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Episode six: Elayne sings karaoke, the Forsaken attack, and Rand pays his toh. Poor Rand. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew Cunningham and Lee Hutchinson have spent decades of their lives with Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time books, and they previously brought that knowledge to bear as they recapped each first season episode and second season episode of Amazon's WoT TV series. Now we're back in the saddle for season 3—along with insights, jokes, and the occasional wild theory. These recaps won't cover every element of every episode, but they will contain major spoilers for the show and the book series. We'll do our best to not spoil major future events from the books, but there's always the danger that something might slip out. If you want to stay completely unspoiled and haven't read the books, these recaps aren't for you. New episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3 will be posted for Amazon Prime subscribers every Thursday. This write-up covers episode six, "The Shadow in the Night," which was released on April 3. Lee: Welcome to Tanchico! In Tanchico, everyone wears veils almost all of the time, except when they’re flirting in bars. Mat gets the most fabulous veil of all because he’s Mat and he deserves it. Even Nynaeve has a good time! And I guess now we know all about the hills of Tanchico. Like… alllllllllllllllllll about them. Andrew: Credit to Robert Jordan for mostly resisting one of the bizarre tics of post-Tolkien fantasy fiction: I'm not going to say the books never take a break to give us the full text of an in-universe song. But it does so pretty sparingly, if memory serves. But there are plenty of songs referenced, often with a strong implication that they are too lewd or horny to reprint in full. Not so in the show! Where Elayne sings a song about "The Hills of Tanchico," bringing the house down for what appears to be... several hours (they're breasts, the hills are breasts). I don't mind this scene, actually, but it does go on. But more important than the song is who is accompanying Elayne, a book character who has been gone so long that we weren't actually sure he was coming back. Who makes their long-awaited return in Tanchico, Lee? Thom Merrilin finally shows back up. Nice hat. Wonder who else might end up wearing it. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Lee: That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, stomp your feet and bring your hands together for everybody’s favorite gleeman, seemingly back from the dead and rocking a strangely familiar hat: It’s Thom Merrilin! (Applause roars.) Viewers who haven’t read the books can be forgiven for not immediately falling out of their chairs when Thom shows back up, but to book readers, his absence has been keenly felt. Believe it or not, Merrilin is an A-string player in the books, spending a tremendous amount of time front and center interacting with the main POV characters. He vanishes for a bit just as he does in the show, but he doesn’t stay gone nearly as long as he’s been gone here. I’m glad he’s back, and it bodes well for our Tanchico crew—unlike them, Thom is an actual-for-real adult, who’s been places and knows things. He also provides fantastic accompaniment to Elayne’s karaoke adventure. Elayne wins the crowd by singing about tittays. Thom accompanies because it's a subject in which he is apparently well-versed. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: The entire Tanchico crew is pretty strong right now—Mat and Min are pals again, show-Nynaeve is a version of the character who other characters in the story are allowed to like, and now Thom is back! It'd be a rollicking good time, if it weren't for these sadistic Black Ajah Aes Sedai and the Forsaken psychopath Moghedien stalking around, mind-controlling people, leaving holes in heads, and trying to find a Seanchan-esque collar that can subdue and control Rand. We're entering a stretch of the story where the Forsaken spend as much time fighting with each other as they do with Rand and our heroes, which explains why the powerful villains don't simply kill our heroes the minute they find each other. Moghedien is in full creep mode through this whole episode, and I gotta say, she is unsettling. Moghedien, doing her thing. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Lee: Yeah, watching Moghedien screw with the Black sisters’ food and stuff was particularly disturbing. The lady has no filter—and fantastic powers of persuasion. We get another clear look at just how ludicrously overpowered the Forsaken are compared to our present-day channelers when Moggy straight-up runs "sudo give me the bracelet" on Nynaeve’s and Elayne’s brains—much like Rhavin’s I’m-your-favorite-uncle routine, her Power-backed trickery is devastating and completely inescapable (though Nynaeve apparently does resist just a teeny tiny bit.) And although there are still more doings to discuss in Tanchico—the quest to discover the bracelets-n-collars is heating up!—the fact that all of these episodes are an hour long means there are so many other things to discuss. Like, for example, the return of another familiar face, in the form of our long-absent whistling super-darkfriend Padan Fain. Dark doings are afoot in the Two Rivers! Andrew: Fain in the books never quite rises to the level of Big Bad so much as he lurks around the periphery of the story practically the whole entire time, popping up to cause trouble whenever it's the least convenient for our heroes. The show does a good job of visually representing how he's begun to corrupt the regiment of Whitecloaks he has embedded himself in, without ever actually mentioning it or drawing much attention to it. You know you're a bad guy when even Eamon Valda is like "uh is this guy ok?" (As in the books, the show distinguishes between Whitecloaks who are antagonists because they genuinely believe what they say they believe about Aes Sedai "witches," and ones who are simply straight-up Darkfriends. Funny how often they end up working toward the same goals, though.) Meanwhile, Perrin, Alanna, and friends recover from last week's raid of the Whitecloak camp. I keep needing to recalibrate my expectations for what Plot Armor looks like on this show, because our main characters get grievously wounded pretty regularly, but the standards are different on a show where everyone can apparently cast Cure Wounds as a cantrip. Alanna walks the Cauthon sisters through some rudimentary Healing, and Alanna (with barely disguised glee and/or interest) accidentally interrupts an escalation in Perrin and Falie's relationship when she goes to Heal him later. Are we still finding show-Faile charming? I did think it was funny when that goofy county-fair caricature of Mat holding the Horn of Valere made another appearance. Still not hating Faile, which feels surprising. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Lee: I am definitely still finding show-Faile charming, which continually surprises me because she’s possibly the worst character in the entire series. In the books, Jordan writes Faile as an emotionally abused emotional abuser who doesn’t believe Perrin loves her if he’s not screaming at her and/or hitting her; in the show, she’s a much more whole individual with much more grown-up and sane ideas about how relationships work. Perrin and Faile have something going on that is, dare I say it, actually sweet and romantic! I never thought I’d be on any team other than Team Throw-Faile-Down-The-Well, but here we are. I’m rooting for her and Perrin. When it comes to Alanna’s healing at the hands of the Cauthon sisters, I had to sit with that one for a moment and make a conscious decision. The books make it clear that Healing—even the abbreviated first-aid version the current-day Aes Sedai practice, to say nothing of the much fancier version from the Age of Legends—is complicated. Doing it wrong can have horrific consequences (in fact, “doing healing wrong on purpose” is the basis for many of the Yellow-turned-Black sisters’ attacks with the One Power). And these wildlings (to borrow a book term) are able to just intuit their way into making it happen? We know that new channelers frequently have uncontrolled bouts of blasting out the One Power in response to moments of stress or great need—in fact, we’ve seen that happen many times in the show, including at the beginning of this episode when Lil’ Liandrin force-blasts her rapist-husband into the wall. So the groundwork is there for the Cauthon girls to do what they’re doing. It’s just a question of how much one is willing to let the show get away with. I decided I’m good with it—it’s the necessary thing to move the story forward, and so I’m not gonna complain about it. Where did you land? Fain returns, bringing with him the expected pile of Trollocs. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: Yeah, I made essentially the same decision. Conscious use of the One Power at all, even the ability to access it consistently, is something that requires patience and training, and normally you couldn't talk a 12-year-old through Healing as Alanna does here any more than you could talk a 12-year-old through performing successful field surgery. But training takes time, and showing it takes time, and time is one thing the show never has much of. The show also really likes to dramatically injure characters without killing them! So here we are, speed-running some things. This leaves us with two big threads left to address: Rand's and Egwene's. Egwene is still trying to learn about the World of Dreams from the Aiel Wise Ones (I was wrong, by the way—she admits to lying about being Aes Sedai here and it passes almost without comment), and is still reeling from realizing that Rand and Lanfear are Involved. And Rand, well. He's not going mad, yet, probably, but he spends most of the episode less-than-fully-in-control of his powers and his actions. Lee: It comes to a head when Rand and Egwene have long, difficult conversation over exactly who’s been sleeping with whom, and why—and then that conversation is interrupted when Sammael kicks the door down and starts swinging his big fancy One Power Hammer. There’s a bit of channeling by Aviendha and Egwene, but then Rand grasps the Source and Sammael just kind of stops being a factor. Entranced by the Power—and by the black corruption pulsing through it—Rand straight-up destroys Sammael without apparent thought or effort, borrowing a bit of the method from the way Rand pulls off a similar feat in book 3, with a ludicrous amount of lightning and ceiling-collapsing. It’s one of the few times so far that Rand has actually cut loose with the One Power, and I like it when we get to actually see (rather than just hear about) the enormity of Rand’s strength as a channeler. But this casual exercise of extreme power is not without a cost. Rand does a 360 no-scope lightning hit. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: We've observed a couple of times that Rand and Egwene in the books had long since given up on romantic involvement by this point in the story, and here we see why the show held back on that—this confrontation is more exciting than a quiet drift, and it puts a cap on several "Rand is not the simple lad you once knew" moments sprinkled throughout the episode. And, yes, one of them is Rand's inadvertent (if sadly predictable) killing of an Aiel girl he had forged a bond with, and his desperate, fruitless, unsavory attempt to force her back to life. Rand is simultaneously coming to grips with his destiny and with the extent to which he has no idea what he is doing, and both things are already causing pain to the people around him. And as you and I both know, book-Rand has counterproductive and harmful reactions to hurting people he cares about. The attack here is partly an invention of the show and partly a synthesis of a few different book events, but Forsaken coming at Rand directly like this is generally not a thing that happens much. They usually prefer to take up positions of power in the world's various kingdoms and only fight when cornered. All of this is to say, I doubt this is the last we see of Sammael or his Thor-looking One Power hammer, but the show is more than willing to go its own way when it wants to. Lee: Yeah, Rand doing saidin-CPR on Rhuarc’s poor little too-cute-not-to-be-inevitably-killed granddaughter is disturbing as hell—and as you say, it’s terrifying not just because Rand is forcing a corpse to breathe with dark magic, but also because of the place Rand seems to go in his head when he’s doing it. It’s been an oft-repeated axiom that male channelers inevitably go mad—is this it? (Fortunately, no—not yet, at least. Or is it? No! Maybe.) We close the episode out on the place where I think we’re going to probably be spending a lot of time very soon (especially based on the title of next week’s episode, which I won’t spoil but which anyone can look up if they wish): back at the Two Rivers, with the power-trio of Bain and Chiad and Faile scouting out the old Waygate just outside of town, and watching Trollocs swarm out of it. This is not a great sign for Perrin and friends. So we’ve got two episodes left, all of our chess pieces seem to have been set down more or less into the right places for a couple of major climactic events. I think we’re going out with a bang—or with a couple of them. What are you thinking as we jump into the final couple of episodes? Alsera fell victim to one of the classic child character blunders: being too precociously adorable to live. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: I am going to reiterate our annual complaint that 10-episode seasons would be better for this show's storytelling than the 8-episode seasons we're getting, but because the show's pace is always so breathless and leaves room for just a few weird character-illuminating diversions like "The Hills of Tanchico," or quiet heart-to-hearts like we get between Rand and Moiraine, or between Perrin and Faile. The show's good enough at these that I wish we had time to pump the brakes more often. But I will say, if we end up roughly where book 4 does, the show doesn't feel as rushed as the first two seasons did. Not that its pacing has settled down at all—you and I benefit immensely from being book readers, and always being rooted in some sense of what is happening and who the characters are that the show can't always convey with perfect clarity. But I am thinking about what still needs to happen, and how much time there is left, and thinking "yeah, they're going to be able to get there" instead of "how the hell are they going to get there??" How are you feeling? Is season 3 hitting for you like it is for me? I know I'm searching around every week to see if there's been a renewal announcement for season 4 (not yet). Lee: I think it’s the best season so far, and any doubts I had during seasons one and two are at this point long gone. I’m all in on this particular turning of the Wheel, and the show finally feels like it's found itself. To not renew it at this point would be criminal. You listening, Bezos? May the Shadow take you if you yank the rug out from under us now! Andrew: Yeah, Jeffrey. I know for a fact you've spent money on worse things than this. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of March): 1,357 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

A trip to the city in the clouds yields a truth that some characters can't handle. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew Cunningham and Lee Hutchinson have spent decades of their lives with Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time books, and they previously brought that knowledge to bear as they recapped each first season episode and second season episode of Amazon's WoT TV series. Now we're back in the saddle for season 3—along with insights, jokes, and the occasional wild theory. These recaps won't cover every element of every episode, but they will contain major spoilers for the show and the book series. We'll do our best to not spoil major future events from the books, but there's always the danger that something might slip out. If you want to stay completely unspoiled and haven't read the books, these recaps aren't for you. New episodes of The Wheel of Time season three will be posted for Amazon Prime subscribers every Thursday. This write-up covers episode four, "The Road to the Spear," which was released on March 20. Lee: Wow. That was an episode right there. Before we get into the recapping, maybe it’s a good idea to emphasize to the folks who haven’t read the books just what a big deal Rand’s visit to Rhuidean is—and why what he saw was so important. At least for me, when I got to this point (which happens in book four and is being transposed forward a bit by the show), this felt like the first time author Robert Jordan was willing to pull the curtain back and actually show us something substantive about what’s really happening. We’ve already gotten a couple of flashbacks to Coruscant The Age of Legends in the show, but my recollection is that in the books, Rand’s trip through the glass columns is the first time we really get to see just how advanced things were before the Breaking of the World. Our heroes approach Rhuidean, the clouded city. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: Yes! If you're a showrunner or writer or performer with any relationship with the source material—and Rafe Lee Judkins certainly knows all of these books cover to cover, because you would need to if you wanted to navigate a show through all the ripple effects emanating outward from the changes he's making—this is probably one of the Big Scenes that you're thinking about adapting from the start. Because yes, it's a big character moment for Rand, but it's also grappling with some of the story's big themes—the relationship between past, present, and future and how inextricably they're all intertwined—and building a world that's even bigger than the handful of cities and kingdoms our characters have passed through so far. So do we think they pulled it off? Do you want to start with the Aiel stuff we get before we head into Rhuidean? Lee: Well, let’s see—we get the sweat tents, and we get Aviendha and Lan having a dance-off over whose weapons are more awesome, and we get our first glimpse at the Shaido Aiel, who will be sticking around as long-term bad guys. We learn that at least one of the Wise Ones, Bair (played by Nukâka Coster-Waldau, real-life spouse of Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) seems to be able to channel. And we also briefly meet aspiring Shaido clan chief Couladin—a name to remember, because this guy will definitely be back. I appreciate that we’re actually spending more time with the Aiel here, allowing us to see a few of them as people rather than as tropey desert-dwellers. And I appreciate that we continue to be mercifully free of Robert Jordan’s kinks. The Shaido Wise One Sevanna, for example, is as bedecked in finery and necklaces as her book counterpart, but unlike the book character, the on-screen version of Sevanna seems to have no problem keeping her bodice from constantly falling down. On the whole, though, the impression the show gives is that being Aiel is hard and the Three-Fold Land sucks. It’s not where I’d want to pop up if I were transported to Randland, that’s for sure. Sevanna's hat is extremely fancy. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: I've always liked what the story is doing with Rhuidean, though. For context, it's a bit like the Accepted test in the White Tower that we see Nynaeve and Egwene take—a big ter'angreal located in the unfinished ruins of a holy city that all Aiel leaders must pass through to prove that they are worthy of leadership. But unlike the Accepted test, which tests your character by throwing you into emotionally fraught hypothetical situations, Rhuidean is about concrete events, what has happened and what may happen. Playing into the series' strict One Power-derived gender binary, men have to face the past to see that their proud and mighty warrior race are actually honorless failed pacifists. Women are made to reckon with every possible permutation of the future, no matter how painful. It's just an interesting thought experiment, given how many historical errors and atrocities have repeated themselves because we cannot directly transfer firsthand memories from generation to generation. How would leaders lead differently if they could see every action that led their people to this point? If they could glimpse the future implications of their current actions? And isn't it nice to imagine some all-powerful, neutral, third-party arbiter whose sole purpose is to keep people who don't deserve to hold power from holding it? Sigh. Anyway, I think the show visualizes all of this effectively, even if the specifics of some of the memories differ. We can get into the specifics of what is shown, if you like, but we get a lot of Rand and Moiraine here, after a couple of episodes where those characters have been backgrounded a bit. Lee: I agree—I was afraid that the show would misstep here, but I think they nailed it. I’ve never had a very concrete vision for what the “forest of glass columns” that Rand must traverse is supposed to look like, but I dig the presentation in the show, and the tying together of Rand’s physical steps with stepping back through time. (I also like the trick of having Josha Stradowski in varying degrees of prosthetics playing Rand’s own ancestors, going all the way back to the Age of Legends.) Your point about leaders perhaps acting differently if forced to face their pasts before assuming leadership is solid, and as we see, some of the Aiel just cannot handle the truth: that for all the ways that honor stratifies their society, they are at their core descended from oath-breakers, offshoots of the “true” pacifist Jenn Aiel who once served the Aes Sedai. Some Aiel, like Couladin’s brother Muradin, are so incapable of accepting that truth that death—along with some self-eyeball-scooping—is the only way forward. The thing that I appreciate is that the portrayal of the past succeeds for me in the same way that it does in the books—it viscerally drives home the magnitude of what was lost and the incomprehensible tragedy of the fall from peaceful utopia to dark-age squalor. The idea of sending out thousands of chora tree cuttings because it’s literally the last thing that can be done is heart-breaking. Sometimes the make-up works, sometimes it feels a little forced. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: "Putting a wig and prosthetics on Josha Stradowski so he can play all of Rand's ancestors" is more successful in some flashbacks than it is in others. He plays an old guy like a young guy playing an old guy, and it's hard to mistake him for anything else. I do like the idea of it a lot, though! But yes, as Rand says to Aviendha once they have both been through the wringer of their respective tests, he now knows enough about the Aiel to know how much he doesn't know. We don't see any of Aviendha's test, though she enters Rhuidean at the same time as Rand and Moiraine. (Rand enters because he is descended from the Aiel, and they all think he's probably the central character in a prophecy; Moiraine goes in mainly because an Aiel Wise One accidentally tells her she'll die if she doesn't.) At this point we have pointedly not been allowed glimpses into Aviendha or Elayne's psyches, which makes me wonder if the show is dancing around telling us about A Certain Polycule or if it plans to downplay that relationship altogether. I feel like the show is too respectful of the major relationships in the books to skip it, but they are playing some cards close to the chest. Lee: Before we push on, I want to emphasize something to show-watchers that may not have been fully explicated: Yes, that was Lanfear in the deepest flashback. She was a researcher at the Collam Daan—that huge floating sphere, which was an enormous university and center for research. In an effort to find a new Power, one that could be used together by all instead of segregated by gender, she and a team of other powerful channelers create what the books call “The Bore”—a hole, drilled through the pattern of reality into the Dark One’s prison. I loved the way this was portrayed on screen—it perfectly matched what I’ve been seeing in my head for all these years, with the sky crinkling up into screaming blackness as the Collam Daan drops to the ground and shatters. Good stuff. Definitely my favorite moment of the episode. What was yours? This is not a good sign. Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: Oh yeah that was super cool and unsettling. As we see from both Moiraine and Aviendha, the women's version of the test isn't the glass columns, but a series of rings. You jump in and spin around like you're a kid at space camp in that zero-g spinny thing. I am sure that it has a name and that you know what the name is. Lee: It's called a multi-axis trainer! And unlike in the books, nobody has to do this naked! Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Andrew: Everything we see of Moiraine's vision is presented in a way that mirrors this spinning—each flip is another possible future, which we get to see just a glimpse of in passing before we flip over to the next thing. Most of the visions are Rand-centric, obviously. Sometimes Moiraine is killing Rand; sometimes she's bowing to him; sometimes things get Spicy between the two of them. But the one thing that comes back over and over again, and the most memorable bit of the episode for me, is a long string of visions where Lanfear kills Moiraine, over and over and over again. Both Moiraine and Rand have been playing footsy with Lanfear this season, imagining that they can use her knowledge and Lews Therin lust to get one over on their enemies. But both Rand and Moiraine have now seen firsthand that Lanfear is not someone you can trust, not even a little. She's vengeful and brutal and as close to directly responsible for the Current State Of The World as it's possible to be (though the flashback we see her in leaves open the possibility that it was accidental, at least at first). What Rand and Moiraine choose to do with this knowledge is an open question, since the show is mostly charting its own path here. Lee: Agreed, that was well done—and was a neat way of using the medium as a part of the storytelling, incorporating the visual metaphor of a wheel forever turning. You’re also right that we’re kind of off the map here with what’s going to happen next. In the books, several other very important things have happened before we make it to Rhuidean, and Rand’s relationship with Moiraine is in a vastly different state, and there are, shall we say, more characters participating. Pulling Rhuidean forward in the story must have been a difficult choice to make, since it’s one of the key events in the series, but having seen it done, I gotta commend the showrunners. It was the right call. Andrew: We wrote about this way back in the first season, but I keep coming back to it. The show's most consequential change was the decision to center Rosamund Pike's Moiraine as a more fully realized main character, where the books spent most of their time centering Rand and the Two Rivers crew and treating Moiraine as an aloof and unknowable cipher. Ultimately an ally, but one who the characters (and to some extent, the readers) usually couldn't fully trust. "Twice and twice shall he be marked." Credit: Prime/Amazon MGM Studios Lee: I feel like we should leave it here—maybe with one final word of praise from me for Rand’s dragon marks, which I thought looked fantastic. And it’s a good thing, too, because he’s going to keep them for the rest of the series. (Though I suspect the wardrobe folks will do everything they can to keep Rand in long sleeves to avoid what is likely at least an hour or two in the make-up chair.) It’s a pensive ending, and everyone who emerges from Rhuidean emerges changed. Rand marches out from the city as the dawn breaks, fulfilling prophecy as he does so, carrying an unconscious Moiraine in his dragon-branded arms. Rand has the look of someone who’s glimpsed a hard road ahead, and we fade out to the credits with a foreboding lack of dialog. What fell things will sunrise—and the next episode—bring?! Credit: WoT Wiki Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of February): 874 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

While services like Netflix or Disney+ give its customers options, pay less and get ads when using the service, or pay more and get no ads, Amazon took a different route. It enabled ads for all Prime Video subscribers. Those who did not want to see ads had to pay for an add-on to remove them again, or cancel their subscription. Now, Amazon is working on bringing new ad formats to Prime Video. The report comes from Broadband TV News, a UK-based magazine. Amazon plans to launch three new formats for viewers in the UK. Some of these are already used in the United States, and there is a good chance that they will come to other regions in the near future. Here are the three new formats: Interactive ads: this advertisement includes an interactive element that allows watchers to add an item shown in the ad to their Amazon shopping basket. Pause ads: whenever the viewer pauses a stream, an ad is shown on the pause screen. Carousel ads: may show different products or features. Users may scroll through them using their remote. Amazon is pushing the integration of its core business with Prime Video to increase margins. Subscribers who do not want these have just a few, legal, options to deal with it. Either pay extra to get rid of advertisement on Amazon Prime or unsubscribe. Clearly, the move is going to drive some subscribers to taking a liking to free options that may not be legal in all regions. Closing Words Amazon is clearly not done yet regarding ads on Prime Video. Subscribers should expect more and different ad formats going forward. It is probably only a matter of time before true interactive ads launch that display adverts for products shown or used in TV shows or movies. Want that watch that James Bond is wearing? It is yours with just a few taps on the remote. With all the product placement going on already, it will be the next logical step. Now You: do you stream media regularly? If so, with or without advertisement? Would new ad formats or the introduction of ads change your stance on streaming media? Feel free to write a comment down below. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of February): 874 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson are sheer perfection as an amnesiac former assassin and PI who foil a terrorist plot. Credit: New Line Cinema Everyone has their favorite film that serves as alternative Christmas movie fare, with Die Hard (1988) and Lethal Weapon (1987) typically topping the list—at least when all you want for Christmas is buddy-cop banter, car chases, shootouts, and glorious explosions. (Massive gratuitous property damage is a given.) I love me some Lethal Weapon but it's high time to give some holiday love to another great action flick set during the Christmas season: The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), starring Geena Davis as an amnesiac school teacher who turns out to have been a government assassin in her former life. (Spoilers below for this nearly 30-year-old film.) At the time, Davis was married to director Renny Harlin, coming off a disastrous showing for their previous collaboration, Cutthroat Island (1995), which remains one of the biggest box office bombs of all time. (It is indeed a pretty bad movie.) But Shane Black's smart, savvy script for The Long Kiss Goodnight seemed like the perfect next project for them; it was promising enough that New Line Cinema bought it for what was then a record $4 million. Davis plays Samantha Caine, a small-town school teacher in Honesdale, PA, who has no memory since washing up on a beach eight years earlier with a head injury. Since then, she's given birth to a daughter, Caitlin (Yvonne Zima) and moved in with a kind-hearted fellow teacher named Hal (Tom Amandes). She's hired various private investigators to find out her true identity, but only the low-rent Mitch Henessey (Samuel L. Jackson) is still on the case. Then Mitch's assistant, Trin (Meloina Kanakaredes), finally finds some useful information—just in time, too, since Sam is attacked at home by a criminal named One-Eyed Jack (Joseph McKenna), who broke out of prison to exact revenge after recognizing Sam during her appearance as Mrs. Claus in the town's annual Christmas parade. This coincides with Sam starting to recover fragments of her memory after a car accident following a holiday party. She'd already thought she might be a chef because of newly emerged expert knife skills. (The moment where she tosses a tomato in the air, skewers it into the wall with a kitchen knife, and nonchalantly says to her shocked partner and child, "Chefs do that," is priceless.) But when she ruthlessly snaps the neck of One-Eyed Jack in her kitchen—pausing afterward to lick blood off her fingers—it's clear that chef doesn't quite cover her unique skill set. A harrowing trip down memory lane Samanthan Caine (Geena Davis) has a quiet life as a small town schoolteacher with partner Hal (Tom Amandes), even if she has amnesia. New Line Cinema "Chefs do that." Sam's memory starts to return after a car accident. New Line Cinema Sam and Mitch (Samuel L. Jackson) make a daring escape. New Line Cinema Charly resurfaces when Sam undergoes "the torture thing." New Line Cinema A quick makeover and Mitch finds himself dealing with assassin Charly. New Line Cinema Mitch and Charly/Sam are up against some pretty steep odds to rescue Caitlin (Yvonne Zima). New Line Cinema Craig Bierko plays the evil mercenary Timothy who has a history with Charly. New Line Cinema Hell hath no fury like a mother whose child has been kidnapped by terrorists. New Line Cinema Mitch and Sam embark on a harrowing road trip to follow up on the newly unearthed clues to her past identity, which leads them to Dr. Nathan Waldman (Brian Cox, in a performance dripping with sardonic grumpiness). She learns her true name is Charlene "Charly" Baltimore, an assassin for the US government—and Waldman should know, since he trained her. Sam's memory—and her Charly persona—returns with a vengeance after she's tortured by a former target named Daedalus (David Morse). (We're not going to quibble the finer points of the actual science behind focal retrograde amnesia. Sam's memory loss is what's known in the industry as a "buy"—a plot point that simply exists without much explanation, in order to tell a better story.) Sam/Charly and Mitch team up against mercenary terrorist Timothy (Craig Bierko) and his corrupt government allies to foil a plot dubbed "Operation Honeymoon"—and rescue Sam's kidnapped daughter in the process. Yes, there are some cheesy elements and the film's action is frequently over-the-top—but not any more so than countless other hugely popular action movies, particularly those from the 1980s and 1990s. It's all that wickedly sharp dialogue, expert pacing, and strong performances from the cast that makes the movie fire on all cylinders. Anchoring it all is the bickering dynamic and powerful bond between Sam/Charly and Mitch. Davis and Jackson have undeniable on-screen chemistry—an essential ingredient for any successful buddy-cop action film—and both are clearly relishing their respective roles. It's a Christmas movie because it takes place at Christmas—plus all those traditional holiday trappings frequently figure into the plot in small, clever ways. (Do be aware it's R-rated if you have young children.) And of course there is a happy ending, although in an early cut, Mitch died saving Sam and her daughter. But during a test screening an audience member hollered, "You can't kill Sam Jackson!" And the studio wisely reconsidered. Instead, Sam retires to the country and makes sure Mitch gets public credit for his role in foiling the plot. This leads to his hilarious appearance on Larry King Live, telling millions of viewers that he's "always frank and earnest with women. In New York I'm Frank, in Chicago I'm Earnest." Okay, so The Long Kiss Goodnight didn't exactly light up the box office when it was released, earning $95.4 million globally against its $65 million budget, despite mostly positive reviews. But it remains one of Davis's favorite roles, right up there with Thelma in Thelma and Louise (1991). (It's still Harlin's favorite of all his films.) Even Jackson told GQ in 2018 that of all the films he's been in, The Long Kiss Goodnight remains his favorite re-watch. Are you really gonna argue with Samuel L. Jackson? Just go add it to your holiday queue already! The Long Kiss Goodnight is currently streaming on Prime Video. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of November): 5,298 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

This year’s Prime Video streaming content was led by adaptations and spinoffs like Fallout and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Amazon’s Prime Video had a bunch of strong releases in 2024, ranging from a surprisingly great video game adaptation to a visually pleasing fantasy spinoff. There’s even an update to the raunchiest superhero show in streaming. It had plenty of other series worth watching, too — even with the pesky commercial breaks Prime Video started showing during shows and movies. Here’s our list of some of the best shows that came out on Prime Video this year. Fallout It’s hard to find a television adaptation of a video game that stays true to the source material, but Prime Video’s Fallout does just that. The first eight episodes take place in the aftermath of a global nuclear disaster, and the show stars Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean, who emerges from Vault 33 — one of the many shelters for survivors — with a mission to track down her kidnapped father. As she traverses the postapocalyptic wasteland, she encounters Brotherhood of Steel squire Maximus (Aaron Moten) and a ghoul bounty hunter (Walton Goggins). Hijinks ensue. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returned for a second season this year, and it’s just as impressive as the first. The series — set thousands of years prior to the events in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings — picks up at a more peaceful time in Middle-earth’s history. The show goes over the origins of the Rings of Power, introducing you to some familiar characters like Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo), along with some new names created for the series. The Boys Prime Video has released a fourth season of The Boys, the brutally bloody series that shows what happens when the world’s most powerful superheroes get out of control. The latest season builds on the story laid out in the first three seasons, which has the non-superpowered Hugh Campbell (Jack Quaid) working with Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and other misfits to expose corruption within The Seven, an elite group of heroes closely managed by a multibillion-dollar corporation. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is sort of like what you’d get if you crossed Futurama with Grey’s Anatomy. Set in the year 14002, this animated comedy series follows two alien surgeons, Dr. Sleech (Stephanie Hsu) and Dr. Klak (Keke Palmer), who deal with a range of strange — and often silly — conditions, while also managing their relationship with each other and their coworkers. You might hear some other recognizable voices throughout the show, as it features appearances from Natasha Lyonne, Maya Rudolph, and singer Sam Smith. Like a Dragon: Yakuza Prime Video has released yet another video game adaptation this year: Like a Dragon: Yakuza. The series is loosely based on the Yakuza game franchise, which is known for its goofy take on Japanese gangster life. However, Prime Video’s Yakuza takes on a more serious tone and features a lot more violence. The six-episode series centers around Kazuma Kiryu’s (Ryoma Takeuchi) evolution as a yakuza member across two timelines: 1995 and 2005. Cross Cross is the latest take on James Patterson’s Alex Cross book series, with Aldis Hodge playing the titular forensic psychologist and detective. At the start of the series, Cross is ready to take a break from police work following the murder of his wife, but a new case involving the death of a Black Lives Matter activist draws him back to the job, where he must unravel a string of murders across Washington, DC. Batman: Caped Crusader If you’re a fan of animated shows and superheroes, you might want to check out Batman: Caped Crusader. The series, made by Batman: The Animated Series producer Bruce Timm, places a young Batman (Hamish Linklater) inside a version of Gotham City that’s inspired by DC’s classic comic books. The series showcases the rampant criminal activity from across the city over the span of 10 episodes, with appearances from well-known villains like Harley Quinn (Jamie Chung) and Harvey Dent (Diedrich Bader). Mr. & Mrs. Smith Mr. & Mrs. Smith offers a twist on the 2005 movie of the same name, following a couple who must pose as a husband and wife despite being complete strangers. While under the guise of “John” (Donald Glover) and “Jane Smith” (Maya Erskine), the duo must carry out a series of missions, all while navigating a fake relationship that starts turning into the real thing. My Lady Jane Just like the novel My Lady Jane, Prime Video’s adaptation offers an alternative look at 16th-century England, in which Lady Jane Grey (Emily Bader) and her husband Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel) were never beheaded and live under the rule of King Edward VI (Jordan Peters). The series, which also features some fantasy elements, was unfortunately canceled after the first season — but it’s still worth a watch if you’re into historical dramas. The Legend of Vox Machina With The Legend of Vox Machina reaching its third season (and with a fourth on the way), now’s a good time to binge-watch the show if you haven’t yet. It’s based on the first campaign played out during the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role, expanding on the story behind the eclectic seven-member group known as Vox Machina as they traverse the world of Exandria. All the voice actors who starred in the original web series, including Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, and others, take on their original roles. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of November): 5,298 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Amazon and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) have struck a deal to bring over 150 channels to Prime Video. PBS local station channels, including the PBS KIDS Channel, will be available from Prime Video's "Watch for Free" section as ad-free offerings. Additionally, Prime Video will also be the home for PBD Distributions' (PBSd) two free ad-supported streaming service (FAST) channels, PBS Drama and PBS Documentaries. These two free channels will be launching on November 26 and will remain exclusive to Prime Video for a brief period. There is also a "pop-up" FAST channel in the pipeline, which will stream select PBS classic shows such as Reading Rainbow. PBS rates this collaboration with Amazon Prime Video as a significant milestone for the company since it comes at a time when two out of three US viewers use the FAST platform. PBS Chief Digital and Marketing Officer Ira Rubenstein said, "It’s part of the PBS commitment to make trusted content available to all households across as many platforms as possible. We thank Amazon for giving PBS Member Stations a new and exciting way to grow their digital footprint while engaging with audiences old and new." Amazon has been working towards expanding its FAST channel service on Prime Video. However, it came at a time just days after Amazon announced the shutdown of its own FAST platform, Freevee. All of Freevee's content is now available on Prime Video. PBS local and national programming will be available via the subscription service PBS Passport, requiring a minimum donation to the local station of $5. The official page also noted that PBS, PBS KIDS, and local station content are also available on PBS.org and pbskids.org along with the PBS app and the PBS KIDS Video app on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and smart TVs from Samsung, Xumo and Vizio. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Amazon's Prime Video today announced a new feature called X-Ray Recaps that uses generative AI to easily recap what you're watching. Instead of wasting time or risking spoilers, the new generative AI feature will help Prime Video users get up to speed and enjoy their favorite shows and movies. Using the power of generative AI models running on Amazon Bedrock, X-Ray Recaps creates brief, easy-to-digest summaries of full seasons of TV shows, single episodes, and even parts of episodes. The summaries are even personalized down to the exact minute of where you are watching. According to Amazon, X-Ray Recaps will offer short textual snippets of key cliffhangers, character-driven plot points, and other details. Adam Gray, vice president of product at Prime Video, said the following regarding X-Ray Recaps: Here's how you can use X-Ray Recaps: Launch X-Ray Recaps from the Prime Video detail page or during playback on the X-Ray experience. In the X-Ray Recaps page, you can select from various types of recaps, including summaries of current episodes, the season so far, or the previous season. For now, the X-Ray Recaps feature is only available on all Amazon MGM Studios Original series like Daisy Jones and the Six, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Wheel of Time, and The Boys. The new X-Ray Recaps beta feature is now available to Fire TV customers in the U.S. starting today. Amazon will add support for additional devices by the end of the year. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Like a Dragon proves that a quality adaptation doesn’t always have to be a faithful one. It was late when I watched the first episode of Amazon Prime Video’s Like a Dragon: Yakuza. I bargained with myself to watch one episode before sleep; three episodes later, I finally went to bed. Let’s get this out of the way: if you’re looking for Like a Dragon to be a faithful representation of the Yakuza video game series, you’re going to be disappointed. But that’s what makes it worth watching. Like a Dragon’s unique approach to storytelling blends two different timelines together, making for a show that works on its own merit, without needing all the trappings of a Yakuza video game. Like a Dragon is Amazon’s second bite at the video game adaptation apple after the surprising success of its Fallout show. It stars Ryoma Takeuchi as Kazuma Kiryu, an orphaned youth who joins the Tojo yakuza clan with dreams of earning the title of Dragon of Dojima. Like a Dragon’s story is loosely based on the events of the first two Yakuza games and is told across two concurrently running timelines in 1995 and 2005. Each of the series’ six episodes jumps between the two time periods, chronicling Kiryu’s rise and fall as a yakuza member, the shattering of his chosen family, and how those pieces are violently smashed back together 10 years later. Kiryu (far left) and the members of his chosen family. Image: Amazon MGM Studios What initially shocked me most about Like a Dragon and what most cleanly separates it from its source material is all the violence. I’m aware of the irony: this is a mob show; people tend to get hurt in those. But the Yakuza series has always been deliberate in how it depicts violence. Guns are rare and murder is rarer, but Like a Dragon has both in abundance. The games also depict their fair share of blood, but those are typically in street brawls fought with fists and the occasional traffic cone. There was one murder in the show, of a civilian no less, so shocking in its casual execution that it actually made me queasy. All the time skipping is the most interesting element of the show and the reason I don’t mind that it bears little resemblance to the games. In 1995, Kiryu was surrounded by the love of his chosen family and the respect of his yakuza brothers. By 2005, all of that had rotted away into distant animosity, and it was fun watching how the show reconciled it all. Rather than simply tell the story chronologically, Like a Dragon intentionally created gaps in understanding with one timeline and then filled them in with the other. In 1995, Kiryu has two father figures: the ex-yakuza who raised him in an orphanage and his clan leader. In 2005, both men are absent, and Kiryu has since been branded as an oyagoroshi — or “father killer.” The back and forth created a thrilling tension, compelling me to work alongside the show to piece the plot together like it was a mystery in addition to its basic gangster plot of revenge and betrayal. And I was pleasantly surprised by the resolution. Since Like a Dragon’s violence feels antithetical to the spirit of the source material, I’m glad that the show didn’t also try to incorporate the series’ wackier elements. Yakuza is a video game and is therefore not subject to the mundanities of realism. Kiryu fighting grown men in diapers — a regular occurrence in the games — works because you, the player, are in on the joke and are participating in its telling. The show’s set and styling are the most like the Yakuza games rather than the story itself. Image: Amazon MGM Studio But while Yakuza’s heartfelt story of redemption and its aesthetics as a Japanese gangster thriller translated well to TV, its over-the-top goofiness doesn’t. The story can’t bear that level of irreverence because there’s no player driving the action. Cutting from a moment of extreme violence to Kiryu at the Kamurocho batting cages, while a totally authentic representation of the games, would have created a tonal whiplash that would have taken even the most diehard Yakuza fan out of the show. But dispensing with comedy in exchange for drama does mean the show gets a bit tedious in its later episodes. Paramount’s Halo series also bears no resemblance to its source material, but it was interesting as hell (and canceled far too soon) because it was willing to use familiar characters in totally new narratives. Like a Dragon adds some new characters and remixes familiar story elements, but it’s basically the same story I’ve experienced before in the games. A lot of video game adaptations fail because they seem to operate from the premise that being just like the game is entertainment enough. The story gets twisted to fit all the little details that’ll make a fan sit up and say, “I get that reference,” leading to a boring, annoying mess, like when Doom shoehorned in that nausea-inducing first-person sequence. But Like a Dragon works precisely because it didn’t go for being a straight-up recreation of the games. It probably won’t do for Yakuza what Fallout did for… well, Fallout. But Like a Dragon is made better because it puts being good TV first over being a faithful adaptation. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of September): 4,292 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Season 2 of Amazon's popular Fallout TV show is slated to start filming next month. Lucy and Hank MacLean in Season 1 of the Fallout TV show. (Image credit: Prime Video) What you need to know Just over six months since the first season of Amazon's Fallout TV show debuted in April, one of its stars has confirmed that Season 2 will begin filming soon. Specifically, actress Leslie Uggams recently stated in an interview that the second season is scheduled to start filming in November. Leslie Uggams plays Betty Pearson, one of Season 1's most prominent characters who temporarily serves as Vault 33's Overseer. Though outwardly kind, viewers eventually learn there's a dark side to her backstory, and it seemingly lines up with Uggams' comment that "Betty's got some things up her sleeve" for the second season. Since Season 1 came out two years after filming for it started, it's reasonable to guess Season 2 will come out in late 2026. However, early 2026 or even late 2025 are plausible given that many of the costumes, props, and sets made for the first season can presumably be reused. Six months after the explosive debut of the first season of the Fallout TV show that's based on the acclaimed RPG series, we finally know when Season 2 will begin filming — and according to the actress behind one of its major characters, it's happening soon. The news comes from a new Screen Rant report, in which the publication noted that during a New York Comic Con interview about the recently released film Deadpool & Wolverine, actress Leslie Uggams briefly discussed Amazon's Fallout show. In addition to talking about the quality of the series itself and her role as Betty Pearson, Uggams also directly confirmed that filming is scheduled to begin next month. "That is an amazing, amazing show. I am with the Vault People, so I didn't get to see what the Earth people were doing. So when it came on, I was blown away. But Betty's got some things up her sleeve. Just stay tuned," Uggams said, hinting that her character is hiding something or has secret plans that could have a major impact on the events of Season 2. "We start November. I'm excited about it," she added. Leslie Uggams as Betty Pearson in the Fallout TV show. (Image credit: Prime Video) Betty Pearson — a former Overseer of Vault 33 that takes office once again during the events of Season 1 — is one of the show's more enigmatic characters, and arguably one of its best outside of the main cast of Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), and Maximus (Aaron Moten). I won't spoil anything specific here, but when Lucy's brother Norm MacLean (Moisés Arias) starts investigating Vault 33 and its neighboring Vaults, he learns something significant about her, and she has some eyebrow-raising reactions to some of his comments that suggest there's more to her pleasant demeanor than she lets on. It's no surprise, then, that she likely has an ace in the hole or a scheme she's working to carry out. What is surprising, though, is that Fallout Season 2 is already about to start filming even though it's only been just over half a year since the show's April 10 premiere. That means the second season's script and pre-production work was completed in that time, which is a pretty quick turnaround. Shoots for Season 1 began two years before its debut in July 2022, so if Season 2 follows a similar schedule, it may not come out until around fall 2026. With that said, an earlier release date is entirely possible, especially since the show's production staff now have experience working on it and can presumably reuse many of the costumes, props, and sets from the first season. Many applauded the showrunners' decision to largely use practical assets instead of tons of computer-generated imagery (CGI), and that choice may help accelerate production moving forward. Maximus in his Brotherhood of Steel power armor in the Fallout show. (Image credit: Prime Video) Of course, Season 2 will undoubtedly require the creation of plenty of new set pieces too, so between the time needed for that and the filming and editing process itself, it's clear that the next act of this new Fallout story is still quite a ways off. I'd say early 2026 is a pretty reasonable guess, but we may see Amazon and Bethesda push for a late 2025 release, too. After all, the show won two Emmy Awards and reached over 100 million viewers on Prime Video earlier this month. As for the content of Season 2, it's been all but confirmed that at least part of the story will move to the Mojave Wasteland and the city of New Vegas, both of which were the setting of the beloved 2010 title Fallout: New Vegas. The show — set 15 years after New Vegas' events — will follow up on "one of the myriad canon endings" of the game, as well as Season 1's many different cliffhangers. Something worth noting is that all of the Fallout games are available to play on Microsoft's gaming subscription service Xbox Game Pass, with the PC-only Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics exclusively available on PC Game Pass (Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes access to every Fallout game available on both Xbox and PC). Many of them are some of the best Xbox games and best PC games I've ever played, and even the ones I don't love like Fallout 76 are still at least worth checking out. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of September): 4,292 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Although the recent movie adaptation of the Borderlands video game series was a critical and box office dud, we have seen an overall quality boost in movie and TV show adaptations of video game properties, such as The Last of Us, Fallout, and more. Today, there's word that Amazon Prime Video is launching a new adult animated anthology series that will feature a number of video game adaptations. Deadline reports, via unnamed sources, that the show is called Secret Level and that Blur Studio is creating it. This is the same studio that was in charge of Netflix's acclaimed animated anthology series Love, Death & Robots. That show, which adapted acclaimed sci-fi short stories, currently has three seasons, with a fourth season in the works. Officially, Amazon Prime Video has no comment on the Deadline story. The report says that one of the games that could be adapted into an episode of Secret Level is Amazon Games's own PC MMO title, New World, which is getting close to launching its console versions for the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles. The show is also working on adapting the acclaimed indie game Spelunky, according to the article, along with some unnamed Sony PlayStation titles. Tim Miller, the co-founder of Blur Studio, is reportedly also the creator of Secret Level. Blur Studio has previously created CGI cut scenes and trailers for many video games, including both Halo Wars games, all three of the recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games, and more. Most recently, Blur made the trailer for the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day game. Ironically, Lionsgate also hired Miller to direct reshoots for the Borderlands movie adaptation. However, he was not credited with the reshoots. Deadline claims Amazon might officially reveal Secret Level next week as part of the Gamescom event in Cologne. . Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

Today, Amazon announced that the Apple TV+ service is coming to Prime Video in the US. It will be available as an add-on subscription for $9.99 per month. Apple TV+ will provide access to several popular shows, including Severance, The Morning Show, Shrinking, Hijack, Loot, and Palm Royale, and also hit films such as Wolfwalkers, The Instigators, and more, plus Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball sporting events. Apple TV+ will be available later this month on Prime Video, and Prime members can subscribe to it with no extra apps using their existing Prime Video billing. Users can also cancel the subscription at any time. Similar to Apple TV+, Prime Video already has more than 100 add-on subscription options in the US, through which users can enjoy a wide variety of content across devices using the Prime Video app. Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President and Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said: Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, said: Apple TV+ content is known for its high production value. Despite having a relatively small amount of original content, to date, Apple Original films, documentaries, and series have earned 516 wins and 2,308 award nominations. For example, their Ted Lasso show won multiple Emmy awards, and CODA won the Oscar for Best Picture. Source: Amazon Source RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of September): 4,292 news posts

Have you ever found it difficult to understand what was said in a movie scene? If so, you may appreciate a new feature that has been added to Amazon Prime Video, it's called Dialogue Boost. The streaming service already offers subtitles in different languages to help viewers watch shows even if the original version was not available in their language. It also offers audio tracks in other languages. As the name of the new feature so obviously suggests, Dialogue Boost will assist users to hear the speech in movies and TV shows. The feature is available for some Amazon Originals. So, how does it work? It does not amplify the overall volume. Amazon's announcement says that Dialogue Boost reduces the background music and effects, and raises the volume of dialogues to make the speech clearer to listen. The company says that the feature is powered by AI. Dialogue Boost analyzes the audio in a movie or show to detect which parts may contain dialogues that is not audible because of excessive noise in the background. The AI then isolates the speech part from the rest of the audio, and enhances the spoken dialogue. Amazon has not earmarked Dialogue Boost as an accessibility feature, it's not just for people who are hard of hearing, it can be helpful for anyone. Dialogue Boost is not available in all shows and movies. Amazon says that it is currently supported on some of its Originals such as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Harlem, The Big Sick, Beautiful Boy, and Being the Ricardos. The company says it will bring the feature to more titles this year. How to check whether an Amazon Prime Video supports Dialogue Boost 1. Click on a TV show or Movie's card on Amazon Prime. 2. Switch to the Details tab on the media's description page. 3. The "Audio Languages" selection will list Dialogue Boost among the options. How to enable Dialogue Boost on an Amazon Prime Video 1. Load a video that supports the feature. 2. Click on the subtitles button, and select Dialogue Boost under Audio. 3. There are two levels for Dialogue Boost: Medium, and High. Select the audio track that you prefer. Play the video normally, and you may notice a difference in scenes that were inaudible. So, can we use subtitles with it? Yes, the new option only changes the audio track, the subtitle settings are unaffected by it. This is a good thing, because some people may want to view captions on the screen, even with the enhanced audio track. Dialogue Boost is supported on all devices where Prime Video is available, i.e. TVs, Mobile phones, laptops, PCs. It is not a US exclusive feature, as I was able to access it in India. However, the option was not available in the shows that Amazon had mentioned. I checked a dozen shows and movies, but only found the Dialogue Boost option for Carnival Row and Reacher. It could be because the company may not have processed the videos with its AI yet, so we may have to wait a while for it to roll out to other movies and series. Dialogue Boost only seems to be available in English for now, that's understandable as the feature isn't even available for most videos. Have you tried the feature? Amazon Prime Video introduces Dialogue Boost to help users hear spoken lines easily

Lots of TV shows and movies love to play loud music during or around what seems to be very quiet dialogue. This can ruin the whole experience as you miss what the characters are saying. Prime Video is addressing this serious issue with the introduction of Dialogue Boost. This feature lets you self-select the dialogue volume levels to suit your needs. Amazon is touting this feature as an accessibility feature, but honestly, just about anyone can be affected by low dialogue volumes, not only those who are hard of hearing. The Dialogue Boost feature is initially coming to Amazon Originals but will come to other titles this year. To deliver this feature, Amazon uses artificial intelligence to work out which parts of the dialogue may be ruined by background music and effects. It then isolates the speech patterns and enhances the audio to make the dialogue clearer. "At Prime Video, we are committed to building an inclusive, equitable, and enjoyable streaming experience for all our customers,” said Raf Soltanovich, VP of Technology at Prime Video and Amazon Studios. “Our library of captioned and audio-described content continues to grow, and by leveraging our technological capabilities to create industry-first innovations like Dialogue Boost, we are taking another step to create a more accessible streaming experience.” You can access Dialogue Boost during playback. Just head to the audio and subtitles drop-down menu and choose either “English Dialogue Boost: Medium” or “English Dialogue Boost: High” depending on your needs. Amazon Prime Video adds killer feature that fixes a major gripe

Plus a bonus behind-the-scenes featurette catching us up on all the characters. Charlie Vicker's Sauron is front and center in the teaser for S2 of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Amazon's Prime Video made a major investment in The Rings of Power when it acquired the rights to the source material from the Tolkien estate, even committing to multiple seasons upfront. The casting was strong and the visuals were quite spectacular (including the opening credits). But while the first season had its moments, personally I found it a bit plodding, often more concerned with establishing this rich fictional world and the characters within it than moving the story forward. Showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay have said that this was deliberate. They wanted to avoid a "villain-centric" story in S1 but promised they would be delving more deeply into "the lore and the stories people have been waiting to hear." That would be the rise of Sauron (Charlie Vickers), the forging of the titular rings of power, and the last alliance between elves and men to defeat Sauron's evil machinations. Judging by the teaser that dropped today, we'll be getting lots more action in S2, with the shape-shifting Sauron now handily disguised as an elf. Bonus: There's an accompanying behind-the-scenes preview of the second season. (Spoilers for the S1 finale below.) Pretty much everyone guessed long before the S1 finale's reveal that Halbrand (Vickers), king of the Southlands, was really Sauron in disguise. Fans even dubbed him "Hot Sauron." He took advantage of the fact that the elvish light of Valar was fading, putting the race of elves in danger of extinction unless they returned to Valinor to preserve their immortality. The discovery of the precious ore mithril gave the elves another option championed by Elrond (Robert Aramayo), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), and the elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). But there was only a little mithril available since King Durin III (Peter Mullan) refused any further mining. Unfortunately, Galadriel unwittingly brought Halbrand into the fray, and he suggested bonding the mithril with another metal, claiming it would amplify the mithril's power—when the opposite was true. The season ended with the forging of the three elven rings out of an alloy of mithril and the gold and silver of Valinor: Narya (the Ring of Fire), to be worn by Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker); Nenya (the Ring of Water), to be worn by Galadriel; and Vilya (the Ring of Air), to be worn by Elrond. Sauron fled before that forging when his true identity was discovered, but Adar (Joseph Mawle in S1, Sam Hazeldine in S2), future father of the orcs, had already brought about the explosion of Mount Doom to create Mordor. So the initial phases of Sauron's master plan are now in place. Sauron (Charlie Vickers) is now disguised as an elf. Prime Video Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) is ready for the fight. Prime VIdeo The three elven rings of power were forged in the S1 finale. Prime VIdeo Could this be yet another ring of power? Prime VIdeo The father of orcs, Adar, is now played by Sam Hazeldine Prime VIdeo Adar successfully blew up Mount Doom to form Mordor. Prime VIdeo Ooh, could that be the beginnings of Barad-dûr? Prime VIdeo S2 will explore the consequences of Galadriel's actions in the finale. We also know that the Harfoot Nori and The Stranger will travel to the land of Rhûn in the East of Middle-earth, a new setting for the series, and apparently there will be a "massive" two-episode battle. And is that a shot of "Hot Elf Sauron" creating Barad-dûr toward the teaser's end? Per the official premise: The second season of The Rings of Power premieres on Prime Video on August 29, 2024. Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power: A look inside Season 2. Listing image by Prime Video Source

The show is called Noir, and it doesn’t currently have a premiere date. Nicolas Cage is ready to don the Spider-Man Noir suit again — only this time, in live-action. Amazon has confirmed that Cage will be reprising the role that he previously voiced in the animated film Into the Spider-Verse. The new series, which was first reported last year, is simply called Noir and, according to Amazon, “tells the story of an aging and down on his luck private investigator (Cage) in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero.” Oren Uziel (22 Jump Street) and Steve Lightfoot (The Punisher on Netflix) will serve as co-showrunners, while Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal, who worked on the Spider-Verse films, will be executive producers. Noir doesn’t currently have a premiere date, but Amazon says it will premiere domestically on MGM Plus’ linear channel, before streaming on Prime Video afterward. It’s also not the only Spidey spinoff in the works at Amazon, joining Silk: Spider Society from showrunner Angela Kang (The Walking Dead). Source

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is looking into multiple methods of increasing its revenue from advertisement across the business, and that includes Prime Video, which could have its tiering system changed to introduce an ad-supported tier. Given Amazon's prominent position in the digital advertisement space sitting third behind Google and Meta in terms of revenue in the United States, advertisers are keen for Amazon to make this move. This would follow in the footsteps of Netflix bringing in an ad-supported tier at a lower price point than the standard subscription Advertisers are most interested in having access to premium films and programs on the service, which have until now remained mostly ad-free. With the amount of interest that these shows and films can generate, being able to have advertisements on them would potentially be very profitable for the advertisers and by extension, Amazon. At the moment, Prime Video is available with the standard Amazon Prime membership or as an $8.99 a month standalone. subscription. It does have some ad-supported coverage already with some of its live sports coverage and product placement within shows on the platform, as well as content from Freevee which is Amazon's free ad-supported video service. One of the routes that Amazon is said to be considering is introducing the ads into the existing tier of Prime Video membership, and offering a higher tier which would then include the benefit of being ad-free, which would follow a similar path to Amazon Music where it gave Prime members more songs but removed the ability to get most of them on demand. Amazon is very keen to expand its content library on Prime Video to compete with the large array of competitors in the space now, through bidding for rights for NFL games and having more original shows. This would be one way that it could pay for the cost of bringing more content to the service. Source: WSJ Amazon Prime Video is reportedly working on an ad supported tier

Amazon is adding three types of shoppable ads to Prime Video's ad tier. A scene from the Prime Video original series Fallout. Prime Video/YouTube Amazon Prime Video subscribers will see new types of advertisements this broadcast year. Amazon announced today that it's adding new ad formats to its video streaming service, hoping to encourage people to interact with the ads and shop on Amazon. In January, Prime Video streams included commercials unless subscribers paid $3 extra per month. That has meant that watching stuff on Prime Video ad-free costs $12 per month or, if you're also a Prime subscriber, $18 per month. New types of Prime Video ads Amazon has heightened focus on streaming ads this year. Those who opted for Prime Video with commercials will soon see shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause ads, and interactive brand trivia ads, as Amazon calls them. Amazon said that advertisers could buy these new displays to be shown "across the vast majority of content on Prime Video, wherever it’s streamed." All the new ad formats allow a viewer to place advertised products in their Amazon cart. With carousel ads, subscribers will be pushed to shop "a sliding lineup of" products during ad breaks during shows and movies, Amazon said, adding: "The ad automatically pauses so that customers can browse, and automatically resumes play when ad interaction has stopped." The pause ads will be visible during Prime Video TV shows, movies, and live sports. These types of ads have been around since Hulu introduced them in 2019. Since they can show up whenever someone hits the pause button, these displays mean that Prime Video users will see ads beyond their scheduled breaks. In Prime Video's case, pausing the program will bring up "a translucent ad featuring brand messaging and imagery, along with an 'Add to Cart' and 'Learn More'" overlay, per Amazon. Advertisers can also use pause ads to acquire voluntary viewers' email addresses (so viewers can "get more information," per Amazon). Amazon trivia-themed ads will also appear during shows, movies, and live sports. The ad will try to sell stuff by offering "rewards like Amazon shopping credits." Amazon’s ad business is growing Amazon is already one of the three biggest digital advertising firms (in addition to Alphabet and Meta). But its interest in using its streaming service to sell ad space has grown as ad dollars continue shifting away from linear, traditional TV platforms. The streaming industry has been trying to capitalize on advertisers' growing interest with new ad types that users can shop from. Amazon research from 2023 claims that interactive ads increase product page views and conversions for products sold on Amazon tenfold. On the other hand, Amazon has not released research publicly on how much constant ad viewing can impact the user experience or interest in a streaming service. Still, Amazon claimed today that Prime Video ads reach an average of 200 million people monthly. Although, Amazon hasn't provided a firm figure on how many Prime Video subscribers it currently has overall. In 2021, Amazon said that Prime, which includes Prime Video, had 200 million subscribers. Amazon has, however, boasted about how well it is selling ads recently. In its Q1 2024 earnings report released on April 30, Amazon said its ad business grew 24 percent year over year. Most of Amazon's ad dollars come from its retail business, as The Hollywood Reporter noted, but in a statement at the time, Amazon CEO and president Andy Jassy noted that Prime Video was also a contributor. According to a Hub Media Entertainment survey from January to March 2024, 6,338 US TV viewers between 16 to 74 years old watched at least one hour of TV per week, and 85 percent of Prime Video subscribers in the survey are on Amazon's ad tier. (Amazon hasn't confirmed those figures.) The Hub Entertainment Media survey claims that Amazon has a higher ad-based to ad-free ratio of subscribers than all other video streaming services examined, including Netflix, Max, and Hulu. But it's worth noting that Amazon automatically moved all Prime Video subscribers to its ad tier in January, while others, like Netflix, introduced ad tiers as a new option to sign up for. A fine line Like all streamers, Amazon is toeing a fine line between using ads to boost the average revenue it makes per user and aggravating subscribers to the point of cancellation. Amazon is already facing a lawsuit regarding ads on Prime Video that seeks class-action certification and was filed by people who purchased annual subscriptions. Source

We are just over a month away from the launch of the first of what will hopefully be many seasons of the Fallout live-action TV show. Today, Amazon Prime Video dropped a new trailer for the series. We also got word of some new merchandise based on the show as well. The new trailer offers up over three minutes of footage from the show, which is of course based on the Fallout RPG games that started at Interplay and was later continued by Bethesda Game Studios. The show does not directly adapt any of the stories of the games but instead tells a new story that takes place in that same universe, as a Vault dweller comes out from underground to see the ruins of a post-nuclear war Los Angeles. Amazon Prime Video also confirmed that all eight episodes of Fallout Season 1 will drop on the same day, April 11. In related news, Gunnar Optiks has just announced new eyeglasses, the Fallout Vault 33. Its press release states: In addition to the Fallout Vault 33 logo placed on the hinges, the glasses also come with a cool-looking travel case, along with a microfiber pouch and cleaning cloth, all with Fallout and Vault-Tec logos. The glasses are priced at $99. You can pre-order them now at Amazon with lenses in Amber and blue Sun Tint colors, along with a model with clear lenses. They will begin shipping on April 3, just eight days before the launch of the first Fallout TV season. Microsoft recently announced new Fallout-based Xbox Wireless Controllers that are now available in the Xbox Design Lab store starting at $84.98. Also, the Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology Edition is available for preorder, with codes for the first seven games in the series for the PC placed inside a mini-nuke casing. It will ship on April 11. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Source

Today is "Fallout Day" because in the post-apocalypse RPG game franchise, October 23 is when the first nuclear weapons started falling. Today, Amazon Prime Video used that date to reveal when the first season of the long-awaited Fallout TV show will begin streaming. According to the TV show's official X (formerly Twitter) account, the show will begin streaming on April 12, 2024. The reveal was made with animation that resembled the green tint of the Pip Boy devices that are used in the Fallout games, along with the Vault Boy mascot. Deadline reports that the Fallout TV show will feature an original story set in the same universe as the games. The main setting will be Los Angelesm although we are hoping for a side trip to New Vegas. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, best known for their work on the HBO adaptation of Westworld, are the executive producers of the Fallout series and Nolan will also direct the show's first three episodes. Some of the cast members in the series will include Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Emerson. Last August at Gamescom, during its long presentation of Starfield, the team at Bethesda Softworks showed off a very brief teaser trailer of the Fallout TV show. It was supposed to just be for Gamescom attendees, but naturally, some people managed to film it and posted the clip on YouTube. The clip definitely showed some imagery that will be familiar to fans of the game series like the Brotherhood of Steel, the massive gear-like Vault Door opening, and some retro-future devices. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long before a proper trailer for the show is launched, perhaps at The Game Awards in early December. Source

Almost two years after its third season ended, The Boys is ready to go again. When we last left The Boys, Homelander’s (Anthony Starr) political dabbling was humming along and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) had a terminal illness. Two years and a new spin-off later, Homelander’s supercharging of a presidential campaign continues to be a dark mirror of the US political climate and Butcher looks to desperately reckon with his diagnosis. The official trailer sees Butcher considering something very much like the X-Men legacy virus — a biological solution that can kill the series’ supes. There’s plenty of carnage, some teeing up of weighty, consequential moments, someone’s skull apparently spewing bubbles when cleaved with a hatchet, a Butcher standoff with Black Noir, and even a chicken chest-burster. The next season of The Boys debuts on June 13th on Amazon Prime Video. Besides Urban and Starr, returning actors include Jack Quaid, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, and Karen Fukuhara. New to the show are Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who, in my headcanon, will be reprising his Watchmen role as The Comedian). Source

"Things start to fall apart when you stop caring. And I stopped caring a long time ago." Sylvester Stallone stars as an aging superhero long believed to be dead, in Samaritan. Action legend Sylvester Stallone has dabbled in the superhero genre before, most notably as Judge Dredd (1995), the Ravager Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. (2017), and the voice of King Shark in The Suicide Squad (2021). (He's reprising his Ravager role for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.) With his new film Samaritan, Stallone gets to play an aging superhero living anonymously as a garbage man, tormented by his past. Judging by the official trailer, it's the perfect role for the 73-year-old action star, combining all the best elements of his long, illustrious career. Samaritan is the brainchild of screenwriter Bragi Schut, best known for Escape Room (2019) and 2011's Season of the Witch. He first penned a spec script for the film about 10 years ago. But spec scripts can meander through the Hollywood studio ecosystem for years before even being optioned, never mind going into development. So in the meantime, Schut adapted his screenplay into a series of graphic novels for Mythos Comics—the opposite of the usual process these days, with studios competing for recognizable IP to adapt into blockbuster films. First published in 2014, the comic book version upends the genre's typical setting of a superhero arriving at a crime-ridden cesspool of a city to take on the bad guys and clean things up. This version depicts the gradual degradation of fictional city of Acropolis after its superhero, Samaritan, is presumably killed in battle against the aptly named superhuman Nemesis inside a burning warehouse. (Nemesis is also killed). The story is told from the viewpoint of a young boy named Sam, a kid who loves to draw and daydream as his single mom works to save enough money for them to move somewhere less dangerous. Sam is the kind of kid who gets bullied a lot. He's also curious and soon begins to suspect that the aging garbage man who lives across the street might be more than he seems—i.e., he might be Samaritan, alive and living a life of anonymous retirement. Sylvester Stallone is perfectly cast as an aging superhero enjoying his anonymous retirement. YouTube/Prime Video Young Sam (Javon Walton) figures out that "Joe Smith" is really the Samaritan, long presumed dead. YouTube/Prime Video Samaritan bears the scars of his fiery near-death. YouTube/Prime Video His old helmet is battered and rusting. YouTube/Prime Video Every movie needs a wall of conspiracy. YouTube/Prime Video Pilou Asbaek plays crime lord Cyrus. YouTube/Prime Video MGM finally acquired Schut's spec script in 2019 and hired Julius Avery to direct. Filming was interrupted by the pandemic, which also delayed the film's release date several times. When Amazon Studios acquired MGM earlier this year, it decided to release the film on its Prime Video streaming platform. Given that Samaritan began as a script and was adapted into a graphic novel, many of the latter's story elements have been preserved for the film. Per the official premise: Thirteen-year-old Sam Cleary (Javon “Wanna” Walton) suspects that his mysterious and reclusive neighbor Mr. Smith (Stallone) is actually a legend hiding in plain sight. Twenty-five years ago, Granite City’s super powered vigilante, Samaritan, was reported dead after a fiery warehouse battle with his rival, Nemesis. Most believe Samaritan perished in the fire, but some in the city, like Sam, have hope that he is still alive. With crime on the rise and the city on the brink of chaos, Sam makes it his mission to coax his neighbor out of hiding to save the city from ruin. In addition to Stallone and Walton, the cast includes Pilou Asbaek (best known as Euron Greyjoy from Game of Thrones) as Cyrus; Dascha Polanco as Isabelle; Martin Starr as Arthur; Moises Arias as Reza Smith; and Deacon Randle as The Fireman. The trailer opens with garbageman Joe Smith collecting bits of junk on his rounds—just something to keep him busy. We see him watching the nightly news (with its litany of crime and violence) while eating a bowl of cereal, as the newscaster predicts the city will soon implode. But then Joe sees Sam being chased into an alley by bullies and comes to his rescue, revealing his super strength in the process. And Sam realizes he's found Samaritan, who's still alive 25 years after being presumed dead. Nobody believes Sam, of course, and even Joe denies it at first. But eventually, the two become an unlikely pair. Joe admits he's not as strong as he once was: "Things start to fall apart when you stop caring. And I stopped caring a long time ago." Joe runs afoul of Cyrus, who makes it clear to his minions that he wants Joe dead. Joe makes quick work of the would-be assassins. There's plenty of action, but the trailer also teases the mystery of why Samaritan decided to disappear all those years ago in the first place. As someone says in a voiceover, "The things you bury tend to haunt you." Samaritan debuts on August 26, 2022, on Prime Video. Prime Video Listing image by YouTube/Prime Video Sylvester Stallone is a grizzled, disillusioned superhero in Samaritan trailer

Epic prequel series premieres on Amazon Video in September—and Sauron's presence looms. Morfydd Clark is Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Amazon Studios With roughly six weeks to go before its premiere on Amazon Video, the upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel TV series, The Rings of Power, took advantage of a massive San Diego Comic-Con stage to debut its most enticing trailer yet. Based on notes and lore penned by J.R.R. Tolkien, the new TV series will revolve around his series' "Second Age" era—as in, thousands of years before characters like Frodo and Sam existed. This week's trailer begins to truly set the stage of epic battle between the recovered populations of men, dwarves, and elves, and a dreaded evil rising once more from Middle-earth—which goes by "many names" but is clearly personified by Sauron. "Have you heard of Sauron?" An ominous hand appears. "Outlook not so good." A dark vision of what's to come. Before the terror begins, all is well in the Kingdom of Númenor. Ship goes boom. A dark sword emerges. Prince Durin IV appears to figure as this series' dwarf chieftain. Ismael Cruz Córdova is Arondir—and he brings the elvish heat. Also, he resists his orc oppressors. Into battle. The character of Galadriel, previously played by Cate Blanchett but now entrusted to Morfydd Clark (His Dark Materials), is the first in the trailer to see a vision of a newly rising evil, while Prince Durin IV (played by Owain Arthur) is warned directly that Sauron's forces are planning to "bury us all beneath the mountain" (that being Khazad-dûm). We also finally see the new series' previously teased "Stranger" character, played by Daniel Weyman, who accosts Theo, the son of Bronwyn, in a shared prison cell and grimly asks, "Have you heard of Sauron?" Although we don't get a head-on look at a clear villain, a Sauron-like hand is visible in select scenes (including one where many orc-like monsters bow in its wake), while a menacing sword, made of dark dust and fire, generates within Theo's hand in a way that resembles the film series' Morgul-blade. All the while, a previously unseen eye-shaped mark appears throughout the trailer, perhaps signifying the presence of Sauron or an equivalent evil. In addition to a number of zoomed-out, Tolkien-worthy battle sequences shown as mere blips, the trailer also shows more than a few examples of the series' opposed races allying in moments where their combined forces are needed to face a great evil. Galadriel is clearly held up as the series' protagonist throughout the trailer; in its opening beat, she observes a massive stack of expired elven helmets at the end of a massive battle (perhaps from the end of Tolkien's First Age, or earlier in the Second Age), and she additionally draws a sword and swims away from danger. Elvish hero Arondir gets a few key moments in the trailer, as well, to basically fake like your favorite arrow-slinging combatant from the original Peter Jackson trilogy—and indeed, this is a trailer for war and danger, not for the whimsy of the "harfoot" characters who serve as ancestors to the better-known race of hobbits. (To see more of the new series' harfoots, rewind one week to a more solemn teaser trailer.) LOTR: The Rings of Power SDCC trailer In addition to today's trailer, attendees at SDCC were treated to not one but four exclusive clips from the series, each focusing on different protagonists. The dwarvish Prince Durin IV participates in a rock-smashing contest; the series' leading harfoot duo encounter and are nearly caught by a sleeping giant; Arondir manages to defeat a number of orc captors while restrained in chains; and the leading elf duo of Galadriel and Elrond share a solemn conversational moment that, at least in this event's context, could be seen as flirty. These scene-specific trailers may not make their way to YouTube ahead of the series' launch, in which case we will all have to wait to see them until September 2, when the series begins to premiere, one episode per week, exclusively on Amazon Video. Worth noting: our international readers will appreciate Amazon's effort to simultaneously launch the series in "over 240 territories." New trailer makes LoTR: Rings of Power finally look like a Tolkien-worthy epic

New navigation, a top 10 list, and a very familiar look and feel Compared to Netflix, Disney Plus, and other major streaming services, Prime Video has never been the most elegant or intuitive app. Its user experience lacks the polish of those competitors and feels more cobbled together. There are good aspects to what’s there — like the long-standing X-Ray feature that shows cast information and other trivia facts whenever content is paused. But Prime Video hasn’t received a significant overhaul or rethinking in many years. At long last, that changes today. Starting now and continuing over the next couple weeks, Amazon will roll out a new Prime Video experience for Android and connected living room devices, including smart TVs, Fire TV streaming hardware, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, and game consoles. Amazon says the experience has been designed to be “less busy and overwhelming for our customers.” The result, frankly, is something that looks a whole lot like Netflix. And maybe that’s for the best. Every streaming app looks the same now. Images: Amazon / Netflix, GIF: Chris Welch / The Verge Prime Video’s main navigation has been shifted to the left side of the screen and is now a vertical column of icons. Those six main areas are Search, Home, Store, Live TV, Free, and My Stuff. The Home section has sub-sections for movies, TV shows, and sports. And the Store has similar sub-menus for Prime Channels (aka subscriptions), rentals / purchases, and deals. There’s now a Top 10 list on the home screen so you can easily reference what’s popular, and the new Prime Video is much clearer about what entertainment is included with your Prime subscription. These shows and movies are designated with a blue checkmark in the description, whereas content that requires a rental or purchase will have a gold shopping bag icon. That’s cleaner than adding a badge onto every piece of TV show or movie artwork like Amazon was doing before, though it does mean you’ll have to dig into listings a bit to see what’s what. The new Prime Video is meant to feel less cluttered. Image: Amazon It’s easier to tell which content comes with your Amazon Prime subscription. Image: Amazon As you navigate around, you’ll find that many of the carousels retain the same landscape artwork as before. But Prime Video has also introduced what it calls “super carousels,” with portrait, poster-style art that expands into a video preview when you hover over a selection. Again, stop me if you’ve seen this concept elsewhere. The redesign of Prime Video has been an 18-month project. As it’s gotten closer to the finish line, the new experience has been overseen by Ben Smith, who is now Amazon’s VP of product for Prime Video and Prime Studios. Smith is the same executive who led Hulu’s radical redesign in 2017. In hindsight, Hulu tried to reinvent the user interface and pushed too far in a new direction. Customers were quick to voice their grievances, and the company spent many months reining in some of the changes and returning to what was familiar. By comparison, Prime Video’s redesign is deliberate, calculated, and — as the parallels with Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney Plus demonstrate — far less audacious. Amazon did extensive usability testing and user research, finding that people generally took to the changes very quickly. Considering the growing resemblance between all of these apps, that’s not very surprising. Sports get a bigger spotlight in the new Prime Video. Image: Amazon The Live TV section highlights live events from Prime and linear programming from Paramount Plus and other subscriptions. Image: Amazon In some cases, the goal was to better highlight Prime Video’s underutilized perks. The new, dedicated Live TV hub provides a guide that aggregates linear programming from channel subscriptions like AMC Plus and Paramount Plus, plus Prime-exclusive live sporting events and ad-supported content that’s free for everyone. This interface is already available on the web but will likely be used much more widely now that it’s getting so much exposure in the Prime Video app. “In usability testing, we repeatedly heard the phrase, ‘wow, I didn’t even know Prime Video had live TV,’” said product director Helena Cerna during a recent press preview. Prime Video has a new coat of paint and layout, but popular features like multi-user profiles, X-Ray, and Alexa integration are still present. Just as before, you’ll see quite a bit of promoted content, and Amazon is still trying to push subscriptions for third-party content onto customers — just as rumors swirl about HBO potentially returning to the fray. Some annoyances have also stuck around: Prime Video still presents TV seasons in odd ways (episode 0: trailer, anyone?) and can sometimes separate 4K and HD versions of the same movie. Some of these head-scratching organization choices are due to the fact that Amazon still sells a lot of this content, whereas competitors only have to worry about letting you stream it. Prime Channels (subscriptions) are a point of focus in the new experience. Image: Amazon After this initial phase of the rollout, the new Prime Video design will come to iOS and the web in the coming months. However, not all hardware will be able to run the redesigned experience. The PlayStation 3 and third-generation Apple TV from 2012, for example, won’t be updated. In cases where devices don’t get the new version, they’ll stick with what they’ve got currently and will continue to provide access to Prime Video into the future The next several weeks will prove to be a good test for the new Prime experience, with The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power and NFL Thursday Night Football both premiering in September. Amazon plans to continue iterating on the new design based on customer feedback. Amazon is giving Prime Video its biggest redesign in years

It just got way easier and more convenient to remotely watch Amazon Prime Video’s TV shows and movies together with your friends. The service’s “Watch Party” feature has received a much needed expansion from the limited use cases where it worked before — on Fire TV devices, desktop web browsers, and the Prime Video mobile app — and it now supports non-Amazon streaming devices, smart TVs, and Xbox / PlayStation gaming consoles. TechCrunch first reported on the expansion. Watch Party allows for up to 100 people with a Prime subscription to view content at the same time. The host is able to play, pause, skip, and fast forward or rewind for the group, and everyone can chat about what they’re watching. For now, Amazon’s Watch Party feature remains available only in the US. “An error message is displayed if you are using a VPN,” Amazon notes in its FAQ. Everyone shares access to content that’s free to stream with a Prime subscription. But if you want to watch a movie that can only be rented, everyone must do so individually. Watch Party isn’t compatible with live events (like Thursday Night Football), Amazon Prime Video Channels, or Freevee (formerly known as IMDBtv). While many of these group viewing experiences popped up amid COVID-19 lockdowns, Amazon began testing Watch Party in 2019 via its Twitch service. Hulu offers a similar feature by the same name, Disney Plus offers GroupWatch, and streaming TV apps like Sling TV have also joined in. Amazon expands Prime Video’s Watch Party feature to Roku, smart TVs, and more

While a brief trailer for the upcoming Fallout TV series, created for Gamescom attendees in August, leaked in a very blurry form on the Internet, today we got the real thing. Amazon Prime Video dropped the first official teaser trailer for the series, based on the popular post-apocalyptic RPGs created first by Interplay, and then later by Bethesda Games Studios. The trailer itself looks like the show's art designers have pretty much lifted the art and graphics design of the Bethesda Fallout games and brought them to live action. The main character's name is Lucy, played by Ella Purnell, who heads out from the underground Vault 33 200 years after the nukes fell to see what's going on in what used to be Los Angeles. The trailer shows off some big mutated creatures, including some rather large bugs and a huge bear. We also get to see people wearing the armor of the Brotherhood of Steel, and one of our favorite actors, Walton Goggins, playing a mutated gunslinger known as The Ghoul. Oh, and there's former SNL cast member Chris Parnell who is playing a character who has one eye like a cyclops. Vanity Fair posted an article a few days ago that offers up some of the first details on the Fallout show. It's mentioned that Todd Howard, who was the game director at Bethesda for both Fallout 3 and 4, is an executive producer on the show. He said that he was sold on the idea of a show when executive product Jonathan Nolan didn't want to do a straight adaptation of one of the games, but rather set it in the same universe but in different settings. One more thing; we are also supposed to get the original of the game's iconic "Vault Boy" as part of the series. We will be able to watch Fallout on Amazon Prime Video starting April 12, 2024. Source