Tag: review
It’s probably already too late to clean up your gaming habits for Steam’s upcoming ‘year in review’
Keychron Q8 keyboard review: Alice layout is interesting, but not optimal
Google Pixel Buds Pro Review: A Fantastic Pair of Android-Focused Earbuds
![](https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Person-holding-the-Google-Pixel-Buds-Pros-case.jpg?width=600&height=250&fit=crop&trim=2,2,2,2)
Google finally created a true Apple AirPods Pro competitor with the Pixel Buds Pro. It has taken four generations to get here, but these Android-focused true wireless earbuds (TWEs) sound good, fit great, and offer all-day battery life. They’re not perfect, but they’re my new go-to earbuds.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 review
Cursed To Golf review: a charming golf sim that’s stuck in roguelike purgatory
![](https://assets2.rockpapershotgun.com/cursed-to-golf-header_5agG8CX.jpg/BROK/resize/1920x1920%3E/format/jpg/quality/80/cursed-to-golf-header_5agG8CX.jpg)
Golf games seem to be having a bit of a renaissance right now. From their beginnings on the fairway fringes of Flash-game forums, we now have been blessed with a handful of fun indie golf sims. We’ve seen the bizarre buffoonery of What The Golf?, the high-speed, eye-popping courses of Golf With Your Friends, and Secret Mode recently completely threw the clubs out the window and replaced them with highspeed motorcars in Turbo Golf Racing.
It’s safe to say that golfing games are always full of shenanigans and Cursed To Golf is no different. Playing as a golfer who has been cast into Golf Purgatory, you need to golf your way back to the land of the living, completing all eighteen holes in one roguelike run. It’s a fun premise and the game bursts with silliness and personality, but unfortunately Cursed To Golf fails to iron out certain roguelike frustrations. After mistiming a shot in the game’s final area and being sent back to the beginning (ending an excruciating four-hour run time), I truly did feel cursed.
House Of The Dragon Review – New Dragons, Same Westeros
It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to count HBO’s Game of Thrones as one of the most divisive TV series in recent memory. Everything from errant coffee cups left on set to poor lighting in fight scenes created weeks of debate and conversation for fans–and it was understandable, all things considered. What had started as a series adapting George R.R. Martin’s beloved, and notably unfinished, fantasy novel series had eventually outpaced the source material, leaving the show to travel without a finished roadmap to an ending all its own. And while Game of Thrones’ mixed results may give many fans pause at the thought of returning to Westeros all over again, the same cannot be said for the network. HBO is all in on Martin and the Game of Thrones universe, as evidenced by their latest prestige project, House of the Dragon. And, based on the first six episodes of the ten episode season provided for review, more Game of Thrones is currently the extent of the game plan.
Set hundreds of years before the events of Game of Thrones proper, House of the Dragon zeroes in on the Targaryens, the platinum blonde lineage of dragon-riding conquerors who were represented almost exclusively by fan-favorite Daenerys in the original series. Now, the Targaryens are out in full force, at the height of their power, galavanting all around Westeros with their dragons in tow–and, well, that’s about all there is to it. House of the Dragon is, by all accounts, just more Game of Thrones–sure, the Iron Throne might look different and the characters all have different names, but the stories are nearly identical to what we’ve already seen. There’s political drama revolving around the succession of a king, competing heirs, incest, secret affairs, plenty of backstabbing, tons of violence and gore–and absolutely no surprises.
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‘Beast’ review: Idris Elba kicks lion butt in fun survival thriller
![A bloodstained man holds a door closed while looking over his shoulder in fear.](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/01vkReJ5mbubGmo2P8r6W1K/hero-image.jpg)
Whether or not you’ll enjoy Beast depends on how you answer the following question: Do you want to see Idris Elba punch a lion? If your answer is yes (and it should be, let’s be honest), then Beast is 100% the movie for you.
Beast does indeed feature Idris Elba punching a lion, but it’s also got a whole lot more going for it. In the mood for killer tension, immersive set pieces, and compelling family drama? Watch Beast. Searching for the perfect adrenaline rush blockbuster to wind down your summer? Watch Beast. Do you just really want to see Idris Elba punch a lion? (Okay, I may have already mentioned that a few times, but it bears repeating.) Anyway, watch Beast.
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Beast gives us high-stakes man vs. lion action
Beast stars Elba as Nate, a recently widowed doctor on a vacation to South Africa with his daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Jeffries). They’re staying at a nature reserve run by family friend Martin (Sharlto Copley), who introduced Nate to his late wife. For Nate, this trip is an opportunity to reconnect with Meredith and Norah. They resent him for how he handled the separation from their mother, and for how he handled her later illness.
What starts as a gorgeous safari into the South African bush quickly becomes a nightmare when Nate, Meredith, Norah, and Martin cross paths with a bloodthirsty lion. This is no ordinary lion: He’s on a rampage against humans to get revenge on the poachers who murdered his pride. (Don’t think too hard about this — what matters is that the lion is angry and that a whole bunch of badassery is about to go down.)
Director Baltasar Kormákur casts a suspenseful spell with his use of long tracking shots as we follow our heroes through the bush. There’s a constant sense of movement and immersion throughout the film, whether we’re trailing Nate through an abandoned village or searching for the lion in the undergrowth. The reliance on tracking shots can make the transitions to static shot-reverse-shot conversations feel jarring, but overall they do their job and they do it well.
![A man in the front seat of a car with a broken window.](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/01vkReJ5mbubGmo2P8r6W1K/images-2.fill.size_2000x1252.v1660788981.jpg)
Credit: Lauren Mulligan / Universal Pictures
And then there’s the lion, a stalking, snarling CGI beast that holds up visually throughout the film. It lurks out of frame, or sometimes in the background, biding its time before it can come back and come after Nate and his family again. It probably helps the lion that his prey are almost consistently making unwise decisions — everyone stop leaving the car! — but the film’s core cast sells every less-than-great choice hard. Sure, Beast has the occasional struggle with clunky dialogue — a discussion about “anti-poaching” is such obvious foreshadowing for a later moment that lands with an awkward thud — but you’ll still be cheering by the time Elba punches. That. Lion.
Idris Elba goes dad mode
Elba is fully in protective father mode for this entire movie. His evolution from “dad having trouble relating to his kids” to “badass action hero who will face down a lion for his daughters” is a blast to watch. It’s made all the better by the film’s earlier scenes, where he mourns his wife and tries to connect with Norah and Meredith.
Halley and Jeffries do great work as Nate’s daughters. Halley nails the balance between Meredith’s fear and her attempts to remain calm in the face of danger. And Jeffries is a ray of light as Norah, delivering some of the film’s funniest lines. Together with Elba, they create a portrait of a dysfunctional yet loving family, and we can’t help but root for them to make it out of the bush alive.
With its core plot of “hunter vs. hunted,” Beast makes for a perfect double feature with this summer’s brilliant Prey. Both are character-driven adventures through the wilderness. Both explore themes of survival and familial bonds. And both feature nail-biting tension and well-executed suspense. Beast scratches the blockbuster itch in a similar way to Prey, and it’s just an all-around good time at the movies. There’s no better way to end your summer than that.
Beast is in theaters Aug. 19.