We could all use a bit of a break. This weekend we’re diving into Netflix’s beautifully animated sci-fi “Love, Death & Robots,” losing ourselves in surreal “Men” and loving Zelda-like Moonlighter.
Season 3 of beautifully animated ‘Love, Death & Robots’ is out now
The third season of Netflix’s sci-fi anthology series “Love, Death & Robots” debuted last week with a new collection of “Black Mirror”-esque thought experiments and beautifully animated narrative shorts. Like “The Animatrix” and more recent anthology series like Disney’s “Star Wars: Visions,” almost every episode brings a fresh cast of talent, from the animation studio and source material to the director and voice actors. This season even features longtime executive producer David Fincher taking the director helm for the first time, as well as some heavyweight voice-acting talent from the likes of Mackenzie Davis, Rosario Dawson and Dan Stevens.
Provocative ‘Men’ doesn’t disappoint
The newest film from “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation” director Alex Garland is as provocative as its title suggests. I saw “Men” knowing little to nothing about the experience other than that it draws influence from the surreal horror movement popularized by the work of Jordan Peele and Ari Aster and also reunited Garland with boundary-pushing arthouse production company A24. It did not disappoint. There’s nothing I could tell you now about what to expect from “Men,” especially its jaw-dropping final act. Just go see it. And then, like me, devour every piece of writing about it on the internet you can find.
Moonlighter is available for the first time on mobile
Netflix is getting more serious about gaming, and one of its more high-profile titles is Digital Sun’s Moonlighter, a unique, Zelda-inspired action RPG that has players playing shopkeeper during the day and looting intricate dungeons at night. The game was first released for Mac, PC and consoles in 2018, but as part of the exclusive partnership with Netflix, Moonlighter is now available for the first time on mobile and free for all subscribers of the streaming service. If you’ve toyed with Apple Arcade or enjoy more premium mobile gaming, Moonlighter is worth a shot. It’s available on iOS and Android.
Want a PS5? You might have to fight the bots.
Much has been written about the rise of retail bots and the role they’ve played in online commerce, from the PS5 shortage to the sneakerhead boom. But journalist Luke Winkie’s new report for The Verge takes a fresh angle by diving into the developer-side market for the alarmingly sleek software that facilitates widespread automated ecommerce, with a focus on the polished buying bot Dakoza. “This software lets [users] change their lives,” the bot’s creator said of enabling scalpers.
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