Shoot first, shots later. That’s how Charlize Theron’s character plays it in the second trailer for Atomic Blonde, throwing back some vodka after taking out a trio of guys with guns.
Based on Antony Johnston and Sam Hart’s graphic novel The Coldest City, the movie stars Theron as Lorraine Broughton, an undercover agent for British intelligence service MI6. It’s just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and someone’s hunting operatives. John Goodman’s character tells her to “trust no one” (though that doesn’t necessarily translate to “Don’t sleep with anyone”).
To avoid getting killed, Broughton wields a stiletto like a weapon, dons multiple wigs, and finds creative uses for a length of rope. And she’s just as deadly with a gun as she is with improvised weapons.
David Leitch, who is also directing Deadpool 2, is a former stuntman, and it shows in his direction — as it did in his previous film, John Wick, which he co-helmed with Chad Stahelski. At CinemaCon, he said there are long fight scenes filmed without cuts. Where many action movies show heroes walking away from pummeling sessions with nary a scratch, we see Broughton with blood streaming down her face and in need of an ice bath to nurse her wounds. She’s badass, but still bleeds.
Theron was so committed to making the scenes look realistic that she cracked several of her teeth and needed root canal surgery, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the trailer, the crunch of bone and sound of weapons slicing through the air can be heard over the mashup of Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus and Kanye West’s Black Skinhead (aka Personal Yeezus).
Sofia Boutella, James McAvoy, and Toby Jones also star in Atomic Blonde, which hits theaters July 28.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.