deerstalker

https://nerdist.com/article/hades-ii-sequel-game-officially-announced-new-trailer-reveals-protagonist-princess-of-the-underworld-return-of-mythological-characters-and-world/

“The Hades Game” as it is affectionally called by its fans, became a surprise hit in the video game world in 2020. Helped along by its mythological roots, its incredible artwork, and its queer-friendly and fun characters, Hades checked all the right boxes to take its place as a fandom favorite. But despite the success of the game, a sequel was no guarantee. In fact, the announcement of a Hades sequel came as a total surprise but a joyous one. At The Game Awards 2022, Supergiant Games officially announced Hades II, and the company even released the game’s first trailer.

Take a look at what lies in store for this franchise:

“Death to Cronos,’ Hades II‘s unnamed protagonist utters with a chill in her voice. But as the trailer notes, Cronos rules as the titan of time… And no one can stop time. Certainly, Hades II players will likely lose a lot of it as they get sucked right back into the world of the game. And then go around and around and around in it.

According to Steam, Hades II “builds on the best aspects of the original god-like rogue-like dungeon crawler in an all-new, action-packed, endlessly replayable experience rooted in the Underworld of Greek myth and its deep connections to the dawn of witchcraft.”

In the first Hades game, players stepped into the shoes of Hades’ son, Prince of the Underworld, Zagreus. But in this iteration of Underworld exploration, you’ll play as the Princess of the Underworld instead. And this princess seems to have witchy powers. We don’t know about anyone else but exploring the “dawn of witchcraft” sounds like the perfect direction for this franchise to go.

Hades II looks like it will feature many familiar facets from the first game. The sequel game will include nods to mythology and cameos by plenty of gods, such as Apollo and Zeus. But whether we’ll see any fan-favorites from Hades, we don’t yet know. Of course, we feel certain fans would love to see more from Zagreus, Thanatos, Megaera, and more. So we will cross our fingers they appear or at least cameo in Hades II.

For now, we don’t know when exactly Hades II will release. But the description of the trailer shares that details about Early Access for Hades II will arrive in 2023. That sounds like good news to us. We can’t wait to head back into the Underworld.

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The post HADES II Officially Taking You Back to the Underworld appeared first on Nerdist.

https://nerdist.com/article/nerdy-christmas-playlist-holiday-songs-you-wont-head-on-radio/

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was a perfect MCU gift for lots of reasons. One of the biggest is that it gave us the Old 97’s “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here).” The song is an instant classic, but, like so many other great noels, we don’t expect to hear it on the radio anytime soon. Stations are too busy playing Mariah Carey and Bruce Springsteen on repeat to recognize other terrific Christmas songs. But we’re not. So to celebrate some of our lesser recognized favorites we’ve put together an official Nerdist Nerdy Christmas Playlist.

It features forgotten and overlooked bangers, alternative tracks you might have never heard, comedy songs that celebrate the silliness of the season, and numbers from some of our favorite pop culture properties. From pop and punk to rock and emo, this playlist will bring you to the North Pole, the galaxy far, far away, and every place in between.

1. “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)” – Old 97’s
2. “Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)” – The Weather Girls
3. “The Night Santa Went Crazy” – Weird Al
4. “Christmas in Hollis – Run DMC
5. “(Do It On My) Twin Bed” – SNL Cast, Jimmy Fallon
6. “A Grouplove Christmas” – Grouplove
7. “All I Want for Christmas (Is a Pardon from the President)” – Nick Lutsko
8. “Emo Christmas” – Wavves
9. Christmastime is Killing Us – Family Guy
10. “The Christmas Song” – Weezer
11. “Just Another Christmas Song” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
12. “Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas” – Eels
13. “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” – The Ramones
14. “Father Christmas” – The Kinks

“I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)” – Old 97’s

The “purple monkey dishwasher” of Christmas songs doesn’t get all of the holiday’s lore right, but it absolutely rocks.

“Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)” – The Weather Girls

The Weather Girls, most famous for “It’s Raining Men,” also delivered this fantastic track on their 1983 album Success. Think about how much better Christmas would be if you replaced every inexplicable airing of Paul McCartney’s inane “Wonderful Christmastime” with this song instead. That would really make for a wonderful Christmastime.

“The Night Santa Went Crazy” – Weird Al

Only “Weird Al” Yankovic could craft a song about Santa going full-Rambo on the North Pole and have it be funny, strangely sentimental, and a total blast.

“Christmas in Hollis” – Run DMC

Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” is an unquestioned classic that rarely—if ever—gets played on the radio. We don’t know who’s to blame for that, but they deserve coal. Lots of coal. Come on, it’s in Die Hard!

“(Do It On My) Twin Bed” – SNL Cast, Jimmy Fallon

Saturday Night Live has delivered lots of great holiday songs over four decades, but “(Do It On My) Twin Bed” might be the best. As a raunchy comedy premise it’s hilarious. But it’s also a fantastic song that you’ll be singing long after the holidays end and you’re back in your normal bed…doing whatever you do there.

“A Grouplove Christmas” – Grouplove

Grouplove gave us a delightful holiday number at the end of Bojack Horseman’s holiday special “Sabrina’s Christmas Wish,” but their best seasonal song is this gorgeous track.

“All I Want for Christmas (Is a Pardon from the President)” – Nick Lutsko

The King of Halloween proved his skills extend to other holidays with this catchy melodious Christmas track that really highlights both his musical and comedy chops. It might be even funnier if you have no idea what it’s actually about.

“Emo Christmas” – Wavves

It’s A Wonderful Life is basically an emo Christmas movie, right? So it’s not that surprising the genre lends itself to some great seasonal songs, like with this aptly named track from Wavves.

“Christmastime is Killing Us” – Family Guy

Family Guy‘s song about how greed is literally killing Santa and the elves might technically be depressing, but this track is too good (and too funny) not to include.

“The Christmas Song” – Weezer

Weezer has an EP of Christmas covers, and a very strange original called “Christmas Celebration,” but this is easily the band’s best holiday season song.

“Just Another Christmas Song” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

This Nerdy Christmas playlist needs some soul, and it gets all that and more with this groovy track from 2015’s It’s a Holiday Soul Party. In a just world Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings would already be a staple of every holiday radio station’s lineup. Instead we gotta hear about stupid Christmas shoes every year.

“Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas” – Eels

Usually when we think “cool” during Christmas we’re talking about the temperature, but this rocking number from Eels isn’t talking about snow. This one is especially good while driving down the highway to go shopping at the mall. In fact, that’s the vibe we’re closing out the rest of this playlist with.

“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” – The Ramones

Speaking of cool, The Ramones got into the holiday punk rock spirit with 1989’s “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight.” And just as good? The video which features a couple, uh, working things out during the holidays. Good for them!

“Father Christmas” – The Kinks

We’re ending our playlist with a Holiday song we once said is good enough to listen to all year. And we still totally stand by that. The Kinks’ “Father Christmas” is a perfect rock song that transcends the holiday. It’s also a perfect way to end our Nerdy Christmas Playlist.

Well, it will end it until we restart the whole thing and listen to it again. And again. And again. Mariah Carey fans aren’t the only ones who love playing their favorite Christmas songs on repeat.

The post A Nerdy Christmas Playlist for Great Holiday Songs You Won’t Hear on the Radio appeared first on Nerdist.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/need-to-know-what-black-films-are-playing-at-sundance-2023-we-got-you-covered/

Next month film critics and cinephiles everywhere will make plans to travel to the wintery mountain-filled terrain of Park City, Utah to watch some good old-fashioned independent movies and more!

Each year, we work to highlight films featuring Black talent and directed by Black filmmakers. So if you need to know what Black films are playing at Sundance 2023? We’ve got you covered!

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Raven Jackson, Producers: Maria Altamirano, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak) – A decades-spanning exploration of a woman’s life in Mississippi and an ode to the generations of people, places, and ineffable moments that shape us. Cast: Charleen McClure, Moses Ingram, Kaylee Nicole Johnson, Reginald Helms Jr., Sheila Atim, Chris Chalk. World Premiere. Available online.

Magazine Dreams / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Elijah Bynum, Producers: Jennifer Fox, Dan Gilroy, Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman) — An amateur bodybuilder struggles to find human connection as his relentless drive for recognition pushes him to the brink. Cast: Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, Mike O’Hearn, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansom Harris. World Premiere. Available online

A Thousand and One / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: A.V. Rockwell, Producers: Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Lena Waithe, Rishi Rajani, Brad Weston) — Convinced it’s one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps 6-year-old Terry from the foster care system. Holding on to their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in New York City. Cast: Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney, Aaron Kingsley Adetola. World Premiere. Available online.

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project / U.S.A. (Directors and Producers: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson, Producer: Tommy Oliver) — Intimate vérité, archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of poetry take us on a journey through the dreamscape of legendary poet Nikki Giovanni as she reflects on her life and legacy. World Premiere. Available online.

Little Richard: I Am Everything / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Lisa Cortés, Producers: Robert Friedman, Liz Yale Marsh, Caryn Capotosto) — This celebration of Little Richard reveals the Black queer origins of rock ’n’ roll, finally exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music. Through archival and performance footage, the revolutionary icon’s life unspools with all of its switchbacks and contradictions. World Premiere. Available online. DAY ONE

The Stroll / U.S.A. (Directors: Kristen Lovell, Zackary Drucker, Producer: Matt Wolf) — The history of New York’s Meatpacking District, told from the perspective of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there. Filmmaker Kristen Lovell, who walked “The Stroll” for a decade, reunites her community to recount the violence, policing, homelessness, and gentrification they overcame to build a movement for transgender rights. World Premiere. Available online.

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Girl / U.K. (Director and Screenwriter: Adura Onashile, Producers: Rosie Crerar, Ciara Barry) — Eleven-year-old Ama and her mother, Grace, take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create. Ama’s growing up threatens the boundaries of their tenderness and forces Grace to reckon with a past she struggles to forget. Cast: Déborah Lukumuena, Danny Sapani, Le’Shantey Bonsu, Liana Turner. World Premiere. Available online.

Mami Wata / Nigeria (Director and Screenwriter: C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, Producer: Oge Obasi) — When the harmony in a village is threatened by outside elements, two sisters must fight to save their people and restore the glory of a mermaid goddess to the land. Cast: Evelyne Ily, Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Kelechi Udegbe, Emeka Amakeze, Rita Edochie, Tough Bone. World Premiere. Available online.

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Milisuthando / South Africa (Director and Screenwriter: Milisuthando Bongela, Producer: Marion Isaacs) — Set in past, present, and future South Africa — an invitation into a poetic, memory-driven exploration of love, intimacy, race, and belonging by the filmmaker, who grew up during apartheid but didn’t know it was happening until it was over. World Premiere. Available online.

NEXT

Bravo, Burkina! / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Walé Oyéjidé, Producers: Giulia Alagna, Heather Barnes) — A Burkinabé boy flees his village and migrates to Italy. When disillusioned by heartbreak and haunted by memories of home, he travels through time in hope of regaining all he has lost. Cast: Alain Tiendrebeogo, Mousty Mbaye, Noel Minougou, Aissata Deme, Afissatou Coulibaly. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online.

KOKOMO CITY / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: D. Smith, Producers: Harris Doran, Bill Butler) — Four Black transgender sex workers explore the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves, while confronting issues long avoided. World Premiere. Documentary. Available online.

To Live and Die and Live / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Qasim Basir, Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Amin Joseph, Dana Offenbach, Samantha Basir) — Muhammad returns home to Detroit to bury his stepfather and is thrust into settling his accounts, but Muhammad’s struggles with depression and addiction may finish him before he finishes the task. Cast: Amin Joseph, Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Dana Gourrier, Maryam Basir. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online.

Young. Wild. Free. / U.S.A (Director: Thembi L. Banks, Screenwriters: Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Producers: Charles D. King, James Lopez, Poppy Hanks, Tommy Oliver, Baron Davis, Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd) — High school senior Brandon is drowning in responsibilities when his world is turned upside down after being robbed at gunpoint by the girl of his dreams. Cast: Algee Smith, Sanaa Lathan, Sierra Capri, Mike Epps. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online.

Rye Lane

Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson), two twenty-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.

Other Notable Black Stories

Drift

Invisible Beauty

SLAM (From the Collection)

Talk to Me

 Landscape with Invisible Hand

Black Filmmakers

·      The Stroll/Kristen Lovell

·      Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project/Joe Brewster
·      All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt/Raven Jackson
·      Magazine Dreams/Elijah Bynum
·      Bravo, Burkina!/Wale Oyejide
·      Kokomo City/D. Smith
·      To Live and Die and Live/Qasim Basir
·      Young. Wild. Free./Thembi L. Banks
·      Invisible Beauty/Bethann Hardison
·      Cassandro/Roger Ross Williams
·      Rye Lane/Raine Allen-Miller
·      Milisuthando/Milisuthando Bongela
·      Girl/Adura Onashile
·      Mami Wata/C.J. “Fiery” Obasi
·      Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project/Michèle Stephenson
·      Little Richard: I Am Everything/Lisa Cortés
·      A Thousand and One/A.V. Rockwell
·      A Thousand and One- Lena Waithe (producer)
·      All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt- Barry Jenkins (producer)
·      To Live and Die and Live & Fancy Dance– Forest Whitaker (producer)
·      Young. Wild. Free.– Baron Davis (producer)

The 2023 Festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023. In-Person Ticket Packages are currently on sale through December 16, Online Ticket Packages go on sale December 13 at 10 a.m. MT, and single film tickets go on sale January 12 at 10 a.m. MT.

https://nerdist.com/article/how-dangerous-are-murder-hornets-asian-giant-hornets-what-to-know/

There’s been a lot of buzz hubbub surrounding the recent arrival of so-called “murder hornets” in the US, with factoids and pictures of the relatively large flying monsters terrorizing the internet. But just how frightened should you be of these vicious-looking insect immigrants? It turns out, according to experts and data, not all that frightened. Unless you’re a honeybee.

The Murder Hornets, which are technically referred to as Asian giant hornets, or Vespa mandarinia, are the world’s largest hornets. They are native to temperate parts of East Asia, South Asia, and the Russian Far East, although the reason you’ve only recently heard of them, most likely, is because of the fact that they have now been spotted in the US for the first time ever.

Gary Alpert

While the news is only breaking now, the Asian giant hornets were actually spotted in the US in December of last year, in Washington State. At that time, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) received and verified four reports of the Asian giant hornets near the cities of Blaine and Bellingham. It’s not clear to officials how exactly the Asian hornets managed to make it to the US, but according to Seth Truscott at WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, “Insects are frequently transported in international cargo and are sometimes transported deliberately.”

In terms of how deadly these Asian giant hornets are, the answer is: very. The jumbo arial assaulters are armed with quarter-inch-long stingers that are able to inject large amounts of potent venom into their victims, which are most often other insects, but also—very, very rarely—humans. In the latter, the hornets’ venom can reportedly cause skin hemorrhaging and necrosis, organ failure, and death.

In terms of sheer pain factor, according to wildlife educator and YouTuber Coyote Peterson, a person who’s stung by an Asian giant hornet should expect to feel something on par with famed-boxer Mike Tyson “taking an open shot right at your jaw.” In the below video, you can watch Peterson writhe in agony as he willingly injects himself with some of the hornets’ venom and subsequently enters “the sting zone.”

Despite its deadly venom and sizable stinger, you still shouldn’t fear Asian giant hornets, especially if you live in the US. Not only is the WSDA actively trying to eradicate the known populations of the hornets, but the odds of being stung by one are teensy tiny. As in, there have been zero reported stings by Asian hornets in the US. so far, let alone deaths. And even in Japan, where there is far greater number of the insects, there are only a few dozen deaths a year.

For honeybees, however, it’s a different story. A single Asian giant hornet can kill as many as 40 bees per minute, and a group of 30 hornets can annihilate a hive containing 30,000 bees in less than four hours. It’s not all bad news for the bees though, as they can use a tactic referred to as “heatballing” to literally overheat and kill the monster ‘nets. Check out a quick clip of that fantastic eusocial defense mechanism immediately below.

No Sightings in 2022

Just before the end of 2022, the WSDA announced that they found no murder hornets in the US in 2022. We saw this good news on The Verge. While it takes three years before they declare the pests eradicated, this is certainly a good first step. Since they were first spotted in 2019, the agency has diligently been tracking down and destroying their nests in Washington state. Citizen scientists also got in on the project, reporting any sightings.

Featured Image: Gary Alpert

Originally published May 4, 2020. Additional reporting by Melissa T. Miller.

The post How Scared Should You Be of Invading ‘Murder Hornets’? appeared first on Nerdist.