Even if no one wants to be in a theater (except Christopher Nolan), there are new and good movies to watch at home

[View this email in your browser]( [Open Ars Technica in your browser]( Christopher Nolan may be ready to return to the movie theater, but feels like he's still in the minority on that one. With only a fraction of the US population eligible (or [willing]() to get vaccinated and many major releases from Dune to No Time To Die still holding off on any kind of release, the film industry remains very much in peril. (Please hold on, Alamo Drafthouse.) Emphasizing the oddity of it all, this week the 2020 Oscar nominations were officially announced and the ceremony will be held in roughly a month. In a year where streaming-only films were newly eligible, Netflix racked up a ton of nominations as you might expect (though their coveted Best Picture win still seems like a long shot). And many of our [personal favorites from the bizarre film year that was]( didn't make the cut at all, from [The Columnist]( to [Palm Springs]( to even Nolan's latest blockbuster [Tenet](. For this week's Orbital Transmission, we've got movies on the brain despite the continued bleak outlook for the overall industry. Even if theatrical releases worthy of box office titles and Oscar nominations remain rare for now, we recently came across a handful of new titles to enjoy while we all wait for the release calendar to return to a pre-2020 level of strength. That's something to still take solace in... after all, you can only rewatch the LoTR trilogy in succession so many times a month, right? —[Nathan Mattise]( Dealmaster's Deal of the Week Dealmaster's Deal of the Week Nintendo Switch Lite + $20 gift card for $199 at Amazon (normally $220) If you've been planning to pick up [Nintendo's excellent Switch Lite console](, you can currently snag an extra $20 in Amazon promotional credit with your purchase by using the code "8RLOZI4Z5INC" at checkout. Similar deals are available at [Best Buy]( and [GameStop](. [$199 at Amazon]( Orbital Transmission 03.17.2021 Orbital Transmission 03.17.2021 [(image) ]( Apparently you can make an entire documentary about a video game prototype [Read Full Story »]( Apparently you can make an entire documentary about a video game prototype Mother to Earth is the kind of documentary you almost can't believe exists. It's a niche project about a niche project—this film doesn't focus on the cult SNES game Earthbound, the Japanese trilogy it belongs to (the Mother saga), or even the first game in the series from which the documentary gets its name (Mother). Instead, Mother to Earth is interested in how a Mother prototype for the NES escaped Nintendo HQ, landed on eBay, enjoyed a ROM dump, then two decades later received an official US release from Nintendo after all. Your eyes may glaze over just from reading all that granular minutiae in a single sentence, but Mother to Earth will impress anyone who appreciates thoroughly done homework and no detail left undiscovered. No one has ever put this much legwork into decoding a comment thread, probably. [Read Full Story »]( [(image) ]( Seriously, the Zack Snyder Justice League is Actually Good [Read Full Story »]( Seriously, the Zack Snyder Justice League is Actually Good Go ahead and get the laughs out now. Feels like the entire Internet did just when this project was announced: overly-broody action auteur Zack Snyder would be releasing his vision for the failed DC Justice League movie that he had to abandon due to family tragedy. As opposed to the ho-hum, bubblegum and popcorn version Joss Whedon eventually pieced together, Snyder had a four hour action and soliloquy packed version of this film in mind... and the streaming era gave him perhaps the only release target that would embrace such things. After watching this new edition (coming to HBO on 3/18) side-by-side with Whedon's theatrical release, there's clearly one superior Justice League (and we can't believe it's the overly dark, overly long one either). [Read Full Story »]( [(image) ]( There are in fact more good time loop ideas, like adding assassins [Read Full Story »]( There are in fact more good time loop ideas, like adding assassins It feels like we've all been living in a Time Loop since at least March 11, 2020, and somehow our favorite movie of 2020 (a time loop one) lost out at the Oscar nominations this week. Maybe the academy simply feels there's nothing left for this niche genre to do, but we'd present the new Hulu action comedy Boss Level as Exhibit A. This is just a dynamite premise, tbh: "A man is stuck in a time loop and doomed to repeat the same day over and over again, all while being hunted by a group of deadly assassins..." The film is bloody and violent but in a cartoonish way that lets the audience savor the black humor of our main character's many fatalities, and everything ends on just the right open-ended note. We'd highly recommend a stream, as Boss Level ultimately works because it doesn't take itself too seriously and brings the audience along on its witty, madcap ride. [Read Full Story »]( [(image) ]( The best 4K portable monitor for gaming, entertainment and work Use [Read Full Story »]( The best 4K portable monitor for gaming, entertainment and work Use Boost your work-from-home setup with Desklab, the most portable and powerful 4K/1080P touchscreen monitor. #Sponsored [Read Full Story »]( [(image) Condé Nast Spotlight | The breaking news and top stories everyone is talking about. All in one place. The most popular stories from Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, Architectural Digest and more. 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