After being announced as Apple’s first in-house exclusive back in 2019, it looks like Masters of the Air is finally gaining some momentum. The Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks-produced limited series has added Anthony Boyle to its cast, who joins Austin Butler and Calum Turner for the Band of Brothers sequel, Deadline reports.
Based on the book of the same name by Donald L. Miller, Masters of the Air follows up the award-winning WWII miniseries’ Band of Brothers (2001) and The Pacific (2010). Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman have been reunited for the new series, along with writer John Orloff, who also wrote Band of Brothers.
Newly cast Irish actor Anthony Boyle will be playing the lead role of Major Crosby. While Boyle has done some work in TV and film, he is most well-known for his award-winning rendition of Scorpius Malfoy in The Cursed Child at London’s Palace Theatre. He joins Austin Butler as Major Gale Cleven, and Callum Turner as Major John Egan.
In January this year, the WallStreetBets subreddit surprised the finance world when its massive user base bought up GameStop shares in numbers that couldn’t be ignored. Now, those users are making a dent again, but this time it’s in the form of $338,000 raised for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
The gorilla-adopting trend comes from “apes together strong,” one of the subreddit’s favorite memes. The phrase, taken from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, refers to the power the sub’s individual investors can leverage against large investment firms when they work together. The meme has resulted in WallStreetBets users referring to themselves and each other as “apes,” which has now caused users to give some of their profits to benefit real-life apes.
Users of the subreddit started posting screengrabs of the gorillas they had adopted through the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, often under names that included WallStreetBets, Gamestop, or GME. The trend caught on to the point where the charity publicly acknowledged WallStreetBets, keeping a running tally of the amount its users had raised. At the time of writing, the charity’s latest update attributes over $338,000 in fundraising to the subreddit.
Some users decided to adopt bonobos, another type of ape, with charity Ape Initiative also thanking the subreddit for its support. Ape Initiative has now added the “Apes Together Strong” meme to the adoption banner on its website. Some users decided to branch out from apes, with one user adopting a sloth, and others adopting elephants and rhinos through the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
While some users on WallStreetBets became instant millionaires thanks to their investments in GameStop, others would have only made small gains, whereas many would have lost money as well. It’s heartening to see the subreddit’s users giving back, even while many still hold their risky GameStop investments waiting for a squeeze that may or may not ever come.
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This is an advance review posted out of the SXSW Film Festival.
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While most horror fans can name at least one folk horror film (most likely a British film like The Wicker Man), there is very little consensus regarding what exactly does or doesn’t constitute a folk horror film. That’s where Kier-La Janisse and her documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror come in, as production company Severin Films takes a subject that may be familiar for horror fans and then explores it so in-depth that you start to realize how little you actually knew.
The film tracks the origin of what we call folk horror, focusing on just how loosely that term is defined. Sure, there’s the trifecta of British films — 1968’s Witchfinder General, 1971’s The Blood on Satan’s Claw, and 1973’s The Wicker Man — that is largely accepted to be the height of the sub-genre, but even then those films have very little in common other than a countryside setting and a plot involving paganism or the supernatural. What Woodlands Dark does is not to give a proper definition or label for the sub-genre, but rather to prove that folk horror is more than just tropes and a setting; it’s a tone, a feeling, something that isn’t clearly described, and maybe shouldn’t be. At its best, the documentary teaches about how folk horror can be used to explore different fears that change and evolve across borders and decades, commenting on the darker aspects of humanity like nationalism, classism, and colonialism to reflect and instruct about the cultural context of a given film or show.
Woodlands Dark is mostly told through archival footage of over 200 films intercut with talking-head interviews with over 50 filmmakers, scholars, film festival programmers, and journalists from different countries providing not only cultural and historical context but personal anecdotes and insights that paint a fascinating picture of how universal and expansive folk horror is — reinforcing the idea that it’s more than just a label to put on a film and call it a day. Through the interviews, the film explores many movies you wouldn’t instantly associate with folk horror, but share enough elements that it’s hard not to see them as such — like 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its exploration of the cultural divide between the urban and the rural, or even 1992’s Candyman and its focus on a folkloric monster and psychogeography (how much of the action and character behavior happens because of the Cabrini Green projects setting).
If there’s something to complain about here, it’s in the choice of interview subjects. Though Woodlands Dark makes the effort to explore folk horror in many cultures and countries across every continent, a bit less of an effort is put into finding guests from said cultures that can talk with an added layer of cultural context. During a segment exploring Brazilian horror, focusing on the relationship between the genre and the history of racial and religious tensions against the Afro-Brazilian population, not a single Afro-Brazilian is seen explaining the different religions that so deeply affect the stories told through folk horror in the country. It’s not a huge distraction, but with the film seemingly so concerned about representing films from different cultures and countries, it’s hard not to feel like there was an opportunity missing to have interviews with people who actually belong to those communities.
This may be Kier-La Janisse’s first feature-length film, but you wouldn’t realize that based on the quality of this documentary. This is a massive endeavor, clocking at just over 3 hours, but it essentially serves as the best college course about the history, significance, and future of the folk horror genre. Woodlands Dark is cleverly split up into six distinct title parts, exploring the origins of the genre, its spread in popularity, how much of it is connected to witchcraft, as well as the international versions of it, and how the genre has resurfaced in recent years.
These segments are separated by beautifully animated sequences illustrating the pagan imagery and the folk tales featured in the films. Likewise, the documentary features a terrific soundtrack by Jim Williams, who is certainly not a stranger to folk horror, having scored films like Kill List and A Field in England. The score, as well as the original songs he writes for the film, do a fantastic job in creating a creepy atmosphere and easing the transitions between the talking-head interviews and the movie footage.
In Fortnite, players and their friends lead a group of Heroes to reclaim and rebuild a homeland that has been left empty by a mysterious darkness only known as “the Storm.”
Fortnite Season 6 has gone “Primal” and if you missed the trailer showcasing some of the new additions, one round in the new map should be pretty revealing. From the prehistoric-looking huts to the new weapons clad with teeth and bones, Fortnite Season 6 almost resembles ARK Survival Evolved, if it weren’t for all the TikTok dancing and superheroes running around. Oh yeah–and there’s weapon crafting now.
How to craft in Fortnite is sure to be a big topic of discussion this season as it’s a complex new system all players are trying to learn on the fly. We’ve built this cheat sheet so you can have a better understanding of new elements such as Mechanical Parts, Animal Parts, Makeshift, Classic, and Primal weapons, and a general overview of how to craft in Fortnite. Here’s everything you need to know.
How to craft in Fortnite
While the list of craftable items is long, none of it matters if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. First, you’ll want to get to grips with new crafting parts: mechanical parts and animal parts.
Mechanical Parts
Mechanical Parts come from vehicles such as cars, trucks, RVs, and basically anything with a motor in it. Beat them up with your Harvesting Tool or blow them up to find Mechanical Parts left behind.
Animal Parts
Animal Parts are dropped by defeated wildlife. This season introduces animals both passive and aggressive like chickens and frogs in the former case and boar and wolves in the latter case. When defeated, they’ll leave behind Bones and Meat.
Frogs may also leave behind Stink Sacs, while larger animals will leave behind more bones than small ones.
Both Bones and Mechanical Parts do not take up space in your five customary inventory slots, though meat does–four pieces of meat to a slot and 15 HP per piece of meat eaten. Bones and Mechanical Parts, however, are placed into a new Crafting menu you’ll find when you bring up your full inventory. Each craftable item will take either animal parts or mechanical parts, but as of now at least, nothing takes both.
Primal weapons vs. classic weapons
Continuing from above, the reason no weapon recipes need Mechanical and Animal parts together is because they represent opposing styles of weaponry in Season 6. Primal weapons, clad in teeth and tape, pack a meaner punch at the cost of accuracy, while Classic weapons give players the familiar firepower they’re used to, but may leave them underpowered in a bout with Primal-equipped enemies.
There’s a risk-reward system at play that demands each player decides for themselves what they prefer, or sometimes what they can even manage to craft. If you discover a Makeshift weapon, consider it a blank slate. While it may be a serviceable weapon as is, combining it with the right crafting supplies can turn it into a Classic or Primal weapon at a moment’s notice.
We’ve already gone over how to craft the Hunter’s Cloak. In the next section, we’ll recap that and look at other recipes players can use to create new weapons.
Fortnite crafting recipes
It’s likely we’ll discover more crafting recipes in Fortnite in the gameplay hours ahead of us, but for now, here are the recipes we’ve found so far.
To craft an item, head to the Crafting menu and scroll to the base item you wish to alter, such as changing a piece of meat into a Hunter’s Cloak or a Makeshift Shotgun into a Primal Shotgun. If you have enough crafting parts in addition to the weapon, you’ll be able to make your desired weapon.
Primal Flame Bow: 1 Primal Bow, 1 Firefly Jar or 1 Gas Can
Primal Stink Bow: 1 Primal Bow, 3 Stink Fish or 1 Stink Sac
Hunter’s Cloak: 1 Meat, 2 Bones
It should be noted that you can also find crafting items, and Primal and Classic weapons in chests, but because chests are randomized, the most surefire way to craft a particular item is to hunt down the animals or smash up the vehicles specific to your intended item.
Its hardly news that superhero stories are big business these days with Marvel and DC movies alike regularly passing the $1 billion mark. Those mega-sized super tales are usually reserved for the cinema, but Jupiter’s Legacy from Mark Millar and Netflix hopes to be the exception, according to a new interview with Millar by Empire.
“It’s part 2001, part Avengers, part Godfather II,” said creator Mark Millar in a new interview with Empire. Millar is one of the most-adapted comic creators out there, with original stories like Kick-Ass, Wanted, and Kingsman having made it to the big screen. Millar also wrote Marvel’s Civil War comic series, which became one of the biggest Marvel films. Then, he cut a deal with Netflix to bring his work to the streaming service a few years back. Jupiter’s Legacy will be the first project to make the leap to live-action.
Empire described Jupiter’s Legacy as “a sprawling superhero epic with an almost limitless ambition,” and Millar says the story is a “50-year story self-contained inside one franchise,” and that it has a cast of “50 or 60 super-characters,” which seems almost incomprehensible. The show stars Josh Duhamel (Transformers) as Sheldon Sampson/The Utopian. Other cast members include Ben Daniels, Elena Kampouris, Andrew Horton, Mike Wade, Kara Royster, and Matt Lanter.
“The story starts in 1929 and runs until the end of time,” Millar continued, saying that it gets into the mystery of human existence. You know, the small stuff.
All the while, though, Millar says Netflix has had his team’s back throughout production. “There hasn’t been one conversation where someone said, ‘Can we make that explosion slightly smaller?'” Millar said. “Ambitious ideas are being rewarded.”
Netflix acquired Millar’s Millarworld comic book company in 2017 for an undisclosed sum, and that deal included all of Millar’s works that didn’t already belong to another production house.
“Mark is as close as you can get to a modern-day Stan Lee,” said Netflix’s chief creative officer Ted Sarandos, at the time of the sale.
Neymar Jr., soccer star and pride of the Brazilian National Team, is coming to Fortnite, and why not? This is, after all, a game that has already featured The Terminator, Batman, Ellen Ripley, and now even the Tomb Raider herself, Lara Croft. In Fortnite, there are no bounds to who might show up.
Neymar was teased a few days ago, and has now been fully revealed with even the game’s menus leaving no room for doubt. But you can’t play as him just yet, no matter what Fortnite Season 6 Battle Pass tier you climb to. Here’s what you need to know about when he will become unlockable and how you’ll probably go about earning Neymar in Fortnite.
When Is Neymar Coming to Fortnite?
If you heard Neymar is coming to Fortnite and booted up the game today only to find a collection of other characters, such as Agent Jones and DC Comics’ Raven, it’s not your fault. Neymar is a midseason unlockable character for Fortnite Season 6, so he’s not available just yet. In recent seasons, we’ve seen other big names like Predator and Wolverine become available this way, and this time Epic Games is choosing to use a figure from real life instead of beloved fictional characters.
Image credit: Getty Images/Aurelien Meunier – PSG
In the game’s menu, it says Neymar will be available in 42 days, which, at time of writing this and barring any delays, should mean his debut will fall on April 27. Until then you won’t be able to select Neymar in the game, but you can get a preview of what accessories he’ll include today.
If you head to the Battle Pass tab in Fortnite and scroll to the “?” page, you’ll see six Neymar Jr. rewards, and though the items themselves remain hidden, we can see by browsing them they include one Harvesting Tool, one Loading Screen, two Banners, one Outfit (Neymar Jr. himself), and an additional Style option, which means players will be able to choose from two different looks for the world-class athlete.
Trying to access Neymar Jr. in the Fortnite Battle Pass menu raises a large question mark.
Typically, these midseason rewards are unlocked with additional challenges and by defeating the character themself in-game. While this approach seemed like a natural fit for Wolverine and Predator, it’s going to be a bit weirder to have to take down Neymar Jr. in battle, but until we hear otherwise, this does seem to be the plan. Maybe Epic will shake things up and demand we face Neymar on the pitch. That’s the thing about this game; you never can exactly predict how it’s going to play out.
We’ll certainly learn a lot more as his debut approaches, and once his full range of cosmetics and challenges are available, we’ll have all the guides you need right here.
In the meantime, get yourself caught up on the rest of Fortnite Season 6: Primal, including the Fortnite Season 6 Battle Pass, Week 1 challenges, and more.
Few games make as many headlines with their season passes as Fortnite does with its Battle Pass. Recent seasons have delivered exciting crossovers like Marvel superheroes, The Mandalorian, and more. Chapter 2, Season 6 is no exception, and it even continues an ongoing streak of including licensed characters. Alongside new Back Bling, emotes, Trails, and more, here’s what’s in the Fortnite Season 6 Battle Pass.
The Season 6 Battle Pass gives fans access to one long-rumored character and another long-requested, with another famous face coming later this season.
The level 1 unlock is Agent Jones, the protagonist of Fortnite’s elaborate lore book for the past several seasons. Jones has been a desired skin for some time, and Season 6 finally delivers him with several additional cosmetic options too, each one showcasing the increasing urgency of his mission to fix the Zero Point.
Raiding Tombs with Lara Croft
At level 14, players will unlock a new character from the Gaming Legends series. Joining Master Chief and Kratos is the Tomb Raider herself, Lara Croft. Croft comes with various accessories like a quiver Back Bling, a Trail equipping her with dual flares, and a weather parachute right out of the 2013 reboot. Croft also comes in several styles herself, including reboot Lara, classic Lara, a modernized approach to her classic blue tank top, and a solid gold cosmetic.
Quote the Raven
Deep into the season for most folks, Raven from the DC Comics universe will unlock at level 77. Plenty of accessories like wallpapers and emotes will complete the theme for players who like it that way, and her DC Rebirth (2016) skin can be earned by completing 70 Epic (purple) Quests throughout the season.
He Shoots, He Scores
Later this season, likely around Week 6 if past seasons are any indication, world-class soccer star Neymar Jr. will come to Fortnite. Similar to Wolverine and Predator in recent seasons, he will include his own challenges to unlock additional cosmetics throughout the season, and if you keep up with them, they will be completed before he even arrives. For now, we’re left guessing with only a set of question marks where his items will be seen later.
Fortnite Season 6 Battle Pass Tiers 1-100
For the completionists, here’s a full rundown of all 100 tiers in the Fortnite Season 6 Battle Pass.
Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 6 is here and early leaks have revealed a full list of vaulted weapons and items, as well as weapons and items making a return. In Fortnite lore, The Vault is an extradimensional nexus housing The Zero Point, but beyond its story significance, it is also where items “go” when they’re removed from the battle royale.
Check out the list of Fortnite weapons and items that have been vaulted or unvaulted for Season 6.
Vaulted Weapons and Items
According to Fortnite leaks on Twitter, the following weapons have been vaulted for Fortnite Season 6, which means they will not be available in the main game.
