TwinIon

Well, Netflix's $200M blockbuster is out to middling reviews and almost certainly getting a sequel, anyone else watch it? I felt like the spectacle was there, but it was just so darn generic in nearly every other way. I couldn't help but feel like if this was a James Bond movie that people would like it better, but if it was a Bond film, at least the lead would have had to have been a bit more charismatic. I like Gosling, and I like his schtick in many films, but this one is so bombastic that I couldn't help but feel he should have been more animated. Chris Evans performance was much more fitting. An over-the-top, showy, nonsensical, character for a movie that could be described the same way. I don't think this movie is really bad, it just lacks the flair to match its bombast.

As someone who has long been annoyed that Destiny 2 doesn't offer matchmaking for higher level content, I wouldn't have even thought to expect matchmaking for Halo co-op. I suppose some people would enjoy playing through the campaign with randoms, but that's not the experience I'm looking for, especially in a game where you can easily grief people.

The NFL has unveiled their first streaming service, and it's chock full of all the stupid things that NFL broadcasts have long been known for. NFL+ has both $5 and $10 monthly subscription tiers that include features like live and on demand game replays, selection of announcers, and coaches film (if you pay for the premium package.) Unfortunately, you can only stream these games to your phone or tablet, and it only includes games that would otherwise be available to you. No out of market games, no streaming to your TV. It's important to note that this is not replacing NFL Sunday Ticket, the DirecTV service that allows you to watch all NFL games on many devices, including TVs. The rights for Sunday Ticket expire at the end of this coming season, and numerous parties have been rumored to be bidding for it. Still, it seems like a bonehead move to launch a mobile only streaming service that solves none of the problems that people actually have watching the games.

Very true. With Amazon it's hard to say how they'll evaluate anything. I can imagine a scenario where the viewership is relatively low, but it drives enough new prime subs that they consider it a success. On the other hand, HBO started HotD with some resources already in place from GoT. It still looks expensive, but it helps to have already done a version of this show for the last decade and have a fan base built off of that. Amazon sunk a huge chunk of change into a property that could well not translate it's theatrical success from nearly two decades ago into success on TV.

Wow, I wouldn't have expected the gap to be so big. I suppose that's a big reason that Ubi will be pushing their new live service AC game.

This is a game that I look forward to revisiting with all the upgrades, but I feel zero need to rush into. I expect the price to drop pretty fast, and probably even in time for the holiday season. I can't help but feel like a remake right now is premature, but I also respect the work they're doing on this remake to make it as polished as possible. Watching that most recent video made me wish there was a more comprehensive PS5 update for Part 2. I wonder if that's in the works at all or if they'll just remaster it for the PS6 down the road.

The new trailer sets up the initial stakes pretty well. Seems like a solid premise backed by an obvious budget. I'm actually a bit hopeful about this. I don't expect it to be on par with the best of GoT, but it could be a solid series worth the time. I did not realize at all that we'll be getting episodes of this and Rings of Power airing at the same time. It'll be an interesting comparison of two series that I'm rooting for, but both feel like high stakes gambles.

I watched this last night thanks to having renewed my AMC subscription, and it was pretty bad. Really, it's mostly the writing that really needed to be re-examined. They completely squander the setup for this film in a way that I find hard to comprehend.

The other problem is that it doesn't really matter. He waived his right to due diligence, which is when he should have been asking for and analyzing this data to begin with. So anything Twitter is providing him with is entirely a kindness on their part and in no way a legal requirement.

Just started watching this last night, and I feel like this was the best pilot that I've seen in a long time. It really sells the concept and sets up the initial stakes in an impressive way. I really appreciate shows that you don't need to give a few hours to in order to figure out if they're any good.

I really enjoyed the campaign for Inifinite. I'm going to try to get a buddy who doesn't play many games join me in a play through.

My first thought was who would put in the effort to actually do something like that, and the answer seems to be a combination of at least one crazy guy with access to the right resources and Snyder himself. My second thought is that I'd love to see the internal metrics for the Snyder cut on HBO Max. Sure, they might have just been curious about exactly what happened with all this, but I'm guessing that someone looked at the ROI for that $100M and wasn't impressed.

Another example of why the right to repair is so important.

I would be surprised if this kind of thing doesn't happen relatively often for her. I know a couple women who are consistently assumed to be nearly 20 years younger than they are. One was just telling me the other day that it comes in handy when solicitors ask her if her parents are home and she can honestly tell them no.

Here's a pretty good rundown of the whole situation from someone that's been doing a lot of reporting on it.

I agree that season 3 is the strongest so far. I felt like the overall arcs were very solid and the now standard sex/violence/gore continues to be entertaining in its own way. I did have some quibbles with the end of the season though. Starlight's big sequence was a complete bust. I don't know if it was meant to be such a let down, that with all that DBZ style powering up the best she managed was to shove Solider Boy to the ground, but I didn't think it was played that way. It was played like she took her best shot and it wasn't enough, but it was almost comically bad. Even the effects were cheesy. I also wasn't a big fan of how they used the kid to get Soldier Boy and Butcher to fight and that the kid was why Homelander gets away. Just felt cheap and anti-climactic. Still, overall a good season. Feels like Amazon is putting a lot of weight behind this show with the spinoffs and everything, so I wouldn't expect them to end it anytime soon.

I thought Love and Thunder was fine. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Ragnarok. It's goofy and weird and expands the MCU in ways that feel both huge and unimportant. I feel like a lot of the character development that happens during the course of the film is glossed over and so many of the decisive moments feel unearned. Spoilers: In the end I think it's a perfectly serviceable and forgettable Marvel movie. It's not something I expect to revisit anytime soon.

At this point it seems like Musk would be lucky if he can just pay the $1B breakup fee, but I haven't seen much analysis suggesting that he has much of a way out of the deal. Musk buying Twitter always seemed like a bad thing. Musk ending up owning Twitter after spending months badmouthing the service and desperately trying not to buy it seems even worse.

This ties in with one of my fascinations about many flavors of conspiracy theory, which is that so many seem to revolve around the conspirators very public messages. Like an uber secret organization that runs the world from the shadows just can't help itself but to reveal their otherwise hidden agenda. Like with the murals at Denver International. Same thing with the hidden symbology that so many conspiracy theorists thrive on. The secret cabal just can't help itself but to put messages about their hidden purpose all over the place, just for their own amusement, but at the risk of exposing themselves.

This reply to the web3 console guys is perfect:

Wait, so he's resigning, but he's going to stay in his job until they find a replacement, which is expected to take months? Seems like a softer exit than I expected.

Same goes for the Swiss Franc. Right now 1CHF = 1.03 USD. As someone that just spent the last few weeks in Italy, Switzerland, France, and Germany, I very much appreciated that I didn't have to do any real conversions.

I agree with @Spork3245 The DF video says rather directly that the PS5 remaster of Part 1 looks pretty much identical to Part 2. Part 2 is a very good looking game, but it's still a PS4 game that got a very minimal PS5 patch, and Naughty Dog are kings of graphics. I doubt I'll have any real issues with the graphics, but we're 2 years into the PS5 and this is Naughty Dog's first game on the platform, so I was hoping for something that would blow me away. If Part 3 came out and looked indistinguishable from Part 2, despite a console generation launching between them, I'd be disappointed. This one gets a pass because it's just a remake, but still.

I suppose when your character doesn't have a voice, it doesn't make as much sense to have a more cinematic camera for conversations. It's still a bit of a shame. The standard Bethesda conversation setup just feels so archaic. Hopefully they at least make the characters emote a bit more so the conversations aren't entirely robotic.