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3 underrated Amazon Prime Video movies you should watch this weekend (May 23-25)

by admin May 22, 2025

If you’ve ever scrolled through Amazon Prime Video for even a few minutes, you’re likely aware of just how deep their library is. That depth can be exciting, but it can also be anxiety-inducing, especially if all you really want to do is find a great movie to watch.

Thankfully, we’ve pulled together a list of three great movies available on Prime Video that are all worth your time. These movies have different vibes and represent different genres, but each of them is a reminder of just how many good movies are available on the streaming service.

We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.

The Hurricane (1999)

Denzel Washington is one of the best actors of all time for a reason. The Hurricane remains one of his greatest and most unseen performances.

The film stars Washington as Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer who dreamed of winning the middleweight title and was then wrongly arrested for murder and sentenced to three consecutive life sentences. The film’s depiction of the way Black men, in particular, are demonized and villainized whether they’re guilty or not remains relevant even to this day.

You can watch The Hurricane on Amazon Prime Video.

Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Telling the true story of Ron Kovic, an all-American teenager who enlists in the Vietnam War and then eventually becomes one of its more radical opponents, Born on the Fourth of July is a thoroughly American movie. Kovic’s story about a patriotic boy who becomes more and more cynical about his country and the war is a brilliant examination of the way Vietnam destroyed the trust of an entire generation of Americans.

Anchored by one of the best performances of Tom Cruise‘s career, Born on the Fourth of July is honest about the realities of war and also features some stunning, horrific footage depicting the conflict itself.

You can watch Born on the Fourth of July on Amazon Prime Video.

Bernie (2011)

Loosely based on a true story, Bernie follows a beloved assistant funeral director in a small Texas town. When he befriends a prickly widow that nobody else likes, he eventually becomes totally ensconced in her world and her needs.

After she’s found dead and Bernie is charged with her murder, the residents of the town spring to his defense, and we come to appreciate how he wound up in this position. Anchored by one of Jack Black‘s best performances, Bernie is darkly funny from start to finish.

You can watch Bernie on Amazon Prime Video.

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May 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Impossible Movies Deserve A Great New Game

by admin May 21, 2025

The fuse has been lit and the mission has been accepted. That’s right folks, it’s time for a new Mission: Impossible film. Final Reckoning, the latest entry in the popular action franchise, arrives in theaters this week. But if this new film has you all excited about the series again and you want to play a Mission: Impossible video game, well, bad news: It’s been over 20 years since the last one. That’s not cool. It’s time for a new MI game!

Nintendo Switch 2 Price Is Set at $450 for Now, But Could Go Higher

This article was originally published on July 13, 2023. It has been updated as part of Kotaku’s Mission: Impossible Week.

The Mission: Impossible franchise technically started as a spy-themed television series from the 1960s, which got a sequel series in the ‘80s. But when most people talk about the Mission Impossible franchise in 2025, they are likely referring to the long-running action film franchise starring Tom Cruise that has grown into something much larger and over-the-top than the old TV shows. These films, which began in 1996, typically showcase Cruise risking his life in at least three or four large stunts and also, bizarrely, have only gotten better with each release. A globe-trotting action-adventure franchise that makes tons of money, is loved by critics, and has a massive fanbase seems like ideal material for a video game adaptation. Oddly, that’s not been the case.

Since the beginning of the franchise, only five Mission: Impossible video games have been released. (Confusingly, four of them are just named Mission: Impossible.) The first game launched in 1990 for the NES. The second game was released the following year for DOS. These two were based on the 1980s sequel series that aired on ABC.

Then in 1998, two years after the first Tom Cruise film, another Mission: Impossible game launched on the Nintendo 64. This one has some fans, and played a lot like a third-person spin on Rare’s popular GoldenEye 007 game. Two years after that, right before the second film hit theaters, a very short and not-good Mission: Impossible game landed on Game Boy Color. However, this game did include a neat feature that let players use the Game Boy as a remote control.

Finally, in 2003, Mission: Impossible — Operation Surma launched on PlayStation 2 and later GameCube. This third-person action-adventure spy-thriller takes place between the events of Mission: Impossible II and the third film, but is also never directly referenced in the films and doesn’t even feature the likeness of Tom Cruise. It was essentially a Metal Gear Solid/Splinter Cell clone and in 2025 has been mostly forgotten, like the rest of the M:I video games.

**It’s time for a new Mission: Impossible video game**

And…that’s it! After 2003, we stopped getting new Mission: Impossible games. I understand that the film series hit a six-year lull between the second and third, but after 2011’s Ghost Protocol, the franchise kept getting bigger and better with each entry. 2018’s Mission: Impossible Fallout is probably the best film in the series. (Dead Reckoning, sadly, couldn’t keep the trend going.)

And yet, even as the franchise grows bigger and bigger, no new video games are on the horizon. What a shame! So many moments in recent MI films feel almost like setpieces from AAA video games of the last decade. It makes sense to me that this series would translate well into a modern video game.

I understand that over the last decade or so, we’ve stopped getting crappy games based on popular films. And I’ve been mostly fine with that, as the vast majority of games based on films were awful and not worth playing. Then again, we are getting a new 007 game from the Hitman devs, and a new Avatar one from Ubisoft, so it’s not like games based on movies are impossible to make these days.

And I think a Mission: Impossible game—if done right and given enough time and resources—could be amazing. Honestly, a game where you just recreate all the famous and dangerous stunts from the films would be great, like a new Stuntman but based entirely on Mission: Impossible scenes. Actually, it’s been a long time since we got a good Stuntman game, too.

Okay, new plan: Someone convince the right people to fund the development of a new Stuntman-like game based on Tom Cruise’s wildest Mission: Impossible stunts. That’s the game I want. Thank you.

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May 21, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Spain Dives Into AI-Generated Movies While Hollywood Battles Over Its Soul

by admin May 20, 2025

In brief

Spain is embracing AI in filmmaking, debuting its first fully AI-generated feature, The Great Reset, at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival.
New legislation aligns with the EU AI Act, mandating clear labelling of AI-generated content and imposing fines for misuse.
Spanish-developed tools like Magnific are already in use in Hollywood, signaling broader adoption of the country’s AI tech.

Spain is beginning to integrate artificial intelligence into its film and television industries, attempting to position itself as a pioneer in both the creation and regulation of AI content.

The shift includes notable projects like “The Great Reset,” an AI-generated feature film presented at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2025.

The sci-fi thriller, directed by Daniel H. Torrado, uses AI for image synthesis, animation, and post-production, eliminating the need for on-screen actors or physical locations.

Produced by Virtual World Pictures, Canary Film Factory, and EPC Media, the film follows an AI from a renegade hacker’s mind that’s planning to destroy humanity, with the protagonist racing to prevent global collapse.

Despite its technological innovations, human involvement remains crucial, with the script, artistic direction, and narrative supervised by a creative team led by Torrado. Real actors served as references for interpretation and dubbing in key scenes.

“AI allowed us to simulate complex decisions early on and experiment without the budgetary risk that often paralyzes many independent creators,” Torrado told the Hollywood Reporter. “Human oversight was constant. Every artistic, narrative, and emotional decision went through my hands. AI was a powerful tool, not a substitute for the creator.”

Spain’s push into AI-generated content comes amid heated global debates about AI’s role in filmmaking—and all art in general.

The controversy centers on concerns about authenticity, transparency, and ethical use, with audiences and creators worried about AI-generated content being mistaken for human work.

Recent examples illustrate those tensions.

The film “The Brutalist” faced significant backlash after its editor revealed that AI was used to enhance the Hungarian accents of lead actors Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones.

Director Brady Corbet defended the use, stating it was a meticulous, manual process, but the controversy highlighted sensitivity around AI’s role in performances.

Even huge studios from Lucasfilm to Marvel Studios have been in the bullseye, from small things like using AI to create posters to more influential decisions like incorporating AI into the final creation.

Spain’s boost for an AI-friendly industry

In March 2025, Spain approved a draft law to regulate AI, aligning with the European Union’s AI Act.

This law focuses on ethical, inclusive, and beneficial use, including strict labeling requirements for AI-generated content and significant fines for non-compliance.

Mislabeling AI content could result in penalties up to €35 million (US$39.3 million), aiming to ensure transparency and prevent misuse like deepfakes.

But Hollywood has already begun incorporating Spanish AI technologies into mainstream productions.

A case in point is the film “Here,” directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, which utilized AI tools to enhance visual effects.

VFX supervisor Kevin Baillie recently revealed that the team used an AI-powered upscaler called Magnific for numerous scenes in the film.

“Magnific was used to enhance 20+ scenes in here,” Baillie said in an interview shared by Javier Lopez, Magnific’s co-founder.

⚡ Magnific on the big screen!

I CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT THIS!

The VFX team of Here (directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Robin Wright & Tom Hanks) used Magnific for their FX 🤯

To break it all down (+more), I interviewed VFX supervisor Kevin Baillie! 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/EVhZCP0jlh

— Javi Lopez ⛩️ (@javilopen) February 18, 2025

Baillie explained how the tool transformed their workflow: “Instead of spending 20% of the time focusing on the creative aspects of a shot and 80% on the details, Magnific helped us spend 20% on the details and 80% on the creativity! It’s putting what artists do best at the forefront, which I absolutely love.”

The film also employed face-swapping technology for de-aging, with 53 minutes of complete face replacement to bring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and other actors back to their younger years.

The team used real-time face swap models during filming, allowing actors and crew to see the de-aged versions immediately on set.

Besides generative upscaling and filtering, there are already a lot of interesting ideas being developed in the Spanish industry.

Speaking with Decrypt, Freepik CEO Joaquin Cuenca explained that beyond simple (and uncontrolled) AI generations, they are working on true workflows and AI-powered video editing suites.

“We are working on video editors,” he told Decrypt. “Today, you can generate small clips, but we are working on something that allows users to compile them on-site, add audio, and do all the composition to end up with a fully functional long clip.”

Spain’s television sector shows signs of exploration, though less documented than film.

From using generative AI in text and charts to leveraging AI tools to enhance the cataloging of its historical archive, TV stations are no strangers to adapting their workflows to incorporate AI.

And there have been some performative experiments with purely generative video among enthusiasts—at least on a short scale, non professional level.

One example is the experimental news show “Telediario” set in the year 2088, created by the Human XR Lab at the Universidad del Atlántico Medio.

The short video is part of a virtual reality experience at the Museo Élder in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

While not intended as commercial content, it reflects Spain’s growing appetite for innovation in pursuit of a more creative future.

“Artificial intelligence doesn’t replace artistic vision or human creativity,” Torrado said earlier this year. “[It] allows filmmakers to focus on what truly matters: telling stories that move and connect with the audience.”