In his twentieth film, acclaimed horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa reinvents the alien movie as a unique and profoundly human tale of love and mystery. Three aliens travel to Earth on a reconnaissance mission in preparation for a mass invasion. Having taken possession of human bodies, the visitors rob the hosts of their essence – good, evil, property, family, belonging – leaving only hollow shells, which are all but unrecognizable to their loved ones. Equally hilarious, thrilling, and profound, BEFORE WE VANISH reminds audiences of the continued strength of one of Japanese cinema’s most unique auteurs – and the value of the human spirit.
Efforts to restore net neutrality rules in Congress are close to passing the first hurdle, though it seems virtually impossible they’ll have any effect.
The Federal Communications Commission recently decided by a 3-2 vote to drop its previous rules upholding the principles of net neutrality. A resolution against that decision now has the backing of 50 Senators, meaning one more would be enough to ensure a pass. (A tie would mean a casting vote by Vice-President Mike Pence, almost certainly against the resolution.)
However, reports that this means just one more Senator could overturn the FCC decision are a major exaggeration. This specific attempt to restore net neutrality is being done through the Congressional Review Act. That’s a system that gives Congress 60 legislative days (those on which it actually sits) to block a federal agency regulation before it takes effect.
Under this process, the block has to be confirmed by both houses. As with legislation, the President can then veto the measure (meaning the regulations would be able to take effect) unless there’s a 2/3 majority vote in both houses against him doing so.
In other words, even if the resolution passes the Senate, the political divide means it’s unlikely to pass the House of Representatives. If it did so, previous comments suggest President Donald Trump would veto it.
While this tactic is likely doomed, it’s a fight that will likely continue in both Congress and the courts. Even after the regulations take effect, they could be overridden by a specific net neutrality law passed by Congress. That’s unlikely to happen unless and until both the make-up of Congress and the Presidency changes.
Meanwhile several groups have vowed court action to overturn the FCC decision because of alleged failings in the decision-making process. One arguments cites a convention that agencies cannot completely overturn a policy they’ve already made simply because of a change in political leadership. Another says the consultation process before the decision was flawed because of claims of widespread fake comments supposedly from the public.
That’s right, the folks from “The Real Life Guys” built a flying bathtub drone that can transport a human being from one point to another. In the video below, one of the group’s members hopped aboard the drone for a quick trip to Kopp’s Bakery to get a sandwich.
Watch as magician Paul Vu uses various Rubik’s Cubes to totally baffle Ellen Degeneres on her show. Somehow, if you look at her face, Ellen doesn’t seem all that pleased about not seeing the illusions behind the tricks, even though they’ve been performed in good fun… or maybe it’s only me?
In the following comic, artist Weng Chen illustrate how most geek dads are when they buy toys for their kids, especially if said toys relate to the things they particularly love.
Thinkgeek has recently released a pair of officially licensed Super Mario Bros. desk lamps that would be just perfect for lovers of all things Super Mario. One is themed after the question mark blocks from the game and the other one after the infamous Chain Chomps monsters.
Watch as Paweł Zadrożniak’s hardware orchestra, The Floppotron, performs the Duke Nukem theme song. The Floppotron is a complex devices that uses the musical power of 64 floppy drives, 8 hard drives, and 2 scanners to create pretty much any song you can think of.
What made Tom Riddle become Voldemort? What happened in those years, and what really went down at Hogwarts when he came back? There are some clues in the books which have not been transposed at all in the movies, but a lot goes unspoken. This is the story this fan film wants to tell: the rise of the Dark Lord before Harry Potter and his first demise.
