The Committee of Administrators (CoA) issued a directive on Thursday that effectively withdrew all functioning powers of the current set of BCCI office bearers while dissolving all the committees.
When news broke this week that Verizon was slowing California firefighters’ data speeds during a wildfire crisis, there was a predictable outrage over the company’s actions. In a legal brief filed by Santa Clara County fire officials against the FCC’s net neutrality repeal, emergency responders explained how Verizon dropped their connection to a crawl, even after being informed of the emergency. The company didn’t restore the speeds until the fire department paid for a better plan.
While Verizon admitted that it made a customer service policy mistake, it was also quick to deny one point: “This situation has nothing to do with net neutrality or the current proceeding in court,” a spokesperson said in the first line of the company’s...
Siddhesh Lad with a knock of 83 (batting) starred as India Red recovered from an early blow to post 256 for 4 at stumps against India Blue on the opening day of the second league match of the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament at the NPR College ground here on Thursday.
When news broke this week that Verizon was slowing California firefighters’ data speeds during a wildfire crisis, there was a predictable outrage over the company’s actions. In a legal brief filed by Santa Clara County fire officials against the FCC’s net neutrality repeal, emergency responders explained how Verizon dropped their connection to a crawl, even after being informed of the emergency. The company didn’t restore the speeds until the fire department paid for a better plan.
While Verizon admitted that it made a customer service policy mistake, it was also quick to deny one point: “This situation has nothing to do with net neutrality or the current proceeding in court,” a spokesperson said in the first line of the company’s...
The Wizarding World is currently bracing itself for The Crimes of Grindelwald, that much we know, but now that Warner’s fantastical prequel is less than three months away, a series of set reports have been conjured onto the interwebs.
Over on Collider, for example, there are a slew of Fantastic Beasts 2 character descriptions chock-full of potential story clues about the November blockbuster.
First and foremost, we now have official confirmation that The Crimes of Grindelwald kicks just as Newt Scamander Fantastic Beasts novel has been released into the wild, though it seems Eddie Redmayne’s dashing protagonist is still adjusting to his newfound fame.
Per Warner Bros., Newt “would prefer to carry on quietly with his life’s work: studying, rescuing and caring for magical animals. However, his former professor and friend, Albus Dumbledore, has another job in mind for him—a mission that will again set him directly in the path of the dangerous, and increasingly more powerful, Grindelwald.”
Katherin Waterston’s Tina Goldstein is also back for round two, and it seems she’s slipped off the radar and into Paris to find Credence, who managed to escape MACUSA’s grasp in New York.
And Albus Dumbledore? He begins this story as Hogwarts’ Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, but is “unable to move against Grindelwald himself—for reasons he alone knows—and must rely on Newt to try and thwart the Dark wizard’s plans.” Perhaps crippled by his own love of the cunning dark wizard?
Speaking of Johnny Depp’s bug-eyed maniac, he’s already wreaked havoc across Europe, but has since established a new base within Paris where he hopes to rule over all non-magical people.
Last and certainly not least, Zoë Kravitz’s Leta Lestrange. She’s Newt’s childhood sweetheart, essentially, and is now “working at the British Ministry of Magic as the assistant to Torquil Travers, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement.” Oh, and Leta just so happens to be engaged to Newt’s older brother, Theseus, which creates some tension between the two siblings. For more intel on all of the sequel’s supporting players, head on over to Collider.
A great Parisian adventure is afoot, ladies and gentlemen, and we know Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald will be zooming into theaters in time for November 16th.
Venom‘s horror credentials recently took a bit of a whack when the film was revealed to be targeting a PG-13 rating. Word is that the pic originally aimed for an R (which fits with the gory reports of the footage screened at Comic-Con), but Sony executives decided that their nascent cinematic universe would be better served by a more kid-friendly release. Undoubtedly, this is a disappointment to horror fans who were hoping that the brain-munching alien symbiote might mark a rare horror-themed adult entry into the busy superhero genre.
That means it’s a slight relief to see director Ruben Fleischer listing some of the inspirations he had in mind while making Venom. First and foremost is John Landis’ stone-cold 1981 classic An American Werewolf in London. That film’s a perfectly pitched mix of horror and comedy, both understanding the ridiculousness of a tourist cursed with a lycanthropic transformation in the middle of London and unafraid to get genuinely terrifying and morose.
Given the transformational elements of Venom, I suspect that American Werewolf‘s most famous scene played a big part in Fleischer’s thinking. This is the iconic Rick Baker transformation scene, which remains to this day a hugely impressive achievement in makeup and practical effects. If you haven’t seen it, check it out right now!
The second influence he mentions is a bit more obvious: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It should be pretty clear what relevance a guy turning into a monstrous version of himself who can realize his darkest and most violent impulses has on the character of Venom. But in case you haven’t caught on, Fleischer lays it out as so.
“He’s the real Hyde, he’ll rip somebody’s head off and eat their brains. There’s this forbidden-fruit quality of this guy who will just do whatever he wants.”
While I can’t deny I’m a bit bummed out that Venom won’t be R-rated, at least Fleischer seems to have his influences in all the right places. And anyways, there’ll definitely be an uncut version on the Blu-ray/DVD, right?
Deadpool 2: The Super Duper Cut is one of those things that does exactly what it says on the tin.
Touting 15 minutes of bonus footage and all sorts of juicy comic book movie extras, it’s essentially the definitive edition of David Leitch’s R-rated romp, and those of you who’ve already picked up The Super Duper Cut will know that those extra 15 minutes are filled with hilarity and alternate takes.
Indeed, the folks at Cinema Blend have compiled a list of those bonus scenes for us to peruse, beginning with an extended version of the Merc’s globetrotting tour. It’s the same one that opens the theatrical version of Deadpool 2, albeit with one or two new locations thrown into the mix, as we watch Wade Wilson’s quip-happy alter-ego slaughter a cavalcade of goons with reckless abandon.
Another scene that made it onto The Super Duper Cut is the Merc’s failed suicide attempt, and just as David Leitch promised, there are many more suicide attempts included on Deadpool 2‘s Blu-ray – just don’t be fooled into thinking that the Merc’s actually puffing on a joint; that idea was nixed pretty early on in development.
Next, we see Russell Collins arriving at Essex House, the mutant orphanage that’s actually a torture facility hiding in plain sight. There’s not much in the way of new footage here, but the extended stay at X-Mansion is well worth your time, as it features Wade Wilson on lockdown rambling about his feelings and all that guff.
The final two scenes are all about Russell and Juggernaut indulging in some retail therapy, before we see the Merc desperately trying to recruit Colossus to the X-Force. How the tables have turned, eh?
Deadpool 2: The Super Duper Cut is available across all the usual platforms right now, so be sure to pick it up.
Nvidia’s new RTX 2000 series of GPUs are designed with ray tracing in mind, a rendering technique that enables real-time light reflections and cinematic effects in games. While we’ve seen some technical demonstrations of what is possible with ray tracing in the past, Nvidia’s Battlefield V demo earlier this week really shows some impressive real world examples of how the company’s RTX cards will make a difference in rendering games and make them a little more movie-like.
In the video (above) you can see a variety of ray-traced reflections, which improve scenes and details in Battlefield V. Existing Screen Space Reflection techniques don’t allow game developers to mirror reflections in the way ray tracing does, and Nvidia and Dice show B...
Nvidia’s new RTX 2000 series of GPUs are designed with ray tracing in mind, a rendering technique that enables real-time light reflections and cinematic effects in games. While we’ve seen some technical demonstrations of what is possible with ray tracing in the past, Nvidia’s Battlefield V demo earlier this week really shows some impressive real world examples of how the company’s RTX cards will make a difference in rendering games and make them a little more movie-like.
In the video (above) you can see a variety of ray-traced reflections, which improve scenes and details in Battlefield V. Existing Screen Space Reflection techniques don’t allow game developers to mirror reflections in the way ray tracing does, and Nvidia and Dice show B...
I can’t believe we’re still debating over whether Ben Affleck is going to return in The Batman. It’s been nine months or so since Justice League slunk into cinemas and disappointed everyone, compounded by a clearly miserable Affleck enduring a press circuit he clearly didn’t want to do. Most assumed he would walk in early 2019, yet it’s nearly September and, despite perpetual rumor-mongering, we’re still no closer to know who’s going to next don the cape and cowl.
The obsession with the will he/won’t conundrum has reached a newly disturbing level today, with sites breathlessly reporting about a paparazzi shot of Affleck receiving a delivery of groceries outside his house that may or may not contain alcohol. People were the first to crack the case, claiming that the box contained “what appeared to be Johnnie Walker Blue Label scotch whiskey in a blue case and some other unidentified bottles.”
Well, firstly, it doesn’t look like a Johnnie Walker box to me – this box is two-toned and their boxes are the same color all over – and I’m not sure how you can tell that there are bottles in the rest of the box. Besides, even if it was alcohol it’s his own damn business what he does.
Predictably, this sight of what may or not may be alcohol has caused fans to start salivating over whether this is a hint that he’s hung up the Batsuit for good. After all, drinking a lot of booze isn’t conducive to a 46-year-old man getting into the kind of shape required to convincingly play Batman.
My opinion on the whole furore is that Affleck’s involvement with the DC Universe came to an end with Justice League. The reports that the studio would like Matt Reeves’ long-in-development The Batman to feature a younger actor sound convincing, so my bet is they’re waiting until they have their replacement lined up before they make the announcement that they’re recasting. In the meantime, let’s just stay out of Ben Affleck’s groceries, ok?
