Ballerina is what happens when a studio wants to extend a franchise but really has no reason to do so except a financial one. Subtitled From The World of John Wick, this action thriller contains too much action and precious little thrills. Directedby Len Wiseman of Underworld fame, Ballerina is set in the same universe as the four majestic adrenaline epics starring Keanu Reeves, and incorporates as many elements from those films as possible, including the Continental Hotel and the Ruska Roma, not to mention appearances from Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, the late, great Lance Reddick, and Mr. Reeves himself. But what is also found in ample supply in the John Wick movies and sadly missing in Ballerina is heart, character, and a sense of conviction. At the center of the movie is a miscast, utterly bland Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, whose father’s death sent her as a little girl into the custody of McShane’s Winston Scott and, eventually, the tutelage of the Directorof the Ruska Roma ballet/assassin school. It’s there that Eve goes through the usual training montage, with her inability to dance only matched by her evident aptitude at killing and fighting. Once her training is complete, Eve is sent out into the world on Ruska Roma business, but of course her main goal is avenging her dad, who was killed by members of a mysterious cult led by the enigmatic Chancellor. No sooner can you say “she’s gone rogue” than she does just that, jetting off to Prague in pursuit of a cult memberwho’s trying to get himself and his own little daughter out from under the Chancellor’s thumb, while finding herself at odds with the Director and pursued by the Chancellor’s minions at every turn. The movie’s thin “lady vengeance” premise, which we’ve seen countless times before, is reheated once again by screenwriter Shay Hatten, who has co-written the last two John Wick entries but seems lost here. Unlike John Wick himself, whose single-minded quest for revenge over the death of his dog took on mythic overtones as more layers to both John and the surreal world of elegant criminality in which he moved were revealed, Eve has nothing to define her that hasn’t been done or said before. It doesn’t help that Armas, while up to the role’s physicality, offers nothing in terms of personality—she’s an empty vessel. Which is a shame, since she’s displayed earthiness, complexity, and a sexy playfulnessin previous work. The rest of the non-Wick cast is forgettable as well, with Byrne’s Chancellor and his entire regime badly underdeveloped, and Reedus completely wasted in what amounts to maybe two scenes. McShane, Reddick, and Huston just go through their paces, spouting lots of portentous lines about “choice” and “fate” that ring mostly hollow, as does a late-stage twist that carries no weight because one of the characters involved barely registers. As for the Baba Yaga himself, the largely non-verbal Reeves is the “Chekhov’s gun” of the film: introduced briefly in the first act, he inevitably turns up again in the third act, parachuted in by the magic of rumored reshoots even though his contribution to the narrative amounts to absolutely nothing. It’s always nice to see him, but if you took him out, it wouldn’t drastically change the picture. Speaking of reshoots, there’s a Frankenstein nature to the proceedings that provides evidence for the reports that Wick directorChad Stahelski refilmed much of the movie after Wiseman’s first draft came up short. While the first act is a murky, enervated slog, things seem to pick up in the middle, with a more eye-catching color scheme, a creative, free-flowing use of the camera, and some of the more inventive, oddball action that has become part and parcel of the franchise—most notably in a scene where de Armas and an enemy smash a pile of dinner plates over each other’s heads with manic Three Stooges-like energy. Unfortunately, there’s also a sadistic edge to a lot of the action this time as well, particularly in a climactic fight involving flamethrowers that badly wants to emulate the famous overhead apartment shot from John Wick: Chapter 4 but goes on for far too long and ultimately becomes actively unpleasant. That’s a problem with even the better action on hand in Ballerina, as if the filmmakers want to make up for the film’s deficiencies by overdoing what the series is best known for. Hatten’s script was an original piece that was rewritten to fit into the John Wick universe, with elements introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum to pave the way for the arrival of Eve and Ballerina. But this reverse engineering highlights the pitfalls of trying to create a cinematic universe without stopping to wonder whether it’s a good idea. Watching John Wick stonily fight and slaughter his way through his off-center world and its population of funky, eccentric weirdos has been fantastic funbecause of the unique nature of the character and that world. But dropping the more conventional, cliched tropes of Ballerina into the mix, along with a protagonistnot nearly as compelling, only exemplifies that the John Wick movies are character-driven first and foremost. All the brutal action, heavy-handed callbacks, and predictable cameos in the world can’t make this Ballerina into a better dancer. Ballerina opens in theaters in the U.S. on Friday, June 6. 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Despite its appearance as just another arcady sandbox game, Deliver At All Costs is shockingly story-minded. So much so, that its constant focus on narrative might deter those just looking for some dumb fun. And after seeing the narrative through to the end, I wouldn’t blame them, given how hard the game tries to be a grand tapestry of storytelling excellence. The adventure is structured into three acts, each with a unique town to explore and complete missions in. One act even features a time skip accompanied by a moment of no return. So even if you just want to ignore story and focus on acing deliveries and causing mayhem in the streets, you still have to go through some cutscenes and narrative progression to unlock the next towns and side missions.   "The majority of the side content in Deliver At All Costs isn’t very enticing." Not that the side missions are worth doing anyway. The majority of side content in Deliver At All Costs isn’t very enticing. The rewards aren’t worth it and the fetch quest design doesn’t warrant the effort. I’d only recommend going out of your way for the side content if you’re already keen on exploring the various maps. The treasure chests and small boxes hidden throughout the game give cash that is used on materials for vehicle upgrades; however, a majority of upgrades can be purchased from the main story mission rewards anyway. I expected to have fun with the vehicle upgrades, but ended up sorely disappointed in their limited application. This is because upgrades cannot be used outside of curated story missions; bummer. Not that the crane attachment or extreme hauling capacity upgrade aren’t fun to play with; they are rather fun, but exclusively used for their particular missions. Again, if you’re expected a zany vehicular sandbox with a lot of options and unlockables, Deliver At All Costs isn’t that. The reason I keep associating the game with sandbox playability is due to its map design. It has an old-school 2D Grand Theft Auto style of isometric driving. In between story missions, you’re given the leisure to roam around town freely. All of your driving and running around is done through a top-down isometric camera angle that gives the environments a nice diorama look to them, and what’s more, you can move the camera between two different angles in case it’s difficult to see something. "Speaking of scenery, there’s a surprising amount of activity going on while you’re driving around delivering stuff." All the unique shops and landmarks of this diorama give off a classic vibe well. Oh, and the soundtrack fits the setting wonderfully. Lounge jazz and instrumental surfer rock accompany your deliveries, and it rarely gets repetitive. Tying it into GTA even more is the radio, with infrequent broadcasts that add flavor lore to the setting. Each town has multiple districts, each with their own theme, which helps vary up the scenery just that much more. Speaking of scenery, there’s a surprising amount of activity going on while you’re driving around delivering stuff. NPCs go about their business, birds glide across the sky, and plenty of vehicle traffic accompany the streets. In fact, there’s often a tad too much activity. Streets are so packed with cars and people that collisions are unavoidable. "NPCs roam the streets and become aggressive when threatened." I like how populated the game is, but it’s tuned a bit too high, getting in the way of enjoyability a lot of the time. Perhaps, it would have been better balanced to up the street traffic the further you get into the game, especially since the towns progress from rural to metropolitan through the course of the narrative. At the very least, there’s an attractive mini-map with well designed labels and indicators. Navigation is aided with helpful arrows showing the way to a mission destination too. But you aren’t merely delivering parcels to a destination in a given time limit; there’s a variety of ways the game mixes up its missions. Part of the game’s initial draw is its physics-based driving, which manifests in hilarious ways. One of the first missions tasks you with delivering a truck full of rotted watermelons. The first step is to bring them to a sanitizer, then you paint them so they look presentable, all while avoiding traffic and trying not to knock them over as they roll around in the back of the truck. It’s one of the enjoyable missions in the game, and one that demonstrates the physics gameplay best. I like how the missions get progressively more wacky and clever as you progress too. You even become a UFO hunter during one late-game job. It’s just too bad the very high traffic and wonky controls hamper the overall experience. "I like how the missions get progressively more wacky and clever as you progress." The driving controls are rather simple. Just aim in the direction you want to drive and hold the accelerate button. It’s the high sensitivity of the acceleration and the hard braking and turning that contribute to a somewhat frustrating experience. The high traffic just further compounds the controls to make for a somewhat clunky driving experience. Vehicles don’t differ in how they drive either, though you really only have the one truck for a large majority of the game anyway, so it doesn’t really make a difference. And the cars aren’t great to look at either. Heck, nothing looks particularly nice in the game, especially the characters. Facial animations are frankly bad and the bland art style doesn’t make up for the graphical shortcomings. What’s worse is there’s still some pretty substantial load times in-between regions, which hurts the flow of the open-world. But the element that gets hurt from graphics the most is the mixed story. It’s hard to take the drama seriously when its presented so poorly. There’s an attempt at cinematic camera angles during cutscenes, but textures are featureless and close-ups of people’s faces are serious PS1 quality stuff. Thankfully, a handful of characters are quite likable despite what their low poly models suggest. Winston’s delivery mates have surprising depth and a good amount of backstory. And Winston himself is a fully fledged personality and someone you can imagine working with. "Winston’s delivery mates have surprising depth and a good amount of backstory." Characters like Norman are instantly likeable while Winston’s arch-nemesis and hardline boss, Donovon, is perfectly punchable. I’m also impressed with a majority of the dialogue writing. Characters speak with a down-to-earth tone and level of informality that makes them realistic, even if they look like untextured Unity assets. Going back to where I started the review, the game goes surprisingly hard on the story axis, but it doesn’t fully land for me. The wacky yet earnest tone is great, but the execution of the plot doesn’t wrap up in a satisfying way. Winston’s mysterious past and the true motives of the delivery company’s executives had so much potential for an intriguing narrative thread. But alas, the finale just kinda falls flat without the payoff that the game was teasing. "The game goes surprisingly hard on the story front, but it didn’t fully land for me." As a whole, Delivery At All Costs delivers a zany and fun, though frustrating, isometric delivery experience with a story that tries a bit too hard. I can easily see this game being a cult classic, but for a majority of gamers, it won’t deliver a truly stunning experience. If you’re looking for a game with a wacky and inventive premise that experiments a bit, and don’t mind gameplay and graphics from three generations ago, give Deliver At All Costs a try and it might just deliver. This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5. #deliver #all #costs #review #lukewarm

Kai Cenat became Twitch’s top showman long ago, but the secret to his ongoing success is continuously finding new ways to take his streaming stunts to the next level. Last year it was turning a 1,700-death-filled Elden Ring marathon into the gaming event of the season. In 2025 it was a riff on reality TV and Hogwarts called Streamer University that crammed a bunch of streamers into a dorm and let the algorithm-fueled drama unfold. Suggested ReadingGameStop Doubles Down On Crypto With Massive Bitcoin Purchase As Stores Close Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingGameStop Doubles Down On Crypto With Massive Bitcoin Purchase As Stores Close Share SubtitlesOffEnglishGameStop Doubles Down On Crypto With Massive Bitcoin Purchase As Stores CloseThe multi-day event got underway on May 22 with 120 rising streamers handpicked for an all-expenses-paid stay at the University of Akron to participate in Cenat’s Saw-like social experiment of watching his peers and protégés vie for attention, clout, and maybe learn something about getting famous monetizing that fame in the modern creator economy along the way. There were fights, expulsions, late-night parties, and actual classes. It was heavily manufactured and also brought in tens of millions of views. Streamer University Best Moments!A great report by Vulture interviewed some of the participants and offers an incisive recap of the entire spectacle. One “student” named Winston Groves recalled getting hazed with a hot dog in a condom left around his doorknob and said the cafeteria food tasted like it was gruel out of Minecraft. One of the floors was called the “demon floor” because of the stink. “The whole floor smelled like wild fumes, mysterious funk,” Groves told Vulture. Nobody slept. Everyone was constantly filming. There were apparently a lot of hot dogs and baby oil, seemingly the modern-day prank comedy equivalents of whoopee cushions and cream pies. “They had this prank where they made fake poop with fart spray and it had literally stank up our room to the point where my roommate’s eyes were tearing up,” said attendee Kieya Jennings, “There was water everywhere, baby oil, baby powder, noodles,” recalled Mari Franklin.There are over 10 hours of streams on Cenat’s Twitch channel from the weekend-long saga, and many, many more from the channels of the individuals in attendance. Comments on a video for the final day’s awards ceremony were filled with nothing but love for the streaming world’s current master of ceremonies. Streamer University’s valedictorian was Tylil James, a rising star with a big following that’s still only a fraction of Cenat’s. “Kai put on so many different type of creators and let them just create and do whatever they was great at,” reads the top comment. . #kai #cenat039s #streamer #university #turned

Elon Musk's father Errol is once again sounding off about his billionaire son — and as usual, he has nothing nice to say.In an interview with England's Sky News, the elder Musk heaped on the criticism when asked to describe his famous spawn's political prowess."He's not a very good conversationalist," the patriarch said. "He's not a very good politician at all."The former emerald miner went on to say that Musk doesn't have the "gift of gab" and suggested that he tried to warn his son against going into politics, which he bizarrely characterized as a bottomless "human swimming pool" in which nobody, including Winston Churchill or Donald Trump, can stay afloat.Notably, the Sky interview aired just before the younger Musk announced that his time as a "special government employee" in the United States was up. Soon after, the father — with whom Musk has been estranged since learning that he'd impregnated his step-sister — told GB News that his son and Trump still have a "good relationship."During his Sky interview, the older Musk also argued with broadcaster Gillian Joseph, a Black woman, about whether or not a so-called "white genocide" is taking place in South Africa, his and Elon's home country.When Joseph pointed out that a recent videos Trump shared purporting to show attacks against white farmers in SA was actually filmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and taken out of context, Musk — who's shared fond memories of how "well-run" the country was during apartheid — kept insisting that was "not true.""Where's the evidence?" Joseph asked, as the elder Musk kept repeating "no, no, no" and spoke over her. Coincidentally, his billionaire son gave an extremely similar performance when speaking at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum earlier in the month when reporter Joumanna Bercetche had the audacity to not laugh at one of his dumb jokes.For all their animosity, it seems Elon and Errol have a lot in common when it comes to being weird with women. Maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the emerald mine.More on the younger Musk: You Can Suddenly Sense Elon Musk's DesperationShare This Article #elon #musks #dad #slams #his

Harvey CEO Winston Weinberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Harvey; Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images 2025-05-22T20:44:21Z d Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Harvey committed million to Azure cloud services over two years. The startup, which builds software for lawyers, has partnered with Microsoft since at least 2024. Harvey's expansion includes clients like Comcast and Verizon, and new foundation model integrations. Legaltech startup Harvey has agreed to a two-year, million commitment to use Azure cloud services, according to an internal email seen by Business Insider.Jay Parikh, who leads Microsoft's new CoreAI unit, included the deal in an internal memo, writing that his unit "announced expanded partnership with Harvey Al with a 2-year M MACC and M unified expansion." Parikh joined Microsoft in October to lead a new engineering group responsible for building its artificial-intelligence tools.Microsoft declined to comment, and Harvey declined to comment on the agreement.MACC, or Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment, is an agreement customers make to spend a specific amount on Azure for a period of time, often for a discount.Harvey, which builds chatbots and agents tailored for legal and professional services, is scaling up and entering the enterprise market. It's adding legal teams at Comcast and Verizon as clients, while developing bespoke workflow software for large law firm customers.It has raised more than million from investors, including Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and OpenAI Startup Fund, a Harvey spokesperson told BI.Harvey has closely partnered with Microsoft since at least early 2024. That year, the company deployed its platform on Microsoft Azure, followed by a Word plug-in designed for lawyers.For years, Harvey, founded in 2022, ran its platform"Law firms refused to use anything that wasn't through Azure," Weinberg said. That's now changing, he said, as vendors like Anthropic build the features enterprises require.Last week, Harvey expanded its use of foundation models to Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude.Still, Harvey's million Azure deal signals it's not backing away from Microsoft anytime soon. The company's growing cloud footprint suggests that, while other partners are gaining traction with the legaltech start, Azure remains integral to Harvey's growth for now.Have a tip? Contact Melia Russell via email at mrussell@businessinsider.com or Signal at @MeliaRussell.01. Reach Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signalor email.. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. #legaltech #unicorn #harvey #has #agreed

There can be a hypnotic nature to repetitive tasks, and plenty of games have leaned into that to give otherwise humdrum jobs a surprising allure. Deliver At All Costs goes in the opposite direction and transforms the unforgiving tedium and thankless nature of a courier job into an explosive, slapstick adventure. This makes for some fun and brief thrills, but too often Deliver At All Costs falls into repetitive monotony with an overly cyclical format, a dragging story, and unexciting in-game upgrades.Narratively, Deliver At All Costs has a fantastically intriguing opening. You play as Winston, an extremely gifted engineer who's late on rent, bereft of friends, and prone to outbursts of anger. He sees visions of a strange fox, someone is spying on his apartment, and he's hiding something about his past. It's all very mysterious and strange, and the setup immediately draws you into the story in hopes of uncovering who Winston truly is and what's going on.The mystique hangs over the first hour of Deliver At All Costs, which sees Winston take a truck-driving job at We Deliver, a courier service. Every delivery forces Winston, and by extension the player, to contend with a new type of challenging cargo, like surprisingly strong balloons making Winston's truck extremely buoyant and prone to soaring over buildings at the smallest bump, or a statue that attracts a flock of seagulls obsessed with carpet bombing the statue with poop.Continue Reading at GameSpot #deliver #all #costs #review #drive

Wildlife Studios and Winners Alliance today announced a major licensing partnership, bringing Naomi Osaka and other stars to the hit mobile game Tennis Clash. Tennis Clash has been played by more than 170 million users worldwide. Through the agreement, Wildlife Studios now holds rights to feature the names, images, and likenesses of select men’s and women’s players, marking the first time officially licensed players will appear in Tennis Clash. Launched in 2019, Tennis Clash is one of the most downloaded mobile sports games globally. Wildlife Studios – founded in 2011 – has released more than 60 games and surpassed 4 billion lifetime downloads across its portfolio. Starting May 23, users can compete as four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who debuts in a custom outfit inspired by her 2024 U.S. Open look. Wildlife Studios will introduce at least three more licensed player characters later this year, with more in development. The integration of real players brings even more realism and depth to the game, allowing fans to experience tennis in a more immersive, authentic, and personal way. Through interactive avatars, the sport’s top stars are connected with Tennis Clash’s massive global audience in ways that reimagine how tennis is played, promoted, and experienced. “Winners Alliance is proud to bring professional tennis players into a platform as dynamic and far-reaching as Tennis Clash,” said Eric Winston, president of Winners Alliance, in a statement. “Wildlife Studios has taken great care to reflect each athlete’s officially licensed identity, and this is just the beginning of what’s possible when gaming and athlete licensing come together at scale.” “We strive to make Tennis Clash as authentic and entertaining as possible, which is why we’re excited to partner with Winners Alliance to welcome some of the sport’s most beloved stars into the game,” said Giovanni Piffer, partnerships lead at Wildlife Studios, in a statement. “We’re eager to see how our players enjoy the new Naomi Osaka character and can’t wait to unveil the additional characters coming soon. Tennis Clash is giving gamers and tennis fans a new way to engage with the sport – closer, more personal, and more interactive than ever before.” Winners Alliance is a global, athlete-centric commercial solution dedicated to creating novel group licensing, sponsorship, partnership, content, investment and event opportunities for world-class athletes collectively. Wildlife is one of the world’s largest mobile gaming publishers. In over ten years, it has launched more than 60 games, including hits such as Sniper 3D, Zooba, Tennis Clash, War Machines and Colorfy. Founded by brothers Victor and Arthur Lazarte, the company’s games have been downloaded more than 4 billion times across the planet. GB Daily Stay in the know! Get the latest news in your inbox daily Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured. #wildlife #studios #signs #naomi #osaka