Highbrow Magazine Contributing Writer Barbara Noe Kennedy is an award-winning writer and editor, who specializes in travel writing. She worked for more than 20 years for the National Geographic Book Division, and she has also written for the Washington Post, National Geographic Traveler, the Los Angeles Times, and Fodor's -- in addition to penning a few books. She is a recent Lowell Thomas travel journalism award winner. Barbara has traveled extensively around the world and, along with her husband, is actively involved in helping Zambian students achieve their education and career goals. She writes travel articles and film reviews for Highbrow Magazine.

Despite the sizable content budgets of streaming video on demand (SVOD) services, consumers are growing more frustrated with SVOD content discovery and subscription fees. SVOD services often require consumers to juggle multiple subscriptions at increasing costs. But on social media platforms, content discovers the user, offering free passive and interactive experiences with near-infinite streams of personalized content that are continuously refined.

The growth of foreign media’s popularity poses many interesting questions as to the future shape of media in the U.S. and worldwide. While platforms like Netflix seem content to purchase and serve as a distributor for foreign content, how will American media producers, especially in fields in which they are lagging behind foreigners, try to appeal to domestic audiences? How will questions of media representation be perceived with art created in different nations and different local contexts?

Maybe it wasn’t very nice that Maleficent cursed Aurora, but why wasn’t she invited to the royal christening when all the other fairies were? She even gave the royals a chance to apologize for their disrespect and they blew it, so what is a powerful spurned fairy to do? And there’s also just the irresistible camp of Disney villains. Somewhat similar to the way queer men gravitate towards pop divas because of their larger-than-life theatricality, the camp and grandeur with which these posh Disney villains get up to in their evildoing is wildly appealing. 

If media deregulation and censorship by proxy constitute subsurface, tectonic shifts in the U.S. media landscape, then attacks on reporters and other direct assaults on the integrity of journalism stand as more obviously concerning developments. In late 2018, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) listed the United States among the world’s most dangerous nations for journalists—the first time the United States ranked in the top 5. By 2021, the United States ranked only 44th out of 180 countries in RSF’s annual World Press Freedom Index.

Gelfand and Roth-Rose have a natural on-air chemistry. Their jokes are quick-witted and the story is well-written. They do a great job of basing the podcast in reality for the first few episodes, allowing audiences an understanding of the history of MoviePass and its founders. In doing so, it allows the ridiculous nature of the story unfolding to feel grounded and based in reality.

I picked up a reporter’s notebook, handed it to him, and told him to bring a pen. Bob’s idea of showing emotion was to smile slightly, showing the well-­stimulated incisors. He didn’t smile. No doubt he thought, the kid’s acting up again, but . . . it’s his last day, and it was. I was thirty-­one and had been a reporter at the Times for four years, but I was leaving to go to Yale Law School. Except I’d just gotten a scoop and I couldn’t walk away from it.

Over the past five years, though, another kind of press criticism has come to prominence after a period of marginalization. This brand of press criticism takes a free and independent press as a necessity for life in a democratic society. Instead of seeking to delegitimize the press, these critics are simultaneously explaining the workings of the press to the public and holding it accountable in its role as the public’s representative and watchdog.

This process isn't just confined to movies, though. Interestingly, it has extended to that apex of nerdy pastimes, the tabletop roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. Many are familiar with the game, either from garish mischaracterizations in the press or from the pulpit or from their own personal practice. Lately, though, the game isn't being characterized as a means of communing with demons or the driving factor of suicides; it's getting top billing as a pastime of characters in Stranger Things and The Big Bang Theory.

The original Nioh managed to blend elements from many different action games into something that feels unique and satisfying. Punishing gameplay that requires fast reflexes and planning combined with a beautiful setting and flashy graphics equaled a game that rivaled the Dark Souls series. The sequel does almost everything it needs to elevate itself to the next level. New weapons, better action, better bosses, and even an interesting story make Nioh 2 a must-play for plans of the rising “masocore” genre.