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This week, Keith and Mikkel react to the Mario movie casting news, Russell T. Davies’ return to Doctor Who, the Emmys, and so much more. 

Be sure to check out our next episode that will feature our very first guests on the show!

Hear about that and more on This Week in Nerd News.

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The post TWINN: Is Mario a Republican Now? appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

Hi everyone! Today I want to discuss some details about the upcoming Disney Genie App which is set to replace the Fast Pass, Max Pass, and more! So, let’s get started, shall we?! So, the Disney’s newest digital service, Disney Genie, is launching on October 19 at Walt Disney World Resort. The service, first unveiled in August, is an update to the company’s earlier line-reservation tools for Disney’s parks, allowing guests to plan and update their itineraries, book time slots for the most popular attractions, and optionally purchase paid access to the fast lanes’ “Lightning Lane” entrances, either à la carte on top attractions or through the “Genie+” add-on. At the core of the Disney Genie experience is a smart trip-planning capability that maps out a personalized itinerary based on which rides, attractions or food and entertainment experiences guests want to make sure to do while at the parks. That means Genie users can customize their day based on not only the top attractions, but also their general interests — like whether they need to incorporate Princess meet-and-greets into their day, or if they’d rather seek out the best cocktails at the park’s bars, for instance. Before Genie, guests could make up to three reservations in advance of a park visit through the FastPass+ scheduling system, and could then continue to make reservations through the My Disney Experience app after those first three reservations had been used. But this free system made it difficult to get reservations on top rides, as it favored Disney resort-goers who could book 60 days in advance, while others got a 30-day window. It also didn’t make all top rides (aka Tier 1 attractions) available for the initial booking. Disney Genie aims to address some of these issues, but for a fee. That’s led to quite a bit of backlash from Disney fans who feel they already pay enough for their Disney trips and don’t want to add more charges. In fact, the video announcement has a ratio of 12,000 dislikes to just 948 likes, as of the time of writing. However, paid fast-lane access to a park’s main attractions is a common staple at Disney’s theme park competitors — and one that can help those who have tighter schedules ensure they get everything done. With Genie’s WDW launch on October 19, guests will be able to choose from the two paid options — either individual access to up to two Lightning Lanes or Genie+’s broader selection. Disney says the following rides are available for the à la carte option: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After at Epcot, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney Hollywood Studios, and Avatar Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. While picking two options could help speed up your wait times, it may not include your must-have ride selections. Disney Genie+, meanwhile, opens up Lightning Lanes at a total of 40+ attractions across the four parks instead, including many more of the Tier 1 rides. It will be priced at $15 per ticket per day at Walt Disney World Resort and $20 per ticket per day at Disneyland Resort, when available. This new app will not sell out any day at Disney World.

Going over to the Disneyland Resort now! They have not announced an actual date for the Disney Genie App replacements for the fast passes, but it is set to come this fall. They have announced the 19-22 rides where you can pay to skip the lines. But first I want to go over the details of its new mobile app. Disneyland visitors will need to keep their credit cards handy now that they can pay their way to the front of the line on Rise of the Resistance, Web Slingers and many of the other popular rides at the Anaheim theme park. Expect the West Coast version of the Genie service to roll out as part of the existing Disneyland app sometime between late October and late December. The Disneyland visitors won’t be required to use the Genie service, but the digital planning tool will become an essential part of any visit to the parks. Disney’s new personal assistant app will be divided into three parts — the free Disney Genie itinerary planning feature; the $20 Disney Genie+ replacement for the former free FastPass and paid MaxPass line-cutting perks; and the individual Lightning Lane option that charges $7 to $15 to jump to the front of the line on the most popular rides. The $20 Disney Genie+ service is essentially identical to the $20 MaxPass that Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have offered since 2017. Free Fast Passes will become part of Disneyland history once the paid Genie+ replacement launches.

Disneyland will have 12 Genie+ attractions at launch: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones Adventure, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Splash Mountain, Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, It’s a Small World, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin.

The seven Genie+ rides at Disney California Adventure are: Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout, Incredicoaster, Soarin’ Around the World, Toy Story Midway Mania, Grizzly River Run, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue and Goofy’s Sky School. Individual Lightning Lane costs have not been finalized yet at Disneyland and DCA. Disneyland will have only one individual Lightning Lane attraction at launch: Rise of the Resistance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The individual Lightning Lane attractions at Disney California Adventure will be the new Web Slingers: Spider-Man Adventure in Avengers Campus and the crowd favorite Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land. Disneyland and DCA visitors will be able to select up to two individual Lightning Lane attractions per day. And no, you can’t choose Rise of the Resistance twice per day — even if you want to. Disneyland’s website is careful to mention that the 19 attractions on the Genie+ list will be part of the paid front-of-the-line service “at launch.”

 Six Disneyland attractions not currently on the Genie+ list make the Disney World lineup: Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo the Flying Elephant and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Three DCA attractions that don’t currently show up on the Genie+ list is part of the Disney World lineup: Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure; Mickey’s Philharmagic; and Turtle Talk with Crush. Two other Genie+ attractions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have DCA parallels: Alien Swirling Saucers is a clone of Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and “Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage” is the Broadway-style equivalent of “Frozen Live at the Hyperion.” Two nighttime spectaculars — “Fantasmic” at Disneyland and “World of Color” at DCA — used be part of the former FastPass options. They could show up again as Genie+ options once they return from their extended pandemic hibernation. Disney World designates two attractions at each park that are eligible for the individual Lightning Lane premium upgrades. Disneyland currently only has one individual Lightning Lane ride — Rise of the Resistance. That will make Disneyland the only U.S. Park without two individual Lightning Lane attractions. What ride could fill that extra spot? That second individual Lightning Lane spot at Disneyland could be a placeholder for the pandemic-delayed Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway that is now set to debut in 2023. Runaway Railway is an individual Lightning Lane attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. The Magic Kingdom has an interesting individual Lightning Lane ride that could be a possible Disneyland candidate in the interim: Space Mountain. Another option could be the revamped Splash Mountain once the classic log flume ride gets a “Princess and the Frog” makeover.

So, I know this is a lot of information, but Disney wants you to know all the details about the new mobile app because I know that many people are going to be confused and may not be happy about the change. But I think that it would be a fun one to use just to get some experience of it. Once you can learn how to use it, you can get use to it. Its good to learn new things!

So, what do you guys think about the Disney new app update?! I would love to hear lots of comments, thoughts, opinions, questions, or concerns down below!

Stay tuned for Disney updates.

The post Disney Genie App Details for Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort! appeared first on The Nerd Element.

By Désirée I. Guzzetta

“Detention,” the first feature film from director John Tsu, is one of the better-made films based on a video game. Although the film was originally released in 2019, it is just now getting a wider release in the United States.

The game, “Detention,” is a horror side-scroller available on the Steam platform. It’s set during the “White Terror” period in Taiwan when intellectual and political dissidents were oppressed by the government. In the case of the game and the film, the period focused on is the early 1960’s.

“Detention” follows Fang (Gingle Wang), a young girl at Greenwood High School, which is a military-style school where all the students wear uniforms — the girls in parochial garb and sporting the same blunt haircuts and the boys in military uniforms with close-cut hair. Everything is regimented and study is restricted to the greater glory of the ruling party. Books about communism or left-wing thought are banned, and students are exhorted to report espionage. Not to report espionage is also a crime, as per the school’s daily announcement.

Also at Greenwood is a secret book club led by two teachers, Mr. Chang (Meng-Po Fu) and Miss Yin (Cecilia Choi). The students in the club read and copy forbidden texts and learn about the world outside their repressive regime. One student, Wei (Jing-Hua Tseng), notices Fang and appears to have a crush on her. Fang, for her part, has a crush on Mr. Chang, who tutors her at Miss Yin’s urging because Fang’s home life is miserable.

The film is divided into three parts: Nightmare, The Whistleblower, and The Ones Who Live. The story unfolds non-linearly at first, and it’s hard to tell exactly what is happening, but it doesn’t take long for the narrative threads to weave together into a cohesive whole. It’s a tragic tale of betrayal, brutal political oppression, and love thwarted by misunderstanding, told in flashback for part of the runtime. 

The Nightmare section combines some nightmarish imagery and sound design, as well as a somewhat melodramatic score, to drive home the terror represented by military leaders, such as the unfeeling Inspector Bai (Hung Chang Chu) and the mirror-faced monstrosity that stalks the dilapidated halls of the now-abandoned school. 

Wang’s Fang is an appealing innocent, a young girl who is conflicted by her feelings and the politics of life around her, which consume both her family and her love for Mr. Chang. Chu’s Inspector Bai is also suitably evil, a dedicated zealot whose imposing presence is enough to scare the weak into confessing all their sins, real or imagined. The sound and monster design really ramp up the creepy factor of the nightmare sequences, and while not overly gory, there’s enough carnage for gore-fans to savor.

As a film, “Detention” is confusing and overwrought and melodramatic, but it’s also fun. Its theme of how we are all haunted by our decisions despite our best intentions, and how we can be prisoners of our own desires, resonates. Although the message is a bit heavy-handed at times, and the polemic occasionally goes over the top into nationalism, “Detention” is an entertaining ghost story with enough heart to keep horror fans invested in the fates of its characters.

The post Detention (2021) appeared first on The Nerd Element.

Hi everyone! Today I want to go over which picks I got correct and wrong from last week. So, let’s get started, shall we?! I predicted that the Browns would beat the Vikings 30-20, but the final score was 14-7 Browns over the Vikings. I predicted that the Chiefs would beat the Eagles 37-26, but the final score was 42-30 Chiefs over the Eagles. So, a pretty close prediction there! I predicted that the Packers would beat the Steelers 33-24, but the final score was 27-17 Packers over the Steelers. I predicted that the Ravens would beat the Broncos 35-30, but the final score was 23-7 Ravens over the Broncos. I predicted that the Buccaneers would beat the Patriots 37-20, but the final score was 19-17 in a very close game. The Bucs barely won the game because the Patriots were close to winning the game with a field goal attempt, but the ball just hit the goal post on the left side and made a donk noise. I predicted that the Chargers would beat the Raiders 30-24, but the final score was 28-14 Chargers over the Raiders.

I predicted that the Panthers would beat the Cowboys 31-27, but the final score was 36-28 Cowboys over the Panthers. Giving the Panthers their first loss of the season. I predicted that the 49ers would beat the Seahawks 32-24, but the final score was 28-21 Seahawks over the 49ers. I predicted that the Rams were going to beat the Cardinals 30-27, but the final score was 37-20 Cardinals over the Rams in a pretty good blowout. The Cardinals offense came out and played very hard, they were physical, and they did not have any turnovers taken away. Quarterback Kyler Murray threw 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was pretty much carving up the Rams defense and they were confused and did not know what to do. The Rams offense was just not good. The Cardinals came out scoring touchdowns and not too many field goals. They had a couple, but not a lot of them. The Cardinals are still undefeated. In fact, they are the only team to be undefeated in the NFL so far. I predicted that the Saints would beat the Giants 36-17, but the final score was 27-21 Giants over the Saints. The Giants went down the field and scored a game-winning touchdown in overtime.

So based on my predictions from last week, I have gotten 6 out of 10 picks correct! Now, let’s get to week 5 picks, shall we?! The first game I will predict is the Lions @Vikings game. I think the Vikings will beat the Lions 41-24 because the Vikings are at home and they might make it too much for the Lions and make it harder for them to win and besides, the Lions are not that good of a team. The next game I will predict is the Eagles @Panthers game. I think the Panthers will take care of business over the Eagles 29-17. The next game I will predict is the Dolphins @Buccaneers game. I think the Bucs will beat the Dolphins 33-20. The next game I will predict is the Saints @Washington Football Team. I think the Saints should take care of business over the Football team 36-24. The next game I will predict is the Packers @Bengals game. I think this will actually be a good game because both of these teams are pretty good. I think the Packers are a little bit better team and I think the Packers will barely pull this game out over the Bengals 34-27. The next game I will predict is the Broncos @Steelers game. I think the Broncos might actually beat the Steelers 26-20 because the Steelers have so far struggle with their offense and a bit of their defense as well. But you never know. Right now I predict a Broncos victory. The next game I will predict is the Browns @Chargers game. I think that this will be a good game. I think the Browns may barely pull this game out over the Chargers 24-17 because I think the Browns running game is going to eat up the clock and not letting the Chargers and the quarterback Justin Herbert some time to go down the field and try to win the game. The next game I will predict is the Giants @Cowboys game, the divisional rivalries. I think the Cowboys will come out on top of the Giants in a close game 37-30. The next game I will predict is the 49ers @Cardinals game, the divisional rivalries. I think this game should be a great game. The Cardinals will be looking to stay undefeated and the 49ers are looking to trying to stop it. The Cardinals have some concerns on defense because their corner back Byron Murphy who is a starter has been ruled out and that is a pretty big blow to their defense. Their defense has to put pressure on the rookie quarterback of the 49ers Trey Lance. He has some weapons to go to such as the wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. The quarterback is going to try and give it to them and take advantage of the Cardinals secondary so the Cardinals have to be ready for them. The only thing that benefits the Cardinals on defense is that the 49ers tight end George Kittle is going to be out for the game. He is always a threat to the Cardinals defense. The Cardinals offense has to move the ball down the field and score touchdowns. The 49ers defense up front is pretty good which should be concerning for the Cardinals offense when it comes to running the football. Kyler Murray has to keep them off balance by taking advantage of the 49ers’ secondary and take what they gave you. The 49ers defense is pretty good getting off the field on 3^rd down and keeping teams out of the end zone. So, the Cardinals must do the same thing they did last week against the Rams because the 49ers are going to be playing desperate because they know that the Cardinals are ahead of them in the NFC West division. Don’t get too many penalties, do not turn the ball over, and don’t go three and out every series. This will be a test, but I think the Cardinals will do just enough to beat the 49ers 31-23 and stay undefeated. But don’t overestimate the Cardinals too much though.

The next game I will predict is the Bills @Chiefs game on Sunday Night Football. I think this will be a really good game. However, I actually think the Bills can come up on top of the Chiefs in a very close game and a shootout 36-33 because for one thing, the Chiefs defense just don’t look good and the Bills defense pitching a shutout over the Texans 40-0 last week. I think their defense will eventually start to slow down the Chiefs offense a little bit and do enough to win the game. The last game I will predict is the Colts @Ravens game on Monday Night Football. The Ravens have a 14-13 record on Mondays all time, but are 5-3 at their stadium and that is an okay record and the Colts have a 25-18 record on Mondays all time, however they are 11-12 on the road on Mondays. Pretty interesting records! And following the records on paper, I think the Ravens will beat the Colts in a close game 35-27.

So, what do you guys think about the NFL week 5 picks?! I would love to hear lots of comments, thoughts, opinions, questions, or concerns down below! Stay tuned for NFL updates.

The post Week 4 Prediction Updates and Week 5 Picks! appeared first on The Nerd Element.