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By Grace White ·

The post Positive Vibrations And A Celebration Of Bob Marley At Negril’s Azul Beach Resort appeared first on Essence.

Headline: “Veni Vidi Vici” A Vicious Satire that Takes Aim at the Ultrarich

Billionaire Amon Maynard (Laurence Rupp) is living an idyllic life. He has a loving wife, three adoring daughters, and political clout to rival a president’s. He loves animals. He also loves hunting.

The problem with the hunting? He loves animals too much to harm them. So he chooses a different target—people. And everyone—his family, the police, even the politicians he pals around with—knows it. 

As the Ayn Rand quotation at the start of the sharp Austrian satire “Veni Vidi Vici” notes: “The point is, who will stop me?”

“Veni Vidi Vici” is narrated by Amon’s teen daughter, Paula (Olivia Goschler), and at first, her disaffected tone hints at the kinds of “the rich are different” scandals oft dramatized in fiction. But Amon isn’t a philanderer. He loves his family and protects them. Two of his daughters are adopted, and he and his wife are regularly intimate. Paula, his one natural child, loves her step-family and doesn’t hate Amon, but looks up to him and wants to learn from him—including how and what to hunt.

Amon may have a bizarre hobby, but it doesn’t cause him to be distant or unkind. His eccentricities are even seen as charming by some—or at least, tolerated. Money buys a lot of things, including complete, amoral freedom.

To be sure, some see through Amon’s veneer, including Volker Carlotta (Dominick Warta), a journalist, and Alois Sepperer (Haymon Maria Buttinger), a gamekeeper who witnesses one of Amon’s kills. But both can only despair at how everyone they tell refuses to hear them. And both can be sacrificed without consequence if need be.

Amon’s own brazenness makes their despair all the worse. More than once, Amon confesses—even to the police, who completely ignore him—and he continues his hunting spree—in broad daylight, no less—with impunity. His excessive wealth allows him to consume everything he comes into contact with, whether it’s via a hostile takeover or from his predilection for sniping.

Co-director Daniel Hoesl (fellow director Julia Niemann was not present) mentioned in the Q&A after the Sundance screening that he was inspired by Donald Trump’s declaration that he could shoot someone on 5^th Avenue in New York and no one would blink. He and Niemann also interviewed some billionaires, including a fund manager in Vienna who provided further inspiration. While it may seem that Hoesl and Niemann’s ideas for the film are taken to a ludicrous extreme, are they really? In one scene, Amon is introduced as the man without limits. Why? Because no one will hold him accountable, just as in the real world.

“Veni Vidi Vici” is entertaining, thought-provoking, and occasionally, incisively funny. When Paula tells us she doesn’t want to go to ethics class because ethics are “a waste of time,” it produces a laugh, but also a twinge of pain. She’s learning to be just as amoral as her dad, and presumably will pass that family trait on to her own family when she grows up. The cycle of naked capitalism goes on.

The film works because of three things: Hoesl and Niemann’s sure direction, Hoesl’s entertaining screenplay, and the commitment of all the actors. Rupp is particularly magnetic, and Goschler is good at switching between Paula’s higher ambitions and just being a regular teen. The soundtrack is also compelling, particularly the drum patterns and abstract vocals layered over the harsher parts of the movie.

In the end, “Veni Vidi Vici” implicates us in the Maynard’s misdeeds. Billionaires, the film posits, are the ultimate parasites, taking more than they give in return, destroying lives, absorbing and corrupting those who would oppose them into their warped view of humanity simply because there are rich. What’s worse is we let them get away with it.

The post Sundance 2024 – Veni Vidi Vici appeared first on The Nerd Element.

Disney Lorcana isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The Disney animation-themed trading card game from Ravensburger just saw the release of its second set, Rise of the Floodborn. Even though we know the gaming company is releasing new cards quarterly, it’s still hard to believe it’s already time to learn about Disney Lorcana‘s third set. Yet here we are. The third installment is called Disney Lorcana: Into the Inklands. The 200+ card set introduces a new type of card, new Disney characters, Lorcana lore, and more.

I love the adventurous look of the Into the Inklands logo. The name is a clue to the new type of cards, too: location cards. These will feature Disney story settings and offer players special abilities and interactions. Settings include Motonui from Moana and the Jolly Roger from Peter Pan. Some locations give bonuses when characters visit them, while other location cards provide benefits just by being in play.

Disney Lorcana: Into the Inklands Synopsis

Additionally, Lorcana‘s third set will debut new in-game mini-stories and expand featured characters. This comes through narrative on the cards as stories unfold through quotes and descriptive text. Ravensburger says this will allow players to discover even more links between cards.

As for those new characters, Into the Inklands will have several. The installment brings Pluto, Perdita from 101 Dalmatians, Scrooge McDuck from DuckTales, Kit Cloudkicker from TaleSpin, and Jim Hawkins and the RLS Legacy crew from Treasure Planet. The set will also introduce Atlantis: The Lost Empire. That’s a hefty dose of ’90s and early ’00s Disney nostalgia, and we’re here for it.

The Lorcana lore continues in Into the Inklands, too. A synopsis states:

The Disney Lorcana TCG set Into the Inklands continues the story of the Illumineers who were mysteriously transported to the realm of Lorcana (The First Chapter). After accidentally unleashing a flood of mixed ink (Rise of the Floodborn) that scattered precious lore throughout the realm, Illumineers are now tasked with finding the lore and returning it to the Hall of Lorcana. However, their quest may be more treacherous than they realize, as an ominous shadow storm has been spotted gathering at the edges of Lorcana, adding urgency and mystery to the path ahead.

Disney Lorcana: Into the Inklands‘ Trailer

A story trailer for Into the Inklands introduces Audrey Ramirez from Atlantis, as well as Dreamborn glimmers for Prince Eric and Tinker Bell. It teases a mysterious shadow taking King Triton’s trident.

The Into the Inklands release will include the following items:

• Amber and Emerald Starter Deck ($16.99)
• Sapphire and Ruby Starter Deck ($16.99)
• Booster packs ($5.99)
• Illumineers Trove ($49.99)
• Gift Set ($29.99)
• Play accessories: Card Sleeves, Deck Boxes, Card Portfolios, and Playmats

Disney Lorcana: Into the Inklands Release Date and Virtual Pre-Order Queue

Disney Lorcana: Into the Inklands will first release at local game stores on February 23, 2024. Mass market retailers will get the third set on March 8, 2024. To smooth inventory issues that have plagued Lorcana so far, Into the Inklands will introduce a new virtual pre-order queue.

A release shares the following pre-order information. It notes:

Fans can now sign up for a virtual queue on the official Amazon Ravensburger Disney Lorcana TCG set Into the Inklands product pages to be put into a lottery system. 

Once the queue is closed, people will be randomly selected to get an “invitation” via email where they will have 72 hours to confirm which products they want to purchase.

• Amazon will communicate when the product will be ready to ship.
• The queue system will be open for multiple days.
• The queue system will be U.S. only.
• If they do not purchase within the 72-hour timeframe, someone else will get an invitation to their spot.

Here are the direct links to each of the items:

• Into the Inklands Starter Set(Amber/Emerald): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFRCZKTW
• Into the Inklands Starter Set(Ruby/Sapphire): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFRCT33M
• Into the Inklands Booster Display: https://amazon.com/dp/B0CFRDMPWZ 
• Into the Inklands Illumineer’s Trove: https://amazon.com/dp/B0CFRCSWYZ
• Into the Inklands Gift Set: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFR98C1G

Originally published on December 6, 2023.

The post DISNEY LORCANA: INTO THE INKLANDS Will Offer New Virtual Pre-Order Queue appeared first on Nerdist.

BGN interviews Aldis Hodge (Alex) and Edwin Hodge (Martel) for their latest film Parallel.

Parallel follows the story of Vanessa (Danielle Deadwyler) who takes refuge at her family’s lake house to grieve after suffering the loss of her child. Accompanied by her husband, Alex (Aldis Hodge), and his brother, Martel (Edwin Hodge), Vanessa attempts to regain her sense of normalcy after the tragedy. But soon after their arrival, she experiences an aberration when she is attacked by a parallel universe’s version of herself. Faced with the reality that multiverses exist, she must reconcile the fact that these parallel gates will either hold the key to releasing her grief or trapping her forever.

Interviewer: Jamie Broadnax

Video Editor: Jamie Broadnax

Parallel premieres in theaters 2/23 and on demand 2/27.