Movie where janitor solves math problem

Activision Blizzard studio King has shared a bizarre "diversity space tool" meant to help its studios design more diverse characters by using... math. In a blog post published on May 12, the studio lauds the tool as "a leap forward for inclusion in gaming" that was created alongside the MIT Game Lab for use in character development. The post uses characters from the Overwatch universe as examples, plotting them on the graph based on elements like gender, body type, physical ability, cognitive ability, sexuality, and more. The tool is apparently meant to be used as a frame of reference for future character development. "Once it establishes a baseline for typical character traits … it can then weigh new character designs against it to measure their diversity," the blog reads. "During this process, the tool can also uncover unconscious bias, such as why certain traits are seen as 'male' vs. 'female,' or why characters from certain ethnic backgrounds are given similar … [Read more...] about Activision Blizzard hopes it can solve diversity problems with math

It's that time of the week again, which means there are even more excellent movies and TV shows to stream this weekend. We've rounded up our top picks of the bunch here, to help you kick back with the best of the best this Saturday and Sunday. On Apple TV Plus, there's moody period drama The Essex Serpent , starring Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes, while on HBO Max, you can check out The Time Traveler's Wife, starring Theo James and Rose Leslie. For some blockbusters, you can see the return of Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix Resurrections , or try M. Night Shyamalan's Old – both are streaming on HBO Max  this weekend. If neither of those are quite your style, though, there's Operation Mincemeat on Netflix in the US, or Conversations with Friends on Hulu and BBC iPlayer. So, without further ado, scroll on to check out everything you should be streaming this weekend. How I Met Your Father – Disney Plus Available: UK Watch now: Disney Plus … [Read more...] about 7 New HBO Max, Disney Plus, Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV Plus movies and shows to stream this weekend

Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded passion project Megalopolis has landed an all-star cast. Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, and Laurence Fishburne have all signed on for the upcoming movie. Fishburne will be reuniting with Coppola on the film for the first time since Apocalypse Now , which was his first major on-screen role. The new casting news comes after Moon Knight star Oscar Isaac reportedly pulled out of the project after being eyed for the lead. The movie, which is more than 20 years in the making, is independently financed and features Coppola’s own script. The ambitious movie has been estimated to cost just under $100 million and the legendary director has been fundraising for the project. The movie’s logline teases: "The fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this epic story of political ambition, genius, and conflicted love." Another synopsis, per Collider , describes it focusing on … [Read more...] about Adam Driver joins all-star cast of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis

Helming a reboot is no easy task – but it was loads of fun for director Akiva Schaffer. Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers is a fresh take on the ‘90s animated series that combines multiple animation styles, cameos from your favorite Saturday morning cartoons, and a heartwarming tale of friendship into one big family-friendly adventure. Taking place some 30 years after the end of the Rescue Rangers cartoon, Chip and Dale are two retired Hollywood actors and ex-best friends who don't keep in touch. When one of their former co-stars goes missing, the two must reunite and become detectives once again in order to save the life of their friend and solve the mystery of the missing toons. Total Film sat down with Schaffer – best known as part of the Lonely Island and for helming Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping , The Watch , and Hot Rod – to talk about the film, including the challenges of directing live-action animation, Hollywood's reboot fever, and paying homage to animation styles … [Read more...] about Chip ’N Dale: Rescues Rangers director Akiva Schaffer talks reboots, Roger Rabbit, and The Lonely Island

Apex Legends senior character designer Devan McGuire's recent comments about potentially ending the tradition of introducing a new playable character to the battle royale with each new season has caused a huge stir among the game's fanbase, and many players seem convinced this move would be a terrible idea. At first, I was one of them. The negative knee-jerk reaction to my favorite game reducing how often it gets this type of significant new content was swift and intense. However, after mulling it over, I started to consider all the problems that slowing down character debuts could solve. (The key word here being "could.") With proper implementation, increasing the customary three-month gap between legend debuts might be exactly what this game needs. While McGuire has stated that Apex is more about movement and gunplay than individual characters' abilities, there's no denying that the "new legend every season" method generates serious hype, with fans spending the weeks leading up … [Read more...] about It’s Good That Apex Legends May Not Get A New Legend Every Season

This month, I tried to upgrade my home theater setup with an LG C1 OLED television and an HDMI 2.1 receiver. Tried . In doing so, I discovered what a nightmare HDMI 2.1's definition of "compatibility" is. When HDMI arrived on the scene almost 20 years ago, it seemed like a godsend: Instead of having to plug in five cables to get a 480p image with stereo audio, you could just plug in one cable. It was universal, had a directional configuration to make sure you couldn't plug it in upside down, and it just worked. Two decades later, though, HDMI is alive and well but has somehow become needlessly confusing. Instead of a simple spec with complex cables, we're now saddled with one simple cable and a truly baffling set of specs. Listen ye to my cautionary tale and beware the dark woods of HDMI. What is HDMI 2.1? HDMI 2.1 is the latest version of the High-Definition Multimedia Interface connector first unveiled in 2002. The initial HDMI 2.1 spec represented a big jump forward for the … [Read more...] about HDMI Used To Simplify Our Home Theaters, Now It’s Adding Confusion

The Scarlet Witch is unleashed. No longer an Avenger, Wanda Maximoff is instead the villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , and she's hellbent on a vicious, murderous quest to steal the powers of young America Chavez and escape to another, happier universe where her children – Billy and Tommy – are still alive. But from the first scene of Multiverse of Madness, it's made clear that Wanda has fully succumbed to the evil of the Darkhold , the ancient spell book that corrupts all it touches. That's used to explain her sudden turn, and it's a shortcut that seriously hobbles how effective she is as a villain. It also indulges in a toxic trope that WandaVision avoided : that of a woman so powerful she loses her mind. This all too common trope has swallowed up female characters like Jean Grey and Daeneyrs Targaryen before (just look at TV Tropes' "Unstable Powered Woman" page for many, many more examples), and the fictional women who fall victim to it … [Read more...] about Doctor Strange 2 misses a trick with Wanda – but the MCU can still fulfill her potential

When Disney Dreamlight Valley was announced , I found its intersecting parts of Disney, the farm-life sim genre, and a free-to-play model to be exciting. With a fair in-game economy and gameplay that keep genre fans coming back, the Animal Crossing-like could have the potential to become a hit with players of all ages--but that microtransaction question loomed large. After spending an hour with the Gameloft development team and checking out a hands-off demo, I'm heartened to have seen a pay model without uncomfortable caveats, making me more confident Dreamlight Valley will be well populated by fans of the genre and brand alike. On the surface, Dreamlight Valley appears to be your typical farm-life sim--even its name seems determined to recall imagery of Stardew Valley, one of the genre's most beloved games. I arrived to my demo wanting to find out if this other valley could provide a similar mix of relaxing gameplay mechanics such as farming, mining, and socializing. It does … [Read more...] about Disney Dreamlight Valley Is More Than Animal Crossing In Mickey Mouse Ears

Evil Dead: The Game is finally here. Filled to the brim with demon slaying action, this PvP/PvE asymmetrical experience delivers all of the thrills the franchise is known for. Players will certainly need to work together if they hope to survive the night. Unless of course, they’ve chosen to take up the spirits of Evil Dead’s demonic entities. Then it’s all human possession and mean-spirited trees. Groovy! Like most games of this ilk, the goal of the survivors is to best their overpowered rival. They’ll need to hunt down pages of the Necronomicon--the Book of the Dead--and use it to find a magical dagger needed to defeat the Dark Ones. This is easier said than done given how Evil Dead’s large maps are swarming with enemies, the most dangerous being those who are player-controlled. They’ll do everything in their power to stop the survivors at every turn. No matter which side of the battle you’re on, Evil Dead: The Game has a ton of tools to help you achieve your goals. Knowing how … [Read more...] about Evil Dead: The Game Tips For Survivors And Kandarian Demons

Everything was Uncharted. You’ll have seen the jokes, no doubt – the ones that pointed out how many games at E3 2012 seemed to be based on an external interpretation of the Naughty Dog design document. That show brought a host of linear games built on tightly scripted spectacle, sacrificing player agency for the whims of a stubborn author. The complaint was aimed at other developers, at an industry in thrall to the cookie cutter, but it stung Naughty Dog by extension as well. Many of those games have since turned out to be nothing like Uncharted. At December’s PlayStation Experience (PSX) event, filmed live in Vegas and streamed around the world, Naughty Dog suggested Uncharted 4 wasn’t, in the E3 2012 pejorative sense of the term, very Uncharted either. Over the course of a day inside the Santa Monica studio, we are shown the proof of it. Within half an hour, game director Bruce Straley has summed it up perfectly. “There’s no one golden path,” he tells us. “It’s not just as simple as … [Read more...] about Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – the story behind the biggest game of the year