet.
O.K., still with us? Then let’s use our collective mutant power of deduction and speculation to figure out what’s going on in Apocalypse.
As we said, full spoilers for X-Men: Apocalypse follow…
Look, this is perhaps the most glaring disconnect between Days of Future Past and Apocalypse. You will recall that at the end of that previous film, Mystique -- while posing as William Stryker -- fished an unconscious Wolverine out of the Potomac River. X-Men history tells us that Stryker, of course, would eventually become the guy behind Weapon X, the government research program that would in time give Logan his adamantium skeleton and claws. But when Wolvie shows up for his cameo in Apocalypse at Alkali Lake (Weapon X headquarters), he’s already undergone his Weapon X transformation… under the orders of the real Stryker, it seems. And there’s nary a mention of Mystique’s having saved Logan from the river 10 years earlier.
Warning: Spoilers follow for all of HBO's Game of Thrones that has aired so far, up through the episode "The Door."
Over the course of five and a half seasons, Game of Thrones has had some truly shocking moments, scary moments, violent moments and badass moments. But the most recent episode, "The Door," reminded us that it can also have some truly scarring, sad moments, as we discovered the origin of Hodor's name during a bit of time travel and an epic example of self sacrifice.
Roumen.ganeffNot that I'll be using Edge any time soon, but nice to know people are doing stuff
Microsoft will be adding support for Extensions on Microsoft Edge later this summer to Windows with the Anniversary Update. Recently, the company released extensions for AdBlock, Office Online, Pocket, and more. Now, one of the most popular extensions, LastPass is now available for Microsoft Edge. If you are an Insider running the latest build of the Windows 10 Insider Preview, you will be able to try out LastPass on Microsoft Edge right now.
Just like most of the other Edge Extensions, LastPass seems to be ported from the Google Chrome extension which means that the extension has a tonne of features. Here are some screenshots:
You can get LastPass on Windows 10 from the link below. Keep in mind that this extension is only available to Insiders running the latest build of Windows 10.
WP-Appbox: LastPass: Free Password Manager (Free, Windows Store) →
Roumen.ganeffSounds like fun
One of the great features of the Hololens is that its a full PC perched on your forehead. If you however want a no-compromise VR experience you need a full desktop PC with the latest GPU and processor.
Enter stage left MSI, who will be showing off their Backpack PC at Computex this year.
The device features a Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GTX980 GPU, and presumably a massive battery, and is designed to allow you to plug in your HTC Vive or Oculus Rift and wander around free from the risk of tripping over the power cord (but of course not from running into the walls).
The Backpack PC does not appear to be an original idea, with OEM Zotac also showing off a similar device.
Computex 2016 takes place from May 31st to June 4th, and I am sure the MSI is just one of the many amazing new PCs we will see there.
What do our readers think of this idea? Let us know below.
Microsoft’s Lumia hardware plans may appear to have been buried yesterday, but this is all according to plan if a new report from the tech blog Windows Central is to be believed.
According to an internal memo acquired by the website, Microsoft has been swift to reassure its partners that the Windows platform for mobile devices and similar is not at risk.
I want to assure you that your investment in Windows phones is not at risk. The mobility of the Windows 10 experience remains core to our More Personal Computing ambition. We will continue to support and update the Lumia devices that are currently in the market, and the development of Windows 10 phones by OEMs, such as HP, Acer, Alcatel, VAIO, and Trinity; as well as develop great new devices. We’ll continue to adapt Windows 10 for small screens. We’ll continue to invest in key areas – security, management, and Continuum capabilities – that we know are important to commercial accounts and to consumers who want greater productivity. And we’ll help drive demand for Lumia devices.
Aside from a renewed claim of commitment to Windows 10 Mobile, the leaked email here reveals what Microsoft thinks are the strong points of Windows Mobile and what would be focused on going forward. It’s no secret that Windows 10 Mobile is prided on its security and management features, a feat that HP’s Elite X3 touts in its specsheet, but the new-found focus on continuum perhaps illustrates where Microsoft is going next with hardware.
It has been noted that Microsoft vastly improved Continuum’s usability in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (scheduled for July 2016), but the feature can only be used on high-end and powerful devices at the moment. As another excerpt from the email notes, Microsoft is pulling out of all markets but the USA, EU5 and Western Europe.
These are markets where Windows phone sold most of its high-end and desirable devices in contrast to developing markets like India and Brazil. It is inferred from that little nugget that Microsoft may be planning a surface like strategy, where they build “great devices” that are premium and desirable, very much like their Surface Pro and Surface Book devices.
What’s most important here, is that this is a restatement of what Microsoft earlier stated last year to be their long-term plan, despite their very public actions that created a perception of indifference.
If this statement sounds familiar, that is because it echoes wording similar to another internal email obtained by Windows Central where Microsoft reassures its mobile partners again about its commitment to Windows 10 Mobile and devices based on it, here:
I understand that you are hearing concerns from certain partners about Microsoft’s commitment to the mobile space.
Let me be very clear: We are committed to deliver Windows 10 on mobile devices with small screen running ARM processors.
We are currently in development of our next generation products and I wanted to reconfirm our commitment to Windows 10 Mobile. We believe in this product’s value to business customers and it is our intention to support the Windows 10 Mobile platform for many years. We have a device roadmap to support that from Microsoft as well as our OEM partners who will also be selling an expanded lineup of phone devices based on this platform.
It also builds up on Microsoft’s press release issued after the sale of the Nokia Feature phone business here:
Microsoft will continue to develop Windows 10 Mobile and support Lumia phones such as the Lumia 650, Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, and phones from OEM partners like Acer, Alcatel, HP, Trinity and VAIO
In an interview with the Verge previously, Microsoft had stated that Windows on phones was not a priority for them this year, prompting a backlash from pundits and fans who perceived the statement as one which was an abandonment of the Windows platform.
In light of that, the repetitive statements made by Microsoft seem to be aimed at containing the fallout from that poorly worded statement.
After all, people observing Microsoft and Windows phone would note that Microsoft’s new focus is not that new. Last year when Microsoft’s Lumia line began to fall, we opined here that Microsoft wanted its mobile hardware division to be the new BlackBerry, a secure smartphone which caters broadly to the enterprise and “power-users”. Some tech pundits have seen such a feat as unrealistic with Windows watcher Peter Bright noting that there is not much of a divide between the business and consumer use in modern times, without strong LOB apps and rock-solid reliability, Windows is unlikely to appeal to the broad base of business users before the bug fixes and feature improvements expected in the Anniversary Update releases.
While Microsoft intends for other manufacturers to pick up the slack, the ghost of Nokia still very much haunts the room. Acer for one, pointed out to us the difficulties of making it in the consumer world on Windows phones and suggested it was a fool’s errand. HP and Vaio, along with Acer are explicitly targeting the business market, and while other smaller, consumer focused OEMs exist, their devices are hard to find and often under-powered.
What is new here is that Microsoft is seeing a need to stem the bleeding on Windows phone, so to speak. They are now reassuring their costumers and partners that “No, we aren’t giving up”. Even if that doesn’t do much for the market share of Windows phone based devices, it at least helps to reassure users that Microsoft won’t abandon the platform a little while longer.
What is certain however is that Microsoft has a lot of pieces on their chessboard for their next play at mobile, they’ve lost the last round, but they aren’t ready to give up yet. Unlike regular chess however, whether these pieces are enough to add up to a checkmate depends not only on how they are played, but how big the audience is.
