Monthly Archives: October 2021

News: Every Form The Tall Man Has Taken In The Phantasm Franchise

• October 3, 2021
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Phantasm is one of the strangest horror franchises ever, but tying it together is The Tall Man, a towering villain who’s taken multiple forms. The Phantasm movies have often been likened to nightmares captured on film, especially the 1979 original, with the kind of bizarre twists, unexpected surprises, and lack of conventional logic that often make up dreams. The Tall Man himself is certainly a nightmarish figure, and in an odd circumstance for an initially mysterious horror villain, the additional background information revealed about him in the sequels doesn’t really make him any less scary.Played to widespread acclaim by late genre mainstay Angus Scrimm, The Tall Man is, to make a long story shorter, a being far beyond normal humans, despite his human appearance. The Tall Man is strong enough to lift a full casket without help, commands an army of brain-destroying flying metal spheres, and takes dead bodies to another dimension, where he transforms them into tiny servant creatures resembling Jawas from Star Wars. He’s also, perhaps most importantly, nearly impossible to damage, much less kill.Related: Why Phantasm 2 Recast The Main Character (& Part 3 Changed Him Back)As if all those features weren’t enough to make Phantasm’s Tall Man a formidable adversary, he’s also able to make use of a trait common to many of the best horror villains: shape-shifting. The Tall Man can use this ability to lure victims in, as well as to further terrify them. Here’s every other form, aside from his standard one, The Tall Man has taken over the course of Phantasm’s five-movie run.One of the most memorable scenes in Phantasm sees Tommy – a friend of major characters Jody and Reggie – making the odd decision to get intimate with a blonde woman in a striking lavender dress while in the local cemetery. The pair have sex, but then the Lady in Lavender (Kathy Lester) kills him, before shifting back into The Tall Man. The Tall Man tries to pull the same trick on Jody – older brother to protagonist Mike – later, but things thankfully get interrupted. The Lady in Lavender does later sucker in ice cream man Reggie later, stabbing him to death.Or at least that’s how it first appears, as it’s later revealed that the whole movie was a dream Mike was having, following the actual real-life death of Jody in a car crash, and that Reggie was still alive. Or maybe it wasn’t a dream, since The Tall Man then appears to kidnap Mike to end Phantasm. Phantasm 2 picked up from the latter scene, and was a bit easier to follow. The Lady in Lavender wouldn’t appear again until Phantasm: Ravager, the long-delayed fifth movie, again played by Lester. Oddly, Ravager seems to imply she’s a separate, albeit still connected, entity to The Tall Man, despite the previous shape-shifting being shown. Reggie kills her, but The Tall Man continues on.While Phantasm 2 is easier to follow than the original, it’s still pretty confusing at times, although diehard fans wouldn’t want their Phantasm movies any other way. During the sequel, Mike and Reggie are trailing The Tall Man’s path of death across the country, eventually picking up a young female hitchhiker named Alchemy (Samantha Phillips). Mike immediately feels uneasy, as she resembles a strange nude apparition he had seen in a previous dream, but Reggie has no such qualms, almost succeeding in sleeping with her – although thankfully for him, it got interrupted.Related: Every Horror Movie Still To Come In 2021After Mike, Reggie, and their new companion Liz seemingly kill The Tall Man via embalming him alive, the trio is “rescued” by a hearse driven by Alchemy. Reggie is grateful, but Alchemy starts pulling her own scalp off, revealing that she’s been evil the whole time. Reggie is attacked and thrown from the hearse, which then drives off. Mike thinks it’s all a dream, but The Tall Man opens the divider between the front and back of the car, and assures him it’s not. In an earlier version of Phantasm 2, the fact Alchemy was The Tall Man in disguise was made more explicit, as part of the transformation was shown onscreen, but it was cut due to effects issues.This inclusion is an odd one, but it’s also one that fits perfectly in with the abject strangeness of the Phantasm franchise as a whole. Phantasm 3 picks up right where Phantasm 2 left off, with Reggie outside the hearse, and Mike and Liz still inside. The vehicle then crashes and explodes, but things are a bit hard to make sense of from there concerning The Tall Man.Mike survives the crash, while Liz dies, but Alchemy/The Tall Man is nowhere to be seen. Reggie runs over, collects Mike and tries to make a run for it, only for The Tall Man – now completely intact and without even a scratch – to march up from behind and try to get them. This Tall Man was shown emerging from an inter-dimensional portal earlier on in the opening scenes, with the embalming method having indeed killed the Tall Man that served as Phantasm 2’s primary villain. This concept of more than one Tall Man existing was made even clearer later in the movie.Considering everything seen of The Tall Man in Phantasm 1-3, many no doubt justifiably assumed the creature was simply a monster or an alien, and was never a human being. That’s not true though, as Phantasm 4: Oblivion revealed. The Tall Man was once a 19th-century mortician named Jebediah Morningside, and was by all evidence a perfectly nice, normal person. That was until his macabre job eventually led Morningside to become overly fascinated with death, and where people go afterward. He was able to make a portal capable of taking him to an unknown other world, but this ultimately proved a terrible decision.Related: Every Stephen King Book & Story That’s Been His Favorite (& Why)Not long after Jebediah made his trip to the other side of the portal, he returned, but no longer as the man he once was, having been turned into The Tall Man. Or considering there’s more than one Tall Man, it would seem he somehow became the original Tall Man template. Jebediah later appears in one of the realities shown in the perhaps most confusing of all Phantasm: Ravager, sharing a hospital room with Reggie long enough to have a conversation. Phantasm: Ravager ends on another ambiguous note, which makes sense for a Phantasm movie, but is also undeniably sad, since Scrimm’s death effectively precludes a follow-up.More: The Phantasm Movie Franchise, Ranked Worst To Bestfrom ScreenRant – Feed https://ift.tt/3FdTJK4 https://ift.tt/3l2YL3Y

Phantasm is one of the strangest horror franchises ever, but tying it together is The Tall Man, a towering villain who’s taken multiple forms. The Phantasm movies have often been likened to nightmares captured on film, especially the 1979 original, with the kind of bizarre twists, unexpected surprises, and lack of conventional logic that often make up dreams. The Tall Man himself is certainly a nightmarish figure, and in an odd circumstance for an initially mysterious horror villain, the additional background information revealed about him in the sequels doesn’t really make him any less scary.

Played to widespread acclaim by late genre mainstay Angus Scrimm, The Tall Man is, to make a long story shorter, a being far beyond normal humans, despite his human appearance. The Tall Man is strong enough to lift a full casket without help, commands an army of brain-destroying flying metal spheres, and takes dead bodies to another dimension, where he transforms them into tiny servant creatures resembling Jawas from Star Wars. He’s also, perhaps most importantly, nearly impossible to damage, much less kill.

Related: Why Phantasm 2 Recast The Main Character (& Part 3 Changed Him Back)

As if all those features weren’t enough to make Phantasm‘s Tall Man a formidable adversary, he’s also able to make use of a trait common to many of the best horror villains: shape-shifting. The Tall Man can use this ability to lure victims in, as well as to further terrify them. Here’s every other form, aside from his standard one, The Tall Man has taken over the course of Phantasm‘s five-movie run.

One of the most memorable scenes in Phantasm sees Tommy – a friend of major characters Jody and Reggie – making the odd decision to get intimate with a blonde woman in a striking lavender dress while in the local cemetery. The pair have sex, but then the Lady in Lavender (Kathy Lester) kills him, before shifting back into The Tall Man. The Tall Man tries to pull the same trick on Jody – older brother to protagonist Mike – later, but things thankfully get interrupted. The Lady in Lavender does later sucker in ice cream man Reggie later, stabbing him to death.

Or at least that’s how it first appears, as it’s later revealed that the whole movie was a dream Mike was having, following the actual real-life death of Jody in a car crash, and that Reggie was still alive. Or maybe it wasn’t a dream, since The Tall Man then appears to kidnap Mike to end Phantasm. Phantasm 2 picked up from the latter scene, and was a bit easier to follow. The Lady in Lavender wouldn’t appear again until Phantasm: Ravager, the long-delayed fifth movie, again played by Lester. Oddly, Ravager seems to imply she’s a separate, albeit still connected, entity to The Tall Man, despite the previous shape-shifting being shown. Reggie kills her, but The Tall Man continues on.

While Phantasm 2 is easier to follow than the original, it’s still pretty confusing at times, although diehard fans wouldn’t want their Phantasm movies any other way. During the sequel, Mike and Reggie are trailing The Tall Man’s path of death across the country, eventually picking up a young female hitchhiker named Alchemy (Samantha Phillips). Mike immediately feels uneasy, as she resembles a strange nude apparition he had seen in a previous dream, but Reggie has no such qualms, almost succeeding in sleeping with her – although thankfully for him, it got interrupted.

Related: Every Horror Movie Still To Come In 2021

After Mike, Reggie, and their new companion Liz seemingly kill The Tall Man via embalming him alive, the trio is “rescued” by a hearse driven by Alchemy. Reggie is grateful, but Alchemy starts pulling her own scalp off, revealing that she’s been evil the whole time. Reggie is attacked and thrown from the hearse, which then drives off. Mike thinks it’s all a dream, but The Tall Man opens the divider between the front and back of the car, and assures him it’s not. In an earlier version of Phantasm 2, the fact Alchemy was The Tall Man in disguise was made more explicit, as part of the transformation was shown onscreen, but it was cut due to effects issues.

This inclusion is an odd one, but it’s also one that fits perfectly in with the abject strangeness of the Phantasm franchise as a whole. Phantasm 3 picks up right where Phantasm 2 left off, with Reggie outside the hearse, and Mike and Liz still inside. The vehicle then crashes and explodes, but things are a bit hard to make sense of from there concerning The Tall Man.

Mike survives the crash, while Liz dies, but Alchemy/The Tall Man is nowhere to be seen. Reggie runs over, collects Mike and tries to make a run for it, only for The Tall Man – now completely intact and without even a scratch – to march up from behind and try to get them. This Tall Man was shown emerging from an inter-dimensional portal earlier on in the opening scenes, with the embalming method having indeed killed the Tall Man that served as Phantasm 2‘s primary villain. This concept of more than one Tall Man existing was made even clearer later in the movie.

Considering everything seen of The Tall Man in Phantasm 1-3, many no doubt justifiably assumed the creature was simply a monster or an alien, and was never a human being. That’s not true though, as Phantasm 4: Oblivion revealed. The Tall Man was once a 19th-century mortician named Jebediah Morningside, and was by all evidence a perfectly nice, normal person. That was until his macabre job eventually led Morningside to become overly fascinated with death, and where people go afterward. He was able to make a portal capable of taking him to an unknown other world, but this ultimately proved a terrible decision.

Related: Every Stephen King Book & Story That’s Been His Favorite (& Why)

Not long after Jebediah made his trip to the other side of the portal, he returned, but no longer as the man he once was, having been turned into The Tall Man. Or considering there’s more than one Tall Man, it would seem he somehow became the original Tall Man template. Jebediah later appears in one of the realities shown in the perhaps most confusing of all Phantasm: Ravager, sharing a hospital room with Reggie long enough to have a conversation. Phantasm: Ravager ends on another ambiguous note, which makes sense for a Phantasm movie, but is also undeniably sad, since Scrimm’s death effectively precludes a follow-up.

More: The Phantasm Movie Franchise, Ranked Worst To Best

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News: Is Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Effective? No, Says Study

• October 3, 2021
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Apple called its App Tracking Transparency framework one of the most impactful moves towards creating a more private ecosystem, but recent independent research shows that it is not really effective against third-party trackers and doesn’t block the transfer of personal or device data either. The core premise of the ATT framework was to offer users more transparency about their data, such as which apps collect information, what data they extract, and how it is shared. More importantly, each app was mandated to ask users explicitly about tracking via a pop-up notification.Of course, the likes of Facebook, whose coffers are generously filled by its massive advertising business, wasn’t too happy about the change and resorted to an industry-wide lobbying campaign. However, Apple remained adamant that it wants to give users a choice whether they want an app to show them personalized ads by tracking their activity across the web and apps. Following a fierce backlash and claims of Apple not implementing the rules on its own apps, the company temporarily delayed the ATT implementation for months and eventually enabled it with the iOS 14.5 release. However, the whole system might not be as effective as Apple claims.In a study conducted by Lockdown Privacy — whose members are said to be ex-Apple engineers — App Tracking Transparency didn’t create any difference when it comes to disabling third-party trackers associated with an app and is minimally effective at blocking connection requests. As part of the research, the team selected ten top ranked apps on the App Store and monitored third-party tracking for each one under two scenarios — ATT enabled and ATT disabled. Apps like Grubhub, DoorDash and Peacock TV were found to have roughly the same number of active third-party trackers even when users enabled ATT. Another study earlier this year in June also arrived at a similar conclusion about the inefficacy of the ATT system.The Yelp app was found to have allowed at least six active trackers even with ATT enabled using the “Ask App Not To Track” prompt. Interestingly, the same six trackers were observed when ATT was disabled. Likewise, 39 tracking attempts were recorded, which is only marginally lower than the 42 attempts when ATT was disabled. Lockdown Privacy concluded that enabling or disabling ATT didn’t make any difference for the 50 trackers they observed while running the selected pool of apps. When it came to tracking attempts, enabling ATT only reduced the number by a mere 13-percent.In terms of the kind of data that the apps were able to share with third parties, everything from time zone, carrier name, iOS version, and iPhone model to more sensitive details such as the user’s first and last name, location with exact latitude and longitude, free storage on device, battery and volume levels, as well as accessibility setting details were included. Lockdown Privacy mentions that in all test scenarios, the IP address of users was exposed as well. Contrary to what Apple claims, there was no automatic blocking of tracking requests either. Even if users denied an app’s request for tracking their activity, a majority of the test apps did not seem to honor that choice at all.The study is a sign that Apple may need to implement a more stringent vetting process to ensure that apps do not avoid the ATT norms and violate user privacy despite an explicit denial for tracking. If it continues the same way, Apple might not be too far from another lawsuit over privacy concerns, misleading advertising, and/or more regulatory scrutiny.

Apple called its App Tracking Transparency framework one of the most impactful moves towards creating a more private ecosystem, but recent independent research shows that it is not really effective against third-party trackers and doesn’t block the transfer of personal or device data either. The core premise of the ATT framework was to offer users more transparency about their data, such as which apps collect information, what data they extract, and how it is shared. More importantly, each app was mandated to ask users explicitly about tracking via a pop-up notification.

Of course, the likes of Facebook, whose coffers are generously filled by its massive advertising business, wasn’t too happy about the change and resorted to an industry-wide lobbying campaign. However, Apple remained adamant that it wants to give users a choice whether they want an app to show them personalized ads by tracking their activity across the web and apps. Following a fierce backlash and claims of Apple not implementing the rules on its own apps, the company temporarily delayed the ATT implementation for months and eventually enabled it with the iOS 14.5 release. However, the whole system might not be as effective as Apple claims.

In a study conducted by Lockdown Privacy — whose members are said to be ex-Apple engineers — App Tracking Transparency didn’t create any difference when it comes to disabling third-party trackers associated with an app and is minimally effective at blocking connection requests. As part of the research, the team selected ten top ranked apps on the App Store and monitored third-party tracking for each one under two scenarios — ATT enabled and ATT disabled. Apps like Grubhub, DoorDash and Peacock TV were found to have roughly the same number of active third-party trackers even when users enabled ATT. Another study earlier this year in June also arrived at a similar conclusion about the inefficacy of the ATT system.

The Yelp app was found to have allowed at least six active trackers even with ATT enabled using the “Ask App Not To Track” prompt. Interestingly, the same six trackers were observed when ATT was disabled. Likewise, 39 tracking attempts were recorded, which is only marginally lower than the 42 attempts when ATT was disabled. Lockdown Privacy concluded that enabling or disabling ATT didn’t make any difference for the 50 trackers they observed while running the selected pool of apps. When it came to tracking attempts, enabling ATT only reduced the number by a mere 13-percent.

In terms of the kind of data that the apps were able to share with third parties, everything from time zone, carrier name, iOS version, and iPhone model to more sensitive details such as the user’s first and last name, location with exact latitude and longitude, free storage on device, battery and volume levels, as well as accessibility setting details were included. Lockdown Privacy mentions that in all test scenarios, the IP address of users was exposed as well. Contrary to what Apple claims, there was no automatic blocking of tracking requests either. Even if users denied an app’s request for tracking their activity, a majority of the test apps did not seem to honor that choice at all.

The study is a sign that Apple may need to implement a more stringent vetting process to ensure that apps do not avoid the ATT norms and violate user privacy despite an explicit denial for tracking. If it continues the same way, Apple might not be too far from another lawsuit over privacy concerns, misleading advertising, and/or more regulatory scrutiny.

News: Stargirl Season 3 Promotes Joel McHale’s Starman to Series Regular

• October 3, 2021
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DC’s Stargirl has just upgraded Joel McHale to a series regular for season 3. Stargirl, which follows Courtney Whitmore, a teenager who joins the Justice Society of America, premiered on the CW in 2020 and is currently airing its second season, which is set to conclude on November 2. The series stars Brec Bassinger, Anjelika Washington, Trae Romano, Amy Smart, Luke Wilson, Yvette Monreal, and Cameron Gellman.Joel McHale has appeared as Starman on five episodes of the series. Starman’s cosmic staff is the source of his powers, and following his supposed death in the show’s pilot, Courtney discovers it in her stepfather’s collection. When she realizes she can activate the power of the staff, she assumes Starman is her father and takes up the mantle Stargirl. At the beginning of the second season, it is revealed that Starman is still alive and looking for Courtney’s stepfather, but the show has held off on revealing further details.While appearing on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show guest hosted by Arsenio Hall, Joel McHale confirmed that he will be a series regular on the next season of Stargirl. With typical humor, he exclaims, “In the first episode of the first season, my character dies. But now I’m back!” He says he’s excited to be joining the show in a fuller capacity because lead Brec Bassinger is a “dynamo” and Luke Wilson and Amy Smart are “no schlubs” either. Yes, [I’ll be a series regular in season 3.] I was just appearing. In the first episode of the first season, my character dies. But now I’m back! So hold onto your hat or your cosmic staff, [which] is what my character holds.I’m Starman, but Stargirl is played by Brec Bassinger, who is a 22-year-old dynamo actor… When I was 22, I was like, “I don’t have any shirts. And I’m just gonna go out without one.” And so she’s very very, she’s great, and Luke Wilson and Amy Smart are in it, and they’re no schlubs… I’m very happy to be part of the show, so thank you Geoff Johns who invented it. It’s the greatest show on television streaming that’s ever been made, so there you go.Joel McHale is best known for playing the sardonic Jeff Winger in the beloved cult sitcom Community, though he has branched out quite a bit since it went off the air in 2015. On the darker end of the spectrum, he starred in the demonic possession thriller Deliver Us from Evil as well as two science-fiction reboot series: The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. He has also appeared in the TV comedies The Great Indoors and Santa Clarita Diet and stopped by the Netflix film A Futile and Stupid Gesture to cameo as his Community co-star Chevy Chase.Starman returning to Stargirl full time is big news for fans of the show who want to explore the mysteries of their relationship. This provides the potential for a lot of storylines down the road, especially considering that she has modeled her alter ego after him and is in fact using his staff. There will certainly be some conflict about who gets to wield it, and whether or the nature of their familial relationship will come into play. What is certain is that the dynamics of the Justice Society are about to have a wrench thrown into them.Source: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

DC’s Stargirl has just upgraded Joel McHale to a series regular for season 3. Stargirl, which follows Courtney Whitmore, a teenager who joins the Justice Society of America, premiered on the CW in 2020 and is currently airing its second season, which is set to conclude on November 2. The series stars Brec Bassinger, Anjelika Washington, Trae Romano, Amy Smart, Luke Wilson, Yvette Monreal, and Cameron Gellman.

Joel McHale has appeared as Starman on five episodes of the series. Starman’s cosmic staff is the source of his powers, and following his supposed death in the show’s pilot, Courtney discovers it in her stepfather’s collection. When she realizes she can activate the power of the staff, she assumes Starman is her father and takes up the mantle Stargirl. At the beginning of the second season, it is revealed that Starman is still alive and looking for Courtney’s stepfather, but the show has held off on revealing further details.

While appearing on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show guest hosted by Arsenio Hall, Joel McHale confirmed that he will be a series regular on the next season of Stargirl. With typical humor, he exclaims, “In the first episode of the first season, my character dies. But now I’m back!” He says he’s excited to be joining the show in a fuller capacity because lead Brec Bassinger is a “dynamo” and Luke Wilson and Amy Smart are “no schlubs” either. 

Yes, [I’ll be a series regular in season 3.] I was just appearing. In the first episode of the first season, my character dies. But now I’m back! So hold onto your hat or your cosmic staff, [which] is what my character holds.

I’m Starman, but Stargirl is played by Brec Bassinger, who is a 22-year-old dynamo actor… When I was 22, I was like, “I don’t have any shirts. And I’m just gonna go out without one.” And so she’s very very, she’s great, and Luke Wilson and Amy Smart are in it, and they’re no schlubs… I’m very happy to be part of the show, so thank you Geoff Johns who invented it. It’s the greatest show on television streaming that’s ever been made, so there you go.

Joel McHale is best known for playing the sardonic Jeff Winger in the beloved cult sitcom Community, though he has branched out quite a bit since it went off the air in 2015. On the darker end of the spectrum, he starred in the demonic possession thriller Deliver Us from Evil as well as two science-fiction reboot series: The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. He has also appeared in the TV comedies The Great Indoors and Santa Clarita Diet and stopped by the Netflix film A Futile and Stupid Gesture to cameo as his Community co-star Chevy Chase.

Starman returning to Stargirl full time is big news for fans of the show who want to explore the mysteries of their relationship. This provides the potential for a lot of storylines down the road, especially considering that she has modeled her alter ego after him and is in fact using his staff. There will certainly be some conflict about who gets to wield it, and whether or the nature of their familial relationship will come into play. What is certain is that the dynamics of the Justice Society are about to have a wrench thrown into them.

Source: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

News: Undisputed 5 Should Bring Back Michael Jai White’s Boxer Iceman

• October 3, 2021
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For Boyka’s return to the ring in Undisputed 5, Michael Jai White should also be brought back as George “Iceman” Chambers. The Undisputed martial arts movie franchise first got rolling in 2002, but didn’t really get underway in its current form until the straight-to-video follow-up Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, in which Michael Jai White took over the role of Chambers from Ving Rhames in the first film. Scott Adkins also debuted as the Yuri Boyka, the self-proclaimed “Most Complete Fighter in the World” who would go onto to become the star of the series with the subsequent entries, Undisputed 3: Redemption and Boyka: Undisputed.While Adkins’ Boyka has effectively become the main character of the Undisputed series, White’s Chambers is no less of a crucial pillar to the franchise. Beginning as the villain of Undisputed with Rhames’ portrayal, Chambers returned in Undisputed 2 with much the same attitude of bullying aggression and insufferable behavior. With Adkins’ Boyka as a driven and determined (if overzealous) fighter viewers got behind — despite him originally being a villain in the Undisputed series — as Chambers, White pulled off the rare feat of making viewers actively root for the protagonist’s downfall.RELATED: Which Scott Adkins Character Would Win In A Fight – Yuri Boyka Or Casey Bowman?Both Chambers and Boyka had let their victories in the ring go to their heads, and Chambers’ experience of wrongful imprisonment in order to set up his fight with Boyka brought him down to Earth in realizing how much he had to adapt to a much more versatile opponent. Boyka, in turn, learned the most painful way possible that despite his undeniable formidability, he was not the invincible ruler of the ring he thought he was. In a skewed way, even as they were at each other’s throats, Boyka and Chambers learned a lot from each other, but with only Boyka’s subsequent story having been shown (with Scott Adkins’ character essentially saving the Undisputed franchise), viewers are left wondering Chambers’ fate. The best way to rectify this would be for Chambers and Boyka to cross paths again in Undisputed 5.Admittedly, the logistics of their pairing would be a bit challenging, since Boyka is now back in prison at the end of Boyka: Undisputed. Whether by an unexpected early release or a second chance at escape, Boyka could emerge a very different man from the one Chambers knew. Chambers would also be a changed man himself, and probably after continuing his MMA training after Undisputed 2, could even be a radically different fighter than in his two matches with Boyka. Undisputed 5 would have the potential to show Chambers as an MMA fighter who could match Boyka’s every technique, along with an even more unexpected prospect — specifically, that through the new challenge they’d be confronted with, the two former enemies could actually be forced to join forces and fight side-by-side.Outside of simply continuing through Undisputed 5, there’s also been talk of the franchise transitioning to a Boyka-led Undisputed TV series. Chambers’ return in that format could even take the form of episodes alternating between where Boyka and Chambers currently are before building back up to their unexpected meeting years later. Whether the Undisputed franchise is to continue in an episodic approach or by just jumping into Undisputed 5, George “Iceman” Chambers is due for a return, and after his last match with Boyka, the possibilities are endless for the kind of fighter, enemy, or ally he could return as now.NEXT: Never Back Down: The Martial Arts Movie Franchise Ranked, Worst To Bestfrom ScreenRant – Feed https://ift.tt/2WzQFGq https://ift.tt/3l5ZHog

For Boyka’s return to the ring in Undisputed 5, Michael Jai White should also be brought back as George “Iceman” Chambers. The Undisputed martial arts movie franchise first got rolling in 2002, but didn’t really get underway in its current form until the straight-to-video follow-up Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, in which Michael Jai White took over the role of Chambers from Ving Rhames in the first film. Scott Adkins also debuted as the Yuri Boyka, the self-proclaimed “Most Complete Fighter in the World” who would go onto to become the star of the series with the subsequent entries, Undisputed 3: Redemption and Boyka: Undisputed.

While Adkins’ Boyka has effectively become the main character of the Undisputed series, White’s Chambers is no less of a crucial pillar to the franchise. Beginning as the villain of Undisputed with Rhames’ portrayal, Chambers returned in Undisputed 2 with much the same attitude of bullying aggression and insufferable behavior. With Adkins’ Boyka as a driven and determined (if overzealous) fighter viewers got behind — despite him originally being a villain in the Undisputed series — as Chambers, White pulled off the rare feat of making viewers actively root for the protagonist’s downfall.

RELATED: Which Scott Adkins Character Would Win In A Fight – Yuri Boyka Or Casey Bowman?

Both Chambers and Boyka had let their victories in the ring go to their heads, and Chambers’ experience of wrongful imprisonment in order to set up his fight with Boyka brought him down to Earth in realizing how much he had to adapt to a much more versatile opponent. Boyka, in turn, learned the most painful way possible that despite his undeniable formidability, he was not the invincible ruler of the ring he thought he was. In a skewed way, even as they were at each other’s throats, Boyka and Chambers learned a lot from each other, but with only Boyka’s subsequent story having been shown (with Scott Adkins’ character essentially saving the Undisputed franchise), viewers are left wondering Chambers’ fate. The best way to rectify this would be for Chambers and Boyka to cross paths again in Undisputed 5.

Admittedly, the logistics of their pairing would be a bit challenging, since Boyka is now back in prison at the end of Boyka: Undisputed. Whether by an unexpected early release or a second chance at escape, Boyka could emerge a very different man from the one Chambers knew. Chambers would also be a changed man himself, and probably after continuing his MMA training after Undisputed 2, could even be a radically different fighter than in his two matches with Boyka. Undisputed 5 would have the potential to show Chambers as an MMA fighter who could match Boyka’s every technique, along with an even more unexpected prospect — specifically, that through the new challenge they’d be confronted with, the two former enemies could actually be forced to join forces and fight side-by-side.

Outside of simply continuing through Undisputed 5, there’s also been talk of the franchise transitioning to a Boyka-led Undisputed TV series. Chambers’ return in that format could even take the form of episodes alternating between where Boyka and Chambers currently are before building back up to their unexpected meeting years later. Whether the Undisputed franchise is to continue in an episodic approach or by just jumping into Undisputed 5, George “Iceman” Chambers is due for a return, and after his last match with Boyka, the possibilities are endless for the kind of fighter, enemy, or ally he could return as now.

NEXT: Never Back Down: The Martial Arts Movie Franchise Ranked, Worst To Best

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News: Can your PC run Windows 11? Learn how to here

• October 3, 2021
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With Microsoft’s very own PC Health Check tool back, you can ascertain if your machine is viable to run Windows 11 to be released shortly. This is accompanied with no shortage of third-party options available to those who’d like a report on a PCs’ compliance with minimum system requirements for Windows 11.Compute World walks through the system requirements as they stand now, as well as how to use the PC Health Check app and two alternative tools to check a PC’s Windows 11 upgrade readiness.Windows 11 system requirementsAccording to Microsoft’s Windows 11 overview page, the following items delineate the basic requirements a PC must meet for Windows 11 to install properly on that machine. At present, Microsoft has relaxed those restrictions, so that out-of-compliance PCs can run Windows 11 within the Insider Program. But when the official release goes out later this year, those machines will no longer be able to upgrade to newer Windows 11 versions.Processor: 64-bit architecture at 1 GHz or faster; Intel: eight-generation or newer; AMD Ryzen 3 or better; Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c or higherRAM: 4 GB or higherStorage: 64 GB or larger storage deviceSystem firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capableTPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0Graphics card: Direct X12 or later capable; WDDM 2.0 driver or newerDisplay: High-def (720p) display, larger than 9” diagonal in size, 8 bits per color channel (or better)Internet connection/MSA: Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account (MSA) to complete device setup on first use. Switching out of Windows 11 Home in S mode likewise requires internet connectivity. For all Windows 11 editions, internet access is needed for updates, and to download and use certain features. An MSA is required for some features as well.Just recently the company also relaxed its CPU restrictions to include certain high-end seventh-generation Intel processors found in some of its Microsoft Surface Studio 2 PCs, as well as certain Xeon processors.Using Microsoft’s PC Health CheckTo download PC Health Check, you must be a registered Windows Insider and logged into the associated Microsoft account.The download is easily accessible as a Microsoft Installer file named WindowsPCHealthCheckSetup.msi. Run this file and the program installs itself.To run the program, type PC Heal into the search box, then run the app from the Start menu. To run its built-in Windows 11 compatibility check, click the Check now button inside the “Introducing Windows 11” pane at the top of the app window, as shown in Figure 1:Click Check now in the PC Health Check app to run its compatibility checker. The program returns one of three possible windows after the compatibility check runs. Those that pass the check get a “meets requirements” message (Figure 2, left); those that fail get a “doesn’t currently meet” message (center); and those from PCs running Windows Education or Enterprise or another Windows version managed by an IT department get a message that reads “Your organization manages updates on this PC” (right) but no compatibility check. I’m running Enterprise on my production PC and have flagged this as an error or problem with Microsoft via its Feedback Hub.From left to right, passing grade, failing grade, and no grade, respectively.Click the See all results button to see more details for both passing and failing PCs. The failing PC is a 2014 vintage Surface Pro 3 that fails because its fourth-generation Intel CPU is not supported. The passing grade goes to a 2018 Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga, which has an eighth-generation Intel CPU and other necessary components. Some of the details for both machines appear in Figure 3.2018 Lenovo X380 Yoga (left) passes, but the 2014 Surface Pro 3 (right) fails.Microsoft’s PC Health Check will work for most Windows PCs. Those running Windows 10 Education or Enterprise may be out of luck. Ditto for Windows PCs centrally managed via Group Policy in an organization’s IT environment. YMMV, as they say. And, of course, you might not wish to join the Windows Insider program. That’s why I also recommend the two third-party compatibility check tools in the next section.Two good alternative Windows 11 compatibility checkersThough more options are available, I have found two third-party tools to be eminently useful to check a PC for Windows 11 compatibility in enough detail to make them worthwhile:WhyNotWin11: a GitHub-based project that runs as a standalone Windows application and reports on a series of checks it performs when run.Windows 11 Compatibility Check: a Windows batch file that runs inside an administrative PowerShell session or Command Prompt window to report its findings on PC attributes and capabilities.Either of these tools can provide you ample intelligence to determine if your PC is ready for Windows 11, with one caveat. Older PCs whose CPUs qualify under the processor requirement may include hardware-based TPM chips of version 1.3 or older (lower in number). These CPUs can emulate TPM 2.0, so what looks like a failure to meet Windows 11 requirements at the hardware level can be offset in software. I will explain further in the section on the Windows 11 Compatibility Check script below.WhyNotWin11WhyNotWin11 is a GitHub project whose source code is publicly available. The latest release as I write this story is version 2.4.0 (but you can always click the “Latest” button on the home page to jump to the most current vesion). Click the link labeled Download the latest stable release and you’ll end up with a file named WhyNotWin11.exe. By default it resides in the Downloads folder (C:Users<username>Downloads), where you can execute the program directly.It takes a little while to download the WMIC (Windows Management Instrumentation command-line utility) on which it’s based. When it completes its various checks, it displays their results as shown in Figures 4 (from an incompatible system) and 5 (from a compatible one).WhyNotWin11 results for a PC running on a sixth-gen (i7-6700) Intel chip with no TPM support. This PC will not support Windows 11.WhyNotWin11 results for a PC running on an eleventh-gen (i7-1180G7) Intel chip with TPM 2.0 support. This PC is running Windows 11 and meets all requirements.Understanding WhyNot11’s output is simple: green meets it meets a requirement, red means it doesn’t, and amber means it may or may not meet the final requirements but doesn’t meet current requirements. There’s been a lot of flap about where Microsoft should draw the line on CPU generations, so amber is a sop to those with high hopes for inclusion of older generations. As of the end of August, a few select seventh-generation Intel Core and Xeon processors were allowed into the “meets requirements” group, but no further additions are on the table, according to Microsoft.Windows 11 Compatibility Check scriptThis tool, named Windows 11 Compatibility Check, comes from the community website Windows ElevenForum. Its author, JB Carreon, offers his work as freeware. It comes in the form of a batch file named W11CompChk.bat. Downloads for this tool reside on its History page. As I write this story, the most current version is numbered 1.4.1, for which dates and download links are readily visible.Once it’s loaded onto your PC, you can simply right-click its entry in File Explorer while holding down the left-hand Shift key on the keyboard. From the resulting pop-up menu, select Copy as path. This copies the full file path into your paste buffer. Next, open an administrative Command Prompt window, paste in the string, and remove the leading and trailing quotation marks (“”).The batch file will then execute. It will show progress, and then a report when it finishes its various checks. Figure 6 shows results from an incompatible PC (the same one as in Figure 4 preceding); Figure 7 shows results from a compatible PC (the same one as in Figure 5).Script output for a sixth-generation Intel i7-6700 CPU PC with no TPM. Again, this PC does not meet Windows 11 requirements.Script output for an eleventh-generation Intel system with TPM 2.0 emulation, which Windows 11 Compatibility Check incorrectly identifies as version 1.3. Despite the script’s assessment, this PC is compatible with Windows 11.Note in Figure 7 how the Windows 11 Compatibility Check script has been tripped up. While the tool does show that TPM is enabled, it erroneously reports an outdated 1.3 version based on the physical TPM chip present. That chip is emulating TPM 2.0 and therefore does meet the Windows 11 requirements.Any of these tools will do, but…Microsoft’s PC Health Check gets the job done, except for those running Enterprise or Education versions, those whose PCs are under central IT management, or those who are not Windows Insiders. Both it and WhyNotWin11 are smart enough to check which version of TPM is active in the Windows runtime environment. Thus, they correctly identify the TPM as meeting the “version 2.0 or higher” requirement.If you run the TPM.msc snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console on that PC (you must be logged in with administrative privileges), in fact, it shows you that its “Specification version” is indeed 2.0 (see Figure 8, lower right). That meets the stated requirement and means that the Lenovo X12 ThinkPad in question (built in 2021) will happily and successfully run Windows 11.The important field is “Specification Version,” which reads 2.0 and meets requirements.Any tool covered here will help you figure out if (and why) a PC meets or fails the Windows 11 system requirements.

With Microsoft’s very own PC Health Check tool back, you can ascertain if your machine is viable to run Windows 11 to be released shortly. This is accompanied with no shortage of third-party options available to those who’d like a report on a PCs’ compliance with minimum system requirements for Windows 11.

Compute World walks through the system requirements as they stand now, as well as how to use the PC Health Check app and two alternative tools to check a PC’s Windows 11 upgrade readiness.

Windows 11 system requirements

According to Microsoft’s Windows 11 overview page, the following items delineate the basic requirements a PC must meet for Windows 11 to install properly on that machine. At present, Microsoft has relaxed those restrictions, so that out-of-compliance PCs can run Windows 11 within the Insider Program. But when the official release goes out later this year, those machines will no longer be able to upgrade to newer Windows 11 versions.

• Processor: 64-bit architecture at 1 GHz or faster; Intel: eight-generation or newer; AMD Ryzen 3 or better; Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Storage: 64 GB or larger storage device
• System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable
• TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
• Graphics card: Direct X12 or later capable; WDDM 2.0 driver or newer
• Display: High-def (720p) display, larger than 9” diagonal in size, 8 bits per color channel (or better)
• Internet connection/MSA: Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account (MSA) to complete device setup on first use. Switching out of Windows 11 Home in S mode likewise requires internet connectivity. For all Windows 11 editions, internet access is needed for updates, and to download and use certain features. An MSA is required for some features as well.

Just recently the company also relaxed its CPU restrictions to include certain high-end seventh-generation Intel processors found in some of its Microsoft Surface Studio 2 PCs, as well as certain Xeon processors.

Using Microsoft’s PC Health Check

To download PC Health Check, you must be a registered Windows Insider and logged into the associated Microsoft account.

The download is easily accessible as a Microsoft Installer file named WindowsPCHealthCheckSetup.msi. Run this file and the program installs itself.

To run the program, type PC Heal into the search box, then run the app from the Start menu. To run its built-in Windows 11 compatibility check, click the Check now button inside the “Introducing Windows 11” pane at the top of the app window, as shown in Figure 1:

Click Check now in the PC Health Check app to run its compatibility checker. 

The program returns one of three possible windows after the compatibility check runs. Those that pass the check get a “meets requirements” message (Figure 2, left); those that fail get a “doesn’t currently meet” message (center); and those from PCs running Windows Education or Enterprise or another Windows version managed by an IT department get a message that reads “Your organization manages updates on this PC” (right) but no compatibility check. I’m running Enterprise on my production PC and have flagged this as an error or problem with Microsoft via its Feedback Hub.

From left to right, passing grade, failing grade, and no grade, respectively.

Click the See all results button to see more details for both passing and failing PCs. The failing PC is a 2014 vintage Surface Pro 3 that fails because its fourth-generation Intel CPU is not supported. The passing grade goes to a 2018 Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga, which has an eighth-generation Intel CPU and other necessary components. Some of the details for both machines appear in Figure 3.

Microsoft’s PC Health Check will work for most Windows PCs. Those running Windows 10 Education or Enterprise may be out of luck. Ditto for Windows PCs centrally managed via Group Policy in an organization’s IT environment. YMMV, as they say. And, of course, you might not wish to join the Windows Insider program. That’s why I also recommend the two third-party compatibility check tools in the next section.

Two good alternative Windows 11 compatibility checkers

Though more options are available, I have found two third-party tools to be eminently useful to check a PC for Windows 11 compatibility in enough detail to make them worthwhile:

• WhyNotWin11: a GitHub-based project that runs as a standalone Windows application and reports on a series of checks it performs when run.
• Windows 11 Compatibility Check: a Windows batch file that runs inside an administrative PowerShell session or Command Prompt window to report its findings on PC attributes and capabilities.

Either of these tools can provide you ample intelligence to determine if your PC is ready for Windows 11, with one caveat. Older PCs whose CPUs qualify under the processor requirement may include hardware-based TPM chips of version 1.3 or older (lower in number). These CPUs can emulate TPM 2.0, so what looks like a failure to meet Windows 11 requirements at the hardware level can be offset in software. I will explain further in the section on the Windows 11 Compatibility Check script below.

WhyNotWin11

WhyNotWin11 is a GitHub project whose source code is publicly available. The latest release as I write this story is version 2.4.0 (but you can always click the “Latest” button on the home page to jump to the most current vesion). Click the link labeled Download the latest stable release and you’ll end up with a file named WhyNotWin11.exe. By default it resides in the Downloads folder (C:Users<username>Downloads), where you can execute the program directly.

It takes a little while to download the WMIC (Windows Management Instrumentation command-line utility) on which it’s based. When it completes its various checks, it displays their results as shown in Figures 4 (from an incompatible system) and 5 (from a compatible one).

WhyNotWin11 results for a PC running on a sixth-gen (i7-6700) Intel chip with no TPM support. This PC will not support Windows 11.

WhyNotWin11 results for a PC running on an eleventh-gen (i7-1180G7) Intel chip with TPM 2.0 support. This PC is running Windows 11 and meets all requirements.

Understanding WhyNot11’s output is simple: green meets it meets a requirement, red means it doesn’t, and amber means it may or may not meet the final requirements but doesn’t meet current requirements. There’s been a lot of flap about where Microsoft should draw the line on CPU generations, so amber is a sop to those with high hopes for inclusion of older generations. As of the end of August, a few select seventh-generation Intel Core and Xeon processors were allowed into the “meets requirements” group, but no further additions are on the table, according to Microsoft.

Windows 11 Compatibility Check script

This tool, named Windows 11 Compatibility Check, comes from the community website Windows ElevenForum. Its author, JB Carreon, offers his work as freeware. It comes in the form of a batch file named W11CompChk.bat. Downloads for this tool reside on its History page. As I write this story, the most current version is numbered 1.4.1, for which dates and download links are readily visible.

Once it’s loaded onto your PC, you can simply right-click its entry in File Explorer while holding down the left-hand Shift key on the keyboard. From the resulting pop-up menu, select Copy as path. This copies the full file path into your paste buffer. Next, open an administrative Command Prompt window, paste in the string, and remove the leading and trailing quotation marks (“”).

The batch file will then execute. It will show progress, and then a report when it finishes its various checks. Figure 6 shows results from an incompatible PC (the same one as in Figure 4 preceding); Figure 7 shows results from a compatible PC (the same one as in Figure 5).

Note in Figure 7 how the Windows 11 Compatibility Check script has been tripped up. While the tool does show that TPM is enabled, it erroneously reports an outdated 1.3 version based on the physical TPM chip present. That chip is emulating TPM 2.0 and therefore does meet the Windows 11 requirements.

Any of these tools will do, but…

Microsoft’s PC Health Check gets the job done, except for those running Enterprise or Education versions, those whose PCs are under central IT management, or those who are not Windows Insiders. Both it and WhyNotWin11 are smart enough to check which version of TPM is active in the Windows runtime environment. Thus, they correctly identify the TPM as meeting the “version 2.0 or higher” requirement.

If you run the TPM.msc snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console on that PC (you must be logged in with administrative privileges), in fact, it shows you that its “Specification version” is indeed 2.0 (see Figure 8, lower right). That meets the stated requirement and means that the Lenovo X12 ThinkPad in question (built in 2021) will happily and successfully run Windows 11.

The important field is “Specification Version,” which reads 2.0 and meets requirements.

Any tool covered here will help you figure out if (and why) a PC meets or fails the Windows 11 system requirements.

News: MSU researchers make surprising discovery about the human gut’s enteric nervous system

• October 3, 2021
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Researchers at Michigan State University have made a surprising discovery about the human gut’s enteric nervous system that itself is filled with surprising facts. For starters, there’s the fact that this “second brain” exists at all.from News Medical Medical Research News Feed https://ift.tt/3uDsq74 https://ift.tt/eA8V8JResearchers at Michigan State University have made a surprising discovery about the human gut’s enteric nervous system that itself is filled with surprising facts. For starters, there’s the fact that this “second brain” exists at all.

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News: Limited options for managing UTIs make women fearful and frustrated

• October 3, 2021
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Despite the prevalence of the painful condition, women are fearful and frustrated with limited management options, according to Cedars-Sinai research published in the Journal of Urology.from News Medical Medical Research News Feed https://ift.tt/3zZrGu1 https://ift.tt/eA8V8JDespite the prevalence of the painful condition, women are fearful and frustrated with limited management options, according to Cedars-Sinai research published in the Journal of Urology.

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News: New study explores the best ways to increase physical activity in cancer survivors

• October 3, 2021
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The cancer survivorship journey can have many components, but one of the most important is regular exercise. Physical activity for individuals who have completed cancer treatment can build stamina, reduce anxiety, improve quality of life and physical fitness, and even improve survival outcomes.from News Medical Medical Research News Feed https://ift.tt/3zZnkDb https://ift.tt/eA8V8JThe cancer survivorship journey can have many components, but one of the most important is regular exercise. Physical activity for individuals who have completed cancer treatment can build stamina, reduce anxiety, improve quality of life and physical fitness, and even improve survival outcomes.

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News: COVID-19 may trigger hyperglycemia by disrupting key metabolic signals to cause severe disease

• October 3, 2021
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COVID-19 may bring high risks of severe disease and death in many patients by disrupting key metabolic signals and thereby triggering hyperglycemia, according to a new study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.from News Medical Medical Research News Feed https://ift.tt/3l3URYD https://ift.tt/eA8V8JCOVID-19 may bring high risks of severe disease and death in many patients by disrupting key metabolic signals and thereby triggering hyperglycemia, according to a new study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

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News: Osimertinib offers a hint of added benefit for NSCLC patients who have received adjuvant chemotherapy

• October 3, 2021
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Osimertinib was the first drug to be approved for adjuvant treatment after complete tumour resection in adults with stage IB to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).from News Medical Medical Research News Feed https://ift.tt/3uxHUJI https://ift.tt/eA8V8JOsimertinib was the first drug to be approved for adjuvant treatment after complete tumour resection in adults with stage IB to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

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