Author: Press Room
In 2023, Warner Bros. released the Barbie movie, which went on to make well over a billion dollars at the box office. Mattel immediately got to work planning how to bring some of its other iconic toys to the screen, and other companies followed suit. Board games and children’s toys have inspired movies and TV shows before, of course; for instance, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game, but it’s one where story, characters, and setting are all baked into the experience. It’s easy to imagine how you could turn that into a movie, and many have tried over…
Prime Video is host to a number of great original sci-fi shows, including Fallout, The Boys, and The Expanse, which is one of the few sci-fi series that can really hold a candle to heavy-hitters like Andor. But you’ve already heard of those. But I’m taking things back to the early days of the streaming service, back to 2015, when Amazon took a big swing with a sci-fi show called The Man in the High Castle. That series built a decent-sized fanbase during its four seasons on the air, but has largely passed out of the conversation. It deserves better.…
Most employees in the UK see a tax code printed on their payslip, P60 or P45—but few actually understand what it means. Yet this seemingly simple set of numbers and letters determines how much tax you pay, whether you’re receiving the correct personal allowance, or if HMRC believes you owe additional tax. For many, especially those with multiple incomes, benefits in kind, or pension income, the tax code silently adjusts their take-home pay each month. Understanding it is the first step to ensuring your employer or pension provider is deducting the right amount of tax—not too much, not too little.…
Most people claw their mitts around a gamepad when playing games. One controller rules them all, with a D-pad, buttons, thumbsticks and triggers. But life wasn’t always so tidy. Early arcades were a mad lab of experimentation – a mess of oddball controls while everyone figured out what ‘standard’ could be. Take Defender. This hard-as-nails sideways scrolling Space Invaders had a stick that only went up and down, along with a bevvy of buttons for thrust, fire, reverse, smart bomb and hyperspace. Meanwhile, Tempest had you spin a dial to whirl a spaceship around 3D vector webs, while Centipede’s trackball sent your Bug Blaster skittering at speed around…
Soundtracks generally aren’t meant to draw too much attention to themselves; they’re supposed to play in the background of a movie or show, setting the stage without stealing the spotlight. That’s why soundtracks are a popular choice for background music when people want to work, study, or do chores; they occupy the ear without being overly distracting. But that undersells how unique and transporting a great soundtrack can be. Science fiction especially seems to inspire some great soundtracks, maybe because it allows the composer to think beyond the bounds of our world. What’s music like out there in space? Some…
The Kindle is great at collecting highlights. But when exported, they aren’t so good at helping us truly understand them. That’s where ChatGPT comes in. I have been experimenting with the Kindle + ChatGPT combo for a while. By pairing my Kindle reading with a few smart prompts, I turn every book into a one-to-one class. Here’s how I use ChatGPT, week by week, to move from passive reading to a deeper understanding. 1 Build context before reading Prime your curiosity and map the author’s ideas. Saikat Basu/MakeUseOf It takes me around four weeks to finish a thick non-fiction book…
How did I miss out on this for so long? That was all I could think as I explored the latest addition to my TV setup. It was simply too good — and the more I used it, the better it got. What blew my mind most was realizing that it’s completely free. For context, I’d seen Kodi working flawlessly before — my dad has a full Linux setup on a Raspberry Pi streaming to a big TV. I wanted the same thing without the extra hardware, so I installed Kodi directly on my Android TV. It didn’t go well.…
While great movies are consistently good throughout, I would argue that individual moments are what most people remember most about any movie they watch. I know particular scenes live in my head even years after watching them. This is true of both good and bad movies, and they stick around in my head for different reasons. So I have tried to distill the best moments in film history into a nice, concise list. It was a tough job. Think of how many great movies there are, and now think of how many great scenes are contained in those films. So…
When Halloween rolls around, it’s not just the costumes and sweets that set the mood – a great watch can do the trick too. Whether you’re after something quietly creepy or playfully macabre, a timepiece can add just the right amount of spooky flair to your wrist. From glowing dials to ghostly faces, some watches seem made to give you a little chill every time you check the time. I’ve rounded up four that perfectly capture that Halloween spirit. So pour yourself a pumpkin spice latte, queue up your favourite horror flick, and let’s take a look at four watches…
Every month, Netflix sheds lots of movies and TV shows; there are some great ones leaving the service soon that you may want to watch while you can. But it all balances out, because Netflix always adds at least as much as it subtracts. There are tons of new stuff coming in November to satisfy just about every taste, whether you like reality TV, documentaries, prestige dramas, holiday fluff, or sci-fi/fantasy. With streaming prices on the rise, people are always wondering whether they should cancel their subscriptions, but there always seem to be reasons to keep Netflix in particular around.…