Batman and Joker Explore a Surreal, Fascinating DC Universe

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DC Comics is currently crammed full of new Batman stories defined by apocalyptic stakes. In the core Batman series, "City of Bane" shows a Gotham City ruled by Bane in the absence of an exiled Batman. The Batman Who Laughs and the upcoming Batman/Superman are pitting Batman against the only foe more dangerous than he. Batman: Curse of the White Knight is bombarding the Dark Knight with dark secrets from his family's past. And in Justice League, Batman is fighting to save the entire Multiverse from complete destruction. In the midst of all this drama, it might seem like a bad time for Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo to tackle a completely separate Batman epic. Yet somehow Last Knight on Earth manages to rise above the fray and establish itself as one of DC's best Batman comics of 2019.

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Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Review

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The Fast & the Furious franchise’s slow evolution into whatever they goddamn want it to be at any given time is complete with Hobbs & Shaw. This ninth installment and first spin-off of Universal’s insanely lucrative franchise bears virtually no resemblance to the 2001 film that started it all, aside from a handful of clever nods and callbacks. But in a lot of ways, it’s better for it.

When Fast Five breathed fresh life into the series in 2011, it was Dwayne Johnson, as Luke Hobbs, who became the symbol of that creative resurgence, escalating the racing and smaller crime plots by hiring the main heroes to pull off high-profile heists for the government. Johnson hasn’t left the franchise since, bringing the hulking amount of energy and charisma that makes him one of Hollywood’s most consistently entertaining stars to each entry he’s been in. Thankfully, Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, the electric villain of Furious 7, hasn’t left either.

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MSI GS65 Stealth Gaming Laptop Review

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Intel recently announced its 9th generation mobile processors, and it didn't take long before MSI's first gaming laptop with an Intel Core i9-9880H landed on my desk (See it at Amazon). The MSI GS65 Stealth not only boasts Intel's latest silicon, but it has a Max-Q tuned version of the RTX 2080 as well, and it's also the first gaming machine I've tested with a 240Hz display. It feels like last month I was giddy over 144Hz displays, and now here I am, staring at a 240Hz display and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

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Madden NFL 20 Review

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With every new Madden comes a new set of upgrades and disappointments, but Madden NFL 20’s balance is a bit more favorable than usual. Among the new features are a couple of key changes that underscore the difference between a typical player and a true NFL superstar in meaningful and exciting ways, making the moment-to-moment gameplay as strong as it’s been since the switch to Xbox One and PlayStation 4. On the other hand, it leaves Franchise mode without significant new features and microtransactions continue to be an issue with Madden Ultimate Team. So EA’s ongoing quest to satisfy the entire spectrum of casual, competitive, and sim fans is only partially successful, though more so than usual.

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The X-Men Begin a Most X-Cellent Adventure Through Time

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With the debut of Powers of X, we now have a firm idea of what the second half of Jonathan Hickman's ambitious X-Men revamp involves. Powers of X #1 manages to be both a natural companion piece to House of X #1 and a very different reading experience. This issue justifies the decision to publish Hickman's opening story as two separate miniseries rather than one 12-issue book. But at the same time, Powers of X #1 shows that there's not much to be gained by attempting to read this book alone.

If House of X is about establishing a bold new status quo for the X-Men, Powers of X (the number ten, not the letter) is a more "big picture" story. This issue alternates between four distinct time periods in X-Men history, ranging from the birth of Charles Xavier's dream to the mutant race's distant future. Because of that fractured chronology, Powers of X #1 is somewhat less focused than House of X #1. It also ties into the events of that issue closely enough that it doesn't wholly stand on its own. Readers may be able to get away with only following House of X over the next three months, but the same doesn't seem true for Powers of X.

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Logitech G Pro X Gaming Headset Review

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Logitech swung and missed with last year’s G Pro Gaming Headset and has updated its Pro line by bringing Blue Microphones to the party. Logitech acquired Blue last year, and the G Pro X Gaming Headset (See it at Amazon) is the first headset produced with the two working in tandem. The G Pro X features more metal in its design for a sturdier, better looking package but more substantial changes are under the hood. The finicky microphone was the biggest drawback to last year’s G Pro headset and has been completely reworked with the addition of Blue VO!CE technology to the G Pro X. The G Pro’s disappointing stereo sound also gets an upgrade to surround sound on the G Pro X. These upgrades, however, don’t come cheap. At $130, the Logitech G Pro X is pricey for a wired gaming headset.

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Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil DLC Review

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Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil, the downloadable expansion to last year’s surprisingly challenging XCOM-esque tactics RPG Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, is an expansion in its simplest, most direct form: there’s simply more of it. While Seed of Evil makes tweaks and changes to the original formula, they feel very safe and don’t do as much to evolve the gameplay as one might have hoped.

Picking up where Road to Eden left off, Seed of Evil advances the overarching Mutant Year Zero story but quickly pulls a bait-and-switch by diverting to a new, self-contained mystery where your party of mutant stalkers fights an army of plant-based clones threatening the last vestiges of humanity. While I got a bit of proverbial whiplash from the quick, jerky nature Seed of Evil wrestles out of Road to Eden’s cliffhanger ending, the story ultimately does a good job creating some new mystique in a world you’ve already explored.

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TCL Alto 5+ Soundbar Review

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TCL has a reputation for value-priced TVs. That’s not faint praise; TCL routinely punches way above its weight. In our recent roundup of the best 4K TVs for gaming, TCL showed up twice on a list of seven models, both the cheapest by a wide margin. And now the company has gotten into the soundbar biz. The TCL Alto (See it on Amazon) is an inexpensive family of soundbars for gamers who are tired of pumping audio out of the tiny speaker built into their TV.

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Amazon's The Boys Season 1 Review

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This is a (mostly) spoiler-free review of Amazon's The Boys Season 1, which will be available to stream on Prime Video on Friday, July 26, 2019. The Boys has already been renewed for a second season by Amazon. 

Amazon's The Boys is an absolutely bonkers superhero show in the best way. Showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural) successfully adapts Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's best-selling graphic novel into a wonderfully irreverent, gratuitous, and stylized drama that explores the complex nature of not only what it means to be a superhero, but also the profound effect superheroes have on ordinary people. When the show lets its superhero flag fly, the results are impressive, but those moments aren't as frequent as we'd like. Thankfully, The Boys has a myriad of memorable, nuanced characters, that distinguish it from similar offerings within the genre.

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Veronica Mars Season 4 Review

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This review contains spoilers for Veronica Mars Season 4, which is now streaming on Hulu. For our spoiler-free take, check out our Season 4 premiere review.

Veronica Mars is a uniquely charming property: a well-written, gritty teen noir with enticing mysteries, full of banter, and dedicated to letting its characters evolve. The juxtaposition of humor and dark themes has characterized the series since its inception in 2004. But Season 4 is lacking a bit of that quintessential charm. It’s tonally sharper, and at the expense of some of its best characters.

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Netflix's Orange Is the New Black: Season 7 Review

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This is a spoiler-free review for all 13 episodes of Orange Is the New Black's final season on Netflix - premiering Friday, July 26. For a look at everything new to Netflix in August, click here.

Here we are at the end of all things. The last of the finest. The curtain call for the single remaining start-up Netflix Original. House of Cards imploded by the end. Hemlock Grove never made it past Season 3. Same for Bloodline and Marco Polo. After that, you get into the second wave of Originals (Bojack, Kimmy Schmidt, Master of None, the Marvel shows, etc) and the business officially picks up on the Peak TV front.

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Kill la Kill The Game: IF Review

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At first glance, Kill la Kill The Game: IF passes the fighting game smell test. With sharp cel-shaded cutscenes, including loving recreations of critical moments from the beloved Hiroyuki Imaishi anime series and the endorsement of its animation studio Trigger, developer APlus and publisher Arc System Works want you to see and get excited about the prospect of an authentic, official Kill la Kill game. Unfortunately, authenticity isn’t everything. Kill la Kill The Game: IF feels like a stripped-down version of the prototypical 3D anime fighter. Its loose, mashy fighting fails to create the opportunities for strategic depth I’ve come to expect in great fighting games. Meanwhile, its story and single-player modes feel less than substantial.

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Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood Review

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Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth and penultimate movie before he says he’ll stop directing feature films, cleverly showcases the writer-director’s encyclopedic knowledge of cinema and pop culture while also serving as a loving tribute to a bygone era of films and stars. Despite incorporating many elements of the filmmaker’s signature style — dark wit, moments of explosive violence, kitschy references, a great vintage soundtrack, and an overall “cool” vibe — Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood shows a more sentimental side of the Kill Bill filmmaker. And yet it also displays many of his self-indulgences and weaknesses. It’s not Tarantino’s best work, but it’s still better than the best efforts of other filmmakers.

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Netflix's Another Life: Season 1 Review

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This is a non-spoiler review for all 10 episodes of the new Netflix series Another Life - which premieres Thursday, July 25.

If you needed further convincing that Netflix's business model is to flood the online world with a thousand shows so that they can luck out with five or six great ones, here's Katee Sackhoff's return to grandiose sci-fi, arriving without a shred of buzz and landing with a thud.

Another Life is a bloated, blasé heap that follows two tepid tales: one on the ground and one out in space. Both are about teams trying to make contact with mysterious aliens that have plopped a mesmerizing monolith down on Earth.

A family is divided as Sackhoff's Niko leads a mission into the stars to find the aliens' home planet while her scientist husband Erik (Justin Chatwin) stays behind to try and figure out how to communicate with the strange glowing structure that's making everyone freak out. Accompanying Erik is their young daughter, Jana (Lina Renna), who gets to do all sorts of things like - oh - make them both feel guilty about ignoring her (because aliens!) and then fall silent and still to a random illness (this show's version of "Oh, the kid's taking a nap for five hours").

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses Review

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Before its resurgence in popularity on the 3DS handhelds, there was a time where the Fire Emblem series once lived on home consoles. Twelve years after Radiant Dawn on Wii, Fire Emblem: Three Houses has finally returned to the living room on the Switch, and it’s better than ever. With a vast and open base hub to explore, new ways to turn the tide of battle with your chosen band of colorful characters, and a story that’s as brutal as the choices you’ll have to make on the battlefield, Three Houses is everything I’ve ever wanted in a turn-based strategy game. Its grand adventure is filled with drama and intrigue across whichever of the titular three houses you choose to join, and each brings its own unique perspective. Following just one of these paths from humble beginnings to a full-blown war for dominance took me over 70 hours, and left me hungry for more.

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SteelSeries Apex Pro Gaming Keyboard Review

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Today's mechanical keyboards are offered in a variety of switch types that vary according to several factors, but one of the main distinctions is in actuation distance, or how far a key needs to move before triggering a keypress. High actuation switches can activate with barely a touch, making them generally coveted for gaming while lower actuation models that require a full press are often preferred for everyday activities, like typing. But what if you could have one switch that offers the best of both worlds?

Steelseries newest keyboard, the Apex Pro (See it on Amazon), is attempting to offer just such an experience, with special switches that allow you to change the actuation distance whenever you want on the fly. It’s a bold idea that addresses one of my personal peeves with picking mechanical keyboards, while giving players a real chance to feel the advantage of the mechanical keyboard in every aspect of their computing life.

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Wolfenstein: Youngblood Review

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Most parents hope that their kids will one day surpass them, but failing that we’ll settle for staying out of prison and not asking for money too often. So if I were in the shoes of legendary run-and-gun shooter protagonist William “BJ” Blazkowicz, I wouldn’t be mad about my twin daughters’ debut performance in Wolfenstein: Youngblood, but I would be disappointed. The young Blazkowiczs' approach to co-op is, on the whole, serviceable but does cramp the style of its inherited trust fund of combat and stealth gameplay. Without a similarly outlandish cast of characters to liven up the alternate-history setting in which Nazis won WWII with the help of fire-breathing robot dogs, it’s perfunctory compared to the extremely high standard set by Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.

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Amazing Spider-Man Celebrates Its Goofy Villains

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As dark as things got in "Hunted" and its immediate aftermath, The Amazing Spider-Man could probably do with a little palate cleanser. That's just what this latest story arc has to offer. With an emphasis on C-List villains and goofy plot twists, the series is back to capturing the charm of the short-lived but much-loved Superior Foes of Spider-Man.

Given how much this series has focused on characters like Boomerang and Beetle over the past year, the Superior Foes comparisons are basically inevitable. It's been great to see that, even as writer Nick Spencer has set about crafting the next big chapter in Peter Parker's life, he's also carved out time to continue the ongoing struggles of Janice Lincoln and Fred Myers as well. Like Peter, both these characters have to decide what they want out of life and if they're going to keep being defined by their failures. That all comes to a head for Janice and Fred in this issue as both Kingpin and the new Sinister Syndicate seek vengeance on Boomerang.

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Marvels Epilogue Is Short, Sweet and Pricey

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Among many other pop culture milestones, 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross' Marvels. That series more than earned its venerable reputation, showing just what sorts of high-minded Marvel stories were possible even as the mainstream superhero industry was circling the drain in the mid-'90s. And it's safe to say Marvel readers had never seen anything like Ross' amazingly detailed, almost photo-realistic painted art. Marvels Epilogue #1 offers one last opportunity to revisit this world and photojournalist Phil Sheldon through the eyes of the original creative team. It's a welcome treat, albeit one that struggles to justify the high price of admission.

Marvels Epilogue is exactly what the name suggests - an epilogue to the original miniseries. This standalone short story picks up with Sheldon story in the late '70s Marvel era, with new heroes like the All-New, All-Different X-Men and Nova rising to prominence. Much of this story unfolds between the beats of an early Chris Claremont/Dave Cockrum installment of Uncanny X-Men, as Sheldon and his daughters attempt to enjoy Manhattan at Christmastime and walk right into the middle of a mutants vs. Sentinel conflict.

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Batman: White Knight Gets a Worthy Sequel

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2017's Batman: White Knight stood out for two reasons. One, it's an eight-issue miniseries drawn by the amazingly talented Sean Gordon Murphy. Two, it featured a simple, effective elevator pitch - what if the Joker turned sane and Batman became the villain? Murphy's sequel, Curse of the White Knight, might not benefit from a similarly strong hook, but it doesn't really need one. This series offers fans of the original a deeper and more complex dive into this standalone Batman universe.

Following the events of White Knight, Jack Napier has again devolved into Joker, and the Clown Prince of Crime is hellbent on undoing all the good his later ego accomplished for Gotham. To do so, he'll join forces with Azrael to expose a terrible secret from the Wayne family's past.

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SoundBlaster AE-9 Soundcard Review

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For some people, replacing a PC’s motherboard audio with a sound card is already a high-end move. Replacing it with a sound card that costs $350? That’s insane.

But that’s just what Creative is offering with its new SoundBlaster AE-9 (See it at Creative Labs), a 32-bit PCIe sound card with integrated digital-to-audio converter (DAC), separate left and right headphone amps, and a tabletop breakout box with pro-grade microphone inputs. In other words, the AE-9 is aimed at gamers who are also audiophiles and creators with a need for a desktop recording studio.

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Marvel Just Made the X-Men X-Citing Again

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The past five years or so have been very rough for the X-Men comic book line. While there have been a handful of strong titles in that time (All-New Wolverine, X-Men Red), the X-Men line as a whole has struggled to generate a cohesive, exciting direction post-Secret Wars, despite multiple relaunches and creator shake-ups. What was once the biggest superhero franchise of them all now feels like an afterthought next to the likes of the Avengers and Spider-Man. But if anything can shake the X-Men out of their long slump and make these comics shine again, it's bringing Jonathan Hickman back into the Marvel fold to revamp the Merry Mutants. House of X is an enticing start to what's quickly shaping up to be the most exciting X-Men relaunch in many years.

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Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Review

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Nvidia recently announced "super" variants of three RTX GPUs to compete with the new Navi GPUs from AMD. We've already reviewed the 2060 Super and 2070 Super, but the RTX 2080 Super was pushed back a bit, and now it's finally here.

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EON Super 64 HDMI Adapter For The Nintendo 64 Review

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The Nintendo 64 is an absolutely amazing console for many reasons. It houses some of the most beloved video games of all time. Unfortunately, although N64’s aren’t too hard to find, the old-school CRT TVs that provide a lag-free experience are now rather difficult to come by, and do you really want a chunky TV just for gaming on one console? That’s where the EON Super 64 (See it at Amazon) comes in, as it allows you to play the N64 on a modern TV, if you have the coin. Luckily for me, it’s worth every penny.

 

EON Super 64 HDMI Adapter – Design and Features

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Origin EVO16-S Gaming Laptop Review

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Ordering an Origin laptop is as close you can get to a custom built laptop, without actually building the laptop yourself (See it at Origin). The company offers a wide range of laptops and even more configuration options. It's likely no two orders from Origin are alike; there are just too many components available for you to pick from. You can even have custom artwork printed on the lid, just to make your laptop yours. And when you're done building the exact system you want, Origin will even ship it in a wooden crate to protect your custom machine for an extra $31.

I've been testing a configuration of the company's new EVO16-S that walks the line between high-end performance and affordability when you consider what's inside. It even has a custom Battlefield V paint job, showing off a common scene from Firestorm.

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Big Little Lies Season 2 Finale Review

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This review contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Big Little Lies, titled "I Want to Know."

At the end of Season 1 of Big Little Lies, Perry Wright (Alexander Skarsgård), husband to Celeste (Nicole Kidman) fell to his death, pushed by Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz). But the story wasn’t as simple as all that: he was abusive to Celeste, behavior that trickled down to their sons. He also raped Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley), who went on to raise his subsequent son, Ziggy. Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) and Renata (Laura Dern) were also there, for comedic and dramatic effect, and the series was scattered with a lot of scenic drives as a visual shorthand for contemplation.

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Teen Titans Go! Vs. Teen Titans Movie Review

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Teen Titans Go Vs. Teen Titans screened at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. It will be released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital later this year.

Will DC's supernatural superheroine Raven Roth ever be free of her terrible father and Lord of the Underworld, Trigon? Well, in the newest DC animated feature the answer is... probably not, as the Teen Titans have to team up with themselves to beat the demonic daddy in all his forms.

Teen Titans Go! Vs. Teen Titans is essentially a giant in-joke for the animators and viewers of the show, as there has long been a huge battle between the fandoms of the classic, beloved Teen Titans cartoon and the newer, more comedic iteration Teen Titans Go! Here that angle is played to the max as the gross-out gang of Go! are shoved face to face with their more serious and heroic counterparts.

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Harley Quinn Series Premiere: "Pilot" Review

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Note: this is a spoiler-free advance review of the series premiere of Harley Quinn, which screened at Comic-Con tonight. The series will debut on the DC Universe app in October.

DC Universe may not come close to rivaling Netflix or Amazon Prime Video in terms of the sheer amount of exclusive content, but there is quite a lot to be said for the "quality over quantity" approach. So far DCU's selection ranges from solid (Titans) to excellent (Young Justice: Outsiders) to literally one of the best shows of 2019 (Doom Patrol). Harley Quinn keeps the hot streak going. It's a far more slapstick and raunchy alternative to the rest of DC's animated line, but one that also gets Harley in a way not every adaptation does.

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Batman: Hush Movie Review

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Batman: Hush screened at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. The movie will be released in Digital HD format on July 20 and Blu-ray and DVD on August 6.

Batman: Hush is widely regarded as one of the finest comic book storylines in the Dark Knight’s 80-year history. It even made our Top 25 countdown. It’s surprising it’s taken DC this long to give Hush the animated movie treatment, especially considering how many of these direct-to-video projects have centered on the Batman family. But DC has finally corrected that omission with its 35th entry in the DC Universe Movies. Better yet, this adaptation actually improves upon some of the flaws of the source material, even if it makes its own mistakes in the process.

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Sky: Children of the Light Review

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Perhaps the best compliment I can give Sky: Children of the Light is to say that I almost totally forgot I was playing a mobile game. Everything about this exploration-focused game, from the evocative visual style and soaring musical score to the intimate moments of subtle interaction with other nameless, speechless players, is pure bliss.

It should give you some idea of what type of game Sky is to hear that it’s the latest from thatgamecompany, the visionary studio behind low-key, critically-acclaimed games Flow, Flower, and Journey, the latter of which won IGN’s Game of the Year award for 2012. Sky isn’t a direct sequel to Journey, but it might as well be: the characters move with that same elegant grace as their capes flutter behind them and it features an expanded and more engaging multiplayer component.

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Review

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With Marvel Comics’ long history of tangled legal red tape and licensing deals, it brings me a special kind of joy to put together a team composed of a yellow spandex-clad Wolverine straight out of the old cartoons, a Spider-Man essentially ripped right from the PS4 game, a modern comic book rendition of The Wasp, and an MCU-style Rocket Raccoon doing his best Bradley Cooper imitation. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 pulls from anywhere and everywhere to stock its very fun (if fairly simple) co-op brawler with crowd-pleasing moments.

The story itself is one we’ve heard a lot lately: Thanos is hunting for the Infinity Stones and you have to find all six before he does. It’s a new telling of some extremely well-tread ground, but the writing and voice acting still manage to capture the funny, self-deprecating, and occasionally overdramatic attitude I love about big comic book stories. The campaign also acts as a tour of Marvel’s greatest hits, taking you to lovely renditions of places like Avengers Tower, The Raft prison, and even the wonderfully nostalgic Xavier Institute.

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Batwoman Series Premiere: "Pilot" Review

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Note: this is a spoiler-free advance review of the series premiere of Batwoman. The episode was screened at Comic-Con and will premiere on The CW on October 6. For more from San Diego Comic-Con 2019, check out our spoiler-free review of DC and Epix's Batman prequel series Pennyworth. 

The Arrowverse is entering a major transition phase as 2019 winds down. Arrow is wrapping up after one final, shortened eighth season, and the upcoming "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover promises to deliver sweeping changes to this shared superhero universe. In the midst of these changes comes Batwoman, the first new live-action Arrrowverse series in several years, and the first to star an LGBT hero. But while the new series will have little trouble filling the void left by Arrow next year, it may face a more difficult battle when it comes to establishing its own identity.

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Kinesis Gaming Freestyle Edge RGB Review

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Kinesis offers some of the most innovative keyboards ever to grace a desktop. The company‘s laser-focus on ergonomics takes their designs to some unapologetically unusual places. Their Kinesis Gaming brand leans hard into ergonomics as well, and the new $219 Freestyle Edge RGB (See it on the Kinesis website) is for gamers looking to stave off repetitive strain injury (RSI) with a comfortable and customizable two-piece gaming keyboard.

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Pennyworth Series Premiere Review

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This is an advanced spoiler-free review of the series premiere of Pennyworth, which premiered at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. You can stream the series on Epix on Sunday, July 28, 2019. 

Epix's stylish new Batman prequel series isn't worried about how many comic book Easter eggs it can cram into its nearly 75-minute premiere, but instead, focuses on developing its titular hero, Alfred Pennyworth, into a dynamic character who's worth following in his own right. Series creators Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, both Gotham alums, center their creative attention on making Bruce Wayne's future butler compelling without emphasizing his attachment to the Caped Crusader.

It all starts with actor Jack Bannon's engaging interpretation of Alfred, who's more akin to James Bond than the kindly grandfather figure we've come to know from the comic books and recent film adaptations. At this stage in his life, Alfred is a young man struggling to make a life for himself after serving in the military. And funnily enough, Alfred's dad is a butler, who ridicules his son for working as a bouncer at a local nightclub instead of getting a real job. At its core, Pennyworth is an intriguing coming-of-age story for Alfred as he endeavors to balance work and personal relationships, all while striving to overcome the guilt he feels for surviving a war so many of his friends didn't come back from.

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Batman's Final Challenge Isn't Epic Enough

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Batman #75 is easily the most significant chapter of the series since Batman #50 wrapped up the Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle wedding storyline. It's the start of "City of Bane," which is both the series' longest storyline and its final chapter. And much like with Batman #50, the series may not be heading in the direction fans are expecting. The main takeaway from this issue is that a Gotham City ruled by Bane is a strange place indeed.

Interestingly, this issue doesn't focus a great deal on either Batman or Bane outside of the Year of the Villain-themed backup story. Tom King and Tony Daniel instead explore Gotham's strange new status quo, where deranged villains like Joker, Riddler and Hugo Strange have become members of the GCPD and a brand new Dynamic Duo protects the streets. This all makes for a disorienting start to the story, as it's not immediately clear how we got from "The Fall and the Fallen" to here.

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BenQ TK800M 4K Projector Review

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The increase in quality and dip in prices for TVs over the past couple years has been staggering. But it isn’t limited to televisions. Projectors have seen a similar trend and you can see it in the BenQ TK800M (See it on Amazon). Just three or four years ago you could expect to pay thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars for a 4K projector that can now be found for less than $2,000. It’s a 4K HDR projector with high brightness for use in setups with ambient light. That brightness also means more pop to the HDR over other projectors. But how does the performance of the TK800M hold up against a similarly priced TV?

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Sony XBR-65X950G 4K HDR TV Review

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Sony has been a top name in televisions for decades and for the past couple years have consistently released excellent 4K HDR displays. The new X950G lineup (See it on Amazon) is an upgrade to the X900F series from last year (the X900F will still be available throughout the year). With a more powerful processing chip (the X1 Ultimate), increased brightness output, and some mighty fine color accuracy, the X9550G is another winner from Sony.

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Veronica Mars Season 4 Premiere Review

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This is an advanced, mostly spoiler-free review of Veronica Mars Season 4, episode 1, "Spring Break Forever." Season 4 will debut on Hulu in its entirety on Friday, July 26 in the US.

There are only so many places to take Veronica Mars after its unceremonious expulsion from primetime television in 2007.

The series’ return as a Hulu-produced exclusive doesn’t take Veronica down the anticipated path of working with the FBI, or even as a lawyer -- which, in a way, comes as a disappointment given her career trajectory. Instead, the show brings her back to her hometown of Neptune. And although we’re all very familiar with Neptune -- likely no number of bombings or murders or serial rapes would surprise us at this point -- creator Rob Thomas decided to settle back into the familiar, setting a very distinct tone right at the start. Neptune is a town full of opposing forces, and it’s increasingly becoming an issue for its residents.

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Alienware m15 Gaming Laptop Review

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When I first unboxed the Alienware m15 (See it at Dell), I had no clue that my life was about to be changed forever. Even as I absentmindedly removed all the protective films, and untwisted the tie on the bundled power cable, I was oblivious.

You see, dear reader, the moment I powered on the Alienware m15 and took in the crystal clear 4K OLED display, I knew I would never look at LCD displays the same way again. But there's more to any gaming setup than just the display. I can't just stare at photos or watch movies all day long. There are games to be played and system performance to be monitored. And as I quickly learned, that beautiful display comes at a cost, both in terms of money, and performance.

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Best Battery Case 2019: Battery Cases for the Latest Smartphones

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There are few more panic-inducing moments in this day and age than suddenly realizing your smartphone is going die without a charger in sight. Amazingly, we used to survive without smartphones, but our modern dependency on those devices means we're constantly draining precious battery life.

You could always keep a big power bank with you, but they're hardly pocketable and that's just one more thing to lug around. For true mobility and peace of mind, you'll need a battery case. Not only do these battery-infused cases keep your smartphone charged, but they also keep it protected as well. Here's a list of some of our favorites.

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Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Review

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I'm a stranger in a strange land. The people's faces are familiar, but their names and customs are alien. In Eorzea, the masses gather in the streets and cheer for me, for I am Nidhogg's bane, Ala Mhigo's liberator, a knight of House Fortemps, and the Warrior of Light. However, those titles mean nothing in Final Fantasy XIV's newest world, Norvrandt. I'm no one here. Nothing. Hell, if the locals knew I was a champion of the light, they would grab the closest pitchfork and mount my head on a stick. Norvrandt isn't Eorzea, and as the light fades from my heart and a sunless sea of night seeps in, some emboldening words from my precursor, Ardbert, help me gain balance: "not even the most valiant heroes can stand alone" - the Warrior of Darkness has come.

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Netflix's Point Blank Review

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Point Blank is a Netflix Original movie, premiering Friday, July 12.

Netflix's latest in their line of "modestly okay" movies to doze off to is Point Blank, starring Winter Solider and Civil War combatants Anthony Mackie (who can also be seen in the new season of Black Mirror) and Frank Grillo (the Purge franchise). And before you think this might be a remodel of 1967's Point Blank -- which was based on Donald E. Westlake's The Hunter, which also spawned the Mel Gibson remake, Payback -- it's actually an American revamping of 2010's À Bout Portant, from France, about a nurse and his pregnant wife who get caught in a war between a career criminal and a cult of corrupt cops.

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Crawl Review

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Crawl is a snappy, little B-movie that preys on people’s most primal fears and instincts when it comes to surviving against a bigger, deadlier animal. Deftly directed by Alexandre Aja, Crawl is perhaps a more general audience-friendly romp from the horror director than even his gory but giddy remake of Piranha was. It’s often less gruesome than many of Aja’s other films, relying more on building suspense rather than the bloody aftermath -- although that’s not to say there aren’t several gross-out moments (this is a When Animals Attack movie after all).

The film has a remarkably simple but effective premise, a literal monster in the house scenario that sees college student Haley (a steely Kaya Scodelario), a struggling competitive swimmer -- a skill established right at the outset so you know it’s going to pay off later -- trapped inside a flooded house teeming with ravenous alligators. When a Category 5 hurricane strikes Florida, Haley violates the evacuation order to go check on her dad Dave (Barry Pepper), who has not been answering repeated calls and texts.

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The Lion King Review

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The Lion King is the third Disney remake this year to offer a new spin on an animated classic, and it also happens to be the studio’s best. Far surpassing both Aladdin and Dumbo, The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau's return to the world of computer-generated animals is a visually stunning success that will win over fans of all ages as well as making a whole bunch of money for Disney. Taking on one of the animation powerhouse's most beloved films was always going to be a risky endeavor, but the epic, photorealistic approach feels groundbreaking and offers the impression of something different, even though the narrative and many of the shots are practically beat-for-beat identical to the 1994 movie.

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Dragon Quest Builders 2 Review

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I certainly wasn’t expecting to love a Minecraft-style block-building game based on a decades-old JRPG franchise as much as I did Dragon Quest Builders 2. Even though the combat is a bit weak and the controls can be frustrating at times, it manages to be both a great construction game and an engrossing, full-fledged RPG with tons of memorable areas and characters.

I never played the first Dragon Quest Builders, and I didn’t feel like I needed to in order to get what was going on in this sequel. There are tons of references back to the Dragon Quest series that come across as nice touches if you catch them – familiar enemies, some returning locations and bosses, and nostalgic victory music. Even the minimap looks like an old school Dragon Quest overworld. And, well, if you don’t already know why it’s a big deal that your main ally’s name is Malroth, I encourage you not to look it up so you don’t spoil anything for yourself.

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Defector Review

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I never thought I’d be able to jump out of a plane and land on the outside of another in VR without getting irrecoverably sick, but Defector let me do just that. This Oculus Studios-published action game is a bit like being inside a Mission: Impossible movie, and it can be a thrill, if a fairly short one. But ankle-deep mechanics and a plot that veers wildly off course keep it from being something special.

Defector starts as a high-tech spy story about hunting down defecting agents who have run off with three pieces of a mysterious device, but by the end that story has somehow made its way to laser guns, giant Cylon death robots, and maybe even aliens or magic or something? It’s not really clear. The spy premise is an interesting one, but Defector only uses it as a jumping off point to show off different VR ideas - from shooting to gambling to rock climbing. That wide variety of mechanics combined with disjointed plot points mean Defector comes off more like a tour of what VR can offer rather than a fully realized game of its own.

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