Monthly Archives: August 2021

Absolute ImmortalityPower/Ability to:

Be absolutely eternal and imperishable.

The power to be absolutely eternal and imperishable. Sub-power of Omnipotence. Absolute version of Immortality. Combination of Eternal Soul, Mental Continuation and Unfettered Body. Not to be confused with Absolute Invulnerability and Meta Erasure Immunity.

The users are absolutely immortal, and cannot die, age, get sick, be permanently wounded, are absolutely self-sustained and, as their mind and soul are as immortal as their biological bodies, they are immune to mental/spiritual damage. Any injuries the user suffers will immediately heal, even if the user's body is blown up, disintegrated or completely destroyed to the sub-atomic level and even if the user is completely erased, they will still return to life. Alternately, some users are absolutely immune to all harm, and can never die from any natural causes. Either way, they are inerasable and are unaffected by time manipulation of any level. The users completely transcend the concept of death itself, though many users transcend both the concepts of life and death.

The user's existence and soul become completely free and independent of even the concept of reality, making them unbound to the subjects of life, death, and manipulations. The user's existence is eternal to the point that they would not only continue to exist even after the end of time and all of existence, but would also remain completely unaffected and unchanged by it, essentially outliving time itself and everything else. Also, the power cannot be removed, erased, destroyed and manipulated by any means. Overall, only truly Omnipotent/Metapotent beings can kill the user or even affect their immortality. In some cases the user's existence can overpower almighty laws (though this would only apply to the highest of Supreme Beings), thus rendering their immortality truly perfect and absolute in every sense.

See Also: Complete Immortality.

God/Yahweh/Allah (Abrahamic Religions) is absolutely immortal.

Para Brahman (Hinduism) is absolutely immortal.

The Behemoth (Judeo-Christianity) has no weaknesses and cannot be harmed/killed by anything less than an omnipotent being.

The Leviathan (Judeo-Christianity) has no weaknesses and cannot be harmed/killed by anything less than an omnipotent being.

The Ziz (Judeo-Christianity) has no weaknesses and cannot be harmed/killed by anything less than an omnipotent being.

Death of the Endless (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Virgil, The Ring Lord (Saga Frontier) has absolutely no weaknesses, so much so that you can't even hurt him, the most you can do is entertain him with your attacks

Sacred Ancestor (Vampire hunter D)

Each of the six Guardians of Time (Doctor who) is absolutely immortal and cannot be killed by anything including the timelords who have the means to erase someone on a conceptual scale.

Kaguya Hraisan (Touhou Project) attained complete and absolute immortality after drinking the Hrai Elixir, her existence and soul become utterly independent of even the concept of reality.

Lady of Pain (Planescape) is absolutely immortal and is completely immune to the Last Word itself even when used by a true god.

As the archetype of Earth, Arcueid Brunestud (Tsukihime) is completely immune to the all-killing mystic eyes of death and has been directly stated by an Omnipotent being to have no death.

Lord Ao (Forgotten Realms) is absolutely immortal and only the omnipotent Luminous Being can truly kill him.

Ssuke Aizen (Bleach) attained true immortality and indestructibility after fusing with the Hgyoku, which kept regenerating him no matter the damage, resulting in the necessity to seal him away deep in the underground prison.

Sun Wukong (Journey to the West) became unable to die or be harmed in any way after eating both the food of the heavens and erasing his name off death's register.

Fujiwara no Mokou (Touhou Project) Self-Abandoning and Immortal Human.

Ouroboros (Valkyrie Crusade) is the symbol/embodiment of eternal return, granting her true immortality.

Lich (Valkyrie Crusade) is absolutely immortal, as she is beyond life and death.

Original post:

Absolute Immortality | Superpower Wiki | Fandom

Immortal Future Zamasu unfazed by an energy blade piercing through him.

Immortality (, Fushi), also called Eternal Life (, Eien no Inochi), is the concept of living in physical or spiritual form for an infinite length of time without dying. A subset of this is Eternal Youth (, Eien no Wakasa), which allows for exemption from natural death such as from old age or disease, as well as halting age altogether.

In the manga, those who areimmortal are also immune to the effects of Hakai. There are several outside methods in the series which can be sought after in order to become immortal, the most common being to make such a wish to the Eternal Dragons, Shenron or Porunga, using the seven Dragon Balls.

Even if one is immortal they are still susceptible to being trapped in a place where they cannot escape, be it a different time era, dimension, etc. They are also susceptible when fusing with a mortal being due to merging in a cellular level with said being. This could result in major problems, varying in each person, due to merging their cells with mortal cells. This would either overwrite the fused body's DNA, or treat the merged cell as a one single cell, both resulting in catastrophic mutations. In Dragon Ball Super, it appears that they're also susceptible to being erased from existence by Zeno, while in Dragon Ball Heroes this appears to be untrue, as Fused Zamasu is implied to have regenerated from Future Zeno erasing him. It is also possible the Angels may be capable to do the same as well. In the case of gaining eternal youth, they also are still susceptible to the unnatural taking of life such as murder or suicide. There are examples of these drawbacks such as:

It should also be noted that immortality from death can make a person extremely overconfident due to no longer having to fear death and believe that they can overcome any mortal enemy as they cannot be killed, even if said enemy is stronger than them, as shown by both Garlic Jr. and Future Zamasu. In the case with Garlic Jr. his overconfidence caused him to use the Dead Zone twice against his enemies in an attempt to defeat them only for him to be defeated by Gohan both times and sealed in the very Dead Zone he created. While Future Zamasu was more cautious with dealing with potential threats to his and Goku Black's Zero Mortals Plan even with his immortality, he was still overconfident thanks to his immortality at least until he was almost sealed away by the Evil Containment Wave, which caused him to resort to Potara Fusion with Goku Black to defeat his enemies, however in the anime this would prove to be their undoing as the fusion was unstable due to Goku Black being mortal, allowing Fused Zamasu's body to be killed by Future Trunks and his immortal essence was erased by Future Zeno.

Frieza himself would later decide against seeking eternal life following his second revival as his time in hell made him realize the folly of living forever and decided to focus on fulfilling his desire to be taller in his True and Golden forms due to being sensitive about his height. Others such as Piccolo and Kami have also noted that seeking immortality is a unwise as the inability to die can be a curse instead of a blessing as life itself could become their only living Hell. Goku also notes acquiring it is pointless if the person who acquires it lacks strength as they would be unable to defeat a stronger opponent who could easily defeat them (afterwards they could seal, imprison, or incapacitate them in some form). Goku Black later expressed a similar sentiment to that of Goku when Future Zamasu suggested making him immortal.

It is hypothesized by some that an immortal would be unable to regenerate from complete physical annihilation, as in the manga Vegito believes that his Final Kamehameha might possess enough power to accomplish this against Fused Zamasu, while in the anime Fused Zamasu was not able to regenerate his body after it was obliterated by the Sword of Hope and so he took on an incorporeal form. Daizenshuu 2 states that Majin Buu has an immortal body, it is shown however that he can be killed when he is obliterated by Goku's Super Spirit Bomb. In a what-if scenario in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, the Spirit Bomb is also capable of killing the immortal Frieza.

See the original post here:

Immortality | Dragon Ball Wiki | Fandom

Investigations into the biology, philosophy, and theology of immortality research

In the Greek myth of Tithonus, the goddess of the dawn falls in love with a Trojan prince and asks Zeus to render him immortal so that the lovers could spend eternity together. However, she neglects to request that Tithonus be granted eternal youth in addition to eternal life. As a result, the immortal Tithonus suffers from the painful decay and degradation of his body over time, eventually shriveling down into a cricket.

The prospect of living forever has fascinated human beings for millennia, but it is not a concept without its challenges: the physical body breaks down, the soul is mysterious, and the prospect of infinite time raise philosophical puzzles about what it would be like to exist eternally and whether it would even be pleasant to do so.

Questions of the plausibility, nature, desirability and implications of various possible versions of immortality were at the forefront of the recently completed Immortality Project, a three-year, $5.1 million research initiative headed by University of California, Riverside philosopher John Martin Fischer and funded by the John Templeton Foundation. Using a competitive international evaluation system, the project funded 34 projects related to scientific, philosophical, and theological questions that touch on immortality, enabling the production of books and articles by scientists and humanists, popular writings, documentary films, and even works of science fiction. As a follow-up to the project, the Templeton Foundation recently commissioned a research review summarizing the current state of thinking on the scientific, philosophical, and theological intricacies of immortality, showing where the Immortality Project has moved the discussion forward and highlighting areas ripe for future work.

Much of the Immortality Projects research addresses the chances of technological or medical breakthroughs that might greatly extend human lifespan and investigating non-human species that have atypical lifespans or aging. This research is directly relevant to the physiological or staying alive conception of immortality. Project grantee Jon Cohen published Deathdefying experiments, an article in Science cataloguing recent experiments in non-human species, including cases where mice and insects have achieved impressive ages. One particular mouse, GHR-KO 11C, lived nearly five years (about twice the normal mouse lifespan) thanks to the removal of a gene for a growth hormone receptor. Other insects and worms, such as the Caenorhabditis elegans, can have extended lives because of gene mutations. The biological champion of non-aging is the freshwater hydra, Hydra vulgaris, a tiny relative of corals and jellyfish that is the only species that doesnt seem to age. In one case hydras were observed for ten years without signs of decay. Such studies suggest how anti-aging technologies might be developed for humans, although the journey from a hydra to a human would likely be a long one.

Other grants under the Immortality Project looked at the scientific evidence stemming from near-death and out-of-body experiences and what it tells us both about the possibility that human existence might continue independent of our physical bodies and about the psychological importance of near-death experiences. Under the grant, physician Sam Parnia published the book-length Erasing Death, focusing on the biology of near-death experiences in specific patients, and ending with a call for greater investment in resuscitation science.

In a separate book, Near Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife, Fischer and Immortality Project postdoc Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin examine how supernaturalists have used near death experiences to bolster their arguments, although the authors conclude that such experiences do not provide particularly strong evidence that an immaterial soul that can become immortal.

Why is the idea of immortality so fascinating across so many human cultures? One common explanation for the prevalence of belief in some form of immortality is that it offers an alternative to the existential terror engendered by contemplating potential non-existence after death for ourselves or other people. Several grantees under the project took up the contention of the Epicurean philosopher Lucretius that it is no more rational to worry about ones non-existence after death than to worry about ones non-existence prior to birth. Ben Bradley of Syracuse University examines several potential defenses of the idea that not existing is categorically bad for instance, because it may deprive us of potential good we might have experienced by living longer but finds them them unconvincing. As part of a multi-part subgrant examining Time Bias and Immortality, Notre Dame philosopher Meghan Sullivan suggests that Lucretius was not correct to argue that rationality requires we have symmetrical feelings about pre-life and post-life non-existence.

Sullivans work on this so-called time bias also touched on another set of common philosophical questions on whether individual immortality could be either possible or good: for instance, would an immortal afterlife entail abrupt or gradual changes such that at some point an individual would fully cease to be themselves? And if they have ceased to be themselves, do they truly live on?

Another classic objection to the desirability of immortality is that over infinite time it would eventually become tedious. In Fischer and Mitchell-Yellins Immortality and Boredom, the project leaders argue that this objection is not well founded. Even if an immortal person were to exhaust all previously known experiences, new ones might still be created, and familiar ones could still be enjoyed.

Not all conceptions of immortality need to involve the persistence of a physical body or even a soul one can talk about achieving immortality by having ones work or values persist after death. In one grant-funded article, The Immortals in Our Midst, political philosophers Ajume Wingo and Dan Demetriou suggest that leaders who establish legacies of democratic values achieve a kind of civic immortality that may be the best method for bringing democratic values to countries that are not comfortable with western approaches to politics.

The Immortality Project also provided funding for U.C. Riverside philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel to publish several works of short fiction that used narrative to elaborate on the sort of spare thought experiments more typical in the philosophy of immortality. In Reinstalling Eden: Happiness on a Hard Drive and Out of the Jar, Schwitzgebel explores the ideas of simulated universes, full-body replication and pervasive artificial intelligence relate to the possible natures of immortality.

Many religions, and Christianity in particular, hold that believers will come experience some form of eternal life. This is usually understood in terms of living on forever after death often in the bliss of heaven or the torments of hell. However, Mikel Burley, a professor of religion and philosophy at the University of Leeds, argues that the eternal life promised to Christians need not exist only in the hereafter. Instead, eternal life may be realized during a believers lifetime on earth. Burley proposes that eternal life may be enjoyed as a present possession, appealing to four-dimensionalist metaphysics, which understands time as a fourth dimension akin to the three spatial dimensions. According to four-dimensionalism, parts of time are as real as parts of space, so that all times past, present, and future are equally real and exist eternally, just as all locations defined by the three spatial dimensions (height, width, and depth) also coexist. On Burleys model, partaking of eternal life requires more than us simply existing eternally within time slices of our own past, present, and future: it requires that believers undergo a moral transformation wherein they come to participate in the life of God.

Christina Van Dyke of Calvin College used an Immortality Project subgrant to investigate the concept of sempiternity a state of changeless duration without end as described by Thomas Aquinas. She examines whether shifting to such a radically different temporal framework would necessarily change what it means to be human or whether it would be an extension of already-known types of human experience, including the timelessness aspect of some mystical experiences, or the way perception of time changes for people engaged in creative flow.

Whatever temporal form eternity takes, should believers expect to spend it all in one (very good or very bad) place? Two grant-funded articles take up the belief in the intermediate and temporary eternal states of limbo or purgatory, which are most famously expounded in Catholic theology. Kevin Timpes An Argument for Limbo explores the concept as a state as an opportunity for individuals never given sufficient opportunity to accept Gods offer of redemption during their terrestrial life, including the cognitively disabled lacking the intellectual capacities, to be reconciled to God. Meanwhile, Joshua Thurows Atoning in Purgatory suggests that an omnibenevolent being such as God would want to bring about the most good and thus save the most amount of people; so giving people a chance in purgatory to right their wrongs so that they could enter heaven is in keeping with that goal.

Befitting a subject that touches on the neverending, the aggregate work produced by the Immortality Project identified many questions ripe for future exploration. Biological investigations quickly turn up profound ethical questions about how and to whom life-extending treatments might be made available and how society might be altered if death became optional for some of its members. These ethical discussions involve the contemplation of thought experiments and imagined scenarios, raising additional meta-questions for investigation: Are such methods reliable ways to attain knowledge about immortality? Might fiction be more effective in this regard than abstract philosophizing, as Schwitzgebel suggests? What role do non-physical sciences such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, or history have in helping us understand immortality?

One of the important collective outputs of the Immortality Project has been as a model of ways that interdisciplinary approaches can serve as a case study in scientific and scholarly communication. With a topic as emotionally and ethically vexatious as immortality, the chances of immortality research being misunderstood or misappropriated seem high, making it a perennial challenge for scholars and scholarly communities to better communicate their conclusions for a fascinated public.

Read the scholarly paper on the latest discoveries of immortality research.

Discover our other research papers on discoveries. Explore topics such as:

Link:

Immortality Research - Recent Studies - John Templeton ...

Already, the talk turns to immortality on Shannonside after the county hurlers ransacked Cork on a 3-32 to 1-22 scoreline in the All-Ireland hurling final.

t is the first time a team from the Treaty county successfully put together a defence of this title. It came a century after they first won the first Liam MacCarthy Cup played for with the 1921 Championship though in true form of the times that were in it, that wasnt completed until 1923.

It became the biggest scoring tally in an All-Ireland final, pipping the Kilkenny scoreline when they were at their peak in their 2008 crushing of Waterford by two points. And yet, they notched up 18 wides in the game.

They limited Cork to 1-11 from play across almost 80 minutes of hurling. They have now won three out of the last four All-Irelands, and it would be four in a row, insisted Kingston, only for a disputed wide that should have been a 65 for them against Kilkenny in 2019.

By what do they measure their performance?

From our perspective, it was like trying to stop the tide with a bucket, said Cork manager Kieran Kingston.

Not a lot you could do, no matter what you tried go short or go long, I think they were just at another level to Cork today. Weve got to be honest and say that.

The game got the kind of start you dream of. In the second minute, Cork midfielder Luke Meade sent a handpass with too much flair on it down the line towards his full-back Robert Downey, but it was far too loose. Cian Lynch who earned the half-time comment from analyst Donal g Cusack that it was like trying to play on Harry Potter retrieved it and magicked a little space to give to Gearoid Hegarty arriving late. He took his time and buried it near post beyond Patrick Collins.

Corks response was impressive when Shane Kingston got a run on Shane Finn and lashed to the top corner past Nicky Quaid to get the 40,000 crowd rocking.

But Limerick have two modes of attack. Big haymakers of goals and the death by a thousand cuts of points. The haymakers came in the 14th minute when the immense Seamus Flanagan fielded a Declan Hannon delivery. Aaron Gillane was already peeling away from his marker when the ball was en route and he duly got the pass in space and drilled past Collins.

The third goal closed the door on Cork. Under sustained pressure, Patrick Horgan was forced into a nothing ball in the general direction of Kingston who was shunted out of it. Lynch once again cooked up another creation for Hegarty to feast on, leaving Limerick 3-18 to 1-11 up at the break.

The choicest cut of all, came just before the water break. A ball sent inside to Mark Coleman saw Lynch nipping in to break it to the floor. He executed the sort of chip pick up that players at this level would barely attempt in their back garden to save mortification. Most people would insist on taking the shot on in such circumstances, but Lynch laid it off to Tom Morrissey to convert instead.

It was in the second quarter that they got the daggers out. At the water break, selector Paul Kinnerk had his renowned tactics board out on the pitch and while they would have heard referee Fergal Horgans whistle to resume, were in no panic. They went on to blitz Cork 1-10 to 0-4 in that period.

3-18 in the first half. Its unheard of. Perhaps the greatest half of top level hurling ever put together.

Such was their dominance that by the 39th minute, Patrick Horgan speared over a free that trimmed Limericks lead from 15 to 14. It was greeted with the kind of polite clap that usually greets a routine golf shot in a minor tournament. Every Limerick score was greeted with thunderous roars by contrast.

It was a great performance, yeah, acknowledged Limerick manager John Kiely who eventually materialised in the press room after an eternity out marking the occasion in the open air.

A performance we were building towards over the last couple of months. We got things right from the start, in terms of our set-up, energy levels right. We started putting a lot of pressure on Cork ball coming out of defence and most of all, when we had the ball ourselves, we used it really well. And the lads up front were running mad into space and we were retaining the ball.

Our accuracy was very high. We got into a flow and when you get into that state, it is very hard to stop.

So, back to back titles. How does that rarefied air taste?

It is hard to comprehend. It just seems like yesterday that we had two Championship games in 2017 and lost them both.

We were facing into a winter of complete and utter, total soul-searching. We just managed to turn it around, there is great work ethic in the group, great confidence in the group. Great capacity there and they seem to be able to push the boundaries of their performance outward and upward. They are very much on an upward trajectory at the moment and we just got to keep pushing the boundaries.

CORK: P Collins; N OLeary 0-1, R Downey, S ODonoghue; T OMahony, M Coleman 0-1f, E Cadogan; D Fitzgibbon, L Meade 0-1; C Cahalane, S Harnedy 0-4, R OFlynn; J OConnor 0-1, P Horgan 0-12, 10f, S Kingston 1-0

Subs: D Cahalane for C Cahalane (HT), S OLeary-Hayes for N OLeary (47m), S Barrett 0-1, for Fitzgibbon (47m), A Cadogan 0-1, for OConnor (47m), N Cashman for ODonoghue (52m), D Dalton for OFlynn (55m)

LIMERICK: N Quaid; S Finn, D Morrissey, B Nash 0-1; D Byrnes 0-2, 1f, D Hannon 0-2, K Hayes; W ODonoghue, D ODonovan 0-1; G Hegarty 2-2, C Lynch 0-6, T Morrissey 0-3; A Gillane 1-6, 3f, S Flanagan 0-1, P Casey 0-5

Subs: G Mulcahy 0-1, for Casey (35m), D Reidy 0-1, for Hegarty (62m), C Coughlan for Hannon (65m), B Murphy for Mulcahy (68m), P Ryan 0-1, for T Morrissey (69m)

Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary)

Man of the match: Cian Lynch (Limerick)

Match rating: 3/10.

Get quick and easy access to the latest Northern Ireland news, sport, business and opinion with the Belfast Telegraph App.

Read this article:

Talk turns to immortality as Limerick claim legendary status with All-Ireland final masterclass - Belfast Telegraph

Marvel has been toutingEternals as a love story and what little we know seems to indicate a love triangle between Ikaris, Sersi, and her human lover. That's pretty ripe from drama all on its own, but they aren't the only immortals with relationship problems. In the comics, Kro has a heated romantic background with one of the group's fiercest warriors, Thena (Angelina Jolie).

Yes, even villains have hearts. Back in fifth century Babylon, Kro met and fell in love with Thena. A star-crossed romance, their relationship would not have been well received by either race so they did their best to keep it secret. In the short term, it didn't matter too much. The romance ended badly and they spent many centuries apart. Eventually, the pair reconnected in the 60s, resulting in Thena becoming pregnant with twins, the first Eternal-Deviant hybrids. Their romance continued down an on-again/off-again road, with various instances of Thena saving Kro from destruction via her fellow Eternals. At one point, she even releases him from a cell, allowing him to narrowly escape death.

But what does this mean for the MCU iteration of these characters? Kro and Thena have all the makings of a very twisted love story, and the trailer indicates the movie will put that to use. We briefly see Kro trap Thena in his creepy tendrils while telling her that she can't protect"any of them." Whether this is in reference to the Eternals or humanity is unclear, but it's safe to assume Kro is willing to harm both races. Thena's eyes glow as Kro caresses her face, but we don't get much indication of the state of their relationship. It seems telling that they're alone and exchanging words indicating that Eternals will reference their entangled history. In the comics, the relationship has been enough motivation to make the pair work together but if Kro is threatening Thena's family, things may not be that simple.

Whatever Kro is up to, the Deviant has the potential to be one of the MCU's more interesting villains. Between his creepy shapeshifting abilities, immortality, and complicated past with one of the heroes, Kro may prove even more complex than he appears.

See more here:

Who is the Main Eternals Villain? Kro Explained - /FILM

The first Marvel film to introduce a new hero sinceCaptain Marvel, the first Marvel film with an Asian lead,andone of the first to hit theaters since the pandemic began in March of last year, its safe to say that theres a lot riding on the shoulders ofShang-Chiand the Legend of the Ten Rings. ThoughShang-Chiintroduces what couldve been one of Marvels most compelling villains ever, even the magic of Tony Leung cant save the film from tumbling into mediocrity thanks to an uninspired script and a bumbling third act.

Starring Simu Liu,Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follows Shang-Chi (Liu), the son of an ancient warlord Wenwu (Tony Leung), who has held the secret to eternal life and commanded a secret army of mercenaries through the use of the mystical ten rings. Shang-Chi or Sean, to his best friend Katy (Awkafina) is trying to live a normal, hidden life in San Francisco when he receives a mysterious postcard that draws him back into the brutal, combat-driven life he fled from years ago. Together with his estranged sister Xialing (Menger Zhang) and Katy, Shang-Chi races against time to stop his father from unleashing a planet-destroying evil.

As far as hero origin stories go, Shang-Chis is perhaps the most interesting and complicated in the MCU involving a hidden village full of magical creatures and mystical powers, a centuries-old warlord that trained him to be a cutthroat killer from birth, a soul-eating monster destined to consume his mothers village, and of course the ten rings themselves, which grant the wearer all sorts of nifty powers including immortality. As such, the first act ofThe Legend of the Ten Ringsis fast-paced and lore-heavy, making ample use of flashbacks and convenient expository devices to cram in as much information as possible.

Despite having quite a bit to get through, the first hour ofShang-Chireally works: the first two major action setpieces are slick, well-choreographed fight sequences that make interesting use of setting and fighting styles: combining typical MCU combat fare with classic martial arts film techniques. The unique (at least to the MCU) fight scenes, combined with a heavier emphasis on humor (though it may not always land) helps inject the first act with more than enough vivacity and promise to set the film up for a satisfactory second half, but once the plot kicks into gear, thats where things take a turn for the uninspired.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsis remarkably sluggish for how quickly the first act moves, but once Shang-Chi, Xialing, and Katy arrive at Wenwus compound, everything from that point forward just feels like an arbitrary wild goose chase that goes a significant disservice to both the characters and the narrative itself. The central conceit ofShang-Chis dramatic tension is that its a family affair: both Shang-Chi and Xialing care deeply about villain Wenwu, and vice versa even if hes a mass-murdering immortal warlord with a secret army of elite warriors, hes still their father, and the one thing he wants more than anything else is for their family to be happily reunited and hes willing to go to any means necessary to make sure he, his children, and his dead wife can come together again.

Its a deeply personal connection between hero and villain (the closest weve ever come isThor, and even there the conflict is a little more predestined considering Lokis heritage), which should make for a devastating last act regardless of the outcome all three major characters have skin in the game and care deeply about each other and their wellbeing, even if theyre on opposite sides.Shang-Chifumbles this concept entirely, though, instead making Wenwu a cartoonishly single-minded baddie (despite Tony Leungs many attempts to bring depth to the role) and dodging every opportunity to explore the rich tension between father, son, and daughter.

Whats worse is that after two acts of grounded, clever, well-directed action that easily shoots to the top of our MCU fight scene rankings,Shang-Chitosses its tone out the window entirely and the third act is a CGI-heavy mess of a fight thats more interested in ginormous flying dragons and Awkwafina learning how to be an archer than Shang-Chi or Xialing having any particularly interesting confrontation with their father.

Though the aforementioned Tony Leung is without a doubt the casts high point, Simu Liu makes a bland, by-the-book leading man, try as the film might to inject him with any sort of personality. His backstory, while incredibly dark, doesnt seem to impact him as an adult beyond surface trappings, andShang-Chi instead opts to deliver most character beats through humor, usually playing off of Awkwafinas Katy. Unfortunately, though, a vast majority of the jokes fall flat, and Awkafinas one-note comedy shtick gets old fast. They make a passable duo, but when your leading mans only real moments of charisma come when playing second fiddle to the comic relief, its difficult to feel invested in the character.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings certainly isnt unforgivably bad, nor is it even terrible but its also not confidence-inspiring when it comes to the MCUs ability to craft a new, engaging generation of heroes to fill the shoes left by the original avengers. While an interesting villain and creative fight scenes help setShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsapart from typical genre fare, a lousy third act, and confused character beats leave much to be desired for a superhero origin story.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the TenRingshits theaters on September 3, 2021.

Read the original here:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings review: An average first outing - Culturess

Ad feature with South Facing Festival

Its been a long road to seeing The Streets back in their rightful place and headlining UK festivals. There was the cancelled car park tour of summer 2020, followed by a blazing livestreamed set-slash-rowdy performance art piece at EartH in east London. And then there was Mike Skinners DIY anthem Whos Got The Bag (21st June), released in March to ramp up excitement for the fabled Freedom Day and we all know how that ended.

But now we are here, in a slightly overcast Crystal Palace Park at South Facing Festival, a two-night showcase for one of this centurys most joyful sonic innovators. For Skinner, theres only one way to celebrate properly, and thats with lots and lots and lots of champagne. When hes not jumping up and down on the monitors or explaining why he wont be jumping into the moat surrounding the stage (which he insists was built by Bob Marley), hes shaking up endless bottles of bubbly and spraying them over the crowd like Lewis Hamilton on a ginormous victory lap.

On soggy ground, the audience greet Skinners every word with raptures and he delivers nothing but the hits, Fit But You Know It and Dont Mug Yourself becoming sing-along standards, while the somewhat more downbeat Its Too Late and Dry Your Eyes dont for one moment hamper the huge grins plastered across everyones faces.

Its rare that an artist who is coming up to celebrating 20 years since their debut single Has It Come To This? first dropped back in October 2001 finds their most recent song the biggest hit of a show, but thats just what happens when Whos Got The Bag (21st June) a club banger with a sense of humour as well as a spicy political take is unleashed.

Yet there is a kind of poetry among the partying, too. During a dizzying Blinded by The Lights Skinner talks of immortality via Instagram and at one point instigates an women-only crowdsurfing rule, bringing a touch of riot grrrl girls to the front attitude to the normally laddish pursuit of gliding over a mosh pit assisted only by the hands of strangers.

Credit: Getty

Despite his majestic control of the stage, this isnt just the Mike Skinner show. He brings Greentea Peng, who performed earlier, on for last years collaboration I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him and Rob Harveys guitar and soulful vocals provide a meditative bed to Skinners boundless energy. Weve waited a long time for this celebratory, silly and absolutely heroic show but my gosh, its worth it.

The Streets played

Turn the Page

Lets Push Things Forward

Dont Mug Yourself

Has It Come to This?

Its Too Late

Stay Positive

Dry Your Eyes

21st June (Whos got the bag)

Weak Become Heroes

Blinded by the Lights

Fit But You Know It

Take Me as I Am

See the rest here:

The Streets at South Facing Festival: celebratory, silly and absolutely heroic - NME