Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)As a mischievous omnipotent being once said, Star Trek isn't about mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence. The voyages of the starships Enterprise et al. are journeys of self-discovery. It's about the people we meet on those strange new worlds and what they teach us about ourselves. It's not about taking turns to phaser each other in the face. Despite issues elsewhere, that's where Star Trek: Legends really fails.It's not all bad, though. Emerald City Games' turn-based trawl, published here by Qubic Games, debuted on Apple Arcade back in 2021 and though some may baulk at its mobile-first design, it translates fairly well to Switch. The UI is well-proportioned and the touchscreen integration functions as you'd hope.A grand total of 95 characters from across the franchise are represented, from vintage Trek to the latest live-action shows (nobody from Prodigy or Lower Decks, though). In fact, with so many characters lovingly rendered, some of them in multiple forms, it's the missing ones that stand out. The major captains are present, except Archer - we need 100% more Bakula up in here. And where's Ensign Crusher when you need someone to take the helm? Several fan favourites are locked in DLC packs, too.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Props to Emerald City's artists for capturing the actors' and characters' essence in their animations and movesets, though. Mr. Data's idle animation has him examining his tricorder, and seeing him disintegrate some poor enemy before emotionlessly resuming his work made us grin. The Fortnite-style caricatures might be divisive, but real effort has gone into these renderings. The basic mobile structure with timers, currencies, daily tasks, resource harvesting, numbers going up is extremely familiar, especially to anyone who's played Tilting Point's Star Trek Timelines, but the animated characters add personality beyond static card collection. Assigning them stations on the idle main menu's bridge is a nice touch and gives minor stat boosts, too.There's no getting away from those mobile elements, though, even if microtransactions are pleasingly absent. The story uses the Nexus (the temporal time-juggling energy ribbon from Star Trek: Generations) to explain away the accumulation of Starfleet heroes from across time, plus the 'shadow' versions you encounter. Michael Burnham, Worf, and Leonard McCoy find themselves aboard the USS Artemis assembling a crew to battle an unknown enemy and save the day. Those three officers stick with you through the narrative, driving things forward with dialogue whether they're still in your growing away team or not.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)Fans may get a smile from the fairly entertaining writing and the story's themes are sufficiently existential and weighty. Given the endless parade of clones you'll encounter, however, you'll find it hard to care about your Beverly Crusher or Will Riker much more than the one you just vaporised. There's no voice acting beyond a handful of battle yelps and comments, and nothing from the original actors. Audio across the board is acceptable, but you'll be disappointed if you're expecting familiar themes and sound effects.Likewise, the battles themselves the meat and potatoes here don't do enough to engage you early on. Your team of up to four (which can include non-Starfleet characters and generic officers) spawn into the environment and face off against opponents by taking turns to blast or bosh each other in the typical tactical manner. Shields or other natural cover may spawn at the start of the round and levelling up your officers eventually unlocks and enhances their four bespoke moves.Most characters have a standard phaser attack plus cooldown moves related to their discipline (Command, Engineering, Science, etc.) or character. Data's Android Backhand has a chance to inflict Stun, preventing enemies from initiating any action. Alternatively, Soong's finest can reduce the opposing side's Attack and Morale stats by distracting them with a Logical Paradox. Picard's eponymous Maneuver buffs your entire team, Bones' Tri-Ox Hypospray boosts one ally's Morale, increasing the chance they'll jump in with an extra hit every turn, and so on.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)It's simple stuff and it's executed well enough the blasts and blows hit with gusto but it's extremely one-note. As you go through the motions, skipping from node to node and beaming down for each round, the absurdity of these characters calmly and patiently exchanging phaser beams to the chest is tough to ignore when the battles, especially early on, just aren't varied or interesting enough.The moment Commander Riker joined our team, our winning tactics for the rest of the game were set: immediately boost him with Bones' hypospray, lay down Covering Fire with Riker (a super effective, multi-target attack which takes out all shields and multiple enemies), and then pick away at the rest of them, healing as necessary until the battle is won. Rank-up, rinse, repeat.You could argue it's on us to switch in new characters and build them up, but when a strategy just works there's little incentive to change; by the time you unlock Advanced or Expert difficulties, your enthusiasm will have warped away. Occasional branching paths are locked behind character disciplines (eg. you'll need an appropriately levelled engineer to open a door or something), but it's not enough to be worth the grind, especially given the long load times.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Generally, loads between individual battles aren't too bad inside story missions. But going into missions from the main menu, returning to the main menu, firing up Arena (ranked matches with rewards) or Ops encounters (limited-time events with specific character unlocks) sends you to a loading screen you'll be seeing an awful lot.Going into the first mission to test at the time of writing, the initial load is 26 seconds, and the same again when we back out to the main menu. Add in smaller interstitial loading screens between menus and all the tooltips and Darmok gags in the galaxy can't stop interminable loads from dragging down the entire enterprise. Our Switch profile puts our play time at "30 hours or more" and that's with x4 animation speed turned on for most of it; we'd estimate a quarter of that was spent staring at the Artemis' stern on the static load screen.Performance-wise, the v1.1.1 launch day patch seemed to soften the presentation of the backgrounds significantly, yet with no real change to the load times. We didn't note any difference between docked and handheld performance, though we experienced several hard crashes, including upon completing the final mission in the game. Frequent autosaves meant not having to replay more than a single battle, but suboptimal is the word.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Despite the evident work that's gone into this, the repetitiveness and excruciating loads give you too much time to dwell on the soulessness of the framework here. You could plug any property into this template with more or less the same result, or you could switch out characters for starship strategy, but ultimately it would be the same unengaging war of attrition - and with less personality. For your 12 bucks or regional equivalent, you get loads of characters to unlock, at least. Paying roughly the same again will get you all the DLC ones, but you'll still be pulling the majority of your crew randomly via the in-game gacha mechanic. The journey to build a complete crew is exhausting.Maybe we expect too much. The co-op puzzle-solving mechanics of Star Trek Prodigy - Supernova were equally tried-and-true unremarkable, even but they felt like a better fit for Trek. Tessera Studios was able to tap into the core values of the series in a way that just isn't possible given the template here; Legends' battles simply aren't satisfying enough to distract you from the dissonance.ConclusionPerhaps all the timed daily tasks and events made more sense in a mobile context, and it's possible they could hook you here if you have endless patience and affection for these crews. For dedicated Trekkies content to multitask with their Switch on their lap, Star Trek: Legends may well deliver compulsive delights - the audio-visual feedback as the numbers go up is satisfying, as is the thrill of pulling an Epic or Legendary character. Ultimately, though, while collecting your favourite crewmembers sounds like a fun mission, the bland battles involved and the chronic load times between them aren't enough to make this a worthwhile journey. Legends isn't terrible, but it is just your favourite Star Trek characters phasering each other until one of them disintegrates.Fun takes on the characters, with good animation and considered movesetsA decent roster covering most of your favouritesGood audio-visual feedback that gives blows and blasts some nice heftInterminable load timesTactics only really come into play at higher difficulties......by which time your enthusiasm will have beamed awayIndiscriminately phasering endless clones doesn't feel very TrekAverage 5/10

All punch'd out.We don't know about you, but amongst all of Nintendo's game series, Punch-Out!! rarely sits at the top of our revival wishlist. Don't get us wrong, we'd absolutely bloomin' love a new entry, but we'd honestly rather see the likes of F-Zero and Chibi-Robo! make their grand return on the Switch or its upcoming successor.Regardless of whether or not you agree with us on this, it sounds like the Punch-Out!! series may well be dead and buried for good; at least with regards to developer Next Level Games. The lastest mainline entry, simply called Punch-Out!!, launched for the Wii in May 2009 with a WiiWare game entitled Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! following just a handful of months later. Thanks to the criticism levelled toward the former's use of stereotypical characters, however, it sounds like Nintendo isn't prepared to commence work on a new title anytime soon.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube790kIf you have played The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask over the past 25 years (and, if you're reading this, we'd wager that you have), then you likely will have engaged in a spot of lighthearted gambling at Mamamu Yan's Doggy Racetrack. The rules of this cute minigame are simple: choose a dog, place a bet, and win big if your pick performs well. The unspoken rule is that you never pick the lone blue dog. Why? Because the blue dog never wins. At least, that's what we thought.Blue dog's racing abilities are poor, to say the least. No matter how many times we've played the minigame ourselves or watched others take part in speedruns, the colourful canine never seems to bring back top dollar. We were content to live with this fact (not everyone is cut for racing royalty, after all), but a handful of Majora fans dared to think more positively. If you can teach an old dog new tricks, then surely blue dog can get a win.That's what was pondered by YouTuber Vidya James (and brought to our attention by Tom's Hardware). In the above video, the channel showcased that a blue dog win is, in fact, possible. You see, there's a glitch where the doggy race can end prematurely if a select pooch hits a very specific track coordinate, granting the lucky pup first place. If blue dog was to hit that spot, then victory would be his.The catch is that the game can produce over one quadrillion different races (thanks to the dogs' speed RNG and race conditions), which Vidya James clarified would take 34 million years to sample. Ah.And so we arrive at the speedrunner's best friend: an emulator. YouTube channel Falkush wrote a script which would run the racing minigame at a faster speed before recording the result and automatically repeating it with a new RNG.After 8,410 races, the script nabbed ol' Bluey (not that one) a win with the premature end glitch! A good result, no doubt, but we were never going to feel completely comfortable until we saw our little guy get the gold without the glitch.So, Falkush did just that. Using the emulator to minmax each of the dogs' abilities to leave the blue competitor with the best race conditions possible, the Majora fan embarked (sorry) on over 30,000 race attempts until they finally, finally, got the result they were after. You know what? You can check it out for yourself below.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube790kOkay, so yes, the successful run might have relied on a script and emulator to only produce the ideal conditions, and the chances of recreating them on a legitimate copy of the game are next to impossible, but who cares? After 25 years of losses, we finally got to see our little blue boy take the gold. The ultimate underdog.It's far from the most game-changing discovery, and we can't see the speedrunning community adopting the technique any time soon, but we wanted something sweet to start the new year, and an unlikely prized pooch certainly delivered. Go blue dog! The GameCube version, that isUnmasked for fan PC portsWhat do you make of this unlikely win? Bark your thoughts in the comments.[source youtube.com, via tomshardware.com]Related GamesSee AlsoShare:221 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related Articles126 Games You Should Pick Up In The Nintendo Switch eShop Holiday Sale (Europe)Every game we scored 9/10 or higher161 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's 'Hits For The Holidays' eShop Sale (North America)Every game we scored 9/10 or higherNintendo Reveals Japan's "Top 30" Most Downloaded Switch eShop Games Of 2024Suika Game takes out the top spotBest Of 2024: Why Play Final Fantasy VII Remake When You Could Play FFVII 'Demake'?"more than just pirate versions"Reminder: New Mario Kart And Animal Crossing Lego Sets Launch Next MonthHere's another look

CES 2025 officially kicks off in Las Vegas on Tuesday morning, running through the end of the day on January 10. The official dates are specific to when the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center is open to attendees, and ultimately belie the shows true duration. A pair of press days kick off Sunday with a few smaller events leading up to a scrum of press conferences on January 6.Press conferencesImage Credits:David Paul Morris/Bloomberg (opens in a new window) / Getty ImagesWell be watching the following with a close eye here are TechCrunch:AMD: (Monday at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET) AMD has its work cut out for it at CES 2025.Competitor Nvidia has been sucking the oxygenout of every room it graces, as the chipmaker remains at the forefront of the AI boom. So, how will AMD compete with Nvidias reported RTX 5000 announcement? The company should show off its own next-gen GPU. As part of an ongoing rebrand, the RDNA 4 cardscould arriveas either the RX 8000 or RX 9000 series.Toyota: (Monday at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m ET) We expect Chairman Akio Toyoda to go all in on Woven City, the carmarkers living laboratory. Our automotive editor Kirsten Korosec adds: Details are slim about exactly what will be revealed. TechCrunch, which was at the initial announcement in 2020, will be watching to see how startups will be incorporated into Woven City and whether Toyota followed through on its plans to build a fully connected ecosystem powered by hydrogen fuel cells.Samsung: (Monday at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET) Samsungs CES presser is always an odd duck. The Korean electronics giant generally keeps its powder dry when it comes to consumer electronics. After all, its expected to announce its latest flagship handset the Galaxy S25 toward the end of January. CES 2025 is going to continue the companys tradition of TVs and appliances. There are also odds and ends like consumer robots that will most likely never see the light of day. Samsunghas adoptedthe tagline AI for All: Everyday, Everywhere for the presentation.Nvidia: (Monday at6:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. ET) Nvidia will no doubt have the biggest CES 2025. After all, the company has pretty much the biggest everything nowadays. The chip giant is sporting a $3.4+ trillion market cap, due largely to itsfoundational position in the ongoing AI boom. Companies like OpenAI and Meta have purchased Nvidia processors by the boatload, and thats unlikely to change in the new year. Founder and CEO Jensen Huang will help kick off CES 2025 with his trademark leather jacket and an unwavering vision,per Nvidia.Notable keynotes from the following day include Twitter/X CEO Linda Yaccarino at 1:30 p.m. PT and Delta CEO Ed Bastian at 5 p.m. PT. The latter, notably, will take place at jam band hot spot, the Sphere. Both will be available to stream at the official CES YouTube page.TrendsImage Credits:Brian HeaterThe shows hot topic will almost certainly be the only thing anyone in tech seems to talk about these days: AI. Thats nothing new for CES, of course. The category has been at the forefront for years now, with 2024s show delivering some of the earliest generative-AI-powered consumer devices.The Rabbit R1 was, perhaps, the most notable from last years show. The handheld generated a lot of buzz at the event, though as with other AI devices like Humanes AI pin, the product failed to live up to any expectations.The subject wont be limited to this manner of product, however. This year, any product that doesnt mention AI in some form will be in a small minority. As mentioned above, Nvidia and AMD will be going head to head on the chip front. Nvidia will be a particular focus, as the chipmaker sets the stage pace for AI in 2025, including the release of the much anticipated GeForce RTX 50 GPU. The company will also touch on other key categories, including robotics and transportation.AI will grace everything from cars to refrigerators these year. Some applications will prove genuinely useful, but many if not most will be a solution in search of a problem. This is always an important thing to keep in mind at an event like CES. Its a huge show; last years hosted 4,300 companies and nearly 140,000 attendees. Theres a lot of noise, and plenty of AI applications exist in attempt to rise above it.Image Credits:Kirsten KorosecOver the past decade, CES has transformed into one of the years top automotive shows. This has primarily been driven by automotive manufacturers bids to becoming bleeding-edge pioneers: Where better to showcase that than the years biggest consumer tech show? The 2021 addition of the Las Vegas Convention Centers new West Hall has facilitated that expansion.Questions remain whether CES can maintain its status as a major car show. Anecdotally, fewer large names appear to be participating in a meaningful way, including U.S. manufacturers like Ford. This is likely due, in part, to Detroits North American International Auto Show returning after a year off. That event is set to kickoff January 10, overlapping with CES. Thats not to say that there wont be big headlines out of Vegas next week. In addition to Toyotas participation, Sonys press conference should once again feature Afeela, the companys collaboration with Honda. Firms like Hyundai which now owns Boston Dynamics will likely showcase its focus on humanoid and other robotics.Image Credits:HyundaiRobotics have increasingly become a focus point for CES in recent years. I anticipate most transportation companies discussing the topic, from manufacturing to eVTOLs. The car industry has been the tip of the automated manufacturing sphere for years, a fact accelerated by various employment and supply chain crises since the pandemic. eVTOLs, meanwhile, scored a major FAA win late last year. CES continues to be a major launching pad for computer monitors. In fact, Samsung, ASUS and MSI all announced the addition of the worlds first 27-inch 4K OLED monitors with 240Hz refresh rates. Smart appliances always get a lot of love at the show, as well. LG has already revealed a bunch of news on that front. Samsung should follow suit at its press conferences on Monday.After an extended lull, I anticipate a new wave of smart home devices. Between interoperability through the Matter standard, the explosion of generative AI platforms, and a second wind for smart assistants from Google, Amazon, and Apple, companies will be showcasing how these devices might excel where their predecessors failed.Image Credits:Cory Green/YahooAfter its latest hype cycle, extended reality still has a lot to prove. The Vision Pro hasnt taken off as Apple had hoped, and competitors are struggling to compete with Metas ability to subsidize the cost of the Quest. Big names in the space like HTC and Magic Leap have largely pivoted to enterprise applications. Chipmakers like Qualcomm, however, are still very much focused on making a splash.

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As many as 60% of people make goals for the new year but only 9% stick to those aspirations for the ... [+] full year.gettyRoughly 80% of the people who make resolutions at the start of a new year truly believe they can achieve their goals. The reality is that less than 10% stick to their resolution and make it a reality. Psychologists state that a key factor to achieving life goals such as New Years resolutions is having a plan and ChatGPT can help with that planning.Whether its improving your health, learning more about AI, losing weight, boosting your finances, spending more time with your family or any other area you want to improve in 2025 the five ChatGPT prompts below can help increase your chances for success.Each of the prompts was designed using a structured combination of different goal-setting models and methods that have a proven record of success along with a brainstorming session with ChatGPT to fine-tune the queries. Just cut-and-paste the customizable prompts that are in italics and quotes below into any free AI model.ChatGPT Secret 1 - Resolution Roadmap GeneratorPrompt: "Act as my personal strategist. My New Years resolution is [insert resolution]. Help me break this goal into specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) steps that span the next 12 months. Include checkpoints to ensure I can measure progress and adjust the plan if necessary. Organize the plan month by month, starting with foundational steps in the first quarter that build momentum toward achieving the resolution by year-end. Provide suggestions for overcoming common obstacles and maintaining motivation."Rationale: The only way to successfully overcome a big goal is to break it down into smaller, achievable steps. Having laid down incremental progress on a monthly basis, the roadmap allows for consistent checks and changes to prevent boredom or burnout.Customization Tips:Including deadlines for each step ensures accountability and creates a sense of urgency.Specifying constraints, such as available time or financial limitations, tailors the plan to fit within realistic parameters.Identifying existing resources, like tools, skills or networks, ensures the plan builds on strengths.MORE FOR YOUChatGPT Secret 2 - Habit Accountability TrackerPrompt: "Help me build a daily habit that directly supports achieving my New Years resolution of [insert resolution]. Create a 30-day tracker that outlines specific daily tasks I can complete to reinforce this habit. Suggest weekly milestones that signify progress and provide small, meaningful rewards to celebrate consistency. Include motivational quotes or affirmations to keep me inspired. Offer practical tips for maintaining the habit, such as pairing it with an existing routine or setting reminders, and provide a reflection question for each week to assess my growth."Rationale: Habits are the building blocks of behavior change, and with practice over 30 days, consistency may solidify a new habit. This tracker brings in both day-to-day accountability and a weekly review to sustain motivation and measure progress.Customization Tips:Adjusting the habit frequency ensures it aligns with the individual's schedule.Adding triggers, like completing the habit after brushing teeth, helps establish a reliable cue.Including personalized motivational quotes or affirmations ensures the individual feels emotionally connected to maintain the habit.ChatGPT Secret 3 - Personal Motivation CoachPrompt: "Be my motivation coach as I work toward my New Years resolution of [insert resolution]. Generate three encouraging messages I can use during moments of doubt or struggle, tailored to my personality, preferences and specific challenges. Ensure each message reflects empathy, inspires resilience and reminds me why this goal matters to me. Include a strategy in each message for reframing negative thoughts, such as focusing on progress rather than setbacks. Offer a short visualization exercise or mantra with each message to help me re-center and regain motivation."Rationale: Motivation ebbs and flows, and having pre-prepared messages for challenging moments may provide an immediate boost. Messages can be tailored to an individual's personality for the greatest emotional resonance to enhance effectiveness.Customization Tips:Sharing motivational triggers ensures the messages resonate deeply.Addressing specific obstacles increases the relevance of the encouragement.Specifying tone, such as tough love or empathy, aligns the messages with the individual's preferred coaching style.ChatGPT Secret 4 Time Optimizing ConsultantPrompt: "Help me effectively allocate my time to achieve my New Years resolution of [insert resolution]. I have [insert number] hours per week to dedicate to this goal. Create a weekly schedule that outlines specific tasks or milestones for each time block, considering my peak productivity hours. Provide tips for maximizing efficiency during these time blocks, such as using the Pomodoro Technique, eliminating distractions or batching similar tasks. Offer a review strategy at the end of each week to assess what worked, what didnt and how I can adjust for the next week."Rationale: Setting realistic time management is essential for people who juggle many commitments in life if these resolutions are to come into being. This prompt means the available time shall be used strategically, focusing on the high-priority tasks that relate to the resolution.Customization Tips:Including preferred times of day ensures tasks align with natural energy levels.Indicating non-negotiable commitments ensures the schedule is realistic and doesnt conflict with existing priorities.Requesting specific efficiency techniques tailors the approach to the individual's working style.ChatGPT Secret 5 Progress CheckerPrompt: "Act as my progress coach. My New Years resolution is [insert resolution]. Create a simple yet effective monthly evaluation framework to measure my progress toward this goal. Include specific metrics or indicators I should track and a set of reflection questions to assess whats working, whats not, and why. Provide a strategy for making course corrections if I fall behind, such as revising milestones or reallocating time. Suggest ways to celebrate milestones to stay motivated and include an inspiring message to keep me focused on my ultimate objective."Rationale: Regular assessment prevents small missteps from becoming big and the individual from veering off course. Including a course correction component within the framework makes it adaptable, which is a key trait in overcoming challenges and sustaining momentum.Customization Tips:Asking for specific metrics ensures the evaluation focuses on tangible outcomes.Including reflective journaling prompts deepens self-awareness.Adding a contingency plan builds resilience, preparing the individual to adapt and persevere through challenges.These prompts can all be used together or in piecemeal. While theres no single panacea to achieve all your goals for the new year, if individuals had difficulty in the past they might want to give an AI model such as ChatGPT a try. They have nothing to lose except a pattern of self doubt and discouragement.

Killers of the Flower Moon / OppenheimerCredit: Apple / UniversalWhen Killers Of The Flower Moon first released in theaters and then later on Apple TV, I found the runtime and the subject matter too daunting. A three-and-a-half hour movie about the murders of Osage tribe members based on a true story about oil and greed sounded fascinatingand depressing. Sometimes, when you struggle with depression, a depressing movie is less appealing.I did, however, go see Oppenheimer in theaters and walked away with incredibly mixed feelings. As a fan of Christopher Nolans films, I wasnt surprised by the strange, non-chronological format used to tell Oppenheimers story, but Im still not sure that it worked. (I called it a haunting, muddled biopic in my review). Theres no doubt it was a brilliant piece of cinema, and Cillian Murphys performance was outstanding. Still, I left the theater underwhelmed.Both films are based on true events, each dealing with complex histories and people, epic in scope and runtime, and both great movies in their own right. If any two films in the 2024 Academy Awards running for Best Picture ought to be examined side-by-side, its these two, each from acclaimed directors and each boasting incredibly talented casts and crew. But after watching Killers of the Flower Moonwhich was shut out entirely at the Academy Awards by Oppenheimerits clear to me that the better film was snubbed.I finally got around to watching Killers of the Flower Moon over the Christmas break. Despite its long runtime, I found myself utterly absorbed from start to finish. Absorbed and horrified. Its a long movie but it didnt feel like it. I was too engrossed by the story and characters to notice time passing.Killers Of The Flower MoonCredit: AppleMORE FOR YOUBased on the book by David Grann, Martin Scorseses film tackles one of the most troubling conspiracies in the history of the American West. When the Osage tribe finds oil on their land, they become extremely wealthy overnightthe wealthiest people per capita in the entire world. But the government assigns guardians to manage their money, the first of many exploitative acts that would begin to eat away at the Osage people, not just draining them of their newfound wealth but breaking their spirit along the way. Robbery and theft and flagrant murders follow.The film follows Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) who returns from WWI to work for his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro) a wealthy rancher in Oklahoma who proclaims that the Osage are the most beautiful people in the world and makes great public shows of his support for the tribe. Hale encourages Burkhart to marry an Osage woman, Mollie (Lily Gladstone) because she has full-blood land rights, making herand whoever inherits her estatewildly rich. Ernest is neither particularly smart nor particularly scrupulous, and hes easily manipulated by his uncle, the King of Osage Hills.The story unfolds under the shadow of the nearby 1921 Tulsa race massacre, and the Osage become increasingly worried as more and more of their people are shot to death or die of mysterious, unexplained illnesses or suicide. What happened to the African Americans in Tulsa in one brutal attack was playing out slowly and insidiously in Osage. None of the deaths are investigated, and when the tribe brings in their own private investigators, theyre murdered as well. I wont spoil where the story goes from here, but its both gripping and terrible. The depravity of human greed at its most despicable and depraved on full display. By the end, I was left in tears.DiCaprio and De Niro put in tremendous performances. I dont think Ive ever despised a character either has played so utterly. The only other DiCaprio villain that comes close was his role as Calvin Candie in Django Unchained, but theres something almost cartoonish about Tarantinos villain. Burkharts wickedness is more intimate, more complex, more human. That hes based on a historical person guilty of these terrible crimes and injustices only deepens the disgust you feel toward him, even as you cling to hope that hell do the right thing.Killers Of The Flower MoonCredit: AppleLily Gladstone is equally terrific in her Oscar-worthy role as Mollie Burkhart. Where DiCaprio is brash and wild and uncouth, Gladstone is understated, filled with a deep sadness but also a well of light and humor. The tragedy that befalls her and her family is so enormous, its almost incomprehensible. Gladstone captures it all, all the pain and all the hope, in her performance.If there is anything I wish wed seen more of in Killers Of The Flower Moon, it would be the Bureau of Investigations actual investigation, which is largely glossed over in the third act of the film. I understand why. The story is focused primarily on the events surrounding these two families. The investigation and trial ultimately play second fiddle. The runtime would either have to drastically increase or a great deal of Ernest and Mollies story would need to be cut. Neither would have been ideal. Still, I can envision a different movie that treated this story as more of a mystery told from the point of view of former Texas Ranger Tom White (Jesse Plemons) and his team of undercover agents. Whether it would have been as good or compelling or tragic is another question. In the end, Im glad Scorsese chose to tell a more personal story.Thats largely the same choice Nolan made with Oppenheimer, focusing mostly on the life of the brilliant scientist rather than his own trial. Where that movie foundered was in its insistence on telling the story out of order, giving us bits and pieces of Oppenheimers trial and Lewis Strausss (Robert Downey Jr.) betrayal of Oppenheimer scattered throughout the film in an attempt to give the story a twist. That twist felt more jarring than effective. The mystery-puzzle format Nolan is so fond of, and so good at using most of the time, was unnecessary here. Where Killers Of The Flower Moon focuses on character, Oppenheimer focuses on plot. This isnt to say that Oppenheimer failed to make me feel anythingit was deeply unsettlingbut it still left me cold, whereas Killers Of The Flower Moon left me shattered and furious.Killers Of The Flower Moon is available to stream on Apple TV. Check out my list of Best TV Shows Of 2024 right here. Two of Nolans best sci-fi films also just landed on Netflix if youre looking for more movies to add to your queue.Im catching up on all the 2024 Best Picture nominees. Next up: Poor Things, which won a Best Actress Oscar for Emma Stone.What did you think of Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.

What just happened? With the start of CES 2025 now just days away, companies are rushing to reveal their new products ahead of the world's biggest consumer electronics event. Three tech giants have just unveiled 27-inch 4K OLED 240Hz monitors, and at least two support DisplayPort 2.1a. Asus, Samsung, and MSI have announced their claims for producing the world's first 27-inch 4K OLED 240Hz monitors, all using Samsung's 4th-generation QD-OLED panels.The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM, which has a screen size of 26.5 inches, boasts a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, HDR10 and Dolby Vision support, a 0.03ms response time, VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black compliance, and more.MSI's monitor is the MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED. Its spec list shares many similarities to Asus' monitor, while also including support for VRR and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). It's DisplayHDR 400 True Black compliant and ClearMR 13000 certified the latter is the highest tier for the metric that compares the ratio of clear pixels to blurry pixels during motion. It offers a 166PPI display, but there's no Dolby Vision HDR support.The final monitor is Samsung's Odyssey OLED G8. Like the others, it boasts VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 and G-Sync/FreeSync Premium Pro compatibility, along with 165 PPI on its screen.Both new monitors from Asus and MSI include DisplayPort 2.1a (UHBR20). The standard offers 80Gbps bandwidth, allowing users to enjoy 4K at 240Hz without the need for Display Stream Compression (DSC). Samsung doesn't say anything about DisplayPort 2.1a in its release, but it's fair to assume that it'll be there.The monitors also support HDMI 2.1; it was recently confirmed that HDMI 2.2 will be unveiled at CES, but it'll be a long time before that standard appears in monitors and consumer televisions.The monitors come with advanced OLED protections, such as MSI OLED care 2.0 and Asus OLED care Pro. Those two companies also offer a three-year warranty that includes burn-in protection. Samsung has yet to confirm its warranty specifics.Last week we heard that LG plans to unveil new UltraGear OLED monitors at CES, including a 45-inch 5K2K bendable model with dual-mode functionality. Asrock also has an upcoming dual-mode monitor with built-in Wi-Fi 7 antennas.