Latest from Gizmodo
Gizmodo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Nobody Thought a VPN This Good Could Be This Cheap
Obtaining a VPN at a budget-friendly price often means making compromises. Well, not with PIA. This renowned provider has significantly reduced its prices, making it the most affordable VPN currently available. You won't believe the discount the provider has come up with. It's an 82% discount with two free months for the biennial plans. When you do the math, you save $255 compared to the monthly plan. Sounds unreal, but it's true. Save $255 on PIA VPN Today PIA VPN $255 Discount Explained Private Internet Access was never too pricey to begin with. However, its monthly plan at $11.99 per month isn't remarkably affordable. Now, imagine spending this amount of money for 26 months straight: sounds ludicrous! That's why PIA has introduced a discount that slashes the price by 82% and includes two free months. As a result, you'll spend only $56.94 for the first 26 months. Even after the initial offer, PIA will charge you this much annually! This still results in ample savings compared to the standard monthly price. Private Internet Access hasn't forgotten to include a 30-day money-back guarantee, either. This enables a prompt refund if you're unsatisfied. Antivirus + Dedicated IP Discounts As part of its flash sale, the VPN has discounted its antivirus and dedicated IP addresses. Its competitive antivirus now costs $34.80 for two years, while a dedicated IP costs $60 for two years. It's worth noting that PIA Antivirus is primarily designed for use on PCs. However, its dedicated IP addresses can be used on a plethora of devices. PIA offers them in 25 locations, so there's plenty to choose from if you decide. As a gift, Private Internet Access includes 500 GB of pCloud for free for a year. We reviewed pCloud and were thoroughly impressed. At under $57 for 24 months, PIA offers one of the top VPN packages you can find. Features Rundown There's not much you can buy at $2 per month, except if you shop on Temu. PIA doesn't skimp on necessary VPN features, despite its nearly free price. You'll get unlimited device protection and a no-log policy, for example. PIA also introduced MultiHop, which doubles your encryption. People love using the VPN for streaming and torrenting. Meanwhile, it's phenomenal for those on the dark web who seek full onion over VPN support. Private Internet Access is compatible with nearly all devices, and each app version offers robust security. From 256-bit GCM encryption to IP and DNS leak protection, you can expect everything in this neat package. Bear in mind that Private Internet Access periodically alters its price. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy a world-class VPN and spend peanuts. See the offer at Private Internet Access
Gizmodo
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Best Wishes to All' Proves J-Horror Can Still Find New Ways to Freak You Out
New Shudder release Best Wishes to All begins with a nightmare, and that sets the tone for everything that follows. A nursing student, never given a name and played by the instantly sympathetic Kotone Furukawa, dreams she's a child again visiting her grandparents—and wakes up screaming after spotting something deeply alarming beyond a cracked-open door. We soon realize this was really more of a flashback, in anticipation of what seems to be her first trip to their rural home since that happened. And she's going alone. 'By myself?' she murmurs in dismay to her parents when they call to tell her they'll be delayed in joining her. She's reluctant, but she leaves her Tokyo apartment and heads to the train, where an elderly woman she helps cross the street layers in some thematic heft early in act one: 'I'm sorry that young people are sacrificed for old folks like me.' Our protagonist shakes the odd encounter off, but the weird vibes escalate even after what seems to be a perfectly pleasant family reunion… at least at first. It's odd being back in the sleepy village, where neighbors—especially a young man she hasn't seen in years—seem startled to see her stopping by from her current life in the big city. There's a sense of unease clinging to every frame, and director and co-writer Yûta Shimotsu carefully sprinkles warning signs in such a way that neither the nurse nor the audience can tell if this is just 'old people acting like old people' and 'eccentric small-town stuff,' or something far more distressing. There's also the matter of that room from her nightmare, sealed behind the only locked door in the house. Best Wishes to All has Takashi Shimizu among its producers, a name Japanese horror fans will instantly recognize. He created the Ju-On series, also known as The Grudge, and had such ownership of the franchise he even directed the American remake and its sequel. Along with The Ring, The Grudge was one of the breakout titles of the early 2000s J-horror craze, spawning terrors about cursed houses and wide-eyed ghosts with long black hair. His involvement in Best Wishes to All ties it into that tradition and also signals his support for the genre's 21st century evolution—and this release certainly proves there are still agonizing new ways to reveal ghastly truths lurking within an ostensibly peaceful setting. Like many standout horror movies, Best Wishes to All roots its frights in social commentary, though American audiences may have to poke around after viewing to understand the finer details of the cultural context. However, it also contains a more universal message about generational conflicts, as well as traditions that remain stubbornly in place despite seeming wildly out of step with the times. If this review reads as frustratingly vague regarding exactly what the nurse uncovers at grandma and grandpa's home—sorry, but Best Wishes to All is a movie best experienced with as little knowledge of its reveals as possible. It's not entering spoiler turf to note that a movie that came to mind while watching it was Jordan Peele's Us; there are no murderous doppelgangers here, but there's a similar exploration of an awful truth that's become completely entangled with the way the world operates. And like the characters in Us, the nurse peels back a layer she can never put back in place. She's forced to come to terms not just with what she learns about her own family, but so many other families too, as well as the knowledge that everyone else already has full awareness of something she's been kept in the dark about. At one point, someone even jokingly asks her if she still believes in Santa Claus. Best Wishes to All is decidedly bleak; instead of leaning into jump scares, it gets under your skin in more philosophical but no less dreadful ways. And it's packed with body horror too—a creepy extra flourish in a movie whose characters are fixated on asking each other if they're happy or not. They all say yes, but in a world like theirs, how can we believe them? Best Wishes to All is streaming on Shudder.
Gizmodo
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘The Phantom of the Paradise' Might Find New Life as a Stage Play
The Phantom of the Paradise, the vastly underrated horror-tinged rock opera from the minds of Brian De Palma (Carrie) and Paul Williams (The Muppet Movie), might be getting a new musical adaptation. Movie Maker reports that Williams and Sam Pressman, whose father Ed Pressman produced the 1974 cult film, are currently developing it as a stage production. 'I'm excited about having a chance to deliver what fans have been suggesting for years… POTP as a stage musical,' Williams said in a statement to MovieMaker. 'I think its time has come!' American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis has been approached to pen it (please, no), but he's not committed according to the report. If you've never heard of The Phantom of the Paradise, get thee to a revival theater screening or rent it online—especially if you're a Muppets fan. I know it seems weird to draw a line from 'Rainbow Connection' and 'no cheeses for us meeces' to a glam and gory '70s riff on The Phantom of the Opera, but stay with me for a moment. Not only did the De Palma and Williams musical predate Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway take on the Gaston Leroux novel, but it inspired so many artists we know and love today. After its release Williams went on to become the Muppetational mind behind the music of The Muppet Movie and The Muppet Christmas Carol. Meanwhile, De Palma continued to genre hop from horror to mob movies and started the Mission: Impossible franchise. The Phantom of the Paradise loosely adapts The Phantom of the Opera by way of Faust with a dash of The Picture of Dorian Gray but re-imagined into masterful musical mayhem. It follows a lowly composer named Winslow Leech who chases a deal with the devil in the form of music producer Swan, played by Williams in a tasty turn for the multi-hypenate. (He later also played the Penguin in Batman: The Animated Series.) Thanks to his association with Death Records, Leech's musical talents are ripped away and pressed just like his face into records that don't give him credit for his songs. This includes the tunes that transform Leech's crush Phoenix, the ingenue played by Jessica Harper (Suspiria), into a pop star. Vowing revenge he becomes the Phantom of the Paradise and violently haunts every artist Swan tries to give his music to, until they enter a deal that Leech's music will only go to Phoenix. And from there things get real messy and bloody, but man, the needle drops are legendary. So legendary that the film, much like its creative minds behind it, also inspired artists across mediums too. Guillermo del Toro is a vocal fan of the film and has been instrumental in making sure it stays in the horror zeitgeist. He even has one of the Phantom's helmets in his Bleak House collection, which I totally didn't imagine pulling a heist for at the LACMA when it was on display there. The film has also become a touchstone for other musicians. One that really struck me personally was finding out that My Chemical Romance was heavily inspired by the film. I didn't see it until I was an adult, which I deserve a shame circle for as a Phantom of the Opera Universal Monsters and original novel fan—but I knew MCR's The Black Parade. The no-skips album is essentially a rock opera and it made total sense to find out Gerard Way was heavily influenced by Phantom in its creation. If anything, Way should write the book for Williams' upcoming staging and star in it too. Another act that's come under Phantom's spell offers an even more fun realization: Daft Punk. Down to the helmets, aesthetic, and sound of the Phantom, that movie really gave us the greatest electronic duo to ever spin. Williams actually appeared on Random Access Memories track 'Touch,' which sounds like it was yanked from a time machine as a Phantom of the Paradise B-side. The Phantom of the Paradise was ahead of its time and the announcement of its stage musical gives me hope it will find its audience. If they modernize it, I wouldn't hate it because I see the vision. The themes are timeless even in our digital age where content creators with talent who try to build a following get ripped off by artificial influencers with clout. That can be very Leech/Phantom versus Swan-coded for sure. Williams is a stone cold legend and his music mastery is a gift that's still giving—he headlined Coachella this year with Yo Gabba Gabba! While the report mentioned De Palma has been approached about the staging, he's not an announced part of it. 'We certainly want Brian to feel honored,' Pressman said in the article. 'I went to go see Brian last fall, to talk about the dream. Phantom was an early and significant film for him and I'd say the favorite film of my father in his career. I think the chaos and originality of the whole experience was deeply inspiring.'
Gizmodo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Gizmodo
Trump EPA May Undo Cancer-Causing Asbestos
Who needs regulations on things with clear ties to mesothelioma? In 2024, the Biden administration issued a ban on the last type of asbestos still used in the United States due to its links to cancer. The Trump administration isn't so sure that we need to protect people from such things. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Trump's Environmental Protection Agency will delay the ban on the material and reconsider the rule entirely. Because, hey, when has a little cancer ever hurt anyone? The material at the core of this back-and-forth policymaking is chrysotile asbestos, otherwise known as 'white asbestos.' While it has been on the way out for a while, it's far from eliminated. White asbestos is still used in some roofing materials, textiles, cement and is found in brake pads and other automotive parts. It is also sometimes used to make chlorine. Its usage continues despite the fact that the material has been linked to lung cancer, ovarian cancer, laryngeal cancer, and mesothelioma, which is a cancer in the linings of the lungs, abdomen, heart, or testicles. The EPA estimates that asbestos exposure is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the United States. For those reasons, more than 50 countries have already banned the use of the material outright. The U.S. joined their ranks in 2024, when the Biden administration announced a ban on it last year, though even that had a very long lead time before it actually went into effect. Under the rule introduced by the EPA under Biden, the white abestos ban had a 12-year-long phase-out period, meaning it wouldn't have truly been banned in full until 2036. But how's a chemicals manufacturer supposed to operate with more than a decade of heads up? It's just too much to ask. Might as well just kill the rule entirely. The Times reported that the Trump administration is considering reworking the rule to lift the ban on the import and use of asbestos in chlorine production and the use of sheet gaskets that contain asbestos in chemical manufacturing facilities. If you're wondering why the Trump administration would back off on this rule that seems like a pretty obvious no-brainer, especially for the administration that claims it wants to make America healthy again, there's a relatively simple answer available: the lobbyists run the show. Per the Times, the court filing from the EPA indicating that it is reconsidering the rule was signed by Lynn Dekleva. Before joining the administration, Dekleva was an official for the American Chemistry Council, where she lobbied to block regulations on the carcinogen formaldehyde. And before that, she spent 32 years at DuPont, a company repeatedly identified as a major producer of dangerous 'forever chemicals.' Now she's in charge of approving chemicals for use at the EPA. Good luck to the rest of us.
Gizmodo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Brad Pitt's Sci-Fi Film Roles, Ranked
From '12 Monkeys' and 'Fight Club,' to 'Benjamin Button,' 'Joe Black,' and others, here's our list. Next week, one of our biggest movie stars hits theaters in one of the summer's biggest movies. F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt, is out June 27 and it's the kind of role only someone as huge as Pitt could play. Pitt has been one of the top movie stars in the world for decades. Rising to stardom in the early 1990s, he quickly jumped to leading man status and has never looked back since. Pitt has had an incredibly varied career, making films in seemingly every genre imaginable. He's been in romances, fantasy epics, crime thrillers, sports movies, you name it. He's also made more than a few sci-fi films, which is our specialty here on io9. So, with Pitt on the mind thanks to his latest (decidedly non-sci-fi) movie coming out, here are our rankings of Brad Pitt's sci-fi roles. But, first, a clarification. As we said, Pitt has made a lot of movies, many of which straddle the line between genres. Just so you aren't reading this article all day, we decided to be a little more strict in our classifications. So, for example, many of Pitt's roles are almost on the edge of genre. Crime movies with spy elements, non-fiction characters in fantasy stories, and hyper-realistic settings. All of which kind of fit io9, but won't be considered here. That includes Spy Game, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Tree of Life, The Lost City, and Bullet Train. We've also decided not to count a few of Pitt's films that are very much genre, but lack sci-fi elements. That takes Seven and Troy off the list. So, what's on it? Here we go. 9. Deadpool 2 Pitt's blink and you'll miss it cameo as Vanisher, one of the members of X-Force, is absolutely hilarious but not big enough to rank highly here. 8. Meet Joe Black In Meet Joe Black, Pitt plays the personification of Death, who then learns to live and love. It's a strong, memorable, stoic performance in a rather dull movie. Not Pitt's fault and not a terrible movie, merely lacking in comparison to some of his other work. 7. Cool World One of Pitt's earliest noteworthy starring roles sees him as the hard-nosed detective of a cartoon world. It's a fun movie with a solid performance. 6. World War Z In a case of the movie being better than the performance, Pitt plays the lead in this story of a global zombie outbreak. It's a solid movie with lots of action and effects, which forced Pitt into a by-the-book performance. It's not his best work, but the scope of the movie brings it up a notch. 5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Playing a man who ages in reverse, this big, bold production is maybe a little bit too much. Pitt is amazing in it though, using visual effects to really give us a fully formed, wild performance… in a just okay movie. 4. Ad Astra Just because, compared to several of these other films, it's a little underrated, we're putting Ad Astra higher than most would expect. Pitt plays an astronaut who travels deep into space looking for his lost father in a poignant, exciting film with a nuanced lead performance. 3. Fight Club Shock of shocks! Fight Club might be our favorite movie of the bunch but, we're talking Brad Pitt roles. And as incredible as Pitt is as the unforgettable Tyler Durden, it really is a two-hander of a movie with Edward Norton, which just meant we ranked it a tiny bit lower. 2. Interview with the Vampire As the eternal vampire Louis, Pitt shared the screen of this 1994 film with Tom Cruise, making up one of the most beautiful casts of the era. And it's saying something that when paired up with a star as big as Cruise at the time, Pitt's charisma and talent may just overshadow him. 1. 12 Monkeys Pitt received his first Oscar nomation for his role in this film, a twisty, turny, sci-fi mindfuck from director Terry Gilliam. It's not the biggest role, but damned if it isn't unforgettable as Pitt just seems to be having the most fun he's ever had on screen.
