The Spider-Verse is about to get even bigger via the small screen. It is also about to get a lot darker, mysterious, and funny. And, let’s be honest, a lot weirder. Prime Video has officially done what Spidey fans have been waiting to hear. The studio has formally ordered a new live-action series starring Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir, the character he originally voiced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Now joining Cage in the series, as per Deadline, is Fargo and New Girl star Lamorne Morris.

Amazon used its inaugural upfront presentation in New York City to announce it has finally ordered Noir to series. The Spider-Man Noir show will see Nicolas Cage playing the live-action version of his character from Sony’s animated 2018 Oscar winner. Morris has been cast as Robbie Robertson, the nice editor of The Daily Bugle who traditionally works under the surly publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Variety also reported The Banshees of Inisherin star Brendan Gleeson has been cast as well, though in an undisclosed role. The series, based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir, will air on Prime Video and MGM+.

Also announced to appear as a series regular is Wu Assassins star Li Jun Li. According to Deadline, Li will play a “singer at the premier nightclub in New York.”

Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag, Killing Eve) will direct and executive produce the Spider-Man Noir‘s first two episodes. Oren Uziel (22 Jump Street) and Steve Lightfoot (Marvel’s The Punisher, Shantaram) will serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. They developed the show with the Spider-Verse‘s Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal. All three are also on board as executive producers.

For those who have (for some absurd reason) not yet seen Into the Spider-Verse or are unfamiliar with the character’s comic history, Amazon also shared a brief synopsis for the Spider-Man Noir series.

Noir tells the story of an aging and down on his luck private investigator (Cage) in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero.

Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios, explained why the studio wants to make this series in a release. (As though we need an explanation.) “Expanding the Marvel universe with Noir is a uniquely special opportunity, and we are honored to bring this series to our global Prime Video customers,” he said. “The extremely talented Nicolas Cage is an ideal choice for our new superhero, and the accomplished producing team with Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, and the incredible team at Sony is dedicated to expanding this franchise in the most authentic way.” 

We’re ready to dedicate our time to watching when it debuts. The Spider-Verse is an infinite place of possibilities and heroes. But we very much want to spend more time with this version of the character. And obviously, more time with Nicolas Cage.

Originally Published May 14, 2024

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We know Homelander and Billy Butcher are sworn enemies. But as The Boys has shown many times, they also have a lot in common. That’s also true of the two actors who play them. The unhinged Supe might fly around with the red, white, and blue flapping around his neck, but Antony Starr himself is a native New Zealander, as is his co-star Karl Urban. But their shared home is just one of the things the two discussed in a delightful The Boys “For Your Consideration” video from Prime Video.

Oi, Amazon! Don’t make us like Homelander this much. We have a lot invested in hating that guy. Not that we could ever hate Antony Starr, someone who desperately deserves an Emmy nomination for playing television’s most terrifying monster. He’s so good in the role it’s nearly impossible to imagine anyone donning his Supe suit. But that easily could have happened if Starr hadn’t ended up becoming an actor, something, he revealed in this video, he never wanted to be.

That’s the complete opposite of how Urban ended up in front of the camera. His desire to act started at the age of eight. He grew up around movies because his mom worked on “film facilities.” Because of her he got to experience “the sense of unity” and “family” crews had when they’d screen the movie they just worked on.

All fans of The Boys will want to check out this conversation for some on-screen insights, too. The two also talked about filming scenes together and what goes into their performances.

Everything about this chat is delightful, minus the length. This is way too short. We could watch these two—whether as Homelander and Butcher or Antony and Karl—go back and forth all night. That’s something we hope Prime Video considers with future For Your Consideration videos.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will take us back to Middle-earth on September 2. The show will almost definitely tackle the most major event of the Second Age: the rise and fall of the island kingdom of Númenor. That means, we’re also likely to see the major villain of that particular storyline. And even if you’ve only seen Jackson’s films, you’ll recognize this baddie. The Dark Lord Sauron played a major role in Númenor’s downfall. He also survived into the Third Age, when The Lord of the Rings takes place. But where does he actually come from and how did he rise to such destructive power in Middle-earth? Here’s everything you need to know about Sauron and his influence in The Rings of Power.

The History of Sauron and the first Dark Lord Morgoth

Before we get into Sauron, it’s best to start with his predecessor and the first Dark Lord of Middle-earth: Morgoth. First known as Melkor, he was a Valar—or one of the most powerful beings in Arda. He was created by Eru Ilúvatar, the supreme deity. Melkor was there from the beginning of creation, and came to Arda with the other Valar. Originally a pure being, he eventually rebelled against his creator, obtained the name Morgoth, and was ultimately cast out of Arda and into the Void. But before all that happened, he attracted the attention of another soon-to-be Dark Lord.

Sauron began his days as Mairon (“the admirable”), a powerful Maia—spirits who came to Arda to help the Valar shape the world. (Other Maia include Gandalf and Saruman.) He was a pure and orderly being in the beginning, who studied the craft of forging. But he grew selfish, and eventually aligned himself with Morgoth. Though he served the Dark Lord Morgoth, he didn’t necessarily believe in the exact same things. While Morgoth was obsessed with conquering, Mairon wanted to dominate the minds and wills of Arda’s creatures.

During his time with Morgoth, Mairon was deceptive. He maintained appearances, pretending to be faithful to the other Valar, But when Morgoth established his place in Middle-earth, Mairon dropped the charade and made his allegiance with the Dark Lord known. It is then that he came to be known as Sauron, or “the abominable.”

Sauron in The First Age

Sauron was Morgoth’s servant during his war against the Elves in the First Age of Middle-earth. He ruled the fortress of Angband during Morgoth’s reign, a location he later escaped during the War of the Powers—the first time Morgoth was seized by the Valar. Sauron gained a fearsome reputation during this time, conquering the Elvish island Tol Sirion that he renamed Tol-in-Gaurhoth, or “The Isle of Werewolves.” To make things extra metal, Sauron had a servant named Thuringwethil on Tol-in-Gaurhoth who took the shape of a Vampire. Sauron himself would shape-shift into a Werewolf or Vampire during this time, when he was at the height of his power.

While Morgoth was the enemy of Elves, Sauron was the enemy of Men. He also factors into the epic love story of Beren and Lúthien, that fated romance between a mortal man and Elvish woman. (Aragorn sings about them in The Lord of the Rings, as their love reminds him of his romance with Arwen.) Sauron captured Beren and the Elven king Finrod at one point, and imprisoned them on Tol-in-Gaurhoth. Though Finrod later died, Lúthien helped Beren escape when she arrived at the Werewolf island with the wolfhound Huan. Sauron, in werewolf form, fought with Huan—and lost. He yielded his power to Lúthien, took the form of a vampire, and went into hiding.

He emerged after Morgoth was finally defeated, and pled the Maia Eönwë for mercy. But out of fear of judgment, he fled and went into hiding in Middle-earth once again.

Sauron and the Forging of the Rings of Power

After about 500 years, Sauron emerged once again and established himself in Mordor, where he built the tower of Barad-dûr. He raised armies of Orcs and Trolls, as well as Men, luring them with promises of wealth. Though he originally meant only to rebuild after Morgoth’s war, once he recognized his power and sway over his armies, he began plotting ways to overtake Middle-earth. To do this, he took a new shape, as the handsome Annatar. This disguise was meant to fool the Elves, and it worked on some, though not everyone. (Galadriel and Elrond were among the Elves who didn’t fall for this trick.)

As Annatar, Sauron persuaded the Elven-smiths of Eregion to craft the Rings of Power, using his knowledge of craftsmanship to advise on their creation. Once they were made and distributed to the Men, Dwarves, and Elves, Sauron secretly created another ring: the One Ring. This ring, forged in Mount Doom in Mordor, controlled the other rings using dark magic. On the ring, Sauron inscribed this phrase in Black Speech:

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. (Translation: One Ring to Rule Them All, One Ring to Find Them, One Ring to Bring Them All, and in the Darkness Bind Them.)

Sauron’s plan quickly backfired. Once he wore his One Ring, the Elves immediately sensed his treachery. They hid their rings from him, and the Dwarves proved fairly resistant from Sauron’s influence over theirs. However, the nine Men who received rings were all corrupted. They became the Nazgûl (seen prominently in Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring, as the hooded figures stalking Frodo), Sauron’s greatest servants.

Sauron declared war on the Elves, and nearly conquered all of Middle-earth. But the Men of the West intervened, led by Tar-Minastir, King of Númenór. Sauron was defeated, and retreated to Mordor. There, he slowly regained power, and began calling himself “The King of Men.” This pissed off the Númenóreans, who arrived in Mordor and took Sauron as a hostage back to Númenor.

Sauron’s Evil Plans for Númenor

This imprisonment proved fruitful for Sauron. Though he feigned unhappiness, he was actually thrilled at the opportunity to corrupt Númenor from within. He cozied up to King Ar-Pharazôn, slowly corrupting him until he was the king’s most trusted adviser. He convinced Ar-Pharazôn and other Númenóreans to worship Morgoth, as he sensed in them a fear of death. Sauron helped them erect a temple on Númenor devoted to Morgoth, where the king performed human sacrifices. Eventually, he even convinced Ar-Pharazôn to rebel against the Valar and take their home of Valinor for themselves.

Like many of Sauron’s plans, this one also backfired. When the Men stormed the West, Eru Ilúvatar himself intervened. He sank Númenor, and bent Arda from flat to round so that Men could no longer reach Valinor. During his time on Númenor, Sauron had disguised himself in a handsome mortal form, but its sinking destroyed his body and permanently robbed him of the ability to shape-shift. His spirit fled back to Mordor, where he built a new body and regained his strength. This time, he wasn’t concerned about minds—he started to rule and attack with blunt force and terror.

The Men of Númenor who remained faithful to the Valar were able to escape the island’s destruction. They came to Middle-earth and established the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. Sauron learned that these men were led by Elendil, whom he despised. He led a war against these Men, but they teamed with Elven king Gil-Galad and created the Last Alliance. During this war, Sauron himself fought and killed Elendil and Gil-Galad, killing them both. But Elendil’s son, Isildur, took up his father’s broken sword, and cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. Because the ring was Sauron’s ultimate source of power, he lost his body and power when it was taken from him. His armies fled and Sauron’s broken spirit escaped to Mordor, where he went into deep hiding.

Sauron in The Lord of the Rings

This is where the story starts sounding pretty familiar. Isildur took control of the One Ring, but couldn’t bring himself to destroy it. He was killed by Orcs, the ring was lost, and it lay dormant for many years. That is, until it was discovered by the Hobbit relatives Sméagol and Déagol. Sméagol took possession of the ring, hid away in the mountains, and became the creature Gollum. This marks the beginning of the Third Age, and leads us into the story of The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings. The title of the later refers to Sauron himself, who sought to once again regain ultimate power. (Spoiler alert: he didn’t.)

Sauron’s time on Númenor will be a part of The Rings of Power‘s story. So it’s important to have all of this context heading in. Sauron is the literal Lord of the Rings, the biggest bad in all of Middle-earth with so much power, and one of the greatest fictional villains of all time. I can’t wait to see him come to screen in a brand new way.

Originally published March 22, 2021.

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In “okay, but why?” news, Amazon announced it is working on technology to recreate the voices of your dead relatives. Using minimal audio, the artificial intelligence can provide a passable version of someone’s voice. So if you’ve spent even one minute talking to Alexa, your voice may one day be reading recipes or the weather forecast to those who outlive you.

The presentation came with a wholesome demonstration—a kid listening to The Wizard of Oz as read by his dead grandmother. Not covered was any mention of consent or privacy concerns. So there’s many more questions to come besides “why?” Like, “who asked for this?” And, “what are the odds people are going to use it inappropriately?” Also, “wasn’t this a Black Mirror episode?”

Vocal deepfake technology is already in use. Disney partners with Respeecher to augment Mark Hamill’s voice in The Book of Boba Fett, the same way his appearance is de-aged. Though it hasn’t been confirmed, it was likely also used for James Earl Jones’s vocal appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Another company, Sonatic, recreated Val Kilmer’s voice after his tracheotomy. 

Andy Warhol’s estate consented to an artificial intelligence-created version of his voice for a documentary. Maybe this technology will finally make it possible to get Majel Barrett back in as the voice of the computer on Star Trek. But there are also fan versions, like adding Tom Holland into What If…? that are a bit creepier, since the celebrity wasn’t involved in the process.

The announcement came in a brief mention during a keynote address at the Amazon re:MARS convention. In this case, MARS stands for machine learning, automation, robotics, space. Adam Savage is acting as MC during the four day event in Las Vegas. We saw the news thanks to The Verge. 

Amazon mentioned the “companionship relationship” people have with Alexa, citing that “empathy and affect are key for building trust.” Again, no mention of privacy or consent also being key for building trust.

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She assumes Alexa is always listening. Melissa also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth. 

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The Boys ended season two with its band of supe-hunters in a pretty good spot. The government cleared Butcher, Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie of all wrongdoing, and each was free to go and live their own lives. But no one can truly be free in a world where the most powerful individual is also completely losing it. Fortunately the new trailer for The Boys third season has a way to deal with an unhinged Homelander – unfreezing a Soldier Boy. And if that doesn’t work Billy has a powerful ace up his sleeve to level the playing field.

There’s never been a more apt trailer to quote The Simpsons‘ Barney Gumble: “Just hook it to my veins!” The fun starts with Homelander’s press tour to explain away his relationship with literal Nazi Stormfront. Eating so much crow publicly will definitely not help Homelander’s ever-slipping grasp on a semblance of sanity. However, as The Boys trailer makes clear, his employer Vought will not go down without a fight of its own. Nor will The Boys, who will seek help from some unlikely sources. Here’s the official synopsis for the season.

It’s been a year of calm. Homelander’s subdued. Butcher works for the government, supervised by Hughie of all people. But both men itch to turn this peace and quiet into blood and bone. So when The Boys learn of a mysterious Anti-Supe weapon, it sends them crashing into the Seven, starting a war, and chasing the legend of the first Superhero: Soldier Boy.

Jensen Ackles’s beard is the early front-runner for season three MVP, but his rage could easily take that top spot. The obvious Captain America equivalent does remind us of the Marvel superhero. Just not the Steve Rogers version. Soldier Boy is a lot like John Walker’s Captain America, but much worse. The original superhero, and former member of the Seven precursor superhero group known as Payback, doesn’t seem any easier to handle than Homelander. And all those years on ice probably didn’t help. We doubt he’ll be the ally The Boys hoped for.

But they do have a backup plan. We see Queen Maeve give Butcher a serum that temporarily makes him a supe. That goes against everything Butcher has ever stood for, sure. But it’s hard to turn down laser eyes when you’re only goal in life is killing Homelander.

Season three will mark the return of Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, Karen Fukuhara, Tomer Kapon, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T Usher, Nate Mitchell, Chace Crawford, Dominique McElligott, Claudia Doumit, and Giancarlo Esposito. This trailer also gives us our best look yet at another new supe joining the fun, Laurie Holden’s Crimson Countess. She seems like fun!

That is if you enjoy seeing bodies blown up in an instant. And if you love this show that’s exactly the type of thing you enjoy. It’s certainly one of the many reasons why we’ll be tuning in when The Boys season three debuts on Prime Video with three episodes on June 3.

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Another Hollywood mega merger has shaken up the world of pop culture, in a deal where the rich get richer. James Bond finds a new home and a historic Hollywood studio becomes the property of Jeff Bezos. Amazon has purchased MGM and its entire library. It’s a move that will add more than 4,000 films and 17,000 shows to the streaming service’s catalogue.

The deal between Amazon and MGM, which became official in May 2021, has now closed. The companies announced they “have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire MGM.” And now, according to Variety, Amazon has bought MGM for $8.5 billion. Sounds like a lot of money. But not for Amazon.

The company is getting a lot for its money. It is acquiring Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s collection of over 4,000 movies. In addition to the James Bond franchise, that includes famous films like 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, and The Thomas Crown Affair. As well as upcoming MGM films like House of Gucci, No Time to Die, and The Addams Family 2. Not to mention a whopping 17,000 TV shows, including The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, and Vikings. 

“The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” said Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, in a statement. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”

As of this most recent report, the European Union’s antitrust regulator has approved of the deal unconditionally. Though it must be noted, U.S. Federal Trade Commission could still challenge the deal. But the only thing more shocking than an iconic Hollywood studio being bought by one of the richest people alive would be the deal falling through at this point.

Chris Brearton, chief operating officer of MGM, noted to Variety: “We are excited for MGM and its bounty of iconic brands, legendary films and television series, and our incredible team and creative partners to join the Prime Video family. MGM has been responsible for the creation of some of the most well-known and critically acclaimed films and television series of the past century. We look forward to continuing that tradition as we head into this next chapter, coming together with the great team at Prime Video and Amazon Studios to provide audiences with the very best in entertainment for years to come.”

Hopefully, Silicon Valley takes good care of an important part of Tinseltown’s history.

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Although we all have an intuition of how large Earth is, sometimes a handful of factoids come along that knock our size conceptions of the planet sideways. For those of us unfamiliar with Earth’s river systems, this new video from YouTuber RealLifeLore may do exactly that. Because the world’s longest rivers are—long—and the biggest one, by square mileage, could even be its own continent.

RealLifeLore, a YouTuber who gives “answers to questions that you’ve never asked,” recently posted the above river comparison to his channel. The YouTuber has taken countless quantitative looks at esoteric topics before, much like this one. If you want to know just how huge the Pacific Ocean really is, for example, this channel is for you.

In this video the YouTuber tries to come up with a definitive answer for the question: Which of the world’s rivers is longest? A surprisingly difficult challenge as much of the geographical measurements of Earth are arbitrary. Especially in the context of comparison. The longest walkable distance on Earth, for example, is definitely up for debate.

RealLifeLore

As for the top two contenders, they’re not surprising options. RealLifeLore notes that experts ultimately say that either the Nile River in Africa or the Amazon River in South America is the world’s longest. Although the details that underpin a final decision between the two make things a bit sticky.

RealLifeLore notes that rivers’ branching structures means it’s hard to find beginnings and endpoints for the flowing bodies of water. It’s also difficult to determine where exactly they finally feed into the ocean. On top of that, as the size measurement one uses grows smaller and smaller, the length of a river grows longer and longer; a phenomenon resultant from the fact that more minute measurements capture more of a river’s bends. (On a small enough measurement scale, a river’s length approaches infinity.)

RealLifeLore

As for the winner? RealLifeLore places the length crown on the head of the Amazon River. The YouTuber says that geographers peg the river at 6,992 kilometers, or about 4,344 miles, in length. Which makes it approximately 342 kilometers, or 212 miles, longer than the Nile. The Amazon isn’t just incredibly long either; apparently its total size is large enough to fit France inside of it eleven times over. The river—which is more of a massive branching system—is also responsible for 20% of the fresh water feeding into the ocean. Which is another factoid that recalibrates how important the Amazon is for Earth’s environment.

The post Earth’s Longest Rivers Are Bigger than Entire Continents appeared first on Nerdist.

We’ve been bursting with anticipation (gross) for years now about Amazon’s lofty adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings universe. We’ve heard lots of things about the budget; about the time period of Middle-earth history in which it will take place; the cast and crew members; but one question has remained high on our list of unknowns: When will we actually get to watch the thing? Well Amazon has finally given us a date. Mark your calendars, folks! The new Lord of the Rings will premiere Friday, September 2, 2022, on Prime Video.

Yes, that’s over a year away. That’s the bad news. But filming of the first season concluded in New Zealand just today (as in Monday, August 2). Give them some time to edit and stuff. Sheesh! The good news is they’ve also included a first-look image.

Amazon

The series will bring Tolkien’s Second Age of Middle-earth to screens for the very first time. The previous films in Peter Jackson’s series were all set in the Third Age. “Beginning in a time of relative peace,” Amazon’s synopsis begins, “thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.”

There’s going to be a hot Sauron, just be prepared for that.

Headlining this ensemble cast are Cynthia Addai-Robinson; Robert Aramayo; Owain Arthur; Maxim Baldry; Nazanin Boniadi; Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud); Ismael Cruz Córdova; Charles Edwards; Trystan Gravelle; Sir Lenny Henry; Ema Horvath; Markella Kavenagh; Joseph Mawle (he played Benjen Stark on Game of Thrones); Tyroe Muhafidin; Sophia Nomvete; Lloyd Owen; Megan Richards; Dylan Smith; Charlie Vickers; Leon Wadham; Benjamin Walker; Daniel Weyman; and Sara Zwangobani.

Start the clocks, friends; in just over a year, we’re heading back to Middle-earth! The Lord of the Rings series premieres Friday, September 2, 2022, on Prime Video.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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If you had all the money in the world, what would you do? Would you feed the hungry? House the unhoused? Maybe buy a Porsche and drive around throwing stacks of hundred dollar bills around Jesse Pinkman-style? Or would you do what the actual man with all the money in the world is planning to do and leave it all behind—if only for several minutes? Because Amazon owner Jeff Bezos is doing just that. He’s going on his company’s first manned-flight to space. And here’s how to watch.

Blue Origin has announced owner Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark will join the company’s New Shepard rocket ship for its first human flight on July 20. (Which we first heard about at CNN.) This follows twelve unmanned test flights for the company, first founded in 2000. Joining the pair are Wally Funk, a trained astronaut from NASA’s Mercury program in the ’60s who wasn’t able to go to space. At 82, she’ll be the oldest person in space.

The final member of the crew is 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, who took the spot of the auction winner after a scheduling conflict. (A scheduling conflict after paying $28 million to go to space? Talk about timing.) The Dutch teen is now the first paying customer for Blue Origin’s space program. Proceeds will to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future. Whose goal is “to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space.”

Bezos shared the news with a video showing him surprising his brother with the invite. Calling Mark his “best friend,” Jeff Bezos says this is a dream he’s had since he was a little kid. And he there was no one else he wanted to do it with than his brother. Well, besides a rich stranger, apparently.

Set to launch on July 20, the flight will take place 15 days after Bezos formally steps down as Amazon’s CEO. It will also make him the first billionaire to ride his own spaceship. That is unless Richard Branson decides to try and beat him to the galactic punch with a last-second emergency trip of his own.

The Bezos brothers big ride won’t last long, though. The 59-foot rocket will depart from West Texas and take the six-seat capsule on an 11 minute journey. It will just reach just past Earth’s atmosphere into space. More than 60 miles above Earth. Though the trip will be short, it will give its riders a world-class view. The capsule features the largest windows ever included on a spacecraft.

Hopefully that view will provide him with a new perspective on the world. There’s a lot of good his fortune can do back here once he’s done flying to space.

Blue Origin

Originally published on June 7, 2021.

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With so many channels and streaming sites, today’s television landscape doesn’t look anything like it did in 1988. But soon a little bit of 1988 will be coming to the small screen, along with a whole lot of the past, present, and future. Amazon has announced a new series based on Brian K. Vaughan’s time-traveling graphic novel Paper Girls.

Deadline reports Amazon Pictures has won the rights to a new series based on Vaughan’s best-selling comic about four teenage paper delivery girls who get caught up in a time-traveling war spanning the distant past and future of the 20th and 21st centuries. The show, co-created by Vaughan (who recently signed a deal with Legendary) and Cliff Chiang, comes from Legendary Television and Plan B (12 Years a Slave, Moonlight). Toy Story 4 writer Stephany Folsom will serve as co-showrunner and executive producer on the series. Folsom will co-showrun with Christopher C. Rogers. Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Plan B, Christopher Cantwell, and the showrunners will serve as executive producers.

On April 26, 2021, the Paper Girls cast was announced. According to Deadline, Sofia Rosinsky, Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, and Fina Strazza will play the four leads: Mac Coyle, Tiffany Quilkin, Erin Tieng, and KJ Brandman, respectively. On May 6, another name was added to the cast. Stand-up comedian and actor Ali Wong will play (adult) Erin Tieng. Wong previously starred in Always Be My Maybe and Birds of Prey.

Image Comics

Paper Girls follows Erin, Mac, KJ, and Tiffany—four delivery girls who, after being robbed by another group of teenagers the morning after Halloween in 1988, find a time machine. They learn the teens who robbed them are time travelers, and from there the girls embark on a journey through the past and present, where a war between the teens they encountered and a group known as the “Old-Timers” is being waged. During their exploits in time, the girls even encounter older versions of themselves, forcing them to face the people they will become.

This isn’t the first TV adaptation of one of Vaughn’s comic books. He is an executive producer on FX’s adaptation of his series Y: The Last Man, and he serves as an executive consultant on Hulu’s Runaways, also based on his comic. He is also currently writing a Gundam movie for Legendary. Hmm… wonder where he finds the time to do all of this…

Amazon Pictures has not announced when production will begin, or a scheduled release date. So unless you have a time machine, it could be awhile before Paper Girls gets delivered to the screen. Ugh. Waiting is so last century.

Featured Image: Image Comics

Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.

Originally published on July 12, 2019.

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Amazon paid so much for the rights to The Lord of the Rings we’re not even sure Smaug had enough gold to best their offer. If you’re going to spend $250 million dollars on anything though, you better get your money’s worth. For Amazon that will mean more than just producing a very expensive TV show that could run their total commitment to the franchise at a cool billion dollars. The company is teaming up with Leyou to develop a new console and PC MMO based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy. But the best part might be that despite the price tag Amazon ponied up to enter Middle-Earth, it won’t cost you anything to play.

Amazon Games announced they are working with Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited and Middle-earth Enterprises to “develop and publish a free-to-play massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on the milestone fantasy literary work The Lord of the Rings“.  While it will take place in the Middle-earth of Tolkien’s trilogy, it is unrelated to the prequel show currently in production.

New Line Cinema

“We’re committed to bringing customers games of the highest quality, both with our own original IP as well as beloved cultural pillars like The Lord of the Rings,” said Amazon Game Studios VP Christoph Hartmann in a statement, “Tolkien’s Middle-earth is one of the richest fictional worlds in history, and it gives our team of experienced MMO developers – from the same studio developing New World – tremendous opportunity to play and create.”

In addition to the team behind Amazon’s New World, developers from Everquest, Destiny, Planetside, World of Warcraft, Defiance, Rift, and other MMOs will also work on the game, which was first announced last year by Athlon Games, a subsidiary of Leyou.

While there is currently no release date or title for this game, Amazon will market and publish the title globally except in China, which Leyou will handle. And, despite how much Amazon paid for The Lord of the Rings, you won’t have to handle your wallet. Talk about getting your money’s worth.

This article was originally posted on July 12, 2019. 

The post Amazon Cancels LORD OF THE RINGS MMO Game appeared first on Nerdist.

Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series is just around the corner and we cannot wait. Part of that anticipation comes from knowing so little about the show. We know they’re currently filming in New Zealand. (The same country where Peter Jackson filmed his Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.) We also know the series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth. J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythical world is about to open itself to a brand new generation of fans, and there are so many incredible possibilities.

There are also a few things to keep in mind heading in. For starters, Amazon only has the right to Second Age events and characters as they appear in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. From what I understand, that means we won’t be getting stuff from The Silmarillion. (Unless those events also appear in the appendices.) It’s all a bit tricky and I’m not positive I have it totally figured out. You can read more of a breakdown of how the rights will likely work in our explainer here.

With that in mind, I’ve assembled some of the major events from the Second Age that will almost definitely appear. This is mostly based on information listed in the official synopsis for the series. I’ve also sprinkled in some other events from the appendices that could make it into the show. Let’s dig in.

New Line Cinema

The official synopsis 

Before we get started, let’s take a look at the official synopsis for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series. This gives us a general idea of where to begin and contains some other story clues as well.

Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

It’s a bit long, but it’s full of important insight that will help us determine what we could see in the show. And help us set our expectations.

New Line Cinema

The construction of Barad-dûr

The synopsis makes it pretty clear that Sauron is going to be a big deal in the show. Not that there’s any way he couldn’t be. Sauron is the Big Bad of the Second Age. (And the Third Age, too.) His rise to power—after some gnarly events in the First Age—will definitely factor into the plot. The synopsis also states that the series begins in a time of “relative peace.” That means things kick into gear before Sauron’s threat is widely known. So what was he doing behind the scenes during that time? Building his evil fortress, of course.

We’d love to see the show depict the construction of Barad-dûr. Even casual fans will recognize the tower: it’s the same one that contains Sauron’s eye in The Lord of the Rings. The fearsome fortress was the nastiest in the land since the fall of Angband. It’d be a treat to see such an iconic structure come to life.

New Line Cinema

The forging of the Rings of Power

The Second Age is also when the Rings of Power came into existence. Sauron, looking to control the beings of Middle-earth, transformed himself into a handsome Elvish-looking guy named Annatar, or “The Lord of Gifts.” As Annatar, Sauron befriended the Elven-smiths of Eregion and taught their leader, Celebrimbor, how to forge powerful rings. While Celebrimbor went about creating these rings, Sauron went back to Mordor and secretly created his own “master” ring. This one, now known as the One Ring, would control all of the others.

Unfortunately for Sauron, the Elves caught onto his plan and hid their three most powerful rings. In his rage, Sauron killed Celebrimbor and attacked the Elves. He was able to snatch up the other sixteen rings, which he gifted to the mortal Dwarves and Men, thinking them easier to control. The rings had little effect on the Dwarves, but the Men were indeed easily corrupted. Which brings us to…

New Line Cinema

The origins of the Nazgûl

Sauron gave nine of the rings to some of the most revered Men in Middle-earth. Using the One Ring, he was able to corrupt them, promising wealth and power. When wearing the rings, the Men were rendered invisible to others. This enslaved them to the will of Sauron; their lives and power were bound with the One Ring. They became known as the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths. You may recognize them from Peter Jackson’s film trilogy as the hooded riders hunting Frodo. The leader of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, is the one Eowyn slays in The Return of the King.

If we see the Rings of Power in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series, we’ll almost definitely see the origins of the Ringwraiths. This would provide even more visual synergy between the films and the show.

New Line Cinema

Life in Khazad-dum

The synopsis references the “darkest depths of the Misty Mountains” as a location we’ll see in the series. This is almost definitely a reference to Khazad-dûm, otherwise known as Moria. This underground kingdom thrived in the Second Age, as a home of the Dwarves. The aforementioned region of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor, neighbored Moria, and the Elves and Dwarves of these realms had a harmonious friendship.

But when Sauron attacked the Elves and killed Celebrimbor, the Dwarves shut the gates of Khazad-dûm. They later (accidentally) unleashed a Balrog that wiped away most of their population and would later kill Gandalf. I’m pretty positive Khazad-dûm will factor into the show based on the synopsis, and I can’t wait to see it before its darker days.

New Line Cinema

Gil-galad and Lindon

The synopsis also directly mentions Lindon. The Elf king Gil-galad founded a kingdom in this Western land in the Second Age. You might recognize Lindon if you’ve seen Peter Jackson’s films. The Elves built the Grey Havens there; it’s the passageway to the Undying Lands, where Frodo departs Middle-earth in The Return of the King. In the Second Age, many famous Elves dwelled there, including Elrond and Galadriel. (Galadriel and Celeborn brought many Elves from Lindon to Eriador in the Second Age, as well.)

Sauron, disguised as Annatar, came to Lindon to meet with the Elves. Both Gil-galad and Elrond sensed that he was not what he seemed, so they denied him. Their suspicions were, of course, proven true. When Sauron led the attack on Eregion, Elrond led forces from Lindon to come to their aid. At this time, Gil-galad also called on another kingdom for help…

Amazon Studios

The rise and fall of Númenor

I won’t go too in-depth about Númenor in this piece, since we have a pretty detailed history of its rise and fall over here. Suffice it to say, Númenor will undoubtedly play a huge role in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show. It’s mentioned in the synopsis, and it’s really the main event of the Second Age. The Valar gifted the island, which they rose of the Great Sea, to the Men after a war with the Dark Lord Morgoth. The Men of Nûmenor—who are also known as the Dúnedain—thrived on the island for many years.

But then Sauron got involved. He convinced the Númenóreans that they’d have ultimate power and everlasting life if they worshipped Morgoth. Their king at that time, Ar-Pharazôn, fell under Sauron’s influence. He erected a statue to Morgoth on Númenor and later led a march against the Valar to seize the Undying Lands. This all went very badly for the Númenóreans. Supreme deity Eru Ilúvatar sank the kingdom beneath the sea, killing its people and costing Sauron his physical form.

The Men who stayed faithful to the Valar escaped Númenor and established the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. Aragorn, one of the central figures in The Lord of the Rings, descends from these Men. That means we’ll almost definitely see Aragorn’s family origins in the Amazon show.

New Line Cinema 

War of the Last Alliance

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show is set to run for five seasons. (That is, if the first two—which are for sure happening—are successful.) I have no idea how the writers plan to chop up the Second Age, or how much ground they’ll cover. Everything above is purely speculative. But I have to imagine, should the show make it to the fifth season, it will all end with the War of the Last Alliance. It’s the last big showdown before the Third Age.

We actually see snippets of this war in the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring. It takes place after Númenor sinks, and after Sauron retreated to Mordor to once again regain power. There, he discovered that Elendil—one of the faithful Men of Númenor and Sauron’s major enemy—escaped the island’s destruction. A big war broke out between Sauron and his Mordor goons and an alliance of Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Sauron killed Gil-galad and Elendil during the final battle. But Elendil’s son—Isildur—used the shards of his father’s sword to slice the One Ring from Sauron’s hand and defeat him.

Temporarily at least. All of this is the lead-up to the events of The Lord of the Rings. And therefore a great spot to end Amazon’s show. There are so many other Second Age events and locations that could appear in the series. But these are the things I definitely expect to see. Again, if the show manages to last long enough. Let’s hope it does! I’m one of the optimistic people who thinks it has the potential to be great. But of course, only time will tell.

The post Major Events We’d Like to See in Amazon’s LORD OF THE RINGS appeared first on Nerdist.

My wife is a huge fan of Michael B. Jordan. I think she just really enjoys his work on screen. And who can blame her? He’s a great actor and a good guy! Sometimes I think she might even have a little crush on him. Probably because we share the same first name and he’s kind of a nerd too. I think that’s sweet. Her fondness for watching any project he’s in—and then rewatching it an unusual number of times—is why I’m sure I already know what her favorite Super Bowl commercial will be this year. In a new ad Michael B. Jordan stars as one woman’s ideal vessel for Amazon’s Alexa.

Jordan  plays one Amazon employee’s fantasized answer to how the company could possibly improve upon the sleek new round body for its Alexa. She can only daydream of only one better option: Michael B. Jordan. Understandably.

With glowing blue eyes, “Michael B. Alexa” answers her questions, follows her demands, and reads to her. He also enjoys a long steamy bath and removes his shirt a lot. Not sure I understand why that is necessary. I own an Alexa and it doesn’t have to remove its protective casing when I ask it to turn off the light. Strange. That must be why I really empathize with the frustrated husband here. It’s like, what is going on?!

Amazon

This ad also doubles as a sneaky quick promo for Amazon Studio‘s upcoming movie Without Remorse, which also stars Jordan. No word yet on if he’ll also needlessly remove his shirt in that. But one thing I am sure of is that my wife will want to see it. Multiple times. She just loves his acting.

Although, this commercial does raise something about him I hadn’t really considered before. Michael B. Jordan is a great actor. But I wonder if my wife has ever noticed he’s also kind of attractive too.

Featured Image: Amazon

The post Michael B. Jordan Is a Handsome Amazon Alexa in New Ad appeared first on Nerdist.

Welcome back to our Everything Coming to Streaming column! Each month, we’ll feature five of the most exciting things coming to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, as well as listing every single movie and TV show headed to each platform. So without further ado, get ready to dive into everything you can enjoy on your favorite streamer this February!

The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: February 4

Netflix has done a brilliant job bringing international TV to our screens. Now they’re bringing massive blockbusters from overseas too. This epic fantasy period piece from China looks amazing and we can’t wait to watch it. So what’s it about? “When a demonic serpent reawakens, the Yin-Yang Masters must solve a murder mystery and protect their realms from a dark conspiracy at the royal court.” Sounds likely a perfectly good time.

To All the Boys: Always and Forever

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: February 12

We here at Nerdist are big fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. The third and final movie hits screens this month. Lara Jean enters her final year of high school and contemplates her life, loves, and future. Will she and Peter Kavinsky survive outside of the halls of high school? Will she follow her dreams and upend her loved ones’ expectations? We’ll be tuning into to see all that and more. Plus Lana Condor, of course.

Nomadland

Where to watch: Hulu
When to watch: February 19

Hulu has two big Oscar contenders hitting screens this month. The first is this stunning character piece from Chloé Zhao. Starring Frances McDormand (who also optioned the book the film is based on), this is the story of discarded Americans. Playing a woman who travels across the country for work, McDormand stars against real nomadic workers. Nomadland is already in every award conversation.

Las Cumbres (The Boarding School)

Where to watch: Amazon
When to watch: February 19

This Amazon Prime Original looks like a ton of fun. Las Cumbres is a reboot of a popular Spanish show—which launched the career of Ana De Armas—with a scary twist. While the original was about a group of kids uncovering strange mysteries, this one looks a lot creepier. La Cumbres is set in a lonely and isolated boarding school where nothing is what it seems.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Where to watch: Hulu
When to watch: February 26

Andra Day is already in awards contention for her leading role in this new look at the famed blues singer. Focusing on the artist as she was harassed and attacked by the federal government, this is a timely reexamination of American racism. Expect this to be a big conversation starter when it hits Hulu at the end of the month.

You can check out the full February listings below!

Warner Bros. 

NETFLIX

February 1

The Bank Job
Beverly Hills Ninja
Eat Pray Love
Inception
Love Daily: Season 1
My Best Friend’s Wedding
My Dead Ex: Season 1
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Patriot
Rocks
Shutter Island
The Unsetting: Season 1
Zac and Mia: Seasons 1–2
Zathura

February 2

Kid Cosmic
Mighty Express: Season 2
Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, Season 2

February 3

All My Friends Are Dead
Black Beach
Firefly Lane

February 5

Hache: Season 2
Invisible City
The Last Paradiso
Little Big Women
Malcolm & Marie
Space Sweepers
Strip Down, Rise Up
The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

February 6

The Sinner: Jamie

February 8

iCarly: Seasons 1–2
War Dogs
February 10:
Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
February 11:
Capitani
Layla Majnun
Middle of Nowhere
Red Dot
Squared Love

February 12

Buried by the Bernards
Nadiya Bakes
Hate by Dani Rovira
To All the Boys: Always and Forever
Xico’s Journey

February 13

Monsoon

February 15

The Crew

February 16

Animals on the Loose: A You vs. Wild Movie
Good Girls: Season 3

February 17

Behind Her Eyes
Hello, Me!
MeatEater: Season 9, Part 2

February 18

Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan

February 19

I Care a Lot
Tribes of Europa

February 20

Classmates Minus

February 21

The Conjuring
The Conjuring 2

February 23

Brian Regan: On the Rocks
Pelé

February 24

Canine Intervention
Ginny & Georgia
Two Sentence Horror Stories: Season 2

February 25

Geez & Ann
High-Rise Invasion
Caught by a Wave
No Escape
Our Idiot Brother

February 26

Crazy About Her

HULU

February 1

60 Days In: Complete Season 6 (A&E)
Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story (2019) (Lifetime)
Ancient Aliens: Complete Season 14 (History)
Bride & Prejudice: Forbidden Love: Complete Season 2 (Lifetime)
Forged in Fire: Beat the Judges: Complete Season 1 (History)
Kings of Pain: Complete Season 1 (History)
Married at First Sight: Complete Season 10 (Lifetime)
Mommy Is a Murderer (2020) (Lifetime)
Pawn Stars: Complete Seasons 11 & 12 (History)
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Complete Season 1 (History)
Tempted by Danger (2020) (Lifetime)
The UnXplained with William Shatner: Complete Season 2 (History)
9 to 5 (1980)
Affliction (1998)
American Psycho (2000)
American Psycho 2 (2002)
The Bellboy (1960)
Bug (1975)
Cinderfella (1960)
Crimes of the Heart (1987)
Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009)
District 9 (2009)
Downhill Racer (1969)
Employee of the Month (2006)
Everything Must Go (2011)
From Hell (2001)
G.I. Jane (1997)
Garfield (2004)
Gargoyles: Wings of Darkness (2004)
Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
Happy Tears (2010)
Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013)
Hello, My Name is Doris (2016)
Hitman’s Run (1999)
Jane Austen’s Mafia! (1998)
Jennifer 8 (1992)
John Grisham’s The Rainmaker (1997)
The Juror (1996)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Me, Myself and Irene (2000)
Ninja Assassin (2009)
The Omen (1976) (1976)
Damien – Omen II (1978)
Only God Forgives (2013)
The Patsy (1964)
Phase IV (1974)
Possessor (2020)
The Prince of Tides (1991)
Shirley Valentine (1989)
The Shootist (1976)
Sideways (2004)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
The Tenant (1976)
Teresa’s Tattoo (1994)
Turbulence (1997)
Van Wilder: Party Liaison (2002)
Waking Ned Devine (1998)
Witness (1985)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
You Laugh But It’s True (2011)
You’ve Got Mail (1998)

February 2

The School That Tried to End Racism: Complete Season 1 (Banijay)

February 4

12 Hour Shift (2020)

February 5

The New York Times Presents: “Framing Britney Spears”: New Episode (FX on Hulu)
Antebellum (2020)

February 7

Harrow: Season 3 Premiere (ABC Studios)

February 11

Then Came You (2019)

February 12

Into the Dark: Tentacles: New Episode Premiere (Hulu Original)
2067 (2020)
You’re Next (2013)

February 13

Hip Hop Uncovered: Documentary Series Premiere (FX)

February 15

Cutthroat Kitchen: Complete Season 15 (Food Network)
Dragnificent!: Complete Season 1 (Discovery)
House Hunters International: Complete Seasons 139 & 140 (HGTV)
House Hunters: Complete Seasons 160-162, 164 & 165 ( HGTV )
Property Brothers: Complete Season 14 ( HGTV )
Southern Gothic: Complete Season 1 (ID)
Witches Of Salem: Complete Season 1 (Scripps)
Lost Girls and Love Hotels (2020)
The Shape of Water (2017)

February 16

Bad Habits, Holy Orders: Complete Season 1 (Keshet)
Keeping Up With The Kardashians: Complete Season 19 (E!)
North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator: Complete Season 1 (National Geographic)
The Warrior Queen of Jhansi (2019)

February 17

Logan Lucky (2017)

February 18

Good Trouble: Season 3 Premiere (Freeform)
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

February 19

Nomadland (2021)

February 23

Spring Baking Championship: Complete Season 7 (Food Network)
Dredd (2012)

February 25

Snowfall: Season 4 Premiere (FX)

February 26

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2012) (Hulu Original)
Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

AMAZON PRIME

February 1

Antz (1998)
Australia (2008)
Be My Valentine (2013) (Hallmark Movies Now)
Burn Motherf**ker, Burn! (2017) (Showtime)
Coming To America (1988)
Courageous (2011)
Dazed And Confused (1993)
Down To Earth (2001)
Hitsville: The Making of Motown (2019) (Showtime)
How She Move (2008)
Imagine That (2009)
Just Wright (2010)
Kiki (2017) (IFC Films Unlimited)
Love by Accident (2020) (UP Faith & Family)
Love by the 10th Date (2017) (Lifetime Movie Club)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Notes On A Scandal (2006)
Shanghai Noon (2000)
SMOOCH (2011) (Hallmark Movies Now)
Spy Next Door (2010)
The Haunting In Connecticut (2009)
The Ides Of March (2011)
The Last Appeal (2016) (UP Faith & Family)
The Prestige (2006)
There’s Something About Mary (1998)
The Village (2004)
Whitney: Can I Be Me (2017) (Showtime)
19-2: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
African American Lives: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries)
Billions: Seasons 1-3
Black in Latin America: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries)
Butter and Brown: Season 1 (UP Faith & Family)
City on a Hill: Season 1 (Showtime)
Civil War Journal: Season 1 (History Vault)
Faster With Finnegan: Season 1 (MotorTrend)
Finding Your Roots: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries/PBS Living)
For the Love of Jason: Season 1 (Urban Movie Channel)
Genealogy Roadshow: Season 1 (PBS Living)
I Killed My BFF: Season 1 (A&E Crime Central)
I Married Joan: Season 1 (Best TV Ever)
Mercy Street: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
One On One: Season 1-5
Raiders of Ghost City: Season 1 (Best Westerns Ever)
Safe House: Season 1 (Sundance Now)
The Game: Seasons 1-3
The White Princess: Season 1 (STARZ)
What’s New Scooby-Doo?: Season 1 (Boomerang)
WuTang Clan: Of Mics and Men: Season 1 (Showtime)

February 5

*Bliss – Amazon Original Movie (2021)
Little Coincidences (Pequeñas Coincidencias): Season 3

February 12

*Map Of Tiny Perfect Things – Amazon Original Movie (2021)
*Clifford – Amazon Original Series: New Episodes

February 16

Catfish (2010)
The Warrior Queen Of Jhansi (2019)

February 18

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)

February 19

*The Boarding School: Las Cumbres – Amazon Exclusive: Season 1

February 26

The Informer (2020)
*Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers – IMDb TV Original: Limited Series

The post Everything Coming to Streaming in February appeared first on Nerdist.

Welcome back to our Everything Coming to Streaming column! Each month, we’ll feature five of the most exciting things coming to Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video, as well as listing every single movie and TV show headed to each platform. So without further ado, get ready to dive into everything you can enjoy on your favorite streamer this November!

Wayne

Prime Video

Where to watch: Prime Video
When to watch: November 6th

One of our absolute favorite shows of the past few years, this dark delight was missed by many when it debuted on Youtube. But it’s move to Amazon will hopefully fix that. Mark McKenna plays the titular ultra-violent kid with a heart of gold as he heads off on a road trip to reclaim his dad’s Trans Am. And he’s joined by a foul mouth Girls Scout cookie seller named Del (Ciara Bravo). Smart, sweet, dark, violent, funny, lovely, there aren’t enough words to celebrate this awesome series about two working class teens trying to make the best of their awful lives.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Netflix

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: November 13th

If you’re already ready to get into the Christmas spirit then Netflix has you sorted with this super cute holiday movie. Jeronicus Jangle (Forest Whitaker) was once the greatest toy maker in the world until his apprentice (Keegan Michael-Key) betrayed him. But when Jeronicus’ granddaughter (Madalen Mills) the pair create something new and truly magical which could save the family business… and the world! This modern musical looks like it could become a new Christmas classic and we cannot wait to watch it.

Small Axe

Prime Video

Where to watch: Prime Video
When to watch: November 20th

Steve McQueen’s anthology film series about Black British life has already been met with great critical acclaim and hits Amazon this month. The five period movies, Mangrove, Lover’s Rock, Education, Alex Wheatle, and Red, White, and Blue center different aspects of the Black British experience. The collection features incredible performances from John Boyega, Letitia Wright, Malachi Kirby, and Shaun Parkes, and takes on real moments in British history.

Animaniacs

Hulu

Where to watch: Hulu
When to watch: November 20th
The long-awaited Animaniacs reboot is finally coming to Hulu. If that first trailer is anything to go by it’s going to be as zany as ever. The Warner Bros. Yakko and Wakko and Dot are back to causing chaos in Hollywood and will be joined by Pinky and the Brain. If you’ve never watched the original it’s the perfect time to catch up and it’s all streaming on Hulu now!

Happiest Season

Hulu

Where to watch: Hulu
When to watch: November 22nd

Another Christmas classic in the making is Clea Duvall’s queer holiday rom-com. Originally set to hit theaters this was snapped up by Hulu for good reason. The film stars Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davies as a couple whose romantic proposal plans are scuppered when one of the women realizes her partner isn’t out to her conservative family. It also boasts an all star cast including Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Steenburgen, and Victor Garber!

Check out the full November listings below!

Netflix

November 1
60 Days In: Season 5
A Clockwork Orange
Boyz n the Hood
Casper
Christmas Break-In
Dawson’s Creek: Seasons 1-6
Easy A
Elf Pets: A Fox Cub’s Christmas Tale
Elf Pets: Santa’s Reindeer Rescue
Elliot the Littlest Reindeer
Forged in Fire: Season 6
Jumping the Broom
Knock Knock
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: Seasons 1-3
Little Monsters (1989)
Mile 22
Ocean’s Eleven
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Piercing
Platoon
School Daze
Snowden
The Garfield Show: Season 3
The Impossible
The Indian in the Cupboard
The Next Karate Kid
Wheels of Fortune
Yes Man

November 2
Prospect

November 3
Felix Lobrecht: Hype *Netflix Comedy Special
Mother *Netflix Film

November 4
A Christmas Catch
Christmas With A Prince
Love and Anarchy *Netflix Original

November 5
Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? *Netflix Original
Midnight at the Magnolia
Operation Christmas Drop *Netflix Film
Paranormal *Netflix Original

November 6
Citation *Netflix Film
Country Ever After *Netflix Original
La trinchera infinita / The Endless Trench *Netflix Film
The Late Bloomer

November 9
Undercover: Season 2 *Netflix Original
Released November 10
Dash & Lily *Netflix Original
Trash Truck *Netflix Family

November 11
Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun *Netflix Comedy Special
The Liberator *Netflix Original
Nasce uma Rainha / A Queen Is Born *Netflix Original
What We Wanted *Netflix Film

November 12
Fruitvale Station
Graceful Friends
Ludo *Netflix Film
Prom Night

November 13
American Horror Story: 1984
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey *Netflix Film
The Life Ahead *Netflix Film
The Minions of Midas *Netflix Original

November 15
A Very Country Christmas
America’s Next Top Model: Seasons 19 & 20
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
The Crown: Season 4 *Netflix Original
Hometown Holiday
Survivor: Seasons 20 & 28
V for Vendetta

November 16
Loving
Whose Streets?

November 17
The Boss Baby: Back in Business: Season 4 *Netflix Family
We Are the Champions *Netflix Original

November 18
El sabor de las margaritas / Bitter Daisies: Season 2 *Netflix Original
Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas *Netflix Original

November 19
The Princess Switch: Switched Again *Netflix Film

November 20
Alien Xmas *Netflix Family
Flavorful Origins: Gansu Cuisine *Netflix Documentary
If Anything Happens I Love You *Netflix Film
Voices of Fire *Netflix Original

November 22
Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square *Netflix Film
Machete Kills

November 23
Hard Kill
Shawn Mendes: In Wonder *Netflix Documentary

November 24
Dragons: Rescue Riders: Huttsgalor Holiday *Netflix Family
El Cuaderno de Tomy / Notes for My Son *Netflix Film
Hillbilly Elegy *Netflix Film
Wonderoos *Netflix Family

November 25
The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two *Netflix Film
Great Pretender: Season 2 *Netflix Anime

November 26
Larry the Cable Guy: Remain Seated
Mosul *Netflix Film

November 27
A Go! Go! Cory Carson Christmas *Netflix Family
The Call *Netflix Film
Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker *Netflix Film
Don’t Listen *Netflix Film
Sugar Rush Christmas: Season 2 *Netflix Original
Überweihnachten / Over Christmas *Netflix Original
Virgin River: Season 2 *Netflix Original
La Belva / The Beast *Netflix Film

November 28
The Uncanny Counter *Netflix Original

November 29
Wonderoos: Holiday Holiday!

November 30
The 2nd
A Love So Beautiful *Netflix Original
Finding Agnes *Netflix Film
RUST CREEK
Spookley and the Christmas Kittens *Netflix Family

Hulu

Nov. 1

Ayesha’s Home Kitchen: Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (Food Network)
Best Baker in America: Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (Food Network)
Christmas Cookie Challenge: Complete Season 1 (Food Network)
Flip or Flop Fort Worth: Complete Season 1 (HGTV)
Giada’s Holiday Handbook: Complete Seasons 1-4 (Food Network)
Holiday Baking Championship: Complete Seasons 1-5 (Food Network)
Holiday Gingerbread Showdown: Complete Season 1 (Food Network)
Kids Halloween Baking Championship Special (Food Network)
Macy’s Thanksgiving Cake Spectacular Special (Food Network)
Malaysia Kitchen: Special (Cooking Channel)
Rick & Morty: Complete Season 4 (Adult Swim)
Skins: Complete Series (All3Media)
Tia Mowry at Home: Complete Seasons 1-3 (Cooking Channel)
Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge: Complete Season 1 (Food Network)
12 Rounds (2009)
3 Ninjas (1992)
A Christmas Solo (2017)
A Nanny For Christmas (2010)
A View to a Kill (1985)
Alien Nation (1988)
Antwone Fisher (2002)
Article 99 (1992)
Beerfest (2006)
Big Daddy (1999)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Breathless (1983)
Bringing Down The House (2003)
Broadcast News (1987)
Children of The Corn (2009)
Christmas in Compton (2012)
Christmas in Vermont (2016)
Christmas on Holly Lane (2018)
The Christmas Tale (2005)
Crimson Tide (1995)
Dead Presidents (1995)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
The Dog Who Saved Christmas (2009)
The Expendables (2010)
The Expendables 2 (2012)
The Expendables 3 (2014)
Firewalker (1986)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Foxfire (1996)
From Russia with Love (1964)
Fun in Acapulco (1963)
The Horse Whisperer (1998)
Hud (1963)
I Heart Huckabees (2003)
I Spy (2002)
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Jumping the Broom (2011)
The Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Kiss the Girls (1997)
Knocked Up (2007)
The Last Waltz (1978)
License to Kill (1989)
Little Giants (1994)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Lord of War (2005)
Lost in Space (1998)
Love Hurts (1990)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Maverick (1994)
Moonraker (1979)
Mr. Majestyk (1974)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
The Net (1995)
Next Day Air (2009)
Octopussy (1983)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Once Upon a Time at Christmas (2017)
Pacific Heights (1990)
Paws P.I. (2018)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2009)
Platoon (1986)
The Prestige (2006)
Ronin (1998)
School Dance (2014)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Spy Next Door (2010)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 (2009)
Thunderball (1965)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Universal Soldier (1992)
W. (2008)
Wanted (2008)
The Waterboy (1998)
Wetlands (2019)
Wild Hogs (2007)
Wild Things (1998)
Working Girl (198)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
You Only Live Twice (1967)

Nov. 3
The Good Doctor: Season 4 Premiere (ABC)
The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Complete Season 12 (Bravo)
General Commander (2019)
The Assault (2019)

Nov. 4
Blue Story (2020)

Nov. 5
Braking for Whales

Nov. 6
Killing Eve: Complete Season 3
The Real Housewives of New Jersey: Complete Season 10 (Bravo)

Nov. 9
The Mighty Ones — Hulu Family
Power: Season 6A (Starz)
The Nice Guys (2016)

Nov. 10
A Teacher — FX on Hulu
Vik the Viking (2020)

Nov. 11
Eater’s Guide to the World — Hulu Original
The Girl Next Door (2005)
Tonight You’re Mine (2012)

Nov. 12
Chicago Fire: Season 9 Premiere (NBC)
Chicago Med: Season 6 Premiere (NBC)
Chicago P.D.: Season 8 Premiere (NBC)
Man who Invented Christmas (2017)

Nov. 13
I Am Greta — Hulu Original Film
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 17 Premiere (ABC)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 22 Premiere (NBC)
Station 19: Season 4 Premiere (ABC)
Sputnik (2020)

Nov. 14
The Dictator (2012)

Nov. 15
12 Pups of Christmas (2019)
A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019)
A Nice Girl Like You (2020)
Cartel Land (2015)
Christmas Crush (2019)

Nov. 16
Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss (2018)

Nov. 17
Soul Surfer (2011)

Nov. 18
No Man’s Land — Hulu Original
Big Sky: Series Premiere (ABC)
Body Cam (2020)
McQueen (2018)

Nov. 19
For Life: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)
Amulet (2020)

Nov. 20
Animaniacs — Hulu Family
Run — Hulu Original
A Million Little Things: Season 3 Premiere (ABC)
Tesla

Nov. 21
Black Narcissus: Series Premiere (FX)
My Hero Academia: Season 4, Episodes 77-88 (Funimation)

Nov. 25
Happiest Season — Hulu Original Film

Nov. 26
Bombshell

Nov. 27
Centigrade (2020)

Nov. 29
The Big Ugly (2020)

Amazon

Nov. 1
28 Days Later (2003)
A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019)
A Christmas Switch (2018)
A Majestic Christmas (2018) (Hallmark Movies Now)
Arizona Whirlwind (1944)
Article 99 (1992)
As Good As It Gets (1997)
Boyz N’ The Hood (1991)
Breathless (1983)
Country Strong (2011)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Deja Vu (2006)
Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009)
Firewalker (1986)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)
Marrying Father Christmas (2018) (Hallmark Movies Now)
Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
More Than A Game (2009)
Mr. Majestyk (1974)
Next Day Air (2009)
Platoon (1986)
Rock N’ Roll Christmas (2019)
Romancing The Stone (1984)
Ronin (1998)
Silverado (1985)
Step Up (2006)
Thank You For Smoking (2006)
The Expendables (2010)
The Expendables 2 (2012)
The Expendables 3 (2014)
The Insider (1999)
The Iron Lady (2011)
The Jewel Of The Nile (1985)
The Last Waltz (1978)
The Sapphires (2013)
The Taking Of Pelham 1, 2, 3 (2009)
The X Files: I Want To Believe (2008)
Twilight (2001)
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009)
Underworld (2003)
W. (2008)
Wall Street (1987)
Water For Elephants (2011)
You Got Served (2004)
Zookeeper (2011)
America’s Founding Fathers: Season 1 (The Great Courses)
America’s Untold Story: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries)
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo: Season 1 (Boomerang)
Before We Die: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street: Season 1 (PBS Living)
Crime 360: Season 1 (A&E Crime Central)
Delicious: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans: Season 1 (Best Westerns Ever)
Jamestown: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
Lost Worlds: Season 1 (History Vault)
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: Season 1979 (PBS Kids)
Naked Hustle: Season 1 (Urban Movie Channel)
Stockholm: Season 1 (Topic)
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show: Season 1 (Best TV Ever)
The MotorTrend 500: NASCAR Heads West: Limited Series (MotorTrend)
The Restaurant: Season 1 (Sundance Now)

Nov. 3
General Commander (2019)
The Assault (2019)

Nov. 4
Blue Story (2020)

Nov. 6
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
El Presidente (English Dub) – Amazon Original Series: Season 1
Ferro – Amazon Original Series: Season 1
Wayne – Amazon Presents: Season 1

Nov. 7
Retaliation (2017)

Nov. 8
Community: Seasons 1-6

Nov. 11
Tonight You’re Mine (2012)

Nov. 13
The Ride (2018)
Alex Rider – IMDb TV Original: Season 1
James May: Oh Cook – Amazon Original Series: Season 1
American Horror Story: 1984: Season 9

Nov. 14
The Dictator (2012)
Scrubs: Seasons 1-9

Nov. 15
12 Pups Of Christmas (2019)
Christmas Crush (2019)

Nov. 18
Body Cam (2020)

Nov. 20
Seven Stages To Achieve Eternal Bliss (2020)
Small Axe – Amazon Original Series: Limited Series
The Pack – Amazon Original Series: Season 1

Nov. 21
Most Wanted (2020)

Nov. 25
Uncle Frank – Amazon Original Movie (2020)

Nov. 26
Bombshell (2019)

Nov. 27
Life in a Year (2020)

Header Image: Hulu

The post Everything Coming to Streaming in November appeared first on Nerdist.

Amazon has just come out with a new payment system that allows people to purchase goods with their palms. And while the system, dubbed Amazon One, will undoubtedly make paying easier for some people, the concept—let’s be honest—still sounds a little bit sus. To weigh the net effect the tech may have on society, here is a list of the pros and cons of Amazon One.

Pro: It’s Very Convenient

Amazon says the aim of Amazon One is to provide “a fast, convenient, contactless way” for people to use their palm to pay for things. The company says it can be used for “everyday activities,” including paying at stores, entering stadiums, badging into work, and presenting an Amazon loyalty card.

Con: It Makes You a Scannable Loyalty Member

Referring to yourself as a “loyal member” of Amazon and using your palm to pay sounds a little, shall we say, clingy? Not to mention there’s the question of which part of one’s person the company will want to scan next. (It could all begin to feel very 1984 Macintosh commercial, if you know what’ we’re saying.)

Amazon 

Pro: It’s Contactless

People have been especially concerned with hygiene during this dumpster fire of a year, so the fact One is contactless is a big tick in the pro column. Not to mention there has to be some—not insignificant—amount of time people save when paying at stores.

Con: It Makes You “One” with Amazon

It’s not exactly clear what the impetus was for the Amazon One moniker, but it could be misconstrued as very symbiotic. In a way that doesn’t sound so fun. It’s easy to imagine, for example, people telling their friends they’ve “just become one with Amazon.”

Amazon

Pro: It’s a Secure Form of Payment

Amazon has chosen palm recognition because it’s impossible to identify a person by looking solely at their palm. This form of payment also requires an intentional gesture, minimizing unintended purchases.

Con: An IRL Bender Could Chop Off Your Hand

This con may sound a bit ridiculous, but hang with us here. In theory, somebody could sever and steal a One member’s hand. And while the odds of that happening in reality are approximately zero, there is an IRL Bender somewhere out there. And we all know what Bender’s willing to do if he’s motivated enough.

Morbotron

IRL Bender aside, and in all seriousness, there could be significant privacy issues with this kind of technology. Amazon is in the midst of developing other types of recognition technology as well, and this is just more personal data the company will now have on people. Ultimately, it’ll be up to consumers to decide to whom they’ll pledge their loyalty, and their palms.

Feature image: Amazon

The post Should Amazon’s New Palm Payment System Make Us Nervous? appeared first on Nerdist.

“We are in a war for the culture. The other races are grinding us down and taking what is rightfully ours. But we can fight back with an army of supermen millions strong. Because that is Vought’s true destiny.”
—Stormfront

That’s right; Stormfront is a Nazi. A 101-year-old literal Nazi. Her confession to Homelander about her past (and his passionate embrace of it!) at the end of “The Bloody Doors Off” hits like a lightning bolt. The Boys season two wasn’t satisfied with giving us a super-powered, racist Proud Girl to hate; they needed to take it even further. But this isn’t a case of piling extra evil toppings onto an already evil sandwich. By choosing to make Stormfront’s racism and fascism the foundation of the entire corporation, and thus, the backing force behind the creation of superheroes to begin with, showrunner Eric Kripke and the writers of The Boys are forcing us to examine the connections between capitalism, white supremacy, and America’s obsession with super-powered “heroes.”

See, Stormfront’s husband was Frederick Vought, creator of Compound V and the founder of Vought International, and he was a scientist in Hitler’s cabinet tasked with creating a line of super soldiers. This differs from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic in two major ways. In the comics, Stormfront is a man and was made into a “supe” by the Nazis as a child, and Compound V was created by a Jewish scientist Jonah Vogelbaum who was forced by the Third Reich to make it but managed to escape to the United States.

Amazon Prime Video

While waxing poetic about what a wonderful dancer Heinrich Himmler was, she explains that she was her husband’s first successful adult test subject for Compound V. Furthermore, once it was clear that Germany was not going to win the war, it was Vought’s mission to continue creating a “perfect” Aryan master race. She willingly confesses this to Homelander because she believes that in him (and his naturally born super-powered son), they have finally created their ideal man and the leader of their super powered army—essentially, their “Übermensch.”

But what is an “Übermensch?” It’s often translated as, literally, Superman (but more accurately would be “beyond-person” or someone who has gone above or beyond the norms of humanity). For Hitler and the Nazis (a.k.a. Vought International), the Übermensch personified their ideal: a biologically superior Aryan race (one that was tall, athletic, blonde haired, and blue eyed, i.e.: Homelander). It was the foundation of their entire eugenics program. Moreover, in the repugnant, illogical binary created by the Nazis, if there’s an Übermensch (superior race), then there must also be an “Untermensch” (inferior race) that must be eliminated in order for the superior race to thrive and profligate.

“I love him who labors and invents, that he may build the house for the Übermensch, and prepare for him earth, animal, and plant: for thus seeks he his own down-going.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche

The Nazis also stole the word Übermensch. They perverted the term coined by Friedrich Nietzsche who originally used it in Thus Spoke Zarathustra to describe his vision of a humankind capable of moving past focusing on such paltry, nihilistic things as Christianity, Fascism, Feminism, Anarchism and other ideological movements he thought were rooted in platonic ideals and asceticism (basically anything he thought kept a person focusing on tomorrow instead of today.)

Nietzsche actually hated anti-Semitism and German nationalism so much he decided to reject his German identity and identify as Polish near the end of his life (unfortunately he stayed a raging misogynist until his death). It was actually his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, who was in charge of his estate and was BFFs with Hitler, who pushed for his terms to become the go-to catch-phrases for the Nazi party.

Amazon Prime Video

But back to Homelander. Not only is he the physical epitome of Vought’s Übermensch goals, he has also spent a lifetime being indoctrinated with their political ideals. He is misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic, racist, pro-military, pro-American imperialism, and naturally, anti-abortion. Oh and he’s also a stone-cold sociopath and mass murderer. (Lest we forget, he has already murdered a plane full of people and blamed it on Supe-terrorists, along with being the one to give Compound V to terrorist cells in order to intentionally start international conflicts.)And he’s spawned a super-child! Of course Stormfront thinks they have finally achieved the Nazi equivalent of a Kwisatz-Haderach!

He is also a not so subtle allegory for Superman. Which ties back to Nietzsche’s Übermensch! See, Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel first envisioned a villain with that name who was supposedly modeled on Nietzsche’s ideas in 1933’s “The Reign of the Super-man” and it wasn’t until artist Joe Shuster came along that the name was applied to the laser-eyed, flying, strong-man hero we know today. Later comics would bring in villains modeled off of the original evil Übermensch mold (like “Ultra-Humanite” and even Lex Luthor) including an alternate universe Superman named “Overman.”

Action Comics

However, Siegel and Shuster were both Jewish and interested in creating an alien superhero that was able to unify and save a fractious planet, not dominate it. Some (like Will Eisner) have argued that Superman was created as a “golem” character to fight back against the Nazis who were beginning to take power in 1930s (when he was first created). He certainly kicked Nazi ass many times over the years and issues, but unlike a Golem he never loses control, or goes on murderous rampages, and never needs to be destroyed. In fact, according to Brad Ricca’s Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—the Creators of Superman, Siegel and Shuster weren’t interested at all in Judaism or the “old world culture” of their parents. Instead, Siegel and Shuster drew upon their love pulp science fiction stories like “John Carter of Mars” or Philip Wylie’s “The Gladiator” to create the legendary “Man of Steel.”

But this is 2020, and in the world of The Boys, Homelander isn’t the lost child of alien civilization but a product of our own white supremacist, capitalist design. There is no fantasy, Middle America, cornfed upbringing; he was raised in a lab by scientists. He wasn’t born with superpowers and thus naturally superior, but was injected with a drug as a baby in order to perpetuate a dead Nazi’s sociopolitical agenda. This isn’t meant to invoke sympathy for Homelander, but rather get across a subtle lesson from the show that even this seemingly all powerful super-human is actually still just a pawn—a tool of an authoritarian capitalist system that was put in place and been manipulated long before he was born.

Amazon Prime Video

American capitalism has been inextricably linked to white supremacy since the country’s inception. Our economy was originally, and some would argue still is, a slave economy. In fact, when the United States constitution defined Black people as only being worth ⅗ of a human they were creating an economic and social system of Über and Üntermensches. The Nazis actually praised the American system and copied a lot of its most atrocious ideas. So when the U.S. government welcomed Nazi scientists into our space program, it was an unsurprising extension of that connection.

Which is what makes Stormfront’s reveal one of the darkest but most accurate skewers of our culture on the show to date. She isn’t just a representation of the falsity of the “white female liberal ally” or a demonstration of how social media is able to so swiftly indoctrinate its young users (4chan and YouTube, I’m looking at you) into fascism and white supremacy. What Stormfront admitting to being a Nazi signifies is, to use the old adage, that those aren’t bugs in the system, they are features. The evil never went away, it simply got a makeover and a sassy undercut. And, much like how Homelander and Stormfront are now bedfellows, American capitalism and white supremacy are designed to help each other.

Featured Image: Amazon Prime Video

The post Diving Deep into THE BOYS’ Stormfront Reveal appeared first on Nerdist.

Spooky season is upon us! Thank the 2020 demons or whoever is in charge of this terrible year. Though things might not be getting better outside at least we can take solace in scary movies and heavy woolen sweaters. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu all have a bunch of brilliant Halloween movies, TV series, and specials coming your way in October so of course, we’ve curated five of our faves and collected the full listings for your perusing pleasure at the bottom of this piece!

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror

Shudder

Where to watch: Prime Video
When to watch: October 1st

If you haven’t watched this brilliant Shudder original then make sure to check it out on Prime Video this October. Directed by Xavier Burgin, and based on the book by Robin R. Means Coleman this documentary chronicles Blackness in horror and the impact of Black horror featuring Black horror icons like Tony Todd, Jordan Peele, and Rachel True.

Clive Barker’s Books of Blood

Hulu

Where to watch: Hulu
When to watch: October 7th

One of horror’s most magical and maniacal minds, Clive Barker is getting the movie treatment again with a new anthology film based on his classic short story collections. We don’t know which tales will be adapted but from the trailer it looks like it’s going to be a spooky good time, and if you want to get to know the Books of Blood check out our introduction piece!

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Netflix

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: October 9th

Our true feelings about this show are under embargo but we can say that the trailer looks amazing and we adore it and we cannot wait til Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House follow up to hit screens. Following a young American who heads off to the titular house as a live-in nanny this is a take on the ghost stories of Henry James and it looks perfectly splendid.

Welcome to the Blumhouse

Prime Video

Where to watch: Prime Video
When to watch: Throughout October beginning Oct 6th

Hulu and Blumhouse have been delivering multiple genre movies on a near-monthly basis and now the studio is offering up a series of family-themed horror for Prime Video. Beginning with Black Box and The Lie on October the 6th and followed up by Evil Eye and Nocturne on the 13th the feature films all center on themes of home, love, and the redemptive or destructive nature of those that we love and the places that we call our own.

His House

Netflix

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: October 30th

This critically acclaimed horror focuses on a young couple who emigrates to the UK only to find themselves trapped first in the horrific British immigration system and then a mysterious cul-de-sac which holds a dark secret. This is a huge get for Netflix and should be at the top of your must watch list.

You check out the full listings for October below!

NETFLIX

Oct. 1

A.M.I.
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Along Came a Spider
Bakugan: Armored Alliance: Season 2
Basic Instinct
Black ’47
Bom Dia, Verônica / Good Morning, Verônica
Cape Fear
Carmen Sandiego: Season 3
Code Lyoko: Seasons 1-4
The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)
Employee of the Month
Enemy at the Gates
Evil: Season 1
Familiar Wife: Season 1
Fargo
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma: The Second Plate
Free State of Jones
Ghost Rider
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Gran Torino
Her
House of 1,000 Corpses
Human Nature
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
I’m Leaving Now
The Longest Yard (1974)
Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood
The Parkers: Seasons 1-5
Pasal Kau / All Because of You
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire
The Prince & Me
Poseidon (2006)
The Outpost
Stranger than Fiction
Superman Returns
Sword Art Online: Alicization
Troy
The Unicorn: Season 1
WarGames
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Worst Witch: Season 4
Yogi Bear
You Cannot Hide: Season 1

Oct. 2

A Go! Go! Cory Carson Halloween
Ahí te encargo / You’ve Got This
The Binding
Dick Johnson Is Dead
Emily in Paris
Òlòtūré
Serious Men
Song Exploder
Vampires vs. the Bronx

Oct. 4

Colombiana
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
Oct. 6
Dolly Parton: Here I Am
Saturday Church
StarBeam: Halloween Hero
Walk Away from Love

Oct. 7

Hubie Halloween
Schitt’s Creek: Season 6
To the Lake

Oct. 9

Deaf U
Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 2: Rio
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Ginny Weds Sunny
The Haunting of Bly Manor
Super Monsters: Dia de los Monsters

Oct. 12

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Season 3

Oct. 13

The Cabin with Bert Kreischer
Octonauts & the Great Barrier Reef

Oct. 14

Alice Junior
BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky
Moneyball

Oct. 15

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting
Batman: The Killing Joke
Half & Half: Seasons 1-4
Love Like the Falling Rain
One on One: Seasons 1-5
Power Rangers Beast Morphers: Season 2, Part 1
Rooting for Roona
Social Distance

Oct. 16

Alguien tiene que morir / Someone Has to Die
Dream Home Makeover
Grand Army
In a Valley of Violence
La Révolution
The Last Kids on Earth: Book 3
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Unfriended

Oct. 18

ParaNorman

Oct. 19

Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 2

Oct. 20

Carol
The Magic School Bus Rides Again The Frizz Connection

Oct. 21

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Season 3
Rebecca

Oct. 22

Bending the Arc
Cadaver
The Hummingbird Project
Yes, God, Yes

Oct. 23

Barbarians
Move
Over the Moon
Perdida
The Queen’s Gambit

Oct. 27

Blood of Zeus
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt: Season 4
Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine
Vilas: Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada / Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score

Oct. 28

Holidate
Metallica Through The Never
Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight
Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb

Oct. 30

Bronx
The Day of the Lord
His House
Somebody Feed Phil: Season 4
Suburra: Season 3

Oct. 31

The 12th Man

HULU

Oct. 1

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days—Complete Season 4
90 Day Fiancé: Complete Season 7
All-Star Halloween Spectacular: Special
Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern: Complete Seasons 9 & 10
Bride Killa: Complete Season 1
Cutthroat Kitchen: Complete Season 13
Dr. Pimple Popper: Complete Season 4
Going for Sold: Complete Season 1
Guy’s Grocery Games: Complete Seasons 18-20
Halloween Baking Championship: Complete Seasons 1-4
Halloween Wars: Complete Seasons 3-8
Hell’s Kitchen: Complete Season 18
Homicide City: Charlotte: Complete Season 1
Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda—Complete Season 9
Man with a Van: Complete Season 1
Moonshiners: Master Distiller—Complete Season 1
Murder Comes Home: Complete Season 1
My 600-lb Life: Complete Season 8
My Feet Are Killing Me: Complete Season 1
Property Virgins: Complete Season 18
Supermarket Stakeout: Complete Season 1
Sweet 15: Quinceañera—Complete Season
The Flay List: Complete Season 1
Twisted Love: Complete Season 1
31 (2016)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Across the Line (2015)
After Life (2010)
Anti-Trust (2001)
Blade (1998)
Blood Ties (2014)

Blade 2 (2002)
Blue City (1986)
The Curse of Downers Grove (2015)

Blade: Trinity (2004)
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (2011)
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
The Executioners (2018)
The Express (2008)
The Eye (2008)
Fallen (1998)
Girls Against Boys (2013)
Good Hair (2009)
Guess Who (2005)
Hostel (2006)
Hostel: Part II (2007)
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
Interview With the Vampire (1994)
Joe (2014)
Judy & Punch (2019)
Kicking & Screaming (2005)
Killers (2010)
Lady in a Cage (1964)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Martyrs (2016)
Mud (2013)
Nurse 3D (2014)
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
The Quiet Ones (2014)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Sandman (2018)
Senorita Justice (2004)
Sk8 Dawg (2018)
The Skull (1965)
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Spaceballs (1987)
Species (1995)
Superbad (2007)
Thanks for Sharing (2013)
Tooth Fairy (2008)
Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
Vampire (2011)
Wayne’s World 2 (1993)
When a Stranger Calls (2006)
William Shakespeare’s Romeo+Juliet (1996)
Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard (2015)

Oct. 2

Monsterland — Hulu Original
Connecting: Series premiere

Oct. 3

Ma Ma (2015)

Oct. 4

Saturday Night Live: Season 46 premiere

Oct. 5

Dragon Ball Super: Episodes 1-131

Oct. 7

Clive Barker’s Books of Blood (2020) — Hulu Original Film
Ellen’s Game of Games: Season 4 premiere
Next: Series premiere

Oct. 8

Scream 4 (2011)

Oct. 9

Terminator: Dark Fate (2020)

Oct. 11

Infamous (2020)
Savage Youth (2018)
Scotch: A Golden Dream (2018)

Oct. 12

The Swing of Things (2020)

Oct. 14

The Bachelorette: Season 16 premiere

Oct. 15

The Purge: Complete Season 2
Treadstone: Complete Season 1
Bad Roomies (2015)
High Strung (2016)
It Came from the Desert (2017)
Life After Basketball (2019)
Playing With Fire (2019)
The Escort (2016)

Oct. 16

Helstrom: Complete Season 1 — Hulu Original
The Painted Bird (2019)

Oct. 17

Shark Tank: Season 12 premiere
Momma Named Me Sheriff: Complete Season 1
Mr. Pickles: Series finale

Oct. 18

Friend Request (2016)

Oct. 19

America’s Funniest Home Videos: Season 31 premiere
Card Sharks: Series premiere
Supermarket Sweep: Series premiere
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire: Season 2 premiere

Oct. 20

The Voice: Season 19 premiere
F*ck That’s Delicious: Complete Season 4

Oct. 21

Black-ish: Season 7 premiere
The Conners: Season 3 premiere
The Goldbergs: Season 8 premiere

Oct. 23

Bad Hair (2020) — Hulu Original
Superstore: Season 6 premiere

Oct. 26

Homeland: Complete Season 8
What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012)

Oct. 29

American Housewife: Season 5 premiere
Bad Therapy (2020)

AMAZON

Oct. 1

30 Days Of Night (2007)
A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Battlefield Earth (2000)
Blood Ties (2014)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Eight Millimeter (1999)
Funny Girl (1968)
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Guess Who (2005)
Joe (2014)
John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)
Killers (2010)
Kindred Spirits (2020)
La Sucursal (2019)
Madea’s Big Happy Family (2011)
Mud (2013)
National Security (2003)
Next Level (2019)
Noose For A Gunman (1960)
Nurse (2014)
Quantum Of Solace (2008)
Raging Bull (1980)
Señorita Justice (2004)
Southside With You (2016)
Spaceballs (1987)
Species (1995)
Thanks For Sharing (2013)
The Big Hit (1998)
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
The Departed (2006)
The Gambler Wore A Gun (1961)
The Grudge 3 (2009)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
The Pianist (2003)
The Wedding Planner (2001)
Triumph Of The Spirit (1989)
1992: Berlusconi Rising: Season 1 (Topic)
40 & Single: Season 1 (Urban Movie Channel)
America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries)
Cisco Kid: Season (Best Westerns Ever)
Cities of the Underworld: Season 1 (HISTORY Vault)
Cold Case Files Classic: Season 1 (A&E Crime Central)
Get Shorty: Seasons 1-3
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (Shudder)
Liar: Season 1 (Sundance Now) Mrs. Wilson: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
Mystery Road: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
PNS Kids: Spooky Stories!: Season 1 (PBS Kids)
Tales of Tomorrow: Season 1 (Best TV Ever)
The Great British Baking Show: Season 1 (PBS Living)
The Loudest Voice: Season 1 (Showtime)
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)

Oct. 2

*Bug Diaries Halloween Special – Amazon Original Special
l *Savage X Fenty Show. Vol. 2 – Amazon Original Special

Oct. 6

*Black Box – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
*The Lie – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
The Transporter Refueled (2015)
Mr. Robot: Season 4

Oct. 8

Archive (2020)

Oct. 9

Movies Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
*Chasing the Crown: Dreamers to Streamers – Amazon Original Series

Oct. 10

Jack And Jill (2011)

Oct. 13

*Evil Eye – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
*Nocturne – Amazon Original Movie (2020)

Oct. 14

A Most Beautiful Thing (2020)

Oct. 15

Halal Love Story (2020)
Playing With Fire (2019)

Oct. 16

*Time – Amazon Original Movie (2020)
*What the Constitution Means to Me – Amazon Original Special

Oct. 21

Cyrano, My Love (2019)

Oct. 23

*Mirzapur – Amazon Original Series: Season 2

Oct. 26

What To Expect When You’re Expecting (2012)

Oct. 27

Battle Los Angeles (2011)

Oct. 29

Soorarai Pottru (2020)

Oct. 30

*Truth Seekers – Amazon Original Series: Season 1

Oct. 31

I’ll See You In My Dreams (2015)

Header Image: Netflix

The post Everything Coming to Streaming in October appeared first on Nerdist.

“One camera, every viewpoint” is the slogan for Ring’s new home security camera, Always Home Cam. The camera is able to claim this Eye of Sauron-esque feat because it’s on a tiny drone that can fly around people’s homes. The tiny drone also hums as it patrols, as a way to alert people that its all-seeing camera eye is coming for toward them.

The Verge reported on Ring’s new flying camera, which was recently unveiled by the home security company. In the dramatization above, we see the Cam in action as it spots, and scares off, a home intruder. (A home intruder who looks like he’s trying out for an improv team.)

Jamie Siminoff, Ring’s founder and “chief inventor,” says in a Ring blog post that the Cam is a response to a common issue raised by customers. Namely that they have “a few Indoor Cams from Ring,” but not enough to monitor their entire homes.

Ring

The Cam works by having owners program flight paths, which it subsequently obeys while it flies around taking video. While the flying camera can’t be controlled manually, Ring says this limitation is actually a security advantage; the inability to fly the drone manually ensures the Cam “will only record and see what is important to you,” Siminoff says. The Cam also has obstacle avoidance software to help it avoid novel objects in its path.

Ring highlights the privacy considerations the company has taken in building the Cam. The company specifically notes the device rests in a charging base that physically blocks its camera and microphone. The camera also only starts recording after it’s left its base and is flying along one of the preset paths.

For prospective buyers, the drone cameras will ship next year, and cost $250. The Cam will also, of course, integrate with an already existing Ring Alarm system. And while there’s no mention of any facial recognition tech involved here, it’s easy to imagine it coming to the drone-cam soon. Amazon owns Ring, after all, and the mega-corporation knows all about identifying faces.

Feature image: Ring

The post Ring’s New Home Security Camera Is an Autonomous Drone appeared first on Nerdist.

“Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are both in it” is enough to make us watch any show or movie. But we’re especially hyped for their upcoming Amazon Prime series Truth Seekers. It’s a return to horror-comedy for the Shaun of the Dead and The World’s End stars. And based on the show’s first full trailer, it will have all the laughs we want, but maybe a few more scares than we’d expect.

“Truth Seekers is a supernatural comedy series about a team of part-time paranormal investigators who team up to uncover and film ghost sightings across the UK, sharing their adventures on an online channel for all to see. However, as they stake out haunted churches, underground bunkers and abandoned hospitals with their array of homemade ghost-detecting gizmos, their supernatural experiences grow more frequent, more terrifying and even deadly, as they begin to uncover a conspiracy that could bring about Armageddon for the entire human race.”

We got our first look at Truth Seekers back in July. That initial teaser focused more on the comedy aspect of the show, which looks just as hysterical as we’d hope from something that Pegg and Frost are responsible for. (In addition to starring, they created and wrote the show.) But this full trailer leans more into the horror aspect of the series. It offers a glimpse at some genuinely creepy ghosts and “malevolent entities” who are far more dangerous than a TV ghost hunter would ever expect to meet.

Of course, that doesn’t mean saving all of humanity won’t involve sipping some urine. The show is still going to be funny.

Amazon Prime Video

Sick Note writers Nat Saunders and James Serafinowicz wrote for the series. Serafinowicz is also an executive producer with Miles Ketley and series’ director Jim Field Smith. The show stars Samson Kayo as Elton, Emma D’Arcy as Astrid, and Susan Wokoma as Helen. And the always wonderful Malcolm McDowell plays Richard, father to Frost’s veteran supernatural detective Gus. Pegg plays the paranoid Dave, from the comfort of his office. (Though we doubt he’s safe there.)

Truth Seekers comes to Amazon just in time for Halloween, on October 30. We can’t wait, even if it is scarier than we expected.

Featured Image: Amazon Prime Video

The post Simon Pegg and Nick Frost Reunite in TRUTH SEEKERS Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s a danger that threatens to destroy the world, and it was foretold in the pages of a comic book. While that sounds like something that might happen in 2020, it’s actually the premise of Utopia: the new conspiracy thriller series coming to Amazon. Inspired by the 2013 British series of the same name, this version of Utopia, led by Gone Girl and Sharp Objects writer Gillian Flynn, has been updated to reflect the current state of the world. Still, it retains what made its UK predecessor so unique: a healthy dose of dark comedy, stories about friendship and identity, and an underlying lesson of finding your place in the world.

Last fall, Nerdist joined a group of journalists on a set visit to Chicago, where an abandoned hotel on the outskirts of the Windy City had been transformed into a bustling, vibrant comic convention called “Fringe Con.” Here, Utopia‘s main characters—Ian (Dan Byrd), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Samantha (Jessica Rothe) and Wilson Wilson (Desmon Borges)—are brought together by their obsession with the fictional comic book. It’s the “calm before the storm,” as over the course of eight episodes, these nerds find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy that means life or death for them…and for the world.

When we had our own meetings with some members of the cast, they were more than eager to discuss their roles and tease some storylines.

Amazon

Jessica Hyde

Jessica Hyde might be one of the most interesting characters in Utopia. While she’s the protagonist of the in-universe comic book, she’s also a real person—and someone who might hold the key to Utopia‘s secrets. Sasha Lane describes her character as “an animalistic feral cat,” but that doesn’t mean she’s all steel. In the UK version of the show, Jessica is more hardened. In the U.S. version, Lane wanted Jessica to have more layers. “We can have her be badass and cold-hearted, but I think there’s something else to being cold,” she told Nerdist. “I think to be cold that means that there’s something that’s burning there … Basically, there’s a reason why this person is always in attack mode, always paranoid, always kind of fancy. I just wanted to show more that there’s an underlining to her versus just a hard exterior which is the boots and the jacket. I wanted to relay that there is a reason why this person is behaving this way.”

That reason has something to do with Utopia. Jessica’s dad has been missing for years, and she sees the comic book as more or less her purpose—part of the reason she joins up with the show’s protagonists, as they’ll need her help to crack Utopia‘s secrets. “To her, Utopia [is] going to give her…some type of idea of why she is doing what she’s doing,” said Lane. “She’s looking for her dad, basically. So she’s like, well, maybe this is what’s gonna get you the answers to that.”

Becky

According to Ashleigh LaThrop, Becky is “really sweet and kindhearted, and really believes in Utopia because she’s living with a debilitating illness.” That illness, which LaThrop likens to “late stage Parkinson’s,” is what primarily drives her to become invested in finding the graphic novel, as she believes it holds the cure for her otherwise incurable disease. And although she’s classified among the group of “nerds” who obsess over Utopia, she’s not the nerd you’d expect. “My character in particular is not really someone who is a fan of anything but Utopia,” shared LaThrop. “She’s not someone who likes superhero things or comics at all. It’s specifically this one aspect that she is interested in.”

Becky is a people pleaser, which LaThrop teases is not always a positive thing when it comes to the group’s mission. (So look out for that to come into play down the line.) “Because she’s such a people pleaser, she’s just terrified of Jessica Hyde,” LaThrop said, referring to the group’s dynamic with the comic book’s protagonist. “So I think for a lot of it, it’s more like not showing my true feelings and just trying very hard to be friends. And wanting to all get along, regardless of how I might actually feel.”

Amazon

Ian

Whereas Becky is obsessed with Utopia, it’s the exact opposite for Dan Byrd’s Ian, who is “a little bit of an outlier in the group.” Part of the reason Ian isn’t so wrapped up in Utopia‘s lore (at least, not at first) is because he hasn’t come to the con specifically to chase down the comic book. While he’s a nerd who is interested in the graphic novel, he’s primarily at the con to meet Becky, whom he’s formed a connection with online. But, as Byrd teases, he eventually gets drawn into the conspiracy. “They’re sort of immediately thrust into a very extreme circumstance,” he told Nerdist.

“And also, in that circumstance, they’re sort of not left with much of a choice but to carry on. So it is kind of one of those tales that they’re finding out what they’re capable of as the story goes along, and the boundaries keep getting pushed further and further and getting more and more extreme. They’re introverted, nerdy people that sit and make friends on the Internet. And all of a sudden, it’s like, the Internet isn’t even a part of their lives anymore. They’re just there in the real world for the most extreme reality you can pretty much imagine.”

Michael Stearns

The Office‘s Rainn Wilson plays Michael Stearns, a virologist who, before the start of the story, discovers a peculiar virus called Stearns virus. And yes, there’s a reason the virus is named after him. Stearns helps work on the virus but is unaware of its true purpose, which leads him to join up with the group in an attempt to make things right (and save the world). “He starts a little smaller, a little more as a sporting character, and kind of grows with every episode and takes an incredible journey,” Wilson said. “It’s an amazing hero’s journey that he undergoes, from basement-dwelling nerdy mushroomy scientist in an university lab to, you know, an incredible hero who’s thrust onto the world stage with these mysterious diseases and biotech stuff that is happening throughout the course of the story.”

While Wilson admitted his character isn’t intentionally inspired by anyone, he did call out Greta Thunberg and Bill Nye as character inspirations. “When I was growing up in Seattle, Bill Nye was doing little comedy sketches with static electricity and animal balloons on the public access station,” said Wilson. “And now he’s a spokesperson for climate and science and science in schools, STEM education. So, you know, small people can go a long way and make a big impact.”

Amazon

At the time of our set visit, the world was in pre-pandemic mode…which meant that it was impossible to know how relevant Utopia would become by the time it premiered. If nothing else, that does heighten the stakes of this story about a world where the evil isn’t an alien or a supernatural being but rather our own government.

“I think it deals with a lot of real world issues right now that we are facing politically—climate climate, vaccinations, overpopulation, vaccinations…everything that they’re saving the world from, it’s not a bad guy living in space,” Byrd explained. “It’s like real world issues that are being perpetuated and accelerated by bad guys. And those are the people that they’re trying to uncover.”

Utopia premieres on Amazon on September 25.

Featured Image: Amazon

The post UTOPIA Cast Talks Their Characters’ Stories appeared first on Nerdist.

Here’s some good news for health nerds out there: Amazon is bringing a fitness tracker to market. But Amazon’s new biometric wearable, which doesn’t have a screen, will do a lot more than monitor your heart rate and sleep patterns. In fact, if the device works as promoted, it will help you understand and improve your “social wellbeing.”

Amazon

In an announcement made this morning (via The Verge), Amazon unveiled the band, which is the hardware component of a new health and wellness service dubbed Amazon Halo. According to Amazon, Halo combines “a suite of AI-powered health features” in order to deliver “Halo insights” to people. In other words, Halo users upload a boatload of their health data to the cloud with the Halo Band wearable, and then Amazon uses machine learning to comb through that data for patterns that are either healthy or unhealthy.

Like other fitness trackers, the Halo band monitors a wearer’s exercise patterns, but aims to do so in a more nuanced way. This nuance is based on a point system that rewards wearers with more points as their exercising increases in intensity; e.g. a wearer will earn more points for running than walking. Likewise, the system deducts points from wearers when they are sedentary for too long.

On top of the point system, Amazon’s tracker distinguishes itself from the competition with a body fat measurement tool. The tool, named “Body,” measures a wearer’s body fat percentage using machine learning (ML) algorithms. Essentially, the process works by having wearers use their smartphones to take pictures of their bodies, which are then sent to Amazon’s servers. The images are subsequently turned into a 3D scan, and analyzed using the ML algorithms to find body fat percentage.

Halo’s most notable distinguishing feature has to be its “tone of voice analysis tool,” however. The tool, dubbed “Tone” (of course), “analyzes energy and positivity in a user’s voice” —utilizing microphones in the band—in order to help them understand how they sound to others. Like Body, Tone uses ML, but in an effort to analyze how happy or sad a wearer sounds. The Halo app then turns that analysis into daily summaries with simple descriptors. For example, Halo may tell a wearer that they sounded “calm” in the morning.

Amazon

Regarding the actual Halo band’s design, it looks similar to a Fitbit, only without the screen. The band, which will ultimately come in 18 different colors, still has a full suite of sensors, however. The band will also be available with either fabric or silicone straps, and have a battery life of seven days off a 90-minute charge.

Right now, people in the U.S. can request early access to Halo for a limited-time price of $64.99. These early birds will receive the band, as well as six months of Halo membership, which usually costs $3.99 per month. Those who buy the band after the early access period will pay $99.99 for the hardware, but the same monthly price for the service.

Amazon

What do you think about the Amazon Halo band? Do you think the band has enough features to distinguish itself from Fitbits and the like? Let us know how news of this product has affected your social wellbeing in the comments!

Feature image: Amazon 

The post Amazon Launching Its Own Fitbit-Like Fitness Band appeared first on Nerdist.

Welcome back to our Everything Coming to Streaming column! Each month, we’ll feature five of the most exciting things coming to Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video, as well as listing every single movie and TV show headed to each platform. So without further ado, get ready to dive into everything you can enjoy on your favorite streamer this September.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Netflix

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: September 4

Charlie Kaufman has long been one of Hollywood’s most intriguing talents. Much like his beloved Adaptation, his newest film is based on a book, this one a thriller novel by Iain Reid. Whether Kaufman will do anything as out of the box here is yet to be seen, but I’m Thinking of Ending Things looks to be another unsettling, strange, and exciting story as a young couple visit their family only to find things far from normal. Read our review right here!

The Boys season two

Amazon

Where to watch: Amazon
When to watch: September 4

After the smash hit first season, The Boys is back. Amazon’s dark superhero satire returns after the horrors of its debut and we can’t wait. With Homelander and Billy MIA, the Boys and the Seven are on the hunt and the latter are definitely looking for the former too. If you like your caped crusaders grim and gritty then look no further as the new season features even more superpowered shenanigans and bleakly brilliant humor.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous

Netflix

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: September 18

If you’ve been missing some dino-disaster action in your life, then you’re in luck. As part of their ongoing deal with DreamWorks, Netflix has brought a spectacularly entertaining new animated iteration to the small screen. Camp Cretaceous takes place alongside the original Jurassic World movie timeline as a group of young kids act as beta-testers for the park’s new summer camp. Despite the cute cartoon trappings, we can say that this series is a seriously scary and entertaining addition to the ever expanding Jurassic Park canon.

The Addams Family

Bron Films

Where to watch: Hulu and Amazon
When to watch: September 22

It might be hard to imagine enjoying an Addams Family movie without Raúl Juliá and Anjelica Huston. That’s an understandable feeling, but this animated reimagining is actually really lovely. All about embracing weirdness, being yourself, and the horrors of assimilation and gentrification (really!), this is a fun, fresh take on the spooky family. If you’re a fan of the original Charles Addams’ comic strips that inspired the films, you’ll be charmed by the CG character designs, which heavily lean into the cartoonist’s iconic style.

Enola Holmes

Netflix

Where to watch: Netflix
When to watch: September 23

We know there have been a lot of Sherlock Holmes movies. But there hasn’t been one about his cheeky younger sister. And from the recently released trailer, Enola Holmes looks charming. Plus, Henry Cavill plays an incredibly handsome Sherlock, and Helena Bonham Carter stars as the siblings’ mother who goes missing, inspiring Enola to become a detective herself. With an all-star cast including the wonderful Susan Wokoma, we cannot wait for this delightful looking romp.

You can check out the full September streaming lineup below!

NETFLIX

Sept. 1
Adrift
Anaconda
Back to the Future
Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part III
Barbershop
Barbie Princess Adventure
Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices — Netflix Family
Borgen: Season 1-3
The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! — Netflix Family
Children of the Sea
Coneheads
Felipe Esparza: Bad Decisions/Malas Decisiones (2020) — Netflix Comedy Special
Glory
Grease
Magic Mike
The Muppets
Muppets Most Wanted
Not Another Teen Movie
La Partita/The Match — Netflix Film
Pineapple Express
Possession
The Producers (2005)
The Promised Neverland: Season 1
Puss in Boots
Red Dragon
Residue
Sex Drive
Sister, Sister: Seasons 1-6
The Smurfs
True: Friendship Day — Netflix Family
Wildlife
Zathura

Sept. 2
Bad Boy Billionaires: India — Netflix Documentary
Chef’s Table: BBQ — Netflix Documentary
Freaks: You’re One of Us — Netflix Film

Sept. 3
Alfonso Padilha: Alma de Pobre — Netflix Comedy Special
Love, Guaranteed — Netflix Film
Young Wallander — Netflix Original

Sept. 4
Away — Netflix Original
I’m Thinking of Ending Things — Netflix Film
The Lost Okoroshi
Spirit Riding Free: Riding Academy: Part 2 — Netflix Original

Sept. 7
Midnight Special
My Octopus Teacher — Netflix Documentary
Record of Youth — Netflix Original
Waiting for ‘Superman’

Sept. 8
StarBeam: Season 2 — Netflix Family

Sept. 9
Corazón Loco/So Much Love to Give — Netflix Film
Get Organized with The Home Edit — Netflix Original
La Línea: Shadow of Narco — Netflix Documentary
Mignonnes/Cuties — Netflix Film
The Social Dilemma — Netflix Documentary

Sept. 10
The Babysitter: Killer Queen — Netflix Film
The Gift: Season 2 — Netflix Original
Greenleaf: Season 5
The Idhun Chronicles — Netflix Anime
Julie and the Phantoms — Netflix Family

Sept. 11
The Duchess — Netflix Original
Family Business: Season 2 — Netflix Original
Girlfriends: Seasons 1-8
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Pets United — Netflix Family
Pokémon Journeys: The Series: Part 2 — Netflix Family
Se busca papá/Dad Wanted — Netflix Film

Sept. 15
America’s Book of Secrets: Season 2
Ancient Aliens: Season 3
Cold Case Files Classic: Season 1
The Curse of Oak Island: Season 4
Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice — Netflix Documentary
Izzy’s Koala World — Netflix Family
Michael McIntyre: Showman — Netflix Comedy Special
Pawn Stars: Season 2
The Rap Game: Season 2
The Smurfs: Season 2
Taco Chronicles: Volume 2 — Netflix Original
The Universe: Season 2

Sept. 16
Baby: Season 3 — Netflix Original
Challenger: The Final Flight — Netflix Documentary
The Devil All the Time — Netflix Film
MeatEater: Season 9 — Netflix Original
The Paramedic — Netflix Film
Signs: Season 2 — Netflix Original
Sing On! — Netflix Original

Sept. 17
Dragon’s Dogma — Netflix Anime
The Last Word — Netflix Original

Sept. 18
American Barbecue Showdown — Netflix Original
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous — Netflix Family
Ratched — Netflix Original

Sept. 21
A Love Song for Latasha — Netflix Documentary

Sept. 22
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt: Season 3 — Netflix Family
Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father: Season 4 — Netflix Original
Kiss the Ground
The Playbook — Netflix Documentary
Mighty Express — Netflix Family

Sept. 23
Enola Holmes — Netflix Film
Waiting…

Sept. 24
The Chef Show: Season 2 — Netflix Documentary
Real Steel

Sept. 25
A Perfect Crime — Netflix Documentary
Country-Ish — Netflix Original
Nasty C
The School Nurse Files — Netflix Original
Sneakerheads — Netflix Original

Sept. 26
The Good Place: Season 4

Sept. 27
Bad Teacher
Van Helsing: Season 4

Sept. 28
Whose Vote Counts, Explained — Netflix Original

Sept. 29
Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia — Netflix Comedy Special
Welcome to Sudden Death

Sept. 30
American Murder: The Family Next Door — Netflix Documentary
Wentworth: Season 8

HULU

Sept. 1
50 First Dates
Absolute Power
Aeon Flux
American Dragons
An American Haunting
Any Given Sunday
Anywhere but Here
Back to School
Bad Girls from Mars
The Bank Job
Because I Said So
The Birdcage
Broken Lizard’s Club Dread
Call Me
Carrington
The Cold Light of Day
Cool Blue
Criminal Law
The Day the Earth Stood Still
De-Lovely
Demolition Man
Desperate Hours
Deuces Wild
Employee of the Month
The End of Violence
Evil Dead II
Extreme Justice
The Festival
Hanoi Hilton
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Hoosiers
The House on Carroll Street
I Feel Pretty
The Impossible
Invasion U.S.A.
Jeopardy! Episode Refresh
Jessabelle
Julia
The Last Boy Scout
The Last House on the Left
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
Love is All There Is
Mad Money
Man of La Mancha
The Mechanic
Mike Tyson Mysteries Season 4
Mississippi Burning
Mr. North
Music Within
Not Another Teen Movie
Notorious
The Omen
Outbreak
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
Pieces of April
Practical Magic
Rambo
Reasonable Doubt
Religulous
Slow Burn
Some Kind of Wonderful
Stargate
The Terminator
Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her
This World, Then the Fireworks
Top Gun
Trolls World Tour
Turkey Bowl
Twilight
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Weight of Water
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
Wanted
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
The Woods

Sept. 2
Hell on the Border

Sept. 3
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Sept. 6
Awoken

Sept. 7
Madagascar: A Little Wild Season 1A (Hulu Original)

Sept. 8
American Ninja Warrior Season 12 Premiere
Brother vs. Brother Season 7 Premiere

Sept. 9
Woke Season 1 (Hulu Original)

Sept. 10
My Hero Academia Episodes 64-76

Sept. 16
Archer Season 11 Premiere

Sept. 17
The Good Shepherd

Sept. 18
Babyteeth
The Fight
Gemini Man
Pen15 Season 2 (Hulu Original)
Sherman’s Showcase: Black History Month Special
StarDog and TurboCat

Sept. 20
The Haunted

Sept. 21
The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards

Sept. 22
The Addams Family
Filthy Rich Series Premiere

Sept. 23
Cosmos: Possible Worlds Specials
If Loving You Is Wrong Season 5

Sept. 24
Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans

Sept. 25
Judy

Sept. 26
The Wilderness of Error Series Premiere

Sept. 28
Bless the Harts Season 2 Premiere
Bob’s Burgers Season 11 Premiere
Family Guy Season 19 Premiere
Fargo Season 4 Premiere
The Simpsons Season 32 Premiere

Sept. 29
Inherit the Viper
Trauma Center

Sept. 30
Southbound

AMAZON

Sept. 1
1/1 (2018)
1 Million Happy Nows (2018)
A Birder’s Guide To Everything (2014)
Abe & Phil’s Last Poker Game (2018)
Addicted To Fresno (2015)
Alex Cross (2012)
American Dragons (1998)
Bachelor Lions (2020)
Barney Thomson (2016)
Beach Party (1963)
Bewitched (2005)
Big Time (1988)
Bitter Melon (2018)
Bully (2019)
C.O.G. (2013)
Carrington (1995)
Casino Royale (2006)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
Dark Matter (2007)
De-Lovely (2004)
Defense Of The Realm (1986)
Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
Don’t Talk To Irene (2018)
Dr. Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine (1965)
Eaten By Lions (2020)
Employee Of The Month (2006)
Enemy Within (2019)
Extreme Justice (1993)
Face 2 Face (2017)
Gas-s-s-s (1970)
I’d Like To Be Alone Now (2019)
I’m Not Here (2019)
Kart Racer (2003
Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
Lakeview Terrace (2008)
Lord Love A Duck (1966)
Man Of La Mancha (1972)
Microbe And Gasoline (2016)
Miss Nobody (2010)
Muscle Beach Party (1964)
Music Within (2007)
No Way To Live (2017)
Patriots Day (2017)
Rambo (2008)
Sex And The City: The Movie (2008)
Sex And The City 2 (2010)
Slash (2007)
Slow Burn (2007)
Snapshots (2018)
Sunlight Jr. (2013)
The Bank Job (2008)
The Billion Dollar Hobo (1977)
The Birdcage (1997)
The Dunning Man (2018)
The Festival (2019)
The Go-Getters (2018)
The Graduate (1967)
The Hanoi Hilton (1987)
The Haunted Palace (1963)
The House On Carroll Street (1988)
The Last House On The Left (1972)
The Mechanic (1972)
The Ring Thing (2018)
The Video Dead (1986)
The Visitors (1972)
The Weight Of Water (2002)
The White Bus (1967)
The Woods (2006)
The Yes Men (2004)
To Keep The Light (2018)
The Turkey Bowl (2019)
Twice-Told Tales (1963)
Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls (2007)
Warrior Road (2017)
Weather Girl (2009)
What Children Do (2018)
What If It Works? (2018)
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)
Yongary: Monster From The Deep (1967)
Zoom (2016)
A Chef’s Life: Season 1 (PBS Living)
Cedar Cove: Season 1 (Hallmark Movies Now)
Codename: Kids Next Door: Season 1 (Boomerang)
George Gently: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
Hero Elementary: Season 1 (PBS Kids)
How to Become a SuperStar Student, 2nd Edition: Season 1 (The Great Courses)
I’m Dying Up Here: Season 1 (Showtime)
Keeping Faith: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
Last Hope with Troy Dunn: Season 1 (UP Faith & Family)
Nazi Mega Weapons: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries)
Stuck With You: Season 1 (Urban Movie Channel)
Texas Metal: Season 1 (MotorTrend on Demand)
The Blood Pact: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
The Bureau: Season 1 (Sundance Now)
The Celtic World: Season 1 (The Great Courses)
The Crimson Field: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
The Jack Benny Show: Season 1 (Best TV Ever)
The Roy Rogers TV Show: Season 1 (Best Westerns Ever)
Wrong Man: Season 1 (STARZ)

Sept. 2
Hell on the Border (2019)

Sept. 4
The Boys: Season 2 *Amazon Original Series
Dino Dana The Movie (2020) *Amazon Original Movie 

Sept. 16
Blackbiord (2020)

Sept. 18
All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020) *Amazon Original Movie
Gemini Man (2019)

Sept. 22
The Addams Family (2019)

Sept. 25
Judy (2019)
Utopia: Season 1 *Amazon Original Series

Sept. 28
Force of Nature (2020)
Inherit the Viper (2020)

Sept. 29
Trauma Center (2019)

The post Everything Coming to Streaming in September appeared first on Nerdist.

While much of the entertainment world’s search for “the next Game of Thrones” has been focused on the upcoming The Lord of the Rings series, it’s another fantasy series being developed by Amazon that could take up the mantle. Like Game of Thrones, The Wheel of Time novel series, first announced last October, tells an epic and sprawling tale set in a magical world. Giving The Wheel of Time a leg up on Game of Thrones is the fact the books were actually completed. As we all found out, that can really help a TV series with big aspirations. But even then you still need a great cast to tell your story, and Amazon thinks it has found theirs, as they have announced the actors who have signed on to the series as regulars, as well as many supporting cast members.

Rosamund Pike will be playing Moiraine a lead character in the first novel who guides three young adventurers on a dangerous journey.

Joining her will be Madeleine Madden (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) as Egwene Al’Vere, one of the main female protagonists who is often thought to be arrogant, and someone “frequently described as wanting to learn everything, as fast as possible.”

Marcus Rutherford (Obey) as Perrin Aybara, a strong ta’veren and wolfbrother who “has exceptional skills in manipulating Tel’aran’rhiod.”

Barney Harris (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) as the great general Mat Cauthon, “the Marshal-General of the Band of the Red Hand, and the husband of the Empress of the Seanchan empire.”

Zoë Robins (The Shannara Chronicles) as Nynaeve, “one of the most powerful female channelers currently alive.”

Josha Stradowski (Just Friends) as Rand Al’Thor, “the most central of the three main protagonists of the series” and “the prophesied savior and breaker of the world.”

Additional cast members include Daniel Henny as al’Lan Mandragoran, Michael McElhatton as Tam Al’Thor, Alvaro Morte as Logain Ablar, Hammed Animashun as Loial, Alexandre Willaume as Thom Merrilin, Johann Myers as Padan Fain, Lolita Chakrabarti as Marin Al’Vere, Michael Tuahine as Bran Al’Vere, David Sterne as Cenn Buie, Christopher Sciueref as Abell Cauthon, Juliet Howland as Natti Cauthon, Mandi Symonds as Daise Conger, Abdul Salis as Eamon, Stuart Graham as Geofram, Pasha Bocarie as Master Grinwell, Jennifer Preston as Mistress Grinwell, Izuka Hoyle as Dana, Darren Clarke as Basel Gill, Maria Doyle Kennedy as Illa, Narinder Samra as Raen, and Daryl McCormack as Aram.

Amazon

Let’s not forget the fascinating and legendary Amyrlin Seat Siuan Sanche. She’s the leader of the Aes Sedia. Amazon announced on August 19 that Sophie Okonedo will play the key character as a recurring role.

Faye Thomas

And Min Farshaw? Who I want to say things about but don’t want to spoil anyone. Kae Alexander will portray her, also in a recurring role.

Amazon’s also added a few other recurring roles too: Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin Guirale, an Aes Sedai; Clare Perkins as Kerene Nagashi, an Aes Sedai; and Peter Franzen as Stepin, Kerene’s Warder.

And you thought Game of Thrones‘ cast was ridiculous.

Set in a world of magic where only certain women are allowed to access, The Wheel of Time “follows Moiraine, a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.”

For a fantasy series with a massive fanbase already built-in (the books have sold 90 million copies), that might not be the most famous list of young actors in the world. Of course, neither was the cast of Game of Thrones when they were chosen.

Featured Image: Tor Books

Originally published August 24, 2019 and updated on July 22, 2020.

The post THE WHEEL OF TIME TV Series Casts Important Characters appeared first on Nerdist.

Welcome to our The Best Things Streaming column. Each month we highlight the best of what’s hitting your fave streaming channel. The hottest month of the year is about to strike so Amazon Prime Video is helping us stay cool indoors with some binageable TV shows, fun kids movies, a widely renowned superhero stinker that’s good actually, and a contemporary Nic Cage movie that has to be seen to be believed. So turn on your closest fan, grab a cold glass of your favorite icy beverage, and get ready to chill out.

08/01: The Teacher: Season 1

PBS Masterpiece

This critically lauded Polish thriller is hitting Amazon this month and it’s the perfect mystery to lose yourself in. When a teacher decides to investigate the murder of a young student he’s drawn into a deep and dangerous web of corruption and crime. Straight from PBS Masterpiece this is a chilly little crime show that will keep you hooked at every turn.

08/01: Spider-Man 3

Sony

Sure, Sam Raimi hated Venom and there are too many villains but have you actually watched Spider-Man 3 lately?? It’s incredibly fun, completely silly and features a Harry and Peter relationship that shippers can only dream of. Maguire goes wild with his exploration of Peter’s descent into darkness and Topher Grace offers up a proto-Tom Hardy camp Eddie Brock. Basically this is the most fun you can have watching a superhero movie that’s not very good.

08/03: Dora And The Lost City Of Gold

Nickelodeon

If you need something wholesome and heartwarming to watch this weekend then make sure you check out Dora And The Lost City Of Gold. Throwing the usually pre-teen explorer into her adolescent years this live-action adventure offers up some good clean fun as the world’s best adventurer has to save the day alongside her new high school buds.

08/31: Primal

Lionsgate

If you’re looking for something outrageous then check out this super high-concept Nic Cage action movie that we highlighted in our weird Nic Cage list recently! “Cage stars here as a big game hunter on a ship headed to the U.S. after a big hunt in Brazil. He should be living it up after capturing a rare white jaguar, but instead he’s facing down a dangerous killer and plenty of vicious animals on board. Yep, a murderer has escaped on the ship and freed the killer creatures! And guess who has to take them down? Nic Cage!”

You can check out the rest of our August Amazon picks below!

Sony Pictures

Lionsgate

Rank Film Distrobutors

PBS Masterpiece

Legendary

Universal

Paramount

Nickelodeon

Roadside Attractions

Vertical Entertainment

Lionsgate

Paramount pictures

08/01
3:10 To Yuma (2007)
Blood: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
Californication: Season 1 (Showtime)
Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994)
Inception (2010)
Lego Jurassic World: Legend Of Isla Nublar: Season 1
Les Miserables: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Berenstain Bears: Season 1 (PBS Kids)
The Teacher: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
The Holiday (2006)
Top Gun (1986)

08/03
Dora And The Lost City Of Gold (2019)

08/05
Arkansas (2020)

08/06
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

08/10
Capone (2020)
Hard Night Falling (2019)
Lucky Day (2019)

08/14
Master (2017)

08/21
Chemical Hearts (2020)

08/28
Prime Rewind: Inside The Boys

08/31
Primal (2019)

The post The Best Things Coming to Amazon in August appeared first on Nerdist.

And the show’s creepy, hilarious first trailer is everything we’d expect from the duo. Paranormal hunters who are in over their heads are on a case that could destroy all mankind.

“Truth Seekers is a supernatural comedy series about a team of part-time paranormal investigators who team up to uncover and film ghost sightings across the UK, sharing their adventures on an online channel for all to see. However, as they stake out haunted churches, underground bunkers and abandoned hospitals with their array of homemade ghost-detecting gizmos, their supernatural experiences grow more frequent, more terrifying and even deadly, as they begin to uncover a conspiracy that could bring about Armageddon for the entire human race.”

Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video debuted the first trailer for Truth Seekers during a panel at this year’s Comic-Con@Home. It’s set “in a mysterious world filled with dread and just-out-of-sight monsters.” Frost stars as Gus, a veteran supernatural detective. Pegg plays Dave, who doesn’t have to leave his fancy office to save the world.

Amazon Prime Video

Frost and Pegg created and wrote the show along with Sick Note writers Nat Saunders and James Serafinowicz. Serafinowicz also serves as an executive producer with Miles Ketley and series’ director Jim Field Smith. The show also stars Samson Kayo as Elton, Emma D’Arcy as Astrid, and Susan Wokoma as Helen. And the great Malcolm McDowell plays Richard, our favorite part of this first trailer.

Amazon Prime Video

The eight-episode series premieres on Amazon Prime Video this fall. It will be available in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Obviously we can’t wait to see it.

And if they want to do a bonus ninth episode where Pegg and Frost do literally anything we’ll tune in for that as well.

Featured Image: Amazon Prime Video

The post Simon Pegg and Nick Frost Star in TRUTH SEEKERS’ First Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

The world could really use superheroes right now. But until science perfects toxic waste transformation technology or finds magical space stones, we’re on our own. Fortunately this fall Amazon Prime Video will give us the next best thing: TV’s best anti-superhero superhero show. And the official trailer for The Boys‘ second season promises all the explosions, carnage, and dark comedy we expect. Along with a rising threat.

It’s something we all fear—the superpower of social media.

“The even more intense, more insane Season 2 finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia.”

This trailer delivers on much of the promise set up by season one. It shows the Boys on the run. And the Supes of the Seven, who no longer have their guiding compass Butcher on their side, are in pursuit. However, this trailer doesn’t mention an important reason the Boys are on the lam. They know about Vought’s program to give babies superpowers so they will grow up to be tools of their treachery.

Amazon Prime Video

Season two also stars Supes Dominique McElligott (Queen Maeve), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Chace Crawford (The Deep), and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell). The show also features Claudia Doumit, Goran Visnijc, Malcolm Barrett, Colby Minifie, Shantel VanSanten, Cameron Crovetti, PJ Byrne, Laila Robbins, and Giancarlo Esposito who returns as Vought boss Mr. Edgar.

The first three (of eight) episodes of The Boys second season will premiere this fall on Prime Video. They’ll be available on Friday, September 4, 2020. New episodes will follow each Friday until the finale October 9.

Featured Image: Amazon Prime Video

The post THE BOYS Are On The Run in New Explosive Season Two Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Welcome to our The Best Things Streaming column. Each month we highlight the best of what’s hitting your fave streaming channel. Prime Video is preparing for the long hot summer of being indoors with a series of classic B-Movies and the sophomore season of an underrated action gem! Basically you’ll find plenty to love in their slim but solid July offerings.

Hollow Man (July 1st)

Sony Pictures

Paul Verhoeven has made some weird and wonderful movies in his time. But Hollow Man is rarely seen on his best of list. It’s not because it’s not enjoyable—it is—but it’s because it’s a grimy little horror movie that reimagines the Invisible Man as a misogynistic villain. If you’ve never checked out this ’00s Kevin Bacon flick it’ll be heading to Prime Video in July.

Hanna: Season 2 (July 3rd)

Amazon

Adapting Joe Wright’s cult film of the same name this first season of Hanna was unfairly overlooked when it dropped on Amazon a couple of years ago. The second season continues the story of the child assassin as she joins an elite academy of young killers. It’s a distinct change in turn but Esme Creed-Miles is a stunning lead and if the writing, action directions, and stunt choreography are anything like last season it’ll be an engaging watch.

Vivarium (July 11th)

Vertigo Releasing

If you’re a fan of The Twilight Zone and hate the housing market then Vivarium is for you. Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots star in this chilling and surreal tale of a young couple who go to visit a new home only to become trapped in a terrifying cycle of suburban hell. Stylish and strange this is a truly unique look at the horror of being an adult.

You can check out our other July picks below.

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures

Amazon

Sony Pictures

Vertigo Releasing

Sony Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Mandate Pictures

Lionsgate

Columbia Pictures

Lego

Lionsgate

July 1
52 Pick-Up (1986)
Ali (2001)
An Eye for an Eye (1966)
Anaconda (1997)
Big Fish (2003)
Bug (1975)
Buried (2010)
Hitch (2005)
Hollow Man (2000)
Megamind (2010)
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)
Panic Room (2002)
Phase IV (1974)
Pineapple Express (2008)
Sliver (1993)
Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
The Eye (2008)
The Eye 2 (2004)
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
Antiques Roadshow: Season 17
Arthur: Season 1
Hidden: Season 1
Instinto: Season 1
Lego City Adventures: Season 1
July 3
Hanna: Season 2
July 11
Vivarium (2020)
July 15
The Weekend (2019)
July 17
Absentia: Season 3 – Amazon Original Series
July 19
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (2019)
July 24
Radioactive (2019) – Amazon Original Movie
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Jim Gaffigan: Pale Tourist – Amazon Original Special
July 27
Good Deeds (2012)
July 29
Animal Kingdom: Season 4

Header Image: Prime Video

The post Best Things Coming to Prime Video in July appeared first on Nerdist.

Young adult programming has changed the way that TV networks make shows. Long gone are the days of Saved by the Bell style sitcoms showcasing only the highest highs and minor lows of growing up. Instead we have all kinds of wild teen content; from the murder madness of Riverdale to the sweet rom-com movies of Netflix like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Half of It. Amazon is the newest studio hoping to add something new to the trend with a meta-YA-mystery called Nancy Wu Done it.

Thanks to a Deadline report we’re now aware of what looks to be our new favorite show. According to the announcement, Nancy Wu Done It “follows a frustrated Asian American female YA author who suddenly finds herself transported into one of her own books. As a result, she must work with the titular character she created — who she now hates — to solve an unfinished mystery.”

Netflix, Disney

It boasts an incredibly fun set up. It leans into the current craze of YA programming and books with a fun twist. There’s another tease in the announcement as the show will evidently mix two touchstones of a generation; one the meta-nostalgia fantasy film Pleasantville. The other, the beloved young detective series, Nancy Drew. It also comes from a really rad team of Iron Fist’s Jessica Henwick and Kai Yu Wu (co-executive producer of Amazon’s Paper Girls and Carnival Row). The series was put together by a team of Asian women and will star an Asian lead. But no cast members are attached yet.

We’ll be keeping a very close eye on this project as more news comes out. But for now we’ll just be dreaming of some incredible leads. Plus how we’d solve a strange mystery with the character(s) from our (many) currently in progress novel(s).

Header Image: Netflix, Disney

The post NANCY WU DONE IT Sounds Like a Totally Wild YA Show appeared first on Nerdist.

What do a prestige sci-fi drama adapted from a series of paintings and a big budget superhero movie have in common? Well, apart from exec-producer/director Matt Reeves, they share an exploration of the personal that belies their genre surfaces. When I chatted with Reeves about his new Amazon series Tales from the Loop, he shared his thoughts on the similarities the projects contain and how he’s more interested in subverting archetypes and genre-headings than sticking to them.

Though the recently released Tales From the Loop might seem a world away from Batman, for Reeves they’re intimately connected by theme and intent. In fact, Reeves went so far as to say, “I feel like they’re totally, exactly the same thing. You know, for me, I see them as being precisely the same. That’s not to say that my movie will be identical to what Nathaniel’s show is. But it’s that the intent is the same. To find the way to do something that feels personal, something that you connect to, something emotional. To use the facets of that particular genre thing as a surface entry point into something that is humanist.”

Warner Bros.

Over the course of 80 years, Batman has gone from fitting into an archetype to becoming one, something that Reeves is clearly aware of. As with all of the stories that he chooses to tell, the director is most interested in deconstructing these archetypes to create something new and different. “It really is about trying to find the ways to use those archetypes within the myth to get at something that’s deeper than that,” Reeves said. “That’s what’s so great about Batman and the world and the story; it really is amazing how many times you can come at it and find something new in it and, most importantly, find something that resonates. So in that sense, I don’t really see a difference in the aims between The Batman and Tales from the Loop.”

Of course, that Batman myth is still key to bringing his vision for Gotham to life. For Reeves, it’s just a matter of finding a hook that speaks to him and the audience. “I think there’s something very powerful in the Batman myth. The idea of being able to bring it into a context that I can relate to and into the context of today’s world without trying to underline it in any way to say like, ‘Oh, I’m doing X, Y, and Z,” he said. “To find those connections that you make when trying to do something that you relate to, you’re finding connections that you don’t even know are there as you’re making the movie. But there’s all these connections and these parallels.”

20th Century Studios

The making of Reeves’ Planet of the Apes movies taught him a lesson about the universality of stories that he’s applying to The Batman. Where the director felt like he was telling a very personal story about the growth of his young son, he ended up creating something that spoke to many, many people in a number of ways.

“I remember having that with the Apes movies, where people were going like, ‘Oh, wow, are you doing this?’ Well, we really weren’t. We were trying to do something really personal. That was so interesting. It’s that classic sort of thing people say, which is to get to the universal through the specific. You know, you have to find that way to make something as personal as possible.”

Tales From the Loop is streaming on Amazon now.

Featured Image: Amazon Studios

The post Matt Reeves’ TALES FROM THE LOOP and THE BATMAN Aren’t So Different appeared first on Nerdist.

Adapting a popular series of paintings into a TV series sounds like a near impossible task. Add that to the fact that the paintings in question, Simon Stålenhag’s Tales from the Loop, are already a cultural phenomenon and it feels like Amazon’s new prestige anthology sci-fi series can’t possibly live up to the sum of its parts. But it does. In fact, the atmospheric, evocative, and intimate science fiction of Tales from the Loop has enamored critics, viewers, and—according to executive producer Matt Reeves—every creative and executive who has come in contact with it since its inception.

“It’s just been such an extraordinary path to how we ended up here,” Reeves told me when we chatted by phone. “It was actually my writing assistant Adam Sorin, who worked with me on The Batman, who first saw the images and he was like ‘Guys, you should look into these.’ I work with these guys at my company called 6th & Idaho—Adam Kassan and Rafi Crohn—and they’ve been with me for years. It was Rafi and Adam who were like, ‘Well, maybe we could see if we could get Fox 21—who we had a deal with—to buy us the rights to Simon’s book.'”

The unusual concept excited Reeves; he couldn’t quite imagine where the project might end up. “It’s just so unusual,” Reeves pondered. “But the pictures were so incredible so I just thought let’s do it!” Luckily their partner at Fox 21 saw the potential in the pictures, too.But it was only when the team met with writer Nathaniel Halpern that the story of Tales from the Loop truly began to come together. Reeves recalled, “Nathaniel was the first writer we met with. And we said, ‘Look, we don’t know what we’re doing with these, but we just love them.’ And we showed him the book, and he was captivated.”

Halpern quickly became involved with the project, talking to the original artist and finding an unexpected collaborative partner. “He had some conversations with Simon Stålenhag and they connected at a very deep level. It was very provocative and really personal. Simon grew up near CERN, the particle accelerator, and the paintings were all provoked by that idea of the mysteries of life kind of strewn in fields around him. It comes from his childhood, from this very personal place. Nathaniel connected to it in that same way. I’m not kidding when I tell you that Nathaniel came back in a week’s time and pitched the show that you see on Amazon,” Reeves said.

Amazon

The idea that Halpern came up with “wasn’t quite an anthology” and “wasn’t quite serialized.” Instead it centered on one town and the people who lived in it. But it was a reference to a Sherwood Anderson story that really sold Reeves on the concept. Reeves said, “What he [Halpern] pitched was actually something that was akin to, he said, Winesburg, Ohio, which is one of my favorite books ever. And I was like, ‘Oh, that would be incredible.’ The idea is it would be a company town, you know, like Los Alamos or the Manhattan Project or CERN. But the scientific experiments that are the factory town’s business are about trying to unlock the mysteries of the universe.”

It’s a truly intriguing concept and one that the team brought to life in a completely enchanting way. The biggest twist on the entire concept is the lack of them—twists that is. Tales from the Loop always centers on the humans who live in the town rather than the mystery at the heart of it.

Reeves said, “Instead of the stories being, what I think is more traditionally done in a lot of sci fi—obviously Twilight Zone is in a similar vein, kind of trying to get at humanist stuff—but like, at the end of the day, there’ll be a big twist… That was the one thing Nathaniel did not want to do. He said, ‘What I think is interesting is using these images to explore mysteries that are metaphors for the human condition.’ The point of the human condition is a lot of these things are things that we’ll never come to the answers for. That just is existence, right? [It] is living in the unknowing.”

Amazon

Reeves loved the concept, calling it “his favorite idea for a series ever.” So did Fox 21. “We were really fortunate that Fox 21 saw the value of that too,” Reeves said. “They said, ‘Hey, this is very special. Let’s just have you guys develop this internally with Nathaniel.’ Nathaniel worked on that pilot script for the first episode for almost two years.”

That dedication and time paid off when they met with Amazon. “We didn’t know at the end of all of this whether or not there would be a place that would embrace the kind of intimate, humanist storytelling as opposed to the sort of loud, traditional sci-fi genre. And they bought it in the room and we have been incredibly lucky and excited ever since then.”

The transcendent, almost magical, effect of Tales from the Loop didn’t end there. The show garnered an unbelievable cast and crew. They even secured one of the best living composers, Philip Glass, to craft the aural landscape. Reeves said, “So many incredibly talented filmmakers and actors were drawn to work on it. We took the script to Mark Romanek, and he elevated the project tremendously and put together this all-star team and then it snowballed from there. Mark was instrumental in delivering people like Jeff Cronenweth, Phil Messina and the incredible Philip Glass. We have Andrew Stanton, we have Jodie Foster… Then we have, you know, Jonathan Pryce and Rebecca Hall.”

Reeves continued, “It’s been a really creatively blessed project and a project that’s unlike anything that I’ve ever been involved in, and probably very likely unlike anything that I will ever be involved with again—other than the idea of further seasons on the same show. It’s been a very special experience.”

You can stream Tales From the Loop on Amazon now.

Featured Image: Amazon

The post Matt Reeves on the Magical Creation of TALES FROM THE LOOP appeared first on Nerdist.

It’s been a tough time for all the parents cooped up with children during the Coronavirus quarantine. Thankfully, pop culture has been doing its best to help out: Disney released Frozen II early on Disney+ and recent films like Onward are coming to digital earlier than anticipated. Now, Amazon is getting into the game, with reports that the streaming service is doing its part to help kids and parents by dropping its Prime paywall. This means Amazon will provide full (and free) worldwide access to all its kids shows, and we swear we just heard the collective sigh of all parents everywhere.

You can easily access the landing page for all free titles by visiting this link. Among the specials that will be available are programs such as The Dangerous Book for Boys, Lost in Oz, Just Add Magic, Pete the Cat, Costume Quest, Tumble Leaf, Bug Diaries, Creative Galaxy, Jessy & Nessy, Wishenpoof, Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, The Snowy Day, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The streamer will also offer various seasons of the following PBS series: Arthur, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Odd Squad, Cailou, Cyberchase, and Dinosaur Train.

Sony Pictures

To access any of the video titles, you just need an Amazon account — though it’s worth noting that if you’re a Prime member, you also have the option to subscribe to PBS Kids through Amazon for $4.99 a month for more content. Additionally, through IMDb TV, Amazon has made over 80 family-friendly movies available, including classics such as All Dogs Go to Heaven, Rugrats Go Wild, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. (There are ads you have to wade through, but it’s a small price to pay when you’re not actually paying.)

The world may seem bleak, but at least pop culture is helping your kids stay occupied (and educated) for as long as they have to be home, and that definitely counts for something.

Featured Image: PBS

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The current coronavirus pandemic is scary. But one of the silver linings has been seeing people coming together to share art and stories for each other to enjoy whilst we work through these uncertain times. Like many things, the first organizational sharing came from indie artists and creators. But the joy they spread was noticed and now big corporations and companies are getting involved. The latest ones to get involved were Amazon who have created Audible Stories, an expansive collection of audiobooks that anyone can listen to for free right now.

Amazon

The Audible Stories collection is an impressive one which, although centered around younger readers, has something for everyone. The collection is especially useful for anyone who has young readers to keep entertained as the folks over at Amazon curated an extensive roster of titles for young readers and kids, which feels really necessary with schools currently out. According to a message on the collection website:

“For as long as schools are closed, we’re open. Starting today, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids.”

The selection includes: kids classics like Peter Rabbit, The Reluctant Dragon, The House at Pooh Corner, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; literary faves featuring Anne of Green Gables, White Fang, Brave New World, and Frankenstein; as well as brilliant YA fantasy including The Bone Witch, The Near Witch, and the Ms. Peregrine series. If you want to get into something really immersive and unusual they also have an impressive collection of folklore and fairytales from around the world! Speaking of which, the service is also offering audiobooks in multiple languages. Another great thing to note is that some of the titles are exclusives read by amazing actors, like Frankenstein narrated by Dan Stevens and Jane Eyre narrated by Thandie Newton!

Amazon

Audiobooks really are a perfect distraction for this time and we’re really happy that so many are now available for free for anyone who can connect to the internet! Hopefully you can find something that makes your day better with this huge new selection.

Header Image: Amazon 

The post Audible Just Made Hundreds of Their Audiobooks Free appeared first on Nerdist.

Now that COVID-19—or “the coronavirus” for those who prefer the vestigial moniker—has locked up the world economy in countless ways, businesses are responding to the new supply and demand landscape as best as they can. This, of course, includes the goliath international corporation, Amazon, which says it will now be prioritizing the stocking and delivery of household staples, medical supplies, and other “high demand products” in order to meet overwhelming demand. The company says it is also working on ways to keep prices on those items from skyrocketing.

According to an Amazon press release, which comes via Ad Age, the company says that it will be looking to take a bevy of measures in order to support those who’ve been directly or indirectly impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19. Chief among those measures will be a reprioritization of product deliveries. That will hopefully keep the flow of critical items moving from the company’s distribution centers to people’s homes. That includes from their iconic “fulfillment centers.”Below is an excerpt from Amazon’s release, which highlights the company’s new strategy:

“We believe our role serving customers and the community during this time is a critical one, and we want to make sure our customers can get the items they need, when they need them. As COVID-19 has spread, we’ve recently seen an increase in people shopping online which has had an impact on how we serve our customers. So in the short term, we are making the decision to temporarily prioritize household staples, medical supplies and other high demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so we can more quickly receive, restock and ship these products to customers. We are working around the clock with our selling partners to ensure availability of these essential products, and continue to bring on additional capacity to deliver customer orders.”

It’s unclear from the press release what Amazon considers to be household staples or high-demand items, or medical supplies for that matter, but those categories presumably include items like toilet paper, soap, hand sanitizer, non-perishable foods, diapers, paper towels, over-the-counter medicines, face masks, respirators, etc. In other words, all of the products that people have already cleared out of grocery stores and pharmacies thanks to panic buying.

A look inside one of Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers. Maryland GovPics

It’s obviously difficult to say what people think of Amazon’s move to make these critical items more readily available. However, the comments in response to Amazon’s post on Twitter were, as of this writing, largely negative. For example, one man from Los Angeles, who says he works for Amazon, wrote in response to the press release: “As an Amazon employee I can’t risk constantly being on the street coming in contact with multiple customers, in [sic] a full time driver for you guys and you guys have NOT provided us with masks, gloves nor wipes to wipe down our vehicles, this is a HUGE concern to me !!!!!” Other comments from people who say they work for Amazon echoed the sentiment of feeling unsafe at work.

According to the press release, Amazon will also be taking numerous other measures to help combat the negative effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, including: creating 100,000 new full and part-time positions “to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service during this stressful time,” $350 million in increased compensation for employees in the form of a temporary hourly wage increase, and the establishment of an Amazon Relief Fund, which will focus on supporting the company’s delivery service partners, Amazon Flex participants, and seasonal employees.

Featured Image: Tony Webster 

The post Amazon Officially Prioritizing Delivery of Household Staples appeared first on Nerdist.

2020 is looking to be a choice year for brand new televisions series, especially if you’re a fan of comic book adaptations! Amy tunes you in to everything you’ll need to know on today’s Nerdist News!

What’s your most anticipated new show of 2020? Tell us in the comments!

The post The Top New TV Shows of 2020! appeared first on Nerdist.

We are just a few days from the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final installment in the Skywalker saga. It feels like only yesterday they announced a sequel trilogy, and now here we are “at the end of all things.” (Oops, wrong epic fantasy series.) As The Rise of Skywalker draws closer, Disney and Lucasfilm are treating fans to special behind-the-scenes videos from the making of the final installment. And a cool new featurette delivers some never-before-seen footage from the grand finale.

Lucasfilm

On Thursday, the folks at Screen Crush discovered Amazon’s exclusive new behind-the-scenes look into The Rise of Skywalker. It’s pretty easy to unlock access to this new featurette via Amazon’s website as well as through Fire TV: Either type #TheRiseofSkywalker into the search bar on Amazon.com, or simply say “Alexa, the Force will be with you always” into your voice remote on a Fire TV device.

Lucasfilm 

Although much of the footage in the video is stuff we’ve seen, combined with nostalgic looks at the original trilogy, there is new and fun stuff to discover. For starters, there’s a moment sure to bring a tear to the eye of anyone who has been a longtime fan of the saga. We watch Anthony Daniels’ Threepio tell his little buddy Artoo “I want you to know that you have been a real friend, Artoo. My best one in fact.” I don’t think there will be a dry eye in the house when that moment happens in the theater. I got teary just watching that brief little clip!

Anthony Daniels has more experience saying goodbye to his character than anyone else in the entire saga. He said his first goodbye to everyone’s favorite protocol droid back in 1983 when Return of the Jedi wrapped filming. He did it once again when Revenge of the Sith stopped rolling back in 2005. The Rise of Skywalker marks the third time that Daniels has had to make his final goodbyes to the saga. When George Lucas first envisioned his series as a nine-part epic, he always saw the story as told through the eyes of the droids. Daniels’ portrayal helped make that notion a reality. Only Daniels has been there for all of it – even in Clone Wars, Rogue One and in Solo.

Lucasfilm

Another cool moment we see here is Leia handing Rey her lightsaber. This further implies that Rey will be trained in the ways of the Force by Leia herself in at least some parts of the movie. Which also means that her Jedi training under her brother Luke got further along than anyone had previously guessed. Will we learn what finally drove Leia away from the ways of the Jedi? Suffice it to say there’s much to ponder until the final episode finally hits theaters next week.

Images: Lucasfilm

The post New THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Footage Reunites C-3PO and R2-D2 appeared first on Nerdist.

Amazon, the company so omnipresent you probably have a tab of its online store open right now, has a market capitalization of 860 billion dollars as of this writing. So when the behemoth tech company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, says he wants Amazon to help craft federal laws pertaining to the use of facial recognition software—the same facial recognition software that Amazon is deeply invested in—something tells us legislators are going to listen.

In a recent Recode article, which comes via Futurism, Bezos, who was responding to a reporter after this year’s annual Alexa hardware event, is quoted as saying that “[Amazon’s] public policy team is actually working on facial recognition regulations…” and that because of how powerful it is, it makes a lot of sense for the government to put limitations on it.

A video from the Bezos-owned Washington Post discussing the use of Rekognition. 

Bezos went on to say that facial recognition software is “a perfect example of something that has really positive uses, ” and that “you don’t want to put the brakes on it.” He added that “at the same time, there’s also potential for abuses of that kind of technology, so you do want regulations.” He called the facial recognition technology “a classic dual-use kind of technology.”

But Amazon proposing federal legislation for regulating the use of facial recognition technology seems inherently problematic because of how the company wants to deploy it for its own financial gain. In fact, Amazon employees went on strike last year because Amazon Web Services (AWS) was marketing the technology to various government agencies, including ICE. According to Wikipedia, the technology has already been sold and used by a number of U.S. government agencies, as well as “private entities.”

An explainer video for how facial recognition technology works. 

The facial recognition technology Amazon is marketing has been dubbed “Rekognition,” and is already exceptionally good at identifying all types of objects, people (including gender and age), faces, and emotions. Yes, that means Rekognition knows when you’re afraid.

What do you think about Amazon helping the federal government craft facial-recognition technology laws? Fully identify your thoughts in the comments!

Feature image: Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

The post Jeff Bezos Wants to Help Write Federal Facial-Recognition Tech Laws appeared first on Nerdist.

Welcome to our The Best Things Streaming column where each month we’ll run down the best of what’s hitting your preferred streaming channel! As the COVID-19 crisis continues and we all shelter in place, Amazon is bringing a bundle of fun movies and TV shows to keep us entertained. Kung Fu fans can rejoice as the streamer is adding a stack of classics to their catalog, there’s also a couple of massive Amazon originals, and some Giallo magic too.

Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue (May 1st)

Wu Tang Collection

You know Carter Wong from Big Trouble in Little China, or if you’re a lover of classic martial arts movies then you might recognize him from classics like Deadly China Doll, The Four Assassins, or this cult Kung Fu fave. When an evil government force attempts to overthrow the Ming dynasty and their rebel forces, two heroes have to save the young prince before enemies discover his identity. If you want a great popcorn flick that you likely haven’t seen, make sure to add this to your Amazon to watch list.

Seven Deaths In The Cat’s Eye (May 1st)

Blue Underground

Though we realize most people have Amazon Video as an extra from their Prime account, fans of cult movies and weird horror know that the streamer has plenty of weird old shit to enjoy. Seven Deaths In The Cat’s Eye is a lesser known Giallo that packs a punch, not least for its Scottish setting and supernatural story centered around a killer cat’s curse. When a small village is wracked by a series of murders all eyes turn to the inhabitants of a strange castle. Good, gory, silly fun to be had by anyone wanting some surreal and spooky horror.

Rocketman (May 22nd)

This Elton John biopic starring Kingsman’s Taron Egerton had a whole bunch of Oscar buzz but was ultimately snubbed—aside from an award for best original song. Now thanks to Amazon you can see what all the fuss is about. You can get a feel for what makes it so special in this tease from our very own Mica Arbeiter’s review. “While the bones of Rocketman may read familiar, as the film plucks plenty from Hollywood’s long and conservative tradition of biography pictures, coursing among them is a lifeblood charged with an originality befitting Sir Elton John.”

Come to Daddy (May 23rd)

Saban Films

If you have a terrible dad then you’ll likely love, hate, or be completely traumatized by Come to Daddy. Elijah Wood stars in this dark comedy thriller as a privileged man child coddled by his mother in Beverly Hills. His life changes when he responds to a letter from his absent dad and decides to visit him. Scary, funny, gross, and distressing this is a perfect escape from the horrors of everyday life by indulging in just how bad someone else’s life is.

Our other favorite streaming picks this month…

Paramount Pictures

Arrow Films

Wu Tang Collection

Saban Films

Wu Tang Collection

Blue Underground

Paramount Pictures

Wu Tang Collection

Wu Tang Collection

New Line Cinema

PBS

Sun Film Group

Amazon

May 1
10 Fingers of Steel (1973)
A Cadaver Christmas (2011)
Best of Shaolin Kung Fu (1977)
Who Saw Her Die? (1980)
Escape From Alcatraz (1979)
Eurocrime! The Italian Cop And Gangster Films That Ruled The ’70s (2014)
Fearless Young Boxer (1979)
Five Fingers of Steel (1982)
Friday The 13th Part III (1982)
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1982)
Green Dragon Inn (1977)
Torso (1973)
Inferno (1980)
Night Train Murders (1975)
Seven Deaths In The Cat’s Eye (1973)
The Blood Spattered Bride (1972)
Lakeboat (2000)
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagouge (1977)
The Final Countdown (1980)
Walking Tall (1973)
Upload *Amazon Original series
A House Divided: Season 1 (Urban Movie Channel)
African Hunters: Season 1 (Smithsonian Channel Plus)
Bonanza: Season 1 (Best Western Ever)
In The Cut: Season 1 (Brown Sugar)
Inspector Lewis: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
May 11
Alias: Seasons 1-5
May 15
The Last Narc: Season 1 *Amazon Original series
May 17
Poldark: Season 5
May 22
Rocketman (2019)
Homecoming: Season 2 *Amazon Original series
May 23
Come to Daddy (2020)
May 25
The Tracker (2019)
May 29
The Vast of Night *Amazon Original movie (2020)

Featured Image: Paramount Pictures

The post The Best Things on Amazon Streaming This Month appeared first on Nerdist.

Our team traveled all the way to Prague in our “Into Carnival Row” behind-the-scenes series where they met with all the artists responsible for crafting the fantastical world of Carnival Row. There, they each transformed into their own original characters! Now we get to see them bring these characters to life in an all-original Carnival Row RPG story, “The Heist on the Row”. Join us as series creator Travis Beacham makes his debut as a GM and ushers Dan, Aliza, Amy, and Erika through this enthralling journey down the streets of Carnival Row!

Be sure to check out “Carnival Row”, the new series from Legendary TV and Amazon Video, available to watch now on Amazon Prime!

CREDITS

Cast
Travis Beacham as Game Master
Dan Casey as Constable Tiberius Bottom
Aliza Pearl as Mima Carmeline Brightraven
Amy Vorpahl as Mabel Sullypond
Erika Ishii as Moonshadow Foxglove

Crew

Executive Producers Sonia Borris, Maureen Murphy, Jason Corey, Johnny Wickham, Jason Nguyen
Co-Directed & Produced by Jason Nguyen
Co-Directed by Jake Michels
Consulting Producer Eric Campbell
Produced by Erik Kozura

Director of Photography Connor Heck
Cam Op/1st AC Sean Goode
Cam Op Peter Murphy
Cam Op Joey Rassool
Gaffer Conor Soules
BBE Zach Trout
Key Grip Jake Reardon
BBG Tony Nall
Sound Mix Charles Mead
Key MUA Cici Andersen
Production Designer Nathan Owen
Set Dressers Leon Toro, Robert Wise, & Jenny Messer
Production Manager Katy Hampton
Key Set PA Dan Kleba
PA Jon Odate

Post Production Manager Matt Caron
Edited by Adam Scherer
Post Sound Mix Jon Odate
Graphics by Steven Gong
Assistant Editors Lucas Bessey
Titles and Thumbnails by Ken Nguyen

The post The Heist on the Row | A Carnival Row RPG appeared first on Nerdist.

Have you already binge-watched Carnival Row and find yourself yearning for more neo-Victorian murder mystery mayhem? Do you find yourself staring longingly out the window, wondering when the already-announced second season will arrive? Are you heaving deep, heavy sighs as you lament the fact that you’ve already read the prequel comics, so you’re currently out of Carnival Row adventures? Well, worry no more because your time in the Burgue is just beginning thanks to the official Carnival Row Tabletop RPG.

Download it here for free!

That’s right, folks: you can now create original characters that exist in the same universe as Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate, Vignette Stonemoss, and all of the other denizens of Carnival Row through a brand new tabletop role-playing game. The official Carnival Row Tabletop RPG is available for free right now, so start your very own adventures through the gritty underbelly of the Burgue.

While you’re spinning that up, settle in and watch a very special one-shot adventure run by Carnival Row creator Travis Beacham that puts the unique, canonical characters we created over the course of our five-part behind-the-scenes series Into Carnival Row into a bold new adventure that ties directly into the events of the show. Join the dirty lawman Constable Tiberius Bottom, fae priestess Mima Carmeline Brightraven, consternated faun nanny Mabel Sullybottom, and the shadowy assassin and Black Raven operative Moonshadow Foxglove as they attempt to recover a missing relic before time runs out and more bodies start piling up.

The cast of Into Carnival Row

Jason Nguyen

Aliza Pearl as Mima Carmeline Brightraven

Jason Nguyen

Erika Ishii as Moonshadow Foxglove

Jason Nguyen

Dan Casey as Officer Tiberius Bottom

Jason Nguyen

Amy Vorpahl as Mabel Sullybottom

Jason Nguyen

Dirty dealings on Carnival Row

Jason Nguyen

Laugh it up, hotshots.

Jason Nguyen

They're not just winging it.

Jason Nguyen

The caretakers of Carnival Row

Jason Nguyen

A not-so-dynamic duo

Jason Nguyen

Cast

Travis Beacham as Game Master

Dan Casey as Constable Tiberius Bottom

Aliza Pearl as Mima Carmeline Brightraven

Amy Vorpahl as Mabel Sullypond

Erika Ishii as Moonshadow Foxglove

Crew

Executive Producers Sonia Borris, Maureen Murphy, Jason Corey, Johnny Wickham, Jason Nguyen

Co-Directed & Produced by Jason Nguyen

Co-Directed by Jake Michels

Consulting Producer Eric Campbell

Produced by Erik Kozura

Director of Photography Connor Heck

Cam Op/1st AC Sean Goode

Cam Op Peter Murphy

Cam Op Joey Rassool

Gaffer Conor Soules

BBE Zach Trout

Key Grip Jake Reardon

BBG Tony Nall

Sound Mix Charles Mead

Key MUA Cici Andersen

Production Designer Nathan Owen

Set Dressers Leon Toro, Robert Wise, & Jenny Messer

Production Manager Katy Hampton

Key Set PA Dan Kleba

PA Jon Odate

Post Production Manager Matt Caron

Edited by Adam Scherer

Post Sound Mix Jon Odate

Graphics by Steven Gong

Assistant Editors Lucas Bessey

Titles and Thumbnails by Ken Nguyen

—

What kind of character would you want to play in a Carnival Row RPG? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to check out Carnival Row, the new series from Legendary TV and Amazon Video, available to watch now on Amazon Prime.

Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks

The post CARNIVAL ROW is Now a Tabletop RPG appeared first on Nerdist.

We have our characters, our costumes, and our slow-mo intros all squared away, but now it’s time to become a part of Carnival Row. Everything has led up to this moment. We’ve met with all of the wonderfully talented craftspeople and artisans who helped shape the beautiful world of “Carnival Row”, we’ve seen what goes into each of our character’s hair, make-up, and wardrobe. Now we’re ready to put them right into the action as they are invited to be in a scene alongside a hundred and fifty other background character actors!

We’ve also got interviews with series stars Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, and Scott Reid who all offer their insight into what it takes to march the mean streets of the Row. Be sure to check out “Carnival Row”, the new series from Legendary TV and Amazon Video, available to watch now on Amazon Prime!

CREDITS

CAST

Dan Casey as Himself/Constable Tiberius Bottom
Aliza Pearl as Herself/Mima Carmeline Brightraven
Amy Vorpahl as Herself/Mabel Sullypond
Erika Ishii as Herself/Moonshadow Foxglove

CREW

Executive Producers Sonia Borris, Maureen Murphy, Jason Corey, Johnny Wickham, Jason Nguyen
Directed, Written, Produced by Jason Nguyen
Produced by Erik Kozura
Director of Photography John J. Moers
1st AD Frantisek “Frankie” Rezek
Cam Op Martin Linhart
Audio Mix Petr Stuchlík
PA Martin Vejbora

Edited by Adam Scherer
Colorists Jason Nguyen & Connor Heck
Assistant Colorist Katy Hampton
Sound Mix Jon Odate
Animation by Adam Murray
Assistant Editors Lucas Bessey, Jeremy Backlar, & David Palmeri
Thumbnails by Ken Nguyen
Production Manager Katy Hampton

Special Thanks to lovely team from “Carnival Row” including:
Series Creator – Travis Beacham
Showrunner – Marc Guggenheim
Producers – Luděk Vomacka, Michael Wray, and Todd Lachniet
Costume Designer – Joyce Schure
Make-Up Designer– Enzo Mastantonio
Key Make-Up Artist – Federico Carretti
Hair Designer – Francesco Pegoretti
MUFX Artist – Nick Dudman
Key MUFX Artist – Sarah O’Brien
MUFX Assistant – Georgia Brown
Production Design – Jiri Matura
And all of the wonderfully talented folks who welcomed us and made everything possible!

The post Into Carnival Row: A Day on Carnival Row | Episode 5 appeared first on Nerdist.

Hair and makeup are essential pieces of the puzzle, but now we’re going to explore how the artists and craftspeople behind Carnival Row bring it to life through their elaborate production design. Aliza meets with the one of Carnival Row’s Production Designers to discuss specific set pieces, the inspiration for designs, and more! We also get… the cast’s final look reveal.

Dan – the Constable, Aliza – the Mima Faerie priestess, Amy – the battle-ready Faun Nanny, and Erika – the elusive Black Raven Faerie. Be sure to check out “Carnival Row”, the new series from Legendary TV and Amazon Video, available to watch now on Amazon Prime!

CREDITS

CAST

Dan Casey as Himself/Constable Tiberius Bottom
Aliza Pearl as Herself/Mima Carmeline Brightraven
Amy Vorpahl as Herself/Mabel Sullypond
Erika Ishii as Herself/Moonshadow Foxglove
Narration by Josh Petersdorf

CREW

Executive Producers Sonia Borris, Maureen Murphy, Jason Corey, Johnny Wickham, Jason Nguyen
Directed, Written, Produced by Jason Nguyen
Produced by Erik Kozura
Director of Photography John J. Moers
1st AD Frantisek “Frankie” Rezek
Cam Op Martin Linhart
Audio Mix Petr Stuchlík
PA Martin Vejbora

Edited by Adam Scherer
Colorist Connor Heck
Sound Mix Jon Odate
Animation by Adam Murray
Assistant Editors Lucas Bessey, Jeremy Backlar, & David Palmeri
Thumbnails by Ken Nguyen
Production Manager Katy Hampton

Special Thanks to lovely team from “Carnival Row” including:
Series Creator – Travis Beacham
Showrunner – Marc Guggenheim
Producers – Luděk Vomacka, Michael Wray, and Todd Lachniet
Costume Designer – Joyce Schure
Make-Up Designer– Enzo Mastantonio
Key Make-Up Artist – Federico Carretti
Hair Designer – Francesco Pegoretti
MUFX Artist – Nick Dudman
Key MUFX Artist – Sarah O’Brien
MUFX Assistant – Georgia Brown
Production Design – Jiri Matura

And all of the wonderfully talented folks who welcomed us and made everything possible!

The post Into Carnival Row: Production Design of Carnival Row | Episode 4 appeared first on Nerdist.

Dan, Aliza, Erika and Amy are dressed to the nines and ready to explore Carnival Row. We will now take our next major steps into transforming our cast into their respective Carnival Row creatures. We talk with the Make-up designers, Hairdressers, and Make-up Effects artists who will sculpt our team’s characters one step closer to completion! Be sure to check out “Carnival Row”, the new series from Legendary TV and Amazon Video, available to watch now on Amazon Prime!

CREDITS

CAST

Dan Casey as Himself/Constable Tiberius Bottom
Aliza Pearl as Herself/Mima Carmeline Brightraven
Amy Vorpahl as Herself/Mabel Sullypond
Erika Ishii as Herself/Moonshadow Foxglove
Narration by Josh Petersdorf

CREW

Executive Producers Sonia Borris, Maureen Murphy, Jason Corey, Johnny Wickham, Jason Nguyen
Directed, Written, Produced by Jason Nguyen
Produced by Erik Kozura
Director of Photography John J. Moers
1st AD Frantisek “Frankie” Rezek
Cam Op Martin Linhart
Audio Mix Petr Stuchlík
PA Martin Vejbora

Edited by Adam Scherer
Colorist Connor Heck
Sound Mix Jon Odate
Animation by Adam Murray
Assistant Editors Lucas Bessey, Jeremy Backlar, & David Palmeri
Thumbnails by Ken Nguyen
Production Manager Katy Hampton

Special Thanks to lovely team from “Carnival Row” including:
Series Creator – Travis Beacham
Showrunner – Marc Guggenheim
Producers – Luděk Vomacka, Michael Wray, and Todd Lachniet
Costume Designer – Joyce Schure
Make-Up Designer– Enzo Mastantonio
Key Make-Up Artist – Federico Carretti
Hair Designer – Francesco Pegoretti
MUFX Artist – Nick Dudman
Key MUFX Artist – Sarah O’Brien
MUFX Assistant – Georgia Brown
Production Design – Jiri Matura

And all of the wonderfully talented folks who welcomed us and made everything possible!

The post Into Carnival Row: Make-Up, Hair, & SFX of Carnival Row | Episode 3 appeared first on Nerdist.

Now that Dan, Aliza, Erika, and Amy have chosen their specific characters, it’s time to figure out what these characters will look like. We start with the first question and step into the transformation process. What do these characters wear? Watch as the gang meets up with one of Carnival Row’s costume designers to gear up and slip into the clothes of their budding new characters. Be sure to check out “Carnival Row”, the new series from Legendary TV and Amazon Video, available to watch now on Amazon Prime!

CREDITS

CAST

Dan Casey as Himself/Constable Tiberius Bottom
Aliza Pearl as Herself/Mima Carmeline Brightraven
Amy Vorpahl as Herself/Mabel Sullypond
Erika Ishii as Herself/Moonshadow Foxglove
Narration by Josh Petersdorf

CREW

Executive Producers Sonia Borris, Maureen Murphy, Jason Corey, Johnny Wickham, Jason Nguyen
Directed, Written, Produced by Jason Nguyen
Produced by Erik Kozura
Director of Photography John J. Moers
1st AD Frantisek “Frankie” Rezek
Cam Op Martin Linhart
Audio Mix Petr Stuchlík
PA Martin Vejbora

Edited by Adam Scherer
Colorist Connor Heck
Sound Mix Jon Odate
Animation by Adam Murray
Assistant Editors Lucas Bessey, Jeremy Backlar, & David Palmeri
Thumbnails by Ken Nguyen
Production Manager Katy Hampton

Special Thanks to lovely team from “Carnival Row” including:
Series Creator – Travis Beacham
Showrunner – Marc Guggenheim
Producers – Luděk Vomacka, Michael Wray, and Todd Lachniet
Costume Designer – Joyce Schure
Make-Up Designer– Enzo Mastantonio
Key Make-Up Artist – Federico Carretti
Hair Designer – Francesco Pegoretti
MUFX Artist – Nick Dudman
Key MUFX Artist – Sarah O’Brien
MUFX Assistant – Georgia Brown
Production Design – Jiri Matura
And all of the wonderfully talented folks who welcomed us and made everything possible!

The post Into Carnival Row: Costumes of Carnival Row | Episode 2 appeared first on Nerdist.

Our first day on the Carnival Row is an exciting one as our host, Dan Casey, travels all the way to Prague to sit down with series creator Travis Beacham. Watch as we dive behind the scenes and find out a little more about the wonderful world of Carnival Row and the different fantastical creatures that inhabit it. Dan, along with Amy Vorpahl, Aliza Pearl, and Erika Ishii all get to become a part of the Row as Travis kicks off their journey into becoming characters from the show itself. Come with us as we take a trip Into the Carnival Row. Be sure to check out “Carnival Row”, the new series from Legendary TV and Amazon Video which releases this Labor Day Weekend!

CREDITS

CAST

Dan Casey as Himself/Constable Tiberius Bottom
Aliza Pearl as Herself/Mima Carmeline Brightraven
Amy Vorpahl as Herself/Mabel Sullypond
Erika Ishii as Herself/Moonshadow Foxglove

CREW

Executive Producers Sonia Borris, Maureen Murphy, Jason Corey, Johnny Wickham, Jason Nguyen
Directed, Written, Produced by Jason Nguyen
Produced by Erik Kozura
Director of Photography John J. Moers
1st AD Frantisek “Frankie” Rezek
Cam Op Martin Linhart
Audio Mix Petr Stuchlík
PA Martin Vejbora

Edited by Adam Scherer
Colorist Connor Heck
Sound Mix Jon Odate
Animation by Adam Murray
Assistant Editors Lucas Bessey, Jeremy Backlar, & David Palmeri
Thumbnails by Ken Nguyen
Production Manager Katy Hampton

Special Thanks to lovely team from “Carnival Row” including:
Series Creator – Travis Beacham
Showrunner – Marc Guggenheim
Producers – Luděk Vomacka, Michael Wray, and Todd Lachniet
Costume Designer – Joyce Schure
Make-Up Designer– Enzo Mastantonio
Key Make-Up Artist – Federico Carretti
Hair Designer – Francesco Pegoretti
MUFX Artist – Nick Dudman
Key MUFX Artist – Sarah O’Brien
MUFX Assistant – Georgia Brown
Production Design – Jiri Matura
And all of the wonderfully talented folks who welcomed us and made everything possible!

The post Into Carnival Row: Exploring Carnival Row | Episode 1 appeared first on Nerdist.

With Avengers: Endgame having come and gone, most of the “Original 6” have completed their contracts. They’re on their way out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making way for a new era of characters. Some people move on, but not Jeremy Renner — the Hawkeye actor will star in the upcoming Disney+ series of the same name in 2021. He’s also managed to keep himself busy since completing work on what was arguably the biggest movie of the year, writing and producing his own music and starring in Jeep commercials as the face of the brand’s new summer campaign. Now, the actor known for his versatile interests outside of movie-making has revealed his newest project: an outdoorsman collaboration with Amazon.

Launching today, “the 90-piece curated collection features an assortment of sporting, camping, and outdoor equipment, including everyday necessities, like Neosporin and Levi’s jeans, and fun splurges, like an archery target and a compound bow set”. That last product is good news for everyone who wants to be Hawkeye but feels like they’re too good for the toy bow and arrows. You can now have your own archery set, handpicked by Earth’s Mightiest Hero himself! And if you’re not a hardcore outdoor person but are just looking for things like flannels, binoculars, or even a good cooler for your drinks? “The Jeremy Renner Store”, as it is branded on Amazon, has all that and more.

“The only law in nature is Mother Nature herself so you want to be prepared,” the actor told PEOPLE. “But there are also things that are just fun to have when you’re outside…things that you want.”

Anyone who follows Renner knows that he’s no stranger to the outdoorsman lifestyle, owning a home in Lake Tahoe where he spends most of his time cutting down trees and plowing insane piles of snow. So we’d say that this kind of collection is not only right up his alley, it’s probably something he’s got authority on.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Tuesday stroll #camprenner #walkabout #cleanair #cleanwater #happylife #tahoe #reno

A post shared by Jeremy Renner (@renner4real) on May 14, 2019 at 2:35pm PDT

 

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Feelin like summer At home #sharedexperiences #camprenner #friendsandfamily

A post shared by Jeremy Renner (@renner4real) on Jul 1, 2019 at 1:22pm PDT

New songs, Jeep commercials, an Amazon collaboration…the only question is, what random venture will Jeremy Renner pursue next that will have the Internet talking? Like Doctor Strange once cautioned us, possibilities may be endless.

Featured Image: Marvel Studios

The post Jeremy Renner Launched a Hawkeye-ish Collab with Amazon appeared first on Nerdist.

A video on social media pretty much has everyone looking to the skies above them. Is there really an Amazon blimp sending drones out to deliver packages? Certainly, the company has invested a ton of money in developing these blimp/drone combos, and have said as much. But so far, no one has seen any results. Or have we??

Not at all terrifying pic.twitter.com/KYpEIyY6D6

— Chris Taylor (@christaylor_nyc) April 2, 2019

The video shows Amazon blimps releasing the drones upon an unsuspecting city, which looks to be somewhere in Asia. This lead to outcry. It’s the first sign of Skynet! A Blade Runner-esque dystopian future! (There were those blimps in Blade Runner! It was foretold!) A parody video of the Amazon blimp made the rounds set to the Imperial March from Star Wars even.

Alas, the video is indeed a fake. According to a report by Gizmodo, the very convincing looking Amazon drone blimp was created by a video production artist in Hiroshima, Japan who goes by the Twitter handle zozi009.  Via images of the renderings, one can see the Amazon blimp and drones were completely fabricated on a computer. Major props go to zozi009, because even to the well-trained eye, these blimps were very hard to clock as phony.

午後のネタバレ。信じてる人は皆無だろうけど一応。thetaVでHDRI作ってそのままライティングした。後ろに余計なものも入れてみたけどあまり気づかれてない模様。 pic.twitter.com/o4P8z5agz9

— zozi(厳島神社の人） (@zozi009) April 1, 2019

Fake or not, sooner or later, the Amazon drone blimps will happen, and our skies will be dotted with them. And once Amazon does it, other companies will all soon follow. I suppose it seems kind of scary. However, when commercial flights became an everyday thing, people were terrified. They thought it would ruin the skies and begin the end of the world. Now we don’t even think about it.

Of course, a drone-deploying blimp can be used to deliver far more nefarious products than that nice comforter you ordered. Maybe there is a reason to be scared after all.

Images: Albert Ross

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Spring has officially sprung and though it’s sunny outside and the lambs are frolicking in the freshly cut grass, we know all you really care about is what great stuff is coming to streaming this month. There’s a whole platter of classic movies, originals, and animation heading this way and we’ve picked five of the things we’re most excited about that are hitting Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon this month.

Ultraman

Netflix’s sequel to the beloved Tokusatsu series Ultraman arrives on April 1 and looks like a whole heap of fun with the slick computer-enhanced anime style of the service’s original Godzilla series. If you like a big mech fighting evil monsters and saving the day, as well as some good family drama, then you’ll likely want to check this one out.

Rilakkuma and Kaoru

We highlighted this super sweet show when the trailer dropped, but couldn’t help but include it on our best of list too. Following the adventures of roommates Kaoru and Rilakkuma, one of whom is a stressed out office worker and one of whom is a very chilled bear with a zipper down its back, as they share a flat over the course of a year. If stop-motion, cute creatures, and mild peril sounds perfect then make sure you check it out when it lands on April 19.

Addams Family Values

The best Addams Family film is back on streaming and will hit Hulu and Netflix on April 1. This fiendishly good family flick focuses on a new arrival in the ghoulish household and his new nanny, who just happens to be a serial killer. One of the funniest, freshest, and most rewatchable of ’90s kids movies, we’re so happy that Addams Family Values has returned from the dead.

Beetlejuice

Tim Burton’s breakout horror comedy established his signature style and introduced the world to Betelgeuse, a human exorcist played with much vim and vigor by Michael Keaton. It’s a gothic funhouse filled with ghosts, ghoulies, and sandworms as a recently deceased couple try to rid their home of the new living tenants. You can join the fun from April 1.

Into The Dark: I’m Just F*cking with You

Hulu has been delivering an interesting set of original horror movies in conjunction with Blumhouse, and the newest entry to their Into the Dark series joins the service on April 1. I’m Just F*cking with You focuses on a man trying to avoid a family gathering at a local motel where he starts getting harassed by a prank-happy worker who seems to enjoy f*cking with people. Looks like some good dark fun in the vein of Cheap Thrills and The Perfect Host.

Full listings below!

NETFLIX

April 1
Across the Line
All the President’s Men
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Deliverance
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Evolution
Freddy vs. Jason
Friday the 13th (2009)
I Am Legend
Lakeview Terrace
Monster House
Obsessed
Penelope
Pineapple Express
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon: S2
P.S. I Love You
Snatch
Spy Kids
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D
The Bone Collector
The Fifth Element
The Golden Compass
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Valkyrie
Ultraman

April 2
Kevin Hart: Irresponsible

April 3
Suzzanna: Buried Alive

April 5
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Part 2
In The Shadows
Legacies: Season 1
Our Planet
Persona: Collection
Roman Empire: Caligula: The Mad Emperor
Spirit Riding Free: Season 8
Tijuana
Unicorn Store

April 9
Trolls: The Beat Goes On!: Season 6

April 10
New Girl: Season 7
You vs. Wild

April 11
Black Summer

April 12
A Land Imagined
Band Aid
Huge in France
Mighty Little Bheem
The Perfect Date
The Silence
Special
Who Would You Take to a Deserted Island?

April 15
Luis Miguel – The Series: Season 1
No Good Nick
The New Romantic

April 16
Super Monsters Furever Friends

April 18
My First First Love

April 19
A Fortunate Man
Brené Brown: The Call to Courage
Cuckoo: Season 5
I, Daniel Blake
Music Teacher
Rilakkuma and Kaoru
Samantha!: Season 2
Someone Great

April 20
Grass is Greener

April 22
Pinky Malinky: Part 2
Selection Day (New episodes)

April 23
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

April 24
Bonding

April 25
The Hateful Eight (Extended Version)
The Ugly Truth

April 26
The Protector: Season 2
ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Season 2
Street Food
The Sapphires
Yankee

April 27
American Honey

April 28
Señora Acero: Season 5

April 29
Burning
The Imitation Game

April 30
Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward
Baki: Part 2
Ingress: The Animation

HULU

April 1
Alone: Complete Season 5
Ancient Aliens: Complete Seasons 1, 2, 3, 13
Behind Bars: Rookie Year: Complete Season 1
Born Behind Bars: Complete Season 1
Cults and Extreme Belief: Complete Season 1
Intervention: Complete Season 20 (A&E)
Into The Dark: I’m Just F*cking With You (Hulu Original)
Little Women: LA: Complete Season 4 (Lifetime)
Mountain Men: Complete Season 1 (History Channel)
Raising Tourettes: Complete Season 1 (A&E)
The Real Housewives of Potomac: Complete Season 3 (Bravo)
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
The Addams Family (1991)
Addams Family Values (1993)
Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (2003)
An Everlasting Piece (2000)
At Close Range (1986)
Barton Fink (1991)
Beethoven (1992)
Beethoven’s 2nd (1993)
Beethoven’s 3rd (1999)
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Big Fat Liar (2002)
Blow (2001)
Blown Away (1994)
Bounce (2000)
The Cable Guy (1996)
Case 39 (2009)
The Clearing (2002)
Cold Mountain (2003)
Curious George: Follow that Monkey (2009)
Darkness (2002)
The Dark Mile (2017)
Days of Thunder (1990)
Diamonds are Forever (1971)
Die Another Day (2002)
Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief (2007)
Dragonslayer (1981)
Eastern Promises (2007)
Escape from L.A. (1996)
Everything Must Go (2011)
The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
Foxfire (1996)
Funny About Love (1990)
Funny Cow (2017)
Gloves Off (2017)
Goldfinger (1964)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Happy Feet (2006)
Hollywood Homicide (2003)
Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
I Think I Love My Wife (2007)
In A World… (2013)
The Jerk (1979)
Jersey Girl (2004)
Kill the Irishman (2011)
Law of the Lawless (1964)
Liberty Stands Still (2002)
License to Drive (1988)
Like Mike (2002)
Little Monsters (1989)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Living Daylights (1987)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Minus Man (1999)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Octopussy (1983)
One Million American Dreams (2018)
Painkillers (2018)
Penelope (2006)
Playing By Heart (1998)
Practical Magic (1998)
Primal Fear (1996)
Project Nim (2011)
Racing with the Moon (1984)
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Sex Drive (2008)
The Shining (1980)
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Stories We Tell (2013)
Sunshine Cleaning (2009)
The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
Ultraviolet (2006)
Undisputed (2002)
Uninvited Guest (1999)
Up in Smoke (1978)
Up in the Air (2009)
White Noise (2005)
The World is not Enough (1999)
You Only Live Twice (1967)

April 2
One-Punch Man: Special (Viz)
A Quiet Place (2018)
Air Strike (2018)
Weightless (2018)
Available April 5
Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger: Season 2 Premiere (Freeform)
Available April 7
Rick Steves’ Europe: Complete Season 10 (PBS)
Available April 8
Finding Your Feet (2018)
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

April 9
One-Punch Man: Season 2 Premiere (Viz)
Destroyer (2018)
Available April 10
The Bold Type: Season 3 Premiere (Freeform)
Chio’s School Road: Season 1 (DUBBED) (Funimation)
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord: Season 1 (DUBBED) (Funimation)
Available April 11
The Last Ship: Season 5 Premiere (TNT)
Tyrel (2018)

April 12
Pledge (2019)

April 14
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (2015)

April 15
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?: Complete Season 3 (TLC)
Ayesha’s Home Kitchen: Complete Seasons 1&2 (Food Network)
Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics: Complete Seasons 11-13 (Food Network)
Dr. Pimple Popper: Complete Season 1 (TLC)
Fixer Upper: Complete Season 5 (HGTV)
How the Earth Works: Complete Season 1 (Science Channel)
The Last Alaskans: Complete Seasons 2&3 (Discovery Channel)
Obsession: Dark Desires: Complete Season 2 (ID)
Pamela Smart: An American Murder Mystery: Complete Season 1 (ID)
Treehouse Masters: Complete Seasons 8-10 (Animal Planet)
Unearthed: Complete Seasons 2&3 (Science Channel)
What on Earth: Complete Seasons 2&3 (Science Channel)
Yukon Men: Complete Season 6 (Discovery Channel)
Enchanted April (1991)
Master of Disguise (2002)
We Are Columbine (2018)

April 17
Bless This Mess: Series Premiere (ABC)
Overboard (2018)

April 18
I Am The Night: Complete Season 1 (TNT)
The Quake (2019)

April 19
Ramy: Complete Season 1 Premiere (Hulu Original)

April 21
Book Club (2018)
Noma – My Perfect Storm (2015)
Available April 22
The Posh Frock Shop: Complete Season 1 (Banijay)
The Next Three Days (2010)
The Sisters Brothers (2018)
Just Go With It (2011)

April 23
Overlord: Episodes 1-13 (DUBBED) (Funimation)
Arcadia (2019)
Beast of the Water (2019)

April 24
Border (2019)
Don’t Go (2018)

April 27
Welcome to the Rileys (2010)

April 28
Attack on Titan: Season 3, Part 2 Premiere (Funimation)

April 29
Fairy Tail: Season 9, Episodes 291-303 (DUBBED) (Funimation)
Waiting for Superman (2010)

April 30
Vikings: Complete Season 5B (History Channel)
Hunting Evil (2019)
The Lone Ranger (2013)

AMAZON

April 1
Murder, She Wrote, Seasons 1-5
1492: Conquest Of Paradise (1992)
Addams Family Values (1993)
An Invited Guest (1999)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Blade (1998)
Blade II (2002)
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Blown Away (1994)
Case 39 (2009)
Days Of Thunder (1990)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Die Another Day (2002)
Dragonslayer (2011)
Escape From L.A. (1996)
An Everlasting Piece (2000)
Everything Must Go (2010)
Foxfire (1996)
Funny About Love (1990)
Goldfinger (1964)
In A World… (2013)
Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Law Of The Lawless (1964)
Liberty Stands Still (2002)
Little Monsters (1989)
Live And Let Die (1973)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Octopussy (1983)
Primal Fear (1996)
Racing With The Moon (1984)
Sharkwater Extinction (2018)
Six Degrees Of Separation (1993)
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Stories We Tell (2012)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze (1991)
The Addams Family (1991)
The Living Daylights (1987)
The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
The Minus Man (1999)
The Perfect Storm (2000)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Up In Smoke (1978)
Up In The Air (2009)
You Only Live Twice (1967)

April 2
A Quiet Place (2018)

April 5
The Tick (Prime Original Series), Season 2

April 8
Finding Your Feet (2018)
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

April 12
Bug Diaries (Prime Original Series), Season 1
Diablo Guardian (Prime Original Series), Season 2

April 17
Overboard (2018)

April 18
Mid90s (2018)

April 19
Bosch (Prime Original Series), Season 5

April 20
Book Club (2018)

April 22
The Next Three Days (2010)

April 27
The Hole In The Ground (2018)
Humans, Season 3

April 28
Welcome To The Rileys (2010)

April 29
Waiting For ‘Superman’ (2010)

April 30
Vikings, Season 5

Image: Paramount Pictures

The post Everything Coming to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon in April 2019 appeared first on Nerdist.

Fans of Stephen King have been holding out for a proper adaptation of his opus book series, The Dark Tower, for what feels like eons. The 2017 film version—starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey—failed to live up to expectations, but hope is not lost: Amazon is doing a TV series based on The Dark Tower, and it just found its two leads.

According to Deadline, Nightflyers actor Sam Strike will step into the role of Roland Deschain, the titular Gunslinger in the series’ first novel. He’ll be joined by BlacKkKlansman‘s Jasper Pääkkönen, a Finnish actor who is in talks to play the villainous Randall Flagg. (Deadline calls his character “Marten,” which is one of Flagg’s many identities.) The role of Roland was played by Elba in the film version, with McConaughey as Flagg.

The series, which is produced by MRC Studios, is said to be nearing an official pilot order at the streaming platform, and will follow the book series more closely than the 2017 film. For those unfamiliar, the book series is comprised of eight novels: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, The Wind Through the Keyhole, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower. It’s a fantasy Western that follows Roland on his quest toward the Dark Tower, a mystical, time-bending structure. He’s also hunting the “Man in Black,” or Randall Flagg, a man who possess dark magical abilities.

No word yet on whether the series will be a sprawling, multi-season spectacle, or a finite miniseries, but we’re chomping at the bit either way. King fans have been burned by Dark Tower news before, but this one feels different somehow. Could we be on the verge of our first great Stephen King TV series?

We’ll keep you updated as more news rolls in about Amazon’s The Dark Tower.

Images: Pocket Books, Sony Pictures

The post Amazon’s THE DARK TOWER Series Has Found Its Gunslinger appeared first on Nerdist.

Amazon’s billion-dollar Lord of the Rings series has been shrouded in mystery since it was announced in 2017. Early rumors said that the show would be centered on a young Aragorn, who was played by Viggo Mortensen in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. But then Amazon created an official Twitter account for the show that seemingly contradicted that.

On February 15, the account tweeted out the first in a series of maps of Middle-earth. It was mostly barren, save some mountain regions and forests, but it did have a few hints that made it clear when the series might be set. As Twitter user @tolkienthot pointed out, the map must be set post-War of Wrath, due to the absence of Beleriand, a northwestern region of Middle-earth that was destroyed and submerged beneath the sea.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, pic.twitter.com/unJj1Bpde1

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 15, 2019

That would place the series in either the Second or Third Age, something clarified as the account updated the map each week. Also of note: Each updated map came with a caption about the forging of the rings. In completion, they spell out the verse of the Rings of Power.

Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for mortal men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne;

In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,

One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them;

In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

So will the new series be about the forging of the rings? It’s hard to say, but given the account’s most recent tweet—which looks like a finalized version of the map—we now have confirmation that the island of Númenor exists in the timeline of the new prequel. This is a pretty major detail. First, it means the series is almost definitely set in the Second Age, when Númenor rose and fell. And due to other locations on the map, it seems pretty likely that the show will tell the story of the establishment of Arnor and Gondor.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. #LOTRonPrime pic.twitter.com/7TuQh7gRPD

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) March 7, 2019

For those unfamiliar, Númenor was a mythical island raised from the sea as a gift to Men. It was inhabited by the Dúnedain, a race of man who thrived on the island, making it a place of great culture and thinking. It was destroyed near the end of the Second Age, but many of its people escaped, and went on to forge the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.

via GIPHY

So does this have anything to do with Aragorn? Yes! In the Lord of the Rings books, Aragorn is the last of the Dúnedain and therefore the rightful king of Arnor and Gondor. So in a sense, the story will be a prequel tied to Aragorn… but will most likely be about his ancestors, not him.

Of course, all of this is just guesswork for now. We’ll know more when Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series hits the small screen sometime in the next year or two.

Images: New Line Cinema, Amazon

The post Amazon’s LORD OF THE RINGS Series Is Headed to Númenor appeared first on Nerdist.