DT’s weekly entertainment show, Between the Streams, is your guide to all of the hottest, most important, and (of course) dumbest new developments in streaming and entertainment, providing a handy recap of the week that was and a preview for what’s ahead. Follow us here at 2 p.m. PT every Friday, or add us via RSS, iTunes, or Stitcher at the links below to take BtS on the road!
Ramp up the nostalgia to warp factor nine, because the final trailer for Stranger Things season 2 just hit the airwaves, and shortly after hit us right square in the chest. This podcasting individual got goosebumps an inordinate amount of times while viewing, which just goes to show how beautiful this time warp to a simpler age from the brothers Duffer really is. We’ll be chatting about the new season to start things off today, before moving into some other new trailers tugging on our heartstrings from memories past.
That second sappy allusion was our way of setting up the new Star Wars trailer for Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, which also hit the net this week. Director Rian Johnson himself has told fans to stay away if they don’t want to be spoiled, and while he was right in many ways, we really just couldn’t help ourselves. Plus, it’s our job, of course. We’ll obviously be discussing the new trailer on today’s show, as well as some theories about just what Luke (and the film’s title) means when referring to the end of the Jedi. Personally, we’ve got some pretty sound theories we’ll be throwing at you all this week, and we’re hoping you’ll be throwing your own right back.
Speaking of trailers (it’s been a big end to the week), the new one for The New Mutants — which, among other things, introduces a second Stark sister from Game of Thrones into the X-Men franchise — also premiered this week with a decidedly horror aesthetic. Starring Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), we knew this film would be a little different, but we didn’t know it would go all-in on the scares. It’s a cool proposition, and a timely October release is generating some real excitement for this X-Men offshoot.
Also this week, we’ll go over the rather sad weekend box office, the messy new Justice League trailer, the Spawn reboot, Netflix’s Mindhunter, a Creed sequel from Sylvester Stallone, and much more.
So tune in and hit us up live at 2 p.m. PT today, or take us along for the ride with our podcast version by following the links at the top of this story.
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.