Republicans Who Voted To Overturn Election Say Congress Should Stay Out Of Elections
WandaVision Snuck In An Expert-Level Stan Lee Easter Egg
The MCU is filled with Easter eggs and references. Some are hints of things to come, some are just fun winks. Some, though, are tributes. One of these tributes slips in during the credits to WandaVision, and it goes by in a flash. WandaVision director Matt Shakman revealed the Easter egg in an interview with Screen Rant.
“I mean, there are certainly some that folks have noticed that are important,” Shakman said. “A certain license plate, perhaps, in an opening title recently. We have to honor Stan Lee, of course.”
To see it for yourself, pop into WandaVision Episode 7–the one that starts out with the Office-style credits–and fast forward to just before 4:12. That’s when the Easter egg appears. The license plate itself simply reads “WANDA” in all caps, but its the number above that that we’re interested in: 122822.
Titmouse’s 5 Second Animation Festival Is Digital This Year
You know Titmouse’s animation. They’ve worked on Rick and Morty, Big Mouth, Metalocalypse, Legend of Korra, a dozen Marvel and DC animated projects, Venture Bros., and more. What you might not know about is the studio’s annual “5 Second Day” animation festival, which you can attend this year since it’s going digital for 2021.
The studio describes the yearly event as “a day when the studio closes so staff can make whatever project is swimming around in their heads.” Titmouse has been running the festival since 2008, and in that time animators at the studio have created more than 1,000 5 Second Day cartoons.
To give you an idea of what you’re in for, here’s the trailer for the studio’s 2019 5 Second Day:
12 Scariest Horror Movies And Shows To Stream Right Now On Paramount+
As the streaming wars continue to heat up, ViacomCBS has rebranded its CBS All Access platform as Paramount+. All Access actually predates many of the prominent studio services, such as Disney+ and HBO Max, but last month, ViacomCBS revealed its plans to hugely expand the service, with a variety of original shows, plus movies and series from Paramount’s vault, such as those produced by BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon.
Existing CBS All Access subscribers won’t have noticed a huge difference in the content yet–while the platform has rebranded, it is yet to increase its content beyond what was previously available. But there’s still some great movies and shows on there. Horror fans in particular will find some scary favorites and must-watch spooky TV to check out.
In 2019, Paramount gained exclusive streaming rights to Miramax’s movie catalog, which means that ’90s favorites such as The Faculty and Halloween H20 can be found on Paramount+. There are also classic slasher films, anthology favorites, and one of the best Stephen King adaptations. On the TV side, one of the greatest sci-fi horror shows of all time–The Twilight Zone–can be explored in its entirety, while David Lynch’s classic Twin Peaks is also available.
There’s sure to be many more horror movies and shows added to the platform over the coming months, but for now, here’s the scariest movies and TV shows to watch on Paramount+.
1. The Ruins
When it comes to threat in horror movies, we mostly expect it to come from monsters, masked killers, or supernatural entities. But in this scary gem, the horror comes from the natural world–specifically predatory, flesh-eating vines that trap a group of American tourists in a ruined Mayan template. While the characters are fairly forgettable, The Ruins delivers loads of tension, a great setting, and a number of truly horrific sequences. Providing you have the stomach for it, The Ruins delivers the meaty goods.
2. The Faculty
After successfully deconstructing the slasher genre in the Scream series, writer Kevin Williamson took on the alien invasion movie with The Faculty. Like Scream, it uses a high school setting as a backdrop for its mayhem, in this case, an alien parasite which starts taking control of the teachers. The young cast includes Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, and Jordana Brewster, while the likes of Robert Patrick and Famke Janssen make for creepy alien teachers. It’s got a typically funny and subversive screenplay and energetic direction from Robert Rodrigeuz.
3. Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
This Canadian anthology show was aimed at a teenage audience, and ran for five seasons from 1991 to 1995. The series focuses on a group of kids who gather in the woods to tell spooky stories, and the show taps in a variety of popular horror tropes, from vampires, ghosts, werewolves to witches, curses, and haunted houses. It’s very enjoyable and recommended for those in search of some safe, old-fashioned scares. The more recent reboot show can also be found on Paramount+.
4. Halloween H20
Jamie Lee Curtis made her return to the Halloween series in director Steve Miner’s fast moving and highly enjoyable 1998 Halloween reboot. It’s a direct sequel to 1981’s Halloween II, and sees Laurie Strode forced to confront the evil of her brother Michael Myers once more. The cast of rising stars includes Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Josh Harnett, and Scream creator Kevin WIlliamson had an uncredited hand in updating the franchise for a new generation of slasher fans. The next movie, Halloween Resurrection, is also available on Paramount+, but that’s best avoided.
5. Pet Sematary
Stephen King’s haunting 1983 novel got its first movie version in 1989. King himself wrote the screenplay and he remains fairly faithful to his book, with director Mary Lambert giving the movie an effective feeling of dread throughout. The movie was panned by critics on release at the time, but it’s aged very well, with Lambert’s restraint–until the studio mandated ending that is–making it as a much an intense family drama about grief as a supernatural shocker.
6. Mimic
Guillermo Del Toro didn’t have a happy experience directing his English-language debut Mimic, with producer Harvey Weinstein interfering throughout production and refusing to release Del Toro’s preferred version. But the movie remains a lot of fun, with Del Toro’s artistry and devotion to the genre shining through. It’s an old-school creature feature in which huge, human-hunting mutant termite/mantis hybrids stalk the sewers of New York, tearing the heads off anyone unlucky enough to cross their path.
7. Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Tales of the Darkside was a popular horror anthology show that ran for four seasons in the ’80s, and inspired this creepy 1990 movie spin-off. It’s directed by John Harrison, who previously worked as a composer on George Romero’s Creepshow and Day of the Dead, and one of the segments was written by Romero, adapting Stephen King’s feline frightener Cat from Hell. The other two stories feature a reanimated mummy and a gargoyle monster, and the cast of soon-to-be-famous actors includes Christian Slater, Julianne Moore, and Steve Buscemi. It’s not as well remembered as Romero’s Creepshow, but it’s well worth a watch.
8. The Ring
The Japanese horror wave of the ’90s inspired a glut of US remakes, and most were terrible. Perhaps the only one that stands alongside the original was the first remake, Gore Verbinski’s 2002 reworking of Hideo Nakata’s classic Ringu. Naomi Watts is superb as a woman trying to uncover the mystery of the cursed video tapes, and while most other J-horror remakes were compromised in order to reach a mainstream audience, Verbinski manages to retain the original’s sense of impending dread.
9. My Bloody Valentine
One of the best slasher movies of the early ’80s, this Canadian favorite is best known for its killer’s iconic mining gear and outlandishly gory murders. The frankly idiotic plot centers on a bunch of kids who decide to throw a Valentine’s Day party in an abandoned mine–as you do–but that provides plenty of opportunity for such choice moments as a human heart dropped in a vat of hot dogs, a girl impaled on a showerhead, and a guy getting messily dispatched with a nailgun.
10. Twin Peaks
David Lynch and Mark Frost’s small town mystery mixed whimsical comedy and bone-chilling scares in a way that few shows or movies have achieved since. What starts as a quirky murder mystery becomes something darker and weirder, as Agent Cooper uncovers the dark secrets of the titular logging town and we are introduced to some of the most iconic characters in modern TV history. From Audrey, Bobby, and Sheriff Truman and to Bob, the Log Lady, and the Man From Another Place, there’s never a bad time to revisit this hugely influential classic.
11. From Dusk Till Dawn
This gory vampire action comedy showcased the talents of two of the ’90s most iconic filmmakers–Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Rodriguez directed Tarantino’s script, which focused on a pair of criminal brothers (played by George Clooney and Tarantino) who kidnap a family and head to Mexico. They take refuge at a bar but find themselves at the mercy of the gang of shape-shifting vampires who run the place. The first section of the movie plays out like a traditional Tarantino thriller, and then explodes into outlandish horror madness as the vamps reveal themselves.
12. The Twilight Zone
Every episode of both the classic original anthology series Twilight Zone and its recent reboot can be found on Paramount+. Rod Serling’s groundbreaking 1950s mix of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi remains one of the most influential TV shows ever made, and while some episodes are dated, there are still some serious scares to be found in such immortal episodes as The Eye of the Beholder, The Dummy, and And When The Sky Was Opened. The more recent Jordan Peele-produced reboot brought the series up to date with some impressively spooky stories that combined paranoid scares with more social conscious satire.
Razer Iskur Gaming Chair Now Comes In Sleek All-Black Design
Razer’s pricey ergonomic gaming chair, the Iskur, launched last October, offering a black-and-green design with the Razer logo on the front and back of the headrest. Now, fans looking for a plainer design have another option to consider: Razer announced today that the Iskur will now be sold in all-black in addition to the black-and-green design.
Available for $500 on Razer’s website, the Razer Iskur’s all-black model is the exact same chair decked out in sleek black synthetic leather. The green accents along the side of the chair are now gone, and the Razer logos are a subtle black. The best part: The “For Gamers, By Gamers” slogan printed on the front side of the chair’s seat is now black as well. Though this particular feature was never super noticeable due to its location on the chair, I’m still not the biggest fan of the text being there at all. It’s nice that the aspects of this chair that scream “GAMER” are now minimized for those who want something a little more understated.
I’ve been using the Iskur for a few months now and wrote about the experience in our recent Razer Iskur review. Quite frankly, it’s one of the most comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat in. The Iskur is notable for its dynamic lumbar support system, which features a built-in curve that can be extended up to 26 degrees to match the entire curvature of your lower-middle back. Because it’s fully attached to the chair, the Iskur’s lumbar curve is sturdy and secure, so it won’t shift around like a separate lumbar pillow would. The ability to find the proper angle to support your entire back is a benefit that can’t be overstated. If you’re someone who sits all day for work or during long gaming sessions, having proper ergonomic support is crucial, and the Iskur is simply the best gaming chair on the market that we’ve tested that’s designed for this purpose.
Little Nightmares 2 – Scariest Moments Compilation
We compiled together every spine-chilling set piece and boss battle from Little Nightmares 2 in this gameplay clip, including the climactic final twist!Diablo 2 Resurrected Will Carry Over Save Data From Original Release
Turns out if you’re still playing 2000’s Diablo II or still have access to your save in that game, you’ll be able to transfer your progress into the upcoming Diablo II: Resurrected remaster. It all seamlessly transfers over.
“Yes, keep your old save files,” Diablo II: Resurrected producer Matthew Cederquist told IGN. “Back when we were working on [the remaster], we wondered if the old save files would work, so we kind of shoved it in, and it worked! So yes, your local single-player save files will carry over.”
As revealed at BlizzConline 2021, Diablo II: Resurrected will feature a toggle that allows you to switch back and forth between the remaster’s updated graphics and the original game’s visuals. So you could port your original Diablo II save into the remaster and then switch to the original game’s visuals and it would be like you never switched games. Why? Because you can.
Apex Legends Chaos Theory Devstream Reveals Ultimate Ability Callout, Explains Wattson’s New “Selfish” Ability
Respawn has released a new Apex Legends devstream to further explain the changes being made in the upcoming Chaos Theory event. The devstream also reveals what looks to be an upcoming change to how ultimate abilities may work, an adjustment that wasn’t touched on in the Chaos Theory patch notes.
At 13:36, Bangalore’s ultimate ability finishes charging and you see a prompt pop up for her to say, “My Ultimate is Ready!” So it looks like this next update will add in new voice lines that allow you to call out when your ultimate ability is fully charged and ready to go. This is an awesome addition; we love that Respawn keeps implementing new conversational quips that make it easier to “talk” to teammates without ever having to use a mic.
As detailed in the patch notes, a big part of the Chaos Theory update is rebalancing the defender characters–Wattson and Rampart get buffs while Caustic and Gibraltar get nerfs. Wattson’s change is the most interesting of the bunch, as she now passively heals her shield. In the devstream, Respawn explains this is being done to finally make Wattson a little more “selfish.”
Self-Proclaimed Billionaire Now Begging Small-Dollar Donors For Money
The lies Trump told at CPAC were not new, but his request for money for his new political committee was a first.