You Need to Watch the Most Brutal War Epic on Netflix ASAP

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You Need to Watch the Most Brutal War Epic on Netflix ASAP     Nollywood is one of the most active filmmaking industries in the world. The west African country churns out hundreds — sometimes thousands — of films every year, some in the English language, some not. Jagun Jagun, an indigenous war epic released on Netflix today, is a vibrant example of Yoruba-language cinema, a sub-industry of Nollywood that is based in the Western region of Nigeria.Jagun Jagun is a brutal blockbuster with impressive production values, gorgeous cinematography, and a talented cast. It centers the story of a young man named Gbotija (Adedimeji Lateef, who somehow filmed the movie with a broken leg). At the beginning of Jagun Jagun, Gbotija enters a training school for men run by warlord Ogundiji (Yoruba acting legend Femi Adebayo, who also serves as the film’s producer). The school is populated by men who wish to be trained in combat in order to protect their villages. Continued here

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The Future of Legacy Admissions, and a Conversation with Esmeralda Santiago     The practice of legacy admissions—preferential consideration given to the children of alumni—has emerged as a national flash point since the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in June. Even some prominent Republicans agree with the Biden Administration that legacy preferences should end. The New Yorker contributor Jeannie Suk Gersen speaks with the dean of admissions at a university that just ended the practice. And David Remnick talks to the U.S. Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, about the politics behind college admissions.Plus, the novelist Esmeralda Santiago, whose latest book is “Las Madres,” speaks with the staff writer Vinson Cunningham about teaching herself to read and write again after a stroke. Continued here

S21

Native Hawaiian sacred sites have been damaged in the Lahaina wildfires - but, as an Indigenous scholar writes, their stories will live on     Native Hawaiians are devastated by the recent wildfires that swept through Lahaina, Maui, killing dozens of residents and destroying hundreds of homes, buildings, Christian churches and Buddhist temples.It is not just the historic buildings and landmarks that are important to Native Hawaiians. This region of Maui has a longer history. Continued here

S45

The Business Case for Understanding Generation Alpha - SPONSORED CONTENT FROM Journey     Close your eyes and imagine a time and place where children receive their allowance in virtual currencies. Picture kids having a gaming experience on a soccer field where they are able to play sports aided by augmented reality (AR) as they sit in the shopping cart their parents are filling with groceries. Envision a time when a youngster can build a roller coaster online before actually riding their creation for real at a theme park. Visualize people expressing themselves in virtual worlds through their avatars, which they prefer buying clothes and accessories for, and being able to make calls to loved ones using AR filters while wearing virtual AR outfits. Now open your eyes because this world isn’t the future. It’s the world that Generation Alpha is currently growing up in. Continued here

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This Affordable Handheld PC Borrows the Game Boy Color's Most Iconic Feature     The atomic purple Game Boy Color lives on, at least in spirit. Ayn is working on a successor to its Odin affordable handheld, which will be unsurprisingly called the Odin 2. The handheld company has been teasing the Odin 2 in recent weeks but finally revealed a prototype that starts at $299.The Odin 2 stays fairly true to its predecessor with that affordable price tag and the purple colorway that’s a clear call back to the Nintendo’s iconic design for the Game Boy Color. If purple doesn’t suit you, Ayn is adding a clear blue option with the Odin 2. Continued here

S42

40 Years Ago, a Daring Cinematographer Pushed Stephen King's Most Unsettling Thriller to the Limit     “I always felt like I had to give the audience in the theater an experience as if they themselves were there,” cinematographer Jan de Bont tells Inverse.As he prepared to shoot the opening scene of Cujo, Jan de Bont began experimenting. Instead of gathering generic wide shots of a playful Saint Bernard chasing a rabbit throughout a green pasture, the cinematographer wanted to capture something more visceral. So he took a small camera with a 60-foot magazine, attached it to a farm shovel, lowered it to the ground, and began running (and sometimes tripping) around with it directly behind his furry friends. Continued here

S46

Innovation in Data-Driven Health Care - SPONSORED CONTENT FROM ROCHE     Innovative uses of data in health care are helping solve the most challenging problems in patient health and operational efficiency. Today, many health care organizations understand that a data-driven approach can improve patient health outcomes, enable faster clinical decisions, and improve treatment and hospital workflows. Continued here

S27

Living Through Maui's Unimaginable Wildfires     On Tuesday morning, an herbalist named Spice Prince was at his shop in Lahaina, Hawaii, preparing for the launch of a new perfume line, when gnarly winds started to topple trees and power lines in his neighborhood. After an exhausting few hours of damage control, he fell asleep on the floor with his dog. Then the smell of smoke woke him up.Prince has lived on the island of Maui for thirty-five years, he said, since Lahaina had only one street light. He saw billowing dark clouds, but the power was out, so he couldn't find out what was happening. He ran to Front Street, the main road, and was met with gridlock—no one was getting anywhere. He rushed back to get his computer, as the air started to darken. "It just started getting so black," he told me. He knocked on his neighbor's door, saying, "We've got to go!" But his neighbor had cats and didn't want to leave. "He just shut the door in my face," Prince recalled. Over the phone, I could hear him start to sob. Continued here

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'Foundation' Is Fixing The Trickiest Thing About the Asimov Books     Isaac Asimov was a science fiction giant. But the version of Foundation addresses one place the books fell short.The Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov may very well be one of the best science fiction book series of all time. And, the current Apple TV+ series based on those books is easily one of the top five best contemporary sci-fi TV shows airing right now, period. But, what makes Foundation unique among sci-fi book adaptations is that it dramatically improves upon its source material, and outright corrects aspects of the novels which simply don’t work today. In the fifth episode of Foundation Season 2, one of the most powerful characters in the show, Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith) challenges the Emperor of the Galaxy, Brother Day, in a way that characters from Asimov’s books never could. Continued here

S22

Military coups in Africa: here's what determines a return to civilian rule     Slightly more than two years after Niger’s first peaceful handover of power from one civilian president to another, the military seized power in July 2023. The coup – the fourth in Nigerien history – follows on the heels of recent military interventions in Africa. Mali (August 2020 and May 2021), Chad (April 2021), Guinea (September 2021), Sudan (October 2021) and Burkina Faso (January and September 2022). Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, the number of military coups has declined sharply. However, francophone west Africa now accounts for approximately two-thirds of all military coups that have occurred since then. Continued here

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The Most Polarizing DC Sequel May Finally Be Dead     To quote master wordsmith Dwayne Johnson, the DC Universe is caught in “a vortex of new leadership.” After a fraught merger with Discovery+, the flailing DC Studios was given a fresh start with new leadership under Marvel alum and DC director James Gunn. After the downgrade from the well-received Wonder Woman to the mediocre sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, it felt like Gal Gadot’s Princess of Themyscira needed one last chapter to wrap up her story. But is that really happening? The truth needs to be lassoed. In January 2023, James Gunn told Gizmodo about his vision for the new DCU, and when asked about returning actors, he had a simple answer: “We’ve talked to Gal [Gadot]. She’s up for doing stuff. We’re not sure what we’re going to do with that. All I can tell you really right now is Henry [Cavill] and Ben [Affleck] are not part of this universe.” Continued here

S25

Offices: how bad will the coming property crunch be?     There has been much talk for a while about offices heading for the buffers. The nightmare scenario is many thousands of office buildings being deemed virtually worthless as leases come up for renewal, leaving owners and even lenders run aground. Landlords, investors and financiers have all been looking over their shoulders nervously. This is compounded by the longstanding anxieties around retail due to the move from bricks and mortar to more online shopping. Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, has warned of a major pullback in lending to commercial property. He argues that American banks are full of bad loans associated with previously lucrative assets. Continued here

S32

How 'Last Voyage of the Demeter' Became a Dracula Movie Like No Other     In the 101 years since Nosferatu ripped off Bram Stoker’s Dracula and invented a new film genre, over 80 movies have been made featuring the Prince of Darkness. So how do you tell a new type of story about Dracula? The answer lies in an overlooked chapter of Stoker’s original novel.“Dracula has been done and done and done so many ways at so many levels because it's public domain,” producer Brad Fischer tells Inverse. “It's the sort of curse and blessing of public domain as IP. Anybody can do it. And anyone could have done this, but this story hadn't been told.” Continued here

S30

Tapping Out: My Personal Thumb War     By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.© 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices Continued here

S35

'Loki' Season 2 Theory Could Blow Up the MCU's Most Contentious Element     Loki Season 2 has a lot on its plate. After Sylvie eradicated the Sacred Timeline at the end of Season 1, Kang the Conqueror took over the Time Variance Authority and completely reworked it. Now it’s up to Loki and Mobius to somehow put things right again. But just how are they supposed to manage that? The answer may lie in combining a closer look at Ke Huy Quan’s costume with a rumor and a mythological figure.Redditor TheMediocreCritic suggests Ke Huy Quan’s character’s name may hold the key to the entire series. TVA agent Mobius was named after a Möbius strip, a mathematical example of a non-orientable surface representing infinity. An old rumor from leaker DanielRPK suggests Ke Huy Quan’s character will have a similar name: Ouroboros, or B-O for short, which is quite the unfortunate nickname. The loops on his jacket certainly seem to allude to the name, or at least some name also representing infinity. Continued here

S29

How "Winter Kills" Nails the Paranoid Style     Conspiracy theories are faith-based history, and "Winter Kills," a 1979 neo-noir, riffs on a scriptural pillar of this realm—the assassination of President John F. Kennedy—with freewheeling speculations that feel both heretical and metaphysical. The movie (which is coming Friday to Film Forum, in a new restoration, and is also widely streaming) stars Jeff Bridges as Nick Kegan, an heir without portfolio, whose claim to fame is that his older half brother Timothy was murdered in 1960, while serving as President. Now, nineteen years later, while aboard an oil tanker belonging to their colossally wealthy father, Nick gets a tip regarding the murder weapon, which had never been found. Following up on that lead, he's drawn into a whirlwind of danger and deceit that shakes the very foundations of his ideals, his relationships, and his place in the world.There are so many startling revelations and elaborate deceptions in "Winter Kills" that more or less any discussion of the plot counts as a spoiler (which I define as any detail I'm glad not to have known going in). Let's just say that it's a very strange movie, and its tone and aesthetic reflect its idiosyncratic concept. (Written and directed by William Richert, it's based on a novel by Richard Condon.) Fortunately, there's plenty going on in the film besides just plot, but little of it involves psychology, because the character development is virtually nonexistent. Even Nick's deepening exploration of a wide variety of American underworlds—ranging from the familiar ones of seedy crime bosses to bewilderingly vast networks of surveillance and manipulation—is hardly an existential adventure. Indeed, the adventure he embarks on, with increasingly frenetic and violent efforts to uncover tantalizingly elusive truths, feels almost radically impersonal, because Nick himself is largely a blank. Where one might expect psychological drama, Richert leaves an abyss across which the movie giddily, madly howls, evoking a paranoiac vision of illusions, schemes, and shadowy manipulators who appear able to bend history and even present-tense reality to their will. Continued here

S44

Hollywood Exec Behind 'Terminator' Speaks Out on AI-Generated Movies     When Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled back through time to 1984 to squash a future rebellion against an evil artificial intelligence, the concept of AI was still deeply rooted in the realm of science fiction. But four decades later, AI seems to be on the cusp of taking over our world in a (hopefully) less apocalyptic way.Hollywood actors and writers are currently on strike over a long list of grievances against studios like Disney and Netflix, including the lack of safeguards against artificial intelligence. But regardless of how those negotiations play out, it feels inevitable that by 2029 (the year Schwarzenegger’s Terminator traveled back from in that movie), the first AI-generated movies will arrive — for better or worse. Continued here

S26

"The Shark Is Broken" Circles the Guts of "Jaws"     Forty-eight Junes ago, summer changed. A twenty-seven-year-old, as yet unknown Steven Spielberg released a shark movie, and thanks in part to some stunning casting choices—Roy Scheider as a decent police chief, Richard Dreyfuss in peppery scientist mode, the flinty British actor Robert Shaw as the Ahab-like fisherman Quint—the result ate the box office. "Jaws" shifted Hollywood, which shifted the culture as a whole. At sea, when a whale dies, it can fall to the ocean floor and decay into a nutrient-rich structural reef, the basis of a food web that can last for decades. When "Jaws" landed in 1975, it generated its own ecosystem, too. The modern movie industry, with its summer tentpoles, youth-oriented programming, and marketing blitzes, was born in its guts."The Shark Is Broken," a play by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon, now at the John Golden Theatre, also takes shelter in the "Jaws" skeleton: it's a behind-the-scenes comedy that imagines frequently irritable chats among the movie's three main actors as they wait around for weeks, delayed by the movie's malfunctioning rubber-skinned star. Scheider (Colin Donnell), Dreyfuss (Alex Brightman), and Shaw (Ian Shaw, both writing about and playing his own father) idle away the time on the set's lobster boat, which bobs in the ocean off Martha's Vineyard. They talk about everything under the New England sun, like Dreyfuss's yearning for fame and Shaw's constant boozing, and we see how desperate the eager pup (Dreyfuss) is to impress the salty dog (Shaw). There's also a certain amount of meta-theatrical ironizing, subtle as a harpoon."Do you really think anyone will be talking about this in fifty years?" Robert Shaw scoffs at the two younger men. Thunk. Continued here

S51

Why Today's Leaders Need to Be Perpetual Learners     Andrew Liveris likes to defy expectations. Born to immigrant parents in the Australian outback, he would eventually rise to the top of the corporate world, taking over in 2004 as CEO of Dow Chemical. In that job, which he held for 14 years, he won widespread credit for pushing an ambitious sustainability agenda, no easy task at one of the world’s biggest chemical producers. In this episode of “The New World of Work”, he offers his thoughts on leadership in tough times. He says executives need to be far more proactive, to find ways to discern relevant facts in a society that increasingly offers competing narratives of the truth. To do this, he says, leaders need to get out to the front lines, to travel, to perpetually reinvent themselves. Continued here

S23

How ChatGPT might be able to help the world's poorest     ChatGPT has been touted as a tool that is going to revolutionise the workplace and home. AI systems like it have the potential to enhance productivity but could also displace jobs. The ChatGPT website received 1.5 billion visits last month.Though no comprehensive statistics exist, these users are likely to be relatively educated, with access to smartphones or computers. So, can the AI chatbot also benefit people who don’t have all these advantages? Continued here

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Do You Think NASA Should Go Back To The Moon? Here's What Most Americans Say Is Best      How Americans view space activities might affect the future of both U.S. and global space developments.Most Americans — 69 percent — believe it is essential that the United States continue to be a world leader in space. But only a subsection of that group believes NASA should prioritize sending people to the Moon, according to a new report released by the Pew Research Center. The study surveyed over 10,000 U.S. adults on their attitudes toward NASA and their expectations for the space industry over the next few decades. Continued here

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Hip-hop at 50: how the sights, sounds and moves of the music spread across the world     On August 11 1973, DJ Kool Herc and his sister Cindy threw the now legendary Back To School jam in the recreation room of 1520 Sedgewick Avenue in The Bronx, New York. Herc’s party represented a coming together of music and the start of something new. The Bronx crowd did not want the dancehall sounds Herc had begun to play. They wanted soul and the tough percussion of funk. So, Herc changed up the sound and used the main switch for the lights like a strobe-light to add atmosphere. Little did they know, that his event would be commonly accepted by the hip-hop fraternity worldwide as the starting point of what was to become one of the most important creative movements of the last century. Continued here

S38

'Honkai: Star Rail' Kafka Theory Hints at an Unexpected Relationship     Since the beginning of Honkai: Star Rail, the Trailblazer and the Astral Express crew have been butting heads with the stylish and suave Stellaron Hunter Kafka. While the player is just as clueless as the Trailblazer as to what is going on most of the time, we do get the impression that Kafka is a new threat to the Astral Express. But a new video coinciding with the release of Kafka’s banner hints that the Stellaron Hunter may have a more complicated past with a certain navigator than we realized. Continued here

S41

50 Genius Things That Solve So Many Problems for Less Than $30 on Amazon     Yes, there are some issues — around the house, in life — that require pricy fixes and a lot of time. But a lot of the time all it takes is one budget-friendly little product to solve the exact life problem you’re dealing with. Whether your middle part keeps getting sunburnt, your phone loses its charge the second a new edition is announced, or you need help making sure you stay hydrated, here are 50 genius things that solve so many problems, for less than $30 on Amazon. Continued here

S20

Three ways to get your nature fix without a garden     Spending time in a garden is good for you. It doesn’t matter if you’re watering plants or simply chilling on a deck chair – there’s a whole range of benefits that come with it. These include improved health and wellbeing, reduced mental fatigue and better sleep quality. But not everyone is able to access a garden. With inflation squeezing incomes, owning a home with a garden is more difficult than ever, particularly for young people, and rental accommodation may not always come with outside space. Continued here

S24

Two years after Taliban takeover: why Afghanistan still poses a threat to the region and beyond     The dramatic and rapid Taliban offensive in the spring of 2021 culminated in its takeover of Kabul on August 15. The chaos of the western withdrawal that surrounded the return of the Taliban represented a sad endpoint of two decades of failed US-led attempts to impose a liberal democratic system on a country that had hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and facilitated his masterminding of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For Afghanistan, the return of the Taliban marked the beginning of a deeply illiberal regime that is particularly hostile to women and minorities. Continued here

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Beyond The Story: BTS biography is a humanising, literary portrayal of K-pop's world-leading stars     In a climate of ever-increasing competition, it’s a real feat when any band makes it to their tenth anniversary bigger than ever. Such is the case with K-pop group BTS (short for bangtan sonyeondan, “bulletproof boy scouts” in Korean). The band have released their first official biography – Beyond The Story – to look back on their decade-long path to international, record-breaking success.Initially rumoured to be a Taylor Swift autobiography, pre-orders had made the book a bestseller before its subject was announced. It was released to tie in with both BTS’s anniversary and their hiatus, undertaken so that the members could enrol in mandatory Korean military service. Continued here

S52

Message sticks: Australia's ancient unwritten language     The continent of Australia is home to more than 250 spoken Indigenous languages and 800 dialects. Yet, one of its linguistic cornerstones wasn't spoken, but carved.Known as message sticks, these flat, rounded and oblong pieces of wood were etched with ornate images on both sides that conveyed important messages and held the stories of the continent's Aboriginal people – considered the world's oldest continuous living culture. Message sticks are believed to be thousands of years old and were typically carried by messengers over long distances to reinforce oral histories or deliver news between Aboriginal nations or language groups. Continued here

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US-Israel relations the coolest for decades after 'terror' attack by settlers kills 19 year-old Palestinian     For most of Israel’s 75-year history, its closest ally has been the United States, prepared to use its UN security council veto and invariably willing to encourage military collaboration as well as providing plenty of direct aid.But that relationship is highly stressed at present, mainly down to the Netanyahu government’s determination to curb the power of the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, in favour of more power for the Knesset. Continued here

S39

'Detective Pikachu Returns' Release Date, Trailer, Voice Actors, and More News     Time to crack another case. Detective Pikachu Returns is a sequel to 2018’s Detective Pikachu, and it’s slated to launch in October 2023. Unlike the mainline Pokémon games, Detective Pikachu Returns is focused on solving mysteries across Ryme City. Players will take on the role of a gruff Pikachu, who must work to solve a series of cases, — alongside his partner Tim Goodman. As revealed during the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, Detective Pikachu Returns launches for Switch on October 6, 2023. It’s available to pre-order for $50 from the Nintendo eShop now. Continued here