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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.

Audiences have a lot of questions for Marvel’s Eternals. Who are they? Where do they come from? What’s their mission? The somewhat obscure comics property doesn’t have the name brand recognition of Captain America or the Hulk, but Marvel is betting that their own brand (and the film’s all-star cast) is more than enough to attract audiences. After all, it worked for Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Shang-Chi, and others to the tune of billions of dollars at the box office.

But perhaps the biggest question of all, is where the hell these immortal warriors were when Thanos snapped half of the universe out of existence. Given that their mission is to “protect humanity”, the Eternals were curiously absent when half the world vanished into dust. Of course, the Avengers sorted all that out in Endgame, but they probably could have used some more help. Salma Hayek’s Ajak says in the trailer, “Humanity once believed we were Gods. With what this planet now faces, they will believe again.”

We even get Richard Madden’s Ikaris saying, “Eternals Assemble”, which is pretty funny. We also get some new action shots featuring the different powers each Eternal wields, most of which look like metallic squiggles come to life (this is not a knock, I am ALL HERE for these squiggles). With Chloé Zhao at the helm, the visuals are striking in a way we haven’t seen before in the MCU.

What do you think of the new Eternals teaser? Let us know in the comments!

(image: screencap/Marvel)

• Here’s the first look at Timothée Chalamet as young Willy Wonka. (via Collider)
• Midnight Mass star Crystal Balint talks faith and fear. (via /Film)
• Here are ten horror movies starring Star Trek actors, if you’re into that sort of thing. (via CBR)
• Here’s a new clip from Amazon’s Wheel of Time:
• No Time To Die‘s box office takes a slight hit as fans keep flocking to Venom: Let There Be Carnage. (via Variety)
• Here’s some more terrific cosplay from NYCC 2021. (via Polygon)
• The Blade erasure is real. (via Shadow and Act)
• The Animaniacs season 2 trailer takes on 1980s cartoons:

Hope you’re having a chill Sunday, Sue Believers!

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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

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It's New York Comic-Con weekend, citizens!  Let's get to it!  Listen to a new episode of Afronerd Radio's Grindhouse, airing every Sunday at 6 p.m. eastern on BTalk 100.  Tune in to your gamma-irradiated AFROnerdist hosts, Dburt and the "Uncanny" Daryll B. as they wax about the following blerd-centric phenomena:  our own Daryll B., braved post-pandemic NYC, to check out the Friday edition of NYCC '21 and Dburt and the listenership can't wait to find out what he learned; a whole cadre of trailers hit the cyberwebs this past weekend-S4 of Star Trek: Discovery; The 355 and fan favorite, Psych 3; are they handing out Disney+ shows like free snacks at the mall food court nowadays?  Purportedly, Photon/Spectrum (aka Black Captain Marvel) and the Shang-Chi "Ten Rings" universe are getting streaming shows; 

One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF

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