The Godfather Part II: ‘The Unexpected Sequel’ Turns 45

On December 20, 2019, The Godfather Part II celebrates the 45th anniversary of its release in 1974. It still remains one of the most lauded cinematic sequels of all time, and the first sequel to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. (It took The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 29 years to achieve the same feat).

Back in the ’70s, sequels weren’t as ubiquitous as they are today, so for director Francis Ford Coppola to equal, and arguably best, The Godfather was, and remains to this day, a stunning achievement. To mark the anniversary, Fathom Events has scheduled screenings of The Godfather Part II in theaters across the country, including on November 12 and 13 (buy tickets here). The film is presented as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.

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Harley Quinn’s New Animated Show Gets A Full-Length Trailer

The DC Universe’s roster of original programming is about to get a little bit bigger. At the end of this month, the brand-new Harley Quinn animated show will premiere on the streaming service, complete with all the ultra-violent, slapstick mayhem you’d expect from the Clown Queen of Crime as she returns to her cartoon roots. But if you’re expecting a resurgence of the Harley you remember from your Batman: The Animated Series nostalgia, you might be in for a surprise. Check out the full-length trailer for the show to get an idea of just what you’re in for.

If f-bombs and dirty jokes are your cup of tea, you’re definitely in for a treat. The show, seemingly channeling other adult animated favorites like The Venture Brothers and Rick & Morty, takes Harley out on her own in search of a crew in Gotham City. But of course, finding reliable villains is hard even on the best day–and harder still when you’re trying to duck and dodge around your horrible ex, The Joker. But Harley’s nothing if not determined and hatches a scheme to enlist the worst of the worst. Which is to say, the bad guys who are just objectively horrible at everything they do.

Seen in the trailer, Harley winds up mingling with C and D list DC rogues like King Shark, Dr. Psycho, Clayface, and Felix Faust as she goes galavanting around Gotham, running into fan favorites like Bane, Two Face, and Scarecrow. All the while, she’s got her sardonic best friend Poison Ivy (channeling the dead-pan humor of someone like Daria of MTV’s Daria) to help keep her on the level.

Harley Quinn hits the DC Universe streaming service on November 29.

Rick and Morty Season 4 Episode 1 “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat” Breakdown!

In Rick and Morty Season 4, Episode 1, “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat,” Rick takes Morty to Forbulan Prime to get Death Crystals, which allow you to see the ways you’re going to die. This leads to alternating storylines for both Rick and Morty. Morty tries to use a death crystal to lead him on a path where he can die with his crush, Jessica.

Meanwhile, Rick is continuously brought back to life as a clone via Project Phoenix, a reference to Season 2 episode “Big Trouble in Little Sanchez” in which Rick had started a program to create clones of himself.

For a breakdown of the plot and all the Easter eggs and references in this episode, watch the video above. You can also read our review of Season 4 Episode 1. And for more on Rick and Morty, check out our video on the 9 Most Outrageous Rick And Morty Theories, or our breakdown of Every Dimension We Know So Far in Rick and Morty.

Rick and Morty airs on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network on Sunday nights.

How To Disable Disney Plus Auto-Play And Background Video

Disney+ has officially launched, offering a wide selection of shows and movies from Disney’s massive catalog. You couldn’t be blamed for needing time to look through the selection, but a couple of divisive features have migrated to Disney’s streaming service from its competitors: background video, and auto-play. Fortunately, they’re also pretty easy to disable.

For those unaware, background video is a feature on Netflix and Prime Video, which starts playing trailers or clips when you hover over a show or movie for more than a few seconds. That can make it difficult to just casually browse and read descriptions, plus it runs the risk of starting to play content you may not have wanted your smaller children to see. Auto-play, meanwhile, begins a new episode of a show as you finish the prior one.

For the time being, the user interface differs slightly between apps, so you may not have the same options across all devices. For this reason, we recommend toggling these settings by visiting the Disneyplus.com site in your browser.

Disable Background Video and Auto-Play On Disney Plus

  1. From the Disney Plus home screen, select your profile icon
  2. Select “Edit Profiles”
  3. Select the profile you’d like to edit (named simply “Profile” by default)
  4. Toggle the “Background Video” and “Auto-play” options to off

There you have it. No more endless episodes after you fall asleep, and no more trying to read show descriptions while a trailer plays.

Now Playing: Star Wars The Mandalorian Teaser and Sizzle Reel Recap

Star Wars: The Mandalorian’s Life Day Easter Egg Brings The Holiday Special One Step Closer To Canon

The first episode of The Mandalorian has arrived thanks to the official launch of the Disney+ streaming service. If you’ve had a chance to sit down and watch the show–and haven’t been bogged down by service problems–you’ve no doubt noticed how the first episode is positively stuffed with Easter eggs and references designed to entertain hardcore Star Wars fans.

However, there’s one specific reference that stands tall over the rest. After being captured by The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), a lowly bounty (Horatio Sanz) makes mention of a specific holiday. “I was hoping to be free for Life Day,” he said. “Maybe even get home to the family.”

With that one small line, a massive piece of the extended Star Wars universe, has now been made canon. Life Day is a celebrated holiday on Kashyyyk–Chewbacca’s home world–that was first introduced in the Star Wars Holiday Special. You remember that, right? The Star Wars Holiday Special was a truly bizarre TV event in 1978 that has been practically lost to time because, well, it’s bad. It still has an important place in Star Wars lore, though. It’s in this special that Boba Fett is glimpsed for the first time, albeit as a cartoon character. It’s also the first appearance of Mandalorian armor, making it especially relevant to The Mandalorian.

So what is Life Day? It’s a day celebrated by Wookiees, in which they journey to the Tree of Life on Kashyyyk and feast with their family and friends, celebrating their culture. It hasn’t appeared that often throughout Star Wars, though there is a brief mention in the video game Star Wars Battlefront II and has popped up on the official Star Wars website.

When it comes to the Holiday Special, though, that particular Life Day celebration saw Han Solo (Harrison Ford) venture to Kashyyyk with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to visit the Wookiee’s family. It’s there that we met such important Star Wars characters as Chewie’s wife Malla, their son Lumpy, and his dad Itchy. Clearly, the 1970s were a weird time. However, it’s also interesting to note that should this Life Day mention make the Holiday Special canon, Chewie still has a family out there somewhere.

Looking forward, the creative team behind Star Wars should really lean into the celebration of Life Day. Why not feature it more heavily in an upcoming Mandalorian episode or even a future Star Wars movie? In fact, take it one step further and do a Life Day celebration during the holidays at the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme park expansions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Now that we know Life Day still has a place in Star Wars, it’s time to make it count.

Mercy Gets a New Legendary Skin in Overwatch

Yesterday, Blizzard shared some backstory for everyone’s favorite flying doctor from Overwatch. Now, players will have an opportunity to unlock Mercy’s Dr. Ziegler legendary skin just by playing games of Overwatch.

From November 12 to December 2 Blizzard is hosting a new Mercy’s Recall Challenge. The limited-time event gives players a chance to earn eight sprays, a player, icon, and the legendary Dr. Ziegler skin that was previewed yesterday in the short story “Valkyrie.”

Earning the rewards won’t require any purchases as the rewards can all be earned by either playing matches in Overwatch or watching Twitch streams.

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GameSpot’s 2019 Xbox One Holiday Gift Guide

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The Mandalorian Teaches Us How To Poop In Space

The Star Wars movies and TV series have spent decades building a world and developing concepts like the Force and alien species and whatever Yoda is, but there’s one thing that’s never been covered, until now: Where do people poop? And is there one receptacle that can accommodate all the different anatomies? The original Disney+ series The Mandalorian finally has an answer to these burning questions.

In the first episode of the new series, the Mandalorian captures his bounty in the bar, the two are aboard his ship. His bounty is a Fledgling Mythrol–played by comedian Horatio Sanz–has to “evacuate” his thorax, so he heads down to the space toilet on the ship, called the Vacc Tube.

You can check it out below, and there is a whole lot going on in this fancy space toilet. However, this Vacc Tube is for a ship. How do toilets on planets differ?

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And in the photo above is the space toilet in all its glory. There’s actually a lot going on with this device. There looks to be a shower head that hangs down, a toilet-like device, and two tubes facing it. There are even two bars to hold on to while you “exorcise your demons.”

As for where bodily fluids go after that, some ship captains just like to dump them on planets. After The Mandalorian captures the Fledgling Mythrol, their landspeeder driver–played by comedian Brian Posehn–says, “Be careful around the port. Everyone dumps their Gray Holds out. They think the whole entire planet is their own personal stink pit.” Vacc Tubes and Gray Holds. We sure did learn a lot about pooping in space.

Well, there it is. The most important Star Wars news of the week. We can all go home now. If you’re interested in more, but you haven’t picked up Disney+ yet, check out GameSpot’s The Mandalorian review where Chris E. Hayner said, “With its first episode, The Mandalorian has made a statement about what a live-action Star Wars TV show looks like. Now, with the remaining seven episodes in Season 1, it needs to make a statement about how a Star Wars plot should unfold over a longer form of storytelling.”

Episode 1 of The Mandalorian is now available on Disney+.

Now Playing: Best Things To Stream For November 2019 – Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Shudder, Disney+

Overwatch Limited-Time Mercy Story Event Gives You A PhD (Skin)

A new limited-time event for Overwatch lets you earn your doctorate. The Mercy’s Recall Challenge event runs from November 12 through December 2 and ties in with the short story Valkyrie, which Blizzard released this week. Participating in the event can earn you some cosmetic rewards, including a legendary “Dr. Ziegler” skin for Mercy.

This isn’t a surprise, as the Dr. Ziegler skin was showcased at the end of the short story itself. It features the familiar support character with a lab coat and stethoscope, but still sporting her futuristic Valkyrie boots.

To earn the new skin, you just have to win a set number of games during the event period, which will also earn you sprays. For even more rewards, you can also watch Twitch streamers during the event period to get more sprays. Check out the rewards breakdown below.

Notably, this story is about Mercy struggling with the decision of whether or not to answer Winston’s call and rejoin the fight. We know from the Overwatch 2 trailer that debuted at BlizzCon that the group joining forces again is a major part of the story, so we may see more events laying the groundwork for that in the coming months. We’ll also see redesigned heroes and some new faces in Overwatch 2.

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Overwatch Mercy’s Recall Challenge Rewards

  • Win 3 Games | 1 Player Icon
  • Win 6 Games | 2 New Sprays
  • Win 9 Games | New legendary skin: Dr. Ziegler skin
  • Watch 2 Hours | 1 New Spray
  • Watch 4 Hours | 2 New Sprays
  • Watch 6 Hours | 3 New Sprays

Now Playing: Overwatch 2 – Official “Zero Hour” Announcement Cinematic

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Star Wars on Disney+: Here’s Whats Available Now and Coming Soon

It’s Disney+ day, which means subscribers get access to an almost absurd amount of content right off the bat. Subscribing is easy, and you even get a 7-day free trial before you have to pay a dime. But once you get into Disney+, you might find yourself overwhelmed with options. What should you watch first? If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve picked through the Disney+ offerings and found all the Star Wars content that’s available. Read on for the goods.

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