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  • WWW.GAMESPOT.COM
    Sony's PC Gaming Earbuds Get Biggest Discount Yet For Black Friday
    Sony Inzone Buds - Wireless Noise-Canceling Gaming Earbuds $170 (was $200) See at Amazon See at Best Buy Sony Inzone H9 Wireless Noise-Canceling Gaming Headset $198 (was $300) See at Amazon PlayStation Pulse Explore Wireless Earbuds $170 (was $200) See at Amazon See at Best Buy See at Walmart Black Friday has brought the first big discount on PlayStation's Pulse Explore Wireless Earbuds, but the PS5's official earbuds aren't the only option on sale for an all-time low price. Sony Inzone Buds for PC and PS5 are discounted to $168, down from $200. This Amazon Black Friday deal applies to both the white and black editions of the Inzone Buds. If you want a pair of PC/PS5 gaming earbuds with robust active noise cancellation, the Inzone Buds are a great choice.Made by Sony Electronics--not PlayStation--these gaming earbuds are part of Sony's PC-focused gaming line of gear, which includes audio gear as well as gaming monitors. Sony recently released two new Inzone gaming monitors, and both of them are on sale for Black Friday at Amazon. You can also save $300 on the original Sony Inzone M9 4K Gaming Monitor.Sony Inzone M9 II 27-Inch 4K Gaming Monitor -- $698 ($800)Sony Inzone M10S 27-Inch OLED 1440p Gaming Monitor -- $998 ($1,100)Sony Inzone M9 27-Inch 4K Gaming Monitor -- $600 ($900)Check out Sony Inzone Buds and the over-ear Inzone H9 Gaming Headset below. For more discounts, take a look at our roundup of the best Black Friday PS5 deals.Continue Reading at GameSpot
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  • WWW.GAMESPOT.COM
    Save $40 On EA Sports College Football 25, Madden 25, And More Sports Sims
    EA Sports College Football 25 $30 (was $70) See at Amazon See at Best Buy Madden NFL 25 Early Black Friday Deal $30 (was $70) See at Amazon See at Best Buy EA Sports FC 25 - Black Friday Doorbuster $30 (was $70) See at Amazon See at Best Buy See at Walmart NHL 25 Early Black Friday Deal $32.79 (was $70) See at Amazon See at Walmart See at Best Buy F1 2024 Early Black Friday Deal $35 (was $70) See at Amazon Best Buy's latest batch of Black Friday Doorbusters features a trio of popular EA Sports games for their lowest prices yet. EA Sports College Football 25, Madden NFL 25, and EA Sports FC 25 are on sale for only $30. These massive $40 discounts are unlikely to be topped over the holidays, so if you're shopping for a gift, now's probably the time to buy. Amazon is matching some of Best Buy's deals in its Black Friday sale, including College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25 on PS5 for $30. Just keep in mind that some of the best EA Sports game deals have already sold out at Amazon.Check out all of the best EA Sports Black Friday game deals below. And if you have a basketball fan on your shopping list, it's worth noting NBA 2K25 is on sale for an equally huge discount.Continue Reading at GameSpot
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  • GAMERANT.COM
    WoW Classic: Best Professions For Hardcore Mode
    Hardcore is a different beast than vanilla World of Warcraft. In vanilla WoW you can take professions early to get ready for endgame when Raiding and group content is the main activity. But in WoW Hardcore, professions can be used to survive longer and make it to endgame in the first place.
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  • GAMERANT.COM
    WoW Classic: Best Leveling Dungeons
    In World of Warcraft Classic, dungeons can be found in most zones throughout the world. Starting at around Level 15 for both factions, with the Horde able to start slightly earlier, WoW Classic players can start to take on grouped instances alongside quests to optimize XP and get some major item upgrades while leveling.
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  • BLOGS.NVIDIA.COM
    What Is Robotics Simulation?
    Robots are moving goods in warehouses, packaging foods and helping assemble vehicles bringing enhanced automation to use cases across industries.There are two keys to their success: Physical AI and robotics simulation.Physical AI describes AI models that can understand and interact with the physical world. Physical AI embodies the next wave of autonomous machines and robots, such as self-driving cars, industrial manipulators, mobile robots, humanoids and even robot-run infrastructure like factories and warehouses.With virtual commissioning of robots in digital worlds, robots are first trained using robotic simulation software before they are deployed for real-world use cases.Robotics Simulation SummarizedAn advanced robotics simulator facilitates robot learning and testing of virtual robots without requiring the physical robot. By applying physics principles and replicating real-world conditions, these simulators generate synthetic datasets to train machine learning models for deployment on physical robots.Simulations are used for initial AI model training and then to validate the entire software stack, minimizing the need for physical robots during testing. NVIDIA Isaac Sim, a reference application built on the NVIDIA Omniverse platform, provides accurate visualizations and supports Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD)-based workflows for advanced robot simulation and validation.NVIDIAs 3 Computer Framework Facilitates Robot SimulationThree computers are needed to train and deploy robot technology.A supercomputer to train and fine-tune powerful foundation and generative AI models.A development platform for robotics simulation and testing.An onboard runtime computer to deploy trained models to physical robots.Only after adequate training in simulated environments can physical robots be commissioned.The NVIDIA DGX platform can serve as the first computing system to train models.NVIDIA Ominverse running on NVIDIA OVX servers functions as the second computer system, providing the development platform and simulation environment for testing, optimizing and debugging physical AI.NVIDIA Jetson Thor robotics computers designed for onboard computing serve as the third runtime computer.Who Uses Robotics Simulation?Today, robot technology and robot simulations boost operations massively across use cases.Global leader in power and thermal technologies Delta Electronics uses simulation to test out its optical inspection algorithms to detect product defects on production lines.Deep tech startup Wandelbots is building a custom simulator by integrating Isaac Sim into its application, making it easy for end users to program robotic work cells in simulation and seamlessly transfer models to a real robot.Boston Dynamics is activating researchers and developers through its reinforcement learning researcher kit.Robotics Company Fourier is simulating real-world conditions to train humanoid robots with the precision and agility needed for close robot-human collaboration.Using NVIDIA Isaac Sim, robotics company Galbot built DexGraspNet, a comprehensive simulated dataset for dexterous robotic grasps containing over 1 million ShadowHand grasps on 5,300+ objects. The dataset can be applied to any dexterous robotic hand to accomplish complex tasks that require fine-motor skills.Using Robotics Simulation for Planning and Control OutcomesIn complex and dymanic industrial settings, robotics simulation is evolving to integrate digital twins, enhancing planning, control and learning outcomes.Developers import computer-aided design models into a robotics simulator to build virtual scenes and employ algorithms to create the robot operating system and enable task and motion planning. While traditional methods involve prescribing control signals, the shift toward machine learning allows robots to learn behaviors through methods like imitation and reinforcement learning, using simulated sensor signals.This evolution continues with digital twins in complex facilities like manufacturing assembly lines, where developers can test and refine real-time AIs entirely in simulation. This approach saves software development time and costs, and reduces downtime by anticipating issues. For instance, using NVIDIA Omniverse, Metropolis and cuOpt, developers can use digital twins to develop, test and refine physical AI in simulation before deploying in industrial infrastructure.High-Fidelity, Physics-Based Simulation BreakthroughsHigh-fidelity, physics-based simulations have supercharged industrial robotics through real-world experimentation in virtual environments.NVIDIA PhysX, integrated into Omniverse and Isaac Sim, empowers roboticists to develop fine- and gross-motor skills for robot manipulators, rigid and soft body dynamics, vehicle dynamics and other critical features that ensure the robot obeys the laws of physics. This includes precise control over actuators and modeling of kinematics, which are essential for accurate robot movements.To close the sim-to-real gap, Isaac Lab offers a high-fidelity, open-source framework for reinforcement learning and imitation learning that facilitates seamless policy transfer from simulated environments to physical robots. With GPU parallelization, Isaac Lab accelerates training and improves performance, making complex tasks more achievable and safe for industrial robots.To learn more about creating a locomotion reinforcement learning policy with Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab, read this developer blog.Teaching Collision-Free Motion for AutonomyIndustrial robot training often occurs in specific settings like factories or fulfillment centers, where simulations help address challenges related to various robot types and chaotic environments. A critical aspect of these simulations is generating collision-free motion in unknown, cluttered environments.Traditional motion planning approaches that attempt to address these challenges can come up short in unknown or dynamic environments. SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping, can be used to generate 3D maps of environments with camera images from multiple viewpoints. However, these maps require revisions when objects move and environments are changed.The NVIDIA Robotics research team and the University of Washington introduced Motion Policy Networks (MNets), an end-to-end neural policy that generates real-time, collision-free motion using a single fixed cameras data stream. Trained on over 3 million motion planning problems and 700 million simulated point clouds, MNets navigates unknown real-world environments effectively.While the MNets model applies direct learning for trajectories, the team also developed a point cloud-based collision model called CabiNet, trained on over 650,000 procedurally generated simulated scenes.With the CabiNet model, developers can deploy general-purpose, pick-and-place policies of unknown objects beyond a flat tabletop setup. Training with a large synthetic dataset allowed the model to generalize to out-of-distribution scenes in a real kitchen environment, without needing any real data.How Developers Can Get Started Building Robotic SimulatorsGet started with technical resources, reference applications and other solutions for developing physically accurate simulation pipelines by visiting the NVIDIA Robotics simulation use case page.Robot developers can tap into NVIDIA Isaac Sim, which supports multiple robot training techniques:Synthetic data generation for training perception AI modelsSoftware-in-the-loop testing for the entire robot stackRobot policy training with Isaac LabDevelopers can also pair ROS 2 with Isaac Sim to train, simulate and validate their robot systems. The Isaac Sim to ROS 2 workflow is similar to workflows executed with other robot simulators such as Gazebo. It starts with bringing a robot model into a prebuilt Isaac Sim environment, adding sensors to the robot, and then connecting the relevant components to the ROS 2 action graph and simulating the robot by controlling it through ROS 2 packages.Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter and follow NVIDIA Robotics on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Facebook.
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  • BLOGS.NVIDIA.COM
    First Star Wars Outlaws Story Pack Hits GeForce NOW
    Get ready to dive deeper into the criminal underworld of a galaxy far, far away as GeForce NOW brings the first major story pack for Star Wars Outlaws to the cloud this week.The season of giving continues GeForce NOW members can access a new free reward: a special in-game Star Wars Outlaws enhancement.Its all part of an exciting GFN Thursday, topped with five new games joining the more than 2,000 titles supported in the GeForce NOW library, including the launch of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Xbox Gaming Studios fan favorites Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.And make sure not to pass this opportunity up gamers who want to take the Performance and Ultimate memberships for a spin can do so with 25% off Day Passes, now through Friday, Nov. 22. Day Passes give access to 24 continuous hours of powerful cloud gaming.A New Saga BeginsThe galaxys most electrifying escapade gets even more exciting with the new Wild Card story pack for Star Wars Outlaws.This thrilling story pack invites scoundrels to join forces with the galaxys smoothest operator, Lando Calrissian, for a high-stakes Sabacc tournament thatll keep players on the edge of their seats. As Kay Vess, gamers bluff, charm and blast their way through new challenges, exploring uncharted corners of the Star Wars galaxy. Meanwhile, a free update will scatter fresh Contract missions across the stars, offering members ample opportunities to build their reputations and line their pockets with credits.To kick off this thrilling underworld adventure, GeForce NOW members are in for a special reward with the Forest Commando Character Pack.Time to get wild.The pack gives Kay and Nix, her loyal companion, a complete set of gear thats perfect for missions in lush forest worlds. Get equipped with tactical trousers, a Bantha leather belt loaded with attachments, a covert poncho to shield against jungle rain and a hood for Nix thats great for concealment in thick forests.Members of the GeForce NOW rewards program can check their email for instructions on how to claim the reward. Ultimate and Performance members can start redeeming style packages today. Dont miss out this offer is available through Saturday, Dec. 21, on a first-come, first-served basis.Welcome to the ZoneWelcome to the zone.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the highly anticipated sequel in the cult-classic S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, is a first-person-shooter survival-horror game set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.In the game which blends postapocalyptic fiction with Ukrainian folklore and the eerie reality of the Chornobyl disaster players can explore a vast open world filled with mutated creatures, anomalies and other stalkers while uncovering the zones secrets and battling for survival.The title features advanced graphics and physics powered by Unreal Engine 5 for stunningly realistic and detailed environments. Players choices impact the game world and narrative, which comprises a nonlinear storyline with multiple possible endings.Players will take on challenging survival mechanics to test their skills and decision-making abilities. Members can make their own epic story with a Performance membership for enhanced GeForce RTX-powered streaming at 1440p or an Ultimate membership for up to 4K 120 frames per second streaming, offering the crispest visuals and smoothest gameplay.Adventures AwaitVault 101 has opened.Members can emerge from Vault 101 into the irradiated ruins of Washington, D.C., in Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition, which includes all five downloadable content packs released for Fallout 3. Experience the game that redefined the postapocalyptic genre with its morally ambiguous choices, memorable characters and the innovative V.A.T.S. combat system. Whether revisiting the Capital Wasteland, exploring the Mojave Desert or delving into the realm of Cyrodiil, these iconic titles have never looked or played better thanks to the power of GeForce NOWs cloud streaming technology.Members can look for the following games available to stream in the cloud this week:Towers of Aghasba (New release on Steam, Nov. 19)S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on PC Game Pass, Nov. 20)Star Wars Outlaws (New release on Steam, Nov. 21)The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition (Epic Games Store, Steam and Xbox, available on PC Game Pass)Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition (Epic Games Store, Steam and Xbox, available on PC Game Pass)What are you planning to play this weekend? Let us know on X or in the comments below.which sci-fi series or movie would make a great game? NVIDIA GeForce NOW (@NVIDIAGFN) November 20, 2024
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  • BLOG.PLAYSTATION.COM
    Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 501: Celebrating 30 Years of PlayStation (Part 2)
    Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or download hereWhats up, gang! The festivities for PlayStations 30th anniversary continue this week as the crew hears from listeners and developers about their favorite PlayStation games of all time. Plus, the crew dives into their favorite games on PSP and PS3. Well continue to feature listeners and developers leading up to PlayStations 30th anniversary on December 3 and beyond.Stuff We Talked AboutNext weeks release highlights:Nine Sols | PS5, PS4Trombone Champ: Unflattened | PS VR2Snow Bros. Wonderland | PS5, PS4PlayStation VR2 news on Mare, Trombone Champ: Unflattened, Masters of Light, Alien: Rogue Incursion, and Hitman World of AssassinationMortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns new kombatant GhostfaceLegacy of Kain series retrospectiveGran Turismo 7 Update 1.54 adds five new cars, a new Cafe Menu, and moreMLB The Show 25 revealed30th Anniversary listener and developer favorite PlayStation gamesThe podcast crew highlights personal top PSP and PS3 games (to be continued)The CastView and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageSid Shuman Senior Director of Content Communications, SIEView and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageTim Turi Content Communications Manager, SIEView and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageBrett Elston Manager, Content Communications, SIEView and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageODell Harmon Jr. Content Communications Specialist, SIEThanks to Dormiln for our rad theme song and show music.[Editors note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
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  • BLOG.PLAYSTATION.COM
    Share of the Week: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Companions
    Last week, we asked you to highlight favorite companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this weeks heroic highlights:_xFenrir shares scout Lace Harding posing with her bow and arrows on her back.LadyCalzone shares a portrait of Mourn Watcher Emmerich bathed in the green glow of his staff.devilishbrycevp shares a portrait of Veil Jumper elf Bellara.esterinaska shares Shadow Dragon mage Neve in the middle of an incantation.jdbolzan shares a portrait of dragon hunter Taash looking sullen.xLightningWolfx shares Grey Warden elf Davrin in the heat of battle.Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this weeks theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?THEME: GatheringSUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on November 27, 2024Next week, its time to come together. Share a moment that had characters gathering together in the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
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  • WWW.POLYGON.COM
    Smile 2, Alien: Romulus, Netflixs The Piano Lesson, and every movie new to streaming
    Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.This week, Smile 2, the sequel to the supernatural horror debut from director Parker Finn, leers its way onto VOD following its theatrical debut in September. If supernatural horror isnt your bag, why not give sci-fi horror a try? Alien: Romulus, Evil Dead director Fede lvarezs new installment in the venerable Alien franchise, slithers onto Hulu this week alongside the Nick Jonas-led comedy drama The Good Half and the historical drama Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander.Theres a whole lot more to choose from on streaming this weekend, including the historical survival drama Blitz on Apple TV Plus; The Piano Lesson starring John David Washington (Tenet); Shrek director Vicky Jensons latest animated adventure, Spellbound, on Netflix; Blink Twice on MGM Plus; and several other new releases.Heres everything new thats available to watch this weekend!New on NetflixThe Piano LessonWhere to watch: Available to stream on NetflixGenre: DramaRun time: 2h 5mDirector: Malcolm WashingtonCast: Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray FisherThe feature directorial debut by Malcolm Washington adapts August Wilsons play for the silver screen. Starring Malcolms brother John David, The Piano Lesson centers on the lives of Boy Willie Charles and his family living in post-Great Depression Pittsburgh. As the Charles family quarrels over the fate of a prized heirloom, a piano decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor, the fight threatens to roil old resentments and inflame long-simmering tensions.JoyWhere to watch: Available to stream on NetflixGenre: Biographical dramaRun time: 1h 55mDirector: Ben TaylorCast: Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie, James NortonJoytells the story of the first test-tube baby and the invention of in vitro fertilization, through the eyes of nurse Jean Purdy, scientist Robert Edwards, and surgeon Patrick Steptoe in the 1970s. The trio faces opposition, as religious zealots claim their work to be unnatural, but continue to persevere in the face of those odds. For decades, Purdys contributions to the development of IVF were largely forgotten, but in recent years shes been more and more recognized.SpellboundWhere to watch: Available to stream on NetflixGenre: Fantasy comedyRun time: 1h 49mDirector: Vicky JensonCast: Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer LewisA new animated musical from the director ofShrek,Spellboundis about a young princess who must break a spell thats transformed her parents into monsters and split her kingdom in two. Musical legend Alan Menken does the music for the movie, and with Rachel Zegler as the lead, the soundtrack is sure to soar. The movie was first calledSplit before it was changed toThe Unbreakable Spell, and after shifting between a few streaming services, it was finally renamed Spellbound.The Merry GentlemenWhere to watch: Available to stream on NetflixGenre: Musical rom-comRun time: 1h 27mDirector: Peter SullivanCast: Britt Robertson, Chad Michael Murray, Marla SokoloffMagic Mike meets a cozy Christmas movie in this new Netflix holiday flick. A dancer tries to save her familys performance venue by putting on a steamy all-male dance revue to raise money. She recruits some of the hot men around her small town and trains them in the art of hip thrusting and shirt tearing and also starts to fall for one of them. Will she save her parents venue just in time for Christmas? Given the genre, probably, but there will be more bare torsos than usual.New on HuluAlien: RomulusWhere to watch: Available to stream on HuluGenre: Sci-fi horrorRun time: 1h 59mDirector: Fede lvarezCast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Isabela MercedSet 20 years after the events of Ridley ScottsAlien, Fede lvarezs sci-fi horror film follows three pairs of young siblings who attempt to scavenge through a derelict space station in a last-ditch effort to escape their indentured servitude to the Weyland-Yutani megacorporation. What they discover aboard the station, however, is not their salvation, but a horror beyond anything they couldve possibly imagined.From ourreview:Is it as good asAlienorAliens? is the obvious question franchise fans will ask when weighing whether to seeAlien: Romulus. lvarez and Sayagues seem to have been uncomfortably aware that this question was coming. They anticipated those five different answers about what Alien fans love from the previous films, and tried to split the difference between all of them and more. Like the Romulus and Remus stations, which serve as the films setting,Alien: Romulusis made up of roughly two parts: a haunted-house story in outer space laAlien, and a crowd-pleasing horror-action spectacle likeAliens. The former element is stronger than the latter in this case, and the imbalance is one of the reasonsAlien: Romulusfeels like a by-the-numbers retread of the franchise defining it, rather than the resuscitative breath it so desperately needs.The Good HalfWhere to watch: Available to stream on HuluGenre: Comedy dramaRun time: 1h 36mDirector: Robert SchwartzmanCast: Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David ArquetteThe Jonas Brothers very own Nick Jonas stars as an emotionally distant writer returning to Cleveland, Ohio, for his mothers funeral, after years of avoiding his complicated family. He forges some new relationships and confronts some old ones, and eventually must face his grief and family drama head on.The Good Halffirst premiered at the 2023 Tribeca film festival.FirebrandWhere to watch: Available to stream on HuluGenre:Historical dramaRun time:2h 1mDirector:Karim AnouzCast:Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie MarsanKing Henry VIII is remembered for many things, but hes probably most known for marrying six women in his lifetime, two of which he had executed. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) stars in this historical drama as Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII (Jude Law), who must fight for her survival when the kings behavior becomes more and more erratic and paranoid in the years preceding the end of his reign.New on MaxWatchmen: Chapter IWhere to watch: Available to stream on MaxGenre:Superhero dramaRun time:1h 23mDirector:Brandon ViettiCast:Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau, Corey BurtonWatchmenis back, this time as a multi-part animated film series! In an alternate 1985, a government-sponsored superhero has been inexplicably murdered. Determined to apprehend his killer, a costumed vigilante named Rorschach reunites with his estranged former colleagues and scours the criminal underworld of New York is his search for clues. What he uncovers is a conspiracy that threatens to endanger the entire world. Will he be able to track down the conspirators before its too late?New on Apple TV PlusBlitzWhere to watch: Available to stream on Apple TV PlusGenre: DramaRun time: 2hDirector: Steve McQueenCast: Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, Harris DickinsonSaoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) stars in Steve McQueens historical drama as Rita, a young mother who sends her son George (Elliott Heffernan) to the English countryside to protect him from the impending attack on London by Nazi Germany. When Rita learns that George did not reach his destination, she embarks on a search to find him.Bread & RosesWhere to watch: Available to stream on Apple TV PlusGenre: DocumentaryRun time: 1h 30mDirector: Sahra ManiBread & Rosesis a documentary about women in Afghanistan living under the Taliban, following three women: Sharifa, a former government employee confined indoors; Zahra, a dentist who began to organize activists till she was captured and tortured; and Taranom, who has been exiled to Pakistan for her activism. The documentary premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim.New on MGM PlusBlink TwiceWhere to watch: Available to stream on MGM PlusGenre:Psychological thrillerRun time:1h 42mDirector:Zo KravitzCast:Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian SlaterZo Kravitzs directorial debut is a psychological thriller about a cocktail waitress named Frida (Naomi Ackie) who gets whisked away to a private island by a tech mogul for a lavish partying getaway. But Frida begins to notice that something strange is happening with the female guests. Fun fact: The films working title wasPussy Island, but the Motion Picture Association had an issue with that.New on MubiWitchesWhere to watch: Available to stream on Mubi USGenre: DocumentaryRun time: 1h 30mDirector: Elizabeth SankeyCast: Catherine Cho, Sophia Di Martino, David EmsonThis documentary chronicles the relationship between how witches have been characterized across the history of film, television, and culture and how we view women, motherhood, and mental health. Relying on her own robust knowledge and long-standing obsession with the films subject matter, Elizabeth Sankey draws on clips from The Wizard of Oz, Girl, Interrupted, Rosemarys Baby, and more to illustrate her argument about the connection between the history of witches and the historical vilification of women and their bodies.New to rentSmile 2Where to watch: Available to stream on MetrographGenre: Supernatural horrorRun time: 2h 7mDirector: Parker FinnCast: Kyle Gallner, Naomi Scott, Lukas GageParker Finn returns with a follow-up to his smash-hit horror debut, Smile. Picking up just a week after the events of the previous film, Smile 2 centers on Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a famous pop star recovering from a tragic car accident. When a mysterious curse is inadvertently passed on to her, Skye struggles to retain her sanity as she fights against a parasitic supernatural entity that seeks to devour her from the inside out.From our review:Smiledodging the streaming abyss and finding box-office success felt like a miracle, butSmile 2is something even rarer: a horror sequel that outdoes its predecessor in every way. Rather than simply rehashing the original, Parker Finn pushes his clever premise to its logical extreme and builds some incredibly scary scenes to match. In fact, Finn endsSmile 2in a spot that feels like the perfect conclusion to the franchise and the perfect jumping-off point for the career of one of the most exciting horror directors of his generation.
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