Valve's new game, Artifact, finally has a release date. The digital card game launches for PC on November 28 and will be available for mobile at a later date.
Artifact is conceptually based on Dota 2, another game by Valve. Artifact has players facing off against one another on three separate game boards--like the three lanes in Dota 2--and victory is given to whomever successfully navigates to their opponent's side and either destroys two out of the three enemy towers or defeats the "Ancient" that appears after one tower is destroyed.
Each player has their own deck composed of 40 cards, five of which are heroes. At Artifact's launch, 40 different heroes will be available, allowing players to start coming up with different strategies. The other 35 cards in a player's deck are hero abilities and items, divided into four different color themes--red, green, black, and blue--depending on their unique effects on the board.
Like Dota 2, Artifact will be entirely player versus player. Matches are always played online, although an offline tutorial mode against a computer will be available to teach newcomers about the game.
Artifact is designed by Richard Garfield, the same man behind the hugely popular Magic: The Gathering card game. Artifact launches via Steam on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and will be available for Android and iOS in 2019. Artifact costs $20 in the US. We've reached out to Valve to ask about international pricing.
It's time to say goodbye to fireworks and hello to heat waves. To aid you in procrastinating on back to school shopping, we're here to let you know about everything coming to Netflix in August. Lots of movies and TV shows will be added throughout this month, while a number of others are on their way out. Let's dive into the highlights.
A lot of hard-hitting dramas will be available in August. Some of the notable additions include Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and No Country For Old Men.
A handful of TV shows are coming to the service in August as well. We will be getting the second season of The Good Place, the fifth season of The 100, and the fifth and final season of The Originals, along with a few others.
A ton of Netflix Originals will also be added, including the highly-anticipated second season of Ozark, as well as a brand new Matt Groening animated series called Disenchantment. There are also several original documentaries coming out, including one called Zion about a young man who was born without legs and wants to become a professional wrestler.
There are some comedy specials coming out as well, including Demetri Martin's new special, Bert Kreischer's new special, and part two of The Comedy Lineup, which features a handful of comedians doing 15 minute sets.
Clearly, there's going to be a lot to watch on Netflix this month, but sadly, there are also several titles that are leaving the site like Finding Dory, Sausage Party, and 40 Year Old Virgin. Many of these departed on August 1, but there's still time for certain titles.
If you'd like to find out about everything that is arriving and leaving on Netflix and when, check out our complete list below. We also have a complete list for titles arriving and leaving on Amazon Prime Video in August or Hulu in August, so if you're a streaming addict like myself, you'll want to check out that list as well.
Arriving On Netflix In August
August 1
Batman Begins
Chernobyl Diaries
Clerks
Constantine
Dreamcatcher
Edge of Fear
Eraser
Gran Torino
House of Deadly Secrets
Los tiempos de Pablo Escobar: Season 1
Million Dollar Baby
No Reservations
Once in a Lifetime Sessions with Moby
Once in a Lifetime Sessions with Nile Rodgers
Once in a Lifetime Sessions with Noel Gallagher
Once in a Lifetime Sessions with TLC
P.S. I Love You
Secretariat
Silverado
Steel Magnolias
Stripes
Switched-- Netflix Original
The Aviator
The Golden Compass
The Informant!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
August 2
Emelie
August 3
Brij Mohan Amar Rahe-- Netflix Original Film
Cocaine Coast-- Netflix Original
Dinotrux Supercharged: Season 3 -- Netflix Original
I AM A KILLER -- Netflix Original
Like Father -- Netflix Original Film
Marching Orders --Netflix Original
August 4
Flavors of Youth: International Version- Netflix Original
Mr. Sunshine (Streaming Every Saturday)-- Netflix Original
On Children -- Netflix Original
August 5
Paid in Full
August 9
Perdida-- Netflix Original Film
The Originals: Season 5
August 10
72 Dangerous Animals: Asia-- Netflix Original
Afflicted-- Netflix Original
All About the Washingtons-- Netflix Original
Demetri Martin: The Overthinker-- Netflix Original
Insatiable-- Netflix Original
La casa de las flores --Netflix Original
Million Pound Menu-- Netflix Original
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-- Netflix Original Film
The Package-- Netflix Original Film
The Ponysitters Club-- Netflix Original
Voltron: Legendary Defender: Season 7-- Netflix Original
Zion-- Netflix Original
August 11
No Country for Old Men
August 13
Alexander: The Ultimate Cut
Splash and Bubbles: Season 2
The Nut Job
August 15
Adventures in Public School
Hostiles
The 100: Season 5
August 16
Evan Almighty
Wish I Was Here
August 17
Disenchantment-- Netflix Original
Magic for Humans-- Netflix Original
Pinky Malinky--Netflix Original
Spirit Riding Free: Season 6-- Netflix Original
Stay Here-- Netflix Original
The Motive-- Netflix Original Film
To All The Boys I've Loved Before-- Netflix Original Film
Ultraviolet-- Netflix Original
August 19
The Investigator: A British Crime Story: Season 2-- Netflix Original
August 21
Year One
August 23
Deadwind-- Netflix Original
Follow This-- Netflix Original
Great News: Season 1
August 24
Ask the StoryBots: Season 2-- Netflix Origianl
Bert Kreischer: Secret Time-- Netflix Original
Ghoul-- Netflix Original
The After Party-- Netflix Original Film
The Innocents-- Netflix Original
Trolls: The Beat Goes On!: Season 3-- Netflix Original
Young & Hungry: Season 5
August 28
The Good Place: Season 2
August 29
Inequality for All
August 31
Inside the Criminal Mind-- Netflix Original
Ozark: Season 2-- Netflix Original
Paradise PD-- Netflix Original
The Comedy Lineup: Part 2-- Netflix Original
The Laws of Thermodynamics-- Netflix Original Film
Ultimate Beastmaster: Survival of the Fittest-- Netflix Original
Undercover Law-- Netflix Original
Leaving Netflix In August
August 1
3000 Miles to Graceland
Adventures in Babysitting
Can't Buy Me Love
Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot: Season 1
Finding Dory
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Reasonable Doubt
The Killing: Seasons 1-3
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
August 2
10 Rules for Sleeping Around
August 5
13 Assassins
August 6
Welcome to Me
August 10
St. Vincent
August 12
For a Good Time, Call…
August 13
Help, I've Shrunk the Family
August 16
Being Flynn
Enter the Battlefield
Jem and the Holograms: Seasons 1-3Littlest Pet Shop: Seasons 2-4
Pariah
Pound Puppies: Seasons 1-3 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
If you feel like you've already watched everything you want to watch on Amazon Prime, despair no more; Amazon is coming out with a whole host of new titles in August. Here's what on tap for this month in terms of movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals.
Several original series are debuting, including All or Nothing: Manchester City which follows the legendary coach of the titular soccer team. A limited series called Agatha Christie will be released, as well as Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan with John Krasinski, which debuts on August 31.
Amazon Prime will also be adding some oldies to the streaming service, including dramas like The Blair Witch Project and Watchmen, and some kids movies like A Cinderella Story and Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams. The bulk of the additions came on August 1, but there's an assortment of other things coming throughout the month, too.
If this list isn't enough, there were a lot of titles added to Amazon Prime in July as well, including the likes of American Psycho, Mulholland Drive, The Twilight Saga. If you'd like to see everything that's coming to Amazon Prime in August, check out the complete list below.
Everything Coming To Amazon Prime In August 2018
August TBD
All or Nothing: Manchester City, Season 1 --Prime Original series
EA DICE continues to support 2016's Battlefield 1. A summer update makes several patches to the first-person shooter that fans have been asking for, as well as gameplay changes to improve the overall experience.
The load time when going into the soldier customization screen has been reduced, as have the number of disconnects when trying to join a server. The update also fixes the issues that caused map vote results to not be respected, squad boosts to occasionally start counting down during the pre-round phase, and players already in a queue being blocked from joining a match. Battlefield 1 also now reinforces the result of the map vote even after the game server migrates to a different host.
Battlefield 1's new update also rebalances the Shock Operations for Lupkow Pass, Zeebrugge, and Prise de Tahure. For Lupkow Pass, the changes make the first sector easier on everyone and reduce the impact of the Behemoth. On Zeebrugge, the changes improve the experience for Attackers on the first sector. For Prise de Tahure, the changes address Attackers stealing Defender kits and Defenders stealing Attacker "comeback" kits.
Battlefield 1 also now supports 4K resolution rendering on Xbox One X.
The remaining changes address weapons, gadgets, vehicles, and the user interface/user experience. We've outlined the highlights below, and the full patch notes can be found on Battlefield's blog.
Battlefield 1 Summer Update
Weapons, Gadgets, and Vehicles
M1903 Experimental now has an alternative fire mode.
Fixed an issue where vehicle laid Anti-Tank Mines would have difficulty detecting vehicles.
Adjusted the reload time of the C96 pistol when loading single bullets to better match its animation.
Gameplay
Fixed instances where players could grief teammates using shell type weaponry such as mortars and AA guns.
Friendly flares will now display their spotting radius to teammates, allowing for better coordination between recon players.
Fixed issue where damage that resulted in score < 0.5 wasn't messaged to players. Score < 0.5 from damage is now rounded up, granting at least 1 point of score.
User Interface/User Experience
Added gameplay options for adjusting color and visibility of the lens sight reticle.
Added gameplay options to show compass bearing numbers on the mini-map and the big map.
Added video options for adjusting the screen safe are width and height on PC (Xbox One and PlayStation 4 already have those).
Moved the objective world icon names from below the world icons to above those to reduce UI clutter and obstruction of the player view over soldiers near the objectives.
Added gameplay options for adjusting the visibility of the 3D objective and soldier names separate from the icons.
The world icon customization gameplay options now work in spectator mode too.
Added gameplay options for adjusting the crosshair size and the hit indicator size.
Added gameplay options for adjusting the visibility of the receiving damage HUD panel. Added gameplay options for adjusting the size and visibility of HUD elements.
Fixed an issue with dog tags sometimes showing up blank in kill cards or when completing a melee kill.
Avengers: Infinity War is officially out on Digital HD, so you can now watch Thanos go up against the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Wakanda, and the Sanctum Sanctorum from the comfort of your living room. The digital version of the movie also has an assortment of extras.
These extras include featurettes explaining why certain characters were chosen to team up in the film and the history of Thanos, as well as how the two massive battles on Titan and Wakanda were created and filmed. A collection of deleted and extended scenes are bundled into the digital version as well.
You can watch the film from your iPhone, iPad, Android device, Roku, PS4, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, or any device that supports iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, Amazon, or Fandango Now. If you're looking forward to grabbing a physical copy of Infinity War, you'll have to wait a little bit longer. The movie launches on 4K Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray, and DVD on August 14, but you can pre-order the movie now. That comes with more special features--including some that we've learned new Infinity War details from.
Avengers: Infinity War is the start to a massive conflict that Marvel's Cinematic Universe has been building towards for the past ten years--since 2008's Iron Man. The movie features heroes from all across the MCU, who team up to stop Thanos from collecting all the Infinity Stones and destroying half of all life in the universe. The film's conflict will conclude in the fourth Avengers movie--still unnamed--that's scheduled to premier in 2019.
Now that Avengers: Infinity War is getting its home release, there are some very interesting tidbits about the film seeing the light of day for the first time. For instance, did you know there was a fan-favorite character that was originally featured in the movie before his scene was cut out?
In the deleted scenes that come with the digital release of Infinity War, it's revealed that Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) once had a very funny role in the film. As it plays out in the theatrical version of the movie, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) discuss potentially having a child while on a walk in New York City. The scene ends when Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) summons Stark.
A deleted version of that scene plays quite a bit longer, though, as Happy appears on a golf cart and complains about having to hold off the paparazzi while the two have their personal chat. "You two should just elope because this media circus that's going on is driving me crazy," he tells the couple. "This is me on edge because I'm trying to keep all the pictures out of the paper and off the internet so your wedding's not ruined. Remember that kid from TMZ that you had me trade paint with on the FDR Drive? Well, I got a case against me now!"
It's not hard to see why the moment was cut from the final version of the film--it doesn't exactly advance the plot at all and it mostly played for jokes. In a movie like Infinity War, practically everything means something. Still, one more moment of levity before everything falls apart would have been nice.
The digital release of Avengers: Infinity War comes with a slew of other special features, including a roundtable discussion with the various MCU directors and even more deleted scenes. It's available now. The film will arrive on Blu-ray on August 14.
Avengers: Infinity War is a truly great movie--that's something that is hard to dispute. However, it's also a long movie. With a run time of nearly three hours, it turns out quite a bit of footage had to be trimmed from the final cut.
Unfortunately, one of the scenes that got pulled out of the film actually helps in connecting some major dots. Thankfully, the digital release of the film comes with deleted scenes that help make sense of it all, along with numerous special features that share new details.
In the theatrical cut of Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy head to Titan--the home planet of Thanos--after the villain kidnaps Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Viewers are left to assume they set their sights on Titan thanks to a message from an escaped Nebula (Karen Gillan). Unfortunately, the film never shows whether the team got her message.
Thankfully, the deleted footage shows they did--and in a hilarious way. Stuck in space with no idea of where Thanos went, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is drowning his sorrows in KISS music, while the rest of the team ignores the coded messages being sent by Nebula. Once they finally figure out what's happening though, Quill is irate as he reads the messages.
The missives sent by Nebula include:
"Gamora is alive."
"Thanos is taking her to Titan."
"Why aren't you responding?"
"Are you getting my important secret coded messages?"
"Tell Quill not to lose my sister a second time or I will sew his face to his genitals."
Clearly, Nebula means business. From there, the team finally heads to Titan in an attempt to rescue Gamora. As with the cut cameo featuring Happy Hogan, this isn't necessarily a scene that holds the movie together and is mostly for laughs. Still, it would have been a welcome addition to the final cut.
The digital release of Avengers: Infinity War is available now. You'll be able to purchase it on Blu-ray on August 14.
A new update is on the way for the PC version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Unlike the last few patches PUBG Corp. has rolled out for the title, which generally focused on introducing new content like the recently added assault rifle QBU, Update #19 primarily addresses bugs and makes various other quality-of-life improvements to the battle royale game.
In terms of the latter, PUBG Corp. has made some tweaks to inventory management, specifically in regards to weapon attachments. Following the update, removed or replaced attachments will drop onto the floor if a player's inventory is full. Players will also be able to detach all attachments by pressing Alt while right-clicking on a weapon.
Beyond that, PUBG Corp. has also made various improvements to the Erangel and Miramar maps. On the former, the developer has added clusters of houses to some areas of the map, while the landscape near the river has been redesigned to be more "tactical." On the latter, PUGB Corp. has added more dirt roads and lowered some high-sloped sections in order to make vehicles more effective.
Another major change Update #19 makes to the aforementioned two maps is dynamic weather effects. Players on Erangel can now experience "overcast" weather; if you enter a game and the sky is cloudy, then the weather will change from rain, fog, and other conditions while you play. Overcast weather can also appear on Miramar, and players can now also play on the desert map at sunset. PUBG Corp. notes that most matches will feature sunny weather with no changes.
Other notable changes in the new patch include the ability to place markers without having to open the map. The bullet penetration system has also been applied to arms and hands. Bullets can now pass through these appendages and strike whatever is behind them, and the amount of damage it causes will depend on how vulnerable that body part is; for example, if a bullet passes through a player's arm and hits their head, it will count as a headshot.
You can see a portion of the patch notes below; the full patch notes for PUBG's new update are available on Steam. The update is currently available on the game's test server. PUBG Corp. hasn't provided a time table for when it will apply the changes to the live game, but the update should be rolling out to all players soon.
PUBG PC Update #19 Patch Notes
Gameplay
Bullet penetration system is now applied to arms and hands.
When bullet hits the arm/hand of the character, it will penetrate following its ballistic curve. The result will be different depending on whether the arm/hand is blocking more vulnerable body parts.
When a bullet penetrates a arm/hand and strikes a more vulnerable body part behind it, the greater damage will be applied. In other words, if a player's arm/hand takes a bullet while blocking their head, the full headshot damage will be applied. This penetration system works for the head, torso, and waist only.
If a bullet penetrates the arm/hand, but no vulnerable body part is behind it, only the arm/hand damage will be applied
Arm/hand penetration is disabled for shotguns
Bullet penetration is not applied to legs.
When exiting vehicles while pressing the sprint key, sprint now remains engaged. This way you won't have to release and press the button again to start sprinting.
If a teammate disconnects, but is still alive in game, other teammates couldn't see the game reward (result) screen after all other teammates died. Now players can check even if there are disconnected players in their team.
If a disconnected teammate reconnects the game, and finishes the game with better result, teammates will receive any additional rewards earned by that player.
To prevent abuse, other teammates cannot see the Deathcam until all players, including the disconnected player, have died.
UI/UX
Dropping items in stacks has been improved.
Quantity can now be adjusted using a slider.
Alt key + left mouse button immediately drops the full stack.
Alt key + right mouse button now drops half the stack.
Weapon attachment management when replacing items has been improved.
Removed or replaced attachments will now drop onto the floor if there is no room in your inventory.
When attaching directly from loot, the replaced attachment will be dropped on the floor if there is no room in your inventory.
When replacing an extended magazine with a quickdraw magazine, the extended magazine and overflow ammunition will be dropped on the floor.
When detaching an attachment by right-clicking, the attachment will be dropped on the floor if there is no room in your inventory.
Pressing Alt while right-clicking a weapon now detaches all attachments on that weapon.
Attachments will be sent to the inventory or dropped on the floor if inventory is full.
Players may now mute individual teammates.(ESC > Options > Team Management Tab)
World
Dynamic weather has been added to Erangel and Miramar.
Erangel: Overcast
Miramar: Overcast, Sunset
Overcast setting includes dynamic weather, and includes rain, fog, etc. during the game.
Erangel has received some improvements.
Small clusters of houses have been added to some areas of Erangel.
More tactical landscapes have been added near the river.
Following a tumultuous week, MoviePass has issued a letter to its users apologizing for recent interruptions in service and laying out its plans going forward. The mea culpa comes just as the company has paid back an emergency loan, one of the first positive signs for the company since it ran into its current troubles.
The letter from CEO Mitch Lowe personally apologizes for both the recent unreliability of the service and its lack of communication around the problems. It then explains the rationale behind the recently announced changes, like reducing availability for big new releases and increasing its price. It cautions that showtimes will vary while the company adjusts its model, so users should check the app before making their movie plans. It also says the company is working on making the app more clear about which new movies are eligible and when.
"We want to be as transparent as we can with these changes and any future changes," the letter reads. "We are committed to giving you the best experience. We count on your support and loyalty while we implement these necessary steps for the company you've grown to love."
Meanwhile, Variety reports that the company showed in public filings that it has paid back a $6.2 million emergency loan. The creditor could have demanded to be paid back half that amount, $3.1 million, as of today. The upcoming price change from $10 to $15 per month is expected to reduce its cash burn rate by 60%, which may make it more viable long-term. Despite that, stock in parent company Helious & Matheson continues to tumble, having fallen down to approximately 25 cents per share as of the time of writing.
MoviePass's competitive business model has inspired the competition to offer competitive services, or sometimes, to simply take a swipe at the service to promote its own. The company has definitely shown an interest exists for a theater subscription model, so we're bound to see more offerings with similar incentives.
By Anonymous on Aug 01, 2018 11:23 pm Sam Fisher jumps from Xbox 360 to Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility, while August brings more free PlayStation Plus PS4 games and Rocket League: Ultimate Edition.
The Avengers: Infinity War home release date is upon us. That means we can finally relive the pain and horror of Infinity War's bleak, tragic ending on repeat in the comfort of our own living rooms if we want. More importantly, it also means we get to dig into the movie's special features and learn new details about the movie.
The Avengers: Infinity War Blu-ray, which is out August 14, comes with four featurettes: one focusing on the chemistry among all the characters, one focused on Thanos himself, and one each for both of the major battles in the movie (Titan and Wakanda). They come with a handful of deleted scenes, which include both a surprising MCU cameo that was cut from the movie and the second half of a scene that explains how the Guardians knew to head to Titan.
On Infinity War's digital release, which is out now, you can also find a special exclusive featurette called the director's roundtable. In it, MCU movie directors Jon Favreau, Joe and Anthony Russo, Ryan Coogler, James Gunn, Peyton Reed, Joss Whedon, and Taika Waititi sit down for an extended chat about how their separate visions and talents have come together to form the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
All these Infinity War special features form a fun and informative watch, so we put together this highlights list of our favorite things we learned. When you're done, don't forget to refresh yourself on what Infinity War's after credits scene means for the MCU's future, including the upcoming Captain Marvel.
1. There are around 2900 visual effects shots in Avengers: Infinity War.
According to executive producer Victoria Alonso. That's out of 3,000 total shots--so only 100 shots in the whole movie didn't rely on CGI.
2. Making Civil War the lead-up to Infinity War was extremely deliberate.
"Part of the reason why we were drawn to tell the story of Civil War and one of the reasons why we thought it was such a great place to leave the Avengers, divided, was because we knew that the greatest threat they would ever face would be coming in Thanos," says co-director Anthony Russo. "For storytellers, you want your heroes to be at their lowest point when they meet their worst threat."
3. The Titan battle was shot entirely on a soundstage.
4. Executive producer Victoria Alonso calls Infinity War "one big CG scene."
"The environment is CG, the weapons are CG, every shot is dense in layers."
5. Josh Brolin performed all the motion and performance capture for Thanos himself.
6. The showdown between Dr. Strange and Thanos was rendered and animated before Benedict Cumberbatch gave his performanc
This allowed the other departments to work on the scene's effects long before Cumberbatch shot his lines on a green screen.
7. The Wakanda battle was one of the most challenging thing the Russos have ever shot.
"Probably the most physically challenging thing that we've ever done was execute that Wakanda sequence," Anthony Russo says.
8. The Wakanda battle was shot on a physical location.
"It was a big ranch in Georgia that we turned into the fields of Wakanda," Anthony Russo says. The river running through the field was artificially dug for the movie and used a pump capable of churning through 30,000 gallons of water per minute.
9. The Russos coordinated with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler about Wakanda's geography.
"We actually had to work in tandem with Ryan Coogler. He and his team had maps of Wakanda and that was very helpful to us so that we could look at where we wanted to place the battle, understand strategy, so it's literally like doing a Jenga puzzle," Joe Russo says.
10. The Wakandan army included 70 extras on set, plus stunt people.
Their numbers were digitally expanded, and 10,000 "Outriders," Thanos's creatures, were added as well.
11. Rain was a big problem during filming in Georgia.
They would try to shoot actors' close-ups on rainy days, and hope the sun would come out the next.
12. The Russos thought hard about who would go in the snap.
"In terms of our choices about who Thanos would end up eradicating with his snap, you know, it was very story-focused. How do we pay off each individual character's storyline most profoundly?" Anthony Russo says. "The first person to go is Bucky Barnes, and it's shot from Captain America's perspective. We're watching Cap go through the experience of watching him go away. We're watching Okoye, whose number one mission it is in life to protect the king, she watches the king go in front of her. And to see those characters react in those situations is very powerful and resonant."
13. The filmmakers refer to the snap as "the bloodbath sequence."
Executive producer Trinh Tran throws the phrase in casually during the Wakanda battle featurette.
14. Many of the actors involved didn't know it was happening.
"The bloodbath sequence, we had gathered the whole entire talent there circled around our directors, and basically revealed to them that morning of when they came on set, that that scene was happening, that some of them were gonna be, you know, disappearing," says Tran.
15. Infinity War's production included 6,000 crew members spread around the world.
"It's about as massive a production as you can mount," says Joe Russo.
16. There's a deleted scene in which the Guardians receive several encoded messages from Nebula.
She warns them that Thanos is taking Gamora to Titan, which is how the Guardians know to go there, and why they're on Titan when Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man show up.
17. There's another deleted scene where Happy Hogan shows up in New York.
It's an extended version of the early scene between Tony Stark and Pepper, where Happy shows up and berates them about their upcoming nuptials. It honestly doesn't fit the tone of the movie.
18. Jon Favreau says he was hired to direct Iron Man because of Elf.
"What really hit was Elf, because Elf made money, and I was sort of like on a list of directors that were hirable," Favreau says in the director's roundtable feature.
19. The Russo brothers were "most impressed" by the first 10 minutes of the original Iron Man.
"That's a ballsy interpretation of a narcissist, who's presented as a drunk and a jerk. And this is the guy that I'm supposed to get on board with, who goes on this amazing journey throughout the course of the movie, and I do get on board with him. And I think that that was unique," Joe Russo says.
20. Taika Waititi couldn't join for the directors roundtable so they propped an iPad over a Hawaiian shirt with a hat on
This is amazing.
21. The Avengers' post-credits shawarma scene was born from a joke.
"I made a joke about, 'We should see them all eating shawarma for 30 seconds,' and then two months later [Kevin Feige] is like, 'I think we can do it,'" says Avengers director Joss Whedon.
22. They shot the shawarma scene after the movie had already premiered.
To Jon Favreau's amazement, Whedon admits they shot that scene after the movie had premiered already. "It did not go out in Europe because we didn't have time. It was during, while we were doing press, after the premiere, at the hotel. There was a shawarma place like three blocks away. We got everybody in there," Whedon says. They had to cover Chris Evans' beard (likely for filming Snowpiercer) with a prosthetic, which he blocked with his hand during the scene.
23. James Gunn wrote one of Guardians' favorite scenes in response to a note from Joss Whedon.
"Joss, you were the hugest influence on me, because I turned in my first draft of the screenplay [for Guardians of the Galaxy], and I was really afraid, because I felt good about it, but I actually thought it was too funny," Gunn says. "And the thing you said to me...was, 'Just make it more James Gunn.'" He went home after receiving that note and wrote the scene where the Guardians sit around laughing at Quill's "12 percent of a plan."
24. James Gunn thinks of Rocket as a furry, cute version of Frankenstein's monster.
"For me, Rocket is Frankenstein's monster. He is this little creature that was this innocent animal, who was turned into something that isn't what he was supposed to be, and is completely alone and completely lost, and has no connection, has no tenderness from anyone," Gunn says. "To me that was the seed from which the entire story grew."
25. The Russos wanted viewers to really believe that Thor was going to kill Thanos.
"We needed to create a situation where you really believed that Thor was going to kill Thanos. That was the story of the film--his journey to that," Anthony Russo says. "This guy has lost everything. And it's this level of sadness that imbues him with that underdog quality that then becomes the heart of the movie, and you start to root for, and you believe that's sort of the energy that's gonna carry you into the climax."
After hearing about the exclusive Venom footage Sony showed off at Comic-Con this year, symbiote fans were pumped for the studio to release something more to the general public. With its release date coming up later this year, Sony has now unveiled a new trailer for the movie. It features not only numerous looks at actor Tom Hardy as Venom, but also our first peek at Riot, one of the symbiotes that Eddie Brock will have to contend with.
Back in April, the trailer the studio released gave us a good idea what the movie is about. Eddie Brock is a journalist investigating Dr. Carlton Drake, who is doing experiments on people involving the symbiotes, which were collected from the debris of a spaceship. Somehow, Brock and a symbiote--named Venom--become united, and Brock deals with trying to keep his sanity and control of his body. His mental instability, which comes from the comics, may explain why it's so hard to understand him.
Venom stars Hardy as Eddie Brock, Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, and Riz Ahmed as Dr. Carlton Drake. At the Comic-Con panel, Ahmed described his character as a genius who asks, "What does the future of humanity look like?" Apparently, it's an evolution of the human species by way of symbiotic bonding.
With the release of the latest trailer, we know a bit more about what's going on in this movie, including who is playing the symbiotic villain towards the end of the video. There is also another person with a symbiote attached to them as well, and a few more shots of Venom we haven't seen before.
Riot is a prominent part of the trailer, and he comes to the big-screen following his comic debut in 1993. He has a history with Drake in the comics that the upcoming movie appears to be drawing on. You can read more about that in our explainer, Who is Riot?
Here's everything new and notable from the fresh Venom trailer. Venom comes to theaters on October 5.
Different color symbiotes
In previous trailers, we saw multiple containers with symbiotes in them. The one above is yellow, which quickly reminded me of the miniseries Lethal Protector, where the Life Foundation unleashed five new symbiotes. Both Phage and Scream were orange and yellow, respectively. Could this be one of those two?
Drake is running experiments
We've seen this before in previous trailers, but Drake seems very hands-on with his work. We see yet another symbiote, and it looks different from the one in the previous slide. If so, that means Sony could be fully adapting Lethal Protector, sans Spider-Man.
The battle for Brock
Brock is having an internal struggle for his mind and body, and much like the last trailer, we see that Brock is having visual hallucinations, seeing Venom in the window of a card. Additionally, he's going though physical changes as we his body change as he fights off Venom.
Things are getting weird
There's a brief scene featuring Venom's face coming off of Brock's body and talking to him.
Venom is huge
Up to this point, we haven't seen how large Venom is. In the comics, he's a lot bigger than Spider-Man and other heroes in the Marvel Universe. In a wide-shot, we see Venom holding someone up. Venom towers over this guy.
Yes, he's licking that guy
Is it weird to say that an iconic part of Venom is his ridiculously long tongue? Yeah? Well, it's in the trailer, and he licks a guy. This probably won't be the only time we see something like this.
More symbiotes
Aside from Venom and the one we think may be Scream, there's also actress Michelle Williams who uses a symbiote to create a blade-like weapon coming out of her arm. Williams is playing Donna Diego in the film, and in the comics, Diego is better known as Scream.
Riot is here
Without a doubt, this is Riot, the symbiote Venom will be fighting in the movie. Riot is a lot like Venom. He's large, powerful, and overall, just a gigantic brute.
Who is Riot? Spoilers!
At the very end of the trailer, we see both Venom and Riot being torn apart, and the person inside the Riot symbiote is none other than Carlton Drake. That's a bit of a divergence from the comic, as Drake didn't bond with a symbiote. However, he did become a spider-monster in Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition packages the main game with the full Expansion Pass--which includes all paid DLC--and the free updates and improvements that have come out since release. The Expansion Pass adds additional missions, playable characters, weapons, abilities, and enemy types to the game, as well as a completely new region for Talion to explore. The main storyline is expanded upon in the Blade of Galadriel and Desolation of Mordor DLCs, and the Nemesis system gets two more Orc tribes with the Slaughter Tribe and Outlaw Tribe DLCs.
Most notable among the free updates is a streamlined post-game Epilogue, narrated by Shelob, the Witch-king, and Dark Talion. The Epilogue rewards players with Masks of the Nazgul, each of which comes with its own in-game bonus. The Epilogue was previously known as the Shadow Wars, a lengthy slog of missions that occurred at the end of the game that we complained about in our Shadow of War review.
Shadow of War also includes the updated Follower level cap--which has been increased to 80--and greater XP rewards so Talion and his Orc army grow stronger more quickly. An Endless Siege mode adds a feature where Talion must defend his fortresses against never-ending waves of Sauron's forces and two new difficulty levels add even more challenge to the game.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition is launching for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on August 28. It's sold at $60 in the US and at £50 in the UK.
By Anonymous on Aug 01, 2018 11:01 pm Join Jake and Rob as they check out the missions on the Freighters which actually yield a pretty good reward in No Man Sky Next.
Now that a couple trailers for October's Venom have been released, many people have wondered why the titular character's voice is so weird. Why does Eddie Brock talk to Venom? What's going on? While it may be tough to make out what he or Eddie Brock say in the trailers, as actor Tom Hardy makes weird choices with his speech, there is a method to his madness. Eddie Brock is a character slowly losing his mind, something the comics took years to set up.
The Venom symbiote made its first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #252 back in the spring of 1984. It was revealed at the end of the year that Peter Parker got this suit from an intergalactic sewing machine in Marvel Super Heroes Secret War #8. No, that's not a joke. At first, nothing seemed too off about this costume, but as time progressed, Peter Parker became a bit of a jerk and began acting aggressively.
Parker realized this was a problem and parted ways with the symbiote, only for it to fall into the hands of journalist Eddie Brock, who was obsessed with ruining Spider-Man's life. When the Venom symbiote bonded with Brock, it seemed to heighten that even further. In Amazing Spider-Man #300, he appeared a bit unbalanced when fighting Spider-Man, especially when Brock decided to dress as a priest in a church. This is the first time he referred to himself and Venom as "we."
It wasn't until Amazing Spider-Man #316 that Brock started speaking in the second person more regularly, something Venom fans are more accustomed to. However, at this time, it wasn't happening every time he spoke. Brock and Venom were slowly becoming a single entity, which was greatly affecting Brock's psyche. Throughout the years, Venom and Spidey had a few more battles, and Venom slowly became the dominant force in Brock's body.
By the time Amazing Spider-Man #374 rolls around, Brock is using second person a whole lot more in his speech. In fact, he's no longer saying "I" or "me" when talking. And Brock, out of costume, has become very reliant on the Venom symbiote to do the simplest of tasks. By the next issue, it's clear Brock is completely unhinged as his mind has completely bonded with Venom. He's delusional, thinking he's a hero, and wants to protect civilians from Spider-Man, who he believes is a monster.
While the '90s primarily played on Venom being an unstoppable anti-hero, who also tried to juggle a love life, it wasn't until the '00s when creative teams started playing with the idea that there's a battle internally in the symbiote's host body. The 2011 volume of Venom played heavily to this as Peter Parker's high school bully turned war hero--Flash Thompson--is recruited to be a secret agent, and his weapon is the Venom symbiote. Thompson deals with trying to control Venom, but it's an uphill battle as Thompson finds out in this series, as well as when he becomes a member of the Guardian of the Galaxy. Undoubtedly, it's one of the best Venom series as it's a near-perfect reinvention of the character that doesn't sacrifice Venom's core. Additionally, the 2016 volume of Venom--which takes the character a bit more to its roots--also plays with the fight over the symbiote host's body. This time, army veteran Lee Price has bonded with Venom, and right off the bat, Price states that Venom talks to him. He's hearing and seeing things. If you've seen the trailers for the Venom movie, you know this is a predominant part of the movie.
Venom revolves around mental instability. The bodies he takes over already have some form of weakness inside of them, and that's what the symbiote prays on. It's about breaking down the character to make them lose their minds, and an easy way to show that is to have the host change their voice. Make them speak less intelligently. Change their pitch and flow. Make the audience feel that this person is crazy by way of audio cues and the characters usage of dialogue. While Venom's voice in the trailers may not be how you want the character to sound, it's conveying a message to the viewer: this dude is broken.
Essentially, Venom looks like a greatest hits of the character since his first appearance over 30 years ago. Instead of giving that slow, decades-long build towards a character breaking, that's where the movie plans to start. It wants to set Venom up as a mental threat as soon as possible, so the film can move forward.
Sam Fisher jumps from Xbox 360 to Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility, while August brings more free PlayStation Plus PS4 games and Rocket League: Ultimate Edition.
Join Jake and Rob as they check out the missions on the Freighters which actually yield a pretty good reward in No Man Sky Next.
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