Dazzling

You wake up and discover your friend in your kitchen, boiling eggs and reading your copy of Jonathan Escoffery’s If I Survive You. You debate. Is it autobiographical? A novel or a short-story collection? Does the book, like the protagonist, seem unhappy with whatever it is? Why does Escoffery use the second-person point of view so much?Why, indeed? As I’m sure you can tell, the second person risks being contrived, distracting, presumptuous, scratchy, puerile and self-conscious. Just don’t do it, writing instructors warn.…

At a glanceExpert's Rating ProsSuperb image performance Advanced Dolby Atmos sound system Game Control Board Freeview Play ConsExpensiveOnly two HDMI 2.1 portsOur VerdictThe Panasonic LZ2000 is a no-compromise 4K HDR TV that offers stunning image quality, a kick-ass Dolby Atmos sound system and a whole new gaming feature set. It’s a brilliant buy if your pockets are deep enough  Ousting the JZ2000, the 2022 version of Panasonic’s range-topping TV ranee, the LZ2000 employs the latest high brightness panel…

Winner of the “Black Water” categoryPhoto: Dennis Corpuz/Ocean ArtThe oceans remain one of the most unexplored places on the planet. But every once in a while, we get a glimpse of the beauty and terror they contain. This month, the Underwater Photography Guide announced the latest winners of its Ocean Art Contest, filled with plenty of these fascinating peeks under the water’s surface.The contest, now in its 11th year, honors a variety of different photo techniques, from wide angleto macro shots (extreme close ups). This…

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is a mesmerizing snapshot of the Active Galaxy NGC 1275 residing at the center of Perseus Galaxy Cluster. In the Universe, galaxies exist in the vast expanse of space. But they are not alone. In fact, galaxies exist in huge groups which are closely connected by gravity. Most galaxies exist in groups or clusters with dozens or hundreds of members, and these cluster galaxies are all in constant motion, pulled and twisted by their neighbour's gravity. Galaxy clusters are the largest…

In the winding streets of Naples’s notorious Spanish quarter, haunted by gang violence, a cycle of incarceration grinds on. Entoni, a mischievous, charismatic force of nature who likes to get into trouble, exasperates his grandmother Dora and mother Natalia. Victoria Fiore’s shattering documentary observes him over four years as he grows, witnessing how his adolescent rebellion results in a forced stay at a reform facility and later youth prison.Instead of the realist style often employed in social-issue documentaries,…

Stories pitting humanity against nature are easy to tell, but difficult to get right. The “snow-capped action thriller set on a treacherous mountain range” is a niche subgenre to say the least, but Summit Fever doesn’t quite come close to matching the highs of its spiritual predecessor Vertical Limit. To be fair, the latter boasted a $75 million budget and an experienced blockbuster director in GoldenEye and The Mask of Zorro‘s Martin Campbell, whereas the former was made for a fraction of that cost and helmed by The…

By ESA/Hubble January 2, 2023Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 6355, globular cluster that lies less than 50,000 light-years from Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, E. Noyola, R. CohenThe scattered stars of the globular cluster NGC 6355 are strewn across this image from the <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space…

The Hubble space telescope might have a few decades under its belt, but it continues to deliver images that keep it working alongside the James Webb Space Telescope – its more powerful successor. The latest showcase of Hubble’s capabilities comes in the form of two photos of the NGC 1850 star cluster, which look startlingly different. The images might look quite different, but NASA says they were taken in the same region of space. The difference in colors and what we see, though, is caused by utilizing two…

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has captured a beautiful but terrifying infrared photo of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. The moon is known for its volcanic surface, and this newest image showcases exactly what you’d expect from such a place. NASA’s Juno mission has been absolutely killing it recently, too, and this new image isn’t anything to balk at. While beautiful, it is also a bit unsettling due to the red hues that the engineers have decided to use to showcase the moon’s surface design. With Juno still at work, this…

The classic American screwball comedies of the late 30s and 40s are revered for their sparkling dialogue, their intricate plotting and their mixing-and-matching of glamorous, witty Golden Age icons like Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck and Claudette Colbert. But one of the important, under-appreciated qualities of those movies – what made Adam’s Rib, Bringing Up Baby, The Lady Eve, His Girl Friday, and others really pop – is there was something serious at stake. These romcoms were not all…