Every generation has a small group of young fiction writers who make it: They top bestseller lists, win prizes, and become household names. And for decades — well, nearly every decade — they have all been straight white men. Philip Roth. Norman Mailer. John Updike. Jonathan Franzen. Jonathan Safran Foer. You get the picture. But in the last decade or so, that’s changed: The up-and-coming writers capturing buzz and dominating critics’ lists have largely been women. Think Sally Rooney or Emma Cline or Ottessa Moshfegh. And when men do break through, they usually aren’t young, straight, or white. It’s worth pointing out that, while women now publish more books than men, men are still publishing more books now than they ever have before.But the (relative) decline of the men in letters has led to searching discussions, first murmured, but now increasingly debated in places like the New York Times and the Guardian: Why does the decline of the young, white, male writer matter? And what do we lose — if anything — with this shift?“We’ve seen a lot of great work being done to account for perspectives that were left out of literature for a long time,” Ross Barkan, a journalist and novelist, told Today, Explained co-host Noel King. “But I also think it’s important to know, for better and for worse, what the men of the 2020s are up to.”Barkan and King talked about how he feels young men have been shut out of literary fiction, what he thinks is lost, and his experience trying to get fiction published. His third novel, Glass Century, was released earlier this month.Below is a transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. Make sure to listen to hear the whole thing wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We are talking to you today because you wrote an essay not long ago called “From Misogyny to No Man’s Land: The Vanishing Male in Contemporary Literature.” What’s your argument in that essay, Ross?My argument in that essay is that among young literary writers today, there is a lack of men. This doesn’t mean there are no male novelists of prominence under the age of 40 — that’s the cutoff I use for young — but there are fewer of them than there were historically. And most of the prominent literary fiction writers today are women. I’m talking about a very specific type of fiction that is vying for awards or trying to vie for awards, trying to attain a certain level of prestige.You’re 35, and you’re a white man? Correct. I wonder about the kind of driving force for this essay and whether you are the vanishing male writer of which you wrote.I think so, yeah, I think there’s less of me for sure. I mean, there’d be an era where there were a lot of novelists like myself, Jewish or not Jewish, but certainly white men.I am inclined to find your argument very compelling. I was a teenager in the ’90s, a young adult in the 2000s. That’s when you read a lot of fiction, right? And I do remember David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Safran Foer…Yeah.…Jonathan Franzen. Jonathan Lethem! And so what you’re saying actually really does track to me. The question I wonder about is the why. And let me ask you first to answer the why from your personal perspective. You’re a novelist. You’re 35 years old. You’re a straight white guy — do you feel like those identities are holding you back in some way?Not in the real world. In the real world, I have enormous privilege. But in the 2010s, the literary world was less interested in straight men. I think you have a general lack of the heterosexual male perspective in newer fiction. There’s a long history of writers portraying toxic masculinity and rough male characters — and it feels like you see less of that today. I also think at the same time, young male writers, white and non-white, were taking less of an interest in fiction. It’s a chicken-and-egg challenge: Is it the publishing industry deciding this is no longer something we’re going to push or take a real interest in, or is it market forces as well?So some of it is internal — maybe there are fewer men who want to be great novelists, but maybe publishers are saying, “Hey, we’re just less interested in the perspectives of straight white men.” When you approached publishers with your novel Glass Century, did you hear that?I think you hear it behind the scenes. You’re never told to your face. I’m not complaining — I don’t consider myself a victim. I’ve had a successful career. I’m very happy with it. But what do you hear behind the scenes?To echo Joyce Carol Oates in a sort of notorious but not wrong tweet from several years ago — and I’m paraphrasing — agents and editors, at least in the 2010s and early 2020s, were just less interested in straight male fiction. I want to broaden it a little bit because you see even among Black, Hispanic, and Asian straight men — there are some, but [they’re] less common. And, certainly, the white male is now even less common, so I think publishers in general in that era were trying to diversify, which was fine. You had social justice politics, you had what they call “woke,” and in a way woke worked because it broadened things out and brought in new voices, but it is also zero sum. Some come up; some go out. And so for me, it’s observing that trend. What do you think we lose when we lose the perspective of those young white men?It’s a large part of the country. I think you have a lot going on with young men today. White and non-white alike, straight men — they are falling behind academically. They’re increasingly alienated. They’re increasingly angry. They are increasingly online. And fiction, in my view, is not grappling with all of that.I agree with you, but I did actually see that in one book in the last year, Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte. There were characters who were highly online. The most acclaimed story was about an incel. That book was incredibly powerful. And it got praise, right? What do you think about that?He’s a fantastic writer. I’ll start there. He’s a great prose stylist. There’s a short story I love about a young Asian man who is having these very lurid sexual fantasies about dominating other men. Fantastically written — he’s sort of the Roth of our era in terms of his ability to make a sentence really sizzle. But this is the caveat that people seem to be afraid to point out: It’s not a straight male fantasy. Could Tony have written a straight male fantasy of wanting to subdue a woman the way that character wants to subdue men? Tony himself is straight. It was an interesting choice there to inhabit a gay character. Nothing wrong with that. Writers should write about whatever sexuality. I don’t believe in limiting anyone in that way. But I thought it was a choice, right? Because straight male lust is very disconcerting. It’s not easy to write about. What do men think about? The modern novel is not addressing that enough. The nasty, nasty men. The men who are not — maybe they’re good at heart, but they have a lot of bad thoughts. And they take bad actions. You don’t see that much in fiction today, I would argue.Let me ask you about an argument that I think many people might have in response to what you’ve said, including many women. If you look at the stats going back to the year 1800, women made up about 5 percent of published authors. It’s 10 percent through about the 1900s, and then in 2015, women surpassed men — more women are publishing books than men. Although both genders are still publishing a lot of books, it should be said.Are you at all sympathetic to the argument that you guys had your turn for centuries, the attention, the prizes, the accolades, so we’re just leveling the playing field out?Yeah, I’m sympathetic, for sure. I think that it’s reasonable to believe that — that’s an honest argument. The problem is you’ll hear from people who say this isn’t happening, and I find that very tiring. I think the honest thing to say is that it’s time to rebalance the scales or turn the tables. But there are winners and losers, right? Women were losing; now men are losing. I will say, there’s no solace offered to the 26-year-old male who must pay for the sins of the past, right? The young male writer can’t sit at home and think, Well, golly, it was good Norman Mailer and John Updike had such a great run. So yes, I think one can rebalance, one can seek balance, one can ensure that groups of people who are discriminated against have their time as they should. My point merely is that you can’t then pretend there aren’t those who aren’t getting what they want.See More:

Rockstar is one of the biggest gaming studios of all time, with the developer hitting their stride during the 2000s. The debut of Grand Theft Auto at the start of the millennium marked a major shift in the gaming landscape, turning open-world gaming into a coveted genre that countless fans can't get enough of.

Late last month, some 14,000 baby chicks in Pennsylvania were shipped from a hatchery — commercial operations that breed chickens, incubate their eggs, and sell day-old chicks — to small farms across the country. But they didn’t get far. They were reportedly abandoned in a US Postal Service truck in Delaware for three-and-a-half days without water, food, or temperature control.By the time officials arrived at the postal facility, 4,000 baby birds were already dead. The thousands of survivors — mostly chickens, but also some turkeys and quails — were taken to Delaware’s First State Animal Center and SPCA, which worked tirelessly to find homes to take in the animals as pets.The incident has received extensive national news coverage, and it highlights an often hidden aspect of America’s network of small poultry farms and backyard chicken operations: the shipping of millions of live baby animals in the mail to be raised for eggs or meat.Most chicks survive their journey through the mail, but many don’t. In 2020, 4,800 chicks shipped to farmers in Maine perished due to postal service delays, while in 2022, almost 4,000 chicks destined for the Bahamas died on the tarmac at Miami International Airport from heat exposure. There are plenty of other stories of chicks dying in the mail, and backyard chicken enthusiasts say it’s not uncommon for a few birds out of every 50 or so that they order from hatcheries to die in the mail or shortly after arriving. Mass-casualty mail-order events are rare, but when they happen, they tend to receive news attention. It’s a weird-sounding story with aggrieved customers and sometimes, a hopeful outcome, like the thousands of rescued birds in Delaware. But many more farmed animals die in transportation than most of us realize. That’s because these animals — whether raised by backyard poultry enthusiasts or major meat-producing conglomerates — are commodities, and their deaths merely a margin of error baked into the economics of the annual hatching, raising, and slaughtering of billions of chickens for food. What happens between the factory farm and the slaughterhouseAnimals raised for food are often transported numerous times throughout their lives, and they’re typically treated like cargo rather than living, feeling animals. Sometimes, it’s boxes of day-old chicks shipped through the USPS from a small hatchery to a small farm. But more often, it’s truckloads of fattened-up chickens or pigs moved from a factory farm to a massive slaughterhouse.More than 9 billion chickens raised for meat annually in the US are kept on factory farms — long, windowless buildings that look more like industrial warehouses than farms. The birds have been bred to grow enormous, which causes a number of health problems, and in these overcrowded facilities, disease spreads quickly. The conditions are so awful that up to 6 percent die before they can even be trucked to the slaughterhouse. That’s over half a billion animals each year.Once the survivors reach about 6.5 pounds, they’re quickly and tightly packed into crates. Those crates are then stacked one atop another onto a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. They’re still babies, at just 47 days old, but 6.5 pounds is their average “market weight.”Chickens packed into crates bound for the slaughterhouse. Jo-Anne McArthur/We AnimalsMost chicken farms are located close to a slaughterhouse, so the trip isn’t too long — often 60 miles or less, according to the National Chicken Council. But “even if it is a short journey, the weather and the stocking density has a huge effect on mortality,” Adrienne Craig, an attorney at the Animal Welfare Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for more humane conditions in animal transport, told me. “They could be transported for 45 minutes and if it’s 110 degrees,” a lot of chickens could die. They can also become stressed and physically aggressive toward one another when packed so tightly. The US poultry industry doesn’t publish statistics on how many animals die in transport — what they call “DOAs” (dead on arrival). In the early 2000s, according to the data analytics firm Agri Stats, Inc., the DOA rate was around 0.36 percent. Assuming this hasn’t changed much (a reasonable assumption, as it’s not so different from DOA rates in many European countries), around 33.8 million chickens in the US died in transport in 2024, or 92,602 every day. (The National Chicken Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for industry DOA figures.)To put that into context, around 33 million cattle are slaughtered for beef each year in the US. In a 2023 report, the Animal Welfare Institute published a report that details a number of mass-death events in chicken transport. Here are just a few:In 2018, 34,050 chickens died in transport to a Pilgrim’s Pride slaughterhouse from severe cold and wind. (Pilgrim’s Pride happened to be the top donor to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.)In 2020, more than 9,000 birds raised for Butterfield Foods died after being held overnight in unheated transport trailers when the temperature fell to minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit.In 2022, a transport truck carrying birds for Lincoln Premium Poultry — Costco’s in-house chicken production company — caught fire and 1,000 birds were burned alive, while an additional 1,500 were injured and euthanized.The DOA rate is even higher for pigs, with about a million every year either dead on arrival at the slaughterhouse, unable to move or keep up with other pigs after unloading, or in such a terrible state that they must be euthanized on arrival. Blood is seen on a truck bringing pigs to the Farmer John slaughterhouse in Vernon, California. David McNew/Getty ImagesAnimal rights activists give water to pigs arriving by truck to the Farmer John slaughterhouse in Vernon, California. David McNew/Getty ImagesSimilar to poultry birds, pigs and cattle are subject to extreme temperatures, but they’re often transported much further distances. And a typical beef or dairy cow is shipped multiple times to different farms, and often across state lines — not just the trip from the farm to the slaughterhouse. These long distances mean the animals are living in one another’s urine and feces while on the truck, and, according to Craig, they can experience bruising when jostled around as truckers navigate curves and bumpy roads.Animals have no federal protections in transportation trips under 28 hours, and the federal Twenty-Eight Hour Law, intended to reduce their suffering on those longer journeys, is poorly — and rarely — enforced. The law also excludes poultry birds — the vast majority of animals raised for meat. The average consumer, if they think about farm animal suffering at all, may only think about it in the context of factory farms or slaughterhouses. But the factory farm production chain is incredibly complex, and at each step, animals have little to no protections. That leads to tens of millions of animals dying painful deaths each year in transport alone, and virtually no companies are ever held accountable. These deaths are just as tragic as the thousands who died in the recent USPS incident, and they are just as preventable. The meat industry could choose to pack fewer animals into each truck, require heating and cooling during transport, and give animals ample time for rest, water, and food on long journeys. But such modest measures would cut into their margins, and if there’s one thing that should be understood about almost every major US meat company, it’s this: They will always cut corners on animal welfare to increase profit unless they’re legally required to change. You’ve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you — threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you — join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,437 Argentina Developer: Capcom (original), NeoBards Entertainment (remaster) Publisher: Capcom Release date: May 23, 2025 Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC Genre: Action-adventure Price: $29.99 (US), €29.99 (EU), £24.99 (UK) Store links: System Requirements (PC)​ Minimum OS: Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 11 Processor: Intel Core i3 8350K, AMD Ryzen 3 3200G Memory: 8 GB Graphic card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 (VRAM4GB) or AMD Radeon™ RX560 (VRAM4GB) DirectX: 12 Hard drive space: 25 GB Recommended OS: Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 11 Processor: Intel Core i3 8350K, AMD Ryzen 3 3200G Memory: 16 GB Graphic card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 (VRAM6GB) or AMD Radeon™ RX570 (VRAM4GB) DirectX: 12 Hard drive space: 25 GB Click to expand... Click to shrink... Troubleshooting guide & Issue reporting (Steam): Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny :: Steam Community steamcommunity.com About the Game​Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny was originally released on the PlayStation 2. Although it's a sequel to Onimusha: Warlords, the game features a complete new protagonist and supporting cast and the game can be enjoyed without prior experience of the first game.The game improves on various aspects of the original Onimusha: Warlords, increasing the action and replay value thanks to featuring 4 additional playable characters and a branching story. The remaster updates the game to HD format and brings various quality of life changes and extra features. Story & Cast The game tells the story of Jubei Yagyu and his revenge journey againts Oda Nobunaga and his demonic Genma army for the massacre of his clan. During his journey Jubei will meet and cross path with the mysterious woman Oyu, the young ninja Kotaro, the master spearwielder Ekei and the gunslinger Magoichi, they each have their own aims and their own connections that will lead them to fight each other, and sometimes fight together. Experience 100 different scenarios across the game's branching story. Completionist note: it's imposible to see all scenarios in one playthrough, for more details click here. Gameplay Like in the original Onimusha: Warlords, the game features a mix of exploration and combat but now to a greater degree. The player fights using a normal sword but as they progress through the story they will collect an assortment of short and long range weapons, from diverse element-based weapons to bows and firearms. Defeated Genma monsters will provide the player with demon souls that they can absorb to obtain various benefits depending on their color. Yellow souls will restore your health, blue souls restore magic power, red souls can be used to upgrade your gear and the rare purple souls can be used to unleash your 'Onimusha' transformation after absorbing five of them. The player can build and deepen Jubei's relationship with each of his allies by performing certain actions and exchangin gifts of their liking with them, this will unlock special scenarios and eventually giving you control to play as them during certain points of the story. For more details about the Gift Exchange system, click here. New Features & updates​ New "HELL" Mode : an extremely difficult mode where you die in a single hit. Gallery: the gallery from the original now supports higher resolution & zoom functions. Over 100 new special artworks have been added. You can listen all 43 songs of the original soundtrack. All assets updated to high definition Switch between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio on the fly during gameplay. Easy Mode is now available by default. All cutscenes can now be skipped from the start. Mini-games available from the start. Alternative costumes available from the start Added auto-save feature Weapons can be swapped without having to open the menu. Bonuses ​You can get a special outfit for Jubei if you have save data from Onimusha: Warlords. To switch Jubei's outfit select Special Features → Jubei's Outfit and select between Normal and Special from the title-screen menu. This will only alter the appearance. Your status will be the same as the armour you equip in-game. By pre-ordering the game you get the Onimusha 2: Orchestra Album Selection Pack. It includes five tracks selected from the Onimusha 2 Orchestra Album Taro Iwashiro Selection. Select Special Features → Gallery → Original Soundtrack to access these tracks from the title-screen menu. This product is also available as part of the Onimusha bundle. (Acquire this bundle before July 1, 2025, 04:00 (UTC), to receive a limited-time bonus!) You also get a pack of items that contains 3 herbs, 2 medicines, 1 secret medicine, 2 special magic liquid, 1 perfect medicine, 1 talisman and 10,000 red souls. The content will appear after meeting Takajo in the early game. If you have already met Takajo, the content will appear when you select "Load Game". While you can only get this item pack once, you can also get the items in-game. The content listed in the DLC may become available separately at a later date. Bundle ​You can purchase Onimusha: Warlords and Onimusha 2: SamuraI's Destiny together. Bundle links: Media​ Announcement Trailer​Pre-order Announcement Trailer​ ​ Message from the Director​Gameplay with the Director​   Last edited: Yesterday at 8:21 AM Threadmarks Gift Exchange guide New Index OP OP Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,437 Argentina Gift Exchange​ A core gameplay mechanique introduced in Onimusha 2 is the Gift Exchange. Alongside the player's standard item inventory, there exists a separate inventory exclusive for gift items that can be given to Ekei, Magoichi , Kotaro and Oyu. A total of 125 gifts can be found throughout the game, and each will elicit a different response depending on who it is given to. All 125 Gift locations (items name may differ in the remaster). View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BopXanIz40 As said above, gifts will elicit different response to each character depending on how much they value it, for example the Vodka gift will have an A-rank value for Ekei but a B-rank value for Magoichi. As detailed in the video above, each character has a pool of unique gifts/items per rank that they can give you at random in exchange for a gift of that rank. The video and doc below details what rank value each gift has per character. Doc with each gift rating value (item names may differ in the remaster): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kYJJ7yifduP0IcRArk-xuBqTEVJKnOadTfEdagBEu1I/edit?usp=sharing View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiGmPPmrPAw  Last edited: Yesterday at 9:36 AM New Index Threadmarks Scenario Route guide New Index OP OP Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,437 Argentina Scenario Route From the Onimusha wiki: While there are many scenarios that are guaranteed to occur throughout the game, many other optional scenarios can be triggered by raising the friendship of one or more characters by repeatedly giving them gifts that elicit positive reactions. These optional scenarios can provide additional character development of a certain sub-character, reward the player with additional items, and can unlock playable sections for those characters, though the playable section for Oyu is mandatory regardless of her friendship. While some optional scenarios can occur on their own, others are a part of a split route, with only one out of multiple scenarios being possible to trigger per-playthrough (E.g: Three separate characters can aid Jubei in the Imasho Gold Mine, but only one can do so per playthrough). However, there are restrictions to this system. Due to the split scenario routes, it is not possible to trigger all scenarios in a single playthrough as there are multiple instances of split scenario routes that can only trigger a single scenario, with it even being possible for none of them to trigger in one case. Another restriction is that even if the friendship level of all four sub-characters is at the minimum level required to trigger their optional scenarios, only one sub-character can have most of their optional scenarios triggered per playthrough, this depending on which sub-character has the highest friendship. The only exceptions are each sub-character's playable sections and some scenarios that also involve whoever has the highest friendship (E.g: Chapter 7-10 only requiring either Ekei or Magoichi to have high enough friendship). As a result of these restriction, at least four separate playthroughs are required to trigger every scenario in the game. -------------------------------- Note: the Scenario Route keeps track of all the scenarios you triggered in previous playthroughs so you can just focus on the ones you missed, you still have to meet their requirements to trigger them in your subsequent plays. The following guides contain spoilers, recommend to read after your first playthrough or for returning old players.   New Index shadowman16 Member Oct 25, 2017 41,569 Magoichi you swine! (for some reason that's been stuck in my head for decades... I love the cast for 2). Very excited to replay this one, it was always one of my absolute favourites in the series... Half because of Gorgandates (legend) and half because I felt legit robbed when you never got to defeat Nobunaga in Oni1.  KyouG Member Oct 26, 2017 642 I loved Onimusha HD, and I have been greatly looking forward to playing this. Will make use of the gift guide on my second playthrough, lol.   Tengrave Avenger Oct 26, 2017 1,108 Great OT! The best Onimusha.   ramenline Member Jan 9, 2019 1,673 Started playing the PS2 version yesterday, I played Oni 1 a few months ago and enjoyed it overall. Nice and breezy with great backgrounds. Will probably save 3 and 4 for when we're closer to Way of the Sword dropping  Aeana Member Oct 25, 2017 7,573 I love this game so much. Super excited.   Sumio Mondo Member Oct 25, 2017 10,746 United Kingdom A PS2 classic returns! Can't wait to play it this weekend.  Western Yokai Member Feb 14, 2025 172 This will not get a physical release, right?   RayCharlizard Member Nov 2, 2017 4,475 Western Yokai said: This will not get a physical release, right? Click to expand... Click to shrink... There isn't one announced but who knows if this gets a Limited Run or something down the line.   AlexDS1996 Member Jul 14, 2022 3,958 Excellent thread! Looking forward to playing it at midnight.   demi Member Oct 27, 2017 16,574 My name is Goooogandantessss   Sumio Mondo Member Oct 25, 2017 10,746 United Kingdom Tengrave said: Great OT! The best Onimusha. Click to expand... Click to shrink...   Chackan Member Oct 31, 2017 5,451 "Juuuubeeeeeeiiii" Fucking finally. Played Onimusha 1 HD when it came out on the Switch, and have been waiting since then for this one! Hope they don't take another 5 or 6 years with Onimusha 3...  ResinPeasant93 Member Apr 24, 2024 2,489 My favorite Onimusha. Still have my PS2 copy   Koivusilta Member Oct 30, 2017 629 Finland The best Onimusha and one of my overall favorite PS2 games, so glad it's finally getting a re-release! Can't wait to dig in tomorrow after work. Completed Clair Obscur just in time, too! Looking at the Motohide Eshiro gameplay video, I'm glad to see they changed the Onimusha transformation so that it's now manually activated like in Onimusha 3, so you don't waste your transformation if you accidentally collect the fifth purple orb. Attack charging is also a bit different now, since the game originally used the pressure sensitive shoulder buttons for it. PS. I really wish they go back and add Genma features into the Warlords remaster, even if it was paid DLC.  G_Shumi One Winged Slayer Member Oct 26, 2017 7,650 Cleveland, OH Great OP! I recently played Onimusha 2 & 3 on PS2 last year, so I'll probably wait for a sale (or an eventual physical release please!). But I do have one sage advice for Onimusha 2: rotate the analog sticks in order to open the heavy door! If you get far enough in the game, you'll know what I mean.  Tagovailoa Member Feb 5, 2023 1,586 Love this game! Just beat Oni 1 remastered in one sitting yesterday while home sick from work. Looking forward to getting to this sometime this weekend. I have beaten this game 5+ times and never got 100% scenario completion.  RiZ IV Member Oct 27, 2017 933 Wow, I didn't realize this was coming out tomorrow. Onimusha 2 was one of my favorite PS2 games. Will definitely pick this up.   GwyndolinCinder Member Oct 26, 2017 5,703 JUBEIIIIIIIIIIII   coldsagging AVALANCHE Member Oct 27, 2017 8,077 Tengrave said: Great OT! The best Onimusha. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Facts.   The Silver Member Oct 28, 2017 11,584 Haven't replayed this in so long. Hope the bring back and expand on the structure of Oni 2 in the new one, it has a lot of potential   Annie85x Member Mar 12, 2020 2,949 Oni 2 was my fav. Super excited to jump back in over the weekend 😍   Timodus Member Oct 27, 2017 383 My first and favorite Onimusha. I'm glad I can finally play it with the Japanese voices.   OP OP Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,437 Argentina https://x.com/OnimushaGame/status/1925673157190463524 @OnimushaGame said: Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny launches tomorrow. Prepare to reclaim your destiny! Today, we're celebrating with this amazing piece from @hieumayart featuring our protagonist, Jubei! Click to expand... Click to shrink...   thetrin Member Oct 26, 2017 10,725 Grand Junction, CO Awesome game. Loved it when I played it on PS2. I am curious to see what people who are playing it with fresh eyes think of it.   stn Member Oct 28, 2017 6,414 Definitely getting this! I started playing the OG on PS2, but the controls are so bad that I'll play this instead.   OP OP Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,437 Argentina https://x.com/OnimushaGame/status/1925703394737467771 @OnimushaGame said: The web manual for Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny is now live. Check it out to prepare for tomorrow's release! Access the manual here 👇 https://manual.capcom.com/onimusha2/ Click to expand... Click to shrink...   Zor Member Oct 30, 2017 14,095 So I was going to replay the first game before this as I own the remaster, but I just realised I own Genma Onimusha and never ever actually played it. Is Genma considered the best version just for people that like a more difficult experience or do its benefits/improvements range beyond that? Just wondering which the best version of the first is.  LetalisAmare Member Oct 27, 2017 4,363 Just started. The 16:9 is zoomed in or cropped whatever you call it. I'll stick to 4:3.   OP OP Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,437 Argentina Zor said: So I was going to replay the first game before this as I own the remaster, but I just realised I own Genma Onimusha and never ever actually played it. Is Genma considered the best version just for people that like a more difficult experience or do its benefits/improvements range beyond that? Just wondering which the best version of the first is. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, Genma is the best version of Oni 1 and it's an overall harder game than the OG, it has one new location, 2 new bosses (one of them is a RE-Nemesis type stalker).   Count of Monte Sawed-Off Member Oct 27, 2017 5,057 Best Onimusha.   Zetta The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 8,521 Buying it just to show support and will eventually play it much later on. Hoping this sells a lot so we can get 3.   Jawmuncher Crisis Dino Moderator Oct 25, 2017 44,845 Ibis Island Great OT, fixed the title though. No need to include the platforms in the title since they're in the OP   giancarlo123x One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 28,013 $30? That's easy money.   TΛPIVVΛ Member Nov 12, 2017 4,125 Surprised its out! Just crept up on me! View: https://youtu.be/D9joJuEcJAw  Type VII Member Oct 31, 2017 2,980 Downloaded on PS5 and ready to go when I get home from work this evening. It's a shame there's no physical release, but between this and Capcom Fighting Collection 2, I'll be partying like it's the early 2000s all weekend.   Aske The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 6,318 Canadia Golden Evil Statue!!!!!!   AlexDS1996 Member Jul 14, 2022 3,958 I've just played a little over an hour and it's perfect. That counter attack is always satisfying. The game looks great to me and the sound is really nice too.   Tagovailoa Member Feb 5, 2023 1,586 Aske said: Golden Evil Statue!!!!!! Click to expand... Click to shrink... New players are not going to have a good time  Zolbrod Member Oct 27, 2017 3,965 Osaka, Japan By far the best game in the series! Can't wait to play it again!  NovumVeritas Member Oct 26, 2017 11,143 Berlin I just played a little bit docked on Switch, this looks very oversharpend, any one else? Is that the use of the AI filter they used?   Hystzen Member Oct 25, 2017 2,674 Manchester UK It's best onimusha for a 1/3rd of game then they ditch the hub concept and character interactions it turns rushed and bland   OP OP Lucia Member Oct 18, 2021 2,437 Argentina I wish the 4:3 ratio also applied to cutscenes.   Pez Member Oct 28, 2017 1,422 If this gets a physical release, I'm there. Will hold out until then.   joyfoolish Member Aug 25, 2024 197 I was wondering if the PS4 version looks good on PS5? Is it at least 1440p?   Rust Member Jan 24, 2018 1,443 What the heck is this stupid random mini-game? I think I've died more often opening a garage door than throughout the rest of the game. I really enjoyed the first one - samurai game ala Resident Evil? Sign me up! Whereas this one started okay, now it's turned into an incredibly linear experience. I'm hoping it'll change back, but I'm thinking it's entering the final act.  Jawmuncher Crisis Dino Moderator Oct 25, 2017 44,845 Ibis Island Pez said: If this gets a physical release, I'm there. Will hold out until then. Click to expand... Click to shrink... No Physical release is a big hit on this. Especially after they did the 1st game. Not even a Japanese Physical is surprising. Capcom was one of the stronger JP publishers still doing that at least, so it's a shame to see them seemingly ditching it.  Pez Member Oct 28, 2017 1,422 Yeah, they never did them for the DMC games on Switch either. There's a good chance this never gets a physical release. We'll see!  

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More In the first generation of the web, back in the late 1990s, search was okay but not great, and it wasn’t easy to find things. That led to the rise of syndication protocols in the early 2000s, with Atom and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) providing a simplified way for website owners to make headlines and other content easily available and searchable. In the modern era of AI, a new group of protocols is emerging to serve the same basic purpose. This time, instead of making sites easier for humans to find, it’s all about making websites easier for AI. Anthropic’s Model Control Protocol (MCP), Google‘s Agent2Agent and large language models/ LLMs.txt are among the existing efforts. The newest protocol is Microsoft’s open-source NLWeb (natural language web) effort, which was announced during the Build 2025 conference. NLWeb is also directly linked to the first generation of web syndication standards, as it was conceived and created by RV Guha, who helped create RSS, RDF (Resource Description Framework) and schema.org. NLWeb enables websites to easily add AI-powered conversational interfaces, effectively turning any website into an AI app where users can query content using natural language. NLWeb isn’t necessarily about competing with other protocols; rather, it builds on top of them. The new protocol uses existing structured data formats like RSS, and each NLWeb instance functions as an MCP server. “The idea behind NLWeb is it is a way for anyone who has a website or an API already to very easily make their website or their API an agentic application,” Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott said during his Build 2025 keynote. “You really can think about it a little bit like HTML for the agentic web.” How NLWeb works to AI-enable the web for enterprises NLWeb transforms websites into AI-powered experiences through a straightforward process that builds on existing web infrastructure while leveraging modern AI technologies. Building on existing data: The system begins by leveraging structured data that websites already publish, including markup, RSS feeds and other semi-structured formats that are commonly embedded in web pages. This means publishers don’t need to rebuild their content infrastructure completely. Data processing and storage: NLWeb includes tools for adding this structured data to vector databases, which enable efficient semantic search and retrieval. The system supports all major vector database options, allowing developers to choose the solution that best fits their technical requirements and scale. AI enhancement layer: LLMs then enhance this stored data with external knowledge and context. For instance, when a user queries about restaurants, the system automatically layers on geographic insights, reviews and related information by combining the vectorized content with LLM capabilities to provide comprehensive, intelligent responses rather than simple data retrieval. Universal interface creation: The result is a natural language interface that serves both human users and AI agents. Visitors can ask questions in plain English and receive conversational responses, while AI systems can programmatically access and query the site’s information through the MCP framework. This approach allows any website to participate in the emerging agentic web without requiring extensive technical overhauls. It makes AI-powered search and interaction as accessible as creating a basic webpage was in the early days of the internet. The emerging AI protocol landscape brings many choices to enterprises There are a lot of different protocols emerging in the AI space; not all do the same thing. Google’s Agent2Agent, for example, is all about enabling agents to talk to each other. It’s about orchestrating and communicating agentic AI and is not particularly focused on AI-enabling existing websites or AI content. Maria Gorskikh, founder and CEO of AIA and a contributor to the Project NANDA team at MIT, explained to VentureBeat that Google’s A2A enables structured task passing between agents using defined schemas and lifecycle models.  “While the protocol is open-source and model-agnostic by design, its current implementations and tooling are closely tied to Google’s Gemini stack — making it more of a backend orchestration framework than a general-purpose interface for web-based services,” she said. Another emerging effort is LLMs.txt. Its goal is to help LLMs better access web content. While on the surface, it might sound somewhat like NLWeb, it’s not the same thing. “NLWeb doesn’t compete with LLMs.txt; it is more comparable to web scraping tools that try to deduce intent from a website,” Michael Ni, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research told VentureBeat. Krish Arvapally, co-founder and CTO of Dappier, explained to VentureBeat that LLMs.txt provides a markdown-style format with training permissions that helps LLM crawlers ingest content appropriately. NLWeb focuses on enabling real-time interactions directly on a publisher’s website. Dappier has its own platform that automatically ingests RSS feeds and other structured data, then delivers branded, embeddable conversational interfaces. Publishers can syndicate their content to their data marketplace. MCP is the other big protocol, and it is increasingly becoming a de facto standard and a foundational element of NLWeb. Fundamentally, MCP is an open standard for connecting AI systems with data sources. Ni explained that in Microsoft’s view, MCP is the transport layer, where, together, MCP and NLWeb provide the HTML and TCP/IP of the open agentic web. Forrester Senior Analyst Will McKeon-White sees a number of advantages for NLWeb over other options. “The main advantage of NLWeb is better control over how AI systems ‘see’ the pieces that make up websites, allowing for better navigation and more complete understanding of the tooling,” McKeon-White told VentureBeat. “This could reduce both errors from systems misunderstanding what they’re seeing on websites, as well as reduce interface rework.” Early adopters already see the promise of NLWeb for enterprise agentic AI Microsoft didn’t just throw NLWeb over the proverbial wall and hope someone would use it.  Microsoft already has multiple organizations engaged and using NLWeb, including Chicago Public Media, Allrecipes, Eventbrite, Hearst (Delish), O’Reilly Media, Tripadvisor and Shopify. Andrew Odewahn, Chief Technology Officer at O’Reilly Media is among the early adopters and sees real promise for NLWeb. “NLWeb leverages the best practices and standards developed over the past decade on the open web and makes them available to LLMs,” Odewahn told VentureBeat. “Companies have long spent time optimizing this kind of metadata for SEO and other marketing purposes, but now they can take advantage of this wealth of data to make their own internal AI smarter and more capable with NLWeb.” In his view, NLWeb is valuable for enterprises both as consumers of public information and publishers of private information. He noted that nearly every company has sales and marketing efforts where they might need to ask, “What does this company do?” or “What is this product about?”  “NLWeb provides a great way to open this information to your internal LLMs so that you don’t have to go hunting and pecking to find it,” Odewahn said. “As a publisher, you can add your own metadata using schema.org standard and use NLWeb internally as an MCP server to make it available for internal use.” Using NLWeb isn’t necessarily a heavy lift, either. Odewahn noted that many organizations are probably already using many of the standards NLWeb relies on.  “There’s no downside in trying it out now since NLWeb can run entirely within your infrastructure,” he said. “It’s open source software meeting the best in open source data, so you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain from trying it now.” Should enterprises jump on NLWeb right now, or wait? Constellation Research Analyst Michael Ni has a somewhat positive viewpoint on NLWeb. However, that doesn’t mean enterprises need to adopt it immediately. Ni noted that NLWeb is in the very early stages of maturity and enterprises should expect 2-3 years for any substantial adoption. He suggests that leading-edge companies with specific needs, such as active marketplaces, can look to pilot with the ability to engage and help shape the standard. “It’s a visionary specification with clear potential, but it needs ecosystem validation, implementation tooling, and reference integrations before it can reach mainstream enterprise pilots,” Ni said. Others have a somewhat more aggressive viewpoint on adoption. Gorskikh suggests taking an accelerated approach to ensure your enterprise doesn’t fall behind. “If you’re an enterprise with a large content surface, internal knowledge base, or structured data, piloting NLWeb now is a smart and necessary step to stay ahead,” she said. “This isn’t a wait-and-see moment — it’s more like the early adoption of APIs or mobile apps.” That said, she noted that regulated industries need to tread carefully. Sectors like insurance, banking and healthcare should hold off on production use until there’s a neutral, decentralized verification and discovery system in place. There are already early-stage efforts addressing this — such as the NANDA project at MIT that Gorskikh participates in, which is building an open, decentralized registry and reputation system for agentic services. What does this all mean to enterprise AI leaders? For enterprise AI leaders, NLWeb is a watershed moment and a technology that should not be ignored. AI is going to interact with your site, and you need to AI enable it. NLWeb is one way that will be particularly attractive to publishers, much like RSS became a must-have for all websites in the early 2000s. In a few years, users will just expect it to be there; they will expect to be able to search and find things, while agentic AI systems will need to be able to access the content as well.  That’s the promise of NLWeb. Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI. Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

This article contains some Mission: Impossible – The Final reckoning spoilers. In the most recent and supposedly final Mission: Impossible film, Ethan Hunt receives his briefing on a VHS cassette tape. That is a marvelous wink to the era in whichMission: Impossible, but these films have remained consistently at the zenith of quality blockbuster cinema. And through it all remains Tom Cruise, running, gunning, and smoldering with his various, luxuriant haircuts. Indeed, the first M:I picture was also Cruise’s first as a producer, made under the banner of Cruise/Wagner productions. Perhaps for that reason, he has stayed committed to what was once viewed as simply a “television adaptation.” It might have begun as TV IP, but in Cruise’s hands it has become a cinematic magnum opus that sequel after sequel, and decade after decade, has blossomed into one of the most inventive and satisfying spectacles ever produced in the Hollywood system. The final decade of the series’ run in particular has been groundbreaking. After five movies with five very different directors, aesthetics, and sensibilities, Christopher McQuarrie stuck around—alongside stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood. Together with Cruise, they turned the series into an old-fashioned, in-camera spectacle that harkens back to the earliest days of cinema. In the process, Cruise has added another chapter to his career, that of an onscreen daredevil like Harold Lloyd or Douglas Fairbanks. It’s been an amazing run, and honestly it’s a bit arbitrary to quantify it with any sort of ranking. But if we were going to do such a thing, here is how it should go… 8. Mission: Impossible II (2000) It’s hardly controversial to put John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II dead last. From its overabundance of slow-mo action—complete with Woo’s signature flying doves—to its use of Limp Bizkit, and even that nonsensical plot about manmade viruses that still doesn’t feel timely on the other side of 2020, MI:-2 is a relic of late ‘90s Hollywood excess. On the one hand, it’s kind of marvelous that Cruise let Woo completely tear down and rebuild a successful franchise-starter in the Hong Kong filmmaker’s own image. On the other, it’s perhaps telling of where Cruise’s ego was at that time since Woo used this opportunity to transform the original all-American Ethan Hunt into a god of celluloid marble. And make no mistake, there is something godlike to how Woo’s camera fetishizes Cruise’s sunglasses and new, luxuriant mane of jet black hair during Hunt’s big introduction where he is seen free-climbing across a rock face without rope. It would come to work as metaphor for the rest of the movie where, despite ostensibly being the leader of a team, Ethan is mostly going it alone as he does ridiculous things like have a medieval duel against his evil doppelgänger (Dougray Scott), only both men now ride motorcycles instead of horses. The onscreen team, meanwhile, stares slack-jawed as Ethan finds his inner-Arnold Schwarzenegger and massacres entire scores of faceless mercenaries in multiple shootouts. While gunplay has always been an element of modern spy thrillers, the Mission: Impossible movies work best when the characters use their wits (and the stunt team’s ingenuity) to escape elaborate, tricky situations. So there’s something banal about the way M:I-2 resembles any other late ‘90s and early ‘00s actioner that might’ve starred Nicolas Cage or Bruce Willis. Technically the plot, which involves Ethan’s reluctance to send new flame Nyah Hall (Thandiwe Newton) into the lion’s den as an informant, has classical pedigree. The movie remakes Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946) in all but name. However, the movie is so in love with its movie star deity that even the supposedly central romance is cast in ambivalent shadow. 7. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) Yes, we admit to also being surprised that what is allegedly intended to be the last Mission: Impossible movie is finishing near the very bottom of this list. Which is not to say that The Final Reckoning is a bad movie. It’s just a messy one—and disappointing too. Perhaps the expectations were too high for a film with “final” in the title. Also its reportedly eye-popping $400 million only fueled the hype. But whereas the three previous Mission films directed by Christopher McQuarrie, including Dead Reckoning, had a light playfulness about them, The Final Reckoning gets lost in its own self-importance and grandiosity. Once again we have a Mission flick determined to deify Ethan Hunt with McQuarrie’s “gambler” from the last couple movies taking on the imagery of the messiah. Now the AI fate of the world lies in his literal hands. This approach leads to many long expository sequences where characters blather endlessly about the motivations of an abstract artificial intelligence. Meanwhile far too little time is spent on the sweet spot for this series: Cruise’s chemistry with co-stars when he isn’t hanging from some death-defying height. In fact, Ethan goes it pretty much alone in this one, staring down generals, submarine captains, and American presidents—fools all to think for one instance Ethan isn’t the guy sent to redeem them for their sins. The action sequences are still jaw-dropping when they finally come, and it is always good to see co-stars Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, and an all too briefly used Ving Rhames again, but this feels less like a finale than a breaking point. If Mission does come back, it will have to be as something wildly different (and presumably less expensive). 6. Mission: Impossible III (2006) Before he transformed Star Trek and Star Wars into remarkably similar franchises, writer-director J.J. Abrams made his big screen debut by doing much the same to the Mission: Impossible franchise. With his emphasis on extreme close-ups, heavy expository dialogue dumps, and intentionally vague motivations for his villains that seem to always have something to do with the War on Terror, Abrams remade the M:I franchise in the image of his TV shows, particularly Alias. This included turning Woo’s Übermensch from the last movie into the kind of suburban everyman who scores well with the Nielsen ratings and who has a sweet girl-next-door fiancée (Michelle Monaghan). Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Your mileage may vary with this approach, but personally we found M:I-3 to be too much of a piece with mid-2000s television and lacking in a certain degree of movie magic. With that said, the movie has two fantastic aces up its sleeve. The first and most significant is a deliciously boorish performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman as the franchise’s scariest villain. Abrams’ signature monologues have never been more chilling as when Hoffman cuts through Cruise’s matinee heroics like a knife and unsettles the protagonist and the audience with an unblinking declaration of ill-intent. Perhaps more impressively, during one of the franchise’s famed “mask” sequences where Ethan disguises himself as Hoffman’s baddie, the character actor subtly and convincingly mimics Cruise’s leading man charisma. That, plus introducing fan favorite Simon Pegg as Benji to the series (if in little more than a cameo), makes the movie worth a watch if not a regular revisit. According to more than a few critics in 2023, the then-newest installment in the series was also the best one. I respectfully disagree. The first half of writer-director Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise’s Dead Reckoning In terms of old school spectacle and breakneck pacing, Dead Reckoning is easily the most entertaining action movie of summer 2023’s offerings. However, when compared to the best entries in the M:I franchise, Dead Reckoning leaves something be desired. While McQuarrie’s counterintuitive instinct to script the scenes after designing the set pieces, and essentially make it up as they went along, paid off in dividends in Fallout, the narrative of Dead Reckoning’s first half is shaggy and muddled. The second act is especially disjointed when the film arrives in Venice, and the actors seem as uncertain as the script is over what exactly the film’s nefarious A.I. villain, codename: “The Entity,” wants. That this is the portion of the film which also thanklessly kills off fan favorite Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) does the movie no favors. Elsewhere in the film, Hayley Atwell proves a fantastic addition in her own right as Grace—essentially a civilian and audience surrogate who gets wrapped up in the M:I series’ craziness long enough to stare at Cruise in incredulity—but the inference that she is here to simply interchangeably replace Ilsa gives the film a sour subtext. Still, Atwell’s Grace is great, Cruise’s Ethan is as mad as ever with his stunts, and even as the rest of the ensemble feels underutilized, seeing the team back together makes this a good time—while the unexpected return of Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge is downright great. 4. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) There are many fans who will tell you that the Mission: Impossible franchise as we know it really started with this Brad Bird entry at the beginning of the 2010s, and it’s easy to see why. As the first installment made with a newly chastened Cruise—who Paramount Pictures had just spent years trying to fire from the series—it’s also the installment where the movie star remade his persona as a modern day Douglas Fairbanks. Here he becomes the guy you could count on to commit the most absurdly dangerous and ridiculous stunts for our entertainment. What a mensch. And in terms of set pieces, nothing in the series may top this movie’s second act where Cruise is asked to become a real-life Spider-Man and wall-crawl—as well as swing and skip—along the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It’s a genuine showstopper that looms over the rest of the movie. Not that there isn’t a lot to enjoy elsewhere as Bird brings a slightly more sci-fi and cartoonish cheek to the proceedings with amusing gadgets like those aforementioned “blue means glue” Spidey gloves. Even more amusingly, the damn things never seem to work properly. This is also the first Mission: Impossible movie where the whole team feels vital to the success of the adventure, including a now proper sidekick in the returning Pegg and some solid support from Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner. For a certain breed of fan that makes this the best, but we would argue the team dynamics were fleshed out a little better down the road, and in movies that have more than one stunning set piece to their name. 3. Mission: Impossible (1996) The last four entries of the series have been so good that it’s become common for folks to overlook the movie that started it all, Brian De Palma’s endlessly stylish Mission: Impossible. That’s a shame since there’s something admirably blasphemous to this day about a movie that would take an ancient pop culture property and throw the fundamentals out the window. In this case, that meant turning the original show’s hero, Jim Phelps (played by Jon Voight here), into the villain while completely rewriting the rulebook about what the concept of “Mission: Impossible” is. It’s the bold kind of creative move studios would never dare make now, but that’s what opened up the space to transform a novelty of ‘60s spymania TV into a ‘90s action classic, complete with heavy emphasis on techno espionage babble and post-Cold War politics. The movie can at times appear dated given the emphasis on floppy disks and AOL email accounts, but it’s also got a brisk energy that never goes out of style thanks to De Palma’s ability to frame a knotty script by David Koepp and Robert Towne (the latter of whom penned Chinatown) into a breathlessly paced thriller filled with paranoia, double crosses, femme fatales, and horrifying dream sequences. In other words, it’s a De Palma special! The filmmaker and Cruise also craft a series of set pieces that would become the series’ defining trademark. The finale with a fistfight atop a speeding train beneath the English Channel is great, but the quiet as a church mouse midpoint where Cruise’s hero dangles over the pressure-sensitive floor of a CIA vault—and with a drop of sweat dripping just out of reach!—is the stuff of popcorn myth. It’s how M:I also became as much a great heist series as shoot ‘em up. Plus, this movie gave us Ving Rhames’ stealth MVP hacker, Luther Stickell. 2. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) In retrospect there is something faintly low-key about Rogue Nation, as ludicrous as that might be to say about a movie that begins with its star literally clinging for dear life to the outside of a plane at take off. Yet given how grand newcomer director Christopher McQuarrie would take things in the following three Mission films, his more restrained first iteration seems charmingly small scale in comparison. Even so, it remains an action marvel in its own right, as well as the most balanced and well-structured adventure in the series. It’s the one where the project of making Ethan Hunt a tangible character began. Rightly assessing Ethan to be a “gambler” based on his inconsistent yet continuously deranged earlier appearances, McQuarrie spins a web where Hunt’s dicey lifestyle comes back to haunt him when facing a villain who turns those showboat instincts in on themselves, and which pairs Ethan for the first time against the best supporting character in the series, Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. There’s a reason Ferguson’s MI6 double (triple, quadruple?) agent was the first leading lady in the series to become a recurring character. She gives a star-making turn as a woman who is in every way Ethan’s equal while keeping him and the audience on their toes. She, alongside a returning Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, solidify the definitive Mission team, all while McQuarrie crafts elegant set pieces with classical flair, including a night at the opera that homages and one-ups Alfred Hitchcock’s influential sequence from The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), as well as a Casablanca chase between Ethan and Ilsa that’s the best motorcycle sequence in the series (if only they stopped by Rick’s). Also McQuarrie’s script ultimately figures out who Ethan Hunt truly is by letting all those around him realize he’s a madman. And Alec Baldwin’s Alan Hunley gets this gem of a line to sums the series up in total: “Hunt is uniquely trained and highly motivated, a specialist without equal, immune to any countermeasures. There is no secret he cannot extract, no security he cannot breach, no person he cannot become. He has most likely anticipated this very conversation and is waiting to strike in whatever direction we move. Sir, Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny—and he has made you his mission.” 1. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) If one were to rank these movies simply by virtue of set pieces and stunts, pound for pound it’s impossible to top Mission: Impossible – Fallout (forgive the pun). A virtuoso showcase in action movie bliss, there are too many giddy mic drop moments to list, but among our favorites are: Tom Cruise doing a real HALO jump out of a plane at 25,000 feet and which was captured by camera operator Craig O’Brien, who had an IMAX camera strapped to his head; the extended fight sequence between Cruise, Henry Cavill, and Liam Yang in a bathroom where the music completely drops out so we can hear every punch, kick, and that surreal moment where Cavill needs to reload his biceps like they’re shotguns; and did you see Cruise’s ankle bend the wrong way in that building to building jump?! For action junkies, there was no better adrenaline kick out of Hollywood in the 2010s than this flick, and that is in large part a credit to writer-director Christopher McQuarrie. As the first filmmaker to helm more than one M:I movie, McQuarrie had the seemingly counterintuitive innovation to meticulously hammer out all of the above action sequences as well as others—such as a motorcycle chase across the cobblestones of Paris and a helicopter climax where Cruise is really flying his chopper at low altitudes—with stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood and Cruise, and then retroactively pen a surprisingly tight and satisfying screenplay that continues to deconstruct the Ethan Hunt archetype into a man of flesh and blood. McQuarrie also reunites all the best supporting players in the series—Rhames, Pegg, and his own additions of Rebecca Ferguson as the ambiguous Ilsa Faust and Sean Harris as the dastardly Solomon Lane—into a yarn that is as zippy and sharp as you might expect from the screenwriter of The Usual Suspects, but which lets each action sequence unfurl with all the pageantry of an old school Gene Kelly musical number. Many will call this the best Mission: Impossible movie, and we won’t quibble the point.

This month on Max you’ll get the return of The Gilded Age, the historical drama about life in 1880s New York City, now entering its third season. (On Max? HBO? On HBO Max? I’m lost and confused and scared and all I’m trying to do is give you a list of movies and shows that will be available over the next few months on streaming.)You’ll also get the streaming debuts of recent films Parthenope, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, and A Minecraft Movie, the 2025 blockbuster that sent TikTok teens everywhere into a frenzy. Plus a new weekly documentary series called The Mortician explores the dark secret behind a California funeral home.Here’s the full list of what’s coming to (HBO) Max in June 2025...June 1A Hologram for the King (2016) A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) A Perfect Getaway (2009) Backtrack (2016) Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022) Black Patch (1957) Blues in the Night (1941) Casino (1995) Fight Club (1999) Gentleman Jim (1942)14. Hellboy (2004)Sonyloading...Hellboy (2004) I Am Not Your Negro (2017) Igor (2008) Illegal (1955) In the Good Old Summertime (1949) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Kid Glove Killer (1942) Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) My Scientology Movie (2017) Numbered Men (1930) One Foot in Heaven (1941) Parasite (2019) Presenting Lily Mars (1943) Pride & Prejudice (2005) Public Enemies (2009) Reign of the Supermen (2019) Serenade (1956) Silver River (1948)MGMMGMloading...Spaceballs (1987) Split (2017) Strike Up the Band (1940) Summer Stock (1950) Superman: Man of Tomorrow (2020) Superman: Red Son (2020) Superman: Unbound (2013) Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009) Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) The Death of Superman (2018) The Fighting 69th (1940) The Harvey Girls (1946) The Hunger Games (2012) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015) The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) The Match King (1932) The Mayor of Hell (1933)HBOHBOloading...The Mortician (HBO Original) The Nitwits (1935) The Prince and the Pauper (1937) The Sea Chase (1955) The Sea Hawk (1940) The Sunlit Night (2019) The Verdict (1946) They Made Me a Criminal (1939) This Side of the Law (1950) Three Faces East (1930) Three Strangers (1946) Total Drama Island, Season 2 (Cartoon Network) Wagons West (1952) Words and Music (1948) You'll Find Out (1940) Ziegfeld Follies (1946)June 2BBQ Brawl, Season 6 (Food Network)June 3Bullet Train (2022) Ugliest House in America, Season 6 (HGTV)June 41000-lb Roomies, Season 1 (TLC) Fatal Destination, Season 1 (ID)June 5Bea's Block, Season 1C (Max Original) Chespirito: Not Really on Purpose, Season 1 (Max Original)A24A24loading...June 6House Hunters International: Volume 9, Season 201 (HGTV) Parthenope (A24)June 10Virgins, Season 1 (TLC)June 11Guy's Grocery Games, Season 38 (Food Network)June 12Bitchin' Rides, Season 11 Mini Beat Power Rockers: A Superheroic Night (Discovery International)June 13Cleaner (2025) House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 240 (HGTV) Maine Cabin Masters, Season 10 (Magnolia Network) Super Sara (Max Original) Toad & Friends, Season 1BJune 16Hero Ball, Season 3BJune 17Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Animal Pharm (CNN Originals, 2025) Super Mega Cakes, Season 1 (Food Network)June 19 Expedition Unknown, Season 15 (Discovery) Mystery At Blind Frog Ranch, Season 5 (Discovery)June 20House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 241 (HGTV) Lu & The Bally Bunch, Season 1C (Cartoon Network) Now or Never: FC Montfermeil (Max Original) Teen Titans Go!, Season 9B (Cartoon Network)June 21The Kitchen, Season 38 (Food Network) The Never Ever Mets, Season 2 (OWN)HBOHBOloading...June 22The Gilded Age, Season 3 (HBO Original)June 23Match Me Abroad, Season 2 (TLC)June 24Enigma (HBO Original) Mean Girl Murders, Season 3 (ID) The Invitation (2022)June 25Rehab Addict, Season 10 (HGTV)Ketchup EntertainmentKetchup Entertainmentloading...June 27House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 242 (HGTV) My Mom Jayne (HBO Original) Pati, Seasons 1&2 (Max Original) The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2025)June 29#Somebody's Son, Season 1 (OWN) Family or Fiancé, Season 4 (OWN)June 3090 Day Fiancé: Pillow Talk, Season 11 (TLC) Truck U, Season 21Get our free mobile app2000s Movies That Got Bad Reviews That Are Actually GoodThese underrated films deserved better reviews than they got from most critics.

May 2026 was going to kick-off the next phase of the Marvel cinematic universe with the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. Not anymore. Avengers: Doomsday has been delayed along with Secret Wars. Grand Theft Auto 6 will now have the month (mostly) to itself, assuming it doesn’t get delayed again as well. Suggested ReadingNintendo Switch 2 Price Is Set at $450 for Now, But Could Go Higher Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingNintendo Switch 2 Price Is Set at $450 for Now, But Could Go Higher Share SubtitlesOffEnglishNintendo Switch 2 Price Is Set at $450 for Now, But Could Go HigherMarvel pushed both of its upcoming blockbusters back by seven months. Avengers: Doomsday will now arrive on December 18, 2026, followed the next year by Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17, 2027. Anonymous sources told Deadline the reason for the delay came down to both movies’ massive scope and ambition. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is still arriving in July of next year. Both Avengers movies are directed by the Russo Brothers, with Doomsday featuring cameos from the cast of the 2000s X-Men movies. At the same time, rewrites and reshoots have definitely hamstrung some movies in the MCU. I’m sure the Captain America: Brave New World team would love a mulligan, though there’s no evidence that’s the case here. We still have no real idea what this next phase of the MCU will revolve around, other than Disney seemingly going back to the well and trying to resurrect the franchise’s earlier magic. Are fans burnt out or just waiting for the right alchemy to reignite interest in the Avengers? One thing Doomsday won’t have to contend with now is the launch of GTA 6, scheduled for May 26, 2026 which is being heralded by Take-Two’s CEO as the biggest entertainment launch ever. The Mandalorian & Grogu will still be facing the full brunt of that a week after its May 22 debut. One thing the Star Wars spin-off can rest assured of is that no other major video games will be releasing around it that month. .

From the very first day Disneyland opened its gates in 1955, attractions based on movies were among the park’s biggest draws. Rides like the Mad Tea Party and Peter Pan’s Flight dazzled visitors, immersing them in worlds they had only previously experienced staring up at a big screen in a darkened theater.Both of those rides continue to operate at Disneyland, and at Walt Disney World and other Disney parks around the globe. In the decades since, they’ve been joined by dozens of other movie-based attractions, not only at Disney’s parks but also at Universal’s — a company built on a 100+-year-old foundation of cinema.With their striking visuals and iconic characters, movies make the ideal foundation for theme park attractions. Maybe that’s why so many of the best rides ever created take inspiration from movies. Like the 25 attractions listed below. A couple date back 70 years; others are brand new, like the ones recently installed at Universal’s Epic Universe park. Each of my picks also includes a video of the ride for the vicarious thrill seekers out there. (You know who you are.)Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making MoviesThese days, Universal’s theme parks are almost exclusively devoted to rides and environments that let guests feel like they have stepped inside their favorite movies and shows. That’s a stark contrast to their parks’ initial concept as a place where tourists learned the secrets of film and TV production, with a couple bigger rides thrown in for extra oomph. One of the best examples of old-school Universal was Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies. After a 3D highlight package of Hitchcock films, guests were ushered into a soundstage where a “director” and his “crew” explained how Hitchcock shot Psycho’s shower scene. Then guests could wander an interactive area, and participate in demonstrations of the practical movie magic behind movies like Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, and Saboteur. It was like a cross between a thrill ride and a museum — and for a budding cinephile, it was a paradise. It closed in 2003 to make room for [deep sigh] Shrek 4-D.Alice in WonderlandAlthough the appropriately psychedelic Alice in Wonderland ride has existed in one form another for well over 50 years, it’s still surprisingly immersive. The current version of the attraction (which was opened in 2014) speed runs through almost the film’s entire plot in about three minutes, and features an effective blend of animatronics and screens, and climaxes in a leisurely descent down the outside of the show building, with picturesque views of the Matternhorn and Fantasyland. As old school “kids rides,” go, this is about as good as it gets.Avatar: Flight of PassageThe centerpiece of Animal Kingdom’s land based on James Cameron’s Avatar, Flight of Passage takes the central premise of its inspiration — human beings using technology to step into the bodies of the giant blue-skinned aliens — and actually gives the riders the sensation of riding on a banshee through the skies of Pandora. (In order to complete the illusion, your seat “breathes” like a living creature.) The technology works surprisingly well, and the 10K ride footage (yes, 10K) looks spectacular.READ MORE: Disney Announces New Theme ParkBack to the Future: The RideThe unforgettable Back to the Future: The Ride let visitors board a detailed copy of the franchise’s DeLorean time machine for an aerial chase through the centuries. (The story of the simulator, which played out in pre-show videos featuring Christopher Lloyd and Thomas F. Wilson, involved Doc recruiting tourists to help him catch Biff after he steals the time machine.) With special effects by 2001: A Space Odyssey legend Douglas Trumbull, BTTF:TR lived up to the old Universal slogan that promised a vacation where you could “ride the movies.” Its closure was inevitable; the “future” of the Back to the Future franchise is set in 2015, i.e. our past. The two American versions of the attraction closed by the late 2000s, although Universal Studios Japan’s version managed to hang on until 2016 — one year after Marty and Doc went back to the future.Dumbo the Flying ElephantIs there any movie ride more iconic than Dumbo? Disney doesn’t seem to think so; Dumbo’s the only ride that they have built at all six of their main “castle” theme parks: Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and, in 2016, Shanghai Disneyland. You could call the ride simple; guests board a vehicle that looks like the floating pachyderm, each with a joystick that allows the rider to shift their Dumbo up and down. You could also call it elemental; it taps into little children’s desire to fly, and it empowers them to take control of their experience. As long as Disney continues to operate theme parks, Dumbo will keep on flying.Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout!Disneyland purists were skeptical when the company announced they were going to re-theme the California Adventure version of the beloved Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction into a ride based on the popular Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. But when the ride opened, most had to admit: It was pretty darn fun, and possibly better than the Tower of Terror (at least in California. which had a simpler and less impressive ride system than the original Twilight Zone ride in Florida). Instead of a haunted hotel’s elevator, guests now board “gantry lifts” that bounce up and down an elevator shaft, stopping at different floors to view the Guardians in battle with an alien monster while one of six songs from the eclectic soundtrack plays. It’s possibly the most effective re-use of an existing ride system in Disney history, and thanks to the different songs (and synchronized visuals and drops) it holds up very well on multiple visits, which probably explains why it remains one of the most popular attractions at California Adventure many years after it first opened.Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike AdventureMovie rides often emphasize theming over adrenaline, but Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal’s Islands of Adventure nails both. There are beautiful animatronic monsters, including unicorns, centaurs, and Hagrid’s beloved dog Fluffy, all integrated into a roller coaster that races around the outskirts of the original Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (The ride reaches its top speed of 50 miles per hour in a matter of seconds via one of its seven different launches.) The fact that riders are carried along on their own motorcycle or sidecar not only enhances the immersive quality, it increases the thrill. There’s nothing quite like blasting backwards at 50 miles per hour on a bike seat to get your blood pumping.Harry Potter and the Battle at the MinistryEpic Universe’s Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry levels up the concepts of earlier Universal dark rides like Spider-Man or Transformers. Guests board large seated elevators that appear to fly up, down, and around the Ministry of Magic from the Harry Potter films, where they help the franchise’s core trio of heroes as they fight the evil Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). The attraction boasts some of Universal’s most seamless illusions ever, and its entrance — which transports you via “floo” from 1920s Paris to 1990s London to emerge into the Ministry of Magic’s grand hall — is a jaw-dropping spectacle. That reveal is a bigger “wow” than a lot of entire rides at other amusement parks.Harry Potter and the Forbidden JourneyThe first of Universal’s ever-expanding Wizarding World attractions, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was like no other ride when it first opened at Islands of Adventure in 2010. Housed inside an impressive creations of the Hogwarts castle (with a carefully themed queue filled with Easter eggs and character cameos), Forbidden Journey lets riders board “enchanted benches” for a trip around, through, and under the magical school with Harry Potter and his friends. Some of the large-scale animatronics are starting to show their age; the seamless blend of screens, sets, and an advanced KUKA arm vehicle have been surpassed by other attractions in the last decade. Still, that central conceit of letting you feel like you are flying on your own Nimbus 2000 always works like magic.Hogwarts ExpressUniversal’s second Wizarding World was a financial inevitability after the first one proved so successful. Making the second area Diagon Alley — and then connecting the two lands via a functional Hogwarts Express train — was a masterstroke. Each of the respective areas houses its own distinctive station, and guests queue up for a ride on the iconic locomotive, where they sit in individual cabins and glimpse familiar faces from the Harry Potter franchises out their compartment window (actually a high-definition screen). Silhouettes and voices spied in the hallway enhance the immersion, and because the train runs in both directions, there are two totally distinct videos to enjoy.Indiana Jones AdventureRiding through it today, it’s hard to believe Indiana Jones Adventure is 30 years old. The combination of an old-fashioned dark ride with high-tech special effects holds up extremely well. The premise supposedly dumps tourists on a guided jeep tour (led by Indy’s buddy Sallah) into the “Temple of the Forbidden Eye” that (spoiler alert) does not go to plan. (Nothing ever does on a theme park ride.) In practice, it’s all an excuse to let guests experience Indiana Jones’ greatest hits: Rickety suspension bridges, plumes of fire, barrages of darts, thousands of bugs, and, of course, speeding away from an enormous rolling ball. Add in some of that classic John Williams Raiders of the Lost Ark music, and you have all the makings of a great movie ride.Jurassic World VelociCoasterDon’t ask me to explain the story of this one. They built a roller coaster inside the Jurassic World raptor enclosure? What’s next? A genetically engineered dinosaur that’s even stronger, faster, and smarter than a T.rex and can also camouflage itself? (Okay, so maybe the geniuses running Jurassic World would build a roller coaster in the raptor enclosure, objection withdrawn.) Whatever cockamamie story they cooked up to justify the concept, it was worth it; VelociCoaster is not just a great movie ride, it’s a great roller coaster period. With a top speed of 70 miles per hour, it’s also one of the fastest. It features multiple launches, inversions, and intricate dinosaur theming. Universal’s come a long way from that old Jurassic Park River Adventure.KongfrontationKing Kong has been a mainstay in Universal’s various theme parks since the mid-1980s, when a giant Kong animatronic was added to the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. That was expanded to a full-blown attraction at Universal Studios Florida called Kongfrontation, where guests evacuated from Manhattan on the Roosevelt Island Tramway after Kong runs amok. Naturally, the evacuation did not go smoothly (like I said, nothing ever goes according to plan on a theme park ride) and Kong grabbed the tram before a last-second getaway. It was a surprisingly intense experience with fun touches — like the fact that the Kong animatronic’s “breath” smelled like bananas. Kong was put out to pasture in 2002 to make way for a roller coaster inspired by The Mummy franchise. The great ape has since found a new home at nearby Islands of Adventure, where an attraction called Skull Island: Reign of Kong opened in 2016.Millennium Falcon: Smugglers RunI know this is a polarizing ride; some visitors don’t care for its video game vibes, or the fact that it contains no Han Solo and only fleeting glimpses of Chewbacca. Personally, after almost a dozen rides, I love it. I love the life-size Falcon replica outside the entrance and the incredibly detailed recreation of the Falcon interior, complete with holochess table. Then the ride itself is a blast; certainly at its most fun when you get to pilot the ship, but also very enjoyable as a gunner or an engineer. (I’ve done them all multiple times.) It’s awesome with a group of friends working together (or razzing each other for failing to get that second coaxium canister) and it’s incredible when you ride with kids, who get to feel like they made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein ExperimentThere are lots of dark rides; Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment is areally dark ride. Years of experience with their Halloween Horror Nights gave Universal the confidence to make a genuinely scary (and darkly witty) attraction, one with monsters and jump scares galore. Guests enter an eerie recreation of Frankenstein Manor, then wind their way through its atmosphere-soaked rooms, past glowing equipment and crates filled with organs and lab rats. They emerge in the laboratory of Victoria Frankenstein, who wants to restore her family’s good name by capturing Dracula. Say it with me this time: Nothing ever goes according to plan on a theme park ride. Frankenstein’s latest experiment goes horribly wrong in the most pulse-quickening ways, and leads to appearances (and scares) from all of the classic Universal Monsters. The ride, as well as the surrounding castle and queue, are so detailed. It’s like a vintage horror fan just stepped into a dream come true — or the best nightmare ever.Peter Pan’s FlightMaybe the definitive Disney dark ride, Peter Pan’s Flight is a true classic; some 70 years old at this point, and still magical. (An overhaul in the 1980s probably didn’t hurt in that regard.) Guests board “flying” pirate ships for a trip to Never Land with Peter Pan and the Darlings. Where a lot of the old school Disney dark rides are surprisingly scary (ask anyone who rode the O.G. Snow White ride and they’ll tell you), Peter Pan’s Flight is all about giving young kids (and the young at heart) a taste of what it might feel like to fly high above London in the ride’s famous centerpiece sequence.Radiator Springs RacersThe Cars franchise has never been among Pixar’s most critically acclaimed efforts. The series’ big ride at California Adventure, though, is a true blockbuster, combining state-of-the-art animatronic cars and a thrilling race component, where s pair of vehicles carrying two sets of riders zoom around an impressive recreation of Radiator Springs. It’s not too intense for Cars’ core fanbase, and just exciting enough for everyone to feel like it’s worth the ride’s perpetually long wait times. Plus now we know where the cars from Cars come from; at some unknown point in the future, the animatronic full sized Lightning McQueen and Mater from Radiator Springs Racers will gain sentience and turn against their human masters. It’s only a matter of time.Splash MountainWhatever you think of The Song of the South and its depiction of life in the late 19th century, the ride Disney inexplicably chose to theme to it (in 1989!) was a lot of fun. A log flume enhanced with animatronic cartoon characters and one of Disney’s most famous songs (“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”), it combined Disney’s flair for storytelling with family-friendly thrills. The fact Disney never released The Song of the South on home video meant it was only a matter of time before Splash Mountain got tossed into the briar patch itself. The ride lives on in a new form, though; the mountain and flume are now the subject of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. If you’re desperate to ride Splash Mountain again, you’ll need to take a trip to Japan; it’s still operating at Tokyo Disneyland.Star ToursThanks to constant updates, the original Star Wars ride at Disneyland still holds up well more than 35 (!) years after its first introduction. The original version had a single film that played in a simulator; guests’ pleasure cruise to Endor would go slightly out of control — nothing ever goes to plan on a theme park ride — and then wander into a battle with the Death Star. The current version, which makes zero sense in Star Wars continuity, sends Star Tourists to famous locations from the nine Star Wars movies and various Disney+ shows, and includes cameos from numerous characters. Disney has continually added new segments to the ride, and the modern CGI looks superb. Plus, because each ride contains a random handful from the 20 different possible segments, Star Tours always full of surprises.Star Wars: Rise of the ResistanceThere are several really good Star Wars attractions on this list, but Rise of the Resistance is the best of the bunch — or maybe the best movie-based theme park ride period. It’s long, full of surprises, and contains multiple ride vehicles and sequences. It’s almost a greatest hits of Disney Imagineering; there are screens, advanced animatronics, human performers, “holograms,” movie star cameos, trackless ride vehicles, full-size space ships and AT-AT walkers, and a giant hanger filled with Stormtroopers. It really feels like you’ve wandered into an increasingly perilous Star Wars adventure, and the theming and thrills are off the charts. I’m sure that some day some ride will top Rise of the Resistance. For now, it’s the irresistible #1.Studio Backlot TourFor some 60 years, trams have taken Universal visitors through the studio’s famous backlot. While the ride has evolved with the times, it also maintains a lot of the tram tour’s original flavor, taking guests through Hill Valley from Back to the Future and past the Psycho house from the famous horror franchise. Guides share behind-the-scenes secrets and hacky jokes, and videos that run on screens in the tram as it makes its way from stop to stop provide context and history. For old-school movie lovers, it’s still a thrill to take a trip into Hollywood history, and the ride’s unusual length — almost an hour! — makes it a welcome break from walking all day.Toy Story Mania!Toy Story Mania! took the basic concept from Disney’s existing Buzz Lightyear shooting gallery rides and gave it a computerized facelift befitting the first computer animated feature in history. Instead of aiming at animatronic targets, paired riders compete in a series of digital shooting games. They toss eggs and rings, throw darts, and break plates; each target gets assigned a different score, so strategy becomes very important. The interactivity works seamlessly, and the Toy Story theming is on point. The unique pull-string mechanism on the gun you use can be quite a workout on the forearms, though, so make sure you warm up before you ride.Transformers: The RideHere’s a hot take for you: The Transformers ride at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood is better than any of the Michael Bay Transformers movies it’s based on. It’s short and sweet, with impressive 3D effects, and it immerses you inside a wild — but, unlike the Bay Transformers films, surprisingly coherent — adventure to protect the Allspark from the evil Decepticons. Up to 12 guests board a ride vehicle (presented as a Transformer named Evac) which then blasts, zooms, and flies through a dark ride that blends animatronic effects with 3D screen technology. My job required me to sit through all those dreadful live-action Transformers movies. If that was the price I paid for this terrific ride, it was worth it.Turtle Talk With CrushFor my money, there may not be a better example of the so-called “Disney magic” than at Turtle Talk With Crush, which first debuted in Epcot’s The Seas pavilion and has since been duplicated in numerous parks around the world. In it, guests get to interact with Crush, the surfer dude turtle from Finding Nemo. And they truly interact; advanced animation/puppetry tech allows an unseen Disney animator to perform the role of Crush as he tells stories, answers questions from the audience, and cracks jokes. The illusion is seamless; I’ve rarely seen my daughter as dazzled as the time she got to ask Crush a question and he gave her a brilliantly silly and very personalized answer. (Note: Magic Kingdom’s similar attraction, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, which uses the same technology to create a faux comedy club, is nearly as good as Turtle Talk.)WaterworldLook, I already wrote a whole piece about the magic of the Waterworld stunt show for absolutely no reason other than I genuinely love it. Go read that, go visit Waterworld, and make sure this amazing show is still running until the rest of the polar ice caps melt and dry land is but a myth. It’s incredible.Honorable Mention: Earthquake: The Big One, Frozen Ever After, The Great Movie Ride, King Kong: 360 3-D, Mad Tea Party, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride, Revenge of the Mummy, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, Tron Lightcycle Run.Amazing Theme Park Rides Based on Movies That Were Never Built

Tom Cruise is taking on one last daring adventure in "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," which pits Ethan Hunt against an evil AI that threatens to destroy the world.The actor has been the face of the franchise since the first movie in 1996, and has starred in eight films in total.The Impossible Mission Force (yes, really) first debuted in the "Mission: Impossible" TV series in 1966, which starred Steven Hill and Peter Graves and ran for six seasons until 1973, before it was revived for another two seasons on ABC in 1988.With the franchise set to end with "The Final Reckoning," here are all the "Mission: Impossible" movies, ranked. 8. "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000) Tom Cruise riding a motorbike in "Mission: Impossible 2." Paramount Pictures "Mission: Impossible 2" should be given way more love than it gets, mainly because the Hong Kong cinema legend John Woo helmed it. Yes, the "Hard Boiled" and "Bullet in the Head" director brought his signature bullet ballet style to the "Mission: Impossible" sequel, with all the slow-motion flair you could ask for.Is it cheesy? Sure. Does the script need some work? Definitely. Is there any smart subtext or meaning underneath all the action? Absolutely not. This is a peak 2000s action movie, and it knows it. "Mission: Impossible 2" is so over the top that once you've made peace with it, it's best to just go along for the ride. Come on, Tom Cruise and Dougray Scott play motorbike chicken with each other before a midair tackle sends them both crashing to the ground. What's not to love? It's the type of vehicular chaos that the "Fast & Furious" franchise's Dominic Toretto would be proud of.Even so, "Mission: Impossible 2" ranks at the bottom of the bunch. 7. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (2011) Tom Cruise on the side of the Burj Khalifa in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." Paramount Pictures The 2011 film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" takes the franchise into the modern era. It follows Hunt and his team as they're forced to go on the run when they're framed for bombing the Kremlin.It quickly becomes a race to stop the villainous Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), who wants to start a nuclear war so that only the strongest members of humanity will survive. It's this plot that keeps "Ghost Protocol" from ascending the ranking, because, as spy thrillers go, stopping a nuclear war feels predictable, and the film fails to do anything unique with the premise. Plus, there's nothing particularly extraordinary about Hendricks as a baddie.But generic plot devices aside, the film features some brilliant fights and gripping set pieces. The stand-out moment is when Cruise's hero climbs the Burj Khalifa in Dubai with nothing but sticky gloves and rope.One of the most surprising elements of the film is Jeremy Renner's William Brandt, a disgraced former agent who's grappling with the guilt of failing Ethan on a former mission. That sub-plot works very well among the rest of the action, and it's a clever way of injecting a bit of heart into the mission. 6. "Mission: Impossible 3" (2006) Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt and Keri Russell as Lindsey Farris in "Mission: Impossible 3." Paramount Pictures Two words: JJ Abrams. The "Lost" and "Fringe" creator made his big screen debut in 2006 with "Mission: Impossible 3," which takes a mid-noughties approach to the Impossible Mission Force and gives it a brutal edge.The sequel pits Ethan, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Zhen Lei (Maggie Q), and Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) against a nefarious arms dealer played by the incomparable Phillip Seymour Hoffman.Part of what elevates "Mission: Impossible 3" from previous films is that it never actually explains what Ethan and the gang are chasing. It's known only by its mysterious codename, the Rabbit's Foot. It could be an infectious disease, a computer virus, a hard drive teeming with currency, or nuclear codes — and that's what makes it so compelling. It's also refreshing to see Ethan settled and in love with Michelle Monahan's Julia Meade. What does married life look like for a superspy? How does that complicate his responsibility to save the world? The sequel feels very busy, as Abrams packs a lot into a tight two-hour run time. And some parts don't quite work, like Ethan's dynamic with his young mentee Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell). But there are some stellar sequences throughout, like the ballistic shoot-out on the bridge, which is an eye-popping piece of action choreography. 5. "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" (2025) Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning." Skydance/Paramount Pictures "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" is the sequel to 2023's "Dead Reckoning," and sees Hunt race to stop an assassin known as Gabriel (Esai Morales) from controlling a sentient AI called the Entity. Just to raise the stakes, the Entity has already taken control of the world's nuclear weapons and plans to wipe out humanity.While the 2025 movie is billed as the final entry in the franchise, its story doesn't quite live up to the high expectations set by "Dead Reckoning." The first hour is bogged down by lengthy exposition and generic action movie silliness.That being said, as soon as the action picks up and Cruise embraces his adrenaline junkie persona once more, "The Final Reckoning" provides a breathtaking cinematic experience.Whether it's the suspenseful scuba dive into a wrecked submarine or how Hunt climbs between two biplanes in the sky to fight Gabriel, the film's ambitious sequences deserve to be seen on the big screen. 4. "Mission: Impossible" (1996) Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible." Paramount Pictures Taken from the 1966 TV series of the same name, 1996's "Mission: Impossible" introduces Cruise's Ethan Hunt, a field agent working for Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), the main character from the show. It has audiences instantly on their toes when Ethan's entire team, including Phelps, are assassinated by a double agent in the opening — forcing our hero to go on the run after being framed for their deaths."Mission: Impossible" earned itself a place in cinema history thanks to the brilliantly intense break-in scene, in which Cruise's Hunt hacks into a CIA mainframe computer while suspended on cables.And of course, the high-octane ending on top of a Channel Tunnel train is a pulse-pounding affair set to the iconic theme music. Cruise effortlessly brings Hunt to life alongside top-notch performances from Voight, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ving Rhames, which really help sell the paranoid atmosphere of the film 3. "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (2015) Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust in "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation." Paramount Pictures "Rogue Nation" is where frequent Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie properly put his stamp on the franchise. McQuarrie expands the world in a fascinating way with the introduction of the Syndicate, a vast organization made up of rogue agents from every intelligence agency on the planet.Their mission (should they choose to accept it) is to create disorder and chaos to destabilize the global intelligence community, although their true goals don't become apparent until 2018's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." Hunt is determined to root out the Syndicate, and its sinister leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris)."Rogue Nation" also introduces Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), an enigmatic British agent who has a delicious will-they-won't-they dynamic with Cruise's hero.A brawl in the rigging above an opera stage in Vienna is a stunning highlight, as is Cruise's underwater dive to retrieve a computer chip from a submerged safe. Cruise broke the world record for holding his breath for six minutes while completing that stunt in 2014. 2. "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" (2023) Esai Morales as Gabriel and Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One." Paramount Pictures "Dead Reckoning Part One" sees Hunt's IMF team chasing a key that will lead them to an unstoppable AI that could wreak havoc on the world.And, of course, every government agency in the world wants to get their hands on it, so Hunt and his team are effectively on the run from everyone. "Dead Reckoning's" focus on AI gives it a grounding in the real world, but the film also continues to elevate the sheer scale of action that audiences have come to expect from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. That jaw-dropping mountain jump at the movie's climax has to be seen to be believed, and it only gets more bonkers after that.It's a testament to Cruise and McQuarrie that the film feels fresh and new — even if the script does drag on at points. Then again, audiences are coming to see Cruise throw himself off a mountain, not to hear Oscar-winning dialogue. 1. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (2018) Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." Paramount There's no question that McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" is the best movie in the franchise, which is impressive considering it's the sixth outing for Hunt and the gang. It continues the Syndicate storyline from "Rogue Nation" and dives further into Solomon Lane's scheme. He wants to destabilize the world by irradiating the Siachen Glacier, which supplies water to India, Pakistan, and China. This would kill off a third of the world's population and drastically change society in the process.  But most of the story revolves around a CIA and IMF mole who goes by the codename 'John Lark.'The hunt to find this rogue agent crosses the world, introducing the likes of Henry Cavill's CIA agent August Walker and Vanessa Kirby's underworld matriarch, Alanna Mitsopolis. The scope of McQuarrie's movie is massive, and its huge stunts mirror that size. A gobsmacking scene sees Hunt dive with Walker from a plane and parachute into Paris. Cruise shot the stunt alongside a cameraman to properly capture the chaotic dive. Then, of course, there's the film's exhilarating helicopter chase through a New Zealand mountain range — just another example of McQuarrie and Cruise's commitment to filming these stunts in the most jaw-dropping way possible."Fallout" is a thrilling chapter of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise that deepens the audience's understanding of Cruise's hero while delivering a stunning cinematic experience.