All posts tagged: Plays

Jacob & Co’s The Godfather II watch plays two melodies

Jacob & Co’s The Godfather II watch plays two melodies

Published by Sam Flores

THE MOVEMENT BEHIND THE MELODY At the heart of the timepiece is the in-house, manually wound Caliber JCAM62. Comprising 510 components, excluding the pins on the barrel, it operates at 3Hz, or 21,600 vibrations per hour, and incorporates a one-minute flying tourbillon. Supported only from below, the tourbillon has no upper bridge, leaving its rotating cage fully visible. The calibre has two separate power reserves. One provides 72 hours of power for the timekeeping movement, while the other holds enough energy for up to 10 musical performances. Dedicated indicators show the remaining reserve for each system. At 4 o’clock, a round aperture indicates the status of the main movement with a gear symbol and blinds. A second aperture at 8 o’clock tracks the music box: a red rose appears when it is fully wound, changing to a musical note as its reserve is depleted. Fitting the music-box mechanism, going train and flying tourbillon into a comparatively compact case required considerable miniaturisation. Encoding both compositions on a single barrel saves valuable space within the movement. The …

Claudia Pagès Rabal Plays in the Ruins of Settler Colonial Time

Claudia Pagès Rabal Plays in the Ruins of Settler Colonial Time

Published by Jenni Sidey

In Typo-Topo-Time Aljibe (2024), a video, shown on an undulating screen, follows Claudia Pagès Rabal as she descends into an 11th-century Moorish water cistern in Xàtiva, Spain—wetsuit on, 360-degree camera strapped to her body. She swims through murky water, plunging and surfacing as a techno score drops and swells with her. The walls around her are scribed with marks spanning centuries—penises, names, legal contracts—all cut into the same damp stone, none claiming priority over the others. This is what Pagès Rabal calls “settler time”: Markings and materials pile up as one civilization is superimposed onto the next. Source link

Jeff Daniels Plays Ronald Reagan

Jeff Daniels Plays Ronald Reagan

Published by Daniella Wilson

You have to acknowledge the good intentions behind Michael Russell Gunn’s feature directorial debut depicting the 1986 meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik that helped advance the cause of a nuclear reduction treaty. In the film’s press notes, the writer-director emphasizes that his intention was not to make his movie overly political, but rather to illustrate the vital importance of people with different ideologies simply talking with each other in order to bridge divides. To that end, The Brink of War features lots and lots of…talk. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, even though the nearly one-location setting, with lengthy scenes in which the two figures engage in vigorous debate, indicates that the material might have been better served as a play. But then you wouldn’t have had the endless shots of the stunningly beautiful Icelandic landscape that provide visual palette cleansers between the claustrophobic sequences. The Brink of War The Bottom Line History come to only intermittent life. Release date: Friday, August 14Cast: Jeff Daniels, Jared Harris, Hope Davis, Branka Katic, …

‘Masters of the Universe’ Review: Nicholas Galitzine Plays He-Man

‘Masters of the Universe’ Review: Nicholas Galitzine Plays He-Man

Published by Daniella Wilson

The creators of the new Masters of the Universe movie really, really, want to let you know that they’re in on the joke. They know deep down, or at least they should know, that their juvenile material is only suitable for children or overgrown adolescents with a terminal case of childhood nostalgia. So director Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings) and his quartet of screenwriters have loaded the proceedings with so much campy, self-referential humor that you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The film winds up feeling so much like one of those fringe festival musical theater parodies that you find yourself waiting for the characters to burst into song. All of this might go over well with the fanbase who grew up playing with the Mattel toys and subsequently immersed themselves in the myriad product spin-offs, including comic books and an animated television series, that followed in their wake. The packed house at the preview screening, greeted with swag including free tote bags and action figures, certainly roared with approval, …

The idolator-in-chief plays savior while the pope chooses prophecy

The idolator-in-chief plays savior while the pope chooses prophecy

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — On Sunday night (April 12), President Donald Trump posted a lengthy broadside on Truth Social against Pope Leo XIV that started with “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump then doubled down, telling reporters: “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person.” Many of us had no idea that the pontiff was WEAK [sic] on crime. I have visited Vatican City, and I have not had to keep my eye on my wallet or passport.  This is not the first time that the president has gone at it with a Christian leader. Recall Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde preaching after Trump’s inauguration at Washington National Cathedral, imploring him to show the Christian quality of mercy. He complained about her, too.  (Not to be left out, many rabbis crave an insult from Trump. It looks good on a resume.) And then, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself — wearing a white robe, laying his right hand on a man who appeared sick or dying, …

3D-printed TV from ‘The Simpsons’ plays actual episodes

3D-printed TV from ‘The Simpsons’ plays actual episodes

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. It’s visible in almost every episode of The Simpsons, usually within the first few seconds of the opening credits. With a purple exterior, rabbit ear antennae, and dial knobs, the iconic cartoon family’s living room television set is instantly recognizable—if extremely outdated after over 35 years of loyal service. But while high-resolution LED and OLED flatscreens have long since replaced the boxy cathode ray tube TV, one DIY enthusiast over on the r/3Dprinting subreddit, recently found a way to combine the best of both worlds. In a post uploaded on March 9th, fans can marvel at a custom miniature TV modeled after The Simpsons longtime statement piece. The equipment solely plays the first 11 seasons of the show across multiple channels at random. However, as its creator explained, the device also has an “extra trick up its sleeve.” By flipping a switch from Good to Evil on the back of the TV, users can switch from watching The Simpsons …

Toni Plays the Dozens | Namwali Serpell

Toni Plays the Dozens | Namwali Serpell

Published by Jenni Sidey

With all that gravitas, you might not realize it, but Toni Morrison was funny as hell. Many of her friends reminisce about her sense of humor; according to some, it bordered on the bawdy. As a close reader of her work, I am not in the least surprised. She kills me, as they say. In The Bluest Eye (1970), for instance, Pecola Breedlove’s joyless family life takes place downstairs from a trio of sex workers. Through her innocent ears, we hear their ribald banter: “You think ’cause you skinny, folks think you young? You’d make a haint buy a girdle.”“And you look like the north side of a southbound mule.”“All I know is, them bandy little legs of yours is every bit as old as mine.”“Don’t worry ’bout my bandy legs. That’s the first thing they push aside.”All three of the women laughed. These “merry gargoyles” insult one another ruthlessly, hilariously, but their shared laughter is part of a spirit of camaraderie that becomes a respite for poor Pecola. Even more jarringly, an act of …

Unable to see, yet this 42-year-old rock-climbs, paraglides and plays guitar

Unable to see, yet this 42-year-old rock-climbs, paraglides and plays guitar

Published by Sam Flores

Climbing, Mr Dennard Lee said, is very much like life.   “Don’t look back, always look forward,” the 42-year-old said.    Mr Lee is visually impaired. He was diagnosed with amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, when he was five years old.    His vision worsened significantly after a car accident in 2008.   “My left eye can only make out some shadows, so I rely mostly on my right eye to see, but even then, most things are very pixelated.”    Now unemployed, his vision loss has not stopped him from taking part in a sport he used to love – rock climbing.      Now, he climbs roughly once a month, with the help of a guide.    He told of how he had to adjust and accept that he is different, from learning to use a cane to get around, going at a slower pace on overseas travels, finding a community of like-minded people for support, and being grateful for all that he has.   “You will appreciate things more … a …

Jaqueline Humphries Survey Plays Hide-and-Seek

Jaqueline Humphries Survey Plays Hide-and-Seek

Published by Jenni Sidey

I was previously unfamiliar with the architecture of the Aspen Art Museum, having visited only before the current building, designed by Shigeru Ban, opened in 2014. My ignorance turned out to be helpful, enabling me to be properly confused by Jacqueline Humphries’s painting installation TSLA (2025). I first saw it, the night before the artist’s survey show opened, through the plate glass wall at the museum’s entrance: five large canvases (8 by 7 1/2 feet), her usual near-squares) hung closely but not quite touching, and not on a wall but on a structure of bare metal framing studs. Source link

This Lollipop Plays Tunes in Your Head Using Bone Conduction. I Tried It and Was Floored

This Lollipop Plays Tunes in Your Head Using Bone Conduction. I Tried It and Was Floored

Published by Miika Tikkanen

CES is chock-full of unique concepts, but every now and then, I stumble upon something that purely seems to exist for the heck of it. I got a (literal) taste of that with the Lollipop Star.  This sweet treat also packs a little trick: It can play music while it’s in your mouth using bone conduction (sound vibrations that go through your skull’s bones to your inner ear). You can choose from three artists: Ice Spice, Akon and Armani White. Each artist pop has its own flavor: Ice Spice is peach, Akon is blueberry and Armani White is lime. I went with Ice Spice.  Once I tore open the plastic packaging, I found a stick with the lollipop on one end and a bulbous portion on the bottom with an on button. We needed to wear the ear plugs they supplied to hear the music, especially in a louder environment.  Once unwrapped, I moved the lollipop to the back of my mouth and bit down with my molars. Suddenly, the tiny vibrations, which I mostly …