Missing Link is Laika’s most ambitious film yet, and that fact is visible in every frame. The stop-motion animation studio’s work has always been impressive — its first film, Coraline, is still stunning a decade later — and yet the studio manages to keep pushing the boundaries. Its latest story covers more ground both literally and figuratively, sending its characters all over the globe, featuring thousands of distinct facial expressions, and touching upon surprisingly sharp themes of colonialism and prejudice. Laika has managed to survive for this long as a company thanks to its amazing growth, specializing in an art form that has largely been superseded by 3D animation, and movies that are invariably just weird enough not to be considered mainstream. They’re constantly pushing the bounds of the medium (Missing Link takes full advantage of 3D printing for its facial models), matching developments in computer animation frame-for-frame when it comes to … [Read more...] about Missing Link makes the case for stop-motion animation’s continued survival
First sighting of loch ness monster
Apex Legends characters, classes and Legend abilities explained
Apex Legends characters and classes are, unlike its battle royale counterparts, a pretty central part of the game. Whether they end up folding into a tier list and how far the top-level players take class-based play is a question that's going to play out over time, but for now here's a breakdown of all the essentials for each class, noting all character abilities and playstyles for you to get off to a running start. There are eight classes in-game at launch, with six already unlocked and a further two that you'll need to unlock in-game, either by earning the in-game currency or paying for it with real-world cash. Below, we run through all eight in alphabetical order. On this page: Apex Legends Bangalore character abilities, ultimate and playstyle Bangalore is available for free from the the off, and is referred to as a 'Professional Shooter'. Bangalore Tactical Ability: Smoke Launcher Fire's a high-velocity smoke canister that explodes into a smoke wall on impact. Bangalore … [Read more...] about Apex Legends characters, classes and Legend abilities explained
Exploring Falmouth and the naval history behind Return of the Obra Dinn
This piece contains spoilers for Return of the Obra Dinn.Waves lap gently against the struts of the pier as seagulls wheel, dive, and caw overhead. Halyards on anchored sailboats gently clink in time with the movements of the water. A gentle rumble emanates from the engines of the docked Merchant Navy vessels, underscoring the whole scene. This is the harbour of Falmouth as it exists today. Situated at the mouth of the River Fal it remains a busy and important shipping hub for England's South East corner. Looking out from the pier towards the docks on a drizzly Saturday morning it's not hard to imagine the haunted corpse of a single ghost ship slowly drifting in to port. This is how Return of the Obra Dinn begins, the titular ship borne into the bay with damaged sails and a slaughtered crew. The player is hired by the East India Company to investigate the grizzly fate of the ship's crew and find out just how this came to pass. Set as it is during the early 1800's, Return of the Obra … [Read more...] about Exploring Falmouth and the naval history behind Return of the Obra Dinn