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Netflix’s Resident Evil TV Adaptation Stumbles by Serving Two Timelines: Review
The Pitch: Taking on a new installment in the sprawling Resident Evil media franchise is a daunting task. Since the groundbreaking survival horror video game was released in 1996, there have been more than a dozen games that provided source material for six Milla Jovovich-starring films, three animated movies, and a CGI Netflix series. With such a rich backstory to pull from, Netflix’s new live-action series, simply titled Resident Evil, centers around one of the franchise’s most memorable villains, Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick), while creating a new set of characters around him. In 2022, Wesker moves his twin teenage daughters Jade (Tamara Smart) and Billie (Siena Agudong) to the sterile corporate housing of New Raccoon City to be closer to his work for the nefarious Umbrella Corporation ...
A Beyoncé Dance Album? Here’s 6 House Music Producers Who Would Thrive On “Renaissance”
It’s album release month for Beyoncé, and the world is waiting on bated breath. After all, Renaissance‘s lead single, “Break My Soul,” has already made history. Queen Bey is now the first ever woman to release 20 Top 10 hits as a solo artist as well as 10 as a member of a group. Not to mention the house-minded rhythm and groove in “Break My Soul,” which samples a timeless dance anthem. With her previous albums, Beyoncé has counted artists like Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West as collaborators. And based on the creative direction Renaissance seems to be headed in, it’s fair to wonder whether or not house music producers are next up in her storied career. Here are six artists we think would slay on Beyoncé&#...
Musician Francisco Martin’s Journey to Embracing His Filipino-American Heritage
I was born in San Francisco, CA to parents who were both born and raised in the Philippines. Per the norm with Filipino families, music was a huge part of our everyday lives. We had a large family living relatively close by alongside an even larger Filipino community which came with a plethora of adopted aunties and uncles. Every family party had sing-alongs, performances by the various family members, and, as is common with most Asian families, a very typical “let me show you how talented my child is” mentality. On top of that, my dad’s dream was to be a musician, so our house was full of guitars and basses. My dad would often have our neighbors over to jam in our garage and he was always playing music around the house. He loved OPM, original Filipino music, and classic rock. Although I d...
Better Call Saul’s Mid-Season Premiere Proves That Compelling Prequels Are Possible: Review
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul, Season 4 Episode 8, “Point and Shoot.”] After tonight, the number of remaining Better Call Saul episodes can be counted on one hand, and “Point and Shoot” does an exquisite job of making clear why that is so simultaneously exciting and sad. While it’s yet to be seen if one of TV’s great artistic achievements will fully stick the landing, the beginning of the show’s final run of new episodes packs an entire season’s worth of stress into its slightly extended runtime, while also continuing to deliver the kind of nuanced, character-driven moments which make the show so unforgettable. It’s a pretty remarkable achievement given the nature of the series, which jumps back and forth occasionally in its timeline but for the bulk ...
Is Hacking Humans Easier Than Machines?
Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. When it comes to cybersecurity, technology is not enough. Yes, it is the foundation. But it is not enough to mitigate the growing threat of cybercrime. The reality is that, even with best-in-class security systems, firewalls, endpoint protections and zero-trust frameworks, without a robust and agile culture of security, the business is at risk. The Dark Reading 2021 Strategic Security Survey found that around 48% of security professionals believe that users breaking policy are likely to be the single biggest cause of a major breach in the future. This sentiment is echoed in a ITWeb and KnowBe4 study that examined cybersecurity culture and the impact of this on the South African organisation. “Having a robust cyber...
The Rehearsal Confirms Nathan Fielder Is a Comic Visionary: Review
The Pitch: Comedy has long mined the rich vein of desire running within most average citizens for fame — or at least some kind of recognition. That yen for the spotlight is what allowed ’60s duo Coyle and Sharpe and modern day bellower Billy Eichner to turn “man on the street” interviews into improvised gold and fed the creation of far too many prank shows. It’s also a craving that Nathan Fielder has spent the last decade twisting to absurdist ends, both on his acclaimed Comedy Central series Nathan For You and in his behind-the-scenes work on shows like How To with John Wilson and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who Is America? In each one, everyday people willingly put themselves under the eye of a TV camera, often revealing too much of themselves in the process. The results are either damning, hear...
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Worship and Tribute: Glassjaw’s Genre-Defining Album Turns 20
“You know what this place used to be?” Justin Beck asks. “This was Don Fury’s studio. He used to record everything down in the basement, and then I think this was his apartment.” Like much of New York City, 18 Spring Street doesn’t look anything like it did when Fury was recording the most legendary punk and hardcore bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s. What was once the producer’s CBGB-adjacent second location is now a hip cocktail lounge that’s most definitely never seen any mosh pits or hardcore dancing. But while punk and hardcore kids might not be the target audience for Mother’s Ruin, the Glassjaw multi-instrumentalist and I just look like two Jewish dudes sitting in the front window on a rainy Friday afternoon when his polite ask to peek into the basement gets turned down by the bartender. I...
Best New Tracks: Kid Cudi, Burna Boy, Brent Faiyaz and More
As the week in music comes to a close, HYPEBEAST has rounded up the best projects for the latest installment of Best New Tracks. This week’s list is led by Kid Cudi, Burna Boy and Brent Faiyaz, who each dropped the projects The Boy Who Flew To The Moon (Vol. 1), Love, Damini and WASTELAND, respectively. Also joining this selection are joints from Joey Bada$$, Westside Gunn, Yo Gotti with Moneybagg Yo, 42 Dugg, EST Gee, Mozzy and Blac Youngsta, Doechii, Ray Vaugh and Murda Beatz with Pharrell, J Balvin, Quavo and Anitta. Kid Cudi – The Boy Who Flew To The Moon (Vol. 1) [embedded content] Kid Cudi delivers the first volume of his greatest hits compilation The Boy Who Flew To The Moon, which features his beloved cuts such as “Day ‘N’ Nite” and “Pursuit...
Westworld Composer Ramin Djawadi on the Exciting Musical Twists Promised by Season 4
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Westworld, Season 4 Episode 2, “Well Enough Alone.” To read about the music of Episode 1, click here.] There might not be a big epic cover in the newest episode of Westworld, but there’s still plenty to discuss, music-wise, with composer Ramin Djawadi. That’s because Episode 2, “Well Enough Alone,” continues exploring key questions for Season 4, ending with the revelation that Delos Destinations, the corporation behind the high-tech amusement parks where this future dystopia was born, is up to its old tricks — with a brand new theme park setting that made Djawadi very happy. “I love jazz and actually studied jazz in college as well, and I never get to do much jazz in score. So whenever there’s opportunity, I jump on it right away,” he tel...
60 Random Tom Cruise Facts to Celebrate His 60th Birthday
The life, career, and legacy of Tom Cruise is epic, dramatic, sometimes complicated, but impossible to ignore. One of our last remaining old-school movie stars, who’s proven capable of great range over the years, Cruise has wielded his power in Hollywood to create unforgettable film moments and behind-the-scenes innovations, constantly pushing himself to new extremes with each passing day. To appreciate his complexity and talent on the occasion of this, his 60th birthday, we’ve compiled 60 facts that only hint at why Tom Cruise remains one of the most famous men on the planet. He’s been grinning that signature grin and running his damn heart out for over 40 years on screen, and he shows very little sign of stopping anytime soon. 1. Tom Cruise’s real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. 2. To...
Implementing Security Best Practices to Maintain Integrity at the Edge
Industry 4.0, IIoT, and smart manufacturing are all buzzwords that we’ve been talking about for years. Many of us have had visions of factory floors run by futuristic robots and drones reminiscent of SciFi movies like iRobot. Well, it seems that life is indeed starting to imitate art; a 2021 McKinsey & Company survey concluded that many global manufacturing companies were able to keep their operations running during the pandemic, thanks to Industry 4.0. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents indicated that technology played a fundamental role in staying operational. Moreover, according to recent studies, the COVID-19 pandemic has vaulted us five years forward in digital business adoption. More and more manufacturers are considering actively adopting “lights out” factories and s...
