Colin Trevorrow is a director with only a few works at this hour in his portfolio. The cinematic world had their eyes on him the moment he was appointed as the director for the next installment in an extremely important franchise, Star Wars. Therefore, his latest release “The Book of Henry” attracted some extra attention from critics. Unfortunately, the family portrait in this movie was not consistent enough throughout the story to squeeze in some good grades.

The Family Portrait Gets to be Shuttered in Pieces by an Implausible Plot

The family picture in this new production reveals a role reversal between mother and son aged 11. The father of this family is never mentioned throughout the movie. As a consequence, while the mother Susan works hard as a waitress and exposes her feelings through violent video games, her son Henry is actually the one who provides for them. He is a small genius who understands how the stock market works enough to increase family finances.

So far, the production succeeds to introduce viewers in an unusual yet believable and warm family portrait. However, this is where things get to go astray. The small family starts devising a plan within legal terms to save the next-door girl from her abusive stepfather. While their sense of justice always leads the characters, their actions leave the land of plausibility.

The Book of Henry Is Already Rolling in Cinemas

Therefore, movie critics weren’t on board with the tone of the movie in its second part. While the whole story seems to endorse the idea of applying justice by yourself without the assistance of authority, the ending abruptly changes this view completely.

Therefore, the movie is an ambiguous construct of a not realistic enough family story.  The film started to roll in cinemas on Friday. Therefore, filmmakers are waiting for a public response as well. However, this production sets director Colin Trevorrow in a difficult position. He is to take crucial responsibility for an important moment in the cinematic history, namely the Episode IX in Star Wars series.

Image source: Imdb

Those game enthusiasts who are missing the melancholy of the past times with a drop of action are going to love Cuphead. It’s a hand-drawn production created by two Canadian brothers, Jared and Chad Moldenhauer. The brand is known as StudioMDHR Entertainment. This indie game rekindles the lost art of 1930s cartoonists such as Max Fleischer and involves players in a world where they owe a big fat debt to devil itself.

The Cuphead Indie Game Delivers only 190s Sensations

Cuphead will officially appear on Steam on September 29 for both PC and Xbox One. It belongs to the run and gun category, and the studio wanted the modern world to have one more taste of the 1930s artworks. The release was initially scheduled for the year of 2016. However, the producers wanted to work on their project until it was able to deliver the exact original concept they had in mind.

The studio consists of only two brothers. They were the only ones in charge with all the aspects that concern an indie game release, meaning hand-drawn animation or character concepts. The brothers wanted to recreate the exact airy atmosphere of the 1930s cartoons. Therefore, they employed only original design techniques that are representatives of those times, original jazz playlists, and watercolor visuals.

The Studio Worked on a Vinyl Soundtrack as Well

This is the very first official production of StudioMDHR Entertainment. To extend the delight of an epoch long past, the producers partnered up with Iam8bit firm to create a four-LP vinyl with the game soundtrack. To get a piece of this musical vestige, enthusiasts have to pay as much as $100. The vinyl will appear later than the game itself, sometime in the third quarter of 2017.

The difficulty level is low enough to encourage any entry-level player to enjoy pure entertainment. The main character has infinite lives, and no weapons are lost upon death. On top of that, people will be able to enjoy their time on this production with a friend also thanks to its co-op mode.

Image source: StudioMDHR

April 20^th is well-known as “Weed Day”, since many people make celebrations and smoke marijuana on this occasion. The day is also known as “4/20” which, besides representing the date, it also stands for a special code for pot.

There are many legends which revolve around this day, and some of them try to explain why the code 420 came to symbolize marijuana. It might be related to the date of the celebration, but there is a reason why this day became weed holiday.

Many rumors revolve around the origin of 420

Some say that this number comes from the criminal code used in California for the punishment of those involved in marijuana use and distribution. However, the 420 code has nothing to do with illegal drugs, as it is used regarding the obstructions on public land. Therefore, this is an unfounded rumor based more on a legend than on facts.

Belonging to the same category there is the rumor regarding the police radio code 420. However, this does not have a real basis either, as the only institution which has the 420 code is the San Francisco Police Department. As expected, this is not related to marijuana use, but it marks juvenile disturbance.

The next legend is a little more plausible. Some say that the code comes from Bob Dylan’s song called “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”. One of the lines in the lyrics is “Everybody must get stoned”. Those who launched the theory say that this line is related to the two numbers in the title which, if you multiply, you obtain 420.

However, Bob Dylan did not confirm any link between the lyrics and the numbers in the title, so this theory is a little more far-fetched. The link might exist in the minds of some people, but it was not the intention of the artist.

The Waldos established this trend

The most plausible theory, which might actually represent the exact origin of the 420 code, claims that it was used among high school students in the 1970s. A group of friends who called themselves “The Waldos” used to gather at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana.

The students from San Rafael High School in Marin County, California, met every day at this hour next to Louis Pasteur’s statue. This was the perfect time, as school was over but their parents were not home yet. They used the 420 code around their parents, and this trend gradually spread all over the country.

Thus, what started as a joke between friends became a pop culture phenomenon which is now widely known and used even beyond the American borders.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

From the company that brought us Fables, Batman, and The Walking Dead comes yet another point-and-click adventure game that is sure to keep Marvel fans on their toes. As the first episode of the Guardians of the Galaxy videogame has already been released, let us see what comic-book aficionados should expect from the adaptation.

Players Are Introduced to Thanos from the First Episode

While some critics believe that Telltale’s usual slow-moving pace doesn’t go hand in hand with what fans love about the Marvel Universe, the first episode of the Guardians of the Galaxy game can be considered a success.

At the beginning, Star-Lord responds to a Nova Corps distress call. The attack is lead by none other than Thanos, the Guardians’ arch nemesis. After a few acts of pure heroism – the trademark of all Marvel heroes – or groveling – depends on what the player chooses – the team ends up on a remote planet where Thanos is desperately searching for something.

Upon reaching the planet’s surface, the team sets out to find – and hopefully defeat – their nemesis. However, Telltale kept true to its nature and filled the game with a plethora of details, players knowing better than to dismiss any insignificant-looking object, message, or body part.

In order to make matters even more complicated, a temple blocks the Guardians’ way, Star-Lord having no choice but to separate from the gang and try to find a way to open the doors from within. As he searches the ruins, Peter Quill comes face to face with the aftermath of Thanos’ wrath, the complex being filled with the bodies of Nova Corps members and crashed ships.

Until now, it all sounds very Marvel-like. However, when foul-mouthed smartass guns a-blazing Star-Lord has to turn into Sherlock Holmes and gather small individual pieces of evidence, fans started to have second thoughts about Telltale’s latest installment.

Luckily, it doesn’t take long before the Guardians must face a powered-up Thanos. Players swap between Gamora and Star-Lord, attacking the villain with both swords and pistols. The comic relief comes with Rocket attempting to piece together his oversized weapon.

Even though the new Guardians of the Galaxy videogame is not exactly what fans were expecting, the majority of players will certainly come back for the second episode, especially after they get a glimpse of the relic Thanos was desperately searching.

Image Source: Flickr

Researchers were able to retest a hypothesis proved real only in laboratory conditions. The research team found that playing the colorful tile-matching game Tetris just for a few minutes can significantly reduce cravings for sleep, substances, food, and sex.

Scientists had found that the game had such effect on addictive behaviors in a laboratory setting. But now it is the first time they got positive results outside a laboratory. Past studies found similar results but only related to food cravings. The latest study is the first to find a link between playing Tetris and diminished cravings in smokers, alcoholics, and coffee and sex addicts.

And researchers at the Queensland University of Technology and Plymouth University even have an explanation for it. They argued that when a craving occurs, the person first sees himself or herself indulging in a particular activity. But a game such as Tetris is visually appealing enough to prevent the memory and imagination from creating those alluring images in the head of addicts.

“It is hard to imagine something vividly and play Tetris at the same time,”

one of the researchers added.

The recent study involved 31 participants. All of them were undergraduate students of 18 to 27 years old. Researchers gave each study participant a console and asked them to play the game. During the day volunteers were contacted and asked several times what cravings they had. They were also requested to self-report those episodes on their own.

Fifteen participants were asked to play the game for three minutes at the moment a craving kicked in. The rest of participants were left to play the game as they wished.

Scientists learned that on top of the cravings list were food and sugary drinks. These cravings accounted for two-thirds of all cravings during a day and were reported 30 percent of the time.

Cravings for alcoholic drinks, smoking and coffee occurred in 20 percent of the time, while other cravings such as extra sleeping, gaming or wasting precious time on social media occurred in the rest of the time.

Participants who played the game for at least three minutes when they sensed the urge to do or eat something felt that their addictive behavior lost intensity by up to 20 percent. The research team said that the results were encouraging. Scientists now hope that Tetris can be used to treat addictions and cravings more effectively.

Dr. Jon May, senior researcher involved in the study and psychology professor, noted that the Tetris effect lasted through an entire week and affected all craving types.

A paper on the findings was recently published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

Image Source: iDigital Times

Australian superstar Sia released her latest video for the song Big Girls Cry last Thursday.

The video, which already gathered almost 4 million views on YouTube, features another mesmerizing performance by 12 year old dancing phenomenon Maddie Ziegler.

In the new video, Maddie wears the same nude leotard and the iconic blonde bob wig, as she wore in the previous videos made by Sia, Chandelier and Elastic Heart.

In Big Girls cry video show Maddie Ziegler filmed up close while she is doing weird facial expressions and body gestures. Ziegler is filmed on a black background and most of the video only her head and torso are visible.
Her facial expression and gestures done in the video seem metaphors for daily habits, like sucking her thumb, brushing her teeth with her fingers and pulling her hair.

Ziegler not only is a very talented dancer, she is also an expressive actress, managing to pull off the entire video by herself, mostly with her facial expressions.

Sia’s new video surprises with some unusual scenes, like the appearance of two hands with red nail polish that come from behind Maddie and cover her mouth. Another representative scene is when the young dancer gets lifted up in the air by some invisible hands. Maddie tries to break free from them by frantically moving her feet. She manages to escape them and resumes her facial expressions routine.

Critics have called Sia’s ne video for Big Girls Cry “intense” and “stirring”. An article written in the Daily Mail notes that Maddie Ziegler’s performance is so intense that it the girls acts like she is driven mad by an invisible force. Other critics called the video “eerie” but very powerful and “visually striking”.

The media received Sia’s new video more positively, compared to the reactions her previous video, Elastic Heart, garnered.

The previous video featured Maddie Ziegler and actor Shia LeBeouf performing dance moves locked inside a cage and wearing dirty body suits.

Some critics said that the video was inappropriate because Ziegler was 12 and LeBeouf was 28 and they were performing dance moves that were considered sexual.
Image Source: usmagazine