This drama film features two remarkable North American ungulates that can only be found in either northern or western American states which are moose and bison. Moose are also present in Alaska and every Canadian province while bison are only present in Alaska’s boreal forests and Canada’s prairie provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) as well as its territories (specifically Yukon and Northwest Territories). See more »
Six years after the events of “Wreck-It Ralph,” Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.
The Incredibles hero family takes on a new mission, which involves a change in family roles: Bob Parr (Mr Incredible) must manage the house while his wife Helen (Elastigirl) goes out to save the world.
Director:
Brad Bird
Stars:
Craig T. Nelson,
Holly Hunter,
Sarah Vowell
The special bond that develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes.
A Lion cub crown prince is tricked by a treacherous uncle into thinking he caused his father’s death and flees into exile in despair, only to learn in adulthood his identity and his responsibilities.
Directors:
Roger Allers,
Rob Minkoff
Stars:
Matthew Broderick,
Jeremy Irons,
James Earl Jones
During her family’s move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Miles Morales is a New York teen struggling with school, friends and, on top of that, being the new Spider-Man. When he comes across Peter Parker, the erstwhile saviour of New York, in the multiverse, Miles must train to become the new protector of his city. Written by Tom Daly
Miles, strangely, blames himself for ‘being followed’ to Aunt May’s house, when by then it was public knowledge that May’s nephew was Spider-Man. (The memorials placed in front of her house are evidence of this ubiquity; although, as another plot hole, the obviousness of the backyard shed being a brightly glowing, emblem-showing Spider-Cave entry door would have tipped off the neighbors long before Spider-Man’s passing, that May knows Spider-Man). Either way, it makes perfect sense to assume the villains would go to May’s to find the Spider-Men they were pursuing. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Peter Parker:
[narrating]
Alright, let’s do this one last time. My name is Peter Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider and for ten years I’ve been the one and only Spider-Man. I’m pretty sure you know the rest. I saved a bunch of people, fell in love, saved the city, and then I saved the city again and again and again… And, uh… I did this.
[shot of Spidey doing the emo dance from “Spider-Man 3”]
Peter Parker:
We don’t really talk about this. Look, I’m a comic book, I’m a cereal, did a Christmas album…
The Comics Code Authority seal, which was used in the period Spider-Man was created to authorize a comic book for public access, appears in the beginning of the film. See more »
One peaceful day on Earth, two remnants of Frieza’s army named Sorbet and Tagoma arrive searching for the Dragon Balls with the aim of reviving Frieza. They succeed, and Frieza subsequently seeks revenge on the Saiyans.
The Z-Fighters must contend with Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction, but only a God can fight a God, and none of them are Gods. However with the creation of the Super Saiyan God, will the Z-Fighters be able to defeat Lord Beerus?
After learning that he is from another planet, a warrior named Goku and his friends are prompted to defend it from an onslaught of extraterrestrial enemies.
Stars:
Doc Harris,
Christopher Sabat,
Scott McNeil
Vegeta is lured to the planet New Vegeta by a group of Saiyan survivors in hopes that he will be the king of their new planet. But when he finds that they have ulterior motives of universal… See full summary »
The adventures of Earth’s martial arts defender Son Goku continue with a new family and the revelation of his alien origin. Now Goku and his allies must defend the planet from an onslaught of new extraterrestrial enemies.
Son Gokû, a fighter with a monkey tail, goes on a quest with an assortment of odd characters in search of the Dragon Balls, a set of crystals that can give its bearer anything they desire.
A mysterious being named Hoy arrives on Earth and asks the Z Warriors to use the dragon balls to help him release Tapion. Tapion, an ancient warrior imprisoned in a music box, and Hoy needs… See full summary »
Mr. Satan is challenged to a fight by an old rival, and he is taken to an island where the fight is to be held. Accompanying him are Android 18, who is making sure he doesn’t skip town … See full summary »
The first time we see Freiza completely naked, in Dragon Ball Z, he was partially naked when he evolved into his First Transformation and originally Toriyama drew him naked for his resurrection in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F but in the end he dropped the idea. See more »
On the run in the year of 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.
Director:
Travis Knight
Stars:
Hailee Steinfeld,
Jorge Lendeborg Jr.,
John Cena
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
Directors:
Anthony Russo,
Joe Russo
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Hemsworth,
Mark Ruffalo
T’Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s past.
Director:
Ryan Coogler
Stars:
Chadwick Boseman,
Michael B. Jordan,
Lupita Nyong’o
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.
Thor is imprisoned on the planet Sakaar, and must race against time to return to Asgard and stop Ragnarök, the destruction of his world, at the hands of the powerful and ruthless villain Hela.
Director:
Taika Waititi
Stars:
Chris Hemsworth,
Tom Hiddleston,
Cate Blanchett
When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny.
Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (AKA. Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Cable.
Director:
David Leitch
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds,
Josh Brolin,
Morena Baccarin
As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.
Fearing that the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.
Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.
Director:
Jon Watts
Stars:
Tom Holland,
Michael Keaton,
Robert Downey Jr.
Arthur Curry, half human half from Atlantis, goes on a trip of a lifetime. Not only does this adventure compel him to come to terms with his real identity, but it also forces him to discover whether he is entirely worthy of fulfilling his own destiny: becoming a king. Written by Domingo Alvarez
As Arthur and Mera are sailing away from Sicily, much of their dialogue shows them at the stern of the boat, with the boat’s wake and the setting sun behind them. The final shot of the sequence, from behind the boat, shows it sailing forward towards the setting sun. The sun (or the boat) has changed location by 180 degrees. See more »
Quotes
[from trailer]
Nuidis Vulko:
[about Arthur]
He’s spent his entire life training. Training to be the best.
The true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.
Laurel and Hardy, the world’s most famous comedy duo, attempt to reignite their film careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song – a grueling theatre tour of post-war Britain.
Director:
Jon S. Baird
Stars:
John C. Reilly,
Steve Coogan,
Shirley Henderson
The story of Dick Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.
On the run in the year of 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.
Director:
Travis Knight
Stars:
Hailee Steinfeld,
Jorge Lendeborg Jr.,
John Cena
Philip is a disabled white billionaire, who feels that life is not worth living. To help him in his day to day routine, he hires Del, an African American parolee, trying to reconnect with his estranged wife. What begins as a professional relationship develops into a friendship as Del shows his grouchy charge that life is worth living. Written by Tom Daly
Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th.
Director:
M. Night Shyamalan
Stars:
James McAvoy,
Anya Taylor-Joy,
Haley Lu Richardson
The story of Dick Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.
When David Dunn is taken into the mental hospital, the first camera feed seen is labeled H20. David’s weakness is water which hints that the hospital is dangerous to him. See more »
Goofs
Elijah’s scars are shown as a long line with several small lines crossing over it at regular intervals – these are meant to depict sutures from a surgery. However, an actual scar heals as a line bordered by dots, as only the places pierced by the needle would leave a scar. It is only suture material that crosses perpendicular to the original trauma line, which would leave no lasting mark. See more »
In a bid to fight fake news read while on your phone, Microsoft’s mobile Edge browser on Android and iOS now includes the NewsGuard extension.
The addition, noted by The Guardian, needs to be toggled on within the Edge settings menu to be enabled. Once it is, Edge will display a small shield icon next to the site’s URL in the search bar: a green shield with a checkmark for a trusted news site, and a red shield with an exclamation point inside of it for a site that NewsGuard believes isn’t always accurate. (Some sites haven’t been evaluated, and these will simply show a gray shield.)
Mark Hachman / IDG
In this screenshot captured by Microsoft Edge on Android, NewsGuard recommends that you “Proceed with caution: This website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability.”
NewsGuard isn’t there to protect you from phishing or to alert you that the site may be hosting a bad ad that may infect your phone. Instead, it’s there as a sort of anti-malware for your mind. Clicking on the shield brings up a summary of how NewsGuard sees the site, from a responsible presenter of information, to correcting errors quickly, to clearly labeling ads. In certain cases, sites will be given a green shield but NewsGuard will flag problems that won’t be revealed unless you click on the shield.
Mark Hachman / IDG
This site, according to NewsGuard, “generally maintains basic standards of accuracy and accountability.”
It’s a proactive move for Microsoft, which does not offer the same sort of integration within its desktop Edge browser. There, NewsGuard is merely an available extension. (To enable it, you’ll need to access the ellipsis menu in the top right-hand corner, navigate to Extensions, then manually search for the NewsGuard plugin.)
Within the mobile browser, though, NewsGuard is off by default. You’ll need to go into the Settings menu, scroll down to News rating, and then toggle on NewsGuard. Note that Edge also has a built-in relationship with Adblock Plus, which you can toggle on under Content blockers.
Mark Hachman / IDG
You’ll need to enter the Edge settings to toggle NewsGuard on.
What this means for you: The problem is that the only way to enable this on your phone is to download Edge manually, access the Settings, turn on the feature, and enable Edge as your default browser, rather than the default Chrome (or Safari) browser—which is what probably 99 percent of all users already have configured. That’s a lot of steps to help stop your crazy uncle from forwarding the latest viral news story that Barack Obama was born on Venus. But every little bit counts, right?
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Far be it from me to say games shouldn’t aim higher. I’m a strong believer in this medium, and I’ve spent years applauding the games that try to address serious and substantial themes within an interactive story. Not succeed, but try. That’s how low the bar is, for the most part.
But if a series isn’t going to commit? If it’s dead set on a zero-consequences sandbox with no real-world weight? Then by all means, lean into it. Stop pretending, and just give us the goofs. Which is to say: I played Far Cry 5 last year and found it somewhat of a letdown, and now I’ve played Far Cry: New Dawn a bit and find myself pleasantly surprised.
Maybe it’s time (past time, really) Ubisoft stops with the numbered Far Crys and skips straight to the gimmick games.
Far Cry 76
Technically even the premise of Far Cry: New Dawn is a spoiler for Far Cry 5, and whatever, Ubisoft spoiled it in the first trailer. It’s hard for me to feel too sympathetic about spoiling that game’s asinine ending when clearly Ubisoft doesn’t much care about the reveal either.
But hey, for due diligence: There are Far Cry 5 spoilers ahead. Ye be warned.
Far Cry: New Dawn is set 17 years after the events of Far Cry 5—by which I mean, after the nuclear bombs fell and wiped out America. Yes, that is actually the ending of Far Cry 5. Yes, it is absolutely as ridiculous as it sounds, a moment so boldly stupid it actually kind of works.
Having finally whittled down the cultists of Eden’s Gate and made your way to the leader, Joseph Seed, your vengeance is thwarted by a foreign combatant raining hellfire from the sky. Precisely as Seed predicted, I might add. You and Seed flee to the bunker where you started the game, trapped there together to wait out the apocalypse, like the setup to a terrible network sitcom.
And that’s where we pick up. As I said, it’s been nearly two decades since the bombs fell and life has returned to America. Hell, life is flourishing. The backwoods of Montana look greener now than they did even a year ago, all sorts of neon-colored foliage and bizarre mutant animals to admire.
The people are flourishing too, or at least they were. Having emerged from Montana’s seemingly infinite supply of bunkers, the survivors set up a rudimentary town, and life is peaceful for a time.
Then the Highwaymen show up. Yes, it wouldn’t be the post-apocalypse without a roaming band of raiders wearing makeshift armor. These ones are about as generic as they come, setting up a bunch of outposts in the oh-so-strategic mountains of Montana and then…I don’t know, waiting for you to come along and screw it up, I guess.
It doesn’t matter. See, the thing is Far Cry: New Dawn is dumb and it seems to know it’s dumb and that’s okay.
Far Cry 5 was a dumb game pretending to be smart. It didn’t need to be that way, mind. If Ubisoft had doubled down on the aspects that held promise, put more friction between player and world, leaned into the political and religious iconography it appropriated, it could’ve been a monumental achievement. But it wasn’t. Far Cry 5 squandered every semi-serious element that had any potential, overplayed its villains and its heroes until they felt worse than caricatures, and shoved even that shadow of a story into a playground that was as brainless as any other modern Far Cry. It’s a game where the villain kidnaps you not once but three times, and does so by shooting you with a drug-filled bullet. Yeah.
Far Cry: New Dawn is a dumb game that’s okay with being dumb, and it’s better for it. It’s a game where “Hit him with the Bliss Bullets” wouldn’t even cause you to raise an eyebrow. Ten minutes into the game I summoned a trained bear by ringing a church bell, then hammered its mutant face with a shotgun until it finally keeled over and I could snag the key around its neck. I befriended a wild boar. I followed hallucinations around an island.
And sure, a lot of these aspects will sound familiar if you played Far Cry 5—but there, the silliness was set against a dead-serious backdrop, a tonal inconsistency I never quite felt comfortable with. There’s no such tension in Far Cry: New Dawn, at least not that I’ve seen. After all, this is a game that follows on from Far Cry 5’s ridiculous ending. On that alone, it’s hard to take New Dawn seriously.
With the story comfortably pulp, New Dawn is free to play with its setting in a way Far Cry 3, 4, and 5 haven’t really had the luxury. And unlike Far Cry Primal which was inhibited by uh, not being able to have any real dialogue, New Dawn is still close enough to our own time period to have engaging characters and interesting missions.
Even better, Ubisoft’s made some real changes to the formula this time. Not earth-shattering changes, to be clear, but the series desperately needed a reinvention and New Dawn is prepped to deliver. Like Assassin’s Creed the last two years, Far Cry is experimenting with lightweight RPG mechanics. Guns and enemies now have levels from one to four, with one most common and four the rarest.
It can be a bit disorienting, as your usual Far Cry tactics might not work anymore. Not early on, at least. I’m a fan of the “Silenced Sniper Rifle, No Alarms” outpost approach for instance, but the silenced sniper rifle is a top-tier item this time. It’ll be a long while before I unlock it.
Far Cry: New Dawn
Speaking of which, outposts are different as well. The outpost is really the core of Far Cry. Throw a couple of buildings together, pepper them with enemies, and then set the player loose—that’s the appeal of Far Cry, the series. But the outpost’s also felt stale these last few entries. To some extent it’s the ability to fall back on the same old tactics, but that speaks to a deeper issue: Far Cry’s AI is moronic. Even end-game outposts never felt very difficult, and when you’d captured one you never really thought about it again.
New Dawn hopes to fix both those issues in one fell swoop. Outposts are now repeatable—indefinitely, I think. When you capture an outpost you have two options: Keep it and use it as a fast travel point, or ransom it back to the enemy in exchange for resources. The latter option is always available once you’ve captured an outpost, so you can keep hold of one for a while and then sell it back whenever you need an influx of goods.
Ransom an outpost and it repopulates with enemies, theoretically stronger and more alert than before. I didn’t mess with this feature during my demo but I’m definitely intrigued by the idea. Outposts are long past due for an upgrade, and this seems like a great way to bolster the late-game a bit.
Resources are important too. You’re no longer crafting new wallets or what-have-you. Instead you’re upgrading an entire home base, which then grants you many of the perks you used to unlock by leveling. Want more medkits, for instance? Upgrade the infirmary. Better guns? Upgrade the armory. It reminds me a lot of Assassin’s Creed II’s celebrated Villa Auditore, and that’s a welcome homage in my book.
Far Cry: New Dawn
But it’s Far Cry: New Dawn’s other live-game feature that I’m most interested in, I think. Once you’ve scored a bit of ethanol early in the campaign you’ll be able to charter a helicopter and go on “Expeditions,” little one-off missions that take you to remote parts of the United States. We saw two in our demo, one set aboard a beached aircraft carrier and another at Arizona’s Navajo Bridge.
These play like mega-outposts, multi-stage but still self-contained mission areas with dozens of enemies patrolling. Your goal is to get in, secure a package, and get out—but once you pick up the bag, it’s only a matter of time before the alarm goes off and you’re swarmed by enemies. It’s the most imaginative addition to Far Cry by far, and lends itself well to chaotic co-op moments. I had a blast playing it, and am excited to see what other far-flung locales we visit later in New Dawn.
Bottom line
I’m looking forward to New Dawn, and that’s honestly more than I hoped. Far Cry 5 was a solid game held back by a dismal story. Far Cry: New Dawn looks like it might capitalize on its predecessor’s mechanical improvements and add a few of its own, while keeping a more consistent tone in the process.
Maybe not. As always, we played a small sliver of a much larger experience, and there’s much left to be explored when Far Cry: New Dawn releases February 15. But for now, I’m thinking Ubisoft should abandon the numbered iterations entirely. Give me Blood Dragon. Give me Primal. Give me New Dawn. They’re not high art, but nor are they trying to be something they aren’t.
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Everybody could use more storage, and today, you can add a massive 4TB of extra space on the cheap with a sale on the WD Elements 4TB external hard drive. You’ll pay $80 on NeweggRemove non-product link instead of its $99 list price when you use the code EMCTUVV45 at checkout.
This external drive is tiny at 6.50 x 1.90 x 5.30-inches and just over two pounds, but it packs a ton of storage in a small package. Shock protection and a durable exterior help keep your data safe from physical threats without sacrificing the drive’s sleek design. USB 3.0 and 2.0 compatibility make it easy to transfer data from a wide range of devices, while fast transfers can help you move over your data quickly. This huge hard drive is perfect for backing up your data.
We haven’t tried this exact hard drive ourselves, but we’ve liked Western Digital products in the past, even naming the WD My Passport our favorite external drive.
[Today’s deal: WD Elements 4TB external hard drive for $80 on Newegg with code EMCTUVV45.Remove non-product link]
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Mark Hachman / IDG
Mark Hachman / IDG
Mark Hachman / IDG
Far Cry: New Dawn
Far Cry: New Dawn
Far Cry: New Dawn
Far Cry: New Dawn
Rayden Reviews 